"So I've been out for only three hours?"
"Yes. You really had me worried there you know? Thankfully you seem fine now but I say you should rest."
"I feel better now. By the way aren't you gonna ask?"
"Hmm? You mean your ears."
"Yeah." In the living room both Sorata and Shizuku sat on the sofa facing each other. Sorata had finally got off her lap after 5 minutes of letting Shizuku play with his tail and ears. With Sorata off her lap he decided to ask the question on his mind. Why didn't Shizuku ask about why he had cat ears and tail?
Shizuku was causally petting him as though it was second nature and didn't even question why he had cat ears. Sorata realized this a minute before he decided to get off Shizuku's lap. He didn't explain anything to shizuku yet questions that a normal person should have didn't come from shizuku, all Shizuku did was try and embarrass him.
"Hmm? I guess it's because I've seen a lot of weird stuff."
"Weird?"
"Yeah my job is very widespread in multiple countries and I've met a lot of people. So I've seen a lot of abnormal things from them."
"Yeah but a human boy having cat ears and a tail is not exactly under the category of weird."
"Hmm you're right. But there are a lot of religious and spirit mediums I've run into during my job so I guess I'm just used to it."
"You girls make no sense." Sorata mumbled not loud enough for Shizuku to hear.
"Sora you don't need to tell me if you don't want to. It really doesn't matter to me. As long as I get to feel them up I don't care." Shizuku said. She already made her intentions clear so she saw the ears and tail as an added bonus.
'What's with all these girls? Everyone of them accepted it as though it was nothing.' Sorata couldn't understand them. He only accepted it because he knew he'd get more information about it the next day but even then he still felt weird. He only accepted it because he knew the actual reasoning behind Sorata having cat characteristics.
"Well like I said you don't need to tell me. Other than that I don't recommend doing a lot of strenuous activities."
"I see."
"Well since you're probably thirsty here you go."
"Hmm? Oh. Thank you." Seeing as how shizuku didn't press on Sorata decided to just move on as well. Shizuku gave him a cup of tea and Sorata accepted since he hadn't drunk anything since lunch at school.
"So do you know what caused you to faint?"
"Mnh. Probably. I'm thinking it has to do with these ears and tails."
"Hmm? What could they do to you that would cause you to faint?"
"Well it's just not my ears. In certain situations I've found myself acting like a cat. Furthermore I have the reflexes and agility of a cat. I'm maybe 90% sure that I've fainted because of something involved with the cat side of my body now."
"It sounds plausible since nothing seems to be wrong with you appearance wise. You're not pale, your eyes aren't drooping, and you're speaking fine."
"Yeah I feel fine right now but at school my body felt heavy and I had a headache."
"Hmmmm. It's weird but still it's better to rest so stay here for a while and don't move fast."
"..." Sorata stayed silent while Shizuku got off the couch and moved to the kitchen and picked up a phone. She called Someone talked about something Sorata could hear but he didn't know the context of what she was saying.
'Saphina-sama still seems to be resting but today should be the day she comes out. The final test's of this semester also start tomorrow. I don't really need to study but it's better to be safe.' Sorata thought while taking out his phone from his pocket.
'Sora, Elias and I have got back.' Just as he suspected a text came from Elsie. It seems they got back when Sorata's school lunch ended.
'I see. There's sandwiches in the fridge if you haven't eaten them already.' It was 6:04 right now so he was certain they'd already eaten the sandwiches or eaten something from a restaurant.
'Yeah we ate them. We also got some pizza for dinner.' A text came back quickly.
'Alright. I'll probably be home at the same time as always.'
'Okay.' Was the reply Sorata got. He left his messages with Elsie and moved to the one with his boss.
'Sorry for missing work. I'm better now so I can go in tomorrow.' Sorata texted. Naturally a reply came back fairly quick.
'Don't worry about it. Also don't come in tomorrow and the next day.'
'Hmm? Why.' Sorata texted.
'Shimazaki-sama told us to let you take a break and we're gonna be doing interviews for new chefs.'
