"Ugh…"
"Onii-chan, can't we stay one more day?"
On the morning of the second day, looking at the luggage already packed by her older brother, Kitahara Shiori and Miyazawa Rin felt nothing but grievance.
To be told to rush home on a train right after waking up, even if it was done by their older brother, it was too much! How was this any different from kicking them out!
"No, Shiori-chan only left a letter and ran away, right?"
"And Rin-chan, if you don't go back, Mom is going to come here herself and chop me into pieces!"
With his hands on his hips, Miyazawa Yuu only found out late last night that Rin had actually run away from home.
Rin was aggrieved, but he was even more aggrieved than Rin; heaven knew what it felt like to receive a phone call in a daze in the middle of the night and hear the voice of the underworld.
Anyway, his mother gave him two choices: either she sees Rin safely home today, or he brings his head to see her!
"Mom is so troublesome…"
"Although that's true, please, for the love of everything, don't say it so directly, or I'll be killed…"
Rubbing his cute imouto's head, Miyazawa Yuu still reminded her worriedly: "When you get back, act as if nothing happened, got it? And don't bully anyone!"
"Does Onii-chan think Rin is such an unreasonable person!"
"Yes, yes, yes~"
"Onii-chan, I'll obediently go back home…"
On the other side, tugging at Iori's sleeve, Kitahara Shiori looked up pitifully, staring at him with a lost expression, "So, will older brother come back with me?"
"No!"
He refused without a second thought. Although Kitahara Iori had a low resistance to beautiful girls, his defense against his own sister's tearful threats was maxed out!
"You, you just want to trick me into going back and locking me up, right? I already said the inn should just close down…"
"What are you saying, older brother! That is a business that Mom and Dad worked so hard to build!"
"Alright, alright…"
He knew this girl wouldn't give up after being rejected yesterday, Kitahara Iori sighed, a headache forming, and promised: "I will return home when I get the chance, but Shiori-chan should go back first today!"
"Ugh…"
"Ah~ Sure enough, creatures like little sisters are all wonderful, just like Nanaka."
Rubbing the back of her head, Hamaka Azusa truly wasn't good at dealing with the moving scene of reluctant farewells in front of her.
"Hmm?"
"The same as what?"
"Brother complex, of course…"
Spreading her hands, she nodded thoughtfully and lamented: "But it's almost the same on my side too, after all, it's an older-sister-younger-brother romance~"
"That's not entirely wrong, but didn't Kouhei say Rin-chan wasn't…"
"No, I take it back!"
With his arms crossed, Imamura Kouhei glared bitterly at the scumbag who was pushing the cute girls away, but his eyes were mixed with a hint of confusion.
"When Rin-chan first arrived, she definitely wasn't a brother complex, but now… it's hard to say."
"Eh? That's hard to understand, is Kouhei talking nonsense…"
With his bean-shaped eyes, Kotobuki Ryujirou couldn't understand the difference, he merely sighed that not being an only child was truly great; having siblings you could completely open up to was such a beautiful thing!
"Alright, get ready to go, it's fine for Chisa to send them off with us, everyone else, let's prepare for the next round~"
"Nani! I can't go either?"
"Kouhei…"
Miyazawa Yuu felt that if he brought this guy along, he would definitely cry right there at the train station, and it would be very difficult to comfort him then.
After a slight pause, Miyazawa Yuu pressed the former's shoulder with the professional expression of an old professor and lectured: "Do you know, Kouhei! Sometimes, the tighter you cling to a beautiful girl, the more afraid she will be and run away!"
"Really?"
"That's how it is, Kouhei, be a man and say goodbye now!"
"Ah ah…"
Although he was grateful that Yuu could handle Kouhei, Kitahara Iori still took half a step back in disgust and retorted: "Yuu is trying to fool Kouhei again, Kouhei is so pitiful."
"There's nothing we can do, after all, the store's car has a load capacity of six, bringing him along would overload it."
Kotegawa Chisa offered no comment on the mutual scheming of the three Pab Club idiots; after all, they seemed to enjoy it themselves, and an outsider forcibly intervening would likely become part of their game.
Placing her hands on her little sister, who was pouting, a flicker of something passed through her eyes—it felt inexplicably nice to the touch, was this why Big Sister always liked to stick to her?
"Shiori-chan! Rin-chan! I will miss you!!!"
"Yosh! It's settled, let's go quickly."
