Episode Seven
“Onee-chaaaan! Are you ready yet?”
“Just a little longer!”
I called back loud enough to carry down the stairs and turned to the small mirror again. How long had I been sitting here frowning at my own reflection? My fringe never does this normally. Today of all days it wouldn’t cooperate.
I’d been up three hours before we needed to leave, so time wasn’t the issue. Making breakfast for Shiho-san before she headed off to work and getting food ready for Dad and Ao hadn’t taken long. I’d sacrificed a good portion of last night’s sleep to decide what to wear and how to do my hair. By now I should have been finished and ready, watching Ao get herself together at leisure.
Instead, the moment I actually looked at myself in the mirror, I decided I’d gone too far with the effort, and ended up emptying my wardrobe all over again. All because I’d picked my outfit in the small hours when my judgment couldn’t be trusted.
A plain cut-and-sew top with a cardigan, wide navy trousers. Maybe a little too simple — but it was just a shopping trip with my stepsister, so this was probably fine. I thought I could feel the favourite dress I’d left on the bed watching me with a forlorn expression.
I made my outfit decision at speed, rushed through the make-up I’d been planning to take my time with, delivered a hurried announcement to Ao that breakfast was ready when she finally surfaced, and sat down in front of the small mirror with the straightener in hand.
And here I still was.
“…Hmm.”
Something’s still not quite right. It would be fine if I were going out alone, but—
“Onee-chan, what are you doing?”
“Wait! I’m not done yet—”
The door opened without permission, and the look I spun around to give her froze midway.
A checked shirt and denim trousers. Ao’s simple, unfussy outfit reminded me that today was just a shopping trip. I knew that. And yet I was still sitting here with a hot straightener in my hand, unable to move.
“Oh wow. You look really cute.”
“…What?”
The words were so unexpected that my voice came out completely blank.
“I’ve only ever seen you in your uniform or gym clothes, so it’s such a fresh look. You’re already ready, aren’t you?”
“No, my fringe is…”
I turned back toward the desk to hide my face, and the mirror showed me an expression I didn’t recognise on myself.
“What? It looks cute. Come on, let’s go.”
“Or actually — what if you tried pinning it back? I want to see Onee-chan’s forehead.”
“Absolutely not.”
Girls like Ao or Fuuka could pull that off. But my fringe is the second most important thing in my life, right after breathing. Wearing it down is the only option I have.
I let out a small breath, quiet enough that she wouldn’t notice, and stood up. I wasn’t satisfied, but I couldn’t keep Ao waiting any longer.
“Sorry, let’s go.”
“Okay~!”
Today we were just going shopping as sisters. Not a date. I’d told myself that over and over last night.
I followed Ao as she bounced down the stairs, exchanged a quick word with Dad — who seemed suspiciously pleased with himself — and headed for the front door.
The April sun was stronger than expected and I squinted for a moment, but one look at Ao walking happily beside me and the feeling faded.
Our destination was a large shopping mall a short train ride away. Not the most exciting place for high schoolers, but more than enough for stocking up on everyday things.
“It’s so big~”
Only four floors, but each one was enormous, and the whole building opened up to a full atrium from the first floor to the fourth. The light and space made it feel good to breathe in.
“Right. Shall we eat first?”
I glanced at my phone as I said it. It was still before noon, but if we left it any later the restaurants would be packed.
“Yes. If you’re okay with it, there’s somewhere I wanted to go.”
She set off at a little trot toward the nearest floor map and I followed. She could pass for a university student, or even older — and then she did something like this, and she looked somehow young.
“Here! What do you think?”
A bold logo in yellow and red. Ao was pointing at an omurice specialist.
“That works for me. Do you like omurice?”
“I think so. I always seem to end up ordering it at family restaurants without thinking.”
Ao likes omurice. I should remember that.
“Onee-chan, do you prefer yours runny or firm?”
“Hmm…”
“I think I’d choose firm if I had to pick. But I like both.”
“Firm, hm. I like it runny.”
“The classic stiff-scrambled kind has its own charm, but doesn’t the runny sort feel more special?”
“When you put it that way, maybe it does.”
It surprised me a little to find I wasn’t especially nervous talking to Ao with other people around. Families, couples, people of every age filling every corner of the space. From the outside, what did the two of us look like to everyone else?
We got in just before the lunchtime rush and I scanned the menu. I glanced across at Ao and found her staring at it in silence with an alarmingly serious expression.
“You look quite intense. Everything all right?”
“…I can’t decide. I thought I’d worked it out last night, but.”
Her mouth moved but her eyes stayed fixed on the menu. The expression of someone working through a difficult problem set.
“Tell me which ones you’re torn between.”
“These two! Aren’t they both incredible?”
She pointed to one with a demi-glace sauce and one with a mentaiko cream sauce. They did both look good.
“Then why don’t we order both and share? That way we get to try each.”
“But what do you actually want, Onee-chan?”
She looked up at me over the top of the menu with a slightly suspicious expression.
“I was torn between the same two, so it works out.”
I flagged down the server, who was wearing a charmingly old-fashioned uniform.
“How would you like your eggs cooked?”
“Oh — um…”
I looked away from her bright smile and back down at the menu. I hadn’t noticed, but it turned out you could choose between soft-set and firm.
“Both soft-set, please.”
The server bowed neatly and headed off. Ao, watching her go, spoke in a slightly uncertain voice.
“Was soft-set okay? You said you liked them firm.”
“I did, but talking about it just now made me want the runny kind too.”
The truth is that what I want doesn’t really matter. I just want to see Ao enjoying what she likes. Was that feeling directed at her as my stepsister, or as something else? I couldn’t tell anymore.
“Onee-chan — you’re the type that makes people’s hearts flutter, aren’t you? Mine just did.”
Ao had looked briefly flustered, but recovered almost immediately into her familiar teasing smile.
“I don’t make anyone’s heart flutter. Don’t say strange things.”
I answered flatly, keeping my face neutral.
“Hmm, I don’t know. You’re cute, and you have this way about you. I really think you’d be popular.”
“I’m really not.”
“Anyway—”
With Fuuka or the student council I could parry something like that without thinking. Instead I cut the conversation off and changed the subject by force.
I only want to be popular with you. The wretched thought drifted through my head and wouldn’t leave.