Vol. 2 Chapter 51 – Summer Festival (2)

The tall man standing head and shoulders above the crowd was unmistakably Taiju-san, and the woman laughing happily beside him was unmistakably Ichiru-san.

But normally, the restaurant should be open now; they shouldn’t be here, even if it’s nearby.

And seeing them together like this felt like a dream.

Maybe I really am dreaming right now?

After all, Hikaru just happening to have a yukata ready for this sudden summer festival was way too convenient.

No, fundamentally, the fact that she confessed to me and we’re dating now might just be one incredibly long dream…

As the scene before me felt too unbelievable, causing me to spiral into negativity and wonder if everything up until now was just a butterfly’s dream—

“Hey, hey… that is Big Brother and Mizumori-san, right?” (Hikaru)

A definite, real sensation of being poked from the side brought me back to my senses.

“Yeah, looks like it…” (Reiya)

“I wonder why they’re here… What about work?” (Hikaru)

“Beats me… I have no idea…” (Reiya)

“Are they… dating?” (Hikaru)

Hikaru murmured words that struck close to the heart of the matter.

They were wearing what looked like matching yukatas, chatting intimately.

They weren’t holding hands, but combined with the fact that they’re both stunningly attractive, they strongly gave off the vibe of a couple.

“Who knows… But either way, maybe it’s best if we just leave them be for now?” (Reiya)

“Agreed. Let’s go somewhere else.” (Hikaru)

We could always ask later, and if they really were dating, they’d surely tell us eventually.

Mutually deciding it was best not to be tactless, we turned to leave—

“Oh? Reiya-kun and Hikaru-chan?” (Ichiru)

But they noticed us too and called out without hesitation.

Reacting even faster than we did was Taiju-san.

The moment he saw me—

“R-Reiya…!” (Taiju)

—he started walking towards me, looking like someone who’d found Buddha in Hell.

Ah, yeah, they’re definitely not dating.

His utter lack of composure was more than enough to convince me.

“Hey, good evening… Fancy meeting you here…” (Reiya)

“O-Oh… Oohh… Yeah… Fancy… or rather, uh… well…” (Taiju)

I gave a nod, and he responded with unintelligible noises.

They looked like such a perfect couple just moments ago, but apparently, I was mistaken.

“Mizumori-san, good evening! It’s been a while!” (Hikaru)

“Good evening~” (Ichiru)

In contrast to Taiju-san, Ichiru-san returned the greeting calmly.

“Um… This might be a bit forward, but could I ask you something personal?” (Hikaru)

Since they initiated contact, we couldn’t really avoid asking.

Perhaps deciding this, Hikaru, not yet ready to give up on her brother, immediately tried to get to the core issue.

“Ah, right. You must be surprised to see me with your brother.” (Ichiru)

“Yes! Are you two perhaps dating!?” (Hikaru)

Hikaru charged in with her characteristic offensive power towards the slightly wryly smiling Ichiru-san, but…

“No, no. We’re not in that kind of relationship.” (Ichiru)

—she was flatly denied without any sign of panic.

“R-Right… M-Me and Mizumori-san… d-d-dating… no way… that’s… mumble mumble…” (Taiju)

Ichiru probably denied it instantly out of consideration, but it clearly dealt significant damage to Taiju-san.

“But then, why are you with Big Brother?” (Hikaru)

“Hmm… Well, it’s a bit of a long story…” (Ichiru)

Smiling just a little sheepishly, Ichiru-san explained the sequence of events.

To put it briefly, it seemed that ‘Kawase-san, who was scheduled for today’s shift, couldn’t come in for the evening hours because her child developed a high fever. Taiju-san, who is somehow always around, offered to help instead, but Ichiru-san messed up spectacularly and spilled the soup she was preparing all over him. Because of all that, they couldn’t open for the evening after all, and when Ichiru offered to at least treat him to dinner as an apology, Taiju-san suggested, “Well, there’s a summer festival nearby, how about we enjoy the summer atmosphere over drinks?” which led them here.’

“I see~… So that’s what happened…” (Hikaru)

Hikaru’s shoulders slumped in obvious disappointment.

