“All right — campus tour. Promised guidance.”
“Yeah, lead the way.”
We started walking. Bigger than my high school by miles — one lap would take a while.
“That pilotis area is where they build the special stage for welcome and culture festivals.”
“Big production, huh.”
“Yeah — comedians get invited to perform.”
She’d been begging for the guide role, so she was in her element. (She disguised herself to participate — of course she’s into it.)
“Oh, that convenience store has way more snack variety than the one by the multi-purpose hall.”
She was teaching me information only useful if I enrolled. In her mind I’m clearly already in.
(Realistically I have to push hard to pass, but I also strongly want to attend with her — I’ll work my ass off.)
We were walking when familiar faces approached.
“Sis?!”
“K-Kano-san, what are you wearing?!”
”…Wrong person?”
“Definitely you.”
“Right, it’s Sis.”
Suzuno and my brother spotted us. Thorough as the disguise was, family saw through it.
(We don’t really discuss day-plans at dinner, so I hadn’t known they were coming either.)
“Yuito — you didn’t make her dress like that, did you?”
“Yuito begged me, dogeza-style, to wear the sailor uniform with black-hair wig and glasses. Felt sorry for him, so I did.”
“Yuito-kun — really?”
“That is a bald-faced lie…”
(She’d made me sound like a sailor-uniform-fetishist. Please stop dropping my reputation into the abyss.)
“Joking aside — Suzuno and Ayato, you came too.”
“Yeah, the open-campus report assignment — I brought Suzuno.”
“I’m not smart enough to get into Sahoda, but I came anyway.”
So my brother had invited Suzuno.
“Cool — well, we don’t want to crowd you, we’ll go.”
“Wait — let’s go together.”
“Sorry, I want to be alone with Yuito.”
My brother’s face went visibly crushed.
“Kano-san — are you really in love with Yuito…?”
”…Yeah. Hard to keep hiding now. Yes.”
Kano answered straight after a pause. His face — the world ending. I’d worn that face myself, the day I learned Suzuno loved my brother.
I started to console him but Kano stopped me.
“Leave Ayato to Suzuno. Anything from us right now will make it worse.”
She took my hand and pulled me away.
“Was it okay to tell him?”
“He was clearly past deflectable.”
She’d had no choice. The square was now exposed.
“Atmosphere at home is going to be brutal.”
“We have to wait until Ayato sorts himself.”
“How long…”
(In my case it had taken nearly a month to recover from Suzuno-loves-Ayato. If it took him as long, this might extend past summer break.)
The endgame had arrived earlier than expected. The back half of summer break loomed dark.