Wherein Patricia and Tsukasa pull a prank on Konata, Miyuki muses on philosophical topics, and Minami experiences profound confusion.

This should be my last update for 2020. Shorter one this time. Enjoy if you can!

Party Games Chapter 5: The Second Day, Round 2 Upper Bracket

Konata was lost in thought as she waded through the deep end of the pool, bouncing on the tips of her toes so as to keep her head above the water.

Kagami had followed Miyuki back into the house just a moment ago, thereby preventing Konata from confessing to her, like Masaru had told her she should.

Of course, she wasn't really convinced that just up and saying "I think I'm in love with you" would have panned out all that well. Kagami was the temperamental sort—a nearly universal trait amongst tsundere. Using strong words like Love was likely to earn her a fist to the face, a hasty retreat, or if she was lucky, a flat stare with an equally flat "what?" There was also the chance that Kagami would take it in stride, but the odds of that happening were so infinitesimal that she'd have an easier time grinding for multiple sub-1% legendary drops in the MMO she played.

But even disregarding the confession part, Masaru's advice did have some merit. Talking to Kagami would have probably helped her figure out if she really did have a crush—not to mention how she also just enjoyed their conversations.

Sadly, they hadn't really gotten a moment to interact since breakfast.

An opportunity had presented itself just minutes earlier, when Konata had climbed out of the pool to talk to Tsukasa, but she had been too distracted by the unreadable expression on Kagami's face at the time to really say anything. The thought of striking up a conversation hadn't occurred to her until Kagami was hurriedly pulling Tsukasa aside—and by then, it was already too late.

And in the minutes that followed, Kagami had stayed out of the pool, not providing Konata any further openings. Although, now that she thought about it, it would be more accurate to say Kagami had provided no easy openings.

At that realization, Konata wanted to kick herself a little. She had forgotten an important lesson that she'd learned over the course of her many years of playing dating sims: when romancing a tsundere character, you couldn't just go about your business, stumbling into her flags randomly. That method might have worked for a childhood friend character—or if you were save-scumming—but for tsundere? You needed to actively search for those event flags if you wanted to end up on her route.

Her mistake now was obvious. When Kagami was spending all that time sitting alone at the poolside, Konata should have just walked up to her and started a conversation—like Miyuki did. It would have been such an easy event flag to trigger if she had only realized. But no. Instead, she had just continued horsing around with Patricia, expecting the twin-tailed girl to eventually join in the fun. How careless of her, honestly.

As her train of thought continued on its current path, lamenting the lost opportunity, she felt something grab her legs.

There was a terrifying instant where Konata's face dipped into the water, her sense of balance completely shot as the world tipped over. A panicked fervor surged through her limbs as she prepared to kick, thrash, and flounder just to get her head back above the water.

Then she resurfaced, continuing to rise above the pool, far higher than her short legs could have ever taken her. Her panic quickly subsided.

"That's it, Tsukasa-senpai. Keep a steady grip on her legs."

Konata's awareness returned just as she settled into a stable hold around the head of lilac hair braced against her abdomen. Looking down, she realized that she was sitting on the shoulders of one Tsukasa Hiiragi, still struggling to right her balance. Patricia stood in front of them, giving advice and encouragement.

"I think I could get used to this view," Konata remarked as the girl carrying her continued to wobble. "Though I'm not sure Tsukasa can keep it up for much longer." She helpfully pulled the droopy ends of the girl's drenched yellow ribbon out of her face. "You okay down there?"

"I think I can handle it," Tsukasa said, managing to finally find a stable stance. "You're surprisingly heavy, Kona-chan."

This earned a smug smile and crossed arms. "Do not be fooled by my diminutive stature! The flesh upon my seemingly scrawny frame is actually densely packed muscle!"

Patricia snorted, patting Konata's cheeks patronizingly, the blonde standing tall enough that they were still nearly at eye level despite the shorter girl sitting atop someone else's shoulders. "You say that, but you still ask for my help with opening jars."

She pouted. "So my finger strength isn't that high. Big deal."

"Me and Kagami have trouble opening jars too," Tsukasa said helpfully. "I think it's just something some people have more trouble with than others. I'm just glad people who don't have trouble with it are willing to help out—like my mom, or dad, or one of my older sisters."

Konata and Patricia shared an endeared look.

"Oh, bless your kind, considerate soul, Tsukasa," Konata breathed airily, gently patting the head of lilac hair below her.

Tsukasa seemed struck. "Wait, what? Why? Did I say something weird?"

