Episode 239: Special

Monday Morning

Leaving home a little earlier than usual, we were heading to the typical convenience store. It was because we had a promise to meet up differently today.

Last night, I got a message from Hanako-san saying she wanted to come along starting tomorrow. She might already be there if she’s early… with that thought in mind as I walked, I eventually saw two figures in front of the convenience store.

One was Natsumi-senpai, of course.

And next to her was the「Onee-chan」whose characteristic twin tails were swaying softly, likely to be incredibly popular among the brothers who like that kind of thing (?).

Yes, it was Hanako-san.

Noticing our arrival, she waved her hand and walked slowly toward us.

「Morning」

「Morninnng, both of you!」

Natsumi-senpai seemed to be in quite a good mood, her energy higher than usual. I think this is probably due to the fact that she and Yuji became a couple. The reality might finally be sinking in.

「Morning~」

「Good morning. Natsumi seems to be in a remarkably good mood this morning.」

「I, I don’t think that’s the case… I’m just as usual.」

Receiving the point from Sara-san, Natsumi-senpai replied with a bit of fluster. No matter how you look at it, that energy isn’t normal; does she not notice it herself?

「I don’t know what you’re hiding… but you aren’t planning to hide it, are you?」

Hanako-san, who didn’t know the circumstances, seemed to think the same as me. She was looking at Natsumi-senpai with a slightly deadpan expression.

「Ahaha… w-well, a little bit. I thought I should report it, so I’ll talk during lunch break.」

Looking at her now, even if she tried to keep quiet, everyone would surely grill her for the reason. Natsumi-senpai is weak to being teased, so the report would probably only be a matter of sooner or later. Besides, even if she talks during lunch, she’ll probably end up reporting to everyone via Group RAIN or something anyway.

「……I see. I can more or less imagine. Did Tachibana-kun confess to you?」

「Wha!?」

Hanako-san is sharp as always. Well, with her unusual behavior plus a「report」coming up, that alone is enough to imagine it to some extent. Sara-san and I just had our「report meeting」the other day, so that might have sparked the association.

「I see. I thought it would take a bit more time, so that’s a little unexpected. But, congrats.」

「Ahaha… thanks. You really figured it out?」

「Of course. Well, I’ll wait until lunch break for the details.」

Watching Hanako-san smile happily as she said that, it was Natsumi-senpai’s turn to be curious. After watching her for a while, she seemed to notice something and gave a meaningful smirk.

「Hmm… something happened on Hanako-san’s end too, didn’t it?」

Hanako-san, whose basic style had been「blunt」until now, rarely ever smiled in daily conversation like this. So it wasn’t that hard for someone who normally interacts with her to notice that something about Hanako-san had changed.

「I have nothing in particular to hide. Kazunari just became my younger brother. So I’m happy.」

Sending a glance my way, Hanako-san was smiling joyfully. For me, I’m genuinely happy that my best friend is showing change in a good way. However, her tendency to be short on words hasn’t changed at all, so if I’m not careful, the meaning might not get across and leave room for a weird misunderstanding. It might be feeling exactly like that right now…

「Hah? W-What’s that… younger brother?」

「Yes. I’ll talk at lunch too since I’m at it. I thought it would be better to report that I became Kazunari’s Onee-chan, and I don’t want to cause trouble for his wife by being misunderstood.」

Hanako-san explaining it herself is something I’m obviously grateful for. If she’s going to act as a sister from now on, there’s a high chance it’ll lead to unnecessary misunderstandings unless she talks to everyone properly. And since that would ultimately lead to bothering Sara-san, it seems Hanako-san thought it through that far.

「I see. It sounds complicated, so you’ll have to explain it well. But leaving the ‘Onee-chan’ title aside, won’t Sara get mad if you call Takanashi-kun without an honorific? Hey Sara?」

「…Well, to be honest, I don’t exactly have zero thoughts on the matter. However, I have already been granted a special way to call him.」

This is undoubtedly referring to the「Dear」calling, but as long as Sara-san is happy with it, I obviously have no problem. I’m still not used to being called that in front of people, and to be honest, it’s way too embarrassing. To add to that, if I give the wrong reply, a reward in the form of a punishment awaits.

