"Ryosuke, your face looks a little pale. Are you feeling okay?" The observant Nishimiya Shoko noticed his strange expression and asked in a soft, worried voice.
"I'm fine. You just surprised me. You look really cute today, Shoko," Hiratsuka Ryosuke said, doing his best to act normal.
Shoko blushed. Did my new look surprise him that much? She bit her lip, fidgeting with the hem of her clothes. She was easily placated.
Nishimiya Yuzuru was not in such a good mood. Even if she was a little naive, she now understood that the "Ryosuke-niichan" she had been relying on and the "jerk" she had been complaining about were the same person. Damn those people who spread rumors and gave me that bad intel. The Ryosuke standing in front of her bore no resemblance to the jerk they described.
She stood next to Shoko, afraid to look at him directly, but she couldn't help but sneak a peek. Their eyes met.
"Yuzuru, are you and Shoko really sisters?" Ryosuke asked, his voice a strange mix of detachment, resentment, self-deprecation, and a hint of self-pity. After running around for months for nothing, he had never been so embarrassed.
Before Yuzuru could answer, Shoko quickly stepped in. "Of course we're sisters! Yuzuru is my best sister. She's a very good girl," she said with absolute certainty, hugging Yuzuru's head.
"Then why do you two..." Ryosuke's gaze moved from one sister to the other. He decided against asking why they looked so different, realizing it would be rude to question them after they'd just said they were sisters.
Shoko, who had been isolated and bullied for so long, was very good at reading people. She understood Ryosuke's unspoken question. "Yuzuru and I... I look more like my mom, and Yuzuru looks more like the man who abandoned us."
Both sisters looked down, a little sad. Even with her kind nature, Shoko couldn't bring herself to say the word "father." The man had left them because he saw his daughter's hearing disability as a burden.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad," Ryosuke said. He knew his question had reminded the two sisters of a painful memory.
"We live in the present, and we're going to create a better future." Ryosuke walked between the two sisters, knelt down to meet Shoko at eye level, and gently ruffled both of their heads. "Come on. I'll treat you to something to eat to make up for my careless words. Please forgive me."
"Look, Sister, it's a parfait!" Yuzuru happily pointed, and then ran toward a dessert shop without looking back.
Only at times like this did Yuzuru let her guard down and act like a little girl her age.
"I haven't seen Yuzuru so happy in a long time. Thank you, Ryosuke," Shoko said with a sincere smile. She knew how much Yuzuru had sacrificed for her over the years. As a young child, she wouldn't even go to school because if anyone called her sister a "deafie," she would get into a fight. The school had warned her many times.
Now that she was a different person thanks to Ryosuke's help, she would try to convince Yuzuru to go back to school. Shoko wanted her sister to have a life of her own, not just one dedicated to protecting her.
The three of them walked into a small accessories store.
"Wow, this would look great on you, Sister!"
"And this one, too!"
"Oh, this one is nice!"
Yuzuru was like a child in a new world, full of curiosity as she looked at all the dazzling little accessories.
"Ryosuke, what do you think of this for a gift for Shinka?" Shoko asked, holding up a delicate hair clip.
Ryosuke looked at the golden hair clip. The main body was a hollowed-out heart with a red crystal in the middle and two small green beads on either end. It looked mysterious in the light. He nodded. "Looks like we have similar tastes. I used to get her hair clips every year. I thought they were the most practical gift for a girl. But this year, she specifically told me not to."
Hearing this, Shoko started to put the clip down to look for something else.
"It's okay to get this for her, though. That girl is happy with any gift. She just thinks it's lazy that I always get her the same thing," Ryosuke explained patiently. He picked up a bracelet. "Look, this bracelet goes perfectly with the colors on that hair clip."
"You have such a good eye, Ryosuke... Oh!" Shoko's praise was cut short as her eyes widened in surprise.
Ryosuke had walked up to her and gently put a simple hairpin in her hair. The hairpin only had three small white flowers on it.
"This one suits you, too, Shoko," Ryosuke said, satisfied with his choice.
Shoko turned to look in the mirror. The pure and innocent girl in the reflection, with her flaxen hair and the simple hairpin, looked even more beautiful.
"Wow! Sister got a gift, too? It's so cute!" Yuzuru suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. Her mouth was slightly open, her eyes wide as if she were stunned by her own sister's beauty.
Shoko covered her face with her hands, not knowing what to say.
"Think of it as a little gift from me. I'll get you a different one for your actual birthday," Ryosuke said softly. He turned to Yuzuru. "You should go pick out some clothes for yourself, too."
Yuzuru looked down at her outfit: a simple white T-shirt and her usual red sweatpants. She said matter-of-factly, "I think these are great. They're comfortable."
"Girls should look like girls. Yuzuru is cute, too," Ryosuke said seriously. He knew that all girls liked to look pretty. Yuzuru was no exception. She had pretended to be a "boy" to protect her sister, but at her core, she was a sweet and innocent girl.
Shoko nodded in agreement.
"Okay, okay! I'll do it!"
The three of them went to the counter to pay and then walked to a clothing store next door.
"Yuzuru, this outfit is so cute!"
"Hehe, this one is great, too."
Yuzuru had become a dress-up doll in her sister's hands, trying on one cute outfit after another. She couldn't even object. Deep down, she loved all the beautiful clothes.
"Alright, Yuzuru, let's go try the next one!" Shoko excitedly pushed her into the dressing room.
Ryosuke wandered around the store. He suddenly felt himself step on something and heard a cry from behind him. "Oh!"
He turned around and saw that he had accidentally stepped on a girl's foot. A white beret had fallen to the floor.