Meanwhile, I patted Taiju-san’s back,

‘Just managing to ask her out is huge progress, man.’

sending him a silent, rather presumptuous message.

“But in that case, was our timing kind of bad?” (Reiya)

I spoke quietly, so only Taiju-san could hear.

I worried we might have interrupted them while they were enjoying the festival together.

“No, seriously, you showing up saved me… If you’d been one minute later, the only conversation topic left would have been indie voice actors…” (Taiju)

“Glad we made it just in time, then.” (Reiya)

Apparently, we’d saved a man just moments before his social life ended.

“…By the way, what were you talking about before?” (Reiya)

“A consideration on why so many geometric interior designs were created during the 70s and 80s when the postmodern movement was most active.” (Taiju)

“That’s quite a leap in topics.” (Reiya)

Still, Ichiru-san likes interior design, so she probably enjoyed listening.

“But why are you both wearing yukatas?” (Hikaru)

“Since I ruined Taiju-kun’s clothes, I lent him this as a replacement. Since it’s a festival, I thought this would be fine. And then it felt weird for me to be the only one in regular clothes, so I changed too.” (Ichiru)

“I see… But it’s surprising you had a man’s yukata.” (Hikaru)

“Yeah, it’s my dad’s.” (Ichiru)

Ichiru-san answered my question briefly.

“Uncle’s…? Is that okay?” (Reiya)

“Yeah, Taiju-kun is quite tall, so this was about the only thing that fit… Besides, I think my dad would be happy if someone wore it. Mine is my mom’s.” (Ichiru)

Ichiru-san beamed, striking a pose as if showing off the yukata.

She said it so casually, but I was the only one here who understood the significance of her words.

“If you say so, Ichiru-san… well…” (Reiya)

“More importantly, weren’t you two on a date?” (Ichiru)

“Yes! I had practice until just now, but Reiya-kun came to watch and invited me to go afterward.” (Hikaru)

“Heeh~… Reiya-kun invited you~…” (Ichiru)

She teased me slightly with a knowing grin.

“Well… yeah, obviously I’d ask her out…” (Reiya)

“That’s right. You two are a couple, after all.” (Ichiru)

As our guardian figure, Ichiru’s smile deepened, perhaps happy to confirm that fact yet again.

Thinking back, she’s always been someone who rejoices more in others’ happiness than her own.

That’s precisely why I sometimes feel the urge to meddle unnecessarily, wanting her to find happiness too.

“But, if you’re on a date, maybe we should make ourselves scarce soon?” (Ichiru)

“You’re not bothering us at all! Actually, why don’t we all go around together?” (Hikaru)

“Together? Hmm… That sounds fun, but I wouldn’t want to intrude on you two…” (Ichiru)

“It’s no intrusion! Besides, it’s definitely more fun with more people!” (Hikaru)

Ichiru-san didn’t want to interfere with our date, while Hikaru wanted to capitalize on this chance encounter to assist her brother.

Behind them, Taiju-san, having exhausted all his conversational options, was sending me silent pleas: ‘Please!!! Stay!!!’

“…Hikaru feels that way too, so why don’t we hang out together? I don’t mind either.” (Reiya)

Weighing the various factors, I decided I couldn’t let Taiju-san resort to talking about indie voice actors and sided with Hikaru.

“If Hikaru-chan and Reiya-kun insist…” (Ichiru)

With the combined assault of light and darkness, we finally broke through the water attribute’s formidable defenses.

I mentally high-fived Hikaru in victory—

“But, in that case, doesn’t it mean there’s one odd one out~…?” (Ichiru)

Ichiru-san’s gaze shifted from Taiju-san to Hikaru, and finally rested on me.

“True, it does throw off the group’s balance.” (Hikaru)

Next, Hikaru looked at me as if this had been her main objective all along.

The one thing the three of them had in common, that I lacked.

“There was a rental shop over there, so how about we all pick one out for Reiya-kun first?” (Ichiru)

“Seconded!” (Hikaru)

Hikaru, who had been my ally just moments ago, betrayed me, instantly reversing the two-against-one situation.

The atmosphere didn’t seem like one where I could get away with saying I didn’t need to wear one.

I’ve been tricked…