The two younger siblings both yelled at her
And then they both hung their blushing heads
Ange and Mutsumi tilted their heads in confusion
Iwai’s teasing elicited true anger from Mutsuki and Chiaki and the two of them did their best to
change the subject
After killing some time it was time for Mutsumi’s nap so Mutsuki and Ange left
They walked down the road with the two sleeping bags
He had trouble focusing the entire time
(Shirohara-senpai)
The thought of her name brought an ache to his chest
Fweh Eh Oh what is it Ange
Again I’m asking if we need to go shopping after this
He had apparently been walking in a daze so Ange was mad at him
At first he did not know what she meant by going shopping but then he remembered they needed other camping supplies besides the sleeping bags
He nodded his head and she took the sleeping bag he held
Then leave these with me You can deal with the shopping
She started toward the apartment
If Mutsuki was going camping then she would be going as his bodyguard That was fine since it was their friends from school going
But she apparently did not want to deal with the preparations so she left the shopping to him
He smiled bitterly and started to turn around but
Shirohara Ren
He froze in place when she suddenly muttered that name
Ange glared at the boy
Your first love huh
Well um
With a snort she ran off
Mutsuki was confused why she was acting so angry but it was an even more complicated feeling to know Ange had heard his older sister say Shirohara Ren was his first love
Calling her his first love was not entirely accurate
They had not been that close He had simply heard she was an amazing upperclassman and had thought she was pretty when he saw her from a distance That was all she had been
They had barely ever spoken and then she had suddenly moved overseas
But it was true he had spent a lot of his time looking at her from afar
Once
It had happened during July of the previous year which put it over a year ago
Mutsuki had yet to meet Ange Micha Lucia or Machina and he had known nothing of the forces fighting for heaven earth and hell He had lived as a perfectly normal boy
Volleyball had been the big event of this year’s game tournament but it had been tennis the year before
He had played a doubles game with his best friend Tomono Sakae Sakae was generally great at sports so people had had high hopes for the team
Sakae had been incredibly good but Mutsuki had been nothing but a burden They could have won easily with Sakae’s skill but Mutsuki almost always missed when the ball came his way
Feeling pathetic Mutsuki had started practicing afterschool He had not known how to practice tennis so he had done nothing but silently serve the ball
He was naturally diligent so while he focused on that everyone else had left leaving him all alone
What are you doing
He had thought he was alone on the court so the sudden voice caused him to miss the ball quite spectacularly
After just about falling onto his butt he had turned toward the voiceand widened his eyes
It had been past six but the evening sun had showed no sign of setting In front of it a girl had brushed up her golden brown hair and held a lacrosse racket in one hand Anyone in Megutono
Academy would have recognized her
She had had the big round eyes of a doll long eyelashes a smooth bridge of the nose and elegantly glossy lips That had been a year ago so she had been the same age as Mutsuki now
But the image in his memories was of a breathtakingly mature beauty
Her arms and legs had been long and slender and she had had shapely curves from her chest to her hips Healthy legs had stretched down from her flared skirt A body with both the calm of an adult and the delicateness of a girl had worn gym clothes bearing the name Shirohara Shirohara-senpai
As the school’s most talented girl and his student council president Mutsuki had of course known who she was
You aren’t on the tennis team so what are you doing here
The cowardly boy had grown flustered with the dignified upperclassman’s eyes on him
Shirohara Ren had given him a sharp look
Fujita Mutsuki Are you practicing tennis
Y-yes
But she had only frightened the boy for a moment
Is it for the game tournament I appreciate the diligence but it’s about time to leave
Right S-sorry I’ll leave right away
Blushing Mutsuki had run to grab the ball on the other side of the court
Hm
As soon as he had reached the other side of the net
Raise your racket Fujita Mutsuki
Ren had traded her lacrosse racket for a tennis one and she held a new ball
It looked like you had serving down so you need to practice receiving next
Hit this back Ready go
She had hit the ball without a moment’s delay
It had been a gentle shot but it had been too sudden for the body to keep up and he had simply watched the ball bounce by He had raised his blank face and seen her already holding the next ball
What’s the matter If you don’t raise your racket this practice won’t be much use
Mutsuki’s mind had gone blank when he had realized she was helping him practice