"No, nothing weird. Just something that made our hearts flutter with a light and soft feeling."

"Fuwa fuwa~" Patricia playfully intoned in agreement.

There was a pause as Tsukasa seemed to process these words. "Alrighty then," she eventually said with an oblivious smile, making Konata and Patricia share another, more curious look. Neither were sure if the younger twin had actually understood what they were getting at or if she just put it out of her mind. Konata personally believed it was a little of both.

Tsukasa swayed precariously. "Hey, carrying you is starting to get a little tiring. Can I put you down now?"

Patricia put a hand on her chest in shock. "Put her down!? But she still has so much to live for!" The two stared at the American blankly. "Put down, in English, is a phrase that can mean—" She cut herself off with a shake of her head and a dismissive hand wave. "You know what? Never mind. Please carry on."

"So yeah, can I put you down, Konata?" Tsukasa continued, not missing a beat.

"Sure thing. Just…" Konata eyed the deep water around them. "Maybe do it in the shallow end of the pool."

Tsukasa nodded and started walking, immediately losing her balance as soon as she took a step forward. Patricia rushed in with arms outstretched to catch the falling girls.

That instant of panic and vertigo that Konata had experienced mere minutes earlier had returned in full force. Despite knowing that she could have just reoriented herself and stood on the tips of her toes to get her head out of the water, her instinctive, automatic response when she broke through the surface was to flail around wildly. It took her a few seconds to overcome that reflex through will and reason alone.

When she finally stilled her uncooperative limbs, she noticed arms wrapping around her, pulling her back to the surface.

"I gotcha!"

Konata gasped, then coughed, inhaling a lungful of air in the same breath as a mouthful of water.

"Easy, girl. You're gonna be fine," Patricia's voice said with careful calm as she slowly brought them to the edge of the pool, depositing the shorter girl onto the safety of the ledge. "You good? You were thrashing around like you were about to drown. You do know how to swim, right?"

Konata coughed again, still trying to get the last of the water out of her lungs. "Yeah, I know how—" a cough, "—but I've never—" another cough, "—been very good at it. I have a hard time floating."

It took several seconds of straight coughing, but relief eventually came. She hacked the last of the water in her lungs and felt like she could breathe easily again.

"I'm really really sorry," Tsukasa said, face scrunched with concern and regret. "I should've been more careful. I'm so sorry."

A small part of Konata thought Tsukasa's worried face looked adorable, though she also felt a little bit too shaken to really squeal about it like she normally would. Instead, she gave an understated handwave of dismissal. "You don't need to be so upset, Tsukasa," she croaked. "I'm fine. There was no harm done in the end."

"No harm to anything but my swimsuit, at least," Patricia remarked. It was only then that Konata noticed Patricia holding her arms tightly to hide her chest, her bikini top conspicuously missing from her outfit.

"You pulled it off me while you were thrashing," the blonde explained. "I think it's still floating somewhere in the pool."

They turned to scan the water's surface for Patricia's white top, eventually finding the article of clothing a short distance away. Drifting next to it was a spill of red and the belly-down Hiyori, likely having just fainted from a nosebleed after seeing the bikini top. How amusingly cliché.

"Well, that can't be good," Patricia muttered.

"I'm gonna go help," Tsukasa said, swimming towards the seeming-corpse of a girl.

"And I should probably go get my top back too." Patricia turned to Konata. "You gonna be okay?" she asked, her tone somehow both teasing and concerned.

This earned a weak smile and nod. "I said I'll be fine. Go get your top already." Her smile became a smirk. "Unless you plan on staying like that."

Patricia raised her hands in a noncommittal shrug. "I've considered doing some skinny dipping on this trip, but I think it's a bit too early to do that. We should wait for things to escalate first."

Konata grinned wanly at the eyeful of the blonde's chest she'd just received—C-cups indeed. "I look forward to whenever that happens," she said with a chuckle. "Now, hurry up and go! I'm gonna talk to Kagami and Miyuki. I think I just saw them come back out of the house.

Patricia stood straight and gave her a cheeky salute, breasts jiggling proudly, before turning around and swimming towards Hiyori's floating body.

Shaking her head slowly, Konata returned the salute and stood, making her way to where Kagami and Miyuki were talking. "Crazy American," she said to herself with no small amount of endearment. "You'll push this group into your pit of degeneracy yet."

She shook her head again with more vigor, putting it out of her mind. She had a tsundere event flag to trigger and being distracted by whatever craziness Patricia had planned for them would do her no good.

