“──I heard the city library is donating books that they no longer need.”
My brother said, all of a sudden.
It was a few days after I started thinking that it might be time for me to make my move. We were relaxing after having dinner.
“It seems they’re letting people take some old picture books.”
“Hmm…”
“I’m actually really looking forward to it. I’m sure some of the books there will be very nostalgic.”
“Is that so…”
The two of us were making idle small talk.
Old picture books… to be honest, I wasn’t that interested.
Although I used to read them when I was younger, I was now a middle school student. Nowadays, I was more into video games. Even now, I was lying on the couch playing third-person shooters.
Also, I was pretty sure I’d never been to the city library before. And I likely wouldn’t be going there in the future as well. After all, I no longer really read books anymore.
That’s why, I wasn’t planning on engaging on the topic with him. My brother also probably didn’t plan on talking that much about it.
However,
“This weekend, Misuno will be going to pick up some books, so I’m looking forward to the library committee meeting next week.”
“… Huh, wait a second.”
At the words my brother followed up with, I couldn’t believe my ears.
I put the console down on the table and asked again just to make sure.
“She’ll be going… to pick up a few books?”
“Yeah, that’s right…”
“And she’ll be going alone!?”
“Yeah…”
I couldn’t believe it. For a lot of reasons I couldn’t believe it…!
“Somehow… it ended up like that.”
My brother made a face as if he were asking “Did I say something wrong…?”.
“She’ll be going to the book giveaway on Sunday. But it’s not really something to be so shocked about…”
Without thinking, I heaved a deep sigh.
… That’s right. That’s the kind of person my brother was. That’s why his relationship with Misuno-chan hadn’t gone anywhere…
There was no helping it, I was just going to have to spell it out for him!
“What are you talking about!? It’s a chance for a date you know!?”
I got up from the sofa and yelled at my brother.
“Tell her you’ll join her to help her carry the books!”
That’s right, this was a great opportunity to hang out together outside of work!
What’s more, the picture books would probably be quite heavy to carry.
It’d be pretty cruel to make a girl carry them all alone, so it’d be a great opportunity to give off a good impression by showing how considerate he was.
There really wasn’t any other option than for him to go as well!
──As his sister, I thought it’d be great if he got together with his junior, Misuno Saki.
Of course, half of that was probably because I thought it’d be interesting. Actually, rather than half, it might be closer to 90%, but from what I heard the two of them were fairly compatible.
My sloppy but tolerant brother, and the delicate but difficult Misuno-chan.
As far as I could tell, my brother seemed quite close with her, and from what he said she seemed to be quite the beauty.
And, conversely, Misuno-chan…. seemed to love my brother.
My not particularly handsome, dull and inattentive, kind and caring older brother…
… was receiving interest from his cute junior who got along with him.
Opportunities like this wouldn’t happen often in my brother’s life.
Of course, I couldn’t promise that things would work out, but at the very least I thought he should think optimistically about it. As his sister, I was also willing to encourage him and help him out!
And yet,
“A date…”
My brother had a puzzled expression on his face.
Geez! What are you hesitating for! There are no downsides to this!
I was flabbergasted, but even so, my brother seemed to accept it,
“Well, I guess that’s fine, it certainly would be heavy to carry all of those books.”
“I mean, I think Misuno-chan is also hoping for you to come along.”
“Is that so?”
I think you’d normally expect something like that though…
With how things were going, I thought maybe the two of them would be able to go out on a date together.
… No, there was no guarantee of that happening.
From what my brother told me, Misuno-chan seemed to be quite aloof after all… which was why she started streaming. So I didn’t think she had the common-sense of a normal girl.
“In the previous stream, did she say anything about it?”
“Ahh. She just responded to questions from viewers as usual. Her views on marriage, for example.”
“Her views on marriage! That’s quite interesting in and of itself…”
I wonder what her thoughts were about marriage…! Maybe she had my brother in mind as she talked about that…
“Anyways, let Misuno-chan know that you’d like to join her! You’re free on Sunday anyways, right!?”
