Chapter Four

Lunch Box

Yuuki made it to the classroom just on time and let out a big sigh of relief as he made his way to his desk. The second he sat down, Yui flashed him a friendly smile.

“Mornin’!” she greeted him with a wave of her hand.

Yuuki was taken aback by her drastic change in mood from yesterday’s. She seemed to be in good spirits today rather than flustered and slightly irritated. Though Yui seemed to be feeling better today, Yuuki still regretted patting her without consent, regardless of the fact that he’d had no ill intentions.

“Sorry about yesterday,” he said. “Don’t know what came over me.”

“Yesterday? What happened yesterday?” she said, tilting her head slightly in faux confusion. Yuuki thought he saw her face twitch for a split second, but he dismissed it as a product of his imagination.

Maybe she’s the forgetful type, he thought. Then there was no need to bring up the past if the person in question wasn’t bothered by it, he concluded. Now that that issue was more or less resolved, he began taking out textbooks from his bag and organizing them on his desk.

“Here, this is for you,” said Yui cheerily from the periphery of Yuuki's awareness.

Yuuki wasn’t listening; he was preoccupied with the English homework he wasn’t able to get done yesterday on account of a certain someone. English was still a couple periods away, so Yuuki figured he’d secretly chip away at it during the preceding classes before Yui had a chance to get mad at him again.

“I said, this is for you!” her tone was much more insistent this time.

“Hm?”

Yuuki peeled his eyes from his notebook and saw Yui staring directly at him.

She already figured out I didn’t do my homework? he asked himself, defeated.

Yui then offered him a rectangular box wrapped in a patterned cloth. It looked quite suspicious, but since Yui looked especially imposing on this occasion, he prudently chose to take it off her hands without arguing.

“So what is this exactly?” he asked as he weighed the box in his hands.

“Oh, I wonder,” came Yui’s cheeky reply.

“Let me take a guess... Hmm, some sort of Pandora’s box?”

“It’s just a lunch box, not some sort of cursed contraption!”

“Lunch box?”

“You heard me. Made it just for you,” she said, her joy clearly illuminating her face. Her expression only served to aggravate the doubt rampantly blooming within his heart.

I’ve had a bad feeling about something since I woke up... Could this be it? he thought to himself.

“You always buy yourself some bread from the school cafeteria right, Narito?” Yui asked.

“Well, aren’t we all up to speed.” His reply somehow managed to come across as both flat and sarcastic simultaneously.

“Of course, I see you around all the time,” she declared proudly.

Yuuki supposed that she had her eyes on him long before they became seatmates, but he was sure that was probably because she’d been making fun of him for always eating alone.

“So what do you think? You must be over the moon that a girl made you lunch, huh? Got your heart beating fast yet?”

“Let’s have a quick taste before I judge.”

“Ooh, okay there, master chef,” she giggled. Her laughter caught even the indifferent Yuuki by surprise.

What is she plotting? he wondered before saying, “... Is this a continuation of yesterday’s game or whatever?”

“Oh, I wonder,” she said cheekily, an amused smile glowing on her face.

“Hey, okay. Time out.” Yuuki, on the other hand, wasn’t having it.

“What, why?”

“Because the jig is already up. There’s no point in playing.”

“That’s not true! I’m having loads of fun here. I was looking forward to what kind of reaction you’d have when I suddenly gave you a lunch box, muahaha!” she finished off her sentence with her best impression of a cartoonishly evil laugh.

Yui clearly had no intention of dropping the game. She seemed to view teasing people as a form of entertainment and took a lot of joy in it. Yesterday, she had tried to deny his assessment of her, but it seemed that for the first time in his life, Yuuki had indeed been spot-on.

“Don’t tell me you’re about to, pfft, fall in love with me just because we’re playing a little friendly game? Haha!” she chuckled.

“Yeah right,” Yuuki replied, as flat as ever.

The euphoric expression on Yui’s face had begun to lead Yuuki to suspect that she had a twisted side to her personality, which in turn only spurred feelings of pity within him. Regardless of if it was just a game to her or not, she’d already gone through the trouble of whipping up this lunch for him. He simply couldn’t bring himself to toss the box back at her.

The lunch box did nothing wrong, he convinced himself before meekly accepting it.

“Haha, I’m so excited for today’s lunch break,” she said giddily.

“Same here,” he replied.

This was Yuuki’s strategy for dealing with Mina whenever she was up to no good. He figured that if it worked on his sister, it would work on his classmate, too. Yui, meanwhile, looked quite unsettled ever since he’d finally accepted her gift. She was eerily quiet and kept stealing glimpses at Yuuki when she thought he wasn’t looking.

Lunch break came along, and Yui hurriedly left her seat to join up with the group of girls that she usually spent time with. Yuuki, on the other hand, stayed in his seat and dug out the lunch box Yui had given him.

Now that he actually looked at it, he noticed that it was on the larger side. He undid the carefully wrapped packaging and placed the box on his desk. A treasure trove of food awaited him as he lifted the lid. Goodies of all shapes and sizes beckoned him. The first thing to really catch his eye were the sweet fish flakes scrupulously shaped into a cute heart sitting atop a serving of rice.

