I’m an Introvert, but After Taking Care of the School’s Most Beautiful Girl Who Lives in an Apartment When She Was Sick, She Became Attached to Me and Started Inviting Me Over to Her Place! - Chapter 60

Chapter 60

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“U-um… Natsuki-san? Uh, everyone’s about to head home now…?”

What had started as a casual bit of chatter that seemed like it might finally heat up once Sorato joined them in the living room had, as expected, cooled down again. Even though Sorato was recovering, he still had only just gotten over his illness, and it seemed everyone felt bad about making him exert himself. One by one, they all began getting ready to head home.

In the middle of that, it was decided by losing at rock-paper-scissors, that someone would go talk to Natsuki, who had her face buried in a cushion. Naturally, the one who lost was Sorato. Unable to imagine even slightly what state of mind she might be in right now, he approached her cautiously.

“………”

There was no response. She didn’t move an inch.

“Natsuki-sa— No, wait a second?”

No matter how many times he called out, she gave neither a reply nor any kind of reaction. Feeling something was off, Sorato slowly reached out and placed his hand gently on her back, over her long silver hair.

“Su… su…”

“She’s asleep.”

“““““Seriously?”””””

Just as Sorato’s inexplicable intuition had told him, she wasn’t sulking. she was simply asleep.

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“Alright then, take care of yourself, Sorato-kun! We’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Make sure you take good care of your little sister too.”

“Hey! If you do anything weird to Natsuki-san, I’ll knock you out, got it?!”

“There’s no way I could with my sister around anyway. Once she wakes up, I’m planning to take her home, so don’t worry.”

“I’m counting on you with Kaon, okay?”

Sorato saw the four of them off at the front door. Each of them said their goodbyes in their own way, and then, as noisy as ever, they headed home together. In the end, Kaon didn’t wake up in any meaningful way. While Sorato was seeing everyone off, it seemed that Kanau had tried waking her several times, but all she got in return was a brief, sleepy murmur of “Nmm…”

“So,oNII, what are you gonna do? Isn’t this… like, really bad in a lot of ways?”

“It’s insanely bad. I can at least tell myself it’s fine because you’re still here, so there’s no way I could do anything, but yeah…”

As things stood, just the fact that he still had the most beautiful girl in the SCHOOL staying over at his house was already the biggest problem for Sorato. He had considered carrying her home by force, but if a student from their school saw that, it would be the end of him. Having Kanau—another girl, and someone of the same sex as Kaon—around might serve as a slight safety net, but Sorato’s danger-detection radar kept pointing in an increasingly bad direction, with no sign of calming down.

“Natsuki-san really doesn’t wake up at all, huh? Is she usually like this?”

“She never sleeps at school, and she never even looks sleepy, so I honestly have no idea…”

“Geez, if that’s the case, why don’t you just let her sleep quietly in your room, oNII?”

“Are you trying to kill me?”

His sister, wearing a completely serious expression while saying something outrageous, made him forget to hold back as he snapped back at her. Sure, watching her sleep so peacefully made him start to feel bad about forcing her awake, but there was no way he could even consider letting a classmate, let alone a girl, sleep in his own bed. Just thinking about it made his head feel like it was about to explode.

She’s supposedly the most beautiful girl in the school, right…!? Shouldn’t she be more aware of the danger?! Where’s her survival instinct…?!

He had just been admiring her recently for being someone who evaluated things carefully, and yet after only a little time had passed, things had ended up like this. If it were anyone but him, something would have happened long ago.

“Oh, right, Onii. I forgot to tell you, but I’m heading out now.”

“…Huh?”

A sharp blade cut straight into the thread of relief Sorato had been clinging to.

“I’m going out to have dinner with my friends, so I’m heading out now.”

He had been letting his guard down because Kanau, someone of the same sex as Kaon, was here. Only then did he notice that his sister was dressed unusually nicely. She always dressed fashionably even at home, so it was easy to miss, but she was wearing makeup, and a sweet, perfume-like scent. The scent hung in the air around her was clearly not the smell of home..

“Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? No, no, no! Wait, wait just a second, Kanau-saaan!?”

“Ugh, gross! Don’t cling to me!?”

Unable to hide his panic, Sorato abandoned all dignity as an older brother and desperately tried to stop his sister. He clung to the leg of his actual little sister, which was bare enough to look cold in this weather, while shaking his head violently from side to side.

“Being alone here with Natsuki-san is seriously bad! Kanau-san, please! At least… At least until Natsuki-san goes home—!”

“Mm… fuaaah…”

“Oh, looks like my friends are all here already. She woke up at just the right time too, so it’s fine, right? I’ll leave the rest to you two lovebirds~”

Maybe he’d raised his voice too much. While Sorato was desperately trying to hold his sister back, Kaon let out a cute sound and slowly opened her eyes. Waving her hand lightly as she hurried out of the living room, Kanau glanced back and forth between Kaon and her brother a few times, then flashed a huge smile, waved once more, flung open the front door, and dashed outside.

“…Huh?”

“Ah… Phew… Um… Do you want something to drink…?”

The time of hell had begun.

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