“Hahaha! Don’t be so embarrassed, Sakura. We all thought it was cute—in a polite way, of course. Not everyone can play with their kids in the way you did.” Achilles pats my back as I cover my face in embarrassment. You’re not making me feel any better, you know?! A-And, it shouldn’t be so weird for a parent to play with their kid, you know?! I-I might’ve been a bit too into it, but that’s not important! 

“Urgh…I’ve completely turned into some kind of attraction.” Peeking through my fingers, I notice some ladies giggling as they look at me.

“Hahaha! Come on, it’s not that bad. You just picked their curiosity, that’s all. I’m sure they’ll forget about it once they get home.” I know they will, but what about me? When will I forget about this?! Never, that’s when! I’m doomed to cringe every time I remember this moment for the rest of my life! “Besides, Nobody will treat you like a kid because of it, I’m sure.”

As if to immediately prove him wrong, some of the voices around us start leaking into our conversation. Or rather, some of the people who watched me make a fool of myself are leaving, so Achilles and I, who are close to the exit, are able to clearly listen in on their conversation.

“That girl just now was pretty lovely, wasn’t she? She was playing with those little girls!”

“Right?! Ah~!!! To be young~!”

“I’m pretty envious of her parents…I can never get my eldest to play with my youngest, you know?! ‘I don’t want to babysit,’ she says! Can you believe it?!”

“Oh, my! My son says the same thing!”

I turn my eyes toward Achilles as the ladies walk by. He starts laughing dryly as he averts his eyes from mine. ‘Nobody will treat you like a kid because of it, I’m sure,’ was it? They’re literally comparing me with their kids, you know!? Achilles continues refusing to meet my eyes as if knowing exactly what’s going on in my mind.

“...Ha-Haha! It’s just because you look so young, Sakura. You should take it as a compliment!” he says, as if trying to salvage the situation with everything he has. It’s not working, though. You know why I look young?! Because I am young! That’s why I try so hard to make people think the opposite—that I am older than I look! I try to act mature because I don’t want people to judge me for my age, or underestimating me for it. But now what?! My image is crumbling! Not only that, but I even got reduced to being Sora’s sister again! Just like yesterday! I got sisterzoned! 

…Hmm…that’s probably not the correct term, though.

“...Fine, I guess I’ll do that, then.” There’s no point in arguing with Achilles, either, ‘cause in the end, everything’s my fault for acting so childish in the first place. I turn away to look toward the playground, indirectly telling Achilles that the conversation is over. My eyes meet Sora’s; she quickly notices Achilles’s presence besides me, and calls Lily over before pointing at us. Lily seems happy that her Daddy is finally here, and starts running toward us with my baby girl in tow.

“Daddy~!” Achilles smiles warmly at the scene of his daughter running toward him, and then swiftly carries her in his arms.

“Hey there, princess! Did you have fun while waiting?”

“Yes!” Lily starts excitedly telling Achilles about her day, and he listens, paying close attention to her words. Since this isn’t something that concerns me, I quickly walk away from them to let them enjoy themselves, and approach Sora, who is still running a few meters away from us. Lily seems to be faster than my baby girl, ‘cause Sora lagged behind quite a bit as they ran. Well, I guess that’s to be expected from an energetic girl like Lily.

“Ready to go home, baby?” I say as I finally reach Sora’s side. She nods ‘Nn’ happily as she stretches her arms toward me. Awww! Look at her! She wants me to carry her! I immediately comply and raise her up in the air. Sora giggles a bit as she feels the air blowing against her hair, and then puts her arms around my neck, laying her head over my shoulder as she does. I smile warmly as I see her do that, reaching the conclusion that she must be quite tired from the day. Every time she hugs me like this is because she wants to fall asleep, you see. She won’t fall asleep immediately, of course, but it serves as an indicator that it’s time to go home.

“Well then, we’ll be heading home now. We’ll see you later.” Walking back to the father-daughter pair, I give a friendly smile and a nod to Achilles as Sora momentarily raises her head from my shoulder to say goodbye to her friend. After exchanging a few more words and refusing Achilles’s offer for a ride home, Sora and I made our way out the gate and started walking home under the pretty skies.

∆∆∆

I returned home after dropping Sakura off at her place. She was obviously upset about all of what we discussed regarding last year, but nothing I could say was able to comfort her. …Why was she upset, you say? Drop it, you won’t hear anything about that from me. You will have to wait until she’s ready to talk about it herself, for I won’t reveal a thing that she wishes to keep private.

“...I was quite shocked, Ange, I have to say.” After opening the front door, I notice my sister waiting for me on a couch inside the large foyer. I drop my keys on a small tray on top of a dark wooden table, and then turn to look at Ange, lying on her back with her legs over the armrest and her face staring at the ceiling. She is clearly listening to my words, but instead of answering she simply remains silent, emptily staring at nothing as if pondering about something.

“...I am pretty shocked myself, Rei,” she finally says in a low voice after a few seconds. Her tone makes it seem as though she is mad about something. 

“About?”

“What do you mean, ’about’?! You kept that cutie all to yourself all these years! I wondered why that apathetic Dad of us had praised her so much, but after meeting her today, I can finally see why he is so eager to make her his daughter-in-law! Such beauty! Such character! I’m sure she’s pretty smart, too! She’s perfect!” Ignoring her rant, I take a seat on another couch, directly in front of hers.

