Chapter 5

Hey now, who’re ya callin’ cursed?

I said worst, not cursed… But I guess to me you’re both, so it’s whatever.

So I’ve gotta deal with a curse on top of already being the worst? Damn Yuta, your chuunibyou’s showing.

Eugh, I can’t believe I’m being called a chuuni by a senpai…!

Hey, Rinne-kun! This is the staff cafeteria—Everyone’s trying to eat here, so could you maybe quit being so damn loud?!

Why’d you come out empty-handed, huh? Where’s my food?

How am I supposed to bring something out when you never ordered? How about you open up HoldHands and follow the instructions to put in your order?

You act like I’m not here to eat a damn good meal on your dime. How’s about you quit your moaning and groaning… ☆

Rinne-senpai, isn’t it a little embarrassing to act like you’re extorting someone for food?

Did you waste so much money on gambling that you can't even pay for your own food now?

Oh, nice comeback…! He’s right, y’know. The only things I can give you for free are water and seasoning.

If you want any seasoning, I’ve got some right here. You can eat—uh, I guess you’d actually be licking it? But here’s some cayenne pepper and Tabasco sauce for you.

That’s one hell of a lineup… Now hold up, you’re still eating that spicy crap?

It wasn’t that big a deal when you were just eating senbei earlier. But now the smell’s so bad I feel like my mouth’s on fire…

If you’re so against ordering your own food on HoldHands, you can always have a bite of mine ♪

Wait, hang on. Did you just add death sauce to that before offering it up?!

Ehehe, did you see that?

Hey Yuta? I’m preeeetty sure hurting yourself by gorging on spicy food is some kinda coping mechanism.

Like you’re tryna cover up all the pain and stress in your heart by overstimulating your tongue.

Don’t you dare doubt how much I love spicy food. The spicier something is, the better it is. I’m not stressed out at all—

Oh, I get it. So that thing you were talking about earlier must be what you’re so stressed about?

(Did Shiina-senpai seriously just…?!)

What you were talking about earlier…?

2wink’s having some kinda fight over the direction of their unit. Right, Yuuta-kun?

(He’s just gonna come out and say it?! But he’s not doing it to be mean, so I can’t even blame him for it…!)

…Sure, yeah. I mean, a little bit. There’s just some stuff going on…

Gyahaha ☆ You can’t keep making excuses, Yuta ♪ Even if you try to skirt around it, your face is too sour.

……

I must say, that’s a real good look on you. Well now you’ve got me all invested in this brother brawl, so lemme lend you a hand if you’re having trouble ♪

Yeah, right. You’re just having the time of your life over there, aren’t you Rinne-senpai?

If I take that hand… I don’t know what you’ll ask from me or make me do.

You got that right, Yuuta-kun! You don’t have to listen to a single thing this guy says, okay?

(…Mm, but if I were to take Rinne-senpai up on his offer, what would Aniki think? Would he be surprised? Worried?)

(Tell me I’m going down the wrong path? Well, it’s a little late for that. But I wonder if he’d be troubled by it, or sad maybe.)

(Earlier, when I said all those terrible things to him, Aniki got all quiet. He didn’t say a single thing back to me.)

(Why not? It’s all because he kept minimizing himself! Because he just took my word as law!)

(What should I do? I want him to stop giving in and actually fight back for once! How can I make him do that?)

……

…Check it out, Niki. You really think he’s gonna…?

C’mon, he’s really putting some serious thought into this, and here you are making fun of him.

(…Hey, Aniki. I thought I told you: If you keep on bending over backwards for my sake—)

…Sigh.

You sure are taking your sweet time, Yuta. Your food’s getting cold, yanno?

It’s your fault I have to think so hard about this. Take some responsibility—and give me your hand.

Oh?

I don’t feel good about it, to be honest. I just think this is the most effective way to take action.

So I’ll take your hand.

… ♪

Sigh… Siiiiigh…

(What are you even doing, me…?! Did you see the look on Yuuta-kun’s face at the end?! He’s totally gonna haunt my nightmares!)

(Well, I would be happy if I got to see him in my dreams… Wait, no. Right now I need to be looking back on things to see where I went wrong.)

(It’s not just Yuuta-kun who needed to cool off. Clearly I needed it, too. I’ve gotta calm down and think about what I should be doing for him.)

(…Wait, but huh? Isn’t it wanting to do things for him that got me in this mess to begin with?)

(Hey, Yuuta-kun. Just what do I have to do to make you happy?)