“Sorry, excuse me, coming through.”
Apologizing softly to the passengers around him, Harutaki hugged his sister, Ayaka, and squeezed their way toward the other side of the carriage.
It felt exactly like one of those obstacle-course challenges on TV.
The hardship packed into that single meter was impossible to put into words. He had to protect Ayaka in his arms while enduring the irritated, annoyed looks from other passengers. Without a thick enough skin, Harutaki might’ve retreated halfway through.
Still, he thought, difficult as the challenge was, the prize at the finish line wasn’t some refrigerator or microwave.
It was a girl who was priceless and important to him.
For that reason alone, even if pushing through a packed train was a bit inconsiderate, he was determined to reach Shihou.
Whether it was because the train was too loud, or because Harutaki kept his voice low enough, Shihou showed no reaction at all by the time he reached her side with Ayaka in his arms.
“Shihou-senpai feels kinda pitiful…” Ayaka whispered into his ear, clinging to his shoulder. Her warm breath brushed his ear, making him shiver slightly.
Pitiful?
Harutaki looked at the girl holding the handrail in front of him. She was staring blankly out the window, watching the tunnel walls race past. Now and then, a strip of white light flashed by, briefly illuminating her face and making it look faintly pale.
“I mean, they went out together, but on a train this crowded she ends up all alone… Anyone would feel awful, right?”
A low, dejected air clung to Shihou. To Harutaki, the girl standing by the edge of the carriage looked like a lone stray cat—pressed against a wall, wandering through a bustling city all by herself.
“And that’s exactly why this is your chance, dummy Harutaki~”
“Running into a friend and saying hello, and you make it sound like I’m doing something evil and NTR-ish.”
Harutaki shot his sister a glance, utterly confused by her inexplicable excitement.
That phrasing also reminded him of some anime he’d watched as a kid. Thanks to his decent memory, the scene resurfaced vividly in his mind—
“Now’s your chance, Haru! Go for it!”
“Huh, so even you know you’re an idiot, huh…”
What do you mean, know I’m an idiot?
Hearing Ayaka’s jab, Harutaki whispered a righteous defense.
“You’re both single—how is that NTR…?”
He went on about “mutual consent” and “sincerity for sincerity,” making Ayaka chuckle. In an instant, a light, cheerful atmosphere filled the space between the siblings.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The departure chime sounded from the speakers, cutting short their playful cheek-pinching.
Letting go of Ayaka’s slightly flushed cheeks, Harutaki reached out, intending to tap Shihou’s shoulder and get her attention.
Leaving the girl like this, wrapped in such a palpable “low-pressure zone”—was something he couldn’t bear.
He did briefly consider sneaking up to her ear for a surprise, but memories of once getting smacked in the face by a sudden turn of the head made him abandon that prank almost immediately.
However, just as Harutaki extended his hand, before he could touch her, Ayaka intercepted him midair.
“How about giving Shihou-senpai a surprise?” she whispered.
After saying that, Ayaka glanced around. Harutaki followed her gaze and realized that everyone nearby had their backs turned to them, as if they’d all signed some unspoken agreement.
This is…?
He was confused at first, but then it clicked—why Ayaka had been deliberately sticking so close to him earlier, acting like they were a lovey-dovey couple.
The surrounding passengers had probably had enough of watching these two young people being “intimate.” But out of politeness and social norms in Japan, no one wanted to interrupt or complain.
So the only thing they could do was out of sight, out of mind—turn their backs and pretend Harutaki and Ayaka didn’t exist.
As times changed, public displays of affection among young couples became more common. People had gradually gone from opposing and rejecting it to simply not caring anymore.
“It’s a method I saw in a guide~”
Noticing his look, Ayaka puffed up proudly as she bragged.
“You weren’t reading some kind of exhibitionist guide, were you?”
“Hiss—okay, okay, I’m sorry! Your short boots really hurt when you step on me, please—!”
Only after Harutaki apologized did Ayaka finally pull her foot back, satisfied.
“First, grab Shihou-senpai’s hands and hold them, then quickly cover her eyes. A sudden attack like that will definitely fluster her. Add in all the negative emotions she’s been bottling up, and they’ll bounce back and burst out all at once—”
“And then you make your entrance to comfort her, right?”
What are you even learning in high school?
Techniques like teasing and stirring a girl’s emotions weren’t unknown to Harutaki. But knowing them and liking to use them were two different things. If you got used to relying on methods like that, you really would become a full-fledged scumbag.
Still… he figured that doing it once in a while, just to add a little ambiguity and closeness, wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Since you get it, hurry up already… But don’t you dare take advantage of her. I’ll be watching you.”
Who made you the big brother here?!
Anyway, urged on by Ayaka, Harutaki reached out his “evil” hands toward Shihou.
“Guess who I am?”
…
“…Scumbag.”
Chouko suddenly spun around.
She tilted her head up slightly, and sure enough, a familiar face filled her vision—handsome, wearing a mischievous smile. The emotions she’d been holding in finally overflowed.
Why did he have to show up at this moment?!
Why did he always show up at moments like this?!
“Idiot… jerk… filthy pervert scumbag…”
Chouko buried her face into Harutaki’s chest, her small fists thumping against him again and again.
The victim, Harutaki, would like to state that she was hitting him hard.
After a while, once Chouko had vented enough, Harutaki leisurely rubbed her head, messing up her neatly styled bob until it stuck out in places.
He lowered his head to look at the faint redness at the corners of her eyes. The instant she noticed his gaze, she ducked her head again and pressed her face against his chest.
