Why Is the Prettiest Girl in School Trying to Talk to a Loner Like Me during Lunch Break?

Chapter 97: Stars

“It’s so hoooot…” fan fan

“Hey—girls shouldn’t be fanning their shirts like that.”

“But it’s way too hot~” fan fan

“Come on… you’re already wearing thin clothes around the house. If you keep fanning your shirt like that, things are gonna get risky.”

“Ehh~? It’s just Onii-chan here, so who cares~…” fan fan

“Is that really okay…?”

(But seriously, that outfit is… geez.)

“Hey, Onii-chan.” fan fan

“Hm? What?”

“You haven’t bought any summer clothes yet, have you?”

“……”

“……” fan fan

(Those clothes from the pool the other day must be killing you in this heat. Besides, as Sakura-oneechan’s boyfriend, shouldn’t you at least have proper summer clothes?)

“Listen, sis…”

“Hmm~?” fan fan

“Well, Onii-chan’s allowance this month is already pretty tight—”

“If you’ve got anything left, that’s enough for summer clothes, right?”

“……”

“……” fan fan

(Summer clothes are cheaper than winter ones anyway. Shop smart and you can get a decent outfit for under 10,000 yen~)

“A-actually… I was saving the rest for dates with Asakura-san—”

“Onii-chan, you never spend money on dates with Sakura-oneechan anyway.”

“……”

“……” fan fan

(Your ‘dates’ are just hanging out at ‘Sakura-oneechan’s house,’ right?)

“My dear sister…”

“Hmm~?” fan fan

“Actually, Onii-chan was planning to buy a complete light novel series—”

“Then let’s sell all the light novels in your room and use that money for summer clothes♪”

“Alright, alright! Let’s go buy summer clothes right now! Please come with me and help me find the cheapest stuff possible!”

“Haah… Onii-chan, you really are hopeless.” fan fan

“Hey, Onii-chan, over here! These track pants are super cheap and would go great with your clothes!”

“Track what? Sister, I don’t need ‘pants’—I’ve got plenty of underwear. If we’re buying anything, ‘shirts’ or ‘trousers’ would be better…”

“Onii-chan, you dummy! ‘Pants’ doesn’t mean underwear, it means ‘trousers’—wait, didn’t I teach you this last time we went shopping?”

“D-did you…?”

“Onii-chan really has zero fashion sense… Oh! Look at these! Two shirts for 2,000 yen. We need extras for summer, so let’s get these. Those pants from earlier were only 1,500 yen—men’s summer clothes really are cheap~”

“I-is that so…?”

(Ugh, I have absolutely no idea which clothes are good. Definitely made the right call bringing my sister along.)

“So we’ve got pants and shirts. Now we just need a jacket or vest to layer… Oh! This vest would look great with those pants and shirts!”

“Let’s see—wait, what the hell is this… a hand towel? No, it’s just a scrap of fabric!”

“It’s a ‘vest’! You wear it over your shirt! Look, the gray goes perfectly with the white shirt and navy pants, and it’s reasonably priced at 2,500 yen!”

“That’s more expensive than the trousers and shirt combined! You’re telling me I could buy four light novels for this piece of fabric?”

“It’s ‘pants,’ not ‘trousers’! And it’s a ‘vest,’ not a ‘piece of fabric’! Haah… look, we’re on a budget, so just try this combination—pants, shirt, and vest… There!”

“O-okay… like this?”

“Let me see…”

(Hmm, it’s a bit plain, but… well, it’s Onii-chan. If I tried adding accessories, someone at his level would just throw off the whole balance. Can you imagine Onii-chan wearing accessories? Sakura-oneechan would die laughing.

So this is probably for the best. Plus, Onii-chan wants to save money anyway~)

“Perfect! You can’t make a silk purse out of a—cough… I mean, you clean up pretty well♪”

“Hold on! What were you about to say!?”

“Thank you very much!”

jingle jingle~♪

“Phew~ Now you’re all set for summer♪”

“Yeah, thanks to you. That was surprisingly affordable. Want to grab dinner while we’re out?”

“Really!? You’re treating, Onii-chan!?”

“Yeah, my treat!”

“Yaaay!”

(Well, I’ll pay now and bill Mom later…)

“Come to think of it, it’s been forever since we ate out together.”

