Final Chapter: “Actually… no, it was the best family ever, thank you…”
── Crash ────── !
“Kyaa!”
“Hey!? Hinata!”
Kousei frantically turned toward Hinata in alarm. In the Ueda family’s living room, Hinata had just returned from the training camp and was attempting to display a picture frame she’d purchased at the souvenir shop. Somehow, she’d let it slip from her fingers, and the glass exploded across the floor with a violent crash.
“Are you okay── Wait!? The photo!”
Hinata instinctively reached for the broken glass, but in that instant, a firm grip seized her arm and yanked her back.
“Don’t touch that,” Kousei said sharply. “It’s dangerous.”
Hinata’s eyes widened in surprise. Her brother was gripping her arm with unexpected force, and his protective behavior was so utterly unlike him that it left her completely stunned. At that moment, Kousei’s gaze happened to fall upon a single photograph lying among the scattered shards.
“Hinata, this photo…”
“Yeah,” she said softly. “It’s from the Kanon Festival. I thought it’d be nice to have it as a memento of the four of us…”
Her expression grew melancholy.
“I especially had Ryouta-senpai and Akira help me pick out this frame…”
“The frame’s fine,” Kousei assured her. “We can just replace the glass later.”
“Oh, right… T hat’s true…?” she replied, sounding uncertain.
“I’ll pick up the glass, so grab the vacuum and some tape.”
“Okay!” Hinata’s voice brightened with relief.
After his sister left the living room, Kousei casually lifted the picture frame. There was a photo of Ryouta, himself, and Akira in costume, along with Hinata wrapped in her red dress. It had been taken right after the play ended, capturing all four of them together. Kousei had completely forgotten about its existence.
The play, the performance── he hadn’t intended to participate from the start, but now Kousei understood why his body had reacted back then. Before he realized it, he’d slipped his index finger between the broken glass pieces and was gently stroking Hinata’s head in the photo. Then his eyes drifted to Ryouta beside her.
For reasons he couldn’t quite understand, his thoughts suddenly turned to his friend. They hadn’t been in contact for several days now—maybe it would be good to reach out with a LIME message for once.
“── Onii-chan, I brought the vacuum.”
“Huh? Oh, sorry. ──…!?”
Startled by being suddenly called out to, Kousei cut his finger on the glass. It wasn’t particularly deep, but a round drop of blood welled up from the tip of his diagonally sliced right index finger.
“Ah! Onii-chan, you’re bleeding!”
“Nah, this much is fine──”
Without warning, Hinata’s soft lips enveloped Kousei’s finger.
“—Hinata, what the hell are you doing?”
“If I ho hish, hhe hleeding sthops…” she mumbled around his finger. “(If I do this, the bleeding stops…)”
Hinata continued sucking on Kousei’s finger with her eyes squeezed shut. Kousei stared at the scene in shock and confusion before suddenly snapping back to reality and jerking his hand away. He immediately pressed down hard on the finger joint.
“Idiot. That’s gross… More importantly, why’d you suddenly do that…?”
“Because you used to do it for me when I was little.”
That was back in elementary school, Kousei realized. When Hinata had just started learning to cook, she’d injured her finger with a knife. Back then, Kousei had panicked and done the same thing. At some point, he’d gained knowledge and learned that it wasn’t good for wounds, but remembering that time made Kousei feel embarrassed.
“Or… was it gross having me do it…?” Hinata looked up at him with those tearful puppy-dog eyes of hers.
Kousei could never win against those eyes. He never could, so he’d always look for an escape route. Usually, that route became harsh words spilling from his mouth, but this time was different.
“No… I meant my blood’s the gross part…”
He tried to play it off like he wasn’t embarrassed, but his cheeks betrayed him by turning red.
“Then what about me? I’ve got the same blood flowing through me as you do, Onii-chan.”
“You’re beautiful.”
“Huh? Onii-chan, just now──”
“Come on, I’m gonna vacuum now.”
“Ah, I’ll do it! You should take care of your wound first──”
“I’ll go wash it off.”
