CH 75

It was Saturday, the last day of regular tests.

I left the school gate of Kaihinmakuhari High School and headed towards my house, passing between the Open University of Japan and Ito-Yokado.

At any rate, I think I’m going to get a decent score in the first semester’s mid-term examinations.

I have good marks in science and maths subjects, but my marks in liberal arts subjects are so bad that I won’t be able to get into the university of the level I want to be at with a recommendation.

I wonder where I should go to university. Takata University, Keiryo University or Joto University? But Keirei University is too far away. The Faculty of Science and Technology is in Kanagawa Prefecture. If it’s a national university, it would be Chiba University.

I was waiting at a traffic light while thinking about that.

“Yuu-san!”

I was suddenly called from the side.

When I turned around, there was Meika Ishida.

“Ah, Meika-chan? Long time no see.”

Meika-chan is the younger sister of my close friend Yota Ishida.

She is two years younger than me and in the third year of junior high school.

Ishida is tall and has a stout face with a rugged appearance, while Meika is a petite, pretty girl with big eyes.

To be honest, she doesn’t look like Ishida’s younger sister.

I sometimes tease Ishida, saying, “I wonder if you’ re actually not related to her.” and tease Ishida.

Meika-chan rushes over to me like she’s about to leap.

“Really, it’s been a long time! Yuu-san hasn’t come to our house recently, so I was worried about what happened to you!”

Meika-chan said, with her cheeks slightly puffy.

“Yes, since school has started. I talk to Ishida at school normally. I’ll come and visit you again when it’s summer holidays.”

I replied. I was not sure how often I would go there without a long holiday, even though it was a close friend’s house.

“Ah~, you meet my brother at school, so you don’t have to come to our house……. I see.”

Meika-chan muttered, looking a little sad. The eyes also looked downcast.

“By the way, Meika, what are you doing here today? Are you doing something?”

I asked, feeling lightly doubtful. Meika’s secondary school is on the other side of the river, which would be the opposite side of the river for her to go to school.

“Eh, oh, it’s just that I had some shopping to do at the supermarket there …….”

Meika-chan kept her eyes downcast and looked at the Yokado right next to us. (Notes: Supermarket company)

“Really? Have you already done your shopping?”

“No,…… not yet,…….”

Meika-chan, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly looked up.

“Yuu-san, do you have time now?”

“Yes, why?”

“I’m not very confident in maths and stuff. So I’m thinking of buying a reference book, but I don’t know what kind of reference book to choose. That’s why I want Yuu to help me choose one. You are good at maths, aren’t you?”

She said this quickly at once, as if she had been forced to hurry.

“Really? ‘But I’m not particularly good at it. I’m about the same as Ishida, maybe. Since you’ re siblings, shouldn’t you have Ishida help you?”

But Meika shook her head strongly from side to side.

“No, I don’t want my brother to teach me! It’s no good if it’s my elder brother!”

Is it bad to be taught to study by a brother and sister? It’s easier to ask if it’s someone close to you, isn’t it?

As an only child, I didn’t understand this feeling.

“Please! Yuu-san.”

Meika said this in a desperate manner.

“Well, it is okay. The exams are over and I’m free too.”

“Yay!”

You’re so cute, Meika, to get so happy about something like this.

“Shall we go then?”

I headed to Yokado with her.

I went to the book section and picked out some reference books.

“Hmm, which one would be perfect for me?”

Meika-chan was troubled as she picked up a lot of reference books.

“What kind of reference books are you looking for?”

“I’m also in the third year of junior high school, so I thought a reference book that would help me prepare for the examinations would be good. The results of the mock examinations the other day were not so good.”

“Can you solve basic problems?”

When I asked her that, she tilted her head slightly and laughed in a troubled manner.

“Actually, I’m not very good at quadratic functions or problems involving figures. I think I know most of them, but when it comes to tests, I don’t get any marks.”

“If that’s the case, it’s better to buy a thin problem book with basic problems rather than a thick reference book or a difficult problem book.”

I said this and picked up an affordable question book.

“First you have to be able to do the school level, and then the public high school entrance exam level. To do that, I think it’s better to just go through the thin problem books to the end, rather than dealing with thick reference books.”

As he said this, he flipped through several question books and handed Meika a book with a reasonable level of questions.

When she took it in her hand, she said

“Then I’ll take this one! Yuu-san chose it for me!”

and then she went to the cash register, clutching it to her chest.

After paying at the cash register, I left the shop with her.

Meika-chan looked at me.

“Um, Yuu-san, do you still have some more time?”

“Yeah, Since I’ve finished my exams too, I have lot of time.”

“Okay then, can you tell me a little bit about how to study or stuff like that?”

Meika-chan said shyly, covering her mouth with the bag with reference books in it.

There’ s no way I can say ‘no’ if she asks me like this.

Besides, it’s not like I have anything else to do either, so no reason to say no.

“Okay. But first, let’s get something to eat. I’m getting hungry. Where’s Meika?”

“Oh, me too, I haven’t eaten lunch yet.”

“Well, let’s go in somewhere random. The drinks on me.”

Me and Meika-chan went into a donut shop.

We bought drinks and donuts and took our seats at a table.

“Thank you. I asked you to accompany me to buy my reference book, and now you’re buying me a drink.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I’m usually not at home because my parents are at work. As such, it’s more fun to be with someone like this than to go home and eat cup noodles.”

Meika-chan looked up. She looks as if she is expecting something.

“Are you having …… fun with me?”

“It’s fun. Meika-Chan is straightforward and cute. To be honest, I envy Ishida.”

This is a true statement. Meika is a really lovely girl.

She is the image of an ‘ideal younger sister’ as generally conceived.

Of course, I don’t know what real her like. She may have a completely different attitude when she is at home or in front of Ishida, but at least in front of me she is the image of a ‘cute little sister’.

Meika-chan blushed again, held a doughnut in both hands, and began to munch on it.

It kind of reminds me of a hamster or some other small animal like that.

“…… I wish Yuu-san was my brother too.”

“Isn’t Ishida a good enough big brother too? Isn’t he nice to Meika-chan?”

Ishida is quite siscon. When he used to play with me, he would often say, “My sister is home alone today, so I feel sorry for her” and bring Meika with him. From my point of view, the Ishida siblings seemed like the ‘ideal brother and sister’.

“It’s true that my brother may be kind, –but I think Yuu-san has a gentler atmosphere, or we get along better when we talk. Besides, he’s cool and …….”

Meika-chan said that and looked me up and down.

I smiled wryly.

“Thank you. I think it would be fun if Meika was family too.”

“Fa-Family….”

Immediately, Meika’s face turned bright red.

She then turned her face down and began to eat the doughnut, as if in a panic. She drank milk tea, this time with the same vigor.

She ate the doughnut silently, then looked up with both hands and glanced at me again.

“Oh, um!”

“Yes?”

When I asked her back, her eyes rolled back in her head and she stammered.

“Yes, say, nothing. No, it’s not nothing, it’s just, –maybe next time you have time, –could you teach me how to study?”

“Yeah, sure. If you don’t understand something, just ask.”

Then she stood up abruptly.

“Thank you for today! Well, then, I look forward to working with you again!”

Meika-chan bowed her head with a panicked expression and left the shop in a hurry.

I watched her like that with a blank stare.

I was wondering if I had said something bad?