Fikush-ON!

Ch. 23: Summer Job, Part III

...

"...Eiji-ku—"

I flinched awake, quickly sitting up. "No, wait!"

"E-eh!?"

...huh? Where did the green light orb go? I was just about to catch it... Wait, whose voice was that, anyway? I slowly turned to look at my side, and found Ui, scared shitless. I kept looking at her with tired eyes for, uh, I'm not even sure how long.

As she finally recovered from the scare, she spoke again: "...uh, Eiji-kun?"

"H-huh? What?" I managed to murmur as I was rubbing the sleep out of my eye.

Ui smiled nervously. "Good morning."

"Oh, right. Morning..." I muttered.

Her smile disappeared as she became a bit concerned, and leaned towards me. "Did you have a bad dream?"

I cocked my head, trying to remember. "...not sure."

She seemed to think about something, but didn't voice her thoughts. Instead, she turned around, and walked to the door.

"Come downstairs when you're ready, we're making some breakfast."

"Yeah, cool," I said to her, followed by a big yawn.

I could hear her giggling a bit before stepping out of my room and closing the door.

...wait a damn minute. Now that I'm completely awake, this indeed is my room. So why's Ui here? Did Tamiko invite her over again? Oh well, she said something about breakfast. If it's made by Ui, it'll suit me just fine. Oh, right, it's Monday, I'll have to go back to work today. After stretching for a bit, I walked over to my computer table to check my phone. Ui had woken me up just minutes before my alarm, which I immediately turned off. I also took a glance at my computer. The only reason I got the job was to get that computer a new processor and more RAM. I got dressed up, stopped by the bathroom, and headed downstairs. And indeed, they sure were preparing some breakfast, judging by the pleasant smell.

As I walked over to the kitchen, I glanced at the living room. I saw Dash lying in the middle of the floor, and Yui lying next to her. It made me halt, and after being confused for a bit, I walked over to the two lazy ladies. As I approached them, Dash just raised her head to get a look at me, and got back to lazing around just as quickly. Meanwhile, Yui was lying next to her, her eyes shut... Wait, is she sleeping?

I kept looking at her goofy, sleeping face for a while, until I turned to face the kitchen. "Uh, just why exactly is Yui-san sleeping on our floor?"

"Huh, sleeping?" I could hear Ui muttering, and saw her peeking into the living room, a spatula in her hand and an apron around her waist. As she got a look at the scenario, she got angry. "Sis! Wake up, you can't sleep here!"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Yui squirming on the floor. "But Ui~, I'm still tired..."

I knew exactly what Ui was about to say next, so before she had the chance to do that, I crouched down, poking Yui on the cheek. I wanted to give her a succinct warning.

"No snack," I whispered to her.

The very next second, Yui suddenly jerked awake, making me throw myself backward. "I-I'm awake! I was just, uh, keeping the dog company!"

Hearing this, Dash raised her left ear and let out a snort, almost as if saying 'The hell you were'. It made me grin out of amusement. However, I still hadn't gotten the answer for my question.

I stood up, stretching my legs a bit. "So, I'll ask again: Why are you guys here?"

Yui, who was trying to hide her tired yawn, turned to face me. "Ah, our parents are going on another trip tomorrow, so they're trying to change their sleep schedule."