A/N:

It's officially been a month since I first published this story! Wow, things have moved quickly! We're already at chapter 9. I can't promise I'll keep up this rate of publication (I'm a full time graduate student, after all), but I'm having a lot of fun writing this story. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 9:

Ice Cream Fixes Everything, Right?

The next two weeks passed without incident. Yotsuba and I continued to meet after school every day to study in the library, and Itsuki and I continued to have an amicable relationship in our classroom - if anything, since we'd had lunch together, I almost felt like she was a completely different person. She was much more friendly, to the point where I overheard at least one group of girls in the class spreading a rumour that we were madly in love and sneaking off to make out in abandoned classrooms.

Idiots.

The rumours didn't bother me, since I frankly just didn't care about what my classmates thought of me. From what I could tell, Itsuki either wasn't aware of them, or she didn't particularly care either. Our continued mutual apathy would, based on my experience, be enough to quell the majority of the rumours within a few weeks - and so, like most useless things, I quickly put them out of my mind.

On Friday afternoon, I was in the library with Yotsuba when my phone buzzed in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw that it was an email from my dad, which was somewhat unusual. I used the opportunity to check the time, and then winced when I saw how late it had already gotten. Putting it away, I turned to Yotsuba.

"Hey, I've gotta head home. Apparently my dad has some exciting news for me."

"Ooh, exciting news, eh? Wonder what that could be. If you're the secret heir to a billionaire who's left you his entire fortune, I demand at least one ice cream!"

I glowered at her. "Says the rich girl. I should be asking you for an ice cream."

"Huh? Uesugi-san, is that your way of saying you want me to buy you an ice cream?"

"I mean, I wouldn't say no to one, but that's not the point."

"If you want ice cream, you should just straightforwardly ask!"

I shook my head. "You know what? Nevermind. I've gotta head home."

Yotsuba laughed. "Alright, see you on Monday!"

I left the school and made my way home quickly. Given it was "exciting" news, I wasn't anxious per se, but there was a certain amount of nerves involved. With my dad, "exciting news" was something good around ninety-nine percent of the time. However, lingering in the shadows was that one percent of the time where it was his way of trying to spin something absolutely devastating. I sincerely hoped it wasn't the latter.

When I stepped into the apartment, my dad was grinning ear-to-ear, immediately confirming that we were in "ninety-nine percent" land, and not "one percent" land. Internally, I heaved a sigh of relief.

"I've got some really great news for you, kid! Come on in, let's have dinner, and I'll tell you both!"

I put my school bag away, and sat down at the table, where Raiha served curry that she'd made. It was pretty spicy, but not overwhelmingly so - she'd done a good job of balancing the spice and the flavour.

"So, what's the news, Dad?"

My father's grin, if possible, got even wider. "Your old Dad got a promotion at work!"

I dropped my chopsticks in shock.

"Wait, really? That's amazing! What's the promotion?"

"Way to go, Dad!" Raiha yelled, curry on her face.

"So, you know how I told you a few months ago about that manager who got fired for... inappropriate acts in the break room?"

"Ah... yes," I said, glancing aside. My dad had described the event in only vague terms because of Raiha's presence, but from what I'd gathered, a manager had brought his girlfriend into the work break room after hours and had gotten... frisky with her. He had apparently forgotten that there was a surveillance camera in the corner of the room. His termination had increased the workload of everybody left behind, something my father had complained about incessantly since then.

"Anyways, after he left, the big boss decided to hire a new manager to come in and take over the work load - it's a lot of effort to manage a warehouse of our size, you know. They spent the last couple of months looking, but even though Nagoya is a pretty big city, they couldn't find anybody who fit the bill. This morning, I got called in, and was told that they'd decided to promote internally, and that I'd been chosen! It comes with a pretty serious pay raise - I'm talkin' something like double the hourly rate!"

My eyed boggled. "Holy cra- uh, I mean, that's amazing, Dad! Our debt will be paid off in no time!"

"I... think you're underestimating how much we owe, kid. Regardless, it's good money. That's not the only good news though, either!"

"There's more?!" Raiha exclaimed, shocked.

"Yeah. There was a promotion bonus involved."

"...How much are we talking?" I said, cautiously.

"Two hundred thousand yen."

I rocked back from the table in shock. "That... that's a lot of money."

"Yep! Obviously, I'm going to put some of that towards our debt, but I figured - it's money we didn't budget for, so I think it's alright to spend it on some luxuries, you know?"

