My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 6 - Chapter 5.02

6:03 A.M.: Morning of the Cultural Festival

Yume Irido

I squinted as the morning sun shined through the curtains. I slowly got out of bed—but it wasn’t my bed at home. No, I was in a designated nap room at school. The clock showed that it was six in the morning. I hadn’t woken up this early in quite some time.

I looked around the room, where there were about eight other beds with other female committee members peacefully sleeping. Our upperclassmen had been worried about us after we’d ended up working late into the night, so they’d put us here. Though we’d gotten beds, the first-year boys weren’t as fortunate—they were packed into a room with sleeping bags.

We still had some time before we had to get up, but I couldn’t fall back asleep. Today was the cultural festival—the busiest day for the committee members. I needed to be on my toes. With that in mind, I decided to wash my face, so I quietly left the room, wearing the tracksuit I’d been wearing in place of pajamas.

But first, I peeked into the meeting room next door. The committee members were packed next to each other like canned sardines. While the meeting room was more spacious than a normal classroom, there were enough people in there to make it feel cramped. As interested as I was in being in this environment where both boys and girls were sleeping—albeit separately—I’d probably have been too anxious to sleep.

“Huh?”

They’d been pretty hyper late into the night, so none of them had woken up yet, but one sleeping bag was empty. I was pretty sure the person who had been sleeping in that spot was...

With this weighing on my mind, I continued to the bathroom and washed my face. Thankfully, I didn’t look sleep-deprived. I’d been worried about sleeping in an unfamiliar environment, but I looked perfectly fine.

I returned to the quiet hallway, but something felt weird. In about four hours, these halls would be filled with people and noise. But right now, my footsteps were the only sound. It was like the calm before the storm. Filled with a desire to explore, I began walking around.

As I wandered around the chilly halls, I peeked into the classrooms and looked out the windows. When I reached the stairs, I found myself climbing them for no particular reason. I usually never went outside, so I figured I might as well take the opportunity. I went up stair after stair until I reached the door to the roof. Though it was normally locked, an upperclassman told me that this door had been unlocked for the cultural festival so banners could be hung down the school walls.

Well, I’m not gonna get another chance like this, so I might as well. I gripped the cold doorknob and to my surprise, it opened easily. What caught my eye first wasn’t the boundless, blue sky, but the familiar tracksuit-clad guy sitting against the tall fence.

“Mizuto?”

“Oh, it’s you,” he mumbled, looking at me briefly before looking back at the ground.

I shut the door and approached him. “What are you doing out here? Aren’t you cold?”

“Yeah... Probably should’ve brought a jacket.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Thirty minutes or so. I woke up early.”

That’s rare for a night owl like him. I figured he must’ve been uncomfortable sleeping around all those people.

“Are you okay? If you need to sleep more, you can use my bed.”

“Your bed?” He scoffed as if he were making fun of me. “You’ve really grown. Not embarrassed anymore?”

“Sh-Shut up! The beds in the nap room are for anyone who needs them! Also, it shouldn’t be a big deal for you... Not after everything.”

Truth be told, I hadn’t been thinking. How could I have asked him to sleep in my bed?!

“I’m good. I’d rather go back to my sleeping bag than be the only guy in a room of girls.”

“F-Fair point...”

I followed his gaze in an attempt to shift topics, but it didn’t seem like he was looking at anything in particular. All I could see was the line of empty stalls.

“I could’ve gone back, but I didn’t really want to, so I decided to rest up here. I’m more comfortable on my own,” he suddenly said in a low voice.

What are you doing here though? But the more I thought about it, the sooner it dawned on me that he was taking a break. While he preferred not to deal with others, he’d been thrown into the teenage milestone of pulling an almost all-nighter at school for the cultural festival. He must’ve needed some time to himself to recharge. If that was the case, it’d probably be best if I left him alone... Wait, no! This is my chance! I can get him to promise to go around the festival with me. I’d put it off, using the excuse that we’d already be together because of our job as committee members, but I wasn’t gonna get a better opportunity than now.

“S-So...” I nervously glanced at him. “Have you already...made plans with Higashira-san or anyone to see the festival together?”

“Nope. I was gonna hang out with her during my free time, though, because I doubt she’ll have a place in her class.”

O-Okay! So he doesn’t have a date for the festival just yet. “I-In that case, uh...after our shift at the café...would you be interested in, uh...” I hesitated. “Would you want to walk around with me? The cultural festival, that is! H-Higashira-san can come too!”

I chickened out! I’d already had an image of him turning me down because of Higashira-san, so I’d panicked and changed it from a date to a hang out with her! B-But this was okay! It was a lot better than not inviting him in the first place! I needed to think positively! I anxiously watched Mizuto for his reaction.

“Hm... Yeah. Isana might get weirdly depressed that she has nothing to do at the cultural festival while I’m helping to run it. It might be better if you’re there too. We might just end up in the library if it’s the two of us.”

“I can totally see that...” If anything, it was near impossible to imagine the two of them actually checking out the festival. “So it’s a promise then...okay?”

“Yeah.”

I did it! It went differently than I’d planned, but, still, I did it! Just as this huge burden was lifted off of my shoulders, I felt a chill run across my body. A literal one, that is.

“You wanna head back in soon?” I suggested. “You’re cold too, aren’t you?”

“You should go back inside. A strong breeze is enough to get you sick.”

“I-I’m a lot healthier than I was in middle school! Anyway, what about you?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry—I’ll go back in before I catch a cold.”

“Okay...”

As hesitant as I was, I left him on the roof by himself. Before I shut the door behind me, the last thing I saw was him looking back down at the school grounds through the fence.