Vol 11 Chapter 43 (1/2)

Part 3

The red sun was gradually sinking into the horizon afar—The first star of the evening was appearing in the eastern sky

However, the ht sky was not a star of Class I luminosity Instead, it was a celestial body only visible froround, the Earth's satellite, no smaller than the sun in appearance—the Moon

It seeht The white sphere had beco over the sun's presence

Most likely, under the illuht, faint stars would not be visible froround

—A bright well-lit night was co

I sat down on the breakwater in front of the dorht

This was towards edge of the vendor area and there were fewer people walking around

”Nii-san”

I heard a voice calling to me from behind

I looked back to see Mitsuki looking up at me solemnly, dressed in a yukata with her hair done up

”—Oh, you're late”

I got off the breakwater and checked the time on my portable terminal It was ten-odd minutes later than our appointed time This was quite rare for the meticulous Mitsuki

”My apologies, soirls visited the stall near the end of the shi+ft I was unable to leave immediately”

”Don't worry about it I've always been the one who's late whenup with you in the past, Mitsuki”

Mitsuki sht up the past

”Yes—One ti for you, Nii-san, because I wanted to walk home with you However, you failed to show up When I went into school to look for you, tosoccer with classmates or some such”

I looked away froht resentment

”Well Refusing an invitation so that I could go ho”

”Ah—Indeed there definitely so like that Do you remember, Nii-san, when you scolded ht It clearly would have been fine had you explained the reason properly”

With Mitsuki staring at aze, I defended my past self's behavior

”But if I said that, wouldn't it sound like I disliked walking home with you, Mitsuki? Also, theto me I had no choice”

”Thank you for being considerate for me at the time, Nii-san, but I seriously felt really hurt when you called me an idiot”

Mitsuki looked atexpression

”Well, what can I say I'm sorry I was just a stupid kid back then”

When I scratched ized, Mitsuki smiled mischievously at me

”Then you are very mature now, Nii-san?”

”Not at all I knorong, no need to be mean”

Although I had grown since then, I was still a stupid kid and had no idea how to make myself more mature

”Fufu—I indulged in a little payback because I was re for you After all, Nii-san, I waited for you at Midgard for three long years”

Mitsuki shrugged lightly then naturally held my hand

Like holding my hand on the road home from elementary school while I felt embarrassed the whole way, Mitsuki s”

I could not help but feeled my perception of the world

I realized that during the tidrasil, all I had seen was Mitsuki's surface

But noas able to discern Mitsuki's thoughts and feelings froes in expression

”Do you want to have a chocolate banana?”

Noticing Mitsuki's eyes of anticipation looking at a chocolate banana stall, I asked her

”—Yes Actually, I saw this vendor on my way here and have been curious the whole time”

Nodding honestly, Mitsuki pulled my hand and walked towards the stall

”We ate eat these at a festival in the neighboring town before”

Mitsuki nodded nostalgically when I reminisced

”Yes This would be ain after that”

”Me too Which flavor do you want?”

Looking up at the menu, I asked Mitsuki

”Then like last time, I shall have the strawberry chocolate”

”As for inal”

We handed coupons to the female staff at the stall and took a chocolate banana each

Mitsuki's was the pink strawberry-flavored one while mine was coated with ordinary brown chocolate

”Nii-san, shall we head to the seaside? I would like to talk about certain things in a quieter environment”

”Sure thing”

I nodded with some nervousness I did not need to be told what she wanted to talk about

I was to give a reply to the question that Mitsuki had asked previously

But after walking up the breakwater stairs, we noticed there were irls on the beach

”Let us take a stroll for a bit”

”Sure”

We started walking away fro sun's rays, our shadoere stretch out long

”Although a bit different from that time's, it is still delicious”

Chewing small mouthfuls of her chocolate banana, Mitsuki quietly commented

”Really—”

Due to trying to organize in ishly However, Mitsuki did not mind and continued

”We went out many times in the past, Nii-san But that day of the festival was special toof it a date, you know?”

”R-Really?”

”Yes, although it was life as usual for you, Nii-san, I thought of it as my first date As a result, I still remember many details from it”

Saying that, Mitsuki halted

There were no signs of other people around us Most of the sun had dipped below the horizon The sound of waves could be heard clearly in the background

”Like in the past, may I try a bite of yours, Nii-san?”

