Sakura's Birthday

It was the end of March, and today, of all days, was Sakura's birthday. The truth was, I hadn't known until this morning. Even allowing for amnesia, forgetting my own family's birthdays felt like a failure as a brother.

"Geez, Onii-chan, it's not your fault you didn't know my birthday! So cheer up, okay?"

Sakura was doing her best to console me as I sat there sulking. Making the birthday girl worry about me was the last thing I should be doing.

"Yeah… but…"

"You're taking me on a date today instead, right? That's enough for me!"

When I'd been flustering around this morning after learning it was Sakura's birthday, Masami-onee-chan had proposed the date, and now Sakura and I were going to spend the day together at the zoo.

"Okay, got it. Let's enjoy ourselves."

After silently vowing to give Sakura the best day I possibly could, I got ready to head out.

 

*

 

side: Protagonist

With Mei-san at the wheel, we headed to the zoo, bought our tickets at the reception desk, and went inside.

"Onii-chan, there are a lot of people, let's hold hands?"

Sakura said this and held out one hand. Sure enough, even on a weekday, spring break meant the crowds were huge. On top of that, both Mei-san and Satsuki-san had warned me not to get separated from Sakura and end up alone as a single male.

I was supposed to be the older one, but it seemed I was the one being protected.

"Yeah, let's."

I took Sakura's hand in the normal way. Apparently that wasn't to her liking, because she let go and then took my hand again with her fingers interlaced through mine.

"Geez! Onii-chan, you really don't get it!"

Sakura pouted in a perfectly "huffy" way, cute as could be, and squeezed my hand tightly.

"Onii-chan, first let's take a picture over there!"

Sakura pointed ahead to where she wanted to go. There stood a large cherry tree in full bloom.

"Over there? Not over here?"

The spot I'd indicated was a popular photo spot near the entrance, packed with people.

"Yeah, because today's my birthday! Of course, if Onii-chan would rather, I'd want to take pictures over there too! ♡"

Since today was Sakura's day, she wanted her pictures under the cherry tree. Sakura was the star of the show, so I'd take as many pictures with her as she could possibly want.

I asked someone nearby to take a picture of us together. Sakura was dressed in a sweatshirt, shorts, and a cap, the whole look pulled together in a sporty feel. We'd be walking the zoo all day, so she'd probably dressed for ease of movement.

"Thank you so much! Waah! ♡ Onii-chan, look! The petals are dancing, it came out so well!"

Sakura took the phone back, looked at the picture, and got incredibly excited. When I peeked at her screen, sure enough, cherry petals were dancing above our heads, making for a beautiful shot. After that, we took another picture in front of the zoo's signature monument, and at last we set off on our rounds.

We started with the herbivore area, where we could see the giraffes and rhinos.

"Waah! So big! I wish I could grow taller too…"

Sakura looked up at the tall giraffes and lamented her own short stature. The sight was so cute that I ended up stroking her head without thinking.

"Mmu… I love being patted, but if I got taller, would you stop patting me…?"

It seemed Sakura thought growing taller and getting patted were mutually exclusive. Even if she grew taller, she would still be my little sister. I wanted to spoil her plenty.

"Even if you grow taller, I'll still pat you, Sakura."

"Really…? Ehehe ♪"

When I said that while stroking her head, Sakura hid her flushed face under her cap and laughed happily.

Next we went to the panda corner, famously popular and packed with people. We'd arrived just in time to see a baby panda eating in front of the glass, so everyone had their cameras out.

"Kyaa～! ♡ So cute! ♡ Onii-chan, look! It's eating bamboo! ♡"

Sakura was over the moon at the baby panda's mealtime, watching it while tapping my shoulder.

"Yeah, it's cute."

While watching the panda, I was also watching Sakura fawn over it, and ended up thinking she was the cute one.

"O-Onii-chan, you should be looking at the panda, not me… ♡"

Sakura noticed where my eyes were and went red in the face again as she lightly squeezed my hand back. That, too, was endearing, and my face softened into a smile.

"Ah, Onii-chan smiled ♪"

Sakura looked delighted when she saw my face. Was it really that rare for me to smile?

"It's just that Onii-chan always has this hard-to-read expression. You almost never show me your smile."

I hadn't noticed at all until she pointed it out… so that was how I came across. And here I'd thought I'd gotten pretty good at my fake smile for photos.

"R-really…?"

"Really! But from now on, let's do lots of fun things and smile lots, okay? ♡"

"Mm, thank you."

Sakura's kindness brought another smile naturally to my lips.

"Fufu ♪ You smiled again ♪"

Sakura looked at my face again and laughed in delight. If it made her happy, then it seemed like I could smile a lot more, too. Not just for Sakura, either. Surely my whole family, and Arisa, the Protection Officers, the maids, Reina-san too, would all be happy to see it. That wasn't conceit; I could really feel it.

