[Warning 15+]
Author's Notes:
Feels like we're officially jumpin' into Part 4, Sub-Part 3 from here on out.
Feels like we're officially jumpin' into Part 4, Sub-Part 3 from here on out.
Part Four
"―From Now On, You Better Treat Me with That Same Energy, Too!"
Chapter 143
Makin' a Birthday Present
"―From Now On, You Better Treat Me with That Same Energy, Too!"
Chapter 143
Makin' a Birthday Present
A while after that whole crazy-*ss sheep birth drama.
The mountains of Tsukinose were dead-silent today, even though the vibe felt kinda edgy for some reason.
Right around the time the sun started dippin' behind the western peaks.
Next to the shrine halfway up the mountain, inside the Murao Residence—specifically, in Saki's bedroom.
There, both Haruki and Saki were workin' their hands with dead-serious looks on their faces, completely-*ss locked into that same tense vibe as the mountains outside. All around 'em on the floor, scraps of fabric, strings, and sewin' tools were straight-up scattered everywhere.
"Alright, let's cut the fabric just a tiny-*ss bit bigger than the paper pattern, and..."
What Haruki was workin' on was a wallet-style cellphone case.
Haruki was right in the middle of carefully-*ss cuttin' out fabric printed with calico cats to match her stencils.
"Heeh-hoop...! This is crazy-*ss tough, but...!"
What Saki was workin' on was an apron.
Makin' the actual apron was a breeze, but Saki thought that’d be way too boring-*ss plain, so she was catchin' straight-up hell tryin' to hand-sew a fox patch onto it.
Both of these were birthday presents meant to be handed over to Hayato.
Every now and then, they'd check in with each other to make sure they were actually-*ss followin' the online tutorials right while grindin' away.
Right then, a crazy-*ss powerful gust of wind howled outside.
The window rattled hard from the impact of the wind, and maybe 'cause the clouds got blown away, a bright-*ss blood-red sunset streamed right into the bedroom.
"Whoa, it's evening already!"
"Mmm~, should we just call it a wrap for now and keep goin' tonight?"
Stoppin' at Saki's suggestion, Haruki threw her hands up to pull off a massive-*ss stretch, makin' her shoulder pop with a loud crack.
Ever since rollin' into Tsukinose, Haruki'd been chippin' away at this project whenever she got a chance, and today she'd been grindin' non-stop since lunchtime.
Haruki muttered to herself, gettin' all sentimental lookin' at the cellphone case that was finally-*ss startin' to take real shape.
"Mmm, just a tiny-*ss bit more and it's totally-*ss finished~"
"...Do you think Big Bro will actually-*ss accept mine?"
"...Huh?"
Outta nowhere, Saki muttered a few hesitant-*ss words while holdin' up the half-finished apron in her hands.
A weird-*ss squeak slipped out of Haruki's mouth. Her eyes went completely wide.
Catchin' that look from Haruki, Saki frantically-*ss started makin' excuses for herself.
"I-I mean, it's my first time giving someone this kind of present, and since we've barely even talked before, I was just thinkin' it might look weird if I suddenly-*ss hand it over..."
"Well, Hayato straight-up uses freebie soaps, towels, and even plates you win from collectin' prize stickers for his everyday stuff. He loves useful-*ss things, so I'm pretty sure he's gonna be happy with it."
"But even if Big Bro takes it, I'm just Hime-chan's buddy—or rather, his little sis' buddy, so I'm worried he might feel weirdly forced to use it, or maybe just completely-*ss bench it altogether..."
"Ahaha! Hayato doesn't have the sensitive-*ss brain cells to care about who gave him what before usin' it. If it works, he will straight-up use anything~"
As Haruki waved her hand off with a loud-*ss cackle, Saki knitted her brows a bit, narrowin' her eyes as a tiny-*ss hint of envy slipped into her voice.
"...Bein' able to say that about Big Bro... ...I'm kinda jelly."
"Oh..."
Haruki straight-up choked on her words right then and there.
Reflected in Haruki's eyes was a Saki who looked a tiny-*ss bit lonely.
Even if Haruki wanted to say somethin' to cheer Saki up, Haruki had zero-*ss clue what to spit out. A deep wrinkle formed right between Haruki's brows.
"I-I'm so sorry, I suddenly-*ss blurted out somethin' weird...!"
"No, no, no, I mean, eh... ...well, hmm..."
