AN: Hello everyone, and happy 2020! Heh, it's kind of funny how I'm writing this AN in 2019, but the one at the bottom I will have written in 2020. And while we're on the topic, I should probably apologize for the lateness of this chapter – the last one was published last decade! Sorry for not being sorry about making such a bad and obvious joke.
2019 was an interesting year for me, to say the least. It was also the year when I really took up writing as a proper hobby, and I'm glad to say I won't be looking back on the decision to allocate more time to it any time soon. Writing continues to bring me joy time and time again, even if I sometimes have a few difficulties and delays, but those are unfortunately unavoidable. Here's hoping I'll be able to improve more in 2020!
Now, let's start off the new decade with a new chapter, shall we?
Chapter 19 – Stress and Relief
"So, what happened, Haruka? You look quite… grim." Tomoya asked from me while crossing his arms, and I looked past him towards our table in the distance, where Haruno was seemingly talking to Ushio. She shouldn't be able to hear us from this distance, if we keep our voices on the lower side. I shifted my gaze to Sora, who was looking back at me intently with an expression of worry, her hands balled up to fists at her side. Sora knows me as well as I know myself, so it should be easy for her to deduce what I'm about to tell them.
"I'll try to be brief, since Haruno-san is waiting for us." I replied to Tomoya in a low tone, glancing at Haruno in the distance again briefly. Seems like we should be safe. "Hideki just gave me a call, but it wasn't just to exchange pleasantries. It seems… our aunt and uncle have made their move." Kyou's eyes widened, while Sora's hands clasped onto the hem of her skirt, visibly tensing up. "They contacted Hideki earlier today, and asked him about Sora and I."
"What did he tell them? And… why not contact you directly?" Tomoya asked from me.
"Hideki asked the same question from them. Apparently, while they knew Sora and I had left Japan for the summer, they only found out about Hideki's involvement after going to check on our house in Okukozome. Supposedly, our uncle tried to contact me then, but when it didn't go through, he now called Hideki instead."I paused briefly, and all three of the people in front of me seemed to brace themselves for my next words, Sora especially. "At first, our uncle asked him questions you could expect. Where we were staying, when we planned to return, and so forth, all questions they could have asked straight from us. But… He also told Hideki to stop associating with Sora and I, to stop helping us, telling him to stop interfering with family matters. Then, uncle asked Hideki to relay a message to the two us." My gaze met Sora's, and I bit my lip as I hesitated before continuing. "They… They're going to cancel our tuition fee for school if we don't return to Japan within a week." Sora raised an eyebrow at me in confusion, before the realization of what I had just said hit her as her eyes widened in surprise.
"But that means…" Sora began, but trailed off, leaving me to finish her sentence.
"...We wouldn't be able to go back to study in Okukozome even if we wanted to, unless we coughed up enough money for the fee. Money, that we simply don't have, and they know it." Sora's gaze fell to the floor as she clearly thought about the situation.
"That's… horrible!" Kyou exclaimed, a little loudly. "Wouldn't it… already be paid for this year, though? Can they just cancel it mid-semester like that?" She then asked from me.
"I don't know, but given their position as our legal guardians, it's very possible. However, cancelling our tuition is not the biggest issue, it's what they're going to do afterwards." I replied and looked towards Sora again. "They know we have little to no money left, so paying for the tuition or buying materials for independent studying will be impossible. And since neither of them would want to pay for the fees of two students..."
"...They would send you to different high schools, justifying their decision to separate you two in some twisted way." Tomoya followed up and let out a sigh. "Was that all your uncle said to Hideki-san?" I nodded in reply to Tomoya's question.
"Hideki told me our uncle was quite… brusque towards him during the phone call, and made it very clear he wasn't pleased with Hideki's involvement, but other than demanding him to stop helping us and telling him to pass along the message, he said nothing else." Sora was still clinging onto the hem of her skirt, her hands slightly trembling now. Whether it was from anger or fear, I couldn't tell, but I suspected the former.
"Seriously, what is their deal..? I'm guessing they won't be open to much negotiating then, huh?" I shook my head at Kyou, then reached out to take a hold of Sora's hand. As she lifted her gaze to meet mine, I smiled at her reassuringly, and my sister returned the smile. We'll be fine. We can get through this together. And we have Kyou-san and Tomoya-san on our side as well.
"I doubt they will, but if we tell them we're planning on having you two become our legal guardians, they will have to listen." I said to Kyou and Tomoya, then glanced at Haruno in the distance. "This is something we definitely need to talk about more, but not right now. We… shouldn't make Haruno-san wait any longer." Tomoya followed my gaze to where Haruno was sitting, silently watching for a few moments as she now fiddled with her phone while continuing to have a rather one-sided conversation with Ushio, who awkwardly sat in her seat waiting for us to return.
"Right. We'll… continue back at the hotel, then?" Tomoya said and glanced at the rest of us, and I gave him a nod in reply, feeling Sora's hold on my hand tightening ever so slightly.
"Sounds good to me." I glanced at Sora, who nodded as well, then shifted my gaze to Kyou. "Kyou-san… You could bring your husband up to speed about what we discussed before as well. Now that we know what our relatives are planning, we can continue with our plans as well." Kyou looked back at me with a smile, then nodded.
"Yes, I'll do that. We might need to figure something out with Ushio, as she will definitely get bored just listening to us. But, that's something we can think about later." Kyou said, her gentle smile spreading onto my face as well. We were really lucky to get the support of Kyou-san and Tomoya-san. I really hope they'll be able to accept mine and Sora's relationship, when we eventually come clean about it to them.
Having finished our conversation for now, the four of us made our way back to our table, where Ushio and Yukinoshita Haruno were waiting for us. Ushio perked up upon seeing her parents return, while Haruno kept fiddling with her phone until we were right by her, seemingly sending a message to someone, if I had to guess based on how fast her fingers were moving. That's right, Haruno-san came here to keep an eye on her younger sister… Reporting back to their mother, perhaps?
"Ah, you're back." Haruno said once she noticed us and quickly placed her phone back into her handbag, her eyes very briefly flicking to mine and Sora's hands, still interlocked. "You looked quite glum before, Haru. Something bad happen with Hideki-san?" Haruno tilted her head as she asked the relatively innocent question. While she has been acting quite normally now, she does like to stick her nose into things that don't concern her, and has shown to take interest in Sora and I, so I'm not buying the innocence of that question.
"You… could say that, I guess. It's nothing you need to worry yourself over, Haruno-san. Just that some things have come up, and I needed to inform the Okazakis as well." I replied to her, lifting my free hand to rub the back of my neck.
