CH 74

The story takes place between ARC 1 and 2. Just after break-up. When the Touko family is in Hawaii for New Year’s.

***

The white sands of Waikiki Beach. (Notes: Hawaii)

At the base of a palm tree, where the sun casts moderate shade, sat a woman in a sky-blue one-piece swimming costume with a rainbow pattern.

She had long, dark hair with a bluish tinge. Eyes that were not as Asian but not as sharp as westerners’. A slender but richly raised bust, and slender, long, slim legs.

Most of the men passing by, regardless of race, had their eyes glued to her figure for a few seconds.

Her name is Touko Sakurajima. She is a second-year student at Joto University.

She was now staring at her phone and smiling amicably.

After scrolling through the screen for a while, she eventually looked up, let out a small sigh, and gazed into the distance with nostalgic eyes.

“What are you doing here, sister. We’re in Hawaii, why are you looking as you don’t want to be here!”

The one who approached her was a woman of comparable beauty and style.

The only difference is that she has long hair dyed almost platinum blonde, and a little more flamboyant make-up.

She was wearing a tropical floral bikini with yellow lace.

She seems to have just come out of the sea, and is dripping water all over her body.

Her name is Sakurajima Enka. She is in her second year of high school, but her style and figure look perfect.

“It’s not that I’m feeling down. But we come to Hawaii every year, don’t we? I just don’t feel it’s all that exciting now.”

The light girl replied with a little disapproval.

“Really? Didn’t you actually want to have a New Year’s date with your new boyfriend? And you seemed unusually reluctant to go on a family holiday this year. Dad looked so lonely.”

Enka sat down next to her, grinning.

“I’m not that reluctant, because this New Year’s in Hawaii is the only time we can spend time together as a family of four with Mom and Dad, who are usually busy, so I think it’s an important time for all of us, too.”

“So, what kind of boyfriend is the one you want to see now more than your precious family? I’m sure you have pictures of him, show them to me!”

Enka looked at the phone in Touko’s hand as she said this.

“Even though he’s my boyfriend, we only expressed our mutual intention to ‘go out’ with each other on Christmas Eve. We haven’t been together since then because of this family holiday, so we don’t have that many photos.”

“There aren’t that many photos, that means you have some, right? Don’t be coy, show them to me. He’s the man who stole my sister from a man as handsome as Kamokura-san, isn’t he? I’m interested.”

Enka came face to face with Touko, her eyes of curiosity.

Enka won’t listen to me if I start talking about it. Besides, if she thinks that I’m being too self-conscious, she might raise the bar for Yuu-kun.

“Really, I don’t have a single photo of him properly. There’s just one photo where I accidentally pressed the shutter.”

As she said this, her phone displayed a ‘photo of Touko and Yuu facing each other’.

Upon seeing this, Enka rolls her eyes.

“This is the only photo you have? This guy is obviously trying to make a move on sister!”

Hearing this, Toko hurriedly denied it.

‘No, no! This is just me slipping on the beach when we went for a drive together and Yuu-kun supported me. It seems I touched the shutter button of the phone I was holding at the time, so it’s just an accidental shot.’

‘Hmm, but why was this guy activating the camera on his phone?’

Enka is still looking at me suspiciously.

‘I asked him, ‘I want to know about a pretty girl.’ Then he invited me on a date for a day and took a bunch of photos. He said, ‘I’m prettiest and nicest when I’m being natural.'”

Touko replies with a blush on her cheeks, but with a happy smile. With both hands, she wrapped the phone as if it were something precious.

On the other hand, Enka’s eyes became grim as she looked at her sister.

“What do you mean, ‘natural appearance is the best’? He’s a man who says such nasty words, isn’t he? That’s why all the photos are taken from hidden angles?”

“Yuu-kun didn’t mean anything by it. The photos were certainly unexpected, but I had agreed to them, so they weren’t taken with a hidden camera…”

Apparently offended, Touko makes her mouth agape.

Again, Enka looked into her phone.

“But you know, this guy …….”

“Can you stop saying ‘this guy’?”

Touko’s voice grows sharper.

“This guy isn’t good enough to be my sister’s boyfriend, is he?”

“What do you mean he’s not good enough?”

“Because, you know, it’s true, isn’t it? Kamokura-san is a good-looking man who is admired by everyone. When I showed my friends the photos of the three of us – me, my sister and Kamokura-san – they said, ‘So he’s going to be your brother? I’m so jealous!”