Now that’s a fiery start, Yuuki thought to himself.

He then shifted his attention to the side dishes meticulously placed around the box, specifically a mini hamburger steak and some rolled omelette. Other foods such as braised veggies, boiled spinach, and cuts of meat neatly wrapped around green peppers were carefully placed around the frame of the box. To top it all off, there were some octopus-shaped sausages giving the box the warmth of a genuine homemade meal. It truly was the perfect lunch box, with everything anyone could possibly want stuffed inside.

She really put a lot of effort into making it... Mina would be jumping for joy if she saw it.

He was just about to dig in when he suddenly realized that he didn’t have chopsticks. Just as suddenly as the realization came, Yui appeared with a set in hand. She gave him the colorful chopsticks and quickly whizzed back away to the group that she’d been with.

Wonder what that was about, he pondered. It didn’t feel particularly pleasant for each of his moves to be so closely monitored, but he soon abandoned such thoughts and focused on the food in front of him instead.

Th-This tastes amazing, he thought, elated to the point of stuttering in his own mind.

He was astounded by the taste of the rolled omelette. The seasoning was just right, and he could taste the perfect hint of the onions mixed within. Each item of food within shared these properties. They were all exquisitely cooked, leaving absolutely no reason to complain. It had been a while since Yuuki had had a lunch box this well-made, and he enjoyed every last bite.

I wish I could make Mina a lunch box half as good as this, he mused to himself. He began to reminisce about a time when his mother used to lovingly pack lunches for him much like this one. Unfortunately, his current lackluster culinary skills barred him from achieving his wish. He could at least take solace in the fact that Mina would be absolutely delighted if he’d make her a lunch box, since at the very least, it would be stuffed with all of her favorite foods.

Yuuki continued enjoying his meal to the fullest when Keitarou came strolling by.

“Ah, you finally brought lunch with you today or what?” he asked with curiosity.

“Something like that.”

“Your mom made you one? Man, she gotta love you bits.”

“I guess she does,” he said offhandedly. As always, Yuuki felt that it would be too bothersome to explain everything in full, so he simply went with the flow of whatever Keitarou said.

The difference between his usual lunch and the food that Yui made was clear as night and day. In fact, he was so satisfied that he cleaned the plate, so to speak. He then sat back for a few minutes and simply appreciated the delicacy he’d just been treated to before finally closing the lunch box and wrapping it back up in the cloth it’d come with. Yui, with her impeccable timing, had just returned to her seat right as he’d been finishing up. She was fiddling with her phone, only looking up every once in a while to glance at Yuuki and then the lunch box.

“Ah, good timing. There you go. It was tasty. Thank you,” he said.

“Huh? Ummm, okay. That's all?”

“What do you mean?” he asked as Yui stared at him expectantly. Yuuki studied her face for a moment until he had an epiphany and reached into his pocket in search of his wallet. “I get it. How much?”

“Wha—? I wasn’t asking for money!”

“It’s okay; I don’t mind. I don’t care if we’re playing a game or not. That lunch box was totally flawless.”

“Oh... well, thank you—hey! I’m telling you I don’t want your money!” she protested, snatching the lunch box out of Yuuki’s hands. “Ooh? You finished... all of it,” she said once she noticed how light it was.

“Yeah. I’m not a picky eater to begin with. Anything is good enough for me really.”

“You could’ve just said you liked it.”

“I did. It was really tasty.”

“H-Huh?” her jaw dropped, and she completely froze in place.

Yuuki noticed her gradually begin to turn red. She did her utmost to look anywhere but at him, and eventually her frustration enabled her to turn away from his curious stares completely.

◆ ◇

After Yuuki finished his lunch, he found himself with ample time on his hands. He followed Yui’s example and decided to check his phone. Yui looked to still be upset at what happened earlier; she hadn’t spoken a word to him since. Yuuki turned his phone on, and several notifications immediately popped up onto his screen. All of them were from Mina, which was by no means a surprise since he exclusively used his phone to communicate with his sister in the first place.

“Yukkie, you ate yet?”

“Are you sleeping?”

“YOOHOO”

“Today’s lunch was p bad! We had a swarm of small green trees.”

She must mean broccoli, he thought before typing up his response to her barrage of messages, “I had a lunch box today. It was pretty delicious.”

“That’s unfair! I want some too!” came Mina’s immediate reply.

“It had spinach and other vegetables in it, as well.”

“K NVM.”

Yuuki thought that she was probably currently goofing off on her phone considering how quick all of her replies were. Although her school prohibited phones on the premises, she insisted that it was something everyone did. Yuuki had believed that she’d learned her lesson after the last time the teachers had confiscated it. She had to beg for it and was on the verge of tears before she finally got it back. It appeared that he’d expected too much from his sister.

“Why did you bring your phone to school? That’s against the rules, you know.”

“I’m in the bathroom, they’ll never find me!”