"Hmmm..? You're only going to make me more curious by saying that, Haru." Haruno said with a smile, leaning forwards and resting her head on the palm of her hand, steadily keeping eye contact with me. "You know, I usually reserve my help for my cute little sister and Hikigaya-kun, but I could make an exception with that for you two. If you need help or advice with anything, you can turn to your friendly onee-chan." Knowing what lies past Yukinoshita Haruno's smile, I couldn't help but think there was something more to her offer than meets the eye. From the image I've gotten of her, she isn't like Hideki, Tomoya-san or Kyou-san when it comes to helping others, so I doubt she'd offer to help just out of the goodness of her heart, and would ask for something in return. Then again, she did say that Yukinoshita-san and Hikigaya owe more to her than they think, so could she be helping them somehow, in some way they don't even realize? Though, that might have simply been more manipulation from her… Yukinoshita Haruno truly is on a whole other level of mysteriousness…
"Thank you for the offer, Haruno-san. We'll keep it in mind, but I think we'll do fine for now." I replied politely, then shifted my gaze to Tomoya and Kyou, who were gathering up their trash on the other side of the table. "Anyway, should we head out now? Did you have anything planned other than lunch?"
"Oh, not really, no." Tomoya replied and glanced at his wife, then moved his gaze to Haruno. "Now that Haruno-san is with us, though, maybe we could go somewhere? I don't really know, we've already gone through most of everything here." Tomoya scratched his cheek with one hand and picked up the three trays that Kyou had just piled up with the other. That is true, there's not much of the city left where we haven't been already.
"Hmm… There are a few places where I've yet to visit, but I don't really mind where we go." Haruno said with a thoughtful look on her face, while Tomoya urged her to continue with his expression. "I heard Yukino-chan praising the science centre here, so I'm a little curious about it, so maybe that would be a good start?" Haruno's gaze scanned over each of us, looking for approval.
"The science centre… Is that the one you two visited on your first Sunday, Sora, Haruka?" Tomoya asked from us, and I nodded to him in reply.
"Yes, Sora and I visited it together with Hikigaya and Yukinoshita-san." I replied, then glanced at Haruno. "The younger one, of course. I think it was called Pilke. We had some fun there, to say the least." I then continued with a smile. I kind of want to tell Tomoya-san about the hunting game, but I think I'll let him discover it on his own. I wonder, before we all return home, maybe I could have a rematch with Hikigaya? I want to beat his high score.
"I guess that's fine, then." Tomoya said and looked to his wife, who nodded to him with a smile, then turned to Ushio.
"How about it, Ushio? Do you want to go see the science centre?" The young girl thought for a few moments, then enthusiastically nodded to Kyou, the sight bringing a slight smile to my face, and I saw a small smile forming on Sora's face as well.
"Splendid!" Yukinoshita Haruno said as she stood up and gathered her things, lifting up her tray after somewhat carelessly placing all of her trash onto it. "Isn't it kind of far away, though? Will Sora be alright?" The sudden concern that Haruno showed us caught me off-guard, and I was instantly suspicious of it. Why would she even care? Well… Her sister doesn't have the greatest stamina either, from what I know, but… Haah, maybe I should stop being so suspicious of everything she does, but I can't help myself. I've never been like this with other people, but then again, I've never met anyone like Yukinoshita Haruno.
"As long as we don't take the scenic route like last time, I'll be alright." Sora replied to Haruno, who grinned a little in return, no doubt catching the meaning behind Sora's words. Yukinoshita-san also has a bad sense of direction, but I know Sora didn't mean that in a negative light. Whether Haruno-san interprets it that way, however, is anyone's guess.
"Well, that's our plan, then." Kyou said and smiled at Sora. "Shall we get going?" After giving her nods of approval, the six of us went to take our trash to its designated place at the edge of the restaurant, then exited out of the shopping centre.
Currently being at the central square of the city named after a famous Finnish heavy metal band, we had quite a ways to go to the science centre. Although, my perception of the distance between the two places is a little skewed, due to the "scenic route" – as Sora had described it – we took there on our last visit with Hikigaya and Yukinoshita. Still, the science centre wasn't exactly in the centre of town, and while the most direct route to it was largely a straight road, I had no doubts it would take its toll on Sora – especially given that said road was uphill. And this time, I hadn't even taken a water bottle with me.
As we walked along the pedestrian zone we had become accustomed to during our time here, a slight feeling of worry for my sister welled up inside of me. I turned to look at Sora and was met with a face that conveyed an equal – if not greater – amount of worry back to me. Seeing my sister with such an expression only increased how worried I felt about her, and I could only silently observe her for a few moments before I had to voice my concern.
"Sora? What's wrong?" Sora turned to look up at me, then briefly glanced to the front, where Haruno was animatedly talking with Kyou and Tomoya a little ways away from us.
"It's… well… I'm just worried about this whole deal with our aunt and uncle." Sora replied to me quietly. "I know we have a plan with Kyou-san and Tomoya-san, but I can't help but have this nagging feeling of dread. What if they don't listen to us? What if they just cancel our tuition fees and send us off to different schools anyway, even if we return home in time with Kyou-san and Tomoya-san? If uncle was so… hostile about Hideki helping us, how will they react to Tomoya-san and Kyou-san?" Sora listed out her worries and bit her lip as she gazed downwards, her walking speed slowing down slightly.
"We can talk about it all more with Kyou-san and Tomoya-san when we get back to the hotel, Sora." I took a hold of Sora's hand and squeezed it reassuringly, briefly glancing at the other three with us, still in the middle of conversation. "To be honest with you, I'm nervous as well. I'm the optimist out of the two of us, but even I worry about everything you just said and more. But, we can make it through this together. If aunt and uncle don't want to be nice to us, we don't have to be nice to them either. We'll just have to make it clear to them that we're not going to go along with everything they say quietly." Sora gazed back at me with her grey eyes, and I stopped myself before I leaned in and kissed her on the spot.
"I guess you're right, Haru. Sorry, I don't want to be gloomy and make everyone else worry." Sora said and glanced forwards again, before looking back at me with a smile. "I didn't plan on being nice to our relatives in the first place, and you can be sure I'll fight them tooth and nail if they want to separate us." Seeing the look of determination on Sora's face, I smiled and reached out with my free hand to stroke her head, causing Sora's own smile to widen.
"And you can count on me being there with you against them. Let's not give up, for our future together." In reply, Sora nodded to me and tightened her grip on my hand. This is a fight we are not planning on losing.
"Yes, for our future." Sora and I stared into each other's eyes for multiple seconds, and once again I had to resist the urge to capture my sister's lips with my own, and I had no doubts that Sora was doing the same. It hurts both of us, having to hold back like this, but we have no other choice in this unfair world. At least there are those in this world who accept and support us.
Once we realized that we had stopped walking, we quickly caught up with the others and continued towards the science centre together. And with Sora's mood having improved, we were able to join in on the conversation Kyou and Tomoya were having with Haruno. While Haruno did clearly seem curious about mine and Sora's still-interlocked hands, it didn't seem like she had heard what we had talked about, though she could have easily been just acting that way. She had behaved so far, but I wasn't about to let my guard down. Still, even if she had heard us and questioned us about it, I wouldn't let it interfere with us having fun today.
