“I’m home—”
“Welcome back—”
As I took off my shoes in the entryway, I heard Yuzu’s voice coming from the kitchen.
Hearing that voice reminded me of Azuma’s words, and I instinctively touched the area around my eyes.
『If you go home like that and your little sister sees you, she’ll ask if you got shaken down for money.』
Was that really true...?
Partly wanting to test it out, I walked slowly into the kitchen and found my younger sister in her sweats standing in front of a pot.
I stood beside her and peered into the pot.
“Cream stew?”
“Yeah. I saw a cream stew commercial on TV after I got home, and I just had to have some...”
“I see. You’re quite honest with your cravings...”
While nodding, I turned toward Yuzu, who was stirring the pot.
“W-What...?”
Yuzu felt my gaze and looked over, her cheek twitching.
“Hey, Yuzu. Do you notice anything different about my face?”
“Hah...? What, are you some high-maintenance girlfriend...?”
Despite her suspicious look, Yuzu whispered while searching for changes.
“Eh? Did you cut your bangs? Trimmed your eyebrows? ...Eh, did you change your makeup?”
I’m not wearing makeup.
But it seemed fine. She didn’t seem to notice the swelling in my eyelids.
“If you don’t notice, then it’s fine.”
Thanks to Azuma’s ice cream advice, it seems I avoided the timeline where I’d be asked, ‘Big bro, did you get shaken down for money?’ ...Wait, were my eyelids actually swollen in the first place?
“Eh, that’s seriously nonsensical...?”
“It’s fine. Sorry for making you observe your brother’s face.”
“Yeah, I really wish you’d stop...”
My sister was genuinely disgusted. That’s more of a shock than being called an ‘Aniki’...
Looking at Yuzu’s hands, it seemed she had just finished dissolving the roux.
“It’ll take a bit longer, right? I’ll go change.”
“Ah, yeah. Sorry for being late. I went shopping after seeing the commercial... Are you mad?”
“No, I wouldn’t complain when you’re making dinner... What do you think of me?”
Intending to show I wasn't trying to be overly considerate, I added one last thing.
“I’m not that hungry anyway.”
Just as I was about to head back to my room—
“...Eh, why?”
A voice that made my spine freeze came from behind me.
When I timidly turned around, there stood someone who used to be my sister, now in a yandere state with pitch-black eyes devoid of light.
...She should have been holding a ladle in her right hand just a second ago, but now it looked like a kitchen knife.
“Hēy, whY aren’T yOu hUngry? COuld it bE, thAt yOu atE somEthiNg outsiDe...?”
Wait, what?! That’s super scary!
“S-Sorry! Just a little bit!”
“WhAt did yOu eAt...?”
“A-A... A bit of ice cream...!”
When I confessed, she returned to normal and exploded in anger.
“Takkun, you ate ice cream before dinner?! Even though you always scold Yuzu when I eat before a meal!”
No matter how angry she was, it was much better than that horror stuff from earlier...
“I was just invited and ate it on the way home! It couldn't be helped!”
“Did you just say ‘it couldn't be helped’?! Even though you said you didn't want Sako-chan to have to say ‘it can't be helped’!”
“Eh, how do you know that!?”
“Don’t change the subject!”
Facing my upturned-eyed sister’s scariness, the doubt of ‘Wasn't it you who changed the subject?’ vanished in an instant.
“B-But look, it was really just a little bit! Only half a Papico!”
“You shared a Papico!?”
Did I dig my own grave again? The moment I thought that...
“Takkun, you’re amazing!”
I received words of praise for some mysterious reason.
“Sorry... eh?”
Looking over, Yuzu’s eyes were suddenly sparkling as she looked up at me.
“Eh! Who did you share it with? Sako-chan?”
“No, it wasn't Sako...”
“...Oh.”
And then her face returned to one of disappointment.
Ah, right. This person is currently obsessed with childhood friends...
“That childhood friend manga... ‘I Fell in Love Once More,’ was it? Does it have a scene where they share a Papico?”
“Yeah, in the latest chapter... It was so precious...!”
“I-I see...”
Somehow, thanks to ‘I Fell in Love Once More,’ Yuzu seemed to have cooled down. (Because of the ice cream).
“Ah— but, I guess so. Takkun is a normie after all. Did you eat it with Amane-san?”
“Ah— no, that’s also wrong...”
“Eeeh...”
Yuzu’s face turned to one of contempt.
“It’s not like that. A Papico is just an ice cream that comes in two pieces.”
...After finishing that supremely trivial squabble, I ate the cream stew Yuzu made and went back to my room.
I gently but surely closed the door until it clicked, then took a long, deep breath.
With trembling hands, I operated my smartphone and placed it to my ear.
The ringing tone sounded, egging on my heartbeat.
Once, twice, three times...
In the middle of the fourth...
A beautiful voice answered.
『Eh, Konuma-kun? Is that really you?』