I was happily digging into the salmon marinade when I felt someone poke me in the back.
âReika-oneesan.â
âYukino-kun!â
It was Yukino-kun, ever the picture of a smiling angel.
Itâs been a while, Yukino-kun~!
I had been busy recently so I hadnât turned up to the Petit. Thanks to that we hadnât seen each other at all.
âMay I sit next to you?â he asked.
âBy all means,â I said. âHave you been well?â
âYes,â he said, politely taking a seat. âBut itâs been lonely without you aroundâŚâ
Guhaah!
W-What power!
Are all the kids in the Petit Pivoine such little heartbreakers!?
Uuu, I want to headpat so badly!
âI have missed you too, Yukino-kun!â I exclaimed with all sincerity.
Yukino-kun flashed a bright smile in response.
Guooh!
I-I was having a nosebleed in my mindâŚ!
âHave you been busy?â he asked.
âYes, quite so.â
With the new semester starting, there was work as class rep, dealing with new visitors to the club, dealing with my troublesome disciplesâ love problems, honestly I had my hands full.
And there was one particularly troublesome disciple that really ate into my timeâŚ
âHow is being in Year 2, Yukino-kun?â
âHmmm, Iâm not sure yet. But I made new friends in my class.â
âGoodness, what wonderful news. What kind of people are they?â
âOne of them really likes stars. I like stargazing too, so we talk about stars together.â
âMy, I had no idea.â
Yukino-kun and the glittering stars in space. It suitsedhim so well! He was like the Little Prince!
âI look at them through my telescope sometimes. When there was a meteor shower I couldnât help myself and secretly got up to watch them, even though they told me not to.â
âGoodness, staying up late is bad for your health, you know? You did not catch a cold, did you? Hopefully not an asthma attack?â
âHuhu, it was fine. Niisama found out even though I was in my room, so he brought me some hot chocolate.â
âMy!â
So even that blackguard could do something good once in a while.
âAnd then we watched the meteor shower together but I accidentally fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning I was in bed,â he laughed shyly.
Sooo cute!
After that I chatted with Yukino-kun some more, and then had some fun with the other kids too.
Unfortunately, the time seemed to pass in a flash, and before I knew it it was time for the kids to go home, meaning that it was time for me to leave as well.
That was when Yukino-kun suddenly tugged at my sleeve.
âHey, Reika-oneesan? Why donât you let us drop you home?â
âEh!?â
Uh, thatâs a bitâŚ
I mean, I already have a car waiting for me, and even if I didnât I could still get home on my ownâŚ
Getting driven home in the Enjou family car isâŚ
âWe havenât met in ages. I want to talk some more! Canât youâŚ?â
âGuhâŚ!â
How could I say no to such an adorable requestâŚ!?
I had really missed him as well. ButâŚ
Uuu, come on, donât look at me like that, Yukino-kunâŚ
I canât say no to those puppy eyesâŚ
âHmmmmâŚ. Then perhaps I willâŚâ
âYay!â
I folded.
There was no going against this angelâs adorable eyes.
I guess Iâd just have them drop me off, and then give the Enjou family a proper thank you some time later.
âYukino-kun, your car is here.â
âOkaaay.â
He led me by the hand as the two of us headed to the entrance.
Waiting there was EnjouâŚ
I groaned in reflex.
He went out of his way to pick up his brother?
I was surprised he had the time for that.
âGood evening, Kisshouin-san.â
âGokigenâyou, Enjou-samaâŚâ
It was getting dark now, but under the streetlights his hair seemed to glitter, making his smiling self seem even more princely than usual.
âNiisama, Reika-oneesanâs going to get driven home with us!â
âEh?â
âAh, I mean⌠Yukino-kun, perhaps this is not such aâŚâ
âReika-oneesan?â
Uoooaah!
His cherubic expression seemed to be asking me,
âYou promised, right?â
How could I say anything now~!?
âReika-oneesan?â
âAah~ Y-Yes.â
While I struggled to recompose myself, Enjou seemed to have grasped the situation.
