A Warm Place

Extra XI

Walking Towards the Future

"Hinata! Get up already! How long do you want to keep sleeping?!"
"Uuh..."

Mom enters my room without knocking and tries to peel the blanket off me while I'm still sleeping. But, I prevent her from taking it away from me by clinging to it. Eventually, I lose in the contest of strength and fall to the floor along with the blanket.

I shield my body from the shivering cold by rolling around the blanket, wrapping myself in it. Seeing that I don't want to separate from my safe haven at all costs, Mom makes an exaggerated sigh.

"Hi~na~ta~"
"Let me sleep for two more hours..."
"You can't! You had a promise with Hiori-san and the others, didn't you?! You're going to be late if you don't wake up soon."
"Then, just 10 more minutes..."
"Geez, if you won't get up, I'll give you a morning kiss, you know?"

"...gasp?!"

Sensing a threat approaching my lips, I roll on the floor to escape from my mother's mouth-to-mouth contact, all while I'm still wrapped in the blanket.

"Hrmm, it was just a bit more!"
"Haah... haah...!!"

(That was so close...!)

I-I managed to escape by a hair's breadth... If I had moved just a bit slower, I would have experienced the terror that I don't even want to imagine. What's troublesome about Mom is that when she says she'll do something, she'll do it for real. I think she was aiming straight at my mouth earlier.

Meanwhile, Mom is puffing her cheeks in a pout. It seems she's unhappy because I ran away from her kiss.

"You don't need to be so opposed to it~ This is how mothers show their love towards their daughter, you know?"
"Oh yes, I need to. Your expression of love is definitely too extreme. I'm not telling you to stop it entirely, but please try to show your love in a different way."
"Hmm- What should I do, then?"

After pondering about it for a short while, Mom makes an eerie smile, like she's just thought of a good idea. I have a bad feeling about this, but it's too late for me to do anything about it. She suddenly gets on top of me while I'm still wrapped in the blanket. I thought she was going to hug me, but she places her hand on my head instead. While I'm wondering what it is that she's trying to achieve, she moves her hand over my hair that was disheveled in my sleep, caressing it slowly.

"There, there."
"........."

I guess... she's patting my head? Well, yup, it's indeed a sensible way to show her motherly love. That is, if I were to ignore the slightly weird positions we're in.

"Hinata-tan is a good girl~"
"...I take it back, please spare me from this kind of torture, as well."

I'm no longer a small child, so getting my head patted like this feels quite embarrassing. Although I want to resist, I can't really move in my current state. She's patting me unilaterally. Trying to roll around the floor like earlier doesn't help because she's preventing it by pressing her body against me.

"~hh! Aah, geez! I get it already! I'm getting up, okay?! Move aside, will you?"
"Nfufu, very well."

There's a satisfied look on her face as she releases me after I say uncle. I wonder why she's letting me go so easily. But taking the positive side, I can now unwrap myself from the blanket. Then, I rush to get myself up.

"Good morning, Hinata."
"Morning."

...Uuh~ why do I feel like I've just run a marathon? I feel tired even though I've just woken up.

"Hurry up and get ready. Your food's going to get cold."
"Okay, okay."
"Don't go back to sleep, okay~?"
"I know already."

I wait for Mother to leave the room and confirm that she has finally left with my own eyes. Then, I put my hands on my pajamas in order to start taking them off. While I'm yawning in my drowsiness--