Mandarin Orange, Kotatsu, And A Found Cat

Morning of a day off. It was not unusual for me to wake up before noon after a good night’s sleep.
But today, I woke up early and wide awake, contrary to that.

“Good morning, Mashiro.”
“Good morning. You’re early today, aren’t you?”
“I can’t afford to be late.”

Yes, today was my day off, but I have an important appointment in the morning. Needless to say, it was a double date that Sakakibara invited me to on short notice.
It was a word that sounds unrealistic when you form it in your brain, but unfortunately, it was an unmistakable reality.

I woke up a little too early, feeling a little over-excited, and checked my watch, and sure enough, it was earlier than I usually wake up for work.
I hadn’t been able to get much sleep last night due to my strange nervousness, so I felt like I hadn’t gotten enough sleep, but now that I was awake, I had no choice.

…I was more surprised to see that Mashiro was up before me as usual, even though I woke up earlier than usual.
I’m sure she didn’t set her alarm. It was my phone that beeped at the beginning of the day.
And yet, she always greeted me in the morning with almost all of her morning preparations done.

As a person who was not very good at getting up in the morning compared to others, I was quite surprised and respected her.
As an adult, I have to do something about the fact that I’m being woken up every day by this figure of respect…

“Is Mashiro a strong morning person?”

I asked Mashiro, while I was sitting on the bed and she was standing in the kitchen.
At the sudden question, Mashiro stared at my face for a moment and tilted her head, but after thinking for a moment, she let out a “hmm” before continuing with her words.

“It’s hard to say since the only person I can compare myself to is Satou-san, but I think I’m about average.
“Is that a roundabout way of being sarcastic, Mashiro-san?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Just to make sure, but that’s just a typo, right?”
“Fufu, I’m kidding. I didn’t mean to be so sarcastic. And it’s not a typo, it’s a misspoke.”

Seeing my reaction, Mashiro said so and laughed happily.
I was happy that she started to tell me light jokes, and embarrassed that I was being teased by a younger person.
To hide my feelings, I continued to ask her questions.

“I’ve often heard that cats are nocturnal, but is that true for Mashiro?”
“A little, but once I get used to it, we’re basically the same as humans.”

That’s probably why I never encountered a situation where Mashiro was sleeping when I woke up.
If she was nocturnal, she might have slept during the day when I was at work and woken up during the night when I was asleep.
However, I had never seen her do anything like that.

Seeing my curious face, Mashiro seemed to have some idea of what I was thinking.

“It’s true that I used to be more of a night owl. But there are many cases where it’s more convenient to live as a day person.”
“Well, that’s true…”
“Just like people, once you get into the habit of it, it doesn’t bother you too much.”

It seemed that my fears that I might be pushing her too hard were unfounded.
I guess she was right, it’s just that I’m too weak in the morning, as she said, and it was really pathetic that she was spoiling me.

But Mashiro doesn’t blame me for that at all, in fact, I feel that she wanted me to rely on her more and to be pampered.
When I first met Mashiro, I thought that I had to protect her with a more firm heart. It has been a while that we are like this.

“Ummm…thank you for every day.”
“No, it’s what I like to do.”

I swallowed my momentary apology to Mashiro and instead said thank you.
She gave me the same answer as usual, which made me feel a little digressive, but since she said that, I couldn’t do anything.

“I’ll finish preparing breakfast soon.”

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“I’ll go wash my face first then.”

We exchanged the usual conversation and went about our morning routine.
As I ate breakfast with Mashiro, I thought about our plans for the day.

Nominally, it was a double date, according to Sakakibara. It was true that the term “double date” may be appropriate in the general public’s view of a pair of men and women going out together.
However, Sakakibara and Ayano-san are clearly lovers, but that doesn’t apply to Mashiro and I.

The real purpose of our double date today was to clear up the misunderstanding about that.
And instead of covering up the misunderstanding of us being lovers with more lies, I decided to reveal everything about my true relationship with Mashiro, or in other words, Mashiro’s existence.

“Satou-san…?”
“Hmm? What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s just that…was today’s meal wasn’t to your liking?
“Huh? No, not at all. …Why?
“You looked a little…grim, or rather, troubled.”

It was only after Mashiro told me that that I finally realized that I had a very wrinkled face between my eyebrows.
I hurriedly apologized to her and released the tension from my facial muscles.
She really can’t tell how many emotions I’m feeling. She said that I was the type of person who easily showed it on my face, but I’m not aware of it at all.

“What’s on your mind?”
“…Well, you know. I’m just thinking about today.”

“Ah, I see…”

That was enough to let her know what I was thinking. Her expression clouded over a bit.
When I first told Mashiro about the double date, she already agreed to it.

However, she was going to be talking about herself to a third party. It would be strange not to be nervous.
At the very least, only a handful of people would know about her constitution.
As far as I know, I’m the only one who knows about it. I still haven’t been able to ask her any questions about her past, so that’s all I know.

“Is Mashiro going to be okay?”
“…Yes. I’m prepared for it.”

Mashiro gently put her hand on her chest and answered with a serious look in her eyes.
Compared to her, the extent of my anxiety was negligible. I had to make up my mind.

There are only a few hours left until the scheduled time. I organized my thoughts once again and cleared my head.