That only makes me worry more. What is this kid doing in the bathroom alone during lunch break? Yuuki thought to himself. “Have you made any friends yet?”

“Lul.”

“That wasn’t a joke,” he replied, although he’d already deduced the truth from that message alone.

“Where’s YOUR girlfriend, Yukkie?”

“Lul.”

“I’m being serious,” she replied immediately.

So you can brush me off, but I’m not allowed? Well anyway, I hope she understands that you can’t actually get a girlfriend that easily, he thought to himself. “It doesn’t happen overnight. Actually, what are you doing in the bathroom to begin with?”

“Making a plan, of course. Getting friends is gonna be a piece of cake!” she responded in between all of the weird stickers she was spamming at Yuuki. She was rapidly pushing him to his limits, and he was on the verge of simply shutting his phone off altogether.

“What’cha you up to, Narito? Playing some kinda game?” Yui asked, bringing an end to her silence.

“Nope, just chatting,” he explained. Yuuki thought that she’d been upset at him, but this was apparently not the case, as she interacted with him the same way she always did.

“Ooh, I see,” she said unconvinced as she shot inquiring glances at his phone.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, just didn’t think you of all people would be using a messaging app.”

“I don’t.”

“Liar, I just saw you using it.”

Yuuki essentially didn’t message anyone other than Mina, and most of what he did was reply to whatever she sent to him. He didn’t have many people added to begin with; Keitarou was the only exception to all the family and relatives on his contacts list. Even then, Keitarou usually didn’t send him anything because he knew that he wouldn’t be getting a reply anytime soon.

“Fine, I use it occasionally,” Yuuki admitted.

“You sure it’s just occasionally? That person you were talking to was sending you a whole lot of messages,” she commented.

“It’s just my little sister,” he clarified, a bit miffed at her sudden interest in his personal life.

“Ooh, you have a little sister? I see. Very interesting,” she nodded in admiration.

Yuuki found it strange that she was acting like she’d approved of that fact, as if she had just given him the green light to continue messaging his sister.

“What about you, Yukkie? Are you hanging out with some friends rn?” a new message from Mina arrived. Yuuki glanced at it, though he was hesitant to reply right away.

Yui sighed and quietly said, “I wish I could message you too...”

“Huh?”

Yuuki thought he had misheard her at first and gave her a dubious look. Yui quickly realized what had just slipped from between her lips and hurriedly tried to explain herself.

“N-No wait, I didn’t mean it in that way. That was just part of the game we’re playing! You get it, don’t you?” she exclaimed, flustered.

“Huh?” Yuuki grew more confused than ever due to her fishy behaviour. He thought she looked much too distressed for this to actually be the truth.

“A-Ahem, anyways! Let’s add each other, yeah?” she proposed with a very awkward forced smile.

Yuuki wasn’t exactly keen on adding a girl who found amusement in teasing people, but the sad state of his contacts list got him to change his mind. He figured it was a good opportunity to strengthen his case if Mina ever questioned his lack of friends again. He was still skeptical, but the offer was simply too enticing to refuse, even if Yui could very well be playing around.

“S-Sike! Just kidding.”

“Umm, actually, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Wha—?”

Yui, who had been acting suspiciously up to that point, was suddenly back to her usual lively self. She was happily tapping away at her phone while Yuuki tried to figure out how to add her to his friends list in the app. After a good while of stumbling through the menus, a new anime avatar with Yui’s name showed up on his friends list.

She’s using her first name? he thought to himself.

“You only show up under your first name. Is that cool with you?” she asked without looking up from her own phone.

“Hm? What do you mean?”

She seemed to be asking if he expected her to use his full name or not, but Yuuki didn’t understand why it mattered in the least. Yet again, he went with the flow and pretended he knew what was going on, letting her know that she could pick whatever made her happy.

“Alrighty then, I’ll save you as Yuuki, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

“Okay! All set here, Yuuki!” she declared.

Yuuki didn’t expect to be called by his name so casually, and it caused him to blink in astonishment while Yui kept teasing him.

“Hm? Something wrong? You said you wouldn’t mind if I called you by your first name, riiight?” Yui said, smugly inching closer to Yuuki.

“I guess.”

“Sorry, what was that? Are you perhaps embarrassed? Hmm?” she questioned him before bursting out in laughter.

Yuuki realized that he might’ve made a mistake by asking her to do this out of his own accord. Yui was acting way too cocky, and that smile just wouldn’t disappear from her face.

Here we go again. Why would I get embarrassed just from somebody using my first name?

“So it’s also fair game if I called you by your name too, right?” he asked with a straight face.

“Huh?”

“Yui.”

She stopped what she was doing, mouth agape, without even as much as a twitch.

Seeing her bizarre behavior, Yuuki pressed his advantage. “How about ‘Yu-Yu,’ then?”

His efforts were in vain; Yui remained entirely motionless. He waved his hand in front of her face to get her to snap out of it, and sure enough, her mouth snapped shut, and she returned to normal.

“H-Hey! Keep your weird nicknames to yourself!”

“So... Yui it is?”

