The atmosphere in the office had dropped to a chill. It felt like the indoor temperature suddenly dropped several degrees in an instant. If Hanari was here, she would have whined to turn on the heater with all her might, casting a shadow of coldness.
The cause of this was… surprisingly, not Nagisa at all. Well, to put it bluntly, she was one of the causes, but…
For starters, Luna was staring at me with half-dead eyes. Noah accompanied her with a humorless smile that tilted her head at an angle.
…Honestly, am I the only one who finds these two scarier than Nagisa?
Besides, after making that mess, I can’t help but think… what was I even thinking? I can’t deny that I sometimes impulsively cause trouble, but I usually don’t lose my rationality that easily.
It was supposed to be like that, so why?
Leaving aside everything else, joking around about love matters like this… was something I should never have done in the first place.
The problem here is that the incident has already blown up.
“Really? That sounds like an interesting story in many ways.”
“Seems like Miko-chan has quite the talent for jokes♪”
“I need to spill…”
“Ufuufufu.”
Wow, Luna, is that a joke…?
With the trouble already made, I quietly gauged the atmosphere between Nagisa and Hanako.
At least it felt like Hanako wasn’t particularly bothered, but maybe that’s because she hasn’t met the teacher yet?
…No, that can’t be it. As my secretary, she certainly knows what the teacher looks like. So rather, she must have partially figured out that I intentionally started this mess.
Considering Hanako’s daily routine of setting fires with her 19+ remarks, there’s no way she wouldn’t have caught on that I did it on purpose. Yep, that’s how it is.
And just then, Nagisa’s hand rested on my back. Following that, she started to gently stroke my back over my clothes.
“…?!”
When her hand made contact with my neck, she gradually applied pressure.
“Fuuuh…”
A pleasant languor spread through my body. I just want to stay like this all day.
“Rather than this kind of talk, it’s a little different… right?”
For some reason, while Nagisa was trying to change the subject, I received a call on my mobile.
“Um, just a second…”
When I pulled the phone out of my pocket and checked the caller, it was none other than Aco.
[Mika-san. Where are you right now?]
Once I answered and asked for permission, I could hear Aco shouting through the speaker.
“Huh? We’re at our school!”
[…Wait a moment. Your voice sounds a little strange.]
“Oh no, does it sound that weird? Heehee.”
[Ugh… Never mind, I’m heading over there, so could you send someone to the front gate?]
“Sure, I can—”
[Mika…]
“What is it…?”
[Head, please hold on a little longer. Ahem… Anyway, I’ll trust that you understood. Let’s end this call.]
“…”
Um, Aco, isn’t that just a bit too much to throw up? That’s downright hurtful! That’s a crime, you know!
Anyway, sending someone over is a method, but heading over together to move the gathering to the city doesn’t seem that bad either.
“Hey, Mika-chan, seeing more people coming in makes me wonder, how will the living arrangements be later on?”
“Of course, we’ll need to build a house, right?”
“To accommodate at least seven people… or more, there’s no way a regular-sized house would do…”
“At least…?”
“Yes, at least.”
When Noah said “at least,” what did she really mean?
It was pretty obvious that it suggested more people would be joining in, but that has a couple of reasons as well.
If I’m thinking along the right lines, asking for family expansion at this age… well, I guess my current situation heavily influenced that.
“This might actually require building a castle or something.”
…Noah, personally, can we delay this parenting plan a bit into the future? It’s not like something can happen by mistake anyway, right? Just saying.
*
After getting younger, for the first time, walking alone without anyone by my side made me feel… what to say, my hands felt empty.
When I volunteered to go meet Aco instead of Hanako, everyone freaked out and tried to stop me. Hmph, the more they try to stop me, the more I want to go!
I’m not a little kid, and there’s no way anything bad would happen if I went alone. Silly sisters.
…That I miss their hands is my little secret. Yup.
As I headed toward the front gate, suddenly a group surrounded me.
“Sister?”
“…Huh?”
“Never mind. You just look similar enough to surprise me.”
Well, it was just three of them.
“Hey? That’s true. Atsuko, this girl resembles that upperclassman a bit too much, right?”
“Yeah. I’d believe it if you said it was Mika-nee from her elementary school days. Did you maybe have a younger sister I didn’t know about…?”
“Hmm. Am I the only one not following this conversation?”
