Episode Fifteen
An older sister and a younger sister. In the world’s general view, I think there’s a wall between the two that shouldn’t be crossed.
So what about a sister-in-law and a younger sister-in-law — does that change anything? When a single extra character gets added to the word and the reading shifts, does the relationship itself shift along with it?
“President?”
I’d thought Ao had noticed how I felt. But maybe that’s not quite right after all. Because lately Ao has been getting strangely close. Inviting me to walk to school together, asking to hang out after class. If she knew how I felt, surely she wouldn’t be doing things like that.
“President? You alive?”
Maybe — maybe she has feelings for me too, and this is her deliberately signalling it, hoping I’ll notice. If that were true, I’d have to respond to it. If I kept ignoring her and she gave up on me, I don’t think I’d ever recover.
I thought it through and immediately denied it. I’ve been thinking the same thing on a loop for days now — when exactly am I going to get tired of it?
With my head still in a fog, I squeezed the hand resting on the desk hard.
What do I actually want to—
“Nyaaah!”
A sensation that shook my whole body had me on my feet before I knew it. The chair legs scraped against the floor with an ugly sound.
“Finally. President, are you alive?”
Rin let out a small breath, looking up at me with something like concern.
“I— I’m alive. I told you to stop doing weird things to my ear, didn’t I?”
I shot her a flat, cold look, but Rin showed no sign of remorse, exchanging an amused glance with Runa instead. A little respect for the president wouldn’t go amiss.
“Yunacchi really is, you know — that thing. I felt a bit weird myself just now.”
Runa pressed a hand to her cheek, eyes sliding sideways at me.
I was too scared to ask what, exactly.
“Ah… sorry. I was zoned out.”
“It’s fine now, let’s get back to it. Where were we—”
“No. You should go home today.”
“Yeah, seriously. Yunacchi pushes herself too hard sometimes. Though that’s kind of endearing too.”
Their tone stayed light, but there was something serious underneath it in both their faces.
“I’m really fine. We need to sort this out today, there’s no time to lose…”
Golden Week was coming up soon, and midterms would start shortly after that. No student council during exam period, so anything urgent needed deciding now or it’d cause trouble later. And it’s not as though I felt unwell.
“Listen, President. The student council isn’t just you, you know.”
“Trust us and go home today. And go straight to sleep when you get there.”
Speaking like she was coaxing a child, Rin grabbed my backpack and pushed me firmly toward the classroom door.
“I’ll have Saki-chan take notes on everything we covered. Skipping out once in a while isn’t so bad, you know?”
Runa gave a small mischievous wave, smiling.
It was such a typically relaxed thing for her to say, but right now it felt oddly warm.
“Right, right — out you go, patient.”
Rin shoved me straight out into the corridor and the door snapped shut behind me. The sun hadn’t fully set yet; only the distant calls of the sports clubs echoed faintly through the quiet corridor.
I wanted to at least say thank you, but going back in didn’t feel right either. I’d just turned away from the student council room when I heard the door open, and felt a small, hesitant tug at the hem of my skirt. Any more and something nobody needed to see would have been on display.
“Saki?”
“Sorry — I wanted to give you this.”
Saki, blushing with embarrassment, pressed a small bag into my hand.
Pale blue with a pop of red as the accent colour — a packet of ramune. The kind you sometimes see at the convenience store but never actually pick up.
“I saw on TV that ramune helps when you’re feeling out of it. Try some, President.”
“Thanks. I’ll pay you back sometime.”
“No need. Take care of yourself.”
With a soft, melting little smile, Saki turned and made her way back to the classroom in small steps.
I made my way down the sunset-lit slope, popping ramune as I went.
I’d been unfair to everyone. I really wasn’t unwell, and just as Runa said, I was currently a student council president who’d skipped student council. I might be fired by tomorrow.
Still in a haze, I passed through the ticket gate, and a message arrived on my phone.
If something’s bothering you, tell us. If it’s hard to say to everyone, just me is fine too.
Rin’s message made the corners of my eyes loosen without my meaning them to. Careful not to let my face show anything strange to the people around me, I sent back only a sticker.
On the small screen, an oddly round-bodied penguin bowed politely on my behalf.
I think telling someone everything would make things a little easier. But there’s no way I could say something like this. Not to the student council, and not to Fuuka either.
I took my phone out of my bag and opened the photo album. The break room in the background was a plain, characterless space, but the girl in the frame looked radiant anyway.
I’m trying to suppress myself, and yet looking at this photo has already become a daily habit — which probably means I’m already past saving. If it was going to hurt this much, I didn’t want this kind of reward in the first place.
Sister-in-law and sister-in-law. Is the wall between the two bigger than the one between an ordinary sister and sister, or is it the same? Even being good at studying means nothing if I can’t work out the one thing I most want to know.
What do I want to do. I know the answer already, and I keep pretending I don’t.
So then, what does Ao want to do. I can barely manage to fool myself — there’s no way I could understand someone I’m not even related to by blood.
I let out a long sigh on the familiar walk home.
They say sighing drives happiness away, but ever since I got a stepsister, I feel like I’ve been doing it every single day. Whether I’m happy right now, or not — I’d lost even the ability to tell.