Well, it wasn't a huge deal this ti, fortunately.
'I guess sothing must have happened for her to drop a bomb like that out of the blue and confront my own secret... No, wait, when was it that she even Awakened?'
"Whatever. That's probably what she'll talk about tomorrow..."
Natural curiosity unearthed itself in my mind, but I swiftly discarded it with a mutter before sighing. And then, sothing unexpected caught my eye.
To , who had been sitting on a wide patio chair just beyond the house walls, soone appeared.
"Gil? What're you doin' out so late?"
The younger brother who stood halfway through that back door paused upon laying eyes on ―his widened gaze, which flickered up from the ground to et my own, imdiately averted, like soone who had just been caught doing sothing they weren't supposed to.
"Uh... just, getting so fresh air..."
I couldn't see his face clearly due to the lack of clarity beneath this scantily-illuminated sky, and for a brief mont, I wondered if my own expression was similarly obfuscated.
If so, I hoped that nothing would inadvertently leak out.
"Well, that's a whole lot better than Ina. Has she even left the house at all since the last ti I was here?"
"Oh... I think, maybe once or twice a month. You can usually tell because that's the only ti she bathes or showers, so..."
Nodding my head at the expected answer, I gave him a stern look.
"I thought so. Listen, Gil, whenever you find a girlfriend, at least you know what to watch out for. Just make sure she's the opposite of your sister. Also, I have a list of red-flag traits I can give you, but so long as you avoid people like her, you should be alright."
Aside from her occasional show of normalcy, Ina really was a checklist of what not to do, not just as a woman but as a social creature that was the 'human being'. Again, it's not like her personality was particularly bad―primarily, her extre indolence was the issue, but there were so other, slightly more minor things we needn't be getting into.
Incidentally, it's not like I was really one to talk. I just liked making fun of her.
Seeing the corners of his lips sneakily curl up at my words, Gil seed to find what I said humorous. Shooting a smile in return, I patted the spot beside , upon which he proceeded to take a seat without complaint. Thereafter, a period of silence dawned upon us.
I turned my gaze back to the surveilling moon―that awfully dull crescent which, in its continuation of drawing a trail across the endless void above, had drifted a ways away from the earlier location in its orbit. And I wondered.
If Gil saw it the sa way I did, or if what his eyes observed was any more radiant.
If the cold, the terribly cold chill in my chest, would ever thaw.
And, I wondered.
If, perhaps I was--
"Um..."
Gil's abrupt vocalisation interrupted such thoughts. Glancing at him, I noticed he seed to be having so trouble gathering and sorting his thoughts, so I waited patiently for him to be ready.
After a short while, and with so hesitation, he started, his voice sheepish.
"Enki... do you... have a girlfriend?"
My eyebrows toppled at the unexpected question. It was surprising, but at the sa ti, I could imagine where it ca from.
Well, it doesn't take a whole lot of brainpower to figure out why a 14-year-old boy might have asked such a thing, after all... Still, to think that my own younger brother held enough confidence in to ask such advice...
Even if the question itself was sothing I didn't like, I was flattered.
Although, I couldn't really bla him for that. It's not like he ever knew.
"Did you ask a girl out?"
"No... we, uh, just went out yesterday..."
'Oh. Well, that made more sense why he wouldn't know what to do, I guess...'
Suddenly, sothing occurred to .
'...Wait, wasn't it Valentine's Day yesterday?'
How cheeky. Ina scolded for it as a joke, but in reality it was the youngest who was using our family na for such a thing.
"So, what's the issue? Do you not like her?"
"..."
Hearing no response to that question, my face dropped.
'No way... Gil?'
You wouldn't just accept a girl's confession because you felt bad for her, would you...? That would never end well.
Figuring out what I was going to say, I turned to him and opened my mouth, but imdiately paused before speaking.
Gil's downcast face, of which only one side was visible, was shaded deep red―from the tip of his nose to the ends of his ears.
'Ah.'
At that instant, I realised my interpretation was wrong.
His eyes, which locked fiercely with the ground at his feet. His lips, which pressed tightly together, stiffly contorted into an awkward amalgamation of smile and frown. Lowering my gaze further, his hands curled into fists that gripped the hem of his clothes.
What else was this, but that?
This boy――was in love.
Undoubtedly so.
At so point, a grin creeped up on my face.
"Gilly will need to work hard from now on."
Slinging my arm around his shoulder to pull him close, he flinched at my sudden closeness, perhaps forgetting that I was even there in his reverie.
"Would you like to talk about it? You know, I can tell you so things that'll really give you an edge in the race."
"W-what race...? There's no competition, we're already-- N-no, I an, we only went out--"
"Going on a single date together doesn't an you're suddenly dating, does it? You have to be consistent."
"..."
"I'll give you so tips, so listen up, 'kay?"
Thus, I proceeded to tell Gil all about the art of charm and wiles that I had picked up from my experience in Drakon-Rasa. Taking ntal notes, he perked up his ears and listened attentively, as if the words I was passing down were so "relationship gospel" or magical formula for success.
Of course, they were nothing of the sort.
It wasn't as if I had no prior experience, but by no ans was I sothing like a Casanova. That didn't an I had nothing of value to say, however, and I was certain my advice would co in handy nevertheless.
Now, all he needed to do was make sure of one thing.
――That the girl doesn't end up murdered.
If he can accomplish that much, he'll already be doing a far better job than I, after all.
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