Translator: Lilo
Editor: Ryuubii

Chapter 1: Makabe Shizuru’s New Daily Life

Act 1

The alarm clock woke me up, and when I opened my eyes, I was not in the room I had been using for the past 16 years.

That being said, I have been here for more than half a month now, so I was getting used to it by now.

I got out of bed and turned off the alarm, which was on snooze. Then I changed into my loungewear and left the room.

I’m currently on the second floor. This house is quite spacious, so there are washrooms on both the first and second floors. After washing my face, I went downstairs.

“Good morning, Hasumi-senpai.”

Standing there was Hasumi-senpai.

She is an upperclassman at my school, but also my half-sister.

I, Makabe Shizuru, grew up with just my mother, a single-parent household.

I was left to dust because of my situation, and it was Hasumi’s father who appeared in front of me. He told me that he was my father, and I was taken in by the Hasumi family.

At first, I was planning to leave this residence by the time summer vacation rolls in. It was obvious that Hasumi-senpai doesn’t take kindly to the idea of having me around. Even if it were just a matter of time, it would be difficult to suddenly accept a boy as a freeloader, even more so if he was a proof of her father’s disloyalty.

I figured that if Hasumi-san helped me once and I left of my own volition, he would at least be satisfied that he had fulfilled his duty as a father.

However, after all the twists and turns, I ended up staying with the Hasumi family for a while.

“Morning. Finally up?”

Hasumi-senpai was sitting on the sofa in the living room, reading a newspaper spread out on the glass-topped low table. But when I came downstairs, she looked up.

“I’ll make breakfast right away. Help out.”

After saying so, she stood up.

There was no sight of Uncle in the living room or kitchen. He’s a doctor at a university hospital in the prefecture and tends to be away for when he’s on duty or called away due to a sudden change in the condition of a patient that he’s in charge of.

The fact that Uncle was not present is evident from Hasumi-senpai’s attire, which consists of a loose-fitting T-shirt and dolphin pants. If he’s present, she wears normal, everyday clothes, perhaps out of concern for her parents’ eyes, but when he’s gone, she instantly becomes more open in what she wears. If possible, I want that kind of concern too. I wonder if she’s aware that she has a body that matches gravure idols.

I moved to the kitchen along with Hasumi-senpai.

She wanted me to help her, but when I looked at the dining table, it seemed like it was almost done. All that was left to do was to put it on a plate, or just heat it up again.

“……”

As I watched the scene, I thought to myself, ‘It’s about time to start helping out around the house.’ Cleaning, laundry, meal preparation. Just anything.

I had previously planned to leave this house sooner or later, so I had refrained from touching anything in the house, since I was just an outsider. However, since I would be staying here for a while, I had to do what I could. No pain, no gain.

“What, still half-asleep?”

“No, it’s nothing really…”

Hasumi-senpai brought me back to my senses, and I started to move my hands. My job here was to toast the bread. I quickly took out two slices of bread from the bag. With that, the bag was empty.

“Hasumi-senpai, it’s just these left.”

“Mhm, sure. I’ll go buy some on the way home.”

As I placed the two slices of bread in the toaster, Hasumi-senpai responded as she was preparing something.

‘Grocery…’

If you think about it, shopping is a chore.

If I was told to buy this and that, I would go as much as she wanted me to, but it seems that Hasumi-senpai is the type of person who thinks about what to buy on the fly. So, I guess the only thing I could do is to carry the baggage.

“I’ll tag along with the shopping this holiday.”

“That so? Well, it’s nice to have a man’s help, so I can freely buy whatever.”

Apparently I can be useful.

“Wait a second!”

Hasumi-senpai suddenly let out a loud voice. When I turned around in surprise, she was looking at me.

“What if someone sees me shopping with you, they might misunderstand…”

“Misunderstanding?”

“Like living together, or close enough to go grocery shopping together…”

The mumbling continues far from her usual tone of voice.

“Oh, I see what you mean. They’re not gonna misunderstand, since it’s true. We are living together, so it’s definitely cohabitation.”

“?!”

An inarticulate scream escaped Hasumi-senpai’s mouth.

“We…were cohabitating?!”

“….”

Hasumi-senpai is just like me who’s not into love for a different reason, so I guess she does not have immunity or tolerance to it. She seems to react excessively to words related to those.

“It’s all right. They would only see a tyrannic upperclassman who’s abusing her junior. In a way, that is also correct.”

“You… I can make your bacon black, you know?”

“I’m sorry. I was just kidding.”

If she did that, I would have to accidentally overcooked the bread. If that happens, I will have to eat the burnt bread since there’s no more bread, it’s gonna be a double negative for me.

“I’ll be done in a minute. Just wait.”

Said Hasumi-senpai.

“Here, done.”

Soon after I took the jam out of the fridge and plated the salad, the bacon and eggs were cooked.

Hasumi-senpai dexterously fried the two at the same time and placed them on a plate, and breakfast was complete.

“ “Thanks for the meal.” “

We took our seats and began our meal together.

