Chapter 35: Your brother has come to see you.
Morofushi Sora'aki's usual image is too stable. Whenever he utters any unconventional lines, people around him will suspect that he was corrupted by the other party.
By the time Morofushi Sora'aki explained that he had seen it on TV, Hagiwara Kenji was already covered in bumps.
Hagiwara Kenji was on the verge of tears: "Why didn't you say so sooner, Sora'aki-chan?!"
"Because you didn't ask." And it's quite interesting, thought Morofushi Sora'aki.
Matsuda Jinpei showed absolutely no sense of apology, and after mocking Hagiwara Kenji "Serves him right.", he casually took a cream puff from the box that Morofushi Sora'aki was carrying. The cream puff was about the size of their fists, with a layer of flaky pastry on the outside, and crumbs easily fell onto their collars.
There were only four in the box. Morofushi Sora'aki had eaten one while watching the play, and Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji each took one. It was assumed that the last one would still belong to Morofushi Soryu.
"Hmm? Ice cream?" Matsuda Jinpei took a bite and immediately recognized the flavor, commenting, "It tastes good."
Hagiwara Kenji had also eaten half of his food, and some crumbs and cream had unintentionally gotten on his lips. He suddenly remembered something and mumbled, "Isn't tomorrow the weekend? Hiromitsu-chan asked if we could come over and play."
They weren't in the same place, and Morofushi Hiromitsu would have to take a car to get here. Hagiwara Kenji wasn't sure where Morofushi Hiromitsu lived, but he knew about the other person's school. If you simply take the school as the starting point, then it's not exactly close to here.
"Isn't that too much trouble?" Matsuda Jinpei finished the cream puff in a few bites, clapped his hands, and wiped his mouth. "How about we just reserve a seat in the middle?"
"That's what I was thinking too—so, Sora'aki-chan, are you free?" Kenji Hagiwara threw the question at Sora'aki, who was silently eating a cream puff.
Morofushi Sora'aki nodded slightly: "I'm fine."
"It's settled then! I'll call Hiromitsu-chan back tonight." Hagiwara Kenji said cheerfully.
"You can call me by my first name now." Matsuda Jinpei said, arms crossed. "I must say, as expected of you."
Hagiwara Kenji laughed and said, "Well, what can I do? I'm just so popular~"
They made an appointment at a shopping mall located between the two sides—the second floor of this mall has many indoor games and is quite iconic, making it easy to locate.
Although everyone had a mobile phone at this time, they didn't use it very frequently. People were more used to landlines than mobile phones.
Upon hearing this, Hagiwara Kenji, who was standing at the mall entrance texting Morofushi Hiromitsu, looked up and thought for two seconds: "Speaking of which, Sora'aki-chan, haven't you never had a cell phone?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "Hmm."
Because Morofushi Sora'aki usually hangs out with Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei, he rarely acts alone. Moreover, when he needs to leave temporarily to do something, he always explains it to his two friends, so he basically doesn't need to use his phone to contact them.
"How about we buy a cell phone? It would be more convenient to keep in touch." Hagiwara Kenji suggested.
Morofushi Sora'aki did not refuse, and at this moment, Morofushi Hiromitsu, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and holding a map, with Furuya Rei by his side, finally found the location.
Upon spotting two figures, Hagiwara Kenji waved his arm: "Here, here!"
Morofushi Hiromitsu smiled as he put down the map and saw the group. He pulled Furuya Rei aside and met them, saying, "Sorry, it took me a little while to find my way."
"It's okay~ You guys aren't late, we arrived early." Hagiwara Kenji greeted Furuya Rei, who was standing awkwardly to the side: "Hey, Rei-chan—may I call you that? Since all I know so far is your name is Rei, and you have a nickname, Zero."
"Furuya, Furuya Rei." Furuya Rei was clearly uncomfortable with such an intimate address: "Just call me Furuya."
"Okay, Furuya-chan." Hagiwara Kenji immediately smiled.
Furuya Rei frowned unconsciously: "Could you remove the 'chan'?"
"No! After all, it makes Furuya-chan seem like he's being ostracized, right, Hiromitsu-chan~"
Morofushi Hiromitsu, who was also addressed as "chan", smiled and said, "Well, it's the first time I've been addressed like this by someone other than my elders. It feels quite novel."
"There's nothing I can do about it. It's because you and Sora'aki-chan share the same surname. If I call out to Sora'aki-chan, he'll react too." Hagiwara Kenji turned around: "Right, Sora'aki-chan?"
"No." Morofushi Sora'aki replied. "Hagiwara rarely calls me Morofushi; only Matsuda calls me that, and I can distinguish between Hagiwara's and Matsuda's voices."
Hagiwara Kenji was a little touched, but still said gently, "I was just looking for a way out. Sora'aki-chan, you could actually give me a little face."
Morofushi Sora'aki glanced at the convenient shopping mall: "The steps are over there, shall we go in? Besides, I've always been very considerate of Hagiwara."
Matsuda Jinpei suddenly found himself laughing: "Pfft—cough, um, Ra-... Raki is right, it's too weird to stand at the door, shall we go in first?"
