Behind the Scenes: Yukinoshita

The hustle and bustle of wanderers to and from Chiba Station melded together into white noise.

I was seated at an outdoors table. Only a paper cup of coffee sat in front of me. There were no other objects, not even a book. I chose not to sit at a table that was further inside the café, in order to reduce the distance that she would have to walk. It was not out of consideration. I only wanted to get this over with even the fewest seconds faster.

I brought the cup to my lips. Its deep aroma intensified as it drew nearer to my nose. Exposed to the outdoors, it was most noticeable within close proximity. Bitterness burst on my tongue. Hotness drew to my throat. It lacked the sweetness of sugar and the richness of milk.

The day was much warmer compared to even two weeks before. The temperature jumped ten degrees. Technically, the temperature was still within the range of coldness, given that it was somewhere in the low teens. Yet, just as my own name suggested, I preferred it if the temperatures would drop just a few degrees.

Figures of various men and women, girls and boys swept left, right, north, and outwards. My head began to ache a little. Crowds were nauseating. Nonetheless, I kept my eyes forward to catch sight of the person whom I was supposed to be meeting.

My eyes caught sight of a figure so fine that she could be a model. I locked my eyes with Yukinoshita Haruno — my big sister. She waved at me with an oversized smile, and I sent her a weak greeting in response, doubtful if she had even heard it. With practiced movements, she walked past my table to order something, knowing exactly where the counter was. When she returned, she held a medium-sized paper cup in her hands, steam rising from the lid.

"Sorry for the wait!" spoke Haruno with cheer.

She sat directly across from me, placing her medium cup down close to my small cup. Pulling her purse to her lap, she crossed her legs under the table and made herself comfortable. A little too comfortable. Perhaps she frequented this café often.

"So, I wanted to ask you," said Haruno with a beautiful smile, "What's your career path?"

She cut straight to the chase. I doubted that she was trying to be serious. It was more like she was overly bored. I also doubted that she was being considerate for my disdain of meaningless chatter.

I let a few seconds pass before opening my mouth.

"And why should I be telling you?"

"I'm your big sister! You trust me, right?" said Haruno with a mischievous grin.

I sighed before speaking, "That was not very funny."

Haruno leaned back and with her hands behind her head. My eyes were drawn to her twin peaks, blossoming skywards, parting her scarlet jacket.

"Well, of course not! That's why you told Hikigaya-kun instead, right?" said Haruno without looking at me.

Her words flowed freely, as if they have been rehearsed. Of course, I doubted that she would do something as awkward as rehearsing.

I glared at her body, but her eyes remained elsewhere. It was impossible to tell whether this person was meddlesome or if she was trying to be distant.

I had little reason to loosen my lips about my private life, even more so to an audience such as her. Yet, there was a possibility that she would continue to pester me until I told her. Boredom, meddling, bullying, whatever her reason was, she would go to any lengths.

I made up my mind. It was because what I said back then was only meaningful to him and me.

"...Liberal Arts," I muttered.

Haruno sat up straight. Her eyes, the same as my colour, stared directly into mine.

"I'm flattered that you trust Onee-san so much," she said, in a low voice.

I broke away from her sight and looked downwards. My long hair draped onto the table.

We sat in silence. The white noise of pedestrians grew to overtake our conversation. Standing out from the white noise, I heard my older sister take a sip from her beverage.

Breaking the silence, Haruno asked, "So, why? Are you planning on taking over what our family's doing?"

I widened my eyes in realization. Liberal Arts encompassed a wide area of subjects: humanities, economics, philosophy — and political science.

"No, I—"

I began to form a response, but nothing left my lips. In front of my sister, I could only gawk in silence.

Nothingness. There was nothing. I could not answer her. I had no answer.

Haruno was the one to sigh this time. She glared at me, obviously upset. How she fixated her eyes so intensely at me that I could only remain in my wordlessness.

Suddenly, with a complete change, Haruno inverted her frown to an impish smile.

"Yukino-chan is so adorable, so very adorable," said Haruno in a slightly high-pitched voice, "Yukino-chan is so cute that who could ever leave you all to yourself?"