Meanwhile…

Miyuki watched Kagami re-enter the house, still quietly wondering to herself what could have possibly been on the twin-tailed girl's mind that warranted her completely changing her plans for the day in order to distract herself from her own thoughts. She seemed perfectly fine just a day prior so it had to be incredibly recent, but there was so little of note that happened in the last twenty four hours that Miyuki struggled to come up with anything. There was that relatively tame session of truth or dare, but—

She let out a surprised "Oh!" as the answer finally hit her mid-thought. It was, admittedly, rather obvious in hindsight.

That game of truth or dare the previous night hadn't been particularly wild, but it had resulted in a rather heated outburst from Kagami and Miyuki giving her first kiss to Tsukasa. It was perfectly understandable for Kagami to be distracted by the memory of that night. In fact, it was a miracle that Miyuki wasn't also distracted herself—she had experienced her first kiss, after all.

"Or perhaps I'm just not the type to make a big deal about it?" she wondered with a sigh.

"A big deal about what?"

Miyuki jumped and let out an involuntary yelp when she heard Konata's voice speak up behind her.

"Deep breaths, Miyuki," Konata said soothingly. "It's just me. Relax."

Miyuki suppressed a wince, feeling her face heat up with a blush. She futilely attempted to will it away as she turned to face her friend. "Konata… Good morning. Would you like a drink? Kagami and I made lemonade." She gestured at the pitcher on the table.

"Sure!"

Konata took a seat at the table as Miyuki poured her a cup, repeating her question from earlier after taking a sip.

"So, what were you talking about that you said you don't make a big deal out of?"

Miyuki suppressed another wince as she took a seat as well pouring her own cup. "Well, I was thinking that, while last night was mercifully tame, I was forced into giving my first kiss to Tsukasa. It is a common belief that one's first kiss is an important milestone in their lives, so it would be safe to assume I'd be beside myself thinking about it. That assumption would also be false since I haven't really thought about it at all until I was reminded of the events of last night."

Konata stared and nodded. "So that's what you meant when you said you don't make a big deal of it? Makes sense." She took a sip of her drink. "What reminded you of the events of last night?"

"Hmm… How do I explain it concisely?" Miyuki wondered aloud before taking a slow swig of lemonade, frowning slightly as she realized her mix was much sweeter than she'd like. "Well, something seemed to be bothering Kagami, so I had advised her to stop sitting around and actually do something engaging."

A tilt of the head. "To distract her from whatever was bothering her?"

"Precisely," she confirmed with a nod. "And the logical follow-up to my advice, should Kagami follow it, was to join in your roughhousing in the pool, but that wasn't what she went with. Instead, she decided to head to town with Miss Kusakabe."

Konata took another sip and tapped her fingers on the table, seemingly unamused by what she'd heard—though she could have just as easily been reacting to the taste of the lemonade.

"If we assume that Kagami has a logical reason for choosing Miss Kusakabe's outing over staying at the pool, whatever's bothering her must be related to the pool itself or the people staying in the pool. If it's the latter, half of us here were part of that game…"

She cupped her chin in her hand. "So, you think I'm one of the people who's bothering her?"

"That's very likely."

"Why, though? Because I called her beautiful last night?"

"Possibly. Or, it might be because of that kiss. My and Tsukasa's presences would make it difficult to put that scene out of her mind, after all."

Konata was lost in silent contemplation for a moment before going wide-eyed and snapping her fingers. "Ooh! Wait, I remember Kagami staring at me earlier with a weird look on her face. I couldn't tell if she was horrified or turned on—lots of mixed signals and stuff. Does that clue into anything."

Miyuki hmm'ed-and-hah'ed for a few seconds as she thought about it. Then she noticed Konata's shirt and raised her cup to her mouth, not to drink but to hide her incredulity. Even with her terrible eyesight, it wasn't hard to see how the fabric clinging to Konata's body left little to the imagination. "Perhaps Kagami was scandalized by your, ahem, choice of swimsuit."

This prompted Konata to look down at her wet T-shirt and blink. "I guess she's into flat chests," she muttered, shrugging. "Who knew."

"Or it made her uncomfortable. But regardless of Kagami's reason, I do still have to ask: why are you not wearing a bra?"

Another shrug. "I don't wear them unless I'm going out. I could probably get away with not wearing one even then. Washboard chest, and all. Like, seriously." She made a show of sliding her hand up and down her torso. "I really don't have much here to hide, much less to support."

