Kizuna pushed open the front door and began to hum a song before she had even put down her schoolbag.
The tune was the one she had sung on the rooftop this afternoon, though she had already improvised the lyrics into a jumbled mess.
“Strawberry milk is so tasty,” “the wind on the rooftop is so strong,” “Tian Gong-san is so pretty.”
Yuzuki poked her head out of the kitchen, soup ladle still in hand, with a small smudge of ketchup on her apron.
She watched her younger sister crouch in front of the shoe cabinet to untie her shoelaces, humming an out-of-tune song under her breath.
Halfway through untying them, as if remembering something, she pulled her notebook from the side pocket of her schoolbag, flipped through it, and smiled at the crookedly drawn strawberry.
“...Did something good happen today?” Yuzuki leaned against the kitchen doorframe, lightly tapping her palm with the ladle.
Kizuna looked up, only now realizing her sister was already home.
She leaped up from the floor, her schoolbag still slung over one shoulder and her notebook held open against her chest. She looked just like a cat that had just come back from sunbathing, radiating contentment from head to toe.
“Sis! You'll never guess what amazing thing happened to me today!” Kizuna quickly walked over and grabbed her sister's arm.
Then she took a deep breath, as if she wanted to pour out all of today's events in a single breath.
“My desk mate, Tian Gong-san, is seriously super nice! She's so pretty, her voice is so lovely, she lends me her notes during class, and she even showed me around the entire school after class.”
She let go of her sister's arm, gesturing in the air as her voice grew increasingly excited.
Kizuna flipped her notebook to the page filled with stars to show her sister, counting on her fingers the places Qiluo had taken her.
Yuzuki leaned against the kitchen doorframe. She had put down the ladle at some point, quietly listening as her younger sister strung together all the sparkling details of her day, one by one.
“She's really so pretty.” Kizuna threw herself onto the sofa, rolled over clutching a cushion, and buried her face in it, her muffled voice still spilling out. “Her eyelashes are so long, her skin is amazing, and she has this faint scent on her—the kind of scent that makes you feel really safe and relaxed.”
Yuzuki watched her younger sister roll back and forth on the sofa with the cushion, unable to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
From Kizuna's incoherent rambling, a picture began to form: a thoughtful, gentle, beautiful girl who took great care of her.
Ever since Kizuna woke up, Yuzuki had been worried about whether she could adapt to school life, and if she would struggle to make friends after being away for so long.
But now, it seemed those worries were entirely unfounded.
She gently set the ladle down by the stove, wiped her hands, walked into the living room, and sat on the arm of the sofa.
Kizuna immediately pulled the cushion away from her face, nudged closer to her sister, and rested her head on Yuzuki's shoulder.
“You've talked so much about Tian Gong-san, it seems you're very pleased with your desk mate.” Yuzuki tucked a stray lock of hair behind her sister's ear.
“So, how are your class's preparations for the school festival going? I remember you mentioned wanting to join the class booth. Did you sign up?”
Kizuna bounced up from her sister's shoulder, sat cross-legged on the sofa, and flipped her notebook to the school festival page, which was densely packed with notes.
“I did! And—Sis, guess what I'm going to wear?” Without waiting for her sister to answer, she eagerly announced the answer.
“Your outfit! Tian Gong-san let me have hers. She said the size wasn't quite right, but I could tell that was just an excuse—she must have realized I wanted to wear it and said that on purpose.”
“My outfit?” Yuzuki blinked, pointing a finger at herself, a rare look of confusion crossing her face. “Which one do you mean?”
“The Magical Girl cosplay outfit! Our class is doing a Magical Girl-themed café, and the outfits are officially licensed replicas borrowed from the Association. One of them is Meruru's classic outfit!”
Yuzuki watched her younger sister spin around in front of her. The hem of Kizuna's skirt had no musical note decorations, and it was just a regular pleated school uniform skirt spinning, but her smile made the movement look as if she were performing on stage.
So the officially licensed replicas her classmates managed to get actually included Meruru's classic outfit.
“Sis?” Kizuna stopped spinning, tilting her head to look at her. “Are you daydreaming?”
“...No. I was just thinking—” Yuzuki reached out to straighten the bow that had gone askew when Kizuna spun, gently patting the collar.
“That outfit really suits you. The pink skirt goes beautifully with your hair color, and the musical note decorations are exactly your style. It'll look even more like her if you tie your hair up. Your hair is a bit longer than mine, after all.”
Kizuna blinked, looking down at her own hair, then up at her sister. Her lips parted, looking hesitant to speak.
“...Sis, you don't mind? That's your outfit. Isn't it weird for me to wear your outfit?”
“Of course not.” Yuzuki moved her hand away from her sister's collar and gently patted her head.
“That outfit doesn't belong to just me. Anyone who likes Meruru can wear it. If you wear it, I'll be very happy.”
“On the day of the school festival,” Yuzuki moved her hand from her sister's head and gently tapped the tip of her nose, “I'll go and watch too. As your sister, not as Meruru.”
Kizuna rested both hands on her sister's knees, her nose nearly bumping into Yuzuki's chin.
“Really?! You're really coming? Isn't the agency super busy lately? Last time you said you might have to record a new song during the week of the school festival—”
“I've finished recording. I finished it early.”
To free up the day of the school festival, she had compressed an entire week's worth of recording and rehearsals into four days.
None of that mattered.
What mattered was that she could stand in the crowd during her sister's first school festival, watching her run around the classroom carrying a tray.
Watching her make up for all the things she had missed out on in the past.
Kizuna had already missed too many firsts; Yuzuki didn't want to miss this one.
She wanted to see how cute her younger sister would look in her outfit, and to thank Tian Gong-san in person.
Maybe I'll even run into the girl who helped pay for my coffee, and ask for her name.
Rate on N.U.