"I... see." I said, not seeing at all.

"Anyways, I'm going to put some of it aside to buy presents for you two at Christmas, but that still leaves quite a bit. So I had a thought."

...Uh oh. I don't like that look in his eye.

"I'm going to give you five-thousand yen of this, and I want you to take that friend of yours on a date to the festival that they're holding tomorrow at that park nearby."

I looked at my dad for a moment. Then, I processed what he'd said.

"Eh? Eh?! You want me to take that money and do what with it now?!"

My dad pulled out his wallet, and smacked it with his hand.

"I want you to take some of the money, and go have fun with your friend at the festival."

I placed my face in my hand.

"Dad, I can't take the money you worked hard to earn and spend it frivolously like that! It would be completely irresponsible of me! Think how many reference books we could get for Raiha, or we could put that into her university fund! Or we could use that as leverage to re-finance our debt! I can't take that money and just use it for fun!"

"First of all, Fuutarou, you can't re-finance debt with five-thousand yen as leverage. That's not how that works."

"I meant the whole two-hundred thousand..."

"But secondly, it's not frivolous," my dad said, ignoring me. "This is the first time you've talked about having a friend in over five years... actually, a lot longer than that. I think it's important that you spend time with that friend. It's important to not waste your youth."

"But-"

"Also, even two-hundred thousand yen by itself isn't nearly enough to try and get a line of credit for the amount our debt is worth. So don't worry about it."

"But-"

My dad sighed. "Look, if you feel badly about it, take Raiha with you. Then it's an enrichment experience for her too, and she can meet your friend like she wanted to."

"...Eh? Raiha wanted to meet Yotsuba?"

I turned to look at Raiha, who looked furious at our dad.

"Dad! You said you wouldn't say anything about that to Onii-chan!"

"Eh? Did I? Shoot, sorry kid. My bad."

Raiha pouted. Then, she turned to me.

"I do really want to go to the festival though, Onii-chan! Let's go together and watch the fireworks!"

I sighed. Then, I raised my hands in surrender.

"Fine. You win. I'll send Yotsuba an e-mail and see if she's free after dinner."

My dad grinned and went for a high-five from Raiha, but she pouted again and turned away from him, leaving him hanging. He sighed, and dropped his hand back down, and shrugged. Raiha didn't hold grudges for very long, so it was a temporary thing, but being rejected by your daughter was probably something that stung.

He brought that on himself, but... ouch. Poor guy.

I finished my dinner and thanked Raiha for the meal. I then pulled out my phone, and sent an e-mail to Yotsuba.

{Hey Yotsuba, Raiha and I are going to the fireworks festival this Saturday. Would you like to join us?}

A few minutes later, my phone buzzed in response.

{Thanks for the invite, Uesugi-san! I'm already going with my sisters though... maybe they'd be ok with you joining us? Should I ask?}

{If that's ok with you.}

{Ok, I'll ask! I definitely want to meet Raiha!}

{Ok, let me know.}

About fifteen minutes later, my phone buzzed again with her response, distracting me from my post-dinner study session.

{Miku, Itsuki, and Ichika are fine with it, but Nino says "hell no", and she's the one who organized everything. Sorry Uesugi-san :( }

{Ah. It's alright. Nevermind then.}

I sighed. I guess that's that then.

"Hey, Raiha - bad news. Yotsuba said she's already going to the festival with her sisters, and the one who hates me vetoed us coming along."

"Ehhh?! I thought you made up with her though?" Raiha said, distressed.

"No, that was the other one."

"Two of her sisters hated you?! I thought it was just the one! What the heck did you do, Onii-chan?!"

With all of their badgering over the last two weeks, I have absolutely no grasp on what I've told them and what I haven't.

"I had the audacity to be friends with Yotsuba, and Nino didn't like that," I said, shrugging.

Raiha wilted. "Oh... That's too bad... I was really looking forward to the fireworks..."

"What are you talking about, Raiha? Just because Yotsuba isn't coming doesn't mean we can't go."

She popped back up. "Wait, really?!"

"Yeah. We just can't spend the five-thousand yen, so we'll walk around and look at everything, and then watch the fireworks. How does that sound?"

"That sounds awesome, Onii-chan! I'm so excited!"

Raiha started happily bouncing around the room (and not doing her homework). I smiled at her, and then glanced at my dad, who was reading a book in the corner. He looked up at me and gave me a thumbs up, before going back to his book.

