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~ - 7-8

Chapter 7: My Little Sister Is Very Perceptive

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“I’m home.”

“Welcome back, Onii-chan!”

The one who came out to the entryway to greet me when I got home was a girl with pink hair and brown eyes. This was Mai Murase. She was my little sister—cheerful, energetic, and bright. She was two years younger than me and was a second-year middle school student.

“Dinner is ready!”

“Thanks.”

After stepping into the house, I sat down at the dining table in the living room. Mai sat down across from me. That made everyone who lived in this house accounted for. Our parents were both overseas for work. There was no set date for when they would return. So for now, it was just Mai and me living together.

“You’re back quite late today. Did something happen?”

“Ah, yeah. Just… Something with someone from school.”

“Onii-chan finally made a friend! I was worried, but… I’m so glad.”

Mai let out a relieved sigh. A huge sense of reassurance appeared on her face.

How does she know I’m a loner…? And what’s with this mom-like gaze? Stop it.

The way she acted, like a parent pleased with her child’s growth, didn’t feel like how a sister should be treating her big brother at all. I felt unbearably embarrassed. My pride was completely shredded.

“That friend of yours… Is it a boy? Or a girl?”

“No, it’s not like we’re friends or anything… And besides, why does it even matter?”

I brushed it off casually and vaguely. Mai was extremely curious by nature. If I told her the truth, she would definitely latch onto it with sparkling eyes and say something like, “Could it be that you got a girlfriend?!” That would be a huge pain, so I wanted to cut this topic off quickly, but…

“That reaction… Your friend must be a girl, right?!”

How did you know?! That’s scary!

Mai had always been sharp when it came to intuition and especially when it involved me. Her instincts had helped me many times, but she had also uncovered just as many of my secrets. Every time that happened, I couldn’t help but feel fear toward Mai. Just like now.

“Please bring her home sometime! I want to talk to her too!”

“No, that’s impossible…”

There was no way I had the courage to invite Amamiya-san to my house. Absolutely impossible.

“More importantly, what are you even planning to talk about?”

“That’s obvious. I’ll ask her about you at school! A parent-teacher conference!”

“…Rejected.”

『Your Murase-kun seems to have serious issues with communication. He’s a lonely introvert who’s always by himself. H’es at the absolute bottom of the caste system. A total trash.』

『…Is that so? I’m sorry my big brother causes you trouble.』

Yeah, just imagining it was awful. Pure hell. As an older brother, I wanted to grant my cute little sister’s requests whenever possible, but this was one thing I absolutely could not do.

After finishing dinner and taking a bath, I went into my room. Lying on my bed, I fiddled with my phone without any real purpose.

“I’ve got nothing to do. I guess I’ll sleep.”

The current time was 11:00 p.m. Normally I’d stay up a bit longer, but tonight I couldn’t. I was being assaulted by an overwhelming wave of drowsiness. Maybe getting talked to by Hina again after so long had mentally exhausted me.

I turned off the light and lay down on the bed. Just as I was about to close my eyes…

Bzz!

The phone by my pillow vibrated. When I checked the screen, a notification appeared saying, 『You have a new message on TOIN.』

Who would be messaging me at this hour? I opened TOIN and saw—

『Where are you right now?』

That message had come from Amamiya-san. I didn’t understand the intention behind the question, but I honestly replied.

『I’m at home.』

Then almost immediately—bzz! Less than ten seconds later, another reply arrived.

『Send me your location.』

『Why?』

『Just do it!』

No, I mean, at least explain the reason first…

So I thought, but I still sent my location as told. If I tried to pry for an explanation, this conversation would keep on going more than it had to. Dragging out the conversation when I just wanted to sleep felt like too much of a hassle.

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Chapter 8: A Visitor on My Day Off

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The next morning. What woke me from my sleep was Mai’s loud voice.

“Onii-chan, please wake up!”

“…It’s Saturday. Let me sleep in.”

Schools had designated days off, and today happened to be one of them. On top of that, I had absolutely no plans for the entire day. There was no reason whatsoever to force myself to get up early. On days like this, sleeping until well into the afternoon was my personal rule.

“You can’t! We have a guest!”