When Kousei headed to the bathroom, he could hear the vacuum cleaner humming from the living room. He turned on the faucet to wash the wound──and watched as a drop of blood fell onto the edge of the sink, slowly flowing and forming a thin red line that streamed toward the drain.
The red line got caught up in the swirling water from the faucet, spinning round and round, and eventually disappeared into the dark drain. As he watched this scene for a while, his friend Ryouta’s words suddenly came to mind──
“—Mendel’s laws have no blood flowing through them, huh…”
Ryouta had said that blood relations were bullshit. But you can’t just ignore blood relations. Blood relations are a pain in the ass, that guy had also said. It’s not something you can do anything about on your own.
──I know that all too well without you telling me.
Because I’m bound by Mendel’s laws too.
While thinking this, Kousei stuck his dripping fingertip under the running water.
＊ ＊ ＊
“── There, all done.”
Kousei had let Hinata disinfect his wound and put a bandage on it. Sitting side by side on the living room sofa as siblings was rare, and Kousei felt somewhat uncomfortable. Being alone together only made him feel more embarrassed.
“Why’d it have to be a kiddie character bandage…?”
“Because that’s all we had! But it suits you, Onii-chan ♪”
“Whatever… ──Thanks.”
“You’re welcome ♪” she said with a bright smile.
When Hinata smiled with narrowed eyes, Kousei felt embarrassed again and scratched his head.
“By the way, how was that training camp thing? Did you have fun?”
“Huh?”
“What’s with that look?”
“Onii-chan, who usually has zero interest in other people, is actually interested in our training camp?”
“Wha…!? I don’t care, but I’m asking anyway!”
“Okay, okay,” she laughed. “──Well, it was fun! With everyone from the drama club and… O h right! Ryouta-senpai and Akira happened to be there too~!”
“I know. You texted me about it.”
“I was so surprised it was the same place as Ryouta-senpai’s family trip! It was crazy hectic but really fun. And you know what, Onii-chan──”
Kousei listened to Hinata’s cheerful account that followed. Throughout it all, names like “Akira” and “everyone from the drama club” flowed from Hinata’s mouth, but for Kousei, most of it was irrelevant. His interest lay elsewhere.
When that particular topic didn’t emerge from Hinata’s recounting and he’d finished hearing about all the training camp events, Kousei asked:
“──So, did you get to be alone with Ryouta?”
“Huh? Alone with Ryouta-senpai? ──Yeah, kinda…”
“And then what?”
“Nothing special… definitely nothing that Onii-chan’s hoping for happened~!” Hinata stuck out her tongue teasingly.
“Jeez… at this rate, you’re never gonna get Ryouta to fall for you, y’know?”
“It’s not like Ryouta-senpai and I are like that anyway…”
“You had a crush on him in middle school, didn’t you? On Ryouta.”
“I-it’s not like I had a crush on him or anything! I just thought he was kinda cool, that’s all!”
“That’s what having a crush means, dummy.”
Hinata’s face grew a bit dark. “It’s a little different though. If anything, it was more like… admiration, maybe?”
“Admiration?”
“Yeah. I looked up to Ryouta-senpai back in middle school, and I still do now. ──To be honest, sometimes I get jealous of Akira.”
“What are you jealous of?”
“Ryouta-senpai is so caring and gentle, and he’d probably spoil me rotten, and it’d be so much fun being with him…”
“Well, sorry for being such a disappointing brother then.”
“That’s not what I meant!” Hinata protested with a pout.
But Kousei wasn’t in the mood to argue. If anything, it was convenient for him that he was such a useless older brother. However, Hinata looked down and started touching the tips of her index fingers together, separating and connecting them. This was an old habit of Hinata’s when she had something difficult to say.
“Onii-chan has his good points too, you know…”
“Like what?”
“Um… well… let’s see…──”
“…If you have to think that hard about it, don’t force yourself.”
When Kousei let out a tired sigh, Hinata broke into a smile.
