Chapter 50

After what felt like an endlessly long day, several times more exhausting than usual, I finally made it home.

Between the extra work after school and all that sneaking around with Reika—whatever that was—I ended up getting back two hours later than I normally would on a regular day.

“I’m ho~me…”

Usually, right about now, I’d hear a lazy little “welcome back” from my sister.

But today, there was no such reply.

Confused, I headed into the living room, where I found her already home, as expected.

“Hmm…”

Only, unlike usual, she had fallen asleep, collapsed face-down on the table.

As a third-year middle schooler, she was right in the thick of her busiest, most stressful time yet juggling school life with the pressures of exam prep.

“…Wait, is this…?”

Glancing around the room, I noticed that the laundry had already been brought in and neatly folded.

Not only that, but the ingredients for dinner had been prepped and lined up, ready to cook.

That was normally my job. Something I started doing after my rebellious phase in middle school, partly out of guilt, and partly because, as a stay-at-home clubless kid, I figured I should at least contribute to the house somehow.

Apparently, knowing I’d be home late, my sister had taken care of it all in my place.

And right there, beside her on the table, lay what looked like a test answer sheet and a grade report.

“She did all that despite being this busy…?”

Every month, third-years like her take practice exams simulating the high school entrance tests.

Their final acceptance predictions are based on these test scores, plus their cumulative academic record.

“Damn… she’s killing it.”

Her score sheet showed a single-digit class ranking. Out of a perfect 250 points—50 per subject—she’d scored 221. Nearly 90%. Not bad at all.

“…Hm?”

But one subject in particular had been aggressively circled over and over with a pen.

Social Studies—40 points. Still decent, but noticeably lower than her other scores.

Next to it, with a little arrow, she’d scribbled:

“Extremely unsatisfying. Will ask Nii-san what to do about this!”

I’d always been oddly good at Social Studies—despite choosing a science track, I almost never scored below 90% on those tests.

She must’ve remembered that.

“Uuugh… huh? Nii-san, you’re back. Welcome home.”

“Yeah, I’m back. Thanks for doing all this. You’ve got a lot going on with studying and everything.”

“It’s fine. You were with Reika-onee-chan helping with prep stuff, right? For that, I’d do anything… wait, don’t go peeking at my report card!!”

“C’mon, give me some credit—you’re seriously putting in the work. I’m impressed.”

“Ughhh, so annoying! It just sounds like you’re mocking me when Mr. Consistently Above 230 Points says that!”

“Relax. That guy? Not me anymore.”

“Pfft. That line’s supposed to come after you power up, not when you’ve gotten weaker. First time I’ve heard someone say it backwards.”

“And yet… what’s your impression?”

“Annoying in the most precise way possible.”

“No winning with you, huh?”

Even when she’d been out cold just a minute ago, now she was back to her usual self the moment we started talking.

Honestly, with how adorable she looked while sleeping, I often wondered how she didn’t already have boys chasing her left and right.

“…Anyway, like I wrote, can you help me get my Social Studies score up? How the heck do you manage to always hit 90%?”

“Sure. Can I take a look at the stuff you missed?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright… this section here, if you approach it like this…”

Since she helped out around the house, the least I could do was return the favor with some tutoring.

“…Nii-san, you’re super tired today, aren’t you?”

“Huh? I’m always worn out.”

“Don’t give me that. I can tell just by looking. You always act a bit sluggish, but when you’re really drained, your whole face changes, like today.”

“Guess my genius little sister can’t be fooled, huh?”

“Modestly speaking… yeah.”

I hadn’t realized it, but I must’ve been more worn out than I thought. At least enough that it showed on my face.

“Did something happen?”

“Well, we’ve started staying after school to prep for the sports festival… and one of the girls who’s been making moves on me is in the group.”

“Yikes. That’s bad news! Reika-onee-chan must be so on edge!”

“Yeah, and to top it off, she and that girl had a bit of a clash. Reika actually got pushed back a little.”

“Wait, what? Who is this girl!?”

“She’s super popular, always dating one guy or another. Her social skills are off the charts. She even brushed off Reika’s whole approach to me as nothing more than “controlling.’”

“You’re seriously being hit on by someone like that…?”

“Yeah, and today got intense. I was working alone in the equipment shed, and she came in. It was just the two of us.”

“Nope. Too dangerous! What happened next!?”

“I turned her away.”

“…Huh? There’s no way someone like that would back off easily. How’d you pull it off!?”

“Don’t underestimate the evasive maneuvers of an introvert being cornered by someone they can’t handle…”

“…Wow. That was the lamest sentence I’ve ever heard—and yet, it somehow sounded really cool. Give me the full story.”

And so, the two of us kept talking, our conversation lasting until our parents finally got home.