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Chapter 3.5




“Yum, it’s so good!”
We arrived at the restaurant thirty minutes ago. The fluffy, soft boiled Omurice that was brought to us was truly a masterpiece.
“Indeed, it’s delicious.”
My thoughts slipped out naturally.
It was afternoon, but the restaurant was already packed.
There were couples beside us, families with children, and even a group of housewives,
It was a restaurant with a wonderful atmosphere where people of all ages and backgrounds could enjoy their meals.
“Yusuke ordered beef stew sauce, right?”
“That’s right. I had a hard time deciding between this and the one that Nanami ordered with ketchup but in the end I went with this one.”
Next time, I’d like to try the dish with ketchup. I’ll definitely come back here.
And then, as if she heard my thoughts, Nanami made a suggestion.
“Hey, do you want to trade for a bit?”
“By trading, do you mean exchanging each other’s…?”
“Yeah, I’ve been wondering about the beef stew sauce too!”
That was a nice offer. Indeed, I was happy.
“—Then, ahhh.”
Eh, all of a sudden I lost my appetite.
“N-Nanami… that’s a bit too…”
“H-here. I’m pretty embarrassed too, so hurry up and take it…”
N-No-no. I wasn’t embarrassed or anything. Yeah, I mean, there was a little bit of embarrassment, but not that.
“You’re not going to eat…?”
Nanami looked worried when I froze up.
No, I shouldn’t. Even if Akari might be watching from somewhere… I can’t leave. I have to eat it. Let’s dig in.
*Crack——-*
“M-miss! Are you okay?”
When I was about to take a bite out of the spoon that Nanami offered me, I heard a loud sound from the other side of the restaurant. It sounded as if something broke, possibly a cup. I stopped moving.
“Please wait a moment while we take care of this right away!”
The staff started to move in a panic.
[…………..]
While the restaurant was in turmoil, Nanami and I felt awkward around each other. After a few moments of staring at each other, she gently took the spoon that was pointed in my direction.
After that, I quietly took a bite from my Omurice.
… Without a doubt, that girl was Akari.
.
.
.
“Let’s see, which movie are we going to watch today?”
After leaving the restaurant, we arrived at our destination for the day, the movie theater. It’s about twenty minutes until the screening. Just in time.
“Today, we’re going to watch a popular anime movie, it’s called, ‘What’s Your Name’.”
We will be watching an animated movie then. Well, since I rarely watch movies and I know this one is popular it means I can look forward to watching this.
I tell Nanami, “I’ll go buy two tickets then.”
“Sure! Umm… Can I go with you?” she asks.
“Look, It’s on me. You see, it’s a date, and a guy has to look cool, right?”
“Yusuke… Um, guess I’ll have to accept your offer then. she giggles in response.
Sorry Nanami, I hope you’ll take this as an apology.
It was the least I could do to make up for the interference I had been receiving from Akari all day.
“So let’s go inside.”
I bought tickets for the two of us and entered the theater. Well then our seats…
“Hey, this is it, right?”
Right in the middle of the theater, not too far from the screen and not too close. Guess, we could get the best view from here.
Besides, if we were in a movie theater, Akari wouldn’t be able to disturb us. Neither be a phone call nor any loud noises.
Phew… finally I could take a breath.
“—-Ah!”
But it lasted for a few seconds, when I saw a suspicious figure emerge from the entrance, I couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Um? What’s wrong?”
“O-oh, no, it’s nothing.”
The strange shadow that had been stalking me all morning walked past our seats and stopped one row behind us. Then she sat down with a bang on the seat right behind us.
No, no, no. Wasn’t that too bold?
Fortunately, Nanami, who was sitting next to me, was so absorbed in the pamphlet she had just purchased that she didn’t seem to notice the suspicious presence.
However, she could have noticed at any moment because she was right behind her.
“Um, Yusuke.”
“What?”
“Um, I was wondering if you wanted to read the brochure.”
“Ah, the… pamphlet… Yeah, I’ll read it.”
I gently reached for the pamphlet, trying not to let my agitation be noticed.
When I flipped through the cover, I saw a big banner that said, “All of Japan cried!” What an absurd phrase.
.
.
.
… It was ironic. I hadn’t even seen the end yet, and I was moved to tears.
In the meantime, the movie was about to reach its climax.
At first, I couldn’t concentrate on the movie because I was worried about Akari, but she didn’t seem to be interfering in any way. Guess she was enjoying the movie and would talk about her impressions after the end.
[The story begins when the hero and heroine used to be lovers. But one day, the heroine suddenly breaks up with him…
While the hero is grieving, another heroine appears who takes a liking to him. The two get together, but in a corner of his mind, he can’t forget the first heroine.
One day, he happens to drop by a hospital and is reunited with the first heroine. At that time, he finds out that she was diagnosed with a disease and has said goodbye to the hero to avoid bothering him.
The hero, who can’t forget the heroine, rushes to take care of her, but the other heroine, who is dating the hero, doesn’t like it…]
But, I had a strange feeling…
No, I wasn’t criticizing this film.
The scene where he happened to meet the first heroine again was so touching that I almost cried like a baby.
However, from the moment he said goodbye to his second girlfriend, the development of the story became strange… The scene where she confronts the hero, the voice actor’s performance was so earnest that it made me shudder.
This was a romance movie, right? Not a horror movie, correct?
[……]
When I glanced next to her, I saw that Nanami was fully focused on the screen. It was as if she couldn’t take her eyes off the screen and was absorbed in the film.
