After My First Love Who is My Classmate Became My Family, My Childhood Friend Became Really Sweet to Me

Memories of Hinata/A Secret Between Us/Hey, Yuto

I still have unforgettable memories.

Those memories are from when I was still Yuto’s classmate, when I had not become Yuto’s older sister yet.

Coincidentally, it happened last year when we were preparing for the Holy Night Festival like we are right now.

It all started with the unfinished Holy Night Festival architecture which was going to be the symbol of Christmas.

At that time, the student council vice president was leading the project to create the Holy Night Festival architecture, but the president suddenly stopped the project just as it was nearly finished. He wanted us to change the design because it was different from the blueprint.

The vice president disagrees. It’s true that it was different from the blueprint, and it can be fixed within a few hours, but the vice president opposed against the president who told us to redesign the whole thing just the day before the Holy Night Festival.

It should’ve shaped like a shrine.

The president and the vice president were yelling at each other, but there was no way that an underclassman like me could intervene, so all I could do was sit back and look at them yelling at each other.

Then an incident occurred, the vice president got angry and the members of the production team left the architecture unfinished. I was the only one in the production team who felt afraid that we wouldn’t be able to finish the architecture in time for the festival tomorrow.

But if I talk to someone about it and the president hears it, I’m sure that we would argue about it again. If we continue to argue, we wouldn’t get anything done for the Holy Night Festival. So I decided…

I’ll finish it by tomorrow. I’ll finish it by myself so that no one finds out.

I believed that was the best way to make everyone smile.

So after the school hours are over, I continued to build the architecture in the warehouse where no one would come. I remember I was so lonely because I didn’t have any friends to chat with or seniors to help me like I usually did.

I was sure everyone in the student council was long gone home by then.

‘Why should I do this?’

I can’t deny that I felt a little frustrated about it.

But I felt if I stopped there, I would betray my dream.

I want to be someone who can make everyone smile like that person. So I would do my best for everyone who was looking forward to the Holy Night Festival

Yeah, it was the time to get fired up one more time.

‘—Hinata-san?’

I stopped my hands at the sound of that boy.

Yuto was standing there looking surprised at me.

‘Yu-Yuto-kun!? Why are you here?”

‘—I was finishing some work for the Holy Night Festival, and when I went to the student council room, no one was there. I thought I’m the last one to go home, but when I saw a light coming from the warehouse, I decided to take a look…why is Hinata-san here, what are you doing this late?’

I couldn’t answer Yuto’s question.

I didn’t want to be seen working on the architecture.

But more than that, I think I was stunned by the sudden appearance of that person whom I admire.

‘—that’s the special architecture for the Holy Night Festival, right? Why is Hinata-san the only one working on it?’

‘Umm, the vice president got into an argument with the president, right? So the vice president told everyone in the production team to stop working on it.’

‘—so because of that Hinata-san decided to work on it by your own. I see, if you don’t mind how about we tell the president about this? I’m sure he will call someone to help you if we tell him what happened.’

‘No, please don’t. If the president finds out about this, he might start another fight with the vice president.’

‘—but if we don’t tell him what happen, you will work on your own, right Hinata-san?’

‘It’s fine, I can finish it by myself. So Yuto-kun, can you do me a favor… Can you pretend that you never saw me?’

‘—why?’

‘If they find out I made it on my own, they would blame the vice president, right? I don’t want that to happen. So I want you to keep it a secret that I’m working on it on my own.’

‘—but it is a fact that the vice president left the project irresponsibly.’

‘But I understand how the vice president feels, everyone in the production team worked their best making this architecture. If they were asked to redo it all over suddenly, anyone would be upset.’

‘—so that’s why you’re trying to finish the architecture by yourself?’

‘Tomorrow is the ‘Holy Night Festival’, so it’s better for everyone to have a smile on their face, right?’

‘—I see.’

After saying that, Yuto left.

He was taken aback after all.

Well, I have to work hard by myself now—or so I thought. A few minutes later, the door opened once again.

With a thud, a can of coffee was placed next to me.

It was Yuto.

For a moment, I had no idea what was going on, but then Yuto spoke up as if it was a matter of course.

‘—here, for you. It’s going to be a long night, go ahead and drink it.’

‘Eh… No, it’s fine. You don’t have to.’

‘—maybe you would have preferred the sweetened one instead?’

‘That’s not what I mean. I want you to ignore me. Even if the architecture is finished, I want don’t want to tell anyone that I finished it.’

‘—yeah, I understand. It’s just a secret between us, right?’

“…eh?’

‘—I’ll help Hinata-san finish it. Of course, I won’t tell anyone that we finished it. There would be no problem then, right?’

‘T-There… would be a problem! I’m just doing it because I like it, I don’t want to bother Yuto-kun with it.’

‘—if that’s the case, I’ll help Hinata-san just because I like it as well. We both are just doing the thing we like, so I don’t see there would be any complains, right?’

‘But even if you help me finish it, no one will praise you, you know? There is no benefit for you helping me.’

‘—there is a benefit for me. If my help will make Hinata-san’s life a little easier, that alone is already enough benefit for me. Well, it’s faster to do it together than alone, right?’

‘That maybe true but,’

‘—then that’s fine. I’ll think about whether what I did was right or wrong after I help Hinata-san. So there is nothing for Hinata-san to worry about, right?’

‘…Yuto-kun’.

‘—besides, the same goes for you, no one will praise Hinata-san when you finish it. You definitely think it’s better for us to work together, right? At least I will recognize Hinata-san’s hard work.’

I couldn’t say anything back to Yuto who was smiling at me gently.

However, I was so happy that my whole body was almost shaking.

He is still the same Yuto whom I met once at the amusement park when I was a little girl, nothing has changed.

‘Thanks, let’s do it together then, shall we? I’m glad, I feel relieved.’

‘—what do you mean relieved?’

‘As I thought, Yuto-kun is still Yuto-kun.’

I could only smile at Yuto’s curious look.

Hey Yuto, you know what? We have met each other a long time ago.

Hey Yuto, you know what? I’m actually your half-sister.

Hey Yuto. You are the one who taught me about love—you are my first love.

Then at the main event of the Holy Night festival, the special architecture that Yuto and I had made was successfully installed. The vice president was stunned, but I remember he had a complicated look on his face when the president praised and apologized to him.

In the end, the vice president confessed that he left the project irresponsibly. The person who finished it ended up being a mystery among the student council. The fact that I haven’t even heard a single rumor a year later means that Yuto must’ve really kept his promise to me.

The truth to that mystery is known only by me and Yuto.

It’s a secret between us.