Yui stopped dead in her tracks once again. Yuuki looked her in the eyes this time and couldn’t help but notice her face gradually turning red once more. She then stood up from her chair without a word and rushed out of the classroom.

Maybe that was a bit too much. Hope I didn’t make her angry, he thought to himself.

She was impossible for him to read as per usual. Yuuki was starting to believe that she was just naturally a moody person, though he still thought she had it coming. She was the one making such a big deal out of calling people by their first name, after all. As he stared at her empty seat, a new notification arrived on his phone. He was relieved to see that it was from Mina.

“Oh yeah BTW, how many friends do you have added now?”

“Two.”

“Gah! You’re really going for it, huh?”

◆ ◇

The rest of the day’s classes went off without a hitch. Yui returned to her seat after the bell rang as though nothing had ever happened. There was a slight shift in her behavior, though. She stayed mostly silent and kept hurling curious glances in Yuuki’s direction every once in a while. Yuuki surmised that her mood swings were as fickle as the weather, so he figured it was best not to burden his mind with every little change.

“Whoa, it’s raining outside.”

The classroom was as rowdy as always after classes were over. Yui walked right up to the window behind Yuuki’s seat and muttered to herself as he examined the weather outside.

“Oh crap, I forgot to bring my umbrella,” she continued. “That gives me an idea... A great idea,” her mutters continued.

Yuuki stood up, ready to head home. Much to his chagrin, he accidentally made eye contact with Yui. He considered ignoring her and going on his merry way, but her gaze wouldn’t allow him to do so.

“... What?”

“Poor wittle Yui forgot her umbwella,” she chirped in her best impression of an adorable cartoon character. She even made a display of tilting her head to the side to add to the effect. Her acting was so terrible that Yuuki felt almost offended that she’d ever thought it would work on him.

The rainy season had begun just the other day, and the weather had been cloudy ever since. It hadn’t rained in the morning, but since the weather forecast predicted heavy rain anyway, Yuuki made sure he didn’t forget his umbrella this time around. He had already grabbed it from the umbrella stand and placed it right near his desk.

“And?” he asked.

“And you owe me one. You forget how I let you share mine yesterday?” she said while pointing at him dramatically.

Yuuki didn’t think that counted since they had only shared it for a few minutes before the rain let up, but clearly Yui thought otherwise.

“I was thinking of walking home with you anyways, so it works out well!” she continued.

“Yeah, I’m sure you having no umbrella had nothing to do with it.”

“Whaaa—? Of course nooot,” she replied coyly, but Yuuki saw right through her.

There was no shortage of other options she could’ve taken: borrowing an umbrella from the school, asking one of her friends, or even just waiting it out were all on the table. Thus Yuuki began to consider another possible reason for her to ask him in particular.

“Don’t tell me. Is this also part of your game?”

“Meow.”

“I’m serious here. What even is your endgame?” he asked in astonishment.

“You got it all wrong! I was so busy making the lunch boxes that it just slipped my mind!”

“That doesn’t make it any better.”

“You talk awful big for someone who forgot theirs just yesterday!” she pouted. Yuuki realized that there was no point in arguing and decided to bite the bullet

“Fine,” he conceded after a prolonged exhalation, “we can share mine.”

“Oh, for real? I was kinda half-joking there, but okay.”

“Sure.”

“I see, I see. You couldn’t resist your desire to walk home with me,” she determined, folding her arms and nodding to herself, seemingly convinced that this was truly the case.

Maybe I should ditch her and head home alone after all, Yuuki thought to himself. Having decided, he grabbed his bag and walked past Yui, who was still absorbed in her thoughts. He exited the classroom, made his way through the corridor, and went down the stairs that led to the entrance of the school.

He stopped in front of the shoe rack so he could switch shoes, but the sound of approaching footsteps sent an annoyed chill down his spine. When he looked at the general direction of the sound, he saw Yui with a clear umbrella grasped in her hands.

“Huh, so you do have an umbrella.”

“Bzzt, wrong! It’s yours. You forgot to take it with you.”

“Ah...”

Apparently in his hurry to leave Yui behind, Yuuki had actually forgotten his umbrella at the side of his desk. Now that he thought about it, he also forgot his umbrella yesterday because he’d had an argument with Mina in the morning before he left the house.

“I ran all the way to give it back to you, you know. Now you have no choice but to let me use it with you!”

“Yeah, yeah, thanks a bunch and all that,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. He grabbed the umbrella from Yui and accompanied her to the entrance of the building. While Yuuki had ultimately agreed to share his umbrella with her, he was still hesitant to do so in front of all the other students walking home.

Yuuki stopped right under the eaves of the building to double check that it was raining before opening the umbrella and handing it to Yui. He then walked out in front of her, though fortunately for him, the rain had been reduced to a mere drizzle, so it didn’t matter if he had an umbrella or not.

“Thank you for letting me use your umbrella. I appreciate it,” Yui said cheerfully.

They both walked out the school gates and down the now-wet asphalt. Yui took her time, strolling along like she was having a picnic, but Yuuki tried to pick up the pace and get her to walk faster.

