Blushing furiously, Utaha yelled at her mom through the door, then turned around and threw herself onto her bed. Hugging the quilt with both arms, she muttered to herself in a tone full of grief and indignation.
"I'm not Kasu-Fatty! Wuuu....."
After sulking for a while, Utaha slowly lifted her slightly messy head. Her gaze dropped to her lower belly with a lack of confidence.
'Am I really that fat?'
Harboring hidden self-doubt, she slowly raised her right hand and subconsciously pinched the flesh on her soft lower belly.
Pinch... pinch pinch... and pinch again...
Feeling the "bouncy" softness transmitted from her thumb and index finger, Utaha froze completely.
The next second, her expression instantly turned as if she were about to cry. Her voice carried a hint of sobbing as she said,
"I really have gained weight... the extra flesh is out!! Wuuuwuu..."
Confronted with the terrifying prospect of weight gain, Utaha's first instinct was to grab her phone. With practiced ease, she pulled up the contact for a certain Miyahito—who was currently slumped on a bench by the basketball court.
Buzz—buzz—buzz—!
"Hello, Utaha."
Hearing Miyahito's puzzled voice on the phone, Utaha immediately said to her boyfriend in a sad tone, "Miyahito, I've gained weight! Waaah....."
"...."
Sitting on the basketball court bench, Miyahito's expression instantly froze.
Originally, he was somewhat pleasantly surprised to suddenly receive a call from Utaha.
However, when he heard Utaha telling him on the phone, her voice tinged with a hint of crying, that she had "gained weight," Miyahito immediately couldn't hold it in.
At this moment, noticing his junior's expression of 'I don't know what happened, but I'm shocked,' Jiro asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"Ah, nothing, Jiro-senpai." Miyahito replied with a somewhat forced tone. He pointed at his phone and then pointed outside, signaling that he needed to take the call, then stood up.
Walking quickly toward the bench outside the basketball court, he asked Utaha on the phone in a confused tone, "Why did you suddenly say you gained weight? What happened?"
".....Miyahito, are you outside right now?"
Hearing the noise coming from Miyahito's end of the phone, Utaha asked.
"Yeah, I came out to play basketball with two seniors from my middle school days." Having briefly explained what he was doing, Miyahito sat down on the bench. "So, what's really wrong? Why did you suddenly say you gained weight?"
"Because just now my mom..." Hearing her boyfriend's reassuring voice, Utaha pouted slightly and couldn't help but complain to him aggrievedly. "Mom keeps saying I've gained weight..."
"And she's calling me Kasu-Fatty..."
"Isn't that too much.... (blah blah blah)"
Oh my god, I thought 'Kasu-Fatty' was just a nickname from the manga fans in my past life.
Listening to his girlfriend's complaints, Miyahito's expression went blank.
Utaha... Kasu-Fatty...
"Pfft..."
Unable to hold it in, Miyahito almost laughed out loud.
Although he quickly covered his mouth after spitting out a bit of air, preventing the subsequent laughter from escaping.
However, at that faint sound, Utaha's voice over the phone abruptly cut off.
Immediately following, a voice full of resentment, as solid as a physical object, came through the phone's speaker.
"...Miyahito..."
Instantly, the expression on Miyahito's face froze. At the same time, a bone-chilling coldness crawled from the base of his spine all the way up his body.
"You just laughed, didn't you? You laughed, didn't you? You laughed....."
Beads of cold sweat seeped out one after another amidst Utaha's repeated emphasis. At this moment, the sweat flowing down Miyahito's face was much more than the sweat he shed while playing hard on the court just now.
In this suffocating silence, Miyahito stammered, "I... I didn't... didn't laugh..."
"....."
"Miyahito, I've gained weight. Are you going to abandon me?" Utaha looked pessimistically at the 'suspected extra flesh' on her stomach, her tone aggrieved and sad. "I'm fat now, and I've become ugly."
...Auntie, what exactly did you do to her.
Hearing the faint crying sound from the phone, Miyahito felt his head buzzing. He rubbed his temples in a headache, then said seriously, "Utaha, don't overthink it. What do you mean 'abandon'?"
"How could I possibly abandon you?"
"But." Pouting, Utaha hugged the phone and curled up at the foot of the bed, speaking very aggrievedly. "No boy likes a fat dinosaur. I've gained weight now and I've become ugly."
Sigh, why does Utaha become so prone to overthinking after coming home?
Recalling last night when he hugged Utaha to watch a movie, eat snacks, and drink cola, and the intoxicating softness and body temperature he felt, Miyahito said helplessly, "Alright, what fat or not. The current Utaha is just perfect."
"Really?"
"Really, really." Miyahito's tone was very affirmative. "I like hugging you the most! Utaha is just like this now, it's the most comfortable to hug you, all soft and squishy."
"....."
Why did you suddenly say something so embarrassing! Seriously!!!
Unable to help but blush from Miyahito's matter-of-fact words, Utaha turned around and threw herself onto the bed, burying her burning hot cheeks into the pillow.
At the same time, accidentally flinging her phone aside, she started pounding the quilt with her hands and feet.
"What's that sound? Utaha? Hey, Utaha?"
Hearing the continuous noise coming from the phone, Miyahito tilted his head and looked in confusion at the call screen on his phone.
"Mm.... it's nothing, nothing!"
Finally suppressing the surging shyness in her heart, Utaha quickly rolled over and sat up. She picked up the phone and put it to her ear, while speaking, she started tidying up the messy clothes on her body that she had just tossed around.
"I was just tidying up just now."
Are you sure? How does it sound like that to me?
Having been with Utaha for almost a month now, Miyahito had learned the point of 'not saying unnecessary things.'
Especially, one thing must be made clear: no matter what Utaha says, she is right!
"Mm, whatever Utaha says is right!"
"By the way, Miyahito, weren't you playing basketball?" Tidying her clothes, Utaha sat neatly on the bed with her legs tucked to the side. She wrapped her little finger around the long hair hanging in front of her chest and said softly, "Is it okay to talk on the phone with me for so long?"
"It's fine." Miyahito said indifferently. "I was planning to stop playing in a few minutes anyway. My stamina is running out."
Stamina running out? It's rare to hear Miyahito say that.
Subconsciously checking the time, and mistakenly thinking Miyahito had been playing basketball for a long time, Utaha instructed earnestly, "Then rest well, and remember to drink water."
"I know, it's just a small thing."
"...."
Knowing she wouldn't be bothering him, Utaha relaxed and settled in for a marathon phone call with her boyfriend—even though they hadn't been apart for even a single day.
Outside the room.
"Seriously! Why did Mr. Naoki soundproof the house so well?! I can't even hear anything! Damn it!"