Mitsukiup as she spoke

”Oh, sure”

Flustered by Mitsuki's seely flirtatious expression, I presented my chocolate banana to her However, I noticed that my teeth marks had been left behind on the top end of the chocolate banana I was eating

”Oh—I bit it just now”

”I do not mind”

Before I could withdraw the chocolate banana, Mitsuki sank her teeth into one end of the banana

”Mm Gulp Thank you Then please have some of mine too, Nii-san”

Sing her o, Mitsuki presented her chocolate banana to me

”O-Okay”

When I took a bite from the chocolate banana where Mitsuki's teeth marks were imprinted, a strawberry flavor and the sweetness of chocolate expanded in my mouth

However, a sweet at between me and Mitsuki while we silently continued to eat our respective chocolate bananas, marked by each other's teeth

”An indirect kiss Back then—My heart was pounding too, just like now”

After finishi+ng her chocolate banana, Mitsuki admitted shyly

”D-Didn't we do this all the time?”

Feeling blood rise toeach other's food was very commonplace for the two of us That hy I was not conscious of indirect kissing at all back then

”A kiss during a date is special even if it was an indirect one Well That being said, le time That is because I love you, Nii-san, I love you too much—I am hopelessly in love with you, Nii-san”

”Mitsuki—”

Never expecting a direct confession before I got to speak

Seeing my reaction, Mitsuki smiled and quietly continued

”What am I to you? Before you answer this question, Nii-san, I hope to convey to you What kind of person you are to me, Nii-san”

After this opening state atery eyes

”Ever since I could remember, Nii-san—No, Y-Yuu-kun You have been the one dearest to me Back then, I already considered you my most beloved Yuu-kun I had decided I would never concede you to anyone, Yuu-kun I had already taken for granted that ould be together There was nothing that would make me happier than this, which is why a life without you by my side, Yuu-kun a future without you by ined”

Calling me ”Yuu-kun,” Mitsuki smiled wryly at me

”Perhaps in the beginning it was purely possessiveness However, as I grew up, these feelings turned into true love Futhermore This remains true even after my childhood friend Yuu-kun turned into s continue to swell in my heart the whole time”

Voicing her feelings as though wringing out her words, Mitsuki placed her hand on my chest

”I love you, Nii-san ToThen what about you Nii-san?”

Expressing her feelings of deepest love, Mitsuki asked me

”I—My feelings are probably different from yours, Mitsuki”

Gazing into Mitsuki's eyes, I organized what I was going to say

”Back then, I really was just a stupid kid Ros back then When we ht deeply about s either”

Listening to me, Mitsuki smiled

”Yes I understand I obtained that proh I was still young at the tiirl, after all”

”—Girls are such a creatures”

”No, I simply did it unilaterally”

Mitsuki answered my emphatic comment in a tone of self-deprecation

”Sure enough, Nii-san, what you feel for Iris-san is”

”Yes, I love Iris It was that time with her that I understood for the first time what romance was”

”Is that so”

Mitsuki lowered her face, but I was not finished

”However, at the tiured out s, Tia came to the school I jumped in surprise when she suddenly wanted to s of admiration and devotion towardsher”

”Huh?”

Mitsuki looked up in surprise

”This wish to protect is also the sa boldto be a couple for the school festival, Lisa and I came to understand each other I definitely find Ren, who calls me 'Onii-chan,' very cute and I find it i so hard on her own all along”

”Excuse me Nii-san?”

Mitsuki looked at ly and I continued

”I rateful to Jeanne for continuing to help me even after I left the tea after her Although Kili hasmyself to hate her”

At that point, I paused and placed my hand on Mitsuki's shoulder

”Although these feelings are different from what I feel towards Iris I still love everyone These feelings—They absolutely do not lose to ros”

”Ah yes I fully comprehend your wish to cherish all of us, Nii-san That is presumably why you selected us But the answer I seek is—”

With an anxious expression, Mitsuki looked up at my face

”Yes, I've no intention of changing the subject Even without choosing, I will decide properly who is dearest to me”

To dispel Mitsuki's unease, I told her firmly

”In that case—Nii-san, please hurry and tell me Since Iris-san is the only one you towards whos, the answer is already evident”

Mitsuki urged me with an expression of resolve

However, I shook my head

What flashed through ement with Mitsuki that we shared on that observation platform on the mountain

”No, Iris is not the only one I love It's just that I failed to realize during childhood—These feelings had already existed in my heart all the way back then”

I pressed ainst my left chest and declared

”Now that I understand what love is, I know You are my first love—Mitsuki”

”!?”