I guess I have something to look forward to on the weekend after all. Raiha and I always have a great ti-

Bzzt.

I looked down at my phone to see an email from Yotsuba.

{Do you want to do something on Sunday instead? I really want to meet Raiha!}

I perked up, and then sighed. "I'm going to be there too," I muttered to myself.

"Huh? Did you say something, Onii-chan?"

"Yeah, I just got a follow-up email from Yotsuba. She wants to go do something on Sunday instead, since she wants to meet you."

"She wants to meet me? O...Ok!"

I thought she wanted to meet Yotsuba? I guess she's getting nervous.

"Ok, I'll let her know," I said, and began to compose an email.

{Sure, sounds great. Anything in particular in mind?}

{Does Raiha have anything in particular she wants to do?}

I felt a stab of irritation. "Raiha, she wants to know if there's anything in particular you'd like to do."

"Hmmm... I think I wanna go see a movie!"

"Yeah? What movie is that?"

"The Five Piece Movie! It just came out in theatres, and I really wanna see it!"

"Raiha... you watch way too much anime. I don't think Yotsuba will want to watch that, and I definitely don't want to watch that."

"Pleeeeeease, Onii-chan!"

A brief war was fought in my heart, and the doting big brother side won after a quick, yet brutal bout of mortal combat. I sighed, defeated.

"Fine. I'll ask her. Don't be too upset if she says no, though."

I pulled my phone back up, and emailed Yotsuba.

{Raiha says she wants to go see the new Five Piece movie. It's fine to say no to that - I don't want to, but she's making me agree under duress. I have a knife pressed to my throat. Send help. Ahhh!}

{Sure! Sounds like fun! Also, I gotta teach you some Jiu Jitsu so you can escape from this deadly situation!}

I stared down at my phone in shock. Then, creaking like a rusty door, I turned to Raiha.

"She... said... yes?"

"Yay! I'm so excited, Onii-chan!"

"So, uh... this is the anime involving those pirates with magic, right..?"

"What? No, Onii-chan, that's One Piece! Come on, they have absolutely nothing to do with one another!"

"...Oh."

Those names are waytoo similar.

After that, Yotsuba and I e-mailed back and forth to settle on a time. We decided to meet outside the nearest mall at eleven am on Sunday, in order to catch the eleven-thirty viewing of the Five Piece movie. My Dad gave his seal of approval for the date (and the utilization of the five-thousand yen on Sunday) and I decided, exhausted, to call it a night.

The next evening, Raiha and I went to the festival. We rode the bus together to the park, and I was shocked at the massive crowds that had formed. It was to be expected though, I supposed - it was probably the final fireworks festival of the year, given it was almost October. The thick crowds made me slightly uncomfortable though, since it would be very easy to lose Raiha.

"Hey, Raiha, do you want to ride on my shoulders like you did at the festival in June?" I said, looking down at her. "I'm a bit worried about losing you in this crowd."

"Huh? But Onii-chan, you were standing still for that. Aren't I too heavy for you to walk around with? You're kind of a wimp, after all."

"That... is true. Let's just hold hands then."

"Ok!"

Raiha held my hand, and we walked around the festival admiring the lights and the various stalls. We walked past a stall that involved scooping fish with a paper scooper, and I could viscerally feel the absence of any money in my pocket, save for the coins for the bus home. Raiha looked at it for a moment sadly, and then we continued on.

As we were passing a stall selling yakitori, I felt a buzz in my pocket. Using my free hand, I pulled out my phone to see that I'd received an email from my dad.

{Look in your wallet.}

I stared down at my phone.

"Are you friggin' kidding me?"

Annoyed, I put the phone away, and then pulled out my wallet. We had used the coins for bussing here, so I hadn't even considered opening the pocket for bills. I opened the damn thing - and lo' and behold, there was a thousand-yen bill in there that I had no memory of having obtained. Scowling, I emailed a response.

{Why.}

{My kids are going to a festival in the evening. It's my duty as a father to make sure you can at least enjoy some of the festival food.}

{Why did you sneak it into my wallet, though?}

{Would you have taken it without arguing if I just gave it to you?}

{Touché, Dad. Touché.}

I put my phone away and sighed.

"What's wrong, Onii-chan?"

"I keep telling Dad not to waste money, and then he just throws it around the second he has any."

"I know, right? I'm the one who does the household finances, remember? It's pretty annoying!"

We looked at each other, and then both laughed.

"Well, he gave us a thousand yen, so... do you want to go and try to catch some fish?"