“It’s not like you’re going out with him, so it’s none of your business!”

It was rare for Touko to speak so openly for someone.

The more she argued with him, the more she began to hate “her new boyfriend”.

“That’s true, but he’s kind of bland, isn’t he? In comparison, Kamokura-san is a man, but he has a lot of charm. Not only was he cool on the outside, but he had a certain atmosphere.”

“There’s no need to compare Yuu-kun and Tetsuya. Besides, Yuu-kun is quite popular with the girls in his circle!”

“He’s above average, I think so too. He looks cute rather than cool. I wonder if that’s what tickled your feminine instincts. Still, if you look at him as a boyfriend, he’s not as good as Kamokura-san. I don’t think he’s a good match for your sister.”

Then Touko turned to Enka with a snap.

“What’s with that tone? You’ve been acting like a jerk!”

Then, she shrugged her shoulders and held out her hands.

“Ha! hey, I’m a bad girl anyway. But it’s surprising, I didn’t know my sister was that aggressive.”

She was about to say something more, when.

“Hey, are you guys Japanese? If you like, we can show you around some good local bars.”

A pair of local Hawaiian men approached us in fluent Japanese.

One has blonde hair, almost red, and the other looks Latino.

“I know a great place for lobster and rum. Let’s enjoy it together.”

With these words, the duo turned to both sides and tried to take each other’s arms as a matter of course.

However, both Touko and Enka shook them off.

While Touko glared at them, Enka at least gave them a smile.

The two were also able to find a way to get a hold of each other’s arms.

“I’m sorry, but we’re with family. My mum and dad will be here soon. And we know a lot of people here, and they are with us. So we don’t need a guide or a friend in local.”

With that, she waved ‘bye-bye’ to the men.

The duo cowered and walked away feeling they couldn’t take any more invitations as they had ‘Hawaiian acquaintances with them’.

“This is the tenth time since this morning. Don’t think for one second that a Japanese woman will just follow you if you ask her!”

Enka said in Japanese after they had left, as if to despise them.

Touko also frowned in disapproval.

Enka turned to face Touko again.

‘So, that lovely boyfriend of yours, sister, what’s his name?

“Yuu Isshiki. We’re at the same university and department, and he’s a first-year student one year below me.”

Hearing this, Enka looked like she was pondering for a moment.

“Yuu Isshiki is it?”

“Yes. ‘We went to the same high school. While we didn’t interact with each other at all in high school, though. We started talking after Yuu-kun came to university, and we were in a circle together.

[…… Yuu Isshiki]

Enka repeated the name again, as if to confirm it.

“What’s wrong?”

Touko asked, doubtful at her sister’s behaviour.

“No, it’s nothing. I just thought ‘Isshiki’ was an unusual name.”

“Maybe it is.”

She stood up and brushed the sand from her waist and legs.

“Enka, why don’t we go back to the hotel once? I want to change and go shopping. Do you want to go with me?”

“Hmm, I don’t have a choice. ‘You’re picking up souvenirs for your boyfriend, aren’t you? I’ll go with you.”

“Tsk!”

Touko lightly glared at Enka. She then turned on her heel and headed for the hotel.

The hotel is the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort.

From here it is less than a five-minute walk.

As she watched her sister walk ahead of her, Enka thought.

Yuu Isshiki. He is one year younger than his sister, which means he is two years older than me. And he went to the same High School, which meant that he was the one Meika likes.

Enka remembered what her best friend from junior high school, Meika Ishida, had told her.

“There’s someone I’ve loved for a long, long time. His name is Yuu Isshiki. He is my brother’s best friend. But you know, Yuu-san only sees me as ‘my friend’s sister’. I wonder if I’ll always be in this position. I don’t know if I can ever become Yuu-san’s girlfriend?.”

The person Meika has always had a crush on is her sister’s new lover.

Enka’s heart was buzzing in her chest.

She is close to her older sister, Touko, and also respects her earnest and hard-working sister.

However, as a result, she also feels rebellion somewhere in her heart against her sister, who takes everything with her.

Not only did she take the people she loves, but she also took the people she loves from Meika, and she did so unknowingly.

To Enka, ‘unconscious’ in this case seemed more lascivious than being ‘intentional’.

She decided, I will never let my sister and Isshiki Yuu get together. He doesn’t suit my sister in the first place.

With this determination, Enka followed Touko.