Another Morning

Some sizzling sounds filled the air along with the smell of egg and vegetables. Once I got down, Natsuki noticed me. She had a small pout on her face along with a strong blush on her cheeks.

I could tell she was trying to act as though nothing happened before. It was pretty good, but the blush gave her away and made her look even cuter.

Natsuki coughed and averted her gaze.

"I forgot to make the cupcake, so there won't be enough time for that. Also, because all the bread in the fridge is gone, there won't be any toast."

She let out a soft sigh.

"I made scrambled eggs with some broccoli inside. It won't be the tastiest, but you should be eating healthier anyway. Usually there wouldn't be any time to make something like this."

I nodded.

"Hehe, ok, ok. I probably wouldn't be able to handle any more sweetness anyway."

Natsuki raised an eyebrow.

"Eh? Did you sneak in some candies at night!"

I smiled mischievously.

"No, I was talking about you!"

Natsuki furrowed her brows.

"Me?"

I clasped my hands together and tilted my head to the side.

"You really don't get it? I mean how sweet it was to have the cutest girl in the world hug me to sleep!"

Natsuki flinched. Her already flushed cheeks flared up, making her entire face red. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. After several failed attempts at speaking, Natsuki simply looked away with her arms crossed. She fidgeted around awkwardly, almost like she was really itchy.

We remained there in awkward silence for a while. I scratched my cheek with an awkward smile.

...I might've taken it too far again.

But it really is too tempting to not tease her!

Eventually, Natsuki turned off the stove and scooped the scrambled eggs and broccoli into the plate. She then brought it over to me and laid it on the table without saying anything to me.

In fact, Natsuki didn't even look at me.

I looked up at her dreamily for a moment.

"Hehe..."

Natsuki's eyebrow twitched.

"What are you laughing at!"

I smiled cheekily.

"You just look so cute when you are embarrassed."

Natsuki clenched her fists.

"You!-"

After a moment of silence, she crossed her arms. Natsuki then began to smile smugly with her eyes closed.

"W-Well you look cuter when you're eating!"

I held my cheek with one hand and gasped.

"Eh? But don't I look like a mess?"

Natsuki pouted slightly.

"Don't I look like a mess when I'm embarrassed?"

I averted my gaze and pouted slightly.

"But that's what I like about it so much!"

Natsuki puffed up her cheeks and looked the other way.

"Well, that's what I like about you eating too!"

A faint blush formed on my cheeks.

"A-Ah."

After a few moments, I picked up the fork and stared at the scrambled eggs before me. Since I didn't eat much yesterday, I was still quite hungry right now, making it hard to resist. Yet, Natsuki's comment from earlier made me self-conscious.

As I brought my fork over to the egg, I took a peek upwards.

Natsuki was looking at me intently. She furrowed her brows once she noticed my stare.

"What are you looking at? Just eat your breakfast, we don't have all day!"

I nodded with a small smile.

"O-Ok."

After looking back down, I sheepishly stuck my fork into the egg and peeled off a tiny section. As I brought it up to my mouth, I couldn't help but sneak another glance upwards.

Natsuki was still staring with a faint blush on her cheeks.

"We're going to be late for school if you keep pausing!"

I closed my eyes.

"Waaaah! Ok, I got it!"

With that, I quickly stuffed the egg into my mouth. I hurriedly ate the rest of it too, but the feeling of Natsuki's burning gaze made me forget what it even tasted like.

I couldn't help but wonder...

Was Natsuki always looking at me like that while I was eating?

If so... that really is too embarrassing.

We eventually tidied up and headed off to school. There was a slightly smug expression on Natsuki's face, while I myself was blushing faintly.

How were the roles reversed so quickly?

Natsuki tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey, hey."

I looked over to see her smiling confidently.

"Y-Yeah?"

Natsuki put her hands on her hips confidently.

"Y-You look cute when you're embarrassed."

My cheeks heated up.

"Really?"

Natsuki nodded with her eyes closed and a smug smile.

"Yeah!"

I held my head with both hands as a small smile spread out on my face.

"Hehe... thanks."

Natsuki fidgeted slightly as the smile quickly disappeared.

"Um, thank you."

We soon reached the entrance of the school with a strange tension between us.

Upon getting there, Natsuki cleared her throat and put her hands on her hips. She smiled smugly, but it was twitching slightly, almost like she was forcing herself to look like that.

"W-Well goodbye Sayori. Make sure you don't look too beautiful. You already take everyone's breath away, anything more and they'll die!"

An extremely strong urge welled up inside me out of happiness. Without warning, I pounced, wrapping my arms around Natsuki and lifting her up.

"Really? Do you really, really mean it?"

Natsuki's eyes widened tremendously.

"W-Wh..."

I rubbed my cheek against Natsuki's. It was soft, just like the rest of her tiny body.

"Ehehe."

Natsuki began blushing furiously and flailing her limbs around.

"Wah, wah, wah, wah!"

Eventually, I let her down. Even after I let her go, she still seemed to be in a partial daze.

"Y-You..."

I looked around myself and noticed that I caused quite the scene. Quite a few people were looking at me. Before the embarrassment and realization of my actions kicked in, I waved to Natsuki before bolting off.

"Bye Natsuki!"

As I scampered away, Natsuki gently rubbed the side of her cheek, where mine made contact. She sighed.

"Geez..."