CH 23

Boasting to my sister

Translated by HamletJr

Edited by Spynine01

I helped Hasumi carry the books, but I wasn’t required to process them, so I arrived home earlier than expected, since I’d feel bad if I asked her to open up the store just for me.

Besides, I’m sure Hasumi, whose eyes were sparkling so brightly, would want some alone time as fast as possible to read and look over Horiuchi-sensei’s signed illustration and letter over and over again.

Now that I think about it, Horiuchi-sensei’s parcel didn’t have a stamp on it…

Perhaps he put the parcel in the mailbox himself?

He must be a wealthy man right now, so maybe he bought a house nearby and moved in…? Nah, that’s unlikely.

With these thoughts in mind, I opened the door to my house.

“I’m home~!”

*rumble rumble rumble*

As soon as I shouted this, I heard a pair of loud footsteps coming from the 2nd floor.

My sister who always comes to curtly greet me doesn’t seem to be coming downstairs.

It’s not like… she’s finally gotten fed up with me, okay? Trust me.

This situation usually means that Akane is just absorbed in her manga in my room upstairs.

Well, in terms of priorities, I guess it’d be natural for her to think, ‘manga > greeting me,’ huh.

Doing my best to suppress my sadness, I went upstairs to my room and, using the legitimate pretext of “putting my bag down in my room”, I opened the door to see my beloved sister.

“Hey, Akane~! Your beloved Onii-chan is here~!”

“―O-O-Onii-chan, welcome home! A-Aren’t you home early?!”

Sure enough, Akane was lying on the bed in my room, reading a manga.

“Oh, right. I did say that I’d be dropping by a bookstore on the way home, huh… Well, unfortunately the store was closed.”

“I-I see! I was just really surprised since you came back so suddenly! Ahaha!”

These kinds of situations would also always involve an out-of-breath and flustered Akane.

Is my sudden return that surprising?

Does me being here cause her discomfort?

Also, my futon seems to be a bit messy…

“Akane. I’m fine with you using my futon, but don’t dirty it, okay~?”

There might come a day where she starts eating potato chips and other snacks on my futon, so I lightly warned her.

This is also for my own sake, since even if she actually started littering candy wrappers and the like on my bed, I would probably forgive her, since she’s my beloved sister.

But that would teach her bad manners, so I have to harden my heart here and reprimand her…

“―Wha?! N-No way! I… dirtied Onii-chan’s futon…? I-It’s all been exposed―”

Hearing my words, Akane’s face turned completely pale.

Look what you’ve done, I clutched my head and lamented.

Although the turn of events make Akane look bad, she actually has a very strong sense of responsibility.

She may not be good at talking to me, but she’s usually well-behaved and intelligent, and she’s been nominated for student council president many times since middle school; truly a sister I can be proud of.

I hurriedly tried to clear up Akane’s misunderstanding.

“N-No! Don’t worry, you didn’t dirty anything! I only wanted to say that if you want to eat candies or cup ramen on my futon, then please be careful! That’s really it―!”

“Huh? A-Ah! Right, candies and sweets! I’d never eat c-cup ramen or anything like that, you know!”

Akane seemed to be a bit angry as she raised her voice.

She then put her hand on her chest and let out a big sigh for some reason.

―Look, you’ve done it again.

Obviously she was dismayed because of the stupid things I said to her.

I have to show her my dignity as her older brother here.

I raised my right arm and gave Akane the best smug expression I could make.

“Listen, dear sister! …I and Asamiya-san―that is, Shiorin, shook hands!”

“…Hmm~.”

But my bragging seemed to have elicited an empty response.

No, no, no, no. That can’t be right.

She must actually be jealous on the inside, yet she’s forcing herself to look tough.

I repeated my words once more for her to hear.

“It’s the Shiori, the center of Synchronicity! Isn’t it amazing? I shook hands with a real idol!”

“―Well, this coming from a person who regularly fills up the seats in the Tokyo Stadium and Budokan… I think she’s impressive, but she doesn’t seem as impressive compared to you…”

My sister was obstinate as she stubbornly refused to admit her greatness.

It was cute seeing her so irritated, but I didn’t want to lose to her at all, so I continued to brag about Shiorin.

“Shiorin’s hands were so soft, and I could even smell a gentle fragrance coming from her! Idols really cheer up other people in ways that a gloomy person like me could never even hope to achieve~!”

Having been forced to hear my unpleasant bragging for quite some time, Akane finally snapped as she started pouting.

Of course she would. Akane must’ve loved Shiorin just like I did.

In fact, Akane has always liked the things that I liked, seemingly trying to imitate me due to a sense of rivalry.

When I started running, Akane started running with me every day as well, despite hating exercise more than anything.

Thanks to this, Akane has become truly perfect in both school and sports.

“Hmm~. So you liked touching Shiorin’s hands that much, huh?”

Akane was clearly irritated by my annoying bragging, and she raised her voice loudly to express as such.

I was so amused by Akane’s behavior that I couldn’t help but follow up with my own jab.

“Yeah! You must be jealous now, eh? I’ve always been too busy to participate in handshake events even though I had the tickets for them, but to my surprise, I didn’t even have to use one today―”

“―Got you!”

Akane suddenly grabbed my right hand with both of hers and gave me a look of pride.

“Now your handshake with Shiorin has been overwritten by my hand~. Too bad for you, Onii-chan!”

Akane mockingly laughed at me.

―But, too bad that doesn’t work on me.

“Heh, you’re too naive, Akane! Shaking hands with you actually makes me happier than shaking hands with Shiorin! So instead of making me dejected, you’ve actually made me happy instead!”

“H-Huhhh~?!”

My offputting siscon remark made Akane’s face turn red in anger.

I knew that this would happen, but I couldn’t exactly lie to my own heart.

Akane stood up from my bed, her body trembling all the while as she opened the door.

“Onii-chan, you’ll have to cook in lieu of me tonight. I’d definitely mess the whole thing up otherwise.”

“S-Sure… Where are you going?”

“Just gonna run a lap around the neighborhood for a bit. I’m burning up right now so I can’t help it.”

“D-Don’t forget to come home before it gets too dark. A-Also, I’m sorry for saying such strange things…”

I never thought my words would’ve made her this angry.

She’s so angry to the point where it’d be “dangerous for her to hold a knife”, so I guess she’s venting her rage by running.

I desperately apologized for dear life, literally, to avoid getting stabbed by her.

“―A-Also! Don’t forget to wash your hands thoroughly! There’s a virus spreading and all that!”

I just remembered about the virus, so I reminded her appropriately as she left the house.

I’ve pissed her off so much today…

After putting my bag in my room, I went downstairs and headed for the sink.

“Washing my hands is such a pain…” I muttered.

Author’s note:

The [corona]virus is now spreading, so everyone, let’s all be careful and wash our hands routinely to prevent infection.

Pre-orders for the book are now open!

Akane is really cute, so please go ahead and place an order!