The two tightly clasped hands finally parted at the courtyard gate.
Once she finished eating and her brain came back online, Mitsuri finally realized that the hand that should have been holding Kanzaki Kumo's wrist was now clasped tightly against his palm.
Then she froze on the spot.
Kanzaki Kumo: So Mitsuri's brain really was single-threaded, huh? She couldn't think about anything else while eating? Then how did that explain what happened at the table earlier?
After thinking for a while, Kanzaki Kumo realized that Mitsuri had not been eating when she sneaked glances at her across the table.
Mystery solved. The "simple" in "simplehearted" meant "single-threaded." (Not really.)
In short, to keep Mitsuri from fainting right there at the gate, Kanzaki Kumo let go of her soft little hand.
After a while, Mitsuri finally came to her senses. Once she realized what had happened, she could not stop apologizing.
It was not for accidentally holding Kanzaki Kumo's hand, but for being so shy that she had brought them both to a halt at the gate and even made them let go.
"Sorry, Kanzaki-oniisan, I just..."
"It's all right, Mitsuri. We have plenty of time ahead of us. There's no need to rush. Your heart must have been shaken quite a bit today, too. Taking some more time to sort things out and think them through might be better."
Looking at Kanzaki Kumo's gentle smile, unchanged from before, Mitsuri fell silent briefly, then nodded firmly.
"Yes!"
"Um... Kanzaki-oniisan..."
After calming herself down, Mitsuri spoke a little bashfully.
"Hmm? Is there something you want to say, Mitsuri?"
"Well, could you tell me about those other girls?"
Kanzaki Kumo saw not a trace of jealousy in Mitsuri's blinking emerald-green eyes. Instead, they were filled with curiosity-the girl's innate love of gossip.
"Hmm...