This happened three days before Golden Week.
“Thanks, Mum. The futon arrived.”
Yuzuru was informing his mother—Ayu—that the bedding she’d sent from home had arrived.
There was no way he could make his fiancée sleep in a sleeping bag.
Naturally, he had to prepare a proper set of bedding.
As for whether Arisa would sleep on the bed or the futon—
that was something to discuss later.
“I’m glad it arrived safely. …Make sure you don’t disappoint Arisa-san. Pull yourself together.”
“I know.”
Spending a day together once a week—
and actually staying together, even for a short time, were completely different things.
He couldn’t afford to let his guard down and do anything that might make Arisa dislike him.
“By the way, are you planning to just stay at home the whole Golden Week?”
“Of course not. …We’re going on proper dates too.”
Places like museums and galleries—
there were plenty of date spots that didn’t cost much.
…And he also intended to keep his promise to teach Arisa how to swim during Golden Week.
“That’s good to hear. …Listen carefully, alright? She’s a girl—you need to be considerate. There are things she won’t want you to see.”
“I know.”
She’s worrying too much.
Alright already.
Just as Yuzuru was starting to feel that way—
“Oh! Right!! Did you buy condoms?”
“W-what are you suddenly saying?!”
Caught completely off guard, Yuzuru’s voice shot up.
“What do you mean ‘what’? Contraception. Don’t tell me you haven’t prepared any?”
“…I’m not planning on doing anything like that.”
As a teenage boy, this was not something he wanted his mother prying into.
But Ayu seemed unconvinced.
“You never know. Things can happen in the heat of the moment.”
“Could you have a little more faith in your son’s self-control…?”
“Even if I want to, parents aren’t supposed to trust that.”
“….”
Yuzuru considered arguing, but it felt pointless.
No matter what he said, she wouldn’t drop her suspicion.
“You can buy them at a pharmacy. Just get some, in case. It’s not like you lose anything by having them. If money’s tight, I’ll include it in your allowance.”
“N-no… it’s fine. I’ll buy them myself.”
It was true—there was no downside to being prepared.
So Yuzuru reluctantly agreed.
Though there was no way he’d let his parents pay for that.
“Oh, and one more thing…”
“…There’s more?”
“Condoms aren’t one hundred percent effective.”
“…I know. They can break, right?”
“Good. …Listen carefully. If it breaks—if anything feels off—don’t be embarrassed. Call me immediately. Immediately. If it’s soon enough, emergency contraception will still work! Got it?!”
“I get it… I get it… I said I’m not doing anything, though…”
Feeling deeply awkward, Yuzuru ended the call.
“Yuzuru-san… Yuzuru-san?”
“…Huh? Oh—sorry. I was just thinking.”
Snapped back to the present by Arisa’s voice, Yuzuru blinked.
It was now the first day of Golden Week.
Since it was the first day, they’d decided to take it easy—playing games and relaxing at home.
And they had just finished dinner.
“…What were we talking about again?”
“We were deciding who should take a bath first.”
“Ah… right. I don’t really mind either way.”
“I see. …Then, as the host, please go ahead first, Yuzuru-san.”
“Alright, I’ll take you up on that.”
There wasn’t much point debating bath order.
Yuzuru stood up.
“…Oh, Yuzuru-san. About how long will you take?”
“Hmm… probably under thirty minutes. Should I be quick?”
When he asked, Arisa shook her head.
“No. …Please, take your time.”
For just a moment, her eyes seemed to waver.
But it must have been his imagination—her expression remained calm and composed.
Though he felt a slight sense of unease, Yuzuru headed for the bathroom.
A pair of jade-green eyes quietly watched his back as he left.
After confirming that Yuzuru had gone into the bath—
Arisa looked around the room.
Then she walked over to his bed—
and, just in case, peeked underneath.
“…Well, it wouldn’t be somewhere this obvious.”
She let out a small sigh of relief.
Then she recalled what her friends had said.
—Since you’ve got the chance, go look for any naughty magazines Yuzuru might have—
—He might have something on his computer—
—It’s hard to imagine Takasegawa-kun looking at that sort of thing… which makes me even more curious—
Arisa had firmly insisted that Yuzuru would never have or look at such things.
But… she was curious.
“If he doesn’t have any… then I suppose there really isn’t anything…”
She knew full well that Yuzuru wasn’t some perfectly pure and proper gentleman.
Even jokingly, he’d said things like preferring “blonde girls with big breasts.”
So surely—
he had something.
“…Maybe online…”
Her gaze drifted to his computer.
But she couldn’t bring herself to check his browsing history without permission.
“…I’m curious…”
Still, she couldn’t go rummaging through his entire house.
That would be an invasion of privacy.
So instead, she carefully observed her surroundings—
and then, her eyes landed on a medicine box.
The box itself was nothing unusual.
But a plastic bag was sticking out slightly.
“Yuzuru-san is… still a bit careless, aren’t you…”
He had probably just tossed medicine into the box while still in the bag.
He’d gotten better about cleaning lately, but little things like this still stood out.
People didn’t change that easily.
It might not bother him—
but for someone as meticulous as Arisa, small details like this were hard to ignore.
And once she noticed it, she couldn’t unsee it.
“…Honestly.”
She stood up and opened the medicine box.
Then she took out the contents from the plastic bag.
“…0.01? What is this?”
Tilting her head, she turned the box over to check the back.