“By the way, it’s a hit today.”

In the middle of this, Hasumi-senpai suddenly opened her mouth.

“What is?”

“Bamboo branch for Tanabata.”

“Bamboo branch?”

I don’t know what it meant, so I asked back.

Completing the line together with Hasumi-senpai’s earlier line, we get ‘The bamboo branches for Tanabata are a hit.’ I have no idea what she was saying.

“Didn’t you see it last year? Bamboos at the entrance.”

“Ahh.”

When she elaborated, I finally understood.

At Akanedai High School, a large bamboo branch was placed at the entrance, where the shoe boxes are located when Tanabata Festival approaches. Nearby are strips of paper, on which students can write their wishes and tie them to the branches.

But just that. Nothing more than that, an annual event that can hardly be called an event. Well, considering that we will be in the middle of final exams in about 10 days, we can’t expect much. The bamboo branches will be disposed of after the Tanabata Festival, along with the strips of paper.

However, it has become a playground there among the students. They write things that make you laugh uncontrollably, or shout out their love anonymously. In the past, I have heard that there were some brave students who wrote confessions with their names.

“Did you write something, too?”

Hasumi-senpai asked me with a piece of bread in her hand.

“No, not really. Last year, I was just a freshman. I wasn’t sure if I could do it or not.”

“Well, I guess that’s how it was gonna be. In my freshman year, I was just admiring it too.”

She was convinced.

“What about you, Hasumi-senpai?”

“Do you think I’m the type who wishes on stars?”

“I don’t think it’s bad to have that cute side.”

“Stop with the cute.”

At my answer, Hasumi-senpai grimaced with a red face and tapped my shin with her slippers on.

Hasumi Shion is a woman who has a weakness at being called cute. She has a friendly personality and is approachable to both men and women alike, but she’s neither boyish nor neutral in any way. She’s best described as cute, and I have a feeling that she’s often called cute, but apparently not.

“I don’t really like that event in the first place.”

Hasumi-senpai said while her face trembled slightly.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Since I often see my names in other people’s tanzaku strips, the same goes for Takinami-san.”

“Ah, I see.”

The mention of Takinami Ruika’s name convinced me this time.

In short, whether it was anonymous or not, they will often be confess to. After all, she’s one of the pride and joy of our Akanedai High School. However, from her point of view, it would be a problem if she were to be told via wishes.

“I’m telling you, what you’re thinking about, that’s still cute.”

“Meaning?”

“…They would even write rather ungracious things about me.

Hasumi-senpai spitefully spat out her words.

“The people who are doing it are probably laughing their asses off, but for me it’s not that simple.”

“…..”

I guess a number of boys would do such a thing.

“That’s another story that makes me want to apologize on behalf of the boys at our school.”

As one would expect, one cannot help but feel sympathy for this. After all, Hasumi-senpai’s father, the closest man to her, had betrayed her mother and even had a child. On top of that, she herself had been subjected to the unrefined jokes of male students, so it was no surprise that she distrusted men.

“What, you do that too?”

“I don’t.”

It was unthinkable to be lumped in with such people. As I mentioned earlier, I have not even written an honest wish.

“Ever thought of doing it?”

“……”

I fell silent in response to Hasumi-senpai’s repeated questions.

“I won’t get mad, just say it.”

“…’I wish to see Hasumi-senpai’s swimsuit someday.’”

“Idi~ot.”

After thinking about it for a while, I said it in a somewhat joking tone, and without a moment’s pause, Hasumi-senpai responded in a half-joking manner.

“You really should stop saying what’s on your mind.”

“…”

Recently, when I’m told to tell something, it doesn’t end well for me.

“…Well, since it’s already summer, going to the pool might not be bad.”

Suddenly, Hasumi-senpai uttered a few words but somehow looked reluctant. Then, with a slightly reddened face, she continued to eat in silence.

This atmosphere was not good.

“Um, I’m expecting for it to be radical―”

“Don’t.”

Hasumi-senpai barked as if she was about to bite.

“Geez, this is why men are…”

Hasumi-senpai sighs again in dismay.

“Speaking of which, there’s a movie coming up.”

The atmosphere was a little better than before, so I changed the subject by broaching a new topic.

“Right, there was one.”

Hasumi-senpai’s eyebrows twitched as if her sensors had reacted, and then she answered.

We were going to see a movie as a school event soon. The fact that the event is held at a rented movie theater in Sannomiya, rather than at school, suggests that it’s part of an extracurricular lesson.

“Assemblee there, watch one movie, and then leave. No classes. It’s like a bonus stage.”

A person who already experienced it twice, last year and the year before, said.

No uniform is required on the day of the event, and everyone will be in civilian clothes. If the assembly were to be dismissed mid-day, it was only natural that people would go out and have fun. And it’s on Friday, the day before the weekend. That’s why Hasumi-senpai described it as a bonus stage.

“You won’t have to open the library, either, which should make things easier.”

“I think so too.”

Although I have never had a hard time with my duties as a member of the library committee, I decided to agree with Hasumi-senpai.