—Sunday, the day of the date.
Takamiya Shinji arrived at the eting place early and waited for Mio.
"…It's hot."
Wiping away the sweat gathering at his chin, Shinji could not help glancing up at the sky. Although it was not yet noon, the sun hanging high above had already begun releasing astonishing heat. The harsh sunlight shone down into the city, dyeing the streets in a blazing white.
Although sumr vacation was approaching, the recent temperature was still abnormally hot. It seed that the Sun had slept in last year and was now pointlessly releasing his excess energy in all the wrong places this year.
"Ah… damn it… Is this what they call global warming?"
After taking a sip of mineral water to replenish himself, Shinji could not help complaining.
However, there were plenty of people with similar complaints. Although it was a day off, the flow of people on the streets was much lighter than usual. Most people were either holed up at ho or had run into air conditioned shops to cool off.
When he also thought back to the spacequake from before, it made one wonder whether the end of the world was approaching.
"No! Stop thinking nonsense! Today is my date with Mio. Focus, focus."
After slapping his cheeks hard and reminding himself of that, Shinji's heart could not help growing restless.
That was only natural. After all, Shinji was about to face the challenge of his first date in life, and with his first love at that.
It was impossible not to be nervous. Shinji had even taken out the map and itinerary and reread them several tis, morizing them in his mind. He was afraid that he would get nervous midway and forget everything.
"Three minutes left. Hoo—haah—"
After checking the ti displayed on the large clock in the plaza, Shinji began trying to calm himself with deep breaths. Unfortunately, the effect was minimal.
Incidentally, Shinji had originally planned to leave the house together with Mio directly. But this idea had quickly been rejected by his younger sister, Mana, with an icy stare.
(Nii-sama, are you an idiot? Oh, right. You are indeed an idiot, and a virgin too. Then forget it. In any case, girls need to make all sorts of preparations before going out. You just go over there first and wait.)
That has nothing to do with being a virgin, does it? Although he really wanted to retort like that, he obediently followed his sister's advice and left first.
In fact, if they had gone out from ho together, perhaps he would not be feeling this fluttering nervous anticipation while waiting for her.
Only a minute or two remained until the appointed ti. On the street, distorted sowhat by the heat, Shinji saw a graceful figure walking toward him at an unhurried pace.
"—Shin!"
Seeming to notice Shin, the girl trotted toward him and called his nickna with joy.
In that instant, ti throughout the entire world ca to a stop.
Although this was very obviously Takamiya Shinji's illusion, because he himself did not understand that, to him, the world had indeed stopped.
A flowing, refreshing white one piece dress. A white sun hat worn on her head. And beneath the skirt, high heels wrapped around Mio's exposed, rosy toes.
Shinji did not know what words to use to describe his current feelings. If God told him that he would die tomorrow, he would probably feel that he could die without regrets.
Mio was already a girl who made even other girls wonder whether God had favorites. But normally, she imitated Mana's boyish style of dress. Now, suddenly dressing herself up seriously, adding beauty to beauty, brought an enormous impact.
"Sorry, Shin. Am I late?"
"…It's fine. You're just too beautiful. So beautiful that I wouldn't mind waiting another whole day."
Staring blankly at Mio, Shinji could not help blurting that out.
Wait. Isn't this usually where I'm supposed to say, "I just got here too"? It was only after a while that Shinji realized he had ssed up.
"Ah—no! That's not what I ant. I also only just got here a short while ago—and although I say that, what I said just now wasn't a lie. You really are beautiful, so beautiful I thought you were a fairy—"
Looking at Shinji as he grew flustered and incoherent, Mio's cheeks turned slightly red. She lowered the brim of her sun hat to hide her face and answered softly,
"Um… thank you… thank you for the al."
It seed that Mio had accidentally misspoken and said "thank you for the al" instead of "thank you for the complint."
Seeing Mio's unbearably cute reaction, Shinji wished he could hug her tightly right then and there.
(No, you have to endure it! Takamiya Shinji! This is finally a date with Mio. You have to leave the impression of a gentleman. You absolutely can't be seen as a beast… Calm down, beast within !)
"…Shin? What's wrong? Why did you suddenly make such a scary face?"
Mio asked worriedly.
"Eh? My expression is scary?"
"Mm. Like you're about to go to war."
War…
Hearing Mio's description, Shinji could not help smiling wryly. Although her wording was strange, his current ntal state might indeed be quite similar to a recruit going into battle for the first ti.
"Well… maybe it's because today's weather is too hot?"
Shinji shrugged and glossed over it vaguely.
"The weather is too hot?"
Mio tilted her head in confusion. A strand of silver hair slipped down with the movent, sliding like water into the valley of her dress's neckline.
Damn it, what a bewitching little fairy! Why is every move she makes so alluring?
"Well… it's nothing serious. Don't worry about it."
"Mm… ah, right."
Suddenly, Mio seed to have an idea. She took off her hat and placed it on Shinji's head.
"How is it? This should make you a little cooler."