âOh, I see. Then get on. Is your house okay?â
ââŚYes, that would be perfect, thank you.â
And thatâs how I ended up getting driven home in their car.
In the back seat was, in order, me, Yukino-kun, and then Enjou.
The moment I stepped into the car, I noticed a pleasantly sweet fragrance.
âHave fun at the birthday party?â Enjou asked him.
âYeah,â he replied, before turning to me. Yukino-kun pointed out the window. âYou canât quite see Spica yet. But the sky isnât cloudy today, so weâll be able to see the Spring Triangle.â
âAre you two talking about stars?â
âYes. Yukino-kun is actually quite studied.â
âYeah. But itâs a problem because he stays up late all the time.â
Yukino-kun pouted.
âNot every night.â
âWhen we went to Karuizawa during the spring holidays, you stayed up all night and couldnât get up in the morning,â Enjou pointed out.
âBut that was because the air was really clear, so the stars were extra prettyâŚâ
My, my.
Looking for an ally, Yukino-kun tugged at my arm.
âYou can even see stars that are invisible from Tokyo,â he reasoned.
Okay, okay, I understand, Yukino-kun.
Itâs clearer without all the light pollution, right?
Unable to help myself, I gave him a pat on the head.
Whoaaaaa, his hair is so soft~
Yukino-kun smiled in embarrassment.
âSay, Reika-oneesan! Why not have dinner with us before you go?â
âEhh!?â
Where did this come from, Yukino-kun?
âDinner?â I asked.
âYeah. Iâd love to have dinner with you and Niisama.â He looked at the two of us in turn. âItâs okay, right?â
âEh, but I just ate at Mao-chanâs houseâŚâ
And IÂ really ate, so I wasnât hungry at all.
âButâŚâ
âCome on, Yukino. Donât be so selfish,â Enjou said chidingly, as he placed a hand on Yukinoâs head.
Uuu~
I was feeling guilty now.
What was I to do�
Yukino-kun, donât look so down.
And damn you, Enjou, werenât your words too harsh?
Yukino-kunâŚ
I continued calling out for him to cheer up in my head, but it was to no avail.
I looked over the top of Yukino-kun as he hung his head, and found Enjou giving me a troubled smile.
What now?
âKisshouin-san, are you free after this?â
âEh?â
âIâm sorry, but would you be willing to go along with my brother for a little while? If youâre okay with heading to a cafĂŠ for a little, thenâŚâ
âAhh⌠Yes, that would be fine.â
Yukino-kun immediately beamed at my affirmative response.
âReally!?â
âYes.â
âWah! Yay! Thank you, Reika-oneesan!â
*
*
*
The three of us entered a cafĂŠ attached to a restaurant.
Since I was already here, it would be better to order something a bit different from what I usually drank.
Oh my, and there was quite a selection of cakes tooâŚ
You mustnât, Reika!
The curse of the tanuki was flaring up againâŚ!
âI think I shall have the lavender tea.â
âDarjeeling for me, then.â
Done with our orders, Yukino-kun and I began looking through the cakes in the menu.
I started thinking about who to bring here next time so that we could share a cake set.
âYou seem rather fond of desserts, Yukino-kun,â I realised.
âYes. But Niisama doesnât.â
Breaking his silence, Enjou nodded and said âNo, I donât,â before returning to his tea.
âDo you dislike sweet things?â I asked.
âI donât exactly hate them, but I guess I donât go out of my way to eat them,â he explained.
Come to think of it, while I often spotted Kaburagi eating sweets at the salon, I couldnât recall many times Iâd seen Enjou doing the same.
Even for those few times that he did, they were small portions.
âItâs so good.â I turned back to Yukino-kun.
âIt really is,â he agreed.
Enjou could only give us a helpless smile.
âBy the way, I hear that youâve been giving Kaburagi some good advice. Like suggesting reference books as a good present for a girl. Only you could come up with that, Kisshouin-san. Although itâs such a utalitarian gift that youâd never suspect it was supposed to be romantic.â
Ugh! Were we really doing this now?!
Enjou was even giving me a meaningful smirk!
Besides, if he knew about it then shouldnât he have known about the thing from yesterday too!?