It took us about fifteen minutes or so until we arrived at the science centre. We could have probably easily made it there sooner, but we took the walk slow to not tire out Sora – or Ushio, who did get a piggyback ride from her father on the last leg of our walk. While my sister did put up a strong front and insisted on us not worrying about her, it was clear to all of us that all of the walking was taking its toll on her. None of us were in any hurry, though, so we didn't mind taking our time and enjoying the walk there. All of us – with the exception of Haruno, as she was a new arrival – had already seen plenty of Rovaniemi already, but at least I didn't feel like I would ever get bored of it. Having lived my entire life in Japan, the western architecture was new and fresh, and the city felt much more open than any city back home. Here there were no imposing skyscrapers looming over us, no seas of people and cars around every corner, and no cramped-together buildings and alleyways. The pedestrian walkways were plentiful, and one could see trees, bushes and other general greenery nearly anywhere you looked, not to even mention the beautiful view of the river that we were subjected to while making our way to the science centre. It was currently the height of summer, so a few small boats could be spotted on the river, one of the larger ones looking like it was a restaurant of sorts, but I could almost imagine what it would be like to visit the "Capital of the North" in the winter, when everything would be covered in a white sheen. The river that ran through the city was massive, but it wasn't rapid, so I figured it must freeze over during winter, and I found myself wondering what it would be like to cross it by foot.
In short, during our time here, I had grown fond of the city, and knew I would miss it when we returned to Japan.
"Haru." As I gazed at the somewhat distant river just outside the science centre, my sister's voice suddenly brought me out of my musings, and I turned towards her voice to see her, Tomoya, Kyou and Haruno all looking at me, seemingly waiting for me. "I'm going to leave you there if you keep standing still."
"Ah, sorry. I was just admiring the view." I replied and walked over to the others by the door. "We should come back here in winter sometime, Sora." I said to my sister as we entered the large wooden building, making our way to buy tickets like last time.
"Where did that come from all of a sudden?" Sora questioned me with a raised eyebrow while Haruno bought our tickets, having offered to pay mine and Sora's tickets for us. It really does make me feel bad to take advantage of everyone's kindness so much… Then again, I get the feeling Haruno-san isn't doing this purely out of kindness. She must have some sort of ulterior motive.
"I just thought how pretty this city was, and wondered what it would look like in the winter." I replied to Sora. "Seeing the northern lights in person would also be something worth experiencing. Right, Sora?"
"Hmmm… I guess… But doesn't it get really cold here in the winter? I'd rather want to see the 'midnight sun' during summer solstice that Mikami-san told us about the other week in Arktikum." Sora said with a slightly thoughtful look on her face. I'm a little surprised she remembered that. Well, I doubt she remembers Mikami-san's explanation in full, though. "Besides… can we even think of anything like that right now? I mean, we're about to go back home soon, and we won't be able to go on a holiday like this any time soon afterwards..." Sora bit her lip as she looked up at me, and I began to affectionately pat her head, while the rest of our group returned to us, having purchased the tickets.
"It was just a thought of mine, so don't worry about it. When we get through this situation with our aunt and uncle and get everything in order, we can think more about it." My sister smiled at me, then gently pushed my hand away, a slight dusting of red on her cheeks.
"Mou, do I not get headpats as well?" Haruno's voice came from our right, and we both turned to face her as she walked up to us. "I feel it would be the least you could do to show your gratitude." Haruno lowered her head expectantly, while I simply looked towards Sora, who now sported an unamused look on her face.
"Sorry, Haruno-san, but those are reserved exclusively for Sora." I replied to the black-haired woman, who pouted at me in return, while my sister allowed a small smile to appear on her face again. "But, we are grateful that you paid for our tickets, when our money situation is so tight at the moment. Arigatou, Haruno-san." I bowed a little to Haruno, who waved her hand dismissively in return.
"Don't worry about it, Haru. I feel like you two need to have someone show you kindness, what with all you've gone through." Haruno said with a smile. So… Why did you ask for us to show you gratitude, if you – supposedly – were just doing this out of the goodness of your heart? That's contradictory… "So, shall we go?" Haruno then continued, briefly glancing at Tomoya and Kyou, who nodded to her in return. Well, I guess that's just what she's like. It would be useful to have Hikigaya around, since he can read her so well.
Following Haruno's lead, we made our way down the flight of stairs to the exhibition area. It hadn't changed from our last visit, but there were significantly more people here today, due to the presence of what seemed like a group of schoolchildren and their teacher. The group was situated near the centre of the open exhibition area, and alongside the teacher, I could spot a woman who was undoubtedly an employee of the science centre (based on her clothing) talking to the group. Are they on a field trip? I think there is a school here somewhere nearby… I'm kind of jealous, there's not really any places like this near the school in Okukozome that would be suitable for an educational field trip. A few of the children turned to look towards us as we descended down, with Ushio sending some curious glances of her own back at them, though she did so carefully and avoided any eye contact with the older children. While Japanese tourists were no doubt a curious sight for many of the children, they quickly lost interest in us and returned their attention back to the front, where now the person I presumed was their teacher had begun talking.
"Right, so… This place is all about trees and wood, right?" Tomoya said once we reached the bottom of the stairs, scanning through the brochure in his hands. "What can we do here, exactly?" Tomoya looked around briefly, his gaze finally landing on me, clearly asking the question from Sora and I, as we had been here before.
"Well… There are a bunch of educational activities, but… I think there's one you might like, Tomoya-san." I replied and moved to the other side of the stairs, pointing towards the hunting game Hikigaya and I played quite a lot during our last visit.
"Is that… a shooting game? Like in arcades?" Tomoya cocked his head as he looked at the two toy rifles sitting in their holders, the screen visible on the back wall just past them.
"Pretty much, yeah. Hikigaya and I played it when we were here."
"For real? How do you play it?" Tomoya's excitement was clear in his voice as he walked over to the stand and began to examine the rifles. Looks like I hit the nail on the head with my guess. I thought and chuckled to myself, hearing Kyou sighing behind me.
"It's pretty easy. You shoot the animals that appear on the screen, gaining score based on how quickly and how accurately you hit them. Different animals also give differing amounts of points." I explained as I walked over to Tomoya, who had picked up one of the guns with an excited glint in his eyes, like a kid in a candy shop.
"You want to have a go at seeing who can score the highest, Haruka?" Tomoya asked and looked towards me, holding the rifle up with one hand.
"I thought you'd never ask, Tomoya-san." Tomoya grinned at me, and I could almost swear I saw a fire burning in his eyes.
