Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

I can't sleep...

I looked at the clock.

It was already three in the morning.

I'd tried counting sheep, but I wasn't getting sleepy at all.

Giving up on that, I turned on my reading lamp and tried reading for a while.

But maybe because I was so nervous, I could follow the words with my eyes without taking in a single thing.

I rolled back and forth across my bed until I finally ended up facedown, burying my face in my pillow.

I held my breath for a while—

“Pwah!”

Then I lifted my head and took a huge breath.

I checked the clock again.

It was already four.

“...Forget it.”

I finally gave up on sleeping, climbed out of bed, and decided to continue working on the painting I'd left unfinished.

It was a landscape based on one of the photographs I'd taken during the trip to Kyushu with my parents over spring break.

Kyushu had been amazing.

We'd enjoyed the hot springs, the food was delicious, and there had been so much fresh seafood.

The vast scenery around Mount Aso in Kumamoto had been incredible, too.

But—

The thing that impressed me most was Kumamoto Castle!

That was what I was painting now.

I'd enlarged one of the photographs I'd taken on the trip and was using it as a reference.

The cherry blossoms were so beautiful...

Remembering how they had looked that day, I began adding more petals to the painting.

One petal, then another.

I carefully layered them one by one.

As I worked, my head gradually began to feel heavier and heavier.

And before I knew it—

I'd fallen asleep facedown on my desk.

Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

The vibration of my phone alarm woke me.

“...Huh?”

For a moment, I had no idea where I was.

I stared sleepily at the painting in front of me until my memory finally caught up.

Oh, right.

I fell asleep while I was painting...

I picked up my phone and checked the time.

Eight in the morning.

I covered my face with both hands and stayed completely still for a while.

My head was spinning.

Today was Saturday.

Dad and Mom were both home.

And—

Today was the day Yano-senpai was coming over.

I'd been so nervous all week that I hadn't been sleeping very well.

But last night had definitely been the worst.

I hope my face isn't puffy...

With a bad feeling about it, I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

“Ugh...”

Just as I'd feared.

My face was puffy.

“Oh, no...”

I quickly soaked a towel in cold water, wrung it out lightly, and carried it to the refrigerator.

I put it on a plate and placed it inside to chill.

I figured I'd start getting ready while I waited for the towel to get cold.

Just then, Mom came out.

“Oh? Kaname, you're already awake?”

“Morning, Mom!”

As usual, I greeted him with a kiss on the cheek.

Partly because Mom had spent time living overseas, we'd always made a point in our family of expressing our affection openly, both in words and actions.

“Oh? Your face is pretty puffy today.”

Of course Mom noticed immediately.

“What am I going to do? I got so nervous...”

When I admitted it, Mom gave me a puzzled look.

“What are you so nervous about?”

“Because... what if he finds out about our family and it causes trouble for you or Dad...?”

That was only half of what I was feeling.

The other half—

I didn't really understand myself.

Just thinking about Yano-senpai coming to my house made something deep inside my chest refuse to settle down.

Mom looked at me and smiled gently.

“It'll be okay even if he does find out.”

“Huh?”

“When we think about you, we know we can't keep things like this forever. Your happiness is more important to us than anything else.”

His words made my chest tighten.

Then, with a slightly mischievous smile, he continued.

“Your dad and I were actually talking about it. Depending on how the conversation goes today, we might just tell him.”

“...What?”

The moment he said that, an emotion I couldn't put into words welled up inside me.

Was I happy?

Did I feel guilty?

Or was I relieved?

I didn't even know.

As I stood there silently, looking down, Mom gave me a gentle push on the back.

“Come on. The time will be here before you know it, so go get ready. You've got that towel chilling in the fridge, don't you?”

“Yeah...”

A little while later—

I was sprawled across the sofa with the cold towel over my face.

“Oh? Is that Kaname lying there?”

Judging by the voice, it was Dad.

“Morning, Dad!”

I called out without removing the towel.

“Is your face swollen?”

Apparently, he'd noticed immediately too.

“Ah... I was just so nervous last night that I couldn't sleep.”

Dad laughed.

“Hahaha! What kind of excuse is that? You sound like someone who was too nervous to sleep the night before a date.”

“............”

“............”

Huh?????

For some reason, Dad and I tilted our heads at exactly the same time.

Something about what he'd just said didn't quite sit right with me when—

“Come on, Tsukasa!”

Mom's voice rang out.

“You'd better start getting ready or Yano-kun will be here! He said eleven, right? If you're going to put on your disguise, you've only got an hour left!”

“What!?”

I shot up and looked at the clock.

“It's already ten!?”

An hour later—

Ding-dong.

The intercom rang.

“...He's here!”

My heart gave a heavy thump.

Our apartment was on the forty-eighth floor, the top floor of the building.

The higher the building went, the narrower it became, so there were only three apartments on our floor. Because of that, each unit had plenty of space, with more rooms and a larger balcony than most homes.

Apparently, the building had originally been designed with people relocating from overseas in mind, so the apartments had a somewhat Western-style layout.

The first five floors were occupied by shops and other commercial spaces, with the residential reception desk located above them.

Visitors couldn't simply walk in and take an elevator to the residential floors.