“That’s true. You’ve been eating at Sakura-oneechan’s house a lot lately~”

“Ugh… w-well, that’s—”

(Hmph! I thought during summer vacation Onii-chan would just hole up at home reading light novels all day… but he goes out every single day~? And comes home late, so we barely spend any time together~? N-not that I want to spend time with Onii-chan or anything—I’m just worried as his ‘sister’! About my ‘Onii-chan’! That’s all!)

“……”

(Is she sulking because I’ve been eating at Asakura-san’s house so often? Nah… couldn’t be.)

“…Hey, Onii-chan.”

“Yeah?”

(Right now I’m still here, shopping with Onii-chan, but…

Even this will—)

“These times when we go out together…

They’ll end someday, won’t they?”

(Onii-chan won’t live at home forever. Someday he’ll move out. And it’ll definitely be before I do—)

“……”

(The time to say goodbye will definitely come.)

“Well… yeah, probably.”

“……”

“…Hey, want to make a quick stop somewhere?”

“Eh?”

“The detour is here?”

“Yeah, this park… remember it? When you were little, you used to drag me here all the time.”

“I did?”

“Of course. You think an indoor guy like me would voluntarily go to a park?”

“Good point…”

“Right?”

(I think it went on until first or second grade? She’d whine that the house was boring and pester me with ‘Onii-tan, Onii-tan! Let’s pway at the pawk!’)

“Tch, no luck… Thought we might see some stars since it’s gotten dark, but nothing.”

“Wait, what? You came here to look at stars?”

“Yeah, figured we’d be able to see them since there aren’t any bright buildings around…”

“There’s no way you can see stars in the middle of the city.”

“Actually, if you look carefully at night, you can spot quite a few. Don’t you remember when the whole family came here to watch that meteor shower?”

“I don’t remember stuff from when I was six.”

“Seriously? I remember it pretty clearly…”

“Why did you even want to look at stars anyway?”

(This is almost like…)

“Huh? Because you love stars, don’t you?”

“Eh…”

“We only came to see that meteor shower because you begged us to. And you were the one who discovered we could see stars from this park in the first place. I’m your ‘Onii-chan,’ remember? I know pretty much everything about my little sister.”

“Pfft… what’s with that?”

“By the way, I also know your measurements and weight. From the top: ‘BEEEEEEEEEEEP.'”

“UGYAAAAAAHHH! H-how do you know that!?”

(Gross! Onii-chan is so gross! And besides, I’m slimmer now!)

“Look… I may be a ‘loner,’ but… honestly, the only thing I really understand is my sister. Fashion and all that other stuff? No clue.

I mean, you really think a loner Onii-chan like me can just suddenly become fashionable?”

“God, you’re so gross.”

“Even with that smile, being called ‘gross’ really hurts, you know? Anyway, here…” clink

(Huh? Is this… a star-shaped strap?)

“What’s this?”

“Well, it’s… you know, a thank-you for helping with the shopping today. I bought it while you were picking out clothes.”

(Onii-chan bought me a present…? Mr. ‘I-only-spend-money-on-light-novels’ actually bought me something!? But this star strap is… um…)

“Onii-chan, why does this star have such a creepy face?”

(What even is this… like if someone put Spo●geBob through a meat grinder?)

“What? You don’t like it? I thought it’d be cute since you like stars…”

“C-cute? This thing with bloodshot eyes that looks high on something is cute to you?”

“It’s adorable! Super pretty!”

“Your taste is even worse than I thought… Pfft, what a weird strap… ahahaha!”

(Looking at this thing makes all my worrying seem stupid.)

“Yeah, well… that’s about where my taste level is at.”

“Hm?”

“I’m probably gonna need your help with stuff—Asakura-san, clothes, you know…

I’m counting on you. Will you keep helping me out?”

“…Haah~ Onii-chan, you really are——completely hopeless♪”

(It’s true he hasn’t been home much lately. And someday he’ll move out for real. But still, if Onii-chan needs me—)

“It’s suuuper annoying, you know~? But I AM your sister! So I guess I have no choice… since I’m your sister! I really can’t help it because I’m your sister! So… I’ll keep helping you out♪”

(As his sister, I’ll be there for Onii-chan.)

Translation Notes:

• “Track pants” confusion – sister uses the modern fashion term while Andou thinks she means underwear

• The creepy star strap is compared to SpongeBob (スポ●ジボブ) put through a meat grinder