The Romance Loving Sister

“What’s wrong?” Cobalt asks.

Before I can reply, Vega’s voice cuts through the diner like a knife.

“Altair! Hey!”

Agila turns to look in our direction with wide eyes. “Kuya?! And Cobalt?!”

Now it’s Vega’s turn to look surprised. “Wait, Kuya? Are you Altair’s sister?!”

“Yes— Wait, you know Kuya? How?!”

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And just like that, all four of us have crowded together in a single booth, with the girls sitting on one side and Cobalt sitting next to me. I have a clear view of Vega, who sits across from me and is, for whatever reason, absolutely giddy with excitement.

Cobalt is the first to break the ice, giving out warm greetings to both Vega and Agila.

“Say, have we met before?” Vega asks through squinted eyes.

“Hm…I don’t think so? I’m pretty sure this is the first time we’ve met!” Cobalt says this matter of factly in a way that leaves no room for argument. He’s always been a pretty good actor, which is one of the many things that makes him such a good agent.

Vega doesn’t question him and nods along in agreement. “Is that so? My bad. It’s nice to meet you. I'm Vega.”

"Nice to meet you too! Name's Cobalt."

Vega's eyes widen, and for a moment, I worry that she's starting to make the connection between Ace and Cobalt. But then she quickly fixes her expression to something more neutral.

"Cobalt? That's a nice name."

Huh, that was weird. Or maybe my eyes were just playing tricks on me.

After the pleasantries are finally worn out, there’s a beat of silence, and I’m about to try to casually break it but my sister beats me to the punch.

“So Vega, how do you know my brother?”

“Oh, we’ve met a few times around town.”

“Is that so?” Agila asks, not sounding convinced. Before she can ask more, I turn the tables.

“What about you, Agila? How do you know Vega?”

“Oh, uh, Vega’s helped me out of a few scrapes here and there.”

“Scrapes?” I ask. Agila’s never been the trouble making type, so the use of the term surprises me.

“Yeah, your sister’s a real wily one!” Vega says before she turns to Agila with an expression that looks like she just had a light bulb moment. “Aaaand now I understand why Altair thinks that you LARP as a magical girl.”

“He thinks I do what?!” Agila exclaims, face turning bright red with embarrassment. I start to feel a little bad for bringing it up last night, but then I remember that both Agila and Vega seem to be hiding something big from me and the moment passes.

“Oh, you were LARPing?” Cobalt asks. “I thought you were just cosplaying.”

“Wait, wait, hold up,” Agila says, pointing to Cobalt and me, “You both have seen me in my magical girl get-up?”

“Yes,” I say without hesitation.

“Several times,” Cobalt adds.

“S-several?!” Agila squeaks, looking mortified.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed about,” Cobalt says in a calming manner, “I used to dress up like a power ranger all the time as a kid. But man, cosplayers these days are amazing. That transformation sequence you did last week was amazing! How did you rig the effects?”

“Oh, um, I know a guy,” is all Agila can weakly offer. I study both my sister and Vega’s expressions during this entire exchange and notice the way that they both keep stealing glances at each other. Yeah, they’re definitely hiding something.

Then Agila takes control of the conversation again.

“So Vega, are you the girl that Kuya went on a date with last night?”

Now it’s my turn to turn red, whether it’s from pure embarrassment or anger at having my sister steer the conversation that way, I’m honestly not sure. I can feel Cobalt trying to stifle his laughter next to me.

Traitor.

I look to Vega, whose face has also turned bright red as she stammers through her words.

“Oh, ah ha ha, h-how did you— Did Altair t-tell — Wh-why?”

“I found out from Adler, my younger brother. Pretty sure you met him at the toy store yesterday. No, Kuya hasn’t mentioned the date yet, but my whole family knows about it since he never goes on dates. As for why, well, I’m just curious~”

That’s another thing about Agila, she’s a romantic. It started with romance period novels, then shojo mangas, then K dramas, and it all sort of just spiraled from there.

Her “love radar” gets turned on any time someone close to her exhibits any kind of romantic interest in someone else, which essentially just means she becomes way too invested in other people’s love lives.

She was like this when her best friend admitted that she was going to confess to her childhood friend and went out of her way to set up the perfect meet-up spot for them. She even rented some props and enlisted the help of her friends in her school’s marching band to play ambient music to up the romantic mood.

And right now, at this very moment, I can tell that she has her love radar switched on. I can see it in her expression, the way that the stray cowlick on her hair seems to morph into a heart shape on its own, and the way that her eyes positively sparkle with anticipation.

“So how did the date go?” She asks, and she’s practically jumping in her seat in excitement.

“You know, I’d also like to know how this date went,” Cobalt adds with a smug smile. I try to kick him under the table, but his legs keep flawlessly evading mine. Curse his well-trained reflexes.

“Um, I think it went well?” Vega says, trailing the end of her answer with a question. She turns to look at me, as if to see if her answer was correct.

I quickly agree, putting on a pleasant smile and trying my best to mask any signs of anxiety. Unsurprisingly, our bland answers don’t satisfy my romance-loving sister.

“Is that really all you can say? What about the mood? The compatibility? Do you feel like you guys clicked? And most importantly, will there be a second date?”

She looks between me and Vega with expectant eyes, and that expression quickly transfers over to Vega.

“I don’t know, will there?” Vega asks, eyes shyly peering up at me from beneath her glasses.

“Yeah, will there be a second date?” Cobalt echoes, propping his chin on his hands and tilting his head to the side in a way that makes me want to punch him in the face. But he’d probably dodge that too.

“Um, I don’t know…Maybe?” Ha ha, what? What kind of reply was that?! Am I trying to play hard to get?! Why?!

Agila raises an eyebrow, noticing my odd behavior. “Kuya, do you want Vega to be the one to ask you out?”

“N-no!” I say, instantly feeling my face get hot. That’s not it! I don’t know what’s going on right now! Why is my brain not working properly?! And Cobalt should stop smiling all smug like that and just help me out of this already!

Agila nods, not sounding convinced by my answer. “Okay then, do you want to do the honors?”

I’m frozen. It’s not like I’ve never asked someone out on a date before. I’ve done it numerous times on missions, and successfully gone out on several dates. But none of those dates were real. They were all an act, either with a target, someone that was close to the target, or on rare occasions, a co-worker.

And this time is no different. This date, this “relationship”, if you can even call it that, isn’t real. It shouldn’t be. We barely know each other, and even if she seems to be on the nicer side, Vega is still a wanted criminal. She’s a target.

So why am I feeling this way?