Miyuki stared for a moment before looking away. "I suppose that's fair."

"And besides, we're all girls here, aren't we? And the only guy is both not here right now and already spoken for."

"All fair points," Miyuki conceded. "As a counterargument, perhaps consider that not everyone would be comfortable with it? Clearly Kagami wasn't."

"Well, she's not here right now either."

A frown. "That's also true," she conceded once more.

"And I haven't seen any of the others complain," Konata continued. "Are youcomplaining now?"

Miyuki fidgeted before giving the shorter girl another once over, searching her feelings for any discomfort. At most, her current discomfort was more from being put on the spot, as opposed to any real feelings towards Konata's choice of swim wear.

"No, I'm not bothered enough to complain," she admitted, pursing her lips as a thought occurred to her. "But suppose I did complain? What would you have done in this hypothetical scenario?"

Konata seemed struck by this question and nodded thoughtfully, taking a long slow sip of her lemonade.

"Well… I guess if you asked me to wear something else, I wouldn't mind."

Miyuki tilted her head slightly. "To be nitpicky about semantics for a moment," she began, carefully watching Konata's face. "You'd be accommodating if I asked you, yes—which I'm grateful for—but what about if someone else were to ask that of you? Like Kagami? Or Miss Kusakabe? Would you have still complied?"

Konata seemed at a loss for words, staring down at her empty cup with an unreadable expression—a rare occurrence to the shorter girl. Miyuki picked up the pitcher to refill their cups.

"For those two specifically, I probably wouldn't," Konata eventually answered, enunciating every word with a slow deliberateness that was unusual for her. "At least not immediately," she amended. "I'd probably try to poke and prod them—see how much it really bothers them. If it's really something they can't deal with, then I'll give in and change."

Miyuki took a sip. "And who decides that they really can't deal with it? You? As opposed to the people you're bothering?"

Konata frowned. "You're being awfully pushy today. Was your conversation with Kagami like this as well?"

Miyuki smiled apologetically. "It's rare that we engage in topics that have any real importance. Forgive me if I seem overeager to engage you."

"No no! It's actually pretty refreshing to see you so intense. It's clear you think about these kinds of things a lot more than I do—more than most of us, even. I wouldn't mind talking about more serious topics if it meant seeing more of you like this." Then she gave a sly look, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. "And not gonna lie, I think it's kinda hot."

Miyuki chose to ignore the compliment and cleared her throat. "Ahem, In any case, please answer the question Konata."

"Oh yeah. Who decides when they can't deal, right?" Konata pivoted back into topic, not missing a beat. "I mean, short of starting a fight, that's kinda something that the entire friend group has to decide collectively. From what I've seen, a troll out to ruin someone's day will usually get away with being annoying until everyone goes out of their way to make them fix their attitude, or kick them out entirely."

"Are are you the 'troll' in this scenario?"

"I guess?" Konata shrugged. "When it comes to friends annoying each other, it gets pretty muddy. Depending on their personalities, sometimes it has to become a fight of some sort—otherwise, nothing gets resolved. And for Kagami and Misakichi? Well, they're both fighters. So am I, for that matter."

Miyuki pursed her lips. "I see…"

"Don't get the wrong idea, though. I am willing to back down if it ever comes to blows. But if it's just talking? I enjoy pushing their buttons, and I can tell they enjoy fighting back just as much—even if they don't say so." She smirked. "Don't ask me how I know that, though. I mostly just follow my gut."

Miyuki regarded Konata, once again struck by how articulate the shorter girl could be when prompted. "You seem unusually knowledgeable of this sort of thing—unusual because I don't remember you mentioning you had many friends. In fact, I only remember the one whom you said wanted to become a mage."

"Oh yeah, him. I wonder what he's up to these days." Konata shook her head. "But you're right. Never had a lot of friends in real life. But online? I've met all sorts of people on chats and message boards."

"I was under the impression that most people online were scammers, hackers, and sex offenders."

A chuckle. "There are a fair share of those, yeah. But to be honest? It's mostly just regular people with regular human experiences."

"And I suppose you base your statements on their experiences?"

"Yeah. Go on any board where people ask for advice and you'll find plenty of posts about all sorts of things. Chances are, you'll find something related to what you're having trouble with. If you don't? You could always just ask for advice yourself."

"I'm wary of taking the advice of anonymous strangers."

Konata rolled her eyes. "Well, obviously you still have to filter out the good advice from the bad. Not everyone on there is some sort of expert."

