Watching Claire sit on the sofa while Nagisa Akatsuki stood timidly in front of her, Cid found the whole scene a little surreal.
Nagisa Akatsuki was clearly standing above Claire and looking down at her, yet somehow it still felt like Claire was the one looking down on Nagisa Akatsuki.
Nagisa, where did your usual chatterbox personality go? Aren't you the type who can get along with anyone in no time? So why are you shrinking back now? Pull yourself together.
"U-um…"
As if she had heard his thoughts, Nagisa Akatsuki finally spoke up on her own.
Oh, nice. Come on, Nagisa, you can do it. You'll definitely be able to get a conversation going with my sister.
Of course, judging by the mood right now, it felt more likely they would start arguing. But that was fine too. In fact, he was waiting for exactly that. Once they started fighting, he could slip away.
"Um, h-hello. You're Cid-senpai's older sister, right? My name is Nagisa Akatsuki. I'm Cid-senpai's neighbor…"
...
"Stop. Cid, you explain."
Claire seemed to have noticed Nagisa Akatsuki's nervousness too, so she shifted the burden onto Cid and made him do the introductions instead.
Faced with this completely undeserved disaster, Cid had no choice. He emptied his mind, surrendered his mouth to the instincts of the strong, stepped forward, and extended his left hand toward Nagisa Akatsuki.
"Nee-san, this is Nagisa Akatsuki. I met her a year ago when I moved to Itogami Island. She helped me a lot back then, and she usually takes very good care of me. She's also my junior and underclassman. I like her a lot, so please don't bully her, sis."
What did I just say? This was when I was supposed to stir things up and create a chance to run.
Before he could even finish that thought, he extended his right hand toward Claire.
"Nagisa, this is my sister, Claire Kagenou. She's a graduate of Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy and currently a member of the Midgar Knights. She was probably like that just now because she had only just come back from the battlefield and hadn't gotten herself under control yet, so please don't blame her. I'll make it up to you."
It's over. I just set myself on fire.
"Cid, are you saying that what happened just now was my fault? That I was deliberately bullying her?"
"Cid…-kun!"
See? All the pressure that had been on Nagisa Akatsuki a moment ago had now shifted onto him. Nagisa was safe. He was the one in danger now.
Claire looked at Cid with a dangerously sharp gaze. Nagisa Akatsuki was looking at him too with her big watery eyes, and for some reason there was even a blush on her face.
The psychological pressure kept getting heavier and heavier. Cid, think of something. Hurry up and beat your brain until it comes up with an idea.
Grrr...
Huh? Why is my stomach growling?
"Cid-senpai, are you hungry? That makes sense, you haven't eaten anything all morning. I'll go make something right now."
No, no, no, Nagisa, the problem right now isn't that I'm hungry. The problem is how to fool my sister. Also, why am I even hungry?
In theory, all he had to do was divert a tiny portion of the magic power he used every day to temper his body and use it to maintain basic bodily functions. That alone would let him skip eating entirely.
Even if, for the sake of acting like a background character, he was too stingy to spare even a little magic power because it would reduce the effect of his training, and so kept up the habit of eating every day, his body alone should still have let him go at least a month before feeling hungry.
Anyway, first he had to pull Nagisa back into this. He couldn't let her run off. He shouldn't be the only one carrying all this pressure.
"No, Nagisa, I..."
Wait.
Only then did he realize that after his stomach growled, the atmosphere in the room had somehow improved. He had no idea why, but for now he decided to go along with it.
"Oh right, Nagisa, if you can, please make a portion for my sister too."
"Don't worry, Cid-senpai, I'll definitely make one for your sister too," Nagisa called back from the kitchen.
Cid looked toward his sister. The pressure coming from her had eased, but her expression was still bad. She was obviously sulking.
Think of a topic, Cid.
"Nee-san, you're in for a treat. Nagisa's cooking is really good. Look, after eating her food for the past year, I've gained quite a bit of weight."