ââŚDid Kaburagi say something today?â
âWhatever do you mean?â
For example, did he say that I had been cruel to him, or that I had hurt him?
Ah!
Or what if he said something like, âNever have I been treated with such disrespect! This wonât go unpunished.â!?
âHe didnât say anything in particular.â
âI see.â
What the heck.
He seemed to receive quite the blow so I thought that heâd still be hung up over it, but maybe I was overthinking things.
Thank goodness~
âBut he did seem oddly quiet today.â
âEhâŚ!?â
I knew itâŚ!
Was he still depressed over it!?
Had he really been hurt that badly!?
I guess I went a bit too far.
I mean, it wasnât like he meant ill, it was just that he was a bit too much of a dumbass.
HmmmmâŚ
âWhatâs this, whatâs this?â
Ah, now Yukino-kun seemed to be interested.
It hurt to see his innocent smileâŚ
âHeh⌠You really are soft-hearted, Kisshouin-san. How about we get you some cake?â
âI am fineâŚâ
What the heck.
If you think you can lift my mood by feeding me, youâre in for something else, buddy.
I wasnât so simple.
And besides, this was all his fault for going home early and leaving his best friend bereft!
Right, right, so this was actually Enjouâs fault. Letâs go with that.
In the end though, I wondered what kind of conclusion Kaburagi would come to.
I was scared of coming to school tomorrow.
What if he ended up obsessed with another poet?
It was going to end up as another curse on my luck in loveâŚ
âReika-oneesan, is that tea any good?â
âI have to say that it is.â
But to be honest⌠30, 40 percent of the reason people even drank this stuff was for the pretenses, right?
âCould I try a sip?â
âWhy of course. Help yourself.â
I pushed the lavender tea in front of him and watched him excitedly take a sip.
Then I watched his face fall.
âHow was it?â I asked.
âUmmm⌠Thank you very much.â He pushed my cup back to me.
I guess it didnât suit his taste.
âSay, Reika-oneesan. Could you come over again to play?â
âEh!?â
âI had a great time when you came over for my birthday. Could we play games together again?â
âAhhâŚâ
Iâd prefer to pass on any visits to the Enjou family home, but since Yukino-kun was askingâŚ
Ah, then couldnât I just visit him in the Petit salon instead?
Right, that was perfect.
âGames, huh?â Enjou suddenly said. âThat was fun. Especially since Masaya was crushed.â
Wow, despite his nonchalant tone, what he said was pretty brutal.
âBy the end Masaya-niisama was droening in deby wasnât he?â
âAnd he had a huge family, too. Picture it: Masaya pushing a pram while heâs wearing a baby sling.â
âPfft!â
âAhaha!â
I had to stifle a laugh.
I couldnât help it.
Just picturing that emperor waving a baby rattle in front of a baby he was carryingâŚ
So mismatched!
âBut it might actually suit him better than we think. When Yukino was just born, Masaya sometimes poked at him and made him cry, or picked him up out of the crib because he wanted to hold him, and caused everyone a lot of trouble in general.â
âMy, he did something like that?â
âYeah. Actually, most of the time he was in my house heâd have Yukino sitting on his lap.â At first Masaya almost dropped him a few times, but once he got the knack of it he seemed pretty at home with it. He even played lullabies on the piano for him. Not that Yukino ever fell asleep to that though.â
âI donât remember that.â
âOf course, you were a baby, Yukino.â
Hmm~ So Kaburagi was fond of children.
Come to think of it, he played with the kids quite a bit at the Petit salon, or at Yukino-kunâs birthday party.â
It was surely because his mental age was close to theirs.
We continued happily talking about Yukino-kunâs baby years when Enjouâs phone rang.
When he looked at the screen, his smile disappeared.
When he looked back at us, it was time to go.
âItâs about time that we went home.â
âEhhh~â
âItâs getting late, Yukino.â
ââŚFine. Reika-oneesan, can we come here again?â
âOf course. Let us try the cakes next time,â I said.
âYeah!â
Holding his hand, I got in the car, and they dropped me home.