Chapter 30.1

My pair that I’m proud of (1)

I didn’t mean to cry, but my tears wouldn’t stop.

I didn’t even know why I was crying. But, I just couldn’t hold back my sobs as my chest felt so tight like it was being squeezed.

Yuugo hugged me for a long time until I stopped crying. He patted my body gently to comfort me, and he enveloped me in his pheromones scent.

Yuugo’s scent didn’t just raise my heat’s fever, but also a very calming scent for me.

My body naturally relaxed when I was enveloped by my pair’s scent. Inside Yuugo’s arms, I kept thinking about the words that he had said earlier.

I wonder if there was really that kind of feeling inside me, just like what Yuugo had said.

True, I loved my family.

My dad who’s a bit unreliable, my mom who’s always cheerful, and my cheeky little brother… they’re all people that I love and are important to me.

My sister is the only one who still treats me the same way even now, but maybe I felt a bit lonely that my relationship with the other family members had changed since that day.

Even though I also distanced myself from them—.

I wonder if our relationship could get back to how it was before. I wonder if my family would accept me as an omega.

Maybe Yuugo would be able to repair the relationship between me and my family. He might be able to help us reconcile.

But… I think that isn’t the right way to go.

I didn’t want to rely on Yuugo too much. Even I, want to stand next to Yuugo with my own strength… not just leaning on him like this.

If possible, I want to become someone who could support Yuugo.

—I wanted to be that kind of pair to him.

“Hey, Yuugo…”

“What?”

“…Can you wait a bit before greeting my parents? I… want to talk to them first.”

I thought I’d try to face my family first.

I felt that Yuugo’s words from earlier had given me the courage I needed.

Maybe they wouldn’t understand me right away. Even so, I thought that I had to do it. Not only for myself, but also for Yuugo.

I felt Yuugo’s arms tighten around me as he hugged me.

“…Sou really is cool, after all.”

“Why’d you think like that? It’s just something usual.”

“It’s not. Usually, people wouldn’t say things like that— You’re really cool. You’re my pair that I’m proud of.”

That should be my line.

No matter how you look at it, Yuugo is the cool one. And yet, he would tell me something like that— I think Yuugo always looked at me in a favorable light.

Even so, I was very happy and proud to hear Yuugo say that to me.

*

Since we had completely missed lunch, we decided to have an early dinner.

A good smell wafted from the kitchen. Yuugo was standing there with an apron.

He was making fried rice, at my request.

It was the first thing that came to my mind when he asked me what I wanted to eat. It was partly because I liked it, but I also wanted to eat fried rice, which had brought me and Yuugo together again, now that I have my appetite back.

…Still, I never expected that Yuugo was the one who made it.

I stared at Yuugo’s figure from behind as he cooked.

I couldn’t say he was used to cooking. But, I could tell that he was making it carefully.

I wonder if he had been cooking like this the day before yesterday. Even though it must have been hard for Yuugo’s body after he was exposed to my heat.

“…You keep making me fall in love with you. It’s not fair.”

I muttered that in a small voice, so Yuugo couldn’t hear it.

*

“It tasted really good.”

It already tasted so good when I had no appetite, and the seasoning really suited my taste after all. It definitely tasted better than the fried rice I had eaten at any other restaurant.

Maybe it tasted so good because I knew Yuugo had made it for me.

I kept eating it so much now that it felt like a lie. I couldn’t even eat half of it last time. I think I could eat at least two portions easily now. It made me want to bring the portion from the other day and eat it now together with the portion that Yuugo had just made for me.

“…Sorry. Even though you’ve gone through the trouble to make it for me… I didn’t finish all of it last time.”

“Fried rice must have been too heavy when you had no appetite. I was happy that you’d still eat it regardless.”

He said that and smiled happily. I wonder if Yuugo ever got angry. Well, he’s so frighteningly handsome, so I think he would still look good even if he was silent with an expressionless face.

Yuugo was bringing fried rice to his mouth, just like me. But it was so funny how it didn’t suit him for some reason. It might be my first time seeing someone who didn’t suit fried rice.

“Do you cook often, Yuugo?”

“No, I don’t. It was my first time doing it the day before yesterday… and today is the second time. That’s why I was a bit worried if I could cook well.”

“—Huh?”

Are you kidding me?

He certainly didn’t look like he was used to it, but it was only the second time he cooked?

“I had to get all the ingredients and tools all from scratch, and I made it while following the recipe. I thought that it might be best to just buy it from a restaurant… but I wanted you to eat something homemade. Because at that time, I thought it might be the last time I’d see you.”

“The last time…?”

“I thought you hated me.”

Now that I remember it, I might have said something like that at that time. He looked so relieved when I called him by his name.

That’s right. It has only been two days since we first met face to face. Ever since I came here, each day has been so intense that it feels like more time has passed.

“Hey, will you make fried rice for me again if I ask you to?”

“Of course. If you don’t mind with the one I make.”

“If only I could make you something that you like, too.”

I didn’t think I could make it this well even if I followed the instructions for it, though. But I feel like I could do anything if it was for Yuugo.

I swore to myself that I’d try to make a homemade meal for Yuugo someday.

*