I Was Cheated on by My Girlfriend but My Devilish Junior Now Yearns for Me V2 Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Morning with the Little Devil
When I opened my eyes, sunlight was already leaking through a gap in the curtains. The warmth on my skin told me it was well past noon. A glance at the clock confirmed it: one p.m. A perfect model of a slobbish university student’s schedule.
I had a nagging feeling I’d been dreaming about something during that unhealthy sleep, but the details were lost to me.
“…It’s no use.”
Giving up, I rubbed my eyes. It’s rare to ever recall a dream once it’s slipped away.
As I pushed myself up, my palm met a texture that was decidedly not my blanket. Startled, I looked down and saw a cascade of chestnut-colored hair, rising and falling with a steady, rhythmic breath.
The owner of that gentle breathing was Shinohara Mayu, my junior who I’d met about two months ago. It seemed she’d grown attached enough to me to sleep so defenselessly in my bed.
“…Shinohara?”
I called out her name, but there was no reply. She was sound asleep.
As I stared blankly at her sleeping face, my just-woken-up brain slowly pieced together the morning’s events.
I’d been jolted awake by Shinohara’s relentless ringing of the intercom, just like always. After letting her in, I’d stumbled straight back to bed and passed out again.
I vaguely remembered her voice chasing after me. “Eh, you’re going back to sleep!?”I hadn’t even done anything tiring yesterday, so sleeping this late was almost impressive.
“Nngh…”
Shinohara stirred, turning over in her sleep.
…I’m grateful she didn’t wake me, but if she was that bored, she could’ve just gone home.What’s more, it looked like she’d even taken her makeup off before heading to bed; her removal kit was sitting right on top of her bag. This cheeky, devilish junior of mine… when you saw her like this, she was just a slender, lovely girl.
Deciding I probably shouldn’t stare at her makeup-free face for too long, I shifted my gaze to the smartphone on my pillow. I turned it on to see a missed call from Ayaka at eight in the morning.
“No way I could’ve answered that…” I muttered to myself.
For someone who was growing increasingly accustomed to a self-indulgent lifestyle, an eight a.m. phone call was next to impossible to pick up.“…Senpai.”
“Hm?”
I turned toward the voice. Shinohara was blinking slowly, still looking sleepy.
“Ah, right, I fell asleep… Good morning.”
“Mornin’. You were out cold.”
“Yeah… Ugh, so frustrating. I didn’t even get to make breakfast,” she said, fidgeting as she smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes. Then, as if noticing something, she looked at me.
“Um, Senpai. Did you touch my chest just now? I think I woke up because I felt something pressing down.”
“Dunno. If I did, my bad.”
“…Is that really your explanation?”
Shinohara laughed at my stupidly honest reply and stretched with a soft grunt. The movement only emphasized her chest, and I instinctively averted my eyes. It was a little too stimulating for first thing in the morning.
“It was a bit cramped, so my body’s all stiff~”
“Guess it’s lucky we’re both calm sleepers.” If two people who tossed and turned a lot slept next to each other, kicking would be inevitable. Now that Shinohara had started staying over sometimes, it was a relief that neither of us moved much in our sleep.
“Besides, why are you sleeping next to me? We have a guest futon, don’t we?”
“Well, you know, a bed’s just more comfortable, isn’t it? Luckily, there was some extra space.”
Then, with a quick, “Excuse me for a moment, I’m going to go pick some flowers,” Shinohara skillfully stepped over my legs and onto the floor.
“Just say you’re going to the bathroom.”
“But ‘picking flowers’ is cuter, duh.”
And with that, she left the room.
I could hear the faint pitter-patter of her footsteps on the hardwood floor as she walked away.
The university’s long spring break had only just begun, and I found myself wondering if my junior was going to keep crashing at my place like this. It felt strange for me to be the one thinking it, but spending so much time cooped up in this apartment seemed like a waste.
…The time we have as students is limited.A senior from my circle was always nagging me about that, warning that I’d regret it later if I didn’t use my time more meaningfully.
“…Do I have any plans today?”
Checking my calendar, I saw I had practice for my basketball circle, “Start,” this evening. When you think of university life, you think of circle activities. It was a hundred times better than lazing around doing nothing.
As I climbed out of bed to find my practice clothes, my foot crushed something on the floor.
“Geh.”
A bad feeling creeping in, I looked down to see a flattened Choco Pie. I peeled open the wrapper and hesitantly popped it in my mouth. The texture was shot, but it’s taste was more or less the same.
Just as I was opening another one I found rolling around nearby, Shinohara returned from her flower-picking. Her eyes lit up when she saw the snack in my hand.
“Oh, nice, a Choco Pie! I love those.”
“You do… Want one?”