Well it was good that… Nanami was enjoying the movie.
I adjusted my position and put my arm on the armrest.
“…m!”
And then Nanami gently put her hand on top of mine.
I felt my heart skip a beat and I could feel it beating faster.
Such an irony that a girl was holding my hand while watching a romantic movie.
I felt her body warmth through my hand. Then just like the couples she intervened my fingers.
“AH– I’m sorry.”
At that moment, I heard murmuring behind me, and something flew into the air in large amounts.
[[…..?]]
Both of us panicked and pulled our hands back. Those were… Popcorns?
“Excuse me. Umm… These popcorn… they just… Oh?”
Nanami picked up the popcorn and told the person behind her.
Wait, behind her was…?
“… There’s no one.”
When I turned around, there was no one. But Akari was there just a while ago. I was sure that I heard her mumbling throughout the movie. And she was definitely my sister, Akari.
But now, I couldn’t see anyone behind us.
Akari, when did she leave?
“W-well, there’s some movie left. I’ll tell the staff later.”
We couldn’t bother the people around us. I guess we had caused enough trouble for now.
[[……]]
And so, with an awkward atmosphere, we looked back at the screen. Guess, we were not in the mood to hold hands again.
“Waa– It was fun.”
“Yes, it was.”
The movie ended without any strange incident. After breathing a sigh of relief we hoped on the train.
At least, I managed to get the staff to put away the popcorn by apologizing desperately to them.
Both Nanami and the staff reacted like, “You don’t have to apologize so much when the customer behind you throws it,” but no, I had to apologize as much as I could.
I was really sorry for the trouble that my sister caused…
.
.
.
“You know, the scene where the second heroine cries and chases after the hero was… something that touched my heart.”
Nanami expressed her impressions with enthusiasm. It’s true that the scene was memorable.
“W-what should we do now?”
It is about 4:30 PM now., Iit was a little early to go home, but Akari said she would be making curry and she might be waiting… Guess I should go home now.
“You know, there’s one last place I want to go. Are you fine with it?” Nanami said.
“Where is it?” I asked.
“Um, will you please follow me.” she requested.
Nanami took me in the direction of our houses. After a while we just walked straight past our houses and continued.
“It’s been a long time…”
As I followed her without being told where she was going, Nanami stopped in front of a small park. There were children’s slides, swings and a sandbox. It wasn’t a place for high school students like us to stop by, but rather a place for children to play.
“Hey, do you remember this park?”
But I got a hint of what she was trying to say and why we came here.
“Of course. It’s nostalgic.”
“That’s right, we used to play here a lot.”
When we were little we used to play here all the time.
The slide, the swings, all of it were engraved in my memories.
“I remembered the time when we were in kindergarten, I got hurt and you came to comfort me.”
“I don’t remember that happening…”
When I blurted it out, Nanami chuckled.
“You did… I would never forget that moment. How could you forget?”
I was unexpectedly shaken by her expressions, which was tinted by the sunset.
I have been watching my childhood friend since we were kids, but remembering these past few days, I feel like I’m experiencing a lot of emotions I never felt before.
“You know, I think it was probably… the moment, I fell in love with you, Yusuke.”
I never knew… confessions could be so embarrassing.
The other day when she told me her feelings, I was surprised and confused. But this time it wasn’t like that.
We got in a relationship, then went on a date… And now she was confessing her feelings for me again.
“Nanami… I…”
“—–ONII CHAN!!!”
As I opened my mouth, wondering how I should answer, I heard a voice calling me from somewhere.
It should be her, the only one who calls me “Onii-chan”.
“Oh… You’re also here, Haruse-san. Greetings.”
.
She glanced at Nanami, who was right next to me, and came closer.
… Ah, so you’ve finally decided to show up.
“What a coincidence, Akari-chan?”
Coincidence!! There was no way it would be a mere coincidence.
“It’s really a coincidence. I never thought we’d meet here,” Akari lied.
Akari and Nanami, the two of them, were confronting each other. When they went out together in the past, the atmosphere was a little more relaxed… But for some reason, this time I felt a chill surrounding those two.
The three way confrontation continued, and then Akari said,
“Now that you’re here, I would like to ask something to you, Haruse san.”
“Hmm. What is it?”
“Back at the coffee shop, you told me why my Onii-chan’s attitude changed, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I heard that the reason you bought the swimsuit was for your date with him.”
“I was trying to be thoughtful… Did I bother you?”
“No, not at all.”
After listening to their conversation, I began to regret that I should have consulted Nanami for a different reason. Normally, no one would like to talk with a girl they didn’t know, especially if it was Akari.
“And I… I’ve never dated a man before or anything like that.”
Well, I suppose so. I’d be rather surprised if she did.
“Oh, I see. I thought you were cute so you had a lot of experience with that kind of thing.”
“And, I don’t want to be asked out for a date out of blue.”
You know you could just say, “I don’t have any plans at the moment.”
“—-So”
“Hm?”
“I’d like to practice it with my Onii-chan.”
Hm…?
“It’ll be best if it’s Onii-chan, because he’s family. And you don’t even have to worry about it.”
“…What do you mean by practice?”
Ignoring Nanami’s question, Akari turned to me and said,
“Um, Onii-chan. Tomorrow… Will you go to the pool with me?”
… What?
“Excuse me, Haruse-san. May I borrow your boyfriend?”
Umm… what about my opinion?
***