Soukaku had come downstairs to check on the videotape, eager to finally watch it, but the moment she reached the bottom of the stairs, she froze.
Wise and Anby were there, sharing a moment far too intimate for her eyes.
The innocent girl stood completely still at first, her mind going blank, before a deep flush crept across her cheeks.
She raised both hands to cover her face, though the wide gaps between her fingers made the gesture entirely pointless.
'W-Why are Wise and Anby doing something so shameful? And... he looks so happy.'
It was the first time she had ever seen a kiss from this close. Her thoughts quickly dissolved into a tangled mess, leaving her with no idea what to do.
But something else stirred within her alongside the confusion, quiet and painful—a strange discomfort, like a child staring at something she couldn't understand, only knowing that it belonged to someone else, wondering: why does she have it and I don't?
Before this, Soukaku had shared plenty of things with Wise that Anby had too. He had held her hand. He had fed her. In those moments, she had never felt left behind.
But now, she had discovered something missing, something that existed only between two people who were supposed to be "boyfriend and girlfriend."
'Is kissing something even this kind of relationship can't do? No, wait... I think I heard before that a boy in another class wasn't allowed to talk to other girls after he kissed someone. Would Wise abandon me because of that?'
The thought settled over her like a cold weight, a quiet sadness laced with something closer to fear. The idea that her Wise might be slipping away from her.
Though if it had been Yanagi instead of Anby, she probably wouldn't have felt this way at all. She might have even smiled.
"Soukaku? What are you doing there?"
Belle's voice came first, calm and curious, as she noticed the blue-skinned girl peeking from behind the staircase wall.
But the sudden question startled her, making the girl let out a small yelp.
The startled cry immediately drew Wise and Anby's attention. The two separated without much fuss and walked over, Wise still holding the videotape loosely in one hand.
"Soukaku, I found the videotape you were looking for."
"Oh... t-thank you, Wise."
Her response was flat, her usual brightness nowhere to be found.
Soukaku was naturally lively, the kind of girl whose energy filled whatever room she entered, so her sudden quiet was impossible to ignore.
"Soukaku, are you troubled by something?" Wise asked, midway through the videotape's playback.
He had a reasonable guess already.
Soukaku sat with the question for a long moment, her hands resting in her lap, before finally speaking.
"That... Wise, please don't send me away. I'll be good from now on, and I'll never make Anby angry, so..." Her voice rose slightly, trembling as if she were holding back tears.
The words were easy to misread, and the look on her face only made it worse. Wise had no idea where to even begin.
He was quietly grateful, at least, that Yanagi wasn't there. Seeing Soukaku like this, she would have drawn the worst possible conclusion, and the outcome for him would have been grim.
"Soukaku, what's wrong with you?!"
Yanagi's voice rang out sharply from just beyond the front door, and Wise felt every muscle in his body tense at once.
He had already braced himself for questions. He had already rehearsed, in his mind, how to explain everything calmly and reasonably.
However, what he had not prepared for was Soukaku's reaction.
"It's nothing, Yanagi. I was just chatting with Wise about the movie's plot. D-Don't worry..."
Soukaku quickly wiped away her tears, doing her best to steady her voice. The explanation was enough for Yanagi to slowly exhale, the tension leaving her shoulders all at once.
Behind her stood Belle, who had rushed up from downstairs, along with Nekomata and Anby, who had stepped out from the staff room to see what all the noise was about.
The two had originally planned to call Wise over once he finished setting up the videotape for Soukaku, but the evening had taken far more turns than either of them had expected.
"I'm sorry, Miss Belle. My behavior was quite rude."
Yanagi turned to Belle and gave a slight, apologetic bow.
The second floor was a private area, not somewhere guests were allowed to wander freely. But hearing Soukaku cry had driven all of that from her mind. Now that it had turned out to be a misunderstanding, the apology came naturally.
Once everything had settled, Yanagi led Soukaku back, and Wise finally let out the long, quiet breath he had been holding.
What he didn't know was that the walk home carried dangers of its own.
