Hime ate a lot of food.
When Mei and I congratulated her, Hime blushed. I was soothed by her adorable smile, but then I heard a dissatisfied voice from next to me on the left.
"What about me? Hey, I ate a lot too, but Mei-chan, you don't praise me? Hey, hey, please spoil me more~"
Sei was a little sulky.
Of course, she doesn't say anything about how she thinks it would be good to compete with her younger sister who is 10 years younger than her. In fact, Hijiri is actually more childish than Hime, so it's common for her to sulk.
"I want to be praised too."
Even as he said this, he was eating his fourth steak as if he was starving. He was eating twice as much as I was, what was going on with his stomach?
He eats so much that it's satisfying.
It seems I'm not the only one who feels this way, Mei feels the same way.
"...I'm glad that Saint Young Lady eats so much of it every day. It's worth making."
This time he also praised Hijiri properly.
This is probably her true feelings as well. It is clear that Mei-san really does love Hijiri-san.
"Eh? Mei-chan's acting all lovey-dovey?! Oh my, she's so cute ♪ Can I pet her?"
"No. Don't touch me... I shouldn't have praised you after all."
However, when Kiyoshi got carried away in an instant, Mei sighed with regret.
As expected, it seems that Hijiri has a personality that easily gets carried away.
He's quick to get angry and then quickly recover. I think the way his facial expressions change all the time is what makes him so appealing.
Hime and Mei are the quiet type, so having a cheerful person like Kiyoshi liven up the atmosphere. I'm sure they both rely on and love Kiyoshi a lot, even if they don't say it... I felt that way.
The Hoshimiya family, including Mei, is very warm.
(...I was worried because I heard your parents weren't around, but I'm glad it was just a needless worry.)
I breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that my worries were unnecessary.
It was partly fate that brought me to the Hoshimiya household today, but...the truth is, I was also worried about the Hoshimiya household.
After all, Hime was still young, and Kiyoshi was a high school student, but his parents were so busy that they were hardly ever at home. I wouldn't call it child abandonment, but to others it looked close to it.
I wonder if Hime is feeling lonely.
I wonder if Hijiri is pushing himself too hard.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about that.
Of course, I'm sure it's not that she's not worried about not having her parents around, but it's good to know that she has a reliable adult in Mei-san instead.
Perhaps it's because of Mei that the Hoshimiya sisters' parents feel safe leaving home. Of course, the ideal situation would be to stay close to their children, but every family has their own circumstances. Perhaps the Hoshimiya family is wealthy, and therefore has many problems that an ordinary person like me doesn't understand. To begin with, the family environment of others is not something that anyone should casually interfere in.
Even though I knew that, I was still worried... but I felt relieved.
Mei has said that, like Hime, she is not good at expressing her emotions, but it is clear that she is a very affectionate person.
He truly cares about both Hime and Hijiri.
With such a kind and warm person looking after them as their guardian, there's no way the Hoshimiya sisters' private lives would be unhappy.
Just being able to confirm this made today feel like a very meaningful day.