“…A guest?”

I couldn’t think of a single person who would come to visit me on a day off. But Mai’s expression was serious. She didn’t look like she was lying at all. Still, barging in first thing in the morning on a holiday… How inconsiderate. I didn’t know who it was, but I was going to complain! I jumped out of bed, threw a tracksuit over my pajamas, and stomped loudly as I followed Mai down the stairs toward the front door.

“Yoo-hoo, Murase-kun. I came to hang out!”

The annoying guest who had come first thing in the morning on my day off

was Amamiya-san. I swallowed the complaint I was about to say in an instant. With yesterday’s guilt still weighing on me, there was no way I could say anything.

So that was why she had asked for my location. The mystery of last night’s TOIN messages was finally solved. But that only raised another question.

“Why are you here in my house?”

“Because I want to!”

Oh… Well, simple is the best.

I couldn’t find any words to respond.

This must be what they mean by ‘leaving no room for argument.’

Amamiya-san was holding a convenience store bag in her hand. Inside was, of course, the usual. A bunch of convenience store breads. She was probably planning to make eat them for lunch.

Was she planning to stay until the afternoon? I didn’t dislike talking with Amamiya-san. If anything, it was the opposite but today was my precious day off. We could talk at school anytime, and honestly, I just wanted to relax today. It felt bad since she had gone out of her way to come, but I should turn her down.

“Onii-chan’s room is at the end of the second floor!”

But then Mai started showing her the way on her own.

Hey, hey, little sister. I haven’t said a single word about agreeing to hang out with her yet. 

But once things got to this point, it was already too late. After showing her my room, there was no way I could tell her to go home now. And just like that, my plans for the day off were changed on the spot.

“Oh! You keep it really clean!”

After entering my room, Amamiya-san spoke in an impressed tone. She moved her head around, glancing all over the room.

“You’ve got a lot of manga.”

Amamiya-san stopped moving. Her gaze was fixed on the bookshelf in the corner of the room. More specifically, on the manga of the anime we both loved, 『That Time I Reincarnated as the Weakest Mage』.

“Hey, can I read this? I’m kind of in the mood to reread it after a long time.”

“Sure. The latest volume okay with you?”

“Yeah.”

With Amamiya-san nodding beside me, I walked over to the bookshelf, took out what she asked for, and handed it to her.

“Thanks.”

After thanking me and taking the manga, Amamiya-san sat down on the edge of my bed and began flipping through the pages.

So… What should I do now?

I was feeling extremely awkward. This wasn’t the first time we had spent time together, but being in a public place and being alone in my room felt completely different. I was so nervous I couldn’t help it. Still, I couldn’t just stand there forever, so I sat down on the chair at my desk. Pretending to mess with my phone, I kept sneaking glances at Amamiya-san.

“That girl from earlier was your sister, right, Murase-kun? A middle schooler?”

“Ah, yeah. She’s in her second year.”

Even though she suddenly spoke to me, I was able to answer right away. Yes! All those sneaky glances paid off!

“She’s really cute. She looks like she’d be super popular.”

“Apparently she actually is. I’ve heard from Mai’s friends that she’s been confessed to a bunch of times already.”

Mai had an amazing trait where she could get along with anyone right away, and unlike me, she had lots of friends. In other words, she was an extrovert. On top of that, she had well-balanced features, so there was no way she wouldn’t be popular. The difference in our specs was brutal. I wished things had been balanced out a bit more.

“But she turns them all down.”

“Why?”

“No idea…”

Come to think of it, I’ve never actually asked her why.

I realized that only now.

“That’s because I’m not interested in any man except my Onii-chan! Mai is devoted to Onii-chan and Onii-chan alone!”

Mai burst into the room and loudly declared something outrageous. She even puffed out her chest proudly and scoffed smugly.

What is she even saying?

I frowned in confusion. Amamiya-san’s face stiffened as she recoiled in shock.

“Hehehe, just kidding.”

Mai stuck out her tongue and struck a playful pose.

Seriously… With Amamiya-san here, don’t say weird stuff like that.

All I could do was sigh in exasperation at my little sister, who had come out swinging without any warning.

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