“Bad day?” Akira asked, hanging his coat.
She didn’t answer at first. Then, softly: “My mom’s in the hospital. She collapsed this morning.”
That night, they didn’t have sex. She fell asleep on his shoulder, and he stayed until dawn, watching the rain stop and the city lighten. He broke rule one. He broke rule two in his head, imagining telling a friend about this woman who made him feel less like a machine.
“Yeah,” he said. “I think so too.” Tsugou no Yoi Sexfriend
It was the kind of arrangement that thrived on convenience. Akira called it “Tsugou no Yoi Sexfriend”—the convenient sex friend. No strings, no late-night texts about feelings, no awkward mornings after. Just two people who understood that life was busy, and sometimes, you simply needed someone to help you unwind.
But one Thursday, Rina broke the pattern. She was already there when he arrived—curled up on the sofa, still in her work blazer, staring at the rain-streaked window. Her eyes were red.
They never used the pineapple emoji again. But they started texting good morning. And sometimes, on Thursdays, they just held each other, which turned out to be the most convenient thing of all—not for their schedules, but for their hearts. “Bad day
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.
They met every other Thursday, like clockwork. Rina would text him a simple pineapple emoji, which meant her place was free, and Akira would reply with a thumbs-up. She’d leave the key under the third potted plant, and he’d let himself in after his last client meeting. No words wasted. No expectations.
Akira froze. This wasn’t in the script. He wasn’t supposed to know her mom’s name, let alone her medical history. He stood there, useless, until something unfamiliar rose in his chest—not lust, but a clumsy tenderness. She collapsed this morning
It worked because they both knew the rules. Rule one: no sleeping over. Rule two: no introducing to friends. Rule three: if someone catches feelings, you end it immediately. Clean, efficient, modern.
He sat beside her. Didn’t reach for her like he usually did. Instead, he pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and draped it over her shoulders. Then he made tea—something he’d never done in her kitchen. He found the chamomile in the back of the cupboard, boiled water, and tried not to think about how domestic it felt.
When she woke up, she didn’t apologize. She just looked at him and said, “I think we need new rules.”