Chapter 98 | A Talk

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[Dahlia's Point of View]

Shinji, Rika, Daria, and I were at a coffee shop.

On their way home.

“Waa, I forgot something!”

Rika shouted.

But it was not as if she had just realized she had forgotten something.

Dahlia sensed that it was somewhat contrived.

The fact that Rika is glancing at her.

Dahlia immediately guessed that she had a secret to discuss with her.

They have been together for a long time to know that immediately.

“I’m going to pick up something I left behind with Rikatan, so you go home first, okay?”

“What? I’ll come too…” 

“Just go home first. Come on.”

Dahlia told Shinji, her stepbrother, to go home, even if she had to be a little pushy.

Shinji seemed unhappy, but he complied with the request.

Dahlia likes that kind of honesty from Shinji.

If he was single, I would have hugged and kissed him.

Well, he’s not.

Now, just as Shinji pulled away I couldn’t hear him….

“I’m sorry, Dahlia. I forgot something.”

“Ah, yes, you have something you don’t want Onii-chan to hear, don’t you?”

Eh? Rika rolled her eyes.

It seems to be a hit.

“Where do you want to talk? Do you want to go back to the shop?”

“Well, um…”

Maybe it won’t be that long of a conversation.

“There’s a park with benches nearby.”

“Okay, then there.”

“Hai. Okay.”

Dahlia headed for the park, relying on her memory.

It was right in the middle of Kumama, a coffee shop, and the apartment building where she lived.

We arrived at a large park with train-shaped playground equipment.

Perhaps because it was daytime, many parents and their children were there.

Dahlia brushes off the bench with her hand and spreads out a handkerchief so that Rika can sit on it.

“Here you go.”

“Oh, thank you…hey Dahlia.”

“What is it?”

“How can I become a caring woman like Daria?”

I wonder if I am caring.

I am proud to say that I can read the air better than other people.

But that is not the case.

I’ve been around a lot of guys.

I have a history of dating.

She has forced herself to talk with many old men and women, and received money from them.

The conversation and gestures that the other person wants are things that she has learned from that experience.

She couldn’t see it as a virtue…for the life of her.

So Dahlia smiled and patted Rika on the head.

“You don’t have to be wearing this. Rikatan is cute and great as she is.”

“But…”

She probably wants to be able to care for Shinji.

Thinking about that makes me smile…

Also, I feel a prickle deep in my chest.

Even though I have no intention in my mind to disturb or interfere with Rika and Shinji’s relationship.

But that doesn’t mean that her feelings for Shinji have disappeared.

However, she suppressed her feelings for Shinji and said smilingly.

“Shin-chan doesn’t wish for a caring Ririkatan, either.”

“Is that so…?”

“Yeah, I do. That’s right. I think he likes Rikatan the way she is”

“I see…ehehe♡I see! Dahlia is very knowledgeable ♡.”

Dahlia admires Rika’s innocent smile.

If I wasn’t dirty too…would Shinji have loved me?

No, if she hadn’t, she would have met Shinji in the first place, and she wouldn’t have been able to be happy like this.

“Life is so unpredictable, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“Hmm. Nothing. So? Are you asking Dahlia-nee-san about something secret?”

Rika nodded and said.

“I want to make Valentine’s Day chocolates for Shin-chan.”

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