The Most Beautiful Girl in School Has Become a Mother - Chapter 4: Sanada Shuri’s (Younger Sister) Wish

“So? The siscon guy who puts his little sister first confessed to the most beautiful girl in school. What kind of wind blew that way?”

Since there were fewer students around the school, Shinya got straight to the point as if to say, “Let’s get down to business.”

“Don’t call me a siscon.”

I feel like I’ve been living a life where my sister comes first to the point that there’s no denying it, but I’ll just deny it for the sake of denying it. Sure, my sister is important, but it’s a bit different from being a siscon.

“You don’t have time for romance. If you have time for that, spend it with me!”

For some reason, Shinya is fixated on something else, but I won’t touch on that. At the very least, if there’s time for romance, I want to prioritize it over Shinya.

Even though high school life only lasts three years, isn’t it too lonely not to have even experienced love? Perhaps it’s because of such feelings that I’ve been looking at Imiya-san from afar and feeling like I’m in unrequited love. It’s the state often referred to as being “in love with love.”

The most beautiful girl in the school was the perfect person to fulfill those feelings.

“Well, um… actually, this is also related to Shuri.”

“This is about Shuri-chan? Why are Shuri-chan and Imiya Miori connected? Is it a plan to catch a sea bream with your younger sister?”

“No way! Would I do something so rude?”

I deny it with such force that I almost spit.

As expected, that would be too disrespectful to Imiya-san. Besides, I didn’t want to use my precious little sister for something like that.

“Hmm… Well, I haven’t even confessed in the first place. Actually, it was my mistake that caused the problem.”

“Haa?”

Shinya tilted his head about 90 degrees out of sheer confusion. It was to the point where I was worried he might break.

“Well, I guess it’s quicker to explain this.”

I sighed and explained to Shinya how things had come to this.

That was just a few days ago. As usual, I went to pick up Shuri from the daycare and stopped by the supermarket on the way back.

Since I’m not very good at cooking, I was looking at the shelves for something as simple and low-effort as possible, when Shuri, who was holding my hand, pulled my hand a few times.

“What’s wrong?”

When I asked, Shuri pointed to the woman on the other side of the same shelf.

That woman was none other than Imiya Miori, the person to whom I had made an outrageous request yesterday, albeit by mistake. She was in her school uniform, having stopped by the supermarket on her way back from school, just like me.

Imiya-san is comparing several condiments in the condiment section and doesn’t seem to notice me here.

──I wonder if Imiya-san cooks too. By the way, what should I do?

I never expected to run into the most beautiful girl in school at the supermarket, so I panicked and wondered what to do.

After all, we’re in the same class, so maybe I should say something. But if I suddenly act too familiar, won’t it just creep them out?—Such doubts and hesitations swirl around in my mind.

“Is something wrong with that woman?”

Putting aside whether or not to speak up, I asked Shuri about the intention behind pointing at Imiya-san.

Then, she suddenly muttered this.

“…Mom.”

It goes without saying that I tilted my head and said, “Huh?”

At that moment, Imiya Miori suddenly looked over here and noticed our presence.

She—probably because Shuri was there—gave a gentle smile and nodded. Then, after putting some kind of seasoning into her shopping basket, she waved goodbye to Shuri and left the store.

The interaction with Imiya-san ended there. If we had exchanged a few more words in the classroom normally, we might have talked a bit, but if she ran into a classmate she doesn’t usually interact with at the supermarket, it would be something like this. From her perspective, it might have been an awkward moment.

After finishing the shopping and returning home, Shuri came over to me and said.

“I want to see Mom.”

I thought I had been taking good care of my sister for the past five years, but I couldn’t hide my surprise when I heard it for the first time.

The fact that Shuri said she wanted to meet her mother had never happened before. For her, not having a mother—indeed, I even think that in her mind, there might not even be a father—was completely normal, and she had never questioned it.

Perhaps something happened regarding the mother at the daycare, but I haven’t heard anything about it from the daycare staff.

The daycare teacher understands our family environment to some extent, so she is quite cooperative regarding Shuri. If there is even a small problem, she will let us know, no matter how trivial it may be. She also mentioned that, since there are many single mothers nowadays, she tries to avoid using words like “father” or “mother” as much as possible. If there is any issue in that regard, I think she would explain the situation to us.

Well, it’s still something a kindergartener would say. It wouldn’t be a problem to just brush it off, thinking she might have just said “Mommy” by chance.