“Just kidding! ──Actually, I realized that Onii-chan is just as kind as you used to be…”
“When? What’s supposed to be kind about me?”
“During the Kanon Festival. Like during the accident, or when Ryouta-senpai froze up because of me. You saved me so many times, Onii-chan. ──That really made me happy.”
“Ah, that was…”
“Oh, but when you said ‘This is my woman’──ugh, even thinking about it now makes me cringe.”
Hinata said this while covering her face and giggling. Kousei felt his own cheeks heat up remembering those words.
“That was just spur-of-the-moment ad-libbing! ──Besides, you should’ve at least given Ryouta a hug then.”
“I couldn’t do something like that…”
“Why not?”
“Because Ryouta-senpai has Akira. Someone like me isn’t good enough…” Hinata’s gaze dropped to her hands. She wore that bitter smile—the kind that looked cheerful on the surface but held a sadness underneath that made Kousei’s chest tighten. Still, he pressed on.
“What do you actually want to do?”
“Huh? What do I want to do──”
“Don’t you want to seriously go out with Ryouta?”
“That’s why I──”
“I dunno what that pipsqueak is thinking, but Ryouta’s never gonna end up with her anyway, so don’t worry about it.”
“Huh? What do you mean? Akira and Ryouta-senpai… wait, what?”
“I’m saying those two are gonna stay siblings forever, that’s what.”
“Are those two actually in some kind of romantic relationship? Even though they’re siblings?”
Hinata had harbored some suspicions, but she’d always thought of them as just really close siblings—or maybe close friends of opposite genders. The ideal sibling relationship, really. But when she reconsidered their relationship through a romantic lens, all sorts of doubts started bubbling up—maybe that really was the case after all.
However, Kousei just acted all cryptic with his “who knows” responses, which only confused Hinata more. More than that, what was her brother actually trying to get at?
Hinata wanted to understand her brother’s real intentions, but right now she couldn’t stop her mind from racing with thoughts about Ryouta and Akira.
“I don’t really get it… are you saying Ryouta-senpai doesn’t see Akira as a girl?”
“…Who knows. But it’s never gonna turn into anything romantic.”
“How can you be so sure about that?”
“How can I be sure… Well──”
Kousei found himself projecting Ryouta’s situation onto his own. Kousei and Ryouta were similar in some ways. Standing before a line they couldn’t cross, acting half-heartedly, and ultimately trying to escape by making excuses. Ultimately, they were just afraid to move forward, but saying that out loud was something he absolutely couldn’t bring himself to do.
“──Ryouta is cursed, you see. By Mendel’s laws.”
When Kousei said this, Hinata just blinked at him in complete confusion.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about… Mendel’s laws?”
“…Well, what I’m saying is you’ve got a shot. You still look up to Ryouta, right? It’s totally normal to want someone you admire to be closer to you. So──”
Kousei was aware that he was about to say something terrible. For Hinata’s sake, for Ryouta’s sake── no, enough with the excuses. He resolved that he was saying something terrible to Hinata for his own sake.
“──Just confess to Ryouta already. You should go out with him.”
Hinata’s expression crumpled into something sad, but Kousei kept his usual grumpy mask firmly in place.
“Onii-chan…”
“Sure, he treasures Akira, but if you went out with him, he’d treasure you just as much. And unlike me, he’s the type who actually works hard for the things that matter to him. So if you’re okay with dating Ryouta, then I think that’s perfectly fine.”
Kousei understood all too painfully why Hinata looked so hurt. But precisely because he knew that what Hinata truly wanted could never happen, Kousei deliberately chose words that would push her away from him.
Hinata sat there quietly, lost in thought. During that silence, Kousei kept repeating to himself like a mantra that what he was saying was right, that it wasn’t wrong. He didn’t think for a moment that siblings could understand each other. There are things in this world that siblings can’t understand or accept because they’re siblings.
The silence continued for a while. It was Hinata who finally spoke.
“Would Onii-chan be happy if I dated Ryouta-senpai?”
