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Three months had passed, and it seemed living with someone else had become a part of me.

The name Inazuki had naturally become a part of the things I associated with the words “daily life,” and I no longer felt any strangeness when picturing her face.

It was during summer break, when I was tired of moving from one friend’s house to another and thinking it might be time to go home. That’s when Inazuki approached me on the school rooftop and invited me to her place.

I still wonder why I chose to follow Inazuki at that moment. I was the first student to arrive in the classroom, and Inazuki was the second. I remember it was around June when she started coming in second, and since then, we had often talked. But we weren’t close. More than acquaintances, but less than friends. That was the nature of our relationship at that time.

I don’t think I would have gone to just anyone who offered to let me stay over. If a stranger had invited me, I wouldn’t have gone, so I guess I had some kind of boundary within myself. That boundary was rather vague and something I didn’t quite understand myself.

“I should probably go home soon.”

I needed to go home and clean. More importantly, I thought it was about time to leave Inazuki’s house.

No matter how much Inazuki permitted it, continuing to burden her financially didn’t sit well with me. I intended to give her all the allowance I received from my parents, but Inazuki refused to accept it. Besides, the stronger my attachment to Inazuki became, the more it would hurt when it eventually broke, festering into something irreparable.

I needed to methodically eliminate every trace of Inazuki from my daily life and firmly recognize that I would eventually be alone, or else I might end up falling apart.

Being with someone forever was impossible.

I couldn’t genuinely love anyone.

I could never understand another person’s heart, and my words could never be fully understood. I had accepted this.

“…I need to wake up Inazuki.”

Lately, Inazuki had been using me as a substitute for her alarm clock. Since I had to get up early to make breakfast anyway, it was fine, but seeing her rely on me so much made me a bit worried. Once I’m gone, she’ll probably just go back to using her alarm clock.

I turned off the heat under the pot and walked to her room. I knocked, confirmed there was no response, and entered. As expected, Inazuki’s room had a scent that was distinctly hers. On top of her dresser, I saw something different from the diffuser she had given me.

“Inazuki, it’s morning. Time to get up.”

Inazuki’s room was hot.

Despite the air conditioning being set to a high temperature, Inazuki was completely wrapped up in her comforter and blanket. She looked like a baby. I wondered if she would be embarrassed if I took a picture and showed it to her. I always thought things like that.

“Inazu…”

As I shook her shoulder, she pulled my arm.

It didn’t happen every day, but sometimes Inazuki would try to get me to lie down and sleep again. Most of the time, she was just groggy and would quickly come to her senses and let go, but today her hand wouldn’t release.

Whoever marries Inazuki in the future is going to have a hard time. With a weak will, they might end up lounging in bed with her all day. I’m not that weak-willed, so I have enough self-control not to sleep until night.

“Inazuki. Breakfast is ready.”

Mumbling, Inazuki brought her face closer to mine. She wasn’t waking up at all. The plan to lure her with breakfast had failed.

Hmm.

Was there any other effective way to wake Inazuki up? I couldn’t think of one. I remembered watching a wake-up prank show with Inazuki once, but unfortunately, I didn’t have any party poppers on hand.

“Inazuki. Ina-chan. Tsukkii… Misora.”

When I called her name randomly, she finally responded to the last one.

Her eyes slowly opened, and the faint light in them reflected me.

“Good morning.”

She was still a bit dazed, blinking her eyes sleepily.

“Good…morning.”
“Yeah. Let go of my hand now. I’m going to set the table.”
“Oh, okay.”

Once Inazuki let go of my hand, I immediately stood up and reached for the door.

“Inazuki, don’t fall back asleep.”
“I know. I’m good at waking up.”
“Yeah, right. If you fall back asleep, I’ll eat your breakfast too.”
“You’ll gain curves.”
“Curves, huh? That sounds kind of lewd, Inazuki.¹”
“So you think about suggestive things too, huh, Iroha.”

For a moment, the atmosphere turned weird. Inazuki, still groggy, seemed to be looking over my entire body.

“…If you don’t come soon, I’ll really eat it.”

With that, I headed back to the living room.

Inazuki emerged from her room ten minutes after I had set the breakfast on the table, and it took another five minutes for her to finish getting ready for the day.

“It’s lukewarm…”
“Because you took so long to get up.”
“Mmph.”

