Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume2 Chapter6

2012-03-06T05:11:35Z

143.195.201.218: her to here

===Chapter 6===

Somewhere in the crowd, I caught a glimpse of a black maid dress.

"Ah, She just turned around that corner."

Mika called out as she pointed to the third junction from where we were standing. She was right, as the black maid dress that we were following had already disappeared from our field of vision.

"Come on, we have to catch up~"

However, Mika was promptly stopped in her tracks by Nanami-san.

"You'll be discovered the moment you run up like that. We have to wait for at least ten seconds before closing the gap."

"Eh~, why do we have to wait for so long~"

Mika whined.

"Will we lose her if we wait for ten seconds......?"

Haruka, who was sticking her head out from our hiding spot, said worryingly with a serious expression on her face.

"Hmm, I can't guarantee that we won't lose her, but~"

There was at least fifty metres between us and our target. To make things worse, we were right in the middle of a crowded shopping street on Sunday (and right in the middle of Tokyo's city centre, no less!). I won't be surprised if we lose our target under such circumstances.

"......Can't we at least go a little closer?"

My suggestion was immediately rejected by Nanami-san.

"Definitely not~. If we go any closer, Hazuki-san will detect us. We're already on the border of her area of detection~"

"Even then......"

No matter how you think about it, this distance is a little too far. If Hazuki-san wasn't wearing her maid dress, then we probably would have lost her already.

"Yuuto-sama, you're too naive. It's precisely because we're in the middle of a crowd that we can afford to keep a distance of fifty meters. If we weren't in a crowd, Hazuki-san would be able to sense us from a hundred meters away."

"......"

......Just what kind of person is Hazuki-san? The skills that she is exhibiting are definitely not what a normal maid should have.

"Anyway, please wait for a little while longer. I'll go first, please follow behind me~"

Nanami-san said as she weaved through the crowd soundlessly. Like Hazuki-san, I'm pretty sure she's not a normal person either.

"Just where is Hazuki-san going?"

"I don't know, if only we had some clues to help us along--"

Haruka answered Mika's question.

"A clue......"

Well, the main purpose of our trip is to obtain clues that would help us deduce Hazuki-san's eventual destination. Just as I was thinking about that, Nanami-san, who had scouted ahead, turned around and signaled for us to follow her.

"Ah, it seems like the coast is clear. Let's go, Onee-chan, Onii-san."

"Alright."

"Ahhh."

Following behind Mika, Haruka and I proceeded to where Nanami-san was.

Well then, as for what we (Me, Haruka, Mika, Nanami-san) are doing at that point in time--

"Hazuki-san......has been acting strangely recently."

It all started with a sentence from Haruka.

It was five days after I had returned to Japan from London.

As the 'Summer Comiket' that I had promised to go together with Haruka was only a week away, I went over to the Nogizaka residence to finalise the details of our visit, and that was when Haruka told me about Hazuki-san (Regarding the finalization of details, I was actually only going over to get Haruka's handmade 'Summer Comiket Map' from her, since we had already decided on where and when to meet on that day).

"I guess it started about three days ago. Hazuki-san started to be distracted when doing work, and she also seems to be thinking intently about something......"

Haruka, who was sitting on her luxurious four poster bed, had a worried expression on her face.

"Hazuki-san, distracted?"

"......Yes."

Just for your information, we were in Haruka's room, and the head maid in question had gone over to the kitchen to get tea and snacks for us, so she wasn't in the room. Because she had said 'Please wait for about twenty minutes', she'll probably return in exactly twenty minutes. Hazuki-san is that kind of person.

"I can't really describe it properly, but it feels like she's worried about something......Even though she said that it was nothing when I asked her about it......"

Haruka looked as if a dark cloud was hovering over her head.

"I'm really worried......I would like her to tell us about any problems she has."

"Hmm......"

Because I've only seen Hazuki-san for a short while when I came in, I didn't really notice anything. In any case, I still have not been able to aquire the ability to understand the minute changes in her normally expressionless face, so it's not like I would have been able to see if she was distracted anyway. Of course, I can understand the more obvious expressions on Hazuki-san's face.

I really can't imagine Hazuki-san being worried about something......

"Haruka, could it be that you're thinking too much about it?"

"Thinking, too much about it?"

"Yes, perhaps you just caught her at a bad time?"

Although I understand Haruka's worries, but I really can't imagine Hazuki-san being distracted about something. I always had the impression that even if a missile was flying towards the Nogizaka residence, she would be able to take care of it.

"Hmm, I don't think that's the case~"

A voice sounded from behind me.

"I don't think Onee-chan's reading too much into Hazuki-san's actions. Because I'm thinking the same thing."

"Eh?"

I turned around to see Haruka's younger sister -- Nogizaka Mika, her light brown hair tied up in twin tails smiling as she stood at the door of Haruka's room.

"Hee, Onii-san, I haven't seen you for five days already."

"Mika......"

"Nanami-san is also here you know~. Yuuto-sama, good afternoon~"

The cheerful maid whom I had gotten to know just five days ago was standing beside Mika at the door.

"Onii-san, how could you not tell me that you were coming? Ah, could it be that you want to be alone with Onee-chan? You~"

"Wa~, Yuuto-sama's such a pervert~"

The two of them were starting to ramble again.

"Hey......"

"Ah, could it be that Onee-chan thinks that it's better that way? Mm~ I see~. Looks like we've interrupted something~"

"Would it be better if we were to leave the two of you to your own devices~?"

"Of, Of course not......We've just met--Of,of course I'll be very happy to be alone with Yuuto-san, but Mika and Nanami-san aren't interrupting or anything--"

Haruka stuttered as she blushed furiously.

Looking at Haruka's blushing face, the two devils smiled deviously.

"Onee-chan's still as bad at lying as ever~ Come on, come on, tell us what you really think~"

"That's right-- It's very important for a person to be honest."

"As, As I've said--"

"Come on, come on~"

"Fufufu~"

(Haruka blushes furiously as she stops talking)

......Sigh.

The teasing from Mika and Nanami-san only lasted for a few minutes (but to Haruka and me, it felt like an eternity). After we finally got past that topic,

"--Well, let's get down to the main topic."

Mika said as she suddenly had a serious expression on her face.

"Just as Onee-chan has said......Hazuki-san has indeed been acting strangely recently."

"......Is that true?"

Mika nodded her head in response to my question.

"Yes. She just doesn't seem like the usual Hazuki-san, even though you can't really tell by just looking at her......"

"She's been lapsing into deep thought three times more than usual~. And her facial expression looked really dark when we passed her on the corridor just now."

Nanami-san added her own observations to back up Mika's argument. It really looks like Hazuki-san has been acting strangely recently.

"I wonder what has happened to Hazuki-san......"

Seeing the worried expression on Haruka's face again, Mika said to her.

"Hmm~, Onee-chan's really concerned about this too right? Hazuki-san's strange behaviour."

"......Yes, I am."

"--Then, won't you want to find out the reason behind it?"

"The, reason?"

Haruka gave a surprised expression.

"Mm. If we find out the reason behind Hazuki-san's strange behaviour, then we'll know what to do about it. --Don't you guys think so?"

Mika turned around to face all three of us as she asked.

"You're right~. I'm really concerned as well~"

"You're right, it'll be much easier if we know the reason behind Hazuki-san's behaviour."

"Right, right?"

Mika smiled as she nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Speaking of which, I just thought of a good plan~"

"A good plan?"

What's is she talking about? Our eyes were on Mika as she opened her mouth with an air of superiority.

"Fufu~ Listen, listen, the truth is, today, Hazuki-san--"

"......What about me?"

Suddenly a voice rang out in the room from behind us.

"Ahhhhhhhh!?"

"Kya!"

"Uwah!"

"~!"

Four loud screams sounded from Haruka's room.

"......To have all four of you react to my presence in the exact same way makes me feel a little hurt."

Without us noticing, Hazuki-san had appeared in our common blind spot. As usual, we didn't feel her presence, nor did we hear her footsteps or the sound of the door opening......Speaking of which, are you sure she's not doing this on purpose?

"A,Ah, what seems to be the problem, Hazuki-san?"

Haruka asked Hazuki-san nervously.

"Even if you ask me......I've brought the tea and cake that you had asked for."

"Ah, I, I see."

Speaking of which, this was the very reason that Hazuki-san wasn't in the room, something which we had forgotten with the appearance of Mika and Nanami-san.

"I, I'm sorry, I forgot about it even though I was the one who asked for it......"

"It's nothing......"

Bowing quietly in response to Haruka's apology, Hazuki-san placed the tray that she was holding on the table. There was a pot of hot tea and three slices of cake.

"Would Te Romano and carrot cake be alright?"

"Ah, of course."

"What about Mika-sama?"

"Mm, thank you."

Maybe because Mika wasn't very used to Hazuki-san's silent teleportation technique, her voice was wavering as she replied to Hazuki-san with a tense expression on her face.

"--Excuse me."

Hazuki-san said as she poured the tea into three teacups before cutting up the cake.

As she did that, the room was covered in a strangely silent atmosphere.

The only sound that could be heard was that of Hazuki-san working.

After a short while, a cup of hot tea and a slice of cake were placed in front of Haruka, Mika, and me.

"Well then, I still have work to do, so I shall return to the kitchen now. Please call for me if you need anything. -- Nanami-san, I'll leave the rest to you.

Hazuki-san bowed politely before going out of the room.

-Click-, she closed the door behind her.

"Ah, I almost had a heart attack."

Immediately after Hazuki-san went out of the room, Mika breathed out a long sigh of relief as she slumped onto the table.

"It all happened so suddenly~"

"It is Hazuki-san after all, so I'm not really surprised that we weren't able to detect her presence at all.

Looks like even Nanami-san had no idea that Hazuki-san was there. However, I really don't know if we should be praising Hazuki-san's technique at this time.

"A,Anyway, shall we drink the tea before it gets cold? Since Hazuki-san went to all the trouble to brew it."

"......Yes, we should."

At Haruka's suggestion, we (except for Nanami-san, who was standing behind Haruka) stretched out our hands towards the teacups that were on the table.

We chatted happily for a while longer, talking about whatever came to mind as we finally got over the shock of Hazuki-san's sudden appearance.

"--Speaking of which, Onee-chan, I've noticed it since a while ago, what's this?"

"Hmm?"

Looking at the booklet that was placed at the corner of the table, Mika asked Haruka about it.

"It looks like a guidebook. Could it be that Onee-chan's going somewhere with Onii-chan? Let me see it!"

"Ah,t,this is......"

Haruka's facial expression froze as she didn't know how to react to this sudden question.

The booklet in question was the 'Summer Comiket Map'(Something that Haruka seemed really proud and confident of) that Haruka was showing me when I first got here.......Haruka, you've forgotten to keep something like this away again.

No matter what, now's the time where I try to divert Mika's attention away from Haruka's booklet.

"Ahem, excuse me."

"I cleared my throat while trying to give Mika a hint with my eyes.

"Those are the notes for our ethics homework, 'Great people of the world'. It's not something that's interesting to look at."

"? Onii-chan, why are you suddenly so--"

"Ahem, Ahem, excuse me."

"What's wrong? Are you sick? Could it be Mycoplasma Pneumoniae?"

Mika was confused for a few seconds, but she quickly caught on as she mumbled softly to herself. '--Ah, I see'.

"Mm, I~see, it's just notes for your summer holiday homework. Then I don't really need to see it."

"Ah, i,is that so?"

Haruka had a clearly relieved expression on her face in response to Mika's words.

"Hmm, but if this is homework, then wouldn't it be better to keep it somewhere safe? It could get smudged if you leave it on the table like this."

"Ah, r,right."

Haruka answered as she covered the front cover of her 'notes' suspiciously before stuffing it into a drawer. Mika looked at Haruka's actions with a bemused expression on her face. Well, it looks like this is over for now.

"Right, Mika. What was the good idea that you were talking about just now?"

I changed the topic the moment Haruka sat down again after stuffing her 'notes' into the drawer.

"Ah, right. Umm--"

Visibly traumatized by what had just happened, Mika looked around the room suspiciously before talking.

"Good, looks like Hazuki-san's not here. --Well then, I know that Hazuki-san will be taking the afternoon off today.

"Nanami-san, is that true?"

"Eh? Ah, that's right~. Since it's a Sunday anyway, and I seem to recall her saying something about going out today."

Nanami-san answered with a surprised expression on her face.

"But what has that got to do with your 'good idea'?"

I felt the same way about that. Haruka had her head slanted to the side beside me as she held her teacup in her hands.

Mika (the youngest among the four of us) gave us the look that clealy said ~you guys really don't know anything~.

"We've already established that whatever the reason behind Hazuki-san's worries, it is something private. So we just have to investigate what she's doing in her private time to find out the reason behind her strange behaviour. Understand?"

"Will......that work?"

"Yes, I'm quite sure it will. 'A lady's secret is always private'--Right, Onee-chan?"

"Eh? Ah, y, yes, you're right."

Faced with the sudden question from her younger sister, the older sister, who was hiding a big secret of her own, answered with a guilty expression on her face as she looked away from her younger sister.

"And then, Hazuki-san will be taking a break from her duties in the house this afternoon. Which means that this afternoon will count as her private time."

"......Don't tell me--"

I could already tell what Mika was going to say.

After about two months of interactions, I could almost grasp the way that Haruka's younger sister thinks. He who interacts with something red will be stained red himself.......Though I'm not very happy about this result.

Mika winked mischievously in response my unfinished sentence.

"That's right. In other words, we're going to follow Hazuki-san this afternoon."

--And so, here we are, tailing Hazuki-san on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

However, it didn't take long for me to realize that tailing Hazuki-san was an extremely difficult task.

Firstly, Hazuki-san seemed to have a biological radar that allowed her to be aware of everything within a certain radius around her.

Also, Hazuki-san was as sensitive as a military hound to the sounds around her.

In other words, it was extremely hard for us to tail Hazuki-san without being discovered.

Even though Hazuki-san's maid dress stood out from the crowd, it still required our full concentration to not lose sight of her.

To be honest, if it was only the three of us, we would probably have lost Hazuki-san a long time ago.

It was all because of Nanami-san, who was almost as skilled as Hazuki-san that we haven't lost her. (On a side note, Nanami-san was not wearing her maid dress, as she opted for a pink camisole with a black mini-skirt instead.)

"The coast is clear~ Please come over now."

We quickly moved over to Nanami-san's position after she had given us the all-clear. This was how we've managed to successfully follow Hazuki-san thus far.

"Hmm, where's Hazuki-san?"

"I don't see her anywhere......"

Hazuki-san seemed to have turned into the street three turns away from where we were, as she suddenly disappeared.

"Hmm, looks like she went into that shop over there~"

"That shop?"

"Yes~"

Nanami-san pointed to a shop that was quite a distance away which had a colorful and chic signboard.

"It looks like a soft toy shop~ It says 'Alice in Wonderland' on it's signboard."

"So,Soft toy?"

"Yes~, you're right."

"......"

I wonder why Hazuki-san would be interested in such a fantastical shop......

"Because Hazuki-san loves soft toys......"

Haruka explained the reason to me."

"She has a lot of cute soft toys in her room. Puppies, kittens, penguins, you name it."

"......"

Although I had almost forgotten about it, but I seem to remember hearing about something like that before. My memory probably rejected it because of how surprising and illogical that memory was.

"We~ll then, let's try to get a little closer to the shop, but be careful to keep your distance or she might sense us from inside the shop."

"......From inside the shop?"

"Yes~"

"No matter how you put it, how can she--"

The fact that I cannot definitively reject that notion is what really scares me. The head maid has already done many things that I had previously thought were humanly impossible. To me, she's the type of person who'll be able to hear the sound of a needle dropping onto the ground a hundred meters away in total darkness.

Which is why I wisely decided to just believe whatever Nanami-san was telling me about Hazuki-san.

We waited for about ten minutes under the shade somewhere near the shop.

"Ah, she's coming out now~"

Hazuki-san came out of the shop with a paper bag in her hand. Two long, white ears were peeking out from the bag, which probably meant that......"

"It's a rabbit right~ From the size of those ears, that's quite a large soft toy she's holding there."

