âGood morning, Onii-San.â
âHey, Yuika.â
Our greeting on the train every morning was already becoming a regular routine.
Yuika put the phone she was holding in one hand into her bag and moved next to me as usual, her medium short hair swaying easily.
Then she grabbed my arm and muniâd twice.
âDid you make up with your junior?â
âWell, yeah. I told her I couldnât improve my unsociableness right away, but Iâd work on it little by little, and she cheered up.â
âThatâs good.â
âYeah.â
There was a time when I used to have trouble understanding Otozuiâs behavior, but now I wasnât so worried.
Part of it was due to the fact that my level of communicative power was increasing, but I guess it was also thanks to Yuika.
When I first met her, I thought she was a strange person; however, now I considered her to be a reliable person.
âBy the way, weâre going to the movies next Saturday.â
âOh, a date?â
That was the expected response.
I knew that would be what the romance-brained Yuika would think.
I didnât need to panic, I answered her immediately.
âNo.â
âNo?â
âShe wants to use her private time to do market research.â
âThatâs just an excuse to go on a date.â
Yeah, that was what a high school girl would think.
But I was a good senior who knew what she was talking about.
âSo, what are you going to see?â
âIâm thinking of Dead of Lovers, which has been getting a lot of attention lately.â
âThatâs the one where the lovers kill each other.â
I chose this movie because it looked the most interesting when I checked the movie theaters I was going to, but Yuika rejected it as soon as she found out about it.
The movie had a high rating in the reviews, but I guess you couldnnât tell the quality of a movie from the numbers.
Yuika shrugged her shoulders in disgust.
âIâm worried.â
âAre you following me?
âAre you an idiot?â
Her tone was dull as usual, but there was something harsh in what she just said.
She wasnât joking, she must have meant it.
Hurts.
Fu~,â¦, Yuika sighed and grabbed the shoulder strap of her bag again.
There was a hint of pity in her eyes as she looked at me.
Donât stare at me with those eyes.
It makes me look like a pathetic person.
âDo you know that a movie is a minefield1 on a first date?â
âItâs not a date, but letâs hear it.â
Yuika seemed to want to call it a date no matter what.
But in terms of maintaining a good relationship with Otozui, it would be good to know.
âAt the beginning, your relationship is still young, right?â
âMe and Otozui have built up a certain amount of trust.â
âShut up and listen.â
Yes.â
She was so strangely overpowering sometimes.
After confirming that I had quieted down, Yuika continued her explanation in a calm manner.
âWhen you go to a movie alone with someone, youâre in close proximity for two hours. That can be stressful for some people.â
âOh, youâre right, Otonzui might be that type.â
âMy senpai told me to wait until you get to know each other before going out on a movie date. If she gets the feeling that you are a little different, the relationship will naturally disappear.â
Otozui always came on strong to me, but she was also surprisingly observant of her surroundings.
However, this also led to the drawback of being overly attentive.
If what Yuika said was true, she could lose her footing if she was not careful.
I asked Yuika, cupping her chin with her fingers.
âItâs a problem that might worsen our relationship. What should I do?â
âI think you should praise her and pamper her. That will help you relax.â
I was deeply convinced by her suggestion.
âI see. Thatâs a good way for me to handle things now.â
âItâs more challenging for you Onii-San, though.â
Then Yuika suddenly opened her bag and took out a box from inside.
âSo, yes.â
She then handed me a lovely cream-colored box..
It felt very light in my hand.
âWhatâs this?â
âMy homemade sandwich.â
âWhat do you want me to do with it?â
âEat it and tell me what you think.â
âCompliment.â
âYes, yes. Itâll be a good talking practice to get along with your junior.â
The question of why she had prepared a sandwich in advance when I had mentioned the movie for the first time today came to mind, but I decided not to pursue it too much.
Maybe she had prepared the lunch for me regardless of Otozui.
That made me honestly happy.
âOh. Is it possible that Onii-San is not a fan of homemade food?â
âNo, Iâm rather looking forward to it. Thank you.â
âFufu~. It was really worth the effort to make it.â
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the smiling face of Yuihana was different from the ones I had seen before.
Maybe it was just hard to tell, but maybe she really was a very expressive girl.
I was about to be tempted to see more of her, but I reminded myself that I was dealing with a high school girl, so I changed course to my true self.
But a homemade bento was unusually feminine for Yuika.
Then she turned her nose up in pride.
âI like the feeling that Onii-San is being dominated by me.â
âI think my human rights are too low to be dominated by a homemade lunch.â
(T/N: I also uploaded a small R-18 novel here :- A Step Forward . Much appreciated if you can leave some reviews there :D.)