The Date
As planned, we ate lunch at a nearby restaurant.
The meal arrived looking impeccably neat. Rice, soup, and side dishes were each served in small, deep bowls, arranged with care on a wooden tray in that comforting, home-cooked style only proper set-menu restaurants can pull off.
The faint scent of wood unique to such places drifted through the air, and beyond the window seat, flowers in an old vase bowed their heads in quiet repose.
Glossy grains of rice, steaming miso soup rising in transparent wisps, and seasonal vegetables still warm from preparation—it all gave the impression that someone had lovingly prepared it just for us at home.
We ate without saying a word.
Even sitting side by side, we never once met each other’s eyes. Our chopsticks moved in no particular rhythm.
Yet that silence felt strangely comfortable.
Once the meal ended and we headed to the counter to pay, the woman behind it smiled and spoke up.
“You two are the quietest couple I’ve ever seen. At first I thought you’d had a fight~ Heehee.”
Yuzuki’s eyes widened for a split second.
The woman had said it with such a warm laugh that pointing out the mistake felt impossible. I forced a smile, stayed trapped in the misunderstanding of being called a couple, and quietly left the restaurant.
“…So what now? Head home?”
The moment we stepped outside, Yuzuki tilted her head slightly and looked up at me. Her eyes, catching the sunlight, shimmered with a hint of unease. Her lips parted for a breath, then pressed together again.
Her tone tried to sound indifferent, but beneath it lay a subtle hesitation and regret.
…Yeah. After coming all the way out here, just turning around and going home felt too anticlimactic.
I was thinking it might be nice to spend a little more time together when a hurried voice called out from behind us.
“Wait, is that you, Yuzuki?”
I turned reflexively.
Three girls were approaching. I’d never seen them before. All of them wore bright lipstick and the fresh, stylish outfits typical of college girls. Their bright expressions and light makeup gave off the vibe of a group clearly enjoying a day out.
Wondering who they were, I glanced at Yuzuki. She was already looking at me.
Reading the light, cautious question in my eyes, she took a short breath and answered quietly.
“…They’re my high school friends.”
Her tone carried a faint mix of tension and something like quiet joy.
Soon they reached us.
“It really is you! Whoa, are you on a date right now? Is the guy next to you… your boyfriend?”
The words were tossed out playfully, but their eyes held a clear spark of genuine curiosity.
Yuzuki’s shoulders twitched. She lowered her head for a moment, then spoke softly.
“…He’s my older brother.”
A brief silence fell over her friends.
They exchanged quick glances, then burst into laughter.
“Oppa? For real? He gives off total boyfriend energy though!”
“I thought he was an actor. If he did group dates, the line of girls would be endless.”
They laughed and chattered among themselves for a while, easing the mood, before abruptly changing the subject.
“Oh, so what are you two doing after this? You planning to keep hanging out together?”
There was a strange mix of mischief and curiosity in their tone, and their gazes naturally drifted toward Yuzuki.
“Well…”
Yuzuki trailed off and glanced at me.
The look in her eyes wasn’t light. It felt like a silent signal—I don’t know what to do.
One of her friends took that hesitation as an opening and flashed a bright smile.
“Perfect timing! We’re actually on our way to a group blind date. Come with us, Yuzuki! One person already bailed on us today.”
Yuzuki’s eyes shook violently.
“Huh? A… blind date…?”
Her voice trembled faintly at the end. Her friends chuckled, clearly amused by her reaction.
“Yeah! It’s super last-minute but the vibe seems good~ Oh, do you have a boyfriend?”
“N-no, it’s not that…”
Yuzuki drew in a short breath and stole another glance at me.
That look held hesitation, like she was searching for confirmation. Then she gave the tiniest shake of her head.
“But… I’ve never done anything like a blind date before…”
“Come on~! You just have to sit there! Seriously, just showing your face would make everyone happy. You were super popular in high school too.”
“W-was I…?”
“Totally. Remember how many confessions you got from the boys at graduation?”
“Well… that’s true, but…”
“Let’s go~ It’s been forever since we saw you. It’d be a shame to just part ways like this! We’ll even buy you dinner. Just come show your face, okay?”
Yuzuki remained silent for a long time, pressing her lips into a thin line.
It was clear she wasn’t the type to easily refuse her friends’ not-quite-coercive invitation.
…Blind date.
The moment that word settled on my tongue, something stubbornly viscous rose from deep inside me.
It was strange.
I didn’t even understand why I was imagining it.
Yuzuki sitting among unfamiliar guys, smiling awkwardly, answering pointless questions.
Or giving someone else an expression she had never even shown me.
Just the thought made my chest turn ice-cold.
An unknown, tingling pull. Disgust. Quiet anger. All of it mixed together until my stomach churned unpleasantly.
I turned my gaze back to Yuzuki.
She was still nodding vaguely at her friends’ words, her expression neither clearly refusing nor welcoming.