“Ok, I got it…”
He said, scratching his head.
My brother obediently picked up his smartphone and started drafting a message.
“It might end up being a little awkward though…”
My brother, who quickly slid his finger across the screen, seemed to have finishing sending the LINE message.
Yeah, that’s fine. I’m sure that right now, Misuno-chan is feeling thrilled by the message that she just received!
… Now then, it was time to ask about something I was curious about.
“… So, about the marriage stuff you were talking about earlier. What did Misuno-chan say about it? How did she feel about marriage?”
That’s right, this was pretty important for the sake of understanding Misuno-chan.
Now that I think about it, I’ve never actually met her before.
For future reference, I wanted to know what kind of a girl she was, and how best to approach her.
“Ah, what did she say again…”
My brother looked up with a thoughtful face,
“I’m not good at socializing with other people, so I’d like to date someone that makes me think ‘He’s the one!’ If possible, I would like to get married to him. Of course, this is just my ideal scenario…”
“Wow, Misuno-chan is surprisingly conservative when it comes to love.”
“Right? Well, there are people like that though.”
“Yeah…”
That may be true, but I thought if she were aloof enough to the point of wanting to try streaming, then she’d feel a bit more free in this regard. It was like she got her values from reading shoujo manga.
However… I see, since she loved books to the point of becoming a library committee member, maybe she also had that kind of side to her.
You might call it old-fashioned or dreamy…
“… But that might actually be a bit dangerous. Thinking like that as a high schooler.”
“Dangerous? How so?”
“After all, dating isn’t just about getting closer to another person. It’s not just about flirting and going on dates, you’ll also see sides of your partner you don’t like. Relationships are usually very difficult to deal with.”
Right, there are a lot of people who don’t understand that!
If you spend too much time fantasizing about it, you’ll think it’s all fun and games. But in reality, it’s not like that.
The closer you get and the more you require from your partner, the harder the relationship becomes, much more so than before.
There will be times you need to compromise or give up, and things will rarely work out the way you want them to.
“But right now… Misuno-chan doesn’t have that kind of flexibility.”
Folding my arms, I let out a deep breath.
“As her future sister-in-law, I’m a little worried about that.”
“Future sister in law… Speaking of which, why are you so knowledgeable about this, Nico? It’s like you’ve been married before or something…”
My brother said, as if he were amazed.
What are you talking about! I’m your little sister, a fourteen year-old middle school student! It’s just that I’m a little more popular than normal, and I spend time thinking about a lot of things!
*
A little while later, Misuno-chan’s reply arrived. She agreed to let my brother help her collect the donated books.
Congrats Onii! You’ve gotten your first date!
To celebrate the occasion, I let him do a ten-pull1 on one of the mobile gacha games I’d recently gotten addicted to. I just happened to have accumulated enough stones for it. By the way, he didn’t pull any of the new SSRs2, just one of the SRs. As expected of my brother.
But such joy was short-lived. I then began to plan and prepare for the day of the date.
First of all, we needed to investigate the surroundings of the library to see if there were any suitable spots for a date.
It would be a waste to simply go there and come back, and it’d be great if they could eat lunch and talk with each other.
I inspected the map and saw there was a tasty hamburger shop nearby, so I sent my brother a message on LINE about it. By the way, I had been to that shop before. The avocado burger sure was delicious…
Next, I lectured my brother on how to behave on the date.
First, he needed to show up at the meeting spot ten minutes ahead of time. Doing so would help him calm down at the site of the meetup and fix his appearance before meeting with Misuno-chan.
This was a rather important detail. It’d be pretty lame if he showed up last minute all flustered after all!
In addition, he should make sure to get some proper rest and to not stay up late the day before. On the day of the date itself, he should make sure to wake up early and eat breakfast. If he didn’t get enough sleep or looked unhealthy, he wouldn’t be a pleasant sight to look at.
