The next morning, Alisa stood before the entrance of Masachika’s apartment building, having left her house over an hour earlier than usual.
…It’ll be fine. This isn’t weird at all. Yeah, I just want to know what happened at Yuki’s place. That’s all.
Alisa nervously adjusted her bangs while making excuses in her head, holding the compact mirror that Nonoa had given her the day before yesterday. She likely would’ve kept fussing for another five or ten minutes if not for suddenly noticing someone, probably a resident of the building, at the entranceway.
Startled, she snapped the compact mirror shut and calmly slipped it into her bag. Then, standing before the intercom, she drew several deep breaths before pressing the button for Masachika’s place. Her heart hammered as the rings echoed—one, two, three, four, five—until the call finally connected with a soft click.
“…Alya? Good morning. What’s wrong?”
“Good morning, Masachika. Sorry for coming over all of a sudden like this. I was just wondering what ended up happening at Yuki’s place the day before yesterday, and I figured you wouldn’t be able to talk about it at school, so I thought maybe we could walk to school together this morning and talk about it.”
Alisa smoothly recited the rehearsed lines with a composed expression, then inwardly celebrated, imagining her fists raised in the air while she waited for Masachika to reply.
“Oh, I guess that’s cool… I’m about to eat breakfast, though. Is that okay?”
“Oh, really? That’s fine. I don’t mind waiting.”
“All right… Come on up, then.”
Once the entrance was promptly opened, Alisa slipped inside, silently pumping her fist in victory as she took her compact mirror out once again to check her hair in front of the elevator. What she had just told Masachika was only half the truth. The other half was that she had come all this way because she simply wanted to walk to school with him.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to simply walk to school together side by side? After all, that’s something people only do if they’re really close.
Swept up in her excitement, Alisa randomly began to sway her body from side to side, fighting to suppress the smile tugging at her lips. Her thoughts had taken a curiously girlish turn—and with good reason, too.
It had all started the moment she learned Yuki was Masachika’s sister just two days earlier, but it also made her realize that Yuki was someone special and irreplaceable to Masachika—someone she could never compete with. The realization was devastating at first, but after returning home and sleeping on it, an entirely different voice began whispering to her in her mind. Put simply…
But they are siblings, so what’s the problem? It’s not like I’ll be competing with Yuki for his affection. If anything, this is going to be better for me, since I’m the only one in the race now. I mean, could things get any better? Maybe I should start dancing?
That was what the little voice whispered to her. She had blindly assumed that Masachika and Yuki harbored secret feelings for each other—that her first love was destined to go nowhere. For Alisa, who had been trying to lock away her own heart by clinging to that misunderstanding, this voice was more than enough to break those chains. It was enough to make her want to dance and merrily hum alone in her room.
But the fact remained that Masachika’s heart wasn’t with her but with Yuki, and that thought alone sent Alisa’s spirits crashing down. Just imagining his gentle gaze and tender touch meant for someone else made her chest ache and stole any trace of joy from her body. She had no clue how she’d ever thought about dancing and could only ruminate on how stupid she was. His heart was undeniably with Yuki, and for now there wasn’t the slightest chance it would turn toward her…
But it’s love between siblings, right? It’s completely different from romantic feelings of love. And when it comes to romantic feelings, and if I’m not completely misreading the room…I’m pretty sure I’m Masachika’s number one pick, right? Wait a second. Is it time to dance? Let’s dance! Yeeeah! Party time! ♪
…And so, after a whole day of her feelings soaring and crashing like a roller coaster yesterday, Alisa found herself on a bit of a high. The love she had long kept locked deep in her heart had transformed into countless tiny mini-Alyas, joyfully parading around and shouting, “Yay! We’re free! ☆”
And from the sound of his voice, it sounds like he just woke up, and I’m pretty sure I’m the only girl who has ever stepped foot into his house this early in the morning. In other words, that makes me special, right? Giggle.♪
And now she was here. Apparently, some girl named Ayano had been trampled by the mini-Alyas parade and completely forgotten.
Each step she made was followed by rainbows and sparkles. It was a sight hardly befitting the so-called solitary princess, but it wasn’t long before the elevator arrived. Checking her full reflection one last time in the walls of mirrors around her, she confidently pulled something from her bag—the white gloves Masachika had given her just two days prior.
The morning temperature hardly called for gloves yet, but that was irrelevant. She slipped them on immediately to ensure Masachika would notice because that was the only thing that mattered. Fully equipped and brimming with determination, she curled her bubbly smile into a provocative grin, then pressed the Kuze’s doorbell—
“Be right there… Oh, hey. Nice to meet you.”
His father ☆ opened the door…and Alisa’s face instantly went blank. The parade of tiny, triumphant mini-Alyas that had been marching proudly through her heart came to an abrupt halt as they stared ahead in stunned disbelief.