Miyuki took another sip as she digested those words. "Hmm. I'll have to think more about this. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with this information."

"Keep it in the same box of thoughts you keep your trivia in?" Konata suggested helpfully. "Not like this is info you'll need often."

A thoughtful nod. "Also fair."

"Honoka, why don't we go play with them?"

"You want to wrestle with children half your age?"

"Why not?"

Miyuki suppressed a wince as her parents' conversation reached the table. In complete contrast, Konata snickered mischievously.

"I might want to go back for another swim if those two plan on joining in," the shorter girl said, downing the rest of her lemonade and standing.

Miyuki emptied her own cup and stood as well. "I suppose now would also be a good time to check on Yutaka and Minami. This has been a stimulating conversation, Konata. I hope we may have another one again at some point."

"Right back at you," Konata replied as she walked backwards towards the pool, shooting her finger guns with a chuckle—or at least Miyuki assumed they were finger guns based on the way Konata's blurry form held her hands up.

As Miyuki watched her go, the two adults walked past, the elder Takara saying how she'd be playing with everyone, Honoka saying how she'd be there to reign Yukari in.

"Have fun," Miyuki said to them with an encouraging wave before making her way to the shallow end of the pool, where Yutaka and Minami were having their swimming lesson. They looked to be taking a break, so her timing was rather fortunate.

Minutes earlier…

"Yes. Continue kicking," Minami instructed as she walked backwards and held Yutaka's hands. "Notice how little I'm actually carrying you. That is buoyancy at work."

Yutaka did as she was told, kicking her legs behind her, stopping to rest when they reached the far end of the pool. "I'm having a hard time keeping my head above the water without your help," she said with a weak cough. "Swimming is hard…"

"Would you like to take a break?" Minami asked.

A shake of the head and bright smile. "I think I'll be alright as long as you're here, Minami. Let's go another lap."

Smiling back, Minami led Yutaka by the hand as she swam to the other side of the pool.

It had been a surprise when Yutaka had admitted earlier that morning that she did not know how to swim. She had seemed so eager about the pool when Minami had invited her to the Takara summer home, just a few weeks prior. Had she simply forgotten about it? That would be a rather bemusing oversight, though.

Well, confusion aside, teaching Yutaka how to swim was not a bother for Minami. The basic concept behind the activity was not difficult information to impart. The human body was naturally buoyant, and would float on the water's surface in most circumstances. One need only to kick their legs in order to swim.

That said, Yutaka clearly had trouble floating, which Minami partially attributed to her build. People who were skinnier than average generally required more effort to float. Not substantially more effort, however, so she had faith that Yutaka would be able to overcome her difficulties.

"Hey, Minami," Yutaka asked when they finished another lap. "What was Kagami-senpai like last night?"

"Irritable," the taller girl answered after the briefest of pauses. "Izumi-senpai and Kusakabe-senpai were quite relentless in their teasing, so it was understandable." After another pause, she tilted her head to the side. "Why do you ask?"

"Well…" A nervous fidget. "Konata said Kagami-senpai got angry enough to actually try and hurt her…"

Minami tilted her head the other way. "She… nearly did," she began slowly. "But Tsukasa-senpai was able to calm her down before the situation escalated further."

A thoughtful nod. "I see…"

In the relative silence that followed, Yutaka gestured for them to do another lap to the opposite end of the pool. Minami wordlessly complied, accompanying the shorter girl as she swam the watery expanse.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this," Yutaka noted with another weak cough. "I still keep trying to breathe at the wrong times, though—especially at the end."

Minami nodded. "It'll become easier with practice. It's only a matter of time now."

"Thanks, Minami. Let's go another—"

Yutaka cut her sentence short, seemingly distracted by something in the corner of her eye. She shifted her attention to the deep end of the pool, Minami following her gaze.

"Is Hiyori alright?"

Minami regarded the question thoughtfully as she watched the limp body of Hiyori Tamura float amidst the red swirls of what was presumably her own blood. Common sense would answer that, no, Hiyori most certainly was not alright. But despite that, Minami did not feel worried in the slightest. In fact, she would go as far as to say Hiyori was probably quite satisfied right now.

How odd, she thought idly to herself, wondering just what exactly gave her such an impression.

"I'll see to it that she's fine," Minami said, pushing the peculiar sentiment to the back of her mind and swimming towards Hiyori.