Raiha's eyes lit up. "Really?! Yes!"

I took her hand again, and we turned around to return the fish.

As we were walking there, I was looking at the stalls we were passing, and the whole world seemed to slow down for a moment. The gap in between two tents, where I could see the next path over... as we passed it, I saw Yotsuba's face going the other way, her hair rippling around her face as she laughed. Then, she was gone.

Oh, right. She was coming with her sisters.

We got to the fish-catching stall, and Raiha made a valiant effort to gently scoop the fish out - alas, her efforts were in vain, and after spending five hundred of the thousand yen, she gave up. I was secretly grateful for her failure, as taking care of a fish would have required us to buy a fish tank, which would be expensive. I knew all about the poor health consequences of putting fish into too-small tanks. I wouldn't subject a festival fish to such a fate.

"Ughhhhh, I'm so frustrated!" Raiha complained as we walked. "Let's get some okonomiyaki to make us feel better!"

"Sounds good," I smiled. "I could use a snack to distract me from the pure pain and misery of witnessing the dastardliness of the fish."

Raiha looked up at me, her eyes narrowed.

"Are you making fun of me, Onii-chan?"

"Yep. But I love you anyways, despite your fishy failures. Let's get some snacks."

Raiha puffed out her cheeks. "I love you too, Onii-chan, but you're a jerk!"

I laughed, and then we walked to the okonomiyaki stand. As we ate our savoury pancakes - only two-hundred and fifty yen each! - I checked my phone for the time.

"It's almost time for the fireworks to start. Shall we go look for a good spot?"

"Oi fnk dsa gddea."

"Swallow your food first, Raiha."

Raiha swallowed, and then said, "I think that's a good idea. I wanna get a great view!"

We walked together to the designated spot for viewing the fireworks, which had already swollen with people. I gripped my little sister's hand tightly, and we managed to manoeuvre our way to the edge of the plaza, where there were benches. I climbed onto the bench so I could see over the crowds of people - but it wasn't quite enough for Raiha to be able to see.

She's pretty small for her age, huh?

I knelt down on the bench, and helped her onto my shoulders, just as we'd done at the festival earlier in the summer. Then, I stood up, Raiha towering over the congregated crowds.

"Wow, Onii-chan! I can see the whole crowd! Haha, that guy over there has a toupee!"

"Raiha, that's rude to point out, some people have autoimmune disord-"

I was interrupted by a loud blast, and I looked up at the sky to see a blossom of fire in the air as the first firework exploded in a red burst. It was followed up by a blue circle that for a moment resembled a character from a famous video game. The explosions carried on, each firework more impressive than the last. Raiha was laughing and screaming in delight, but after the seventh or eighth firework, I found myself scanning the crowd around me, almost unconsciously. My eyes wandered to the empty spot on the bench next to me.

"Onii-chan, did you see that last one? It looked like a poop emoji! Haha!"

I snapped back to attention, and then frowned. "What's an emoji?"

"I'll tell you later. Wow, that one was a rabbit! Cuuuuute!"

I forced my attention back up to the fireworks. They really were impressive this year - a city's final goodbye to summer, the promise of a dutiful preparation for the oncoming autumn and winter. Whoever had planned the thing had really gone all out. Yet, somehow... my heart wasn't in it. Before long, the fireworks came to an end, and the crowd began to disperse.

"I'm just going to wait until the crowd clears up a bit more, and then I'll let you down, alright Raiha? Doing it when it's still crowded would be a bit unsafe."

"Sure thing. Ahhhh, that was awesome!"

As Raiha chattered behind my head, my eyes were drawn to the crowd again, looking over every person there...

Searching.

Stop that, you idiot.

As a gap opened up in front of the bench, I took the opportunity to carefully step down. I then knelt to the ground, and Raiha slid off my shoulders.

"Good job holding out for so long, Onii-chan!"

I shrugged. "I can do this much for you, at least."

The crowd continued to disperse, and so with Raiha in tow, we slowly diffused our way out of the plaza and back towards our bus stop. We eventually caught the bus to our home, and as we rode the gently rocking public transit vehicle, Raiha slowly fell asleep on my shoulder. I smiled gently down at her, and let her rest.

I almost felt guilty when we got to our stop and I had to wake her up. Blearily, she followed me from the bus stop to the apartment. I let us in, and found the apartment empty, with a note from my dad saying he would be back at around one in the morning again - he had taken a few extra shifts before his promotion to manager kicked into effect.

