Ear cleaning... even the sound of it was nostalgic. The last time I’d had someone do it for me was back in elementary school when Mom was the one doing it. I still remembered how good it felt. The standard routine was for me to drift off into a daze, only to be snapped awake by Mom’s voice saying, “Alright! All done!” I was certain she’d included some extra “poking-around service time” in there while I was out...
If it had been Nee-chan instead of Mom, I wondered how that would have turned out. She probably would have poured in Brazilian wax and ripped the whole mess out. In a way, she seemed like the type who’d be suited for that.
“Yeah. It never happened.”
“Eh...!? Not once!? You’ve never had your sister clean your ears...!?”
“Well, yeah... I haven’t.”
“No way...”
Wait... what? What was with that “no way”? Was she disappointed in me? I couldn't read the room at all. Did she think I was pitiful or something?
Lately, if you could even call it ear cleaning, I just used a cotton swab to swirl around and get the water out after a shower. I didn’t really have any connection to actual ear cleaning anymore. That felt good in its own way, though; sometimes I’d realize I’d completely forgotten to dry my hair afterward. If anything, I could make myself sleepy just doing it on my own.
“Ah, but back in middle school—”
“Eh...!?”
“...”
When I suddenly remembered an old story and started to speak, her focus narrowed on me intensely. Her entire posture screamed, “I want to hear this.”
This wasn't exactly a “can’t-miss” hilarious anecdote, you know. She was reacting so strongly. What, was she really that interested in my life? If she wanted stories about Nee-chan bullying me, I could talk for five hours straight. Though they weren't particularly funny.
“Back in middle school, she suddenly handed me an earpick in the living room and made me clean her ears.”
Nee-chan was like that. She’d do things out of the blue that were totally different from the norm. Like, once in a while, she’d suddenly give me a meat bun, claiming she had an extra one. It really was only once in a while, though.
At the time... yeah, I was sitting on the sofa watching TV and relaxing when Nee-chan—who was still in her Blonde gal phase back then—suddenly tossed the earpick at me. Before I could even respond, she rested her head in my lap and said, “Do it.” It was during her scariest period, and I was so terrified I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest, so I remembered it vividly.
“Y-You did that for your sister...!?”
“Whoa, you’re really biting on this.”
“Ah...!? N-Ngh...! I-It’s nothing... really...”
“...Just so you know, nothing weird happened, okay?”
“I-I know that without you having to say it so formally!”
For someone who claimed to know, wasn't she just looking up and fantasizing about something? I wondered what it was. It felt like she was imagining some impossible scene between me and Nee-chan... I got the feeling Natsukawa was convinced that we were a close pair of siblings for some reason. I mean, it wasn't like we got along poorly, but it was more... flat, I guess.
“...A-And then...?”
“Yeah...?”
“A-Anything else?”
“Well, even if you ask for more...”
I mean, well... if she was that curious, I wanted to tell her something. But when it came to stories about me and Nee-chan... I was aware that compared to most siblings, our relationship was probably pretty bleak. There weren't really any heartwarming tales to share.
“Nee-chan, you see...”
“L-Like I said... not stories about your sister...!”
“Eh?”
“S-Stories about you acting like a younger brother...!”
“N-Natsukawa...?”
I understood she was talking about me, but... whoa, wasn't this a bit much? She was excited—no, she was definitely excited. To think Natsukawa would talk this much about something other than Airi-chan. Wait, her face was way too close. Her breathing was a little heavy and erotic! Whoa, she smelled so good...!
“T-Time! Hold on! Too close, too close!”
“What—ah......!”
When I said that in a panic, Natsukawa seemed to realize just how much she was pressing in on me, and her expression shifted instantly. She quickly retreated to her original distance, looking away with an awkward face while fiddling with a stray lock of hair.
“......”
“......”
Thump-thump... thump-thump...
That was dangerous! What was that? How did her personality just flip like that? The way she got so absorbed in it that her cheeks flushed was way too cute! FOOOOOOOOOOOHHH—UWAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!! I couldn't calm down! I couldn't be cool! I felt like I could die happy right now!! Ahh, bliss...!
“......”
“......”
No, but, wait, what was with this atmosphere? What was I supposed to do? It wasn't like we were having a romantic talk, so I was just the one being unilaterally conscious of it, right? Natsukawa probably didn't see me that way. Was it just that? Like, “I got way too close to a boy without thinking, oh no, how unladylike.” She was probably looking away because she was scolding herself.