They had to check in at the reception desk first. Their identity was verified, the resident they were visiting was contacted, and only then were they given a card that allowed them to use the appropriate elevator.

So there was almost no chance of a stranger simply wandering all the way up here.

Which meant—

If someone had just rung our intercom, Yano-senpai was already standing outside our front door.

I hurried to the intercom and checked the screen.

There he was, smiling brightly and waving at the camera.

“Yes! I'll open the door!”

I put down the receiver and hurried toward the entrance.

For some reason—

Dad followed right behind me, looking just as restless as I felt.

...Why is Dad nervous too?

I opened the door.

“Welcome, Senpai. Come on in.”

I placed a pair of slippers neatly on the floor for him.

“Thanks for having me!”

Senpai took off his shoes and changed into the slippers.

Meanwhile, Dad stood behind me, mumbling awkwardly to himself.

Senpai looked up at him.

“Wow, your dad is really tall. How tall are you?”

“Ahh... let's see... Kaname-kun, how tall was I again?”

For some reason, Dad threw the question at me.

“What? I don't know! Didn't you say you were one-eighty-something?”

...Yep.

Dad was definitely a little nervous too.

“Oh, Yano-kun! Welcome!”

Mom came out from the kitchen.

“Oh, this is for you. It's nothing much, but...”

Senpai handed him the gift he'd brought.

“Oh, you really didn't have to! Thank you.”

Mom's face immediately lit up when he saw the box.

“Cake from Franc Loco! It smells wonderful. I love their cakes.”

“Oh, good! I have a huge sweet tooth, and I love their cakes too, so I'm glad I chose them.”

Senpai smiled happily.

“Still... this is an incredible place you live in.”

As Senpai looked around, Dad immediately jumped in.

“The view's great too! Come on, take a look.”

Dad led him out toward the balcony.

“Whoa!”

Senpai's eyes widened.

“You can see so far from up here! Oh, look—the school looks tiny. And there's the park... This view is amazing.”

Then Dad spotted something else.

“Oh! Look at this painting too!”

“Dad!”

I knew exactly where this was going.

Too late.

Dad had already started proudly showing Senpai the paintings I'd hung around the apartment.

“Kaname painted this one too. And this one over here—”

“Dad, that's enough!”

I was so embarrassed I thought my face might burst into flames.

But Senpai looked carefully at each painting.

“You really do love painting, don't you, Kaname-kun?”

Just hearing him say that made me a little happy, despite my embarrassment.

“Well, I'm going to finish getting lunch ready, so you two relax in the living room. Would you like something to drink?”

Mom asked.

“Oh, I'm fine for now. Thank you.”

“Okay. Just let me know if you want anything.”

With that, Mom returned to the kitchen.

“Oh, I'll help.”

Dad followed him.

...Huh?

They just left me alone with Senpai?

I suddenly had no idea what I was supposed to do.

“Your parents are really close, aren't they?”

Senpai smiled.

“Yeah. If they have a spare moment, they're always flirting with each other.”

I couldn't help laughing softly.

“Can I see your room, Kaname-kun?”

“Huh? Oh, sure.”

I led Senpai to my bedroom.

“Wow. So this is what the view looks like from your room.”

He walked over to the window and looked outside.

“Do you live near here, Senpai?”

“Yeah. Hang on... From this direction...”

He stared out the window, apparently trying to picture the area in his head.

“Let's see. I can't tell exactly which building it is from here, but... it's over that way.”

He pointed toward the south side of the park.

“Then you live near the park too?”

“Pretty much. I can walk here from my house. It's probably about the same distance as walking from home to school.”

So he lived much closer than I'd expected.

“What do you usually do on your days off, Senpai?”

“Hmm... When I don't have club activities, I usually listen to music while I paint, or just relax. What about you?”

“Pretty much the same.”

“You like reading too?”

Senpai took a book from the shelves lining my wall and casually flipped through it.

“What kind of books do you like?”

“Let's see... mysteries, science fiction... things like that.”

“Oh? What about movies?”

“Movies? I like them, but I hardly ever go to the theater.”

“You don't like movie theaters?”

“Oh, no. It's not that. Because of my health, I try not to go to places where there are a lot of people.”

“I see.”

Senpai didn't press me any further.

“What about you? Do you like movies?”

“Yeah, quite a bit. I like suspense movies and crime stories.”

“Oh! Then, Senpai, come see this room.”

I led him to another room and opened the door.

“Whoa!”

Senpai couldn't help exclaiming.

Dad had converted the entire room into a home theater.

“Your house seriously has everything!”

“Yeah. This is one of my dad's hobbies...”

The moment the words left my mouth—

I froze.

There were posters all over the walls.

And the man staring out from them was—

the actor Soji Soga.

...Oh, crap!

I completely forgot about these!

But Senpai didn't seem to notice my panic.

Instead, he studied the posters with interest.

“Wow. Someone here likes serious, old-school actors.”

Then he turned toward me.

“Whose favorite actor is he?”

“Huh...?”

What do I do?

“Ah... well... these are... um...”

I stumbled over my words when—

“Lunch is ready!”

Dad's voice called out from the other room.

“...!”

Saved...

...I think.