The Beautiful Senpai from the Archery Club Is Sleeping in My Room with Her Stomach Exposed. - Chapter 17: My Senpai's Dangerous Little Sister.

My Senpai’s Dangerous Little Sister.

By early October, as the seasonal wardrobe change settled in, I had grown accustomed to wearing my blazer.

The morning breeze brushed against me as I walked towards the school gate, where no other students had yet arrived.

The towering school building stood right before me.

“Fuaaah…”

With no one around, I yawned openly, unbothered. My mood was completely relaxed.

Midterms were over. I had a good feeling about them, and today, the results would be returned. No need to stress.

I was also looking forward to seeing Watanuki-senpai’s test results. Our study sessions seemed to have paid off.

Thinking about that, I swapped my shoes at the entrance.

Alright. Time to complete my daily routine.

Arriving first meant I could extract information from the second student who showed up. If I sensed it would be beneficial, I would act accordingly.

Even with my busy schedule due to all things related to my senpai, I still maintained this practice—to make my environment as comfortable as possible.

There’s something about waiting alone for someone to arrive that makes me feel like a boss. I kind of like it.

As these thoughts ran through my mind, I stepped into the dimly lit classroom.

“You’re late.”

“Huh?”

Defeat. I had been beaten to it. Second place.

“Amemoto Touya. From what I’ve heard, you usually get here earlier than this, don’t you?”

Sitting atop a desk, hands stuffed into blazer pockets, Watanuki Shion gazed at me. My self-proclaimed title of “Morning Boss” had been snatched away just like that. So this is what a coup feels like…

Wait, was she waiting for me?

“I always arrive around this time. Uh, Watanuki—Shion-san, you’re here unusually early.”

Her surname had a stronger association with my senior, so I opted to address her differently.

“Don’t slide into using my name so smoothly.”

Her tone grew heavier. My bad. Not that I planned to change it.

“This is exactly why you’re so suspicious.”

She rose slightly from the desk, closing the distance between us. The chains on her earrings swayed ominously, giving the impression of an intruder being driven out of marked territory.

No, wait, the morning classroom is my domain.

But now isn’t the time for pointless territorial disputes. The real question is—why am I under suspicion?

“W-Wait. I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about. Did I do something to you, Shion-san?”

“Not to me. But you did something to my sister, didn’t you? She’s been acting strange lately.”

Ah. That, I definitely remember.

I could feel my troubled smile swiftly morphing into a forced one.

If our relationship were exposed, things would get complicated.

What should I do? I asked my instincts. And the answer was—

“What do you mean by ‘acting strange’? I don’t get it. Tell me more.”

—Feign ignorance.

She was questioning me because she lacked concrete proof.

Her stance exuded hostility, and if I got caught, who knows what she’d do.

Keeping up my innocent smile, I prompted her to continue. With a sigh, she began to explain.

“Lately, my sister has been skipping morning runs when she oversleeps, and instead of getting seconds at dinner, she gives her rice to Dad, saying she ‘ate too much at lunch.’ That strict, self-disciplined sister of mine? Unbelievable. Completely out of character.”

She was unknowingly revealing details about Watanuki-senpai’s life at home.

But this was actually good news—senpai was sleeping more. That was a positive change.

Even as I reflected on this, Shion steadily closed the distance between us.

By the end of it, she was standing right in front of me, exuding the presence of a delinquent glaring down an opponent. Blocking my way. I couldn’t even put my bag down. Both sisters had a tendency to stand too close.

“Middle-manager-san, I’m convinced you’ve been interfering with my sister’s life. Am I wrong?”

“Hmm? Me? With Watanuki-senpai’s lifestyle? What makes you think that?”

I feigned ignorance to the best of my ability, and for the first time, she wavered slightly.

“Because you’re trying to win me over by manipulating someone close to me…”

“Wait, are you saying I’m targeting the horse to take down the general? That’s a bit much. Do I really seem like the kind of guy who’d boldly interfere in someone’s life just to gain favor with you, Shion-san?”

“…Are you saying my deduction is wrong?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

She wasn’t entirely off base—the motive was just different. Seems like she didn’t have the makings of a great detective after all.

In reality, I was interfering in senpai’s life before she broke down, and as a bonus, I was extracting information about her sister. Pretty close, though. If she had guessed correctly, I might’ve confessed.