「Heh… what’s th… oh, I see. That was the reason for what happened at the cafe yesterday.」

Natsumi-senpai probably remembered the cafe yesterday. Since Sara-san called me「Dear」in front of those two, it was only natural to notice. Maybe because they had their own situation going on, they didn’t press too deeply into it then.

「Fufu…」

「Kuh… that composure is bothering me.」

Since Sara-san was conspicuously showing off her composure, Hanako-san seemed to be getting even more curious about it. It almost looks like they’re in a match or something.

「Heh… Takanashi-kun is lucky, isn’t he?」

「Y-Yeah.」

On the other hand, I was being subjected to Natsumi-senpai’s judging gaze attack. For now, I’ll just ride it out with a forced smile and hope everyone is satisfied with Hanako-san’s talk during lunch. If Hanako-san’s lack of words seems dangerous, I’ll probably have to follow up myself at worst.

「Morning」

「Morning Takanashi-kun」

「Yo.」

Entering the classroom and exchanging light morning greetings as I head to my seat, my classmates’ typical gazes suddenly started gathering behind me.

Behind me was… Hanako-san, of course.

Now that I think about it, until now Hanako-san had always come to school alone before me. Entering the classroom together naturally makes it obvious what it means, and that seemed to draw interest.

Once we got to our seats, we were immediately surrounded by the usual group of girls.

「Hanasaki-san, you came with Takanashi-kun today!」

「Hehehe, close as ever, I see.」

「If anything, you’re so close there’s no room for anyone else to get in.」

I have no intention of denying that we’re close, but the way they said it was a bit nasty or something…

I thought Yamakawa and the others had cleared up the misunderstanding the other day, so I assumed they were satisfied with that.

「It’s only natural for an Onee-chan and her younger brother to be close.」

「「「 Eh?? 」」」

Apparently Hanako-san intended to act as a sister with total confidence even in the classroom.

Since Sara-san is here, I don’t care what my classmates think of me, but I should probably tell her later to give me a break on the「Onee-chan」calling…

「Eh… Onee-chan?」

「W-What does that mean?」

「Exactly what it sounds like. Because I’m his Onee-chan.」

「Um?」

She’s as short on words as ever, so I might need to explain this a bit more clearly. I was about to join the talk with that thought, but one of them seemed to notice something and made a gesture of whispering to the others.

「…Look, in other words, they’re using that kind of setting to… flirt…」

「Ah!! That’s what it is!」

「I see, so it’s that kind of vibe.」

They seemed satisfied even without my explanation. They accepted it a lot easier than I expected; are girls just highly adaptable to these things?

「I get it. So Hanasaki-san is in the Onee-chan setting, right?」

「Mmh… it’s not a setting, I am his Onee-chan.」

Hanako-san didn’t like the way she put it and frowned as she argued back.

But the fact that the word「setting」came up means they properly understood through Hanako-san’s explanation after all.

「Ahaha, sorry.」

「Yeah, I get it now.」

「Takanashi-kun is lucky to have such a good Onee-chan, isn’t he?」

「Eh? Y-Yeah.」

I was a bit flustered by being suddenly targeted, but Hanako-san smiled happily at my reply. If she can show expressions like this more often, the day she can overcome herself might not be that far off.

「…An Onee-chan with that appearance… that’s too much of a reward.」

「…Kuh… I’m not supposed to have a thing for being babied…」

「…I’d rather be babied by Hanasaki-san.」

「…Wait, you, how old are you!?」

And the guys staring intently at Hanako-san also seemed to be giving off a different atmosphere than usual in a different sense…

Lunch Break

We were having idle talk while eating our bentos, but the center of the topic eventually shifted to Natsumi-senpai and Hanako-san.

Since it was about time, Natsumi-senpai first reported that she had started dating Yuji.

「Ehehe, I’ve been curious about Yuzuki-senpai and Tachibana-kun for a long time, so I was worried. I’m so glad!!」

「T-Thanks. …By the way, were we really that easy to figure out?」

Apparently Natsumi-senpai didn’t realize it herself.