'Is that what she was talking about on the phone? Shizuku's family deals with a lot of restaurants so Shizuku must've arranged for some chef's to our restaurant.' Sorata thought. There were some chef's willing to leave their current restaurant so Shizuku arranged for them to have interviews at Kazuya and kori.(Kazuya and kori is the restaurant name I forgot to include. my bad. Also it basically means fire and ice.)
'Alright then. Do you want me to be there for the interview's?' Sorata is technically the head chef since there are no other chef's so it would make sense he'd be there to greet the possible new chef's.
'No it's fine. Shimazaki-sama will be there. Besides, we call it interviews but these chef's are all from amazing restaurants! So I'm sure they'll be great additions to our team! Gueheheheh think of the money sora!'
Sorata just closed the message app after that. He didn't want to see his boss's immense love for money. He looked over to the kitchen to see that Shizuku was no longer there. Sorata decided to watch some anime on his phone. This anime had been recently adapted from a book he had been reading. He didn't really feel like reading and since Shizuku had told him to rest if he just left she'd most likely scold him.
So Sorata sat there watching anime for the time being.
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"Haaa Miyu doesn't want to study anymore."
"I know Emilia is torturing us. I wanna go with my boyfriend, he'd be more gentle."
"Hey! We still have ancient Japanese and English to cover! Stop slacking girls! We need to stay in the same class."
"Why can't we go down then? I'm sure Miyu will be very happy in class A-3."
"You're planning on going to 3!?!?! Why not 2?"
"Miyu has friends in class 2 and they have it hard as well. Miyu wants to relaaaaaax?"
"You're falling asleep now!?"
"Hahaha I miss my boyfriend."
"You too kaori and you just saw your boyfriend 4 hours ago!" In a Cafe sat Kaori,Emi, and Miyu. All three had books splattered around the table. They were currently studying for the exam's Emi had been tutoring them while also studying herself. Emi was strict when it came to studying for exams so much so that just an hour into their studies Miyu already felt like giving up.
They'd been here studying for the past 5 hours. It was already 7:23 and they arrived at the cafe at 2:58. It was commendable that Miyu and Kaori could even survive this hell for two days in a row. Of course Emi was strict so she could have her closest friends with her in the same class. They'd been in the same classes since middle school and she was not gonna let that change.
"But we just did math. Miyu doesn't want to study anymore after that!"
"Yeah I have to agree. I hate math. English is fine but after doing math it is impossible for me."
"Right? Miyu doesn't like English either though."
"Haa. You girls."
"We're still first years! Miyu thinks we should tone down the studying. We're already in the best class possible. Why not relax?"
"If I let you two relax both of you would probably fall down to the bottom."
"How rudeeeee! You really think miyu is that stupid?"
"Not so much stupid but you'll probably never study if it wasn't for me."
"Emi's right Miyu. I don't see you studying by yourself."
"Now you agree with Emi, Kaori? Hmph! Miyu can study just fine on her own."
""...….""
"Stop looking at Miyu as if Miyu's some kind of bimbo!"
"Anyway! You girls have got your break so let's hurry up and finish before we go to school."
"Ugh. Miyu wants to go home."
"Kaori wants to go with her boyfriend."
"Hah! Kaori, why are you stealing Miyu's only defining feature."
"How is your defining feature only that? I see two things that are very big defining features." Emi said, looking at Miyu's boobs with a glare of envy.
"You should move on from that Miyu. No one likes 3rd person heroine's anymore."
"Hmph! It's cute when Miyu does it, all the boys like it!"
"No, I'm pretty sure it makes you look more like a slut. The guys who confess to you are just looking to have sex becuase they think you're easy."
"Mrrrr." Miyu growled. Though it was growling it sounded too cute to be a growl.
"Alright! Get to Studying, your little argument here isn't going to make me forget."
""Tch""
"You girls really hate studying that much huh?" Emi grumbled. The three of them Continued studying though Kaori and Miyu looked ready to collapse.