“Huh?! Ah!”
She instinctively wondered if she had the wrong apartment and quickly checked the house number and nameplate…but they were correct.
“…??”
Kyoutarou bowed politely with a slightly troubled smirk at the utterly confused schoolgirl.
“I’m Masachika’s father, Kyoutarou.”
“Ah! Ahhh! Sorry! Uh… I’m Alisa Mikhailovna Kujou! M-Masachika has always been such a wonderful friend! Uh…! S-sorry for stopping by this early in the morning!”
She abruptly lowered her head, quickly stripped off both gloves, and swiftly crammed them into her bag. She wasn’t wearing anything on her hands, and nobody had witnessed a thing. At least, that was what she was going to tell herself.
“Uh… Today, I, uh…”
Alisa lifted her head back up, scrambling to come up with an excuse, but she immediately stumbled over her words before she could make a single coherent sentence. Seeing her obviously flustered, Kyoutarou gently smiled and stepped aside to give her some space to walk by.
“It’s okay. Come on in.”
Alisa bashfully hunched her shoulders and bowed repeatedly as she stepped inside, but her mind was still spinning in a whirlwind of confusion.
Why?! Why is his father here?! Why?!
Unexpectedly meeting the father of her crush had caught her entirely off guard, wiping her mind completely blank and leaving the parading mini-Alyas in her heart shouting, “Retreat!!” as they scattered about. And just like that, the flutter of excitement suddenly died…when Alisa came to an abrupt realization.
Hold on… Did I just make a horrible first impression?!
She calmly and objectively analyzed her current self. From Masachika’s perspective, who was well aware of everything that had happened, her sudden early-morning visit might seem like the act of a concerned partner. But how would Kyoutarou see her, especially since this was the first time they had ever met?
A female classmate just boldly invited herself to his son’s place early in the morning, knowing that he usually lived alone…?
There was no need to even put any thought into it. She had just showed up uninvited to a boy’s house early in the morning like it was nothing, so obviously, Kyoutarou must have pegged her as some shameless hussy who lacked both common sense and decency.
Nooo! That’s not what this is!!
Alisa desperately fought the urge to tear her hair out as she slipped her feet into the slippers Kyoutarou had put out for her.
No! Don’t get the wrong idea! I never invite myself over to boys’ houses like this! I’ve only ever been to Masachika’s place, and this is my first time coming over this early in the morning, and I have absolutely no intention of doing anything weird, and I only thought that maybe it would be nice if we could walk to school together while holding hands, and I had a few vague thoughts that maybe I could wrap my arms around his under the guise that I wanted to cheer him up because I wanted to see how he’d react, but that’s only because it’s Masachika, and it’s not because I’m some sort of overly promiscuous hussy! Aaaaaagh!
To Alisa, a perfectionist so meticulous in her dealings with the opposite sex that Masachika had jokingly called her a germaphobe, the mere implication of her chastity being questioned by the father of her crush was enough to make her inwardly shriek in silent agony. Yet loudly declaring her innocence here would be far too crass. Besides, protesting only made people look more guilty, and denying it too fervently might expose her feelings for Masachika. Therefore…
“Make yourself at home. Masachika will be here in a second after he changes.”
“All right. Thank you.”
No matter how frustrating it was, all Alisa could do now was remain silent.
Gritting her teeth and restlessly fidgeting with her fingers, she settled into the living room chair as Kyoutarou had suggested until Masachika eventually appeared, dressed in his school uniform slacks and white collared shirt.
Ah, I like him so much.
That was the first thought that came to mind as the mini-Alyas, who had scattered about, came back, filling her heart with their lively cheers and laughter.
He still looks a little sleepy. Ah, his hair’s sticking up and bouncing around in the back. He’s so cute. ♡
The distracting thought crossed her mind…until she caught a glimpse of Kyoutarou out of the corner of her eye, prompting her to hastily banish the mini-Alyas from her heart.
“Good morning, Masachika. Looking as sleepy as always, I see,” she commented with her usual composed expression, trying to sound as normal as possible.
Only after the words left her lips did she realize that this was something you would say to someone at school, not after inviting yourself into their house early in the morning. It didn’t help that she said it in front of Kyoutarou, either.
Ugh! I just got here, and I already messed up big time! Ahhh!
Though Alisa was mortified and inwardly burying her face in her hands, she couldn’t take back what had already been said, so she simply fought to maintain her composed facade. However…
“Good morning… Yeah, that’s ’cause I am sleepy,” Masachika said with a yawn, seemingly unfazed as he took a seat beside Alisa.
Once everyone was settled, Kyoutarou returned with a tray and placed a glass before each of them.