[Finally found him. Seriously.]
Saiki Kusuo scratched his head and glanced at the sky. The fiery red sunset illuminated the ground, and the light was already gradually fading.
"Ah muu~ Shiro, you're so naughty. How could you run around everywhere and make me look for you this long?"
Shin-chan sat outside an old lady's house, hugging Shiro while eating cookies.
Around Shiro, several people were gathered praising him.
"Thanks so much to Shiro for always coming to play with my little dog. Otherwise he'd be so lonely."
"He often keeps my old man company and protects our potted plants from stray cats. What a good boy. Thank you all."
"Just thank Shiro. If he hadn't noticed our iron wasn't put away properly, there could've been a fire. Really, thank you so much."
An elderly man gripped Saiki's hand tightly, his wrinkled face beaming with a grateful smile.
"..."
Shin-chan munched away and handed Saiki a cookie: "Saiki-oniichan, you eat too! It's great, we found Shiro so easily and quickly. This is awesome~"
[Where was it easy?]
Saiki held his forehead and gave Shin-chan a look.
Actually, Saiki had originally planned to ask about the walking route while searching with Shin-chan, but Shin-chan had dragged him all over the place.
At first it was fine—just taking Shiro to the neighbor's to "play" with their dog. Then they went into a narrow alley, and the exit somehow ended up right at someone's flowerpot. A stray cat happened to run over, nearly knocking it over, and the owner just happened to come out at that moment.
In the end they even went to someone's front wall and started graffiti. Shin-chan even redrew the entire morning walking route to demonstrate it to Saiki—and ridiculously enough, they discovered that the absurd things Shin-chan had done had actually helped people, earning them thanks…
Saiki took the cookie, ate it in one bite, rubbed Shin-chan's head hard, and said firmly.
[Next time you take someone for a walk, just stick to a normal route.]
"But then there's no sense of adventure! Isn't that just regular walking?"
[Walking doesn't need any adventure!]
...
In an ordinary residential area.
"Knock knock knock knock knock knock."
"Coming~" A soft, mochi-like girl's voice rang out.
"Click." The doorknob turned. A cheerful-looking five-year-old girl with short pink hair and a bright smile came out.
"Saiki-oniichan! It's been so long since you came to play at my house!!"
The moment she saw who it was, she jumped up, wrapped both arms around Saiki's neck, and clung tightly.
Gotoh Futari: "Hehehehe, what did Saiki-oniichan come to play with me today?"
Gotoh Futari's picture →
[Yare yare daze.]
Saiki looked helplessly at Gotoh Futari, who was dangling from his neck like a koala and swinging back and forth.
[You're still as lively as ever. You're nothing like your big sister. If she had even half your energy, that would be great.]
Gotoh Futari laughed: "Really? I think it's fine. Big sis doesn't really have friends. Even though at home she always lies to me saying she does."
"Oh~ Kusuo, long time no see. Welcome."
"It really has been a while. You even brought a gift."
"Mom, Dad, Saiki-oniichan came to play!"
The young woman looked at her daughter still hanging on someone else like a toy and reminded her: "Futari, don't hang on Saiki-oniichan like that. You'll bother him. Come down."
From inside the door came two people with the same pink hair accessories: a long-haired man whose bangs covered his eyes and looked quite mature, and a young woman with pink hair who somewhat resembled Gotoh Hitori.
Gotoh Futari glanced at the newcomer, then threw herself back into Saiki's arms: "No way."
[Here's some coffee jelly. Long time no see.]
Saiki carried Gotoh Futari with one hand supporting her back, holding the coffee jelly, and walked inside.
That's right—Saiki was now at the Gotoh house. He rarely came here. Even in the past he'd only visited a few times. One reason was that, and another was that Gotoh Hitori was way too enthusiastic, and her parents were also a bit overwhelming for Saiki.
As for why he came today? It was because Ijichi Nijika had called him this morning.
…Scene transition…
"Ring ring~ Click."
"Moshi moshi! Is this Kusuo-kun?"
Saiki picked up.
[It's me. What's up?]
From the other end came Ijichi Nijika's bright voice.
"So here's the thing. Lately when we were talking about the band, we asked Bocchi-chan to write lyrics for our original songs. But it feels like that puts too much pressure on her. Could you go check on her for us?"
[If you're worried, why don't you go yourself?]
"I've got something going on, and I don't even know where her house is. I never asked before. Plus you two get along well, so please~ Please~ Kusuo-kun∽ Pleaseee…"
...Scene transition end.
After setting down the coffee jelly, Saiki patted Gotoh Futari's back.
[Okay okay, come down already. Where's your big sister?]
"Big sis is upstairs. Jeez, you came to see big sis again. Fine."
Gotoh Futari let go, lightly stepped to the ground, put her hands behind her back, turned her head, and said.
"But lately big sis has been acting kinda weird! She's been hiding upstairs alone, so I can't even write in my Big Sis Observation Diary anymore."
[That's a weird diary… Show it to me later.]
Saiki was quietly led upstairs by Gotoh Hitori's family, only to see her parents and an orange little dog sneakily standing at the door peeking inside… When they saw Saiki come up, they gently waved him over.
Gotoh Naoki: "Kusuo, come take a look."
Gotoh Michiyo: "Yes yes, quick, come see. Something's off with our little Hitori!"
(Why are they acting just like my parents? Lately all parents seem to love secretly observing their kids like this?)
"Woof woof."
The little dog wagged its tail, stuck out its tongue, and seemed to be inviting Saiki too.
Saiki reached out and patted the dog's head.
[Long time no see, Jimihen.]
After the sarcastic comment, Saiki greeted them and peered through the door crack.
Inside the room, Gotoh Hitori was wearing her usual pink tracksuit set, sporting star-shaped sunglasses, twisting her whole body in bizarre dance moves while humming.
Gotoh Hitori: "Hey now, bro, one more shot of tequila…"
Saiki: ...
(What is this? Some trendy dance move lately? Am I just out of touch?)
And Gotoh Hitori kept going, completely unlike her usual self, as if she had shattered her entire persona and created a massive contrast.
Gotoh Hitori vigorously rubbed her head, shook it, confirmed something, took off the sunglasses, sighed, put on a completely different smile—eyes narrowed in delight—tightly gripped a toy hammer and rabbit plush, stomped her feet, and performed the weird dance again.
"Anyone heading to Shibuya today, please point at my finger~ This is a famous influencer photo spot. Fireworks in ten minutes, everyone take pics together…"