They don’t play volleyball every day.
Sometimes, they gather at Kozume’s House to read books or watch TV.
Kenma Kotsume asked, “We’re not playing Games anymore, so why are we still having gatherings at my house?”
Yes, he was still under a Game ban.
Yoriko Arisu blinked. “Habit?”
Tetsurou Kuroo blinked as well.
“Guess we’re just used to it.”
Yoriko Arisu said, “After all, Kenma, you have the most manga here. Even if we’re not playing Games, there’s still a lot of fun stuff.”
Tetsurou Kuroo added, “And there’s a TV in the room.”
Yoriko Arisu: “We can watch anime.”
Tetsurou Kuroo: “But my grandma makes really delicious snacks. Next time, you guys can come over to my Home.”
Unanimously approved.
The three naturally shifted from Kozume’s House to the Kuroo Family’s Home, where the table was filled with exquisite and beautiful snacks, and juice poured into glass cups.
Yoriko Arisu nearly drooled at the sight.
The black-haired girl grabbed the snacks and stuffed herself, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster, but she still tried to talk: “Kuro, why didn’t you tell us earlier that your grandma makes such delicious snacks?”
Tetsurou Kuroo said, “The gift we brought over when we moved House was snacks made by my grandma.”
“And the snacks we brought to Sports Day too.”
Yoriko Arisu: “!”
Because the packaging and style were so exquisite, she had thought they were store-bought!
“Grandma is amazing! Super amazing! They look just like something from a shop! And they’re so tasty!”
Yoriko Arisu unleashed her Starry Eyes Attack, making Kuroo’s Grandma beam with joy.
“If you want to eat anything next time, you can tell Grandma,” she said with a gentle smile, patting the little girl’s head.
“If you can name it, I can make it.”
“Wow—Grandma, you’re the best!”
“There are herbs in the yard that I use for snacks. Do you want to take a look, Arisu?”
“Yes!”
Watching the lively exchange between the old lady and the little girl, hand in hand as they went to the garden to see the plants, Tetsurou Kuroo sighed, “I don’t even know who the real grandchild is anymore.”
He turned to his other friend.
“Kenma, how do you like the snacks?”
Kenma Kotsume took a slow sip of juice, his eyes flickering.
“Can Grandma make apple pie?”
Tetsurou Kuroo: “?”
Even you’ve fallen under her spell!
In the end, Kuroo’s Grandma conquered the three little ones with her amazing snack-making skills.
In their free time, the three were either reading manga at Kozume’s House or eating snacks at the Kuroo Family’s Home, laughing and playing without a care in the world.
Kenma Kotsume even brought out his treasured Board Games and pulled the two elders of the Kuroo Family into playing with them.
The five of them sat in a circle, and laughter never ceased.
As for Arisu’s Family?
There was often no one at her house, and nothing fun to do, so naturally, it was passed over.
***
It was the weekend.
The three of them were, as usual, gathered at Kozume’s House watching a Movie.
No one knew who had picked an art film—soothing music, lines and plot full of metaphors.
After three minutes, they’d all fallen asleep.
Halfway through, Yoriko Arisu was woken up by the hard floor pressing against her.
She shook the four childhood friends sprawled on the ground.
“Let’s sleep on the bed.”
Yawning, Yoriko Arisu climbed onto Kenma’s bed, moving as skillfully as if she were at her own Home.
Kenma Kotsume rubbed his eyes and whispered, “Three people won’t fit.”
Tetsurou Kuroo, now wide awake from being shaken, looked at Yoriko Arisu, who had wrapped herself up like a spring roll, and suddenly asked, “Arisu, do you hug something when you sleep?”
“I do.”
Yoriko Arisu answered without thinking.
She stretched her hand out from under the blanket, gesturing in the air.
“About this big—a Stuffed Shark. Dad bought it for me when he went to Okinawa.”
Tetsurou Kuroo nodded.
