When she arrived at the meeting place her sister had mentioned, Yukino realized she had been tricked again.
The moment she saw a strange man sitting beside her sister, she knew that this situation was probably no different from last time.
Their mother must have introduced another "friend" to her sister for her own reasons, and her sister had likely agreed in words but was actually quite rebellious about it.
Over the phone earlier, her sister had spoken weakly, saying that she had visited a friend early in the morning and then started feeling unwell.
Since their parents weren't around, she felt uneasy and wanted Yukino to accompany her to the hospital for a check-up… But it was all a lie.
She knew that if her sister had told the truth, there would have been no way to get her to come, so she chose deception once again.
When Yukino met her sister's gaze, who greeted her with a radiant smile, she was so angry that she wanted to turn around and leave immediately.
But then she saw her sister suddenly lift up a giant, menacing-looking panda plush that was almost half her height.
There were only two things in the world that she simply couldn't resist: cats and pandas, or any related merchandise.
At times like these, emotions undoubtedly overpowered reason.
"Sorry about this, I really didn't expect to run into my little sister here."
"No, it's fine. I actually have something to do later, so let's meet another time."
"I really do apologize…"
Everything went according to Haruno's plan.
Sitting beside her sister, Yukino watched with an expressionless face as the unfamiliar man was swiftly dismissed by her sister in just a few words.
After he left, only the two sisters remained. Haruno let out a big sigh.
Resting her chin on one hand, she stirred her drink while glancing sideways at her younger sister.
"Yukino, you should hurry up and grow up already. That way, Mom won't always be focused only on me, and I won't have to bear all the pressure alone."
Yukino showed no reaction. She simply stroked the ear of the panda plush beside her and said,
"If you don't want to do it, why not just refuse? I don't think Mom would be that forceful in making you do this kind of thing."
Haruno shifted her gaze outside the store, watching the passing pedestrians with a look of absolute boredom.
"Even if she doesn't force me, there's no escaping the endless nagging at home. 'If you could handle things on your own, I wouldn't have to worry about you so much, nor would I have to go through so much trouble finding outstanding candidates for you.'"
She paused for a moment before suddenly laughing.
"I used to think our mom was pretty cool, but over the years, my opinion has changed.
No matter how cool she might be, in the end, she's still just a mother.
Yukino, do you think that one day, when we get married and have children, we'll also worry about the next generation's love life like Mom does?"
Yukino was caught off guard, clearly not expecting her sister to bring up this topic.
She thought for a moment before shaking her head.
"I don't know about you, but as for me, I wouldn't interfere too much in other people's freedom."
Hearing her answer, Haruno smirked playfully, looking intrigued.
"You're not denying the fact that you'll get married in the future, huh?"
"..."
Yukino remained silent, unwilling to continue the conversation.
But Haruno pressed on.
"Yukino, do you have someone you like?"
Yukino hugged the panda plush and stood up.
"Sister, you got what you wanted. I'm leaving now."
Haruno slung her bag over her shoulder and followed.
"Alright, alright, I won't ask anymore. I drove here, and it's not convenient for you to carry that thing around. Let me give you a ride home."
After considering it for a moment, Yukino nodded.
On the way to the parking lot, she couldn't help but ask,
"If I hadn't agreed to come after getting your call this morning, what would you have done?"
"What else could I do?
If my dear Yukino didn't come to rescue me, I would've had no choice but to patiently spend more time with that guy, listening to him talk about his personal qualities, his daily work routine, the kinds of patients he encounters…
all those terribly boring topics."
"He's a doctor?"
"Yeah, he graduated from Waseda University's medical school. He's currently a senior physician at the National Central Hospital."
"That sounds like an impressive background.
Although judging people by appearance isn't ideal, based on my first impression of him and the way he spoke with you, he did seem like a capable person…"
Recalling similar situations in the past, Yukino added,
"At the very least, he left a much better impression than the last guy."
"Oh? Yukino, if you're interested in him, I can give you his contact information."
"Sister, please stop saying such pointless things."
"With that kind of reaction, you're making me think you already have someone in your heart."
"..."
Yukino closed her eyes, shook her head slightly, and let out a helpless sigh before sitting in the back seat with her panda plush.
Seeing this, Haruno chuckled and started the car.
Twenty minutes later, when Yukino noticed the increasingly unfamiliar scenery outside the window, she finally realized that this wasn't the way home.
"Sister."
Her voice was laced with displeasure.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Oh, you finally noticed? Yukino, you're surprisingly slow when it comes to things like this."
Haruno's tone was relaxed.
"It's nothing serious. I just suddenly realized that I can't even remember the last time we sisters went out to have fun together.
Since it's the weekend and you don't have class, I thought we could take the chance to bond a little."
As she spoke, she handed a stack of brochures from the car's central storage compartment to the back.
Yukino took them and flipped through them, finding two music festival tickets inside. The venue was Yoyogi's First Gymnasium.
A two-day event—today being the first day.
Since the tickets were already prepared in advance, it was hard to believe this was just a spur-of-the-moment idea. More likely, it had been planned all along.
Perhaps this was her real reason for calling Yukino out today?
Given all the clues, Yukino couldn't help but think that way.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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