“Trouble.”

“Yeah… big trouble.”

Shizuku, who visited our house within seconds after Kaede’s call, muttered with a mysterious look on her face after she received what Kaede had to say.

Indeed, this was troublesome.

It’s also a problem that we don’t know who the other party is in the first place, but for parents to decide on an arranged marriage without any explanation to their children, don’t fathers these days know the Ho-Ren-So* mantra?
<TL>: He’ll explain it in the next line so I don’t need to :p

Reporting, contacting, and consulting are common sense that even elementary school students know.

I have no one to report to, no one to talk to, so I do all the reporting and consultation on my own, so there aren’t any concerns here.

“Minato-kun’s arranged marriage? …but I haven’t heard from him yet, its strange.”

“Shouldn’t it be Shizuku-san as the marriage partner? …It’s this that’s weird about it.”

Shizuku, wondering why her matchmaking partner was not herself, showed signs of disappointment.
She has been making intense jokes since her arrival. It’s easy to notice how different her smile is from the usual bitter one.

Kaede’s expression was also dark, and it was immediately clear that this situation was not something desirable for either of them.

I thought it would be all right since mom said discuss this matter with dad, but I didn’t know it would come to this.
It was unusual for dad to reject mom’s opinion. I wonder if she had come up with a problem that she had no choice but to step aside.

I know it’s not something I should be thinking about in the absence of the person in question, but I can’t help it.

“I remember Okaa-san saying she wouldn’t let him be in an arranged marriage.”

Kaede puffed out her cheeks and muttered in frustration.
It must have been quite surprising for Kaede, since she was quite angry on the phone as well.

It was the first time I’d seen her this upset.

“What time do you think your parents will be back?”

“I don’t know the details… but the fact that he called means it won’t be too late.”

We should assume that they will be back soon for the summer vacation.
I really don’t want to have any trouble because of the Shiraishi situation, but it is difficult to avoid when it is my own family issue.

As I was pondering what to do, Shizuku began to speak in a low voice.

“Minato-kun… what are you going to do about the arranged marriage?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, will you accept it or not?”

Her tone and the way she looked at me with her eyes, I think she is worried.

How would I handle an arranged marriage, huh?

I sensed that she was concerned about what changes might occur to her current surroundings as a result.

“…It’s just selfish for my parents to do so, so I have no intention of doing anything.”

The other side is bound to step out first and refuse if they saw it was me who came.
Besides, I can’t be asked to suddenly be on friendly terms with a stranger either, and I’m not interested in a classic event like a blind date.

If possible, I will just refuse dad when he comes back, I don’t intend to bother Kaede or Shizuku.

Hearing my words, Shizuku lets out a little breath of relief and moved from next to Kaede to me.
Sitting just one shoulder away from me, Shizuku smiled as she usually does without being flustered.

“It’s not for me to meddle, but …Minato-kun, you mustn’t say anything rude to your partner, okay?”

“…I know.”

I am well aware of this smile.
I know how she feels when she has this expression on her face, the time when she speaks while killing her own emotions.

The truth is, she probably has a lot to say.
But because she is not a member of my family, she doesn’t want to meddle.

I didn’t know how to reply to the words that came out of her mouth because I knew what she wanted to say.

“…It used to be just the three of us.”

“…”

“Lately, I sometimes worry that Minato-kun will go far away.”

Turning over, Shizuku said, with her fingertips tugging at the edge of my sleeve.
Her voice was so quiet that it seemed to vanish in the surroundings.

There was me, Shizuku, and Kaede.
There used to be just the three of us.

Then came Yuuto, Kirasaka, president, and the members of the student council.

Recently, Shiraishi has started to talk to me too.

At a speed much too slow than other people, but little by little, people increased around me.

“You know… that day, when I told Minato-kun that I liked him, I was also the one who created the vague situation by saying that it wasn’t a confession of love.”

With those words, the day in that park comes vividly to my mind.
After all, has anything changed since then?

Only that I met a student named Shiraishi.
I can’t say with certainty that I have changed in any way.

“But it’s no good now… neither I nor Kirasaka-san… have anything that can touch Minato’s heart right now.”

The words told by Shizuku, who looked depressed, were something I didn’t understand.

These words resonated with me enough.

I am painfully aware of the difference between myself and them.
They make me realize how different I am.

I have been confronted with the reality that I am just all talk, and yet I don’t have the ability to make the words I say come true.

That is why I have come to believe that something has to change.

Just as I was about to tell her this, Shizuku quietly stood up from next to me.

Turning toward where Kaede was sitting, she opened her mouth.

“Kaede, please take care of Minato-kun.”

“Yes, but what about you, Shizuku-san?”

“I have some business to attend to…”

The smile that came to her face as she said this was not a forced expression this time.
When she told Kaede this, she turned around one more time and gently placed her palm on top of mine.

After only a brief moment, our hands were separated, and then she quietly left the Shinra household.