“I just thought—maybe you’re used to hugging something when you sleep. But when you sleep at Kenma’s place, there’s nothing to hold, so your sleeping posture’s bad?”
Yoriko Arisu: “Eh?”
Enlightened, Yoriko Arisu: “Ah!”
A beat late, Kenma Kotsume: “…Ah.”
Yoriko Arisu looked at Tetsurou Kuroo with admiration.
“Kuro, you’re amazing.”
“Hehe, it’s nothing.”
Tetsurou Kuroo rubbed his nose a little shyly.
After all, he also slept with a pillow clamped to his head, so he had a few thoughts on the matter.
Yoriko Arisu asked curiously, “You sleep with a pillow over your head? Is that why your hair ends up like that?”
She’d thought it was a deliberate hairstyle.
Tetsurou Kuroo protested, “Who would style their hair like this on purpose!”
Kenma Kotsume: “So you think it’s weird too.”
Tetsurou Kuroo looked troubled.
“Yeah, my hair’s really stiff. Even if I wet it, it doesn’t go back. Once it’s like this, it stays this way.”
Yoriko Arisu gave him a thumbs up in encouragement.
“Actually, after seeing it for a while, it’s kind of unique!”
Kenma Kotsume: “Can’t you change your sleeping position?”
Tetsurou Kuroo: “But sleeping like that feels comfortable.”
He gestured, “Where we used to live, the soundproofing was bad. You could always hear the rumble of Carts outside. After a while, I just got used to sleeping that way.”
“Now, if I don’t sleep like that, I can’t fall asleep.”
Yoriko Arisu looked like she’d found a kindred spirit.
“I get it, I get it. I’m the same. If I don’t hug something when I sleep, I just don’t feel secure.”
Kenma Kotsume spoke gloomily, “So that’s why you’re always hugging me?”
He always thought he was being assassinated in his sleep.
Kenma Kotsume, who was always well-behaved when sleeping, couldn’t understand as he listened to the two talk.
So all it took to solve Yoriko Arisu’s Nightmare problem was to give her a Cushion to hold while she slept?
Then why had he suffered so many unjust disasters for so long!
Meanwhile, the topic had shifted to Yoriko Arisu wanting to see what kind of strange posture Tetsurou Kuroo slept in.
Tetsurou Kuroo glanced at Kenma Kotsume’s bed and said regretfully, “Kenma’s bed only has one pillow, so I can’t demonstrate.”
Yoriko Arisu was equally regretful.
“Next time, then.”
Kenma Kotsume: “……”
Are these two getting more and more shameless with him?
Tetsurou Kuroo: “Kenma, how do you sleep?”
Yoriko Arisu gestured: “Kenma sleeps lying straight on his back, just like a Vampire in a coffin.”
Vampire Kenma: “……”
Arisu’s metaphors are still so awful.
So, to sum up…
Kenma: Sleeps flat on his back, facing up
Kuro: Sleeps on his stomach with two pillows clamped to his head
Arisu: Curls up hugging a Cushion
Yoriko Arisu and Tetsurou Kuroo said in unison, “Kenma, your sleeping posture is so boring.”
Seeing the two’s sympathetic looks, Kenma Kotsume had a tic mark pop up on his forehead.
With a stony face, he went to lift Yoriko Arisu’s blanket.
“Get off my bed.”
Sleeping in his bed and badmouthing him, hmph.
Yoriko Arisu rolled around on the bed.
“No way, I’m sorry, I was wrong—”
In the middle of their tussling, Kenma Kotsume lost his balance and was swallowed up by the blanket.
Tetsurou Kuroo poked the obvious lump in the blanket, cautiously.
“Kenma?—Whoa!”
Then he was swallowed up too.
The three of them rolled around in the blanket, giggling and playing until they fell asleep without realizing it.
Miwako Kotsume came up to bring them fruit and saw the quiet room.
She smiled, turned off the lights, closed the door, and quietly left.
Only her camera now had a new photo of the three little ones snuggled up together, fast asleep.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.