However, Shuri is basically a very quiet child. She often responds to my words with sounds like “uh,” “hmm,” or “no.” My sister, in her own way, seems to be considerate of me; she has never been selfish and possesses the wisdom to read the room and not inconvenience me. She was a child who rarely expressed her own desires.

My sister, who is like that, clearly said, “I want to see Mom.” I absolutely couldn’t just brush this off. I felt her strong will in that.

In response, when I said, “We don’t have a mom at home,” my younger sister shook her head. Then she said this.

“Today at the supermarket, Mom was there. I want to see Mom.”

Honestly, I was confused. It was clear that when she said “mom,” she was referring to my classmate, Imiya Miori.

Moreover, from then on, she started saying “I want to see Mom” almost every day. Even when she was playing with me, I began to feel that her expression seemed somewhat lonely.

“So, um… I can’t introduce her to the real mom, but I thought maybe I could introduce her to someone who Shuri called ‘mom’.”

I concluded my explanation to Shinya like that.

“Could it be that you asked Imiya Miori for that?”

“How thoughtful of you towards your sister,” Shinya asks with tears in his eyes.

“Ah. I was planning to.”

“Was it?”

“Well… I accidentally said, ‘Please become my mom.'”

At that moment, Shinya, who had been teary-eyed, fell over dramatically.

“Why did it have to turn out like this?! I was so moved and crying just now! You ruined it! Give me back my tears!”

“I was so nervous that I messed up my words! My heart was racing just by calling out to Imiya Miori! And then I ended up saying something I’ve never said before, so of course I might skip some words!”

“There’s no way! Besides, aren’t you skipping over the important parts too much? Do people usually make such mistakes?”

In response to Shinya’s precise criticism, I am now completely at a loss for words. I don’t even know why I made such a mistake.

“So… what did Imiya say?”

“I don’t deny your hobby, but I don’t have that kind of hobby, so I’m sorry, it’s impossible for me. I was told something like that in a rush and then she ran away…”

“Right?”

If I think from her perspective, it’s only natural.

If a classmate suddenly said, “Become my mom,” it would be really off-putting. It’s actually a relief that she hasn’t spread this around.

“Well, I get the reason now. The fact that you called out Imiya, your inexplicable behavior, your attempts to explain yourself afterward, Imiya’s reaction, and the classmates who misunderstood after seeing it all.”

“I see,” Shinya let out a big sigh.

“If there’s even one person who understands me, I’m so happy I could cry right now…”

If Shinya hadn’t been there, I think I would have shed different tears. Tears stained red with my own blood.

“Is it enough to have just one person who understands?”

“Huh?”

When I inadvertently looked at Shinya, he smirked.

“Well, it’s true that you were at fault, but it’s also true that there was a misunderstanding, right? Your best friend is stepping in to help your cute little sister. If I’m going to give you a chance to explain, I might as well do it.”

“Oh!? Shinya, could it be that you’re a god!?”

“I’ve been thinking about whether there’s anything I can do for you. I don’t know anything about little sisters or raising kids, but I can handle this much. Leave it to me!”

My mischievous friend flashed an untroubled smile and gave a thumbs-up.

I never expected him to say something like this. Perhaps he truly felt sorry for me, being so overwhelmed with work every day. I was incredibly happy.

Shinya continued with a serious expression, saying, “However.”

“How Imiya feels after hearing the explanation is up to her, so there’s nothing I can do about it. How she feels is entirely up to her.”

“That’s true. That’s within Imiya-san’s domain.”

“But, shouldn’t you at least have the chance to explain yourself? It’s for your sister, after all.”

I used to think he was just a good-for-nothing bad friend, but now it feels like he’s the only one on my side. I’m glad to have at least one friend.

“So, how about using the money for tomorrow’s savory bread?”

“Are you charging me?”

I retract my previous statement. This is beyond disappointing.

“Of course! There’s nothing scarier than something free in this world, you know? Which would you trust more: the side dish made by some random old guy you got for free, or the one you buy from the store? It’s the one you pay for, right?”

“Well, that’s certainly true…”

“With that, the contract is finalized.”

I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being skillfully manipulated. However, I managed to secure a promise that they would at least give me a chance to explain myself, and then I parted ways with Shinya.

Feeling my heavy heart lighten just a little, I headed towards the kindergarten where Shuri was waiting.