"You're on! It's been a while since I've been to an arcade, but let me tell you, I never once lost to Sunohara back in my high school days! Granted, we didn't have a lot of money to go throwing around on arcades, so we didn't really go to them that often, but all the times we did I always beat him!" Tomoya pumped himself up, and I felt a smile growing on my face at the scene. Tomoya-san is such a cool guy. Ushio is lucky to have a father like him.
As I picked up the second rifle, I glanced towards the girls in our group and offered an apologetic smile to them. Sora simply smiled back at me, while Kyou shook her head and let out another sigh. Ushio was holding onto Kyou's hand, but her curious gaze was directed at her father, her small mouth slightly ajar as she looked at him getting a feel for holding the rifle properly. As my gaze finally met Haruno's, I paused for a moment as the rose-coloured eyes of the older woman stared back at me, a slight glint of curiosity in them and her usual plastered-on smile on her face. She has to be planning something… Not letting my gaze linger on her for too long, I turned back to Tomoya, then looked over to the screen in the distance. Well, whatever. I'm not here to worry about Haruno-san.
As Tomoya and I started the game, my prior experience with it and Tomoya's lack of experience became clear soon enough. Our first round, which we agreed to be a practice round for Tomoya, resulted in my win, as I managed to gather nearly twice as many points as Tomoya had. Tomoya didn't let the loss get to him, though, as the next round demonstrated just how quickly he had mastered the game. Our scores were neck and neck the entire time, but I just about managed to get enough points to overtake him at the end by felling a moose with a well-placed shot. By our third round, I could feel multiple gazes on my back, no doubt coming from the group of children in here with us. Tomoya didn't seem to mind having an audience, as he triumphantly managed to win the round with quite a significant point lead. With both of us having one win, the fourth and last round would decide who would be the winner – and neither of us was going to go easy on the other.
As the number of our curious spectators increased, I put all of my focus on the game. Tomoya had proven to be a formidable opponent, probably even besting Hikigaya, and I knew not to underestimate him after the previous two rounds. Not a single animal was spared as we both took shots, our scores rising steadily. If one of us got ahead, the other quickly caught up, keeping both our scores close. But, no matter how evenly matched we were, one of us had to come out on top.
"Haah..." I let out a sigh and felt a bead of sweat rolling down my cheek as I lowered the rifle I was holding, a sudden feeling of exhaustion washing over me after the tense couple of minutes of mine and Tomoya's last round. By the end, both of us were just shooting as much and as quickly as possible, so we didn't pay attention to our scores, but…
"...Congratulations, Haruka." Tomoya said as he wiped his forehead. "Looks like your prior experience came through in the end." I looked at Tomoya, then shifted my gaze to the large screen against the wall, where both of our scores were displayed. Our total score was higher than what Hikigaya and I had managed to get last time, and I had scored just a little more than Tomoya had. Looks like I beat Hikigaya's high score…
"Thanks, Tomoya-san." I replied and placed the rifle back into its holder. "You were pretty good as well, for a first-timer." Tomoya placed his own rifle back as well.
"It wasn't that difficult, as you said, so I got the hang of it easily. It was a little different from what I'm used to back home, but I had good fun." Tomoya said to me with a smile, and I returned the gesture to him.
"Tomoya!" Kyou's voice alerted both of us, and we looked in the direction of the voice to see her making her way to us past the group of schoolchildren with Ushio in tow, though I couldn't see Sora or Haruno anywhere.
"Hm? What is it, Kyou?" Tomoya asked from his wife as she and Ushio walked up to us.
"Could you take Ushio for a while? I'm sure she'd like to spend some time with her father." Kyou said and patted Ushio on the head, a small blush appearing on the young girl's face.
"I don't mind but… You had fun earlier with papa, didn't you? You wouldn't want to spend all day with your boring old father, would you?" Tomoya knelt down to look Ushio in the eyes, who looked back at her father with a conflicted expression.
"I… I get to play with mama lots back home, so I want to be with papa." Ushio said to her father. Right, Kyou-san is also Ushio's kindergarten teacher… Heh, I guess she has an excuse if she ever accidentally calls Kyou-san 'okaa-san' while there... "A-and… you're not boring, papa!" She then continued, her small hands balling up into fists as she stared at her father, her expression now determined.
"There you have it, Tomoya." Kyou said and patted Ushio on the head again, then knelt down to be eye-level with her as well. "I'll be over at the souvenir shop with Sora-onee-chan and Haruno-onee-chan, so be a good girl and take care of papa, okay?" Ushio nodded to Kyou, who then rose back up and began to make her way back towards the stairs again. "Right, I'll be off, then. We'll be up at the shop by the entrance, Haruka."
"Got it, Kyou-san." I replied to the older woman, who smiled back at me in return, before turning away and leaving Tomoya and I with Ushio.
"Haah… Leaving me to babysit while she goes off and has fun, huh?" Tomoya grumbled as Kyou disappeared from our sight, then turned to look at me. "Ah, it's not like I'm complaining. Sorry, Haruka. Kyou just does her own thing stubbornly so often, I can't help myself, but I don't dislike her for it."
"I think I get you. Sora can be stubborn as well sometimes, though I guess I am partly to blame for always going along with her." I said and rubbed the back of my neck. It's not like I could say no to Sora anyway. I do think she has learned to be a bit less stubborn on this trip, though, which is good.
"Guess we're in similar positions, then. Both stuck under the foot of our woman." Tomoya said with a chuckle, and I froze in place at his choice of words. "Though, I guess that's not quite true in your case, but you get what I mean." I suppressed letting out a sigh of relief as I struggled to maintain my composure. I know he meant it as a joke, but… That really surprised me.
"Hahaa… I guess you're right..." I replied with a slightly awkward laugh. "I mean, Sora and I are planning on spending our future together, so I'd better prepare myself for that well in advance, right?" I attempted to have my words come out in a jokey manner, but I wasn't sure how well I had managed. Tomoya-san already knows of plans to stay together, so it should be fine.
"Hah! Those preparations can never go to waste!" Tomoya gave me a hearty pat on the back, then wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "I wish I could have had the chance to prepare before I married Kyou, but unfortunately my time with Nagisa didn't really ready me for someone as feisty as her." Tomoya then continued, but suddenly fell silent, his gaze dropping down to Ushio standing next to him, who was curiously looking at the two of us. Ah… I hadn't intended it, and neither had Tomoya, but the conversation had suddenly taken an awkward turn to Tomoya's late wife Nagisa.
