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~ - 41-42

Chapter 41: A Dependable Little Sister

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Perhaps she sensed something suspicious from the wording of Amamiya-san’s message.

To see through a fake alibi… What remarkable insight.

…No, this was no time to be impressed. We had to do something about it. I crossed my arms and tried thinking it through. The only thing that came to mind was offering a sincere apology—I’m sorry for lying—with all my heart.

In short, I was completely at a loss.

“Then leave it to Mai!”

Mai puffed out her chest proudly and thumped it with her clenched fist. Unlike her older brother, who was totally cornered, she seemed to have a secret plan to get us out of this predicament. She was truly dependable.

“May I borrow your smartphone?”

“Sure. That’s fine, but what are you going to do?”

“Mai will become Karin-san!”

After taking the phone, Mai actually started calling Amamiya-san’s mother. She quietly practiced her voice with a small “ahem, ahem,” then brought the phone to her ear.

At this completely unexpected action, both Amamiya-san and I were stunned. All we could do was widen our eyes and stare at each other.

“Hello, are you Noa’s mother? This is Karin. Yes… Yes, ahaha! Noa isn’t lying at all. It’s perfectly fine! …Huh, you’re asking if we’re causing trouble? Not at all!”

After chatting about everyday things for a while, Mai said, “Excuse me,” and ended the call.

From what I could tell, she seemed to have pulled it off quite smoothly. This was probably the moment where we should shower Mai with praise and celebrate together for overcoming the crisis.

However, the only one who looked happy was Amamiya-san. As for me, my face was stiff with fear. The one who had just been on the phone wasn’t Mai.

It was Karin Takashiro. It wasn’t just that she sounded similar. This was on a whole different level. It was a perfect copy. Not only her voice and way of speaking, but even her subtle mannerisms had been perfectly reproduced. Karin Takashiro had been right there for real. I had never imagined that Mai possessed such a skill.

At this point, the feeling I had about this went beyond admiration and straight into fear.

“You really saved us, Mai-chan!”

“With this, the problem is safely resolved! Thank you for letting me use your phone.”

After getting her smartphone back from Mai, Amamiya-san smiled in relief.

“Still, that was amazing. You were really just like Karin-chan!”

“Thank you very much! But I did mess up a little bit… I’ll practice more so that doesn’t happen next time!”

She messed up…? Where exactly? Mai’s impersonation looked perfect to me, but she didn’t seem satisfied herself. That attitude of never settling for the status quo and always aiming higher was exactly that of a professional. Just what in the world was my little sister aiming for?

“Noa-san. Since things have settled down, shall we go take a bath?”

“Sounds good! Let’s go!”

Amamiya-san and Mai stood up and tightly held hands. Swinging their joined hands back and forth, they left my room. Left alone in the room, I let out a small sigh. At last, the fear I felt toward Mai faded, and I began to calm down.

Maybe I’ll study for the test until they come back.

Just as I was thinking that…

“A bath!?”

Studying was no longer an option. The two of them had gone to take a bath. Which meant, in other words… Right now, in my house’s bathroom, Amamiya-san was there. And she was there in her natural, unclothed state. Once I became aware of that..

Ah… No, this is bad.

I couldn’t stop thinking about it… There was nothing else I could do once I started getting conscious about it. 

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Chapter 42: I Can’t Focus on Studying

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“Since she’s staying over, taking a bath is only natural, right! Don’t go thinking about weird things every time!”

I spoke harshly to myself, trying to hammer the words into my own head. Anyway, yeah. I needed to calm down! But it didn’t work. The more I tried to be calm, the more flustered I became instead.

“Then in that case…!”

Smack!

I slapped my own cheek as hard as I could. By inflicting pain, I tried to forcibly drive away the distracting thoughts spreading through my head. But…

“That tickles! Hey—take this!”

“Eek! Stop it, Mai-chan! Ahaha! You can’t touch me there!!”

The voices of the two of them drifting up from the first-floor bathroom only made my distracting thoughts grow even louder.

There… Amamiya-san’s there… Does that maybe mean…?

“Uwaaaaaah! What am I even thinking?!”

Unwholesome images rose up in my mind. At this point, there was no way I could possibly study anymore. After finishing their bath, Amamiya-san and Mai returned to the room. Amamiya-san sat down across from me and tilted her head in confusion. Leaning forward, she peered at my face from straight on.

