The drinks ordered by several people were served quickly, and Marin eagerly picked up her cup and took a sip.
Shinju picked up the only white Calpis on the tray, which also had ice cubes in it.
"Aki-Kun, give it to me to drink."
Sajuna whispered, leaning on Akira's chest.
"Alright."
Akira nodded helplessly; Sajuna occasionally did something to show off their affection.
He always felt like Sajuna was making him repay the favor of advertising the light novel…
So Akira picked up the oolong tea on the table, gently stroked Sajuna's hair, and slowly brought it to her face.
"Drink a little, or you'll get sleepy again."
"Mm, I know."
Sajuna was groggy, but she reached out both hands and took the cup Akira was holding.
It seemed Sajuna still knew there were many people around, at least her cheeks were already red from her earlier request.
Shinju watched her shy sister in Akira's arms with a slight smile, and Wakana also smiled and remarked, "Akira-kun and Inui-san have such a good relationship."
He felt as if the oolong tea he was drinking had become sweet because of their romantic atmosphere.
Not long after, the dishes ordered by the five people were served by the waiter, and then they began to eat with full concentration.
After dinner, Akira and the two sisters said goodbye to Wakana and Marin and headed towards Sajuna's house.
"I feel like today was really fun."
The three walked slowly along the gradually darkening street, the moonlight slowly rising from the horizon, hidden in the orange-red sunset. Shinju suddenly exclaimed, looking at the sky.
"Thank you, Akira-kun and Big Sister."
Shinju looked at Akira, who was holding her sister's hand; his face was bathed in a gentle glow, making it seem as if his gaze was solely on the girl holding his hand beside him.
"Eh, why is Shinju suddenly saying something like this?"
Akira turned his head curiously, and Sajuna also turned to look at her suddenly emotional younger sister.
"Before, I always took pretty photos for Big Sister, and I really felt a bit that I wasn't suitable for cosplay."
"This time, for the group cosplay, thanks to Big Sister and Akira-kun's encouragement, I was able to relax and cosplay my admired Souma-nii."
"Big Sister, I feel like I really, really love cosplay now."
Shinju said with a satisfied expression.
"I hadn't even noticed that Shinju liked Souma-nii enough to want to cosplay him. I feel like I'm an unqualified older sister."
"Big Sister, can I cosplay next?"
Shinju looked at her older sister with an expectant expression, "I want to become my favorite character's appearance later too."
"Yes, you can! I'm really looking forward to it!"
Sajuna nodded without any hesitation, then seemed to remember something.
"Oh, by the way, Shinju, wanting to cosplay isn't a simple thing."
"Is there anything I need to prepare?"
Shinju asked quickly with a startled expression.
"It's not that you need to prepare a lot, it's just that cosplay as a hobby is more expensive than other hobbies."
Sajuna held out her hand, enumerating the various expenses required for cosplay.
"Besides the cost of the outfit, which Shinju can guess immediately, if there's a finished product, you can usually just buy it directly."
"If the finished product isn't suitable, you'll need to find a tailor like Aki-Kun and Wakana to specially make it. In that case, in addition to the material costs required to make the clothes, you'll also need to buy transportation costs when purchasing materials, electricity costs during production, prop costs, and the tailor's craftsmanship fees."
"Eh, does it really require so many things?"
Shinju said in surprise, then became a little disheartened, "But I only have a little pocket money."
"Then you'll just have to wait until you can work part-time, Shinju, before you can start."
Sajuna patted Shinju's back, comforting her.
Although she also wanted to tell Shinju not to worry so much for now, because Big Sister was there.
But since it involved money, it was still necessary to explain and calculate it clearly.
"Then, has Big Sister already paid for the expenses related to Souma-nii's cosplay outfit this time?"
Shinju suddenly asked.
Sajuna suddenly stammered because she hadn't yet figured out how to calculate the source of funds with Aki-Kun; they had been together for a while, but they had never seriously bothered with money matters.
"Yes, it's been paid."
Akira looked up and replied, seeing Sajuna look at him, he gave a reassuring smile.
"And, all the expenses required for making these clothes also need to be paid to Wakana again."
"However, the money given to Wakana is much more than what was given to me, after all, Sajuna's outfit is very beautiful."
Sajuna nodded, "It is indeed very beautiful."
"So that's how it is."
Shinju lowered her head, then looked up at the sky, clenching her fists.
"I've decided, as soon as I can work part-time, I'll go to work immediately, save money, and cosplay my favorite characters."
"Shinju is really great, especially with such an enterprising spirit!"
"Because letting others know what you like is something that requires an enterprising spirit and courage."
Akira replied, then reached out and stroked Shinju's hair. Shinju, seeing Akira-kun's hand reaching out, couldn't help but shrink back a little and slightly narrowed her eyes.
"Mm."
"Sajuna and I are both super looking forward to your cosplay, Shinju."
Akira said this, looking at the well-behaved Shinju, he couldn't help but smile; Shinju was really super sensible.
What a lovely and gentle girl.
Akira withdrew his hand and re-held Sajuna's hand, looking at Shinju, who was about his height, and expressed his concern.
"But Shinju, you don't have to worry about the cost of cosplay for now, because Sajuna and I will both support your cosplay, so if there's any character you want to cosplay, you can tell Sajuna and me."
"Aki-Kun, don't spoil Shinju like that, you'll spoil her."
Sajuna gently hit Akira's shoulder a few times, reminding him.
"Because Shinju is very sensible, that's why I said that."
Akira replied.
Often, sensible children receive more grievances. Although Shinju wouldn't receive such treatment, Akira still wanted to give the sensible younger sister some extra preferential treatment.
"Mm."
Sajuna looked at the happy Shinju in front of her and strongly agreed with Akira's opinion.
"Thank you, Akira-kun and Big Sister."
Sajuna looked at Shinju, who had a happy expression and was blessing her and Aki-Kun, and a hint of envy couldn't help but resurface in her heart.
Aki-Kun's care for Shinju was indeed very easy to envy and be jealous of. Before, she had only envied Shinju's figure because she could cosplay more characters.
She didn't expect that Aki-Kun's behavior towards Shinju could also make her feel envious of Shinju's 'younger sister' status.
However, as soon as Sajuna thought of her girlfriend status, the envy that had just surfaced vanished.
'Younger sister' is just a younger sister; she is Aki-Kun's official girlfriend!
The kind that would never waver, it was truly so happy!