“Raindrops, raindrops, falling from the sky~” she sang. “Hope they all fall on Yuuki to keep me all nice and dry~”

“Could you please not make up weird songs?”

Yui had taken advantage of the lack of people in their immediate surroundings and had begun to sing said bizarre song. However, someone must’ve been listening to her, as her wish would soon be granted. The wind suddenly picked up. and heavy rain poured from the sky. Yuuki could do nothing but stop and stare at her.

“Hm? Want in?” she asked.

“It is my umbrella, after all.”

Yui shamelessly laughed and approached Yuuki. She held the umbrella over his head—or she tried to before her dainty arms began trembling in protest.

“Oh no, would you look at that? If only someone tall and strong could hold it up for the both of us, hmm?” she said slyly as she gave him a suggestive gaze. Yuuki knew she was acting helpless on purpose to tease him, but he determined it’d be more of a hassle to get into it with her, so he ended up holding the umbrella up for the both of them.

“I’m not that strong, though.”

“Hmmm?”

Yui didn’t look to be paying attention to what Yuuki said; she wasn’t replying to him at all. Instead, she only stole glances at him from time to time. She had a huge grin on her face, leaving Yuuki to assume the worst. She, meanwhile, had conjured up yet another mischievous idea.

“Alright, I’ll hold it up with you,” she offered, bringing her hands atop of Yuuki’s as she grabbed onto the handle. “Oh no! I grabbed your hand. Whatever will happen now?”

“... Your hands are really wet.”

“Wet? I-It’s because of the rain, okay? The rain. Nothing else.”

“Okay, sweaty hands.”

“I just told you it was because of the rain!” she exclaimed, feeling her hands getting warmer around his. The warmth didn’t last long, however, as she pulled them away and began playfully punching his shoulder. “You’re so rude, you know that? I’m gonna mess up your shoulder for that!” she grumbled. Before long, she grew bored and stopped, and deafening silence filled the space around them.

“It got real quiet all of a sudden,” she whispered. The silence left her feeling unsettled, but Yuuki didn't seem to mind it at all. “Umm, are you angry at me?”

---

---

“Huh?” Yuuki was taken aback at how timid she looked, as if something was eating her up inside. It was such a contrast from her usual cheerful demeanor that he couldn’t help but be curious. “I’m not. Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s just that I kind of forced myself into your walk home, and well, how do I put this... It’s so awkward when neither of us is talking, so I want to keep the conversation going, but...” she said as her voice trailed off.

“You don’t have to try so hard,” he reassured her. “And besides, it’s so weird seeing you this meek.”

“I think I might just be a quiet girl deep down,” she said with downcast eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure myself, but sometimes it feels like I’m putting on an act or pretending to be someone that I’m not.”

“Hmm... I wouldn’t worry much about that if I were you,” he said before they both fell silent once more.

Yuuki watched her from the side; she had a gloomy expression on her face, and she looked genuinely dejected. Yuuki wanted to cheer her up, and he found himself switching the umbrella to his left hand and extending his right one toward Yui’s head—though she deftly dodged to the side just before it could reach her.

“Y-You just tried to pat my head again, didn’t you?!”

“Ah, nope, there was just a bug on your head, and—”

“Lies! I will not fall for that again!” she shouted.

I never thought she’d be that bothered by it, he thought to himself. “Sounds good, yeah, I was just trying to lift your spirits,” he explained. Yuuki wondered if he should’ve really tried it after all, as Yui quickly settled down and returned to silence. He glanced at her again, and they both happened to lock eyes, but Yui jerked her quickly-reddening face away.

“You blush pretty easily,” he finally said.

“W-Well excuse me, princess.”

“I just thought it was cute is all,” he said with a slight smile.

“Y-You get your kicks from watching girls get embarrassed? What are you, some sort of sadist?!”

“So now you’re embarrassed?”

“Am not!”

“So you’re just mad at me, then.”

“Yeah, and since you think that’s cute, then that must make you a massive masochist,” she declared as she again turned her face away from Yuuki with a huff. Again, the silence returned.

From what Yuuki gathered, Yui was the type to get nervous during prolonged silences, so he decided to just talk about whatever came to his mind.

“I’m a big fan of the rain,” he said. “Like the sound of raindrops, or the smell of the rainy season. Though I still hate it if it’s raining hard or if there’s a typhoon or something, obviously.”

Yuuki was surprised at himself. He had no idea he could talk about so much, though he still quickly ran out of things to say. The rain was getting stronger, so he took half a step closer to Yui and tilted the umbrella slightly onto her side.

“I think I like the rain too,” she said after a pause.

They maintained their small distance between each other and continued walking down the path. The rain pitter-pattered all around them as they strolled along, and fresh air filled their lungs. They finally reached a crossroads after 10 minutes had passed, and they knew that this was where they had to part ways. They came to a stop, waiting for the red crossing light to switch colors.

“Well, my house is this way, so...” Yuuki said, his voice trailing off.

