Chapter 16 - And Then, They Found Her and Meet Him

[19:20] Kumiko : I'm at a family restaurant right now.

[19:20] Kumiko : Teehee ;)

What the heck do you mean 'teehee' huh?

[19:21] Yuuto : Hey, why did you answer so slowly?

[19:21] Yuuto : You didn't know how worried we were.

[19:21] Kumiko : Sorry, sorry, I was with my boyfriend earlier.

[19:22] Kumiko : I didn't expect to meet him around the city park.

Knowing her reason, I snorted.

"She said she's at a family restaurant right now," I told Yuuko about the current situation.

"Oh... Is it the one near the city park?"

"Who knows? She said she met her boyfriend around there."

"Her boyfriend?!" Yuuko shouted.

God, she's so loud!

"Hey you're being too loud!" I whispered while doing the 'shh' pose.

Realizing her act, she closed her mouth with both of her hands.

"By the way, do you know where the place is?"

"You seriously need to go out more."

She looked at me with a face that said 'You are unbelievably hopeless'.

Well yeah it's true, I'm really hopeless about going out alone without knowing where to go.

Also, I rarely took a stroll around the neighborhood. If there's a place I know, it's only my house; Yuuko's house; school; city park; train station; the cafe I went to last week.

Wow... That's actually so few.

"I go out everyday by the way."

"You only went to school, then went home. No more, no less."

"That's not true? I went to the school's track field today with my friend," I said, feeling proud of my achievement.

"That's still in the same place..."

"At least I went to some place before home."

Yuuko clapped her face, then looked at me with a tired face.

"Anyways, we should go now."

"Where?" Yuuko tilted her head.

"To the family restaurant of course." I then sighed.

"Are you crazy?! She's on a date! We should go back home to wait for her."

"Eh? Why? We need to tell her to buy the soy sauce my mom asked for earlier."

"Can't we buy it ourselves?!"

"Well, I don't have any money with me now." I checked both of my trousers' pockets. "What about you?"

"Of course! ... I don't have any either..." She fell silent.

Haa... I knew it, of course she doesn't have any, why am I asking that...? She's supposed to have a sleepover, not a sudden trip in the night.

"Okay, so... What should we do now?" I asked her, mainly about her opinion.

"Maybe we should go after her." She looked away from me.

"Sure, lead the way please."

We then walk back to the city park, because obviously we already walk past it.

Such a troublesome sister...

———

When we finally arrived at the family restaurant, Yuuko executed a sudden plan she had made earlier on the way.

Spying.

"Hey, are we seriously only going to spy them?" I asked Yuuko, who sits in front of me holding a who knows from where the newspaper is.

And of course, there's a big hole in the newspaper.

Pfft. Such a worthy disguise.

"Yeah! Of course! We're going to wait for them."

I took a glance at them. My sister is looking like she's having her best time ever, while the guy in front of her smiles sweetly.

Brrr, that smile sent a jolt to my whole body.

"Really...? What if the waiter comes and asks for our order? We didn't have any money, do you remember?"

"Oh... yeah... you're right..." She slowly put down the newspaper.

"Alright, let's go."

"Hey, wait! Since when have you been so brave?"

"Brave? What do you mean? I don't have any courage to confront them."

"What?!" She shouted, again.

"Hey! Sshh!"

Everyone then proceeded to look at us.

God this is so embarrassing... So embarrassing that I took the newspaper Yuuko put down to use it to hide my face.

But of course it didn't work, there's a big hole after all.

I only made myself be more embarrassed than I already was.

"... Yuuto?"

Eek! That voice, the voice I have heard everyday for 15 years. I turn to look at the direction the voice came, still hiding my face with the newspaper.

My sister walked towards us, while looking at me confusedly. "Yuuto, why are you holding a newspaper in front of your— ah! Yuuko!" She then dashed past me to hug her.

I put down the newspaper on the table, because the crowd is no longer looking at our direction. Well, obviously I put down the newspaper because it's useless.

"I'm very sorry if I made you worried~" My sister apologized dramatically.

"Mhm, it's okay."

I feel like Yuuko is her real sibling and not me.

"Hey, are you not going to apologize to me too?"

She let go of Yuuko, and looked at me. "Why? It's not like you care—"

"What the heck are you talking about?" I whispered under my breath, holding back my frustration.

"Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset, it seems like I'm being too much," she said weakly while walking to me. "I'm sorry, I'm very sorry, Yuuto." She then hugged me for a while.

I couldn't say anything back, doesn't mean I haven't forgiven her, though.

It's not the first time she made me feel like this, but I can't get used to it. She jokes too much, even at times like this, but at least she always realizes her mistakes.

So I guess that's enough.

Then, I heard footsteps coming closer.

"Kumiko, who are these two?" A manly voice, not too heavy, not too light, echoed in my ears.

"Ah, this is my little brother," she introduced me.

I also turn behind to look at him.

As expected, though I didn't expect anything, the guy I see in front of me is... How do I say it... He is indeed handsome, and his clothing is also very cool.

"Good night, I'm Fujikawa Kazuya, and as you already know, I'm Kumiko's boyfriend. Nice to meet you." He then bowed.

He's so confident about us already knowing him as my sister's boyfriend…

Well, there is nothing I can do about that. Time to return the favor.

"Good night... My name is... Yuuto, it's nice to meet... you too..." I also introduced myself and bowed.

"And the cute blonde girl over here is Hoshino Yuuko," my sister continues to introduce Yuuko.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Hoshino Yuuko." She bowed.

"It's nice to meet you too." Fujikawa bowed too.

Finally, the introduction has come to an end. I'm so grateful because it's so tiring to say 'bow' multiple times.

My sister dashed past me again, to get beside Fujikawa. And Yuuko is somehow already standing beside me.

"What about the four of us having a relaxing conversation while eating dinner? Don't worry, it's all on me," Fujikawa offered us.

"Well, about that—"

When I'm about to explain something, Yuuko and my sister cutted me off, "Yeah!" They shouted excitedly.

Wait, this is so confusing, haven't they eaten already? Well, maybe not, because when I looked at their table again, there's nothing on it.

Daww... come on...

I wanna go home so bad…