Morning in Yuragi-sou

5:00

"Urgh..."

'Where is this?'

When Kimihito woke up, he looked around because he felt he wasn't awake in his bedroom at home. However, after seeing a familiar room, he realized that he was at Yuragi-sou.

Squish

Trying to get up, he felt a strange feeling in the grip of his hand even though there was nothing there. 'So soft...'

'Hm? Yuuna? But why is she on my futon?' He guessed that it must be Yuuna and the one he was holding just now, he wasn't sure what it was, but he was convinced that it was part of her body.

Kimihito tried hard to remember why he could sleep with her, but he only remembered partying with Nonko and Yuuna last night. Beside him, Yuuna's futon was already in disarray, and it seemed she had come to his futon herself. It relieved him a little that he didn't attack her, but at the same time, he wasn't sure if he could resist the temptation of a ghost if he continued like this.

After observing his condition, Kimihito slowly got up from his futon. However, his hand was suddenly pulled by Yuuna and landed on two soft lumps. He tried his best to calm his mind so he could think clearly, but his thoughts were faster than his will. His mind has been traveling everywhere, imagining various scenarios right now.

'Maybe I'll be thrown with a poltergeist out the window if she wakes up.' He thought as he tried to take his hand out of her embrace slowly.

A few minutes of struggle passed. Finally, Kimihito could free his hands from Yuuna's arms without making her wake up. He also decided to get out of his room and look for Chitose immediately.

***

Chitose, who was in the kitchen, heard the sound of footsteps approaching her and immediately saw who it was.

"Kimihito-kun? You're awake?" She said with a bit of surprise.

Chitose didn't expect that he would wake up this early. Since it's still February, so it's still quite cold outside, most people would prefer to sleep longer until a little later.

"Good morning Chitose-san."

"Good morning Kimihito-kun."

"I used to wake up early. You too, Chitose-san?"

"As an innkeeper, I have to get up early so I can prepare breakfast." She said with a warm smile.

Chitose bears a heavy responsibility as Yuragi-sou's innkeeper since she is the only innkeeper here. Apart from that, she also has personal needs that others don't want to know about, especially the residents of Yuragi-sou.

"Since I promised yesterday, I'll be the one to cook breakfast today."

"You said you were going to cook grilled fish yesterday. But as I see, we only have carp in storage."

"It doesn't matter. As long as there are fish, then everything will be fine." At least there was fish and salt. He could make a dish that could be delicious by his standards.

It should be noted that Kimihito's taste standards are pretty high, considering he has sharp senses. But that doesn't mean he eats to enjoy the taste. The main reason he eats is to stay alive. That reason is the most fundamental reason for all living things. Even since ancient times, eating has never changed, eating, digesting, taking the nutrients, and throwing out the rest.

Kimihito's high standard of cooking doesn't even make him think that all cooking has to be perfect. Cooking is an art, and cooking is a work of art. Everyone has a different view of a work of art, and his view of a dish itself is pretty simple.

"Can you really cook, Kimihito-kun?" She doubted him a little because this was her first time seeing him cooking.

"I am confident in cooking dishes with ingredients that come from rivers and mountains." Because he often cooks dishes with ingredients taken from mountains and rivers, he is confident when cooking them for others.

"Then I'll help make rice and soup."

"I find it helpful."

"No, it's me who feels helped." As the person was obliged to make breakfast, her work became easier today because Kimihito has helped her cook.

"By the way, what dish are you going to make, Kimihito-kun?"

"I will season it with sweet-spicy flavor and then burn it."

"Are you sure?" She's not sure because she's never tried it. She usually fries it or grills it with salt when processing fish and sometimes puts it in the gravy.

"Because the weather is still cold, I want the food to be spicy, but I'm not sure if others like spicy food. So I decided to reduce the spiciness and add some sweetness."

"I understand."

They were both busy in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the others while the others were still fast asleep in their warm rooms.

***

Still sleeping in her futon, Yaya opened her eyes after smelling the scent that caught her attention. She was the vessel of the cat god, so she had cat-like habits, one of which was liking sleeping in warm places. It was difficult for her to get out of her futon quickly, but unable to stand the tantalizing smell of food, she finally left her room and headed towards the source of the scent.

