The siblings strolled along the bustling streets just like they always did.
However.
'....Something's off.'
Glancing slightly at his sister, who was walking on the inner side of the street, Miyahito mentally calculated the distance between them at the moment.
Coupled with the fact that ever since they left the Sawamura house, his sister had been uncharacteristically silent, not saying a single word to him.
Mm.... If he wasn't mistaken, it should be that Ayase was deliberately distancing herself from him.
So, what exactly was the reason for his sister distancing herself?
Thinking carefully in his heart, Miyahito couldn't find anything he had done to make his sister unhappy.
But if he had to be picky about it, the only thing that came close was probably 'not rushing back to Chiba to accompany his sister right after summer vacation started'.
But if that was the reason, it shouldn't be the case.
Not to mention anything else, on the second day of summer vacation, he had already explained this to his parents and Ayase.
Besides, it was true that he had just officially gotten together with Utaha not long ago. As a physically and mentally healthy teenager in the blush of first love, even Miyahito couldn't help but immerse himself in the sweetness of his first romance.
So, he couldn't be completely blamed for this, right? (That's right, it's all the world's fault!)
Scratching his head, feeling that this wasn't a way out, Miyahito thought for a moment and said to Ayase,
"Is there anything you want to eat, Ayase?"
"Mm.... whatever Big Brother decides." Turning to look at her brother, Ayase lowered her head again, then clasped her left hand over her right thumb, hiding them behind her back.
Alright, he could feel his sister's mood sinking even lower without even looking.
'So what on earth is going on!!'
His inner self was already going crazy, but Miyahito still couldn't figure out why his sister's mood was getting lower and lower.
In the past, his sister was super easy to coax. On the rare occasions she was feeling down, as her older brother, Miyahito could quickly turn her frown upside down with his excellent cooking and taking her out for a stroll.
But now... ever since Ayase entered middle school, her difficulty level had skyrocketed so much? She was so hard to coax now?
'This must be what Miyuki-senpai called... a little girl's rebellious phase, right?'
Silently sighing in his heart, Miyahito reached out and gently grasped his sister's wrist, which was hidden behind her back.
"Eh." Slightly widening her big eyes, Ayase turned to look at her brother, a hint of surprise on her little face.
Seeing a familiar change finally appear in his sister's expression, Miyahito also breathed a small sigh of relief in his heart.
"Do you want to go to the conveyor belt sushi place? Big Brother's treating!" Holding his sister's small hand, Miyahito grinned slightly, smiling as he raised his other hand and vigorously rubbed her head.
"Or do you want to eat something else? Today, Ayase gets to decide! You can eat anything you want."
"Even if it's kaiseki cuisine, Big Brother will take you."
"Uwah!"
Having her head rubbed, Ayase let out a whimper and angrily slapped away her brother's mischievous hand from her head... However, the moment she slapped his hand away, the first thing she saw was her brother's face, wearing that very familiar and beloved doting smile.
Then, the expression on Ayase's little face softened slightly.
Big Brother... is still the same Big Brother from before. The one who belongs to Ayase.
For some reason, this thought suddenly surfaced in Ayase's mind.
Seeing this reaction, Miyahito couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
However, before he could react, the next second, that pure, radiant smile—like a child's, which usually only appeared in front of her family and him—once again bloomed on Ayase's face as she lifted her little head.
"Conveyor belt sushi." Nodding her little head vigorously, Ayase smiled and said, "Big Brother, I want to eat conveyor belt sushi, and tempura too!"
"...Alright." Miyahito nodded with a smile. "As long as Ayase wants it, Big Brother will take you!"
"Mhm."
...
While the Aragaki siblings were happily setting off for Ginza to enjoy a conveyor belt sushi meal, Kasumigaoka Utaha, on the other hand, was currently in a somewhat... pitiful situation?
"Seriously, why does a mother like that exist in this world?! Aaaah!!" Dressed in slim-fit jeans, a loose short-sleeved top, and her boyfriend's baseball cap, Utaha radiated intense resentment. She dodged the sunlight, walking in the shade along the street, and gritted her teeth as she cursed a certain woman in her family who had suddenly 'lost her mind'.
"It's 38 degrees! What kind of normal person kicks their daughter, who just got home from Tokyo, out of the house in weather like this? And saying I shouldn't stay home all day or I'll turn into Kasu-Fatty?!"
"Am I crazy, or a damn masochist? Going out for a walk in this weather—she must hate me and want me to get heatstroke!"
As she spoke, her mind couldn't help but recall the moment she was kicked out. Seeing her own dumbfounded face turning back to see that hateful, extremely amused face of a certain person, Utaha couldn't help but scream internally. Her liver aching from anger, she raised her hands, held her head, and squatted down right at a shady street corner.
After going crazy in place for a short while, Utaha stood back up. And when she did, the gloomy expression on her face had already vanished.
...No, wait, she was still so mad!
But what could she do? She couldn't just turn around, run back home, and beat up the mastermind who kicked her out, could she? Sorry, if she actually did that, her conscience and moral compass would still feel a slight twinge of pain.
"Sigh, forget it, forget it. I'll just let that woman off the hook this time." After softly comforting herself, Utaha accepted her current situation, raised her hand, and lightly patted her cheeks.
"Alright, let's go for a stroll!"
Regaining her spirits, Utaha clasped her hands behind her back. Humming softly to Rap Scandalous, the song her boyfriend often hummed when they were together, she carefully and properly took in the changes in her hometown.
I wonder what Miyahito is doing right now?
Walking on the arched bridge over the babbling stream, Utaha looked up slightly, her gaze filled with a hint of longing as she looked at the blue sky and white clouds.
The sky is so blue, hey, Miyahito.
I miss you a little. I wonder... are you thinking of me too?
"How unreasonable of me, Kasumigaoka Utaha." Chuckling lightly, she raised a hand to slightly lower her baseball cap. Her tone carried a hint of playful complaint. "It's only the second day we've been apart."
The moment those words fell.
A gentle breeze swept across the cool water, crossed the railings bearing the rust of time, and like a clumsy child, tumbled and bumped against Utaha's slightly upturned, flawless, fair face.
Silent, yet carrying an indescribable tenderness.