“…Um. Didn’t you just say we were going to buy summer clothes?”
“Yep. That’s what I said.”
“Are swimsuits summer clothes?”
“You wear them in summer, so they’re summer clothes.”
“That is definitely not how that works.”
The moment we arrived at the mall I’d been dragged straight to the women’s swimwear section, and I was registering my complaint.
By “you wear it in summer, therefore summer clothes” logic, you could justify almost anything.
“Glad we’re agreed. Now help me pick out a swimsuit.”
“I am not agreed in the slightest. And — wait, you want me to help you pick?”
“Yeah. I want a third-party opinion.”
“That’s the kind of thing you usually ask a friend.”
What was she even thinking, having me of all people pick out her swimsuit.
“Oh — are you saying I’m some sad sack with no friends?”
“What? You’re the most-friended person I know.”
Kano has been surrounded by crowds of friends since we were kids. She is the polar opposite of “lonely.” Granted, there is some chance she doesn’t think of all of them as friends mutually, but…
“Anyway, as punishment for lying, helping me with swimsuits is locked in.”
“Yes, yes, like I had any veto power to begin with.”
“You know me well.”
My brother and I have been close with the Yuki sisters since we were kids, so I know Kano’s personality inside and out by now.
While thinking about that, I started helping. The other customers and the staff were staring — extremely uncomfortable — so I wanted out ASAP.
“I’m planning to get a bikini. Of these two — red or black — which suits me better?”
“Hmm. Honestly, both look great, so it’s a tough call… if I had to choose, the black one.”
“Why?”
“Black has a cool-adult vibe — different from the loud energy of red. And given that you’ve got a mature look to you, the black would suit you well.”
I laid out my reasoning carefully. She heard me out, and her face brightened.
“Oh, you actually put thought into it. Big sister approves.”
“If I don’t put thought in, you won’t accept the answer — I know that much by now.”
If I’d given some wishy-washy both-look-fine response, she’d have been visibly displeased.
And then we’d have spent even longer in the women’s swimwear section, which I wanted to avoid at any cost.
“All right then — between a triangle bikini and a ribbon bikini, which is better?”
“Well…”
We continued in that pattern — her presenting options, me weighing in — until she’d settled on a black ribbon bikini.
“Yuito, you were a huge help. Thanks.”
“Sure. I just gave my opinions. So that means the lying-thing earlier is squared, yeah?”
“Yeah. You’ve taken plenty of punishment — I’ll let you off for this one. Oh — but since we came all the way here, let’s keep shopping a bit longer.”
“Understood. I’m yours until you’re satisfied.”
After the swimwear section, we shopped for a while — and then dropped by the arcade. Kano had suddenly announced she wanted to take purikura.
“I figured, but yeah, the purikura area is basically all girls.”
“Guys generally don’t take purikura by themselves, you know.”
“True. Even if you’re with a girl that’s one thing, but a bunch of guys alone wouldn’t be taking purikura.”
The area around the photo booths was packed with middle-school and high-school girls in their uniforms, with basically zero males in sight.
If there had been a solo guy or a couple of guys taking purikura together it would’ve been honestly upsetting — so this made sense. They’d probably be reported on the spot.
“I have zero idea how to operate these machines, so I’m leaving it to you.”
“Yeah, leave it to me.”
We squeezed into the booth and I watched her work the controls with practiced ease.
In no time we were at the photo-taking screen. The countdown started, and as I tried to scrabble for a vague pose, Kano suddenly hugged me.
“H-hey?!”
I startled — and at exactly that moment the count hit zero and the shutter went off. We took five more in quick succession, and a thumbnail strip of all the photos came up on the screen.
“Yuito, your face is unbelievable.”
“Anyone would make that face if they got hugged out of nowhere!”
“You don’t see Yuito making this kind of face often. Coming here was worth it just for that.”
She breezed past my glaring protest. Then she picked up the touch pen and started doodling on the photos on screen.
”…Do the eyes really have to be that huge? You look like aliens.”
“This is the essence of purikura.”
I couldn’t begin to understand, but apparently for girls this is normal.
“Kano-san, you’re already really beautiful — you don’t actually have to do any of this stuff…”
”…A surprise compliment to your big sister, huh? You’ve gotten bold lately, Yuito.”
“S-sorry. I didn’t realize I’d said that out loud.”
I’d let my inner monologue leak out, and I rushed to apologize.
“Hmm. So you thought of me that way, did you.”
“That just slipped out, please forget it.”
“Don’t worry — I’ll be remembering it forever.”
She was beaming at me with the most smug grin. I had a feeling I was going to be teased about this for a while.