......Nanami-san's probably right. Although it won't be cute if it turns out to be part of a bunny-girl costume.

"I see.......a rabbit soft toy. Hazuki-san's probably going to hug it to sleep."

Haruka mumbled to herself.

"......"

......I honestly cannot imagine Hazuki-san doing something like that.

No matter what the others thought, the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the Hazuki-san + rabbit combination was of Hazuki-san holding the rabbit by its neck with her usual expressionless face (hunting or cooking). Mm, that makes more sense.

Just as I had that image in my head, Mika tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey, Onii-san, what's with that difficult expression on your face? Let's go~"

"Ah, Ahhh."

I quickly caught up with them as Mika hurried me along.

Hazuki-san's next destination was a pet shop.

"She seems to be playing with a Chihuahua in the shop~"

Unlike the three of us, Nanami-san seemed to be able to see inside the shop. Even then, Hazuki-san and Chihuahuas really didn't......"

"Ah~ Chihuahuas. I want to play with one too~"

"Their big, round eyes are really cute."

The Nogizaka sisters looked towards the pet shop with admiration.

On the other side, Nanami-san continued with her live commentary of Hazuki-san's actions.

"She's hugging it while caressing its head~It's licking her chin, and instead of getting angry, Hazuki-san looks as though she's thoroughly enjoying it."

"......"

"Ah, is it time to go already? Hazuki-san's looking longingly at the Chihuahua~ Ah, she's waving goodbye~"

"......"

......I'm thinking that maybe it's time for me to change my perception of Hazuki-san a little.

"Hazuki-san looks like she really doesn't want to go~She's stopped walking as she continues to wave to the Chihuahua. Ah, she's finally managed to pull herself away. It seems difficult for her, as she jogs away, determined to not look back."

"......"

"Come on, we have to keep up with her~"

And then, we started our routine of following Hazuki-san again.

"I wonder where Hazuki-san's going next."

"......I have no idea."

First the soft toy shop, then the pet shop. All the shops that Hazuki-san have been going into couldn't be any further away from her image. Although it isn't a very nice thing to say, but I really cannot imagine Hazuki-san going into such shops.

"Perhaps her next destination will yield some useful clues for us. She's only gone to some normal character shops so far......"

Mika supported her chin on one finger as she spoke.

Speaking of which, this area is really crowded. Was there some kind of event going on? But then again, it is a Sunday, so it's probably normal for there to be so many people in the shopping district. Under such circumstances, I might even get separated from Haruka and the others if I'm not careful. Of the four of us, at least two of us would probably get lost, so we really have to be careful.

As I was thinking about being careful to not get separated from the others, we passed by a cake shop.

"From this moment onwards, we'll be holding our monthly 'Time Service'!"

A voice sounded from the cake shop.

"Only for the next thirty minutes will there be a 50 - 80% discount on all our products! Please come as early as possible, lest there be nothing left for you to buy. Ready--Start!"

And with that came a complete change in the direction of the crowd.

While we were moving with the crowd before that, the sudden change in direction meant that we were now moving against the crowd.

"Gah!"

A huge wave of people crashed towards us.

Although Nanami-san, Haruka and I managed successfully extricate ourselves from the crowd, there was one person who was still deep in thought.

"Hmm~ She may be going to a fashion shop, or even to a make-up shop......Ah, but by this reasoning, she could also be going to the jewellery store......Wha--Kya!"

Mika disappeared from view as a wave of people crashed over her.

"O,Onee-chan!"

We heard Mika cry out.

In a moment, Mika, who was originally in the middle of the human vortex, had been pushed to the other side of the crowd.

"Ah, Uwaaaaaa, Onee-chan, Onii-chan, Nanami-san!"

With Mika's petite size (She's 147cm, but claims to be 150cm), it was almost impossible to get out of the crowd after being swept away. Although we could see that she was resisting with all her might, the crowd was just too strong for her. Mika was pushed further and further away from us as she looked like how the one-inch boy would have looked like if he was being swept away......Wait a minute, now's not the time to be thinking about such things! (TL Note: The one-inch boy (Issun Boushi) is the main character of a famous Japanese folk tale)

"Mika!"

I tried to follow her, but there were as many people as a newborn nest of words, completely preventing me from getting to her--

"Ah, no!"

I couldn't even move one step in Mika's direction!

I pushed against the crowd, feeling like a newborn salmon fish who was trying to swim against the current to get back to its hometown.

"Haruka-sama, Yuuto-sama, please leave this to me~"

"Eh?"

Nanami-san flew out into the crowd as we looked on. Haruka and I just could only watch as she danced around within the crowd, her skirt billowing in the wind as she made her way towards where Mika's voice had come from (she had completely disappeared from our line of sight).

"Please continue following Hazuki-san. I need to go help Mika-sama, so we'll catch up with the two of you later~"

A moment after saying that, Nanami-san also disappeared into the crowd.

Haruka and I could only gape at the inhuman speed with which Nanami-san ran through the crowd.

".......So, what do we do now?"

Haruka asked.

"......I guess we should continue following Hazuki-san? Since Nanami-san went to get her, Mika should be alright......"

I have no doubts that a maid like Nanami-san would be able to protect Mika from harm no matter what happens, and will also be able to easily catch up with us.

"Y,You're right. Mika would have sacrificed herself for nothing if we give up now. --We have to finish this for her sake."

Haruka clenched both of her hands into fists with a serious expression on her face.

Even though Mika's far from dying......

And just like that, all that remained of the original team was Haruka and myself. Because the key person in our group, Nanami-san had gone off to find Mika, the task at hand became considerably more difficult (probably more difficult by about 55 - 75%). Even then, due to the fact that we were able to blend in with the crowd, we managed to continue tailing Hazuki-san without being discovered.

Right now, Hazuki-san had just entered a cafe that was on the ground floor of a department store. Because the cafe had a large glass window that overlooked the street outside, we were able to keep an eye on Hazuki-san from a safe distance. We hid in the shadow of a vending machine opposite the cafe.

"What do you think?"

"Hmm, she seems to be ordering something."

Just as Haruka observed, Hazuki-san was saying something to the waitress with the manu in hand......I'm really tempted to say something about a maid ordering from a waitress, but now's not exactly the best time for that.

"She looks like she's waiting for someone......"

Up to this point in time, I haven't seen Hazuki-san act strangely in any way. Well, even though buying a toy rabbit from the soft toy shop and playing with a Chihuahua in the pet shop are strange actions to me, but objectively, none of those actions bring us anywhere closer to achieving our objective in tailing Hazuki-san--Which was to find out the reason behind Hazuki-san's recent behaviour--To which I have not seen anything that gives us any clues to work on.

Even at this point in time, I still don't see how the perpetually expressionless Hazuki-san is acting strangely.

"Hmm."

Maybe I'm just to dense to realise that Hazuki-san's acting strangely? Or could it be that Hazuki-san just hasn't been acting strangely......Although I have a feeling that the first explanation is more plausible. Even Nobunaga always says that 'Yuuto, you're really dense, just like the protagonist in bishoujo games.', even though I don't really understand the example that he gave.

But anyway.

Seeing that Hazuki-san had made herself comfortable in the cafe, she shouldn't be leaving (at least not before she finishes her tea) the cafe anytime soon.To ease the tension of constantly watching Hazuki-san, I turned to look at the crowd. The way with which these people walk as if they were in a hurry made them look like busy worker bees. In such a small nation like Japan, where in the world could they be hurrying too......Although I had conviniently forgotten the fact that we were in more of a hurry than them when we were following Hazuki-san a little while ago.

--Tap, tap.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind. Hmm?

Tap, tap.

That person tapped me on the shoulder again. Is it Haruka?

"What's wron--"

But as I turned around, what came into my field of vision was not the puppy-like smile of the first daughter of the Nogizaka family.

"-------EH?"

Instead, I saw a face that I was already sick of, after seeing for my entire life. Just for your information, this face is one of the three faces that I do not want to see in such a situation.

"Wh,Why......"

I really wanted to keep quiet and get out of this place as if I hadn't seen anything.

"Oh, it's really Yuuto. I was just walking along the street when I saw someone who looked like you, so I walked over."

What was my sister doing in a place like this wearing a business suit? She folded her arms over her chest as she looked down at me with an air of superiority. --Wa,Wait, why is Ruko here?

She was still hugging a 1.8 litre bottle of alcohol as she snored on the floor of our living room when I left the house.......(What a useless person)

"Well then, why are you acting so suspiciously in a place like this? Don't tell me you're doing something against the law?"

Ruko looked at me, her sharp gaze slicing into me like flying daggers.

"Ah, ah-, it's a long story......"

I tried to gloss over the question.

I couldn't possibly say that I was tailing the head maid of the Nogizaka family on an unproven premise right.

"On the other hand, what are you doing, dressed like this--"

"We,Well......"

Ruko's facial expression darkened.

"I've been called out to work on a Sunday. I was sleeping happily when my boss called. Something about an emergency meeting to discuss our next course of action before the company's sued for infringing on the copyrights of another company's logo......And he just had to do it on such a hot day."

My sister, involved in an emergency meeting? There must be something wrong with this arrangement. Asking my sister for help may be better than asking some cheap legal consultant firm for help (only when the solution involves violence), but there are too many negative factors that my sister brings to the table.

"Well, that's my story. Then......Hmm?"

As though she just realized (what a dense person), Ruko finally looked at Haruka, who was peeking at us like a small animal beside me.

"Speaking of which, you are?"

"Ah, eh.......?"

Haruka was startled by the sudden question.

"Yuuto, is this your friend? I don't remember seeing her before though......"

"I, I am, umm......"

Haruka looked at me to me for help with desperation in her eyes.

"Ah-, she's......"

"--Ah, I see."

But Ruko didn't wait for my explanation before she nodded her head profusely. 'Is she that person? The one that Yukari had told me about, the girl you suddenly pinned to the ground in class to satisfy your primal urges--"

"That's not right!"

Looks like this person still believes that the rumour is true.

"Ah, I see that your relationship began as a result of insatiable bestial urges......But I don't really approve of such a relationship at your age. Such short-tem passion will not lead to a lasting relationship. Even though I would rather you do something like this than to be a stalker or something......"

"Listen to what I'm saying!"

Ruko's expression darkened for another time.

"--Don't shout like this, it's really embarrassing!"

"Whose fault do you think it is!"

And look whose talking. Your normal voice is as loud as Nobunaga's.

"Ah......sigh......"

It's really tiring to talk to my idiot sister. I felt the exhaustion from the depths of my heart, as I sighed with a dark expression on my face.

"Umm, Umm......"

Haruka, who was standing beside me, looked at my facial expression with a lost expression on her face. Well, you can't exactly blame her for not being able to fully understand what we

were talking about in such a short time.

"Ah-, this is......"

"Ah, I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself."

Once again, Ruko ignored what I was saying. This idiot sister of mine......She really doesn't listen to what I say.

"It should be our first time meeting right? I am Ayase Ruko. This fellow's sister."

"Eh, Yuuto-san's, Onee-sama?"

Haruka looked at me in surprise.

"......Well, you can put it that way."

Although I would rather deny the fact that we're actually from the same family.

"I see......Ah, it's nice to meet you, I am Nogizaka Haruka. Umm, Yuuto-san's second-year classmate--"

"Ah, so you're his classmate."

Ruko-nee repeated Haruka's words after her.

"Classmate, eh."

My idiot sister started to scrutinize Haruka as though she was her future sister-in-law.

"Eh, eh.......?"

"Hmm......"

"Umm......"

Because Ruko's gaze was making Haruka extremely uncomfortable, I quickly moved in front of Haruka to shield her from Ruko.

"Ah, Yu,Yuuto-san......"

Haruka looked at me gratefully. Ruko's gaze must have been rather scary, I could even see the tears rolling around in her eyes.

Looking at my actions, Ruko smiled as if she had just confirmed something.

"I see how this is going."

"......What is it that you see."

"Well, I kind of understand what is going on. As the saying goes, 'Actions speaks louder than words'--Yukari might want to get to the bottom of this, but I shan't question you any more."

Speaking of Yukari, her sole meaning in life is to sow discord and chaos in the world.

Ruko adjusted her hair slightly upwards (she leaves it down when working).

"Hmm, Nogizaka-san right."

"Y,Yes?"

Haruka jumped like a robot who was being revived with a stungun after running out of power upon hearing her name called.

"I'll leave this fellow in your hands."

"Eh......?'

Haruka opened her mouth in surprise as Ruko suddenly bowed.

"Even though this fellow's dense, indecisive and unreliable, but he's still my brother. Without him......I wouldn't be able to survive."

Even though her words would have moved anyone else to tears, but I knew that Ruko meant that literally, not figuratively. Because her skill at household chores--particularly cooking--was so low that it completely inhibits her ability to survive in the world, in termperature terms, Ruko's survival skills are at absolute zero. In other words, she was speaking the truth when she said that she won't be able to survive without me.

But because Haruka didn't know all these, she looked at my useless sister with the warmth of a mother bird looking at her newborn child.

"You really love your brother......"

......That is something I find hard to agree with. But then again, it'll be better not to expose Ruko in public, one part of the reason being I don't want Haruka to know about such an embarrassing thing, and the other part being I have no intent of being beaten up by Ruko's metal punches (or metal kicks, for that matter).

Ruko continued.

"Even so, this fellow does have some positive points. For example--"

"......"

"For example......"

"......"

"For example......"

"......"

"We,Well, we don't really need an example."

......Hey.

"--Anyway, please take good care of him. I'm very happy, knowing that someone as nice as Nogizaka-san is with him."

"Ah, y,yes."

"Mm."

Ruko smiled kindly at Haruka as she placed her hands on Haruka's shoulders. For someone like a wild wolf, who attacks anyone she doesn't like, Ruko seems to have taken a liking to Haruka.

"Well, then, I should get going now--Ah, right, you don't have to make dinner tonight. I'm planning to get the boss to treat everyone to a luxurious pufferfish meal. The two of you enjoy yourselves."

After saying that, Ruko walked away like a middle-aged uncle even though she was wearing a tight skirt. Although this was something that I may only see once in a year, it still looked really weird.

"Eh heh heh, she made a request of me."

Haruka smiled happily, seemingly oblivious to what Ruko really meant.

And not just that, Haruka even said something like this.

"But......she's really an outstanding person."

"Huh?"

I couldn't believe my ears.

That person......outstanding?

"Yes, she's so pretty, and she looks so smart in that business suit, and she's constantly thinking of Yuuto-san......I really admire her. She really seems to be an outstanding woman."

"......"

Well, even though it's not very nice for her brother to say this, but that person only looks good on the surface. And from the other perspective, she's the kind of person whom you cannot judge by her appearance.

"Could I......also become someone like her? What do you think, Yuuto-san?"

Haruka looked at me with an extremely serious look.

Before we think about whether you can become like Ruko, I'm begging you, please drop that idea......

A little while after Ruko left, Hazuki-san walked out of the cafe.

After walking out, Hazuki-san walked into the shopping street that was still filled with as many people as a morning fish market. A little while after that, Haruka and I began to follow her at a safe distance.

Hazuki-san moved through the crowd as she turned around four corners before making her way through the shopping arcade.

And then, Hazuki-san finally stopped before a store.

"What kind of store is it?"

"I don't know."

The store in question had a very big shop window. But because of the reflection of the sunlight, we weren't able to see into the store from our position.

Hazuki-san stood unmovingly like an ancient greek statue in front of the shop window for a while. She seemed to me looking extremely serious at something in the shop while sighing at regular intervals.

"Just what is she looking at.......Ah!"

"What's wrong?"

"L,Look at that."

"Hmm?"

I looked at what Haruka was looking at--There was a man running towards Hazuki-san.

That man had messy short hair and the bearing of a sportsman. He also had the kind of smile that makes a good impression, while his teeth were sparkling white. In other words, he seemed to be a nice young man.

The man seemed to be talking to Hazuki-san about something.

"What......is going on?"

Haruka asked a little worriedly. Of course, I had no answer to that question.

We watched as Hazuki-san talked to the man in a low tone before nodding and followed him into the store.

"Yuuto-san, that......"

"--Ah."

That was really suspicious.

Both Hazuki-san's behavious when looking into the shop window and the mysterious man she had just met were extremely suspicious.