The table had already been put away, and our futons were out, so Raiha and I brushed our teeth, and then she collapsed into her futon. Within a matter of seconds, she was asleep. I, however, lay under my covers staring at the ceiling for almost an hour before finally falling into a fitful sleep.

Something about that festival... felt deeply unsatisfying.

The next day, I slept in slightly later than I intended to, but still awoke with plenty of time to spare before we needed to leave to meet Yotsuba. Raiha was still snoring, so I decided to make breakfast instead of her. After all, while Raiha did most of the cooking in the house, that was mostly because she wanted to - not because I was incapable. I could make a perfectly serviceable meal, at least to my palette, if I needed to.

Nothing on par with Nino though.

Maybe the sizzling of the frying pan was louder than I had thought, because as I was halfway through making food, Raiha woke up with a giant yawn and a stretch.

"Good morning, Onii-chan. What'cha cookin'?"

"Omelette. Nothing fancy. I was up before you, so I decided to make breakfast."

"Ooh, exciting. I'm looking forward to it!"

"Would you mind waking up Dad? I'll be done in a few minutes."

"Sure!"

As I flipped my omelette, Raiha roused my dad, who stared up at me in shock.

"Eh? Fuutarou, you're cooking breakfast?"

"Why are you acting surprised?"

"It's just... it is surprising, that's all! I don't remember the last time you cooked."

"It's been... a long time," I said.

A few minutes later, the futons were put away and the table was out, and I was serving three beautiful omelettes. Raiha and my dad tore into their with abandon, but I ate mine more slowly. It had turned out as well as I'd hoped it would - the soft, fluffy egg giving way to the melted cheese inside.

Yup. Still got it.

After we finished eating, Raiha and I both got ready, and my dad very dramatically handed me five thousand-yen bills. I rolled my eyes, and shoved them in my wallet. Then, Raiha and I left for the mall. As we rode the bus there, I emailed Yotsuba that we were on our way. When we finally got off, I led Raiha to a small clock tower located in the centre of a fountain. We sat on the concrete ring that served as the lip of the fountain, and I glanced up at the intricate analogue clock above our heads.

10:55. We're a little bit early. Oh well.

Raiha kicked her legs back and forth against the concrete, and as I looked down at her, I could tell she was nervous. I pulled out my flashcards, and started drilling on English vocabulary to pass the time until Yotsuba arrived.

"Hey! Onii-chan, no studying!"

"Why not? There's not much else to do while we wait, is there?"

"I... I guess not..."

Raiha seemed dejected. I felt a little bad, so I stowed the cards.

At 11:03, I saw a green bow in the distance. It rapidly increased in size, approaching at a high speed through the crowd. When it got close enough, I could finally see the redhead underneath who was power-walking towards us in a mild panic.

"U...Uesugi-san!" Yotsuba panted as she pulled to a halt in front of us. "I'm sorry I'm late!"

I stood up, and stretched. "Don't worry, we just got here."

"Eh? Uesugi-san, isn't that the classic date line that means you've been here for an hour already? Did I keep you waiting that long?!"

I smirked. "No, we literally only got here eight minutes ago."

"So precise! Were you keeping track to see how late I'd be?!"

"Absolutely not. I would never do such a thing."

Yotsuba stared up at me with narrowed eyes, suspicion written across her face. I suddenly felt a hand on the back of my shirt, and I glanced down over my shoulder to see that Raiha was hiding behind me.

I guess she was scared after all.

"Oh, by the way, Yotsuba. This is my little sister, Raiha. Raiha, come out and say hello!"

Raiha nervously stepped out from behind me.

"H...Hi... Nakano-san..."

Yotsuba's face lit up like she had just won the lottery.

"Just Yotsuba is fine! It's nice to meet you, Raiha-chan! You're just as cute as Uesugi-san said you were!"

"...Onii-chan said I was cute?"

"Yep! He showed us a picture of you too, from a fireworks festival!"

She looked up at me. "I guess Onii-chan has a nice side to him too sometimes."

"...What do you mean by sometimes, Raiha?" I said, staring coldly down at her.

"...You can be a bit of a jerk sometimes too, Onii-chan."

"Right?" Yotsuba laughed. "He told my sister she was going to get fat when he first met her!"

"He really said that?" Raiha said, looking away from me towards Yotsuba.

"Yeah! It took drastic measures for her to forgive him, I gotta say!"

"Is that the thing with the balcony?"