“…Yeah. I’ve been hoping for that since middle school. And I still do. I think you two would be perfect together.”
“I see… so Onii-chan would be happy. That’s what you really want…” Hinata’s gaze dropped again, but this time the silence didn’t last long.
“Let me think about it for a while…”
“Yeah. Take your time──”
But Kousei had completely dropped his guard.
“──Hey, what the hell!?”
Caught off-guard by the sudden embrace, Kousei instinctively grabbed Hinata’s shoulders.
“What are you doing!?”
“Please, Onii-chan. Just let me stay like this for a little bit──”
Kousei let his arms fall limply to his sides, no longer gripping her shoulders. His thoughts turned desperate:
──What are you doing, Ryouta? Pay attention to my sister instead of Akira. Come back soon. If you don’t come back, I’m just gonna end up hurting Hinata again…
His heart was racing so fast it was embarrassing.
When did we siblings end up like this?
And so Kousei, confronted with his own pathetic self, could only wait quietly for time to pass until Hinata finally let go. Only the picture frame with its shattered glass bore silent witness to these siblings.
＊ ＊ ＊
──………..
……….
…Warm.
Warm and soft, somehow calming.
And it smells really good. It’s a scent I’ve smelled somewhere before. A scent I love.
This is… I see…──
I could feel light filtering through my eyelids. When I cracked my eyes open slightly, a dazzling brightness streamed in. This definitely wasn’t under a starry sky—as my blurred vision gradually sharpened, I could make out fluorescent lights blazing down from above.
As my head cleared further, I found myself staring up at an unfamiliar stark white ceiling.
──Where am I?
No, more than that, there was something I needed to check first.
“──…Akira?”
The first word out of my mouth upon waking was my step-sister’s name. She’d been sleeping next to me every night lately, so she was probably curled up somewhere nearby now. That’s what I figured as I tried to turn my head to the side.
But then shadows fell across my vision like umbrellas blocking the sun. Several familiar faces were peering down at me with concerned expressions.
“Aniki…”
“Ryouta-kun…”
“Ryouta…”
“Uh… Akira, Miyuki-san, and Dad…?”
Apparently, the entire Majima family had been watching me sleep. …Why though?
I tried to piece together my memories, but more than that, I was worried about their expressions. Akira had tears pooling in her eyes, threatening to spill over. Miyuki-san’s makeup was completely ruined, and Dad’s eyes were red and puffy from crying.
I didn’t really understand what was going on, but if it was morning, I figured I should probably say something.
“Um… good morning, everyone──”
I was thinking how embarrassing it was that I’d overslept and they’d all seen my sleeping face──
“Anikiiiii──────!”
“Ryouta-ku~~~~~~~n!”
“Ryoutaaa──────!”
Suddenly, all three of them burst into tears.
──Um, what exactly is going on…?
I didn’t really get it, but if my whole family was here together, this had to be home, right?
In that case, I should probably say this too──
“──I’m home.”
＊ ＊ ＊
Turns out I’d woken up in a general hospital near Fujimi no Saki Hot Spring Village. After coming to, I went through a bunch of tests, listened to the doctors’ explanations, and learned about my current condition.
──Hypothermia.
Apparently, my body temperature had dropped to dangerous levels. While I was barely conscious on the mountain, Dad had come to rescue me, carried me on his back down to the car, and rushed me to this hospital. For now, I’d pulled through the danger zone and was doing okay, as you can see.
By the way, when Akira and I took that tumble off the cliff, I’d been bracing myself for at least a broken bone or two, but the X-rays showed no fractures—just scrapes and bruises. Talk about being lucky in an unlucky situation. The doctor in charge joked that it was probably due to my good karma.
It was nearly noon now. I was propped up in bed, having a one-on-one chat with Dad.
“──Seriously, when you vanished in those mountains, I was scared out of my mind.”
“Haha, well, as you can see, Dad, I’m totally fine──”
“You moron! This isn’t something to laugh about!”