Finally, he should trim his nails and make sure to wear stylish clothes, preferably new ones. Although people do say that you shouldn’t judge others based on their appearance, even so, just putting in the effort to look as good as possible can touch someone’s heart. Personally, I think that a person’s appearance is a reflection of their inner character!
… With that said, there weren’t many days left until the event, so this was about all that we could do. I actually wanted to do some more diligent preparations, but since the date was on the spur of the moment, it couldn’t be helped.
All that was left was to hope that my brother could successfully ad-lib on the spot!
… Was what I thought, but when the morning of that day finally arrived──
“Ok. It’s still a little early, but it’s about time to get going.”
It was an hour before they had agreed to meetup.
My brother, who was fiddling with his smartphone on the sofa in the living room, slowly got up.
Oh, is it that time already──was what I thought, when I looked at him,
“… Uh, wait a second Onii.”
I was astonished by my brother’s appearance.
“What’s up?”
“Don’t tell me… you plan on going out with your hair like that?”
I responded back to my puzzled brother.
“You plan on going out without doing anything to fix that untidy hair and unkempt look…?”
“… That’s right, but…”
For example, picture a sixty year-old tree, with its branches and leaves that had grown over a long period of time freely reaching up towards the sky. The hair resting on my brother’s head looked exactly like that.
… Well, his hair was always like that though. Even when he went to school he also looked like that…
However… as expected, at least for today I had to do something to fix it….
At the very least I had to make him look presentable before he left…
“… Okay, we’re going to the sink!”
With determination, I got up from my chair.
“Just give me five minutes!”
“Uh, why would I do that? What are you planning on doing!?”
“There’s nothing we can do about the haircut itself! But at the very least, let’s try to fix your hair using your father’s hair wax!”
I grabbed my brother’s arm and pulled him towards the washroom.
After another brief glance to evaluate my brother’s condition, I started planning out a strategy.
“Let’s see… If we reduced the volume of the hair and parted the bangs, it would look better… Ah, and the eyebrows look bad too! At the very least, I have to make it look like you’ve done the bare minimum of grooming…”
“The eyebrows too!? Do you really have to go that far…”
“Of course! If I don’t go that far now, then when am I ever going to!”
While arguing with each other, we arrived at the bathroom.
I utilized all the hair dryers, combs, and wax I could find on the spot and started fixing my brother’s hair.
And then, as planned, after the five minutes were over.
“… Okay, I’ll be going now.”
“Yeah, take care.”
I had come to see my brother, who was neatly dressed and had tidied hair, off at the door.
… Well, I couldn’t say he was super handsome, but I think he now looked reasonably attractive. If he looked like this… Misuno-chan might be happy that my brother dressed up for her.
… Somehow, it felt like in order to expose each other, the two of them started getting along together. It seemed like the relationship had become a bit complicated, but I hoped that with this, they’d be able to take one step forward.
“… Good luck and have fun, Onii!”
While saying that and waving my hand,
“Sure! Thanks for everything!”
After saying that, my brother started walking towards the library with light steps.
*
(Hasegawa Souichi)
──At the meeting place in front of the clock tower.
When Misuno arrived, it was five minutes before the appointed time.
“… Hello, thanks for the help.”
“Yeah, likewise.”
“You’re quite early, did you wait long?”
“Nah, just a few minutes. Don’t worry about it.”
While exchanging the usual lines, I glanced at Misuno.
She had a cool expression and glossy black hair as usual. Her small, slender body and straight back were just like normal. However, she wasn’t wearing her usual uniform; she was wearing casual clothes I had seen for the first time. She had on a long skirt, cut and sewn, and a jacket that gave off a sporty feel. On her feet, she was wearing white sneakers from a famous brand.
To be honest, I wasn’t that knowledgeable about fashion. I barely knew anything about brand or clothing names. Still, it was easy to tell from a glance that Misuno was dressed quite fashionably. How do I put this… her outfit was really well balanced. She wore clothes that would look tacky on me, but she pulled it off with ease.