"Papa..?" Ushio's curious expression shifted to one of concern, the atmosphere that now permeated from Tomoya and I beginning to affect her as well. Ushio has never seen her biological mother, but Tomoya-san must have told her about Nagisa…
"Sorry, Ushio. It's nothing." Tomoya said and let go of me. With his gaze still directed downwards and his bangs covering his face, I couldn't meet his eyes or see his expression. Should I… apologize? It wasn't really my fault, but… "...I know what you're probably thinking, Haruka." Tomoya suddenly said, then turned to face me, the smile on his face a little melancholic. "I just slipped it out without thinking, so it's not your fault in any way. Nagisa was… very dear to me, but I can't wallow in the negativity resulting from her loss forever. She wouldn't want that." Tomoya looked upwards, and I could almost see a tear forming in the corner of his eye. Tomoya-san… "I have Kyou and Ushio, so I can't worry about the past, and need to focus on what I have now with them, and our future." Listening to Tomoya, a feeling of admiration rose up within my chest. Just like Sora and I, Tomoya-san has also lost someone close to him, but his wife and daughter have given him the strength to move on. In the same way, Sora and I can support and strengthen each other to get through the hardships we face and arrive at the future we want to build together. "Right, that's enough of that for now. Let's have some fun while Kyou and Sora aren't here, Haruka, Ushio!" Tomoya pointed upwards and turned to look at me with a grin on his face, any signs of his previous melancholy gone.
With Ushio now with us, we went around the science centre to look for something fun we could do, as the simple knowledge many of the activities provided would not satisfy someone as young as Ushio. Children are curious, but they learn best by playing, at least at Ushio's age.
The hunting game was luckily not the only game the science centre had, and we settled on playing a quiz game with the three of us. Or, rather, it was me against Tomoya and Ushio together. The questions weren't all that difficult – all of them having something to do with trees, forests and whatnot – but translating them from English to Japanese first turned out to be quite tricky. While I was confident in my English skills, the terminology was not always familiar to me, and as it turns out, Tomoya's English skills weren't that great – he had been largely relying on Kyou for translating up until now.
In the end, the quiz resulted in my win, though I couldn't say it was a win I was proud of, given that less than half of my answers had been correct. Still, I felt like I learned a little bit, so it was worth it in the end.
After our quiz, Ushio needed to go to the bathroom, and Tomoya had to accompany his daughter there, leaving me alone. Not really feeling like exploring the place on my own, having already gone through most of the science centre last time, I ended up silently observing the group of schoolchildren now on their own tour of the place after what I presumed was some sort of pre-planned activity for elementary school students on the science centre's behalf. Many of the children sent curious glances back to me, but otherwise paid me no heed as they went around the science centre with glee.
"You know, I sometimes miss being as carefree as children are." A sudden voice from behind startled me, and I quickly turned around to meet the face of Yukinoshita Haruno as she walked up to stand next to me, her gaze focused on the schoolchildren. "You have all sorts of responsibilities as an adult, especially one of my status. Life was certainly a lot easier back when I wasn't aware of everything that went on behind the scenes in both business and politics." Haruno turned to face me, her smile mysterious as always. "Can't say I'm not liking it, though. Plenty of interesting people to meet." I held back the urge to swallow as Haruno's tone of voice lowered and answered her in the most neutral manner possible.
"Haruno-san. Weren't you with Kyou-san and Sora?" I asked, and Haruno lifted up a small bag in reply.
"I was, but I finished with my shopping. I decided to come down here again and found you alone." I get the feeling she was specifically looking for me. "Did Tomoya-san ditch you?" Haruno questioned from me with a slight tilt of her head.
"Ushio needed to go to the bathroom, that's all. They'll be back soon enough." I replied, then paused for a moment, debating internally whether or not I should ask her what she wanted with me. I just can't shake off the feeling that she's up to something…
"Oh, I see. Hey, how about we have a round or two?" Haruno spoke out before I could speak again, and I looked to see her pointing towards the hunting game Tomoya and I played, where a couple of kids were finishing up. "It looked like fun." Haruno continued as she began to strode towards the game, not even waiting for my answer.
"Well… I guess we could, if you insist." I replied and followed after her. As soon as Haruno came up to the rifles, the two boys who had been playing froze as they looked up at the older Japanese woman picking up one of the rifles and pointing it at me.
"Hehee… So does Hikigaya-kun like this kind of stuff, I wonder..?" Haruno mused out loud, then let out a quiet 'bang' from her lips, followed by a slight giggle. "Come on then, Haru. I'm dying to have a go at this."
"Alright. How does best of three sound?" I asked as I picked up the other rifle while Haruno hmmm'd thoughtfully next to me.
"Let's just have one round. That'll really show which one of us is better." Haruno said with a smile, and I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Just one round? Not even a practice round first?" Haruno fiddled around with her rifle, getting a good hold of it, then pointed it at the screen, closing one of her eyes as she aimed.
"No need, I'll learn it quickly, I'm sure." Haruno replied to me, sparing but a brief glance in my direction. "Let's go, shall we?" I still found Haruno's request a bit odd, but decided not to dwell on it. She's the social type, so she must have been to arcades before. If she really thinks she'll get the hang of it without a practice round, she must be confident in her skills. Briefly glancing at Haruno again, I started the game when it seemed like she wasn't going to say anything more. As I already had quite a bit of experience with the game, I quickly took the lead not long after starting, but Haruno didn't seem too bad herself – she was better than Tomoya had been during our first practice round. "You know, Haru… I've been wondering..." Haruno suddenly said after a little while from starting the game.
"What is it?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the screen, as I suspected Haruno might have been trying to distract me.
"Well, you remember what I said when I bought the tickets for you and Sora? About wanting to show you kindness, given everything you've gone through, what with the death of your parents and all?" Haruno continued, and I sensed something in the tone of her voice, something that made me tense up. Is this… what I suspected? Is she going to pry me for information..?
"Yes, I do. What about it?" Sparing a quick glance at Haruno, the smile had disappeared from her face completely, and I swallowed.
"I've had a thought… What if that whole sob story of yours is nothing but one big lie? I mean, it's all quite convenient, isn't it? You two act all nice and tell everyone about how you and Sora were separated as children, how first your grandparents and then your own parents died, and now you've come on vacation to get away from some 'inheritance drama' back home. And then you have your sister's physical weakness to invoke even more sympathy from others. It's all way too convenient to be true, I think. There are some truly kind-hearted fools in this world, who would give everything they have to the first sob story they encounter, and there are just as many people out there who take advantage of the kindness of these people." I froze in place upon hearing Haruno's words. What… What did she just say..? Mine and Sora's… All a lie? "I know you two are hiding something from me, no matter how much you insist otherwise. As you said to me on Sunday, everyone has their secrets, so perhaps that is yours. Perhaps you are taking advantage of the kindness of all these people, spending their money to have fun on your vacation, then return home to some idyllic life, never meeting these kind strangers ever again."
"What… What are you saying, Haruno-san?" I turned to look at Haruno, whose expression was still the same as before, but now at least twice as unreadable. I'm usually not one to get angry, but… The accusations Haruno was making made my blood boil.
