"So, about last night when you stayed over at my place..." Swinging their interlocked hands cheerfully, Utaha leaned forward slightly, her face blooming like a flower as she looked at Miyahito's slightly gloomy expression. Her tone carried a hint of schadenfreude. "Shirogane-senpai found out?"
"Yeah, sigh..." Remembering Miyuki-senpai's almost fleeing-like retreat last night, Miyahito let out a tired sigh.
Then, hearing the soft giggles from Utaha beside him, he shot a mildly exasperated glance at his gleeful girlfriend and added casually, "Oh, right. Forgot to mention. Miyuki-senpai's sister and Ayase are really close."
The moment those words left his mouth, Utaha's smile instantly froze.
Then, like a rusty machine, she "struggled" to turn her stiff neck, staring blankly at her boyfriend, whose expression was as calm as if he'd just asked "Have you eaten?"
"S-s-o..."
"Mhm." Seemingly guessing what his girlfriend wanted to ask, Miyahito nodded with a gentle smile.
"Ayase will probably find out very soon."
"!"
[Shocked! Why would your sister find out so fast?!]
"Well, that's just how Ayase is." Catching the meaning in his girlfriend's eyes, Miyahito shrugged nonchalantly and continued. "No matter what happens, as long as it's about me, Ayase basically finds out within a very short time."
"Even though she never says anything about it, I know Ayase really cares about me."
For a moment, Utaha didn't quite know what to say.
Because she felt like there was something slightly off about what her boyfriend had just said.
'As long as it's about Big Brother, his sister finds out immediately? That feels kinda weird, doesn't it?'
Just as she unconsciously started pondering that question, a pleasant ringtone suddenly rang out from Miyahito's pocket.
The two exchanged a glance. Miyahito pulled out his continuously ringing phone, and they both focused on the screen together.
`[Ayase]`
Seeing the contact name on the screen, Utaha instinctively looked at her boyfriend. Then, she read the message plain as day on Miyahito's face:
See? I told you so.
Following that, Miyahito skillfully answered the call. But the moment he said "Ayase" into the receiver, the next second—
"Big Brother! Did you stay overnight at Utaha-nee's place last night!?"
Ayase's slightly sharp voice blaring from the speaker instantly made both Miyahito and the eavesdropping Utaha freeze.
"Hello? Hello? Can you hear me, Big Brother? Big Brother!!"
"Ah, yeah, I can hear you, I can hear you." Snapping back to reality, Miyahito replied in a slightly sluggish tone.
Then.
Silence fell on the other end of the line.
This naturally made Miyahito, holding the phone, and Utaha, standing right there, tense up.
"Big Brother... Please explain. Why did you stay overnight at Utaha-nee's place?"
Ugh. Scary. Scary. Scary.
Hearing Ayase's voice through the speaker, seemingly dripping with a sticky, dark aura, Miyahito instinctively swallowed hard.
At the same time, Utaha finally understood why she'd felt something was slightly off about the sibling relationship after hearing Miyahito's earlier words.
'So that's what it really is.'
Realizing certain reasons, a faint sense of crisis unknowingly welled up in Utaha's heart.
But the next second, noticing the pleading look her boyfriend shot her, Utaha paused, then couldn't help but smile.
What was she thinking? There's no need for all that messy overthinking. Miyahito and Ayase are blood siblings.
Only... Even though Miyahito had told her before that his parents had already accepted her, it seemed Ayase-chan wasn't quite on board yet.
'I'll need to find a way to build a good relationship with her.'
Thinking this, Utaha's lips curved slightly. Then, she reached out to her stuttering boyfriend, who had no idea how to explain things to Ayase on the phone, signaling him to hand it over.
Seeing this, Miyahito didn't hesitate, immediately passing the phone to his girlfriend. Then, he let out a long sigh of relief.
Looking at how 'useless' Miyahito was being, Utaha shot him a mildly exasperated glance, then smiled and spoke softly into the phone.
"Good morning, Ayase."
"Ah... mhm. Good morning, Kasumigaoka-senpai."
Huh? Just like that, it went from 'Utaha-nee' to 'Kasumigaoka-senpai'?
Instantly catching the shift in Ayase's tone and address, Utaha, a smile playing on her lips, couldn't help but recall their first meeting: the little Ayase, so cheerful and politely calling her 'Utaha-nee', looking so cute and well-mannered.
She didn't mind Ayase's sudden distant and formal attitude at all.
After all, Ayase was just a little girl in her first year of middle school.
Before this, the name 'Kasumigaoka Utaha' had simply been 'the girl Big Brother likes' to her.
However, now that she and Miyahito were together, officially a couple, Ayase probably thought that from now on...
'She's no longer the most important person in Big Brother's heart.'
So, Ayase was probably scared to face her right now... After all, Kasumigaoka Utaha was the woman who had "stolen" the brother most precious to her.
Letting out a silent sigh, Utaha calmed the ripples in her heart. She smiled, her gentle voice carrying the same doting tone Miyahito usually used, and spoke softly to Ayase on the other end, who was tightly gripping her phone and unconsciously biting her lip.
"How have you been lately, Ayase? Is the modeling work tiring?"
Hearing the gentle voice of her brother's current girlfriend—the woman she used to affectionately call 'Utaha-nee'—Aragaki Ayase unconsciously froze.
Instinctively, her tone softened, becoming just like when she acted spoiled with her brother, and she mumbled,
"It's okay, just... really hot."
"Yes, it is. The weather's been so hot lately, and the sun is brutal." Hearing Ayase's tone soften, Utaha's smile grew even more affectionate.
"Remember to drink plenty of water."
"And, if it gets too hot, don't force yourself to do the shoot, okay?"
"....."
"I understand... Uta... Thank you for your concern, Kasumigaoka-senpai."
Noticing Ayase's slip of the tongue, for some reason, Utaha suddenly felt, 'Having a cute, soft little sister like this actually feels pretty nice.'
No wonder Miyahito spoils Ayase so much.
"Mhm. Oh, right, Ayase, why haven't you called me? I thought I gave you my number."
"Eh... I... I forgot...."
"Ah, why..."
"I'm sorry, Uta... Kasumigaoka-senpai...."
"You have to remember...."
At this point, listening to his girlfriend and his sister's chat topic naturally derail from "what did you eat last night" to "which new clothes look best this year," and finally to "making plans to tour Wakō City's sights,"
Miyahito couldn't help but feel, 'Reality is moving too fast, I can't keep up.'
Is this... Do all girls act like this?