The day before Tsushima Kagami was to leave for his exchange program at Yale University in the United States.
The evening glow over Tokyo looked like spilled orange paint, slowly soaking into the city's skyline.
Every light in Kagami's home was on, and the air was full of the smell of food.
The dining table was already crowded with dishes.
Yukinoshita Shizuku stood at the stove, carefully turning a perfectly pan-fried silver cod with a spatula. The golden skin sizzled in the oil.
Nayotake stood beside her chopping side dishes. Her knife work was crisp, and the scallions and ginger shreds lined up neatly under her blade.
Hiratsuka Shizuka was in charge of plating. She'd put on an apron for once, and the soft fabric took the edge off her usual tomboy aura.
"Shizuku, the fish is about done."
Hiratsuka Shizuka glanced at the cod in the pan and passed over a white porcelain plate.
Yukinoshita Shizuku took the plate and slid the fish onto it, then drizzled on the special sauce, every motion fluid and effortless.
She was wearing a light gray set of loungewear today, her long hair tied loosely at the back, a few loose strands hanging by her ears. It gave her a gentler, more mature air.
Only now and then, something complicated flickered in those beautiful eyes.
Tomorrow Kagami would fly from Tokyo International Airport to Chicago, then change planes for New Haven.
Between the flights and the layover, the trip would eat up nearly a whole day.
Three weeks wasn't long, but it wasn't short either.
Still, she couldn't help worrying. Would he adjust to the time difference? Get used to the weather and the food over there?
"Shizuku?"
"Worrying about Kagami again?"
"Honestly, he's not a child anymore."
"Though he does act more childish than a kid sometimes, I'll admit~"
Yukinoshita Shizuku snapped out of it, looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka, and smiled as she pushed away the hand waving in front of her face.
"Okay, you talk too much."
"You say you're not worried about Kagami, but you stuffed all those clothes in for him. He'll think I packed them, and he's probably grumbling that I'm adding to his burden."
"Well, I saw how few clothes he'd put in. I heard autumn in New Haven has a huge swing between day and night, and the low can drop to two or three degrees."
"It'd be bad if he got sick."
Hiratsuka Shizuka said it with real concern.
"Come on, you're calling Shizuku a worrywart, but you're worrying more than she is."
Nayotake, still chopping side dishes, smiled at the two of them.
"Kagami's healthy as a horse. No need to worry about him getting sick or anything."
"Nayotake's right. Instead of worrying about that, we should worry about..."
Hiratsuka Shizuka seemed to remember something and started to say it, but Yukinoshita Shizuku cut her off.
"All right, Shizu, would you please carry this over?"
Yukinoshita Shizuku pushed the plate of cod into Hiratsuka Shizuka's hands.
"Fine, fine!"
Hiratsuka Shizuka answered and carried the dish toward the table.
Her gaze drifted over the two bulging, oversized suitcases in the corner of the living room, and the corners of her mouth curled into a smile.
The doorbell rang in the entryway, followed by a burst of chattering and laughter.
"We're here, we're here!"
Tsukuyomi Komoe was the first one in, wearing a pink hoodie and carrying a small paper bag.
"Kagami-kun! We've arrived!"
Behind her came Douraku Utage and Hayase Kinue, followed by Seika Ijichi, Hiroi Kikuri and PA-ko. The group filed in, and the living room, spacious as it was, instantly grew lively.
Douraku Utage wore a navy knit sweater today, her hair loose over her shoulders, her cool beauty touched with a lazy air.
She looked around, her eyes landing on the dishes covering the table, and gave a soft click of her tongue.
"Mrs. Tsushima really went all out. This spread looks like New Year's."
"Yan, the way you say it, you make your own student sound like an old obasan, older than the rest of us!"
Tsukuyomi Komoe planted her hands on her hips and poked Douraku Utage in the forehead.
"Ahaha, just joking."
"Shizuku won't mind, will she? Young, gentle Mrs. Tsushima~"
"Yan-sensei, please stop joking. We haven't even turned in the marriage registration yet."
Yukinoshita Shizuku walked over, laughing.
"So, the future Mrs. Tsushima, then?"
"Honestly, call me whatever you like."
Yukinoshita Shizuku sighed helplessly.
"Looks like you've gotten used to being called that already?"
"You don't even blush anymore!"