Although we don't have any details, but it seemed as though the source of Hazuki-san's problems was connected with this store.

In the meantime, there was nothing we could do but to wait for Hazuki-san to come out of the store.

We stared at the store from the side of the busy shopping street in the sweltering heat.

--For the next twenty minutes.

......Hazuki-san didn't come out.

Although we've been watching the entrance for the past twenty minutes, but there was no sign of Hazuki-san coming out of the store.

The sun shone with as much energy as an unleashed dog, as I sweated profusely.

It seems as though we get more of the sunlight when we're staying in one place then when we're moving around. Damn, it's really hot......

"Yuuto-san, are you alright?"

"Ah, thank you."

Haruka wiped my forehead with her handkerchief. Speaking of which, she doesn't seem to be sweating at all. Is this the legendary rule of the world that 'Rich ladies don't sweat'?

Twenty more minutes passed, and Hazuki-san still had not come out.

"......Since it has come to this, perhaps we should go for a closer look."

I suggested to Haruka as I really couldn't take the heat anymore.

"B,But......"

You won't get the tiger cub without going into the tiger's lair. (TL note: Chinese/Japanese saying, basically means that great rewards comes with great risks.) From our basic knowledge of Hazuki-san's abilities, we knew that the closer we got, the higher the possibility of being found out, but the current situation really wasn't helping us achieve our initial objective.

And also, I was very curious as to what exactly had caught Hazuki-san's eye for her to look so longingly into the shop window.

"......Alright."

Haruka thought about it for a short while before nodding in agreement.

The two of us moved closer to the store.

"Ah......"

It was a bridal shop. The signboard above the shop entrace read 'Bridal shop: Fortune Tales'.

And the centrepiece of the shop window that Hazuki-san was looking at was--

"This......"

--A white wedding dress bathed in pure, white light. Could it be that Hazuki-san was looking at this as she sighed?

"Hazuki-san......"

Haruka had a complicated expression on her face.

"As I thought, Hazuki-san also wishes to get married right?"

"Hmm......"

Could it be like Haruka says?

Although I'm not very sure, but Hazuki-san should be quite young. And it's not very strange for young woman to wish to get married......right? (although this feels rather weird with Hazuki-san as the subject)Well, normally, women usually start to think about such things once they reach a certain age, but of course, there are exceptions. Ruko and Yukari-san do not show any signs that they are thinking of marriage. From my perspective though, I do wish that the two of them will quickly get married and settle down......

"......Hazuki-san has been taking care of Mika and I since we were young."

Haruka told me.

"I don't even remember when she started to take care of me. When I started to remember things, Hazuki-san was already working in my house......Because she wasn't much older than me, so we often played together."

"She's been working since that time......"

Which means that Hazuki-san must have been in her early teens when she started working in the Nogizaka residence. With more than ten years of experience under her belt, Hazuki-san must be a gold-class, no, a diamond-class maid.

Haruka contined.

"When I was in primary school, Hazuki-san was in charge of taking care of me, even though she was very busy with other things. Because my mother was also very busy at that time, so I didn't get to see her often......So Hazuki-san's like another mother to me."

Speaking of which, it doesn't seem as though either one of Haruka's parents come home often.

"Both Mika and I love Hazuki-san very much. Because she follows us wherever we go, and she's also the one who used to read us bedtime stories before we slept. She also comes to our school activities. However, even now, we depend on her for a lot of things. Hazuki-san's too kind to say no, but......"

Haruka lowered her head.

"......Maybe we're holding her back?"

"Eh?"

I was a little surprised by Haruka's words.

"Perhaps all Hazuki-san really wants to do is to get married? But she can't do it because of Mika and me?"

"Haruka......"

"Because we're still very dependent on Hazuki-san. Nanami-san and the other maids are also very good......But to me, Hazuki-san is the first choice. Because she's the most dependable, the most caring, and the most trustworthy--But if this is a burden on Hazuki-san......"

Haruka closed her eyes.

"If it's like this, then I......would like Hazuki-san to go for the happiness that she seeks without caring about us. I'm willing to accept it even if it means that she'll quite her job. Even though I'll be a little lonely......"

The emotion in Haruka's words confirmed the fact that Hazuki-san is a really important person to Haruka......

To be honest, I don't know what Hazuki-san really wants.

I don't know if she really wants to get married, or if her job is weighing down on her.

But I do know one thing.

That expressionless head maid-san definitely does not see Haruka and Mika as a burden.

Even someone as dense as I am can see from how Hazuki-san treats Haruka and Mika that she's happy to take care of them.

"Haruka."

No matter what the reason behind Hazuki-san's actions is, I still have to tell Haruka what I think.

Squeak---

The automatic door of the bridal store suddenly opened in front of us.

"--Hmm?"

A young woman about Ruko and Yukari-san's age came out of the store.

"Hmm, are the two of you interested in anything from our store?"

She seems to be one of the employees of the store, as she gave us a professional smile while she asked us a question.

"Ah, no."

"Um,Umm......"

"The two of you look like you're thinking about something important--Hmm, I understand."

The employee looked us before looking at the shop window as she smiled......I have a bad feeling about this.

"Hey girlfriend, would you like to try that on?" (The original raw used the word 'kanojo', which would mean 'girlfriend' or 'she', the latter of which is definitely not the meaning in this instance. Even though Haruka doesn't really react in a way that we'll expect if someone calls her Yuuto's girlfriend, but because the employee uses 'kareshi' when referring to Yuuto later in this passage, something that almost exclusively means 'boyfriend', I'll use 'girlfriend' her to provide a sense of continuity.)

"Eh?"

The shop employee pointed to the glittering white bridal gown in the shop window.

"You're really cute, so I think you'll look really good in that."

"E,Eh? Umm, well."

Haruka blinked in confusion at the sudden suggestion.

"B,But, that's a display dress......"

"Just treat it as a special service. Not like there'll be anyone who'll stop by to look at the shop window of a bridal store on such a hot day anyway."

She just said something really unprofessional.

For an employee of a bridal shop, she really shouldn't have said something like that.

"Well, that's how it is. Why don't the two of you come in?"

"Eh, eh?"

"Come on, you too, boyfriend."

"N,No, we're just......"

Because Hazuki-san could still be inside, we would probably run straight into her if we were to go into the store like this. I tried to resist the shop employee's advances, but--

"Come on, young people shouldn't think so much about such things. Because big sister here says so, it'll be fine, listen to the adult!"

And so, Haruka and I were dragged into the bridal shop like how a drunk man gets dragged into an exhorbitantly priced bar.

There was a very elegant feel about the interior of the shop.

The first floor of the shop was used as a display space for their bridal gowns, all of which were bathed in a warm light. Soft classical music was also playing, which added to the elegant atmosphere of the shop.

"Ah, this is Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March'."

"Ah, it's rare to find a young person who understand music nowadays."

Haruka beamed at the praise given by the shop employee.

Looking around, I didn't see any signs of Hazuki-san, nor did I see the mysterious man who was with her.

It seems like we're safe for the moment.

Of the three levels of the shop, it looks like the first floor is the display floor, while the second floor is for discussion of the finer points of a wedding--probably what they call the bridal counter, so Hazuki-san could be there. Wherever Hazuki-san is, we have to keep out of her sight......

"Well then, girlfriend, that's the changing room. As for the more difficult parts of the gown......Hmm, Tanaka-san."

"Ah, yes?"

Another female employee, who was wiping one of the display cases (short hair with glasses), immediately stopped what she was doing and came over.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but would you mind helping that girl to change into a gown? I'll leave the finer points of dressing her up to you."

"Sure, boss."

The cheerful shop employee was actually the boss of the bridal shop.

"Ah, she's really pretty. That's the kind of person I want to serve. --Gulp--"

"P,Please take care of me......"

Haruka was ushered into the changing room with a slightly nervous expression on her face as the bespectacled shop employee had a strange smile on her lips.

"Since we're here already, boyfriend, how about you change into a tuxedo? I remember seeing one in the storeroom-"

"Eh, me too?"

"That's right. What's the point of your girlfriend wearing a wedding dress if you're not wearing something to match her? A bride needs a bridegroom."

"A, bridegroom......"

"Hmm? Yes, a bridegroom. Or if you would have it, Hanamuko-san. Of course, that doesn't refer to the tiredness of your heart." (TL Note: Japanese wordplay, probably on something that has a similar pronounciation of 'hanamuko'. Don't bother asking me, I don't get it either -_-)

"That's not the point......"

The point is, how did we end up trying on bridal wear?

As I struggled to make sense of what was going on, the shop employee--no, the shop owner, whispered to me.

(I don't really understand what's going on, but I guess you guys were having an argument? Ah--, you don't have to explain it to me. Nothing else can make a couple talk to each other with such serious expressions. Which is why I wanted to give you guys a chance to make up)

(......)

(I just broke up with my boyfriend last month-So I couldn't bear to see the two of you go down the same path......Even though I may be overextending myself here)

The shop owner smiled a little sadly.

In any case, she seems like a nice person, although her guess couldn't be any further away from the truth.

"Well then, come over here. I'm sorry, but because we only have one changing room, so you'll have to change here. You be alright by yourself right?"

The shop owner said as she led me into the storeroom. Why are Haruka and I treated so differently?......I oppose gender inequality.

And so, I changed into the tuxedo that the shop owner passed me, surrounded by legless mannequins and wedding albums so old, the bride looks like she's crying. On the brighter side, the tuxedo seems to be made of rather high quality material, and she even gave me a white butterfly neck-tie to go along with the tuxedo. To be honest, this is my first time wearing something like this.

"Oh, boyfriend, this really suits you-"

The shop owner clapped and moved towards me as I walked back into the display area.

There was stil no sign of Haruka and the bespectacled shop employee. The shop owner was the only person at the display area. Even though Haruka went in quite a while before I went to change......

"A girl needs time to dress up. Because your girlfriend is so pretty, our make-up expert will finally be able show off her technique."

The shop owner explained to me as she read my mind.

"Well, it's like that, so why don't you have a cup of tea while waiting."

While waiting, I chatted with the shop owner ('So how far have the two of you progressed?' 'No comment' 'Hand-holding?' 'No comment' 'Kissing? Or maybe even further than that? Fufufu'

'......' For some reason, I feel as though I've heard these sexually harrassing questions somewhere before......) for about ten minutes.

"Boss, we're done."

The bespectacled shop employee came out of the changing room first with an extremely satisfied expression on her face. 'Ah, that was a valuable experience. Silky smooth skin, soft hair, long eyelashes, and a nice body......Even models aren't as perfect as her-"

"I know, right? She's definitely a rank S"

"She's easily a five-star. The type where people would want to put bring her back home to decorate their house like a doll."

The shop owner started to ramble into dangerous territory.

"Well then, I think we can stop talking already. Tanaka-san, please invite the princess out for us."

"No problem. Everyone, please hold your breath in anticipation."

Under the shop owner's orders, the bespectacled shop employee called out to the changing room.

Even though she said everyone, there are only three people here......And speaking of which, there hasn't been a single customer since Haruka and I walked in......I'm not exactly in the position to say this, but can this store survive like this?

"Let us begin. 3. 2. 1......"

The bespectacled shop employee pulled open the curtain of the changing room with an 'oomph', revealing the person behind the curtain--

"Ah,Yuu,Yuuto-san......"

"......"

I was lost for words at the sight of Haruka in a wedding gown.

A white veil that was pure as snow covered Haruka in her white wedding dress.

Well---How do I put it. This was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

Haruka's skin tone matched the pure white of her wedding dress perfectly, while her long hair flowed down together with the veil on her head-- Although Haruka also looks extremely pretty in her normal clothes and that evening gown that I had seen a while back, but this was something different. Right now, Haruka was so beautiful, it's as if she's cheating by using a flying machine when everyone else can only walk.

I have no idea what the last part of what I have just said meant either, but anyway, the point is that right now, Haruka is the most beautiful girl on earth.

"Come on, don't look at each other like Romeo and Juliet, go stand next to each other."

"Uh."

"Ah."

The shop owner ushered the two of us to the corner of the shop where the photography equipment was set up.

"Fyuu--You two look really suited for each other."

"......"

"......"

We wisely kept our mouths shut. Probably because of how the shop owner thinks that we're a couple, but the moment I think of how Haruka standing next to me in a wedding dress, my heart started to pump as hard as frog who's getting electrocuted. And beside me, Haruka's face beet-red for the second time today as she nervously peeked at me while saying in a voice as soft as that of a newborn deer.

"Ah, Yuuto-san, this tuxedo really suits you. You look really good in it."

"Th,Thank you. Haruka too......You look......really beautiful."

"Th,Thank you very much"

"N,No problem."

"......"

"......"

......And that was where our conversation ended.

"Hmm--It's nice to be young--I can see the coming of spring-"

"You're right, I'm so jealous."

The shop owner and her employed smiled at each other as they looked at the two of us (both of them were probably in their twenties). If you have the energy to talk about Haruka and I, then why don't you come and ease the awkward atmosphere.

"Well then, please stand over here for the photo."

"Photo?"

Why does she want to take a photo so suddenly?

"That's right. It's not everyday that the two of you will be dressed up like this, so it'll a waste if we don't capture it on film right? Rather than a photo souvenir......Perhaps it's
more of the blueprint of the future?"

Once again, the shop owner said something bombastic to the two of us.

"B-B-B-B-B-Blueprint of the future?"

Haruka's voice suddenly jumped up two whole octaves.

"By that, d,do you mean, o,our, future?"

Haruka waved her hands about in the air hurriedly.

From an objective perspective, she was right. Looking at the two of us (Tuxedo & Wedding dress) like this right now could be a reflection of how we will be standing next to each other (Tuxedo & Wedding dress) in the future, and for a man and a woman to stand beside each other like this (Tuxedo & Wedding dress) can only mean one special thing. In other words--

"......"

"......"

Looking at each other, Haruka and I didn't know what to say.

"Ah--, the two of you are really cute. I can feel the energy of youth, good job!"

The very person who made us lapse into such an awkward silence happily gave us a thumbs up......Ah, I finally remembered why the way the shop owner asks her sexual harrassment questions seem so familiar to me, it's because she's a lot like Yukari-san. Not that she looks like Yukari-san, but that they have similar personalities.

"Look here, and smile towards the camera. Hmm, why are your smiles so unnatural......I've got it, boyfriend, put your arm around your girlfriend."

"......H,Huh?"

Yet again, the shop owner bombarded the two of us with another of her random requests.

"Ah, now the two of you look like newlyweds. Girlfriend, you can hug your boyfriend if you want to, don't mind us!"

The shop owner continued to make irresponsible, morally-questionable requests of the two of us. And we're not newlyweds!

"Come on, hurry up. We're already ready on our side."

The shop owner tried to hurry us along. Ugh, what should I do, should I just listen to the shop owner and put my arm around Haruka? But sudden request aside, I'm still rather hesitant about doing something like this......

What should I do? I felt like a chimpanzee looking at a banana suspended on a rope in front of it when Haruka turned to look at me, her face the shade of a fresh red apple, before saying in a hesitant voice.

"Umm, hugging is a little too......much--B,But......"

"Eh......"

"But, I, I don't really mind it i--, if it's like this......"

Haruka said as she linked her right arm with my left arm.

"......"

Along with the Haruka's soft scent, I felt an unprecedented weight on my arm. C,Could this be......!? My face burned as though I was eating hotpot udon in summer--

-Snap!-

Suddenly, my field of vision was blinded by a flash.

"Ah, nice angle! I like the sense of distance between the two of you, brings our the innocence in your relationship!"

-Snap!- -Snap!-

For a while, the satisfied mumblings of the shop owner and the camera shutter were the only sounds in the shop.

"This is really good~I think it'll be good to choose one and use it as an advertisement for the shop."

"That's a good idea. We'll get a lot more customers that way."

"Or perhaps we should print out the pictures and sell them at 500 yen apiece?"

"Maybe 800 yen would be a better price?"

Such a discussion continued for another fifteen minutes.

--And so, the photography session ended with both Haruka and me trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Here, this are your copies of the photos-"

After the two of us had changed back into our original clothes, the shop owner gave us one copy of the best photo each.

