Volume 1 - CH 4.1

Shimizu Sisters’ Love Talk 1

“I heard about that, Kei! “

On the night of the day I handed over the Bentō, Ai suddenly intruded into my room as I pondered over Hondō’s words.

“Who told you what? Besides, I always told you not to enter my room without permission.”

“That’s not important. Because Kei and I have a special relationship.”

“Don’t you know the saying ‘There are manners even among close friends’? (親しき仲にも礼儀あ)り”

“Huh, Kei, you think of me as a close friend! I’m so happy! “

“Shut up. So, what did you hear?”

Since I couldn’t see any way for Ai to quiet down if we continued arguing like this, I decided to listen to what she had to say for now.

“Ah, right! Kei, I heard that you handed over the bento!! “

“…Who did you hear that from?”

My classmates must be the only ones who know about it.

“It’s a secret. But my collaborator is also in Kei’s class. That’s all. “

Ai answers with a proud expression, puffing out her unnecessarily large chest. I’ve known for a while that Ai has a wide circle of friends, but I didn’t know she also knew someone in my class.

“Well, that doesn’t matter now. All I care about is that Kei has found someone she’s interested in! “

“What are you talking about?

“Don’t play dumb. The story’s already exposed, you know. “

Ai is grinning at me with her arms folded. If I didn’t have the restraint of reason, I would have given her a good chop.

“What’s the big deal? Handing over the bento was just a gesture of gratitude.”

“Hmm. I didn’t know you were going to say it like that.”

Ai kept her arms folded and swayed her upper body from side to side.

“Are you saying I’m lying?”

“No, I wouldn’t go that far. I’m just wondering, what kind of gratitude was it?”

“What do you mean, it was for the cooking class…”

“Right! That’s it! “

Ai unfolded her arms and pointed straight at me.

“Kei Shimizu-san, I heard about you. I heard that you attended the last cooking class without skipping it.”

“S-so what? It’s not like attending classes is not allowed.”

It’s allowed, or rather, it is natural to attend the class.

“Of course. But why did you suddenly attend the cooking class? I was very curious. So I asked for more details about it and found something surprising.”

“W-what did you find out? “

I was so upset that it was reflected in my voice.

“Kei-san, I heard you were cooking with a certain boy!”

“That’s because we were assigned together…”

“That’s not all. An eyewitness testimony tells that the boy took your hand and guided you when you used a knife! “

“Ugh…”

( TN: ‘-san’ suffix is not a mistake, she used it sometimes.)

Was someone watching us at that time? To be honest, I was so absorbed in the task that I didn’t have time to care about what other people were looking at.

“You, who usually don’t easily let others into your heart, to allow him to do that… He must be a special person to you, isn’t he? Am I wrong?”

” That’s… “

It’s easy to say no, but my sister (Ane) will unlikely be satisfied with that answer.

“Furthermore, the person you handed the homemade bentō to seems to be him as well, and perhaps he is also the reason why you suddenly dyed your hair black? “

“Muu…”

Why is it that my sister, who usually whines about how difficult it is to study, is so sharp at times like this?

“I take it that not denying is an affirmation? “

” …right. “

“Huh? Can you say that again? “

“That’s right! You got a problem with that?! “

Realizing there was no way out, I gave up making excuses and decided to admit it.

“You finally admitted it. I’m so touched that Kei has found someone she likes. I’m about to cry.”

“You’re lying.”

“Hehehe”

“Don’t cover it up with laughing.”

My sister has a bad habit of laughing while trying to find a way to fix the situation when she’s in trouble.

“Sorry, sorry. So what he’s like? “

“You should know a little bit about him too, don’t you? “

If there’s her collaborator in our class, Ai must know a little about Hondō.

“The information from others and the person themselves can be quite different. I want to hear directly from you.”

“I’m not going to answer that question.”

“Eh~ why not? Even though I’m your older sister? I also have a lot of life experience, you know? I can help you with your love life, okay?”

“You’re only one year older than me when it comes to life experience. And as far as romantic experience goes, you don’t have any either.”

Ai is popular with both men and women because of her cheerful personality and, though I am reluctant to admit it, her good looks. However, Ai has rejected every confession she’s received so far and has never been in a relationship with anyone.

“It’s because… How can I say it…I didn’t feel any sense of destiny. “

Suddenly, Ai’s tone becomes weak. The reason for this is obvious.

“It’s because you love Yosuke, isn’t it?”

“W-what are you talking about, Kei?! Talking nonsense all of a sudden, you’re really a troublesome little sister! “

Ai’s voice is clearly unsettled.

Yosuke is Ai’s childhood friend and the person she has feelings for.

From childhood to now, I have seen the gradual change in the expression Ai when she was with Yosuke, and I wondered if that’s how people fall in love.

“It’s not about Yosuke and me now! Tell me more about Kei’s darling (ダーリン)! “

“Don’t call him my darling, and I’m not going to say anything more.”

“Fufufu, is it okay for you to say something like that?”

“What’s that?”

This is the face she makes when she’s holding my weakness. However, I have no idea what that weakness is.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that I’ve spent the whole week helping you make bentō early in the morning and eating your failed attempts with you, right?”

“Ah.”

That’s right. For the past week until today, Ai has been helping me make bentō every morning with devotion. Even after the cooking was over, she supported me by eating my failed attempts at making bentō for breakfast. As a result, Ai’s eyes have been losing vitality day by day.

“That face, you completely forgot about it, didn’t you? But even if Kei forgets it, I’ll never forget it forever, okay? “

“What do you want me to say then?”

Think about it. For a week-long period, I was helping Kei to consume some questionable dark matter that could barely be called dishes. Am I not being incredibly virtuous? Don’t you think I’m allowed to get something good with this? “

It’s a terrible thing to say for my sister, but there’s some room to consider whether the side dishes I’ve been making for bento are not worthy of being eaten.

“But he was happy to eat them… “

“What did you say…?”

Ai made an expression as if she can’t believe it.

“He’s willing to eat it? Isn’t this some kind of hallucination that Kei had because she couldn’t accept reality? Or is it possible that the boy is not human? “

“I might get angry for real.”

What kind of sister is she to treat him as if he’s some non-human creature just because he was happy to eat the bento I made?