Mamatomo ke Sodateru Rabukome - Volume 1

Chapter 8 – Golden Week Organized Just for My Younger Sister

Golden Week is a holiday created by the government for Soyoka. Soyoka is a golden egg, which is a national treasure, as she has a precious smile and eyes.

In theory, the entire country will be closed for a week from late April to early May (according to my own research) in honor of Soyoka.

Schools and kindergartens are closed during this period. I heard from Mizuki that most of the students will be busy with their club activities, but since I’m a member of the club back home, it’s not a problem for me.

Wait, isn’t spending time with Soyoka also a club activity? That’s because I’m Soyoka’s club manager!

“Onii-chan!”

“Call me “Manager.”

“Manager?”

Oops, I said something stupid because I was too excited.

I was sitting on the sofa when Soyoka fell on my lap and elbowed me. It hurt when Soyoka’s elbow pierced my thigh, but I didn’t blame her because I could feel that Soyoka was growing stronger.

I waited patiently for her to change her sitting position naturally.

One second, two seconds ……

“Aaarggh, it hurts!”

I lifted both hands and placed them on Soyoka’s lap.

I patted her head and she laughed amusedly.

“Is today a holiday too?”

Soyoka flapped her foot and hit my shin as she tilted her head back and deftly turned her head to face me. Then, our eyes met.

“It’s a holiday now. Because today is Golden Week.”

“Tomorrow too?”

“Yes.”

“Wow! What about the day after tomorrow?”

“Same thing. The next day too. Tomorrow again, tomorrow again and so on.”

“Wow! Sleep non-stop!”

Kindergarten usually only has weekends off. But now, they will have a whole week off.

Incidentally, my school is also closed for some reason. I think it’s because of an extra vacation or something.

Incidentally, my school was also closed for some reason. I think it was because of an extra vacation or something.

It’s been about a month since she started kindergarten. Although she attends every day happily, there’s a possibility that she’s tired and stressed out by her environment. This is a good opportunity for her to take a break.

“Most importantly, I miss spending time with Soyoka! I won’t leave you for even a moment during these seven days!”

I gave her a tight hug. Her small body felt warm and cozy in my arms.

Isn’t Golden Week the best because I can spend the whole week with Soyoka?

I wish Golden Week would last forever.

Even during this vacation, my mom still has to work as usual.

I was hoping that she would be off during Golden Week, but when I woke up this morning, she wasn’t home.

“Soka likes to sleep!”

“Haha, suddenly…”

“I love futons!”

“Do you want to take a nap?”

“Yes!”

For some reason, we decided to take a nap, even though we had just finished breakfast.

Soyoka doesn’t have her own room and always sleeps with me. Even though we have an extra room, but she might get lonely, so she’ll sleep with me until she’s in elementary school. ….. no, maybe I’ll do it until she’s in middle school. It would be dangerous if Soyoka fell asleep.

“Futon-chan, I miss you!”

“I’ll get it now. It’s freshly dried, so the futon will be warm.”

I went to the terrace, patted it lightly, then picked it up.

How delicious! This is the luxury of a day off!

I spread out the futon and Soyoka prepared her pillow. Then, she lay down and covered herself with the blanket.

For Soyoka, the futon would be complete if there was me on it. So, Soyoka quickly rolled up her blanket from my left side and threw her legs out.

Patting the pillow area with her hand, she ordered me in a somewhat annoyed tone, “Onii-chan! Hurry up!”

“Yes, yes!”

She’s too cute. …..The corners of my mouth slackened to melt.

Soyoka who had confirmed that I had extended my left hand to the side smiled contentedly as if she was happy about this.

She was so cute when she asked to sleep in my arms, so I deliberately stretched it out earlier so I could see that expression.

Soyoka then rested her head on my arm and moved around until she finally found the best position and relaxed her body.

“Onii-chan’s pillow!”

“It’s a holiday, so please hang on to my shoulder!”

I don’t care if I break my shoulder. Because I’ll do everything I can for Soyoka.

I waited for Soyoka to fall asleep while enjoying what a pitcher feels.

“Good night.”

“Yes, good night.”

“Do you want to go to kindergarten?”

“Yes ……. I want to……. have fun…..”

Soyoka started to get sleepy while still talking until she finally fell asleep.

Since she was still talking until just now, her mouth remained open.