Yotsuba grinned cheekily.

"Aha! You know the deep lore, my petite friend!"

Raiha seemed to relax at Yotsuba's cheery demeanour, but I had a scowl across my face. I don't know how I feel about them bonding over making fun of me. I'm glad they're getting along, but...

Yotsuba seemed to notice my displeasure, because she changed the topic. "So, should we go get our tickets?"

"Yeah!" Raiha said, excitedly reminded of the ostensible purpose of our trip today. "I'm really excited for this movie!"

"Are you a big fan of Five Piece, Raiha-chan?" Yotsuba asked as we started walking towards the theatre.

"Yeah! It's probably my second favourite anime after Pretty Sailor Magical Girl."

"Ooh, you also watch Pretty Sailor Magical Girl? I make a point of watching that every Saturday morning! I also really like Five Piece - the romance that's been blooming between Makato and Kusumi over the last arc is really beautiful."

"Right?!" Raiha said. "They're perfect for each other - just the right amount of chemistry and playfulness! I love watching them."

As the two chattered on about anime that I hadn't watched, I felt a distinct sense of being excluded. I could obviously see that the feeling was an immature one though - the whole point of today was just to make my Dad happy, and to let Raiha and Yotsuba have a good time. As we walked through the door of the movie theatre, I mentally reviewed the English words that Raiha had forbidden me from actively reviewing by the fountain. In the absence of real flashcards, mental ones would have to do the trick.

I paid for all three tickets over Yotsuba's protests, letting her know that it wasn't my money, it was my dad's. Something about that seemed to resonate with her, because she stopped protesting - though she insisted on buying popcorn for us all. With snacks firmly in hand, we made our way into the theatre. The room was dark with the pre-movie ads playing. Raiha sat down in between Yotsuba and me, and the two of them excitedly talked about the events leading up to the movie. I tried to follow their conversation... but a lot of it seemed incomprehensible to me.

Are they even speaking Japanese?

My gaze absent-mindedly wandered about the room. The demographics of the people in the room were fascinating. It seemed that the main audience for this anime were teenage girls, women in their mid-to-late forties, and men in their twenties.

I... don't think that actually gives me any new information about the anime though.

Suddenly, the ads ended, and we were plunged into darkness. Then, dramatic music swelled, and we were treated to some beautiful animation of an ocean vista... and then characters who I didn't recognize were on screen. From what I could gather, the anime was a reverse-harem magical girl anime with time travel, and also laser swords. One of the members of the harem was very clearly out in front, though.

Apart from that, the plot was absolutely incomprehensible. By the forty-five minute mark, I could tell that some theme or conflict that had probably been built up in the anime itself was being resolved - mostly by Raiha and Yotsuba's very energetic reactions. When the main couple finally kissed on the battlefield, the whole audience erupted into cheers. I had to admit that the art and animation was very well done, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I simply wasn't getting the same emotional appeal as everyone else.

This... feels like back when I wouldn't study before a test. I don't like it.

As the credits rolled after an hour and a half, I glanced to my right to see that Raiha was in tears, and Yotsuba was comforting her.

"I just can't believe it's over!" she bawled, with Yotsuba rubbing her back, her eyes misty as well.

"What a beautiful resolution to their arc," the redhead sighed. "I'm so moved!"

This was a complete waste of time. I could have been studying instead - we have midterms in two-and-a-half weeks.

The lights came up, and the audience began to filter out. We left, with Yotsuba and Raiha both debriefing about the movie. I trailed behind them, mentally reviewing English words in my head again. As we emerged into the main hall of the movie theatre, Yotsuba turned to face us.

"Do you guys want to go walk around the mall for a bit?"

"Sure!" Raiha exclaimed.

"That sounds fine," I said, devoid of enthusiasm.

Yotsuba caught my eye, and I saw a strange look cross her face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

"Come on then!" she said, leading the way. "Onwards! To adventure!"

"Adventure!" Raiha echoed happily, following her.

"Adventure..." I said half-heartedly, before following after them.

I'm being way too gloomy. This is just going to drag them both down. Come on, Fuutarou, snap out of it. You're acting like a child.

I quickened my pace to catch up to the two of them. We exited the movie theatre, and entered the adjoining mall. The place was rather lavish - the ceiling was a chic modern style, a series of interlocking white arches with intricate patterns. Interspersed amongst the arches were banners with various advertisements on them - one for perfume, another for a clothing brand. The place was strangely cavernous, with the sounds of the congregating crowds echoing around the place.