“Ah, right,” Yui nodded.

“I’ll let you keep the umbrella,” he said, holding it out for her to take.

“Huh? You sure?”

“Yeah, I can just run back home,” he told her as the light turned green.

Yui stood dumbfounded with the umbrella in her hands as Yuuki waved goodbye and walked away. It took her an abnormally long time to come back to reality and wave back. She must’ve panicked, though, because the umbrella almost slipped away from her and nearly went flying, and she flapped her hands around in an attempt to regain her grip on its handle.

A shy girl holding an umbrella and waving at me... Kinda breathtaking, he thought to himself, taking in her nervous smile. A smile really does suit you best, he concluded, making his way back home in a hurry, the image of Yui under the rain still fresh in his mind.

◆ ◇

“Welcome home, Yukkie!”

As soon as Yuuki turned the doorknob, he was greeted with an excited Mina barreling toward the entryway. She was wearing an apron for some reason, and the twinkling in her eyes caused Yuuki’s stomach to sink.

“Would you like some dinner? Or would you rather have a bath?”

“I got pretty soaked, so I guess I could go for a bath. It’s kind of too early for dinner, anyway.”

“Wow, you are drenched. What happened to you? You forgot your umbrella again?”

Unfortunately for Yuuki, it had started pouring hard soon after he parted with Yui. It was no wonder he needed a bath, considering how his shoes were filled with water and how his shirt was clinging to his body.

“I let someone borrow it.”

“Borrow it? Did someone steal it? Are you getting bullied?”

“No.”

“You gotta be honest with me, Yukkie!”

“I just told you, I let someone borrow it from me.”

Yuuki appreciated that she was genuinely worried for him, but water was dripping from his clothes and mucking up the floor, so he decided it’d be best if he took his shirt off before he inadvertently flooded the place.

“Eek!” she shrieked while she covered her eyes. The spaces between her fingers were conveniently aligned over her eyes, and though she was staring intently, she was clearly just joking around.

“Spare me. Just let me take off my shirt in peace, please.”

Mina pretended to be embarrassed and turned her back to Yuuki before dashing off. The sight now before Yuuki’s eyes was enough to throw him for a loop. When she turned around, he saw her underwear, meaning that she wasn’t wearing anything under her apron. She had the tendency to walk around the house in her underwear because it was “liberating,” especially when Yuuki wasn’t around.

“What are you even wearing? Put on something proper.”

“He says while strips at the door!”

Mina was being a handful, which reinforced Yuuki’s choice to take a bath first and worry about cleaning up the floor later. He took off all of his clothes and entered the surprisingly already-warm bathroom. It appeared that Mina had already prepared the hot water for him before he had come home. Yuuki wanted to wash himself in the shower before he dipped into the bath, but was interrupted when Mina cracked open the door and peeked in.

“How’s the water, Yukkie?”

“It’s fine. Listen, what’s up with you today?”

“I told you, I’m gonna help you with the housework and stuff!”

“Help with the housework, huh...”

As they spoke, Mina’s glances were shifting ever more downwards at increasingly more questionable places until Yuuki finally had enough and shut the door in her face.

For god’s sake, he grumbled. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about having a little sister who was so interested in her brother’s body. And while she might’ve simply become more conscious of the opposite sex, he would’ve appreciated it if she were at least a little sneakier about doing it—or better yet, if she never did it in the first place.

When he was done, Yuuki left the bathroom and made his way to the living room where MIna had been waiting for him. She led him by his arm to the table and pulled back a chair for him to sit down in. He settled down and warily examined the large plate before him, which presented him with some bizarre twist on a rice omelette. That dish was just the beginning of his suffering, as next to it there was a bowl of what looked like steaming miso soup.

“You get full points for variety, at least.”

“I made it all by myself too! Eat it while it’s hot!” she shouted, spreading her arms in excitement. She must’ve been very eager to cook for him, seeing as it was still a tad early for dinner.

“All by yourself? Wow, that’s amazing.”

“You bet! Try the omelette! I made it all fluffy,” she said, bragging about her apparent newfound culinary skills.

In reality, her omelette was sloppy at best. It didn’t even manage to cover the entirety of the rice underneath. Still, Yuuki scooped up a spoonful just for the sake of it. Some of the rice appeared half-cooked, while the rest looked burnt, and the whole thing had a desperate lack of ketchup on top.

“So where’s your plate?” he asked.

“I bought a lunch box, so I’m good,” she said and pointed at a plastic bag at the side of the table. “Couldn’t let hog up the lunch box experience. Oh, by the way, where did you even get yours? Did someone actually make it for you?”

“Pretty much. It was from the person sitting next to me.”

“I don’t think I get it,” she said with a puzzled look. Yuuki couldn’t blame her since he found it just as weird as she did. “Well whatever. Eat up, Yukkie!” she exclaimed.

It did taste somewhat like a typical rice omelette, albeit the rice was a little crunchy, and it was also lacking in seasoning. Yuuki couldn’t possibly complain, though, not when Mina’s eyes were glimmering with excitement.

