Chapter 21


TL: Akabane


***


However, such worries didn't seem to matter much to my exhausted body, and after dinner, I fell asleep immediately.


After sleeping for a long time, I felt that I had regained a lot of strength, and I woke up in the morning.


When I went to the living room, I found my sister carefully examining the brochure from the mall we were going to visit today.


She said,


"Oh, you finally woke up too.  How could you sleep like that after dinner?  If I hadn't asked you to take a shower, you probably wouldn't have woken up, right?"


"But you didn't wake me up."


"That's because you slept too well.  Hurry up and take a shower and change, then grab the money and go shopping."


I threw my breakfast, that left by my sister, into my mouth.


Then, I hurried to get a change and take the money from my parents for shopping.


My parents were surprised when I told them that we were going shopping together.


Then, they gave me more money than usual, and told me that I was free to spend the rest.


Quite frankly, that was very helpful.  Soon after, we took the bus to the mall.


Both of us actually wanted to ride bicycles, but we were told not to go to a crowded place while carrying a lot of luggage.


"Let me press the stop button!"


As we started approaching the nearest bus stop from the mall, my sister bent down and pressed the stop button with her arms stretched out as far as possible.


Even though she was already in high school, what she said and did hadn't changed since elementary school.


Only elementary school kids that like to press the "Stop" button.


Thinking of my sister, we got off the bus and headed to the mall.


It was a busy weekend, and there were many people, including families and people who came to play with their friends.


"Okay, since there's no one I know here, let's go food shopping right away!  If the red okra runs out, it'll be a big problem!"



"You don't have to rush, they won't be sold out anyway...."


I didn't know how sacred the red okra was, but I decided to make the necessary purchases first.


After that, we would put the groceries in the lockers, eat, and visit some other shops before heading home.


"Yosh! We already have the trolley, so let's move faster!"


I put the basket on the trolley and started shopping.


We went to the vegetable section first, and rushed to the place where the red okra was.


As expected, there was still a lot of stock.  I carefully examined each of them, and my face was grim, as if they were all the best things ever.


"Miss!  Are you very interested in red okra?  I'm very happy if you're interested in red okra!"


"Oh, yes ......."


Thankfully, the tension of the situation had been dissipated by the staff who was organizing the vegetables, as we were kindly greeted by her.


My sister felt embarrassed and blushed as she answered her in a small voice.


"You see, even if I wasn't here or no one knew you around here, there would still be people who would reprimand you."


"Shut up."


Afterward, we bought all the items we needed smoothly.


This supermarket was really quite big and had a lot of good stuff.  As I shopped, I began to understand my sister's feelings.


After we finished choosing what we wanted to buy, we went to the cashier and organized the purchased items into bags neatly and paid for them.


After that, I managed to carry the heavy bag of money to the coin locker and put it in an empty place.


"It's finally done!"


"Thank goodness, none of my acquaintances saw me here.  If anyone had, they would have teased me at school."


"O-Oh...."


The first floor was the grocery section while the second floor was the food court area.


"Can I look around the store while heading to the second floor?"


"Yes, please."


After I gave her permission, my sister went straight to one of the shops in front of us.


There were a lot of cute and adorable items there, but needless to say, I really didn't understand what kind of items they were.  I just knew that it was always there in any big mall.


I sat on a nearby bench and waited for her while playing with my phone.


I waited like this because I came here with my sister.  If this was a real date, I wondered if I would follow her while saying, "Which one do you like?" while walking with her hand in hand.


Should I follow her while saying something that I don't understand, not interested in and doesn't suit me even if it's just relying on my first impression?  Or, should I just sit quietly here and wait for her?  I was sure it would be easier for me to do the latter, but I felt that it would make me look pathetic if I did it this way.  I don't have any plans to date her, but when I think about it....


"Are?  Onii-san?"


"Eh?  Rin-chan?"


I heard a familiar voice and looked up to see Rin-chan, whom I had seen just yesterday.


I was so used to seeing her in her school uniform, and now she looked fresh in her casual clothes.


"What are you doing here?"


"I came here at my sister's insistence to shop for groceries, and she was at---"


"Oh, Rin!"


Before I could finish my words, my sister came out of the shop she entered.


"Did you come here to dating with your brother?"


"Well, I did...."


When Rin-chan looked at me, I averted my eyes to avoid her question.


Judging from the way she reacted, it seemed like she hadn't told Rin-chan about it either, but if she reacted in such a way, she would probably assume as if we were really dating.


"Hmm... you guys are very close, aren't you?"


"Yes, of course!  Why is Rin here?"


"My parents were going shopping so I went with them.  Then, they told me to go wherever I like while waiting for them to finish shopping."


"I see.  Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you!  Thank you for taking care of my brother!"


"No, no, I'm the one who should be thanking you."


"You don't have to do that in front of me."


I believe we talked about this last week.


"Well then, what are you two going to do now?"


"We're going to have lunch there now!  Rin, have you eaten yet?"


"N-Not, I haven't.  I don't even know what I want to do now."


As Rin-chan was saying this, her cell phone rang.


"Sorry.  My parents calling me."


Then, she picked up the phone and spoke.


"Yes?  Just now I met Saki and her brother at ....... she said she wants to have lunch together here.  What?!  You want me to come and eat with them?  It'll be troublesome for them...!"


Based on Rin-chan's reaction, it seems that after telling them about us, she was told to come and eat with us.


"I do have money, but that's not the case...."


Rin-chan said with a wry smile while pushing her cell phone away from her ear.


"Good!  Then let's eat together!"


"Can I?  But I don't know if Onii-san will mind or not...."


She looked at me while asking so.  This is definitely different from her usual self.  This is the Rin-chan of the past.


"You won't refuse it, right, Onii-chan?"


"Yes, yes.  Not at all.  It's not often that we have an opportunity like this, so let's go."


For some reason, my mind couldn't settle down, but it wouldn't hurt if the three of us had lunch together.


"Thank you!"


That reaction and expression made me uncomfortable.


"Then, let's go!  I want to hear more about your school life!"


"Saki, you're making fun of me. It's just like I told you.  Right, Onii-san?"


"Y-Yes, of course."


I went to the Food Court while following the two people who were chatting like that.


(It's okay. It's just a lunch.)


I kept saying so to myself, but this mysterious tension kept dominating me.



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