“Kagura-san, how long are we going to stare at each other?”
I couldn’t help but raise that after five minutes of not hearing anything from the woman who asked me to sit down.
We were at their dining table with only a dim light illuminating the area.
Somehow, it felt like I was in an interrogation room, waiting to be held by my nape before getting my face planted on the table.
“You’re not nervous.”
No shit. Why would I be nervous? I instinctively thought upon hearing her words. Rather than nervous, I'm getting impatient at how she seems to be simply wasting my time here.
If she has something to say, what is she waiting for?
“Do I need to?” I eventually answered.
Although dim, it's not that hard to see how she's fiddling with her hands. Not because she's nervous but to intentionally distract herself, opening up silence between us.
At the moment, I can only come up with two reasons why she asked me to sit down. One, to reinforce her stance of having Marika go through the agreed arrangement with the Ichihara or two, to intimidate me with nothing but silence. To see how long the wick of my patience is.
“If Kagura-san has nothing to say, I'll excuse myself. You see, I still have to catch the last bus.”
Upon saying that, I stood up. But she simply followed me with her eyes. When I reached the door leading to the hall, I looked back and she remained silent.
What the hell is wrong with her?
This isn’t me losing patience since my reason is valid. If I tarry any longer, I may have to run back home instead of commuting. It’s already close to midnight, after all.
Nonetheless, before stepping out, I left some words to the unreasonable woman.
“Kagura-san, if you’re afraid that Marika has to pay the same price as you do to gain your freedom. Don’t worry. I’ll be defending her even if I know that it will be an impossible battle against a stubborn old family.”
I didn’t hear her calling me back or reacting to it at all. She simply watched my back and I disappeared from her eyes.
Without taking a glance at the direction of the Ichihara Compound, I left their subdivision.
I managed to catch the bus. The moment I took a seat, I pulled my phone out, sending messages to both Marika and Akane. For the former, in case she wakes up and searches for me. For the latter, just to inform her that I’ll be home soon. Those three or maybe four women at home will definitely not sleep before me.
And while waiting inside the bus, I checked the messages I had gotten from the last hour or so.
Most of them were saying goodnight so I either sent a good night message or voicemail.
Those who were still awake replied right away, making the trip back home warm and cozy.
Then among the other messages were from those who I hadn’t seen in a while like Juri. Well, we’re always connected through messages anyway. But there’s also Shiina, Sara, and… lastly, Setsuna-nee.
The first two were quite busy, especially Shiina who was grumbling about not being able to fulfill her promise of visiting me after the camping trip. Sara was just getting by but she’s probably going to accompany Shiina when she eventually visits. I told them about our Cultural Festival and even without bringing up inviting them, they already decided to use that as a date for their visit.
As for Setsuna-nee, well… she’s still fumbling about our ‘date’. She kept going back and forth about what she wanted to do or what she wanted me to do for her.
In the end, she’d take back what she sent in a message, telling me to forget it.
When I started imagining her expression when typing those, I couldn’t help but remember Satsuki before I stole her completely. They’re quite similar in the way they act.
And so, I ended up forming an idea to tease her again.
“Setsuna-nee, if you can’t decide anything, why don’t we just go anywhere you want? You know hop on a train or a bus and let it decide where it will take us. If we get too far, we can stay somewhere together.”
When I sent that, I added a winking emoji at the end as though emphasizing that last sentence.
Her reply came partly annoyed and partly amused at my suggestion.
“You’re not hiding your intention, shameless guy.”
“Am I? I’m just thinking about possibilities. Besides, if Setsuna-nee doesn’t like that, you can always bring up your own suggestion. After all, the date is for you. What if I ended up bringing you somewhere you don’t like?”
The last time we talked about this, I got to tease her. She even asked me if I was only going to play around with her. She’s pretty invested already.
But well, it’s Sakuma’s fault for not holding onto her properly, no?
“Whatever… I doubt it will happen anytime soon anyway. You have a busy week ahead, right?”
“So, you heard about how busy I will be, huh? I’m moved, Setsuna-nee.”
“Stop being so moved over something like that, idiot.”
“Can’t I express what I’m feeling? Alright then, I’ll just do that with Juri and Satsuki.”
Unlike her first replies, Setsuna-nee took a few minutes before responding.
She probably rolled on her bed, thinking how she would reply to me.
After all, I brought up Juri and Satsuki.
She’s someone like Anzu-nee who would think about the girls already involved with me first.
Soon, her reply arrived and it instantly made my lips curve up.
“Can you stop being an idiot for once? Alright. Express your feelings all you want. I don’t care.”
“Heh. But you do care, Setsuna-nee. You don’t have to lie. It’s only the two of us here. No one can read your messages with me so… it’s fine to be honest from time to time.”
“I’m being honest! Ugh. I’m having a headache from talking to you shameless guy.”
“Shall I come by and give your head a massage?”
If not for the serene silence on the bus, I’d probably burst out laughing at how much I’m enjoying teasing her.
Anyway, I soon steered our conversation back to its normal course.
“Alright, Setsuna-nee. Why not visit the school again? You can come with Juri. You know. She’s going to visit me too. Check on our progress and maybe spend time together.”
“You womanizer… Anyhow, I’ll see if I can come. Don’t expect it!” Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
“Why not? I can always pick you up like before, you know?”
“When did you pick me up?”
She forgot or she’s pretending not to remember? In any case, that was during Satsuki’s practice match so there’s also Sakuma. I could understand why she didn’t want to bring it up.
“You don’t remember? Forget it then. Anyway… You know, Satsuki will also love it.”
“You mean ‘you’ will love it. Pervert.”
“I admit I’m looking forward to seeing you again, Setsuna-nee. Am I still running in your head?”
Once again, it took her a few minutes before sending a reply that was not a reply.
For the last time, my fingers danced around the screen at the same time as a mischievous smile formed on my lips, “Sure. But Setsuna-nee, won’t show me a photo of you? You know. So I can get a great dream thinking of you.”
Upon sending that, I expected not to receive any reply or if I did, it would just be her saying no.
But color me surprised when a clear photo of her lying sideways on her bed arrived at my inbox a few minutes later. She’s covered in a blanket but the way she stared at the camera when she took that photo would probably make Sakuma faint. It’s just so mesmerizingly alluring.