It’d been a while since Dad had yelled at me like that, but it somehow lacked his usual intensity. Maybe he was holding back since we were in a hospital room.
“Well, both Akira and I made it out okay, so don’t get all worked up about it.”
“…Dammit, your life was on the line! When I found you, you were already halfway out of it!”
“I see…”
It’d been ages since Dad had given me a proper scolding. Weirdly enough, that made me kind of happy.
“Sorry, Dad. Or I guess… thank you.”
“As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters…”
“But Dad, how did you even know where to find us?”
“Hm?”
“That place—you had to circle around from the observation deck, right? How’d you even know we’d be there?”
“…Well, I knew about that stargazing spot too.”
“Seriously? You did?”
“Back in college, I was in a theater club and a mountain climbing club at the same time.”
“Ah, so you’d been to that spot before.”
“Yeah. Someone showed it to me──”
“Someone?”
Dad looked a bit awkward at that, but just said “a college senior” and kept going.
“So I figured maybe you’d be at that spot, and when I got there, I saw fresh rockfall at the dead end.”
“And that’s how you figured out we’d fallen?”
“Yep. The scarf Miyuki-san had wrapped around Akira was just lying there. Must’ve come off when you two went tumbling. I spotted that, and while Miyuki-san was frantically calling everyone, I climbed down after you.”
“Huh. So that scarf actually came in handy…”
“It sure did. ──And you’re incredible, you know that?”
“Huh? How so?”
“You cushioned Akira’s fall when you went off that cliff, didn’t you? She came out almost completely unscathed, and she told us you protected her.”
“Well, it was just instinct…”
“Normally, Ryouta, in situations like that, people look out for number one. That’s what instinct does—makes you focus solely on saving your own skin.”
“Really? I was only thinking about Akira…”
I immediately felt my cheeks heat up after blurting that out. That made me sound like some kind of sister complex freak… no, like I was seeing Akira as a girl rather than family. I got a little worried about how that might come across, but apparently my concern was unfounded.
“You’re one hell of a big brother. Going that far to protect your little sister.”
“Nah, I’m really not…”
“And you kept Akira warm afterwards too, right? ──Man, when it comes to Akira, you really are something else.”
Being praised that much made me squirm with embarrassment. What would Nishiyama say about this? Probably something like “As expected from our resident siscon extraordinaire.” Hinata or Ito would probably just be genuinely worried about both Akira and me…
“But I don’t remember much after I collapsed.”
“Really?”
“Well, I remember thinking the stars looked beautiful. And then Akira was there next to me──Hm? Speaking of which, where is Akira anyway?”
“Akira’s out in the hallway with Miyuki-san.”
“How come she won’t come see me? She could at least pop her head in…”
“Moron. This is exactly why everyone calls you dense.”
“…You’re pretty much the only one who says that, Dad.”
I shot a glare at Dad, who was wearing his usual exasperated expression.
“Akira’s been bawling her eyes out this whole time. Keeps saying she did something awful to you.”
“She doesn’t need to beat herself up over that…”
“Yeah, I told her the same thing, but she’s still torn up about it. Thing is, you and Akira were actually saved by those two…”
“What!? Akira and Miyuki-san saved me?”
Dad’s expression immediately soured.
“When we got you to the car, those two warmed you up to keep your body temperature from dropping any further.”
“Warmed me up how, exactly?”
“I told you they warmed you up! Those two literally put their bodies on the line for you!”
“Wait!? You mean…”
“…That’s right. In the back seat, with you sandwiched between them… they used their body heat to warm you up…”
“──────!?”
──Oh my god…
That means I was literally sandwiched between my stepmother and step-sister!?
That soft warmth, that amazing smell── that’s what it was!?
“I-I’m not jealous or anything! But you and another man’s wife──”
“H-hold on a second! So that means… that’s what that was…?”
“That’s exactly what it was! ──Well, thanks to them you made it here alive, so you better thank them properly!”
“…Yes sir. I’m incredibly grateful…”
This is gonna be so awkward to face them…
I mean, I’m grateful from the bottom of my heart, but let’s just pretend I never heard this story.