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"I'm home." 'Why do I even bother seeing that? No one's here anyway.' In a somewhat high end house a girl walked through the front door. The lights turned on and the girl shown was Hikari. The house was empty, only a clock sounded through the house. This was how it always was for Hikari.
Hikari walked towards the kitchen and saw a meal covered.
"Auntie visited today? If she was here I would've gone straight home instead of the library." Hikari said, unwrapping the meal. She got a bottle of oolong tea and began to eat the meal. Her aunt wasn't an amazing cook but Hikari always felt her aunt's meals felt like home.
Hikari while eating took out her phone. She went to her text messages and saw the same old texts.
'Sorry Hikari-Chan mom's not gonna be home today.'
'Sorry Hikari dad's not gonna be able to make it home today.' The same texts she's been getting for years already. Her parents were always busy working; they would even go on trips for their work and Hikari wouldn't see them until a year later. It had been like this ever since she entered the 6th grade.
Usually Hikari would go to her aunt's house but she stopped going once she reached her second year of middle school. That's when Hikari turned to books she'd fallen in love with light novels. She read all kinds like Isekai, slice of life, drama, it didn't matter she loved most of the books she read. Though the downside was Hikari's social relations. Hikari was already a gloomy girl once she entered middle school or at least that's what her classmates saw.
Hikari was sad her parents weren't there at her entrance ceremony so she'd been sad during introductions. No one talked to her or approached her. Hikari was sad at this fact but she was too timid to approach anyone herself. So her first year in middle school began. What was supposed to be a new opportunity to meet new people and make new friends was loneliness for Hikari.
Everyday was the same, going to school, leaving straight to her aunt's house and just wasting time with her younger cousins who were barely 1 year old at the time. That was her life until the end of her first year. Her parents had come home from work and announced they'd be moving.
Hikari should've been happy her parents were there and she got to see them after so long and yet this is what she was greeted by.
'Really? You've been gone for a year and you only come back to announce we're moving?' Was all Hikari could think. She felt like the only solace in her world, her aunt along with her uncle and her cousins would be taken away from her but she didn't say anything. She put on a fake smile and went along with her parents.
The house Hikari's parents had was in a different city than where her aunt was. Hearing this only made Hikari more depressed but again she said nothing. Her thoughts were a mess as she left the empty house she barely slept in. It was nothing compared to her new one but that house had memories of her playing with her parents. She'd take that house over the new one in a heartbeat if she could.
Even if for one year her parents were gone that house was still her home. So after the moving was done Hikari had expected her parents to at least stay in the house for a month but just a day after they moved there was a note on the kitchen counter next to a credit card.
The note had said that both of them would be going on a business trip and would be gone for a while, and explained the credit card was for food and for her to spend. Hikari's mind went blank reading the note and tears began to drop from her eyes on the note. She'd been resisting to cry ever since the new changes to her life happened and this note had finally caused her to let it all out.
She cried for a while before laying down on their new couch. A tv was something they always had but she barely used it. She turned it on and put it on some channel. It was a rerun of an anime that was playing. The anime was about some boy who found out a girl had a communication problem and decided to help her get friends or something like that.
Hikari just sat down and watched at first she was just watching to get her thoughts somewhere else but as the show continued she began to get invested and liked the interactions between the Protagonist and female lead. The show ended and Hikari wanted more. So she got her new phone that her parents had gifted her when they came home and looked up the show.
She had to get used to the workings of a phone but she eventually figured it out and found the show. Hikari read that the show had already concluded and what she watched was just a rerun. So she did some digging and found out where to watch it and found a streaming site.
She downloaded the app on her phone and struggled to figure things out but was able to find the show and she began watching. The ads were kinda Annoying but she continued and watched all 12 episodes. Hikari was so enraptured by it she didn't even notice that the sun was almost setting.
This was how Hikari was introduced to anime. She ended up watching more and more of anime's and the tv and was also able to download the app so Hikari installed it and began watching anime on there as well. She created an account to keep track of animes she wanted to watch and also got a subscription. Her parents had said she could use the credit for other stuff so she used it on this as well.
