I Just Want A Single Ending!

Seeing that he'd finally agreed, Ikuyo Kita let out a huge sigh of relief.

At least now she wouldn't have to worry about her old classmates prying into her "relationship," as long as she and Saku could convincingly play their parts.

Ikuyo Kita: Thank you!

Ikuyo Kita: When are you free, Saku-senpai?

Ikuyo Kita: I need to set a time with them.

Now, setting a date had become the next big issue.

Saku: You decide. My schedule's pretty open.

Band practice would resume next week, but most of his time would still be free, especially with no reserved practice room due to the typhoon and upcoming midterms.

Ikuyo Kita: How about next Saturday?

Since her old classmates didn't go to the same school anymore, meeting up on a weekday was nearly impossible.

Saku: Works for me.

Ikuyo Kita: Thank you so much. This really helps!

With the date set, they continued chatting a bit longer before finally calling it a night.

"Phew…"

Ikuyo Kita closed the chat after rereading their conversation several times. Even though her wording had been a bit awkward, she'd successfully convinced him to help.

Now all she had to do was inform her old classmates.

Noticing it was almost midnight, she shrugged and typed out a message. Accidentally chatting until midnight with your boyfriend? Seemed realistic enough.

Pressing send, Ikuyo felt another important question cross her mind.

How exactly was she supposed to act like his girlfriend?

She'd never dated before and had no experience in that department whatsoever.

Thinking hard, she came up with only one reference: the relationships she'd seen in movies and TV shows.

Real life wasn't a drama, though, and she knew copying what she saw on screen would be risky.

Perhaps she'd bring it up the next time she visited STARRY and ask the other band members for ideas. If they brainstormed together, they might come up with something useful.

With her mind made up, Ikuyo happily went back to scrolling through her feed.

Soon, a news headline caught her eye:

"Popular Blogger's Assistant Quits Over Wage Dispute."

Curious, Ikuyo clicked on the article.

It turned out to be as straightforward as the headline suggested: an assistant claimed they handled most of a blogger's content yet received little in return. They'd demanded a 40% cut of the blog's revenue, but when the request was denied, the assistant left to strike out on their own.

Ikuyo didn't have much to say on the matter—she was just catching up on the latest internet drama. If her classmates brought it up, at least she'd know the basics.

---

Meanwhile…

"I can't sleep…"

Lying in bed, Nagasaki Soyo scrolled aimlessly on her phone.

As she'd told Saku earlier, after a full day of rest, falling asleep was proving impossible.

After a while, a thought struck her, and she climbed out of bed to retrieve the gift Mutsu Wakaba had given her, which was still sitting on her desk, unopened.

Originally, she'd meant to unwrap it earlier, but the day's events had kept her too distracted.

Remembering everything that had happened today, Soyo finally opened it.

"A necklace…"

Under her bedroom lights, the delicate gold necklace sparkled, although it didn't elicit the thrill it might have earlier.

After all, Saku had already gifted her a pendant, so her enthusiasm for another piece of jewelry was a little diminished.

Of course, strictly speaking, Mutsumi had given her the necklace first. It was only that she'd unwrapped Saku's gift before his.

That was what really made things complicated.

Casting a glance at the yellow iris pendant carefully placed on her nightstand, Soyo decided she'd wear Mutsumi's necklace in her daily life. Partly, she wanted to preserve Saku's gift as a keepsake. And, well… the flower's meaning didn't exactly fill her with warm fuzzies.

Snapping a quick picture, she sent it to Mutsumi with a note of thanks.

After all, gratitude was important, and it would be disappointing if a friend's gift went unacknowledged.

As expected, there was no immediate response—no "read" mark on the message.

Soyo understood. It was nearly midnight, and Mutsumi was likely asleep by now.

But for her, sleep still refused to come.

Soyo returned to bed, aimlessly scrolling through her phone.

It wasn't until five in the morning that she felt a trace of drowsiness.

"I'll just sleep for a bit…"

Setting her alarm, she finally settled down to rest.

Tomorrow, she'd watch movies with Saku. Not getting any sleep would be out of the question.

---

Not long after, the alarm went off.

Nagasaki Soyo reached over to turn it off, instinctively tempted to sleep a little longer.

But the thought that today was no ordinary weekend—and that Saku was coming over soon—jolted her awake.

Yawning, Soyo started getting dressed when she realized something serious: her sleep schedule was completely thrown off from resting all day yesterday.

After a moment's thought, she decided not to worry about it. Worst-case scenario, she'd go to bed early tonight to get things back on track.

As soon as she finished washing up and headed downstairs, the doorbell rang.

Soyo checked to confirm it was Saku at the door before opening it.

"Good morning," Saku greeted, though he immediately looked at her with concern. "Are you feeling alright? You look kind of exhausted."

