...And so, the next day, the four of us decided to go out and have fun.
But seriously, to think it happened so soon after yesterday... Komachi, aren't you working incredibly fast? I guess I'll have to rely on this girl to support me in the future...
I was leisurely eating breakfast and getting dressed without any rush, letting my imagination run wild about my future with my sister, when Komachi poked me in the side.
"Come on, Gomi-chan, let's go."
Did he see through my delusions? He called me "garbage-chan" right from the start. Am I really that much of a piece of garbage?
Anyway, the two of us set off for the meeting place.
The meeting time is 10:00 AM.
It's currently 9:30 AM, and we'll arrive at the meeting place in about 10 minutes.
I didn't need to be this careful. In fact, I might not even need to go at all.
"Hey, Komachi."
"What is it?"
We started talking while looking at the city scenery outside the window on a relatively crowded train.
"We have plenty of time, so why don't we take a little detour? I'll buy you whatever you want, and then we can just stroll around together on the way home."
I think this is a perfect plan. No one will get hurt this way. It's obvious that Taishi will only suffer more if he goes on a date.
...Oh, in that case, maybe we should go on a date.
"...Ah,...Let's just play together, the four of us."
I switched gears immediately. I'm quite impressed with my own flexibility of thought.
"Which one is it...?"
It was said in a really cold voice, and it hurt a little, but I don't mind.
While we were talking about that, the train arrived at the station nearest our destination.
"Good morning, sir! Thank you so much for everything the other day!"
"Shut up, you poisonous insect. You have no right to call me 'big brother.' Go home right now."
I don't particularly dislike these passionate types. I'm just not interested in them.
However, it's a different story if he's going to turn that poisonous fangs on his sister.
I'll break some part of your body, again and again. I'll even take away part of your name so you can't go home.
"...What kind of insults are you spouting about my younger brother?"
Following the source of the cold voice, Taishi found Kawasaki standing right behind him, glaring at him with an absolutely chilling look.
Similar to Yukinoshita, yet a different kind of coldness.
To put it more precisely, Kawasaki himself is slightly different when he's being cold, like he is now, when it comes to Taishi.
Honestly, what a brother complex... It's kinda cute.
When you think about it that way, this guy's character doesn't seem scary at all anymore.
It's actually quite scary when you're actually looking at it.
Ah, it's still scary, yeah.
"Okay, everyone's here, let's go."
I wasn't capable of overcoming my fear and smiling back, so I decided to quickly switch gears.
"..."
As the four of us were walking, I happened to glance at what everyone was wearing today.
Komachi is wearing a light green dress. So cute. She looks good in both active clothes and these kind of girly outfits. In short, she's just an angel.
Taishi was wearing a regular T-shirt, regular jeans, and carrying a shoulder bag.
Ah, you're just an ordinary person. That's why you're different from Komachi the angel in both status and race. Give up.
Kawasaki was wearing a simple outfit: a black camisole with a light jacket over it and blue jeans. She carried her bag in her hand, turning her wrist to rest it on her shoulder as she walked.
Even when she's just casually walking around in such simple clothes, her good figure really stands out.
...Oh, my eyes are drawn to her open neckline. Oh no, Professor Nippleton is back.
As I scanned the area with my eyes, I noticed Kawasaki was looking at me.
She seemed to notice where I had been looking, following my gaze, and suddenly her face turned red.
"...Where are you looking?"
"I muttered softly. Which Aoki are you talking about?"
I fully expected to be glared at, but instead, she just glanced at me shyly and didn't say anything further.
Hmm, what's with that reaction? Now I'm starting to feel embarrassed.
Having apparently been watching us, Komachi approached us with a curious expression and started a conversation.
"Where did you and Saki meet?"
What's with this love story? You should have asked one of their families about it when you went to ask for their blessing for the marriage. Not that I'm going.
"Ah, I was relaxing on the water tower on the rooftop when his career preference form, which he had also come up to the rooftop, was blown over by the wind... I think that was when it was the first time."
"Ah, yes. That black lace that looked so vivid at the time..."
"yeah?"
Kawasaki came to a complete stop.
Damn. If I mess up this bluff, I'll die instantly. Either freeze to death from their gaze or die from shock from their blows.
"...Lugan is amazing, isn't it? It can blow opponents away with a much faster bullet velocity than regular bullets."
"...Huh? What are you talking about?"
That was close! It's messy, but I managed to cover it up somehow.
Thank you, black cat.
"Hmm, I see. So, what was your first impression at that time?"
Komachi continues to ask questions relentlessly. "Even if you say that..."
"Ah, this guy wrote 'stay-at-home husband' as his career aspiration, and I thought he was completely out of touch with reality."
Kawasaki chuckled softly after saying that.
The way she laughs seems a little softer than when we first met.
I was just a little bit, just a tiny bit, curious to see how she would react to my words.
So, I'll try shaking it a little.
