A Call That Brightened My Day (Interlude)

I woke up in the morning and vaguely remembered having a strange dream… but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't recall what it was about.

Still feeling groggy, I reached for my phone and sent a message to Himeya.

[Morning, sleepyhead. Did you sleep well?]

A moment later, my phone vibrated with his reply.

[Morning. Yeah, I did. What about you?]

I hesitated before typing.

[I had a weird dream… but I don't remember what it was.]

[That sounds ominous.]

It kind of did, but I decided to brush it off for now.

[Haha, it probably wasn't anything important.]

After setting my phone down, I got up and headed for the shower.

Once I was done, I put on my uniform and walked to the living room, where I saw Haruka already awake. On the table, there were two bento boxes neatly arranged.

"Good morning, Haru-nee," I greeted.

She looked at me, gave a light nod, and smiled. "Morning, Touka-chan."

You know, when you look at Haruka, you can't help but think she's the perfect sister—kind, dependable, and effortlessly elegant. Himeya is lucky to have her.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yep, all set," I replied.

She gestured to one of the bento boxes. "This one's for you. I asked my mother for the recipe, and she said it should be fine."

"Thank you, Haru-nee," I said, carefully placing the bento in my bag.

"Alright, let's go then."

I nodded and followed her to the car. She dropped me off at school before heading to work.

As I walked through the school gates, a familiar thought crossed my mind—this place was a fresh start. A place where no one knew my past…

A place without Shin Himeya.

That thought stung a little. Pushing it aside, I made my way to my classroom, set my bag down, and took my seat.

"Good morning, Miyako-chan!"

I turned around to see a girl with long, straight brown hair—the kind of beauty you'd expect to see on a magazine cover. Hikari Yoko.

"Good morning, Hikari-san."

"Heee, you still use '-san' with me, Miyako-chan?"

"Maybe someday I'll drop it," I replied with a small smile.

"Well, that's Miyako-chan for you," she chuckled.

Before we could continue, another girl joined our conversation.

"You guys heard? This Saturday, we're getting a day off!"

Hikari raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Why?"

"The teachers have meetings all day, so we don't have to come in."

"Whoa, really? That's awesome!"

"Right?"

No school on Saturday… Maybe I could surprise him.

Before I realized it, I was smiling. Hikari caught on immediately and smirked.

"What's with that look, Miyako-chan? You got plans?"

"Ah… um… probably?"

"Ohhh, is it a plan with Mr. Boyfriend?" Hikari teased.

"That's… uh…"

"Hikari-chan, stop it. You're making Miyako-san flustered!" another girl laughed.

Ugh… so this is how Himeya felt when he got teased.

"Well, good for you if it's a date," Hikari said.

"I'll introduce him to you guys someday," I promised.

"We'll hold you to that!"

"Yeah! But wait… can we see his face?" one of them asked curiously.

"Sure," I said, pulling out my phone. I scrolled through my photos before landing on a picture of Himeya and showing it to them. "This guy always finds ways to surprise me."

They leaned in for a closer look, their eyes widening.

"Miyako-chan… you got yourself a hottie?"

…A hottie?

I blinked, caught off guard. Then, memories of our time together flashed through my mind—especially that night at my old apartment. Suddenly, my face felt hot.

"You're damn right he is. Look at those blue eyes. That's rare," one of the girls said.

"…Right, Aunt Marie did mention she was a foreigner. Well, technically, Himeya's half."

"That explains it," she nodded. "And his name is Himeya?"

"Yeah, Shin Himeya."

Hikari tilted her head. "Weird. He's got a kinda girly-sounding name."

"You think so? Well, he's interesting for sure," I said, smiling softly.

We kept chatting about Himeya until the teacher arrived, signaling the start of class.

The morning classes went by as usual, but I found myself getting distracted. My mind kept wandering back to Saturday. What kind of surprise should I give him? Should I just show up? Bring something with me?

Before I knew it, lunchtime had arrived.

I sat down with Hikari and the others, taking out my bento. The moment I opened it, a delicious aroma filled the air.

"Oooh, that looks good," Hikari commented. "Did you make it yourself?"

"Haruka-nee made it," I admitted.

"Haru-nee? You got sister?"

I chuckled. "She's somewhat of my sister."

As I took my first bite, my phone buzzed with a message from Himeya.

[Hey, how are you doing right now?]

Hikari noticed that I was chatting and leaned in curiously. "Is that him?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said, glancing at my phone screen.

"Have a video call with him! We want to see him, haha," one of the girls suggested excitedly.

"Wait, I'll ask him first," I replied, typing out a quick message.

[On lunch now, are you free?] I sent.

[Yep, free. On lunch too,] he responded almost instantly.

[I got a request, is it okay?]

[Sure.]

[Can I introduce you to my friends?]

[Heck yeah.]

I smiled when I saw his enthusiastic response and then pressed the video call button. The call connected, and his face appeared on my screen. From the background, it looked like he was in the library.

"Hi," I greeted him.

"Hello, on lunch?" he asked with a smile.

"Yep," I replied, tilting my phone down slightly. "Right, here's my bento. Haru-nee made it." I lifted the box so he could see the neatly arranged meal.

"Whoa…" He looked genuinely surprised. "Haru-nee can cook?"

"Of course she can! She's amazing," I said proudly.

"That looks really good," he commented, leaning closer to his phone screen. "I should ask her to teach me sometime."

I chuckled. "You? Cooking? That would be interesting to see."

He pouted slightly. "Hey, I could try!"

Laughing, I turned the camera to face my friends. "Right, here are my friends at school."

They all waved enthusiastically at the camera. "Hello, guys," Himeya greeted them with a friendly smile.

Hikari leaned closer to the screen, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Heyya, I'm Hikari. Hikari Yoko. Miyako-chan's friend."

"Nice to meet you," he said politely.

One of the other girls whispered excitedly, but not softly enough. "Whoa… he's a real hottie."

I felt my face heat up. "Hey! Don't say that out loud!"

Himeya laughed on the other side of the call. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Time went by as we continued chatting and joking around. The conversation was lively, and Himeya was soon joined by Takamine and Kousuke, his friends from school. My friends took the opportunity to ask them questions about me, which was both embarrassing and endearing.

"So, what's Miyako-chan like at school?" Hikari asked.

Himeya just smiled. "She's adorable."

The girls erupted into giggles, and I quickly changed the topic to something else, feeling way too flustered.

After a while, the lunch break was coming to an end. "Alright, we should go before we get scolded for being late to class," I said, glancing at the time.

"Yeah, same here," Himeya agreed. "It was nice meeting your friends, Touka."

"Same! You guys are fun," Hikari added.

"Let's do this again sometime," Takamine suggested.

"I'm down for that," Kousuke said with a grin.

"Hey, we're not going to be your cupid," Himeya said.

I smiled. "Alright, talk to you later, Himeya."

"See you," he replied before the call ended.

As soon as I put my phone down, my friends turned to me with knowing smirks. "You've got it bad," Hikari teased.

"Shut up," I muttered, stuffing food into my mouth to avoid answering.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Even in class, I couldn't stop smiling at my phone whenever I saw a message from Himeya. It was amazing how just a simple call could brighten my day so much.

Later that evening, as I sat in my room, my phone buzzed again.

[Had fun today?]

[Yeah! My friends liked you, lol.]

[They were cool. But I only care about what you think.]

My heart skipped a beat at his words. I hesitated for a moment before typing back.

[I think you're amazing.]

There was a pause before he responded.

[That makes me happy. I think you're amazing too.]

I hugged my phone to my chest, grinning like an idiot. Maybe, just maybe, I'll bring something this Saturday…