I really want to go to the dream world with Soyoka, but that’s not possible. Because I have homework to do even on my days off. Moreover, it’s a chance to finish the tasks I’ve been piling up all this time because I’m on vacation.

Since I have seven days, I’m going to clean the places I don’t usually clean.

I just cleaned the mold in the bathtub a few days ago, so I’ll probably clean the wastafel today.

“I ….. I ….. I …..”

Hey, how dare you come into my Soyoka’s dream without permission!

I was about to impulsively wake him up, but I managed to hold back well.

I couldn’t disturb Soyoka’s deep sleep. Instead, I placed my hand on her head.

“I’m sorry, Soyoka….”

I lifted Soyoka’s head carefully and pulled my arm so as not to wake her up.

Instead, I placed a pillow of the same height. I had bought it at a 100 yen convenience store for this purpose.

Well, you could say it’s a kind of exchange technique.

“Haa, I miss the futon with Soyoka on it….”

I left the room with tears streaming down my face.

I’ll hold off on using the vacuum cleaner later, because the sound of the machine will wake Soyoka up. So, what I’m going to do now is fold the laundry I dried last night, prepare lunch, and polish the sink….

I did all those tasks quietly while organizing the schedule in my mind. I’ve been doing this since I was in elementary school, so I’m used to it. Even now, I can replay the list of Soyoka’s cute faces in my mind while doing all my chores.

Once Soyoka goes to sleep, she won’t wake up for an hour.

It’s because I want to play with her when she wakes up, so I want to do as many tasks as I can right now.

I’m now in super maid mode. I’m flying around the room at a blinding speed.

***

Two hours later.

Perhaps because of the comfort of the freshly dried futon, Soyoka, who had been sleeping soundly since earlier, finally woke up only now.

The housework went much better than I expected, so I felt very satisfied.

“Onii-chan disappeared.”

“Good morning, Soyoka.”

“What’s Onii-chan doing?”

Soyoka who just woke up was as beautiful as ever.

Soyoka then walked out of the room, rubbing her eyes. Then, she sat down on the carpet and leaned her back against the sofa.

“Hoaamm, sleepy…..”

Soyoka opened her mouth wide and sighed.

Just as Soyoka was about to fall asleep for the third time, the sound of music came from somewhere to announce an incoming call.

The ringtone that mimicked a cat’s voice …… was the sound of Soyoka’s son’s cell phone.

“Ape!”

[TL: HAND PHONE.]

Soyoka, who woke up in shock, ran to the table and picked up her phone.

Even if she can’t read yet, she will still be able to make calls as long as she remembers the order of operation. Moreover, a child’s Handphone can be seen intuitively and easily understood through the illustrations posted.

Soyoka rubbed the center of the screen with her index finger and held it to her ear.

“Hello?”

Hmm? Wait a minute. Except for me, the only other person who knows Soyoka’s number is………

“Iku! Good morning!”

Akiyama. The Akiyama brothers are the only people who can call Soyoka, right?!

Mom was at work right now, so inevitably it was only the two of them who could call Soyoka at the moment.

How mean of her, interrupting my time with Soyoka!

While Soyoka and Iku were chatting, my cell phone also sounded a notification tone.

It was from Akiyama. But it wasn’t a phone call, it was a message.

[Iku wants to play with Soyoka.]

Then, she sent a picture of Iku.

I checked it and listened to Soyoka’s conversation.

“Soka’s been sleeping a lot today, you know! Tomorrow too!”

It looks like Iku just woke up too.

Unfortunately, I can’t hear the other party’s voice.

Wait, I didn’t buy her a Handphone phone to call a guy!

[Hey, I don’t like it when he makes out with Iku on the phone.]

[Oi, it’s your little sister who’s calling her! But wait, aren’t they taking too long?]

[It seems like he’s too shy to ask her out. Moreover, you often look at her with an annoyed expression on your face. How sweet. I want to support her, but it’s complicated.]

How fast she typed all that……

[By the way, we’re free today.]

[We’re free too. Since it’s not healthy to stay at home all Golden Week, so I would be grateful if Soyoka would play with Iku.]

[Well, if you two want to play, let’s go somewhere.]

The two guardians continued their conversation while the younger siblings were busy on the phone.

But, during Golden Week, any place we go is bound to be crowded. There aren’t many options of places where kids can play in the afternoon.

“Onii-chan, Iku asked me to play!”

“Soyoka, do you want to play too?”

“Yes!”

