(I can’t take this anymore...)
Mina Ichinose was beginning to feel the utter futility of this exchange with her brother. It had all started when she witnessed him and his partner in an intimate moment, but the emotions overflowing now had been piling up ever since their relationship first began.
"You probably started that part-time job because of me, didn't you? It’s not like we’re short on money, so I don't think you need to do something like that."
"N-No, that’s not it..."
It was a desperate rebuttal. She had no effective cards left to play to defeat her brother’s logic. In the first place, she didn't truly believe her brother was in the wrong. Of course not—she had believed from the very beginning that the fault lay with her. To her, this entire rebellion was nothing more than a selfish tantrum.
"I hear customer service is hard work. I don't want you to have to go through something so painful, Mina."
"I-It’s not... painful..."
"Mina."
"Ah..."
There was a certain pressure mixed into his soothing voice. To her, it sounded as though he were implying, That's enough now. Faced with the gaze she found so difficult to handle, Mina flinched. However, a sense of dissatisfaction swelled within her, rivaling the heart that acknowledged her own guilt—she wondered why he couldn't sense her feelings like he usually did.
Just then, the sound of someone running approached from the right, where the stairs to the eat-in space were located. Both she and her brother turned around, their eyes widening in surprise. The boy sitting with them—Sajou Wataru—turned toward the sound a beat later.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Ichinose-kun!"
Why? How was she here? What more did her brother intend to do? Questions echoed in Mina's head. Not knowing what to do, the girl in flight gazed at the boy sitting diagonally across from her, just as she had before.
"You came, Yuri-chan."
"Yeah. I don't think this is a problem that only concerns you and Mina-san... Also, it's been a while, Sajou-kun. Thanks for the help the other day."
"...No, it was nothing. It’s been a while, Senpai."
"Eh...?"
Mina stared at Sajou in shock. He was an acquaintance of her brother’s girlfriend?
Now that she thought about it, he had mentioned from the start that he knew her brother. Could it be that he didn't just know of him, but had actually been involved with them? Her thoughts were calm when phrased that way, but questions of that nature swirled in her mind with every possible nuance. In that moment, she resented the extensive vocabulary she had acquired from reading so many books.
"Ah, please, Senpai. Take my seat."
"Oh, are you sure? Sorry, Sajou-kun."
(—Ah.)
The boy moved aside, and her brother's girlfriend—Yuri—sat in his place. If so, where would he go? Anxiety flared in Mina’s chest, wondering if he would simply head home now, but her fears were groundless. After a moment of thought, the boy took up a position standing directly behind Mina. It was as if he were standing as her second.
(...Why...?)
Sajou Wataru—Mina’s senior at their part-time job and her classmate at school. Previously, he had just been one of the noisy people in her life, but after becoming his junior at work, she was shown the gap in life experience between them for the first time. Though he could be careless, he had patiently explained her mistakes to her. Even when her own personality made her feel helpless, he had consistently chosen the best card from the limited hand she held.
Moreover, he seemed to have a clear line between right and wrong. Whenever something was truly incorrect, he didn't hesitate to use sharp words. In fact, since Mina recognized her own faults, she had never once been able to talk back to him.
This time was no different.
She was resisting even while knowing she was in the wrong. There was no way the boy standing behind her hadn't noticed that. Every time he had looked at her while she was talking to her brother, her heart had skipped a beat.
He wouldn't take her side. Mina didn't expect him to. However, the look in his eyes that silently urged, Go on, tell them, had been stuck in her heart the whole time.
"Yuri-chan, um—"
Her brother explained the situation to her so far. Naturally, his summary didn't include Mina’s true feelings. That couldn't be helped; she had only been responding with "yes" or "no" and hadn't explained her reasons yet.
Hanaoka Yuri. Bright, serious, and yet a person who became completely unguarded and spoiled in front of her brother. It was this latter part that Mina could not forgive.
This was the person who had stolen her brother from her. While she felt no truly dark malice, she was simply lonely and sad. She had been held in that warmth since her brother started dating, but what she found there was no longer her brother's familiar scent.
The girl, as bright and upright as a sunflower, turned toward her.
"It's been a while, Mina-san."
"Y-Yes..."
Her voice was lively without being overbearing. Receiving the full brunt of that energy, Mina’s mind went blank. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't think of anything.
