Sayoko pushed the door open and immediately saw Hikari still asleep in the bed.
Soft morning light, not too glaring, slanted through the window and into the room.
A few specks of light fell on the young man's handsome cheek.
Looking at that young, delicate face, Sayoko's heart could not help but beat faster.
Although she had seen him many times yesterday, seeing him again still made her sigh.
'Hikari-kun is all grown up, really handsome.'
Sayoko's mouth could not help but curl slightly as she prepared to call the sleeping young man to get up.
But she suddenly paused, opened her mouth wide, and a look of shock appeared in her bright eyes.
"Why is the duvet... so bulging?"
Seeing the duvet that looked like a sunshade, Sayoko was full of surprise.
Her gaze returned to Hikari's young face. After a long moment of astonishment, Sayoko suddenly had an understanding.
"At Hikari-kun's age... this is probably normal."
"This must be uncomfortable."
"As his aunt, I should help him." [T/N: Definitely.]
Sayoko sat on the bedside, lightly biting her lip, hesitating for a long time.
In the end, she did not call Hikari-kun awake. Instead, she pulled back the duvet.
Those lips painted with rosewood lipstick, bright and tempting, parted slightly.
———
At dawn, with last night's dew and frost just dripping from the trees, Miyuri stepped out of her house.
Still sleepy, she planned to go wake Hikari to eat breakfast together.
And, using the excuse of thanking Hikari for his help yesterday, continue giving him lessons.
No, rather, using the lesson as an excuse to thank him for helping her yesterday.
'Yes, that's right!'
But when she arrived at Hikari's house intending to sneak in and surprise the sleeping Hikari, she found that Hikari was not sleeping at home.
She searched every room; all were empty.
"That's wrong, Hikari-kun's not at home. Could something have happened to him?", Miyuri couldn't help but feel worried.
After all, Hikari-kun hadn't come back to Ino Village for years. It was possible he could be lost.
But Miyuri frowned and looked around more carefully. She noticed Hikari-kun's shoes and coat weren't at home. Suddenly she thought of a possibility.
"After dinner last night, Hikari-kun seemed to say he was going to see Sayoko."
"Could it be that Hikari-kun stayed over there last night?"
"That annoying, stinky woman, how could she be like that."
"If I had known, I would have slept with Hikari-kun last night!"
The more she thought of this possibility, the more regretful Miyuri became.
She and Sayoko had not gotten along since long ago. When they were children they argued over who was closest to Hikari.
Sayoko was a little older then, more gentle and considerate, more approachable. Miyuri always felt the other had an advantage in age.
In terms of being virtuous, she might even be better, so she had always been resentful and thought Sayoko was closer to Hikari-kun.
So they did not get along very harmoniously.
The more she thought, the more Miyuri suspected that Hikari-kun might very well have stayed over at Sayoko's last night.
She immediately lifted her skirt and hurried out, heading for Miyuri's izakaya.
———
Pop!
At breakfast, Sayoko, who had bitten down too hard and felt like her jaw might dislocate, painfully lifted her head and spat out the soy milk straw.
Actually, she had planned to eat udon for breakfast today.
But because of some unexpected circumstances, she had to choose other breakfast items like fried dough sticks and soy milk.
Sayoko pouted helplessly, still with a lot of soy milk residue in her mouth.
Already a bit full from eating, she planned to spit out the rest and go brush her teeth.
But just as Sayoko forced her aching waist and numb pretty legs to stand, she suddenly heard a voice calling from downstairs.
"Hikari-kun? Hikari-kun are you here?"
"Sayoko? Are you home? Did Hikari-kun come to your place?"
"Please open the door quickly. If you don't open it, I'll come in myself, okay?"
Hearing that suddenly familiar voice, the one who had just sneaked a bite, Sayoko trembled.
She quietly leaned out from the window and saw, sure enough, Miyuri's familiar figure standing at the door.
Perhaps because she had eaten breakfast, Sayoko's head was sharp. She quickly guessed why Miyuri had come so early.
While Sayoko was thinking,
Miyuri was already calling Hikari-kun's name and walking into the house.
———
Seeing Miyuri rush in without permission, Sayoko knew the she was probably here to find Hikari-kun. Hikari-kun had told her yesterday that when he came to the countryside, Miyuri had picked him up; they had already met.
Miyuri had even taken him home. Hikari-kun had also eaten at Miyuri's house yesterday.
So Miyuri was likely coming this morning to find Hikari-kun for breakfast.
When she went to his house and found Hikari-kun not there, she guessed he might be at Sayoko's izakaya, or might have stayed the night here.
So very early this morning Miyuri stormed over here to find him.
If Miyuri came normally, Sayoko would just sneer a bit and that would be it.
But the her coming now made Sayoko feel very awkward.
After all, she had just helped Hikari out of a mess.
This matter absolutely could not be made known to Miyuri.
