“T-this purikura is…”
“Yuito begged me to take it with him, so I obliged.”
She’d dropped a lie before I could answer. Suzuno and my brother each reacted.
“Wow — Yuito-kun, bold.”
”…Yuito, that true?”
“On a shopping trip with Kano-san — she invited me. That’s all. No deeper meaning.”
Under my brother’s if-looks-could-kill glare I caved. Kano looked disappointed.
“Aw, Yuito, why immediately spoil it?”
“Misleading Suzuno and big bro is the bigger problem.”
“Yeah — I mean, I don’t care, but Suzuno misunderstanding would be a problem.”
My brother — visibly relieved — chimed in. I felt the urge to point out he’d been by far the most rattled. Not the time, though.
“So Sis and Yuito-kun aren’t dating.”
“Obviously not. Kano-san and I are not even in the same ballpark.”
“I personally think you two would actually go well together.”
Suzuno probably said it offhand, but it landed hard on me. From her POV, Kano and I looked like a match.
I felt the gut-punch of the girl I love saying it — and weirdly also some quiet pleasure. I would never have felt that pleasure before.
As I was processing, I noticed my brother giving me a look of vicious jealousy. If Suzuno and Kano hadn’t been right there, he might have grabbed me by the collar.
“And what about you, Suzuno and Ayato? You’re on a date today — looking close, no?”
“I-I mean…”
”…We’re not really.”
Suzuno blushed; my brother was unusually cold. Watching that, I now sent him a jealous look.
Normally he’d be enjoying his victory lap. Right now he was elsewhere. Apparently the earlier good-match line had hit him hard.
“By the way — have you and Ayato done it?”
“Wait — done what?”
“Kissed, obviously. Or maybe — already had sex?”
All three of us froze. The fact that Kano would say that — unexpected.
“S-Sis, what are you suddenly saying?!”
“N-no, neither, neither — Suzuno and I aren’t dating to begin with.”
Suzuno was beet-red; my brother was stammering. I was a little relieved. Oh — they hadn’t even kissed.
“Hmm, I figured a kiss minimum.”
“I have no intention of doing either for the foreseeable future…”
My brother’s frantic explanation, and Suzuno’s slightly-dissatisfied expression watching him — that hit me hard. Did Suzuno want to kiss (and beyond) my brother — not me?
I started picturing the specifics and felt sick. I chugged what was left of the latte to push down the nausea.
We talked for a while longer but I barely remember what about. My brother was visibly absent too.
“Getting late — let’s wrap.”
“Oh, it’s already this time. With you and Yuito-kun, time flies, doesn’t it?”
Kano and Suzuno seemed satisfied. A stark contrast to the brothers sitting there in emotional shrapnel.
“I’ll go home with Suzuno.”
“See you at school tomorrow.”
Suzuno and Kano gathered their things, dumped trash, and left. My brother and I sat in funeral-parlor silence.
”…Big bro. Should we head home?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
We stood and left. Walking the dark streets out of the mall, we didn’t speak. Both of us were deep in our own heads.
So when the weather forecast was wrong and rain came pouring, neither of us bothered to take shelter. We kept walking, got drenched, came home, and took turns showering.
Back in my room I plowed into tomorrow’s prep and homework with single-minded focus. Couldn’t sit still otherwise.
”…Sleep.”
I started getting a serious headache and went to brush my teeth. The face in the mirror was a wreck.
My brother walked into the bathroom at the same moment with an identical face. The Yuki sisters are very good at scrambling our hearts.