Source
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5612jg/11/
Hananoi took 8th place in the test.
This is an unthinkable accomplishment from her junior high school days.
In junior high school, she was neither particularly low nor high.
Her ranking was between average.
For her to get a top 10 ranking on her first high school test, she must have either made a tremendous effort or cheated.
Let’s hope it was not the latter.
When Makoto saw such a ranking, he ran off somewhere determined [I’m gonna question her about what she did.]
Rikuto left the place saying that he was gonna ask his other friends about the rankings, so I left in front of the ranking table and came to the cafeteria alone.
I thought about going, but I was bored with the same thing all the time, so I decided to change things up.
“It’s a shame. Mitsui kun.”
As I was choosing my onigiri at the onigiri corner, Fuyusaki came up to me and said that.
“It sounds like sarcasm coming from the number one.”
“Don’t worry. I meant it as sarcasm.”
She smiled kindly like a holy mother and said terrible things.
“I see. But it’s tough to be No. 1, isn’t it? It must be annoying to be surrounded like that, right?”
“Well, yes, but I’m used to it.”
As she said at a family restaurant, I wonder what kind of life it would be like to get used to being stared at so much.
Fuyusaki certainly has a well-groomed appearance, but I wonder if she’s enough to steal everyone’s attention.
“Ah, um, Mitsui kun? What is it?”
I found myself staring closely at Fuyusaki’s face.
“Oh, my bad.”
“N-no. I don’t mind.”
Fuyusaki’s face was red and she seemed to be embarrassed.
There is definitely something that attracts me when I look at her figure….
“I knew it was a little off.”
Is it because I know her past?
I can’t look at her that way.
“….What do you mean?”
Fuyusaki reacts angrily to what I just said.
“Eh? Nothing, it’s not a big deal.”
Feeling an indescribable pressure, I averted my eyes to the onigiri.
“Why are you looking away?”
Naturally, Fuyusaki didn’t let it slide.
I’m not sure why.
It shouldn’t be a problem if I tell her, but it’s hard to say.
“Oops, it’s already this late. I need to eat quickly. See you, Fuyusaki.”
“Ah ! We haven’t finished—-“
I bought two onigiri and left.
“Fuyusaki has changed, hasn’t she?”
After school, on my way home from taking the papers to the teacher’s office, I was thinking about Fuyusaki.
I thought about it before, but I feel like she is easier to talk to than she used to be.
She never used to smile so softly…
“Hm? That’s…”
In front of the hallway where the rankings were posted, a familiar gal with short blond hair was standing.
That gal, Hananoi, noticed my gaze and our eyes met.
I could have ignored her, but somehow I decided to talk to her.
I walked up next to Hananoi, looked at the ranking list, and said.
“Congratulations on your 8th place.”
“It sounds sarcastic coming from the 2nd place.”
“Don’t worry. I meant it as sarcasm.”
The conversation is almost the same as the one I just had with Fuyusaki.
“Huh? I’m gonna hit you.”
Apparently, Hananoi does not get this joke.
“I’m just kidding… Did you study?”
“Well. More than I did in junior high.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
In junior high school, she didn’t even study at home.
The fact that she was accepted to Koshin means that hse must have studied for the exam, but I know that Hananoi is not the type of person who would continue to do so.
“….I know you’re working hard to get out of the house early, aren’t you?”
I wondered what she was gonna say, but she was talking about me.
“Makoto was talking about it today, and he was kinda creepy about it.”
Come to think of it, that’s what I said.
I’m not hiding the fact that I wanna move out of the house, so I don’t mind if they know.
Hananoi, who lived in that house in the first place, would have guessed it.
“Makoto is right. I wanna leave. I wanna get away from that family.”
I said “family,” but I don’t really mean it.
Ayaka and her mother were strangers until just a year ago.
I don’t consider them family, and I don’t consider that bastard to be my dad.
“….I just thought so, too.”
Hananoi had eyes that looked somewhat far away.
I understand how Hananoi feels.
Living with that mother is worse than hell.
“Is it still going on?”
“Well, kinda. Yesterday, too, there was a stranger in the house.”
She sounded somewhat resigned.
I could understand that.
If I were in the same position, I would probably wanna leave the house.
I somehow patted Hananoi’s head.
Not gently, but rather crassly.
“Hey, what? You’re annoying.”
“Well, to hell with it. If you need anything, let me know. I’ll at least give you some advice.”
“What? So sudden.”
“I’m the only one who understands your situation.”
“……Don’t act like a big brother all of a sudden.”
I stroked Hananoi’s head for a while.
Come to think of it, this may have been the first time I talked to Hananoi without fighting.
I thought Fuyusaki and Ayaka had changed, but maybe she had changed too.
The next day, the day of greeting duty for the public morals committee, everyone was buzzing with surprise and confusion.
I went to the school gate five minutes before the meeting time and found Hananoi there.
The teacher was happy to see Hananoi, who had been constantly skipping her duties as a committee member, come to the school.
“What is it? Can you stop staring at me?”
Hananoi spoke to me while glaring at me, my understanding still not catching up.
“What happened to you?”
“Nothing.”
Hananoi turned away from me after saying that.
(….I don’t know what it is about girls, or rather, step-sisters.)
I was puzzled by the recent changes in my three step-sisters.
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