Oh... this was good. I was starting to get my cool back little by little. That’s right, what Natsukawa was seeking wasn't me as a member of the opposite sex. It was more like a close friend from the same circle. Calm down, don’t get greedy, me... I’d already told her how I felt, so that should be enough, right?
“...W-Well, I don’t think there’s much of me acting like a younger brother... or anything like that.”
“......”
“Ah—yeah. Tell you what, next time I’ll try asking Nee-chan, even if it’s a long shot. About what parts of me are younger-brother-like.”
I didn't even know why she wanted to hear it in the first place. Did Natsukawa have some kind of fetish for the “younger brother” or “younger sister” attribute separately from Airi-chan? I felt like we were a bit too old for her to be looking at me and Nee-chan with those kinds of eyes, though.
“T-Then, um......”
“Eh?”
“I-If... you’ve never had that sort of thing done to you......”
While maintaining the distance, Natsukawa, whose face was still slightly flushed, looked up at me with downcast eyes. Fueee... it was a profile view; I might have been seeing this angle for the first time. If you point such a cute face at me, my mind is going to go completely blank. Honestly, have more self-awareness about that kind of thing!
Wait, this was bad. I was so entranced by her profile that her words didn't register...! W-What did she say again...?
“I-I’ll—”
“Wait! Sajou!?”
“Hmm...?”
Just as Natsukawa was about to say something, a voice called out from ahead. Looking over with the thought “Don’t you dare interrupt us, you bastard,” I saw a frivolous-looking girl waving her hand happily at me. Wait, I felt like I’d seen her somewhere...
“...Huh? Haru?”
“Oh! Long time no see! What’s with that weird brown hair!?”
“What do you mean weird? Your hair’s gotten longer too... and those gold meshes are pretty aggressive.”
“I’m in a band now!”
“Hoh.”
The girl who approached was a former classmate from elementary and middle school. It wasn't like we always hung out together, but she was someone who’d ended up in the same class as me about once every two years. We’d been on normally good terms. The guitar case covering her back like a turtle shell had quite a presence. If I hadn't known her, I definitely wouldn't have approached.
Since she’d gone to a different elementary school than Natsukawa, and there were so many classes in middle school, I didn't know if Natsukawa even recognized her.
“If I remember right... you went to the same high school as Hiro, right?”
“Ah, that guy’s playing baseball. Same buzz cut as always.”
“Hoh.”
“Don’t just say ‘hoh’! You’re way too uninterest—wait, wha!?”
“......?”
Classic Haru. Seeing her cheerful state as she laughed and smacked me repeatedly, I guessed her high school life was going swimmingly. Just as I thought that, the momentum of Haru’s laughter suddenly died down. Looking over, I saw she had frozen, her eyes fixed on Natsukawa beside me.
“Wait!? Sajou...!”
“Whoa...!? W-What!?”
Just when I thought her arms had darted out, she grabbed both my shoulders and shook me violently. The sharp, unfamiliar scent of perfume stung my nose. Hey! I can’t take responsibility if we end up kissing with this momentum, you know...!
“Y-Y-You...! I heard you followed Natsukawa-san to Kouetsu, but are you finally dating!?”
“Wha—!?”
A bomb. Or rather, a shell. This was like being handed something glowing red and about to explode the moment we crossed paths—I was basically dead. What the hell was she saying...? She definitely hadn't considered the possibility that we weren’t dating, had she?
“That’s great, Sajou! You’ve been yearning for her forever, after all! I’m kinda happy too!”
“Hey! Hold on...!”
“Natsukawa-san, how is this guy!? Is he possessive!? Whoa, looking at you up close, you really are cute, Natsukawa-san!”
“Eh...!? I-I am......”
“What do you do for skin care!? Ah, but they say it gets better once you get a boyfriend—”
“HEY!! Stop it, Haru!!”
“Heh...?”
I shouted for real. It might have been quite a fierce tone, even for me. Haru, startled and clearly not expecting to be yelled at, froze with a blank look on her face. A few seconds later, she turned a timid, awkward gaze toward me.
“...U-Um, maybe...”
“......”
“I mean, sorry...”
She had done something truly terrible. Touching the thing you aren't supposed to touch. That was the taboo. I felt as if everything I had been slowly, painstakingly building up had just been knocked over.