There were already rays of sunlight shooting through the gaps in the curtain when the handle of the front door slowly turned with a muted click.
Kai pressed the power button on his phone to see that it had just hit 8 o’clock in the morning. The PowerPoint slide on my laptop screen is as blindingly white as the morning sun, he thought, and folded his computer. He also shut his notebook, into which he had aimlessly scribbled words the previous night. None of what was written there had led him to a new idea.
Kai stretched his arms to the ceiling and then whirled around to see his sister, who was wearing a rather risqué bikini, and attempting to stealthily tiptoe in. Misako held a water gun in her right hand and a vinyl kiddie-pool in her left, along with an inflatable pool ring already around her waist. From the look on her face, he had a feeling that she was quite proud of being fully equipped, which she most definitely was.
“Good morning, everyone!” Misako exclaimed.
“I’m the only one here,” Kai replied dryly.
“To share a wonderful moment at the pool with such beautiful girls under a sparkling midsummer sun...” she began rambling. “The gates of paradise have opened! Now, Nanaka-chan, allow me to cover every nook and cranny of yours with sunscreen!”
“...Nee-san?” he ventured.
“Oh, Aya-chan, are you headed for the water slide? Don’t underestimate me. I’ll have you know I’m a novelist who can elegantly handle the waves of encroaching deadlines thrown my way. Watch, as I go down the slide while standing on the inner tube! And when I succeed... you know what comes next, don’t you?”
“............Are you having fun?”
“Don’t stay grounded in reality by yourself!!!” Misako whined at him. “Kaaaaaaaaai! Don’t you understand?! You of all people should know just how badly—just how desperately I wanted to go to the pool with everyone...! How much I wanted to ‘teehee’ and ‘ahaha’ with them!
“Can’t you see that and play along for me?! Or are you basking in a sense of superiority because you got to enjoy the experience with all five of your senses?! That’s low,” she said accusingly. “And lewd! Kai, you naughty perv! I wanted to feast my eyes out of my sockets, too! I’m so frustrated! And sad! Aaarghhh!!! Time, I beg of thee, rewind! But leave my manuscript completed!”
Misako looked like Edvard Munch’s The Scream as she put both of her hands to her disheveled face. She had sped through her words like a spirit speed-chanting a curse as she made her way toward her little brother. Her eyes were bloodshot and overflowing with so many tears that it almost seemed like an elaborate prank.
Just how excited was she for the pool trip? Kai wondered.
...Sigh. He knew letting out his breath audibly would only cause more trouble, so he simply said, “Give me a second,” before heading to his room. He brought back the digital camera that was on his desk, with a single photo that had been properly printed. “Here,” he offered.
“...Could... this be...?” Misako asked haltingly. The developed picture was the first group photo they had taken. Kai had thought of the idea when they’d come across a convenience store with a printer on their way to see off Akane.
In the photograph, Nanaka was smiling. Akane looked like she was posing for a passport, but Aya was sporting a goofy grin. Eru was squinting at the brightness of the sun, and Kai was in the center of the photo. He was blushing as he held out a peace sign and awkwardly stared in the general direction of the camera. Honestly, it was one of the single most embarrassing pictures he had ever been in, but it was Misako’s request, so there had been nothing to be done about it.
“There’s messages from everyone on the back,” he told her. Kai had added a disclaimer that they didn’t have to put much thought into it, but he’d asked all the girls to write a comment all the same.
Thank you very much! I hope you can join us next time, Misako-san! -Nanaka
My sincerest gratitude for allowing me this precious opportunity. -Kurenai Akane
It was fun, but I’d prefer a play store card next time. -Aya
I got some good practice drawing swimsuits, so thanks. -Kuroba
A handful of simple and haphazard messages were written on the back of the photograph. Kai felt awkward penning a note to his own sister himself, so he hadn’t planned on doing so. But Nanaka told him, “She’d be the happiest to see one from you... don’t you think?” Figuring that Misako would only see it once her deadlines had been taken care of, his message simply read, Good work on your manuscript.
“...Did Nanaka-chan get everyone to do this to thank me?” Misako asked.
“............No,” he admitted. So she’s asking me this, after all. “It’s just... I thought you’d be legitimately depressed, so...”
“It was you?”
“...Yeah, what abo— Whoa!” Misako was hugging him in an instant. She was too fast for him to have any chance of escaping. “N-Nee-san...!” he choked out. “Think about what you’re wearing!”
Misako had instantly tossed aside her pool ring and begun clinging to Kai while wearing nothing but a drawstring bikini. She was practically naked at this point, so he could feel a variety of different soft bits pressing against him, but the fact that it was his sister left him less than pleased.
Despite his best efforts to peel her off, Kai couldn’t best Misako’s ridiculously deceptive strength, and she didn’t intend to let go on her own volition. Plus, he realized, trying to force her off could cause her swimsuit to catastrophically slip off.