“You don’t need to be all the way in that corner—come closer, okay~?”

“No, no…that’s not possible…”

Nighttime. Bedtime. It goes without saying, but humans have a natural need for sleep.

From the very beginning, humans have had three fundamental desires: to eat, to sleep, and to reproduce. Without them, a living creature simply can’t fulfill its purpose as a lifeform.

In other words, what I want to say is that I want to sleep.

However, even sleeping presents a multitude of problems.

Normally, in my own house, going to sleep is nothing special—but in someone else’s room… and not just anyone’s, but an unbelievably beautiful girl’s room… just going to sleep here is a huge problem!

The most basic issue is where to sleep.

I thought it would be best to sleep on the floor and tried to do so, but she said,

“What are you doing? You’re sleeping in my bed with me, obviously. There’s no way I’d let a guest sleep in a place like that.”

She said it like it was the most natural thing in the world, and just like that, any chance I had to object was effortlessly crushed.

In the end, I ended up sleeping in her bed together.

I was held from behind, effectively pinned down like a body pillow.

Feeling a girl’s warmth, her softness, her body right next to me—there’s no way I can sleep like this!!

…or so I kept telling myself, but humans are strange. Before I knew it, morning had already come.

After eating the breakfast Fuyunagi-san made, we went to school together.

Honestly, I don’t want to go to school.

I don’t know what kind of rumors are circulating, and that scares me.

However, I am the one who caused this situation, and no matter the reason, I’ve involved her in it.

Therefore, I can’t let her go to school alone.

Fuyunagi-san and I walked together along the route to school.

As more students started to appear here and there, they kept sneaking glances in our direction.

They seem to be whispering amongst themselves, but none of them approach us directly.

“Fufufu, this feels nice.”

“Nice…?”

“Up until now, going to school with you was nothing but a fantasy. And whenever I went alone, someone would always swarm around me… But now, no one comes near me. If this doesn’t feel nice, then what would you call it?”

“Ah… ahh… I see… ahaha…”

It was so normal for me that I never even thought about it, but she was always surrounded by people.

When I think about that, I guess this situation really might feel nice for her.

Perhaps those who are popular have their own struggles.

“Yo, you two, good morning!”

“Ah, morning, Kato-kun.”

“What do you want? Could you not get in the way of me and Taku-chan?”

“Whoa! Harsh! Wait—this is the real you, Fuyunagi-san?”

“It is.”

“You’ve got to be kidding… bring back the pure persona…”

“What’s with you? You’re way too friendly with Taku-chan. I’ve been meaning to say this for a while—you’re getting a little too familiar.”

“Dude, she’s insanely in love with you. This goes way beyond anything I imagined.”

“If I’d known things would turn out like this, you understand why I couldn’t just honestly come out about it, right?”

“Fair enough!”

“Taku-chan…? Getting all friendly with your friend while leaving me behind… are you asking for me to be ignored? That’s fine, you know? To think you’d neglect someone like me… you really never fail to exceed my expectations… ufufu… ufufufufu…”

“Fuyunagi-san’s totally slipping into ecstasy over there. Amazing… you don’t get to see her like this very often…”

“Ahaha…”

I’d been worried about how things would turn out, but it seems that the other students’ gossip is nothing more than a trivial matter to her.

With that, I let out a quiet sigh of relief, thinking that maybe things at school would work out after all.