"The quality isn't as high as I would have liked it, since we used a polariod to take the pictures. It'll take a while to get the high quality copies out, so come and collect them another day alright."

The shop owner offered with a happy smile on her face as we returned the tuxedo and the wedding dress that we had borrowed.

"Umm, thank you for taking care of us."

Haruka bowed deeply.

"It was nothing. I enjoyed myself too."

"It was a meaningful experience-"

She was right in a way, as I noticed that both the shop owner and her employee seemed to be much more energetic than when we first entered the shop.

"Well then, we'll take our leave. Thank you very much."

"......Thank you very much."

The two of us thanked the shop owner and her employee as we made our way out of the shop.

"Ah, right, girlfriend."

The shop owner called out to Haruka.

"Yes?"

"This is for you."

"Mm? Ah-"

The shop owner said as she threw the white bouquet of flowers that Haruka had been holding on to just now over.

Haruka's eyes widened in surprise.

"Umm, can I really have this? This is such an important thing--"

"Just take it as a souvenir. But the main point is,"

The shop owner winked at the two of us as she said.

"If the two of you really become like 'that' in the future, do come to 'Fortune Times Wedding Shop' for all your wedding needs! We'll give you the vip service~"

After we bid goodbye to the smiling shop owner of 'Fortune Times', we hear a familiarly energetic voice from across the street.

"Ah, the two of you are really here. O~i, Onee-chan, Onii-chan! Here~Here~!"

"Mika, Nanami-san."

"Ah~We finally caught up. That was really tiring~......"

Mika sat down onto the ground like a tired panda.

"Mika, are you alright?"

"Ah, yes, I'm completely fine. The crowd dragged me along for about a hundred metres before I finally managed to get onto the sidewalk. Then just as I was resting, a few strange and irritating people came up to hit on me, so I knocked out one of them with a drop-kick. In the end, they called about ten of their friends over, and were shouting something stupid, along the lines of 'We'll teach you how to respect your elders' just as Nanami-san caught up and knocked all of them out."

"......"

"Ah, it only took her about six seconds to knock all of them out."

"......"

That's not the problem.

And that is nowhere near 'completely fine', rather, it should be something like ' ah, that was extremely close'. This girl really knows how to stir up trouble......

"Hmm? What's wrong, Onii-chan, why do you look so tired?"

Mika gave me a confused expression as she slanted her head to one side like a little bird. Even though Mika's personality was the complete opposite of her sister, but her denseness in such situations was exactly the same as her older sister.

"Haa......"

Well, no point talking about something that is already over.

More importantly,

"Speaking of which, I'm surprised that the two of you managed to find us, since we were so far apart."

"Mm~I have no idea how we found you either. I just followed the direction that Nanami-san was leading me in, and there you were."

"......Nanami-san?"

"Yes. But she didn't tell me how she knew your position."

"......"

"......"

"Ufufu~"

Nanami-san didn't say anything as she looked at us with her eyes half-open. I'm quite sure she'll give me the 'This is a corporate secret~' treatment if I asked her about it......Could it be that all of us have some kind of hidden tracking device (probably GPS too) on us? I have full confidence in Nanami-san's ability to act dumb about whether we have a tracking device on us.

"Ah, what's that?"

Mika's looked at the photograph (Tuxedo & Wedding Dress) and the bouquet of flowers that Haruka was holding and asked.

"Ah, eh, this is......"

"Could it be a clue? Is this the photo of the defining moment of Hazuki-san's troubles? Let me see it!"

"Ah"

Mika practically snatched the photo out of Haruka's hands.

"Let's have a good look at this--"

But the moment she looekd at the photo, Mika gave Haruka a suspicious look.

"............Onee-chan, what were the two of you doing? Weren't you supposed to be following Hazuki-san?"

"N,No, this is..."

"U,Umm......"

How should we explain this? Although it is kind of related to our main mission of following Hazuki-san, but objectively, there really wasn't anything that could connect the contents of the photo to our main mission.

"......Well, at least Onii-san, has taken a huge step towards becoming Onii-san, so it was time well spent." (TL Note: The two Onii-san's are written in different kanji, so while the first one is how Mika has always called Yuuto, the second one literally means 'brother-in-law'. The next 'Onii-san' in this passage also means 'brother-in-law')Mika shrugged her shoulders in an exaggerated fashion as she smiled deviously. Although she said 'Onii-san' twice, but we all know what the second one was referring to, and even though I wanted to tell her that she was wrong, I couldn't, as she had proof (the photo) on her hands. Ugh......

"Fufufu, Onii-san~"

"Looks like I'll be looking after Yuuto-sama as well in the future~"

And so, Mika (with Nanami-san) continued to tease the two of us for a while.

"--So, have the two of you find out anything about Hazuki-san?"

"Eh......"

"About that......"

Haruka turned to look at me in response to Mika's question. Although we couldn't say that we had found something definite, but at least we found some clues that could potentially help us.

Haruka nodded softly.

"......It's alright, I think we're on to something."

"I,Is that so?"

Mika's eyes widened as she looked at the two of us with a surprised expression. Looks like she hadn't expected us to actually find out something useful.......But then again, after seeing that photo (Tuxedo & Wedding Dress), no normal person would continue to hold any expectations of our abilities.

"Yes, in fact......"

"Ah, everyone, please hide yourselves~"

At that moment, Nanami-san suddenly whispered urgently as she pointed behind us,

"Hazuki-san's over there~"

"Eh?"

Just as we turned around, we saw the head maid-san walk out of the automatic door of 'Fortune Tales Wedding Shop'. She was alone, as the mysterious man we had seen before was nowhere to be seen.

We hurriedly attempted to hide ourselves behind something.

Luckily, Hazuki-san didn't seem to notice us, as she disappeared into the crowd once again.

"So the two of you were following after Hazuki-san after all, Onii-san."

"Y, Yes, we were."

We were merely a little distracted by the sudden change in plans (Forceful persuasion --> Tuxedo & Wedding Dress --> Photograph-taking session).......Fine, maybe more than a little distracted.

"Hmm~Looks like Hazuki-san is going home."

"She's walking in the direction of the train station, so she might not neccessarily be going back."

From what I could gather about the current situation, the visit to 'Fortune Tales' was probably Hazuki-san's last destination for the day. Which is why she should be returning home now.

In other words, our little operation has come to an end.

"Well then, Haruka, we should also--"

"......Let's go back too."

Haruka mumbled before I finished my sentence, looking as though she had just made the most important decision of her life. What's wrong?

"Haruka?"

"Onee-chan?"

"Haruka-sama?"

The three of us looked at Haruka as she continued.

"I have something that I have to say to Hazuki-san. And we have to tell her in person......"

"......What does everyone want to talk to me about?"

Hazuki-san looked at our faces with a surprised expression.

We were in Haruka's room.

After seeing that Hazuki-san was heading home, we immediately headed back to the Nogizaka residence to call Hazuki-san, who was supervising the work in the kitchen, to Haruka's room. Although the head maid-san was very concerned about the beef stroganoff and borscht (tonight's dinner), she decided answer Haruka's call in the end.

And so, at this moment, Me, Haruka, Mika and Nanami-san had surrounded Hazuki-san in Haruka's room.

"Umm......"

Haruka sliced through the awkward atmosphere.

"Hazuki-san......have you been worried about something recently?"

Hazuki-san seemed a little surprised by Haruka's question.

"......Why would you say something like that?"

"I'm correct, am I not?"

"......"

Although Hazuki-san didn't answer Haruka's question, but her facial expression had told us all that we needed to know.

"Hazuki-san, you could have talked to us if you had any problems, so why are you so reserved around us?"

Mika said unhappily.

".......No, I don't mean it that way."

Hazuki-san replied.

"It's not something that important--"

"It is something that important!"

Haruka's voice rang out loudly, something that has almost never happened before.

"How can that not be something important? I think that it should be the most important to Hazuki-san, which is why I don't want you to dismiss it like this."

Haruka suddenly took a step forward. (TL Note: The original raw actually says something along the lines of 'Haruka stuck out her upper body', which sounds really weird in english, so I changed it.)

Although Hazuki-san was a little taken back by Haruka's aggressive hamster-like action, she still replied calmly.

"It is something very important to me......But if you were to look at it objectively--"

"I don't care about the objective perspective. If it's an important thing to Hazuki-san, then it's definitely an important thing to me."

"Haruka-sama......"

Hazuki-san blinked in confusion.

"Which is why, as long as that's what you wish to do, we will support your decision. Even if it means that Hazuki-san will become somebody else......I still want Hazuki-san to move forward without regret......"

Haruka started tearing up as she got more emotional towards the end of the sentence.

"--I feel the same way as Onee-chan."

Looking at the tears rolling about in her older sister's eyes, Mika said that with an extremely serious expression.

"Hazuki-san, I want you to do what you want to do. We may still be children in your eyes, but we can take care of ourselves. We......We don't want to hold you back, Hazuki-san."

"Mika-sama......"

On our way back, I had updated Mika on what we had found out.

Although she was surprised when I told her about Hazuki-san looking at the wedding dress, about how she went into the wedding shop with that mysterious man, Mika seemed to have accepted it rather quickly.

"I see......Hazuki-san wants to get married. But because of us......"

Mika came to the exact same conclusion as Haruka. Mika looked down onto the ground with a lonely expression that I have not seen before.

"Please don't mind us, Hazuki-san. Just do whatever you want to do. Because it is Hazuki-san's decision, we will support you."

"Sob......This is also my request."

"My ladies......"

Hazuki-san had an extremely confused expression on her face as she looked at the half-crying sisters in front of her.

"......I understand."

Hazuki-san nodded softly.

"Indeed, I was having a hard time making up my mind......But after hearing your words, I think I am able to make a decision. I will choose the path that I want to walk, and that'll be the right path, right?"

"Ha,Hazuki-san......"

Haruka took a step towards Hazuki-san, as her eyes threatened to overflow with tears.

"-Sob- Ha,Hazuki-san, I have something that I want to give you."

"For me? What is it?"

"Y,Yes--It may not be much, but I would like you to have it. -sob-"

Haruka said to Hazuki-san as she passed her the bouquet of flowers that she had gotten from the bridal shop owner.

"This is......"

"Yes, it's a bouquet of flowers. If you don't mind, I would be very happy if you were to use it for your ceremony......"

"Ceremony......"

"Yes, ceremony."

Haruka sobbed loudly.

However, Hazuki-san feel silent for five full seconds, her face expressionless as usual, before tilting her head to one side.

"Pardon me......But what ceremony are you talking about?"

What Hazuki-san just said shocked every single person around her.

"I don't remember any ceremonies that will be held in the near future......"

"Ceremony? No, we're talking about the wedding ceremony......"

"Wedding ceremony? Who's getting married?"

"Hazuki-san, aren't you the one......"

"Huh? Me......?"

Hazuki-san's responses were full of question marks.

......It seems like we're on completely different wavelengths.

"B,But Hazuki-san, didn't you go into that bridal shop earlier today......"

"Bridal shop......?"

"Y,Yes, with that gentleman......"

"......"

Hazuki-san looked as though she had just heard the most unbelievable thing in the entire world.

"......I'm sorry. But I don't remember that--"

"E,Eh, but......?"

Haruka looked at me desperately.

Even though Hazuki-san says that she doesn't remember anything like that, but Haruka and I did see her go into the shop......

"I don't why the two of you are saying something like that, but......The only places that I have been to today was the handmade soft toy shop, the pet display shop, a few others, and the metal-works shop......"

There was something that didn't add up.

"The metal-works shop?"

Did she go into that kind of shop? I looked at Haruka, and she shook her head in agreement to what I was thinking.

"Yes, the metal-works shop. I had some personal business there......But I did not go to a bridal shop today."

From the way Hazuki-san responded to our questions with such certainty, I don't think she was lying.

"B,But, Hazuki-san, then why did you go into 'Fortune Times'......?"

"Fortune Times?"

"Y,Yes."

"......"

At the mention of that name, Hazuki-san looked as though she suddenly remembered something.

"......Could that be the shop that took up the first two floors of a three-storey building?"

"R,Right, that's the one, but......"

"......Now I see where you're coming from."

In stark contrast to the rest of us, Hazuki-san looked like she knew everything.

"Haruka-sama, you and the others seem to have gotten my destination wrong. The metal-works store is one the third floor of the building where 'Fortune Times' is housed in......Because of the design of the building, the two shops share a common entrance."

"......"

"......"

Now that she mentioned it, I do seem to remember seeing a sign that read '3F - Metal-works Speciality Store Heaven's Door' in the building......

"B,But, you were sighing as you looked at the bridal dress in the shop window......"

"That was probably when I was looking at one of the photo albums in the shop window. The Chihuahua that was at the feet of the bride was too cute, so I--"

"T,Then, what about that gentleman? The one you went into the shop together with......"

"That gentleman is the owner of the metal-works store. We just happened to meet in front of the store, so we went up together."

Hazuki-san answered all our questions without much effort.

"......"

"......"

"......In other words."

"We've been wrong all this time--"

Exactly.

"Onee-chan, Onii-chan......"

"Arararara~"

Mika and Nanami-san suddenly looked at Haruka and I with sharp gazes.

"I,I,I,I,I'm sorry! I just assumed that Hazuki-san was......"

"No, I was the one who jumped to conclusions......"

We both bowed our heads apologetically. Ugh, this is so embarrassing. And this is really insensitive to Hazuki-san as well. Apologising is the only thing we can do right now.

Instead, Hazuki-san said to the two of us who had our heads bowed,

"......Thank you very much."

Hazuki-san had a kind smile on her face as she said that. Why did she say something like that?

"Please raise your heads. Your feelings......are enough for me."

"Ha,Hazuki-san......"

"Haruka-sama said those things only because you were thinking of me right? I'm very happy.--Mika-sama and Yuuto-sama too, thank you very much."

"B,But......"

Hazuki-san silenced Haruka with one finger before she could say anything.

"It's alright. And more importantly, please do not cry. I'll feel sad too if Haruka-sama cries like this. Because.....nothing in this world makes me happier than the smiles of my ladies."

"Ha,Hazuki-san, Hazuki-san......"

Tears streaming down her cheeks, Haruka rushed into Hazuki-san's arms like a bull rushing at a bullfighter at Spain's San Fermin festival.

Hazuki-san looked at Haruka kindly, like how a mother would look at her daughter, or how an elder sister would look at her younger sister.

If she looked at Hazuki-san now, Haruka would also surely understand.

Hazuki-san doesn't think of Haruka and Mika as a burden, or as an obstacle to her happiness.

"Uuu......This is so touching~......"

I looked at Nanami-san, and saw her wiping the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.

And just like that, the furor revolving around Hazuki-san ended.

On a side note, sometime after that incident, I asked Hazuki-san about what she was fretting over.

"......My beloved chainsaw didn't seem to be as sharp as before."

For some reason, Hazuki-san seemed to be a little embarrassed to be talking about her chainsaw like that......And speaking of a chainsaw, could she be talking about that weapon from hell that I saw the last time?

"The problem seemed to be that one part of the blade had chipped off, so I went to replace it at the metal-works store that day. The problem was, there were two choices......One was the cheap, multi-purpose stainless steel blade, but it was very sharp. The other option was the expensive Damascus steel that could slice through most things like a knife through hot butter, and also looked really good. I couldn't make up my mind about which to choose, but after hearing what the two ladies said, I finally decided to choose the Damascus steel."

"......"

Can a legendary metal like Damascus steel be used as a chainsaw blade? And also, I really don't think that a chainsaw with wood carvings on its blade would look nice. (TL Note: Swords forged with Damascus steel is characterized by distinctive patterns of banding and mottling reminiscent of flowing water.)

......We really are on completely different wavelengths aren't we.

I thought to myself on a hot summer day.

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| Back to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume2_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume2_Chapter7|Chapter 7]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume2 Chapter5

2012-03-06T01:32:21Z

143.195.201.218: spelling error fireworks

===Chapter 5===

The summer holidays were finally here.

Another name for the summer holidays is the studying-at-home time from the end of July all the way into August.

Although it's a long holiday, but since I won't be doing anything special during the holidays, it doesn't really affect me.

