Interlude: A Brother's Conflict?

After Mai hurries after Shin, Natsume decides to run after her. But the noodle shop is hosting other patrons as well. What exactly are they doing in the corner of the room?

——————————

"Oh, she just ran out." A woman cups a hand to her mouth and leans across the table. 

The man across from her lets out a loud harrumph and crosses his arms. "Of course she did. No way I'd let a kid yell at me like that and get away with it."

"Ara, ara, but he's just a kid, Kotaro-san."

"I-It's not like I'd beat him up or anything. You know I'm not like that, Yuki-san."

"Fufufu. I know you wouldn't. Oh, don't look now, but the other one's run after her."

"Eh? Who?" He swivels around, no longer pretending to ignore the ruckus at the door.

"The other boy. Oh, I suppose he's a man. Look at him go! He must be a marathon runner."

"You mean sprinter. Marathoners pace themselves."

"Oh-ho, you must be right." The woman internally rolls her eyes. That's not the point she was trying to make. "But look. I thought he was with the other girl, the one who's still here."

"What makes you say that?" He doesn't get it. Nor does he get why she's bringing it up. He was more focused on the almost-fist fight. 

"The two of them were sitting together on the other side, remember? But they must all know each other if he ran after her like that?"

"Who, the orange-head?"

"Hai. He must know both girls. I though the might be dating the one with the ponytail, but maybe he's dating the one with blue hair instead?"

"Blue hair?" 

"You didn't notice?" Well, it wasn't a lot of blue to begin with, but he doesn't usually notice these things to begin with. But that's beside the point. "Seems like the blue-haired girl and the younger boy are siblings. The fight looked pretty nasty."

"Hmph. Reminds me of when I was a kid. I wouldn't have let a girl punch me like that."

"Then what? Would you punch her back?"

"Ngh. Th-That's not what I'm saying. I just wouldn't get punched in the first place."

"Of course, of course. Mah... But still. It looked pretty intense. I can't think of what kind of argument they'd have to be so dramatic like that. Maybe the younger boy doesn't approve of his older sister dating an older man."

"The orange-haired one is an older man, huh? So how old does that make me?" 

He's trying to make a joke, but she isn't interested in humouring him any more. She wants to know more about what just went down. 

Currently, the girl with the ponytail is pacing at the door. She almost wants to grip her by the shoulders and demand to know what happened. 

"But if that's the case then what's the orange-haired man's relationship to the girl with the ponytail? Are they secretly dating and the younger boy saw through them? Maybe that's why he got angry all of a sudden? Yes, that must be it. He probably wanted to protect his older sister, but she didn't think the orange-haired man is two-timing her. That's why she got mad and punched him." 

She clasps her hands together. What delicious drama!

"And then the younger brother ran off, frustrated that his older sister wasn't listening to him. Maybe she realized she'd been too harsh and ran after him. Then, seeing the trouble he's caused, the orange-haired man ran after her. He may be a two-timer, but he's not completely without a sense of honour. He'll go find her and bring her back and tell her just how much she means to him, no matter what her younger brother says.

"Oh! But what about the girl with the ponytail? Oh, she must be devastated. Her boyfriend left her alone in a noodle shop in the rain. She must think that her lover loves another girl more than her. She'll probably cry about this all night long and question whether he truly loves her, or if he's only humouring her because they're childhood friends—"

"What are you going on about now? This sounds like a cheesy soap opera or something." Unimpressed, he vows to put an end to this absurd conversation. "Just because we've witnessed it doesn't mean we know what's really going on. For all we know they're complete strangers."

"That's true," she admits, leaning back again. "But still, it'd make for a splendid romance novel, don't you think? A love square where the younger brother has an onee-san complex."

"What's an onee-san complex?"

"Ah. I forgot you only read classic literature."

"You're not making any sense, Yuki-san."

"Fufufu. Don't worry about me, Kotaro-san. Just know that I have the perfect idea for my next web novel. I think I'll call it A Brother's Conflict." She spreads her hands out in excitement. 

He snorts. "But there'd only be one brother. Wouldn't the story be more about the boyfriend and girlfriends instead?"

"Good point. How about A Lover's Conflict, then?"

"A bit on the nose, don't you think?"

"I can workshop it later, but I simply must see this through to the end." She says this despite the two of them having finished their noodles already. Neither of them feel like ordering another round, either. 

Not wanting to hear about this all night, he opts to order them some tea instead. "Alright. Have it your way. But don't make it too obvious that you're listening."

"The same goes for you. You were practically glaring at them before."

"I-I was not."

And so, the couple in the corner ordered tea, the first round of several that afternoon.

Meanwhile, at the window the so-called girl with the ponytail fidgets uncomfortably. 

"I heard everything," she mutters to herself. "Please hurry back soon, Natsume-san, Mai-chan... Before we get written into a romance novel!"