Although I thought the way she wore her uniform was quite classy, today she dressed with a style that would captivate you with a single glance.
… Perhaps… she also got a little fired up about this. Just like Nico took care of my clothes and hair, maybe she also put a little more effort into dressing up than usual…
“… W-what is it.”
Maybe she realized that I was looking at her, but Misuno started fidgeting nervously.
“S-staring at me like that…”
“Ah, s-sorry! Um…”
Then, without thinking, I said,
“… I just thought your clothes really suited you…”
Misuno’s eyes widened in surprise.
After looking around aimlessly and opening and closing her mouth several times,
“… Thank you very much.”
She replied, in a muffled voice.
Then, after glancing at me in return,
“… Senpai as well, I think you look better than usual.”
She added in a small voice.
Perhaps it was because of the conversation just now? Or maybe it was because we both felt that the other person was nervous? But compared to the previous day, the probing from Misuno had calmed down considerably.
Even though she was so eager to find out whether I had listened to her live stream or not. Even though she had been trying this and that to make me fret, today she was somewhat quiet.
While making only polite conversation, we entered the library and received a cardboard box containing books inside.
… Wow, it was heavier than I thought.
Although it wasn’t too difficult for me to carry my half, it must have been difficult for Misuno.
This weight… even without the intention of turning this into a date, coming along was the right decision.
Seriously, thank god for Nico’s suggestion…
While I was thinking such thoughts, the two of us exited the library,
“Okay, retrieval complete. All that’s left is to bring them back to school…”
“Yes. Thank goodness the weather is nice and warm outside. If it had been raining instead, it would have been disastrous.”
“Right. Not like we can let the books get wet…”
Feeling as if we’d completed our job, the two of us said such things to each other.
Looking up, the weather was as clear as Misuno said. The clouds were floating lazily high up in the sky, and the breeze was also pleasant.
It was a perfect day for collecting donated books…
“By the way, um.”
Then, Misuno raised her voice as if she had made up her mind.
“It’s almost lunch time… Want to get something to eat?”
──Lunch time.
Yes, it was a topic I also wanted to bring up.
Nico told me that since we were on a date, we should at least eat lunch together, and she recommended me a restaurant.
Crap, I let Misuno bring it up before me…
“Ahh, that’s fine with me.”
While biting back a small regret, I answered back in a calm manner.
“I told my sister we would be in this area today, and she told me about a delicious hamburger store…”
“Huh… a hamburger store.”
“What’s more, there are supposedly avocadoes there as well.”
“It’s decided then. Let’s go there.”
Misuno made her decision in an instant. At her eagerness, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Haha, you really like avocadoes huh.”
I learned that Misuno liked avocadoes while making small talk some time ago. However… I didn’t think she liked them this much. In our conversation just now, she made her decision in no time at all.
I was glad that she was this excited about eating there. Thank god Nico taught me about this place.
“Then let’s go. It’s this way.”
I finally felt a bit more comfortable.
While realizing that the awkwardness that had surrounded us since we met up had dissipated a little, I walked in front of Misuno and led the way to the hamburger shop.
Dialogue cut from the novel3
“──It should be around here.”
“We’ll be eating on the grass, huh. That sounds great.”
While I was ordering at the restaurant, after thinking for a bit, I asked for takeout.
We then went to a large park next to the library. In the center, there was an open, grassy area as large as our schoolyard.
The plaza, which had well-maintained lawns and was open to the public, was a very popular place for nearby residents to come and relax.
In fact, today as well, you could see children playing together and elderly people walking here and there. Like us, there seemed to be quite a few people who came to eat lunch under the blue sky.
“It seems I made the right decision asking for takeout…”
I mumbled to myself with a chuckle.
If we ate lunch in such beautiful weather, I’m sure it’d feel really pleasant. What’s more, the hamburgers we were eating were recommended by Nico, who was a picky eater.
My expectations were rising even higher.
──However, I finally realized.
Next to me, Misuno was about to sit down on the grass.
