"Of course not."
As he spoke, Miyahito tilted his head and lightly bumped his forehead against Utaha's.
"Seriously, do I really seem that petty in your head?"
"Definitely not."
Suddenly feeling a bit underestimated, Utaha pouted and lightly bumped his head back.
"My Miyahito is the best."
Saying this, she rested her cheek against his shoulder, her smooth, beautiful hair cascading down his solid back like a waterfall.
"I just feel... I'm being unfair to you."
"Look, on our very first day dating, you openly told your parents about us."
"But I... still haven't even dared to admit to my parents that I'm dating you....."
Hearing a trace of guilt and sadness creep into Utaha's voice, Miyahito smiled and gently patted the little head resting on his shoulder.
"It's nothing, Utaha. You're a girl, after all."
"As a guy, I have to take some responsibility. Ouch..." As he spoke, the soft flesh on his waist got pinched in punishment by Utaha.
"So you're saying I, Utaha, have no sense of responsibility?"
"N-no, that's not what I meant."
Twisting his waist to dodge her angry, pinching fingers, Miyahito quickly said,
"It tickles, Utaha...."
Pinch pinch—!
"Wait, I'm sorry! I'm wrong!"
Pinch pinch—!
"If you keep doing that, I'm really going to get mad!"
Pinch pinch—!
"Utaha!"
"Hmph! Will you dare do it next time?"
"I won't dare, Lady Utaha."
After the playful scuffle ended.
"Just follow your own heart, Utaha." Smiling, Miyahito hugged Utaha, who had moved from the bed to sit beside him. He lowered his head slightly and smiled at his girlfriend, who was leaning half her body against his chest.
"No matter what it is, whether it's our relationship or Uncle and Auntie, I'll support whatever you want to do."
"But that's unfair to you, Miyahito."
Her long, fair index fingers nervously fidgeted with each other. Utaha tilted her face up, looking at her boyfriend with a hint of apology in her eyes.
"It feels like I'm just constantly enjoying your devotion."
"Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" Hearing this, Miyahito didn't have a single extra thought; he just said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"I'm your boyfriend. Shielding you from the wind and rain is only natural, isn't it?"
"..."
Utaha didn't speak. She just blinked her wine-red eyes, then lifted her fair, pretty face. She pouted her cherry lips slightly and slowly closed her eyes.
Seeing this, Miyahito didn't hesitate at all.
Leaning down, he closed his eyes just like Utaha did.
A light kiss, like a dragonfly skimming the water.
When Miyahito opened his eyes again, looking at Utaha's smiling, crescent-eyed face in his line of sight, a playful mood suddenly arose. He mischievously said,
"Utaha, did you forget what you're supposed to do after waking up?"
Her brain not quite catching up, Utaha paused and subconsciously asked,
"What?"
However, Miyahito, his lips curving upward, didn't speak.
He just subconsciously tilted his head slightly and jutted his chin toward a certain direction in the room.
Although it seemed like Utaha had been awake for a while.
In reality, the girl who had dragged her boyfriend to play Overcooked 2 (aka Breakup Kitchen) on the computer until almost dawn last night was still only half-awake and half-asleep.
Turning her head in the direction her boyfriend was indicating, Utaha was just about to impatiently ask "What is it?" when the meaning of that direction gradually surfaced in her mind. The next second, her breath hitched.
Her hands rose as if by reflex, covering her lips.
Facing Utaha's extremely shocked, almost disbelieving gaze, Miyahito, brimming with joy and barely holding back his laughter, nodded with schadenfreude.
That's right... my dear, you haven't brushed your teeth or washed your face yet~~
Reading that sentence from her boyfriend's gleeful eyes, and recalling her own impassioned 'beg for a kiss' just now... Utaha instantly turned to stone.
Then, in less than a second, a crimson flush surged onto her fair, flawless face.
Whoosh—!
Like a startled rabbit, Utaha leaped out of her boyfriend's arms at a speed completely unbefitting a literary girl who usually stayed at home and was completely allergic to the word "exercise." With lightning speed, she dashed into the apartment's washroom.
Bam—!
The loud sound of the door slamming made Miyahito, who heard the noise in the room, wince in pain.
Well... I hope the door, no, Utaha's hand is okay.
"Seriously, I didn't even mind."
Feeling it was funny, Miyahito shook his head, muttering to himself with a mix of helplessness and doting affection.
"What's there to be so shy about, Utaha? It's not like it's our first kiss."
Saying this, Miyahito, who had already finished cleaning the coffee table, heard the sound of the bathtub filling with water from the bathroom.
Wow, is it really that exaggerated? Taking a bath already?
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly as he shook his head helplessly.
Letting his cleanliness-obsessed girlfriend continue her fuss, he glanced at the clock on the desk. Thinking for a moment, he reached over and grabbed his phone from the nightstand.
Holding his fully charged phone, he sat back in his original spot. Mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, he spoke thoughtfully.
"Utaha is going back to Wakō City tomorrow... If I'm left alone in Tokyo, it'll feel a bit boring."
"Tooru's whole family went to Okinawa. Miyuki-nii and Kei are busy working part-time during the day... Hmm, should I go back to Chiba?"
"It's been a while since I took Ayase out... I wonder if she'll be mad. I hope Ayase isn't so mad she won't talk to me..."
...
After noon.
Wearing matching couple's summer casual clothes, Aragaki Miyahito and Kasumigaoka Utaha were walking arm-in-arm. When they passed in front of a store specializing in men's business goods, Utaha, seemingly having found something good, suddenly stopped.
Immediately, Miyahito, feeling his girlfriend's movement, naturally stopped as well.
"Utaha?"
He called out to his girlfriend in confusion. The next second, he was pulled into the store by Utaha, whose eyes were sparkling.
"Look at this."
Happily walking up to the tie display cabinet, Utaha was about to pick up a tie she had her eye on at first glance and hold it up against Miyahito.
Just then.
Suddenly, a familiar voice, carrying a hint of an ojou-sama's flair, entered the ears of Aragaki Miyahito and Kasumigaoka Utaha.
"Aragaki... nii?"