Sunday morning.
Yukinoshita, who had gotten up early, had already finished shopping at the grocery store, carrying two large bags full of various ingredients back to the apartment building. Since starting high school, she had moved out and lived alone in the apartment.
Living alone meant preparing her own three meals a day, so regular replenishment of various ingredients had long been part of her routine. Generally speaking, unless there were special circumstances, every Sunday morning she would get up early, go to the grocery store to buy the freshest vegetables, meat, and fruits, then bring them home and neatly arrange them in the refrigerator.
"Phew~" Entering the lobby of the apartment building, she put down the bags in her hands and moved her slightly sore shoulders. After her arms felt a bit more comfortable, she picked up the two full bags and walked to the entrance gate. Then, she placed the bag in her right hand on the ground, took out her access card from her skirt pocket, and swiped it.
"Drip--" The entrance gate opened a crack. She put away the access card, lifted the bag in her right hand, and prepared to use her back to push the door open.
Just then, a girl who had just entered the lobby of the apartment saw this scene. She hurried forward and helped Yukinoshita hold the door. Slightly surprised, Yukinoshita glanced at the girl and whispered, "Thank you."
"No need to thank me," the girl responded with a smile. Facing the helpful and enthusiastic girl, Yukinoshita smiled awkwardly. She hastened her pace through the entrance gate and quickly headed towards the elevator. After she left, the girl entered the apartment lobby, gently closed the entrance gate, and turned towards the elevator.
Not far from the elevator, the girl noticed that the doors were already halfway closed. She didn't rush but walked at a normal pace, apparently planning to wait for the next one.
"Aren't you coming in?"
However, contrary to her expectations, the elevator doors did not close. Along with the doors reopening, a cold female voice floated into her ears. She looked towards Yukinoshita inside the elevator and hurriedly walked in.
After entering, the girl apologized embarrassedly, "Sorry to bother you."
"... It's fine," Yukinoshita responded coldly, preparing to put down the bags in her hands to press the elevator button. Seeing this, the girl hurriedly said, "Let me help you. Which floor are you going to?"
"15."
"Okay." The girl pressed "15" for Yukinoshita and then pressed "27" for herself.
"Hmm?" Seeing the floor the girl wanted to go to, Yukinoshita frowned slightly.
27th floor? The 27th and 28th floors of this apartment only have one household, the Hoshimi family.
In other words, is this girl in front of her going to the Hoshimi family?
What is her relationship with Hoshimi?
Why does she want to go to the Hoshimi family?
These questions flooded Yukinoshita's mind as she began to scrutinize the enthusiastic passerby.
The girl had brown hair tied up in a high ponytail, golden pupils, and a lively face without any embellishment; she seemed to be about the same age but slightly shorter. She wore sturdy, inexpensive clothes.
Her lower body was a common blue skirt, and her healthy-looking legs were confidently exposed to the air. On her feet were ordinary flat shoes, but judging by their wear, she had been wearing them for a while. Overall, she looked like an ordinary high school student with nothing particularly noteworthy.
From her appearance, there was no resemblance to Hoshimi, so the possibility of being a relative could be ruled out. In that case, why did she want to go to the Hoshimi family?
"Ding--" Just as Yukinoshita was perplexed, the elevator arrived at the 15th floor. Yukinoshita frowned slightly, glanced at the girl one last time, and walked out of the elevator without saying a word.
"Click--" "Phew~" The elevator doors closed, and the girl left inside breathed a sigh of relief.
Yukinoshita had been staring at her just now...
She was very sensitive to others' gazes, so she had already noticed Yukinoshita's scrutinizing look the first time she glanced at her. She was unclear why Yukinoshita would look at her like that.
She turned back and carefully looked at her appearance in the mirror on the back wall of the elevator. There was nothing wrong. No matter how she looked at it, she was just an ordinary girl. So why did Yukinoshita stare at her like that?
The girl shook her head, completely dismissing the matter from her mind. Next, she had important work to do and couldn't think about other things anymore.
"Ding--" The elevator arrived at the 27th floor. The girl took a deep breath, gathered her spirits, walked out of the elevator, and headed towards the only resident on this floor. Coming out of the elevator was a luxuriously decorated corridor, and at the end of the corridor was the door of the high-rise mansion.
The girl walked to the door and gently rang the doorbell.
"Click--" After a while, the door opened, and Hoshimi, dressed in casual clothes, stood at the door, smiling and greeting.
"Oh, Nanami, you're here."
"Um..." The girl's face turned red. Unsure how to respond, she could only respond lightly with her eyes wandering.
"Come in, I'm just having breakfast. Would you like to join?"
Hoshimi opened the door and walked inside on his own. Seeing this, the girl hurriedly entered Hoshimi's home, closed the door behind her, changed into slippers specially prepared by Hoshimi at the entrance, and ran into the living room.
Her face blushed, and she said, "Hoshimi-kun, I've already had breakfast, so..."
"Gurgle~~" Despite her words, her stomach protested.
"Um~" Her face grew redder as she covered her stomach, feeling embarrassed, unsure, and slightly shy.
"Come over, let's eat together. Today's fish soup is very fresh."
Hoshimi smiled and didn't take the opportunity to tease the girl, but waved to her to come over quickly.
"... " The blushing girl did not continue to refuse. She walked shyly to the coffee table and sat down on the soft carpet as Hoshimi did. Looking at the sumptuous dishes on the coffee table, ripples of emotion stirred in the girl's eyes.
Who would eat such a sumptuous meal so early in the morning if it weren't for a special reason? Hoshimi, who always ordered takeout, did so, although he never said why. But she knew, Hoshimi ordered so many dishes, all to help her supplement her nutrition...
"Why are you still staring? Do you want me to feed you, Nanami?" Hoshimi said, picking up a soup spoon and scooping up a bit of white fish soup to bring it to Nanami Aoyama's face.
"No, no, Hoshimi-kun, I have it myself."
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