Rice, miso soup, dashimaki tamago, spinach ohitashi, and nikujaga.
That was the breakfast menu for the day.
The nikujaga was leftover from the previous night.
And the spinach—this was its second day in a row.
(…Does she just really like spinach?)
As he ate the ohitashi, Yuzuru wondered.
With bonito flakes and soy sauce, it was simply delicious.
(Well, it’s probably just because it’s easy and tasty. Nothing deeper than that.)
After being together this long, he understood Arisa’s way of thinking and her cooking habits quite well.
She was the type who valued variety and colour in her dishes.
“Ohitashi”-type dishes provided that much-needed green, paired well with Japanese meals, were easy to prepare, and kept well.
And they didn’t get boring easily.
When in doubt—boiled greens.
She likely had no particular attachment to spinach itself.
In fact, sometimes it got swapped out for komatsuna. /tn: (komatsuna: Japanese mustard spinach)
“Your dashimaki tamago really is delicious.”
As always, the rolled omelette she made was reliably excellent.
There seemed to be quite a lot of dashi in it, yet it held together perfectly without falling apart.
“…I see. I’m glad.”
Her response to his praise was stiff.
As expected… something felt different about her today.
“Um… Arisa.”
“Yes?”
“About yesterday…”
The moment Yuzuru brought it up, Arisa froze.
Her porcelain-like skin took on a faint blush.
“About pushing you down… I’m sorry.”
As he apologised, Arisa scratched her cheek awkwardly.
“N-no… it’s fine. I was acting strange too.”
Strange.
Yes—last night, they had both been a little strange.
No one was really at fault.
That was just how things had gone.
…But Arisa still seemed to have something on her mind.
She looked like she wanted to say something.
Or ask something.
That’s how it seemed to Yuzuru.
“…Arisa.”
“Y-yes?”
“If there’s something you want to say… you can just say it.”
Honestly, it would be easier for him if she did.
At his words, Arisa hesitated slightly before speaking.
“Um… about last night.”
“Yeah.”
“…Did you do anything to me?”
Did you do anything?
It was phrased as a question.
Meaning—this wasn’t about what she remembered while awake.
It was about what happened after she fell asleep.
“Anything… well, I did carry you to the bed.”
At his answer, Arisa nodded.
“Yes, I know that… and then, after that… did you do anything?”
“….”
Yuzuru thought for a moment, then decided to answer honestly.
“I kissed you.”
“A-a kiss…?”
Arisa’s face flushed.
Then, hesitantly, she asked—
“W-where…?”
“On your forehead.”
“My forehead…”
She touched her own forehead.
The spot she touched was slightly off from where he had actually kissed her.
“…Was that not okay?”
“No, not at all. …It’s completely fine.”
It seemed that, for Arisa, a kiss on the forehead while she was asleep was within acceptable bounds.
Yuzuru felt relieved—but only for a moment, as she continued—
“…Was that really all?”
“Of course. I swear.”
“I see…”
It seemed she was satisfied that he hadn’t done anything beyond that.
Arisa let out a quiet breath of relief.
For now, the misunderstanding had been cleared up.
“So, what shall we do today?”
“Let’s see…”
Their conversation shifted to today’s plans.
Arisa still wasn’t fully able to swim, so ideally they’d go to the pool once more during the holiday—
“But going to the pool again today might be a bit tiring.”
“Yeah, I think so too…”
They had both fallen asleep quite early last night—
likely due to the fatigue from swimming.
Doing it two days in a row might be too much.
“Let’s just go on a normal date today.”
“That sounds good. …Somewhere calm would be nice.”
A quiet, relaxed outing—
that was what his fiancée wanted.
Since their last date had been rather intense (physically), Yuzuru agreed.
“Where should we go?”
“Hmm…”
Somewhere calm.
And ideally, somewhere that didn’t cost much.
After a moment’s thought, Yuzuru answered—
“How about a museum?”
