Kenkyo, Kenjitsu o Motto ni Ikite Orimasu

I was happily digging into the salmon marinade when I felt someone poke me in the back.

Reikoneesan.

Yukino-kun!

It was Yukino-kun, ever the picture of a smiling angel.

Its been a while, Yukino-kun~!

I had been busy recently so I hadnt turned up to the Pet.i.t. Thanks to that we hadnt seen each other at all.

May I sit next to you? he asked.

By all means, I said. Have you been well?

Yes, he said, politely taking a seat. But its been lonely without you around

Guhaah!

W-What power!

Areallthe kids in the Pet.i.t Pivoine such little heartbreakers!?

Uuu, I want to headpat so badly!

I have missed you too, Yukino-kun! I exclaimed with all sincerity.

Yukino-kun flashed a bright smile in response.

Guooh!

I-I was having a nosebleed in my mind!

Have you been busy? he asked.

Yes, quite so.

With the new semester starting, there was work as cla.s.s rep, dealing with new visitors to the club, dealing with my troublesome disciples love problems, honestly I had my hands full.

And there was oneparticularlytroublesome disciple that really ate into my time

How is being in Year 2, Yukino-kun?

Hmmm, Im not sure yet. But I made new friends in my cla.s.s.

Goodness, what wonderful news. What kind of people are they?

One of them really likes stars. I like stargazing too, so we talk about stars together.

My, I had no idea.

Yukino-kun and the glittering stars in s.p.a.ce. It suitsedhim so well! He was like the Little Prince!

I look at them through my telescope sometimes. When there was a meteor shower I couldnt help myself and secretly got up to watch them, even though they told me not to.

Goodness, staying up late is bad for your health, you know? You did not catch a cold, did you? Hopefully not an asthma attack?

Huhu, it was fine. Niisama found out even though I was in my room, so he brought me some hot chocolate.

My!

So even that blackguard could do something good once in a while.

And then we watched the meteor shower together but I accidentally fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning I was in bed, he laughed shyly.

Sooo cute!

After that I chatted with Yukino-kun some more, and then had some fun with the other kids too.

Unfortunately, the time seemed to pa.s.s in a flash, and before I knew it it was time for the kids to go home, meaning that it was time for me to leave

as well.

That was when Yukino-kun suddenly tugged at my sleeve.

Hey, Reikoneesan? Why dont you let us drop you home?

Eh!?

Uh, thats a bit

I mean, I already have a car waiting for me, and even if I didnt I could still get home on my own

Getting driven home in theEnjoufamily car is

We havent met in ages. I want to talk some more! Cant you?

Guh!

How could I say no to such an adorable request!?

I had really missed him as well. But

Uuu, come on, dont look at me like that, Yukino-kun

I cant say no to those puppy eyes

Hmmmm. Then perhaps I will

Yay!

I folded.

There was no going against this angels adorable eyes.

I guess Id just have them drop me off, and then give the Enjou family a proper thank you some time later.

Yukino-kun, your car is here.

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Okaaay.

He led me by the hand as the two of us headed to the entrance.

Waiting there was Enjou

I groaned in reflex.

He went out of his way to pick up his brother?

I was surprised he had the time for that.

Good evening, Kisshouin-san.

Gokigenyou, Enjou-sama

It was getting dark now, but under the streetlights his hair seemed to glitter, making his smiling self seem even more princely than usual.

Niisama, Reikoneesans going to get driven home with us!

Eh?

Ah, I mean Yukino-kun, perhaps this is not such a

Reikoneesan?

Uoooaah!

His cherubic expression seemed to be asking me,

You promised, right?

How could I say anything now~!?

Reikoneesan?

Aah~ Y-Yes.

While I struggled to recompose myself, Enjou seemed to have grasped the situation.

Oh, I see. Then get on. Is your house okay?

Yes, that would be perfect, thank you.

And thats how I ended up getting driven home in their car.

In the back seat was, in order, me, Yukino-kun, and then Enjou.

The moment I stepped into the car, I noticed a pleasantly sweet fragrance.

Have fun at the birthday party? Enjou asked him.

Yeah, he replied, before turning to me. Yukino-kun pointed out the window. You cant quite see Spica yet. But the sky isnt cloudy today, so well be able to see the Spring Triangle.

Are you two talking about stars?

Yes. Yukino-kun is actually quite studied.

Yeah. But its a problem because he stays up late all the time.

Yukino-kun pouted.

Noteverynight.

When we went to Karuizawa during the spring holidays, you stayed up all night and couldnt get up in the morning, Enjou pointed out.

But that was because the air was really clear, so the stars were extra

extra pretty

My, my.

Looking for an ally, Yukino-kun tugged at my arm.

You can even see stars that are invisible from Tokyo, he reasoned.

Okay, okay, I understand, Yukino-kun.

Its clearer without all the light pollution, right?

Unable to help myself, I gave him a pat on the head.

Whoaaaaa, his hair is so soft~

Yukino-kun smiled in embarra.s.sment.

Say, Reikoneesan! Why not have dinner with us before you go?

Ehh!?

Where didthiscome from, Yukino-kun?

Dinner? I asked.

Yeah. Id love to have dinner with you and Niisama. He looked at the two of us in turn. Its okay, right?

Eh, but I just ate at Mao-chans house

And Ireally ate, so I wasnt hungry at all.

But

Come on, Yukino. Dont be so selfish, Enjou said chidingly, as he placed a hand on Yukinos head.

Uuu~

I was feeling guilty now.

What was I to do?

Yukino-kun, dont look so down.

And d.a.m.n you, Enjou, werent your words too harsh?