Mitsuki gasped and widened her eyes

”Noto realize it eventually as long as we lived together However, I was taken away by NIFL Without noticing s, I was separated from you for three years, Mitsuki”

It was originally a decision I hadThis ah to s

”Due to the deal I aps appeared in my memories with you, Mitsuki I becas for you from the past So, to be honest—I never noticed this until I thought carefully in order to answer your question”

Enduring the pain in my heart, I conveyed this to Mitsuki

During my period of memory loss, I fell in love with Iris At the same time, ”my true self” was tormented by the matter of whether I loved Mitsuki When Tia helped me restore my memories, it was fortunate that the continuity of the personality of Mononobe Yuu re s as well

”B-But Nii-san—Even if that were the case, your love forchildhood, was it not? Currently, the one you love is Iris-san Hence, the person dearest to you is—”

”Feelings can't possibly vanish so simply”

I converted the pain in my heart to words and interrupted Mitsuki

”Eh?”

”I treasure you very much, Mitsuki Because you are my childhood friend Not because you are my little sister I treasure you because I love you I will never think of you as unis of love for you will never go away I think this will never change from now on”

These feelings had taken root inperiod of tis for Mitsuki had turned into a foundation for unconditional ”love” Hence, the fact that Mitsuki was dearest to s of love for her—These tere infinitely interchangeable

”In other words, Nii-san You still love me, even now? So your first love has not ended—”

”That's right”

”Th-This— to say that Iris-san and I are the ones you hold dearest, by any chance?”

Mitsuki showed disbelief and she askedvoice

Feeling the pain carve deeper and deeper in ravely at her

My love for Iris and Mitsuki was all real I did not want to choose one and abandon the other My inability to relinquish my love for either of them made it impossible to answer It was also very difficult for s to cherish Tia and the other girls

However—

”If you ask ht tell you that I don't want to coive you a proper answer as to who is dearest to me I believe that this should be decided by the size of feelings rather than their strength”

My words, carefully chosen, made Mitsuki frown

The sun had set cos in the place of the rays from sunset

”Size?”

”For any person, the most important is surely themselves Even so, we are still able to cherish others, probably because we see them as a part of ourselves So, the person that occupies the est part of me—would be the one I hold dearest”

I explained my definition of ”dearest person”

During my time in the special forces team of Sleipnir, I had personally witnessed the atrocities of hu for theer who had no relation to them

However, for the sake of shared nationality, shared religion, clan members, family, friends—For the sake of people with ties to theht with their lives on the line

Still, this should not be called altruis were not others but so

”The one who occupies the largest part of you, Nii-san”

As Mitsuki repeated my words, her eyes wavered

”That's right If you look at it that way—Then only one answer is left”

I nodded at Mitsuki and gazed directly into her eyes

The human known as Mononobe Yuu was constituted by Mononobe Mitsuki

Ever since my earliest ether At night, I frequently played the word gaht across our bedroom s that faced each other

At the ement kiss, I had believed that Mitsuki and I wouldit Even without understanding love, from that point onwards, I already treated Mitsuki as someone ould stay by my side for a lifetime—I treated her as a part of myself

And when Mitsuki became my sister, my undefined vision of the future turned into palpable determination

Even at the cost of death, I wanted to protect Mitsuki and support her

Due to this ied by Hekatonkheir and made the promise that I would protect the place Mitsuki cherished most, no matter the cost

As a result, the two of us were separated Although s happened over three years, the fact of how I caed

I existed for the sake of Mitsuki

Even after falling in love with another person, even with additional responsibilities to shoulder, this fundamental fact remained unmovable

Hence—

”You are the one dearest to me, Mitsuki”

Tears slowly seeped out from Mitsuki's eyes

During our conversation, the ti With a thunderous boom, flowers of fire bloomed in the dark sky

Although I had proether, it looked like ere going to be a bit late

”I aht?”