"Okay, let's go in." Hagiwara Kenji said as they walked, "Since there are two Morofushi here, Furuya-chan, you can call him by his name as well~ Sora'aki-chan won't mind."
"You can call them by their names, but you can't call me Raki. That's for friends only. Only Hagiwara and Matsuda can call me that."
"Sora'aki-chan, you really care about this, don't you?" Hagiwara Kenji remarked.
Furuya Rei was clearly not good at dealing with people like Hagiwara, and nodded somewhat stiffly: "I understand."
Morofushi Hiromitsu, naturally, couldn't afford to step on that landmine, and said with a smile, "Then I need to work a little harder, at least to get Sora'aki to admit that I'm a friend, right?"
"That's it!" Hagiwara Kenji clapped his hands. "Alright, alright, let's find a project to start!"
All five were athletic, and at first they were modest and courteous to each other. But once they got really into it, they were practically ready to smash guns into each other's heads.
Furuya Rei, a top student, rarely plays this kind of game, but he is surprisingly talented in it. Once his competitive spirit kicks in, he catches up with the others in no time.
Of all the games, Furuya Rei is best at sniping gun games.
After playing until the boys were mostly exhausted, they decided to head to an all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurant. There was no other reason than that it was the most cost-effective option.
"That's true, but don't you really think eating barbecue on such a hot day is just adding heat on top of heat?"
"It's precisely because of this kind of weather that eating barbecue is the most enjoyable!"
"Boss! Ice-cold beer—"
"Do you even remember you were a minor, Hagi?"
While they were chatting, Morofushi Sora'aki, who was already hungry because the meat hadn't arrived yet, picked up a piece of lettuce with both hands and started munching on it with his head down.
The scene immediately fell silent. Hagiwara Kenji wiped away imaginary tears from the corners of his eyes: "My poor little Sora'aki-chan, did you not eat?"
Matsuda Jinpei muttered to himself, "...Why does that sound so sarcastic to me?"
"Because we were hungry." Morofushi Sora'aki replied. After the owner brought out the meat, the four kind high school students gave him the entire first plate of grilled meat. Even though they themselves were a little tempted by the aroma of the grilled meat.
After a day of playing games, the relationship between the group improved significantly. Isn't this the kind of friendly banter that fosters friendship among teenagers?
After finishing their barbecue and paying the bill, they were supposed to go home. Their homes were in opposite directions from each other at the same train station, so they could continue walking for a while. But when they got to the subway, Hagiwara Kenji turned around and fell silent: "...Where's Sora'aki-chan?"
Matsuda Jinpei looked up: "Isn't he right here... um? Where is he?"
The group looked at each other in bewilderment, and coincidentally, of the five of them, only Morofushi Sora'aki didn't have a cell phone.
Hagiwara Kenji slapped his forehead: "Sora'aki-chan isn't a child anymore, let's go to the service station and announce it."
Before they could even take action, they heard a message over the loudspeaker: "Matsuda Jinpei, Hagiwara Kenji, Morofushi Hiromitsu, and Furuya Rei, please come to the customer service station after hearing this announcement. Your parent, Morofushi Sora'aki, is waiting for you here."
The lost children: "..."
Matsuda Jinpei's forehead vein throbbed: "Who went missing?!"
Hagiwara Kenji: "I highly doubt that Sora'aki-chan just thought it would be fun, so he wanted to try it out."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "...Hmm, Sora'aki doesn't seem like that kind of person?"
Furuya Rei: "...I don't really want to go."
He had only been lost in thought for a moment when he realized that several of his friends were missing. Following his brother's instructions, he knew to find the relevant staff when he got lost. He was standing next to the service desk when a little girl with pigtails tugged at his sleeve.
The little girl seemed completely oblivious to the rejection emanating from Morofushi Sora'aki, tilting her head back and speaking like a little adult, "Did your brother get lost too, big brother?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "?"
The little girl sighed deeply: "Mie's brother is lost too. He's so clumsy! Mie just wasn't looking out of his sight, and he disappeared!"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "..."
Even without a response, Mie-chan kept talking to herself. Only when a boy who looked about the same age as Morofushi Sora'aki ran over anxiously did Mie let go of Morafushi Sora's hand and happily exclaim, "Mie's brother has been found!"
A moment later, four high school students arrived at the same spot. Mie immediately noticed Morofushi Hiromitsu, who bore a resemblance to Morofushi Sora'aki, and exclaimed with delight, "Big brother, your brother has been found too!"
Morofushi Hiromitsu was taken aback, and Morofushi Sora'aki also uttered his first words to the child: "He is not my brother."
The child tilted his head in surprise: "But you all look very alike!"
The girl's older brother stopped her at that moment, bowed awkwardly in apology, and then led his sister away.
Hagiwara Kenji laughed and smoothed things over: "Haha, what can you do? You two really do look alike. Maybe you can go back and ask your parents, and you might even find out your family relationship?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu paused for a moment, then spoke gently and softly, "...My parents passed away a long time ago."
Upon hearing this, Morofushi Sora'aki suddenly raised his head.