Douraku Utage smiled and glanced at Tsukuyomi Komoe, Hayase Kinue and the others. Everyone burst out laughing.
Hayase Kinue, ever gentle, was holding an exquisite cloth bag with pastries she'd made herself. She smiled and nodded to Yukinoshita Shizuku.
"Sorry to intrude. We brought a few things, so let's all eat together."
"Sit anywhere, don't be shy."
"It's just finished, perfect timing."
Yukinoshita Shizuku welcomed everyone into the dining room with a smile.
Everyone took their seats. Hiratsuka Shizuka and Nayotake carried the last few dishes out of the kitchen, and the table was soon packed full.
Butter-fried cod, braised pork ribs, garlic broccoli, Japanese fried chicken nuggets, shrimp tempura, miso soup...
The spread had everything, with color, aroma and flavor all in place. It was clear that real effort had gone into it.
Tsushima Kagami came out of the bedroom in a dark gray long-sleeved T-shirt, his hair tidied a bit more than usual, looking much more alert.
Only a trace of weariness hid between his brows. He'd barely rested these past few days, busy preparing for the exchange and confirming a pile of topics and materials with Professor Kosaka.
"Everyone's here."
He smiled in greeting, his eyes sweeping over each face in turn.
"Kagami, sit here."
Hiratsuka Shizuka patted the empty seat beside her and poured a cup of tea, pushing it toward him.
Tsushima Kagami sat down, and the others began to eat. For a while the dining room was filled with the clink of bowls and chopsticks and the faint sound of chewing.
"Wow, this fish is so good!"
Tsukuyomi Komoe took a bite of the cod and her eyes lit up. Her cheeks puffed out like a contented little hamster's.
"Shizuku's cooking keeps getting better, doesn't it?"
Hayase Kinue praised her sincerely. She ate slowly, savoring every bite.
Hiroi Kikuri grabbed a big piece of rib and stuffed it into her mouth.
"These ribs are incredible, they melt in your mouth!" she said, her mouth full.
PA-ko ate in silence, now and then glancing up at Tsushima Kagami as if she wanted to say something and thought better of it.
Seika Ijichi, sitting next to her, was quiet too, only looking up at Tsushima Kagami every so often.
Tsushima Kagami chimed in now and then with news from school.
The mood gradually warmed. They ate and chatted, moving from funny things at school to everyone's latest news, and laughter rose again and again.
Douraku Utage, rarely smiling, let a hint of one show as she murmured something to Hayase Kinue.
Tsukuyomi Komoe was like a lively little sun, chatting a few words with one person and a few with another, filling the whole table with energy.
Hiroi Kikuri and PA-ko kept complaining about how exhausting exam prep was and how badly they wanted this life to be over.
Tsushima Kagami smiled along, though his smile was a little distracted.
Just when the mood was at its warmest, Tsukuyomi Komoe tilted her head as if she'd remembered something. With a piece of broccoli still in her mouth, she asked indistinctly,
"By the way, why don't I see Sayuri, or Akane and Sonoko?"
The air in the dining room froze.
Chopsticks stopped in midair. The liquor in the glasses stopped swaying. Even the insects outside the window seemed to fall silent.
Tsukuyomi Komoe froze, the broccoli forgotten in her mouth.
She looked at everyone going quiet at once, and her heart dropped. The color drained from her face. Had she said something wrong? Had she stepped on something she shouldn't have mentioned?
Douraku Utage set down her chopsticks and turned her gaze to Tsushima Kagami, curiosity in her eyes.
Hayase Kinue also looked up, brow slightly furrowed, studying Tsushima Kagami thoughtfully.
The drumstick in Hiroi Kikuri's hand stopped at her lips, sauce still on them, but her eyes had narrowed into an "oh, this is going to be good" look.
PA-ko put down her glass and exchanged a glance with Seika Ijichi. Both of them tacitly kept quiet.
Across the table, Yukinoshita Shizuku, Nayotake, Hiratsuka Shizuka and Seika Ijichi all wore the same meaningful smile, playful and teasing.
Their eyes fell on Tsushima Kagami as one, as if waiting to see how he'd answer.
Tsushima Kagami felt pinned by all those gazes at once, as though he'd been placed under a spotlight. A thin sweat broke out on his back.
He instinctively looked at Yukinoshita Shizuku for help.
