"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Sara-senpai and Mayumi-san returned to the room with a teapot and various other items on a tray, which they began to arrange on the table.
"I baked a chiffon cake~" Mayumi-san announced as she set the dessert down.
"I’m sorry for the trouble. Thank you very much."
"Don't worry about it. It’s no fun baking when there’s no one around to eat it. Now then, let me feed you—"
"Mother, please sit over there."
Sara-senpai quickly took the seat to my left, pressing herself so tightly against me that there wasn't a single gap between us.
Ugh... her summer uniform was thin, and the sensation of her soft warmth was...
"Oh my, Sara-chan, how bold... but in that case~"
Mayumi-san skirted around the back of the sofa to my other side.
"Kazunari-san! Move over that way—"
Before Sara-senpai could finish her sentence, Mayumi-san forced her way into the tiny bit of space remaining on my right. I hadn't expected her to wedge herself into such a narrow gap and had completely let my guard down.
It was... incredibly cramped.
"Ufufu... Now, Takanashi-san, I’ll feed you~"
"Mother, you’re bothering Kazunari-san!! That is my role, so please move away, Mother!!"
The two of them began a game of push-and-pull with me caught in the middle. I was in a serious predicament. It wasn't just Sara-senpai; from the other side, Mayumi-san was exerting a level of physical pressure that was practically cheating.
"Unfufu~ Hey, Takanashi-kun, are you happy?"
This woman... she was definitely doing this on purpose.
To be honest, between Mayumi-san’s youthful looks—she looked more like Sara-senpai's older sister—and her devastatingly attractive figure, the destructive power was off the charts. However, regardless of the competition, Sara-senpai was always number one in my book.
"Mother... that’s enough..."
I felt the tone of Sara-senpai’s voice shift into something truly serious. I reflexively glanced at her face and saw that her expression had gone stone-cold. This was dangerous.
"A-ah, Mayu..."
In a flash, Mayumi-san pulled away from me and relocated to the sofa on the opposite side of the table.
"Goodness, it was just a joke. To think Sara-chan would get so worked up over a boy."
"It’s because you were bothering Kazunari-san!"
As she spoke, Sara-senpai clung to my arm from the side as if to shield me. From Mayumi-san’s perspective, this was likely nothing but prime teasing material.
"Um, Mayumi-san, let's leave it at that... I’m quite troubled as well."
I couldn't bring myself to say that I was "troubled" in more ways than one.
Chomp.
Chew, chew...
"A fireworks festival?" I asked.
"Yes. A friend of mine is setting up a stall, and they asked me for some help. I thought since I was going anyway, you two might like to come along. It’s about an hour from here by car, so it’s just a day trip. Of course, you don’t need to help with the work; you can just enjoy the festival with Sara-chan."
That sounded genuinely appealing. I had been thinking about wanting to go see fireworks anyway.
I looked at Sara-senpai and found her looking back at me. The moment our eyes met, a soft smile spread across her face.
"Um, Sara-senpai, I think I’d like to go."
"Yes, I leave the decision to you, Kazunari-san. I shall follow wherever you go... Ahn."
Chomp...
Chew, chew.
She was telling me that since the choice was mine, I could decide freely. Sara-senpai was quite old-fashioned in this regard, often deferring the final say to me. Well, she had her moments where she’d state her own desires clearly, so I suppose it was a matter of degree.
"Yes, yes. In that case, we’ll have to get a yukata ready for Sara-chan."
"A yukata? I don't particularly... no, I will prepare one after all."
She seemed ready to decline at first, but after seeing the look on my face, she did a complete turnaround. That meant she intended to let me see her in a yukata.
I was more than a little excited.
"Oh, Takanashi-san looks quite pleased."
My joy must have been written all over my face for Mayumi-san to catch on so quickly. But asking me not to look forward to seeing Sara-senpai in a yukata was an impossible request.
"Well, naturally... I really want to see Sara-senpai in a yukata."
"Kazunari-san..."
When I said that and looked at her, she gazed back at me with a look of pure happiness. Lately, I’d stopped feeling that awkward shyness when our eyes met like this. And if it wasn't just my imagination, she looked more blissful than embarrassed, which made me happy.
"Haa... I had no idea Sara-chan was the type of girl to be this clingy... She’s been casually doing 'ahn' for quite a while now. Takanashi-kun, you really can call me Mother-in-law... no, Big Sister-in-law anytime, okay?"
Crap. I had been so comfortable that I’d accepted the "ahn" feeding right in front of Sara-senpai’s mother without a second thought. It had just felt so natural...
And as for "Mother-in-law" or "Big Sister-in-law," I still didn't quite grasp the logic behind those titles.
"Kazunari-san, what do you think we should do?"
On the way home, Sara-senpai brought up the last thing Mayumi-san had mentioned.
"The car can fit two or three more people, so if there’s anyone else you want to bring, it’s no problem," she had said.
The choice was more for Sara-senpai than for me. While I had a strong desire to be alone with her, I remembered what happened at the pool. I wondered if Sara-senpai wanted to invite Natsumi-senpai as well.
Besides, if we just wanted private time, we could always separate from the group once we arrived... though in that case, Natsumi-senpai would need a partner of her own.
"Sara-senpai, do you want to invite Natsumi-senpai?"
"I do... honestly, I do feel like inviting her... but..."
Sara-senpai looked at me as she trailed off.
"But, I want to be alone with you."
Perhaps that was just a convenient fantasy on my part. But if she really did want to include Natsumi-senpai, I was okay with that too. If we put our minds to it, finding a moment to be alone wouldn't be difficult, and there was no reason to strictly choose one over the other. In that case...
"Sara-senpai, I don't mind if Natsumi-senpai comes along. If you want to invite her, let's do it."
"But..."
"In exchange, I want us to be alone together at some point during the night."
I squeezed Sara-senpai’s hand as I told her my honest feelings. She seemed caught off guard by my directness, but her expression quickly melted into a bashful smile.
"Y-yes..." she whispered, nodding firmly.