330 How About Coming over to My Place? (1/2)

”I know, but I'd still like to see you in person.” Yukari nervously tightened her grip on her cell phone. ”You don't want to?”

”It's not that… it's just…” After thinking it over, Seiji decided to be forthright with Yukari. ”I mentioned before that I have someone I'm living with, right?”

”Yes.”

”I'm living with my adopted younger sister. She told me that she hoped that I wouldn't get a girlfriend in the immediate future so that she could stay with me like this for a while longer,” Seiji confessed. ”I promised this to her to temporarily maintain the status quo, until she feels more assured living together with me. That's why… it's not that I'm not willing, it's that during this time, I don't want to… um…”

He didn't know how to express himself.

”Can I understand it as you not wishing for an overly intimate relationship with girls during this time period?” Yukari asked.

”…Yes, I suppose you could say that.”

”What about your date during the Winter Snow Festival?”

”That isn't a date; I'm just helping her out. I don't have that type of relationship with that girl…”

Yukari fell silent for a moment.

”The 'adopted younger sister' that you speak of… could she be that beautiful black-haired girl by your side when I ran into you at the bookstore before?” Yukari recalled this scene.

”Yep, that's her.”

Yukari felt a mysterious sense of loss. She realized she had ”miscalculated” things after hearing this.

If she had known back then that the black-haired beauty was the person living together with Seigo, she definitely wouldn't have assumed the attitude she did.

She lacked information and had been overconfident. She actually made such a mistake! It was something she had felt was unimportant but was actually critical!

Could it be that… the time that she had invited Seigo but met with Wakaba-san and Uehara-san's interference was also due to the secret meddling of this 'adopted younger sister?'

This seemed highly likely to her. Yukari felt as if she was witnessing… the puppet-master behind the scenes.

This seemed like an exaggeration, but that was what she truly felt right now.

Yukari suppressed the urge to sigh as she recalled the way the black-haired girl had looked at her when they met at the bookstore.

”What's her name?”

”Her name is Shika Kagura.”

'Shika Kagura.' Yukari committed this name to her memory.

”Can I ask something about Shika Kagura?”

”What would you like to know?”

”Of course it's why she came to live together with you. How did she become your adopted younger sister?”

Seiji fell silent when he heard this.

'Did I ask something that I shouldn't have asked?' As Yukari was wondering if she had unwittingly trod on a landmine, Seiji's calm voice answered her.

His tone of voice was calm, but the content of his answer alone revealed his deep feelings.

”I'm sorry; I shouldn't have asked something like that.”

”It's fine; it's not a big deal. I'm the one who couldn't give a detailed explanation. I apologize.”

A moment of silence fell between them.

”About the game… I'd still like to meet you face to face,” Yukari said softly. ”No… not about the game, I'd simply like to see you and be able to talk to you, whether it's about the game or anything else. I really want to see you. It's quite… a lonely feeling to not see the person you like during the Winter Snow Festival…”

Seiji felt Yukari's feelings clearly. He felt that it would be too cold of him to resolutely refuse. But if he went out to meet her, his promise to Shika…

'Right, if it's a meeting—'

”How about coming over to my place?” Seiji suddenly said.

”Eh?”

”It's fine even if we don't meet outside to talk, right? How about coming over to my place for a while?”

Yukari's eyes widened in surprise.

Not only was it okay to her, it was basically what she wanted the most! She had never expected him to make such an offer.

After she regained her senses, the purple-haired girl immediately responded with: ”Okay! I'd be more than happy to.”

Yep, this seemed fine to Seiji.

'This way, we can meet each other, and it won't count as a date. I'm simply having a friend over.'