{Our Usual Sunday 2}

“But Atsushi, you’re amazing,” Miyu said, turning to me after finishing her pancakes and settling down.

“You always find places like this and look up whether they’re good or not, right? I think it’s incredible how you’re always on the lookout for things like that.”

“Well, yeah,” I replied.

It’s because I’m always thinking about her.

If I were by myself, this café would probably have just seemed like a “typical pancake café.” But thinking about Miyu, I saw it differently: “A cozy café with fluffy soufflé pancakes that she’d love, offering both regular and blood orange juice. The staff is friendly, and the whole place has a secret hideaway vibe that she’d find comfortable. It’s mostly women customers, and people seem to linger even after eating, so it doesn’t feel like you’d be rushed out even when it’s busy. Three stars.”

When you start looking at things from that perspective, you notice details you might have missed before.

“But you’re amazing at finding bakeries, too,” I said.

Sometimes, on her way home from work, Miyu would bring back bread for breakfast. It adds variety to our mornings and makes them just a bit easier.

“Is that really something you’d call a skill?” she replied, blushing and shrinking into herself.

“Bakeries just catch my eye. They look so delicious, and when I bring some home, you get a bit of a break the next morning, right? Sometimes you need to take a break from making fried eggs, or you’ll get tired, don’t you think?”

“You’re so sweet, Miyu.”

Honestly, making fried eggs every day isn’t a burden for me, but it’s true that having a break now and then does make things easier. That said, I do enjoy serving up tasty fried eggs on toast and seeing her happy face, so occasional breaks are just fine.

I like that our days carry on without much fuss, but with the occasional small change thrown in.

“Ah… back to work tomorrow,” she sighed as she sipped her post-meal orange juice.

She glanced over at me and gave a wry smile.

“Sunday’s always fun because we get to be together, but it also makes you think about Monday.”

“That’s just how it is.”

I felt the same. Tomorrow I’d be back at university, and I’d need to start preparing for my internship. This summer looks like it’ll be a bit busier than usual.

But I always look forward to the weekend.

For the time we get to spend together, I can get through any day. I’ll find more little things to make her happy, we’ll keep sending each other messages, and as we think about each other, we’ll look forward to the next weekend.

“I’ll plan our next date during the week,” I said, to which Miyu blinked once and then smiled gently.

“I’m so happy we get to go out every week now that we live together,” she said.

I couldn’t agree more.

The biggest perk of living together is that we no longer have to think “I don’t want to leave” or “I don’t want to send her home.”

And so, we return to the same room, holding hands tightly, feeling happy, and looking forward to the future. It might look “ordinary” to everyone else, but we know that these kinds of days are the best kind of happiness.