Hello! Clannad

Chapter 9

"Kana, say hello. These are your friends who will be with you from today."

Hana spoke to me with an affectionate voice, and over in the direction she was pointing at, three children were looking at me with curious eyes.

'So, let me get things straight first...'

I blinked slowly.

Well, it had all started on the day Arata brought a whole cake. More precisely, the day that Toya had brought Hayate along.

The mood wasn't that great at first, but as time went on, I got caught up in teasing Hayate and had a great time.

'Could that have been the turning point?'

I slightly tilted my head and remembered laughing a bit too much during I got a checkup from Arata. Perhaps at that moment, a sense of urgency had sprouted in Hana's mind.

Perhaps she thought my social skills would be in jeopardy if things continued like that.

'...Is this her grand plan to help me make friends then?'

I didn't need anything like that though. I only needed Hana...

Besides, last time, I even gave the entire cake to Hayate to apologize.

I did my best to reflect on my actions.

"But I don't need friends.."

"If you get along with your new friends, I'l let you have two times as many desserts."

"Actually, I quite like having friends."

'Double the dessert? Were my social skills that much of a concern?'

Maybe I needed to save the teasing for when Hana wasn't around. Anyway, that aside, the problem was where the children came from...

I carefully observed the children standing in front of me.

Well, I already knew Hayate since l'd seen him before, but fortunately, there was a single girl among them. And a shy one at that.

"Be nice to them, okay?"

Hana finished speaking with a tender smile. Her smile felt so magical that it could even dispel a thousand years of pent-up anger.

I always got weak in the heart whenever my sister smiled like that, so I quickly turned my gaze away from her and looked at the kids in front of me.

Hana had probably asked her friends to bring them along, and if possible, the to make me better at socializing. Seriously, I'm pretty good as it is.

"You're here... didn't you say you weren't going to come again, Hayate?"

"I didn't come because I wanted to!" Hayate shouted out as if I was being mean to him.

I still found his reactions cute. He wasn't calling me ugly anymore, at the very least. With that I shrugged him off and said hello to the other kids.

'I'll show Hana! I'll show her that I already possess perfect sociability skills without them.

"Hello, I'm Kanata! But you can call me Kana!"

As I cheerfully greeted them, the shy girl in the center nodded immediately.

She had black hair, like mine, golden eyes, and a cool demeanor. Looking at his eyes, it seemed like Ichika was the one who brought her here, although he had a completely different vibe about her.

"He-hello, Kana, I'm Reika," she replied slowly in a weak voice.

I immediately shut my mouth.

'She's just like Toya! My goodness'

I was sure that she'd show me a good reaction if I teased her.

'Right, I shouldn't take it too far though! Or she might react the same way a certain annoying blonde does!'

"I'm Luca. Arata is my older brother... but anyway, you look really cute!"

Another boy named Luca shook my hand and greeted me as soon as Reika finished speaking. He looked exactly like Arata. It was almost like someone had cloned a small version of him and brought him here.

Maybe a family trait, Luca had the same flowy silver-blue hair and blue eyes a bit deeper than Arata's.

He almost even had the same personality as him. I would've even believed it if someone told me that he was Arata's son.

Before I knew it, I took his hand and slightly nodded my head.

'It's true that I look cute. I admired myself confidently in the mirror this morning as well'

"Great, all of you have fun here then. Okay?"

Proud that l'd smoothly exchanged greetings with the other children, Hana smiled brightly and ruffled my hair.

It seemed like she wanted to leave us here in this vast garden.

"Han, wait...!"

But still, I couldn't just leave her alone...

Just as l grabbed the hem of her dress...

"Why don't you come and play with me, Kana?"

Toya, who stood behind the three children, spoke with a gentle smile, making me even more dumbfounded.

'Why should I play with you..? You have to go and stay with Hana. And try to win her heart.'

I started to get confused about what to make of the situation.

My sister suddenly wanted to help me develop my social skills for no reason, and Toya was taking it upon himself to babysit me when he should be out on the battlefield...

"... But why aren't you working, big bro?"

"H-huh?"

'Oops, I said something wrong again.'

If I said something like that, Toya would probably think I was asking him why he kept visiting. With that, I shook my head and asked him in a much more roundabout way.

"Shouldn't you be with Hana?"

'Good, that sounded blunt enough!'

I secretly sighed after finishing my sentence. Meanwhile, Toya's ears began turning red as he quietly spoke.

"I don't want to bother Hana... and I enjoy playing with you guys."

Soon after, he put on his signature harmless smile, a stark contrast to his sharp impression when he maintained a straight face.

He really was a well-mannered, patient man. It was hard to believe he would turn 180 when he got serious.

...The same thought cropped up when I considered how often he visited, though.

While my head was overcome with thoughts, Toya furrowed his brows and asked, "Do you hate playing with me, Kana?"

"No!"

'Obviously, it's easier for me to play when there's an adult around! And it's even better when that adult is someone I can tease. I'm just worried because you're too kind, you dummy...'