Today’s breakfast was Chinese rice porridge. I had made it because Inazuki had mentioned wanting it before, but now it had cooled down and lost some of its flavor. I was used to reheating food, so I started to take her bowl to warm it up, but she stopped me with her hand.

“It’s fine. I’ll eat it as it is.”
“Isn’t it less tasty when it’s cold?”
“It’s still delicious. You made it, Iroha.”
“Are you saying everything I make is delicious?”
“Yeah. It really is.”

I didn’t mind the compliment.

I had practiced cooking a lot to feed my parents, so I was good at it. In the end, though, they were often late coming home, and I rarely had the chance to serve them my dishes. Besides, my parents weren’t interested in my cooking. They only cared about measurable achievements—test scores, grades, and the like. They hardly ever commented on anything else.

How many times had I pleaded for more attention, more praise? None of those words ever reached them, and what remained was a doll-like version of me, filled with feelings of loneliness. But it was precisely because I had led such a life that I met Inazuki.

Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

The better this relationship was for my present self, the more it would poison my future self. Even knowing that, I continued to desire this life and had made it this far.

It felt hopeless.

“Inazuki, what did you do for meals before I was around?”
“I’d either buy something from a nearby supermarket or eat out.”
“That’s unhealthy.”
“If you think so, you should just keep making my meals forever.”

Forever. She often used that word.

If I could accept that without reservation, I might be happy, but that wouldn’t be me.

“Inazuki, you should try cooking too.”
“I’ve never done it before.”
“Not even once in twenty years of looping?”
“Yeah. Living alone, it’s easy to think it’s too much hassle.”

If the previous timeline really existed, that would mean she had lived for over thirty years and never thought about cooking.

Could that really be possible?

Well, maybe that’s just how high school students are. But when I thought about it, adding up all the time, she was much older than me. She could be around the same age as my parents. I chuckled a little. Inazuki was still Inazuki. No matter her actual age, the Inazuki in front of me was everything to me.

“Want to give it a try? I can teach you.”
“No. If I learn how to cook, you might stop making meals for me.”
“You might regret it later.”
“If that happens, it’ll be your fault, Iroha.”

She said this while eating her lukewarm porridge.

“Why?”
“Because I’ve gotten used to your cooking, and now I don’t feel like cooking for myself anymore.”

If she had become accustomed to the flavors I added to her daily life so suddenly…

Even if I disappeared tomorrow, she would probably get used to the taste of her old meals again. People were like that. They easily adapted to most things and forgot what life was like before.

“Inazuki, you know…”

I was thinking it was about time to go home.

Those words wouldn’t come out of my mouth because I was weak.

But, well, maybe I could just leave and send her a message later. That might work out somehow.

…No. Knowing Inazuki, she’d probably come charging at me at school if I did that.

So, what would be the best way to part ways cleanly? Should I say I got tired of her? There’s no way I could do that. If I could say something like that, I would have left this house much earlier.

I had too many memories here. The kitchen utensils were arranged in places easy for me to reach. Our toothbrushes were lined up together, and our colors were mixed in every room. When I woke up in the morning, I felt Inazuki’s presence, and that had become normal.

Erasing this from my life would bring immense pain and suffering.

So, would I stay with Inazuki forever? It wasn’t even a question worth considering.

“It’s about time…”
“It’s about time for us to go out.”

Inazuki interrupted my words.

“…?”

She quickly finished her porridge like an athlete and stood up.

I didn’t even have time to comment on her bad manners as she grabbed my arm.

“Let’s go to places we haven’t visited together yet. I’ve thought of a few.”
“Wait, Inazuki. I haven’t finished eating.”
“I don’t care.”
“And the dishes aren’t done.”
“Leave them. Time is limited.”

The person who had repeated timelines over and over again was saying that.

I thought about it with a strange calmness as Inazuki pulled me along. She was forceful. I was surprised at how easily I allowed myself to be swept away by her assertiveness. Once she decided on something, Inazuki was unstoppable. When we returned, I’d probably be scrubbing the dried rice off the dishes.

When we returned?

Had I come to expect that I’d be coming back here without even realizing it? But…

“Come on, Iroha.”

She smiled.

I had a lot to think about, but that smile blew all those thoughts away, and I found myself smiling back naturally. I felt the sound of my heart being filled by Inazuki.

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1. TN: Not sure how to put this. Inazuki said むちむち which means plump/chubby, but also often means voluptuous. I was tempted to just use ‘thicc’, lol.