The skirt she was wearing was a pale pink, almost white──
“… Ah, why don’t you lay out this handkerchief?”
Reflexively, I pulled out a handkerchief from the pocket of my pants.
“You don’t want to get your skirt dirty right?”
While saying this, I was surprised at my own statement.
In many ways, Nico had given me advice on how to behave on a date. For example, walking on the side of the road closer to the cars, holding the door open, and carrying luggage for the other person.
However, she didn’t tell me anything about laying down a handkerchief before sitting down. But for some reason, I just didn’t like the idea of getting the clothes Misuno went to the trouble of putting on dirty.
Naturally, I thought of using the handkerchief to prevent that from happening.
“Is that okay? Thank you very much.”
With a surprised look on her face, Misuno accepted the handkerchief.
“I’ll wash it and return it to you later.”
“Nah, it’s fine.”
It was a pretty cheap and old handkerchief after all.
“Okay… there we go.”
We sat down on the grass next to each other. Then, we each took out the hamburgers we ordered and opened up the wrappers.
… Wow, they looked delicious.
In between the two grilled buns, I could see the hamburger patty, which was oozing with juices, and an overwhelming quantity of avocado, lettuce, and tomato fillings, which made me quite happy.
Although Misuno picked out a smaller one at first, she gazed at it with a happy look on her face.
“Then, let’s eat.”
“Thanks for the food.”
After exchanging these words, we bit into our hamburgers.
… Yup, they were delicious!
As expected of the food that Nico recommended!
The meat was savory and the vegetables were fresh, and the texture of the two sometimes blended in together with the thickness of the avocado.
They were seriously delicious…
Misuno, who was sitting next to me, also seemed to be chewing with a surprised look on her face.
… Then, she seemed to notice I was looking her way.
“… Now that I think about it, this is the first time I’ve ate lunch with you, Senpai.”
She said, after swallowing the food in her mouth.
“I guess that’s true. Now that you mention it, we’ve rarely ever met each other outside of the library.”
Half a year had passed since we first met. In that time, we had held many conversations with each other.
If I were to rank the people I knew by how close we were, she would definitely rank at the top. Even so, at most we were just fellow senior and junior members of the library committee.
I was actually really enjoying having lunch with such a person.
“It’s quite a novel feeling, seeing Misuno in such a bright place.”
“Likewise. If I had to choose, I’d say I’m more of a night owl. It’s a strange feeling… Speaking of which.”
And then, Misuno peeked over at me.
“You said your sister had been meddling with you lately3, but did she say anything about today? Aside from the avocadoes.”
“Ahh, it wasn’t really a big deal, but she helped me out here and there in various ways.”
I talked about Nico as if I were half-complaining, half-boasting about her. I mentioned all the advice she gave me about going out today. I also brought up the lectures she kept giving me on a daily basis.
… Of course, I didn’t say anything about using this as a pretext for a date. Whenever I talked about the help Nico gave me, it was always with the pretext of “my sister helping me hang out with a junior”.
Still, I think I managed to convey what kind of person Nico was, and how meddlesome and charming she was.
“──Just like that, she kept fussing over my hair and stuff like that. That’s why I look like this today.”
“So that’s what happened. I was wondering why senpai had become so fashionable all of a sudden.”
“… Well of course you were.”
Misuno nodded her head up and down as if she were satisfied with the explanation.
… Personally, I didn’t think I had changed that much.
I thought only my family members would be able to notice such a change, but I guess she could tell.
Thank god. Although it was a little embarrassing, at least I appeared more stylish than usual.
Then,
“… Pheeew.”
Suddenly──a yawn escaped the depths of my lungs.
“For some reason, it seems that I’ve gotten a little sleepy after eating.”
Before I knew it, it felt like there was a fog hanging over my mind. My thoughts started to slow down, and my body started to feel heavy…
“It’s warm outside after all. I’m also feeling a little sleepy…”
It seemed Misuno also felt the same way.