“What’s wrong, Murase-kun? Your face is bright red.”

“I-it’s nothing!”

I quickly turned my face away from Amamiya-san. There was no way I could ever say, “Because I was imagining indecent things about you.”

“I’m going to take a bath too!”

In my current state, I couldn’t properly look at Amamiya-san’s face. I sprang to my feet and bolted out of the room as if fleeing.

“Calm down, calm down, calm down…”

Standing under the shower at full blast, letting icy cold water pour over my head, I kept chanting the words calm down over and over. I cooled my overheated, excited head and tried to regain my composure. There was a reason I was doing something like training under a waterfall.

“…Alright. This should be enough.”

After drenching myself in cold water, my mood felt refreshed. I completely regained my composure and entered a super-cool state. And then…To my surprise, confidence and composure came flooding back.

“Fuh, fuh fuh… Perfect!”

Now I wouldn’t be shaken by Amamiya-san anymore.

Leaving the bathroom, I walked up the stairs with an elegant stride. A faint smile on my lips, I returned to the room where the two girls were waiting.

“Welcome back, Onii-chan. …Huh? You feel kind of different than usual.”

“Yeah. Right now, I’m a super-cool man of ice who won’t be shaken by anything.”

Heh, that landed nicely…! Striking a cool pose, I sat back down where I’d been before. Mai looked at me with a worried expression, like she was thinking “Shouldn’t he go to the hospital to get his head checked?”, but that didn’t bother me now.

After all, I was super-cool!

However… That super-cool state came to an abrupt end. The cause was sitting right across from me. Amamiya-san.

Maybe because she’d just gotten out of the bath and her skin was still dewy, she looked more mature than usual. The beauty of her already well-shaped features stood out even more. In short, she looked absolutely alluring. She was hopelessly, overwhelmingly sexy.

Heat gathered in my cheeks. I got tense and couldn’t properly look straight ahead.

“Calm down, calm down, calm down…”

I looked down and whispered it again so no one would hear, but…

Ah, what a disaster. It didn’t work in the slightest. With Amamiya-san right in front of me, there was no way I could stay calm.

“Hey, Murase-kun, about this problem… Hey, why are you still looking down? I can’t see you like that. Lift your face.”

“…Sorry. Please wait five minutes without asking why.”

In my current condition, there was no way I could teach her properly. Even a little time to calm my heart would help.

“Okay. Then I’ll solve the problems while I wait.”

“Thanks. Sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I don’t think it’s a bother at all. …But someday, I’d be happy if you told me the reason.”

“……”

I’m sorry, that’s impossible.

Apologizing silently in my heart, I took a deep breath. I tried desperately to calm my body and mind, overheating with excitement.

Just before midnight. In my room, we were talking about how it might be time to go to sleep. I… I somehow made it through…

After returning to the room, I’d been on edge around Amamiya-san the entire time. The deep breaths and five-minute break helped a little, but completely eliminating the excitement was impossible. Even so, I taught her. Putting my pride and stubbornness as a man on the line, I managed to push through. I wanted to praise myself,”Good job, Masaki!”

“Good night, Murase-kun~”

“Good night, Onii-chan!”

Amamiya-san was going to sleep in Mai’s room tonight. The two of them left my room together.

“Maybe I’ll study a little before bed.”

Amamiya-san wasn’t the only one with finals coming up. I did too. That said, I’d been steadily studying for a while now. It wasn’t like teaching Amamiya-san would make my grades plummet. Still, what I was aiming for was the same level of results as the midterms. I wanted to maintain my spot among the so-called top group.

Thinking about that, I wanted to do just a little more.

“It’s kind of noisy.”

Beyond the wall next door, Mai’s room sounded lively.

What are those two doing?

Curious, I pressed my ear right up against the wall and listened.

“Ahaha, Mai-chan, stop it!”

“Eeeh, it’s fine, isn’t it? Take this!”

“Kyaa! Hey, don’t touch me there again!”

What I heard were the cheerful voices of Amamiya-san and Mai. They sounded just like they had when they were fooling around in the bath. And once again, that word that robbed me of my composure appeared.

There… Amamiya-san is there…

Once more, unwholesome images surfaced in my mind. I’d planned to study, but once again, I couldn’t possibly stay focused on studying.  It was a pathetic situation, but there was no resisting a man’s instincts.

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