“Ah, I see. The time has finally come, huh, Maki-kun? Good luck.”
Amami-san said so after hearing about our plans for next Friday.
Normally, she would react like this.
‘Woah, that sounds fun! I wanna go with you two!’
But this time, there was no sign of excitement in her voice. It was really unusual for her, the girl who clung to Umi whenever she could, to act like this.
This made me grow incredibly worried.
“All right, Maki, let’s practice dogeza properly. If your dogeza form is perfect, I’m sure even her dad would be hesitant to chop your head off.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong though… Should I practice how to rub my head on the floor properly too?”
“Ah, good idea! That's a good way to show your sincerity.”
“Oi, you two idiots! Come here quickly!”My dogeza training with Nozomu was interrupted by Umi, who was staring at us with disdain.
“We’re just going to have dinner at my home! Nothing bad will happen! My dad isn’t scary, he won’t yell at you or anything! He doesn’t even talk much at home, right, Yuu?”
“Yeah, Daichi-san isn’t scary.”
“See? The one Yuu’s afraid of is my brother, Riku.”
“Riku? Your brother? Umi, you have a brother?”
“Don’t just erase him from your memory like that!”
It seemed like Amami-san couldn’t handle Riku-san quite well.
But anyway, since Daichi-san wanted to meet me, that meant Riku-san would be there as well. I wonder what kind of person Riku-san is?
“Umi, why does Amami-san hate Riku-san so much?”
“Well, you see, he liked her a bit too much, love at first sight, he said. Whenever Yuu came, he would come out from his room and creep her out even though normally he was a complete shut-in.”
“Him being a shut-in aside, could you be more specific about what he did toward Amami-san?”
“He would observe her all day long like a stalker, or crawl to her whenever he sees her.”
“I tried to bear with it, I really did…”
I heard that Riku-san was a former self-defense officer like Daichi-san (though he was a cadet), so the whole stalking thing might be occupational hazard, but the whole crawling thing sounded so creepy.
It was understandable that Amami-san would be uncomfortable around him.
“But still, Maki, I envy you. You’re gonna have dinner in Asanagi’s house this week and next week, you’re going to the Christmas party together with her too… I’m stuck with my sister. She just forced her work on me… Ugh, I hate it…”
“I won’t be coming to the party, man, I didn’t apply for it… Wait, your sister? You have a sister?”
“Yeah, Seki Tomoo, she’s the student council president… Wait, you don’t know? I’m pretty sure I mentioned her when I introduced myself… She was still the vice-president back then though…”
Umi, Amami-san and I looked at each other. Yeah, no way we could remember how his introduction went.
“Seriously? Maki, you met her before too. She was the one who gave you the winner certificate back at the school festival.”
“Look, I was nervous at that time. I don’t even remember her face.”
I’m familiar with her name at least. I’m aware that she has the same last name as Nozomu, but I had no idea that they were siblings.
“Anyway, let’s get back to the topic! Maki, you said you aren’t going to the party?”
“Nope… Well, I was thinking about going, but you know…”
Honestly, if I were still a loner, I wouldn’t even think of going because there would be nothing for me to enjoy if I were to go. But since I befriended Umi and Amami-san now, I could have fun with both of them during the party.
“I see. Alright, let me talk to my sister and make her reserve a spot for you.”
“Huh? Is that even allowed?”
“Who knows, but there should be a few cancellations, she could probably arrange things for you.”
If I recall correctly, it was our student council who arranged this event. Since the president was Nozomu’s sister… Yeah, she probably could secure me a spot if I were to ask her. Oh nepotism.
“Besides, I’ll be more comfortable going with you compared to my usual group… What do you two think?”
“Well, it’s not like I got any plans during the party, so Maki being there will be a godsend to me… What about you, Yuu?”
“Same. Also, if we were to go through the backdoor like this, won’t the president ask us to help out with things behind-the-scenes? I’ve never done anything like that, it sounds interesting!”
The two of them had no objections, so all four of us decided to go to the student council room to meet the president.
* * *
“…Nozomu, you…”
The president was having lunch by herself inside the student council room. When she heard her brother’s request, she rubbed her temple with an exasperated look on her face.
Seki Tomoo. A sophomore, from class 2-11 (Class 11 was a special class that focused on nurturing students that planned on going to a university). It was the first time that I could take a closer look at her. Like her brother, she was tall. She had long hair that was tied into a ponytail.
She looked exasperated, but that didn’t decrease her beauty. In fact, Umi was holding me tightly in secret to prevent me from getting closer to her.
“I know it’s a bit sudden, but can we?”
“…Well, there are a few vacant spots since some people canceled, so, technically, I can let him in…”
“Oh, that’s great! Now, let’s add Maki’s name to the list!”
“Oi, you idiot, listen to me when I’m talking, I’m not done yet.”
The president lightly tapped Nozomu’s forehead with a file in her hand.
Now I saw the dynamic between their relationship. The president would be ‘the strict older sister’ while Nozomu would be ‘the mischievous younger brother’.
Though, I heard from Nozomu that she was ‘a demonic slave driver’. She didn’t look like it, but there should be more to her than meets the eye, right?
“Alright, you’re… Maehara-kun, right? First of all, thank you for befriending my brother. As his sister, I was concerned about his choice in friends, so having an earnest boy like you by his side eases my mind a little bit.”
“Don’t mind it… Um… Sorry for the inconvenience, asking to participate all of a sudden…”
“Right… Well, you see, we were prepared for people who canceled their participation, but since those people paid with their money upfront, we can’t really accept new participants.”
For this kind of party, normally people would make a list of participants in advance and give those people on the list their invitations. This was to prevent outsiders from entering the party without permission.
Even if I were to insist on paying now, since the list was already made, it seemed like it would be impossible for me to apply since that meant they would need to update the list. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but since they were inviting students from another school, things wouldn’t be that simple.
“No way… Am I going to be labeled as the guy who spends his Christmas with his sister? …My social-life is ruined…”
“What did I just say? Listen to me properly, I haven’t finished talking yet. I’ve never said that he couldn’t participate.”
“Then–!”
“Yeah, adding him to the list of participants is a no-no, but we in the student council are short-handed. He can participate, but he has to help our work. This means he won’t be able to participate in the events and stuff, but he’ll still be able to eat the food during the break time.”
In other words, she’ll allow me to participate under this condition.
“Thank you, President…”
“Sorry, this is all I can do for you… Dumping you with work like this…”
“It’s fine. Just being able to participate is enough for me.”
Now I could spend my Christmas with Umi.
“…Aren’t you glad, Umi?”
“…What are you on about?”
Also, both Umi and Amami-san are going to dress up on that day, aren’t they? I’m looking forward to that.
“Alright, I’m going to explain your workloads. All four of you should take a seat.”
“Yes, President.”
“‘Kay.”
“Mkay~ C’mon, Umi, sit down!”
“W-Wait… Jeez…”
The workload seemed to be heavy, but at the same time it seemed fun to do. This would distract me, so I liked it.
I hoped everything would go well on Christmas…
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