Hmmm, I think I’ll take a deep breath too…

I’m walking up the stairs at Yuika’s house.
I greeted her mother at the door, had a cup of tea, chit-chat in the living room, and now I’m on my way to Yuika’s room.

Perhaps Yuika heard my footsteps.
She’s probably going to try something like she did yesterday.
I’m beginning to understand why she’s doing this.

Yuika kept telling me, “You can’t fall in love with me, okay?”
That’s because she doesn’t plan to stop being a recluse.

But right now — leaving aside the fact that I don’t know what she’s talking about in many ways — she’s trying to get me to like her. She’s trying to put herself in a situation where she has no choice but to quit being a recluse.

Yuika is trying to move forward.
Of course I’ll do my best to help.

“It’s just…”

The hard part is that this is probably… something I should never fall for.
If I inadvertently confessed to her because of her raging attacks, I would have affirmed that she was a recluse. This would be meaningless.

Of course, once she’s flattered and forced to quit being a recluse, she won’t be able to leave her room anytime soon.

What is important for Yuika is the feeling that she is trying to do her best right now. I should make sure that she does not make a mistake and watch over her carefully.

“That means I…”

I have to keep taking the attacks of the woman I love without any protection, and while I take the damage, I have to stay on the edge of losing all reason.

What is this torture?
Is this a new kind of standoff attack?

“Take a deep breath. I need to use the ripples to strengthen myself…”

At the end of the stairs is a T-shape, with her parents’ bedroom on the left, Iori’s and Yuika’s rooms on the right.
Naturally, I tried to go to the right side of the staircase, but right after that, I took a step back.

“Oh, no, we’re going to crash, I’m going to bump into you!”

I don’t care if it’s an act reading.
It doesn’t matter that she’s wearing a ponytail like yesterday.
The fact that she’s holding a loaf of bread in her mouth for show is also okay.
I want to praise her for wearing a sailor outfit from her junior high school days, but I want to put that aside for now.

The problem was the person herself.
For a moment, I thought it was her brother Iori dressed as a woman, but I was wrong. It was unmistakably Yuika herself.

It wasn’t even the middle of the night, but Yuika — she was out of the room.

“Yu-Yuika, you…”
“You’re on the verge of being late, and you collide with a transfer student on the corner with a loaf of bread in her mouth!”
“Are you replicating that moment some anime or something!?”

I got a nice elbow in the stomach.
I fell to the left side of the hallway. What would have happened if I had fallen down the stairs by mistake…?

“Don’t worry! I believed that Souta, who is very athletic, would fall in a safe direction even if I hit him by surprise!”
“Geez, I haven’t said anything yet…”
“Don’t worry! I know what you’re thinking because we grew up together! You can’t speak when you’re hit in the stomach, can you? I answered you before you could say anything, say thank you!”
“Gah, guh, thank you… no, that’s too unreasonable. My diaphragm is hurting…”
“No, I didn’t expect to use the Zaneiken here either… I’m sorry, honestly.”
[TLN: Zaneiken = A move in street fighter.]

When she bumped into me, Yuika had closed her eyes as hard as she could. That must have miraculously put her in a charging state. I don’t know much about it because I was imitating Shoryuken instead in elementary.
[TLN: More street fighter stuff.]

Yuika collapsed on my waist.
It’s her sailor uniform from junior high school, back when she was a C-cup. Naturally, her current F-cups don’t fit, and the southern hemisphere of her chest makes a huge impression.

Whether she is aware of her condition or not, Yuika makes a smug face on her hip.

“The secret art of romantic comedy, handed down from ancient times, is to bump into each other at the corner of the street… mmm-hmm, how’s that? Did it make your heart skip a beat? Was my plan a success?”

“I feel like my diaphragm is going to break more than my heart. I have to say, compared to yesterday’s white dress, this one is a little disappointing, isn’t it?”
“Oh, you mean you like the one-piece better than the sailor outfit?　Then I won’t wear this anymore.”

“Don’t stop, please, don’t stop no matter what! You look cute. Very cute. I hope you continue to do this on a regular basis.”
“It’s a little too desperate. … Souta likes cosplay?”
“Baka.”

I look up at her with a stunned look on my face.

“It’s not that I like cosplay, it’s just that I’m happy to see so many different kinds of Yuika.”
“…!”

Her cheeks turned red.
Yuika wriggled shyly.

“… A surprise attack, it’s not fair.”
“That’s how you do a proper surprise attack.”
“… I learned a lot.”

Yuika shook her ponytail, averted her gaze, and whispered softly.

“… The Sailor outfit, I’ll wear it from time to time.”

Oh, yeah! It was worth the elbow!

I inwardly puffed, and I suddenly gasped.
I didn’t notice it because she was on my hip and the light was backlit…

“Hey, Yuika, you’re all pale!”
“Ah, yeah, I think I’m reaching my limit…”

Her head shook unsteadily.

“You see, my room doesn’t have a corner, so I decided that… this was the only place to do it, and I left. … I can’t do it anymore, I’m going to throw up. I’m scared to go outside.”
“You’re trying too hard! Hold on! I’ll carry you!”
“But Souta’s diaphragm is about to break…”
“I don’t care if it’s broken! Yuika is a thousand times more important!”

I lifted myself up and dashed down the corridor with Yuika in my arms.
It was common sense to go to the bathroom when you feel like throwing up, but in the case of Yuika, it would be easier to go back to her room.

With a carefree and pale princess saying, “wow, a princess carry…,” I somehow managed to complete the return to her room.

 

But to come out to the hallway in the middle of the day, I think that’s actually tremendous progress.
I don’t want her to push herself too hard, but… if you show this much determination, I have to get serious too.

No matter what kind of onslaught I receive in the future, I will endure it.
Determined to do so, I put the weakened Yuika on the bed