I couldn’t “Read the Mood”

“Please let me buy a game console!”

“What? No! Why?”

Notice the instinctual “no” that came immediately before the “why”, instead of after. It’s been a long time since I’ve asked Koyuki of anything, and yet this was why I generally didn’t.

Despite bowing my head, chest and back with everything I had, she didn’t even move a muscle before responding. Her arms were crossed while she sat at the low fold out table (which she had been making use of every night since it had been set up) with an ipad and a brown bottle accompanying her. I even waited until she was a few beers down to try and up my chances, as the bitter sister was sometimes a little less strict once she was no longer sober.

Based on the way she took a quick glance at her drink after answering me, she probably could also tell it was intentional on my part.

Hanako imitating my prostrative motions right behind me didn’t seem to do much either.

In fact it may have even lowered my chances.

“I’ll be damned if I let you get addicted to video games right after you finally started going to school again.”

She said “finally” as if I hadn’t only been gone for a week. That much wasn’t that big of a deal, was it? Wasn’t she just overdramatizing it?

Well, I expected at least this much. But Hanako insisted we ask anyway.

“Is this you and your scheming again? What kinds of ideas are you putting in Shou’s head this time?”

She turned her head towards the succubus directly behind me, with an accusatory glare in her sanpaku eyes. But of course, it didn’t do much to phase the happy-go-lucky demon.

“No need to be so cautious. Suzuki has simply made some new friends at school, and wanted to share in their interests.”

“New friends…?”

She looked right at me this time. It was hard to be stared at so intensely, even if it wasn’t necessarily with ill intent. It’s like I was being studied; examined. Well, I probably was. Koyuki never failed to make piercingly direct eye contact, usually trying to read the person’s expression.

“Let him explain it himself.”

A response I didn’t expect.

Hanako was more than happy to comply with this request. Well, as much as I would have liked for her to keep explaining my reasoning for me, it didn’t really sit right to be a bystander while somebody else carried out my plan for me anyway.

“The boys at school, uhm, H-hiroshi and Noboru, play video games sometimes. Kobayashi has been talking about walking to play the new games on PZ5, and I just thought that maybe…”

She was no longer looking at me. Rather, she was deep in thought. The feeling I usually got from being interrogated by her subsided a bit, and my head cleared up enough for me to collect my thoughts.

Maybe a little more pushing would do the trick.

Eye contact.

Shoulders back.

Don’t stutter.

“I’ve made some new friends, and I thought that it would be a good way to practice my social skills if they could come over and play games. It would be an easy ice breaker!”

My hands were down by my sides, and my back was so stiff that it wouldn’t feel out of place if I were to salute on the spot.

Was this business casual? No, definitely not. I must have looked awkward as all hell, and my voice had definitely gotten too loud at some point.

I bowed again to show my sincerity.

Maybe she would at least see my effort.

“No.”

She didn’t. Though, she wasn’t done talking either. She was still looking off into space, contemplating something.

“Are you sure these kids aren’t just delinquents? They could just be using you.”

Well, it’s not like the thought didn’t cross my mind. My first time having friends, and it was really just that I was being taken advantage of. It would be easy to get blindsided by that.

I looked at Hanako.

Was she the same? Was it possible that she was using me too?

Of course not.

“They’re good guys! They’ve been really nice to me. They wouldn’t do that… I don’t think…”

I lost my confidence with the wind. Or really, the air conditioning. But I did want to believe that Hiroshi and Noboru weren’t like that. Or really, it wouldn’t be fair of me to think that of them. Not after they had believed in me despite what happened the week before.

“Do they have good grades? Are they healthy kids? Are you sure these are friends that will lead you down the right path?”

A lot of heavy questions. It would be easy to say yes through my teeth to all of them, but honestly speaking, I wasn’t one-hundred percent sure either. I had only recently met them after all. Even if I had been watching them all the time, I didn’t exactly have the best impressions of those two before. But I couldn’t tell her that either.

And besides, they turned out to be different from how I expected.

“I think so… I mean, I want to think so.”

Oh yeah, there was something.

“Oh, but Kobayashi is 4th in our grade!”

“And this other kid?”

“I- I don’t know. He’s like, uhm… a lot lower down...”

The vigor suddenly drained from my voice as it shriveled into mumbles.

Would this end with me not even being allowed to have friends? I was too busy riding the high of making friends at school to even think about that possibility, but knowing my sister, it was definitely possible.

Would it help if I lied here?

Her eyes darted towards me, then away. She was looking at my expression again. I wondered if she could already tell I was thinking about it.

“Well, your grades suck, so it’s out of the question to begin with. Midterms are coming up soon, aren’t they?”

All for naught, it seems. But she was right, my grades were terrible. I haven’t had an exam since the start of middle school that didn’t constitute remedial classes afterwards.

I looked back at Hanako again, wondering if she would chime in. She still stood there smiling confidently at me as if she was just happy to be here. Not a thought going through her head. Well that’s what it looked like anyway, but really I knew she was thinking about the situation in her own way.

But wouldn’t this be the point where she’d usually chime in?

Koyuki was staring at me too. It felt like both of them were waiting for me to say something.

My nervousness has resurfaced.

Had I failed? What was Hanako thinking? What were these two waiting for?

I was cornered by their glares.

“Uhm…”

What? What were they waiting for?

“Is… that it? Sorry for asking then.”

Hanako giggled under her breath.

“What! What’s so funny?”

“Shoutarou, don’t you think you could make some sort of agreement here? It seems that the both of you have things that you want from each other.”

“What? An agreement?”

My sister darted her eyes away. She looked equal parts flustered and frustrated.

“Koyuki, I believe it may be more productive if you were to ask him in a more forward manner.”

She sighed in response to the demon’s words. Looking as if she was giving into some sort of defeat, she raised her hand up to rub her neck and hung her head a bit.

“This is supposed to be the part where you propose to get better grades in exchange for me buying you a game console.”

“Eh!? Y- you would do that!?”

Hanako was struggling to contain her muffled laughter.

What the hell was happening?

“Come on Shou, r-read the mood, will you?”

She was looking increasingly frustrated as her face flushed into a beet red.

Read the mood?

What? Was this some socialite joke that I didn’t understand?

“Shoutarou, you just need to agree-”

“Ah man, whatever! J- just pass your midterms, okay? Then I’ll get you your stupid video games! Now leave me be!”

Woah, she was a bit drunk…

Hanako sighed as well this time.

Her too? Was this my fault? No, actually, had things actually worked in my favor?

I nodded with enthusiasm and a bit of confusion, still stiff-bodied.

“Let’s just return to your room. You did your best, Shoutarou.”

She had a look of pity on her face!

She was pitying me!

What the hell was this atmosphere?

I DON’T GET IT!