The Meddlesome Miyu [2]

She hurried back into the house while I stood outside, absorbing the warm sunlight. The sky was beautiful as always, but this time, there was no cloud in sight. Only the sun and the magnificent blue sky that held wonders yet to be known were in my sights. Man, that's so cheesy.

I waited for a very long time as I looked at my phone. The time was 9:34. She took an extra four minutes of my time. As I turned to leave, I heard her footsteps thundering on the floor.

“I'm finally d-d-d-d-done!” she announced while stretching.

“Why are you acting like you just ran a marathon?”

“Because it feels like I just did. Now let's go!”

Having said that, Miyu took the lead, walking like an enthusiastic female lead. I followed as we began talking about the isekai she watched a few days ago. Before we knew it, we were in the forest. We strolled through the bushes and into the heart of the forest as the birds chirped softly and the cicadas sang sweetly.

Now, we were truly away from the outside world and into the second sanctuary — the oasis known as Tokiwa Forest. Fun fact: the full name of this place is — Shinboku no Tokiwa no Mori. It's written as Sacred Tree's Tokiwa Forest, meaning that the Elder Tree is actually the sacred tree. I found this out about two days ago after I searched it up. Why did I search this? Because I was bored.

We finally arrived at the Sacred Tree and saw Chiyoko standing on the left side of it. This time, she wasn't looking at the sky, but staring at the horizon. The mountains that spanned the land were probably breathtaking to her. I approached her as Miyu followed closely behind.

“Good morning, Chiyo-san.”

She turned our way, her arms hidden under her sweatshirt. This time, it looked longer than before.

“Good morning to you as well, Hiro-chan.”

Miyu watched the interaction and grinned. Then it finally dawned on me: Miyu was basically a walking red flag—at least when she wanted to be, anyway. 

Her actually getting along with Chiyoko was like me trying to get a cat and a dog to be acquainted. Things could go south very quickly.

“Is this your younger sister?”

“Uh… yeah. She insisted on coming because she wanted to meet you.”

“Truly? Well, I'm honored to finally meet you. I'm Watanabe Chiyoko,” she said, walking toward us until she stood in front of me and bowed. Miyu, the confident one, was hiding behind her older brother

She stood next to me and looked at Chiyoko. For the first time, I saw Miyu astonished. Usually, she would do her classic red flag act. But in that moment, she seemed captivated, albeit wowed out of her mind.

When he told me he was meeting someone, I figured it was a girl. I mean, why else would they meet alone in the forest? But even though I was expecting her to be pretty, I definitely wasn't expecting this! Where in the world did you find this girl, bro?

“Miyu, hey, Miyu. Ground control to Miyu, can you read me?” I said teasingly. Chiyoko covered her mouth and laughed politely as Miyu snapped out of it.

“W-What did you say?”

“I said, say hi.”

“Oh. Uh… Hi there, I'm Sato Hiroshi—wait, no, I'm Sato Miyu. It's nice to meet you.” She bowed as a slight blush enveloped her features.

Why am I so nervous? I'm the Miyu. I don't get flustered. Whoever she is, she must be something special if she's making me sweat.

Having thought that, she raised her head and looked at me as she gave me a thumbs up along with a smile of approval.

What's that for? I thought.

As we both had our introspective thoughts, Chiyoko decided to break the silence.

“Miyu-chan, are you an anime fan like your older brother?”

“Y-Yeah. But I mostly watch isekai and some romcoms. He watches basically every genre, though.”

“I know. And that's how he ends up tired all of the time, because he's too busy watching everything.”

“I know, right? You would think a person would take care of themselves properly.”

Look who's talking!

“Your brother is a real handful, isn't he?”

“He is. Especially when he gets all cynical about literally everything.”

“Indeed. I once asked him about an anime that had a terrible ending. I told him the ending was bad, but do you know what he said? ‘That ending is realistic; happy endings don't exist in real life.' "

I didn't necessarily say it like that, did I?

“He's a bummer, isn't he?” Miyu asked.

“He is,” Chiyoko replied while nodding with her eyes closed.

Hello, I'm standing right here, you jerks.

“But one thing is for sure,”

“Yes, I agree wholeheartedly,”

What the… did they just read each other's minds?

“He's really kind, and his heart… is as big as the world,” the two girls murmured sweetly in unison.

What was the unexpected here? Well, to be honest, I don't even know. But them actually getting along by roasting me was definitely something I wasn't expecting — both in a good way and a bad way. Even so, I'm just glad they hit it off.

“Uh — how are the two of you doing that? Should I call the ambulance? I'm just kidding. I'm glad you both think of me in that way, even though most of those ‘compliments’ were just jabs that hurt more than getting punched for real.”

The two looked at me as pure amusement washed over them. They giggled together while I was left out like that one kid who just can't fit in no matter how hard they try.

“Why are you laughing?”

“No reason.”

“We were simply admiring you, Hiro-chan the Adonis.”

“W-What? Okay, that's not funny. Playing with a man's heart is a serious taboo, you know that, right?”

“She was being honest, though.”

“How would you know? The both of you met a few minutes ago.”

“Details, shmetails. Why do you gotta worry about that stuff?”

“You're impossible.”

“The two of you are true siblings. Not just because you look similar, but also because of the bond you share. I can see it clear as day. The two of you love each other dearly, don't you?”

Miyu and I looked at each other as she grinned mischievously while I smirked.

“Yeah. The two of us,” I said simply.

“We're as close as it gets,” Miyu declared as I pointed at four birds that were gliding through the air as all our attention was set on them.

This was a learning experience for me. I learned that I shouldn’t overthink things; I should just trust my gut and hope for the best. Life is full of unexpected moments and challenges. You've just got to expect the unexpected, I guess.

But that's... easier said than done.

[To be continued]