Yumiko, Akiko, Glenn, Ryou, Tomoyuki, and Tamotsu sat at the holiday table, discussing the girls' cooking skills. There were also two large plates on the table, covered with silver lids the size of the plates and causing much excitement from the boys. They had fun guessing what the girls had cooked after all. Tomoyuki was active and answered in the order of facts, for example, he knew that the dishes had meat and broth.
Eventually it came down to Tamotsu, who was asked about his eyesight and whether lenses even helped him, to which he gave very tentative answers, feeling uncomfortable with the questions asked, after which Akiko stopped.
Following that, she enthusiastically declared that Glenn fit his glasses perfectly, and added that the change in his image had completely changed the idea of him, as if he looked like a more open person. Tomoyuki agreed and added that Glenn also had bad eyesight much earlier than he thought he did, and the guys were surprised.
Glenn nodded and said: "I, I'll be honest, hadn't noticed much deterioration in my vision, but the doctors said it had gotten worse. I hadn't felt any discomfort before, so I didn't pay attention, on a whim."
"How come?" Akiko said. "You couldn't have noticed that your eyesight was bad? Ahem, actually, your irresponsibility for your health is sometimes surprising and frightening."
Glenn was a little surprised by her temper, and tried to console her, "I didn't think my eyesight would affect anything at all before, so I didn't give it much thought...but that's different now."
"Wait, what?"
"Aki-chan, you should have accepted the fact of his irresponsibility a long time ago, and there's not much you can do about it unless he does something about it himself."
Tomoyuki answered her with an amused tone.
"It's not like that at all. I've recently become fully aware of certain things and surroundings that I didn't think about before. Now, I wear glasses so that something unexpected doesn't happen. Yes, and my eyesight has really taken a hit."
"But, after all, you're only dodging the question..."
"You have nothing to worry about. I've already decided to take full charge of my health, so I'll do my best."
"You've had poor health since birth," Ryou said, yawning with boredom. "You'd better get your act together soon, so you don't fall off somewhere."
"Judging by your athletic physique, I honestly would have thought you were gifted with an entirely different type of health. What were you exercising for anyway? Was it for the girls?"
"Ah, no... It was purely for myself, for I appreciated the beauty given by nature and my parents."
'And also the only thing,' he thought to himself, 'that I valued from them.'
"Pretty much the same as with everyone else. Tough muscles, after all, underscore the presence of entrusted self-development."
Akiko, on the other hand, sat silently with her eyes downcast as she talked, pondering the relationship between her and Glenn, and Yumiko kept her sad gaze on her. Clearly seeing Akiko's sadness, her friend became more and more worried about her.
'He doesn't understand what's going on around him at all... He doesn't notice me, but I understand. How can I get him to pay attention to me...?'
The bedroom door, which held the two girls, opened softly, and Marie, who came out through it, optimistically asked Glenn to come in to them.
'Glenn-kun...' Akiko cast a glance as he left, to which Yumiko grabbed her back and took her hand in her other hand. Akiko, responding, saw the concern on her friend's face and seemed more cheerful to comfort her.
"It's okay. It's okay."
"If all is well, then it turns out... I shouldn't worry."
'Since it is,' Yumiko wondered, 'why do I keep feeling anxious? Everything is back to normal, after all...'
Akiko took Yumiko's hands and added:
"Let's get our forks and knives ready together so we can start dinner when they come."
"Attyan..."
'Yu-chan has become so fragile, like a crystal. I should better protect her, so that she will not shed a single tear again, and for that I will put away my temper and my pridefulness.'
Tomoyuki and Ryou, who were looking, misunderstood the situation of what was going on, so they didn't bother them. It seemed to them that the girls were so incomprehensible lately.
Glenn walked slightly perplexed into the room where the girls were sitting.
"What's wrong?" he said, and saw a spirited Marie, with a shocked Lily standing behind her.
Mari, closing the door of the room, gently began to nudge Glenn forward. The young man, of course, made no effort to resist, but misunderstanding still took hold of him.
"W-what are you doing?"
"And you know, Glenn-sama, Lilia-chan and I have already become friends! She's such a friendly and understanding conversationalist that I want to talk to her forever!"
"Hey-hey...!"
"What? Is that true?"
Lilia felt uncomfortable when Glenn turned to her with all his surprise.
"Y-yes... But we still need to learn more about each other."
"I learned so much about her that I was even inspired in some way!"
"Ah... Really? I'm glad," Glenn began to look genuinely happy, and when Lily looked at him, she saw the bliss on his face for the first time.
"W-well, I'd like to state that I liked Mari-chan as a person..."
"Right. Every time you look at her, you see a sparkling aura around her that leaves only positive feelings."
"Hey, Glenn-sama! What a slowpoke you get sometimes."
"Huh? What did I do?" Glenn jokingly asked, to which Mari pouted.
"And what do you say about Lilia-chan? She is, after all, part of your family and part-time your little sister. She is supposed to be your talisman and a gem that always needs polishing and has a duty to protect. What kind of person is your little sister to you?"
Glenn marveled at her question, and his shoulders soon relaxed. Lily continued to sit with her head down and her arms folded.
'I don't expect anything like that from my brother's answer. His reaction to such a harsh question is normal, and if he says something negative in my direction, I'll take it... I don't expect anything good... really. I'm sure...'