It seemed that Iku had successfully invited her.

Since Soyoka seemed energized after a good night’s sleep, and I had also finished my homework, I sent the meeting place and time to Akiyama.

***

One hour later.

After lunch at home, we met at the nearest station.

The sun is getting hotter these days, so we put on sunscreen.

“Looks like Akiyama hasn’t arrived yet….”

Soyoka wore her favorite skirt and carried a small backpack.

With the child’s cell phone hanging around her neck, she swayed her body from side to side.

“Soka loves traveling!”

There are many residential areas around here, so there are many people walking around even during the day.

If this was my trip to school, I would definitely be stuck on a crowded train. It’s a good thing that I go to school by bicycle.

I rarely travel by train, so I was very worried about Soyoka.

The street scene may seem ordinary to adults, but it was new and exciting for the children.

When I was looking at a poster, Soyoka pointed at it and asked, “What is that?” and I explained it casually.

I didn’t mind waiting for them for a while because it was just me and Soyoka here. On the contrary, I’m very happy that it’s just the two of us here!

“Soyoka-chan!”

I heard Iku’s voice from behind me as I was looking at the movie poster and talking to Soyoka.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No, no. We just arrived too.”

I turned around, and when I saw Akiyama’s figure, I was stunned.

“What?”

Akiyama, who wore a headband on her head, was dressed in casual clothes.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen her in casual clothes. I’ve also seen her at the kindergarten entrance ceremony when she wore elegant clothes and also when she wore a rugged hoodie when we were buying a kid’s cell phone.

But today, she was dressed like she was on a date.

She was wearing a black off-the-shoulder dress and high-waisted denim shorts, with white sneakers on her feet and a mini bag slung over her shoulder.

Her casual look was very different from the usual Akiyama. But strangely, it suits her mature appearance.

“Sumi, you’re so cute!”

“Thank you. …..Ha? You’re praising me in order to get close to Iku, right? How cunning of you. ……I won’t let you get Iku.”

“You’re just like Onii-chan. Talking weird.”

Soyoka said so with a puzzled look on her face.

“Fufu. Soyoka-chan is cute too, you know.”

“Aitou!”

[TL: Arigatou.]

Iku complimented Soyoka’s outfit with a smile on her face. Then, Soyoka smiled as if she was overjoyed at the compliment.

“Hey, don’t you just go around approaching Soyoka!”

“That’s right. Onii-chan is weird too.”

Soyoka still doesn’t understand because she’s still innocent. But, men are wolves! Iku must be trying to conquer Soyoka by praising her.

“That’s it. Let’s go.”

I glanced at Akiyama and said so.

“Yeah, sure.”

Strangely, I felt nervous because I felt that his shoulders and collarbone, which were usually hidden under his uniform, were something I should not see. Especially since Akiyama is a person who is very well guarded.

“How long do you want to see me like that?”

“…..I’m sorry. I was just surprised to see you wearing something you don’t normally wear.”

“Oh, that’s honest.”

I was a little frustrated because Akiyama was combing her hair with a relaxed expression on her face. I wanted to convince her that I wasn’t stunned by her appearance.

“By the way, you purposely tucked your front shirt into your pants, didn’t you?”

I tried to ask her what was bothering me from earlier. I actually understood why she did that because Soyoka did it a lot too. You put it in because you felt uncomfortable, right? I apologize for pretending not to understand.

Akiyama who heard that blinked a few times.

After a while, perhaps because she had digested what I meant, the gleam in her eyes disappeared in an instant.

She seemed to be in a good mood before, but why the sudden change now?

She then grabbed Soyoka and Iku’s hands without saying a word to me.

“Iku, Soyoka. Let’s leave her. Let’s just leave her here.”

“Nee-chan, Onii-chan is scary.”

“Onii-chan, you can’t do that….”

Iku and Soyoka looked at me with astonished gazes.

Oh no! I was just trying to be nice by telling her, you know!

That’s what it looks like. I should have told her indirectly, and not directly, right? Or, did she intentionally only put the front of his shirt in…? Evidently, Akiyama didn’t want to fix her clothes.

I don’t understand how girls dress up.

“Soyoka, wait! Don’t leave me!”

“No, I want to play with Sumi-chan!”

“You mean ….. you don’t need your older brother anymore?!”

Soyoka smiled mischievously and hugged Akiyama’s hand in response.

I fainted on the spot without blinking an eye.