"Hm? I'm just voicing my thoughts. Now, if we do assume that everything you've told me and the others is a lie… What's to say your familial relationship is also a lie? Sure, you and Sora do look alike, but… Looks can be easily modified. A bit of hair dye and some contact lenses does the trick quite easily. And, to give a bit more proof for that theory..." Haruno slowly turned to look towards me, locking her eyes with my own.
"...You two act a little too close for siblings."
Before, my blood had been boiling from anger, but now that blood all drained from my face in an instant.
"Your sob story tells to us that you two are just closer than most siblings due to your pasts, but that doesn't quite add up. If the whole story is a lie, it makes more sense if you two were simply lovers, taking advantage of your similar looks to fool others into acts of kindness. And, even if you two were real siblings… Well, that would just make your relationship a little more interesting, would it not?" The smile returned to Haruno's face, this time as eerie as it could be, but I could do nothing but stare back at her, completely speechless. Obviously, I know that all her accusations are false, but… If she's noticed Sora and I are that close… "Oh, but don't worry about all that, Haru. This was just a little theory of mine, so don't let it get to you." Haruno said after a pause, her usual cheerfulness back in her voice. "Ah! Looks like I won, Haru! You should really have paid more attention to the game." Blinking, I looked towards the screen in the distance, where now, our scores were listed. Mine was even lower than Tomoya's on his first try, while Haruno's score easily topped the high score I had in my last round against Tomoya. "I had a lot of fun, though. Arigatou, Haru." Haruno placed her rifle back, then patted me on the shoulder and walked past me. "I'm looking forwards to having more fun with you in the near future." She whispered to me as she passed, and I turned around to see her back facing me, not sparing a single glance back at me.
I simply stood there, completely motionless, as I watched Haruno leave, and only managed to move my body once she had disappeared from sight. Haah… Was that all just to distract me from the game, or..? I looked down at my hand, which was now shaking slightly, and I felt a bead of cold sweat run down my neck. I already kind of suspected it, but she had been observing us all this time… Sora and I have been careful to restrict our displays of affection to the privacy of our room, but have been not been careful enough around Haruno-san? Or was that just one of her baseless theories? I let out a sigh and looked towards the direction where Haruno had disappeared to.
Yukinoshita Haruno… She is truly terrifying.
"I'm… fine, Haru. I'm feeling better, now."
"Are you sure? I feel like this has become more frequent, so I'm worried..." I reached out and held onto my brother's hand to silence him.
"I'll be okay, Haru. We'll just rest today, so I'll be ready for tomorrow." My brother looked at me with disbelief for a few moments, then let out a sigh.
"...If you say so, Sora. We've been having to deal with some stress recently, so I was worried it might make your sudden illness worse, if it wasn't the cause itself." I looked away from Haru and stood up, having been kneeling down by the toilet due to a sudden bout of nausea. I guess Haru hasn't even considered that my 'sudden illness' may be morning sickness, and thus due to pregnancy… Of course, I don't know that for sure either yet, but it's a good guess.
"Well, who knows. While I am worried myself, I wouldn't say I'm stressed about anything." I wrapped my arms around Haru and hugged onto him, resting my head on his shoulder. "You're always reassuring me and saying how we'll be fine, so I guess I just have to believe you." Haru smiled at me, then wrapped his arms around me as well, planting a kiss on my forehead, spreading a pleasant warmth throughout me. However… I know what my brother is like. On the inside, he's likely stressing about everything even more than I am, especially when it comes to me. But that's just what I love about him. Still… I can't say that we have no stress at the moment, not after everything we talked about yesterday.
After our trip to the science centre yesterday with Tomoya, Kyou and Yukinoshita Haruno, Haru and I returned to the hotel with the Okazakis. After leaving Ushio in the care of Hikigaya, Yumiko and Yukino, the four of us did as we had planned and talked about what to do with our aunt and uncle in the privacy of mine and Haru's room. We speculated about and planned for what would happen after we told our relatives of our plans with the Okazakis, eventually coming to two conclusions: Either they would accept without any resistance, or they would take the issue to court and fight till the last breath. Out of the two options, based on what we knew, the first outcome seemed the most likely one, and even Hideki – who we called for some help – agreed on that. Our aunt and uncle didn't really care for us, as evidenced by their plans of forcefully separating us, so it was likely that if they were given the chance to "get rid of us", to put it bluntly, they would gladly take it. This alleviated some of mine and Haru's worries, but of course, we couldn't be completely sure that would be the case, so, just in case, we also prepared as much as we could for a serious court case. Luckily for us, we had a lawyer close by willing to help.
Based on the information he was given, Mikami speculated that our best chances in the family court would be to plead to the judge about our relatives' incompetence in raising children, and provide evidence to prove that they didn't have our best interests in mind. People under the age of 20 are by all legal accounts still children, and thus under the supervision of their parents or other legal guardians, but at the same time, those legal guardians have the responsibility to provide for those under their wing and make sure they lead good lives. Because Haru and I are old enough to think and make choices for ourselves, the judge would also have to listen to our wishes regarding the situation, which would in turn give us a good chance to plead our case.
By the end, Kyou had wanted us to contact our aunt and uncle immediately, so we could save going through the trouble of having to tell them of our plans when we returned. It was clear to all of us, though, that she also wanted to vent some of her frustration about how they had acted towards us, and while I would have loved to see it, I felt that it would be better to experience it in person. I didn't voice my thoughts out loud, though. While Haru was initially against the idea, he was eventually persuaded to call our uncle.
He didn't answer.
Tomoya guessed it might have been due to the 7-hour difference between the timezones, but given that even now – a day after the call – there was no reaction, no message or attempt at a call back, we figured he either didn't care enough to answer, or wasn't able to.
While our attempt to contact our relatives yielded no results, the same cannot be said for our meeting overall. We now knew what we would do moving forward, and it relieved a lot of our stress. Mikami also promised us that he would help if needed, and would be more than happy to be our lawyer, if we so requested. However, not all of our stress was simply gone, as evidenced by what Haru told me after everyone had left. More specifically, what Haru told me about a certain someone.
Yukinoshita Haruno.
Yukino's older sister had been nothing but a thorn in our side ever since she arrived, and after hearing what she had accused me and Haru of, I was just about ready to punch her in the face. While Haru didn't think that she was serious with what she had said, just the fact that she had even thought of downplaying everything Haru and I had gone through as just a lie to get others to be kind to us enraged me. She could never know what it feels like to lose nearly everything. And it's not like we are actively trying to make others feel sympathetic towards us. We started this vacation fully expecting to not interact with other people at all, and just ended up in Harri's group due to unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances. Haruno had no right to make such baseless accusations from her position, having lived her life in luxury.
However, as Haru pointed out, Haruno's false accusations were the least of of concerns.
"You two act a little too close for siblings..."
