Living life means that people can feel down sometimes.
So, for example,
even though I studied hard, I ended up being overshadowed by someone who’s clearly not suited for high school.
Of course, that ‘grade’ isn’t the official score. It’s not like Kagami took the exams together with me; besides, I took mine much later than Koko, so we have different conditions. Maybe not having anyone around allowed me to study more peacefully…
No, even if I think about it again, that’s not the issue.
Thinking back, Koko also skipped middle school and even a whole semester of classes, yet she managed to pass our school entrance exam by studying hard for just a few days with the kids.
I thought that was the power of some kind of external influence. Like photographic memory or something; I assumed there was such a thing.
But as it turns out, it seems Koko is just smart.
To be more precise, it looks like Koko resembles Kagami.
“……”
But my soul came from outside, you know.
I feel like I’m affected by this body as well. I maintain a sufficiently high score even while taking exams in languages I’ve never used.
I’ve never gotten a score higher than Koko’s, but I still kept it at Koko’s level.
By the way, Kagami was somewhere between Koko’s score and below Koko’s score.
“How on earth…? Are you attending a cram school or something?”
“I’ve never attended anything like a cram school.”
Kagami smiled wryly when I showed my complete disbelief.
“But I did study quietly on my own. It’s not like I’ve done nothing all these years.”
“……”
Seeing Kagami say that, I couldn’t find the motivation to argue any further.
Isn’t that right?
In a certain sense, Kagami truly has an indomitable will and is overcoming her situation. What right do I have to say anything?
It feels quite strange to constantly ask Kagami about things I don’t know, and each time she explains with a very happy expression, but anyway, that’s the situation.
Well, this might be one of Kagami’s dreams for the future: teaching her daughter various things. I’m not sure about mother-daughter cases, but father-son cases usually involve teaching how to make assembly toys or rubber-powered planes, right? Studying together is a reminiscent fantasy.
I have nothing to feel wrong about.
Nothing at all.
“……ugh.”
Still, it feels like something isn’t quite right, but anyway.
In fact, being a third-year isn’t all that exciting.
In my memories from my previous life, the third year was quite a time of keeping my guard up in many ways. That’s not to say I didn’t have fun, but outside of occasional hangouts with friends, I ultimately had to study.
I would hang out with the neighborhood kids or sneak out for a day to just play around, or sometimes relieve stress by buying and reading comic books, but going far off for fun felt a bit burdensome.
Like last year with Kaoru and Izumi, I’ll do at least the minimum club activities and probably participate in events, but I might not make it to this year’s Christmas party.
Thinking that the Christmas party was unexpectedly a gathering of friends with a member from the literature club makes it a bit ironic.
“Koto Ne-senpai, thank you for this year.”
Well, while I think it’s not an exciting year, it’s not completely devoid of any feelings either.
“……Thank you.”
After seeing off the seniors who graduated and the short vacation ended,
there was a delightful guest that came to the literature club room after the entrance ceremony.
The sailor uniform with white background and blue collar had changed to the black background with red accents like ours.
Shii’s unique serious yet lively vibe felt a bit muted with the colors, but because of that, she seemed slightly more grown-up in just a few days.
If we’d been a year apart in age, we could’ve spent much more time joyfully together.
That’s a bit regrettable.
Still, I am grateful that we could spend at least this entire year together.
Who knows?
If Shii ends up coming to the university Yuka, Koko, and I are going to—then I might be able to hear the title of ‘senpai’ for two years.
At least I think I’d be able to have fun hanging out, just like in the third year.
That’s all hypothetical depending on when Shii wants to do it, though.
I wonder if she might want to attend the same university as Sota rather than ours?
“……”
We also got some freshmen in the literature club.
In the second year, there’s only Tsugumi, but this time there are three first-years excluding Shii. As far as I know, there aren’t plans for additional second years to join, and Tsugumi doesn’t look like she’s bringing other kids, so this year will probably be made up of a good number of third years with only one second-year head and four first years.
Assuming we get as many first years next year, the future of the literature club seems bright. How long it will last, well, honestly, I can’t be sure about that, but I hope it can last a while longer.
Because I was the head last year… even though it wasn’t that long, I still organized all the materials as neatly as possible.
I handed all of that to Tsugumi and hinted that she should help Shii well.
I’m sure those two will do it well. The materials related to the cultural festival are simply the same as this year, so I won’t have to worry much. As for the club training… well, if worse comes to worst, we can just go to the same place we went to last year.
I’ve roughly dealt with the ghosts and there shouldn’t be any Yōkai showing up.
“You look so down.”
“…Aren’t I looking cool?”
After a long time of walking home with Koko and Yuka, I heard that and tilted my head.
“It could be both.”
Thinking briefly about Yuka’s words, I nodded.
“I think it’s both.”
Somehow, I completely forgot to give the position of head to Izumi, so I ended up being head for only about half a year.
I wouldn’t say I didn’t have achievements during that time, but honestly, claiming to be the ‘head’ after taking part only that much seems a bit dubious.
“Tsugumi will do well.”
“I think so too.”
That’s the thought I had over the past year.
There are a few indecisive aspects, but she’s not just like that. When she finds something she likes, she tends to go a bit overboard, so they balance out each other to be just average.
Moreover, Tsugumi isn’t alone.
Shii will be around, and I heard that the other first-years who joined are all Shii’s friends. So… well.
Unless all of Shii’s friends get captivated by Sota and fight a war inside the literature club room, I’m sure it’ll go just fine.
By April, the days have become significantly longer. Just recently, when I would leave the literature club, the sun was pretty low, but now, even when it’s time to leave the literature room, the sun is still high in the sky.
No matter what time you come out, the difference in feeling between when the sun has set and hasn’t is quite substantial.
Just because the sun is up gives you a feeling that there’s still a lot of day left.
“……”
For a moment, we walked in silence.
It was truly a coincidence that it ended up just the three of us walking like this instead of the whole literature club. Shii and Tsugumi decided to walk home together, while Mako, Yuuki, and Harumi seemed to have their own plans today.
I also felt like I wanted to go home today, so I came out separately, and naturally, Yuka followed suit. The feeling wasn’t bad.
Um.
Just a little while ago, I was thinking about getting home quickly, but as I walked, my thoughts changed.
It’s been a long time… should we take a slightly different route?
Seeing Yuka glancing over, it seems she’s also thinking the same thing.
“Koko.”
I called to Koko.
“Wah?”
Koko, who had been happily bouncing along, stopped in her tracks and looked at me. No matter when I see it, that spaced-out expression is pretty much the cutest little sister.
In terms of birth order, I might technically be the younger sibling… but Kagami seems to view me as one of her older sisters anyway. So I just accept that as the status quo.
After all, neither Koko nor I are overly particular about the sister-brother thing. If we have to nitpick, we could be treated more as nonregardful twins.
“Shall we go eat something delicious?”
“Sure!”
As I asked, Koko’s eyes sparkled.
“Then let’s go.”
I took Koko’s hand and, looking at Yuka, she smiled at me too.
Right in front, we turned back.
I hadn’t thought at all about where we were heading. In fact, when taking a detour like this, I find it more fun not to have any plans.
Should we head to a cafe, or find some ice cream somewhere?
Ah, karaoke would be nice too. I haven’t been in ages.
Since I’ll just be studying all year anyway, I think it wouldn’t be bad to enjoy a little bit like this ahead of time.
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