Volume 1 - CH 29

Posted on July 15, 2022by ynlucca

Translated and Edited by: ynlucca.

Common Honorifics:

-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.

-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.

-chan: A common suffix among people you’re close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it’s cutesy and childlike.

-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one’s older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

-sensei: A suffix and noun that literally means teacher.

The night I told my sister how I felt soon passed, and dawn broke through the darkness. I woke up a bit earlier than usual.

“… It’s still this time?”

Looking at my watch I see it’s still six in the morning, and the sun’s gaze peeked through the windows. I squint and stretch lightly, getting up from my futon and heading down to the first floor of the house. I ignore my uniform, for now, seeing that it’s still early and it’d only be a hindrance.

Stepping inside the living room, I see my mom and my sister already awake eating breakfast. I greeted them both with a “Good morning”

“Eh?”

But was instead greeted with a surprising reaction from the two.

“Ah… Good morning Tatsumi. It’s very unusual for you to wake up this early, so your mom was surprised.”

“Is it that weird?”

Well, I’ve certainly been coming home late recently, so I guess what they’re saying is right.

“Well, I always leave as soon as I wake up…”

Shuri said that while already in her uniform. She probably has some council work to attend to. Well, she spoke normally, but…

Your eyes are red…

I could see the red swelling in her eyes, probably from crying last night. Tactfully I pretend not to notice it.

“…”

This reminds me of last night. I told her how I was truly feeling, and she let out a phrase at the end.

I don’t hate you — These words still ring clear in my head, and frankly, I don’t know what to do. For years I thought she found me disgusting. It’s been so long, that it’s impossible to suddenly change the way we’ve been talking to each other.

So I said something.

“Good morning, sis. Well, when possible at least…”

I decided to treat her normally, as a brother treats his sister. There’s still some awkwardness between us and it’ll take a while before we can go back to how we were.

Sitting down next to her, I start to eat breakfast. Then, she said something to me.

“Well then… Why don’t you walk to school with me sometime?”

“Huh?”

“… No?”

She asked me that anxiously, so I looked back and said, “Yeah, let’s… It’s not a bad idea to go together as siblings.”

That’s right… Let’s start from the very beginning.

As soon as she heard my reply, her face lit up as the sun. “Y–Yeah, that’s right! It’s not a bad idea once in a while… Hehe!”

Seeing our exchange, mom starts talking with a gleeful smile on her face.

“Fufu, it’s like you’re both back to the old days. Hey listen, Tatsumi, you know what’s up with Shuri’s red eyes? I asked her about it, and she told me it was because of a romantic movie she watched last night!”

“… Oh, that.”

Is that her excuse?

“Shuri’s a girl after all!”

“Hey, mom, what do you mean by that?!”

The three of us enjoyed our morning conversation after a long time without one. After finishing breakfast, I looked at the clock and saw it was almost time for her to leave.

“I’ll be ready in a jiffy. Just wait for me for a sec, sis.”

“Take your time, we’ll get there in time.”

“No, but you have council work to do…”

“Still, it’s fine!”

You can’t just brush up on council work like that! Well, soon after that I got ready as fast as I could.

“We’re off,” Shuri and I say at the same time.

“Have a good day, take care!”

It was a morning like any other for your usual family, though It’s been a while since we three did something like this. After that I walked side by side with Shuri, only to see a familiar chestnut-haired girl in front of us.

“Ah…” My sister and Sakurai let out at the same time, noticing each other.

“…” Meanwhile I was just quiet.

This timing’s horrible… Yesterday, too.

I cursed my own misfortune after seeing the two facing each other again. I had a good conversation with my sister last night, but I don’t think one day is enough to fully change. As if to show I was right, she glared at Sakurai.

However…

“Haah…” Shuri let out a deep sigh as if to exhale all the things she accumulated since yesterday. “… Good morning.”

“Eh, ah, g–good morning…”

The two greet each other awkwardly, and I followed suit.

“Good morning, Sakurai… You’re up quite early today, huh.”

“Y–Yeah, morning.”

That was my greeting for her. Shuri is trying her best, so it wouldn’t be appropriate of me not to do the same.

Oh, and one more thing, “Thank you, sis…”

“Yeah…”

Perhaps there was still a lot going on inside her head, but I thanked my pouty older sister for not making a scene.

“Follow me if you want to since our path is the same anyway… And…” She suggested Sakurai to walk with us, but she was unsure whether or not to continue saying so. Eventually, she made up her mind and finished what she had to say. “And… Keep some free time after school today, I have something important to tell you.”

“Huh? Ah, okay…”

“…”

Should I go there as well?

I’m the cause their relationship soured so much, so should I be there with them?

“And Tatsumi, just go home… It’s something we two need to talk about alone.”

I guess I was but the pages of a book for her to read. She looked at me and muttered that.

“Got it…”

That was the only acceptable answer here.

Well, at least she won’t slap her out of the blue again… Yeah, it’ll probably be fine.

After that, I spent the day with a constant, yet small sliver of anxiety.