The words Haru that told me the elder Yukinoshita had said echoed in my mind. What she had implicated with her words was clear, even when I wasn't the one to hear them directly from her mouth. So, she's even more suspicious of us now, I guess… Hmph, since when did she get to decide how close siblings should be? With her own relationship with Yukino-san, does she even know how close siblings can be? I mean, obviously Haru and I are closer than regular siblings, but… Argh, she pisses me off so much. Haru and I were still locked in an embrace, and without realizing, I had tightened my grip on my brother's torso.
"Sora? What's wrong?" Haru asked as he pulled away from me slightly to look me in the eyes, his face full of concern again.
"Haah… It's nothing." I said and let go of my brother, my mood having soured thanks to a certain nosy woman invading my thoughts. "I was just thinking of the whole thing with Haruno-san. Do you think Yukino-san would give me permission to give her a good slap?"
"That again, Sora?" Haru said with a small sigh. "I understand your frustration. I was angry when she accused of being liars yesterday as well, and I have no doubt that Yukinoshita-san would be more than happy to have someone give her older sister a slap across the face, but we shouldn't provoke her." I heard Haru say as I exited the bathroom.
"Yeah yeah, I get you. We need to be more careful around her and all that." I said as I walked up to our bed, hearing Haru close the bathroom door behind him. "Doesn't mean we can't be angry at her for what she said, though."
"Of course, Sora. We have every right to be angry at her baseless accusations – and believe me, I am." Haru replied as I sat down on the foot of the bed, and my brother sat down next to me. Haru has never been one for open violence, let alone openly showing aggression, except that one time when… I stopped myself before I recalled the events of that dreadful day any further, shaking my head slightly as my brother looked at me with a questioning look on his face. That is something we can leave behind us. No need to dwell on the negativity. Suddenly, as Haru was about to say something else, a light knock on our door interrupted him.
"I'll go answer it, Haru." I said and stood up, pausing to look back at my brother briefly. "I'm fine, really. The nauseousness is gone." Haru hesitated for a moment, but then nodded, and I walked up to the door. I don't think it's Harri, he already visited earlier today to tell us about tomorrow's plans, so… As I opened the door, I was met with the raven-black hair and light blue eyes of Yukinoshita Yukino as she stood in front of me awkwardly.
"Ah, Sora-san. Kon'nichiwa." Yukino greeted me with a small bow, and I internally let out a sigh of relief that our sudden visitor was not her older sister.
"Kon'nichiwa, Yukino-san. Was there something you needed?" I asked, and the older girl averted her gaze from mine. She's being a bit awkward… Has something happened, or..?
"I… wanted to meet with you and you brother. Are you free right now?" Yukino met my gaze again, and I tensed up slightly as I realized there was only one thing Yukino could have wanted to talk to us about. Usually, Hikigaya-san would be the one to come get us, as he's bossed around by the two girls, but now Yukino-san is here herself… I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing…
"...Yes, we are free." I replied, then glanced over my shoulder at Haru, who was curiously peeking in our direction. "Do you… want to come inside?" After a moment of thought, Yukino shook her head at me.
"We can talk in our room, if you don't mind. Hikigaya-kun and Miura-san will be there as well." Yukino said and gestured down the hallway, towards where I knew their room was.
"Okay, we can do that." I replied to Yukino, who flashed me a small smile, and I returned the gesture before turning back inside and looking at my brother. "Haru, Yukino-san wants to talk to us." Haru raised an eyebrow in question, but quickly seemed to realize what I had already realized. She's come to a conclusion. Haru nodded to me and stood up, making his way to the door.
"Kon'nichawa, Kasugano-kun." Yukino greeted my brother as he appeared behind me. "It is as Sora-san said, so if you don't mind..." Yukino gestured down the hallway again, and my brother nodded to her in reply.
"Alright. I am a little worried, since Sora was feeling sickly not long ago, but..." For a moment, Yukino's eyes flashed with concern, and she met my gaze with her own as my brother trailed off.
"I'm fine, Yukino-san. I just felt a bit nauseous, that's all." I said to the black-haired girl with a smile, and she seemed to relax. It's good to know she's concerned for me. We have hope.
"You shouldn't push yourself too much, Sora-san. I… do it often myself, so I know what it feels like to go over one's limits." Yukino admitted, a slight dusting of red appearing on her cheeks, but she quickly composed herself again. "Right, let's go, then." Haru and I nodded to Yukino, who began to walk down the hallway, and after locking the door to our room, Haru and I followed.
"Is this… what I think it is?" Haru whispered to me as we walked behind Yukino.
"I'm fairly sure it is, Haru." I whispered back, glanced at my brother, then took hold of his hand. We just have to have faith in Yukino-san, and hope for the best.
Our quiet walk to Yukino's, Yumiko's and Hikigaya's room felt like it took an eternity, each step we took echoing endlessly in the silent hallway of the hotel's third floor. The closer we got, the anxiousness inside of me grew, but I beat it back down time and time again. I've spent my whole life always being negative, never caring for people other than Haru, but I know I can't continue on like that forever, even if I wanted to. I've already changed, having met new people who I do actually care about, and don't want to lose, so how difficult is it to change just a little bit more? Haru is always positive about everything, being the optimist out of the two of us. But I can't rely on my brother for everything. I know he has times when he just cannot be optimistic, and when that happens, I need to be there for him, just like he's always been there for me. That's why…
I need to have hope. I need to have faith in Yukino-san.
When we arrived at her room, Yukino glanced around, as if seeing if anyone else was around to see us, then shifted her gaze to Haru and I. She met both mine and my brother's eyes, but didn't even spare a glance at our interlocked hands, then turned to open the door.
"Please, come in." Yukino said and gestured for us to enter. I felt my breath getting caught in my throat, but I forced myself to calm down.
"Pardon the intrusion." Haru said quietly as we stepped inside the room, with Yukino following behind us, making sure the door was locked.
The room hadn't changed from when we had visited it last week, though everything was a little neater, likely because Yukino's, Yumiko's and Hikigaya's vacation was coming to an end, so they had tidied up their hotel room. Hikigaya was lying down on one of the beds with his eyes closed, while Yumiko was sitting on the foot of the same bed, fiddling with
her phone.
"Ah! Hey, Sora, Haru." Yumiko was the first to react to our presence, and she quickly put her phone away and smiled at us.
"Hello, Yumiko-san." My brother greeted Yumiko, while Hikigaya rose to a sitting position on his bed and stretched.
"Yo." Hikigaya's deatbeat voice came out a little hoarse, and he cleared his throat immediately afterwards. Could he be ill? He doesn't look any worse than normal.
