On a certain weekend, Umi and I were once again chilling at my place, huddled together under the kotatsu.
We'd come straight home from school, still in our uniforms. With snacks and juice spread across the table and the game console hooked up, our cozy fortress was nearly complete. We'd already ordered from our usual pizza place, so once that arrived, we would be invincible. The plan was simple: play games, read manga, chat about nothing, and flirt until it was time for Umi to go home.
"Makiii, get me a mikan~"
"You can get it yourself… It's right there if you just sit up."
"No waay~ Get it for me~"
She'd long since dropped the cat-like facade she used to maintain, now completely at ease. Lying under the kotatsu, she was absorbed in the latest issue of a manga magazine that had just come out today, all while poking my thigh with her toes.
She might be slacking off a bit too much, but the moment she steps out of my house, she snaps back into the model student 'Asanagi Umi' in the blink of an eye.
She's surprisingly deft like that.
And honestly, seeing her curled up like a housecat, making childishly selfish demands, is cute in its own way. So even if I protest at first, I always end up spoiling her.
…Is this the weakness that comes with being in love?
"…Geez, here. Looks like a sweet one."
"Thanks. Love ya."
"Gh… Right."
"Heh, you're so easy."
"…Here!"
I was about to hand her the tangerine, but I changed my mind and lightly tossed it at her nose instead.
"Nngh!? H-Hey~ who throws food at someone's face! Didn't your elementary school teacher tell you not to play with your food?"
"The only lesson that stuck with me was 'he who does not work, shall not eat.'"
"Muu, Maki, you're such a meanie."
Grumbling, Umi sluggishly sat up, neatly peeled the mikan, and began popping the segments into her mouth.
She'd taken off her school blazer to keep it from getting wrinkled and was now wearing one of my oversized sweatshirts. The sight made me chuckle.
"Hmm~ Being in a warm room, under a kotatsu, and wearing your favorite sweatshirt is great and all, but I'm actually getting a little hot. Maki, let's eat ice cream."
"Taking off the sweatshirt is an option you know… But I get it."
Eating ice cream under a kotatsu in winter, or taking a nap wrapped in a blanket with the AC blasting in summer—it's wasteful, but it's a simple luxury you can't help but indulge in.
At school, she can feel like someone from a different world, but when we're here, sharing the same space, thinking the same things, and lazing around together… I'm reminded that she's just a normal girl who probably gets scolded by her parents sometimes.
If I reach out, I can touch her.
She's right here, within my grasp.
"…Fufu, Maki, what is it?"
"Nothing, I was just thinking your cheek looks soft."
"Wanna touch it? Then go get the ice cream."
"You really know how to use me… Well, it's my fridge, so I was going to anyway."
I slipped out from the kotatsu and grabbed a couple of soda-flavored popsicles from the freezer. They're probably one of the least winter-appropriate ice creams, but they're cheap and a classic flavor we both love. We often buy them on the way home from school.
"Nmu… Mmm~ eating this really makes it feel like summer, huh?"
"Yeah. We're in the dead of winter, but for some reason, I feel like I could hear cicadas buzzing any second."
As I bit into the melting ice cream, I was hit with a familiar brain freeze that stung the back of my head. It didn't need to replicate the summer experience that faithfully, but Umi was laughing happily beside me, asking, 'What are you doing?' so I guess it wasn't so bad.
"Summer, huh…"
"Yeah, summer."
It's still a long way off, but in a few months, a summer as hot as a sauna would come, no modern conveniences needed.
The first summer vacation I'll get to spend with Umi.
"Hey Maki, what should we do for summer vacation?"
"Isn't it a bit early to be thinking about that?… We'll probably just end up chilling in an air-conditioned room, eating ice cream like this, won't we?"
"Ahaha, probably. I can totally see that happening."
Classic summer activities like the beach, the pool, and fireworks might happen, but the core of our time together probably won't change.
Just the two of us, Maki and Umi, the same as it was when we first started hanging out.
"By the way, Umi…"
"? What?"
"Well, since I went and got the ice cream earlier…"
"Eh? What was it again? I was kinda spaced out, so I don't remember~"
"…You little rascal."
She remembers perfectly well. She's just pretending not to because she wants me to say it, to hear the words clearly from my own mouth. She can read the room when she wants to, but when it's just the two of us, she doesn't let me get away with anything.
She really is a selfish, spoiled, and incredibly cute girl.
"I want to touch… your cheek."
"…Nn, okay."
As I stroked Umi's white cheek—cool, smooth, and pleasant to the touch—I made a secret wish in my heart.
…May this happiness last forever.