Hikari wanted to find out more about the anime she watched and found out about manga's. Hikari had then gone out and went to a book store that sold manga. Hikari was incredibly nervous since she had only gone out three times and this was her first time going further than where her house was located.
Hikari had gotten quite a stack of manga and quickly ran back home. She spent that whole day reading manga and only stopped when she needed to eat. Hikari had fallen in love and began to buy more and more manga. She bought a book shelf and asked her uncle to come and help her assemble it in her room.
"I see it makes sense I'd be going to a new school. It probably took mom and dad too long to complete the paperwork." Finally after a month of living in her new house Hikari's parents had called her to tell her about her school. Hikari had forgotten all about school and apparently so had her parents though Hikari hadn't known that at the time.
It was her aunt and uncle that yelled at her parents over the phone that reminded her two parents about Hikari's enrollment in school. Hikari's uncle had found out she hadn't been going to school in a conversation they had while he was helping her with the bookshelf.
Naturally this led to him telling Hikari's aunt and Her aunt had called Hikari's parents immediately to ask them why she hadn't been in school.
"You two need to care more about your daughter's life! You leave her alone for a year and now this? Aren't you ashamed as parents? What matters most to you two? Your daughter or your jobs!?" Her aunt had been very angry on this phone call. Hikari's parents could only stay silent and take the scolding.
Hikari's aunt wasn't just yelling because she loved Hikari like she was her own child but because she wasn't able to produce a child with her husband for years. When she had been pronounced infertile the amount of sadness she had felt that time almost drove her to suicide.
Luckily her husband had stayed with her the entire time and even though he was sad he didn't show it and supported his wife and took days off from work to be with her. As if a miracle granted by an upper being She was able to get pregnant with twins.
Her Joy was practically immeasurable at that time and she was excited about everything she did. Everytime the babies kicked or even moved she was happy. The thought of being able to have children was something she could only dream of and now she was able to have two. So she couldn't understand why her sister and brother-in-law could neglect their daughter like that.
Though she had been enrolled back into school nothing else changed. Her parents barely showed or called and she went to her new middle school everyday. The only thing different was her hobby. She practically was gone the moment the bell rang and ran home to read manga or light novels. Hikari was smart so she didn't struggle with school work and did her homework immediately.
Though her social relations were still the same she was much happier than before. She didn't need friends or anyone to talk to as long as she read books or manga she was content with her life.
"Mnhhh. That was a good bath." Hikari said, walking out of the bathroom. After she finished eating she took a bath immediately.
"I didn't get to talk to Suzuki-kun today." Hikari grumbled while taking out a book. She had been planning to talk to Sorata during lunch but he was gone the moment she started to look for him. She checked the library but Sorata wasn't there.
"I wonder if he would reciprocate my feelings if I confessed?" This thought had been occupying Hikari the past two months. Sorata wasn't exactly a romantic person and would even ignore her if she talked to him but Hikari didn't care about words she saw his actions instead.
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"Here, use this to clean yourself up. Don't worry about giving it back."
"Ah?"
"….."
Hikari had just started her first year in high school and her uncle and aunt had shown up with her cousins to the entrance ceremony. Hikari had been showered with praise by them for scoring so high and it was the first time she'd been happy to receive praise unlike the empty praise from her parents.
She had gotten lost and wandered through the halls only to be met by some senior's. The same senior's who were bullying her to this day. Hikari had timidly called out for directions and the three seniors grinned and walked towards her. There they pushed her on the floor and insulted her.
Hikari couldn't understand why they were doing this but unknown to her at the time they were after money and since no one was around they decided to target Hikari since Hikari didn't look intimidating.
"S-Stop. Help."
"Hahaha! She's calling for help! Are you an idiot? No one's around right now, just hurry up and give us some yen."
"Haaa daddy hasn't given me allowance but I want this make up kit so sorry though I'm not really sorry."
