It was exactly 7:00 AM. The alarm on my phone, placed on the shelf above the headboard, started ringing incessantly.

Even though I could hear it, I started tossing and turning under the covers. I had little desire to get up. I would have preferred to stay in my warm bed, under the blankets, and keep sleeping until lunchtime, but I couldn't. I forced myself to slowly open my tired, aching eyes and, still groggy from sleep, grabbed my phone. With a quick swipe of my finger, I turned off the alarm.

I had fallen asleep late again that night. I had spent the whole evening, and then most of the night, reading books and manga online. Usually when I read online, I stay in the dark in my room and the only thing lighting up my face is my phone screen. That night, when I finally decided to go to sleep, my eyes were red and irritated from being too close to the screen. The dryness had lingered until this morning—I noticed it when I opened my eyes and a ray of sunlight hurt my iris. I knew that in the long run this would negatively affect my eyesight, but I didn't care that much. I love books; reading is my only way to escape reality. I've read so many, and I still have many more saved in my phone browser's favorites list.

I'd like to buy them, but given the excessive number of manga I've saved, I know for certain I couldn't buy them all with my money. That's why I try to read as many as possible online, even at the cost of irritating my eyes. As for physical volumes, I only have my favorites.

Yawning, I got out of bed and opened the windows on the wall opposite the bed to air out the room filled with stale air.

I headed to the opposite side of the room. Here were my desk, a bookshelf adorned with schoolbooks and my absolute favorite novels and manga, and a wardrobe where I kept my clothes. I approached the latter and took out my school uniform: a classic white shirt paired with a burgundy tie, a blue blazer, and a black skirt. I went to the bathroom and got ready quickly. I splashed my face repeatedly with cold water to wake up and moisten my still numb and reddish eyes.

I didn't have much time before my aunt and Hiro, her five-year-old son, woke up.

Usually I'm the one who prepares breakfast for everyone in the morning. I try to help my aunt as much as I can with household chores, like cleaning the rooms or washing the dirty laundry.

Our house isn't very big, since we live in an apartment. There's a bathroom, a kitchen, two rooms, plus a storage closet, but it's spacious enough for the three of us. Of those two rooms, one is all mine, the other is shared between my aunt and Hiro. He's still a child now, but when he grows up we'll have to find a solution so he can have his own private corner of the house, if not look for a slightly bigger house.

I went to the kitchen to prepare a hearty breakfast, especially for my aunt who needs energy in the morning since she works a lot.

Usually we have a quicker breakfast consisting of coffee and bread with jam, but I had already prepared some things the night before, so I finished the remaining preparations and made a traditional breakfast with miso soup, fish, and nattō.

Not long after I finished the preparations, my aunt arrived in the kitchen, still half asleep.

"Good morning, sweetheart!"

She exclaimed, yawning half asleep.

"Good morning."

I replied smiling as I finished plating everything.

"I smelled the miso soup and woke up right away."

"I figured. It's your favorite dish. Is Hiro still sleeping?"

"No. I just woke him up. He's probably getting ready... Ah! Here he is."

"Good morning."

Said Hiro, also still drowsy. Now that everyone was in the kitchen, we sat down at the table and ate.

"Bon appétit."

We said in unison.

We were enjoying our breakfast when my aunt, looking at her phone, realized she was late as usual.

"Darn, it's late. And I also have to take Hiro to school!"

She exclaimed loudly with great surprise and poorly concealed resignation.

She started eating the remains of her breakfast quickly, urging Hiro to do the same, then they both went to get ready.

Being used to always being late, she didn't take long to get dressed and put on makeup: not liking heavy makeup, she only added a touch to her face. She worked as an assistant at a large travel agency and wore typical office lady attire with black low-heeled shoes.

My aunt is a beautiful and very youthful woman—if I hadn't seen with my own eyes that she had a child, I wouldn't have believed it. Her uncommon height was well accentuated when she put on her heels, which made her taller and highlighted all her femininity. She has beautiful brown hair and honey-colored eyes, not to mention her voluptuous chest. She told me that at her job there have been quite a few men who tried to court her, but she always refused. She prefers to keep her private life separate from her work life.

After about ten minutes she was ready. Hiro was fairly self-sufficient. He had prepared his backpack the day before and had gotten dressed in a few minutes. Aware that his mom was always late in the morning, he must have learned to get ready quickly too.

They both took their school backpack and bag respectively, put on their shoes, and rushed out of the house. I went to the front door with them to say goodbye and give Hiro his lunch.

Afterward, I went back to the kitchen and sat down at the table again to finish my breakfast in peace. Once I was done, I put the dirty dishes in the sink—I would wash them when I got back—grabbed my backpack, put on my shoes, and left the house to head to school.

I attended a high school in the Shinagawa district of Tokyo.

My house wasn't very far from school; you could get there pretty quickly.

Given the proximity to the building, many students from that school often passed by my house. For this reason, every morning when I left the house, I was always careful not to be seen by them. I was already well-known enough because of the gossip, and I didn't want to be in their crosshairs first thing in the morning, nor did I want them to figure out where I lived. As every morning, I mechanically went through my usual routine.

During the journey, despite the proximity, I always tried to take longer routes than necessary to avoid the crowd of students that formed on the way to the school building. My intention was to minimize the chances of meeting any of them as much as possible.

Once I got near the gate, I waited for the bell to ring from a corner away from the entrance, and once it rang, I waited a few more minutes before going in.

Most kids entered right after the bell, so to lower the chances of running into any of them, I waited a bit longer before entering so that the number of students would decrease.