“I’ll take one~” she sang, holding out her hand from a short distance away without moving an inch.
She probably wants me to toss it to her. I casually tossed the nearest Choco Pie in her direction. Unfortunately, it was one I’d already opened. The contents flew out of the wrapper and smacked Shinohara square in the face.
“…S-Sorry.”
I slowly pressed my hands together in apology. Seeing the Choco Pie lying broken on the floor, I figured the impact must have been pretty strong.
“…Senpai.”
“Y-Yes.” I couldn’t help but straighten my posture before my junior.
“Why did you throw it overhand!? You’re supposed to toss things underhand, you know!?”
“Eh, that’s what you’re mad about!? Not the fact that it was open!?”
Shinohara simply picked up the broken pieces from the floor and popped them into her mouth. Great, now there are probably crumbs all over the carpet. I’ll have to clean that later.“Didn’t anyone ever teach you to toss things to people underhand? Good grief.”
“…I think I was told not to throw things at people at all.”
I flopped back onto the bed, resting my chin on my pillow. For some reason, this position was incredibly comfortable.
“So, what are you doing today? Just eating breakfast and heading home?”
“What should I do~? I’m free today, so I could just stay here!”
“Not an option, you idiot. I need my personal space.”
She pouted with a drawn-out “Ehh~” that made me briefly consider letting her stay, but I knew if I caved now, I’d be setting a dangerous precedent. Spending time with Shinohara wasn’t bad, but I cherished my alone time. No matter how much I appreciated her cooking for me, that wasn’t going to change.
As I was thinking this, I watched Shinohara open the kitchen fridge.
“Senpai, you should really buy more eggs. At the rate I use them, we’ll be out by tomorrow. There are only four left.”
“Why are you talking like you’re planning to be here the day after tomorrow? If it’s just me, that’s enough for four days.”
“Hmph, whatever.”
With a nonsensical pout, Shinohara started pulling out cooking utensils. She seemed to have completely memorized where everything was.
“I’ll just whip up something simple, so you can go wash your face and relax, Senpai~”
“Yeah, I’ll do that. Thanks.”
Hearing my reply, Shinohara rolled up her jersey sleeves and poured some salad oil into a small dish. She soaked a paper towel in it and began expertly coating the frying pan.
“What are you looking at?” she asked, pausing her work when she noticed my gaze.
I’d been thinking that watching her cook without any makeup on felt strangely domestic and nice, but I hesitated to say that out loud.
“Nah, just… don’t hurt yourself.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you, Senpai!” she shot back with a cheerful laugh before she continued cooking. Watching her crack eggs so skillfully made me want to try doing it one-handed, but I knew I’d just get in her way. I resisted the urge and walked past the kitchen.
“After I wash my face, I’m gonna go buy a magazine, that cool?”
“A magazine? Oh, then I want a fashion magazine, too. It’s been a while. I’ll pay you back.”
So she does read things like fashion magazines. It wasn’t surprising, given her trendy, casual style.
“Got it,” I replied curtly and left the room.
Splashing water on my face in the washroom, my mind instantly sharpened. I loved that feeling, even if the act of washing my face in the morning was a total pain.
As I headed into the hallway to put on my shoes, I heard her voice from the kitchen. “Food will be ready in about fifteen minutes, so please be back by then~”
What a capable junior, I thought as I opened the front door and was hit by a blast of dry, cold air.
◇◆
When I got back, a fragrant aroma tickled my nose. I walked into the living room, dropped the magazines I’d bought onto the sofa, and let out a huge yawn. It was honestly a bit scary that I was still tired after sleeping so much.
“Welcome back! It’s just ready.”
“Oh, thanks. I left your magazine on the sofa.”
When I pointed, Shinohara craned her neck from the kitchen to see over me.
“What kind of magazine did you buy, Senpai?”
“A weekly shonen magazine. I read it every week.”
“Ah, some girls read those too, you know. Let me borrow it later.”
With that, she carried over two plates. I swept everything off the low table onto the floor to make room.
“Senpai, your room is a mess because you just throw everything on the floor like that.”
“It’s fine, it’s my room.”
“How many times do you think I’ve cleaned it for you? Geez,” she huffed, puffing out her cheeks.
Now that she mentioned it, I hadn’t cleaned in a while. I’d mostly just left it to Shinohara.
“Alright, I’ll do it later. Let’s just eat for now.”
“You never actually do it~ Well, whatever, let’s eat.”
On a large plate were ham and eggs and a hot sandwich, with two smaller plates holding rolled omelets and a salad. So that’s why she was worried about the eggs, I realized. Next to the food were two glasses: one with a café au lait, the other with milk.
“For you, Senpai, a nice cooold café au lait. Just how you like it, right?”
“I love it. You’re so thoughtful.”
