"Senpai, good morning~"
"Sorry for intruding, Yukinon."
On Saturday morning, Iroha and Yui knocked on Yukino's door.
This wasn't their first visit, and Yukino welcomed them inside with a gentle smile.
"Huh?"
Iroha, always sharp-eyed, immediately noticed two teacups on the coffee table when she stepped into the living room.
"Senpai, did you have a guest over just now?"
She blinked her beautiful eyes and casually asked Yukino.
"!"
Yukino's breath hitched for a brief moment, but she quickly composed herself.
With the shortest possible response, she simply said, "Yes," then naturally picked up the unused teacup and carried it to the kitchen, leaving the two of them to sit on the sofa for a while.
This minor detail didn't particularly arouse any curiosity from the visitors.
After all, even though Yukino wasn't the most sociable person, having a guest over wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
Their visit today wasn't for anything special either. It was merely a habit they had developed—enjoying the tranquility of Yukino's home.
The apartment had a great environment, an excellent view, and the air conditioning was always set perfectly.
There were no elders around to create an awkward generational gap, and if they had trouble with their studies, the top student in their grade was right there to help.
But most importantly, the person living next door to Yukino.
Even though Chisato had declined their recent invitations, citing his busy schedule, today was Sunday.
If she took the initiative to visit this time, surely she would get to see him, right?
After studying for a while, she could find some excuse to go over and see him. Hopefully, he would be home alone, without anyone else getting in the way.
With that thought in mind, Iroha brought out the cranberry cookies she had recently tried baking and shared them with everyone.
After hearing Yui's glowing compliments as she tasted them, Iroha felt her recent gloomy mood lift a little.
"Speaking of which, summer break is coming up soon," Yui said, licking the cookie crumbs off her fingers with interest. "What are your plans, Yukinon, Iroha?"
"Summer break, huh..."
Iroha rested her chin on her hand and gazed upward in thought.
"My parents mentioned that we'd be going back to our hometown to visit my grandparents. I'll probably go with them, but I doubt we'll stay long.
Sure, students have summer vacation, but adults don't get that luxury.
At most, they can only take about a week off, so once we're back, I'll probably just stay home with no other plans."
"That's surprising! I thought you'd have a lot planned with your friends, Iroha."
Iroha raised an eyebrow. "What gave you that impression, Yui-senpai?"
"Because you're cute and outgoing! You seem really popular."
"You're overestimating me. I don't actually have that many close friends in class.
There are only a handful of people I can really talk to, and even then, it's not like we share everything with each other."
"Huh?! No way!"
Yui looked absolutely shocked.
Iroha leaned back against the sofa, unconcerned.
"I'm not even talking about the guys—I don't really want to get too involved with them anyway.
But for some reason, a lot of the girls seem to dislike me. Maybe it's because of that, but I've never had great relationships with other girls since I was a kid."
"I see..."
Yui suddenly felt unsure of what to say. It felt like she had just opened a bad topic, making Iroha talk about something unpleasant from her past.
Even though Iroha herself didn't seem to mind, Yui couldn't shake the guilt, so she quickly scratched her head with an awkward laugh before turning to Yukino.
"What about you, Yukinon?"
Seeing Yui's pleading gaze, Yukino sighed and closed the picture book about cats in her hands.
"Summer break isn't anything special for me.
I'll probably do what I always do—stay home, read books, review next semester's material, cook things I enjoy, go out to buy necessities, and visit a cat café once in a while."
"Huh? But it's a long vacation! Aren't you going back home?"
"Maybe for a night or two, but I'll be back the next day. I prefer living alone."
After answering Yui's question, Yukino got up to slightly adjust the temperature on the standing air conditioner.
"As for me... aside from promising Yumiko that I'd go shopping with her for a day, I don't have any major plans either."
"That sounds nice, actually," Yukino said.
"Considering that we have to start focusing on college entrance exams soon, this might be the last truly relaxing summer break we'll have in a while. We should enjoy it."
She then took a bowl of freshly washed cherries from the fridge and placed them on the table.
"Whoa, they're huge!"
"Seriously."
Iroha and Yui gasped one after the other, then spoke in unison again.
"They must've been expensive, right?"
"Yeah, not cheap, huh?"
Yukino shook her head slightly while picking up her book again.
"A friend gave them to me. If you like them, eat as much as you want. You can take some home when you leave too."
"Introduce me to this friend, please! I need someone this thoughtful in my life... Mmm, so good!"
Jokingly, Iroha popped a cherry—bigger than her thumb—into her mouth. Her cheeks puffed out like a hamster's as a blissful smile spread across her face.
She was the type to find happiness in the simplest things.
Yukino merely smiled and said nothing.
She thought to herself, "You already know him."
That's right. The whole box of premium cherries in the kitchen had been a gift from her next-door neighbor, Chisato.
According to him, a company president he had collaborated with had sent over three whole boxes.
Since he couldn't finish them by himself, he gave one to her.
Yui, eating more carefully than Iroha, gently bit into her cherry instead of stuffing it all in at once.
"Come to think of it, Yukino, you really love cats, don't you?
Back at the school festival, Class 3 held a pet photography exhibit, and you stayed there for ages, completely mesmerized.
You even won a giant cat plush by correctly identifying all the different cat breeds in the photos!"
"Huh? That really happened?"
"Yeah! And one time, I accidentally saw Yukinoshita behind the school feeding stray cats with dried meat.
While the cat lowered its head to eat, she petted its head, and unconsciously, she started making soft 'meow meow' sounds with her mouth.
I quickly took a picture of her at that moment—it was super cute!"
Iroha's curiosity was instantly piqued.
"I want to see it!"
"Yuigahama-san, didn't I ask you to delete that photo...? And Isshiki-san, what's so special about this that you have to see it?"
Yukino, overwhelmed with embarrassment, tried to put a stop to it, but to no avail.
The two girls, who had huddled together to look, soon let out matching aunt-like chuckles.
Yukino let out a helpless sigh.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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