"...Hmm..." I wake up on the sofa and sll the strangely familiar, wonderful aroma of pancakes. I take a deep breath, trying to place just what it reminds of.
"Good morning, Ayane." Setsuna greets from my kitchen, and I see her there cooking. She’s still in the sa clothes from last night.
"W-What?" I sit up, confused, finding myself clutching a bunch of papers and photographs. The mories from yesterday quickly start coming back to .
"You fell asleep on my lap yesterday, crying from happiness. I think you were just too tired, so I took care of a few things... unfortunately, we couldn’t have dinner, but today is the 25th, so we can have an even more special al," she says, skillfully flipping a pancake.
"Oh... I-I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble." I apologize for making such a scene, and she didn’t even get to try the food ant for yesterday. It probably wouldn’t taste perfect now.
"It’s no trouble at all. I’m sorry for rummaging through your things, but I wanted to make sothing special for my dear girlfriend," she says lovingly, tossing the pancake behind her so it lands perfectly on the plate waiting on the counter.
’She’s so skilled... but that sll...’ It reminds of the pancakes my mother used to make for . It slls like nostalgia from my childhood.
"You like caral, right?" she asks, having found my hidden jar of caral sauce. I’d almost forgotten it was there, since I stopped eating pancakes a long ti ago.
"Yes, I love it..." I murmur, getting up and placing the photos and letters back into the box to put away carefully later. I can’t just leave this stuff lying around.
"It looks delicious..." I sit down at the table, looking at the plate of pancakes as she adds two more to the small stack of warm cakes. She picks up the jar and pours caral over the top.
’It looks so good...’ I can sll the sweet caral aroma spreading with the steam from the pancakes. Since it’s a bit chilly, it seems even better than on a hot day.
"Go ahead, I hope you like it," she says, sitting across from with a smaller plate of pancakes.
"You don’t want more?" Her plate only has two, while mine has seven. It seems disproportionate, plus she didn’t even put any caral on hers—it’s just plain pancakes.
"...Don’t worry. I’m not very fond of pancakes... and caral isn’t really the kind of topping I like," she says as I pick up a fork and knife to cut a piece.
’So she doesn’t like caral or pancakes...’ Seeing that she made caral pancakes just for , even though she doesn’t like them, warms my heart. Though it does make wonder why she knows how to make them if she doesn’t like them. Geniuses really are curious people.
"T-Thank you!" I say, spearing a large piece of pancake and stuffing the whole thing into my mouth as I watch her eating small, polite bites.
We’re so different, and yet it feels so right for us to be together like this.
"I have a present for you, too," I murmur to her. She looks at , listening.
"A present?" she asks, surprised.
"Yes, it’s Christmas. You gave a present, so obviously I’m going to give you one too. Is there sothing strange about that?" I ask, confused by her surprised reaction.
"..."
"I’m not used to receiving gifts, but I appreciate the attempt, even if you don’t really know what I like." She hits the nail right on the head. I don’t know that much about Setsuna.
"Well, even without knowing much, I still picked sothing that looked cool! It’s a... d-don’t be curious!! We have to wait until later for to give it to you!" I say hurriedly, realizing I almost blurted out what it was. She lets out a little laugh as she takes a bite of her pancake.
We sit in a comfortable silence as she and I finish our al. We don’t need conversation in monts like these; just being in each other’s presence is enough.
And after we finish the al, we go to my living room, where I try to think of how to entertain Setsuna.
"..." Setsuna and I sit in the living room, just looking at each other. Setsuna doesn’t seem to see a problem with just sitting like this, but I’m feeling very uncomfortable now, not knowing what to say.
’We’re dating, and I don’t even know what girlfriends are supposed to do.’ I timidly place my hand on my skirt, smoothing it down nervously.
"W-Would you like to play so board gas?" I offer, afraid that I’m totally boring her.
"You don’t know what to say, and you’re nervous, right?" She sees right through , making feel a bit shy about the whole thing.
"Y-Yes..."
"You don’t need to be. I really wouldn’t mind spending the next few hours just watching you. Besides, no offense... but do you think you can beat at any board gas?" she asks as I think about it.
"..."
"P-Perhaps... w-well... rock-paper-scissors?" I say, unable to think of a single ga I could actually win.
"That’s not a board ga, but it’s fine. How about we talk about ourselves instead? What do you want for the future? I... wish to beco stronger, to protect what’s important to ." Setsuna voices a cute wish.
"That’s a great wish! I... want to be able to do that too, but to protect everyone!" I say with conviction. I will beco a powerful angel and make our world much safer and more protected from the evil monsters that hurt humans.
"..." Setsuna has an unusually cold look on her face.
"...?"
"Ayane, answer . Is that really the future you want? Or is it a future that was shaped for you through experiences?" she asks a confusing question.
"W-Well, isn’t it the sa thing? Since our wishes co from our experiences, right?" I give a third option as an answer.
"...Perhaps... Anyway, you’re very altruistic... I suppose that’s good," she says, giving a smile as I decide to ask my own question.
"Setsuna, what do you wish to protect right now?" Our wishes are similar, but hers seems more reserved, even selective, I’d say.
"Well, obviously, I wish to protect you, Ayane," she says with a genuine, warm smile that makes feel a little excited.
"I know! I want to tell you about my family. Would you like to hear? I can tell you about my childhood, and then you can tell about yours." I co up with a very good topic that I think girlfriends would talk about.
"Normally I’d say it’s a bit early for that, but since we were friends before we started dating, I think it’s a good idea. So tell , Ayane, what was your life with your family like?" she asks, leaning forward with interest.
I start telling her, and she shows genuine interest, which strongly encourages to talk more.
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