I won’t be able to live if Soyoka rejects me…. ……..

“Kyota Nii-chan, cheer up!”

“I …… I can’t live if Soyoka doesn’t need me anymore…..”

A strange scene where a high schooler is cheered on by a kindergartner occurred.

Iku clenched her fists and stood up to cheer me up.

***

We boarded the train to Yokohama and got off at Yokohama Station.

Our destination was Minato Mirai.

The journey took less than an hour.

The destination is a tourist attraction, but it’s not that special because there are only commercial facilities in it

When we arrived at Minato Mirai, we entered a large commercial facility directly connected to the station and rode the escalator.

Soyoka and Iku seemed excited because the atmosphere of the city was still unfamiliar to them. I, on the other hand, felt a little nervous because I rarely visit this kind of place.

Only a small part of this city can be considered prosperous, and most of it is still rural and residential….

“Still a while, huh?”

“Well, the destination is on the fifth floor, so we should be there soon.”

We were looking for an indoor park, a place where we could interact with animals.

As it is a relatively child-friendly facility, so naturally there were many families with their children waiting in line.

It was quite crowded as it was the Golden Week period.

We waited for about 20 minutes, paid for admission, and received our tickets.

“Look, there are birds! Which one do you like?”

“I’m a squirrel.”

“Oh, that’s so cute!”

As we entered, the hallways were lined with nature-inspired walls and objects, which made it seem as if we had suddenly traveled to another dimension. What’s more, there were live animals in every room.

Although this is small enough to be called a zoo, there are still plenty of animals to see here.

“Elephant!”

“……I thought the elephant was just a decoration.”

“Soka likes elephants!”

Soyoka’s excitement increased, so I asked her to come with me.

Of course, it was because I wanted to take pictures of Soyoka’s cuteness. It looks like it’s going to be a busy day for me.

I glanced next to Akiyama and saw that he was also picking up his cell phone. We looked at each other and had a conversation through signs.

Yes, that’s right. I think we should work together here.

“Soyoka! There’s a panel with animal faces over there!”

“Good job, Kyota. I see, why don’t you and Soyoka take a picture together there?”

The two of them were brought to the animal face panel by those of us who were conspiring.

Soyoka stood behind the owl panel while Iku was behind the gorilla panel.

“Soyoka, you’re so cute! My God, is Soyoka still adorable even if she becomes an animal! …….Wait, five more times!”

“Soka’s bored.”

Soyoka looked lethargic, so I thought this might not be fun for her. Meanwhile, Iku, who was just standing there with a blank expression on her face, strangely seemed to fit right in as the gorilla he was portraying.

Soyoka who came out out of boredom, peeked at my phone, checked the photo and clapped her hands, “Yup!”

“Onii-chan and Sumi-chan should do it too!”

“What? No, I don’t—”

“Soka will take the picture!”

Soyoka looked very enthusiastic as she held up her child’s cell phone.

“Come on, approach the turtle!”

“Ah, okay.”

I couldn’t say no to Soyoka who was so excited, so I couldn’t help but stare at Akiyama’s face ….. please, it’s for the sake of the children!

She then sighed lightly, closed her eyes, and walked away without saying a word.

“Well, that’s to be expected. There’s no way Akiyama would do something like this….”

“What are you talking about? Of course I’ll do it.”

“Eh?”

“I like owls.”

I don’t know if she was serious or joking? But she said it in a dignified tone.

Akiyama turned around first and peeked out from the panel. The realistic image of the owl and her neat face didn’t match at all, so it looked funny.

When I was sighing, Akiyama’s brows furrowed and he shouted, “Come quickly!”

Oops, it looked a lot funnier when her expression turned angry.

Then, I stood beside her and made my face as well. I’m sure I must look as funny as Akiyama, especially since my chin panel is small and not prominent.

“Onii-chan! Imitate the gorilla.”

Soyoka then pressed the shutter button.

Normally, she was the one who was always the one being photographed, so she seemed to really enjoy pointing her camera at me.

“Onii-chan, do as the gorilla does!”

“That’s incongruous!”

“Sumi-chan, copy the bird too!”

“Ho…….”

Will she do it?

Although she was standing right next to me, but I couldn’t see her expression because my face was pressed against the panel.

I felt the pressure, so I thought I would do it too. ……After all, imitating a gorilla is about imitating its movements and not its face, right?

After taking many photos and feeling satisfied, I took Soyoka to the animal area.