“Plus, I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately…”
“Hehe…. Then, let’s relax here a little longer. We still have some time after all…”
“Really?”
That would make me quite happy.
To be honest, for a while now I had been feeling that it would be a waste to leave this place so soon. It would be a pity to leave such a pleasant place after simply eating a meal here.
“In that case, since we came all this way, I might as well go ahead and lie down… There we go.”
While saying this, I laid down on the grass.
I could feel the pull of gravity against my body, and the feeling of grass against my back was tingly but pleasant.
Also, the smell of the dirt and grass tickled my nose…
“… Good idea. I’ll do the same thing too.”
Perhaps she envied me, but Misuno also laid down on her back next to me, as if she were unable to resist the temptation.
“… Whoa, the wind feels great.”
“You’re right. I feel like I could soar through the sky right now…”
“Right? It’s a liberating feeling…”
An endless expanse of blue sky spread out before my eyes.
I read somewhere that when you lie down in a public square, it feels as if you’re carrying the earth on your back. I felt as if I really understood that feeling right now. The feeling of being freed from gravity, of being free to fly through the sky.
I was glad I could enjoy this feeling with Misuno by my side.
“Ah──Crap, I’m actually falling asleep…”
Before I realized it, my eyelids had gotten a lot heavier.
My thoughts had also gotten much fuzzier… so sleepy…
“It’s fine as long as it’s just a short nap…”
“But we need to be at the library in an hour and a half. I don’t think we should take things too slowly…”
Our teacher was probably waiting for us with the door unlocked.
Even though it felt so comfortable, even though I felt so happy… as expected, it’d be wrong of us to neglect our responsibilities…
“… Ahh, I wish this moment would last forever.”
“R-right…”
For some reason, I could hear Misuno’s voice trembling in response to my inner thoughts, which leaked out unintentionally.
I wonder why…? Maybe it was because I said something strange…
I just wanted to express how happy I was right now…
… And then, I suddenly remembered,
“Speaking of which, my sister told me…”
I called out to Misuno in such a manner.
“About what it takes to be a good spouse, or something like that…”
“Huh!? A good spouse?”
“Yeah…”
I talked about it with Misuno in detail.
After discussing Misuno’s views on marriage, Nico and I had a conversation on what kind of person would be suitable as a lover.
According to Nico, the only time simple adoration of the other person is sufficient is in cases of unrequited love. When a person closes the distance with someone else, it becomes more and more important to respect the other person as a human being.
In the end, the most important thing is how much effort both parties put in, and how compatible they are… If a relationship was lacking in either of these two areas, the result would be disastrous.
“That’s why… If you want a relationship with another person, you can’t just fancy them, you also have to gel with them as a human being…”
“I-I see…”
… Well, I had no idea why Nico was so knowledgeable about this, really. Maybe she had a boyfriend or something she had kept hidden from me.
“However, right now… lying down with you, Misuno…”
With my head feeling light from drowsiness, I continued talking…
“Pheeew…. I think it’s quite fun…”
“What do you mean…?”
“I think having a partner that I could doze off together with like this… would be nice…”
“… Are you being serious…”
“… Yeah.”
… Ahh, crap. I’m seriously sleepy…
I’m starting to lose track of what I’m saying…
“You’re just talking in your sleep right? You’re just saying things randomly right?”
“I am sleep talking but… I’m not saying things randomly…”
That’s right. I was definitely spacing out, but nothing I said was a lie.
The words I was saying right now were how I truly felt deep down inside…
And then I──while finally closing my eyes, while feeling my consciousness slip away──continued saying this at the end.
“There’s a lot to consider but… I think the two of us… have good compatibility…”
“Waait…. Waaaait…”
──The last thing I heard was Misuno’s voice, which sounded completely shaken.
The sound of her confused and trembling voice was left in my ears──.
*
“──I’m back…”
“Welcome back, onii!”
When I came back home and took off my shoes, Nico’s voice echoed through the door of the living room.
It was the same routine we had repeated more than a thousand times.
