✍🏻 Little Matchmaker

35 - That Day

The first thing Sophie could recognize were the sounds of birds followed by muffled shouting at the TV from the living room. She was lying on her stomach and spread her arms, noting the bed seems cold and most of all - vacant.
A frown creased her forehead and she rolled on her back when a flowery fragrant hit her nose and she opened her eyes.
She sat up but as it was too fast, she fell back down and yawned, rolling again on the side and looking at her nightstand. Nothing there.
She rolled again and looked on the opposite side but still did not see the source of the smell.
Giving sitting up another try, she slowly lifted herself up just to find her Camellias peaking behind the foot of the bed.
A soft smile crossed her face, slowly realizing that Yuzuru must have moved all three of the pots there for her to wake up to that smell. And yet again she slept completely through it.

Sophie grabbed the nearest pillow and moved with it to the flowers, laying down on the other side of the bed and falling asleep once more, the soft jasmine scent beating the disturbing sounds.

The second time she woke up, a smile was still playing on her lips and after a reluctant stretch, she got up and moved to the drawers, going through each until she found the same shorts that she wore that Sunday back in Japan.
That one wonderful day before everything went to shit.
Now, she wanted to delete those almost six months of negativity, finally having everything she needed clarified.
She fished out also the same top she wore that morning and decided on a new start.

With a freshly made coffee in hand, she walked slowly to the sofa, trying to recreate the scene, and being still half-asleep, she didn't even have to fake her tired yawn.

The moment she made it in front of the sofa, Yuzuru's eyes widened and he went with his gaze slowly, gradually, over her exposed calves and thighs, the rim of the shorts, her waist, breasts, chin, before stopping at her gleeful face.
She opened her mouth in a fake surprise, pressing her palm to her cheek but opted not to drop the coffee this time.
He still didn't say anything and stared at her in disbelief as she plopped down next to him, noting that as last time Akira again didn't pay any attention to them and was just aggressively smashing buttons on his PlayStation controller.

"M-Morning sleepy head?" Yuzuru produced, his eyes glued to hers.

Sophie gave him a soft smile and looked down on her mug, "I don't know what I said on that, though."

"You, um," he swallowed on empty, "you told off Aki and---"

"What did I doooo?!!!" Akira whined and they both chuckled before Yuzuru patted his shoulder and reassured him that everything is fine.
Akira nodded with relief and went back to his game just as Yuzuru turned back to Sophie.

"So," he said with giddy sparkles in his eyes, "you will make the Sukiyaki for lunch again?"

"Just as I did that time," she confirmed and a quiet, wicked chuckle escaped her while she sipped on her coffee again, "and you will do aalllll the homework with Aki."

Yuzuru laughed, holding his chest and forced himself to quickly calm down.
He let out a long sigh of content and turned to her, brushing away her hair from her ear and quietly whispering, "thank you so much Sophie-chan."

His breath tickled her on her neck, making her giggle, and she continued sipping on her coffee, putting her feet on top of the table.
Akira kept shouting into his headset for his teammates to resurrect him before it's too late because apparently, he was carrying some special relic, making him the most valuable member of the team, and Yuzuru went quiet, staring absentmindedly on the TV with a gratified smile on his lips.
Halfway through her coffee, she was just about to turn to him when he put his arm behind her shoulders on the sofa and stretched his feet on the table as well.