It's lunchtime now.
If we talked for too long we wouldn't have time to eat lunch, so my conversation with Kiyoshi ended quickly.
(In the end, I'm still a lolicon...)
It was impossible to convince Kiyoshi in such a short time.
It seems she trusts Hime's intuition more than my counterarguments. Well, it would be strange to doubt the words of my beloved sister, who is also family, so that's only natural.
(For now, it doesn't seem like he hates me, so it's fine.)
Their attitudes haven't changed much... In fact, even though I'm a lolicon, they're still supportive, so it doesn't seem like our relationship will get strained.
If that's the case, I think you don't need to worry about it that much.
It can't be helped. If I take the time to explain things patiently, they'll eventually understand.
Thinking optimistically like that, I stopped worrying about the matter.
Even if they're lolicons, everyone is kind, so that's fine.
"--a!"
When I opened the door, Hime immediately looked at me and her face lit up.
Maybe he was bored. He was very happy to see me and Kiyoshi-san. As proof of that, he got up from the sofa and came running over to us.
"That was unexpectedly quick. You two could have been more affectionate with each other without worrying about me, you know?"
Even as she said that, Hime tugged on the sleeve of his shirt, wanting attention.
Seeing him acting so clingy, there was no way I could just leave him alone.
"Hime-chan, were you waiting for us? You could have eaten first."
"Yes, of course. Since we've come all the way here, I wanted to eat it with everyone."
"Is that so? Hmm...?"
Kiyoshi looked at Hime with a meaningful smile on his face.
It was as if he knew everything about his sister.
"When we were eating alone, you didn't wait long for me."
"...Wh, what are you talking about?"
"Ufufu♪ Hime-chan is terrible at lying, so it's cute and easy to understand... I wish she'd just said that she wanted to eat with Yohei."
"That's not true."
Hime's face was red even as she denied it.
Maybe I hit the nail on the head. She buried her face in my arms, trying to hide it. So cute.
"Well, shall we eat now?"
After all that, it was finally lunchtime, although it was a little late.
Just like yesterday, Hime and Kiyoshi have a luxurious bento lunch in a tiered box.
On the other hand, I brought a bento box that I bought at a convenience store.
"Youhei-kun... we could have prepared it for you today too, right? Are you being shy?"
"That's right. He ate it so deliciously yesterday... but it's going to be made by the servants anyway, so it's not really our problem."
That's right. In fact, I had told Hime yesterday that she didn't need to bring a lunch box, so I decided to wait until the timing was right.
It seems that the Hoshimiya sisters were a little concerned about this.
"It was delicious, but I've always lived as a commoner, so I was a little nervous... I thought it would be better to eat food that I'm used to."
And, no matter what, I'm still sorry!
As a commoner, I could never accept having lunch brought to me every day that was probably made with 10,000 yen bills.
No matter how wealthy the Hoshimiya family is, I want to draw a clear line here.
Receiving something every day feels like asking for it, and it doesn't feel like an equal relationship. That's why I feel reluctant to accept excessive gifts.
"Is that so? Hmm, you like familiar flavors, Youhei."
"Wow. You're surprisingly good at that sort of thing."
It seems that both Hime and Hijiri understood my feelings.
I hope that little by little we can deepen our understanding of each other.
And someday, I hope people will understand that I'm not a lolicon.