“So — should we search for Natsumi’s parents?”
“That’d take too long. More efficient route.”
“Which is?”
“Take her to the info desk and have them announce over the PA — faster, more reliable.”
“That works.”
The parents were almost certainly searching frantically — we could easily miss each other walking. We headed to the info desk.
“Natsumi, are you in kindergarten?”
“No, first grade.”
“Oh.”
“Huh — first grader, then.”
I’d assumed kindergarten — got it wrong. At that age it’s hard to tell. As we walked she warmed up — was eventually answering me too.
We reached the info desk, explained, and they made the announcement. Mission essentially done, but leaving Natsumi alone was sad — we stayed until pickup.
“Hey, Natsumi — big sister, Kano-san, not scary?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She pouted. Modern-gal styling reads scary to little kids.
“Big sister looks like my mom, so she’s not scary.”
“Oh, really?”
“Mom has the same hair length and color.”
Natsumi looked prim — maybe Mom was gal style? As I was thinking it, the parents arrived breathless.
“Natsumi!”
“Thank god — we were worried.”
“Mom! Dad!”
The parents — late twenties — were here. Dad looked like a regular guy, Mom was a current-gal type like Kano. They bowed deeply.
“Thank you so much for helping our daughter.”
“We don’t know how to thank you enough.”
“We just did what anyone would. Please, stand up.”
“Yeah — we didn’t help for any reward.”
We hadn’t, but they insisted, and we ended up with planetarium tickets at Shining Sun City.
“Don’t get lost again, okay?”
“Big sister, big brother — thank you.”
“Bye!”
Natsumi left with her parents.
“Didn’t those parents seem… a little similar to us?”
“Mom maybe — Dad not so much.”
“It’s more about the vibe. Dad was clearly very henpecked — sound familiar?”
“Yeah.”
Definitely henpecked. By that measure, yeah — similar.
“Will we look like that as a married couple?”
“Couples vary, I guess.”
She smirked.
“You stopped panicking at the word marriage — used to flail more. Oh — don’t tell me Yuito’s already set on marrying me?”
“We aren’t even dating.”
“By implication: if we dated, you’d marry me, then?”
“T-that was just a turn of phrase!”
I was being completely outmaneuvered. Cannot beat her.
(Not unwelcome. I’m actually considering a future with her seriously. Stronger feelings than I’d had even for Suzuno.)