Since this was going to be our last night together, we decided to all play some Merry-Go-Kart together on Kisaki’s Extendo Snitch. It was my first time in two years playing video games with my sister, and although I didn’t admit it, that made me really happy.
“Oh, my phone’s ringing... Sorry, go ahead without me for a second,” Kokoro said after a while, leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Kisaki and I were left alone with each other.
“Okay, I’ll be Joadette next!”
“Say, Kagetora...”
“Hm?”
“Are you... okay with that? You know, with Kokoro dating that cosplayer...”
“What...?” I mumbled, so shocked that my fingers froze in place on the controller.
“Don’t you feel anything for her?”
Where did that come from all of a sudden? Feel anything for... Nishina?
“I-I really... I’m not so...”
To me, Kokoro was my roommate, my ally, and my rival. I’d seen her struggle in her attempts to find a boyfriend for so long that I really wished for her to finally succeed... Or did I? I couldn’t deny that I had mixed feelings about the whole thing.
“I’m ba— Hm? Why aren’t you two playing? Were you waiting for me?” Kokoro came back into the living room sooner than I’d expected.
“Yeah! Let’s all play together!” Kisaki replied as if nothing had happened, and we went back to our kart racing.
Does Kisaki see something that I can’t see?
＊ ＊ ＊
After a few too many rounds of Merry-Go-Kart, I went and took a bath. I checked my phone as soon as I was out of the bathroom and was thrilled to see a text from Elena.
“I’m so sorry I bothered you again today! I don’t want you to feel forced to accept, so you can still say no if you don’t want to.”
I took a seat on the couch and hurriedly typed my response.
“I’d never say no to that! As long as you want to, I’m more than happy to go on a date with you!”
“You’re always so kind...”
I wasn’t being kind—I wanted to go on a date with her as much as she did with me.
“Is there anywhere special you’d like to go? Anywhere you like is fine!” I told her.
“Then... would Akihabara be okay?”
“Of course!”
“I want to see if they sell any Emily merchandise at Animate. I’ve never gone to check because I was scared somebody might recognize me.”
“That sounds great! I want to go too!”
And so we decided that, a week from that day, Elena and I would go on a date together in Akihabara.
“Oh, finished up already?” Kokoro asked as she came into the living room. She walked through into the kitchen and poured herself some barley tea from the fridge.
“Yeah...”
“What’s that grin for?” she asked, looking at me with disgust.
Was I grinning that hard? I didn’t even notice.
I still hadn’t told Kokoro about what had happened between me and Elena. I wanted my roommate’s opinion on it, but I couldn’t reveal how Elena had confessed to me without having to explain how I already knew about her secret identity. Going through that whole story would have been a hassle, and I didn’t have Elena’s permission to talk about it anyway.
“Hellooo? Earth to Ichigaya!”
“I-It’s nothing really...”
“Sheesh! It’s so annoying when you make out like something’s happening and then you don’t explain!”
Make out like something’s happening?! I haven’t said anything! But... I guess I shouldn’t keep this from her. She’s telling me all about her romantic situation, so I guess I owe it to her.
“Well, actually...”
I mustered up the courage and finally told her the whole story: how Elena had said that she liked me, how she’d said that she didn’t want a boyfriend yet, and how she’d asked me to go on a date with her. I somehow managed to avoid the topic of how I already knew about Elena’s VTubing.
“...so we’re going on a date next week.”
“Wh... What...?” Kokoro murmured to herself, looking down at the floor. I didn’t know what to make of such a reaction. I could have sworn that she looked... angry.
“Why didn’t you tell me?! Why’d you keep something so important a secret for so long?!”
“I...”
The fierce glare that I received made it very clear that Kokoro was, indeed, angry. I knew that I should’ve told her sooner, but I definitely wasn’t expecting her to take it so badly.
“I just never got the chance...”
“Aren’t we supposed to be working together?! I always tell you everything! I feel so dumb right now!”
“But—”
“It’s like I’m just a dumb girl, always asking for your help! And you... You! You go ahead and get things done all by yourself! You don’t even need me...”
“N-Nishina...?” I was extremely confused. I just couldn’t understand why she was that furious.
All of a sudden, Kokoro stopped shouting and gave me an apologetic look.
“I... S-Sorry. I don’t know what got into me...”
Huh? She doesn’t even know why she’s angry? What’s her problem?
“I-I’m sorry too. I wanted to tell you, but with all that’s happened recently I never found the time...”
She remained silent for a while, making me concerned about just how upset she was.
“So,” she eventually said, “Minami likes you, but she won’t become your girlfriend, right? Because she decided not to date until her career takes off.”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“I’m still shocked that she had those kinds of feelings for you. I never noticed. Why would she...?”
“Is that really so surprising?”
To be honest, I was just as shocked as she was, but having it said to my face was pretty infuriating. At least Kokoro’s anger had subsided and she seemed to be back to normal.
“So, um... do you know where you’ll go for your date?”
“Yeah. We’re going to go to the Animate in Akihabara.”
“Akihabara? Won’t people recognize her now that she’s a well-known VTuber and voice actress?”
“I guess she’ll be wearing a mask like she did at Comiket.”
I was so excited about the date that I hadn’t even thought about that. Now, however, was a very important moment in Elena’s career, which required us to take the utmost care.
“You’d better keep your voice down while you’re at Animate. And if you go to a café or something like that, you should choose a place that isn’t too popular with otaku.”
Is she... giving me advice?
“Oh, you have a point. But what kind of place would that even be?”
“You go to Akihabara that much and you don’t even know?”
“How could I? I only go there for otaku-related stuff...”
“Huh, I guess that makes sense.”
Much to my surprise, Kokoro took out her phone and started searching for a suitable place to eat. I hadn’t expected her to help me out at all after seeing how harsh her initial reaction had been.
“What about this? Most girls love pancakes!” she said, showing me a web page with pictures of a fancy café serving equally fancy pancakes. “It’s not that close to the station either, so there’s probably not much of an otaku crowd,” she added.
“Ohhh, that sounds great! Can you send me the link?”
“Sure...” Kokoro paused, thinking quietly for a few moments before looking up at me and asking, “So, uh... if Minami had asked you to be her boyfriend, how would you have replied?”
My heart skipped a beat.
Minami asking me to be her boyfriend? Well, I...
“You know what, never mind. I’m sleepy. I’ll go to bed.”
“Huh?! O-Okay...”
“Good night.”
“G-Good night...”
Why would she ask me something like that and then leave before I could even answer?
＊ ＊ ＊
The next day, Kokoro and I went to Narita airport to see Kisaki off.
“Have a good flight! We should sooo meet up again when you’re back!”
“Of course! Thanks for everything, Kokoro!”
“Be careful, all right?” I added.
“Sure. And you be careful not to be a nuisance to Kokoro, you hear me?”
“Huh?”
“Hah... I wish you two would hurry up and date each other already...”
“WHAT?!” Kokoro and I cried.
“Wh-What did you just...?”
“Wh-What are you talking about?!”
“It’s just that it’d be so much fun for me too... I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that! You’d never want to date someone like my brother, I bet! You’d be wasted on him!”
I braced for Kokoro’s reply, expecting her to agree with Kisaki... but she didn’t say anything.
“Oh, I have to get going! Bye bye, see you soon!” my sister said, waving as she left the two of us to our shock.
The awkwardness was palpable.
“Should we... go back home?”
“Y-Yeah...”
Nishina... date me? Is Kisaki blind? Didn’t she see the kind of guy that Nishina’s into?