"Onii… Tatsuya-sama…"
Miyuki was lying on the couch with one hand on her forehead and the other along her side. She wore a small miniskirt coupled with a light blue blouse that seemed to exude gracefulness as she slowly turned to face Tatsuya, who was sitting across from her on a recliner.
"What is it, Miyuki?"
Engrossed in a book, Tatsuya answered blankly without looking up.
"Hmph."
"…"
Though stoic in front, a wave of panic swept through Tatsuya's mind as he struggled to find where he treaded wrong.
This was not a good sign for the newly engaged couple. Definitely not.
Moments of silence passed as Tatsuya wracked his brain for an answer while Miyuki played a game of silent treatment. Tatsuya couldn't focus on his book anymore; his mind jumped back and forth between psion frequencies and Miyuki's mood like an out-of-control seesaw. Where did he go wrong?
'Did we have something planned today? No, otherwise it would've been on my calendar.'
If only Minami was here.
'There are things only women can understand, after all.'
Minami was out with her fellow second years; it was in consideration of Miyuki's insistence that Minami should make some friends, though it wasn't much of a suggestion much as it was an order. At first, Tatsuya supported this idea because Minami was lacking in social skills that were slightly unbefitting of a Yotsuba Guardian.
'If Minami doesn't learn how to socialize, it'll be troublesome when we bring her to public events…'
Suddenly, Miyuki straightened herself out on the couch and stood up.
"Tatsuya-sama."
This time, Tatsuya perked up and met Miyuki's gaze. Her milky-white skin that complimented her elegant face seemed to radiate a warm ojou-sama smile.
'Looking at her everyday makes me realize how beautiful she is, day after day…" sighed Tatsuya inwardly.
However, behind that ojou-sama smile was a bone-chilling aura worthy of the Ice Queen of First High.
"Would you like some coffee to compliment your BOOK?"
Looking at Miyuki, Tatsuya could only guess at her true intentions. "Ah… sure Miyuki. It's a bit hot today, so can you slightly chill it?" he answered.
"Of course, Tatsuya-sama. One CHILLED coffee, coming right up!" she replied, bouncing into the kitchen.
'Wait. Why did I ask for it chi-… Oh god. What is she going to do with my coffee?'
Memories of Miyuki's practical "jokes" and teasing flooded into Tatsuya's head. One particularly memorable incident was when Miyuki was folding his clothes and deliberately chilled the clothes that he was planning to wear after his morning shower. Luckily, there were no events planned during that day, but Tatsuya spent a good eight hours in the blizzard known as his t-shirt, boxers, and pants.
'Brr…. I don't need to relive something like that again.'
"Miyuki," called Tatsuya. "I'm going down to the basement to work on ESCAPES. Can you bring the coffee down when you're done?"
"Tatsuya-sama, you haven't even finished reading the first three chapters of that book."
A chill went up Tatsuya's spine.
'Has she been watching me this whole time? I could've sworn her eyes were closed...'
"Why don't you stay in the living room with me and finish the book first? I'm very sure that reading the book is crucial to the ESCAPES project."
Tatsuya fell silent. She was right, in fact. He had been reading the book to look for some new perspectives on the problems that the ESCAPES project was currently stuck on.
"You're… absolutely right, Miyuki. I'll finish the book here first."
Tatsuya was cornered like a newly captured lion in a cage; although powerful, he would shrink at the hands of his captor. As Tatsuya continued to live in fear of Miyuki's playful nature, she returned with a large glass of iced coffee complimented with a stainless steel straw on a porcelain platter.
And she sat on the couch across from Tatsuya, porcelain platter and coffee on her lap.
"…"
"…"
Moments of silence passed as Miyuki sat down in the middle of the couch, facing Tatsuya, who was nervously peeking from his book.
"Tatsuya-sama."
"Y-Yes!"
"The couch is much more spacious than the recliner. Why don't you sit here?"
At this point, Tatsuya knew that Miyuki was planning something; there was no other possible scenario. However, knowing something was up didn't mean that he knew how to navigate himself out of the situation.
He could only play along to what could be one of the more dangerous games in his life.
Slowly, Tatsuya got up from the recliner and walked to the left of Miyuki and sat down. What he didn't anticipate, was that Miyuki would be scooting, inch by inch, toward him. Tatsuya had no choice but to give way, eventually being forced to the corner of the couch.
The platter with the iced coffee was still on Miyuki's lap, who had been careful not to spill it in her cat-like movements to move next to Tatsuya. Once she was next to Tatsuya, she took the stainless steel straw on the platter and put it into the tall glass of iced coffee before taking a small sip.
Miyuki's proximity to Tatsuya was more distressing than he thought it would be; before, he dismissed physical contact as a showing of sibling love. However, it was now physical contact between two engaged persons.
That implied completely different things than if they were siblings. His heartbeat quickened as his sweaty palms slackened his grip on the book, eventually lowering it from the height of his chest to his waist.
"Ara, Tatsuya-sama. You seem to be a bit hot. Would you like some of your iced coffee?"
"Ah… Yes, of course."
On cue, Miyuki proceeded to elevate the tall glass so that the straw was just hovering in front of Tatsuya's lips.
"Miyuki… I can hold the glass myself."
"But you wouldn't like to get the book wet, would you?"
The glass began to develop small droplets of water on its outer surface, seemingly at Miyuki's will.
"No, I wouldn't."
Cautiously, Tatsuya bent his head forward and took a sip of the coffee through the straw and turned his head sideways only to meet Miyuki's smiling face at an extremely affectionate intimacy. Miyuki was increasingly shifting her weight onto Tatsuya's shoulders as she was holding the coffee Tatsuya was sipping on, though she held the glass as if she was still.
"Ahem… Miyuki?"
"Yes, Tatsuya-sama?"
"Would you mind getting off of me?" said Tatsuya, averting his gaze at Miyuki.
"…"
Miyuki looked pitifully forlorn for a split second before her ojou-sama training kicked in as she backed away, placing the platter with the iced coffee on the tabletop in front of Tatsuya.
No matter how small the slip was, it could not escape the eyes of Tatsuya. He could only draw one conclusion.
The problem now, was how to fix it.