"She's a terrific little sister whose ideals are worth striving for."
Sitting pensively, halfway through his statement, she abruptly turned around and lifted her head.
"My noble little sister will leave no one indifferent, and you, Mari-chan, have already had the chance to test her reverence on yourself. If I could...I would go on and on sentimentalizing and proving the facts of her positive sides, for I am grateful to Lilia. Grateful that she is my little sister."
'Brother...' Lilia listened serenely to his words.
"Of course, I have no right to speak of all this, for we did not communicate well and we did not have a meaningful understanding... Realizing my foolishness, I began to wish I had had time to get to know Lilia better as her own brother. Lillia, I don't even know what you do in your spare time... All because of my ideals. Nevertheless, I'd like to build our relationship again... but in a meaningful way."
"I-I-I'd like that, too...!"
A grizzled Glenn bowed his head in admiration:
'Have I... been given a chance? Could I really be able to reach for the thread of my destiny again...'
"Is it true? I, I... I never mind talking to you."
"Jesus...!" - Mari interrupted them restlessly. "Why are you acting like you've already missed your opportunities? Try to be more confident! Do you always talk like you're worried about the consequences of every word you say! Glenn-sama, I didn't expect this from you at all.
"To tell you the truth, Mari-chan, we've always communicated that way," he answered her innocuously, to which Lily, who looked less unsociable already, nodded.
"That can't be true! Wait, really?! Well okay... And by the way, you haven't apologized to her yet. She's been concerned about your relationship for years, and she flew to this town just to see you in one piece!"
"I have no forgiveness."
"No...it's okay. I'm glad even for being able to talk to you, brother."
'I see, so Lilia's long-developed anxiety was able to peak to the point where she was just thanking me for the fact that we could have an exchange of thoughts... And I didn't feel her concern the whole time, while at the same time diligently turning my back on family matters. I'm stupid. I couldn't see how my little sister was tormenting herself...'
"You have my word! From now on, I'll try to—" and Glenn's statement was abruptly cut short by Mari's startled shout.
It turned out that at this time a white snake had suddenly climbed up her neck and playfully clung to her face and legs, which alarmed Mari, and as she dropped her pelvis, she hiccupped. Glenn's abrupt confusion was followed by his intervention to remove the snake from her neck and face, and Lilia flinched slightly and wondered at Hoshi's special interest.
"I knew that snake would do something like that!" he resented, pulling the snake away.
Lilia giggled charmingly, covering her lips, "Don't you like snakes?"
"I'm afraid of that creature!" he said, putting Hoshi back in the aquarium, and Mari shook her head several times, also showing her fear of snakes.
Giving Mari a hand, he helped her up and, clapping his hands, headed for the door.
"Well, I guess we should get to the table now. We'll talk about Hoshi's sentence later."
"No need to tell him off for the death penalty! He was only trying to play with me, and I behaved so rebelliously with him...! Irritation was able to take over, but I'm sure I could have loved that snake."
Standing at the door, he turned to her and perplexedly asked: "You don't shine with confidence yourself when you declare it, Mari-chan. Do you really have such a strong fear of snakes?"
"Not only that, I am wary of all reptiles...but no fear will stop me on the road to perfection...! By getting rid of childhood traumas I can get to the point of a golden age and it will be a real accomplishment in people's lives!"
She declared, proudly straightening her back at the end.
'What kind of childhood trauma?' Glenn frowned.
'Mari-chan is so confident!' Lilia encouraged.
"Anyway, we have to go now."
Unexpectedly for Glenn, the door behind him swung open, catching him, and Akiko looked out through it:
"We heard a loud noise in the room. Did something happen to you?"
"А... no, nothing happened."
"There was just an emergency! We assure you, my big sister, not to spread rumors about the scream that was heard a few dozen seconds ago, because it definitely wasn't created by me!" Mari said, and Lilia nodded cheerfully.
"I see."
'They seemed to be having a comfortable conversation, but I'm still worried about one thing...'
"G-gle..."
She couldn't get Glenn to call out as he announced loudly to the girls, "Well, let's go to the table!"
"Uh-huh," Mari and Lilia responded, then left the room, while Akiko stood at the door with her head slightly lowered.
'And yet, my brother is so peerless! Saved me from the grip of the great serpent of the world...!' Mari enthralled, imagining herself his happy face.
'I will do my best to bring my relationship with my brother to a level that is comfortable and blissful for both of us!' Lilia assured herself.
And as expected for Akiko, the teenager did not look at her as a girl at all. She was incapable of blaming him in any way, and took all the blame, assuring herself that Glenn had built up a foundation of thoughts that denied her submission because of the things she had done in the past.
Akiko was the last to arrive at the table, which was laden with lots of goodies and hot food, prepared by the girls and Glenn in part, too.
"Wow!" Mari marveled as she saw whole plates of sashimi and meat dishes that emitted a fragrant smell. "How delicious!"
The others sat back in their seats.
"Our friends are real first-rate cooks."
"Thank you."
"And that's not flattery at all!"
'It's up to me to clean up the mess,' Akiko was still in her thoughts. 'I was the one who sowed the seeds of unhappiness in our cosy corner. Glenn-kun, you hate me, don't you?'
Dinner began at half past eight.