I felt like I was standing in the subtle gap between those two poles.
…Was she really going to go?
In that instant, I asked myself again who I was to her.
The feeling of being pushed aside with nothing but the word “brother.”
My mouth went dry. Strength flowed into my fingertips.
What came next was almost pure reflex.
I caught Yuzuki’s wrist—gently, but with unmistakable force.
Before her friends could react with surprise, I leaned slightly toward her and spoke.
“We need to get going now.”
Yuzuki looked at me with startled eyes. Even then, her gaze was delicately reading my expression.
“The movie we reserved is about to start. We’ll be late if we don’t hurry.”
It was a lie.
I hadn’t booked any movie. I hadn’t even planned to watch one.
But the words came without the slightest hesitation.
Imagining her sitting across from other men and laughing felt far worse than being rude.
I could feel the warmth of her hand in mine.
She had stiffened a little in surprise, but she didn’t pull away.
I forced a calm smile as I looked at her.
“Let’s go.”
“…Okay.”
Yuzuki nodded.
We wandered the streets hand in hand, saying nothing. With no destination and no conversation, we simply walked wherever our feet took us.
Yuzuki, who had been silent the whole time, fidgeted faintly with our joined hands. I felt those tiny movements and opened my mouth several times only to close it again.
Then, after we turned a corner and her friends had completely vanished from sight, I asked quietly.
“…Want to watch a movie?”
There was no answer for a while. Only the sound of the wind brushed lightly past our ears.
“…Yuzuki?”
Only then did she lift her head a little.
For a moment her expression hesitated, her eyes trembling as they met mine.
“Huh? Oh… yeah! Let’s… let’s watch one!”
Her voice was small, as if the words had slipped out on impulse. A faint breath at the end carried a subtle tension, and the tips of her ears were tinged with a faint red.
We decided to search for the nearest theater.
After riding a few stops, we arrived at a place far busier than expected.
The lobby was crowded with couples sitting in small groups and families. A long line waited in front of the ticket machines.
I suddenly felt nervous. What if nothing was left?
“…Not many movies have seats available.”
We slowly scanned the list of screenings.
Most either had awkward start times or were completely sold out.
Only one remained.
The title was That Day, We.
I’d never heard of it.
The poster had a calm, subdued atmosphere. A man and woman facing each other under hazy lighting. A shirt half-unbuttoned, rumpled bedsheets. At the bottom, bold red text read: “Rating: R15+ (Restricted to viewers 15 and older).”
I hesitated for a moment after seeing it.
It looked like a melodrama, but the mood seemed quite heavy. Yuzuki stood in front of the poster, her gaze fixed on it for a while.
“…Looks like this is the only one left,” I said.
“…R15?” Yuzuki echoed quietly.
Her eyes lingered on the rating at the bottom.
I added awkwardly, “It’s probably one of those films with a few intimate scenes. A pretty intense romance.”
Yuzuki said nothing. She simply ran her fingers over her opposite wrist.
Then, avoiding my eyes, she spoke softly.
“…It’s fine. I’m not someone who can’t watch that kind of thing.”
That’s what she said, but the tips of her ears were slowly turning crimson.
We bought the tickets. The machine spat them out with a short mechanical sound.
“…Want to get something to drink before we go in?”
“I’m okay. Let’s just go straight in.”
After a brief silence, Yuzuki answered that way.
As we walked toward the entrance line, our steps naturally paused in front of a promotional touchscreen set up in one corner of the lobby.
Information for That Day, We was playing automatically.
THAT DAY, WE
Siblings who had lived as if avoiding each other.
Yet a small coincidence one night tears open the emotions they had kept locked away.
Beyond the gaze of the world and the shell of morality, the two who finally touch in the name of love.
Faced with a heart that can no longer turn back—what choice can they possibly make?
The moment I read those lines, a faint electric current ran down my spine.
Siblings.
That single word quietly shook the entire atmosphere.
Yuzuki was reading the same sentence beside me.
Standing in front of the screen, I could feel the slight tremor in her fingertips.
I tried to sound indifferent as I spoke.
“The story seems… maybe we shouldn’t watch it…?”
Yuzuki didn’t look at me.
She simply stared at the screen, drawing in a very low, careful breath.
Her lips parted slightly, then closed again. The hand gripping her clothes tightened with faint strength.
Then she spoke in a tiny, quiet voice.
“…No.”
The end of her sentence was incredibly soft, yet clear.
“We can’t waste the money… so let’s just watch it.”
On the surface the words sounded indifferent, but her face made it obvious she was desperately trying not to let any emotion show.
The tips of her cheeks and ears were already flushed red, and her gaze remained fixed on the bottom of the screen.
She had probably felt it too—that the words on the display had precisely struck at something between us.
Still, I didn’t ask any further questions.
Without another word, we simply moved forward and stepped inside.