Episode 5: Last Night’s Heat, and Morning Coffee
Morning.
The alarm is going off.
I always wake up sharp and clean, but my eyelids are heavy.
Maybe because I cried yesterday.
Or maybe for another reason.
…Honestly, I barely slept after that.
It was almost light outside before I finally started drifting, and even then the sleep was thin and shallow.
— Yuno had kissed me.
That moment from yesterday plays on repeat in my head, over and over.
Lips meeting mine, slowly.
The first one had been soft, just a touch. But it didn’t end there.
As if to say more, she’d shifted the angle, gone deeper, the wet warmth of her tongue winding into mine.
I had no time to resist. I’d simply let it happen, and even found myself thinking it felt good.
What was that, exactly.
The thought of facing Yuno felt like a weight.
I stepped into the living room with careful feet.
A rich, full fragrance of coffee drifted softly past my nose.
“Ah, morning. Big sis.”
Yuno looked up from the open kitchen with a bright, easy smile. Then breezed straight on.
“Breakfast is ready~”
As if nothing from yesterday had happened at all.
…Maybe it had been a dream?
Yuno moved around the table with practiced ease, setting out the plates.
This morning: bacon and eggs, croissants, coffee.
We sat across from each other and ate.
The bacon crunched between my teeth with a rich, toasty flavor. When I pressed my fork into the fried egg, the yolk ran smooth and slow. Exactly the softness I like, just right.
As I ate in silence, last night’s kiss surfaced again.
Ah, no good. Thinking about it with her right there made it worse. My face went slowly, quietly hot.
I couldn’t look at Yuno.
The awkwardness made me reach for the remote without thinking.
On the morning show, a segment called “Our Little One” was just starting, introducing viewers’ pets. A puppy filled the screen.
“Oh, a Chihuahua. So cute~”
Yuno watched and gave a soft, happy laugh.
“Does big sis not have any pets?”
“This building doesn’t allow them.”
“Oh really. So if it wasn’t a no-pet building, you’d want one?”
“…I suppose. I’d thought about getting a cat.”
“Big sis likes cats? Huh, that’s surprising.”
“…What do you mean, surprising?”
I gave her a sideways look, and Yuno let out a small, sheepish laugh.
Being teased wasn’t what I’d wanted, but it had turned into exactly the right subject to shift the atmosphere.
Lighter voices moved through the room.
But still, I couldn’t stop wondering.
What yesterday had been.
Why she’d kissed me.
I took a sip of coffee, cleared my throat, and spoke.
“Hey.”
“Mm?”
Yuno lifted the corner of her mouth and tilted her head to one side.
Those large, bright brown eyes, aimed straight at me.
With an expression like a child who knows nothing, as though last night’s deep, heavy kiss had never happened.
The pale pink of her lips, curved up at the corners, smiling without a care.
“…Never mind. It’s nothing.”
Somehow, looking at that guileless expression, a small guilt rose in me, and I couldn’t ask anything at all.
“What is that. Weird,” said Yuno, looking down with a quiet huff of laughter, and bit into her croissant.
“…I’m going to keep trying. With work.”
After a small pause, I let the words fall.
Because I meant them.
Last night, being comforted by Yuno, something in my heart had settled just a little.
Yuno looked mildly surprised, then smiled warmly and gave a slow nod.
I finished eating and started getting ready.
At first I’d been uneasy leaving a complete stranger alone in the apartment, but I’d stopped feeling that way.
I handed Yuno money for lunch and dinner ingredients, slipped on my coat.
“Alright, I’m heading out.”
I said it, swung my bag onto my shoulder, and turned away — and then.
Tug.
My sleeve was caught.
And before I could understand what was happening, I was pulled gently back, and she folded herself around me in a soft embrace.
“Have a good day. Do your best.”
Yuno looked up at me slightly from below, eyes soft and narrowed, and said it with a gentle smile.
She was so close.
Held in that gaze, my heart gave a single loud beat.
Without meaning to, I felt my eyes drift downward.
Down her face. Down.
To those soft, pink lips.
Yesterday I had…
Ah, no good, I’m remembering it again.
“…You — if you’re going out… make sure you take the key. It’s auto-lock.”
I turned my face away, gave Yuno’s shoulders a light push, and stepped back.
Then said it shortly.
“Yeah yeah, I know~”
Yuno answered breezily, and gave a little wave, the oversized sleeves of her T-shirt swaying loosely at her wrists.
That small gesture made something stir, faintly, at the bottom of my chest.
＊＊＊
At the office.
The moment I pushed through the door, a taut, tight air met my skin.
A dry, brittle, strung-out feeling.
“Morning.”
I spoke to the staff.
The replies came back scattered, mechanical, quiet and brief. The whole office was on edge again.
I had to deal with the cash flow problem.
And on top of that, the string of resignations had left handover work piling up, which I had to cover. The gaps had to be filled with new hires. There were major client meetings I hadn’t been able to pass down to anyone yet.
Tasks stacked on tasks.
I pulled out my chair and opened my laptop.
By the time the screen came to life, my head was already full of numbers and names and deadlines. My fingers moved fast across the keyboard.
I worked through messages from clients on the chat tool, fired off replies, converted action items into lists, booked meeting rooms, sent materials.
And through all of it, last night’s kiss kept drifting through the back of my head.
Those soft lips.
The warm breath.
The wet sound that filled the room every time our tongues met.
My own body, aching with wanting more, growing damp.
When that moment surfaced, I felt heat rising deep inside me.
…No, no. What am I thinking about at work.
I need to concentrate.
As if to scold myself, I gave my own cheeks a light slap.
＊＊＊
I finished the day’s tasks and left the office.
On the walk home, I turned the cash flow problem over in my head.
The familiar route back.
The street lined with glass-fronted office buildings was strung tight even in the evening.
The people in suits moving past each other carried the fatigue of their respective days and walked without a word. I was one of them.
Only the sound of my heels, steady and regular, against the asphalt.
“…Huh? Reina?”
A voice called from behind.
A voice I recognized.
Without meaning to, my feet stopped.