From the sounds at the stairwell, Miyuri should be coming straight up to the second floor and would be at the door soon.
Time was tight. She had little time to prepare.
She had to deal with the trace she had just left before Miyuri arrived, to avoid exposure.
Looking at Hikari who still seemed to be sleeping, Sayoko's brain raced.
Hearing Miyuri calling Hikari's name and the climbing footsteps getting closer, Sayoko realized she would not have time to spit out what was in her mouth. It would be obvious.
So Sayoko had to swallow it down, rolling her throat and enduring the discomfort.
Suppressing the fullness and slight nausea, she hurriedly drank some water.
Then she pulled Hikari's duvet back up, restoring it to its original look.
Only then did she force herself to walk to the bedroom door.
At that time, Miyuri had already come up the stairs and reached the second floor.
Seeing Sayoko standing outside the bedroom, Miyuri immediately asked, "Sayoko, Hikari-kun stayed at your place last night, right?"
Suppressing the slight flush on her cheeks and her embarrassment, Sayoko nonchalantly nodded and said, "Yes, Hikari-kun slept at my place yesterday. What's wrong? Do you want to report to Miyuri about it?"
Hearing that, Miyuri's face displeased, "You should have told me. I was the one who brought Hikari-kun home. This morning I suddenly found he wasn't at home. Do you know how worried I was?"
Sayoko smiled faintly, "Don't worry. Hikari-kun had a great time at my house, he was very happy."
Miyuri snorted at that, "Happy? What could Hikari-kun possibly enjoy with an old hag like you pretending to be young manful? You're getting on in years. Don't hang around Hikari-kun pretending to be young."
Sayoko did not back down and retorted, "Why should I care about you. Rather than me, Miyuri, you should deal with your fiance Natsuki and the matter with his younger brother Natsuki Akito first."
"Akito returned to the village and you must be in a mess. Don't have time to fight me over Hikari-kun. Take care of your own affairs first."
They had been rivals for a long time, so they easily hit each other's weak spots with words, and both now looked displeased.
Two equally beautiful women, their faces flushed, stared at each other.
Both Miyuri and Sayoko cared a lot about Hikari.
So even though the atmosphere was tense and both faces showed displeasure, neither would give an inch.
"I don't care about the matter with the Natsuki brothers. I don't want to deal with that now. I came to pick Hikari-kun up for breakfast. Move aside. I want to wake him up and take him to my house for breakfast."
After a moment of silence, Miyuri said to Sayoko in displeasure.
"You already make breakfast for Natsuki Akito and Natsuki every day, which is troublesome enough. I'm not like you. I only make breakfast for Hikari-kun alone, so it's more appropriate for Hikari-kun to eat at my place. You should go back," Sayoko directly rejected Miyuri's proposal.
Hearing this, Miyuri immediately protested, "I'm not making breakfast for Natsuki! Do you think you are the only one who can make breakfast just for Hikari-kun? I plan to do that too! Move aside!"
"No!", Sayoko's tone was firm facing Miyuri's insistence.
These two rivals fought even over who would feed Hikari-kun breakfast.
Suddenly Miyuri frowned and looked at Sayoko's slightly flushed cheek, "Sayoko, you seem... a bit off today?"
"I... what's wrong with me?", Sayoko suddenly felt uneasy when Miyuri stared at her intently as if making a big deal of it.
After all, if you have a clear conscience you fear no ghost, but this morning Sayoko had done a somewhat guilty thing.
Although her original intention was good, to help Hikari-kun solve certain problems. If Miyuri found out, it would not be simple. Embarrassment would be the least of it; being labeled a pervert would be worse.
While Sayoko fretted, Miyuri suddenly pointed at the corner of her mouth, "You, who say you take care of Hikari-kun, didn't even take care of yourself. You have a hair stuck at the corner of your mouth this morning and didn't notice."
"You careless woman, don't talk about taking care of Hikari-kun. Take care of yourself first."
Hearing this, Sayoko quickly reached out to touch her mouth.
Sure enough, she pulled out a curved, dark strand of hair.
Looking at the strand, her face suddenly flushed. She quickly made a fist and hid it in her palm.
"I... I... I got up early and when I was combing my hair I bit it without noticing. So what!"
"Fine! I'm not arguing anymore. I'll go wash up!"
"Hikari-kun is still sleeping. Don't wake him!"
Saying that, Sayoko hurried downstairs.
Seeing Sayoko leave in such a flustered way, Miyuri immediately wore a triumphant smile.
"Hah! I found your carelessness, didn't I? Don't talk about taking care of Hikari-kun. How shameless."
Sayoko's departure made Miyuri feel she had discovered the other's careless flaw, a small victory, and she was quite pleased.
Although she did not plan to follow Sayoko's suggestion, when she came to the guest room and found Hikari-kun still lying in bed and seemingly asleep, she did not want to disturb him either.
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