Not only standard animals, but there were also rare animals like capybaras and meerkats. Some of them were even allowed to be touched.

“Look, Onii-chan! It looks so sleepy!”

“That’s called a meerkat …… Soyoka looked like that this morning.”

“Meerkat? Does Soka look like one?”

The meerkat sat like a human, with its back leaning against the wall. Its face was dazed and haggard. It was very similar to Soyoka, who was lying on the sofa after waking up from sleep.

“If you’re sleepy, just sleep.”

Soyoka made a mysterious statement to the meerkat.

Meerkats cannot be touched, so Soyoka could only look at it for a moment and then quickly move on to another place. Then, she moved to an area that interested her which made me watch her even more.

“Armadillo!”

Iku’s voice boomed and she clung to Akiyama. Soyoka also stood beside her.

“Looks like you guys can touch her.”

“Really?!”

Iku, who was being held by Akiyama, stretched out her hand somewhat fearfully. Iku touched the armadillo’s back several times. It seemed like the armadillo had gotten used to it because it didn’t move an inch when touched.

Soyoka, on the other hand, didn’t seem interested in the armadillo. Even though I think the armadillo looks quite interesting.

“Iku, do you like armadillos?

“Yes. ……!”

“Then you can touch it all you want.”

Akiyama, who didn’t seem interested in any animals from earlier, smiled as he watched Iku playing with the Armadillo.

Capybaras, turtles, iguanas …… and an array of other mysterious animals, all tame and touchable.

Soyoka’s favorites are the iguanas because of their cute faces. She pats them on the head one by one while calling out their names: “lizard” “turtle” and “capicapi”.

[TL: Kapibara means.]

I felt anxious while watching her for fear that she would immediately extend her hand before I could confirm whether she could touch it or not.

“Soyoka is so cute! I’m going to take pictures of you, so please touch them slowly! Yes, like that! Here, look at me!”

“Can you not make a scene in a public place?”

Akiyama might be right, but I couldn’t stop my hands from busily pressing the shutter button.

“You’re not going to try to touch her?”

“…..The animals don’t like me.”

“That’s not true, in fact it seems to be the opposite….”

A meerkat, whose eyes met Akiyama’s, gasped and ran to the edge of its cage.

Whereas earlier the meerkat was lying helplessly, but now it ran to the edge of its cage. ……Is this called instinct?

“Your face is too scary. Look, just think of them as Iku.”

“But Iku is a human.”

That’s not what I meant, okay?

I don’t know why she’s so stiff when she can smile naturally in front of Iku.

“Sumi-chan!

“What’s wrong, Soyoka …… chan……?”

Seeing the animal Soyoka had brought, Akiyama immediately fell silent as if her body was frozen.

Soyoka then pointed the snake at Akiyama’s neck. It was a carpet python, a tame type of python.

Well, I know that because I just saw Soyoka receive it from the officer.

It was a big snake.

Actually, it was harmless because we were allowed to touch it, but Akiyama remained frozen and unable to move.

“It’s a cute snake, you know!”

“S-S-So……”

“Do you want to touch it, Sumi-chan?”

“T-T-There’s no need. I-I-It’s not because I’m scared….”

Hmm, it seems that Soyoka likes reptiles. This is something I just found out. I should add this to my Soyoka encyclopedia.

With her innocent eyes, Soyoka handed me the snake that she had put on Akiyama.

For adults, prejudice and stereotypes always come first. But that doesn’t apply to children. When I took a closer look, the snake did look cute.

[TL: This means that adults are afraid of snakes because they know that snakes are dangerous, but not all of them attack humans].

I put it on my shoulder to try it out, and it felt nice and smooth to the touch.

Next, we entered the bird exhibition area.

After regaining his composure, Akiyama said, “I like birds.” while holding a parrot in his hand.

“Come on, attack that guy.”

“Huh? Do you have a personal grudge against me?”

“Yes, it’s because you took Iku from me.”

Ignoring Akiyama’s gaze, I looked at Iku who was indeed pulling my arm.

“Kyota Nii-chan, what is it?”

“It’s an owl. It’s a big, cool bird.”

“Wow, cool!”

Yup, boys do like cool things, don’t they? Iku’s eyes lit up as he listened to my words, and I became excited with my knowledge. We both became enthusiastic when talking about animals.

However, Akiyama’s gaze grew sharper.

