CH 11

“Good morning, Onii-San.”

“Hey, Yuika.”

Our greeting on the train every morning was already becoming a regular routine.

Yuika put the phone she was holding in one hand into her bag and moved next to me as usual, her medium short hair swaying easily.

Then she grabbed my arm and muni’d twice.

“Did you make up with your junior?”

“Well, yeah. I told her I couldn’t improve my unsociableness right away, but I’d work on it little by little, and she cheered up.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.”

There was a time when I used to have trouble understanding Otozui’s behavior, but now I wasn’t so worried.

Part of it was due to the fact that my level of communicative power was increasing, but I guess it was also thanks to Yuika.

When I first met her, I thought she was a strange person; however, now I considered her to be a reliable person.

“By the way, we’re going to the movies next Saturday.”

“Oh, a date?”

That was the expected response.

I knew that would be what the romance-brained Yuika would think.

I didn’t need to panic, I answered her immediately.

“No.”

“No?”

“She wants to use her private time to do market research.”

“That’s just an excuse to go on a date.”

Yeah, that was what a high school girl would think.

But I was a good senior who knew what she was talking about.

“So, what are you going to see?”

“I’m thinking of Dead of Lovers, which has been getting a lot of attention lately.”

“That’s the one where the lovers kill each other.”

I chose this movie because it looked the most interesting when I checked the movie theaters I was going to, but Yuika rejected it as soon as she found out about it.

The movie had a high rating in the reviews, but I guess you couldnn’t tell the quality of a movie from the numbers.

Yuika shrugged her shoulders in disgust.

“I’m worried.”

“Are you following me?

“Are you an idiot?”

Her tone was dull as usual, but there was something harsh in what she just said.

She wasn’t joking, she must have meant it.

Hurts.

Fu~,…, Yuika sighed and grabbed the shoulder strap of her bag again.

There was a hint of pity in her eyes as she looked at me.

Don’t stare at me with those eyes.

It makes me look like a pathetic person.

“Do you know that a movie is a minefield1 on a first date?”

“It’s not a date, but let’s hear it.”

Yuika seemed to want to call it a date no matter what.

But in terms of maintaining a good relationship with Otozui, it would be good to know.

“At the beginning, your relationship is still young, right?”

“Me and Otozui have built up a certain amount of trust.”

“Shut up and listen.”

Yes.”

She was so strangely overpowering sometimes.

After confirming that I had quieted down, Yuika continued her explanation in a calm manner.

“When you go to a movie alone with someone, you’re in close proximity for two hours. That can be stressful for some people.”

“Oh, you’re right, Otonzui might be that type.”

“My senpai told me to wait until you get to know each other before going out on a movie date. If she gets the feeling that you are a little different, the relationship will naturally disappear.”

Otozui always came on strong to me, but she was also surprisingly observant of her surroundings.

However, this also led to the drawback of being overly attentive.

If what Yuika said was true, she could lose her footing if she was not careful.

I asked Yuika, cupping her chin with her fingers.

“It’s a problem that might worsen our relationship. What should I do?”

“I think you should praise her and pamper her. That will help you relax.”

I was deeply convinced by her suggestion.

“I see. That’s a good way for me to handle things now.”

“It’s more challenging for you Onii-San, though.”

Then Yuika suddenly opened her bag and took out a box from inside.

“So, yes.”

She then handed me a lovely cream-colored box..

It felt very light in my hand.

“What’s this?”

“My homemade sandwich.”

“What do you want me to do with it?”

“Eat it and tell me what you think.”

“Compliment.”

“Yes, yes. It’ll be a good talking practice to get along with your junior.”

The question of why she had prepared a sandwich in advance when I had mentioned the movie for the first time today came to mind, but I decided not to pursue it too much.

Maybe she had prepared the lunch for me regardless of Otozui.

That made me honestly happy.

“Oh. Is it possible that Onii-San is not a fan of homemade food?”

“No, I’m rather looking forward to it. Thank you.”

“Fufu~. It was really worth the effort to make it.”

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the smiling face of Yuihana was different from the ones I had seen before.

Maybe it was just hard to tell, but maybe she really was a very expressive girl.

I was about to be tempted to see more of her, but I reminded myself that I was dealing with a high school girl, so I changed course to my true self.

But a homemade bento was unusually feminine for Yuika.

Then she turned her nose up in pride.

“I like the feeling that Onii-San is being dominated by me.”

“I think my human rights are too low to be dominated by a homemade lunch.”

(T/N: I also uploaded a small R-18 novel here :- A Step Forward . Much appreciated if you can leave some reviews there :D.)