“Come to think of it, this kid doesn’t know. You know, the older sister who sings all the time.”
“…Ah! Atsuko’s crush?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“I’m confident, Yoshimi. My sister has a big heart… so I believe she will notice one day.”
“Yeah, of course, princess. How could she not? By the way, kid, did you get lost? This is the high school area. If that’s the case, just say so.”
Atsuko and her best friend Yoshimi, and the last one is a cat-human from the band group, ex-delinquent Kyoyama Kazusa.
With these three around me, I thought for a moment. Let’s just deal casually with them before slipping away.
“Ah, um. Hello, sisters. I’m Tsukiyuki Miyako from the middle school… I’m not lost or anything, just uh… sightseeing!”
Sorry, Miyako-nee, but I had to use your name. “Miko” just feels too thoughtless.
“What? You’re from middle school? Surprising. By the way, ‘sightseeing’ means in the high school area, right?”
“Yes, yes. I’ve looked around, and I’m about to head back. So I’ll just—”
“Wait a minute. This is fate, and since we’re going the same way… let me buy you something.”
“Mama said going with someone you don’t know to get tasty things is dangerous.”
“Hey, look at Atsuko’s face and reconsider. Can you really see her being scary? Oh, but you must absolutely not look at Kazusa.”
“…Ha. The fact you can’t say to look at your own face, is that it? Happy to see you can self-reflect; that’s a relief.”
“What are you complaining about? Your scowling face really looks and acts scary~! It’s a fact that Atsuko is the prettiest among us, verified scientifically.”
“And you should really clean up that grumpy, dissatisfied look of yours before talking, huh?”
“Under no circumstances! You cannot look at Kyoyama Kazusa’s face!”
“…What did you just say?”
Wow, it’s really loud…
Atsuko sure knows how to have fun with these people. At least there’s no silence in the audio, that’s nice, huh.
Among the two who aren’t here, one is relatively gentle, but the other is just pure chaos. The thought alone makes me dizzy…
“You can ignore those two and just come with us. I’ll buy you something delicious.”
Hold up. Atsuko, you’ve been borrowing lunch money from me, haven’t you? Hearing you say that just makes me feel a bit weird.
Anyway, separating from them sounds like a plan.
“I’m good, so…”
“Hmm? Really…?”
Atsuko tilted her head as she asked, and suddenly reached out and grabbed my hand, which I accidentally held back tightly.
…Is it just anyone’s hand I wanted to hold that badly?
“You don’t need to be so polite… big sister, can’t you go with me?”
Just as I was about to once again refuse her stubborn attempts to persuade me…
‘Big sister’?
Did she just purposely say that?
…No, I’m probably overthinking this. Yup.
As I thought that and stole a glance at Atsuko’s face, I suddenly realized.
With a warm glow emanating from her, as if she knew exactly who I was, Atsuko’s eyes were confidently communicating something.
You can’t fool those who notice even the slightest change in your appearance.
“…Hey, I’ve got someone to meet. If it’s just to the front gate, that’s okay, right?”
“Then, let’s just go to the front gate together.”
When I ditched the formalities and spoke normally, Atsuko nodded with a smile as if she expected it.
Then, she approached the two who were practically wrestling each other and said a few words.
“…Consider yourself lucky.”
“Consider yourself blessed!~”
“This is real.”
“…Both of you, stop. Fighting like this in front of kids isn’t good for emotional training.”
Thanks to Atsuko’s mediation, the two surprisingly complied without much protest.
“They’re so dedicated, and that upperclassman is really infuriating for not recognizing them.”
…Ugh.
“…Yeah. It’s quite painful just watching.”
But no! Atsuko was just a kid back then! No matter how you think about it, isn’t it a bit too simple for a middle schooler to just fall for a love confession?!
And most importantly, there’s one key fact.
Atsuko outright betrayed me and chose the band group over T-party…
It’s unjust! I’m so done with this world that doesn’t understand my struggles, it’s infuriating!
“Miyako, you need to hold my hand tightly and follow along, okay?”
“…Sure.”
…Nope. Just let our princess do as she wishes. Atsuko deserves that. The Squad can just keep being happy like this, and I couldn’t wish for anything more.
But still, please take care of T-party, would you, sis? I’m begging you. I’m terrified everyone will gang up on me and I won’t even graduate…
