CH 77

“―Onii-sama, would you like to go to the town tomorrow?”

After being soothed by Sakura-chan who looked like a kindergarten child earlier― I was now eating dinner made by Sakura-chan and Rin, when Rin said this while rubbing herself against me.

She’s talking like a lady because I like demure women, but she’s not that demure at all.

It’s not that I’m upset, but unlike Sakihime and Kirara, I’ve been used to Rin behaving this way since I was a kid, and since Rin is my cousin, I’m not upset.

…I’m just a little scared.

“Sakura wants to go too!”

Before I could even reply to Rin, Sakura-chan entered the conversation, her body jiggling.

She’s so cute…

I can’t help but feel soothed when I see Sakura-chan like that.

The only thing I regret is that Sakura-chan is no longer dressed as a kindergartner.

I wanted to watch Sakura-chan as a kindergartner a little longer.

“Sakura-san is staying at home. It’s just me and Onii-sama, and we’re going on a fun date.”

“Ehh….”

Rin called it a date on her own and refused to let Sakura-chan go with her.

Of course, I’m not aware of any such thing as a date.

But I was afraid of Rin, so I didn’t deny it.

“No matter what…?”

“Ugh…”

When Rin refused to let her go, Sakura-chan looked up at Rin with puffy eyes, and Rin was pressured by Sakura-chan, perhaps out of guilt.

Sakura-chan and the others rarely come to Okayama Prefecture, so I’d like to take them there anyway.

“Rin, let’s take Sakura-chan with us.”

“I don’t want to…!”

I tried to talk Rin out of it, but she shook her head and refused.

I thought she was getting along well with Sakura-chan earlier, but it seems that Rin’s possessiveness has not yet changed.

I’m troubled…

I want to take Sakura-chan with me, but there’s no way Rin will simply back out.

What should I do―

“Is Sakura no good…?”

“……”

“Sakura, have never been to Okayama before, so I’d like to go there…”

“Ugh…”

“Still no…?”

“I-I understand! If Sakura-san wants to go, then so be it!”

“Yay! Thanks Rin-chan!”

The battle between Sakura-chan’s upturned eyes and my yandere cousin was decided in favor of Sakura-chan.

It’s really too great of Sakura-chan to have that Rin so easily change her opinion…

I couldn’t hide my surprise at the unusual sight as I watched the two of them interact.

At that moment, I noticed Sakihime in the corner of the room, curled up and sitting on the floor, looking at me.

Today’s Sakihime seemed to be very quiet.

But from the look on her face, she probably wants to go, too.

“Do you want to go too, Sakihime?”

“Ah…!”

When I called out to Sakihime, she looked happy.

However―

“Onii-sama, don’t let that woman ever come near you! I’ll never forgive her for poisoning Onii-sama!”

―Before Sakihime could even answer, Rin rejected her.

And Rin’s eyes looked at Sakihime with hatred, as if she was looking at her parents.

She didn’t need to be so angry about that one thing, but Rin is a bit overzealous when it comes to me.

…Well, it’s the first time I’ve ever lost consciousness after eating food, and I’ve been in bed for over a day…

If my dad wasn’t a doctor, he might have taken me to the hospital, but… it’s not that big of a deal, right?

…Huh, is this really that big of a deal…?

But Sakihime did it as a favor, so it’s a pity to talk about it like that.

“No, that wasn’t intentional, so don’t be so pathetic about it.

So I said, defending Sakihime.

“Onii-sama is too lenient! That woman deserves to die for what she did!””

“Death huh…. You’ve always been too radical in your thinking, haven’t you?”

The scary thing about Rin is that she thinks this is serious and not a joke.

I can’t help but worry that she might make a mistake someday.

“Not really… I didn’t say that I wanted to go…”

After Rin’s refusal, Sakihime replied to Rin with the same cold attitude she had when she was at school.

“Hee~―well, no problem then. Take care of it for me.”

“Oh…”

Rin smiled wickedly and pushed Sakihime away.

Sakihime looked sad for a moment, but soon took on the attitude of Rin.

“Yeah, why don’t you just go ahead?”

“We’ll do just that.”

―In the end, we decided to leave Sakihime behind.

