Issei opened his eyes in a daze.
He looked at the familiar ceiling of the house, his mind still confused, processing what happened yesterday.
"Yesterday I went on a date, then..."
The memory after the date is not very clear, yesterday felt like a long Issei woke up feeling a bit out of it. He blinked at the familiar ceiling of his house, still trying to wrap his head around everything that happened yesterday.
"Right, I went on a date, then...,"
he thought, but the details after that were all fuzzy, like a weird dream.
He got out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom, glancing in the mirror to see he was still in his date clothes. Confused, he quickly washed his face, showered, and changed into something from Kuoh's wardrobe.
When he made his way to the dining table, he spotted his family digging into breakfast. His parents were sitting together, while Suzu was across from their mom, Miki, and Issei took a seat opposite his dad, Gorou.
"Morning, Issei-Chan! It's not like you to sleep in like this," his mom said, noticing he looked a bit worn out.
"Morning, Mom. I was just really tired from yesterday," Issei replied, sitting down to gulp some water before diving into his breakfast.
His dad, Gorou, peeking over his newspaper, shot Issei a look that seemed to say, "Looks like this kid's hiding something." Then he casually dropped the question, "So... how was your date yesterday?"
"*COUGH COUGH*" Issei nearly choked on his bread.
"Oh? I'm curious too!" Miki chimed in, her interest piqued.
"Water... *cough cough* water!"
"Oh? Here you go," Miki said, handing him a glass of water.
After gulping down some water and catching his breath, Issei asked,
"*COUGH* how do you know?!"
That's when Suzu, who had been lost in her world with bread still perched on her lip and her cheeks slightly red, finally snapped back to reality and shrugged,
".....Is there something wrong?"
Gorou dropped his newspaper, while Miki let go of her bread. Issei was shocked, eyes wide, as he grabbed his little sister's shoulders and shook her, insisting,
"Tell me! Tell Suzu! Who's that lucky guy?!"
While Issei shook Suzu, desperate for answers, their parents were tearing up with happiness.
"Oh, Gorou! *sob* Finally, our two kids who've been dodging romance are accepting it!"
"Yeah, *sob* I was worried they didn't have any interest in love at all, but finally, they're starting to feel it!"
"HURRY UP!" Issei pressed on.
"Let go off me, I'm dizzy!"
Suzu managed, while Issei continued to demand answers, and their parents just basked in the joy of the moment—this was the cheerful chaos of the Hyoudou household.
*Ding dong*
Everyone turned to the door, confused.
"Who could that be?" Gorou asked.
"No clue," Miki replied, glancing at Issei and Suzu, who both shrugged.
"I'll check it out," Gorou said, standing up and heading to the door.
When he opened it, he was taken aback by a guy in a Kuoh uniform standing there.
"Uh, excuse me, who are you?" Gorou asked, a strange nostalgia washing over him as he looked at the man.
"...I'm your new neighbor, just moved in. Name's Hajime Sitri, Mr. Hyoudou."
"Hajime Sitri?" Gorou echoed, trying to place the name.
Just then, a cough interrupted the moment.
*COUGH COUGH*
"What's that?" they all said in unison.
Gorou and Hajime turned towards the sound, which came from a woman's voice.
"Did I come at a bad time? It seems like someone's sick," she said.
"Uh... oh! No, no, it's all good, don't worry about that," Gorou said, a bit panicky.
"Really? Oh, thank goodness... anyway, Mr. Hyoudou, I brought this for you."
"?"
Hajime handed Gorou a fruit basket.
"Just a little something for you and your family," he said.
Gorou accepted the basket, feeling a mix of unease and warmth. "So, you're Hajime Sitri, right?" he confirmed.
"Yes, sir."
"Thanks, but you didn't need to bring us fruit just to say hi."
Gorou didn't quite feel right rejecting it, so he started handing it back, but Hajime smiled and bowed slightly, saying,
"It's part of our tradition to give gifts to new neighbors. It's considered rude not to accept."
"Really?" Gorou said, surprised, scratching his head a bit.
"I didn't know that was a thing."
"Yes, it's been a family tradition for generations," he added, lying smoothly.
Gorou felt a bit awkward but ultimately accepted the basket and apologized.
"S-sorry for earlier, I didn't realize that was rude."
"Not a problem, really..."
"No, it's okay, it was my fault for not explaining our traditions first"
while looking down above Gorou
"I apologize"
"No no, that's okay..."
their personalities are similar
"Then...Hajime-kun...can I call you that?"
"of course, you can call me whatever you like"
Kamiya smiled seeing that his father was still the same as before
"Would you like to have breakfast with us?" Gorou tries to repay the kindness he has received
"...." Kamiya was a little lost in thought and his mouth opened, but it didn't last long
he smiled again and shook his head
"No, I've had breakfast today...and...actually because I'm not familiar with the directions to Kuoh Academy, therefore I'm walking remembering the route."
"Is that so..." Gorou felt uneasy, and he realized something
"Earlier... you said the way to Kuoh Academy, right?"
"yes.?"
"That's good...please wait here for a moment" Gorou went into the house and hurriedly.
"...?..Good"
.
.
.
.
five minutes have passed
and Gorou brought two person in the same uniform with Kamiya
"..."
Kamiya looked at Issei who was shocked, and Suzu who looked away
then looked at Gorou
"Thank you for waiting, they are my children, I hope you get along well at school"
"Of course Mr. Hyoudou, we are actually in the same class too."
Issei opened his mouth
"This is the first time we are talking, let me introduce my self, my name is Hyoudou Issei, people call me Issei"
"Yes, nice to meet you Issei"
Kamiya smiled and shook hands with Issei
And strangely, Issei felt something strange in his heart
"And... may I get to know Miss over there, taking her eyes off me from earlier?"
"?"
Gorou and Issei turned their gazes to Suzu
"Suzu, are you feeling unwell?" Issei asked
"..."
and Suzu started looking at Kamiya, with slightly red cheeks
"Good morning..."
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