Hikari wasn't exactly strong and only one of the girls needed to overpower Hikari even if she was able to shrug one off there were two more. Naturally the girls were searching her bag but found nothing. They were getting ready to move to her skirt pockets but just then a voice sounded out.
"Sensei! Someone needs help over here." A boy's voice sounded and the girls jerked.
"Crap. Let's run, we can't stay here any longer."
"You better not say anything or we'll make your life hell." The three girls ran down the hallway while the main one left a threat to Hikari. Hikari was scared of course but no teacher came, only a boy. She looked up and saw a boy her age with hair covering one of his eyes.
"The boy stared at her and gave her a handkerchief to clean the dirt off of her uniform. Hikari was stunned by it but then the boy started picking up her books and school supplies that the girls haphazardly threw on the floor. The boy then got her bag and put them in and handed her the bag.
"What are you waiting for? Isn't this your's?" The boy said in a rather cold voice. His voice seemed to indicate he wasn't nice. His actions were different as he didn't need to do this for Hikari.
"H-Huh. O-Oh T-thanks" Hikari stuttered out. She didn't talk to many strangers much less a boy her age so she was flustered.
The boy then noticed he forgot one book and picked it up. The book was a light novel about two lovers who suddenly became siblings in their second year of high school. The boy took a little bit longer before handing it to Hikari. The boy gave it to her and said something.
"That's a nice book I'm currently reading. Anyway you should go to the assembly before it's too late. Here's the map."
"H-Huh?" Before Hikari was able to say anything else the boy left faster than she could process. This was the first time anyone besides her cousin's family acknowledged her. This was the first meeting between Hikari and Sorata.
Hikari had been surprised once she saw him In her class but she didn't have the courage to approach him until she went to the school library where he was.
Hikari watched or rather stalked though she wouldn't admit it was stalking Sorata for a week. She saw what books he read and learned he read light novels like her. She had been happy and had mustered up the courage to approach him only to trip and fall right in front of Sorata.
Before Sorata could say something she quickly got up In embarrassment and ran away. Overtime she had been able to talk to him and spent most of her time in the library to meet him. Sorata had figured out the girls had started bullying her even after the entrance ceremony and would help her clean herself.
A crush had started to develop for Hikari and two months ago she realized it. Unfortunately it made her more self-conscious around Sorata; she stuttered more than she usually would. Hikari, who hadn't talked to a boy unless it was for school, had developed a crush.
"Wouldn't it bother him if I confessed? I'm sure there's more beautiful girls than me. Why would he settle for me?" These thoughts were common to people getting their first crush; they doubted themselves and Hikari was no exception.
"Haaa. There's no benefit in thinking such thoughts." Hikari sighed and continued to read her book in her room.
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"You, what are you doing?"
"Hmm? I'm sleeping here, what else?"
"Why?"
"Because I want to."
"Look I could go home you know?"
"No. Like I said you need rest even if nothing seems to be wrong with you it's better safe than sorry"
"Okay but does that mean you have to sleep with me?"
"Fufu, it's my first time sleeping with someone."
"You're wording it like that on purpose aren't you?"Inside a room lay a large bed with two people inside it. Those two were of course Shizuku and Sorata. Sorata had a blank face as he stared at shizuku who was smiling rather seductively at Sorata.
"What if something happens to you in your sleep? Onee-Chan is worried here."
"Give me a break."
"Fufu. Let me turn off the light so we can go to sleep."
"..." just like that the light turned off and shizuku turned around.
"Fufu. Now th- EH?!?! You're already asleep?!" As Shizuku turned around, Sorata was already sleeping. This was something Sorata could do; he had been able to sleep almost immediately. He could vaguely hear Shizuku but his kind drifted off.
"Mnhh?" Sorata groaned and opened his eyes. He wasn't in the room he was in beforehand but a white space.
"This is—
Before Sorata could finish his sentence a voice rang out.
"We meet again Sorata Suzuki." Sorata turned around and was greeted by Saphina.
"Now then. I'm sure you have a lot of questions so let's talk shall we?" Saphina said with a neutral voice.