“It’s pretty tasty,” he said after having considered all the possible variables of the situation.

“Yaaay!” she exclaimed as she jumped for joy.

Her smile was contagious, and soon Yuuki was grinning, as well. However, his calculating mind concluded that leaving things as is would be problematic down the line. Instead of nitpicking the meal she’d made for him, he decided to get her to taste it herself and realize her own shortcomings herself.

“Have you tried it at all? Here, have some,” he said as he brought a spoonful of rice closer to her mouth.

“Nah, I’m good. Gotta finish up my lunch box,” she quickly refused, but Yuuki wasn’t about to let her get off that easily.

“Come on. Open wide.”

“Aaah...” She couldn’t turn her brother down and opened her mouth without so much as a doubt.

“What do you think?”

“It’s alright, I guess,” she said once she’d managed to swallow the mouthful.

“Okay then, how about another bite?”

“Pass.”

Yuuki knew then that she must’ve realized that her cooking skills still had a ways to go, even though she pretended otherwise. Anything else would mean that she suffered from an acute lack of taste buds.

“Wonder what the miso soup tastes like...” he pondered as he took a sip. He was hesitant, but was mildly surprised to learn that, at the very least, the soup had tofu and onions.

This tastes kind of weak, he thought to himself. It was as if she’d only let the miso boil for a little bit. In other words, this miso soup was more of a miso drink. Still, he gave her full points for actually trying and not just defaulting to some store-bought, instant soup variant.

“So what do you think? Can I cook, or can I cook?” she said, entirely too proud of herself. Regardless of the resulting taste, Mina had clearly poured a lot of effort into making it, and Yuuki couldn’t possibly make light of that.

I should show her how it’s done next time she cooks.

“Heck, now you made me hungry too. Guess I should eat, myself,” she said as she pulled her lunch box out of the plastic bag.

Yuuki peeked into the box and was able to make out a variety of food such as rice with seaweed on it, some fried chicken, and salmon slices. The amount of boiled food was far too excessive, and there were barely any side dishes to go with the rice. The whole thing looked unappetising at best. The food didn’t look very fresh, and when he took an even closer look, he saw a “30 percent sale” sticker on the box. It was a stark contrast to the lunch box that Yui had prepared for him today.

“Love me some premade grub!” she exclaimed.

The state of the food didn’t seem to bother Mina much, as she was happily heating it up in the microwave. However, remembering how exquisite his lunch box had been compared to the poor state of Mina’s lunch box made Yuuki feel just a little bit guilty.

Something vibrating in his pocket meant his musings would be put on hold for now. It took him a moment to realize that it was his phone. As he pulled it out, he wondered who it could be. Nobody ever messaged him, after all. When he turned on the screen, what flashed across the top was a notification from none other than the newest addition to his friends list: Yui.

“Hope it didn’t rain too hard on you,” it read.

“I’ll live,” he awkwardly navigated to the messaging app and typed up his own reply before putting his phone onto the table and shifting his attention back to his dinner.

“I kinda missed my chance to say thanks. Sorry about that,” Yui replied soon after. Yuuki didn’t know that it was possible to both express gratitude and apologise in one message and briefly considered poking fun at her for it. Ultimately, he chose not to, as he still remembered her strangely reserved behavior earlier in the day.

“You holding up okay yourself?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You looked somewhat gloomy on the way home.”

She’d been responding relatively quickly, but completely stopped after Yuuki’s last message. He passed the time watching the news until a vibration finally alerted him to a new message.

“I guess I said something weird back there,” Yui replied.

“Not really,” Yuuki replied. He was replying a bit faster than he normally would. Maybe it was because he’d improved since Mina had chastised him, telling him that he’d never be competent at any job if he were unable to reply to messages in a timely manner.

“Thank you for telling me not to worry too much about it,” she finally replied after yet another brief pause.

“You’re awfully honest today.”

Once again, he was greeted with radio silence. Mina, meanwhile, had finished up her own meal. Just as Yuuki was beginning to think that Yui was done for the day, his phone buzzed once again.

“That’s right. I’m just an honest and helpless girl... JK.”

“... Huh?” he said out loud as he stared at his screen in utter confusion.

“Haha, I got you good! That was all part of my game. Did helpless wittle Yui tug on your heartstrings?”

Yuuki struggled to understand what she was even trying to achieve. Whether it was true or not, she wanted him to believe her timid behavior earlier was all part of the joke. While it didn’t actually come off that way to Yuuki, he decided he would take her word for it.

Is there really a point to being this roundabout about everything? he thought to himself, lost for words at her shenanigans.

“Wow, seriously? You really had me going there,” he finally replied.

“Why does that sound super sarcastic?’

I was completely fooled there, he thought to himself until something on TV drew his attention once more.

“What are you up to, Yukkie?” Mina had arrived and looked inquisitively at his phone.

“Just messaging someone.”

“Who exactly?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Hey, no keeping secrets from your sister!”

“It’s just a friend.”

Mina was clearly displeased, and while she didn’t press Yuuki with any more questions, she did go and retrieve her own phone, as well.

