CH 275

“Uenohara High School Acceptance Announcement”

Yuzuki and Azusa seemed to be nervous when they saw the letters posted at the intended location.

“I wonder if it will be alright? Onii-chan, I’m too scared to look.”

“Ah, umm, I can’t do it either…”

The successful applicants have already been announced.

As far as I could see, there were basically no students with gloomy faces, and most of the people were smiling happily.

Probably, those who were not accepted went home early.

A calm mind would normally think so, but Azusa and Yuzuki didn’t seem to be able to keep a normal mind and were thinking such negative things.

“Everyone seems to have passed… which means we are the first rejects?”

“No, no. It’s Azusa… Azusa is the first one to be rejected.”

There are only people who have passed the test, so there is a good chance that I will be rejected – she seemed to think so.

“Well, yeah. Shall we take a look now?”

As for me, I’m ready to see who passed.

But the reason I’ve been stomping around in the distance for a while now is because the two of them wouldn’t make a move.

“Could you give me a little more time? I’m not ready to fail yet.”

“… Kotaro-san is very calm. Are you that confident?”

I’m not that confident.

To begin with, Yuzuki had much better grades then and now.

But I was able to stay calm, probably because I wasn’t obsessed with passing or failing.

“My confidence is normal… Well, if I pass or fail, it’s not like I’m going to die. I think I can manage.”

–I guess this kind of thing was not sympathetic to both of them.

Now that I think about it, I understand.

Come to think of it, Azusa and Yuzuki were puzzled by my words at that time.

“… I don’t really understand you, Onii-chan.”

“Rather than being optimistic, I’d say you’re apathetic,… I’ve known you for a long time, but sometimes I don’t understand you, Kotaro-san.”

The two of them then smiled in an attempt to mend the situation.

It might be normal for a normal student to get nervous at the announcement of his or her acceptance.

But I was the same as usual, nonchalant,… and I now reflect on the fact that I was not human in that way.

“I’m going to be sad if I can’t go to the same high school as Azusa, so I hope we’re both accepted together.”

“I wish you could be my childhood friend, Yuzuki, in high school too.”

If I had been able to properly express my wishes in words like that, perhaps our relationships would not be what they are today.

In short, I was unusually short of words at that time.

“Um, I’m sorry for being so difficult to understand.”

At that time, too, I immediately apologized and ended the conversation.

I should have insisted more and explained my feelings to them… but this kind of thing was inorganic and not good.

“Well, I’m not angry, so it’s fine, right?”

“Me too, I didn’t want to make you feel sorry…”

Thanks to that, there was a delicate atmosphere.

Azusa and Yuzuki were puzzled, and I, smiling vaguely, didn’t try to do anything.

But then, at such an opportune moment, she showed up.

“Yo-ho. Ko-kun and others, have you seen the acceptance announcement yet?”

It was Kirari, who at the time still had dark hair and wore glasses, who called out to us.

She had taken the entrance exam for the same high school and came a little later than us.

“Huh? Azu-chan and Yuzu-chan are so nervous that they’re making strange faces, are you okay?”

Kirari, who was less gyaru-like than she is now, was also witty and got along well with Azusa and Yuzuki. Kirari was not the type to make many friends, but she often talked with them through me.

“Huh? You’re still too scared to look at the acceptance announcement? Well, I’ll go first~.”

Kirari plunged into the crowd with light steps.

At that time, she was still smiling, but when she came back a few tens of seconds after …, Kirari had a very pale face.