"When I heard you suddenly started a part-time job, Ichinose-kun and I wondered why. We talked about it and thought maybe it was because you were looking for a place of your own. Because I entered the space where you used to be."
"...!"
Mina trembled.
She was right. Terribly right. Exactly as she said, Mina had sought a new place to belong. She had no friends. Even if she tried to act spoiled with her brother, he was no longer the brother he used to be to her. Everything was unbearably awkward. She had grown to hate even facing him. That was why, clutching at straws, she had thrown herself into that secondhand bookstore.
Of all things, Yuri had sensed the very part of her heart that Mina wanted to look away from.
"But you know, Mina-san, I’m not going to steal your place. I want you to keep being spoiled by Ichinose-kun just like before, and that would make me happy too. As his younger sister, you have that right."
No. It wasn't a matter of whether a space was still open or not. Hanaoka Yuri—the very fact that this person existed there was the problem. She was a foreign element that had fluttered into Mina's daily life, marking her precious brother as a "man," and chasing her away like a common gnat.
And yet, Mina was still just a gnat. She felt the urge to buzz around her brother and exclude all other presences. As his sister, she had no reason to obstruct his happiness. But she didn't want him taken away, either. To the world, it might seem like a cute, selfish whim, but to Mina, that side of herself felt hideously ugly.
"You’re a shy girl, Mina-san. It must be hard for you to keep up a part-time job, right? From what I just heard, it involves customer service, and I think it’s still too early for you."
That much was true. After all, even the boy standing behind her had said something similar once—that she should just quit and live off an allowance. But it was different now; the reason she chose to struggle wasn't something so cheap. It was to make her heart independent. She didn't want that one resolve to be denied.
"I-It isn't too early."
"But, why go that far...?"
She managed to say it clearly. Three against one. She was the only one who acknowledged her own efforts. Since she was aware she was being foolish, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she had become defiant. Even so, there was a line that Mina Ichinose would not yield. To protect that, she would see this through even if she had to run away again. At the very least, there were things she had certainly gained from her life at the job so far.
"Mina, why are you being so stubborn? You’ve never been like this before."
"Please, Mina-san. I don't want to break up Ichinose-kun’s family over something like this... Please, come back to us."
"...!"
A small surge of passion welled up, accompanied by an equal measure of conflict.
Where could she vent this frustration? Right, there was a convenient table right in front of her. However, it was made of acrylic and likely quite solid. She hesitated to strike it with her small hand, which had done nothing but turn the pages of books. Even so, she felt that if she did, her hand and her heart would only end up hurting again.
"—Um, excuse me, you two. Don't you think you’re missing a few key details?"
"......Eh?"
The voice was tossed out from behind her. It was a very light tone, completely unsuited to the heavy atmosphere. The boy, who had maintained a silent observation until now, stepped up beside her. He placed his hand softly on the spot where she had been about to strike the table.
(...Eh?)
Mina couldn't grasp the situation. Why had this boy intervened? She was the one in the wrong; there should be no reason for him to interrupt her brother and his girlfriend’s persuasion.
"Um, Sajou-kun... what do you mean?"
"I mean, first of all, Ichinose-san is doing a great job. Lately, I've been impressed by nothing but her motivation and her desire to improve. Sure, she seemed to have a serious dislike for it at first, but isn't that the same for everyone?"
"Eh..."
Mina’s brother let out a skeptical sound. To him, his sister was shy, introverted, and retiring. She was a fragile existence that would give up immediately if things got painful. That was the only image he had of her.
"Um, why are you proceeding with the conversation on the premise that Ichinose-san finds her job painful? As her senior, I can't just keep quiet and listen to that."
"Ah, that’s..."
"'To become independent'—that's the reason I heard from Ichinose-san when she started the job. Is there something strange about that?"
"Sajou-kun, that’s just a pretext. This is a problem that happened because I neglected her."
That was right. It was so right that Mina cast her eyes down. The word "independence" was, in a sense, nothing more than a pretext. She had started the job with impure motives. She hadn't wanted to return to that awkward environment even if it meant throwing away her love for her brother, so she had no choice but to do her best, even if she had to beg on her knees. Distancing herself from her brother in that way was her version of independence. If asked if it was painful, she couldn't deny it. Certainly, there were many times she had been on the verge of breaking.
"—No, like I said. There's nothing strange about it, and she's not wrong at all, is she?"
Even though she felt that way, why... why was he saying that?