This is the reason why I said I was shocked a bit earlier. The Angela that I know is this type of character; she’s this type of very overwhelming—sometimes overbearing—girl whose energy seems to be boundless. She isn’t the type to get easily flustered and get all shy as she did in front of Sakura earlier. To clarify, she isn’t of Sakura’s kind either, of the ones who get talkative when in the company of people they feel comfortable with. No, this is the true character of Angela. 

“Calm down, Ange. What’s with all of this ‘keeping her to myself,’ thing? Are you stupid? You should know both the old man and mother have met her already.” I try to calm her down, fighting against the headache I can feel coming my way.

“That’s right, I know! That’s what makes it all the more unfair! You’ve got a head start against me! How can I expect to beat you when you’ve had years’ worth of advantage?! Not only that, but you're incompetent, too! How come you haven’t made her fall for you for so long?! If it was me, we would’ve already been dating with marriage in sight! And I could’ve already been asking her to pose naked so I could print her peerless beauty on a canvas!” …For god’s sake, can this girl even listen to what she is saying? She’s speaking complete nonsense now. Especially that last sentence, what’s up with that?

“Ange. First of all, shut up. Second of all, stop talking about Sakura as if she were some kind of animal to be tamed. Third of all, even if she were, she’s not somebody the likes of you can tame.” I rub my temple in irritation as I put a stop to my sister’s ramblings. 

“Mghm, speak for yourself, oh brother of mine. Didn’t you see her reaction earlier? Sure, I might’ve fallen in love at first sight, but I’m pretty sure it’s the same for her!” Angela smiles boldly at me, with a confidence that shows no bounds, as if she was backed by the word ‘certainty’ itself. 

“Don’t misunderstand, Angela. Sakura is shy by nature. The only reason she reacted the way she did was because she was meeting a girl her age, that was all.”

“......” …Hold on, hold on. Why does she actually look hurt by what I said? There’s no way she actually thought that their meeting was a miracle, and that both of them fell in love at first sight…no way. Damn, my sister might be much purer than I thought. Looking at her like this, I’d believe it if somebody told me she still believed in fairytales.

“...Fine, Rei…you might be right. However, that doesn’t mean I will give up.” 

“...I never expected you to give up. As long as you respect her boundaries, you’re free to do whatever you want. I am not your enemy, Ange, don’t misunderstand.” I feel as if somebody missed the point somewhere along the conversation, but my sister seems to be happy with her newly found determination, so I won’t interrupt her. She is pumping her fists as if looking forward to a battle that is soon to be found. Well, whatever makes you happy, I guess.

Just then, loud claps start sounding in the room.

“Bravo! Valiant declaration, Ange. Good response, Rei. Na ha ha ha!” That weird laughter can only belong to one person. Of course, that isn’t either Angela or myself. No, it belongs to a man wearing an expensive, especially-tailored marine blue suit. The tall man slowly makes his way down the majestic marble stairs that connect the foyer to the rest of the house, with his arrogant smile on full strength, illuminated by the chandelier.

“Dad…” 

As Angela just said, the man is the lord of this castle—my father. The man finally reaches ground level, and pats me on the back as he continues.

“If Rei can’t make Sakura my daughter-in-law, then I suppose the only option I have left is to bet my chips on you instead, Angela. Na ha ha ha ha!” Despite the clear joking tone my old man is using, Angela still seems a bit happy at the somewhat weird encouragement she’s receiving. She pumps her fists as she says, ‘Leave it to Ange!’ The old man nods in response.

…He sure is happy today. My old man is normally an extremely stern guy, seeing him laugh like this means that something good happened. I am not going to ask him about it, however. It is none of my business.

“Regardless. Go to wash your hands and get yourselves to the dining room before your mother’s food goes cold.” It seems that is the real reason behind the old man’s sudden appearance. Mother must have sent him here. After telling him we’ll be there in a minute, the old man leaves without saying anything else.

“Come on, Ange. Let’s go.”

“...Rei. I’m serious, I won’t lose.”

“...Do as you wish.” …Hadn’t I already said I wasn’t going to get in your way? Why are you so insistent? No, I know. This is all that old bastard’s fault. He kept saying things about how he wanted me to make Sakura his daughter-in-law, and now just everyone that knows about it thinks I’m in love with Sakura. Seriously, what a pain in the ass. Though I am sure that is nothing compared to how Sakura now suddenly has a crazy admirer wanting to seduce her—and she isn’t even aware of it. Thinking about it like that, that girl truly is pitiable. 

∆∆∆

At the same time, in the Saeki residence.

“A-A-A-Achooooooo!”

“Mama! Bless you!”

“Thanks baby. Hmm…somebody must be talking about me.” 

“...?”

Just as always, Sora Saeki doesn't seem to understand what her dear mother is thinking.

-----------

Afterword

A bit of an intermission chapter, boring I know, but oh well. Setup is important, you know? And also, I'm sick, so I have a hard time even thinking, I probably wrote pure nonsense and can't even recognize it as such. Well, let's pray for the best. I don't get sick very frequently, but when I do, I always feel like shit. Anyway, my head hurts, my throat is killing me, my nose is running, and I want to sleep, so I'll cut this afterword short here. 

Ah, before that, I hope you spent a wonderful Christmas day.

Lastly, don't get sick, everyone, it sucks. Take care of yourselves.

I'll see you next week.