“I hope the hospitality of YoruHana creates fond memories for you. Until the day our paths cross again, I will wait.”
“Thank you!”
And just like that, our 1-night, 2-day hot spring trip came to an end.
Maybe it was because the duration was so short? I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
In the morning, I had contacted Kurokami-senpai and mentioned this.
[Kurokami Hikari: If you’d like, it’s okay to stay for another day.]
Hearing that, I promptly declined the offer, saying I was fine. My sister would be returning home tonight, and I was planning to spend time with my family.
Well, even if that wasn’t the case, considering the price of that ryokan, staying another day without compensation would be too much of a burden for me to accept.
Anyway, after explaining my situation to Kurokami-senpai, she responded that if I ever wanted to go again, I should just let her know anytime.
What kind of place does Kurokami-senpai’s family run that she could say something like that about booking a luxury ryokan…?
★
After returning home and washing up, the clock pointed to 5 PM.
However, no one was home, and the living room was wrapped in silence.
Mom had gone to my sister’s apartment yesterday and said she’d be coming back today.
I had checked the group chat earlier, and she mentioned she’d probably arrive at around 8 PM…
With about 3 hours left, I wondered what I should do.
Thinking that, I threw myself onto the bed.
To be honest, after more than 4 hours of travel, I was incredibly tired and wanted to take a nap while lying on the bed.
But if I fell asleep now, there was no way I’d wake up by 8 PM, and Mom and my sister wouldn’t think to wake me up either.
Then I’d end up waking up too early, probably around 3 AM, and it’d definitely mess up my sleep schedule.
It was vacation time right now, so it wouldn’t be a huge problem, but I still wanted to maintain my current lifestyle as much as I could.
“Broadcasting is a no-go…”
If I turned on the stream now, the Izutomo would only want to hear about the hot spring trip.
We had promised to have a follow-up stream together about the trip tomorrow afternoon.
“Ha…”
Suddenly, laughter bubbled up.
In the past, I would have definitely been thinking about drawing, watching anime or manga, or playing games… but now, the first thing I thought of was broadcasting.
Realizing that made me feel all sorts of complicated emotions.
High school graduation was just around the corner.
Mom and my homeroom teacher had said it was okay to take my time deciding on my future, but junior year of high school flies by in a flash.
Isn’t it something I know better than anyone else, living this second life?
Of course, the situation between my previous life and now is completely different.
In my past life, I had to work tirelessly to make a living right after graduation, but now, I didn’t have to put in that much effort.
Just as Mom and my homeroom teacher said, there was no problem taking my time deciding my future.
But why?
Every time I think like this, several scenes swirl in my mind.
“I’m thinking of going for external advancement. There’s a decent possibility for the national medical school…”
“Me? I think I’ll choose internal advancement. I’m a bit interested in economics.”
“I think I’ll just take over the family business right after graduation… I love cooking.”
Starting with Miyauchi, Tateyama, and Onodera’s conversations.
“Everyone worked hard!”
The images of the theater club members giving high fives to each other at the cultural festival.
Broadcasting is fun, and everyone around me is amazing people I can rely on, yet somehow, whenever I think of my future, I can’t envision myself doing a broadcast.
No, to be precise, I see nothing at all.
It’s clear the simplest method is right in front of me, so why?
“My dream is definitely to become an idol… but what I wanted was to see people enjoying themselves, not the job of being an idol itself.”
I quietly recalled what Natsune had told me.
Natsune’s dream was to become an idol, but that wasn’t just about career choice.
She wanted to create a scene where people enjoyed themselves, and being an idol was the path that could achieve that.
So what is my dream? No, what do I want to see?
…I don’t really know.
★
“Hmm…”
Feeling a bit hot, I opened my eyes, only to realize I couldn’t see anything and could only feel something soft.
“Hmm?”
…It wasn’t that I couldn’t see anything; I was snuggling in my sister’s embrace.
My sister’s body felt soft and plush and had a pleasant scent, making me feel at ease.
It felt a bit warm, but since it was winter, it wasn’t enough to cause sweating.
…When did I fall asleep?
I was rolling around in bed, pondering my future after returning home…
So my resolve to maintain my sleep schedule crumbled just like that?