I'll be wasting away at home like a Koala Bear, or I'll be ordered around to run errands for Ruko, or I would be dragged around all over the place by Nobunaga. Such normal, boring days continued to go by until it was already the thirty-first of August when I looked at the calender. Which is why summer holidays is merely a cummulation of weekend holidays to me.

...This was what I had thought until last year's summer holidays.

This year's summer holidays was a little different.

Because for the whole of August, I was assailed by all kinds of sudden situations, making my originally boring summer holidays into one that was fresh and exciting.

And the reason? There can only be one reason.

For me, there is only one difference between this year's summer holidays and last year's.

That is, I got to know Haruka.

Nogizaka Haruka.

She's pretty and extremely clever at the same time, and has a fan club whose members number in the hundreds, is nicknamed the 'Nuit étoile', and she also happens to be the daughter of a rich family.

That someone as amazing as Haruka would actually be friends with an average joe like me, was solely because of the incident that happened four months ago. Ever since I came to know of Haruka's secret, the relationship between us has become deeper and more complicated. In these four months, many things have happened regarding Haruka's secret, and also the people that we've come into contact with. Notable incidents include the 'The incident where half of the school libarary was destroyed', 'Our first shopping trip', 'Studying at the Nogizaka residence', and the 'Exposed magazine incident'. Every exciting thing that I never had the chance to experience seemed to be queueing up for me to experience ever since that incident four months ago.

Ever since I got to know Haruka, the boring days of my life have indeed changed rather drastically.

And also...

'Change' seems to be the word of the season for the summer holidays.

The first monday of August.

The Cicadas outside my home were singing as thought their lives depended on it, so much so that it was more of a 'Cicada Storm' than a 'Cicada rain'. To be honest, I really felt like running out of my house to spray the garden hose at those pesky little insects whose singing was preventing me from sleeping. This year's summer was unbearably hot.

I spread myself on the sofa as I watched television.

"Yawn..."

I'm bored.

This must be how the rich madames who are so bored that they spend most of the day fussing over their pets feel.

It has already been two weeks since the summer holidays started. Apart from the trip to Haruka's house on the first day of the holidays, I haven't done anything interesting for the rest of the two weeks.

As for my recent activities, they basically revolve around being dragged around by Nobunaga, the person whom I practically grew up with to buy games, manga, Dvds...That's weird, why does all my summer holiday activities involve Nobunaga?

Summer holidays shouldn't be like this right?

Shouldn't the summer holidays be about exciting, youthful events such as going to the beach with girls, attending festivals and watching fireworks?

I really thought so, but all talk and no action obviously isn't going to get me anywhere.

Which is the reason why I spend eighty percent of my summer holidays being dragged around by Nobunaha, doing household chorse and taking care of my family's pet turtle (named BIG CAMERA after a certain famous turtle-like monster in a famous Japanese movie), it's kind of sad to be saying this about my own life, but my life is really boring...Haruka hasn't contacted me ever since I went over to her house either. But I'm probably reading to much into it, since Haruka is the 'Nuit étoile', the daughter of a rich family with both brains and beauty in abundance. Even if it's summer holidays, she's probably too busy to have time to contact me.

"Yawn..."

I yawned again.

Compared to the sauna-like conditions outside, the air-conditioned living room seemed like heaven.

As per normal, the television stations had arranged for some programme about unbelievable phenomenon at night again, as the middle-aged host spewed saliva all over the screen as he talked about the possiblity of UFOs.

"--It has also been said that in America, anyone who comes into contact with an alien will be visited by a group of special agents and have their memories wiped almost immediately--"

And at that very moment...

Cluck Cluck Cluck~~Cluck Cluck Cluck~~

A strange clucking suddenly sounded in the entrance hallway.

It was something that never feels to make you feel stupid.

...Although it's embarrassing to admit it, but that's the sound of my home's doorbell. My sister had ordered me to change the doorbell after she had the idea that 'I'm sick of this generic-sounding doorbell, let's have the sound of a foreign chicken clucking'...I really don't know what she has in that head of hers! And also, if she really wanted to change the doorbell, shouldn't she have done it herself?

But then again, now is not the time to be talking about family gossip.

Because I'm the only one at home right now.

Because my parents are busy with work, they rarely spend time at home. And the person who forced me to change the doorbell had run off to a certain music teacher's place in the morning.

Cluck cluck cluck! Cluck cluck cluck!

Which is why I have to shoulder the responsibility of answering the doorbell. Of course, I could just ignore the person if it's a salesman, but it could be a delivery, so I have to go take a look.

Cluck cluck cluck! Cluck cluck cluck!

Just when I was thinking about whether I should get up to answer the door, the stupid-sounding doorbell sounded again. Ah! It's really irritating! Fine, I'll go open the door now! Please stop pressing the doorbell!

To achieve my goal of walking towards the entrance hallway, I slowly got up from the sofa like a polar bear who've had too much to eat.

Bang!

The door to my living room suddenly burst open.

"Ah...!?"

I was completely stunned as I watched my living room door fly right into my television before falling down on the ground.

"Good afternoon! You must be Ayase Yuuto-sama right?"

Following the cheerful voice, a...shades-wearing maid (her normal appearance) appeared at the gaping hole that was once my living room door. She also happened to be holding a huge hammer in her hands.

"Looks like you've been obediently waiting at home~Nanami's here to pick you up!"

"..."

"I rang the doorbell a lot of times but no one answered the door, so I had no choice but to open it a little roughly!"

A little roughly...How can that be 'a little roughly'! You blew my door off its hinges!

The maid-san (wearing sunglasses) looked at me.

"Hmm...You should know why I'm here right? I apologize for any inconvienience caused, but I'm here to fetch you."

"...Why you're here?"

What on earth is going on? Even though I know that my memory's as good as a chicken's, but I can unequivocally confirm that I do not know why a maid-san (wearing sunglasses) whom I have never seen before would break into my living room like this. And to make matters worse, this maid-san hasn't said a word at all about tearing my door off its hinges.

Looking at my reaction, the maid-san (wearing sunglasses) slanted her head slightly as though she couldn't understand why I was acting like this.

"Ah, this isn't how I expected you to react, did something go wrong? Oh well. Because we're on a tight schedule, you have to come with me right now!"

The maid-san (wearing sunglasses) snapped her fingers, summoning two dark figures from her sides. Black dresses with white aprons...They're maids too...something which really shocked me. In the next moment, the two maids stepped forward and propped my entire body up into the air. I don't know what grappling technique they used, but I was completely unable to resist.

"The tar...target has been apprehended! Na...Nanami-san, what do we do now?"

A long-haired, shy-looking bespectacled maid-san (A), asked the first maid-san (wearing sunglasses).

"Hmm...Send him to the car politely."

"Un...Understood."

"Yuuto-sama, we're sorry for the inconvenience."

The other maid-san (B), who had her hair in a ponytail, expressed their apology before moving me away like a piece of luggage.

What is going on? A kidnapping? They can't be MIB can they?

Just like that, I was brought (carried) to a--

--Black Rolls Royce.

This car probably cost more than a hundred times as much as the one that Ruko drives. This would also probably be the top of the list of cars that you would want to scratch with a 10 yen coin (my own rankings).

"Please get in!"

The maid-san (wearing sunglasses) opened the shiny black door of the Rolls Royce and bundled me into the car without waiting for my reply. Just as I fell into the interior of the car, the Rolls Royce started to move off with a light rumble of its exhaust.

It only took three minutes for the maid-san to break into my living room and bundle me into the car.

Such kidnapping efficiency was extremely frightening.

"What is..."

I was unable to comprehend the situation that I was in.

"Onii-chan, good afternoon~~"

Suddenly, someone started speaking to me.

"It's been almost a month since we last met. How have you been?"

This slightly muffled voice was very familiar.

I looked back and saw--

"Mi..Mika?"

The second daughter of the Nogizaka family winked at me as she giggled.

"Hmm? What's wrong? Why do you look like a priest who has just seen Count Dracula walking around in broad daylight? Hmm..I know that you're really happy at seeing cute Mika, but don't you think this is a little too much?"

"..."

---Why is Mika here?

Mika completely ignored how I was still struggling to comprehend the situation I was in as she continued to talk.

"I've heard all about it! I know all about how you were alone in onee-chan's room when I was hunting in Nara, and how the two of you had a really good atmosphere going on. Ah! Onii-chan is really~good at this!"

"..."

"Looks like the day that you'll officially become my brother-in-law isn't far off! Ah, right, this is a present I got you from Nara."

Mika stuffed a bag of Nara's famous Shika Sembei into my lap...Shika Sembei? (TL note: Shika Sembei are deer crackers that tourists in Nara buy to feed deers)

"Hmm..Onii-chan, shouldn't you thank the person whom you've just received a present from?"

"...Ah? Ri...Right, Thank--Hang on, that's not the point!"

I managed to recovered in time to avoid falling into Mika's trap.

I finally realized that Mika was the chief perpetrator of this kidnapping (including the illegal break-in and destruction of personal property). How could she even expect to appease me with a bag of Shika Sembei after she sent her maid-sans to kidnap me from my own living room!

But there was no hint of guilt in Mika's gleeful expression.

"Hmm? Do you really need to be so excited? I never knew that a single bag of Shika Sembei could make you shout for joy! Hmm...I was trying to decide if it'll be better to buy Yatsuhashi instead for close to an hour. Looks like I made the right decision in the end!"

"...I think that you should have just bought Yatsuhashi instead."

Something like that shouldn't take more than three seconds to decide.

"Is that right...But Shika Sembei tastes really good too!"

"That's not he point...Wait a minute, please don't tell me you've already tried eating it?"

"Yes, because it looked really tasty."

Mika beamed with happiness as she confirmed my worst fears

I suddenly had a mental image of Mika fighting for Shika Sembei together with a herd of deer in a random park in Nara...Which part of that forms an image befitting that of a daughter from a rich family?

Ugh, looks like I'm going off topic again. That wasn't the question that I wanted to ask.

"Why did you suddenly do something like this?"

"Like this?"

"This kidnapping..."

Objectively, this really did look like a kidnapping.

Mika seemed to find my question really strange, as she answered,

"Hmm...I don't what onii-chan's talking about, I'm just here to pick you up so that we can go attend onee-chan's piano competition together!"

"Piano competition?"

A piano competition that Haruka's taking part in?

"That's right. I'm sure Oni-chan would want to go support Onee-chan as well right?"

"Ah..."

So Haruka's going to take part in a piano competition! If I had known that Haruka was going to take part in a piano competition, I would surely put down everything I have to do to go and support her.

In short, there wasn't any problem with going to support Haruka, but...

The only problem was that...I only knew about it here (in the Rolls Royce), and now (on the afternoon of the competition), which is a little too sudden, even for me. Shouldn't I have been informed about this at least three days in advance?

Mika puffed up her cheeks in response to my complaints as she looked a little surprised.

"Hmm? But I did! If I remember correctly.....I should have called your house the day before yesterday because Onee-chan was too busy."

"The day before yesterday?"

I should have been out with Nobunaga in Akihabara looking for something called the 'Shy Triangle Second Season Limited Edition Catgirl Figurine First Episode DVD' (This name's really long...) the day before yesterday.

"Yes, but because Oni-chan wasn't home, Oni-chan's sister took the call, so I asked her to pass the message that 'Onee-chan's going to take part in a piano competition the day after tomorrow, so we'll come and pick you up at noon~'"

"...My sister?"

"Yes, she speaks like a samurai."

"...That's definitely Ruko."

But even though I've seen her yesterday night and this morning, Ruko didn't mention anything like that. The whiteboard in the kitchen that's supposed to hold reminders was also blank--

Ding ding ding~

At that very moment, 'The Ride of the Valkyries' sounded on my handphone, and the contents of the message was--

"I just remembered that someone's coming to pick you up today."

This...is too late!

I had the urge to throw my handphone onto the ground. That stupid sister of mine!

And that sister still doesn't know the person who called. She's worse than a kindergarden kid at taking calls. But...how did someone like her become the secretary to the president of a large corporation? Is the industry that short of manpower?

That wasn't the worst part of the message.

"PS:I want to eat crab hotpot tonight, and it better be Matsuba crab. Because Yukari's coming, so you have to get everything ready by seven o'clock."

This really riled me up. It's the middle of summer! How does she expect me to get crabs?

Seeing how I was shaking from anger, Mika could only say,

"Ah...Oni-chan leads such a hard life..."

I've been pitied by a middle school kid. And the expression on her face really gives the impression that she's looking at something really pitiful. Sob...

"Well, let's put that aside first."

Mika mimed pushing an object aside.

"In any case, we're going to Onee-chan's piano concert now, right?"

"...Right."

That's right, there's no use wallowing in self-pity. Since everything ended well, I guess I'll just forgive my sister.

...To be honest, if I don't think like that, I won't be able to take it.

15 minutes after I was bundled into the Rolls Royce.

"--Speaking of which, who's this?"

I looked at the cheerful maid-san who was sitting beside Mika, who also happened to be one of the perpetrators of my kidnapping.

"Ah, that's right, Oni-chan hasn't met Nanami-san before right?"

Mika clapped her hands together lightly.

"Nanami-san?"

Right, she did introduce herself just now, but because the only maids that I've ever seen are the cat-eared maids in Akihabara and the quiet head maid of the Nogizaka family, I didn't know who she was.

"Hmm...She's Nanashiro Nanami--"

"Ah, perhaps I should introduce myself again...Ayase Yuuto-sama, let me introduce myself. I am Nanashiro Nanami, and I am the third-ranked maid in the Nogizaka family."

This maid-san didn't care that the car was still moving as she twirled around with the folds of her maid costume billowing out around her before bowing...Eh? Maid rankings?

"I always hear Haruka-sama, Mika-sama and Hazuki-san talk about Yuuto-sama."

The maid-san said as she giggled. What have the three of them been talking about me? To be honest, I was quite interested in that.

"Nanami-san usually acts as Hazuki-san's second in command. She's also one of the more experienced maids in the family, as she has been with us for a long time. Hazuki-san went out with Onee-chan yesterday, so Nanami-san's here with me."

Mika paitently explained.

Even though she looks a little careless, but she seems to be quite the character.

"We'll be seeing each other quite often from now on, so you can relax. Just call me Nana-chan."

"...Please take good care of me Nanami-san."

It's impossible for me to address a girl who isn't much older than myself with a '-chan'. Even when I'm referring to a certain music teacher, I would still add a '-sensei' after her name.

"Hmm...Yuuto-sama, you're a stubborn one! It's good to stick to your principles, but if you don't maintain a certain level of flexibility, you won't have any luck with the girls!"

She smiled teasingly.

I could feel that Nanami-san was an extremely friendly maid-san, the completely opposite of the head maid, whose facial expression wouldn't change even if she was spraying bullets around while robbing a bank.

"Oni-chan, you're too serious about things! Although that's not a bad thing...Ah, let's eat some Shika Sembei! We seem to be quite a distance away from our destination, is there anything to drink?"

"Yes there is, everything from sugared water to Romanee Conti."

Sugared water? Who's going to drink sugared water? And the main problem is, is Mika really going to eat the Shika Sembei?

"Then I guess I'll have some Coke. Because the Shika Sembei's more on the salty side, so a sweeter drink should go down well."

"No problem."

...She really does look as if she's going to eat the Shika Sembei.

"What about Oni-chan?"

"...I just want some tea."

I'm definitely not touching the Shika Sembei.

And just like that, the three of us passed some time that had Shika Sembei as the main dish.

"--Ah, speaking of which..."

"Hmm?"

I suddenly remembered something, as I whispered to Mika,

"...Does Nanami-san know about Haruka's hobby?"

I suddenly thought about Haruka's hobby.

'That thing', which also happened to be how I got know Haruka, was something that most people would never think of when looking at Haruka. I had to know if Nanami-san was in on this secret before deciding on how to interact with her.

This was also the reason why I was asking Mika in such a serious tone. However...

"Yes, she knows about it."

Mika nodded her head lightly before turning to Nanami-san,

"Right, Nanami-san?"

"Hmm? About what?"

"About Onee-chan's secret hobby."

"Ah, right, I know all about it."

Nanami-san nodded her head vigourously.

