「Come to think of it, you have a younger sister, don’t you?」
On Wednesday after school, while I was cleaning Hoshino’s room as usual, she suddenly said this while relaxing on the sofa.
「What’s with that all of a sudden…」
I don’t remember telling Hoshino that I have a younger sister.
I wonder where she heard it.
「Today, I ran into her in the hallway. She came towards me with sparkling eyes as soon as she saw me, it was pretty scary.」
「Ah~ Sorry about that.」
Sadly, I can easily imagine it.
Marina is not just fond of Hoshino, she’s practically a fan.
She probably couldn’t resist the urge to approach her.
「It’s not really something you need to apologize for though…」
「No, if it’s something my sister did, it’s my responsibility too. Actually, everything Marina does is under my supervision, and Marina is always right.」
「I sense a strong sister complex here…」
「Must be your imagination…」
This much should be natural.
After all, she’s my beloved little sister.
「Anyway, I heard your sister joined the cheerleading squad for the sports festival?」
「Ehh…? I didn’t know that??」
「Hee, she told me but not her Onii-chan, huh.」
「Guhah…」
That might have been the most painful blow yet.
W-Why, my sister.
Hoshino looked at me with exasperated eyes as I collapsed to my knees, holding my head.
「Well, I’m used to it with my Onee-chan… but Marina-chan must have it tough too…」
Was she sympathizing with my sister? Or was she tired of being treated the same way by her own sister? There was a tinge of melancholy in her voice.
「Didn’t you join the cheerleading squad or anything…?」
Overcoming the shock about my sister, I asked Hoshino while resuming cleaning.
Knowing her, she might have done something attention-grabbing again…
「I didn’t. No way I’d join the cheerleading squad…」
「Is that so? That’s surprising.」
「Why?」
「I thought you’d volunteer because you like to stand out.」
「As if I’d do that. I only accepted being the class representative because I’ve done it before, but there’s no way I’d join the cheerleading squad. Staying after school for practice? Shouting out loud? No way. Even participating in the events is depressing.」
I see, Hoshino is anti-sports festival.
That’s unexpected.
(Let’s aim for victory together??)
I could easily imagine her with a fake, sickening smile, trying to motivate the boys.
「Hey? You’re not thinking something rude, are you??」
「Why would I?」
「That’s definitely a lie. You’re probably badmouthing me in your head again.」
「I’m not? I just wondered if you’d show that creepy smile again~」
「That’s what you call badmouthing!!」
She stood up, marched over to me, stepped hard on my toes, and then went back.
How cruel…
「Stop thinking weird things already!!」
「Got it. I won’t say anything weird.」
「Hmm, good then.」
Hoshino seemed satisfied with my response. As she relaxed and kicked her legs, I noticed something different about her.
「You’re not wearing your usual pants?」
「I-I-I’m wearing shorts!! Idiot!」
Hoshino had changed into shorts as her loungewear today. She doesn’t seem to like showing her bare legs much, as she still wears tights at school.
I teased her because of her unusual outfit, but I didn’t expect such an exaggerated reaction…
「No, I get that… but it was just surprising since you didn’t like showing your bare legs before.」
「It doesn’t matter what I wear at home, does it…? And if you look at me weirdly, I’ll kill you.」
「You know it’s meaningless to show your bare legs when I’m already seeing your underwear, right?」
「You need to be more sensitive! Idiot!」
No, you’re the one who told me not to look at you weirdly, right?
So, I was just trying to prove my innocence.
「Haa… Get over it already.」
「Idiot… Pervert…」
Hoshino continued to fiddle with her smartphone without looking at me.
It was clear she was sulking.
「I’m sorry… I won’t say “bare legs” again.」
「That’s not the point!?」
Hoshino turned around sharply and retorted.
「Is that so? (Playing dumb)」
──Light Novels──
──Read Here──
She realized I was saying it on purpose, and she turned away and sulked again.
Since she wouldn’t talk to me for a while when she’s like this, I started the vacuum cleaner again.
「So annoying…! I finally worked up the courage… Why is he so unresponsive…」
「Eh? What did you say??」
「Nothing!!!」
She muttered something, but I couldn’t catch it.
No, maybe it was better I didn’t hear it.
I want to avoid touching another unnecessary nerve.
〇
After making curry rice and salad for dinner, I was about to leave when Hoshino said, “You stay and eat too”, so I joined her for the meal.
She had been in such a bad mood earlier, but now there was hardly any trace of that atmosphere.
I really wonder what happened.
As I was about to sit down after serving the curry, my smartphone vibrated.
There shouldn’t be anyone contacting me at this hour…
Thinking this, I checked my smartphone and saw Eri-san’s name.
「Hold on, I need to take this call. You can start eating without me.」
I confirmed Hoshino nodding while munching on her salad, moved a bit away, and answered the call.
『Ah? Hello? This is Samejima. Yamanaga-kun, do you have a moment?』
『Yeah, no problem. What’s up? It’s unusual for you to call at this hour.』
I was a bit surprised since she had never called me at this time before.
『I called because I urgently wanted to tell you something important.』
『Something important?』
I wonder what it is…?
I’m curious.
『Well! About the sports festival, it seems we’ve successfully passed the staff meeting and received approval from the school!』
『Ohh! That’s amazing! But isn’t that fast? Did Eri-san go to persuade them??』
『No, it seems the student council president persuaded them…』
『I see, that’s great!』
『Yes, it’s great, but there’s a problem… We only got permission for indoors.』
『Ahh~, well, I guess that can’t be helped.』
『So, shall we decide on the location for the stall tomorrow? It’s a club activity day after all.』
『Yeah! Let’s do that.』
『Then, see you tomorrow. After school.』
『Roger that. See you. Good night.』
『G-Good night…』
With that, the call ended.
Alright, things seem to be progressing at a pretty good pace.
Returning to the table in high spirits, I found Hoshino looking at her smartphone while eating curry.
「Sorry… took a while.」
「You’re quite the chatterbox. Was it Eri-san?」
「Yeah, we were talking about the sports festival presentation…」
「Fuun. A cultural club doing a presentation, huh…」
「Hmm? Weren’t you in some club?」
「I’m not. I’ve been unaffiliated since my first year.」
「Is that so…」
That’s surprising too. I thought Hoshino would be the ace of some hardcore sports club.
「By the way, what kind of presentation is the Home Economics Club doing? I mean, does the Home Economics Club even do anything?」
「We do, actually. We’re planning to set up a stall on the day of the sports festival.」
「A stall? Like that?」
「Yeah, mostly drinks, but we’re planning to sell a few other things too.」
「Did you get permission for that?」
Hoshino asked curiously, and I thought the same. After all, it’s basically a business.
But we have the strongest person on our side.
「Apparently, we got official permission. Seems like the student council president negotiated for us.」
「I see… You had the strongest card indeed…」
She must have remembered whose sister Eri-san is.
Hoshino seemed convinced.
「But that means it’ll be just the two of you selling, right?」
「Yeah, we failed to recruit new members, so the number of club members didn’t increase at all…」
Due to the worst-case scenario of the home economics teacher being on a long-term business trip, the home economics room was never opened, and the trial period ended without a single use.
「Fuun.」
「What?」
「Nothing.」
「I see.」
The conversation should have ended there, but Hoshino kept muttering, “Just the two of you…”
I have no idea what that’s about.