The past 3 months, brought a wide range of events to my knowledge.

  First up, 3 girls moved into my house. Two of them are my childhood friends, Mai and Akane. The other is a former idol which is apparently charmed by my past voice acting career.

  Then, she moved in my class. And here came another girl in the equation – Kaguya, my former junior high deskmate. It was already complicated enough.

  Or was it? Because not long after, my old friend from childhood which was the reason for my past trauma, appeared and invited me to club activities with her.

  I also received an anonymous letter during the sports festival, where someone confessed their love to me, and apparently I “knew” that person for a long time.

  Could this be more complicated?

  Of course it can! My friends now want to spend the summer break with me! Who knows what will happen in the next 2 months?!

  It’s the first day of the summer break. The breeze is light, the temperature just right to make you feel alive after a horrible session of finals, the atmosphere filled with warmth and calm, and the best? I felt relieved of all stress.

  I wake up without being scared to death. It’s 9 AM…interesting. Mai should’ve busted my door open by now.

  I head downstairs and prepare breakfast. And then I see everyone (Mai, Kaguya, Akane, and Mizuki) sleeping happily on my couch. Hikaru was sent to sleep on the floor, for whatever reason. (he kept getting kicked by Akane in her sleep, the whole night).

  He looked at me like a zombie, his eyes looking like they were carrying weights.

  “Kaito…good morning…”

  “Man, what happened? You look like you didn’t get one second of rest last night…”

  “Long story…”

  Feeling sorry for him, I sigh, put my palm to my face and whisper:

  “Go rest in my room. Get some sleep, I will tell your mother the situation.”

  His tired and gloomy face now turned to tired and happy.

  “Thank you…you’re the best, Kaito…”

  Hikaru heads upstairs while I start to cook.

  “Let’s see…eggs, ham, guess I should cook for everyone. They’re sure to be hungry when they wake up.”

  I prepare the breakfast, and just when I finish, Kaguya wakes up.

  “Good morning, Kaito…”

  I was a bit caught by surprise but I shook it off.

  “Hey! Good morning.”

  “I let my mother know that I’m sleeping by your place.”

  “Great. I was just about to text and let her know you’re here.”

  “What do we have for breakfast?”

  “What don’t we? Come here and see for yourself.”

  Kaguya sees the table loaded with garlic toast, omelette, cooked bacon, pancakes and muesli with strawberries.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Her face screamed of joy and marvel, moving her hands in the air like a victory dance.

  “Wow! Impressive! You’re a great cook, Kaito!”

  “Thanks. Let’s wake up the others too.”

  As I head to the others, she grabs my hand.

  I take a look at her and she was looking sideways, not facing me directly, like she would usually do.

  “Don’t…I want to…enjoy this meal between us only.”

  I was confused to some extent. “Huh?”

  “I want to grab everything of what I want to the maximum…that’s all haha.” said Kaguya while running her fingers through her hair.

  I am still confused but…

  “Okay then…enjoy your food!”

  “Thank you! Itadakimasu!”

  Kaguya starts enjoying all the treats happily on the first morning of the summer break.

  “Good?”

  With her face half stuffed she lets out an “mm-hmm!”.

  “Great. I will wake up the others in 5 minutes, the food is starting to get cold.”

  She started eating faster, until she was full. Pancakes were gone.

  Looking like more of a competitive eater than a high school girl, she puts her hand on her belly and pants, trying to catch her breath.

  “I’m…done.”

  I look at the plate in disbelief. “Oh boy…more pancakes then.”

  I cook up another batch and wake the others up.

  “Hey…food is ready! Wake up.”

  They get up easily from the couch, looking all intrigued and sleepy.

  “Good morning…” said all 3 of them at the same time.

  ‘”Come on, the food is getting cold.”

  The girls rise up from the couch and head towards me.

  We all gather at the table to eat, except Kaguya, which was still recovering from the epic pancake war.

  Her face screamed now of despair. “I can’t eat anymore…”

  “What happened to Kaguya?” said Akane interested.

  “Long story…haha”

  “Suspicious…”

  We all start eating. Praises come through fast, yet again.

  Mai was the first one. “Pancakes are so great in the morning!”

  Akane followed. “They are not half bad. Better than I expected!”

  I guess that was a compliment…coming from her?

  Mizuki said nothing. She just ate in silence.

  Everyone finishes their meal, and Kaguya comes back to her senses.

  Mai, as always, took the initiative to open up the conversation.

  “Okay everyone! We talked briefly about our summer plans. Let’s detail everything!”

  Mizuki intervened with a proud face.

  “I have a connection at a private villa very near to a beach. It’s just outside Takenohama. Or we can go to another resort in Okinawa. Both work for me. What do you guys say?”

  “OKINAWA?!” said Kaguya amazed by the idea.

  Mizuki looks at Akane with a reassuring face.

  “Yes. My parents own a villa in immediate proximity to a beach. We can stay there as long as we want, it’s like a vacation home for us.”

  Akane was overexcited for this trip. “GREAT!!! LET’S STAY THERE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!”

  Mai brought her back on Earth. “Akane…come on.”

  “Sorry! I just got super excited…”

  “No problem! Let’s go for a week, what do you say guys?”

  Mizuki smiled like a parent seeing his kids happy. Everyone had sparkles in their eyes.

  Akane sparked yet again. “REALLY?!”

  “Sure! We’re best friends after all!”

  All the girls jump on her and hug her as hard as they can.

  “Thank you, Mizuki!”

  The gesture was nice, but Mizuki's frail body couldn't handle it anymore.

  “Guys, I can’t breathe…guys…”

  (Hikaru was still asleep, he had no idea any of this was happening.)

  The girls calm down after we settle for an entire week.

  “What about the festival?” said Akane confused, thinking of the second half of the summer break.

  Kaguya said her first words after winning the fight against the pancakes. “Good point…there’s still a while to that. Let’s talk after we come back from Okinawa.”

  “Yaaay! Let's make tons of fun memories!”

  "You sure are excited, Akane..."

  "Why wouldn't I be?" she looked at me, annoyed.

  Mai remembered something.

  “Since we’re going to the beach for an entire week…time for shopping!”

  Oh no. I know where this goes. I need to get out of it, or...

  I get up from the table, picking the dishes, turning my head away from them.

  “Good luck girls! I have everything I need for myself.”

  She looked at me teasingly, again.

  “You wish. You’re coming with us!”

  I realised I had no escape so I just chose to embrace it. I could at least hang out and have fun with my friends after all. I let out a sigh and close my eyes.

  “Okay…”

  Akane looked at her, blushing a little.

  “Mai…really?”

  “You got a problem with it, Akane?”

  “N-no…”

  “Then it’s set! Mizuki, any objections?”

  “I mean…I guess no?”

  “Great. Kaito, dress up! And where’s Hikaru, he’s coming with us too.”

  “He’s sleeping, he mentioned something about Akane kicking him all night….”

  Akane smiled diabolically.

  “Oh…so that’s why I heard crying…haha.”

  Is she sadistic or something?!

  “That bad?! Poor guy…”

  Mai pouts.

  “Stop wasting time and come with us now!”

  “Ahh, wait! Let me dress up!”

  Mai allows it, and I head to my room where Hikaru was sleeping like a rock.

  I think about waking him up but…he’s too tired.

  Now…what could possibly happen at the mall? It’s just a friend's outing! I already went with Akane and Mai to buy clothes, it’s no different from that, I hope…

  I dress up, and head downstairs. The girls were already there, prepared for the shopping spree.

  Mai opens the door. “Let’s go!”

  We all leave the house and head to the mall.