The Heroines Want to Confess.

Chapter 115: The Morning After the Sleepover

Among the five sisters, Nino was the first to wake up.

She was in charge of breakfast for all five of them. It wasn't like no one else in the house could cook, but when it came to someone who could cook well, she was the only one. That's why, naturally, Nakano Nino was the one who took care of the kitchen. But she also genuinely enjoyed it.

Getting out of bed, Nino let out a yawn.

(* ´ ⌓｀*)

Then she froze.

There was a blank in her memory.

She clearly remembered going downstairs last night, so how was she now back in bed?

Nino rubbed her forehead and started thinking.

Honestly, the answer wasn't hard to guess.

Someone who could carry her back while she was unresponsive—there seemed to be only one person.

Opening the door, Nino gently stepped down the stairs.

And she saw Sakurai Saki lying on the sofa, as if still asleep.

Of course, Nino didn't realize he was only pretending.

For a guy to still be asleep at 6:30 wasn't strange. Someone diligent and self-disciplined like her was the rare one.

Approaching the sofa, Nino looked at Sakurai Saki's face.

Same as always—right up her alley, or more accurately, perfect no matter how you looked at it.

Nakano Nino walked around Sakurai Saki, observing him from every angle.

Lately, Sakurai Saki's attitude toward her had improved to the point where she could barely handle it.

If she had to rate his previous attitude toward her, the highest score would've been 40 points. But now it had reached 65.

An increase of 50%—to Nino, that was already a great joy.

After finishing her appreciation of his looks, Nino leaned in closer to him.

She reached out her hand, intending to poke Sakurai Saki's face.

Then—when her finger was just 5 cm away from him, Sakurai Saki opened his eyes.

"What have you been doing all this time?"

He hadn't really been asleep, just dozing a little.

The ability from today was different from yesterday's, and it came with slight side effects that put him in a bad mood.

"Yesterday… thank you… for carrying me to my room." Nino, interrupted mid-"pervy girl" action, felt a little embarrassed and spoke awkwardly.

"No problem. As a teacher, I can't let a student sleep a whole night on the sofa. If you caught a cold and had to skip school, it would affect your studies." Sakurai Saki wasn't lying when he said that.

To Nino, he always maintained a pure student-teacher mindset.

Even though there had been many misunderstandings yesterday, and he'd seen a lot of things he shouldn't have.

"I see." Nino didn't get the answer she was hoping for.

If he had answered ["Because I was worried about you, I carried you back"], that would have matched Nino's feelings better.

But Sakurai Saki would never say that. He only treated her in the capacity of a tutor—this, Nino knew very well.

Even so, she didn't let that discourage her.

"Sakurai-san, what do you want for breakfast?" She stood up, placed a hand on her knee in front of Sakurai Saki, and asked.

"I'm not that picky."

"Right, I prepared a lot of dishes last night. I'll make you a bento later." With that, Nino didn't give him any chance to refuse.

Sakurai Saki had no intention of refusing anyway.

He had never rejected someone's kindness.

Rejecting everything would be too standoffish—this current distance was just right.

A while later, the others started waking up too.

The girls didn't come down all at once, but in small waves.

"Saki-kun~ good morning~" Miku, still looking sleepy, came down the stairs and sat on the sofa.

Miku: ٩(* ´ ﹃｀*)

She leaned her body against Sakurai Saki.

"So sleepy~" she murmured.

This girl might be the sleepiest of all five sisters.

It felt like her personality had changed.

From a Kuudere, she had turned into a Kuudere who could act spoiled—a big difference.

Miku lay on her side next to Sakurai Saki, her long eyelashes struggling against her lower lids.

"If you don't get up, you'll be late."

"U~ Saki-kun is bullying me~" Miku said.

Miku: (っ- ‸ -ς)

Her body stayed limp and motionless for a few seconds.

Then she blushed and sat up.

"You're awake now?" Sakurai Saki asked.

Seemed like just a moment ago, Miku hadn't realized he was there.

"Umu." Nakano Miku headed toward the washroom.

Sakurai Saki had just finished washing his face.

There was a brand-new, unopened set of toiletries here, probably prepared as a backup, and it happened to be usable—Itsuki had also mentioned it last night.

The third one to come downstairs was Itsuki.

At the moment, she was wearing a star-shaped hair clip. When she saw Sakurai Saki, she greeted him—

"Good morning, Sakurai-kun."

(„• ֊ •„)੭

Her voice had a distinctive tone, carrying no trace of sleepiness at all—calm, composed, and full of spirit.

Sakurai Saki returned the morning greeting.

Itsuki glanced at Sakurai Saki again.

She had a feeling that he was silently evaluating her in his mind.

The fourth to appear was Yotsuba. Judging by her expression, she had probably gone to wake Ichika, which was why she was coming down late.

"Hai hai! Good morning! Sakurai-san!" Her voice was full of energy.

Yotsuba: ヾ(＾ ∇ ＾).

"Good morning, Yotsuba." Sakurai Saki replied while lowering his gaze to the floor.

There, a cockroach was crawling.

Sakurai Saki directed it to a place out of sight from the five sisters.

Today, Sakurai Saki was a friend to all living things. He could control all animals. Those with higher intelligence weren't included, but he could still manage ordinary birds and insects.

Girls were generally afraid of cockroaches—except Fujiwara Chika, who could catch them barehanded, totally unladylike.

Finally, Ichika came down slowly with a sleepy look on her face.

"Sensei-chan~ good morning~"

Ichika: (っ˕ -｡)੭

"Good morning."

Ichika then deliberately raised her voice for the next sentence: "Did you use the bathtub last night?"

"I did." Sakurai Saki replied.

Though it was only because Shinobu forced him to.

Sakurai Saki didn't like lying about things like this—just like yesterday, he didn't dodge Chika's question either.

"..." This time, it was Ichika who was stunned.

She didn't expect he had actually used it.

In the kitchen, Nino heard the two talking. Her hand, which was ladling miso soup, trembled, nearly spilling it.

Bath… the bathtub?

Nino had nearly forgotten that Sakurai Saki had stayed over at their house last night.

And he had even taken a bath.

Didn't that mean he had seen 'that' of hers…

'Ugh, that outfit was way too conservative…'

If she had known he would see it, Nino would've picked something bolder. As for her underwear being seen—well, it had already happened. Regretting it now was useless.

Her recent experiences made Nino realize one thing: she absolutely must always carry her glasses!

Even those old-fashioned dorky frames couldn't be left behind. When she couldn't find her contacts, they were lifesavers!

Without them, if something happened, with her eyesight, she wouldn't even be able to find the front door.

...

After finishing breakfast, Nino called everyone over.

There were six people at the dining table today, but luckily there were enough chairs.

While eating, no one talked much—school was starting soon, and there would still be time to chat later.

Before leaving, Nino handed out bentos to her sisters.

Then she glanced at Sakurai Saki.

She gave him the largest one.

"Here, this is your bento."

Nino spoke nonchalantly: "Itterasshai~" (¬////¬)

She was secretly indulging in the feeling of being a newlywed couple.

Sakurai Saki: "Ittekimasu." („• ֊ •„)੭

Getting the response she wanted, Nino contentedly urged her sisters along.

Of course, Sakurai Saki could see what she was thinking.

But occasionally giving a student a bit of sweetness wasn't a bad form of encouragement.

Just that… it had to stay within the bounds of teacher and student. Crossing that line wouldn't be good.