Yukino-kun

I continued calling out for him to cheer up in my head, but it was to no avail.

I looked over the top of Yukino-kun as he hung his head, and found Enjou giving me a troubled smile.

What now?

Kisshouin-san, are you free after this?

Eh?

Im sorry, but would you be willing to go along with my brother for a little while? If youre okay with heading to a caf for a little, then

Ahh Yes, that would be fine.

Yukino-kun immediately beamed at my affirmative response.

Really!?

Yes.

Wah! Yay! Thank you, Reikoneesan!

The three of us entered a caf attached to a restaurant.

Since I was already here, it would be better to order something a bit different from what I usually drank.

Oh my, and there was quite a selection of cakes too

You mustnt, Reika!

The curse of the tanuki was flaring up again!

I think I shall have the lavender tea.

Darjeeling for me, then.

Done with our orders, Yukino-kun and I began looking through the cakes in the menu.

I started thinking about who to bring here next time so that we could share a cake set.

You seem rather fond of desserts, Yukino-kun, I realised.

Yes. But Niisama doesnt.

Breaking his silence, Enjou nodded and said No, I dont, before returning to his tea.

Do you dislike sweet things? I asked.

I dont exactly hate them, but I guess I dont go out of my way to eat them, he explained.

Come to think of it, while I often spotted Kaburagi eating sweets at the salon, I couldnt recall many times Id seen Enjou doing the

doing the same.

Even for those few times that he did, they were small portions.

Its so good. I turned back to Yukino-kun.

It really is, he agreed.

Enjou could only give us a helpless smile.

By the way, I hear that youve been giving Kaburagi some good advice. Like suggesting reference books as a good present for a girl. Only you could come up with that, Kisshouin-san. Although its such a utalitarian gift that youd never suspect it was supposed to be romantic.

Ugh! Were we really doing thisnow?!

Enjou was even giving me a meaningful smirk!

Besides, if he knew about it then shouldnt he have known about the thing from yesterday too!?

Did Kaburagi say something today?

Whatever do you mean?

For example, did he say that I had been cruel to him, or that I had hurt him?

Ah!

Or what if he said something like, Never have I been treated with such disrespect! This wont go unpunished.!?

He didnt say anything in particular.

I see.

What the heck.

He seemed to receive quite the blow so I thought that hed still be hung up over it, but maybe I was overthinking things.

Thank goodness~

But he did seem oddly quiet today.

Eh!?

I knew it!

Was he still depressed over it!?

Had he really been hurt that badly!?

I guess I went a bit too far.

I mean, it wasnt like he meant ill, it was just that he was a bit too much of a dumba.s.s.

Hmmmm

Whats this, whats this?

Ah, now Yukino-kun seemed to be interested.

It hurt to see his innocent smile

Heh You really are soft-hearted, Kisshouin-san. How about we get you some cake?

I am fine

What the heck.

If you think you can lift my mood by feeding me, youre in for something else, buddy.

I wasnt so simple.

And besides, this was all his fault for going home early and leaving his best friend bereft!

Right, right, so this was actually Enjous fault. Lets go with that.

In the end though, I wondered what kind of conclusion Kaburagi would come to.

I was scared of coming to school tomorrow.

What if he ended up obsessed with another poet?

It was going to end up as another curse on my luck in love

Reikoneesan, is that tea any good?

I have to say that it is.

But to be honest 30, 40 percent of the reason people even drank this stuff was for the pretenses, right?

Could I try a sip?

Why of course. Help yourself.

I pushed the lavender tea in front ofin front of him and watched him excitedly take a sip.

Then I watched his face fall.

How was it? I asked.

Ummm Thank you very much. He pushed my cup back to me.

I guess it didnt suit his taste.

Say, Reikoneesan. Could you come over again to play?

Eh!?

I had a great time when you came over for my birthday. Could we play games together again?

Ahh

Id prefer to pa.s.s on any visits to the Enjou family home, but since Yukino-kun was asking

Ah, then couldnt I just visit him in the Pet.i.t salon instead?

Right, that was perfect.

Games, huh? Enjou suddenly said. That was fun. Especially since Masaya was crushed.

Wow, despite his nonchalant tone, what he said was pretty brutal.

By the end Masayniisama was droening in deby wasnt he?

And he had a huge family, too. Picture it: Masaya pushing a pram while hes wearing a baby sling.

Pfft!

Ahaha!

I had to stifle a laugh.

I couldnt help it.

Just picturing that emperor waving a baby rattle in front of a baby he was carrying

So mismatched!

But it might actually suit him better than we think. When Yukino was just born, Masaya sometimes poked at him and made him cry, or picked him up out of the crib because he wanted to hold him, and caused everyone a lot of trouble in general.

My, he did something like that?

Yeah. Actually, most of the time he was in my house hed have Yukino sitting on his lap. At first Masaya almost dropped him a few times, but once he got the knack of it he seemed pretty at home with it. He even played lullabies on the piano for him. Not that Yukino ever fell asleep to that though.

I dont remember that.

Of course, you were a baby, Yukino.

Hmm~ So Kaburagi was fond of children.

Come to think of it, he played with the kids quite a bit at the Pet.i.t salon, or at Yukino-kuns birthday party.

It was surely because his mental age was close to theirs.

We continued happily talking about Yukino-kuns baby years when Enjous phone rang.

When he looked at the screen, his smile disappeared.

When he looked back at us, it was time to go.

Its about time that we went home.

Ehhh~

Its getting late, Yukino.

Fine. Reikoneesan, can we come here again?

Of course. Let us try the cakes next time, I said.

Yeah!

Holding his hand, I got in the car, and they dropped me home.