C2 Part2

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

This part was slightly hard to translate, so if there’s parts that sound a little weird, let me know. I don’t have the time to proofread this right now.

***

While my ears were getting accustomed to the cheerful tunes being played inside the store, I was slowly pushing around a shopping cart. The reason is simple. Because of the two people in front of me talking while walking, I couldn’t speed up. I think these carts should also get a bell like bikes.

……Well, even if I had one in this situation, it wouldn’t be useful.

「ーーーOooohー, Kotone-san, you’re a model? No wonder you’re so pretty.」

「It’s embarrassing when you’re telling me that Miku-chan…… But Miku-chan, you’re also super cute! So cute that I want to bring you home and make you my own little sister.」

Disguised police officer! The criminal is right here!

「If I were able to choose then I’d also want to become Kotone-san’s little sister~!」

「Don’t send glances towards me. Sorry that you pulled this kind of older brother with your luck.」

「What half-baked self-torture…… I don’t even know how to respond to that.」

「It’s fine to just let him be, Kotone-san.」

My younger sister, Miku Shinomiya, hides me from Kanzaki as if she was like a mother who was hiding a child that they didn’t want anyone to see. Why am I being treated like a criminal here? If anything, the criminal is the person wrapped in your arms. And what’s more, you’re their target.

Now then, this all started after we went to my house like planned, and when Miku asked, we ended up going to the supermarket together.

After I finished cleaning up, we met up at the back gate and then headed to the station and got on a train, and eventually arrived at my house with no problems but, just as we arrived Miku exited the house in her uniform.

“Ah, Onii-chan, I’m going to go buy stuff right now but……… Who’s that beautiful person? Are you being blackmailed?” is what she said. Without a greeting, she established that she was going to buy ingredients for dinner, and one thing led to the next and she eventually wanted Kanzaki to come with her. Middle schoolers these days know about blackmail huh? Since there were no people lying in wait earlier, the meaning didn’t really get across. She must’ve just wanted to use the word……. I’m not sure though.

「That reminds me Kotone-san, how did you know my name? If we had talked before, I would have definitely remembered someone like you Kotone-san, so I don’t think we’ve met before right?」

「Ah actually you see, I heard about you from Shinomiya. That’s how I knew your name, and I’ve always wanted to meet you.」

「I see……. Using your little sister as a topic when you have nothing else to talk about, you’re the worst.」

Miku turned her head over her shoulder and gave me a look full of displeasure. My dignity went down by 10 points. There’s no helping it I’m a loner after all right? Anyways, just accept being the topic of conversation, it’s not a big deal……

「You wanted to meet with her….. Is this linked together with the reason for wanting to come to my house?」

「As expected of you Shinomiya. I’m an only child….. I’ve always wanted siblings…. especially a little sister. When I was smaller, I’d ask Santa for a little sister as a present.」

「……I understand how much you wanted one but, we’re in public you know? Say those things in moderation.」

I could hear small voices from the surroundings saying things like “Her parents must’ve tried their best…..”. Please don’t break so many dreams! There’s a lot of children here too you know?

「That’s why I’m so happy to be able to meet Miku-chan like this~!」

「Wa, Ko-Kotone-san!? Suddenly hugging me like that is…..」

Contrary to her words, Miku’s face showed that she wasn’t as dissatisfied as she sounded. There was more evidence in the fact that her ponytail was swaying around delightfully. I told you guys this is a public place didn’t I? What are you gonna do if the people who see this awaken to yuri1?

In the first place, how are you guys on such good terms even though you’ve only known each other for about an hour? It’s like this is some kind of special, limited-time event where members of the top caste meet each other. It’s natural for a loner like me to not have any relation with this.

The truth is, regardless of the fact that her older brother is a loner, this little sister holds a seat in the school’s top caste. With her sociable and honest personality, you might think that that is natural, but I can’t understand it at all. I wonder where she went for genetic modification. Don’t write it down or else you’ll be caught.