Right now, Chouko felt like a skittish little cat. At the slightest sign of movement, it would immediately hide its head somewhere it couldn’t see, just to feel safe.
Ridiculously cute.
“Did you like the surprise?”
“…I didn’t.”
Her muffled voice drifted up from below.
“Then blame it on the gods or fate. They’re the ones who arranged it.”
“Tch…”
Gods or fate—didn’t that make it sound like she and Harutaki were destined for each other?
And fate was exactly what Chouko hated most.
The fate of being the only daughter of the Shihou main family.
The fate of being a bird trapped in a cage.
The fate of being a “special” girl.
Speak of the devil. A coincidence this miraculous—aside from gods or fate, the only other explanation was that Harutaki was a creepy stalker.
(“Speak of the devil and he appears.”)
At that thought, she froze.
What if Harutaki himself was something sent by “god” or “fate” to save her?
If not for him, she might’ve been assaulted by that bastard Yobitani, had her weakness seized and used to threaten her… Even when Harutaki had pretended to force her before, thinking back on her instinctive reaction, she probably would’ve given up resisting under pressure and complied.
She couldn’t even bear to imagine a future like that.
“Uh, Shihou, which station are you getting off at?”
“Shinjuku.”
“Then we can stay like this a bit longer, right? You kind of like this feeling too, don’t you?”
Harutaki’s voice felt like it was stripping her bare, exposing all her inner thoughts.
Yes. Being wrapped in warmth like this. Having a safe harbor to rely on. Feeling protected.
She loved it. She was addicted to it—
Like a kotatsu in the dead of winter.
Outside, icy winds howled and heavy snow battered the windows. But atop the warm kotatsu, tea, snacks, a TV, no one could escape its “grip.”
“I just don’t want you, Hoshikawa, to bother the other passengers… Holding each other like this saves space too.”
Chouko said it against her true feelings, while her arms around the boy’s broad back tightened further, pressing herself completely against him.
She should’ve found this kind of intimacy unpleasant.
Her chest was already being squashed against Harutaki’s, slightly misshapen, to the point she could barely breathe.
But… but she didn’t want to let go. She was afraid that the moment she did, Hoshikawa Harutaki would vanish like Santa Claus—appearing and disappearing without a trace.
She reassured herself again and again: good friends who hadn’t seen each other in a while hugging like this was normal, common, right?
And Onii was standing over on the other side, waiting for her to get off and continue wandering around together…
Even though Chouko didn’t think of it as a date—
If anything, it felt more like going out with an older brother she’d played with since childhood.
She didn’t want to make Harutaki feel hurt, nor did she wish to harm her Onii, Sato.
Still, if she ever got the chance, Chouko puffed out her cheeks in frustration, secretly vowing to teach Onii a lesson.
“Soft and squishy… I kinda wish I could hug you like this when I’m sleeping too.”
Imitating Chouko, Harutaki wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
The moment she heard that, a wave of unease washed over her, heat surging through her body.
This was bad.
Really, really bad.
His words instantly dragged her memories back to that night, when the two of them had slept side by side.
After the excitement faded, what remained everywhere was a sense of warmth and reassurance, almost like newlyweds.
“L-let go…”
“Only you’re allowed to hug me, but I’m not allowed to hug you? That’s way too unfair.”
Chouko loosened her grip, trying to escape from that dangerously tempting embrace.
The holy son Jesus tempted by Satan, and Shakyamuni tempted by Mara.
If this continued, she might just get a taste of what falling from grace felt like.
“Hoshikawa, you’re the one who said the world isn’t fair,” she retorted, turning his words against him.
“Yeah, it’s unfair. Like how boys are generally stronger than girls. And right now, this is clearly one of those ‘general situations,’ you know.”
Harutaki hadn’t expected the girl to use his own words to corner him.
Did Shihou really remember everything he’d ever said about himself?
That unintentional show of special attention made his heart skip a beat.
“If you don’t let go, I’m gonna wipe my snot all over your clothes.”
“Are you some kind of brat? Careful, I’ll tell your parents.”
As he spoke, Harutaki let go, leaving a bit of space between them.
Though to outsiders, that distance was still plenty intimate.
“Hehe… hugging and cuddling in public, how shameless~”
The sudden voice beside her made Chouko jump. She hurriedly turned her head, only to see Ayaka wearing a teasing grin.
The pink-haired girl’s aqua-blue eyes curved like crescents. The puffy tear troughs on her fair face were irresistibly cute, and her outfit matched exactly what Chouko had seen in photos before.
Right. How could she forget?
Today, Harutaki had come out together with his little sister, Ayaka.
Which meant…
“To think that the always-so-composed Shihou-senpai would show such a girlish side just now~”
“Ugh…”
Stop it, stop it already!
Chouko reflexively wanted to burrow back into the boy’s arms in front of her, to have him shield her from this unbearably embarrassing topic.
“Alright, alright. Ayaka, keep it up. Shihou’s about to crawl back into mommy’s arms.”
“Pfft. ‘Mommy’s arms,’ that’s just mean, Harutaki.”
She had been so embarrassed she could have buried her head into the floor, but Harutaki’s comment made Chouko cover her mouth and laugh softly instead. Her free left hand kept lightly pounding his shoulder.
This time, there wasn’t much force behind it. Harutaki thought it felt just like a kitten kneading, absurdly cute.
“My idiot brother always runs his mouth. He’s the worst!”
Ayaka, who had been claiming she’d help earlier, instantly switched sides and launched a counterattack on her brother.
Acting like a best friend, she hooked arms with Chouko, the two of them shoulder to shoulder as they denounced Harutaki together.
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