“I won’t forgive you. Come on, fly over to that man and throw dirt on his head.”

“Hey, calm down! Where’s your cool, dignified self?!”

She had been burning in the flames of jealousy. And somehow I felt that the parrot was eyeing me.

From the side, however, there was no doubt that it was the sight of a beautiful, cool girl playing with a parrot, and this girl’s appearance was fantastic enough to make others who saw her say, “Wow, she’s really pretty!” and “Is she a model? Could she be filming? Hey, where’s the camera?”

I had heard those words repeatedly enter my ears. But, she didn’t seem to care.

Once again, I was made to realize that she was indeed a very beautiful girl.

“Umm, can I borrow the bird?”

“Sure. Give me your hand.”

Akiyama crouched down and handed the parrot to Soyoka.

The parrot seemed to obey Soyoka or Akiyama completely, and it moved straight into Soyoka’s hand.

Hey, where’s your pride as a bird?!

The sight of Soyoka and Akiyama playing with the same parrot made me smile, so I photographed it naturally.

I’m glad to see that they get along so well. Soyoka has never been the shy type, and she has always been friendly to people older than her. However, I feel that Akiyama is still unaware of the distance between them.

“Ah. I’ll bring back that snake from earlier.”

“Don’t! Sumi-chan will be paralyzed again!”

When I tried to pick it up, Soyoka stopped me.

By the way, this is an indoor park, so it’s not very big. It’s a good place to take the kids in the afternoon. If it was too big, it would be tiring for the kids.

The big difference between this park and the zoo is that we don’t just see animals.

In the next theater room, visitors can wear 3D glasses to enjoy images with a different sensation where the wind and vibration will reproduce the sense of touch, commonly called 4D.

“Gorilla, kyaaa!”

“This is not what I expected……”

The footage of mountain gorillas in the wild, coming right at us, was terrifying. I was expecting something more heartwarming.

There were also some other facilities such as theater rooms and exhibitions, but none of them could be enjoyed by our younger brother/sister.

It was getting late, so we decided to head home.

On the way, we stopped by a shop to buy some souvenirs. Soyoka was the first to discover the snake doll.

“Hmm, something strange.”

“Strange?”

“Snakes shouldn’t be this soft.”

Yeah, right. That’s because they are stuffed animals.

Usually, this kind of shop also sells souvenirs of animals that don’t exist here. But why no lions or penguins, huh?

“I’ll take this one!”

“I didn’t expect them to sell stuffed animals this realistic?”

“Snake snake!”

It was a snake figure made of rubber. It was about 30 cm long and very realistic. If Soyoka wants it, then it’s fine, but some people probably won’t like it.

I also found some snacks that Soyoka might like, such as cookies and chocolates with animal images on them, which were fun to look at.

I looked over at Akiyama and saw that she was staring at a stuffed owl.

Her mouth relaxed slightly. But when she noticed my gaze, she immediately turned her face away in a huff.

“I was just checking to make sure every detail was made correctly.”

“That’s not a good reason, is it……?”

Iku glanced at the stuffed animals lining the shelves, but she didn’t pick one up.

They were too similar, weren’t they?

I had no choice but to take the armadillo and owl stuffed animal keychains and put them in my basket.

Since they’re small, they should only cost around a few hundred yen.

“I don’t want them.”

Akiyama who saw it immediately said so.

“Well, who bought it for you anyway? I bought it for Iku.”

“Really?”

Since Iku was so honest, it didn’t hurt to buy her this much. Well, it was all bought with my father’s money anyway!

I quickly headed to the cash register, leaving Akiyama looking bitter.

I’m not really interested in this kind of stuff, so I’ll just buy some snacks and continue our journey.

I asked her to put them in separate bags, so I could hand one of them to her.

“Here, take it.”

“……I’ll pay for it later.”

“No need. Please keep playing with Soyoka in the future.”

Soyoka looked happy as she wore the snake doll around her neck. Do you like it very much, Soyoka……?

Meanwhile, Akiyama took the owl keychain from the bag and wiggled it in front of her face. She smiled happily and laughed. Then, she looked at me.

“Thank you. I’ll take good care of it.”

“O-Oh.”

I flinched at the honest expression directed directly at me, and I could only scratch the back of my neck in response.

Please stop trying to surprise me with expressions other than that cold expression of yours.

Later, we headed back to Akiyama’s residence because he said that his mother had prepared dinner at his house.