Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Editor: Ryunakama

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「Good morning.」

「Nn, morning.」

It’s Monday. When I woke up this morning, I feel more refreshed having the amount of my hair decreased.

「Good.」

「What? I’m not late, right?」

「It’s not that. As I thought, senpai really doesn’t look good with glasses.」

「Shut it. I’m fine like this.」

「Yes. I think it’s fine.」

「Ha?」

Oi. Whichever is better, the contacts or glasses?

＊　＊　＊

Senpai might be better staying just like this, looking a little dull like usual.

…Especially at school. Yup. It’s better for him not to stand out. For me.

We went to our usual position on the train (it has been three days since we were last here), and I started talking to senpai.

「Senpai, what do you do on the weekend? 」

「Are you busy? 」

「Will you save us? …that’s not it!」1

「It’s from Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko2, if I’m not wrong.」

Because he was saying that very seriously, I looked towards senpai with a gaze full of meaning.

Then, senpai also focused his eyes towards me, and our line of sight met.

The train shook once.

Neither senpai nor me removed our gaze from each other.

The train shook once again.

I puffed both of my cheeks. If senpai looked at my face from above, he should know I was trying to do a puffer fish’s impression.

I heard a rattling sound. Another train was passing by our train.

Senpai put out his tongue towards me.

Perhaps, senpai had no repertoire of strange faces.

Even so, just him wanting to make strange faces was already enough for me.

「Pfft…！」

「Hahaha…！」

As soon as I muffled down my laugher, senpai started laughing out loud.

「If this is a staring-out game3, then it’s a tie, senpai.」

Senpai heaved a sigh once.

「In the first place, what are we even doing?」

「It’s senpai fault for saying weird things just now.」

「If you say it like that, you are the one who started staring at me anyway.」

「At that time, it is because senpai stared back at me, so it became something of a staring-out contest.」

「Since you should be the one who spoke next by the order of the conversation, why did you stay silent?」

「It’s because senpai started to say something boring again.」

「Even if you’re completely ignoring me, you should at least change the topic, right?」

「I was completely ignoring senpai after all, so it’s valid.」

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We continued to argue until we passed around a station, and then we calmed down ourselves.

The gaze around us felt a little bit painful.

Well, it was usually like this in the train, so let’s ignore it.

「Can I ask my『today’s question』, senpai?」

「Did you just thought of what to ask today?」

「I thought of this yesterday.」

「Haa…」

「Senpai, how much pocket money do you usually receive?」

Wow. She is now asking something that is kind of private, huh.

「Unfortunately, I’m not born with a silver spoon in my mouth.」

「Approximately, how much do you get?」

「You, what’s with your look that’s telling me if I have more than yours, I have to treat you? 」

「As I thought, senpai doesn’t want to answer? Then―」

「No, since this is『today’s question』, I’ll answer it.」

As an exchange, I will ask you too later on.

「Maybe you can say I have 0 yen pocket money per month for me.」

「Ah?」

「Yeah, it’s that kind of pattern. If I have something I need, I just have to tell my mother. She will buy it for me. Other than that, I need to make do with my New Year’s money, or something else.」

「I see.」

In fact, I don’t think there’s a lot of people who have that kind of pocket money system.

If a high-school student has financial power, a large part of it will come from their part-time job rather than their pocket money. Most of them anyway. Maybe.

「No, it’s hard for me, you know?」

「Isn’t it fine? Senpai’s mother will let you buy most of your supplies, right?」

Kouhai-chan added that for girls, they need to buy more things like cosmetics.

「That’s not true.」

I have something more important to buy!

「Don’t you know how I’m struggling every day to find how much my mother can accept the books I want as the『necessary book』!」

Since I read a lot of books, securing the books I want is one of the most important issues for me.

If I want to read classics, I can find them in the library, but if it’s the more recent publication, there are no other choice but to purchase them at the bookstore.

And also, books are not cheap.

A paperback book costs around 700 yen, and separate volume costs around 1500-2000 yen. That amount of money is high enough for a highschool student to play for the whole day. Talking about a paperback book, I could even read 2 or 3 of them in a day.

Therefore, I need a subsidy from my family. If you can talk wisely to your mother, telling her it is for study, or make her convinced that it is “necessary” for my future (though I don’t know on what standards), I can get a new book without squeezing my wallet. If it went well, it would be heaven.

「It was my mistake to ask that to senpai.」

Kouhai-chan interjected my speech, as if she had given up asking me. How heartless.

「How about Kouhai-chan’s financial state anyway?」

Ah, I forgot to say this.

「That is my『today’s question』.」

「Yes, yes. My pocket money is around 5000 yen a month.」

「I see.」

Well, that much is the standard amount.

…Huh?

「And then,」

「Wait, wait, wait.」

I stopped Kouhai-chan’s words.

「Then, didn’t you spend half of your pocket money at yesterday’s beauty salon?」

Since she told me that she would treat me and wouldn’t let me pay for it, I could just look at her paying silently, but if I’m not wrong, it cost 2500 yen in total.

「If you are talking about my pocket money, then yes.」

「Are you alright with using that much money for a male who is not even your boyfriend?」

「I feel bothered with how senpai is phrasing it, but well, it’s alright.」

「But―」

「I will explain it. Senpai, you know that I have an older brother, right?」

「You said that he went to the countryside before.」

「Yes. Senpai remembered, huh.」

We talked about this a long time ago, but if I’m not wrong, he is currently attending a local university, and he is currently not living together with her.

「What’s with your brother?」

「He is transferring some to me.」

「Transferring what?」

「What else can someone transfer other than money, senpai?」

「Why?」

「I don’t know, but it seems like the amount is exactly half of what he got from his part-time job.」

「What for?」

「I said I don’t know, senpai.」

「Huh, are you requesting for it before?」

「I’m not. He just suddenly started doing that when he entered university.」

「But your gratefully using it, though.」

「Well, that is a different matter.」

I need a lot of money as a girl, you know, or so she added.

Anyway, isn’t her brother too much? Isn’t he too siscon, sending half of the money he earned to his sister?

If he knew that his sister is meeting me, who is not even her boyfriend, every morning on the train, and going to school while walking together…

I had a feeling that he wouldn’t forgive me just like that.