"Hee hee, Haruka-sama's really cute!"

"To be honest, it's impossible for Onee-chan not to be found out. Even grandpa knows about it. I should think that everyone who works in the house knows about her secret hobby. Father and mother should be the only ones who haven't noticed it...Although Onee-chan still think that she has a well-hidden secret."

...I see. Once I thought about it, Mika was right. Even though Haruka wants to hide this from everyone, but because she's doing things that do not contribute to her keeping of the secret, it's no surprise that she's unable to keep her secret a secret (that's a really hard-to-understand sentence there...). It can only be seen as a miracle that she has been able to keep her secret under wraps at school all this while...Looks like I'll have to be more careful so as to prevent Haruka's secret from getting out from now on.

I looked out of the window with a new perspective on the matter.

"Hmm?"

I realized that the Rolls Royce had left the highway while I was busy talking to Mika and Nanami-san.

The Rolls Royce weaved in and out of the traffic as it roared towards its detination with amazing speed.

...Where is it moving towards?

I started to get a bad feeling about this whole thing.

I had thought that the piano competition was going to be held comewhere in the city, but looking at the current situation, I was more inclined to think that the competition was going to be held in another city. If it's really like that, then it'll be quite a stretch to try to get back home within a day. The two hungry puppies (they aren't that cute in real life) will still be at home tonight, so I still hope to be able to get home before dinner.

"Hmm, where is the piano competition going to be held?"

"Eh? Didn't Onee-chan tell you?"

Mika blinked as she happily munched on a piece of Shika Sembei.

The next moment, Mika gave a smile that was almost a carbon copy of how Haruka would smile, as she replied,

"London~"

I would have never thought that I would experience my very first trip overseas, my very first first-class flight experience in home casual wear and a pair of slippers...I really hope that I'm dreaming.

The first-class cabin is a place where even the air is high-class.

Looking over at the other occupants of the cabin, I could only see either well-dressed gentlemen or classy rich ladies. I guess I'm the only one who would dress so casually to take a flight in the first-class cabin. Even the clothes that the rich ladies dog was wearing looked more expensive than the clothes that I was wearing, which made me feel really uncomfortable.

I really didn't feel like I belonged in this place.

"It's alright, I think that Oni-chan's dressing is really unique!

Mika probably saw that I was a little too sad, as she tried to comfort me.

"Really unique?"

"Yes, your style looks really unique, like a French Bulldog in the middle of a crowd of Chiwawas."

That did not make me feel better, how is being a French Bulldog going to make me feel good about myself...

There was another question that I wanted to ask Mika.

Normally, no matter if a person wanted to go overseas for a holiday, or to emigrate to another country, that person would need a passport. As I've never gone overseas before, I don't have a passport.

But for some unknown reason, I was holding a passport in my hands, and it had a photo that I don't remember taking.

Other than the mystery of the passport photo, it would take at least two weeks of red tape to obtain a passport, but...

I asked Nanami-san about it.

"It's a corporate secret."

That was how she replied me. So...What exactly is this corporate secret...

"It's a corporate secret."

"So..."

"It's a corporate secret."

"Just how..."

"It's a corporate secret."

"...I get it."

I guess that's all I'm going to get out of her.

Looks like the maids of the Nogizaka family have an unspeakable grey area.

We landed at London's Heathrow Airport shortly after my conversation with Nanmi-san before going towards London in yet another of the Nogizaka family limousines.

Mika also took the chance to tell me more about London's iconic landmarks as we passed them.

"That's the famous Tower Bridge on River Thames, a certain masked superman got the name for his ultimate attack from here. That's the British Museum, the famous Rosetta Stone is in there. And that's Buckingham Palace..."

"You're really familiar with the city..."

Mika's familiarity with London would embarrass many a tourist guide.

"I'm not that familiar with the city! This is only my eleventh time here!"

Mika replied nonchalantly.

My god! That's about the same number of times I've gone on tourist trips in Japan (including graduation trips)...

"I've been to many other countries too, I've been to Italy fifteen times, France twelve times, Germany nine times, Australia nineteen times...Ah, and thirty seven times to America, also--"

"..."

Mika (fourteen years old) was happily counting off the countries that she had visited.

Well, I guess that's too be expected of a daughter of the Nogizaka family. She's only fourteen, but going to a foreign country is like shopping at the local grocery store to her.

--And speaking of travelling, I still cannot believe that I'm actually here in England.

I thought to myself as I looked at the view outside the limousine. A few hours ago, I would never have imagined that I would be in a limousine, looking out at the very sights that I had only been able to see on television or postcards. Ever since I got to know Haruka, I've been overwhelmed with these new experiences, but I'm enjoying these new experiences.

The piano competition was to be held at Victoria concert hall, situated right in the heart of the city.

The massive concert hall looked more like a palace as it hulked over us.

Just for your information, it took us a grand total of fourteen hours to get here from Japan.

But all these still felt surreal to me...And I guess that was probably...no, definitely because I was still dressed the same way that I would normally dress for a trip to the local convienience store.

"This way please."

We followed Nanami-san into the concert hall.

Even though I was already prepared for how grand the concert hall was from its exterior, I was still caught off-guard but the grandeur of its interior.

Whether it was the high ceiling, or the vast amount of seats in the concert hall, the luxurious renovations, the fluent english that everyone conversed in, or the celebrities and rich people in formal wear, everything had absolutely no connection with me.

We were brought to the most high-profile seat in the concert hall, the vip seats.

"Wow, this is great..."

The vip seats were situated on a balcony on the third storey of the concert hall, overlooking the entire hall.

"Oni-chan, your seat is beside mine."

"Alright."

Mika pointed at a row of three seats that were placed together like what royalty would sit on. I gingerly sat on the luxurious seat as I got a first-hand experience of how soft it was, as though there were ten blankets worth of down feathers in the cushioning.

"If you can't see the stage properly, we also have telescopes.

"I'm alright! What about you, Oni-chan?"

"I don't have any problems either."

Even with my short-sightedness, I could still see the piano on the stage very clearly, these really were the best seats in the concert hall.

"Yuuto-sama, would you like anything to drink?"

I leaned over the railing to look down as Nanami-san asked me a question.

"Hmm? There are drinks provided?"

I was under the impression that pets and food and drink were not allowed in a concert hall like this.

Nanami-san nodded.

"There are. It's not allowed, but because these seats are EXSSS, there's a private bar situated here!"

"E...Executive Triple S?"

"Yes, it's Executive Triple S."

I never knew that there would be a row of seats with such a long name, and I still can't believe that I was sitting on one of these seats.

I looked around the concert hall once more as I waited for the surreal feeling to disappear.

It wouldn't be too much to say that these seats would really be hated by the normal citizens in the standing area.

I probably won't get another chance to sit on such a seat for the rest of my life right? Then I should really enjoy this feeling of being king as much as possible right now. I placed my elbows on the handrests as I crossed my legs proudly. Wow, even the world looks different.

After going milking the moment for all its worth (short-lived happiness)...

I suddenly noticed something.

"Ah, Nanami-san, won't you sit down?"

Actually, I've noticed that this energetic maid-san had been standing beside Mika ever since we came in, with no intention of sitting down.

Hmm, why doesn't she want to sit on such a nice seat?

"It's alright, it's basic manners for a maid to not sit beside her master.

Nanami-san smiled as she replied.

"...Is that right?"

"Yes, that's how it is."

Is it really like that?

To be honest, I really don't recall Hazuki-san ever sitting down in front of Haruka. I see, that's a basic rule of being a maid.

But at the same moment, another question popped into my head.

"--Hmm? But if Nanami-san's not going to sit down, then there's one extra seat right?"

"Eh? Why?"

"Because...Because there are three seats here...Ah, is Haruka coming too?"

"Hmm...I don't think she's coming."

Mika twirled a strand of hair around her finger as she shook her head.

"Onee-chan's taking part in the competition, so she has her own dressing room. Hazuki-san should be with her in the dressing room."

"Then--"

There's a problem with the number of seats?

If Haruka's not coming and Nanami-san's not going to sit down, then two seats will be enough for Mika and me.

But there were three seats.

"..."

I suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

It was like how the weather forecast only predicts rainy days correctly...Anyway it was the kind of feeling that's never right about good things, but always right about bad things. And what made this worse was the fact that in my case, this bad feeling had a hundred percent success rate.

"Oh, that's Oto-san's seat."

Mika responded to my question as casually as how she would say 'It's a sunny day today'.

"...Oto-san?"

"Right, our oto-san, which is, OUR FA~THER."

I don't know why she had to repeat it in english, but I still thought about the meaning behind that word. Oto-san...

Oto-san means father, and Mika's father is also Haruka's father, and then Haruka's father is...

--It can't be! That person that Haruka had once talked about...that he's going to be here...

This was something big...At least, now wasn't the time for me to be crossing my legs like a rich man.

"Mika, you're already here?"

Just as I finally realized what situation I was in. A voice sounded behind me.

"Nanami, thank you for your hard work."

It was a voice that was low and powerful.

--This...It can't be...

I turned back stiffly, feeling like a broken down robot, and what I saw was -- A tall, well-built man with piercing eyes, his hair combed back, making it hard to gues his actual age.

"Ah, you must be Ayase! I've heard about you from Hazuki and the others."

This man looked at me with the eyes of a thunder god and offered his muscular hand to me.

"It's good to see you. I am Nogizaka Gentou, Haruka and Mika's father."

Haruka's father was standing right in front of me.

From the direction of the stage, Mika was sitting between her father and me (Nanami-san stood behind her.

Even though I felt lucky that Mika was sitting in the middle, but...I was still very nervous, feeling like I had just walked into the cage of a carnivorous beast with fresh meat in my hands. One wrong step, and I could possibly be a floating corpse in the straits of Dover by this time tomorrow.

That is why the most intelligent thing to do now was to act like a stray dog who has just lost his territory, just quietly...wait for the time to pass! At least with Mika between us, I don't think Haruka's father would point his spear of questioning towards me (hopefully).

However, just as I breathed out in relief at the thought of Mika shielding me--

"Ah, I'll go look for Onee-chan!"

"!?"

--Mika surprised me yet again.

"I'm a little worried about Onee-chan, and since there's still a bit of time to go to the start of the competition, I think I'll make a trip down to the dressin room."

"Then I should go too..."

"Ah, Oni-chan, you should just sit here and rest! You're our guest after all!"

Mika cut me off with a smile before she left her seat, Nanami-san following after her.

Don't...Don't leave me here! You could have at least noticed the awkward atmosphere here...

My soundless cry for help fell on deaf ears.

"Oni-chan, I'll see you in a while!"

"Please take care of yourself!"

And just like that, the two of them disappeared into the other side of the stairway.

"..."

"..."

Of course, the only ones left on the seats were Haruka's father and me.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The atmosphere in the viewing balcony was as heavy as a bear who has fattened up for hibernation.

I felt as though something extremely heavy was pressing down on me.

"..."

"..."

...This...What should I do about this?

I really felt like crying.

I prayed silently to some unknown god in this hellish silence as I wished with all my might for Mika (in such desperate times, even Hazuki-san or Nanami-san will do) to come back.

I don't know how long this situation lasted.

Objectively, I guess it should only have been about five to ten minutes. But to me, it was like eternity.

"...You're Ayase-kun right?"

"Ye...Yes."

Haruka's father started to talk in a serious tone.

"There's something that I would like to talk to you..."

Ring ring ring ring ring!

But just as he was about to continue talking, his phone convieniently (or should I say, inconvieniently?) rang.

"Excuse me, I have to take this call."

Haruka's father put the phone to his ear with an irritated expression on his face.

"--It's me."

He spoke in a low but powerful voice as he talked to the person on the other side of the conversation.

"What? You don't need to ask me about something like that, just do it yourself!"

...Do it?

"Yes, that's right. If it's going to be useful then just strike it off (from the list). Have I not always said that we need only to leave the ones that are useful to us?"

...This...Is he telling the other person to kill the peolple that aren't useful to them?

"You're asking me how you should take care of the remains? Just throw it anywhere you like (in the corner of the warehouse)!"

Throw...Throw it anywhere you like? Is he referring to Tokyo bay?

"--That should be it, don't bother me about this anymore."

Haruka's father breathed out heavily as he kept his cellphone.

"I'm sorry, there seems to be a bit of confusion over in Japan."

"It's...It's alright..."

...Are they fighting over territory? I didn't dare to delve deeper into the problem.

"..."

"..."

We lapsed into an uncomfortable silence once again.

The good thing was that the awkward silence didn't carry on for long.

"---You're Ayase-kun right?"

Haruka's father looked at me with the eyes of an ancient artifact expert who was trying to ascertain whether a certain artifact was real or not.

"Yes...Yes I am."

"There's something that I want to ask you--"

"Oni-chan!"

Haruka's father was once again cut off by a sudden voice.

It was Mika.

When did she come back? She hopped over like a feisty rabbit as she pulled on the sleeve of my shirt,

"Oni-chan, Onee-chan's calling you--Eh? Oto-san, were the two of you talking about something?"

"--No."

Haruka's father shook his head in reply.

"It's nothing...Haruka wants Ayase-kun to go over?"

"That's right! Onee-chan's really nervous about going on stage, but she seems to want to see Oni-chan to help calm herself down. The dressing room's off-limits to outsiders, but Oni-chan won't have a problem...Because you're not an outsider, right~"

Mika looked at me as she spoke suggestively.

"Hee hee hee, because Oni-chan's the only candidate to be my brother-in-law!"

"...Brother-in-law?"

My...My god...It was horrible to be the target of a death-stare from Haruka's father.

"Oni-chan, hurry up! Let's go!"

Mika was literally hugging me as she dragged me from my seat. My waist came into contact with something soft, and the sweet smell of Mika's hair wound it's way into my nostrils...

"..."

And then, Haruka's father's stare became even sharper, as it shot towards me with the force of a railgun.

...Perhaps I won't be in the world of the living anymore tomorrow morning.

Haruka's dressing room was the last one in the corridor that was one floor below the stage.

Under the guidance of Mika and Nanami-san, I immediately saw the familiar expressionless maid-san, who stood outside the door to Haruka's dressing room like a neon sign.

"Hazuki-san, I've brought Yuuto-sama here!"

"...Yuuto-sama, it's been quite a while."

Hazuki-san bowed with her usual expressionless face the moment she saw me coming. Her expressionless face was made even more obvious by the contrast between her and Nanami-san, who was stading beside her. Contrary to her appearance, she's actually quite a nice person.

"It's been quite a while since I saw you too, Hazuki-san. Haruka's looking for me?"

"Yes. Haruka-sama says that no matter what, she wants to see Yuuto-sama before she goes on stage. Haruka-sama seems to be really nervous..."

"Nervous?"

"She's always been like this."

Mika shrugged.
"Onee-chan is the type of person who would think a lot about any kind of activity before doing it. She's the kind of person who would only be able to sleep soundly after making sure that she is prepared for everything that the activity could possibly require. The 'shopping guide' from a while back was also the result of her character, which is why Onee-chan'll always be nervous about such a competition. Even though she doesn't even need to be at her best to win a competition like this."

I understood what Mika was trying to say. In other words, Haruka always puts in her best effort for anything. To put it nicely, you could say that Haruka'll never slack on the job. Even though she seems to be a really smart girl, but in reality, she's rather unflexible when it comes to such things.

"However, Onee-chan seems to be more nervous than usual today. She seems to be thinking more than she usually does about the competition, which makes her even more nervous. But since it's Onee-chan, this competition shouldn't be a problem for her."

Mika nodded as she continued,

"But I really don't understand why Onee-chan's so concerned about this competition."

I don't understand that either. Just what is the reason behind Haruka's abnormal behavious?

No matter what the reason is, the only thing that I can do now is--

"Well then, I guess I'll just go and talk to Haruka to try to get her to relax?"

"Please do."

Hazuki-san nodded her head.

"Then we shall be going back to the third storey first."

"Oni-chan, you're the chosen one!"

"It's so hot in here! I'm so jealous! Somebody lower the temperature in here!"

Mika and Nanami-san teased me simultaneously...I suddenly realized that the two of them were very alike.

"Please don't do anything strange just because the two of you are alone in the room!"

