I Just Wanted a Peaceful Life After Transferring, but I Fell into a Rom-Com Trap and a Hidden Battlefield No One Knows About - Chapter 36.2: The Group Is Set, But I Still Don't Want to Go

Chapter 36.2: The Group Is Set, But I Still Don’t Want to Go

After getting out of the bath, I sat down on the living room sofa, picked up a mirror, and carefully applied medicine to my bruised face. A small whimper escaped as I struggled to endure the pain.

“I-Itai, itai…! Oww!”

Umika sat on the opposite sofa, fiddling with her phone on the surface, but she wasn’t fooling anyone.

Even while I was tending to my wounds, she kept glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. That smirk—it was obvious she had seen everything.

“Oi, you’re totally laughing at me, aren’t you?!”

The moment I said that, Umika burst out laughing, making no effort to hide it anymore.

“Pff—hahahahaha! Onii-chan, your face right now—it’s totally a pig! Oh man, I can’t stop laughing!”

“Quit laughing! Do you have any idea how much I hated that accident?!”

But no matter what I said, Umika didn’t feel the least bit guilty. If anything, my words only fueled her laughter.

Sure, this whole mess was Asakawa’s fault, but honestly… being laughed at like this was kind of frustrating.

“Man, my dear brother, your luck is seriously the worst. You just had an accident recently, right? And now again? You’re basically a pig at this point.”

“Shut up! If anything, you’re the pig—you’re the one who sucks at studying!”

“I just hate studying, that’s all! If I actually tried, I’d be smart too!”

“Tch…”

“Don’t ‘tch’ me! I’m serious!”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it, I got it.”

After that, I decided to bring up tomorrow’s trip with Umika.

“Hey, Umika, there’s something I wanna talk to you about.”

Umika put her phone down and looked at me.

“Huh? Don’t tell me you’re finally ready to admit you’re a pig?”

“No, I’m not!!!”

Jeez… what an annoying little brat.

“Then what is it?”

“Well… uh, do you actually wanna go on this trip?”

“Eh?”

Umika blinked, her face filled with confusion.

“Why’re you asking that all of a sudden?”

“Thing is, Sensei’s taking me and a few other classmates on a trip tomorrow, and they told me to bring you along too.”

When I explained, Umika gave me a teasing grin.

“Heeeh~ The same Onii-chan who complains about being tired every day is actually going on a trip? That’s unexpected.”

“Th-That’s because I have to go…!”

The reason was simple: Sensei’s orders and the whole issue of gender inequality. In this world, men and women should have equal rights. But in that small club, I had no voice. I was just bullied by those few girls. The word equality felt like such a hollow concept.

Of course, I knew fairness didn’t really exist in this world.

I had faced plenty of unfairness before. It wasn’t something new.

And yet, I still wanted to complain about it. Even though I knew nothing would change. Because at this very moment, I was already in the losing position.

“Heeh, is that so?”

Her tone had a hint of sarcasm. What the hell, this brat…

“Ow!”

I smacked the back of Umika’s head with my palm, a dull thud echoing in the room. She held the spot I hit, looking at me with teary eyes, like she was about to cry.

“Why’d you do that?! I’m your little sister, you know!”

“Because all you’ve been doing is making snide remarks.”

“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?! Ever since you transferred, all you do at home is play games, sleep, and complain about being tired. You’re basically an otaku! At least you keep yourself in shape, but that’s, like, the only good thing about you.”

“Oh shut up! Just answer the question—are you going or not?!”

I hated to admit it, but Umika had a point.

But it wasn’t my fault! The real problem was this hypocritical world.

I had already seen through everything. Reality had completely crushed the passion I once had.

That whole “Let’s experience the wonders of the world” thing? It was nothing but self-deception. The world might be beautiful, sure—but it was people’s hearts that made it ugly.

“Well, since I’ve got the chance to go on a trip, of course I wanna go!”

“Alright then…”

I took out the travel ticket Sensei had given me and handed it to Umika.

“This is the ticket for the trip. It has to be used by two people. Ask one of your friends if they wanna come.”

“Eh? This isn’t for you and me to use together?”

“My ticket is with Sensei. This one’s specifically for you. Sensei told me to give it to you.”

“Oh, I see.”

Umika stared at the ticket in her hand, then casually took a sip of coffee from the table.

…Wait, hold on. When the hell did she put coffee there?! I didn’t notice it at all until just now!

“Hmm… maybe I’ll invite Onee-chan.”

“Onee-chan? You mean Kotone?”

“Yep! It’s better to bring Onee-chan instead of a friend, right? Besides, you don’t have any friends, Onii-chan. You’ve always been close to Onee-chan since we were kids, so she’s the best choice!”

…So in Umika’s eyes, I was just some loner with no friends, huh?

Well, I guess I couldn’t blame her. She didn’t know about FORCE.

But it’s not like I don’t have friends! They just… left this place already. Okay, fine, I don’t have many friends, but still!

“This brat… whatever, I’ll ask Kotone then.”

“Yup, yup! Okay, I’ll go pack my stuff!”

Umika went back to her room to start packing, while I picked up my phone.

“Kotone, tomorrow, Umika, Sensei, and I are going on a trip. There’s one extra spot—wanna come?”

I sent the message to Kotone on LINE.

Not even 30 seconds later, I got a reply.

“Eh? A trip? Why so sudden?”

“Well… Sensei is inviting me on a trip, and there’s one more spot open. Umika said she wanted to invite Onee-chan, so I thought I’d ask.”

“Well~ I don’t really mind. It’s not like I have anything to do at home.”

“Alright then, let’s meet at the LIBRE Café in the ALCATRAZ commercial district tomorrow at 2 PM. You know how to get to the district, right? Or should we pick you up from your place first?”

“I have lunch plans with some high school friends at noon tomorrow, so I’ll head straight to the commercial district afterward.”

Kotone replied right away. With that, our group was complete. Now, all that was left was to wait for tomorrow’s trip.

“I see. Well then, see you tomorrow.”

…By the way, I still don’t want to go.