“Um… woke up, Mina?”
“Oh, yes. I’m sorry…”
As I shifted slightly, it seemed my sister woke up too.
“No worries. Did I hug you too tightly while sleeping? If it was uncomfortable, I’m sorry.”
“Oh, no. I just fell asleep too early…”
I wanted to say that being in my sister’s embrace felt nice, but it sounded a bit weird, so I held back.
“…”
After that, we said nothing to each other.
To be honest, the atmosphere between my sister and I was a bit awkward right now.
Of course, it wasn’t as if we were at a level where we barely spoke to each other like before, but trying to have a conversation felt somewhat awkward.
If I told others about this, they might ask if I had Communication Impairment or something, but that’s definitely not the case.
There’s a clear reason for that.
And that reason is, of course, the incident where my sister’s personal info got leaked during my broadcast.
I revealed during the stream that I was half foreign, and thankfully, the situation with my members got resolved positively, but the fact that my sister’s identity was exposed hadn’t changed.
Feeling guilty about that made me avoid talking to her, and that’s how it ended up like this.
…Does that mean I have Communication Impairment because of that?
Anyway, no. I was sure that anyone in my position would have reacted similarly.
“Are you still feeling sorry for me?”
Surprisingly, it was my sister who started the conversation.
“…”
“Really, I’m fine. Mina is too nice for her own good.”
As I quietly nodded, my sister lightly laughed and ruffled my hair.
“There hasn’t been any issue since then, right? I’m perfectly fine.”
“But… it was a problem caused by my mistake.”
“Hey, how could you think people would go that far? Besides, you forgot that I did a video interview before, too?”
Her touch was gentle, as if assuring me I had done nothing wrong.
But for some reason, the more she did that, the larger the guilt in my heart grew, threatening to spill over into tears.
“…”
“Okay, how about this? Let’s go on a date tomorrow, just the two of us.”
“A, a date?”
“Yeah. I hope tomorrow’s date will help ease Mina’s guilt.”
That was a lie.
It was clear that this wasn’t a request from my sister because she needed me, but rather a statement meant to comfort me.
“…Alright.”
However, I couldn’t refuse that request, so I eventually nodded.
★
“Shall we go?”
My sister, wearing a winter beanie and sunglasses, said this.
She wore a pristine white blouse under a beige coat, paired with navy skinny jeans.
Was it because she was a model for a famous magazine?
Her outfit looked incredibly natural and pretty, and she pulled it off perfectly.
I, on the other hand, preferred to wear a white shirt and jeans all the time.
But there was a big problem here.
“Um, I feel a bit shy…”
The fact that I was wearing an outfit so similar to my sister’s that it could be called a couple’s look.
A pristine white blouse with a khaki coat. Even the light blue skinny jeans were almost identical.
Apart from the fact that I wasn’t wearing a winter beanie or sunglasses, they were practically the same outfit, just different colors.
In fact, she had said it was an outfit she bought because she wanted to wear it with me.
“What are you shy about?”
My sister, with her typical expressionless face, asked that.
She just doesn’t understand people’s feelings…
“W-well… outfits like this go better with someone as cool as you, not with me…”
“Uhh…”
Of course, I was confident in my appearance.
I’m the ultimate beautiful girl in the universe, after all.
But that aside, outfits like this didn’t suit me.
Such clothing was suited for someone tall and elegantly built, like my sister.
Not that I wanted to wear cutesy clothes, regardless.
I prefer plain, universally wearable, simple shirts and jeans.
“It’s fine. You look cute enough in my eyes.”
However, my sister didn’t seem willing to entertain my objections.
“B-but if we both wear such similar outfits…”
“Hmm? It’s fine because we’re family. Today, it’s a date for you and me, so there’s absolutely no problem.”
In the end, I couldn’t break my sister’s stubbornness.
This date was already a pre-planned future, sanctioned under the pretext of me fulfilling her request.
“See you later.”
“Have fun.”
After saying goodbye to Mom, we stepped outside.
“After today’s date, I have something important to tell you, Mina.”
For some reason, my sister left a cryptic remark as we stepped out.
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