Sara-san and I had noticed a long time ago, but even without that, I think it was easy to see. She was unusually favorable toward Yuji, and it was plain as day that Natsumi-senpai was taking the lead to interact with him. Plus, I felt like Yuji himself was happy to be interacted with.

「Tachibana-kun aside, I think Yuzuki-senpai was easy to read!」

「Ugh…」

「I noticed immediately that Natsumi-senpai took a liking to Yuji.」

「Gugh…」

「The only one who didn’t think they’d been noticed was the person herself.」

「Gack…」

「By the way, Kazunari-san and I knew from a long time ago, and Eri, of course, and Tachikawa-san must have noticed too.」

「E-Everyone noticed!? I-I’m so……」

She really thought she hadn’t been noticed. Being pointed out by everyone one after another, Natsumi-senpai seemed to have finally been sunk, as she hung her head in total defeat.

「Well then, before time runs out, I’ll report too.」

Ignoring the completely demoralized Natsumi-senpai, Hanako-san volunteered for her turn. Since the class had already understood the story well, it shouldn’t be a problem for everyone here.

「I became Kazunari’s Onee-chan. The end.」

「Hey!!」

「Joke.」

I couldn’t help but give a loud retort to Hanako-san’s gag, not knowing if she was serious or just an airhead. Hanako-san herself seemed to find it funny, as she was giggling… who do you think is responsible for this?

But everyone seemed more interested in Hanako-san’s state than my pathetic retort.

「Sorry, I’ll talk properly.」

Her laughter settled down, and this time Hanako-san actually started her talk. That said, it was basically just reporting exactly what happened on Saturday.

The story started with her having a real younger brother, how she began imagining an ideal brother, how she overlapped that image onto me… and finally that we became stepsiblings.

To put it nicely, Hanako-san isn’t the best at explaining things. Still, I could tell by listening that she was trying her absolute best, and everyone else knew that too, so they listened in silence.

「I see… so that was the reason. To be honest, I thought Hanako-san liked Kazunari and just hadn’t realized it herself.」

「Yeah, I thought maybe Hanako-san might like Takanashi-kun too.」

Honestly, I thought Hanako-san was being friendly as a best friend. It seems everyone had a different view, though…

「I am his Onee-chan, so tell those kinds of stories to his wife.」

「I see, I get it.」

「Yeah, anyone can see Hanako-san is happy just by looking.」

「Right. Well, as long as they’re both satisfied, it’s not our place to meddle.」

Everyone seemed to have accepted it successfully.

The members not here will surely be fine too, and after that I just hope the promise to not bother Sara-san is the top priority.

「I’ve talked properly with Kazunari-san, so it’s fine.」

「I’ve also told her that I won’t be doing anything in particular.」

「I’m just happy she acknowledged me. After that, I’ll have nothing to say as long as Kazunari calls me Onee-chan.」

It might seem easy, but that’s actually quite a high hurdle. The reason is simple: it’s incredibly embarrassing.

That said, it’s a fact that I promised, so I’m thinking of calling her that on special occasions. Like a birthday or something…

「Hmm… is Satsukawa-senpai really okay with this?」

Todo-san’s worry was honestly something I’d thought of too. Sara-san says she’s okay, but to be honest, I don’t know if she’s completely satisfied in her heart of hearts. But if I know Sara-san will be happy by having something special that goes beyond an「Onee-chan」, then maybe I should at least say it myself.

「Sa, Sara, if you hate the idea even a little bit, I want you to tell me properly.」

「!?」

She probably didn’t think I’d say it. Sara-san looked very surprised, but eventually a very happy smile spread across her face.

However… even though it was just saying a single word, it required far more courage than I imagined and I was honestly at my limit.

「Yes. Understood… Dear ♪」

「…Wh-What was that exchange just now…」

「…Just like a married couple… Satsukawa-senpai looks so happy.」

「N-No fair. If that’s okay, I want to be called Onee-chan too.」

「Fufu… I am special, after all.」

The effort paid off, and it seemed Sara-san was successfully pleased.

It goes without saying that Sara-san is my only「special」person, but I’ll keep trying my best to make sure Sara-san herself can feel that reality, rather than just me thinking it.