"Because there are cameras in the dressing room!"

How could I do something like that!

Just as I was going to walk into the dressing room while ignoring the exaggerated teasing from Mika and Nanami-san, Hazuki-san called out to me.

"Yuuto-sama."

Hazuki-san bowed deeply to me with a serious expression on her face.

"I leave Haruka-sama in your hands."

"Ah, Yuuto!"

Haruka bounced towards me with the energy of a puppy running towards its mother the moment she saw me.

"Thank you so much for coming all the way to London today."

She clutched my hand tightly.

"Sorry for not contacting you recently, I was extremely busy with piano practise for the competition...I actually have a lot of things I want to talk to you about."

Haruka, whom I had not seen for two weeks, was wearing a white evening gown.

Probably because she was practising on the piano before I came in, Haruka's face was red. Also, for the sake of easier moment of her hands, her evening gown (I heard that it was specially tailored for the competition) did not cover her shoulders, and the front of the gown was designed rather elegantly...Hmm...How should I describe it, it was a little sexy!

My heart started to pump...No, if this goes on, I won't be able to dismiss Mika and Nanami-san's teasing.

"Hmm...Is there something wrong with my appearance?"

Haruka leaned her head to one side as she looked at me.

"No...Nothing's wrong."

I'm the one who's acting strangely.

"?"

"An...Anyway, don't mind me."

I looked away from Haruka to survey her dressing room.

The dressing room was about twenty tatamis in size.

There was a long mirror on the left wall of the room, with a grand piano placed in front of the mirror.

"Wow, that grand piano looks really expensive."

"Hmm? Ah...Yes it is."

The tone with which Haruka replied to my question implied that she probably thought that I just asked a strange question.

Other than the piano, there was also a cupboard and some other cabinets for Haruka to put her personal stuff.

And then, I saw a very familiar object.

It was placed on top of a large stack of music scores. From the direction of the piano keys, it was right in front of the player.

The object was a small figurine of about 10cm in height of a girl with blue hair who held the hem of her dress with the tips of her fingers as she bowed. I remember that this was...

"Ah."

Haruka immediately hid the figurine away after she noticed me looking at it.

"This...This is...I brought it over here as an amulet..."

For some unknown reason, Haruka's face was beet-red.

"That's...That's why...There's no special meaning...No, I can't say that there's no specialy meaning, actually..."

"I know, because you really like this...what was it called...the 'Shy shy pose'? You brought it here because you really like this figurine right?"

"Ah, ye...yes."

This was probably what Haruka always does! It's quite normal for someone to want to have something that they like nearby when they're in such a tense enviroment. This is a personal characteristic, so Haruka really didn't need to explain!

Upon hearing my explanation, Haruka's expression suddenly became very complicated.

"...It's not just that, because you...It...It's nothing"

Haruka shook her head wildly.

"An...Anyway, don't mind this, please don't think about this anymore!"

"Eh? Oh...Alright."

I have no idea why Haruka's so nervous about this.

I sat down on a foldable chair that was placed in a corner of the room.

Haruka was more energetic than I had thought she would be, and she didn't seem to be very nervous. I guess I won't need to worry too much about her right? She should be alright.

--But almost immediately, I realized just how wrong I was.

Five minutes later.

"Ah, hmm, it should be like this..."

Haruka sat in front of the piano as she started to groan like a mangaka who's going to miss a deadline.

"This...this part should be like this..."

Haruka's beautiful fingers wavered uncertainly over the piano keys.

Haruka had began warming up before I came in, but...from what I could see, she didn't seem to be in a very good condition.

Even someone who doesn't know anything about music like me could hear that she was playing some parts of the song wrongly, and furthermore, her movements were extremely stiff, like a metal toy that hasn't been oiled for a long time.

"Eh? Eh? How should this part be? Ah...This..."

Haruka's eyes were completely unfocused as she attempted to find the right keys. Is...this really alright?

"Don't worry, even though Onee-chan's always like this before she goes on stage, she always manages to win the competition."

Even though Mika had said that, but looking at Haruka's current condition, I was extremely worried.

To alleviate Haruka's nervousness, should I tell her a joke? Or perhaps I should imitate a gorrilla (when I was in primary school, Ruko had forced me to do that)? But just as I was trying to decide on the best way to get Haruka to relax...

"I'm sorry, Yuuto-san, but could you get those scores for me?"

"Hmm? These ones?"

"Ah. Yes, all of them.

There were a few books of scores piled up in another corner of the room. As they were all wrapped up in book covers, their titles could not be seen. I grabbed those scores and passed them to Haruka.

"Sorry for making you get it for me.."

Just as Haruka was about to place one of the scores onto the piano stand--

"Ah...Kyaa~"

Haruka suddenly screamed shrilly, sounding like a girl who had just bought a hamster from a friend for 2000 yen, only to find that its actually a rat.

"What...What's wrong?"

"i...I brought the wrong score."

I looked at the music stand on the piano, and saw that the title of the score was 'The Shy Triangle BGM Collection' (There was also a hand-drawn picture of a blue-haired girl whose pose had clearly exceeded the limits of the human body...Hmm...About the drawing, I don't think there's a need for me to elaborate on its origins).

...My god!

Even I could see what had just happened. It was obvious that Haruka had brought the wrong 'music score'.

"What...What should I do?"

Haruka looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"Is it a very bad thing to be without your music score?"

"No...Not really, I've actually memorised it, so there shouldn't be a problem. I'm just a little worried about the introduction of the piece..."

...Looks like it really is a very bad thing to be without the music score!

"...Haruka, what is the title of the music score?"

"Complete Collection of Transcendental Etudes..."

It was the set of epic-sounding pieces that I once seen in Haruka's room.

"I get it, Haruka, wait for me here."

"Eh? Yuuto-san? Where...Where are you going?"

"I'll be right back!"

I rushed out of the dressing room.

I decided to go and discuss the problem with Hazuki-san, Nanami-san and Mika first, as they might have brought an extra set of scores. If they haven't, then I'll go and look for a music shop. Although I don't have much confidence in my english, but...they should understand body language!

I better look for Hazuki-san and the others first.

Hazuki-san had said that she was going back to the vip seats on the third storey, so Mika and Nanami-san should also be there.

I rushed through the corridor to get to the staircase, but just as I turned the corner of the first flight of stairs...

"...Eh?"

A girl wearing an evening gown suddenly entered my field of vision.

I tried to avoid her, but due to the laws of physics, the speed at which I was going dictated that I would be unable to stop in time.

Which means that...

"Ah!"

"Ah!"

I ran straight into the girl, who fell backwards onto the floor, the object that she was holding flying out of her hands.

"It's really painful...You...Why did you suddenly run around the corner!"

The girl sat up as her eyebrows wrinkled in pain.

"It's unbelievable that anyone would run around the corner of the stairwell like that!"

It was exactly what I had just dont...So I should just apologise.

"I'm sorry, I was in a hurry...Ah, no, that's not what I should be saying..."

I only realized that I was in England, not Japan halfway through my apology.

"I...I AM SORRY...HURRY UP..."

"Huh? What do you mean by 'hurry up'?"

"Ah, No...Not that!"

Just for your information, my english standard is grade three. Grade three, out of a possible ten grades.

"Ah! What should I say in a situation like this? HOLD UP...Eh? No, that doesn't sound right either..."

"Yes, that isn't what you should be saying."

"That's what I thought. Then I should...Huh? You're speaking Japanese?"

I suddenly realized that the girl was speaking in Japanese (too late).

"You...You're Japanese? Ah!"

The girl looked at me with a surprised expression on her face.

"Could it be...that you're either a friend or family of Nogizaka-san?"

"Hmm? Yes..."

"Ah, just as I thought. I had guessed that the two of you knew each other after I saw you walk into her dressing room. What's your relationship to her? You can't be her younger brother can you? The two of you don't look alike."

The girl was starting to ramble. Is she...a friend of Haruka?

I asked her about it.

"Ah, no. Because Nogizaka-san's a very famous person, so I know her, but she doesn't know me."

The girl replied.

"Right, I'm Shina. Amamiya Shina. What's your name?"

"Hmm? Me? I'm Ayase Yuuto..."

"I see. Hmm...I guess I can call it fate for the two of us to collide here? Can I call you Yuuto? Please take care of me."

The girl shook her layered short hair as she giggled and offered her hand to me. She's the first person I've meet who calls a person whom she's just met for the first time in her life by his full name. She seems to be a very friendly girl.

"Please take care of me too."

I shook Shina's hand before helping her to her feet. Shina smiled with a satisfied look on her face.

"Shina, are you here to take part in the competition too?"

"Hmm? Of course I am. Why else would I be wearing an evening gown here if I weren't taking part in the competition."

She pulled on the hem of her gown as she mischievously winked to me.

"To be honest, I'm more surprised to see you dressed like this here. There really isn't another person in this concert hall who'll walk around in slippers and casual clothes!"

"There were irresistable factors behind this..."

I described what I had gone through to Shina (Kidnapping + Straight to the airport + Sitting in first-class + Straight to Victoria Concert Hall).

"Hahaha! You're really funny!"

But all I got for it was such a reaction from Shina...Oh well! I should have expected that.

"Speaking of which, Yuuto, what were you in such a hurry for?"

"Ah!"

I suddenly remembered what I was supposed to be doing after Shina reminded me about it. Now wasn't the time for such casual conversation, I have to find Hazuki-san and the others to solve the problem--

"I'm sorry, but I have to go now...Eh?"

I suddenly realized that this friendly girl was also taking part in the competition. Hmm...Maybe she'll--

"Right, Shina..."

"Hmm?"

Since it had come to this, I decided to give it a try.

Which was why I asked Shina about the score that Haruka needed. And then--

"Yes, I have it, is it this one?"

Shina took out a set of scores from the pile that was scattered around on the floor.

"So you were looking for this?"

"Yes."

"Hmm...Do you want to borrow it from me?"

"Well..."

Shina smiled as she looked at me.

"It's for Nogizaka-san right?"

"Uh..."

We've just met! Is it because she's really intuitive, or is it written all over my face?

Now's not the time to talk about this. I didn't think that she would believe me if I lied, so I just nodded my head. Shina merely looked at me as she said 'I see!' before giving me a knowing smile.

"Alright, I'll lend it to you."

Shina passed the book of scores to me.

"...Is this really alright?"

"Yes, this isn't the piece that I'll be playing for the competition."

"But..."

Shina's taking part in the competition, which makes her one of Haruka's competitors. Normally, I would be a little suspicious of why she would lend her scores to me so easily. But since I was one who asked for her help, I had no reason to be suspicious.

"It's alright, just take it. If I'm unable to win just because I lent a competitor my scores, then it merely shows that I was never good enough to compete."

Shina waved her hand in front of her face.

"And furthermore, it's not everyday that I get the chance to lend my scores to Nogizaka-san."

She spoke as though I was overreacting.

"--Since you've put it like this, then I shall borrow it from you. Thank you very much."

"Haha! No problem!"

Shina giggled as she replied.

This girl was a really good person.

"Thank you once again."

I thanked Shina once more before hurrying back to Haruka's dressing room.

"Ah, Yuuto-san..."

Haruka looked at me, the lonely look in her eyes giving the impression of a bird who has been left behind by its flock. Ah...I shouldn't have left you here by yourself, but I had no other choice!

"Here."

I passed the scores to Haruka, whose eyes widened in surprise.

"What...What is this about?"

"I borrowed it, everything's fine now right?"

"Ye...Yes. But, how did you..."

"Well, it's a long story..."

It's not a good time to tell Haruka that I borrowed the scores from one of her competitors as that would probably make her even more nervous.

"Anyway, don't worry about little things like that?"

"..."

Haruka thought about it for a little before finally nodding her head in agreement.

"...I'll listen to you. I won't think about this for the time being."

"Thank you."

"But to be honest..."

"Hmm?"

Haruka looked at me.

"--Yuuto-san, you're really reliable. You're always here to help me whenever I'm in trouble, just like...a knight in shining armour."

"You...What are you talking about..."

"Hehe!"

Haruka looks so cute when she smiles like that...

No matter what Haruka seems to have relaxed somewhat.

For some time after that, Haruka practised her piece, practised her stage entrance, and also chatted with me occasionally.

Until there 45 minuties before the beginning of the competition...

"I'm really sorry, but we have to start preparing for the competition. Yuuto-sama, I'm afraid you'll have to go out."

After Hazuki-san made that request, I walked out of the dressing room and sat down on the chair that was closest to the dressing room, flipping through the programme as I waited for Haruka to finish preparing for the competition.

There were eight participants for today's competition, and Haruka would be the fifth one to go on stage. I had thought that there would be more participants....Looks like they've already gone through several preliminary rounds before today's competition.

"That's right, there would surely be more than eight competitors at the beginning of the competition..."

Because this competition isn't on the same level as some random chess competition for kids held at a department store! Just as I confirmed my stupidity once again...

I heard Hazuki-san's voice coming from the dressing room.

"We're ready, Yuuto-sama, you can come in now."

The first thing I saw when I walked back into the dressing room was--

"Ah, Yuu...Yuuto-san."

Haruka in all her competition finery.

Her hair was braided up as a nice scent floated across the room to me. Some accerssories had been added onto her while evening gown, and they glittered under the light of the dressing room.

But the most important part was Haruka herself.

The blushing Haruka that I had seen before was also very nice, but...A relaxed Haruka with makeup on was even more stunning.

My heart started to beat with the velocity of a bullet train again. MY HEART! Slow down!

"Haruka-san, I will be waiting outside."

Was Hazuki-san trying to leave Haruka and I alone together?

After Hazuki-san closed the door behind her, the dressing room lasped into an awkward silence.

"Because I rarely braid my hair, so I don't know how I look..."

"It...It really suits you."

I'm so nervous precisely because Haruka looks really good with her hair braided.

"Re...Really? Hehe, I'm so happy..."

Haruka smiled as she lightly turned her upper body, allowing me to have a better look at her evening gown.

"Look at this, the frontal design of this gown's really interesting, and the design of the back of the gown's really cute too."

Just as Haruka twirled around to show me the back of her gown...

"Ah!"

She stepped on the hem of her long evening gown.

"Kya!"

Haruka spun in mid-air as she was thrown off-balance.

"Haruka!"

I instinctively lunged towards Haruka as she fell towards the ground, managing to catch her just in time.

"Ah, that was close..."

I managed to keep my balance as I breathed out in relief.

"I...I'm sorry."

"As long as you're--"

I didn't get to finish my sentence.

I didn't do this on purpose.

There's a very innocent reason for the current situation.

Me catching Haruka, Haruka getting caught by me, the situation brought about by these two actions was--

"?"

Haruka looked at me with the eyes of a new-born deer before realizing the position she was in.

"Ah!"

Haruka, who was lying in my lap like a princess, immediately lowered her head as she blushed furiously. Because her reaction was so cute, the rate of my heartbeat started to increase again...

"I...I..."

"Ugh..."

The two of us froze.

Ugh...What in the world are we doing?

Half-lying on the ground in such a position, and then suddenly freezing in place like an ancient computer that suddenly hangs after 10 years of usage. One was an average person in casual clothes and slippers, while the other was a dignified lady from a rich family in her stunning concert attire.

Objectively, we must look really weird.

But...

Haruka's face was right in front of my eyes, I suddenly realized that we've never been so close to each other before.

I could clearly feel Haruka's warmth and the softness of her skin, and my nostrils were full of the scent of her hair. I felt as though I could literally hear my own heartbeat pumping furiously. And then, my self-control withered like a slug covered with a think layer of salt...

No, No!

I shook my head violently as I desperately tried to control myself.

--Calm down and think about what I should do!

I thought of three choices in this situation.

1: Pretend that nothing happened, help Haruka up and ask 'Are you alright'?

2: Maintain our current position and wait for time to pass.

3: Hug Haruka.

...Firstly, the third choice is definitely out of the question. If I were to do something like this right before the competition, Haruka would surely be affected by my actions. If something happens to her performance later because of my actions, then I would be a criminal.

Which is why only the first and second choices remained.

The second choice didn't seem very viable to me, while I would already have chosen the first choice if I were smart enough.

--Suddenly, all three choices disappeared.

This is bad.

