Arashi and Mizuki were quietly talking to each other, their voices low and calm, when suddenly someone called out to Arashi from behind.
Arashi turned around at the sound. As he did, he noticed that Ayane had woken up. She slowly rubbed her sleepy eyes, still half-dazed from sleep. When her vision cleared and she looked more carefully, she realized that Mizuki was already awake.
The moment Ayane understood this, she shot up from her place in surprise and relief. But in her hurry to move forward, she forgot that Miyu was sleeping right beside her. As Ayane stepped ahead, her foot accidentally landed on Miyu.
Losing her balance, Ayane stumbled forward. Miyu, feeling the sudden weight on her, woke up in confusion. Meanwhile, Ayane couldn't steady herself and ended up falling straight onto Hina.
Because of that, Hina also woke up abruptly, startled by the unexpected impact.
Seeing this entire chain of chaos unfold, Arashi and Mizuki couldn't hold their laughter anymore. The situation looked so clumsy and sudden that both of them burst into laughter.
Miyu, Ayane, and Hina looked at them with clearly annoyed expressions. Their faces showed embarrassment mixed with irritation. But their concern quickly took over.
The three of them immediately got up and rushed toward Mizuki, practically jumping onto her side as they surrounded her.
Miyu spoke first, her voice full of worry.
"Mizuki, how are you feeling?"
Ayane followed right after, her tone emotional.
"I was really worried about you."
Hina asked gently, scanning Mizuki for any signs of pain.
"Are you okay now? You're not hurting anymore, right?"
Arashi quietly watched this scene for a moment. Seeing how much they all cared for Mizuki, a small, calm smile appeared on his face. He then stood up from his seat and walked toward the door.
As he was leaving the room, he said,
"I'll arrange breakfast."
With that, he stepped outside, leaving the girls together.
As soon as Arashi stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him, he noticed that Ren, Takumi, and Satoru were already awake. The three of them were coming upstairs, climbing the stairs with sleepy but alert expressions, as if they had just woken up and sensed some movement in the house.
The moment Takumi saw Arashi, he immediately asked with concern,
"Arashi, what happened? Did Mizuki regain consciousness?"
Arashi nodded calmly.
"Yeah. She's fine now. She woke up a little while ago."
Relief appeared on their faces.
Ren let out a small breath and said,
"That's good to hear. But where are you heading?"
Arashi replied in a casual tone,
"Since everyone's awake, I'm going to make breakfast."
The second Satoru heard that, he stepped forward and said,
"How are you going to cook for so many people alone? I'll help you."
Takumi quickly added,
"I'll help too."
Ren scratched his head a little and said honestly,
"I don't really know how to cook anything… but I'll try to help a bit."
Takumi laughed lightly.
"Same here. I don't know much either, but let's see what we can do."
Arashi looked at all of them with a slightly doubtful expression and said,
"Just don't try to do big tasks on your own. Okay? You'll end up messing everything up."
Takumi and Ren replied at the same time, almost confidently,
"Don't worry, it won't be that bad."
Their synchronized reply made the atmosphere feel lighter, as if a chaotic but friendly breakfast preparation was about to begin.
As they walked side by side, Satoru glanced at Arashi's face. His eyes lingered on Arashi's tired expression, and he frowned slightly.
"Arashi… did you not sleep at all?" he asked.
Arashi replied calmly,
"No. I couldn't fall asleep."
Satoru looked more closely at him and said,
"What do you mean you couldn't sleep? Just look at your eyes — they're completely red. You can barely even keep them open."
Arashi gave a small, dismissive smile.
"It's fine. I can at least do this much for Mizuki. She's done a lot for me. I only stayed awake for one night — it's the least I can do."
Satoru stayed quiet for a moment before replying in a sincere tone,
"I don't know exactly what she did for you… but I do know it must be something big. Something that would make you feel like even if you spent your whole life doing things for her, it still wouldn't feel like enough."
Arashi nodded slightly.
"Yeah… you're right."
After a short pause, Arashi spoke again, his voice more thoughtful now.
"You know… when you guys head back later, you should properly apologize to Miyu. You said things in anger without thinking."
Satoru agreed immediately.
"Yeah, I should. Apologize properly. And try to make sure what happened doesn't happen again."
Satoru looked at Arashi with a faint smile and said,
"Ever since Mizuki came into your life, you've changed. And honestly… it's a good change."
Arashi looked forward quietly.
"Maybe I really have changed."
They were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn't notice where they were going. They had unconsciously started walking in circles inside the house.
Suddenly, Takumi's voice called out to them from behind,
"Hey! What are you two doing? Taking a tour around the house or what? We're supposed to go to the kitchen!"
Arashi and Satoru stopped and looked around. Only then did they realize they had been walking aimlessly while talking.
Ren chuckled lightly and said,
"At first we were going to call you out, but then we thought maybe you were going to grab something need."
Satoru scratched his head awkwardly.
"Alright, alright. Let's just go to the kitchen for now."
With that, all of them started to headed toward the kitchen together.