Yuu left without looking back.
"Yuu..."
Sora, who had been about to wash dishes in the kitchen, stood frozen at the living room door. Staring at the closed front door, she even forgot to hug her rabbit plushie. She swung her slender, long legs and ran upstairs.
Reaching the second floor, she quickly opened the bedroom door and rushed to the balcony. She looked down at the street outside, squinting slightly from discomfort.
"Very suspicious... and it has something to do with a girl!"
Sora murmured, her eyes scanning the road in front of their house.
Her suspicion was simple—had the caller been a man, Yuu certainly wouldn't have answered her question ambiguously or ignored it entirely.
Thus, only one explanation remained for his reaction.
The person on the phone wasn't just a woman—it was someone so close to him that he couldn't tell his little sister.
...Was it his girlfriend?
With this uncertain guess, Sora quickly spotted a familiar figure walking down the street. And just as she suspected, at an intersection some distance from their home, she saw him meet a silver-haired girl, then walk away together intimately.
They held hands, almost clinging to each other on the sidewalk. From any angle, she was clearly his girlfriend.
"..."
On the balcony, the silent air felt frozen.
Though the morning sun shone warm and bright, no light penetrated her pale-colored eyes. Sora simply stared silently at the backs of the two figures walking away.
Unexpected.
After witnessing the scene with her own eyes, Sora felt calmer than she'd imagined. She didn't even feel particularly sad.
It was as if she'd been wounded by this many times before, and now her wounds had already scabbed over. She could even quietly comment to herself—her brother must have a special fetish, going so far as to find a girlfriend with hair color similar to hers. How perverted.
For some reason, Sora herself felt very strange.
She thought she would be more shocked, more disbelieving, then start fearing she'd be abandoned.
But now, seeing her brother and that girl walk away, apart from wanting to ask him to be honest when he returned, she had no urge to cause a scene or claim ownership.
There was only a slight tightness in her chest, a small unwillingness, and anxiety over being kept in the dark. Compared to her past jealous outbursts over minor hints, this could be called remarkably calm.
Had she unknowingly matured?
"Anyway, Yuu belongs to me—no one can take him... No matter if you're his girlfriend, mistress, or wife, you'll never take Yuu from me."
She muttered, as if hypnotizing herself. After taking a deep breath of the cold morning air, Sora stepped away from the balcony.
Barefoot, she skillfully unlocked the door and entered the adjacent room.
No matter how mature she became, her love for her brother would never cool.
No matter how many women he met outside, within this house, Yuu would always be her older brother—and Sora would always be his younger sister.
They belonged to each other, and no matter how the world changed, not even death could separate them.
Sora believed this completely, and since that day until now, she had never doubted it.
"Haaah... Yuu... I love you... always loved you..."
In the empty, quiet room.
Breathing in his scent, surrounded by traces Yuu had left behind.
The silver-haired girl lay on the bed, sucking her fingers. Her pale face flushed red, and her soft breathing gradually grew heavier.
When could she finally confess these feelings to him?
Sora was growing increasingly impatient.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
"By the way, Masuzu, how did you know my home address?"
"It's easy. As long as there is love, even becoming an omniscient, omnipotent god is possible, ki☆ra~"
"Stop trying to act cute in front of me."
Yuu slapped his forehead. Masuzu only stuck out her tongue playfully, pretending to be adorable, showing no intention of letting go. She still clung to his arm like a koala.
"Geez..." Yuu walked awkwardly toward the station. He mentally calculated that this girl was five times needier than usual.
Her beautiful body pressed against him without resistance. Her soft, pale cheek occasionally brushed against his arm. Her expression, usually calm and composed, had completely melted away, replaced by pure, sweet joy.
"Ngeh, ngeh..."
Masuzu even made weird noises like that—cuter than a house cat long abandoned by its owner—
Is this really Masuzu?
Normally, she cared about her image, maintaining the grace and dignity of a proper girlfriend.
But now, she seemed to have fully entered another world—completely ignoring everyone else except him, clinging to him wholeheartedly, as if afraid he'd run away if she let go.
(...She's truly gone crazy. Did what I said yesterday affect her this deeply?)
As these thoughts crossed his mind, his arm was rubbed against again several times.
Yuu's eyebrow twitched slightly. Unable to endure it any longer, he sighed helplessly.
"...Masuzu, could you please loosen your grip a bit? Lots of people are staring."
Masuzu tilted her head up slightly, pouting her cheeks, whispering into his chest with a complaining tone, "Ugh, don't you like it when they know we're doing well?"
(Look, her way of speaking—she's regressed at least ten years in age!)
(But wait, seven-year-old Masuzu...)
Yuu shook his head, steadying his conscience, which was nearly wavering.
"I just don't want you to be seen as a poor, unfortunate beauty with leg problems needing help to walk to school."
"...True, I was too out of control."
Seeming to imagine that scenario, Masuzu's expression slowly regained composure, and the intelligent, mature light returned to her eyes.
After sighing deeply, as if regretful, she straightened up and gently released his arm.
Yet their hands remained intertwined—like grasping the last straw on water's surface, refusing to let go.
"What's wrong with you today? Did you suddenly catch a clinginess disease?" After thinking, Yuu carefully asked.
Masuzu replied casually, "No, it's just that my friction technique has finally reached its final stage. This is a crucial moment. Without strong friction, all accumulated friction energy will be wasted, and I'll have to start over from scratch."
Yuu couldn't help but comment, "Impressive—you're better at making up stories than I am…"
Since the other party chose not to talk about it, and to avoid worsening her condition, Yuu didn't press further. Calmly and naturally, he held her hand and walked into the station, boarding the train that had just arrived.
Along the way, Masuzu occasionally tilted her head up, gazing at his profile from the side.
Not knowing what she was thinking, her eyes sometimes looked confused, sometimes complicated—but the moment their eyes met, she concealed all inner turmoil. Casually starting conversations about random, unimportant topics, keeping Masuzu sounding like Masuzu.
At the shoe lockers, they promised to have lunch together, then parted ways to different classrooms.