Getting home was a simple walk as per usual.
I threw most of the sweets I bought into the fridge and settled on the couch.
The Smart TV was playing YouTube as I munched on some cookies and cake.
The cake was red velvet and the cookies were double chocolate along with a red velvet one.
My mind in its freedom thought back to Miyako.
Truthfully, while I talked big, if she wasn’t prepared or mentally ready I had no plans on pushing it.
There was a difference between the teasing and starting lines.
I had a feeling that she would chicken out and that was okay because I just wanted her to not regret anything afterward.
Either way, I was completely happy with whatever path she chose.
I just felt profoundly lucky to be able to date her at all.
Leaning my head back against the couch cushions, I stared blankly at the flickering screen.
The world I used to live in back on Earth was incredibly plain, neither distinctly good nor entirely bad, just an endless, exhausting shade of grey.
I deeply liked this new world because things actually seemed to possess a much more vibrant color.
Without color, can a person honestly claim that they are truly alive?
To me, that answer is a definitive no.
Without color, you quickly fall into a rigid, daily routine that eventually becomes entirely robotic.
Robots were technically a form of life, sure, but they were ultimately just artificial creations built to mimic the true blessing that is life.
Only after crossing a certain point, entering the sacred domain of actual consciousness and emotions, can a person genuinely claim that they are alive.
The grey world simply doesn’t allow for that, after all, it’s just grey.
Even a world of pure black or a world of blinding white was infinitely more lively than a stagnant neutral.
“Humph.” I threw the last cookie I had into my mouth and laid down.
Staring at the ceiling I thought back to the Tatsuya before “me”.
He was someone similar to me but by no means had I suffered the same lengths as him.
Losing both his parents, one to cancer and the other to a maniac running around stabbing people.
His parents had no other family and the few friends they did have were barely even that, mere associates that after they passed didn’t give a damn.
Were those people inherently wrong for that?
Absolutely not.
If they weren’t genuine friends, why should they be expected to care beyond a certain polite point?
I understood the cold, harsh logic of society clearly, but the original Tatsuya didn’t.
He took the isolation the hardest, and with absolutely nothing left in his daily life to capture his interest, his world inevitably welcomed that familiar, suffocating grey.
As for me, my only real issues in my past life were being a standard 9-to-5 corporate slave after graduating high school, desperately trying to start something meaningful with my life but failing to find traction.
I barely made it past my 22nd birthday before finding myself suddenly waking up here, experiencing a strange phenomenon where my mental age slightly regressed due to the youthful changes in my new teenage body.
The worst part was…no, there wasn’t any point in getting lost in negativity.
“Hah~,” with a heavy, relaxing sigh, I actively cleared my mind of the spiraling, heavy thoughts.
Right now, I was happy.
I had the exact things that I wanted in life and so much more.
How many people in this massive world could honestly claim that?
How many were as profoundly blessed as me?
I was insanely happy with the current direction of my life!
Of course, the sweets helped a lot.
Their taste was perfect.
‘I should definitely take Miyako there for a proper date,’ I thought, a warm feeling blossoming in my chest.
Reaching over to the wooden coffee table, I grabbed my phone.
The Face ID did its job immediately, flashing open to show the contact details of the exact woman I was thinking of.
“Haha~ maybe I should have just told her to come over tonight anyway,” I murmured to the empty room.
After experiencing her warmth, it was hard to go back.
It was deadly how a sip could make one drown so quickly.
I didn’t actually call or text her, though.
I just stared quietly at her contact picture on the screen, letting the silence settle around me.
‘I wonder if Yukino will actually try and talk to Miyako?’ Part of me genuinely wanted Yukino to have good, dependable friends besides just me.
God knows she desperately needed them given her toxic family circumstances, along with her own self-inflicted, isolated pain.
Thinking of the future, Yuigahama was also someone I eventually wanted to help out; she and Hachiman honestly needed to get together.
I really didn’t think Yukino being with Hachiman was a good idea for either of them in the long run.
I’d honestly rather date both Yukino and Miyako myself before I ever let his cynical hands touch her, but that was just my own personal bias speaking.
Mainly, it stemmed from the fact that I’ve always liked Yukino’s character, and I didn’t really like Hachiman’s.
As for if I’d really create some harem…
I mean, as a regular dude, I’m obviously not going to hate the basic idea, but I’m certainly not going to go out of my way to force it to happen.
I felt plenty fulfilled and happy with just Miyako, and she was the one I had spent seven solid months getting along with day in and day out.
In my heart of hearts, I really was just too incredibly happy with Miyako to care about anyone else.
“I wonder what she would even say if she could read my mind right now?” I chuckled softly, shaking my head.
I’d never actually bring a topic like that up to her, but her reaction would probably be absolutely priceless to witness.