Chapter 23: The Night Before the Aquarium Date
“Oniichan, sit down.”
“Uh, yes, I’m really sorry.”
Evening.
In the Tsukiomi household, Kanade’s room.
Kanade and Yukino, the siblings, were holding a reflection meeting.
The discussion was, of course, about everything that had happened in the courtyard during lunchtime today.
“Oniichan, no matter how you look at it, that was a bit too much~!”
Yukino was dressed in casual home attire, her brown short hair tied into a small ponytail.
She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, looking down at Kanade, who was kneeling on the floor.
He looked like a sinner being punished.
After being reminded by his classmates later, Kanade realized how strange his behavior in the courtyard was in the eyes of others.
Even though he and Nagi were only “pretending to be lovers.”
For him to act like that was really excessive—
No, it was quite outrageous.
Especially since he had only sensed yesterday that little Nagi might have feelings for him.
To abandon the childhood friend who might like him the next day and actively seek solitude with a beautiful junior under everyone’s gaze was just plain wrong.
In the eyes of others, he appeared to be a fickle-hearted man who was double-timing.
It’s completely understandable for Yukino to feel angry and lecture him.
“Honestly, have you realized where you went wrong, Oniichan!?”
“Yes, I’ve deeply understood the mistake I made.”
“Great, you should thoroughly reflect on the fact that you didn’t invite your little sister to such an interesting event!”
“Yes, I should reflect on that! But that’s not the point!?”
After making a complaint, Kanade sighed deeply.
“Seriously, give back my previous reflection.”
“Hmph, this is a punishment for Oniichan! You made me miss out on Nagi getting jealous.”
This was Yukino’s honest thought; she felt indignant about missing the moment when Nagi got jealous.
After all, she knew her brother’s affection for Nagi had reached an incurable level and he could never possibly show interest in other girls.
In response to Yukino’s statement, Kanade couldn’t help but ask:
“What does it mean to be jealous?”
“Oniichan, if you’re this dense, even I would find it amusing—no, I’d be angry!”
After hearing this, Kanade felt a sudden realization.
Assuming “little Nagi might actually like me,” she should have been angry with him today in the courtyard, right?
But when little Nagi came to the courtyard to find him, he felt no jealousy or anger from her.
If anything, she seemed a bit worried about her classmates.
So could it be—
“Is ‘little Nagi possibly liking me’ just my imagination?”
A flash of lightning struck in Kanade’s mind.
“By the way, Oniichan, have you never done anything a boyfriend should do for Nagi?”
“But Nagi and I are just pretending—”
“Even pretending should have the appearance of it! Otherwise, to others, it looks like you two are just fighting.” Yukino shook a finger in front of Kanade.
“If even Oniichan and Nagi would fight, doesn’t that confirm the curse rumors at school are true?”
“So, Oniichan should do more couple-like things with Nagi!”
“Like, for example?” Kanade asked weakly.
Regarding romance, he was like a blank slate and could only look to his confident sister for help.
“Well, when it comes to couples, it’s about going to school together and coming home together, right?”
“……”
“And then holding hands all the way.”
“……”
Ah, that’s strange; wasn’t this exactly what he used to do with little Nagi every day?
“Yukino, are you saying that you’re actually—clueless about romance?”
“!”
Kanade felt he had uncovered some truth.
“N-No! Compared to Oniichan, I have plenty of romantic experience!”
“Are you referring to what you’ve seen in romance manga—”
“—Books summarize human experiences. Given how many romance mangas I’ve read, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call me the ‘romance master who embodies all the world’s romantic experiences!’”
“No, no, that’s too much.”
Yukino’s face turned red from embarrassment, and she took out two ticket-like items from behind her.
“And then there’s the date! These are tickets to the aquarium that Nagi gave me this afternoon as an apology for you.”
Kanade took the tickets from Yukino’s hand; they were tickets to the aquarium.
“The day after tomorrow is the weekend, right? Oniichan, take this opportunity to invite Nagi for a date!”
“I-I’m going on a date with little Nagi!?”
……
……
The next day.
Friday.
Kanade was troubled, not knowing how to invite Nagi.
During lunchtime.
He called Rin out for lunch to discuss strategies.
Rin rolled her eyes at him.
“While I’m glad you came to find me, considering you’ve only been dating Nagi for less than three days…”
“Aren’t you supposed to invite Nagi to lunch instead?”
There aren’t many places to have lunch at school.
Besides the rooftop which is off-limits.
There are generally only classrooms or the school courtyard.
But something had just happened in the courtyard yesterday.
Kanade felt that if he took Rin to the courtyard alone today, others would definitely see him as a double-timer—
So the two could only go to the self-study club room.
……
“The aquarium, huh… that’s really a classic~”
Rin said, tearing open the packaging of her bread, sighing in admiration.
This was the lunch he and Kanade had just bought at the school store on the way.
“So, I was thinking about whether to invite everyone to go together…”
Rin paused for a moment at this.
“Are you serious? The aquarium is a place that, no matter how you look at it, is meant for couples, right?”
What’s the point of inviting friends to go?
“Is it really like that?” Kanade shyly averted his gaze, taking a bite of his bread.
Then, as if he had made some realization, he looked back at Rin.
“Actually, I’ve recently discovered something, but I’m not certain, so I want to hear your opinion.”
Seeing Kanade’s serious expression, Rin couldn’t help but sit up straight.
“What exactly do you mean?”
“I feel that—little Nagi might… possibly… like me a little bit… maybe…”
“……”