"I thought, 'Wow, she's beautiful.' She had a cold demeanor, but she had a great figure, beautiful features, and that mole near her eye was strangely alluring."
So what do you think? If they think I'm creepy, that's that, but I'm used to that kind of thing so it's fine! It'll just make me cry a little at night!
"!? W-w-w-w-what... that can't be, uh..."
Huh, what's that?
He looks really embarrassed.
Her face was bright red, and she was frantically crossing her hands in front of her face.
She's kind of cute. Huh?
Well, just because she's cute doesn't mean I'm going to do anything about it, so that's that.
"...I see, it's beautiful...I see..."
Stop repeating what I said while twirling your hair with your fingers, it's embarrassing!
If she says "Hehe..." then it'll just sound like she's not Hama-san anymore.
Huh, the reaction is more than I expected... Huh?
As I stood there dumbfounded, Komachi's eyes lit up like a Yamapikarya. She meant the Iriomote wildcat.
"Oh my, this feeling... If Saki-san can work diligently in the future, maybe I can entrust my brother to you?"
Your eyes are sparkling, little sister. Yamapikarya.
"!? What!? Th-that's impossible...!"
Kawasaki's face turned even redder. Hold on a second, if you react like that, it'll make me feel weird too.
Suddenly, I made eye contact with Taishi, who was completely unable to participate in the conversation.
I understand, I understand the loneliness and alienation of not being able to join a conversation.
So I put my hand on his shoulder and spoke to him gently.
"Taishi... you can go home if you want, you know?"
"Hey, big brother, that's awful, I'm not going home!"
"Who's your big brother? Saying you can go home was too kind. You go home. To the ground."
"Are you telling me to die?!"
I was expecting Kawasaki to step in to stop it, so I cautiously glanced over, only to find him muttering with a bright red face, "Well... I don't know if I could leave it to you... I mean, if someone suddenly calls me pretty..."
Stop making that super girly face. I'm starting to feel really embarrassed.
In the summer, getting so embarrassed that your body temperature rises can instantly lead to death.
Really!
Komachi leaned closer to my ear, where I was sure my face was red, and whispered.
Is it okay if I keep holding you like this? It is, right?
"How's it going, big brother?"
"What do you mean, 'what's wrong'?"
"The flags are flying high, aren't they?"
"The way you say it, the way you say it"
Girls that age don't say things like "bing bing."
I mean, even if you're not at that age, you shouldn't say that!
For now, I have a strong feeling that today is not going to end smoothly.
"Big brother, where should we go first? There's a place Komachi wants to go, so think about it while we're there!"
Huh, so Taishi's opinion isn't being taken into account? He's just nodding along, is that okay?
Well, I have absolutely no intention of listening to his wishes.
"Okay, where do you want to go?"
"Well, you see, a movie theater! I haven't decided what I want to see yet."
Oh, that's pretty vague.
But then again, it would be pretty tough to suddenly start playing together as a group of four. In that sense, it was a pretty good choice. As expected of my sister.
"Okay, then let's go."
I readily agreed and headed to the movie theater.
I entered the movie theater around 10:20.
I'll narrow down my choices based on upcoming showtimes and the genres I want to watch.
Suddenly, my eyes were drawn to a certain movie.
I wouldn't normally see something like that, but today it piqued my interest.
"Okay then... I'll go with this one."
"Huh, big brother, what's this...?"
"W-well, this is quite something..."
"Huh... this? You want to see this? Really?"
It's no wonder the three of them huddled together.
The movie I wanted to see was a Japanese horror film, which has been getting a lot of attention lately.
Occasionally, in late-night commercials, a woman with long black hair and wearing a white dress, who appears to be the main character, is shown on an old screen, and then suddenly the camera zooms in, revealing a close-up of her bloodshot left eye.
I want to see everyone
The words "Blood" appear gruesomely at the top and bottom of the screen, and the next moment, with a rustling sound, the words are reversed horizontally and a woman's eyes roll back, creating a truly horrific image.
I remember seeing it together with Komachi when we were in the living room, and she clung to me crying and didn't stop crying for quite some time afterward.
...I'm sure there have been complaints about that.
"Oh, big brother, are you really going to watch this?"
"But this is the one I saw in the commercial before, right...?"
Komachi seemed to remember it well as well.
As an older brother, I would never want to do anything to scare my sister, but today I was overcome with the urge to see Kawasaki cry.
So, it's scary, but I want to see it. It's super scary. If I watched it alone, I'd probably cry.
"It's okay, your big brother is here for you."
He said that and patted Komachi's head.
"Oh, oh, am I... going to see this too?"
Kawasaki is genuinely terrified.
"Okay, then Komachi and Kawasaki, you can sit on either side of me. Taishi, you can sit alone in the front row, right?"
"Am I the only one here?! I'm so scared I could die! This is bad!"
Yeah, but that's the best option for me.
After much back and forth, we got the three of them to agree, and our seating arrangement was from right to left: Taishi, Kawasaki, me, and Komachi.