“Um, sorry, but could you get Akira for me? I want to talk to her alone.”
“Got it. I’ll go grab Akira then──”
“Ah, wait up, Dad!”
I called out to stop Dad as he was standing up.
“Hm? What’s up?”
“Dad…”
“Yeah?”
“I just wanted to say that.”
“Huh? Well, I’ll go get her then──”
“Dad!”
“What is it now…”
“You were listening to my presentation from the hallway during that parent observation day, weren’t you?”
“…!? You knew about that…?”
“My homeroom teacher told me. Said you made it in time but couldn’t squeeze into the classroom, so you listened from the hallway. And that she saw you crying out there the whole time…”
“D-don’t get the wrong idea. I wasn’t crying…”
The tsundere act from a guy in his forties was a bit much, but I couldn’t help cracking up.
“Thanks! For being such an awesome dad.”
“…Y-yeah──”
“Don’t get all embarrassed now.”
“I’m not embarrassed, dammit!”
Dad bolted out without looking back. He probably didn’t want me to catch him blushing.
Now, what kind of expression will Akira have when she comes in──
＊ ＊ ＊
After waiting for a bit, the hospital room door creaked open quietly. Akira peeked her face out awkwardly from between the doors, pulling back, peeking out again, repeating the cycle. She looked like some kind of timid little animal and was absolutely adorable.
I called out to Akira with a wry smile.
“What’s wrong, Akira? Come on in.”
“Y-yeah…”
Akira slipped quietly into the hospital room, then froze by the entrance, keeping her distance from me. She looked super uncomfortable about talking to me, constantly fidgeting and rubbing her left elbow with her right hand.
“What’s the matter? Don’t just hover there, come over here.”
“Okay…”
Akira shuffled over slowly, then just stood there looking uncomfortable by the round stool next to my bed.
“Akira, give me your hand for a sec.”
“Huh? ──Like this?”
The moment she reached out, I grabbed Akira’s arm and yanked her onto the bed.
“Eek!?”
I caught her by wrapping both arms around her from behind in a gentle bear hug. Akira didn’t resist much, but her face went bright red as she had no idea what to do.
“Got you.”
“W-wait, Aniki!? What are you doing all of a sudden!?”
“I was worried you might bolt if I didn’t catch you first.”
“I won’t run away! More importantly, let me go!”
“Nope. ──See, this is how you normally act. When you latch onto me, you never let go easily, right?”
“Th-that’s not when we’re in a situation like this…”
“It’s exactly because we’re in a situation like this that I want you to act like you normally do.”
I whispered gently in Akira’s ear, then slowly loosened my arms around her.
“Is there something you want to tell me?”
When I asked that, Akira perched on the edge of the bed and nodded, her face still bright red.
“…Um, I’m sorry, Aniki…”
“Wrong!”
“Ehhh!?”
“That should be ‘thank you’ at the very least!”
“Oh, right… th-thank you…”
“Much better──just kidding. Thank you too, for saving my life.”
I flashed her a grin and ruffled Akira’s hair. At first, she looked flustered, but gradually relaxed and eventually gave me a genuine smile.
“I can never win against you, Aniki…”
“Win at what?”
“Everything.”
“Everything what?”
“Everything means everything. Really, sorry for being such a troublesome sister…”
“I’ve never once thought I disliked you.”
“Huh…?”
“I can be myself because of you, Akira. I can’t put it well, but you’re my hope, and even when I feel down, I can work hard when you’re there──”
I was getting embarrassed as I spoke, but I continued.
“── Anyway, I know you think I’m a pathetic big brother, but since you came to us, I’m at my absolute happiest right now. I’m so happy I want to brag to everyone… So, Akira, don’t feel sorry toward me or anything like that──”
“Aniki───!”
“Whoa!? Wh-what!? What’s wrong all of a sudden!?”
“Aniki, Aniki, Anikiii───!”
I was completely taken aback. Akira suddenly hugged me and started crying.
