Translator: Lilo
Editor: Ryuubii

Chapter 1: Makabe Shizuru’s New Daily Life

Act 3

Hasumi-senpai and I go to the same high school, but we go to school separately.

It was natural. We can’t let others know that we became siblings. One reason is that my mother and Hasumi-san have a relationship that is sensitive to talk about. If I were to reveal the relationship between me and Hasumi-senpai, I would have to mention the relationship between our parents.

Another reason is our position in school.

Hasumi-senpai is one of the two most beautiful girls in our school, while on the other hand, I’m just an ordinary male student who’s not particularly eye-catching. Hasumi-senpai probably doesn’t want anyone to know that we became siblings, since people would make a big deal out of it.

That’s why she and I go to school at different times.

Private Akanedai High School is located in a school town near Seishin-Yamate line of the Kobe Municipal Subway. It’s just within walking distance from the station. It’s a nice walk if the weather is nice, but in mid-summer, it is a bit tedious.

When I arrived at the nearest station, Myodani, I went down from the ticket gate to the platform and waited for the train.

Although it’s a subway, the train runs above ground. Looking up, you can see the blue sky of early summer.

“Huh? Makabe?”

Suddenly, I was called by name.

I turned to see a well-dressed looking male student.

It was my classmate Naoi Kyouhei.

In layman’s terms, he’s a good-looking normie. He’s a top achiever, active in the handball team. A student with good grades and with looks. A male version of Takinami Ruika and Hasumi Shion.

“Naoi, huh? Morning.”

“Morning too.”

He lined up beside me with his sports bag on his shoulder.

“Was your station here too? I thought it was Shin-Nagata.”

“I have relatives here. They’ve been taking care of me since my mother died.”

As usual, I gave an answer that was not a lie.

The Makabe residence resides in Shin-Nagata, about three stops away from Myodani in the direction of Sannomiya. Thanks to the Hasumi family taking me in, my commute to school was shortened by about 15 minutes. It seems that Naoi knew and remembered that I lived in Shin-Nagata before. I also knew that Naoi used this station. Information about classmates was just something that you somehow hear and remember.

“Is that so?”

Naoi seems to be somewhat awkward.

“I know it’s a little late, but my condolence.”

“It couldn’t be helped. It was just bad luck.”

Of course, for the family that got left behind, such words are not enough to describe it, but it would be hard to move on without doing so.

Once the train came onto the platform, we stopped talking and got on through the open doors. We stood side by side, holding on to the strap. It was only two stops from here to the school, but Naoi pushed his sports bag up on the shelf, perhaps deciding that his large bag would get in the way due to the crowded train.

“Well, fortunately, a lot of people are helping me.”

As the doors closed and the train began to accelerate, I opened my mouth.

When Hasumi-san heard that my mother had passed away, he rushed to visit, and Hasumi-senpai accepted me. Thanks to them, I can continue to go to school as usual without any inconvenience.

“You must have been blessed to have the right people around you.”

“You’re one of those people.”

“Me? I didn’t do anything.”

He first exclaimed in surprise, and then laughed.

“You let me join your group during lunch.”

When you’re a student as famous as Naoi, naturally there would be a group centered around him, and I used to eat lunch with his group in the school cafeteria until Hasumi-senpai started to make me lunch after my mother’s death.

“That’s just because you asked me to, and I just said sure.”

“So that’s it, for you that’s all it amounts to.”

Apparently, it was a normal thing for him to have people outside of his group ask to eat with him and he complies. A group has indeed formed around Naoi, but he didn’t wall up his group.

“What’s up with that?”

“Nothing. You should keep on being like that, I suppose.”

Naoi asked me with a laugh, to which I replied.

Once the train arrives at the station near the school, it’s on foot from there.

“Morning.”

So when we arrived at the classroom, Naoi walked in, mouthing his greeting at a volume that all in the class could hear. Naturally, most of his classmates, regardless of gender, responded. I followed right behind him, thinking it was a trick I couldn’t pull off.

“Good morning, Kyouhei-kun.”

One of the core members of Naoi’s group was the first to come up to him. He called out to him even though Naoi had not even put his bag down on his seat yet.

Then he glanced at me.

“So you’re with Makabe.”

“Yeah, we met on the train.”

“Hmmm.”

He responds in a disinterested manner, as if he doesn’t care about me. Of course, he was only pretending. As soon as he came to Naoi, he asked about me, so he was quite conscious of me.

I parted from Naoi and went to my seat. I put my bag on the desk and went to the silent duo, who were the opposite of Naoi’s flamboyance.

Karube Kagemitsu and Heshikiri Sakura.

They were sitting back to back, and seemed to be exchanging a few words.

“Morning.”

When I called out to the two, Karube responded by raising his hand, and Heshikiri-san replied in a muffled voice, “Good morning.”

“You see. Izumikawa sees Makabe as an enemy.”

Karube suddenly said something. It seems that he had been properly watching the exchange at the entrance of the classroom.

Izumikawa was the boy who came up to Naoi just a few moments ago, the one who has been harboring an unconcealed hostility towards me for some time now. His full name is Izumikawa Satoshi.

I don’t like to comment on people’s appearance, but he’s a little overweight. He’s a little over ten kilograms over the average weight.

When he entered the second grade and was placed in the same class as Naoi, he tried to win Naoi’s favor by using his natural quick wittedness and nonchalant attitude. Thanks to his efforts, he successfully slipped into the core of the group and is now enjoying the glamorous high school life as a member of the group.

But Izumikawa is aware. He’s aware that he’s somewhat inferior to the people at Naoi’s group. Both in terms of appearance and ability. He’s afraid that if Naoi favors me, he might get kicked out of the group.

That was Karube’s view, and I’m also in agreement with him.

“Does he really have to go that far to have a lively high school experience?”

Karube said in dismay.

“It’s just that some people put more weight on that than anything else. Although I don’t think it’s a good idea to use that as an absolute standard for evaluating people and school life.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand.”

“You’re all about efficiency after all.”

Conversely, the student named Karube Kagemitsu is the opposite. He hates the lively school life, and it seems to him that fussing among friends was a waste of time.

“I guess so. My ideal is a clock. I will only do an hour’s worth of work in an hour. No waste whatsoever.

Certainly nothing was more efficient at doing their job than a clock. You can’t be so uptight so that it advances fifteen minutes in ten minutes, since in that case, it’s just broken.

“Makabe-kun, your arm…”

As I chuckled at Karube’s typical thoughts, Heshikiri discreetly opened her mouth. Her gaze was fixed on my arm.

My left arm was bandaged. It was an honorary injury that I got the other day while defending Hasumi-senpai. Of course, she doesn’t want to point out that I have a wound. She was trying to tell me that my arm, which was hanging until yesterday, has lost its triangular bandage today.

“The last time I was at the hospital, the doctor told me I could remove it at any point. The discomfort is gone, and I figured I can move it around freely now, so I decided to take it off today.”

The bandages were just meant to hide the wounds, which were still a bit graphic.

“Okay. Then it’s healing properly. That’s great.”

Heshikiri-san replied in relief.

What a kind-hearted girl.