After watching the movie as planned, Masachika and Yuki headed toward the exit along with the crowd and left thetheater,which was on the top floor of a large commercial complex, then got on the escalator.
"Ngh...!"
Yuki stretched her arms and back.
"That was trash!" she declared with a sigh of relief.
"Could you be any blunter?"
"It was even worse than I thought it'd be. You really can't put these cutesy idols in dark-fantasy worlds and expect it to work. It just looked like she was cosplaying the entire movie. It didn't help that they spent the whole budget on the fight scenes and didn't put effort into anything else. There's no way you could keep up if you didn't read the comics."
"Yeah. But at least the action scenes were pretty cool," replied Masachika with a bitter smile as Yuki continued to diss the movie while cheerfully smiling.It was still a little early for lunch, so they continued to walk around the shopping center while discussing the film.
"Oh,look at this outfit. It's so cute. I've been wanting a new summer dress,but I planned on splurging at the anime store after this..."
"Fifteen thousand yen?! Seriously?!"
"You should try to dress nicer, too, sometimes. It's not like you don't have any money."
"Yeah, I don't get anywhere near as much allowance as you."
"Sure, but you don't spend all your money buying nerdy things like me."
Yuki had a point. Unlike her, Masachika wasn't a collector of anime goods.He hardly spent money on comics or light novels, either. Then again, he didn't really have to,because Yuki hid all her nerd gear at Masachika's house so she could keep her hobby a secret. Therefore, he could borrow and read whatever light novel or comic he was interested in, instead of having to buy them himself.In fact, Yuki was even the one who converted him into a nerd.
"You wore those clothes last year. It's time you buy something new."
"Says the girl wearing my old clothes."
Yuki was wearing a somewhat baggy,long-sleeved undershirt and jeans like a tomboy, but those clothes were actually Masachika's hand-me-downs.
"Yeah, but I look good in this. Jeans get better with age."
"Uh-huh...By the way,my dear sister..."
"Yes,my brother?"
"Is it just my imagination, or do you also notice something silver flickering out of the corner of your eye?"
"I don't think it's just your imagination, Brother."
"That's what I thought. I should have guessed when you let your hair down.You're in gentlewoman mode,to boot."
Yuki had undone her ponytail, and while she spoke in her natural speaking voice,her behavior was very elegant, as if she were at school.
"Heh! I noticed a long time ago,Brother."
"Seriously?When?"
"Almost immediately after getting off the escalator."
"That long ago?I'm impressed."
"Heh... I have a supernatural sense that allows me to immediately detect the gazes of people I know."
"Wow. I'm surprised...that you're not even embarrassed for saying that."
"Heh... I'm extremely embarrassed."
"Then wipe that smug grin off your face."
The siblings could still feel someone staring hard at them from behind even as they did their bit. The clear reflection of an all-too-familiar silver-haired girl could be seen in a shop's window as she tried to hide behind a column. And perhaps this was Masachika's imagination, but he could practically see a dark thundercloud hanging over her head.
What should I do?
Would it be best to talk to her? Or wait for her to come over and say something? Or maybe running away would be the best option? As Masachika considered all his options...
"Oh my. Alya?" Yuki said casually as if she had just noticed Alisa after slowly turning around.
Yukiiiiiiiii!!
Masachika inwardly screamed at her sudden, reckless decision to strike head-on, but they were at the point of no return now. After mustering up the courage, he put on a look of surprise and turned around as well.
"Oh, wow. It is Alya. What a coincidence."
Even Masachika himself wasn't really confident in his acting, but Alisa apparently had too much on her mind to even notice. She messed around with the smartphone in her hands, thenapproached them, her eyes wandering left and right.
"Yes,what a coincidence. I, uh... I saw you two together a few minutes ago, but I didn't want to interrupt your conversation...," mumbled Alisa as if she was still somewhat flustered.
That was way more than a few minutes.
The siblings thought the exact same thing at the exact same moment, but they didn't show any indication of that on their face. Masachika couldn't help but give Yuki a lukewarm glare, but she was already in her proper-young-lady mode.
"Oh, okay," she innocently replied. "Anyway, what brings you here?"
"I'm shopping for new clothes..."
"Oh, really? Have you already had lunch?"
"Not yet."
"Then how about we have lunch together? It's-"
"Hold on," interrupted Masachika. He then grimaced at Yuki's composed expression and asked:
"Don't tell me you plan on taking Alya to that restaurant?"
"Why not? You were really looking forward to it."
"We should go somewhere elseif Alya's going to be eating with us."
"Why? Is there some sort of problem?" inquired Alisa as they seemed to ignore her while arguing over who knows what.
"Alya,do you hate spicy food?"
"Spicy food? I mean, I don't really hate it..."
"The restaurant we were actually planning on going to is famous for spicy ramen, but if you're fine with spicy food,then-"
"Stop downplaying it. Alya, I'm gonna be straight with you. Spicy is an understatement. It's a restaurant that specializes in burning-hot ramen. I've never been, either, but it's probably not something you can enjoy if you don't like extremely spicy food.So-"
"Let's go," Alisa interjected, cutting Masachika off. Seeing her expression alone was enough to know it was hopeless to convince her otherwise, and he fell silent for a few moments.
"I really don't think this is a good idea. There are plenty of other restaurants around here..."
"But you were really looking forward to it, right? So let's go. Besides, I'd feel guilty if you changed your plans because of me."
"You don't have to come,you know?"
"Oh? Is there a problem if I tag along?"
"That's not what I meant, but I don't remember seeing you ever eat spicy food..."
"I don't dislike spicy food."
Masachika was skeptical, but he couldn't just flat out call her a liar. That said, he had a feeling she was more into sweets than spicy food.He had never asked her directly about it, but after all the time he'd spent with her, he had a good idea of what she liked. Spicy food, though? He had no idea. He had never seen her eat anything spicy, and that was the only information he had to go by.
Well, she says she wants to go, and they probably have some not-so-spicy food on the menu as well,so...
With that mindset, Masachika decided to head to the restaurant, albeit with a bit of anxiety.