CH 66

Chapter 8 – Mother’s homecoming (6)

Translator – Vodka

Going out of the station. So, am posting this chapter a little early. Will proofread on return.

What were those pupils looking at?

What was she thinking of with that brain of hers, that excelled at everything?

I quietly observed the human being called Kirasaka Ren.

I was good at observing people.

It wasn’t an overstatement to say that it was the signature move of every lone wolf type of young man.

Unlike the other students in the class, they didn’t make a racket inside the classroom……no, it was exactly because they couldn’t join in on the fun with everyone, that they would minutely observe everything that was happening around them, and make sure that no information affecting them was in circulation or that nobody was talking ill of them behind his back.

I wasn’t any different. I was such a person myself.

Even in the classroom, there were times I would kill time by looking at my classmates who made a racket every day, as I guessed what they were thinking about when they were talking.

Sometimes, I would come across students who would notice that I was looking at them, and they would go, “He is looking over here. It’s gross, isn’t it?”. I would guess that my skills were lacking.

You shouldn’t be facing the target of observation completely. It should be in such a manner that you wouldn’t get noticed.

It was important to have the skill to observe people through the most natural of gestures.

Over long years of having observed people, my observational prowess should have advanced to a high level. However, even then, I couldn’t comprehend what Kirasaka Ren was feeling.

……What is with the line just now? It was so embarrassingly cool……

Anyways, normally, I couldn’t help but feel that there was another side to her words and actions.

Shizuku and Kaede had exceptional brains. However, they were the kind people who would often wear their feelings on their faces. If Kirasaka was like them, then I could more or less, get an idea of what this was about, but……

Kirasaka noticed that the person sitting next to her was staring at her. Suddenly, there was a change in her expression. She wore her usual smile, wrapped in mystery.

“Is there something you want to ask me about?”

“Not really……”

“My relationship with my parents is good. If there’s a problem, that would be our level of communication wasn’t at the level of Shinra-kun’s family”

“What happens to all those profound words then?……”

I felt like I incurred a loss by paying attention.

From the current flow of events, ordinarily, one would end up having many negative thoughts; stuff like how she might have a bad relationship with her family and whatnot. Not only me, pretty much anyone would have had such a thought.

“My parents don’t express their feelings as abundantly as your mother or Kaede-chan “

Said Kirasaka. The air about her seemed to imply that she didn’t particularly care about it.

The four of us silently listened to those words of hers.

“My mother has a bit of a reserved personality, and my father is a man of few words……although, I have seen him grinningly looking at my photo on holidays when he is alone”

As if saying, “Since I am a beauty……she appended a few unnecessary words there.

At this point, there wasn’t even a need to say that she was a beauty.

It would seem that fathers in every household, fawned over their daughters.

It was the same in the Shinra household. My dad was sweet to Kaede, extremely even.

It was milk chocolate level of sweetness.

Even the amounts of our pocket money were different. Kaede received almost twice the sum I received. The scale of our birthday celebrations was also different.

However, since mom would pamper me, I would persuade myself that we were even.

Although, we weren’t even at all.

Be that as it may, the expression Kirasaka would wear when she wasn’t in school, wasn’t anything short of precious.

I could always feel her presence next to me, but we had gotten acquainted with each other only recently.

Well, it would be more appropriate to say that I was being followed around.

However, compared to the amount of time we have spent together, the amount of information that I had on her was too small.

It wasn’t only the matter of having heard anything about her household for the first time today. I didn’t know where she lived, what her hobby was, the name of her favourite food, or how she spent her holidays.

There were too many things that I didn’t know, or perhaps I should say, I didn’t know anything.

I had only seen her at school.

I couldn’t say that she was a friend, and it was also hard to say that we were acquaintances, because she hasn’t divulged enough information for me to consider us as acquaintances.

As opposed to that, she had an acquired an abnormal amount of information on me.

When I pondered the question of how she acquired all that information, I couldn’t help but put myself a little bit on guard.

For such a mysterious woman to be talking about her family, her relationship with her family must be quite different from mine.

Towards Kirasaka being like that, my mom called out to her in a warm voice.

“If you ever feel lonely, it’s ok to come over, you know? You are always welcome here. I heard from Kaede-chan that recently, Shizuku-chan too had often been coming over to have fun!”

“……Thank you. Kanzaki-san had recently, often been coming over to have fun, huh?”

“Don’t say it in an implicative manner”

I cut in. Then, I directed a sharp gaze at Shizuku.

She quickly looked away from me.

“As expected, kids too would like their parents to express their feelings”

Said mom, happily, as she increased the strength in her hands embracing me.

It’s painful, mommy.

“Shall we continue this conversation over dinner? I haven’t had Kaede-chan’s cooking in a long time. The two of you, please join us at dinner”

The hands that were wrapped around my neck had suddenly been retracted. She took Shizuku and Kirasaka by their hands and headed towards the kitchen.

Shizuku replied energetically with a yes. Kirasaka gave her a little nod; she didn’t offer any resistance and let mom drag her away.

“You guys are gonna be here today too, huh……”

“Isn’t that alright, Nii-san? Well then, please wash your hands and come!”

Kaede walked with light steps. She pushed my back with hands imbued with strength and proceeded towards the washroom.

You……really are my sister, right?

My sister is so level-headed that Onii-chan here is sad even.

The bustling Shinra house didn’t give me a bad feeling, but the fact that I had still let out a sigh in this situation made me secretly feel a little disgusted with myself……

[TN – I guess he is attacking at his own sarcasm]