“I love you so much, Aniki! I love you! I love you!”
“O-oh, I see…”
“When I thought you might disappear, I, I… uwaaaaahhh~~~!”
“I-it’s okay, look, we’re together like this, right? S-so don’t cry like that…”
I didn’t know what to do and was quite at a loss. I hugged Akira again while gently stroking her head.
After staying like that silently for a while, Akira finally seemed to calm down and was wiping her tears with her arm while sniffling. I couldn’t help thinking, even though it felt inappropriate, that Akira looked beautiful even when she was crying. And then I suddenly realized something.
──Star rain… oh, that’s what it was…
I barely remembered anything after collapsing, but now that I thought about it, Akira had been crying for me back then too. What I’d thought was star rain falling on me, what had felt so warm—that was actually Akira’s tears.
“You really are my ray of hope, you know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean all of a sudden… sniff, sniff…”
“Nothing, I just felt like saying it.”
There’s someone who cries for me. Dad, Miyuki-san, and Akira. Maybe that’s what family really is.
“Thank you, Akira.”
“For what… sniff…”
“Everything.”
“Everything what…?”
“Everything means everything. ──Will you keep being my sister from now on?”
“…That’s kinda complicated.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t wanna be your sister forever!”
“What’s that supposed to mean, jeez…”
As I was thinking “good grief,” something occurred to me.
“Oh right, I had homework! You know, that main character girl in the novel you’re gonna write.”
“Huh?”
“The continuation of that story—the ending where the girl gets her happy ending.”
“Oh, that…”
“Happy endings are the only way to go! But somehow, happy endings feel pretty tough for me to write~”
“No way~…”
“So──”
I put my hand on Akira’s shoulder.
“──Will you think together with me from now on about how that girl can find happiness? Until we reach a happy ending, always together.”
Akira’s eyes went wide as saucers. I was honestly worried about what kind of reaction would come next, but just like I hoped, Akira broke into a huge smile and gave me an enthusiastic “Yes!” with a big nod.
Just then, the hospital room door burst open, and Dad and Miyuki-san walked in. When Dad and I caught each other’s eye and shared a knowing chuckle, Miyuki-san—who looked like she was about to start crying again—made a beeline straight for me and exclaimed,
“Ryouta-ku~n…! Thank you! For saving Akira! I’m so glad you’re safe too~~~~~~~~!”
A nd suddenly threw her arms around me.
“Ah, wait, Miyuki-sa──mmph!?”
Miyuki-san’s chest got pressed right against my face, and while it was soft and smelled amazing, I was also suffocating.
“Hey Mom! I’m trying to have an important conversation with Aniki right now! Let~ go~!”
“Miyuki-san, that’s way too stimulating for Ryouta! Please step back!”
“Ryouta-ku~~~ n! You can call me Mama~~~~~ !”
“Miyuki-san, that’s way too much!”
“I don’t want an Aniki who calls her Mama! …Although, I’m kinda curious to see it! But Mom! Get away from Aniki already!”
“Ryouta! Miyuki-san is mine! Ah, Miyuki-san, please step back…”
“Dad, grab Mom’s arm and pull her away!”
“Gah!? Is Akira going through her rebellious phase!? Akira just called me ‘Dad’ instead of ‘Papa’~~~~~!”
“Um, everyone please calm down. This is a hospital room, so we’re probably bothering other patients…”
──Mayday, mayday.
The family bonds we’d somehow managed to build are in serious danger of falling apart.
──No wait, this time we actually found them…──
In any case, this whole incident definitely brought the Majima family closer together. One thing though: Akira gave me a pretty big assignment.
I feel like I already know the answer, but maybe the journey to get there is what really matters. Writing, worrying, erasing, writing again, worrying some more, erasing again…──
Going through all those twists and turns, we’ll eventually reach the same destination. If that’s the case, then I think I’ll take my time working on it together with Akira—the one who gave me this assignment in the first place.
All of us are aiming for that answer called a happy ending.
