At Rui's suggestion, we were set to dive into the other pages of the picture diary I’d kept as a kid.
For starters, my sister was just running her mouth; I hadn't even confirmed what was actually inside yet. I didn't even know if the entries about Rui, Airi, and Yuria were actually accurate.
"Well then, let's get right to Ryouta-kun's—"
"W-Wait a second!"
Rui reached for the diary she’d set on the table, but I reflexively slammed my right hand down on it. The suddenness of my movement left even her looking a bit startled.
"W-What is it, Ryouta-kun? You aren't going to tell us you won't show it after all this, are you?"
"That's..."
No matter how I looked at it, there was absolutely no way I could let them see this. Since I’d recorded my summer memories without a shred of restraint, there was a very real chance that something truly incriminating was hidden in those pages.
"Hey. Why don't we just give it back to Ryouta for now?"
As I spiraled internally, Yuria interjected from the side.
Y-Yuria...?
"Why? Aren't you curious too, Yuria?"
"Well, yeah, it might have stuff about us in it, but a diary is incredibly personal. I think the right thing to do is give it back to Ryouta first."
That was perfectly reasonable—or rather, common sense! But to think Yuria would go against Rui's wishes like that... and all for my sake...
Just as I was beginning to feel moved, Yuria leaned her face close to my ear.
"If you wrote a bunch of stuff about that manga, we're in trouble, right? So look through it first and hide anything sensitive."
She whispered the warning and immediately pulled away.
I-I see...
It was true. Out of the three of them, Yuria was the only one whose past secrets were tangled up with her current ones. According to what they'd said, Rui's memory was about saving a cat, and Airi's was just about giving me some wafers.
"...Well, Yuria might have a point. Sorry, Ryouta-kun. Even I don't truly wish to violate your privacy."
She had a lot of nerve saying that after sending me those lewd selfies or messing with my head during the play and at the pool—not that I wasn't grateful for the "rewards."
Regardless, Rui handed the diary back to me.
"Airi wanted to see all the things you wrote about, too~"
"Ryouta-senpai's secrets... I wanted to read them as well."
Why were they so obsessed with my childhood diary anyway? I let out a heavy sigh.
"For now, I'll hang onto this. More importantly, we're here to celebrate, right? Why don't we get the hot pot started?"
I prodded them, desperate to change the subject. Once the party was over, I was going to have to read every single word of this diary very, very carefully.