But she only picked up her teacup and took a leisurely sip, the corners of her eyes tilting up, a faint smile on her lips.
"Ahem..."
Tsushima Kagami coughed lightly to cover his awkwardness, then slowly began to speak.
"Sayuri... hasn't been in a great mood lately, so she didn't come."
"As for Akane-senpai and Sonoko-senpai, they've been keeping her company, so they couldn't make it tonight either."
He paused, then added,
"They did come by this morning, though."
Tsukuyomi Komoe said "Oh" and nodded thoughtfully.
The tension drained from her face, but the doubt in her eyes only deepened.
Not in a good mood? Sayuri?
Something felt off, but she couldn't say what.
Douraku Utage raised an eyebrow and didn't press, but her look at Tsushima Kagami now carried a layer of scrutiny, as if to say, "You're definitely hiding something, kid."
Hayase Kinue was the first to sense the delicate mood, and she stepped in to steer the conversation elsewhere. She spoke with a gentle, natural smile.
"Kagami-kun, I made some homemade sweets for you this time, all your favorite flavors. You can eat them on the trip."
She took a delicate little box tied with a pale blue ribbon out of her cloth bag and handed it to Tsushima Kagami.
Tsushima Kagami took the box. The wrapping was faintly warm under his fingertips, so it must have been made not long ago.
He opened it and found all kinds of cookies and cakes neatly arranged inside: matcha cookies, red bean dorayaki, and a few perfectly square pieces of honey cake. Each was carefully wrapped, the edges pressed with cute patterns.
"Sister Kinue, thank you so much."
He meant it, and warmth welled up in his chest.
As expected, older women really do know how to dote on a person...
Hayase Kinue smiled gently.
"Take good care of yourself on the road, okay? Don't just eat fast food. When you're hungry, have a little something to tide you over."
Tsushima Kagami nodded and set the box on the table. His eyes drifted again to the two suitcases in the corner of the living room.
Both were stuffed so full that the zippers barely closed and the surfaces bulged, like two overfed travel cases.
He looked at the box in his hands, then at the suitcases.
He had no idea where to put it.
He could hardly squeeze it into a suitcase. Never mind that once he opened a zipper, everything inside would spill out and need to be stuffed back in again.
And if he forced it in, everything would surely get crushed...
Yukinoshita Shizuku noticed his gaze, put down her teacup, and said with a smile,
"Do you think I packed too much for you?"
Her tone sounded gentle, but Tsushima Kagami sharply caught the faint danger signal beneath the words.
This was not a question to be answered carelessly.
He quickly shook his head with a smile, holding the box and answering with a perfectly earnest face.
"Of course not. I was just wondering..."
"Should I share these sweets with everyone on the plane tomorrow, or sneak them all by myself in my Yale dorm?"
When he finished, he put on a serious, deep-in-thought look, brows slightly furrowed and one finger tapping his chin, as if weighing some momentous decision.
Watching him, Yukinoshita Shizuku couldn't help laughing softly again.
The barely perceptible chill at the corners of her eyes melted into a tenderness that wouldn't fade.
She said nothing more and just picked up her teacup for another sip. Through the drifting steam she watched Tsushima Kagami, her eyes soft and full of mixed feelings.
Everyone else, seeing Tsushima Kagami in full survival-instinct mode, snickered together.
Hiratsuka Shizuka burst out laughing outright and smacked the back of his head.
"Smooth talker, aren't you, kid?"
The laughter gradually faded, and the mood at the table turned light again.
What Tsushima Kagami didn't notice was this.
While they ate and chatted, Yukinoshita Shizuku's gaze had rested on his face for a long time.
Then she looked away, only to see Nayotake sitting nearby looking at her too, with a knowing smile.
She gave Nayotake a small nod.
Nayotake smiled and shook her head.
With a helpless air, she drained the last of the tea in her cup. The faint bitter aftertaste lingered on her tongue.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, the lights were on in Sayuri's apartment too.
But the atmosphere here was nothing like the liveliness at Tsushima Kagami's place.
Two open suitcases lay on the floor. One was nearly full, the other still mostly empty, and clothes, cosmetics and assorted small items were scattered all around.
Sayuri, Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko were busily stuffing things into the suitcases.
Sayuri wore a light pink bunny pajama set, her hair hanging loose, sitting cross-legged next to a suitcase.