"Wow, this is cool!" Raiha said. "I've never been to this mall before!"

"Eh, really?" Yotsuba said, confused. "Isn't this the biggest mall in town, though?"

"We... don't really go to shopping malls too often," I said, glancing aside. "That said, the architecture is fascinating."

"I see," said Yotsuba. "Well then, let me show you around!"

We dutifully followed Yotsuba about as she showed us the various shops. Raiha was delighted by them, especially when Yotsuba took her into a clothing shop and they tried all sorts of outfits on together. I dutifully stood there and gave my opinions on the various outfits - and some of them were quite cute, while others were quite stylish. Overall, though, I spent the majority of the time on my own while the two of them changed or were picking out clothes. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't really see an obvious way to participate, short of picking out clothes for myself - and the shop wasn't a unisex store.

Not my cup of tea, personally, I thought to myself as I eyed a long flowing black dress.

At about two, the desire to eat outweighed the desire to wear cute clothes. Yotsuba bought an outfit for herself, and one for Raiha, which she excitedly accepted. With the clothes folded into two very fancy looking bags, we finally made our way over to the food court for some lunch. The place was sprawling, with myriad tables and restaurants. I eyed my wallet - there was still enough in there for me to get lunch for the three of us.

"Does anywhere in particular look good to you, Uesugi-san?" Yotsuba asked.

"Hmm... Ah, there's the place that does sandwiches. Maybe there? Does that sound good to you, Raiha?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright, let's do that then, if that's good with you, Yotsuba."

"Yep!" she said. "Let's go!"

We made our way over to the line, and ordered our sandwiches, which were custom made on the spot. As we waited to pay, Raiha seemed to be getting antsy.

"I'm gonna go find us a table!" she said, and ran off.

"Wait, Raiha! It's crowded in here, come baaaaand she's gone."

Yotsuba laughed. "She's got a lot of spunk, huh?"

"Yeah," I muttered darkly. "She does."

For the first time that day, Yotsuba and I were alone. There was a silence between us that was almost... awkward. Then,

"I'm sorry, Uesugi-san."

I glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Why are you apologizing?"

Her ribbon was drooping as she looked up at me.

"I can tell that you're really not having a good time. I feel bad about it - I wanted you to have fun too!"

I briefly debated denying it, but I didn't particularly see a point. It's better to just be honest with an idiot like her.

"It's true that I'm not, but that's fine. I wanted Raiha to have a good time, and it seems like she's having a blast. That's what's important to me."

"But-"

"Next!"

I turned to face the cashier. "Hi, yeah. Those are ours."

"Do you want a cookie or a drink with those?"

I turned back to Yotsuba. "Do you want a cookie or a drink?"

"...No."

I turned back to the guy. "Nope, we're fine, thanks."

"Alright, that'll be 2800 yen."

Geez, that's pricey! I thought fast food was supposed to be cheap?

"Uesugi-san, I can pay for my own..."

I waved her concerns away, frowning. "Absolutely not. You bought Raiha that outfit, the least I can do is cover your lunch. Don't worry about it."

I handed the cashier the cash, which was the majority of the remainder of the money my Dad had given me. He handed me back my (limited) change, and then we took the sandwiches and began the hunt for Raiha. Luckily, she wasn't too far away - it also helped that she was waving frantically at us.

The sandwich was pretty good, all things considered. Yotsuba was quiet at first when we got back to the table, but Raiha's enthusiasm bled over to her, and eventually they were back to their incomprehensible conversation. I just ate my food, and mentally finished my reviews.

Artisanal... artisanal... ugh, what was the Japanese word for that again?

Eventually, Yotsuba and Raiha finished their meals as well, and Raiha demanded that we continue exploring the mall. Yotsuba gave me a worried look, but I just nodded.

I'm not going to ruin her day.

As we were putting our trays away, a thought crossed my mind.

"Oh, by the way, I thought I saw you at the fireworks festival. How did it go?" I asked.

Yotsuba made a face. "Terrible!"

"Huh? Why? I thought the fireworks were pretty good this year." Not that I was really paying too much attention to them.

"Not because of that," Yotsuba said. "Ichika ditched us for work and missed the fireworks at the last minute, and because of that Nino was angry the whole time. She still won't tell us what she's doing that was so important. Nino even rented out the roof of a hotel for us to watch them from!"

Ah. That explains it.