This is really bad!

...I suddenly realized that something like this always happens the moment I'm alone with Haruka.

I snuck a peek at Haruka.

Haruka hadn't moved at all.

While I was desperately trying to decide on my course of action, Haruka, whose face largely resembled an Italian tomato, continued to lie in my arms.

Only her eyes was looking straight at me--

"...Ah!"

"...Ah!"

For a moment, our eyes met.

Our gazes locked together, the distace between us a mere ten centimetres.

I saw myself, stiff and awkward, reflected in Haruka's large eyes, while a blushing Haruka was reflected from my glasses.

This continued for about ten seconds.

And then, Haruka slowly closed her eyes.

"!?"

...How am I supposed to interpret that action?

If it was any other girl, this action would probably mean 'that' right? But because it's Haruka, the chances of misinterpretation is very high. If I were to act without thinking about the consequences, then that action might result in a lifetime of regret (Haruka screams + Haruka's father appears + I get thrown into the straits of Dover).

But my heart spoke differently.

Under such circumstances, Haruka had no other reason to close her eyes than for 'that'. There were only two of us in the room, time seemed to have stopped, the girl has just closed her eyes. Every single condition had been fufilled. It's not possible that Haruka closed her eyes at this moment because she was sleepy...Which means that it'll be rude for me not to do anything? But...

My god! What should I do!

Could it be...that we'll get to that level today...

After a lifetime (at least, it felt like a lifetime) of internal struggle, my overheating neural system overpowered my weakened self-controlled and plunged towards the third choice--

"I'm very sorry to interrupt such an important moment."

"!?"

A voice that was as calm as the surface of a lake roughly pulled Haruka and I back to reality.

"Ah!"

"Kya!"

I looked back and saw Hazuki-san standing behind us.

"...I'm used to such a reaction already, so I don't think you'll require an explanation."

I really don't like this...How is it possible that this person is always able to appear behind Haruka and I without either of us noticing! She's like an assassin!

Seeing the disappointment etched into my face, Hazuki-san gave me an apologetic look as she said.

"...I'm sorry, I really didn't want to interrupt, it's just that...it's almost time."

"Time?"

"Yes, the third competitor has just finished. Haruka-sama will have to go onstage in a short while, so it'll be better to start preparing backstage..."

Is it that time already? I looked at the clock on the wall, and saw that there was indeed only seven minutes to go until Haruka was scheduled to go onstage.

Objectively, the time that I had just spent with Haruka wasn't as short as I had thought it was.

"Ah, yes, I understand."

Haruka stood up hurridly as she attempted to tidy up her evening gown.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go now..."

"It's alright, I'll be supporting you within the audience."

I prepared to leave the dressing room after saying that, but Haruka stopped me.

"Yu...Yuuto-san."

"Hmm?"

I looked back and saw Haruka with an extremely serious expression on her face."

"Please...Please..."

What is it that's so hard to say? I wondered before Haruka walked to me and held both of my hands tightly in hers.

"Please listen to the song carefully. Because...Today...I'm playing for Yuuto-san."

The only word that could describe Haruka's performance would be that it was brilliant.

To be honest, I was really worried that she would fall down when Haruka walked out from the side of the stage with unsteady steps. But any worries that I had quickly dissipated with the beginning of Haruka's performance.

Even the tone of the piano keys sounded different when Haruka was playing.

The previous competitor, was probably quite a good player too, having progressed through the preliminary rounds, but when compared to Haruka's playing, the previous competitor was like a Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle competing against an African Giant Rhinoceros beetle, looking as though he had wandered into a different weight category. Although it's not a very nice thing to say, I really couldn't believe that Haruka was using the exact same piano as the person before her.

"It was brilliant..."

That serious expression on her face.

Her fingers that flew across the keyboard with the intensity of a tornado.

The uninterrupted string of notes coming from the piano.

I was completely entralled by Haruka's playing.

I was seeing a Haruka that I had never seen before.

Speaking of which, this was the very first time that I've seriously looked at Haruka playing the piano...At this very moment, I felt that I could truly appreciate just how good Haruka was.

The programme clearly stated the three pieces that Haruka was performing.

"Piano Sonata #2 in G (R. Schumann)"

"Mephisto Waltz #2 (F.Liszt)"

"Transcendental Etude No. 4 in D minor, "Mazeppa" (F.Liszt)"

Right now, Haruka was playing her third piece, which was also her last piece for the competition. Everyone's focus was on this piece now that Haruka had played her first two pieces perfectly.

"...Mazeppa?"

That's a really strange name, does it have a special meaning?

"Hmm? Oni-chan, you don't know the story behind it?"

Seeing that I was looking at the programme with a frown, Mika started to explain the origins of the name behind the piece.

"Mazeppa was Russian Cossack hero of who lived in the 17th Century. After his affair with the wife of a high-ranking official in the palace was found out, he was tied to a wild horse and dragged all the way to Ukraine. This story's really famous! Don't you think that this part of the piece sounds like the sound of a horse running at full gallop?"

It really did sound like a horse galloping through the countryside, but...I really couldn't see why he was a hero. From my limited knowledge of his exploits, I think he's quite useless...

Putting the Mazeppa's heroics aside (honestly, I really didn't care about what happened to him in the end), the piece sounded really epic.

It felt as though every note was strong and laden with weight, and even though Haruka had a delicate and small frame, I was really impressed by how she could express the overpowering aura of the piece.

For the length of the piece, the entire concert hall seemed to shake with galloping of a thousand horses.

Although Haruka's third piece wasn't as long as the previous two pieces, but it's impact on the audience was definitely as large as the previous two pieces.

And then--The performance was over.

Haruka gently stood up from the piano as she walked over to the front of the stage to bow to the audience.

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience, as shouts of 'Bravo!' filled the concert hall. Many people (actually, most of them) even stood up to give Haruka a standing ovation.

Haruka had a slightly awkward expression, as though she wasn't used to such attention, before walking backstage.

Although her footsteps made me feel that every step was a disaster waiting to happen, I felt absolute confidence emanating from the way Haruka carried herself.

--As expected, Haruka won the competition.

Haruka looked really glamorous as she went onstage to receive her trophy (Even though she almost tripped on the hem of her gown on the way there), like the brightest star lighting up the darkest night.

How should I put it?

Looking at such a glamorous Haruka...My feelings were a little complicated.

"Hmm, of course, this was expected."

Haruka's father looked at the prize presentation on the stage expressionessly as he said,

"Haruka could have won such a competition in her sleep...But, please tell Haruka that she did very well."

"I will."

Nanami-san nodded her head. She was like a domesticated Iriomote Cat around Haruka's father, which was a huge contrast from what I've been seeing of her.

"Oto-san, you're not going to see Onee-chan?"

"I would love too, but I don't have the time. I almost late for an appointment with some one from the British Intelligence Agency."

"Hmph, I see."

Mika replied unhappily.

Disregarding the reason for not going to meet Haruka (seriously thinking about it would only make it even scarier), but since you're here, shouldn't you at least meet your daughter before going?

Haruka's father didn't seem to notice my feelings as he quietly stood up and walked towards the exit.

However, he turned around and walked back.

"Ah, I almost forgot...Ayase-kun."

Haruka's father walked back and patted me on the shoulder with one gigantic hand.

"I would like to talk to you alone one of these days."

...About what?

That very night.

At the party organized for the participants, judges and other personnel involved in the competition, held at the hotel that was next to the concert hall.

"Yuuto-san, you have to attend this party."

Obviously I wouldn't turn down Haruka's invitation, but...to be honest, I'm regreting the decision to come.

Of course, one of the reasons was the fact that everyone looked at me strangely (I'm still wearing my casual clothes + slippers combo), but that wasn't the main reason.

I looked towards the liveliest part of the party.

Haruka was there, having changed out of her concert attire to a more formal evening gown.

She was surrounded by people of all ages and gender.

Some of her admirers looked like judges as they twirled their mustaches arond their fingers, there were also middle-aged men who looked like they belonged to the very top of the social ladder, there were gentlemen in tuxedos, foreign middle-aged woman with hairstyles so exaggerated that a parrot could probably build a comfortable nest in it, and also other participants.

They were all talking to Haruka, and Haruka replied to every single one of them with a smile.

I know that this is the attitude that a winner should be adopting.

But looking at Haruka surrounded my her admirers, I felt a little sad. Because that reminded me of the distance between us.

Although I've almost forgotten about this, but Haruka's the daughter of a rich and powerful family, a celebrity among piano enthusiasists, the most popular girl in school with her own fan club, the 'Nuit étoile', and

I...I live in a completely different world from her.

"Sigh..."

I walked out to the balcony that overlooked the Thames River and sighed deeply.

I felt that I had finally acknowledged the 'reality'

Haruka and I were separated by an unseen, unscalable wall.

I had originally thought that the distance between us had shortened through these few months of interaction, but right now, Haruka felt as far away from me as she first did. I felt as though I had merely moved forward by three steps when I was pushed back eighty-one steps.

Perhaps this was the reason why I felt that Haruka was so far away when there was only a glass window separating us.

Suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind.

"Oh, Hello again."

I looked back to see the friendly, short-haired girl, Shina.

"Wow! This party's great, that middle-aged man is a famous musician from Germany! And that's the famous new-age cassanova from Italy. And that's the..."

Shina told me more about the people who were around Haruka, and as I had expected, they were all famous people. The middle-aged woman who looked like she had a bird's nest for hair was actually known as the 'Queen Mary of the Piano World', looks like you really can't judge a book by its cover.

"As expected, Haruka-san's really too good. Even though hard work is also a very important, but no amount of hard work can make up for a lack of talent. Even though I don't want to admit it, but Haruka-san's on a completely different level."

"No, Shina, you're also..."

"It's alright, you don't have to say anything! You don't need to comfort me like this. It's not like you remember how I played, right?"

"Ugh..."

She was right. Because of Haruka's overwhelming performance, my memories of the other participants' performances have completely disappeared, even the performance of Shina, who had gotten second place, wasn't spared.

"Thank you for caring, but I know that with my current ability, I can't compete with Nogizaka-san."

Shina smiled sadly.

"To be honest, Nogizaka-san's ability is way beyond her age group. I don't think that anyone under the age of twenty, no matter how famous, can be better than her. No wonder they call her the 'Lumière du Clavier'."

In Shina's eyes, Haruka seems to be a very special person. As for the 'Lumière du Clavier'...This is Haruka's second exaggerated nickname that I've heard. But, thinking about it, who's the first one who thought about such a nickname?

"I may not be anywhere near her level of ability. Even though I'm so far away from her, but...I will not admit defeat. It may not be possible now, but perhaps one, two years later, or maybe even later, but one day, my performace will be better than hers."

"Shina..."

At that moment I saw the iron will that was burning in Shina's friendly amber eyes. Looks like both Haruka and Shina were very serious about the piano...

After that, I talked to Shina for a while longer.

"Ah! I have to go now. I still have to talk to my teacher and the judges."

"I see."

Of course, I would have liked her to stay and talk to me for a while longer, but since she has other things to do, I couldn't exactly force her to stay with me.

"Well then, Yuuto, I'll be going now!"

"Ah, right, thank you very much for lending me the scores."

"It was nothing! Goodbye!"

Shina waved at me before disappearing into the crowd.

Alone once again, I looked towards the Thames River that was flowing by under the balcony. In the day, th river was extremely beautiful, but at night, it was just a dark mass of flowing water.

--It's time for me to go back home.

I had looked forward to a party where I could enjoy myself together with Haruka. But Haruka had been surrounded by her admirers since the begninning of the party, depriving me of the chance to even congratulate her, among the other things that I had wanted to tell her.

However, looking at the current situation, I don't think that's possible.

I walked into the ballroom and looked towards Haruka. Right now, a few blonde guys around my age were talking to Haruka--They're probably participants too right? To be honest, I don't remember the faces of any of the participants apart from Haruka and Shina--To me, those guys looked like hungry wolves rounding on a lost rabbit, as they moved towards Haruka with fake smiles on their faces.

One of them even looked like Sasaoka, which made me really angry, but I can't possible grab the ice sculpture of a piano (1/8 the size of the real thing) sitting on the table and throw it at him can I? But since Hazuki-san's beside Haruka, those guys shouldn't dare to do anything strange right? Just when I was (forcibly) persuading myself, preparing to leave the party...

Haruka turned and saw me looking at her.

"Ah!"

Haruka's expression suddenly became really lively as she ran towards me with the speed of a bullet and latched herself onto my arm.

"Hey...Hey!"

"Hehehe!"

Every single human male in the vicinity turned to us, their eyes shooting daggers in my direction. Even though I didn't really understand what they were saying, but I still understood words that were full of violence and hatred like 'F**k!', 'Damn!' and 'Kill!'.

"Yuuto-san, I finally found you!"

Haruka happily looked up at me, completely ignoring (or rather completely oblivious to) the angry mob that had began to gather in our vicinity.

"I've been looking for you since a long time ago. But because there were so many people who were trying to talk to me, I wasn't able to find you..."

Right, Haruka's the famous idol, and she's been surrounded by her hordes of admirers since the beginning of the party.

"I was really nervous, because I didn't know any of them! But...I'm not nervous anymore, not that I've found you."

Haruka smiled happily. Ugh...She's so cute.

I forced down the urge to hug Haruka as I noticed that Haruka had been looking at me as though she had something to say.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Ah, umm..."

"Hmm?"

"Ac...Actually, I have something I want to discuss with you..."

Haruka tiptoed as she straightened her body to whisper into my ear.

"Actually, I saw the a 'Clumsy Girl Aki-chan UK-version' figurine in the shop next to the hotel, and it was really cute...I want to go and buy it now, so if you don't mind, would you go with me? I don't dare to go by myself..."

"...Clum...Clumsy Girl Aki-chan?"

"Yes, and it's the UK-version."

Haruka held her hands together tightly, looking as though she was ready to move out any minute.

"...Haha!"

Looking at the serious expression on Haruka's face, I felt like laughing, but at the same time, I also breathed a sigh of relief.

--That's right, no matter what, Haruka is Haruka.

Although the glamorous person with brilliant piano skills who's always surrounded by a horde of admirers is also Haruka, but right now, the girl whose smile is finally looking like that of a high school student's, her eyes shining with happiness as she talks about a Made-in-England Akihabara figurine is also the real Haruka.

"Eh? Did...Did I say anything wrong?"

Haruka reacted with a confused expression as she blinked. This was the innoocent Haruka that I know.

"No, You didn't say anything wrong."

"?"

Haruka became even more confused.

"I don't really understand what's going on...But, let's just..."

"Alright, let's go."

I answered without any hesitation, because I had no reason to reject her.

"Great! Let's go! Now! Now!"

Haruka dragged me towards the exit as she squealed like a little kid, but I stopped her.

"But before we go, I want to tell you something."

"Hmm? What is it?"

Haruka leaned her head to one side like a young bird.

No matter what, this was something that I have to tell her.

"Right--Haruka, congratulations on winning the competition."

Haruka reacted with a blank expression at first, but then she grinned at me while nodding furiously as she understood what I had just said.

"Than...Thank you!"

Haruka's smile was like a flower in full bloom.

--Even though many things have happened today, but as long as I get to see Haruka's smile, everything has been worth it.

I think...that this should be the end of today's events.

Even though I have the feeling that I'm forgetting something.

A strange feeling was tingling in my mind.

Hmm--

But no matter how much I tried, I couldn't remember what I was forgetting.

...Oh well, since I can't remember anything, then it shouldn't be anything important!

"Yuuto-san! Hurry up! If we don't hurry up, it's going to be sold out!"

"Alright, let's go."

Because of Haruka's incessant hurrying, I stopped trying to remember what I was forgetting to follow Haruka out of the hotel.

Twenty-six hours later.

"Sob...My crabs...Are my Matsuba crabs ready yet..."

"...We're starving to death...Yuu-chan..."

Returning home (the strange thing was, the door and television that had previously been broken were miraculously fixed by the time I got home), I found two young ladies (Occupation: Secretary and teacher) who weren't able to cook for themselves lying on the floor of my living room like zombies, before finally remembering what I had forgotten twenty-six hours before.

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| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume2_Chapter6|Chapter 6]]
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