A beautiful middle school girl was walking by herself.
Shika Kagura, who was wearing plain-colored clothes together with a white scarf, attracted every passersby’s attention as she dragged a large suitcase behind her.
Her normal walk seemed like a beautiful scene out of a movie.
Especially since there were many falling leaves on the road today.
If some melancholy background music and a heavy-toned narration was added to this scene, it would truly be at the level of a movie in a theater!
Every person that paid attention to her, regardless of their gender, couldn’t help darting a few extra glances at her as they imagined who she was and where she was going.
Shika was also currently in the midst of imagining.
She couldn’t help but imagine scenes of her life after she started living together with Seiji.
In a normal… or even a simpler home, the two of them… would chat, cook, eat, and watch TV together.
"Shika-chan, is the food ready? I’m a little hungry."
"Shika-chan, the hot water is ready, so go ahead and shower first."
"Shika-chan, would you like to watch this program together with me? It’s really interesting."
"Shika-chan, I thought of a new plot for our novel—it’s like this… what do you think?"
"Shika-chan, it’s time to sleep, have a good night."
They were just normal words combined with an ordinary daily life, but as long as she was with him, everything seemed so beautiful and wonderful to her.
This already made her quite happy, but… since they were adopted brother and sister, perhaps they could… be a little more intimate?
Another group of scenes flashed through her mind.
"Shika-chan, the food’s not ready yet? Let me come help you."
"Shika-chan, the hot water’s ready—would you like to shower together?"
"Shika-chan, this program’s a little scary—you should come over and sit right by my side."
"Shika-chan, I think that it would be good for the plot if the main character got together with his younger sister—what do you think?
"Shika-chan, it’s time to sleep, how about sleeping with me tonight?"
Her face reddened as she imagined the handsome boy’s gentle smile.
No, no, she couldn’t do that! This was too… um!
He definitely wouldn’t say or do such things! Even though he was rather... um, he was still a gentle and polite person.
Shika suddenly felt a little disappointed when she came to that realization.
He was a polite and respectful person, which was a good thing. But… sometimes she also wished that he wasn’t such a respectful person and could act more intimate… closer to her.
Being hugged, or being patted by him on the head was a nice feeling.
She wanted to have more fun acting spoiled to him.
She wanted to have more time inhaling his scent.
She wanted to keep looking at his face, hearing his voice and those gentle words of his.
As a younger sister… this was all natural, right?
Hrm, yep, that was it!
Shika managed to convince herself.
As brother and sister, they should be more intimate. If he wasn’t the type to act, then she would do it for him.
What exactly should she do, then?
Shika’s lips faintly arced upwards as she continued imagining.
She didn’t notice that the expression on her face was moving so many passersby’s souls.
Everyone was praising and exclaiming at her beauty, and, finally, someone was unable to suppress their desire.
"Um… Miss, please wait a moment!"
A person couldn't bear let this beauty go and came to flirt with her.
The speaker was a handsome boy who had a soft, shadowy appearance. His hair was soft and sleek, and his face was framed with twin bangs, with one side being longer than the other.
He was wearing a dark gray jacket while holding a single reflex lens in his hands, making him seem like a photography enthusiast.
Shika stopped walking as he blocked her path. She was displeased at having her thoughts interrupted.
"What is it?" she asked lightly while staring coldly at him.
The handsome boy’s face was tinged with red.
Most passersby could tell that he was shy and nervous. It was clear he had either painstakingly worked up the courage or that it was just an impulsive action that caused him to flirt with the black-haired girl before him.
"I-I’d like to take a few pictures of you… because… you’re really beautiful…" He looked around at everywhere but Shika while stuttering.
In some people’s eyes, perhaps this could be considered cute on his part.
But Shika Kagura didn’t think he was cute.
"Sorry, I don’t wish to be photographed."
She politely rejected him before walking again and stepping around him.
"Er… wait a moment… please wait!" The boy followed after her.
His heart was truly moved by her beauty.
Just earlier, when he saw her smiling faintly on the street while lost in thought, his heart started beating frenziedly; it was almost as if he had been struck by lightning.
He was shaken to such an extent that he didn’t even have the time to take her picture.
When he regained his senses, he was already in front of her trying to strike up a conversation.
This was his first time.
Many girls had tried flirting with him before on the street due to how handsome he was, but this was the first time that he had ever tried to flirt with a girl of his own volition!
Shika’s beauty had propelled him into action.
Her cold attitude towards him gave him an impact, but he didn’t want to give up just like this.
"Just… I just need a little bit of your time!" he said as he followed behind her. "Just a few pictures. I’m not some strange person or anything! I’m a first-year student at Koaki High School, and I’m in the photography club—here’s my student ID!"
The brown-haired boy reached into his pocket for his student ID and opened it up to show her.
It was common for many people to be suspicious of his motives whenever he was looking around with his camera for things to take pictures of, which was why he had the habit of using his student ID to prove he wasn’t a suspicious individual.
Koaki High School was well renowned, so anyone that knew about its reputation would stop suspecting him after seeing his student ID, and some would even become much friendlier to him.
However, this girl didn’t even look at his student ID as she kept walking.
This made him feel rather awkward.
"Um… I… My name is Shunsuke Jinbe, I’m really not a bad person. I just want to take a few pictures…"
"You… you’re really beautiful; the pictures would… definitely be beautiful…"
"You… you’re not in a hurry, are you…? Just… a few minutes… please…"
"I already told you." His persistence annoyed Shika, so her eyes were cold as she turned around to face him again. "I don’t wish to have photos taken of me. Please don’t get close to me, please don’t speak to me, and please don’t follow me."
It was obvious that her calm words contained the tone of wanting to keep a great distance away from him.
The boy named Shunsuke Jinbe was stunned by this.
One reason was that he had been so absolutely rejected, and another was that… even though her attitude was so cold towards him, she still seemed so beautiful to the point where his heartbeat quickened!
By the time he recovered his senses again, he discovered that she had walked off again.
He wanted to chase after her again, but after she said all that to him, if he kept following her, wouldn’t that make him seem no different from a hoodlum?
He wasn’t a shameless person to such a degree.
He could only watch as she walked into the distance, and the most he could do was take a photograph of her beautiful back as she walked off…
Shika arrived at the address that Seiji had given to her.
‘It should be close by…’ Just as she thought this, she noticed that he was waiting at the roadside for her.
Seiji Haruta was his name.
In Shika’s heart, this was the most beautiful name in the entire world.
He also noticed her arrival and flashed a gentle smile.
In this instant, Shika’s heart was filled with a warmth that almost caused tears to run down her cheeks.
She quickly approached him while still dragging her suitcase behind her.
He also walked towards her, and as if he felt something, he slowly opened up his arms.
Shika let go of her luggage.
She dashed over and tossed herself into his arms as she hugged him tightly.
"Brother Seiji…"
"Shika-chan…"
She lifted her head and looked into her face.
Her vision was a little blurry.
‘So I ended up crying after all... Honestly…’
"I’m back."
All the passionate feelings in her heart were poured into that one sentence.
Then, she received the response that she had wanted to hear.
"Welcome back." Seiji smiled in response.
‘Welcome home, Shika-chan.’