"Uh? Mm… thank you…" Shinji froze at first, then looked at Mio in confusion. "But if you give the hat, what will you use, Mio?"
"I'm fine… This temperature is nothing to ."
Mio shook her head and answered as though it were natural.
"I see…"
Indeed, in contrast to Shinji, who had already sweated quite a bit, Mio had not shed a single drop. Her fair, delicate skin was even a little dazzling under the sunlight, as if the heat had no effect on her whatsoever.
She was not lying. Shinji understood that clearly.
Not long ago, due to a programming error, the water heater at ho had heated the bathwater to over eighty degrees. Yet Mio had still leisurely soaked in the bathroom for half an hour. Only when Mana entered afterward and scread did Shinji notice what had happened.
After spending ti with her, Shinji understood that Mio was rely a girl no different from an ordinary person—curious, innocent, and kind.
But at the sa ti, the differences that appeared in daily life still made Shinji clearly sense, even if he did not want to, that Takamiya Mio was not an ordinary human.
"…Sure enough, this hat should be worn by Mio."
After saying that, Shinji took off the hat and put it back on Mio's head in a sowhat forceful manner.
"But… Shin, aren't you very hot…?"
Mio said worriedly.
"It's fine… This temperature is nothing."
Shinji gave a forced, stubborn smile.
It was absolutely not nothing. As noon gradually approached, the sunlight beca even harsher. If they set off under this blazing sun, Shinji might suffer heatstroke before they even reached their destination.
Honestly, if he thought about it properly, compared to Mio, who was not afraid of heat or cold, he was the one who needed heat-protection preparations more. But whether it was male pride or sothing else, he always cared about face in unnecessary places, often leaving himself unable to back down. Sotis, Shinji also hated this side of himself.
But whether it was for face or stubbornness, he wanted to treat Takamiya Mio as an ordinary girl.
Just as Shinji planned to overco the heat with sheer willpower, urgent footsteps suddenly ca from behind him.
"—!?"
Before Shinji could react, a great force struck the back of his head, forcing him to bend forward like a chick pecking rice.
(What the hell was that?)
Shinji lifted his head in confusion and saw the person who had just smacked a hat onto him now quickly fleeing into the distance.
Although he could not see her face, that swaying blue side ponytail allowed Shinji to be certain: the person was his younger sister—Takamiya Mana.
(Damn it! My sister, did you just dunk on your own brother's head?!)
"Shin… on your head?"
Hm? On my head?
Hearing Mio's words, Shinji could not help reaching up to touch his head. Only then did he discover that a sun hat had appeared there at so point.
And not only that—at so point, a small shoulder bag had appeared on his body. Shinji opened it and saw a handheld fan, a towel, and a sports drink for hydration inside.
(Don't tell … Mana ca to deliver these to …)
At that mont, the ringtone for a text ssage sounded from his pocket.
(Seriously, Nii-sama! Don't make such a low level mistake right at the start! Get it together! Otherwise, how am I supposed to beco a proper sister in law?)
"…"
Looking at the ssage on his phone, Shinji's mouth twitched slightly.
"Shinji has a good little sister…"
Mio could not help saying emotionally.
"Yeah…"
Shinji did not deny it. Although his feelings were complicated right now, his gratitude toward Mana outweighed everything else. He felt as though raising her these past few years had not been in vain.
"Then, Shin. Where are we going today?"
"Ah, right… There's sothing I want to show you."
When Mio asked about the main subject of today's date, Shinji could not help rubbing his nose, feeling a little embarrassed about the chaos just now.
"Sothing you want to show . What is it?"
"I can't say yet. Just look forward to it."
"Mm, that's true."
After saying that, Shinji stepped forward as if to urge Mio to set off. Mio, anwhile, naturally moved closer to Shinji's side.
"—?!"
In an instant, Shinji's whole body trembled as though he had been electrocuted.
The reason was simple. Just now, Mio had very naturally taken his hand. And not an ordinary hand hold, but fingers interlocked in the lover exclusive style.
"…Mi....Mio-san… what is this?"
Shinji, shaken too much, began using strange polite speech.
"Mm… Mana and her friend told that on a date, you're supposed to hold hands like this."
Hearing this, Shinji silently decided—when he got back, dinner would be entirely made of Mana's favorite dishes.
"Does Shinji dislike this?"
"No, how could I?!" Shinji hurriedly shook his head. "Mio's hand… how should I put it… is soft, and cool… It feels very comfortable to hold."
"Is that so?"
Hearing Shinji's words, Mio let out a relieved breath and said contentedly,
"I also like holding hands this way… Shin's hand… is large… and warm… Holding it feels very reassuring."
(Warm… in this heat…)
Unable to quite understand Mio's standards for sensing temperature, Shinji smiled wryly.
(But if I keep letting Mio see shaken like this, that's way too embarrassing.)
Thinking that, Shinji took a deep breath and tightened his grip on Mio's hand slightly.
"—All right, then let's begin, Mio. Our date."
"Mm!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers