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“No, thank you for accompanying me today !”
After finishing our crepes and wandering around the mall for a while, Nanase and I headed home. We had come after school and it was almost dark by the time we got outside. The slight sunset that could be seen over the buildings was slowly sinking.
“The last part was a completely useless addition To seen the animals even though we don’t keep them.”
“Is that so? Even if I can’t keep an animal myself, just looking at it heals me.”
“If it weren’t for the acrylic panels and cages, those guys would quickly turn from pets into wild animals, you know?”
“……Isn’t that a bit prejudiced?”
Is that so? I think humans are no different in this regard. If rules and restraints are removed, people will completely transform into beasts that don’t know what to do. It doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman, and if the other party is a child, the quality would be even worse. People are creatures that seek out ways to get outside the rules.
“That being said, did you have a good time today?”
“You know.”
“Well, it says on your face that you had a good time.”
I don’t know what kind of face I should make when someone says something like that to me. Or rather, even if I had a game showdown with Nanase all day today, there wasn’t even a second of time that I really enjoyed. And yet, Nanase assures me that I had fun.
At any rate, to Nanase’s words.
“If that’s what it looked like, I’d recommend you see an ophthalmologist.”
I responded with the greatest sarcasm I could muster. Nanase puffed up her cheeks in disagreement, but I didn’t know how to react either.
Because behind us, there is a guard dog that has been clinging to us for some time now.
(…..Anyway, let’s change the subject for now.)
Since we’re at this point, let’s ask her about yesterday. If this girl got along well with Yukihana, it could cause a lot of trouble.
“Come to think of it, are you and Yukihana getting along?”
“Yukihana……eh, Hisui?”
“No, why are you responding with a jewelry name? We went to her house together yesterday.”
“Eh……ah. So that’s it.”
What on earth did she mistake it for? I don’t think there are so many people with the name of Yukihana. Or rather, I should have been impressed by yesterday’s incident. Maybe Nanase knows someone with the surname of “Yukihana” in her neighborhood.
(Yukika……come to think of it, I don’t know anything about that girl either.)
I thought I didn’t need to know, but I feel like things are getting complicated. Should I say that I got involved with someone I shouldn’t have gotten involved with? And I wonder if it has something to do with the way she’s looking at me right now.
“I have not had anything in particular with that person since then. I just thought we could be friends.”
“Hee.”
“What’s with that weird look?”
Could be friends, huh. Well, as of yesterday, it seems like they were quite open to each other, so if this girl gets serious, it might be a matter of time. I wish one of them have made a mistake on the first hand and would have been hated.
“Anyway, thanks for today. Should I return the money?”
“No, I’m the one who took you around. Besides, I earn a lot of money.:
“I see. I’m glad to hear that.”
For the time being, I want to avoid having a loan-and-borrow relationship with Nanase. Because if I start interacting with someone like her frequently, I will stand out. In other words, it’s equivalent to the act of throwing away the past year.
“Then, Senpai, I’ll be on my way.”
“Yeah. Go straight home.”
“Yes, sir !”
Nanase then walked in the opposite direction from me. I walked home a little faster without looking back. But my head was filled with the words Nanase had just said to me.
(Was I smiling? Did I look happy? Did I look just like my step sister? No way, that can’t be possible. How is it possible……)
But even if I asked and answered these questions alone, the answers would never come to me. I was still in a hazy state of mind as I walked down the road after dark. My steps seemed to be bound by something.
※
“You seem to be having a lot of fun, didn’t you?”
Nanase suddenly heard a familiar voice and turned around immediately. The young man she had seen so much since elementary school was sitting there with a straight face. It was Yukihana Hisui himself.
“Has an oaf like you finally interested in love affairs?”
“Hisui, what are you doing here?”
Nanase was surprised by Hisui’s sudden appearance and wondered if she was being followed, but Nanase quickly realized that he was not the type to follow someone around like herself Regardless of the reason, his sudden appearance had Nanase baffled. Seeing this, Hisui opens his mouth, expressionless as ever.
“I just happened to see you coming out of the mall. And you were walking with a guy. I’m sure the agency would be very upset if they knew.”
“I don’t have that kind of relationship with Senpai, and the agency isn’t going to get involved in my personal life”
“I hope so.”
Saying so, Hisui looked behind me. But there was no one there anymore. Gisui sighs in disappointment as he turns to Nanase. His unchanged expressionless face is somewhat scary, but Nanase is used to it by now.
“So, who the hell is he?”
“The senpai from school I mentioned the other day. He’s probably a more amazing person than I am.”
“There are a lot of people like that in this world. You’re overly favoring yourself.”
“Isn’t that too cruel !?”
As he said that, Hisui stared at the road where he had once disappeared with a somewhat uneasy look. Nanase closes her face for a moment due to the slight setting sun, but Hisui’s face does not change. However, Hisui murmurs vaguely.
“That’s the one my sister was talking about, the one whose existence is bothering her mind…..huh.”
“Hisui?”
“No, it’s nothing. Anyway, I’ll go home now. You should get the hell home too.”
“I know without you telling me, you stupid Hisui.”
Nanase walked past Hisui as she retorted dismissively, though she did not catch what Hisui had mumbled. But Hisui’s face seemed to have lost some of its blank expression. Perhaps he had something in mind for that senior.
And Nanase went straight home this time. And Hisui, seeing this, is also slowly heading home in the direction of the station where his house is located.
Hisui is not able to see any stars, but he somehow manages to look up at the sky. It’s obvious, but there’s no brightness in the sky. What’s in the sky is an endless dark night. And then he opens his mouth thinly and says
“……Certainly, they look alike.”
In the middle of the completely darkened city, a lonely young man’s voice resounded.
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