“Well, of course. I’m a capable woman, after all,” she declared without a hint of embarrassment. She actually was capable, so I couldn’t really argue.
Instead of responding, I just pressed my hands together.
“Itadakimasu.”
“Yes, itadakimasu.”
After the customary blessing, I picked up a hot sandwich. The bread was buttered on the inside, with ham and cheese pressed between the slices. Taking a big bite and following it with a sip of the café au lait she’d made for me felt wonderfully extravagant.
“Eating a delicious meal really makes you feel like you can do your best for the day!” Shinohara beamed.
“Hohou, then let’s do our best with the cleaning, shall we!”
“…Yeah.”
As I gave a vague reply, Shinohara let out a small laugh.
“I’ll help you.”
“Alright. I’ll do my best.” The rolled omelet gave me a fresh burst of energy, so I readily agreed. Since Shinohara started coming over, I’d definitely been living a healthier lifestyle.
“Hey Shinohara, make me breakfast again sometime if you get the chance.”
Just a moment ago, I’d been complaining about her being at my place too much, and now here I was, asking her to come back. I was well aware of how fickle I could be, but after a meal like this, I couldn’t help myself.
Shinohara glanced at my face for a moment before replying.
“Sure. Breakfast doesn’t take much effort. Well, it’s more like lunch now, though.”
It was certainly lunchtime, but if it’s the first meal after waking up, it counts as breakfast. And a proper breakfast can make your whole day feel brighter.
“A healthy and cultural and cultural life, getto da ze!”
“What you mean to say is ‘a healthy and cultural life.’ You addedone too many ’and cultural’s.”
“Details, details.” I took a sip of my café au lait to brush off her comment. I didn’t have any instant mix, so she must have made it herself with milk and coffee from the fridge. The faint sweetness told me she’d added sugar, too. To whip all this up in just fifteen minutes, she had to be pretty skilled.
As I was savoring her special café au lait, Shinohara looked up at me and asked, for the first time that day, “Is it delicious?”
“…Yeah, the best.”
“I’m so glad!” she beamed, smiling with satisfaction as she took a bite of her ham and eggs.
As I watched her, I noticed something was different. Not in a bad way—it was just a subtle change, definitely for the better.
“Did your eyes get prettier than before or something?”
The question made Shinohara, who had just taken a bite of her food, choke with a soft “Kehoh!” She focused on chewing for a moment, and feeling bad for rushing her, I waited until she swallowed.
“I used an eyelash curler,” she said, looking surprised. “I can’t believe you noticed.”
“Ah, the thing that curls your eyelashes? It really makes a difference, huh.”
“It does, but not so much that you’d notice at a glance. I’ll do my foundation and stuff after we eat, and that’ll probably be a bigger change. A round of applause for Senpai for noticing something as small as an eyelash curler.” Shinohara put down her fork and clapped her hands lightly.
I used to be in a year-long relationship, noticing a change like that wasn’t so strange. I was about to say as much, but I reconsidered and kept my mouth shut. Thinking back to that night after the ‘end-of-exams’ drinking party, when Reina had called… it felt wrong for me, the guy who dodged her questions then, to bring up my ex-girlfriend now.
After coming to that conclusion, I asked a different question instead.
“Do you always carry your makeup with you?” Her cosmetics were still sitting on top of her bag.
Shinohara smiled. “Just for touch-ups. Pretty much every girl does. Besides, look at this.”
She pulled a small, spherical pot from her bag.
“Isn’t this suuuper cute? It has blush inside, but just looking at things like this gets me so excited.”
The lid of the pot was studded with sparkling decorations. Even from a guy’s perspective, I could see why it would be popular with girls. Come to think of it, Ayaka used to do the same thing, showing off new makeup she’d bought and asking if it was cute. A lot of cosmetics had stylish designs, so maybe for girls, carrying them around wasn’t such a pain. Still, it seemed like a hassle to have to carry it in your bag every single day.
“But it must be tough carrying that around every day.”
“Not really. I don’t know about other girls, but on days I don’t really care, I don’t bring it with me.”
“Heh, I see. So you pick and choose depending on the day.” That would certainly lessen the burden. But something she said bothered me, so I asked another question.
“So why’d you bring it today?”
Shinohara tilted her head.
“That’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s because I was coming to your place, Senpai.”
Her unexpected answer made me fumble the piece of ham and egg I was about to pick up, and it dropped back onto my plate.
“Wh-What do you mean by that?”
“It means I’m putting in a little effort. I am going to have you spend the whole day with me, after all.”
Shinohara’s mouth curved into a mischievous smile. It was a devilish look, the kind that made you imagine little horns sprouting from her head.
“…Then, I’ll take you to a special place I know.”
At my words, the little devil’s eyes sparkled.
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