She reached the unconscious girl just as a fretful looking Tsukasa arrived. A topless Patricia followed shortly behind, snatching the missing half of her bikini from the water's surface. Minami quickly pieced together what must have happened, but decided not to comment, instead gesturing for Patricia and Tsukasa to help drag Hiyori back to dry land.

Once they were all out of the pool, Minami realized that Hiyori was, in fact, not unconscious—which was several levels more baffling than what Minami had initially assumed, especially given how things have transpired. Hiyori, having just experienced a nosebleed from seeing a topless Patricia, had decided to perform a dead-man's float long enough for people to assume she was unconscious and pull her ashore. The logic of her actions did not add up, and Minami was at a loss for words about this whole ordeal.

So instead, she pulled up the thought she had set aside mere minutes ago, asking Hiyori with steady and clear enunciation, "Would it be accurate to assume you feel satisfied?"

Hiyori blinked up at Minami, her expression unreadable. A moment later, she turned to Patricia, reaching out with a hand to brush her fingers over the blonde's nipple, blinking again when said blonde didn't react violently. "Yes," she croaked weakly. "I'd say I'm quite satisfied right about now."

With that, Hiyori bled from her nose again and passed out, genuinely losing consciousness this time.

Minami, Patricia, and Tsukasa shared confused glances.

"I'm not entirely sure how to react to that," Patricia remarked wryly. Minami said nothing but nodded in agreement.

"Will she be alright?" Tsukasa asked, eyes darting back and forth between Hiyori's limp form and the other two kneeling next to her. "She didn't drown, did she?"

"Relax, Tsukasa-senpai," Patricia said, putting a reassuring hand on Tsukasa's shoulder. "Look at how smoothly her chest rises and falls. She's breathing just fine."

Tsukasa looked down at Hiyori once more. She still seemed unconvinced but she did not voice her worries any further.

"Hiyori's gonna give herself a heart attack if she keeps being this high strung," Patricia mused with a wry chuckle. "All this drama just because she saw my tits? As if I wouldn't have shared."

As the blonde put her bikini top back on, Minami couldn't help but mull over what Patricia just said, sensing a mild incongruity between the amused drawl of her voice and her actual words. But the inkling of wrongness that Minami felt was not something she could truly quantify in any meaningful way. Patricia's speech was so deeply colored by her native tongue, American upbringing, and exposure to otaku culture that whatever subtleties she tried to communicate were too difficult to parse. The linguistic gap between Minami's lexicon and Patricia's was simply too wide to cross, and whatever deeper meaning those confusing words once had were simply lost in translation.

Then again, maybe she was overthinking things and Patricia had been completely straightforward when she said she would have shared. It still called into question what "sharing her tits" meant, but it would still be easier to obtain an answer to that question than it would have been to perform a linguistic analysis on Patricia's speech patterns.

Either way, Minami put those thoughts aside and walked back to Yutaka, who was still anxiously awaiting the verdict on the state of Hiyori Tamura. Minami gave her a curt and concise explanation, leaving her in a mystified stupor.

"How… How would sharing your boobies even work?" Yutaka asked slowly, her question matching what Minami herself had wondered when she first heard Patricia say it.

"I do not know," she replied with equal slowness, looking down at her own chest. "I suspect there is a deeper meaning in what she's saying but I cannot imagine what it could be."

Now that Minami thought about it, she experienced similar problems with Konata, though usually to a lesser degree.

"Should we ask Miyuki-senpai? She's headed here now."

Yutaka pointed past Minami, who turned towards where Yutaka was pointing. Sure enough, Miyuki was approaching them, squinting at them for a moment before giving them a friendly wave.

Minami averted her eyes, returning the wave. "I… am not sure this would be a comfortable topic to broach with her," she warned. "But… if you're truly curious…"

Minami did not finish her sentence, but Yutaka seemed to understand what she was trying to get at. Thus, the shorter girl called out to Miyuki as soon as she was in earshot.

"Miyuki-senpai, what does someone mean when they say they'll share their boobies with someone?"

Miyuki stopped in front of them, her mouth slightly agape, clearly still trying to parse Yutaka's words. "Share…boobies…" she parroted helplessly. "I don't quite follow…"

Minami gave her adoptive sister an apologetic smile—or at least as much of one as she could muster—and began recounting what had just transpired.

End of Chapter

Thank you to Trillicon and asianpotter1 for beta reading this chapter!

Really be capping off 2020 nice and easy with this one, huh? This chapter was pretty light on things actually happening, but I'd still say they're all important for things going forward. Next chapter should kick us back into gear.

Until then!