ADMIRE ME |Brothers Conflict

14

Although most of these smiles were probably fake, I couldn't help but cherish each one.

"How are you going to convince Ema that she should go to the ball with you when you give all your opportunities to bond with her to me?" I asked. I kept my fingers crossed, hoping that Fuuto wouldn't take the CD back once he saw the sense in my words.

"She doesn't care about these," Fuuto replied, gesturing over my head towards the CD in my hands. "But you do care."

"I do," I agreed, smiling happily at the CD.

"I had intended to give it to you anyway," he explained. "Although I hadn't expected it to be a token of my apologies."

"I'm sorry for always making you apologise," I said. "It has almost become a habit, and I don't like it."

"You're confusing, [Y/N]," Fuuto sighed. "Do you insist on contradicting yourself every five sentences you speak?"

"There's a difference between a polite apology and a heartfelt apology," I mused. "I was hoping for the first, but I got the latter."

"Aren't you complicating matters?" Fuuto asked. "I think you should just focus on the cake we're going to eat."

"And the plan," I chimed in because if I wasn't mistaken, Fuuto had already forgotten today's objective.

"And the plan," Fuuto agreed with far less enthusiasm.

I wasn't the only one who was being contradictory; Fuuto had been behaving inconsistently for a while now whenever I mentioned Ema's name. Notwithstanding his assurance that we could see the plan through to the end, I couldn't help but feel that something had changed.

Perhaps, Fuuto had lost interest? That was certainly possible if this charade had only been an attempt to compete against his brothers. On the other hand; he was going on a date with Ema this afternoon.

No matter how much I agonized over this matter, I couldn't find an answer.

So, I dropped the matter.

"How many songs can I pick?"

"As many as you want," Fuuto said.

"I'm pretty sure they have given you a limit and a theme. Oh, what kind of songs do they want? Are any of the songs I have heard before on this?" Once I started talking, I couldn't stop anymore, the questions falling from my lips at a frightening rate.

"We can accommodate," Fuuto claimed decisively. Before I could protest, he turned my wheelchair to face the entrance of a small café.

"Let's sit on the terrace so Ema can see when she passes by," he suggested, and I nodded although it was rather chilly outside.

"That sounds like a good idea," I said.

Fuuto left me alone at one of the tables to place an order inside. Although it would still be a few hours before Ema would pass the café, Fuuto had already decided to stake the place out.

When I had told my dad about today's main event, he had rescinded my house arrest. Furthermore, he had wished me success, which wasn't something that should have happened. As far as I knew, my dad was supposed to dislike Fuuto for pushing me down the stairs, albeit accidentally.

Absentmindedly, I rubbed my hands together to ward off the cold.

Fuuto placed two cups with steaming liquid inside on the table, disrupting my thought process.

"Chocolate milk," I exclaimed when I sniffed the dark liquid. "Thank you."

"Somehow, I knew beforehand that you would like this best," Fuuto muttered darkly, slumping down in his chair beside me.