As we approached the vegetables section, Miku took out a small piece of paper from her uniform’s pocket.

「Ah, is that the grocery list?」

「Yes. Since we only buy enough for two people, we need to decide on what to buy beforehand otherwise we will end up wasting money.」

「You’re amazing for being so reliable~ Let’s see let’s see……. Are you guys perhaps having curry for dinner?」

「Oh, how sharp. Even though I wrote down mostly vegetables and didn’t even write down curry powder.」

「If it’s just the two of you, then I was thinking that you’d still have some left in the fridge.」

「I take it that you are able to cook then Kotone-san?」

「Fufu, I can’t make too many things though.」

With her behaviour while we’re in the clubroom stuck in my head, it felt weird seeing her suddenly act humble.

Well for now, let’s just get the stuff we need for the salad. Ah, this tomato is cheap.

「Haa…… This is why my older brother isn’t used to shopping.」

Saying that, Miku took out the tomato and quickly returned it back to the goods shelf, while taking a new one and putting it in the cart.

「Eh, what’s with that reaction. Is it because I touched it? Are you having a late rebellious phase?」

I remember back in elementary school when everyone made a fuss about germs. Those are bitter memories.

「Wrong. The stuff over here is fresher, so this tomato is better. Please don’t treat Miku like she’s paranoid……. like I’m a bad person.」

Miku changed her words in a panic. Oops, it seems like she’s become discouraged. I don’t think you have to be so conscious about that though.

「Uhm….. Miku-chan, did you just say your own name just now….?」

「Rather than that we still have stuff to buy Kotone-san! If we don’t hurry then all the vegetables will be gone!」

「Nah, there’s heaps of vegetables so I don’t see there not being any left even if other people did take a few.」

(Read the mood! Idiot brother!)

Harshly criticizing me with a small voice, Miku took Kanzaki’s arm and headed towards another area for vegetables.

…….Well, whatever. It doesn’t seem like Kanzaki is going to touch on it either, when she’s the one being pulled. It’s an unusual thought for my little sister.

Since it would be a bother to push the cart through the shelves, I stopped at one place until the two of them came back holding the vegetables we planned to buy. For our menu tonight, the vegetables lined-up are indispensable. Potatoes, onions, etc. Of course, that was also mixed in the bunch too.

「I don’t like carrots though. In the first place, we never put in carrots when we have curry, so why are we putting them in today?」

「Eh, you don’t like carrots Shinomiya? ……..Huh, it’s true the list doesn’t have carrots written on it.」

「…….Even though I thought that this would be good since Onii-chan brought home a girl. Why would you say something that render’s someone’s consideration useless?」

「When it comes to stuff we don’t like, it’s better for students like us to say we don’t like it. After all, once you head out into the world, you’ll have to just accept whatever life gives you, even if it happens by force.」

「……..Why did someone like Kotone-san end up having a boyfriend like this?」

「Ahaha……. Well, many things happened. Yup.」

Seeing Kanzaki show an awkward smile, Miku let out a sigh and glared at me as if to scold me.

「Look, even Kotone-san is honestly drawn back.」

「Well, I don’t plan on putting my faith in society or whatever and yield to carrots. They have a colour and unique sweetness that doesn’t exist in the natural world and I just don’t feel like it’s necessary to consider eating it.」

「Were your parents killed by carrots?」

「Nope, they were not killed by carrots.」

「Don’t reply so seriously. People will think you’re an idiot……」

I wonder if this year’s high school entrance exams will be okay. While I was getting concerned about my little sister’s future by myself, Kanzaki started to look at her phone for some reason.

「Miku-chan, there’s a lot of variants of curry without carrots, so why don’t we change up the menu?」

「Uh that’s……」

As soon as she heard the details of the proposition, Miku brought her mouth close to Kanzaki’s ear after glancing at me.

