Nakano Nino wasn't intentionally targeting Nakano Ichika—her questioning came purely from concern for her family. She just wanted to clear things up.
Earlier at the dessert shop, she'd already intended to chat with Ichika and dig a little deeper. If Shirase hadn't held her hand and disrupted her thoughts, she would've confronted her sister much sooner.
But now, having seen Ichika step out of a luxury car at nine o'clock at night, if Nino pretended not to notice, she wouldn't be Nakano Nino anymore.
"She's worried about you," Shirase spoke up at just the right moment, subtly reminding Ichika to hurry up with her excuses.
"I know," Ichika replied instantly. Mature and clever as she was, she quickly wore a gentle smile. "Nino and I are family. What she just said was out of good intentions—I completely understand her worries. After all, this is exactly how we usually interact at home. Sometimes, as the eldest, I even step in to mediate when my sisters argue."
Pausing for effect, she naturally shifted topics. "You know, I once heard from a classmate that there's a Chinese saying: 'The eldest sister is like a mother.' So I totally get Nino's concern right now."
Shirase was momentarily speechless. Since when does a hopeless study-slacker like you even know phrases like 'eldest sister is like a mother'? Isn't that supposed to be derived from 'eldest brother is like a father' anyway?
Nino was equally shocked, but she quickly sneered, "Are you seriously trying to show off in front of me? Don't forget—you're just as much a hopeless study-slacker as I am."
She spoke those words with astonishing pride, as though being a study-slacker was a badge of honor.
Ichika laughed. "Well, my grades might be bad, but there are some things I still know."
"Like the Chinese phrase you just used?"
"Exactly."
"Since you're so confident, I recently heard a Chinese poem from a classmate—something about a '慈母手中线' ('Thread in the hand of a loving mother'). If you're so eager to show off, Ichika, maybe you could explain what that means?" Nino struck swiftly.
Ichika blinked innocently. "I think I saw a post online explaining this before. The Chinese character '慈' (ci) sounds similar to '雌' (ci), meaning female. So this poem must mean… 'No male mothers allowed?'"
Shirase: "..."
Nino: "..."
Seeing their blank reactions, Ichika instantly knew she'd messed up.
But she wasn't panicking at all. After all, her real goal was just to divert the conversation.
She smoothly moved to step two: looking at Shirase, then at Nino, and letting out a heavy sigh.
Nino stared in confusion. "Why are you suddenly sighing?"
Ichika spoke with a mature, almost motherly tone, "I was just thinking—Nino used to be the most childish, spoiled one among the five of us. But ever since she started liking a certain boy, she's suddenly acting like a strict, overbearing mother."
Nino flushed bright red. "W-what nonsense are you talking about?"
As she spoke, she secretly glanced at Shirase.
A teasing sparkle flickered in Ichika's eyes. Seeing Nino fall into her trap, she pressed her advantage and asked Shirase, "So, was tonight's date fun?"
"Very," Shirase immediately played along.
Ichika cupped her smooth cheeks, sighing dramatically once more. "Ah, that sounds lovely. I've never been in love myself, so I have no idea how it feels. Honestly, I envy you, Nino."
Shirase smiled warmly. "Actually, I'm the one who should feel lucky. Meeting Nino in high school was the best thing that ever happened to me."
Nice move, Shirase! Ichika cheered inwardly. As expected from the boy I picked—perfectly in sync with me.
At this moment, Nino's heart was in utter chaos. Like a startled fawn, her eyes sparkled with embarrassment and panic. Her moist lips parted slightly, ready to fire back a tsundere retort, but when she recalled how happy tonight's date had made her, she found herself speechless.
Seeing that she'd successfully diverted attention away, Ichika quickly spoke to Shirase. "Thanks for bringing Nino home tonight. I'll take it from here. As the big sister, it's my job to look after her."
"You're the girl who can't even be bothered to clean her own room, are you about taking care of me?" Nino glared at her.
Ichika feigned shyness, "Come on, leave me some dignity—Shirase-kun's right here, you know."
Nino scoffed, unimpressed. "Oh, now you suddenly care about dignity? If you'd clean up every day—or even just once every five days—it would already be a miracle."
"Eh, so that's really how you see me~?"
Ichika gave an exaggeratedly innocent look while secretly signaling Shirase with her hand: Leave the rest to me.
Shirase almost laughed aloud.
Great—now that you've got Nino perfectly under control, you're just going to toss me aside like a used tool-man?
He knew Ichika's personality very well—now that he'd helped her today, she'd definitely repay the favor in the future. Smiling inwardly, Shirase promptly excused himself.
As soon as Shirase left, Nino suddenly realized—had Ichika just led her around by the nose?
But her realization came far too late.
Ichika, who'd long been accumulating experience from early exposure to the adult world, didn't even give Nino the chance to redirect the conversation. Instead, she spread her arms wide and hugged her younger sister tightly.
"H-Hey, what are you doing? Why are you suddenly hugging me?" Nino stammered, completely caught off guard.
Ichika hugged her tightly, eyes curved into smiling crescents. "So how far have you gotten with Shirase-kun, anyway?"
"Huh?" Nino's face immediately changed color. Was this really something you could ask out loud?
Ichika's smile turned mischievous. "Have you two kissed yet?"
"Of course not!" Nino replied instantly, cheeks flaming.
Ichika gasped in exaggerated shock. "Eh? You mean you haven't kissed yet? How strange~."
"What's so strange about it? Are you implying I'm the type of girl who casually does things like that?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant…" Ichika paused meaningfully. "But think carefully—ever since Shirase first met us, has he ever hidden his feelings for you?"
Hearing those words, Nino froze in place.
Her thoughts drifted involuntarily, recalling countless moments. The more she thought, the redder her cheeks became.
Because, indeed, Shirase had never once hidden how he felt about her.
Ichika closely watched her sister's shifting expression. Knowing she had full control now, she continued smoothly, "Tonight was a rare chance for you two to go on a proper date, yet you didn't even kiss. From your reaction, it sounds like it was just an extremely ordinary date—am I right?"
"O-of course." Nino turned away stubbornly. "If you really think about it, tonight doesn't even count as a real date…"
Ignoring her sister's weak excuses, Ichika pressed on relentlessly. "Then have you ever thought—since your date tonight was so ordinary—could Shirase-kun have been holding himself back the whole time?"
"Eh?" Nino didn't understand at first, until she caught the suggestive look in Ichika's eyes, instantly causing her entire face to turn beet red.
Ichika laughed lightly, "Oh my, what exactly were you imagining? I wasn't even talking about anything inappropriate."
Nino glared at her sister in embarrassed anger. That's clearly what you were implying just now!
"I was simply saying that Shirase-kun probably restrained himself and didn't push things further with you. Otherwise, given how openly he likes you, he probably would've already tried going all the way by now," Ichika teased mercilessly, her words filled with suggestive implication.
Fully overwhelmed by embarrassment and annoyance, Nino had already completely forgotten her original goal of interrogating Ichika.
As for questioning her sister, that was now thrown completely out of her mind.