This is just for my own enjoyment, and Taishi is simply sad.
See? I told you to give up.
I'm only saying this in my own mind, though.
We sat down and initially chatted quietly with Komachi, but Kawasaki was scared and timid from the very beginning.
What should I do?
"Kawasaki, are you okay?"
"Oh, y-yes, it's okay... no, it might be bad..."
What do you think about this before it even begins?
I'm starting to feel really bad about it.
When the movie started, Komachi was terrified from the very beginning, so I held her hand right away—or rather, I was holding it without even realizing it. Big brother skills activate automatically.
She seemed a little relieved by that, but as the story progressed, when a woman who had been close to the protagonist and had appeared quite early on was brutally murdered, she teared up and let out a small cry of "Pyaaaaa..." What a cute girl.
Since there was no other choice, I activated my older brother's advanced skill.
He put his left arm around Komachi's left shoulder.
My initial reaction was "Huh?", but I soon surrendered myself to her. She must have felt incredibly lonely.
I was so worried about Komachi that I was only paying attention to her, but then I suddenly became concerned about Kawasaki.
I haven't heard any voices for a while now, are you alive?
When I turned to the right, I saw him staring intently at the screen, his eyes watering and trembling.
I think it's okay to just close your eyes now...
I wonder why, maybe he's serious about strange things.
"Ah, Kawasaki, here you go."
"…picture…"
He's usually scary, and he's the same age as me, and he's usually really scary, but I can't help it because he's genuinely scared.
Big brother skill activated. Let's put our hands together.
I tapped the railing between us with my hand, trying to beckon him over.
At first, they reacted as if they didn't understand what I was talking about, but they quickly seemed to realize my intention and started to look confused.
"Uh... uh, what? No, that's not it..."
She waved her hands frantically. Her arms are so long and slender...
"It's fine, here it is. There's definitely going to be an even scarier scene coming up."
"!...Then, then..."
She said that and placed her trembling hand on top of mine.
My hands feel cold, probably because the air conditioning is on.
I've always thought of the idea that people with cold hands have warm hearts as nothing more than an urban legend, but somehow I got the feeling this guy was probably a pretty nice person.
He held Komachi in his left arm and placed his right arm over Kawasaki's for about 15 minutes.
We've finally reached what seems to be the climax of the story.
The protagonist is chased around by a terrifying woman who appeared in a commercial.
The way he cornered me was so terrifying that even I froze.
Then I noticed that my right hand, which I was holding, was trembling more violently than ever before.
"Hey, Kawasa..."
I didn't even need to call out to her. Her eyes were wide open, and tears were streaming down her face as she cowered in fear.
Oh, this is really bad.
Well, I have no choice, I'll use my big brother's advanced technique once again.
"Kawasaki, look."
"Uh, um...?"
I put my right arm around Kawasaki's right shoulder and pulled him towards me as gently as possible.
There's a railing so we're not pressed together, but her head still comes right up to my face, and I can smell her lovely fragrance.
"a…"
Although confused, the trembling seems to have stopped.
That's good. If she was trembling with anger because of the sexual harassment, I would have dropped this date and run away.
...or rather, he's been staring at me ever since he put his arm around my shoulder. What's going on?
I glanced over and saw Kawasaki staring at me with a dazed expression.
Their eyes, which seem completely oblivious to everything else or any other sounds, are neither focused nor distracted.
What should I do... This is so embarrassing.
However, forcing them to watch a movie would also be difficult for them.
...I'm not scared of being seen this way, so I guess it's fine.
I think the transition from a crying face to a girlish face is just unfair...
After the movie, Komachi becomes more clingy than usual. She's so cute, I want to take her home.
Well, I can take it home every day!
Meanwhile, if I'm not imagining things, Kawasaki has been staring at me blankly the whole time.
Huh? What really happened?
Because I was embarrassed, I decided to insult Taishi to distract myself.
"Taishi, how was the movie? I'm so uninterested in you that I haven't checked in on you at all."
"That was awful, big brother! It was really scary, but I thought the story was incredibly well-crafted!"
"Who told you to make such a nice comment? Go back to the sea."
"Are you going to jump into the water?!"
While we were having this exchange, Kawasaki was just staring at me blankly.
...Hmmmm?
Clinging to my arm, Komachi watched the scene and her eyes lit up again.
"Wow... Big brother, you totally set up a romantic flag with Saki at the movie theater!"
"Why does it turn out like that?"
"Ugh, this is why I hate you, Gomi-chan..."
Even if you sigh while hugging me...
I know that things are quite different in Kawasaki than usual.
"Oh, that reminds me, where do you want to go next, big brother?"
...I'm sorry, Komachi, Kawasaki.
"In a haunted house"
"Huh, big brother, what?"
"Brother, are you out of your mind?"
"Oh, you, that's already..."
I felt like trying to provoke them a little more, just to see what would happen.
To be continued.