“Okay then, you’re going to have to message me too!” she declared, quickly tapping on her phone with her nimble fingers.

“We’re gonna start with the letter S,” read her message.

“What?” he typed back.

“We’re playing I Spy.”

Yuuki felt strange messaging someone who was sitting right next to him, and it genuinely felt like a huge waste of resources somehow. Besides, he still had to deal with incoming messages from Yui.

“I’ll return the umbrella to you tomorrow. And I was thinking of thanking you in some way,” the message from Yui read. The first thing that came to mind when he saw it was the lunch box she’d made him. He wanted to have Mina try it as well, though he figured it’d be rude if he so bluntly asked for one.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Hm? It’s okay. You don’t have to hold back.”

“Alright then, how about another lunch box?” he replied just as another message from Mina came along, pestering him to reply to her, as well. She looked excited, so Yuuki gave in and went along with her game.

“Soup,” he replied. “OK my turn. I spy something beginning with P.”

“Power Rangers!”

“Uhh, okay. I spy something green.”

“Green ranger!”

“I spy something red.”

“Red ranger!”

“Have you been watching too much TV again?”

“Aaand you lost!”

It was Yuuki’s own fault for questioning her instead of continuing the game, but he couldn’t help but feel that it was unfair. Mina didn’t look like she was done playing either, as she started another game.

“Okay then! Next, we’ll play the word association game. Are you ready? Go!”

“Cashews.”

“Trees!”

“Wait, cashews grow on trees?” he asked aloud while Mina waited patiently for his next reply. Before he could get back to their game, though, yet another text from Yui arrived.

“Is now not a good time? Sorry to bother you if that’s the case,” it read.

Messaging two insistent people at such a fast pace all at once was far too much for poor Yuuki. The fact that Mina was nagging him to reply faster aggravated the matter even further, and the hapless boy ended up confusing the conversations and sent the wrong message to Yui.

“Leaf.”

“What?”

“Oh wait, sorry. Never mind that.”

Meanwhile...

Yui was laying in bed on her stomach constantly refreshing her messaging app with a huge grin on her face.

“What’re you smiling for? Kinda creepy, to be honest.”

Yui was so engrossed in her phone that she hadn’t even noticed a certain someone entering her room. Her shock was so intense that she fell off the bed and instinctively kicked violently in complete terror. It was like something out of a horror movie.

“Y-You ever heard of knocking?!”

“Maybe next time. But tell me, how did he like the lunch box?”

“He said it was really tasty,” she answered with satisfaction.

“I see. And then what happened?” she asked. Her tone indicated that she was slightly disinterested, and she looked generally disappointed by Yui’s positive response.

“Uhh, he let me borrow his umbrella, even though he ended up getting soaked.”

“He did? While it’s raining no less? He doesn’t sound all that bright...”

“Hah, you just don’t get it,” Yui said as she shook her head in disappointment.

“I guess I don’t, but what I do know is you already look madly in love,” Maki told her, flashing a cheeky smile.

“N-No, that’s not the case! I just thought it’d be fun to see his reaction!”

“So basically, you’re too embarrassed to make a move on him, so you make it seem like you’re only doing it as a joke, hoping that he’ll seriously fall in love with you. And then you’ll confess?” Maki said all in one big, smug breath.

“O-Of course not!” Yui stuttered hard before finally getting the words out. “What are you even blabbering about? Keep your weird thoughts to yourself!”

“Who even talks like that? Anyways, it sounds like a drag more than anything. Are you actually gonna go with it if he confesses?”

“Huh? Well, I guess I might think about it a tiny bit—if that ever happened—haha, just kidding,” Yui said. She didn’t sound too convincing.

“This is a man’s feelings we’re talking about here,” Maki admonished as she lightly tapped Yui’s head.

“You don’t have to tell me that. He already told me I’m cute,” Yui said as she shook her sister’s hand off and locked eyes with her.

“And you’re over the moon just because of that? God, you’re so easy.”

“Fine! He was also really eager to exchange contact information when I brought it up!”

“Well that’s only normal, since you were the one who mentioned it first.”

“He started calling me by my first name when I used his too. He even came up with a nickname for me.”

“You sure he isn’t just looking down on you?”

“Okay fine. How about this? Look at how quickly he replies to my texts! The lunch box strategy worked wonders. It’s like a direct hit, slowly eating him from the inside out!” she proclaimed, clearly proud of herself.

“I see. Well, I’m glad it worked out for you,” Maki said gently with a smile.

Yui felt that her sister was making fun of her. She was just about to throw Maki out of the room when she remembered something that weighed heavily on her mind and instead decided to ask her for advice.

“Hey, sis, does the word ‘leaf’ have any hidden meaning to it?”

“What?”

“You know, maybe it's some sort of slang boys use or something.”

“Uhh, you’re not making a whole lotta sense right now,” Maki replied, dumbfounded by the absurd question. “Well, nevermind that. Go take a bath already, stinky,” she said off-handedly. She then heaved a sigh and left Yui’s room.