"Yanagi, what does it feel like to kiss someone you like?"
Yanagi blinked in surprise when she heard that.
"Eh? Why are you asking something like that, Soukaku? Did you watch another one of those strange movies?" she asked, suspecting that Soukaku might have seen something inappropriate.
Soukaku shook her head, then nodded before suddenly dropping the topic.
"Yanagi, what do you think of Wise?"
"Huh? Wise?"
The question came out of nowhere, and for a brief moment, Yanagi had no answer. Her thoughts drifted on their own, pulling up a memory she hadn't intended to revisit.
Back then, her vision had been clouded by the lingering effects of her condition, and Wise had simply walked beside her, guiding her home as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Not once had he made her feel like a burden.
The impression he left on her was warm and steady. Handsome in a way that was easy to overlook, until it wasn't. Reliable, in the truest sense of the word. The kind of person you could lean your full weight on without a single worry.
'No. I can't let Soukaku distract me.'
She steadied her thoughts, cleared her throat softly, and steered the conversation in a different direction.
"Soukaku, why are you asking something like this all of a sudden?"
"Oh, don't worry about the reason, Yanagi! Just answer me, okay? Please, please!"
Yanagi had never once found a way to resist that tone. She doubted she ever would.
Letting out a soft, helpless sigh, she reached over and gently rested a hand on top of Soukaku's head.
"Alright. Wise is, in my honest opinion, a truly excellent person. Gentle and reliable, and his kindness never feels forced. He helps people before they even have to ask, and his cooking, on top of everything else, is exceptional."
She spoke as if stating a simple fact because, to her, that was all it was.
Yet as the words settled, another thought quietly followed. Soukaku loved his cooking just as much as she did.
And if work ever kept Yanagi away for long periods of time, having someone like Wise nearby to look after her would ease a burden she hadn't even realized she carried.
She caught that thought before it could go any further and let it fade.
Soukaku's face lit up at the answer, her expression brightening for a moment before something in her eyes shifted, her smile turning slightly more knowing.
"Then, Yanagi... do you like Wise?"
"Eh? Bringing up something like liking someone so suddenly is a bit..." Her words trailed off, unable to find a proper answer.
"Hmm, Yanagi..."
The drawn-out tone came, followed by wide, patient eyes. Every trick Soukaku had, he used all at once. And as always, it worked.
Even so, Yanagi chose not to give a direct answer.
"A boy as remarkable as Wise? I think any girl who spends enough time with him would eventually find herself moved."
"Eh? And what about you, Yanagi?"
"You really shouldn't be this mischievous."
The look she gave Soukaku was gentle, yet carried a faint scolding.
"Okay..."
Soukaku lowered her head, looking disappointed, though most of it was merely for show.
She had already found the answer she needed. All that remained now was to make it work.
If she could arrange enough moments, enough shared meals and quiet conversations, enough small reasons for Wise and Yanagi to end up in the same place, then things would begin to move naturally on their own.
Then, once they found their footing together, Soukaku could quietly slip back into her rightful place, without anyone straying beyond where they were meant to be.
Once they were together, Soukaku could quietly slip back into her rightful place beside them.
It was a good plan.
"Yanagi, when do you think you might have time for us to invite Wise over for dinner? The one we mentioned before?" she asked.
"It may take a little while," Yanagi replied after a brief pause. "Things have been quite busy lately."
She considered it for a moment longer, then seemed to reach a quiet conclusion.
"Still, it really should happen soon. He has helped us quite a lot these days."
Today alone had already gone beyond a simple favor. And before leaving, he had told her directly that she could come to him with anything like that from now on, without hesitation or apology.
There was something about that she couldn't quite ignore. It carried the same presence he always had, warm and unhurried, a quiet steadiness that made the world feel just a little easier simply by being there.
An image surfaced in her mind without warning. A woman returning home after a long day, stepping through the front door, only to find that everything inside had already been taken care of.
She didn't allow the thought to go any further than that.
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Novels Available:
-> Zenless Zone Zero: The Almighty Incubus of Sixth Street. (Translation)
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