After we shared a laugh together, we headed to the rabbit petting corner. We bought rabbit feed and stepped into the enclosure, and the rabbits gathered around us all at once.

"Waaah! ♡ So many of them! ♡"

Sakura gently petted the rabbits while feeding them. Come to think of it, she'd been wearing rabbit pajamas the other night. The image of a rabbit feeding rabbits was endearing enough to make me smile.

"Onii-chan, you try feeding them too! ♡"

Sakura shared some of her feed with me, so I crouched down and fed the rabbits too. The sensation of them munching it out of my palm was a little ticklish.

When I softly stroked a rabbit's head, the fluffy fur welcomed my hand, and it felt really nice. Once we'd run out of feed, we left the enclosure, and Sakura spoke to me happily.

"Fufu ♪ I get to see so many different faces from Onii-chan today! When you were petting the bunnies, your face was so gentle…! ♡ It looked just like the face you make when you pat me ♡"

"Maybe that's because I was remembering you were wearing rabbit pajamas, Sakura?"

"You were thinking about me…? Oh… hehe ♪"

Once again she tugged her cap down to hide her embarrassment. Today, Sakura's habit of hiding under her cap when flustered was a little bit cool. But the way realizing I'd been thinking about her made her shy in turn only made her more endearing to me.

"Onii-chan, should we go ahead and have lunch?"

As if to play off her embarrassment, Sakura tugged my hand and started off at a stride.

We reached one of the restaurants inside the zoo and looked over the menu. There were plenty of animal-themed dishes, and Sakura seemed to be having trouble choosing.

"Pancakes look good… mmm, but the parfait is hard to pass up too…"

"Why don't we just get both? It's your birthday, after all."

"Really?!"

A birthday only came around once a year, so no holding back. Besides, the money came from the government, and I had more than enough. If we didn't spend it, the economy would stagnate.

"Yeah. Let's order, then."

We placed our orders with the waitstaff, and after a short wait, the food arrived. I'd ordered curry, and Sakura had ordered hamburger steak.

"Waah! Looks delicious! Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu."

The curry was on the sweeter side, probably because kids came to the zoo too, but it wasn't cloying and had a deep flavor. It was packed with chunky ingredients, making for a very satisfying meal.

"Onii-chan, let me have a bite of the curry ♡ I'll give you some of my hamburger steak too ♡"

Sakura was waiting with her mouth open, so I scooped up some curry and rice together and brought it to her mouth. While I was at it, I put some of the meat on top too.

"Mmm! It's mild and tasty! Onii-chan, hamburger steak, 'open wide～' ♡"

Sakura cut a piece of the hamburger steak with her knife and brought it to my mouth. It was generously coated in demi-glace sauce, and the sweet-savory flavor spread through my mouth. The meat itself was juicy, and the juices spilled out when I bit in.

The restaurant's food was tasty, but honestly, the maids' cooking was on another level entirely. Eating out really drove it home again: they were truly outstanding.

After we finished the curry and hamburger steak, we asked the waitress to bring out the pancakes and parfait. Both were enormous, with mounds of whipped cream piled on top.

"Waah! ♡ So cute! ♡ Let's take a picture!"

The pancakes had a picture of her beloved rabbit printed on top, and Sakura was in high spirits as she readied her phone.

"You really love rabbits, huh, Sakura."

"Yeah! I love them so much! Onii-chan, eat them with me! ♡"

The portions were clearly more than Sakura could finish alone, so I decided to help out.

The pancakes weren't the fluffy thick kind you'd find at some trendy café in town. They were the thin kind, but stacked three high and topped with cream and fruit. The parfait was packed to bursting with fruit and cream too. While we were feeding each other and savoring our desserts, I caught snatches of conversation from around us.

"That table over there's super close, huh? Are they a couple?"

"No, I heard her say 'Onii-chan,' so they're siblings! Can you believe siblings get along that well?!"

"Ugh～! I'm so jealous!"

Sakura must have heard them too, because her cheeks were red with embarrassment.

"They said we're close, and that we look like a couple… hehe ♪ Is that really how we come across? ♪ Onii-chan, you might not realize it, but it's super rare for a guy and a girl to be this close, you know? So… thank you! Onii-chan!"

At Sakura's full-blooming smile, a smile slipped out of me too. I might be strange by this world's male standards, but if the people around me ended up happy, I didn't mind. As far as I could tell, I wasn't causing anyone any trouble right now.

"I'm the one who should be thankful. Everyone welcomed me into the family even though I have no memories, so all I can do is thank you for it. Thank you, always. And happy birthday."

"Onii-chan… thank you."

Sakura's voice went nasally as she thanked me again, then she bowed her head as if to hide her watery eyes and stuffed her cheeks with pancake.