The moonlight scattered among Reiko's silver hair gradually weakened, replaced by a trace of warm sunlight that made her hair take on a golden hue.
Her good biological clock maintained by healthy sleeping habits prompted Reiko to wake up early after comfortable sleep. She affectionately nuzzled the girl she had held all night before realizing this wasn't a stuffed toy on the bed.
Her purple eyes, still carrying some sleepiness, squinted, then opened... carefully confirming that the girl in her arms hadn't awakened before feeling relieved.
This is too intimate, it would make Tsuan feel uncomfortable.
Although they were already sleeping together, Reiko could still use this excuse to deceive herself into maintaining distance.
She gently released Tsuan, then walked to the window to draw the curtains properly, blocking the ray of sunlight that had awakened her outside the window to avoid disturbing the child who was still in dreamland on the bed.
However...
Reiko remembered Tsuan's soft gasps when she couldn't endure it last night, and those completely red earlobes...
The one who affected her the most was obviously myself.
She carefully opened the bedroom door and went to the bathroom to start washing up, while Tsuan felt somewhat cold due to losing the embrace... and the strange sensation beneath her.
The girl, not knowing what had happened, only felt waves of unbearable tingling continuously entering her mind through her ears. Even though Reiko had already left, this feeling hadn't disappeared at all, still stubbornly affecting her sleep quality.
"Haw..."
Tsuan didn't understand what was wrong with her. She just felt somewhat uncomfortable, along with a strange sense of shame. She needed to quickly change into new clothes...
Reiko, who had already finished washing up and started making breakfast, didn't appear in the bathroom to witness all this as everyone might have imagined.
"So why is everything tomato canned food... this stuff tastes terrible."
Cold water washed away Tsuan's sleepiness. When reaching for her toothbrush, her fingers touched another toothbrush with obviously different texture from her own—because she usually put the brushing end into the toothbrush cup.
So she couldn't possibly touch...
The still moist bristles.
Reiko really didn't leave me...
A trace of weak happiness appeared in the girl's heart. She brushed her teeth while searching around the house, successfully hearing the range hood working when she reached the kitchen doorway.
Thank you...
Tsuan rinsed her mouth, spat out the foam, then changed into her school uniform... then immediately took out the magical girl posters from her bag and stuffed them under the blanket—since Reiko and she were about to go to school, they wouldn't return here!
So, this was the safest place!
Safety aside, Reiko had tried her best to successfully make breakfast while completely avoiding an entire refrigerator of tomato canned food.
Although there were only a few fried eggs and two bowls of sweet porridge with sugar, at least she didn't have to touch those tomatoes again...
Mm, next time she should buy some vegetables and meat to put in Tsuan's refrigerator.
She carried the plate out of the kitchen, set it on the dining table, then untied her apron while going back to the bedroom to wake Tsuan up. Both very tactfully didn't mention Tsuan's ears that were still red even now.
"Is it good?"
Reiko picked up some egg with her chopsticks, felt it was pretty good, then looked at Tsuan who was burying her head in the porridge.
"It's good~"
Good is fine... though she'd probably say anything I make is good.
Reiko glanced at the time, found it was almost time for school, then looked out the window and indeed saw her family's car there.
Reiko's father, a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses, was sitting in the driver's seat, waiting for his daughter to get in the car, and also...
"Hello, Nakana-san!"
Reiko protected the black-haired girl who was startled and trembling by his sudden loud voice behind her, kindly reminding her father not to be so excited.
But she clearly underestimated her father's enthusiasm.
"Ahahaha! Nakana-san!"
The head that let out a hearty laugh turned to stare directly at Tsuan, not just sizing up his daughter's newly appeared good friend, but also because...
"I heard from Reiko that you really like eating the tomato soup canned food our company produces?!"
This kind of canned food usually appeared as props in prank shows on TV, rarely did anyone actually consider them food, let alone like them.
Although it was somewhat profitable, when he heard that there really was someone, even a young person, who liked eating his company's products, he immediately became so excited he could barely contain himself and was even prepared to give all employees a day off.
"So that was produced by Uncle's company?"
Her fear of strangers was diluted by her favorite food. Tsuan looked at Reiko beside her and found she had already embarrassedly looked out the car window.
"That's right, that's right! How is it, do you really like eating it!"
Reiko's father was full of expectation, waiting for this loyal customer to give him praise... even praise on any level would be fine...
"Mm mm! Because it's really cheap, even spending just a little money can buy a lot!"
Tsuan cleared her throat somewhat uncomfortably to maintain her politeness.
"Thank you Uncle... for selling it so cheaply."
Reiko sitting beside them couldn't help but undermine this, crossing her arms and continuing Tsuan's words without good humor.
"Because if they don't sell it at a price that's almost giving it away for free, no supermarket would stock this kind of thing."
"Reiko, don't say that! This is still..."
Reiko's father somewhat embarrassedly changed the subject, and Reiko and Tsuan arrived at the school gate amid the cheerful atmosphere.
"If anything happens, you must tell me first. If you're unhappy, come find me too. And if you're bullied, you can also come find me..."
Anyway, no matter what happens, you can find Reiko.
"Mm!"
Tsuan tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear and waved at the first good friend who had spent a full day with her.
What a pity.
Reiko watched Tsuan walking farther and farther away through the car window and couldn't help but sigh softly.
If only we were at the same school, then...
I, why am I always thinking about Tsuan! This isn't right, we're good friends... no matter what, I should leave some space for her!
Mm...
She opened her phone, refreshed Line, and looked somewhat disappointedly at the tomato avatar that had no new messages flashing.
Tsuan habitually tried to avoid Megumi walking toward her, but Megumi made the same decision—the two faced each other in the narrow hallway, then Megumi smiled and stepped aside to make way for Tsuan.
"You go first~"
This was Tsuan's first time experiencing this kind of feeling. She nodded somewhat uncomfortably, then walked into Megumi's classroom in front of Megumi, and under Megumi's sparkling gaze, sat in that—
—'empty seat' next to her.