"That's too bad," I said sympathetically as we started to walk back to Raiha. "There's always next year though, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so..." she sighed.

"Yotsuba!" Raiha cried. "Let's go check out that store over there!"

"Oh! U-Uh, sure!"

Yotsuba got dragged away by Raiha. I sighed, and then followed.

Through the rest of the afternoon, Yotsuba and Raiha tried on some more clothes, and I continued to zone out. Yotsuba seemed deeply troubled, giving me furtive glances. I noticed she was asking for my opinion more, and trying to get me more involved, which I appreciated - but there was simply a hard upper limit on the amount I could participate, given the situation. I wasn't about to drag them to the stores that interested me - if I took us to a bookstore, for example, Raiha would inevitably be bored, even if she put on a brave face, and I didn't want that. I also didn't want to ditch them to wander off on my own.

Before I knew it, it was 5:00, and Yotsuba's phone went off. She picked up, had a short conversation, and then sighed.

"That was Nino. She wants me to come home now, so that I'm there by the time dinner is ready. I've got to head out soon."

"Awww, ok," Raiha pouted. "I had a lot of fun today, Yotsuba-nee!"

"Ahhh, did you heard that, Uesugi-san!? I'm Yotsuba-nee! I've always wanted to be called that!"

"Didn't Itsuki ever call you that?" I asked.

"...You're joking, right?"

"Does this look like the face of a man who makes jokes?" I said, purposely deadpanning as much as I could.

"No," giggled Raiha. "Onii-chan is jokeless."

"Hey, I've heard Uesugi-san make some pretty good jokes!" Yotsuba said, defending me.

"Those were accidents," Raiha said. "Coincidences, in fact."

"Rude," I growled, bonking her lightly on the head.

"Hey! Don't bonk my head, Onii-chan!"

"We should probably go too then. Thanks for coming, Yotsuba."

"...Yeah," Yotsuba said, looking at me with that upset look in her eyes again.

I said don't worry about it. Raiha had a good time, that's what I care about.

Raiha and I started to make our way to our bus stop, when...

"Hang on a second!"

I turned back around to see Yotsuba with her hand stretched out, her bow wilted.

"...What is it?"

"Would you be willing to wait... just five minutes?"

I looked down at Raiha, who nodded.

"Yeah, that should be fine. We're not in a rush. What's up?"

"Just... wait right there. I'll be right back."

Yotsuba dashed off, and Raiha and I looked at each other in confusion. We waited by the doorway, the crowds flowing past us. Yotsuba was nowhere to be seen. Finally, five minutes later, the redhead came dashing back to us.

"Welcome back," I said with a raised eyebrow. "What was that about?"

"I have something for you, Uesugi-san."

Yotsuba handed me a small paper bowl with a plastic spoon. Inside of it were two scoops of chocolate ice cream, the sort with chocolate shavings in them. I looked down at the gift in confusion, and then looked back up at her.

"Since you didn't end up having a secret billionaire uncle leave you his fortune, I guess the ice cream duty remains on my shoulders! Shi shi shi."

Then, she pulled closer to me, and whispered in my ear, "I'm really sorry about today. I didn't mean to make you feel left out. That was my bad."

"I told you, Raiha was happy, so-"

"Your goal might have been to make Raiha happy, but my goal was to make sure you had fun, and I completely failed at that. So this is my apology."

I was suddenly hit bit a wave of emotion. I looked down at my feet and took a second to regain my composure.

"I... Thank you. I... really appreciate it."

Yotsuba pulled back, and grinned at me.

"Congrats, Onii-chan!" Raiha smiled, not having heard any of the conversation. "You got chocolate from a girl, and it isn't even Valentine's day!"

I rolled my eyes at her as I began to eat my ice cream.

"We should probably go now, though. I'll see you tomorrow, Yotsuba," I said after having swallowed the ice cream that was in my mouth.

"Bye, Yotsuba-nee! I had a lot of fun!"

"It was great meeting you, Raiha! See you, Uesugi-san!"

Yotsuba waved goodbye as we left the mall, and we caught the bus home. Raiha and I sat at the back, and as the scenery rolled by outside, I slowly ate my ice cream and zoned out. The crisp autumn colours outside reflected the fact that it was finally October, and the chocolate flavour felt strangely... nostalgic.

Maybe today wasn't a complete write-off after all.

"Hey, Onii-chan, can I have some of your ice cream?"

"No."

-nee is a casual ending meaning "big sister". Raiha calls Itsuki a variant of this in the manga.