Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093093152263860/episodes/16818792436236512154
No, no, Kagurazaka’s right here! I’m getting a bad feeling about this. You’re not seriously planning to get all lovey-dovey in front of an old acquaintance, are you…?!
“Onee chan and onii chan are sharing a room, you know!”
Kagurazaka winks at us with a smack. She looks desperate for praise. Like a thief’s sidekick reporting a successful heist to the boss.
“Well, I said, ‘Isn’t it inappropriate for a man and a woman to share a room?’”
Kagurazaka’s mother states the most perfectly reasonable thing. It’s so spot-on, I’m speechless.
“But you see, Kaede said it’d be fine. She said you’re responsible, so there’d be no problem. Honestly, we thought the same about Asahina-san too.”
Wait, she’s my girlfriend, but what the hell is your image of Asahina-san?! You think Toka is responsible?!
“Asahina-san was truly an incredible actress—”
And just like that, the old stories started trickling out.
The content itself was the usual stuff I’d heard before—how genius Asahina Toka was, how amazing Asahina Toka was. But you could feel how much the whole family adored Toka, and it made me happy too.
“Ryo kun, did you put on sunscreen?”
But Toka herself wasn’t the least bit interested in her own story. She was letting Kagurazaka-san’s words go in one ear and out the other with astonishing indifference.
“Are Asahina-san’s parents doing well?”
“Yes, they’re fine.”
“I see. They were incredibly hardworking people.”
Toka replied casually to Kagurazaka-san’s mother’s words. Her fingers gently overlapped mine, which were resting on the car seat.
◇
After a little over two hours, we arrived at the hotel where we planned to stay.
“Whoa! This is amazing! Huge! Big! So impressive! I’ve never been to a place like this before!”
“Big and huge mean the same thing, right?”
“Shut up! Don’t rain on my parade!”
I was unexpectedly called out by Toka. Standing before the hotel entrance, I was completely hyped. Amazing! All these glass windows, so open and airy! And incredibly beautiful! How do I put it… the whole building looks like it’s glowing! Beyond the castle-like entrance, I could see a red carpet. Wow, so aristocratic… I feel totally out of place here.
“Hey onee chan, let’s take a picture!”
“Sure.”
Kagurazaka came over, glancing around nervously. I guess even Toka wouldn’t refuse in a place like this.
I watched the two of them while keeping an eye on our surroundings. It’s a pretty open area, so you can see everything around you. If there were any reporters here, you’d spot them right away. Security guards are patrolling here and there too. Just like Kagurazaka said, celebrity privacy protection is really tight… I guess?
“Hey, hey, aren’t you going to take pictures with your boyfriend?”
“Pictures?”
“I mean, usually when you go on a trip with your boyfriend, you take lots of pictures, right?”
“……”
It was a perfectly ordinary conversation… But for some reason, this elementary schooler gave off a distinctly uncle-like vibe in places. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why.
“Ryo-kun, should we take one together?”
“Yeah, let’s take one since we’re here.”
Toka came over holding her phone in both hands. She seemed incredibly flustered for some reason, but once asked, she seemed willing to take the photo.
“Ah, then I’ll take one of you two!”
Kagurazaka took the phone from Toka and snapped a picture of us. This was the first time we’d ever had a photo taken together. Just this alone made me think coming today was totally worth it.
“Hmm…”
…And just as I was getting all emotional about it, the photographer suddenly looked dissatisfied.
“You two look kinda awkward…”
“Really? We’re just being normal?”
“If you’re a couple, let’s take a kissing photo too.”
You little brat!
For a second, I seriously considered slapping her. Man, I really can’t stand this kid! I hate how she says stuff like this without any malice!
“Ryo-kun.”
While I was thinking that, Toka called my name. She gently cupped both my cheeks.
“Mmmph!?”
—Her momentum was too strong, and my teeth clacked together. Toka’s lips pressed against mine.
“Huh…?”
A surprised gasp escaped the elementary schooler who’d started this.
When Toka’s lips gently pulled away, my heart was pounding like it had been racing for minutes.
“…You idiot! What the hell are you doing all of a sudden!?”
“But you kept saying you wanted to see it again and again.”
“We’re in front of elementary school kids! Ugh, this is so embarrassing!”
“I’m embarrassed too.”
“Then don’t do it!”
No, this is totally not okay in front of elementary school kids! Glancing over at Kagurazaka out of concern—
“Hwaaah…”
She looked like that. She’d been the one to egg me on, but apparently she had zero tolerance for this kind of thing.
“Kaede-san, did you get the photo?”
“Y-yeah…”
Toka went around behind Kagurazaka to look at the photo, and I got curious too, so I ended up looking at it with her.
“Whoa…”
It was crystal clear—it showed us kissing. So this is the face I make when I’m being kissed… It’s embarrassingly mortifying…
“Delete that photo!”
“Eh? But it’s a memento~?”
“It’s not a memento, it’s going to be a black mark on my history!”
Toka ignored my words and carefully saved the photo. I clearly saw her put a “♡” in the folder name!
“I’m gonna make this my home screen.”
“Noooooooooo!”
“Ahahaha, taking pictures is so much fun, huh?”
Seeing Toka smile happily at that photo, I kinda think, “Well, whatever…” No, no. This is a critical area needing improvement.
“Ah, that Asahina Toka is doing something naughty…”
Kagurazaka plopped down on the ground, covering her face with both hands and flailing around. Please, don’t tell anyone else that. It’ll only lead to misunderstandings.
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