Chapter 3.7

“It’s so pretty…”

After a while, we arrived at a large floral garden. The flowers have blossomed in a variety of colors, and they were all so stunning that it was impossible to decide which was the prettiest.

“Yeah, such a lovely sight…”

I was surprised because I never got the chance to look at so many flowers at once. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the names of the flowers that were planted here.

It was so refreshing to see their charm.

I sat down on a bench beside me.

“Onii-chan, sorry. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Ok. I’ll wait for you here.”

After saying that, Akari left by leaving her bag on the bench.

It would be rude to think about where she went.

“Sigh… It’s more like a date than a typical rehearsal… Well, if Akari’s having fun, that’s fine.”

Till now we were clasping hands. Though it was a practice, our hands were interlocked as if it was natural. I had never done this before even with Nanami, who I had been dating for a while.

Yesterday, I went on a date with a girl I pretended to be dating. And today, I had a date with my younger sister under the guise of a rehearsal…

Guess, I’m in a very twisted relationship. Normal high school siblings don’t walk hand in hand. And I believe it’s impossible to practice for a date in the first place.

Up until now, I was pretending to be unaware of Akari’s feelings. But that was not the case anymore…

It was going over the boundaries.

Because Akari was approaching me literally.

I couldn’t play dumb forever.

If Nanami didn’t like me then I would’ve been saved from this practice date. *Sigh* it’s no longer a rehearsal… but a real date. Well, Akari seems to be having fun, so be it.

But something was off.

This morning, I was wondering if I should continue my relationship with Nanami, who clearly expressed her love for me. And I couldn’t continue to be in a relationship like this with Akari.

Hmm, after this date is over…

At that time, a flower caught my attention.

It was a bright orange flower. In front of it was a signboard that said, “Marigolds.”

“Marigolds, huh?”

Its name sounded familiar. Probably it was a well-known flower.

Underneath it, something was written in small letters. It was too far away for me to read, but it seemed to say something about the meaning of flowers or something.

“Meaning of flowers… I can’t read it.’

I thought about getting up for a look, but Akari came back while I was intrigued, so I decided not to.

Well, I should probably check it out later.

After the walk, it was time for lunch.

Though it was around noon, we were moving so much that I felt hungry. And since we had to swim in the afternoon, we decided to eat our fill.

We opened our lunches on the bench. The lunch she prepared for me was visually stunning.

There were several dishes on skewers, such as fried chicken, sausage, omelet, to make it easy for me to pick up.

And when I opened another box, I found there was a sandwich tightly packed inside.

I immediately took a bite of the omelet.

“Yes, it’s tasty. Akari.”

It had the sweet flavor that I love, and it was really good. Next, I tried the sandwich and fried chicken.

Yes, they are all delicious.

“I didn’t know you were such an excellent cook, Akari.”

“I’ve been studying occasionally since I was in junior high school. Besides, some of the dishes in the home were made by me.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

Well, I know.

“Umm, Onii-chan.”

“Hmm?”

“Now that we’re on a date, I think we should do something like this.”

“Like this?”

“Yes, say aah…”

Akari took the sandwich with her hand and brought it to my mouth… wait, shouldn’t you use chopsticks for this?

“… ah.”

However, I couldn’t refuse to eat after being treated so well.

“…Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it’s good…”

“I see…”

But the truth was that I was nervous and couldn’t focus on its taste.

“Anything for you Onii-chan…”

As I was chewing, Akari muttered something.

“Would you like to have my lunches for school too? I can make it for you.”

She shyly glanced at me while suggesting so.

Even though she asked but her expressions were as if she wanted me to accept.

But,

“The first semester will be over soon. I think I’ll ask you in the second semester.”

I couldn’t resist her pleading eyes, so I decided to postpone it.