… Normally, I would exchange a few words with her here. Especially today, I knew I should probably report what happened on the date but… I wasn’t in the mood for that right now.
I quickly walked up the stairs and ran into my room──
──Plop!
I dived into my bed.
Then──
“Aghhhhhhhh! Aghhhhhh! Aghhhh!”
I buried my face into the futon and screamed.
With that same energy, I rolled around on top of the futon.
But… it wasn’t any good! It wasn’t distracting me from my feelings at all!
I raised my head──and picked up the guitar on the stand.
Now that it’s come to this, time to use my last resort!
With my other hand, I started up the computer, launched the DAW4, and opened the amp simulator.
──I’ll play whatever my heart desires!
Fast playing, choking5! Tapped harmonics6!
Jimi Hendrix! Yngwie! Jack White! Please lend me your strength!
In this situation, I should just go full metal and make as much noise as I possibly can──
“Hey, what happened, onii!”
──Nico barged into my room with an angry expression.
She frowned, covering both of her ears with her hands,
“You’re too noisy!”
Even so, I couldn’t stop playing!
While furiously strumming my guitar,
“I messed up! I totally messed up!!”
“What on earth happened!?”
“I said some really embarrassing things to Misuno… I was sleepy and spacing out… I said some incredible things… Agghhhhh!”
I went all out with my right hand playing the guitar. The intense, turbulent high notes managed to ease my feelings of shame just a bit.
I just wanted to keep going like this and forget about reality forever…
I wanted to be buried in a world filled only with sound, and not think about anything else…
However,
“Calm down, onii!”
Hearing Nico’s cry, I managed to regain the slightest bit of composure.
“By embarrassing things, what specifically did you say?”
… That’s right. I needed to explain the situation to Nico.
Since she was so supportive of me on today’s date… I should at least let her know how it went…
“Um… While we were laying down on the grass…”
While aware that my face was turning a bright red, in a muffled voice, I told Nico.
“I said something like we had good compatibility and suited each other…
──At this explanation.
After hearing my embarrassing report, after a moment’s pause, Nico exclaimed,
“──Ohhh! Great job!”
She exploded with excitement!
“That’s practically a confession! Nice work, Onii!”
With a big smile and a hoarse voice, Nico responded with an overjoyed voice.
The expression on her face made me remember my shame once again,
“Ughhh! I want to forget everything! I want to take it all back!”
“Nonono, it’s fine! You made a fine move! I’m sure she’s also happy about it!”
“Even if she is! I didn’t mean it in that way!”
“Geez… you sure surprised me! I didn’t think you’d advance things this quickly…”
Nico, who was sitting on the bed, responded as if she had finally calmed down.
Then, with a sly, devious smile on her face,
“Now I can’t wait to hear what she says in the next stream…”
… That’s right. Her stream.
I was worried about how she actually felt in real life, but I was also worried about what she’d say on the stream…
Upon remembering that, I broke out into a cold sweat──
“… I’m so worried about it! Ughhh~…”
I groaned pitifully as I plopped down on the bed.
*
(Misuno Saki)
“──Aaaaah… How is it? Is the volume ok? … Seems like it.”
As usual, I started up the stream. It was a Wednesday night the week after I went out with Senpai, around midnight.
“Now then, love is difficult to understand, isn’t it. Saki here. I will be continuing the radio stream ‘Love Crosses the Night Sky’ this week as well.”
On my computer screen, I could see comments from the viewers slowly start to trickle in on my streaming application. There were currently around one hundred and forty viewers.
Yup, same as usual. It was a scene that I had seen many times before.
──But today, I felt a little different. I felt a little bit as if I had turned over a new leaf.
I felt like I wanted to go one step further than I had ever gone before.
In order to talk about this new feeling, I started off by giving the viewers a brief explanation of what happened.
“Um, today, I have something to tell everyone. Over the weekend, I went on a date with the person I had a crush on. Hehe. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.”
──It was fun.