"I'm not eating anything she makes. If you want to eat it, then eat it yourself."
Heh.
Cid let out a cold laugh inwardly.
He understood.
This was tsundere.
...
"Munch munch, sizzle… ah… ha."
"Don't think I'll accept you just because your cooking is good. Let me tell you, there are plenty of people in this world who cook well."
Nee-san, could you at least stop moving your mouth before saying something like that? Also, I've been living on Itogami Island for almost a year now, and I honestly haven't met anyone who cooks better than Nagisa. And that includes the times I sneak over to Gamma's place to mooch meals.
"Ah… haha… um… Onee-sama."
Nagisa, stop talking. Let me handle my sister. I know you're not in your best condition today, but that opening line was a disaster.
"Onee-sama, I've always wanted to meet you. I hear about you from Cid-senpai all the time. Seeing you today really proves that reputation doesn't lie. You're even better than Cid-senpai described."
"Who are you calling Onee… wait, what did you just say? Cid talks about me all the time?"
A smile bloomed across Claire's face like a flower opening.
"Oh, do you not like me calling you Onee-sama? Then how should I address you?"
"No, I like it very much. Now that I think about it, I've always wanted a younger sister. You've got good taste."
"Really? That's wonderful, Onee-sama."
"By the way, what exactly does Cid usually say about me?"
"Hmm… things like how beautiful you are, how talented you are, and how strong you are."
"Haha, I'm not that amazing. Anything else?"
"Hmm… that you treat him very well, that you have a strong sense of responsibility as an older sister, and that you've always been protecting him."
"Oh! Oh! Oh! What else? What else?"
"And also…"
Watching the two women suddenly get along, Cid felt strangely uncomfortable.
This was exactly what he had wanted from the start. Get the two of them to focus on each other so he could quietly slip away. But for some reason, his chest felt heavy.
Nee-san, what happened to that look earlier like you and Nagisa Akatsuki couldn't exist under the same sky? You just made peace with her that easily? Aren't you normally the type who hates people trying to get close to you? Nagisa said a few nice things and now you look like you want to swear sisterhood with her. What's going on?
And Nagisa, when exactly did I ever talk to you about my sister? Why do you know so much about her? Did I lose my memory or something?
Even though there were three people present, Cid felt like the two of them had completely excluded him. They didn't even glance at him once.
So he turned his frustration into appetite and focused on eating.
Hmm… looks like I've finished.
"By the way, Nagisa, where's Kojou? Why isn't he here?"
"Kojou? He couldn't get up. He's still sleeping. Sometimes I seriously wonder if he's turned into a vampire."
"What's wrong, Cid? Do you need Kojou for something?"
Nagisa Akatsuki seemed completely unconcerned about it. She replied casually while continuing her lively conversation with Claire.
"Did you forget? Yesterday you helped me confirm the plan with Kojou to go to the water park."
"Since Kojou still hasn't woken up, I'll go wake him for you."
The moment Nagisa Akatsuki heard Cid say that, the words she had been speaking stopped mid-sentence.
She stood there in front of Claire with her mouth slightly open, her eyes unfocused, clearly lost in thought.
Only when Cid was about to reach Kojou Akatsuki's door did a glimmer of awareness return to her eyes.
"Wait, Cid-senpai. When did I ever say yesterday that Kojou was the one who invited you?"
"Wasn't it Kojou who told you? We already agreed last week to go out together on Sunday."
After saying that, Cid ignored Nagisa Akatsuki, who still looked like she wanted to say something. After all, nine and a half out of ten sentences from a chatterbox were meaningless anyway.
He simply opened the door and walked straight into Kojou Akatsuki's room.
Watching Cid walk into Kojou Akatsuki's room without listening to her, Nagisa Akatsuki stood there for a moment, unsure how to express what she was feeling.
Then she turned to look at Claire beside her.
"Onee-sama… help me."
"Eh? Eh?! EH?!"
Claire looked completely bewildered.