"Hey-ya!"
"Mmm…"
On the morning of the third day of the new year, the Minamoto family's eldest son was still sealed away by the devil of the futon, happily drowning in sweet sleep—when suddenly, a soft weight pressed down on him.
"Senya, why are you still asleep? Get up already! We're leaving soon!"
Rikka had barged in without a shred of hesitation, kicking off her slippers, her tiny feet wrapped in white tights stepping onto the edge of the bed. Without giving her brother a chance to defend himself, she threw herself on top of him like a caterpillar, dumping her whole weight onto his body.
A textbook scene from every youth slice-of-life anime ever.
At least Rikka was still "considerate" enough not to just plop her butt right down on him.
Senya yawned, swatting away the cold little hands trying to chill him awake. "What time is it?"
Changing positions, Rikka shifted from lying down to straddling him, her voice urgent. "It's already seven!"
Senya lazily rolled over, picked up his phone, and held it out to her.
The glowing screen clearly read 6:40.
Rikka grinned sheepishly. "Close enough. Rounding up."
Senya shifted around under the blanket, adjusting where she was pressing down on him. "Didn't we agree to meet at the shrine at nine?"
"But you still have to brush your teeth, wash your face, eat breakfast—and it takes time to get there! We're running out of time!"
"Mm… yeah, yeah, I get it… You go on ahead, I'll get up soon…"
Seeing his sleepy, half-hearted response, Rikka pouted in annoyance. But then, with the scheming smile of a master strategist, she suddenly lifted the blanket and dove right in!
Her ice-cold hands slipped under his shirt, mercilessly pressing against his back and stomach.
"Hhssss—!"
Any lingering sleep vanished in an instant.
Five minutes later, Rikka bounced out of the room humming a tune, clearly in a good mood, while a yawning Senya trudged out behind her, fully dressed.
After washing up, he made his way into the kitchen, where Toka was already busy with breakfast. He walked over to help.
"Morning."
"Morning… Say, Senya, you really should give Rikka a proper lecture. She's too old to still be crawling into a boy's futon like that."
"Isn't that exactly the kind of thing most boys dream about? Getting woken up by a cute little sister in such an affectionate way?"
"That sounds like something out of an ancient light novel protagonist setting."
Besides, if Senya had to choose, he was firmly in the older-girl camp.
Cute is worthless compared to sexy and beautiful.
From the living room, Rikka peeked her head out, phone in hand. "Hurry up! Eriri and the others are already eating breakfast. We've gotta move faster!"
Both Senya and Toka waved her off halfheartedly.
Despite the rush, the two continued cooking at their usual unhurried pace.
Toka flipped the eggs in the pan with practiced ease—nobody in the family liked sunny-side up. "By the way, what time did you get home yesterday?"
Senya spread butter on toast and slipped it into the oven. "Same as always. Around midnight."
Honestly, it wouldn't have mattered if he came home later. The last train ran until 2 a.m.
But staying up too late wrecked your health and stunted growth, so better not to push it.
As it was, his routine worked fine.
He'd left Touma's place a little after eleven, gotten home around midnight, cleaned up, and was in bed before one.
Thanks to his good constitution, his body recovered quickly. Seven hours of sleep was more than enough—he could get up at seven or eight the next day without feeling weak or drained.
"You've been staying really late at Touma's place every day since the first. Are you sure that's okay?"
"I do feel a little bad… but she seems to enjoy it a lot. She's practically glowing with satisfaction."
"…Satisfied?"
"Yeah. Me calling her 'sensei' over and over seems to really hit the spot for her. Turns out Touma's surprisingly easy to please in the emotional value department."
Toka's eyes lowered, for some reason a little unsettled. She probed cautiously. "She sounds like a very… simple girl."
"That's right. She even came over for dinner the other day, you saw her yourself."
Toka: "…"
Saw what, exactly? That girl had clung to his side all evening, barely saying a word to anyone else except for polite greetings.
She hadn't seemed "simple." She'd seemed dependent.
Quietly sighing, Toka plated the fried eggs, turned the heat down, and slid some sliced sausages into the pan, stirring with chopsticks. "Senya, I don't understand something."
"What is it?"
"You used to be so passionate about kendo. You showed incredible talent, improved at lightning speed, even won nationals your first time competing. I thought you wanted to pursue it seriously as your future path."
But recently, she had clearly noticed that his kendo training time had dropped dramatically.
The old routine of morning practice had dwindled to once every few days, and even then, the sessions were much shorter.
Gone was the Senya who came back drenched in sweat, muscles trembling from pushing himself to the limit.
These days, his sword swings looked more like a retiree doing calisthenics in the park.
His edge had dulled.
The boy who once pushed himself relentlessly now practiced as if for leisure.
And instead of visiting Saeko's dojo every day, he went maybe once a week.
In its place? Nights at Touma's house.
Helping at the store until evening, then heading to Touma's until late at night.
Yes, he was learning piano there. That was legitimate.
But Toka couldn't shake the feeling that something about it wasn't quite right.
On the outside, she looked calm. On the inside, her thoughts spun endlessly.
Senya, however, took it lightly, answering smoothly. "It feels too early to lock down my future right now. I'd rather experience different things, see different paths, and wait until my third year of high school to decide. That's not too late."
Third year, huh… That means soon I'll have to decide my own life's path too…
Toka asked him a question, but ended up lost in her own worries.
Senya pulled the toast from the oven. Seeing her thoughtful expression, he guessed she was worrying about his future.
So he added, with deliberate warmth: "Don't worry. No matter what I decide to do, family will always be my top priority."
He pressed his thumb against his chest.
Family, huh…
"Enough already, sis. If you make too much food, we won't be able to finish it…"
Just then, Rikka's head popped into the kitchen again, urging them along.
"Almost done, stop rushing us." This time, Toka was actually grateful for her little sister's interruption.
Senya asked, "Are you coming with us to the shrine later?"
Toka shook her head. "I'll pass. You guys have fun."
"Want me to pray for anything on your behalf?"
"Then please, pray for our family and our friends to be safe and healthy."
And so began their New Year's shrine visit.
…
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