I was really happy that day. Even just remembering the thought of it made the blood rush to my cheeks.
With those memories floating through my mind, I talked to everyone.
“On that day, we worked together, ate lunch together, and laid down on the grass together… It was my first time doing these things with him. We were able to talk about a lot of things we wouldn’t normally be able to talk about.”
There’s a lot to consider but… I think the two of us… have good compatibility…
Senpai said that to me.
Even though we only met each other once a week, even though I was always so curt towards him, he still felt that way about me.
I was happy.
I was happy──and those words gave me courage.
──I wanted to change.
I wanted to move forward from where I was now.
“So… yeah. I started thinking I wanted to know more about him. Talking about him in the middle of the night like this is nice, but… I think getting to know him under a bright, sunny day is also important. That’s why… I’ve made up my mind.”
And then I took in a deep breath.
As if making a declaration, I spoke into the microphone.
“──I’m going to try leaving my shell.”
After a small delay, comments expressing surprise started to trickle in.
While keeping them in mind, I continued talking.
“I think now I want to move forward, even if it’s only one small step at a time. Many months have passed since I started streaming but… I finally feel that way.”
──There was a possibility that Senpai was listening to this stream.
In the end, I didn’t manage to find any proof. It’s possible he didn’t know anything about this stream, but it didn’t matter any more.
In a way, this was also my declaration to Senpai.
──From now on, I will start changing.
I hope that you will be able to accept that.
And, if possible, I hope that you will be able to respond to my feelings.
… Also, there was one more thing I wanted to ask of my listeners.
“So please continue watching over us if you’d like. Please witness what ends up happening to me and my crush…”
For the past six months, I had been talking about love with these people. And before I realized it, I had started to consider them my friends.
Of course, it wasn’t like I recognized every single one of them. Probably less than a handful of them had been watching since the very beginning.
Even so──we had been spending every week together until now.
These listeners had become a source of encouragement for me.
“──Now then, thank you for listening to ‘Love Crosses the Night Sky’ this week. Please tune in next week as well. See you all next time. Good night.”
The stream that had encompassed an hour finally came to an end.
I hit the stop button on the streaming software, and, just in case, I confirmed that the stream had ended on the website.
… Good, no problems there. The stream had properly ended…
“Phew…”
I took off my headphones and took a small breath.
After streaming, I always felt a pleasant sense of fatigue. It was a strange sensation where my head felt clear but my body felt vaguely hot.
… For no reason at all, I glanced around the room.
The room, which my parents had granted me when I entered middle school, was filled with my favorite things. There were bookshelves packed full of novels, and my favorite clothes hanging off of the clothing racks. There was a clock and chest that I had picked out carefully, and a study desk and computer that they were facing──.
It was like my own secret base, hidden in the dark.
It was a cozy, peaceful, and friendly place that made me want to stay there forever.
However──I wanted to take one step forward and move on from this place.
“Okay… I can do this…”
I got up from the chair and whispered to myself.
“I’m going to get… even closer to Senpai!”
1. If you don’t know, most mobile games have a lottery-like system for obtaining characters to play the game with. To play the lottery, you need to gather up enough of an in-game currency to do a “pull” of the lottery. A ten-pull is, as its name states, ten of these pulls. These ten-pulls can sometimes have bonuses compared to ten single pulls to encourage you to spend more currency.
2. To encourage player retention, mobile games frequently release new characters. These characters are divided into rarities, with SSR being the most rare, and SR being below that. Oftentimes, to encourage players to keep spending money, the new SSRs are significantly better in-game than older SSRs and new SRs.
3. There’s some dialogue present in the audio version that I don’t think is present in the novel. It’s not critical to the plot, but there’s a minor inconsistency where Misuno refers to something Souichi said in the deleted scenes.
4. Digital Audio Workstation. Programs used for creating/editing music.
5. A way to reduce the sound of the instrument by pressing down on the strings. See damping.
6. A combination of playing a note and tapping it with your picking hand. Might be easier to understand if you watch a video of it.
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