Kosaka Akane crouched beside it in a gray shark pajama set, her long hair clipped up behind her head with a shark clip, looking thoroughly busy.
She was pushing a cream-white knit cardigan into the case, muttering to herself.
"Bring this one. Autumn at Yale is cold in the mornings and evenings, so this goes over everything, and you can take it off when it's warm..."
"Honestly, you were planning to go to Yale on exchange too, so why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"Now we're scrambling."
"And we missed Kagami's dinner party tonight."
Sayuri knelt beside her and explained in a small voice.
"I just applied with a try-my-luck attitude. I never thought I'd actually get accepted."
"And it seems Professor Takeuchi was the one who approved it."
"By the time I remembered, it was already like this, okay?"
Before the break, she'd heard Tsushima Kagami mention that students could apply for exchange spots, so she'd secretly applied as a long shot.
She hadn't expected anything. Exchanges like this usually only went to graduate students and upperclassmen, so she hadn't told anyone.
But after the new term started when summer ended, Sayuri unexpectedly received the notice that her application had been approved.
By then she'd been agonizing over how to find a chance to come clean to Tsushima Kagami, so she forgot to tell the others.
And she only found out later that Professor Takeuchi had personally approved it.
She'd wanted to just drop it and not go, but hearing that Professor Takeuchi himself had signed off, she couldn't bring herself to refuse and cause the professor trouble.
Then Kosaka Akane asked,
"So Kagami still doesn't know either."
Sayuri nodded weakly.
"Looks like he doesn't. I don't even know how awkward it'll be when we meet tomorrow."
"Ahh, now I have no idea how to explain it to him."
Sayuri suddenly clutched her head in anguish and toppled over to the side.
Machida Sonoko was kneeling half-upright in front of Sayuri's wardrobe. She'd opened both doors and stuck her head inside, rummaging for something.
She was wearing another pajama set that Sayuri had dug out for her, a milk-white sheep one, the collar slightly open and showing her delicate collarbone, which made her look lazy and sultry.
"Sayuri, do you have any underwear that's cuter? Or bolder?"
Machida Sonoko's voice drifted out of the wardrobe.
Sayuri, lying on the floor still wondering what to say once she met Tsushima Kagami tomorrow, answered without thinking.
"Second drawer in the right-hand cabinet. There's some racy lingerie I bought for reference when I drew manga."
Machida Sonoko pulled the drawer open, and then froze as if she'd been pinned in place.
The drawer held more than a dozen pieces, neatly folded.
Lace, cutouts, straps, sheer fabric, garter belts...
Every style imaginable, in colors from traditional black and red to bold purple, dark green, even leopard print.
Every piece had shamefully little fabric, and every design was bold enough to make your face burn and your heart race.
But Machida Sonoko had no time to marvel. She simply took everything out of the drawer in one armful, turned around, and stuffed it all into Sayuri's suitcase.
Only then did Sayuri react, staring at the lingerie in her suitcase.
"S-Sister Sonoko!"
Sayuri's voice cracked.
"Why are you packing this stuff for me?!"
Machida Sonoko didn't even look up, her hands never stopping.
She picked up a purple slip dress, held it against herself, nodded in satisfaction, and tucked it in too.
"You two are going to Yale as a couple, got it?"
"Three weeks! Three whole weeks! In a foreign country where you don't know anyone, leaning on each other. It's the perfect time for your relationship to heat up!"
Kosaka Akane joined the packing crew too. She dug a few pairs of stockings out of a drawer.
Black, nude, fishnet, thigh-high...
She shoved them into the suitcase without a second's hesitation, nodding as she did.
"Sayuri, this is your last decisive round."
"Don't you dare say your senpai didn't help you again."
"Sonoko and I will give you one more brilliant plan. If you still can't talk things out with Kagami properly and take him down in one go, you'll only have yourself to blame, not your sisters!"
With that, Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko quickly finished organizing Sayuri's luggage.
Then they sat beside her and went over the plan they'd prepared earlier.
Sayuri just sat there on the floor in a daze, listening, staring blankly at the lingerie and stockings in her suitcase.
Little by little her face turned redder and redder, until it looked ready to drip blood.
Her eyes spun in swirls, and steam began rising from the top of her head...
Her hands flew up to cover her cheeks, and she wished she had a few extra pairs to cover her ears and neck too.
Because she knew her ears and neck must be burning red as well!
____
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