“Well, I don’t know anything, but… don’t you think your sister made this change of her own free will?”

“My sister, easing up on herself? No way. Someone’s pulling the strings behind the scenes. And I won’t forgive whoever’s messing with her.”

Her voice was filled with conviction.

“…If this ‘puppet master’ were me, what would you do?”

I asked cautiously.

In an instant, she grabbed my collar. I didn’t even have time to react.

Her heavy makeup accentuated her sharp features, and at this close range—where I could even smell the mint from her toothpaste—she declared,

“Even if it costs me my youth, I’ll make sure you stay away from my sister. I won’t let you get close with that fake smile. I’ll break you down until you can’t even think about interfering.”

Th-That’s terrifying.

Faced with her overwhelming intensity and a threat straight out of a psychological thriller, I could do nothing but freeze.

What does she mean by ‘break me down’? Like, turn me into stew ingredients?

All I understood was that her emotions toward Watanuki-senpai ran deep.

“I’m not done suspecting you, Amemoto-kun. The moment you slip up, I’ll take you down.”

“O-Okay, but I wouldn’t taste good, so maybe don’t.”

“Obviously, I wasn’t speaking literally. Do you have a tail or something?”

Throughout the conversation, I hadn’t seen a single hint of a friendly smile.

Shion was dead serious. If she found out about my connection with Watanuki-senpai, she might actually follow through on her threats.

As I stood there, still held by the collar, my thoughts raced: I needed to ask senpai to keep our relationship under wraps. I needed to figure out what was up with these sisters. I needed to wrap up my support efforts quickly before things escalated.

And first—

“A-Amemoto!?”

Someone had entered the room.

Turning my head, I saw Urushibara frozen at the doorway, having dropped his school bag in shock.

A sharp “Tch” sounded in my ear.

“Make up whatever excuse you want. You’re good at that, aren’t you?”

Shion-san quickly pulled away and walked past Urushibara, who stood there in shock, before leaving the classroom.

She might be even more of a handful than I thought… And her relationship with her sister is something I’d really like to know more about. I want to hear about it soon as part of my “reward.”

In any case, I need to speed things up so that Watanuki-senpai can regain enough peace and composure to manage without my support.

“…Amemoto! So you’re close not just with the captain, but with her little sister too…?”

“Huh? That looked ‘close’ to you, Urushibara?”

“W-Well, I mean, your faces were super close… I seriously thought you were about to—ch-chu—kiss or something…!”

“No way. Not a chance. She was just threatening me up close, saying stuff like ‘I’ll make you regret this’ and ‘I’ll bite you.’”

“D-Depending on how you look at it, isn’t that even worse than a kiss!?”

Right? It’s bad, isn’t it? Even I have no idea what she’s capable of, and that’s honestly terrifying.

No wonder Urushibara clenched his fists and shouted like that in excitement. In a classroom with just two guys, his voice felt unnecessarily loud.

“More importantly, Urushibara—you’re here early.”

“I am, but… wait, hold on! You’re seriously just brushing past the whole thing about Watanuki Shion like it’s nothing!?”

“Yeah, well—”

Unfortunately, there’s not much to talk about when it comes to my “relationship” with her. There’s no point in digging deeper. I just responded with a vague smile.

More than that, I was curious about why Urushibara was here so early.

“So, what’s up? Why are you here this early?”

“I heard that coming first thing in the morning makes it easier to talk to you… Wait, I’m getting sidetracked!? You were totally planning to steer this back to me, huh!?”

“Well, right now, you’re the one standing in front of me, so yeah. So? What did you want to talk about?”

“W-Well! I do have something important to ask!”

With a determined look, he tightened his grip on his bag strap.

…Huh. Déjà vu.

“I know you’re always busy and leave right after school, but! Midterms are over, so… can you give me some love advice after school today!?”

“…Ah.”

Right. I totally forgot about Urushibara’s love life with everything going on with Watanuki-senpai.

“Are you sure I’m the right person for this?”

“No doubt about it! After seeing how you handled Watanuki Shion, I’m convinced! You’re the only one who can help me!”

What kind of logic is that?

But seeing him flailing his fists in the air, not even bothering to pick up his dropped bag, I couldn’t bring myself to turn him down.

Alright, guess I’ll give this love advice thing a shot.

I should probably text Watanuki-senpai to let her know I won’t be home after school today.