「I don’t think its good to spoil him too much. Because my brother is straightforward, he’ll take advantage of your kindness.」

「Oi, the person in question can hear you. Who’s side are you even on?」

「I also think that it’s better if someone overcomes what they don’t like, but if we only consider this situation, then I’m not really pampering him or anything. I just want to show off my cooking skills, is what I was thinking.」

She proudly turned to me for a second with a look full of motivation.

「Showing off your cooking skills…… is it?」

「Yup. And with that, it’s okay for us to eat dinner together right?」

Kanzaki suddenly turned around in order to see my response to her wish. I’m more or less the person in charge. If that’s the case then there’s only one thing to say.

「What did your parents say?」

「I got their permission when I was looking for recipes.」

「Alright then we don’t have any problems either.」

「Roger that. I’ll make sure you don’t regret this choice~」

「No matter who makes curry it all takes the same though. It’s like writing down a English problem where you have to fill in the blanks in the sentence during 2nd period.」

「D-don’t touch on my weak point! I can’t deny that though….」

「Well, I’ll look forward to it. Do your best to try to brag about your superiority.」

「Why does it feel like I won’t win….! ——Miku-chan, which of these recipes do you want to eat?」

Once again pulling out her phone, Kanzaki and Miku began to look at the screen together. Soon, Miku’s expression lit up and became fitting for someone of her age.

「This is good! I know the name of it, but I’ve never had it before!」

「True, this might not really be something eaten in Japan. Alright, then let’s go with this. Do you have the ingredients at home?」

「Aah-……We might not have enough of this and this for 3 people.」

「Then let’s go buy those. I’ll pay for my portions so don’t worry.」

「No, if it’s just that much then I’ll pay.」

Those two are getting all excited by themselves. I’m being excluded just like usual. Just when I was thinking that, a chance to be swooped down on.

…….But aren’t the two of them are huddled together looking at me? Is it because they weren’t ready to accept a loner even if they are a relative? In the middle of this delicate atmosphere that started to flow around, Miku was the first one to say something.

「…..Onii-chan, so you can be worried about others.」

「Of course. Loners are fundamentally an existence that worries about others.」

It’s an iron rule to never open your mouth to talk when it comes to group activities. Even then, the guys who are running their mouths will say “fuck you”. Naturally, since everyone begins to feel awkward and only affirms my opinion, I have to announce it in the end. It’s a pain in the ass so don’t force your opinions on me.

「You don’t really have to mind it, Shinomiya. Since it’s a secret on what we’re going to be eating, I don’t want you to see the ingredients.」

「If that’s the case then it should be fine if I just give you the money…… right?」

When I pulled out my wallet and checked the insides, there was a surprising sight. Miku, who was wondering about my situation peeked through from under my arm.

「You’ve got none. Bills that is.」

「No uh, I forgot that I broke them down into coins.」

I said that as I opened the compartment for change. This is pretty irrelevant but, check and cheque are very similar!2

……is what I was thinking while I wanted to escape from reality.

「Just barely 3 digits huh3. You even went and said “No, if it’s just that much then I’ll pay”. As your sister I’m embarrassed.」

「Okay! And with that the broke Shinomiya can go wait outside the store please!」

「…….Alright.」

I obeyed and agreed since I had lost face, and headed outside the shop to a spot under the cover of the clouds, where my body was assaulted by an unpleasant chill. Since I didn’t like my whole body being cold except for my chest, I went into a bookstore to wait.

I thought about going up to the second floor that had light novels, but I would’ve lost track of time if I did so I put up with general literature. To me, I think that this Shoraku in Kitayono is a place of high demand. This and Saizeriya.4

***

Chapter 2 – Part 1 | Index | Chapter 2 – Part 3

Girl x Girl The words “check” and “cheque” can be written the same way in Japanese.e.g. 500 yen = like $5 so, while they have more ‘digits’ it’s not much. Shoraku is a bookstore chain or something in Japan. Kitayono is an area in Saitama (a place close to Tokyo). Saizeriya is an italian-type restaurant chain in Japan.

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