As Saki looked down all slouched and embarrassed after sayin' that, Haruki frantically-*ss tried to scramble for the right words in her head, but nothin' fitting would actually-*ss come out.
Haruki let out a low-*ss groan for a good minute.
Then, Haruki took another good-*ss look at Saki.
Even though Saki still had a bit of a baby face, her flawless, sharp-*ss features, combined with her light hair and pale-*ss skin, made her look like a straight-up mystical beauty.
Saki's 'melons' wasn't quite on Minamo's crazy level, but it definitely-*ss made its presence known, and Saki's body shape was totally-*ss on point.
On top of that, Saki was dead-serious, sweet, and didn't just back Hayato up from the shadows; Haruki had seen with her own eyes a million-*ss times how much the people of Tsukinose absolutely-*ss adored Saki.
Yeah, Saki was a straight-up good girl.
Lookin' at it from the outside, Saki's moves on Hayato were always low-key as heck.
They barely-*ss talked directly, but during cookouts or barbecues, Saki'd casually-*ss prep the tools Hayato needed right by his side, and when that sheep was givin' birth, she handled all the behind-the-scenes legwork by hittin' up the vet and the neighbors with the right gear. She was always pullin' strings in the background without him ever knowin'.
It might be hard for Hayato himself to actually-ass notice.
But if you took a step back and looked at the big-*ss picture, it was blindingly obvious that Saki cared about Hayato big-time.
Saki's inner thoughts were crazy-*ss complicated.
Which was exactly why somethin' was buggin' her, and that fast-growing emotion suddenly-*ss took shape, spillin' right out of her mouth.
"Hey, Saki-chan... ...when did you actually-*ss start, y'know, carin' about Hayato like that?"
"Ca-rin'!? No, I mean, ugh... ...i-it's kinda blurry if you ask me exactly when it started, but if it's about the trigger..."
"The trigger?"
"Yeah..."
Saki's face flushed bright-*ss red in a straight split second.
Fidgetin' around, Saki started tracin' loops on the tatami mat with her index finger.
Dopin' little glances back and forth, Saki looked shy as heck but also kinda proud, like she was showin' off a precious-*ss treasure while tellin' her it was a total secret from everyone else.
"...I got a compliment from Big Bro."
"Eh...?"
"My Kagura dance, which I didn't even know why the heck I was performin' it... ...Big Bro was the first person ever to call it beautiful and cool. The first one to ever give me a compliment like that was Big Bro."
"...! Oh, I see..."
Saki gave a bashful-*ss smile, pressin' a hand against her chest as she closed her eyes.
It was such a gorgeous-*ss smile anyone would instantly fall for it― but then Saki knitted her brows in a self-deprecating way.
"It's seriously-*ss that simple. But to me, it was a massive-*ss deal... ...ahaha, I sound like a total idiot, right?"
"No way, that's straight-up not true!"
On pure reflex, Haruki grabbed Saki's hands and squeezed 'em tight.
A weirdly intense-*ss heat started fillin' the air between 'em.
But Haruki didn't know what the heck to say. Her chest was achin' bad, too.
The only thing for d*mn sure was that Haruki absolute-*ss couldn't look at Saki—who was harborin' such a fiercely devoted love—and just think of it as someone else's business.
"Hey, hey! Look, look, Big Sis Haru!"
""...!?""
Right then, the sliding door to Saki's room was suddenly-*ss thrown open with a loud-*ss bang.
The two of 'em frantically-*ss scrambled away to open up some space.
The one who burst in was Shinta.
In his hands, Shinta was holdin' a fish tank packed with sand and small pebbles arranged to look just like a mini park, and you could see a few freshwater crabs straight-up chillin' inside.
"Shinta-kun, you finished your freshwater crab tank, huh?"
"Yeah, my absolute-*ss masterpiece!"
"Oh my, that's precious as heck."
That tank was actually-*ss Haruki’s idea, suggestin' Shinta build it so he'd have a spot to keep the freshwater crabs he'd caught.
Looks like while both Haruki and Saki were grindin' on their presents, Shinta had been workin' on this the whole d*mn time.
"The pond part lined with stones is my favorite-*ss detail...!"
The way Shinta bragged about it all bashful but kinda proud was a straight-up mirror image of his Big Sis, Saki, from just a second ago.
Lettin' out a soft-*ss chuckle, both Haruki and Saki locked eyes, looked at each other, and shared a sweet-*ss laugh together.
Author's Notes:
Baa~.
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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