He'd asked to hold onto her spare key last night just in case she couldn't wake up or open the door for him. But using it without first checking up on her would have felt too intrusive.

"Eh? Is it that obvious?"

Soyo froze for a second. She'd definitely noticed the dark circles under her eyes while washing up, even applying some makeup to cover them. He shouldn't have been able to notice, right?

"Something just feels… off. You look a bit drained," Saku replied honestly.

He'd been coming over for breakfast for a while now and knew her usual morning state well enough to pick up on even small changes.

"Didn't sleep well last night," Soyo admitted.

"Still because of the fever?" he asked, sounding more worried.

"No, I just couldn't fall asleep. I only managed a couple hours around five."

Despite her exhaustion, she felt a lot better physically, though she was still incredibly drowsy.

"In that case, after breakfast, go back to bed for a bit."

Saku headed toward the kitchen to prepare breakfast, feeling it was only fair to let her rest.

"I think I'll pass," Soyo replied with a quick shake of her head. "If I nap now, I'll be awake all night again."

"True," he agreed.

Tomorrow was Monday, and she couldn't go to school half-asleep.

"Alright, then. Just sit back and relax—I'll handle breakfast."

"Mhm."

Soyo plopped herself on the couch, scrolling through movies to watch later.

School could wait; spending time watching movies with him mattered far more.

If she napped now, she'd miss her chance to watch a movie with him.

Even as she yawned, she scrolled through a list of movies until she found one that seemed fun. Glancing over at Saku, busy in the kitchen, she allowed herself a small, satisfied smile.

Honestly, it felt pretty nice being taken care of once in a while.

Especially by Saku.

It was a rare luxury she could get used to.

Though only under special circumstances, like being sick. If she relied on him all the time, her supposed role as the "older sister" would feel meaningless. He'd end up being more like an older brother.

Then again… wouldn't it be nice if he really were her older brother?

Soyo couldn't help but be a little tempted by the idea.

Older sister, younger sister… in the end, they'd still be family.

But after mulling it over for a moment, she let go of the thought. She was still two months older than him. Making him her "big brother" would be bending the rules a bit, wouldn't it?

Besides, she didn't want to bother him too much. With all his commitments—social media, the band—he didn't have much free time as it was.

So maybe she'd be the one to take care of him someday.

Soyo made up her mind with a small nod.

"Breakfast is ready!" Saku called from the kitchen.

Lost in her thoughts, Soyo was snapped back to reality by the sound of his voice. Today's breakfast was simple but nutritious, similar to the light meal he'd prepared last night.

"Coming," she replied, taking a seat across from him.

The choice of seating was deliberate—a reminder that sitting beside him was only an occasional thing.

"I'm digging in," she said, and their familiar breakfast routine began, sprinkled with casual conversation and amusing topics.

---

After breakfast and another round of medication, they finally moved on to the much-anticipated movie.

To set the mood, Soyo closed the curtains, dimming the room.

Just like last night, they sat on the couch, neither too close nor too far—a comfortably ambiguous distance.

Without further chitchat, Soyo pressed play.

She'd chosen another comedy, having looked up well-rated ones after learning it was his favorite genre. At least last night's insomnia had led to some productive research.

So tired…

The movie had barely started, yet she was already fighting off drowsiness.

Was this because of the medication? Or just from only sleeping two hours?

It was probably a mix of both.

She knew she couldn't fall asleep now—not while watching a movie with Saku.

Just focus on the movie, she thought. Stay awake through the whole thing. That's all I have to do.

But her efforts seemed in vain; the more she tried, the sleepier she felt.

It was supposed to be a comedy, but she could barely muster a chuckle.

Maybe chatting with him would help her stay awake. But… what to talk about? She needed a good topic. Maybe if she just thought about it…

Just as Saku was getting into the movie, he felt something soft on his shoulder.

He glanced over to find Soyo leaning on him, breathing evenly… fast asleep.

[Let her sleep]

[Wake her up and send her to her room]

"…"

Staring down at her, Saku couldn't help but feel a bit at a loss.

Just a little while ago, she'd turned down his suggestion to sleep after breakfast, saying she'd be too restless to sleep later.

But here she was, snoozing away and using his shoulder as a pillow.

It was hard not to wonder if she'd done this on purpose.

What, she couldn't sleep without him by her side?

So unfair!

Inwardly, Saku rolled his eyes, but he picked the first option anyway.

As a galgame expert, he knew exactly which choice was the one that boosted affection.

Objectively speaking, the second option—waking her and maintaining some distance—might have been the more reasonable choice.

It was important to maintain some boundaries, after all.

But waking her up now felt just a bit too cruel.

[Strength +50]

---

T/N: im actually so tilted rn, i made an alt account on marvel rivals and holy shit are people in lower ranks so fucking stupid

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