…And morning came.
It had been a while since I'd gotten a good night's sleep. I had been having trouble falling asleep throughout the last week.
Also, I didn't oversleep so it was great.
But, in exchange for that…
"…Yo…"
"Yo…"
When I woke up, I saw Umi's smiling face.
Of course, I remembered everything. Currently, I was inside Umi's room. Specifically, I'm in her bed. Last night I fell asleep with my face buried in her chest.
And I woke up in the same position.
"What time is it, Umi?"
"Mm? Mm~ Around eight… I'm glad that it's the weekend, I don't need to wake up earlier~"
"If you woke up before me, why didn't you get out of bed first?"
"Well, if I do that, I'll wake you up, won't I? Don't worry, I got an hour's worth of your sleeping face, so all is good~"
Is that really okay? Staring at my sleeping face for a whole hour?
"So, what do you think?"
"What do you mean?"
"My chest."
"…It's still too early for this kind of talk…"
"Hehe, but the timing is perfect, don't you think? …So, where's my answer?"
"…Do I have to tell you?"
"No, but I'll be happy if you do."
"I see."
"Mhm."
I realized that we've been staying like this for the whole night. This felt embarrassing, but Umi looked so happy…
"Maki, are you blushing now? Don't you think it's a little late?"
"S-Shut it! I wasn't myself yesterday, okay?"
"Sure, sure, where's my answer though?"
"…If you laugh, I'm gonna hit you…"
I averted my gaze and told her everything.
"T-They felt warm… soft… and you smelled really good… Happy?"
I felt my face burning.
I knew I was just being honest and this was what Umi wanted to hear, but still, what the hell was I doing?
I'm such an idiot.
"It seems like you got a good night's sleep, I'm glad."
"…You aren't going to tease me?"
"You want me to?"
"P-Please don't."
I thought she was going to call me a pervert or something similar, but she didn't. Now that I think of it, she had been really kind to me since last night.
Normally, she would tease me about last night, but instead of doing that, she hugged and patted my head.
"…Umi, why are you doing so much for me? I don't think I've done enough for you…"
"You've done more than you think. You might not realize it, but ever since we first became friends, you've been helping me out more than I could count, Maki. Whenever I was having a hard time, you would be there for me. Like back when I was trying to make up with Yuu… Without you, Maki, I don't think I would have enough courage to do that…"
"…I see. I guess we've been trying our best to help each other out, huh?"
"Hehe, right."
Whenever I helped her, she would pay me back twofold, then I would pay her back threefold and so on. We would probably never make it even.
But that's fine by me.
After all, from now on, we'll no longer be friends.
"…Umi, now it's my time to spoil you. Do you have the time?"
"Hehe, Maki you're so serious… Well, you've answered my question, so yeah sure, what do you have in mind?"
"…About the kiss…"
The timing was perfect to bring it up.
This time, it was her turn to blush.
"Umi, do you remember the thing that you said back then?"
"…Mm… I mean, I can't forget it even if I want to, you know?"
'We'll do it properly on the lips after we become lovers…' I remember she said that back then.
Originally, I wanted to have this conversation on Christmas. I wanted to seal the deal, confess my feelings properly for her and make our relationship official on Christmas.
But, you know what? Screw that, I'm doing it now.
I wanted to pay her kindness back and I wanted to get to know her better.
To do that, I needed to stop messing around first.
"I know it's early in the morning and it's so sudden, but I want to do this now."
"…I see. It's funny… Last night, you were trembling like a puppy, you were so cute and now you look so manly…"
"H-Huh? Really?"
"Mhm! Sorry I've been holding you back… I resolved myself yesterday too… I'm ready now…"
"…Thank you, Umi…"
"Hehe… Then, let's get up first…"
"Okay."
We got up and sat while facing each other on the bed.
"Umi."
"Mm…"
In response to my call, Umi closed her eyes and leaned her lips toward me.
I only need to place my lips there.
"H-Here I go…"
"M-Mhm…"
I placed my hands on her shoulders and moved my face closer to hers. I could see her face getting redder by the seconds.
My raging heartbeat resounded in my ears.
I looked at her small lips.
"Umi, I…"
"Mm–"
I could feel her breath on my lips and–
"Umi? Maki-kun? What are you two doing this early in the morning?"
""!!!""
Right before our lips touched, I heard Sora-san's voice.
We turned our heads toward the direction of her voice and saw her standing in her apron. She was smiling at us.
"S-Sora-san!…"
"M-Mom?! …W-Wait, mom! You should knock on the door before you enter the room!"
"Eh? I did though? Many times. I wanted to tell you both that the breakfast is ready, but no one responded."
Apparently we were too engrossed in our own world to hear her knocking.
Because of that, this happened. She had to witness her only daughter flirting with a boy early in the morning.
"Umi, Maki-kun."
""Y-Yes…""
"Let's have breakfast. After that, we're going to have a proper talk, okay?"
""Yes…""
I guess that means we have to wait for a while longer before we could have our kiss.