***

Sagiri, who was in her room, had woken up earlier and wanted to start her morning training routine. But since it's still a little cold outside, she decided to practice her concentration in her room. She has often been unfocused, especially after Kimihito came to Yuragi-sou, making her guard even more alert.

'Am I too wary?'

'Maybe what Nonko said is true. I should calm down.'

'As a Chuuma Ninja, I should be able to think calmly!' She thought.

As Sagiri tried to calm down, a cooking smell entered her nostrils. The smell was so tempting that it interfered with her practice.

'What can I do? It's time for breakfast.' she thought.

She stopped herpractice and left her room, looking for the origin of the scent she smelled.

***

In the first room of Yuragi-sou's inn, a woman is seen sleeping messy while holding a large bottle of Sake. That woman is Nonko, and she is still sleeping soundly because she had a party last night.

The smell of cooking entered Nonko's nose. After inhaling it, she immediately woke up and became hungry because of it.

"Urgh... "She mumbled.

She immediately came out of her room to have breakfast without a second thought. Of course, she did not forget to bring a bottle of Sake to accompany her breakfast.

***

Yuuna was still sleeping in Kimihito's room, still in his futon. "Hehe Kwimwihwitwo~" She muttered as she hugged Kimihito's pillow.

Not long after that, Yuuna opened her eyes because it was time to wake up, and she used to wake up at this hour. Instantly her face turned red after she saw where she was sleeping.

'I slept on Kimihito's futon, and now he's gone!'

Yuuna thought hard about her current situation. If Kimihito wasn't there, it meant he probably woke up early, which told he already knew that she was sleeping with him.

Even though she knew he couldn't see her form, Yuuna still felt embarrassed because she had slept on a futon with a man. She was also afraid that Kimihito would leave Yuragi-sou because her sleep disturbed him.

'For now, I will look for Kimihito first!' She thought, which then immediately flew to look for him.

"Kimihito!"

"Where are you, Kimihito?"

Yuuna came out of her room screaming Kimihito's name, hoping that someone would hear her screams.

"Yuuna?"

"Oh, Yaya-san!" Hearing Yaya calling her, Yuuna immediately greeted Yaya.

"Yaya-san, do you know where Kimihito is?"

Not knowing where he was, Yaya just replied, "Probably having breakfast."

"That's right! Kimihito must be having breakfast."

"Is there a problem, Yuuna?" Suddenly another familiar voice was heard.

"Sagiri-san!"

"N-no, there's a problem. I just got into Kimihito's futon." She said while a slight blush appeared on her cheeks.

"W-what did you say? It must be his doing! Are you okay, Yuuna?" Sagiri, who heard it, became shocked. She believed it was not Yuuna's fault but the fault of the beast named Kimihito.

"No, it's my fault. So I intend to apologize."

"Hooah~ What's all the fuss about this early?" Nonko, who overheard their conversation, was curious about what had happened.

"You don't usually wake up early, Nonko." Sagiri, who saw Nonko wake up this early, was surprised because usually, she wakes up late.

"I feel very refreshed after yesterday's drinking party. Besides, I was also surprised to wake up in my room."

Feeling that Nonko's words were a little strange, Sagiri asked, "What's wrong with you waking up in your room?"

"I think I fell asleep after drinking a lot of Sake yesterday." Nonko can only remember yesterday that she had a drinking party with Kimihito until she realized she had fallen asleep.

Yuuna, who knew about yesterday's incident, said, "Oh right! Nonko-san, yesterday Kimihito carried you to your room after you slept. He said, because the weather still bit cold, he didn't want you to get sick."

Yesterday Yuuna was with Kimihito and Nonko in the living room, accompanying them to a drinking party to welcome him. She did not drink because she only wanted to accompany Kimihito. But she knew what happened then.

"I see~ I'll take him out for a drink again later~"

"For now, how about we have breakfast first?" Sagiri immediately said that because she couldn't take it anymore, everyone would hear her stomach growl if she stayed here any longer.

"Yaya can't wait to eat it."

Finally, the four of them decided to have breakfast first because Yaya, Sagiri, and Nonko couldn't stand the smell of cooking this morning. Yuuna herself can't taste anything if it's not served as an offering because she can only eat and taste it if it's an offering.