Now Sakura-chan is going to ask Rin to let Sakihime go with her.

But I’m sure Rin won’t agree on the spot.

Sakura-chan is a special case, but Rin basically hates other people.

Sakihime, on the other hand, is more disliked by Rin than most people because of the incident at the cooking competition, so Rin would never give her the nod.

However, it would be a pity to leave Sakihime behind when she had come to Okayama.

From the look on Sakihime’s face earlier, I’m sure she wants to go.

So, I’ll take Sakihime with me.

“Sakihime, do you have a minute?”

While Sakura-chan was trying her best to persuade Rin, I called out to a depressed Sakihime.

“What’s wrong, Umi-kun…?”

“I want to talk to you. Can we go outside for a while?”

“Oh… yes!”

When I asked her to go outside, Sakihime nodded happily, as if the gloomy expression on her face had been a lie.

The reason why I wanted to go outside was because I thought Rin would listen in if we were inside the house.

“I’m sorry about yesterday, okay…?”

Sakihime opened her mouth first as we strolled through my grandparents’ large garden.

“Hmm? Oh― don’t worry about the food.”

“But I served something that can’t be called food…”

“Like I said, don’t worry about it. It was something I wanted to eat and ate on my own, not something Sakihime forced me to eat. So there’s nothing for Sakihime to worry about.”

“But…”

It seems that no matter how much I tell her not to worry about it, Sakihime would.

So I’ll change the way I say it.

“Well, I hope you’ll let me eat better food next time. We are going to practice cooking, and I want to eat Sakihime’s homemade dishes again. So, if you feel bad about your cooking this time, please let me eat your delicious cooking again as an apology. Then we’ll call it even.”

I said and smiled at Sakihime.

Sakihime was silent for a bit, then she smiled and opened her mouth just like I did.

“Y-Yes! I’m going to try my best to get Umi-kun to eat delicious food next time!”

I’m glad to see that Sakihime is now feeling better.

I wanted her to smile, because she was so cute.

“So, what does Umi-kun want to talk about?”

Sakihime asked me when we had finished talking.

“Oh, I can’t take Sakihime with me tomorrow, but how about we go to town the day after tomorrow? We have to leave without Rin noticing, so it will be very early in the morning.”

“Will it be just the two of us…?”

When I asked Sakihime out, she looked up at me and asked if it was just the two of us.

She probably wanted to take Sakura-chan with her rather than just the two of us.

However, Sakura-chan is very close to Rin right now, and I wanted Sakura-chan to stay behind to keep Rin happy.

So the day after tomorrow, it will be just the two of us.

“Yeah, I suppose so. I’m sorry, but I don’t want Rin to find out if I try to take Sakura-chan with me.”

“Ah, no, it’s totally fine!”

Sakihime nodded cheerfully in response to my words.

I felt uncomfortable about that, but I didn’t bother to point it out.

So, I decided to ignore it.

“Oh― but can we do it in three days from now instead of the day after tomorrow?”

Sakihime said, as if he remembered something.

Three days later…?

I think it was some kind of day― but well, I didn’t promise anything.

So, if that’s what Sakihime wants, that’s better.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Thank you!”

I nodded, and Sakihime thanked me happily.

I guess she really wanted to visit the town of Okayama.

After that, I quickly went back inside the house, because Rin would start prying if I left my seat too long―.

Part 2

(**Sakihime’s POV**)

―Yay, yay!

I went back inside the house with Umikai-kun and went straight to the Japanese-style room that’s been assigned to me as my own room, leaving Umikai-kun behind.

I pulled out my futon and laid down on it, flopping around on it.

Because I was going to be able to hang out alone with Umi-kun!

I was shocked when Umi-kun’s cousin decided to leave me alone behind, but it turned out to be a good thing because I get to hang out with Umi-kun alone!

What’s more, the day we’re going out is Umi-kun’s birthday!

We went out alone on my birthday before, and now we’re going to do it again on his birthday.

I’ve prepared a gift for this day, and I’ve decided to do this thing when I give it to you!

Umi-kun’s cousin is troublesome, and the other girls are tough― but I’m definitely going to win his heart!

I’m determined to make sure that no one can take Umi away from me―.