I’m a Loner, Gloomy Guy Who Accidentally Witnessed the Moment the Top Girl in the Class Got Dumped. I Didn’t Know What to Say to Comfort Her, So I Just Gave Her a Cola and Somehow We Started Having Lunch Together~ - 39-40

Chapter 39: Break Time

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Some time passed after we started studying.

“Shall we take a break soon?”

Once we reached a good stopping point, I made the suggestion. No matter how little time we had until the final exams, rushing too much was a bad idea. Overdoing it would only backfire. Rest was necessary too.

“I’m home!”

Right as we were about to take a break, a lively voice came from the front entrance. It seemed Mai had come home.

“Oh! Those are Noa-san’s shoes!”

No sooner had her excited voice rung out than we heard her dash energetically up the stairs. Her footsteps drew closer and closer, and then..

“Noa-san, hello!”

The door swung open. Mai entered my room. With a big smile on her face, Mai dove straight toward Amamiya-san’s chest with all her might. Wrapping her arms around her back, she hugged her tightly. Amamiya-san caught her and gently patted her on the head. The smile on her lips looked just like Mai’s.

Even though the two of them had only met about a month ago, they were already this close. Mai was already as attached to Amamiya-san as she was to me. My friend and my little sister were getting along well. Of course, that was something to be happy about. But as her older brother, my feelings were a bit complicated.

It felt like my precious little sister had been taken from me, and I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy.

Am I really a siscon after all…? No, that couldn’t be it. This is just a perfectly normal feeling any brother with a younger sister would have. Yeah. That has to be it. 

As I was convincing myself of that, Mai turned her gaze toward me. She narrowed her eyes and grinned mischievously.

“So, what were you doing alone with Noa-san?”

“I won’t even ask what you’re imagining. But you’re probably wrong. We were studying for tests.”

“…Hmm, is that so?”

Mai lowered her eyes and muttered disappointedly. Just as I thought, she’d gotten the wrong idea.

“You’ve got final exams coming up soon too, right? Make sure you study properly.”

“Okaaay!”

In her case, I probably didn’t even need to say it. Mai was responsible like that. She’d surely already been studying on her own without needing me to remind her.

“By the way, Mai-chan, have you already decided on which high school you want to go to?”

“Yes! Sakuradai High School!”

“Oh, that’s the same school as us!”

“I want to go to the same school as you, Onii-chan, Noa-san, Hinata-oneechan, and Karin-san!”

“Uh-huh! I want to commute together with you too, Mai-chan! Oh, hey, why don’t you study together with us from now on?”

“Hey, Amamiya-san, don’t just decide that on your own—”

“Is that really okay!? Yay! Studying with Onii-chan and Noa-san! I’m so happy!!”

When more people joined in, concentration naturally dropped. That was the image I had in mind, so I tried to stop things but at this point, it was hopeless. Mai was overjoyed. There was no way I could wipe that smile off my sister’s face.

Gurururururuuuun!!

Suddenly, an eye-opening, thunderous roar echoed through the room. The source was right in front of me. It came from Amamiya-san’s stomach. Amamiya-san, with her utterly abnormal appetite… As expected, even her stomach growls were far from normal.

“Let’s have dinner before we continue studying. You know what they say—you can’t fight on an empty stomach! Today Mai’s cooking, so please stay and eat with us, Noa-san!”

“Thank you! I’ll take you up on that!”

With that, the three of us left the room together and headed down to the living room.

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Chapter 40: Sense of Rivalry

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After eating dinner and replenishing their energy, the three of us returned to my room. We sat around the low table and continued studying for the tests. Facing Amamiya-san, I kept teaching her mathematics.

“Alright, let’s move on to the next problem… Oh, or so I thought, but it’s already this late. Amamiya-san, are you okay if you don’t head home soon?”

When I checked the clock hanging on the wall, it was already quite late. If a girl came home late, her parents would surely worry. To be honest, I wanted to continue a little longer, but it would probably be better to call it a day.

“Hmm, yeah, that’s true… But I kind of want to keep going a bit more.”

“In that case, how about staying over at our house!”

“Hey, hey, that’s definitely not okay.”

Mai, who was sitting next to Amamiya-san, said something outrageous, so I immediately cut in. It was true that if she stayed over, we could keep studying for the test. Given how little time we had left before the exam, that might actually be the better option. The benefits were certainly big.

But still…

A high school girl staying overnight at a classmate boy’s house seemed like it would cause all kinds of problems. I couldn’t really explain it clearly, but, you know… It would be kind of inappropriate, right? Even though I knew there were benefits, the reason I couldn’t agree was something internal on my part.

“But Hina-oneechan stayed over all the time, didn’t she?”

“That was when we were in elementary school. Once you’re in high school, it’s a different story. …And don’t bring that up in front of Amamiya-san.”

“Why not?”

“Well, that’s because—”

“…I’ll stay.”

She murmured it quietly. Amamiya-san, looking down, muttered in a small voice. Then suddenly, she snapped her face up. Her gaze was fixed straight ahead at me.

“If Yuuki-san stayed over, then I’ll stay over too!”

See, there it is.

That was Amamiya-san for you. I knew that if she heard Hina had stayed over, she would definitely ignite her competitive spirit. That was exactly why I didn’t want it brought up.

“Listen, Amamiya-san. I’ll say it again. Hina staying over was when we were in elementary school—”

“Why is it okay for Yuuki-san, but not for me?!”

Amamiya-san planted both palms on the low table and leaned forward. Her tightened expression conveyed a strong determination: I’m definitely staying over! At this point, no matter what I said, she probably wouldn’t back down.

“…Alright.”

Since Amamiya-san’s resolve showed no sign of wavering, I had no choice but to give in. I still wondered, was this really okay? But there was nothing I could do.

“Thank you, Murase-kun!”

“Yay!”

Still… Maybe this is for the best.

Watching Amamiya-san and Mai beam with joy, I found myself thinking that. The two of them looked so happy. That was surely something precious, something that couldn’t be replaced by anything else. So this was fine. This was probably the right answer.

“I need to contact my mom. ‘I’ll be staying over at Karin-chan’s house tonight’… Okay, that should do it!”

After finishing on her smartphone, Amamiya-san nodded in satisfaction. She probably couldn’t bring herself to say she was staying at a male classmate’s house. It seemed Takashiro-san, a close friend of hers, had been used as an alibi.

“Eeh!? What do I do, what do I do?! This is bad!!”

Amamiya-san, who had been acting relaxed after setting up her alibi, suddenly started panicking. Her flustered face was staring at her phone screen.

“I just got a message from my mom saying, ‘Let me talk to Karin-chan on the phone’!”

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