Chapter 406: Yotsuba discovers a big secret
"Still sleeping?"
Nakano Nino looked at the wall clock in the room.
It was almost noon.
Clearly yesterday she was still so excited, saying that today she had an appointment to go out with Sakurai, yet when it was time, she fell completely asleep?
Nakano Nino thought so, then glanced again at the person sitting cross-legged, letting Miku sleep soundly on his lap.
'Looking at them makes me want to fall asleep too...'
Nakano Nino searched for a spot on Sakurai Saki's body where she could "settle down" to sleep, but after looking for so long, she still couldn't choose a suitable place.
Letting him hold her would be perfect.
But Nino felt that inside the house right now there was a "passerby" who knew nothing—Yotsuba—who might not know about any of this. Such intimate gestures could cause awkwardness.
Miku wasn't embarrassed at all, daring to openly lean into Sakurai Saki, but Nino didn't dare.
She still had a bit of maidenly pride, though not much.
"What's wrong?"
Sakurai Saki put down the book, raised his head, and looked at Nino sitting opposite him. After quietly observing her face, Sakurai Saki immediately grasped the truth —— she wanted to join too.
"Want to come over?"
Sakurai Saki extended an invitation for left-and-right cuddling.
"No thanks!" Nakano Nino turned her head away.
"Soon I have to go to Hokkaido with Ichika for filming, do you want to come along?" Sakurai Saki thought about the upcoming schedule.
Stay here for a few days, then go to Hokkaido to film for more than a week.
Then at the beginning of August, go up the mountain to escape the heat.
"Not really good... huh? Hokkaido? Ichika is going that far?" Nino had only said half her sentence when her eyes widened. Ever since the four sisters and Ichika moved out separately, communication frequency had dropped considerably.
They only knew Ichika had a filming schedule, but they didn't know it was that far.
That was the northernmost part of Japan.
"If it's for avoiding the heat, that's great, their ski resorts are famous too. Last time during the winter camping trip, because we were in different groups, we didn't even get to ski together, right? This time we can make up for it."
"Hmph hmph." Nino took out her phone, opening her schedule app. "My summer break hasn't been scheduled yet, consider yourself lucky for inviting early, otherwise my schedule would've been packed full already."
This was a lie!
Nakano Nino had to return to Kyoto for summer vacation, and she had no familiar classmates nearby. Every day she could only stay at home browsing her phone, at most going out on walks with her sisters. The last two summer vacations were painfully boring.
What she said was merely to prove she was "very popular".
"Then I really am lucky, just in time to catch the last spot."
"That's right."
Seeing her expression without any blush or nervousness, Sakurai Saki didn't expose her lie, and simply went along: "Four days from now I'll come pick you up. Want to go by plane or shinkansen?"
"Plane?"
"Then we'll fly. I'll buy the tickets later."
He had checked beforehand; both forms of travel were possible and still had available seats.
As for Ai-chan and Kaguya, bringing too many people along on a filming job would be inconvenient. They would all gather again later for the mountain trip, so there was no need to bring everyone at once.
After all, this was work, not a vacation; bringing Nino alone was enough.
And what about Itsuki, the one who had "icha-icha paradise" with him last night?
Right now she was extremely avoiding Sakurai Saki, to the point she didn't dare look at him. With that condition, it was better to give her time to calm down.
...
More than ten minutes later.
Nino went to help Itsuki cook. She was a bit worried, because as the one in charge of cooking in the house, Nino understood very well the cooking skills of her sisters. Itsuki's dishes could only be called edible, definitely not delicious.
"Mn~"
While Sakurai Saki was reading halfway through the book, the person lying on his lap turned over to change position, letting out a sleepy sound.
"What time is it now?"
Miku opened her eyes in a daze, and then she immediately saw the handsome face right in front of her, looking down at her.
"Saki-kun?… Saki-kun!"
Nakano Miku very quickly remembered the promise between her and Sakurai Saki.
Within just a few seconds, her heart once again fell into self-blame.
They clearly arranged to meet at 9 a.m. in the small park, yet she just slept so soundly like this…
The events that happened a few hours ago appeared one scene after another in her mind, and Miku quickly understood the situation: she didn't sleep enough and carelessly fell asleep on his lap.
"Sorry…" Miku weakly said, then sat up.
Sakurai Saki closed the book: "No need to apologize. Doing this between friends is very normal."
"Not normal at all." Miku seemed to oppose the word "friends", her small face full of displeasure.
"Miku, if we don't act as friends, what do you think we can be?"
"… I don't know." Since last summer, Miku had realized that she liked Sakurai Saki.
From that moment on, she didn't want to just be his student, being friends was the same.
The promise maintained for six years gave her the chance to like Sakurai Saki, gave her the reason to meet him in the first year, but it didn't make her more sensitive to her own feelings.
If only she could have realized earlier that she liked him.
Then at least she could have stood on the same starting line as Fujiwara Chika and Hayasaka Ai, instead of not even being able to step onto the competition stage.
"Miku, that matter was my fault, it's fine if you're angry at me."
Nakano Miku was the one who actively approached him that day, and Saki was very grateful.
At that time, the ones who continued to persist in talking to him, besides Shirogane Miyuki, were only Miku.
"But Miku. If you know the reason why we met each other when we were little, then you should also understand why back then I didn't want to talk to you. Because Miku knows Sakurai Saki is the current me, not the me from the past."
"Umu."
Back then Miku thought it was because she was too stupid, her entrance exam scores too low, so Saki didn't want to recognize her or didn't want to become friends again from the beginning. But later she changed her thoughts—maybe his memory was bad and he forgot?
But now, Miku completely understood.
The Sakurai Saki from that time wasn't the Sakurai Saki she knew at all. That cold, quiet boy who avoided people from afar was a block of ice that hadn't melted yet.
Not like the sun that brought warmth to her when she was small.
"I'm sorry. Back in first year I didn't recognize you. No matter what excuse I give, it's true that I didn't do it." Saki said seriously: "I'm really sorry."
He valued the spirit of agreements.
And in this matter, he had broken the promise.
The young girl approached again and again, yet was repeatedly hurt by his cold attitude.
Even though he didn't know anything at that time, what had happened couldn't be changed.
"I'm not angry anymore, it's fine."
Even though Miku said that, her expression still inevitably carried sadness.
She could have been much closer to him.
But luckily, the misunderstanding was resolved before it was too late.
"You forgive me so easily, instead it makes me feel guilty. How about this, as punishment for violating the agreement, I'll grant you 3 wishes, no matter how difficult. What do you think?"
In that moment, Miku had a thought of asking him to break up with Hayasaka Ai and be with her.
But very quickly, she gave up on that.
"Saki-kun, I want you to treat me like a lover, is that okay?"
...
Entrance.
Nakano Yotsuba leaned against the wall, not daring to move.
'What are they talking about?'
Why did it suddenly turn into this?
She clearly just came to call them for lunch, yet the development had completely exceeded Yotsuba's expectations!
Miku actually confessed!!! Didn't those words basically mean she wanted to be his lover?
Would Sakurai Saki agree?
Very quickly, the answer resounded from the living room——
"If you want that, of course it's fine."
What? He actually agreed!
Two-timing! And from the way he said it, he didn't even sound embarrassed!
"Uwaa~ Sakurai Saki really is a scumbag."
Nakano Yotsuba blushed, squatting down on the floor. As a pure girl like a little rabbit, she absolutely couldn't accept this at all.