Chapter 3.3

I was concerned about Akari. But from now on, I would have to face her as Nanami’s (temporary) boyfriend.

I met her at the dining table where breakfast was being prepared.

“Did Mom and Dad leave first?”

As I entered the living room, checking the front door, I met Akari who was having breakfast. It was the start of my silent breakfast with her, which has become a regular event these days.

“Good morning, Akari.”

I greeted her as usual. And while I was in this dilemma, I heard something unexpected…

“——Good morning, Onii-chan.”

… W-wait!? What did I just hear?

“…? What’s wrong, Onii-chan?”

“… Really?”

That’s my line! What’s wrong with you?

“You’re Akari… right?”

“What are you talking about? If you don’t eat soon, you’ll be late.”

Because it was weird that…she was talking with me normally.

“Onii-chan!!”

As I was concerned, she pushed me even further.

“Would you like to go to school with me?”

Nanami… it’s going to be tough.

“You know what, Akari?”

“What, Onii-chan?”

We walked side by side as if it was natural. On the way to school, I regained my composure and asked the most obvious question to her.

“Well, what happened to you all of a sudden?”

Yesterday, she avoided me, but today, her attitude suddenly changed. There was no way it could be possible, or rather, my heart wasn’t prepared to accept it honestly.

“There isn’t anything special. I thought you’ve been trying hard for me, so it would be wrong to ignore you forever.”

No matter how I looked at it, it was a lie. I felt the agitation in her words!

At first glance, she seemed to be a perfect beauty, but she is weak with ad-libs. I don’t know how she was normal, but she had more loose ends than one could imagine.

Anyway, I’m going to let myself be fooled here.

“I’m glad to hear that. It’s good to have a chat with you again.”

When I said that, she blushed and became quiet. However, this time, it was more like she was having trouble answering than ignoring.

All right, let’s sort out the situation while we’re at it.

Yesterday, I told her that I started going out with Nanami. Then this morning, her attitude suddenly changed. She had been ignoring me, but now she started talking to me normally as if nothing happened, and we were going to school together.

I’m pretty sure it was linked to yesterday.

Her note wasn’t updated, and I would’ve noticed if it was this blatant. I’m not sure how she changed because Nanami and I started dating.

Or rather, if Akari is willing to talk to me like this, don’t I need to worry about her plan anymore, I guess?

The reason why she had been ignoring me was to show that she hated me. And yet, she didn’t seem to mind that we were going to school together as siblings, and in fact, she’s inviting me over.

In other words, it’s the result that I was hoping for. I don’t know why, but I have this bad feeling.

“Um, Onii-chan. I want to ask you something, is that fine?”

Akari who had been silent up till now, asked.

“W-what?”

“How should I… you and Haruse-san started… dating, right?”

“Oh… Yes, but…”

“Which one of you confessed first?”

“Confession? Well, it was Nanami.”

“Hmm. Okay, thanks.”

After that, she went silent.

What…? What did she mean by that question?

I was so confused by the change that I began to suspect that there was a meaning behind each of her words.

What exactly are you plotting, Akari?

“Akari-chan did that?”

After that, we parted ways without any further conversation and went to the classroom. I told Nanami who was waiting for me about what happened this morning.

I thought Nanami would be surprised, but…

“Hmm, I see.”

It wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. Rather, she looked as if to say, “I knew it.”

“Doesn’t that surprise you, Nanami?”

“Hmm? Of course I’m surprised. I was surprised to see the results so quickly.”

“What kind of?”

“Oh, I had a hunch. But you don’t need to worry about that.”

If she told me like that, I would be curious… I wonder if it’s a woman’s secret power.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, you’re helping your friend to get together with Akari, right? Now that you can talk with each other again, isn’t this a good opportunity?”

“Ah…”

I forgot for a moment, that’s how it was supposed to be.

“Well, I guess I will have to see how it goes. I haven’t been able to keep up with all the sudden changes, so I’ll have to wait.”

When I told her that, her reply was, “I see.”

I must check Akari’s note tonight. There’s no doubt that something wasn’t going right, and if I look at it, I might be able to find some clues.

“Hey… Yusuke.”

“Hmm?”

“You know, we’re sort of dating, right?”

I couldn’t help but be embarrassed, when Nanami told me so.

That’s right. I was preoccupied with Akari’s sudden change, and forgot that Nanami and I started dating yesterday. Even though our relationship is temporary, I learned that Nanami has feelings for me.

“Of course. I’m worried about Akari, but that’s not the same as this. To be honest with you, I’m still sorting out my own feelings. But it’s not like that I’ll ignore you.”