Having completely fooled Kouhei into submission, Miyazawa Yuu disregarded the guy's kneeling and crying, and forcefully pushed the two girls into the car like he was snatching children, just to prevent them from finding an excuse to stay.
As Nanaka-nee stepped on the gas, two trains departed one after the other an hour later, and Izu, which had been boisterous for two days, instantly felt completely calm and quiet!
"Uwa, we survived, that's great…"
"I know, right, the troublesome people are finally completely gone~"
"You two, do you have any self-awareness as older brothers?"
It was truly difficult for Kotegawa Chisa to empathize with Iori and Yuu; looking at their relieved expressions, as if they had shed some burden, her eyes were full of contempt.
Shiori-chan and Rin-chan were clearly very well-behaved children, and everyone at the store liked them!
"Chisa~ I think you really don't understand. This kind of fatigue isn't directed at the imouto!"
Stretching, Miyazawa Yuu's straight posture instantly became casual, and the muscles on his body, which had been stiff, also became soft.
"It's the family, you know, being followed by little spies from home even after going to university, isn't that terrifying?"
"Little spies…"
Having never left home from elementary school to university, Kotegawa Chisa looked up, pondered for a moment, and made a comparison with her finger: "Like, discovering that your things were moved by your family when you returned to your room?"
"Exactly! And they were seriously in the way, weren't they? We could only use water instead of alcohol, and we couldn't just take off our clothes!"
Nodding in deep agreement, Iori couldn't help but take off his shirt and drape it over his shoulder as he walked back to Grand Blue.
The warm sea breeze carried away his sweat while bringing a hint of coolness, and a relaxed smile simultaneously bloomed on his face.
"Feels good~"
"You shouldn't take off your pants, honestly, you should retain a basic sense of shame no matter who is around!"
Wordlessly complaining about how his companions' gear seemed to decrease the further they walked, Kotegawa Chisa's bottom line was that these two guys should at least keep their swim trunks on.
Thinking about it this way, Rin-chan and Shiori-chan actually had an extra benefit: they forced the Pab Club boys to drink while wearing clothes.
The swim trunks that Aina couldn't keep on for even thirty minutes when she joined were welded onto the boys for two whole days this time—it was practically a miracle!
"Eh? Chisa, aren't you part of the 'must be completely naked to drink' faction? Why would you say that?"
"Exactly! Exactly! After all, you never complained even once…"
"That's because I was rendered speechless! Don't look at me with that 'I misjudged you!' look!"
Condemning the shocked expressions of the two clueless guys, Chisa sighed and continued: "And now Aina is here to uphold justice for me, so there's no need for me to get angry at you."
"The cakey, actually, she should try it once too, it's super refreshing…"
"Stop joking, Aina is the type to get so embarrassed that she can't even wear a swimsuit, how could she possibly drink naked…"
Smiling, Miyazawa Yuu was only halfway through his sentence when he calmly pulled open the Grand Blue store door, his hand already gripping the waistband of his underwear.
"Everyone! I'm home…"
"WOW!!! Aina is drinking so boldly! Again, again!"
"No problem! I've still got plenty left on me!"
"…"
He thought it was just a matter of opening the door of Grand Blue, and that his well-trained self wouldn't be shocked by anything anymore!
But when Miyazawa Yuu saw Aina wearing only a swimsuit, twirling her dress and dancing on the shoulders of the seniors, the immense mental shock instantly blew his CPU.
"…It must be a dream, I must have been thinking too much about sending my imouto away, to the point of dreaming~"
Smiling, he turned around and slapped Iori in the bewildered gaze of the latter, Miyazawa Yuu reminded him very humanely: "Haha~ Wake up, Iori, get up and send the troublesome imouto away~"
"You—bastard!!!"
Punching the former in the chin, Kitahara Iori angrily pushed aside the guy who was muttering about why it hurt, and then pulled open the store door.
"Seriously, what's wrong with you, I'm back…"
"Oh yeah! I am the Queen of the Iron Bridge! Hahahahaha!"
"…"
He immediately closed the door, suspecting that his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Aina actually took off her pants and was swinging them around? Why would he have this kind of dream, at the very least, Chisa should be the one doing the drinking!
"Hiss…"
Startled by Iori's gaze, which seemed to be trying to peek under her skirt, Kotegawa Chisa stepped on the former's face.
"Don't come near me! Keep your distance!"