"Ahem. Let's not waste any time." Yukino walked past us over to another one of the beds, where I could spot the lynx plushie I had bought for her, the sight of it bringing a small smile to my face. "I don't think I need to remind you of what we discussed last Thursday, and you can probably guess that is what I wanted to talk to you about." I couldn't help but tense up at Yukino's words, despite my best efforts. The atmosphere was nowhere near as gloomy as it had been a week ago, but I was still nervous, and gripped Haru's hand a little tighter. "First of all… I want to apologize to both of you again." Yukino bowed to us deeply, and for a moment, I feared the worst, but her next words reassured me. "I treated you both horribly, all because I blindly believed that what you two were doing was wrong. However, I realized that I was in error, and had gone against my own principles by taking everything at face value, without thinking for myself." Yukino raised her head and looked towards Hikigaya and Yumiko. "What we have together could be seen as 'wrong' by a lot of people, but we don't care what they think of us, so it was wrong of me to judge you two so harshly. Once again, I'm sorry." Yukino bowed to us again fervently, then silently lifted her head back up, looking at me and Haru expectantly.
"We… accept your apology, I guess..?" Haru said to break the silence and rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced between Yukino and I. "So… what conclusion did you come to?" Yukino took a deep breath, as if she had been expecting the question, and I found myself swallowing as I awaited her answer.
"This past week, I've been observing you two, as well as talking with Hikigaya-kun and Miura-san. However, my… conclusion, as you put it, is all my own." Yukino paused for a moment, bit her lip and glanced at Hikigaya, who I saw giving her an encouraging nod. "I… already knew your position was similar to ours, and so… I've now come to understand that..." Yukino paused again, as if she was trying to find the right words, and I heard Hikigaya letting out a sigh as he fell back down onto the bed. "I… I don't see anything wrong with the relationship you two have, personally." A brief moment of silence passed, before an immense feeling of relief washed over me, and I felt myself nearly collapsing. Yukino-san… she…
..She accepts us…
"The three of us know best that you can't choose who you fall in love with, and with you two… Well, you just happened to fall in love with each other, despite being siblings." Yukino continued with a small smile, and I recognized her words as something I had told her last week. "And… that is fine. I now know that. You can't do anything about it, and you're not hurting anyone by being together, so there's no reason to see it as 'wrong'. The world is not so black and white, nothing is inherently right or inherently wrong. Each and every one of us has to figure that out for ourselves. And I… well, I now believe what you two have together is in no way 'wrong'." Yukino smiled warmly at me, and before I knew it, I had jumped at the older girl and captured her in my embrace.
"Yukino-san… Thank you… This means… so much." I could almost feel tears welling up in my eyes, but held them back and hugged onto Yukino harder, and soon enough I felt her wrapping her own arms around me as well, albeit a little awkwardly.
"Thank you as well, Yukinoshita-san. Knowing you accept our relationship… It's the best news we've had during this stress-filled week." I heard Haru's voice from behind me. Haah… I'm so happy and relieved…
"That… I'm glad to hear that, Kasugano-kun. Of course, it won't be so easy to get used to this new mindset, having lived my entire life believing in something else, but… Seeing you two being so happy together, how could I not doubt the validity of the social norms we are lead to believe are truths?" Yukino said and separated herself from me. "I've accepted your relationship with your brother, but it will take a little while to condition myself to that idea. O-of course, I plan on staying by my word, you don't have to worry about that." I smiled at the older, now slightly-flustered girl and took a hold of her hands.
"Arigatou, Yukino-san." I thanked the raven-haired girl again as I squeezed onto her hands, and the surprised girl let a small smile appear on her face. What a relief… I'm so glad Yukino-san is able to accept us. I turned to look at my brother, who let out an audible sigh of relief, then smiled back at me. If only the others could be as open-minded as Yukino-san, Hikigaya-san and Yumiko-san have been, Haru and I could just be ourselves.
"Well, glad that's all sorted out, now." Hikigaya spoke as he sat up again, everyone's gazes turning to him. "If I didn't know better, Sora, I'd think you were trying to win over Yuki's heart, with the way you're clinging to her." He then continued with a slight grin.
"Oh? Is that so? You have a problem with that?" I asked and quickly grabbed onto Yukino again, who let out a surprised yelp at the sudden contact. "Aren't you used to seeing a girl handling Yukino-san, given your relationship with Yumiko-san?" I turned my gaze towards the blonde, who's face began reddening at my words.
"S-Sora! T-that's..!" Yumiko began, but couldn't get the words to come out of her mouth. Oh? I was just joking, but it seems there is something going on here… I felt a grin appearing on my face at the turn of events.
"Y-yeah, that is… a little..." Even Hikigaya was now blushing as he averted his gaze while scratching his cheek awkwardly.
"What? Am I wrong?" I finally turned my gaze to Yukino, who also sported a healthy blush on her face.
"I-I… W-we haven't… O-our relationship isn't that i-intimate..." Yukino said quietly, clearly embarrassed. I never knew teasing others could be this fun…
"What was that? You want to be intimate? I'm sorry, Yukino-san, but I'm not ready to have the kind of relationship with you that you obviously already have with Yumiko-san." I said and backed away from Yukino over-dramatically, hugging onto my own chest defensively. "I am happy that you think of me that way, but I have sworn myself to Haru." As I reached my brother, I hugged onto his arm, scanning the others in the room with my gaze.
Yukino, Yumiko and Hikigaya had all frozen in place, their wide eyes fixated on me. Did I… go too far? Yukino-san was only just able to accept us, so is it too early to make jokes like that..? I don't really have any social skills, so I don't really know… Suddenly, the silence was broken by a snort coming from Yumiko, who soon afterwards burst out laughing. Her laugh elicited a slight chuckle from Hikigaya, while Yukino turned away with an embarrassed look on her face.
"Haah… Sora, that was good." Yumiko said once she calmed down from her laughing fit, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye as she stood up and walked over to me. "I didn't expect that from you, and neither did Yukinoshita. I don't think I've ever seen her this embarrassed!" Yukino seemed to shrink under our gazes as she let out a sigh of defeat.
"...I didn't think you'd be this cheeky, Sora-san..." Yukino said and turned to the rest of us. "I'm now finding myself questioning whether or not it was a good idea to become friends with you..." Yukino's words held no ill will or malice, and I giggled at her reply. Looks like I worried for naught. I slid my hand down Haru's arm and took a hold of his hand.
"I'm glad everything worked out, Haru." I said quietly to my brother as Yumiko began to tease Yukino more, while the raven-haired girl retaliated with as much as she could, the scene soon becoming the two girls trying their best to embarrass the other the most.
"I am too, Sora." Haru replied and pulled me closer, and I relished in his warmth. I'm truly glad…
...That I am able to keep the wonderful friends I've made.
AN: Finally, I'm done with this chapter. As I said at the beginning, I started working on this just a few hours before the year changed, but it took me over two weeks to finish. I blame my current semester, which is full to the brim with different courses. Well, at least my next semester will be more lax, so I'll be able to write more often.
The next chapter I can almost promise won't take a month to come out like this one did, but you all know how incapable I am when it comes to keeping promises. I'll try my best this time, though!
Until then, I bid you all farewell!