When I told her, Nanami said,

“Then, would you like to go out with me this Saturday? You know, that day it was the three of us, but this time we’ll be all alone.”

…Is this what they call an invitation for a date?

There had been many occasions when Nanami and I had gone out together, but this time it would be different. Yes, as a couple, so it would definitely be a date.

“Is that a…no? If you’re busy, we can go another day.”

Perhaps because there was no response from me, Nanami looked worried. No, it wasn’t that I have plans or anything like that… I was just surprised.

“Ah! It’s Saturday, right? Yeah, I don’t have anything to do so I’m free.”

“Really? If so, how about a movie? There’s a movie that’s been getting a lot of popularity, and it could be a good reference for our club.”

“A movie? Yeah, that sounds good. So let’s go there.”

It’s a safe choice for a date spot, and she seems excited. I guess I’m fine with it.

“Well then, I’ll call you later.”

After that, Nanami went back to her seat.

I’m also concerned about Akari. I’m also the one who decided to go out with Nanami. For now, I have to get along with both of them.

“Slowly-Slowly..”

As I was lost in thought, someone tapped my shoulder from behind.

“So it’s you. What’s up, Yoshiki?”

“No, I just listened to your conversation. So tell me, did you finally get into that kind of relationship?”

“Oh, you heard that… Well, I guess you can say that.”

Yoshiki had a very surprised expression on his face.

“Oh, really? I didn’t realize that you had a crush on Haruse. There wasn’t any sign of it.”

“Haha… well…”

In fact, it’s an act, but I have to keep quiet.

“So I guess Nanami confessed, right?”

“Yes. She did. Wait, you knew about it?”

“You! I didn’t think it was possible, but… Didn’t you notice it? Everyone knows that Haruse likes you.”

“Eh?”

By the way, Nanami once told me that I’m “dumb”. I couldn’t believe that it was this obvious.

“Well, congratulations. I’ve been wondering when you guys were going to get together, and I think I’ve finally gotten it off my chest.”

“Haha, thanks…”

I’m not sure how I’m going to explain this if I reject Nanami’s confession… Yoshiki seems to be completely convinced of our relationship. If I would say, “Actually, we were pretending to be together, and I dumped Nanami…” Wouldn’t that be too much of a shock?

No, it’s my fault for withholding a response to her confession in the first place…

“By the way, Yusuke, are things going well with Akari-chan?”

“Oh, about that, you can forget about it.”

“What?”

“I think I’ve solved it… Yeah, I’m still not sure, but I don’t think it’s a problem anymore.”

“Is that so? Well, if it’s okay with you, then it’s fine.”

It was on my mind that I should tell him about the change in Akari, but I didn’t know the reason yet, so I decided not to.

“Well, for starters, good luck with your weekend date.”

With a rather unpleasant smile on his face, he patted me on the shoulder twice and went back to his seat. I’m used to being teased about Akari, but now I’m going to be teased about Nanami too…

“Okay, I’d better get going.”

As night fell, I made sure that Akari was headed for the bath and sneaked into her room to check the Note.

I couldn’t believe that she greeted me with a “welcome home” and talked to me during dinner as if it was a normal thing to do.

My parents, especially my mother, were quite surprised, but they were in a good mood because they had always wanted us to be friends.

Now my mom and dad will think that we have completely reconciled. The fact that Akari is okay with this means that she has given up on the plan.

Anyway, if I read her notes, I’ll find out the truth.

I felt like I’m cheating on a test, but I couldn’t help it because I could actually find out almost everything about Akari by reading this notebook. The only drawback is that it contains just as much information about myself.

“Hmm… yesterday’s page…”

I turn the page as usual. Today is July 14th, so if you check from the 12th… Ha!

” ”

I opened the last page, which was supposed to be the latest page. But for some reason, the notebook stopped on July 12th, when the three of us had our date, and there was nothing written after that.

“What’s going on?”

I hadn’t checked it thoroughly yesterday, but it seems to have not been updated since the day of our date.

“Could it be that she forgot to write two days in a row?”

I immediately denied what I had just said.

Until today, Akari had never missed a day in her diary. And yet, she hasn’t written anything for two days. Something is wrong.

I checked another page just to be sure, but again, there seemed to be no entries.

“She stopped writing the…notes?”

That was all I could think of at the moment. Perhaps this has something to do with her change. However, if there is nothing written in the Note, which should contain the answer, then I will never know.

In the end, I left the room without learning anything that night.

***