Chapter 33: On the Way Home, I Accidentally Picked Up a High School Girl
Sangenjaya.
The second floor of a Yakiniku restaurant near Sangenjaya Station.
Sakurai was staring at the grill in the middle of the table—and at Shirogane Miyuki, who was hogging all the meat grilling duties by himself.
"Actually, I'm pretty good at cooking too." Sakurai rested his chin on his hand, showing disapproval at being pushed out of the spotlight.
(¬`‸´¬)
Shirogane Kei—as the younger sister of Shirogane Miyuki—had no mercy whatsoever.
"Aniki might be a bit dumb in some areas, but when it comes to cooking, he's really reliable."
Shirogane Miyuki flipped a piece of beef, grilling while complaining:
"Kei-chan, don't talk like your brother's useless except for cooking…"
"Well, he's decent at studying too?" Kei added.
"Decent?! I'm ranked first in the entire grade at Shuchiin Academy! Out of 193 students, I'm number one!"
"I study ten hours a day, without skipping a single day. That's how I got this far—got it?!"
ᕙ( ︡'︡ 益 '︠)ง
Faced with this passionate "self-justification," Kei calmly replied:
"Idiot~"
"This is a restaurant, can you be quiet for a bit?"
Sakurai couldn't help but laugh as he watched the siblings argue.
Kei looked at him in surprise:
"Saki-nii, what are you laughing at?"
"Nothing, it's just… you two are so close."
How admirable.
Sakurai had always longed for familial affection. Even though his mother now was kind and treated him very well, he still felt that something was missing deep down. After all, they weren't related by blood. Even so, she was willing to be his mother, and Sakurai was truly grateful for that.
If only he had a little sister too, that would be wonderful.
"So close, huh~" Kei repeated his words.
In truth, she was a secret brocon—she treasured her big brother a lot, but didn't dare to show it.
After all, she was already in middle school… being so close with her brother like this was kinda embarrassing…
(,,¬﹏¬,,)
Shirogane Miyuki used scissors to cut the sizzling, fatty beef and evenly divided it onto the two plates. He looked just like an old mom taking care of her little kids.
"Kei-chan nags me every day at home…" Shirogane Miyuki took the chance to start grumbling.
"Sakurai, you don't know, she only acts all obedient like this in front of you…"
( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)
Shirogane Kei's face flushed red, and she turned to glare at him:
"Shut up!"
(ꐦ○_○）✧
Then she turned to Sakurai Saki and explained:
"Normally I'm really close with Aniki, I never badmouth him."
And at that moment—
To preserve her good image in front of the "big brother next door", Kei threw a heavy punch straight at her real brother!
Shirogane Miyuki—down.
( ･•`ツ´•･)┌θ☆(ﾉ´ᗒoᗕ)ﾉ
"..."
President Shirogane refused to comment.
He chose to become an emotionless meat-grilling machine.
This Yakiniku restaurant wasn't cheap either.
The job Sakurai mentioned must really bring in good money. According to him, as long as he sweet-talked some female customers a bit, making money was as easy as carrying sacks into a bank full of gold.
But Shirogane Miyuki knew clearly, that kind of job didn't suit him.
Shirogane Miyuki couldn't even fake a bright smile.
Unlike Sakurai Saki—changing his expression was as easy as eating a piece of grilled meat. Look, he just picked up another piece and ate it happily.
"Isn't it hot?" Shirogane Miyuki asked curiously, seeing him dip the meat lightly in sauce and pop it straight into his mouth.
"I'm not a cat tongue." Sakurai Saki replied calmly.
A psychic afraid of burning his tongue? Are you kidding?
Shirogane Miyuki held back the sarcastic monologue in his mind.
Even someone without a cat tongue wouldn't eat like that, right?
To Shirogane Miyuki, a "normal" person looked like his little sister—Shirogane Kei.
She carefully picked up the meat, blew on it gently, her motions adorably cute.
(๑ᵔ⤙ᵔ๑)
Waited until it completely cooled down before eating.
Seeing his little sister like that, Shirogane Miyuki sighed in relief.
So I'm still a normal person after all.
...
One hour later, all three had nearly finished eating.
"Oh right, Saki-nii, recently I made a new friend, I'll introduce her to you next time." Shirogane Kei shared while eating.
"Hm? What kind of person?" Sakurai Saki took the grill tongs from Shirogane Miyuki and began grilling the meat in his place.
He flipped the meat on the grill, his movements quite skillful.
"Her name is Fujiwara Moeha, she's very enthusiastic and easy to get along with, this year she's the student council vice president. Oh, and I'm currently the student council treasurer!" Kei said, her eyes full of anticipation as she looked at Sakurai Saki—clearly waiting for praise from him.
Kei: ( • ̀ω•́ )✧
"Treasurer, huh? That's great." Sakurai said gently. "But isn't it tough?"
"Not at all!" Shirogane Kei beamed brightly.
Shirogane Miyuki blew on a piece of grilled meat to cool it, then took a bite. In the next second, the satisfaction from the fat surged up to his chest. After finishing, he hesitated and said, "Fujiwara Moeha? I remember she's the younger sister of Secretary Fujiwara, right?"
"You're not mistaken, Secretary Fujiwara's mentioned her a lot." Sakurai Saki nodded in response.
"I remember now, she's just as airheaded as her sister." Just thinking about Chika gave Shirogane Miyuki a headache.
"Saki-nii, do you know Moeha?" Shirogane Kei asked curiously.
"Met her a few times. Last year she came to the middle school division." Sakurai Saki replied.
Those few times were when she came looking for Fujiwara Chika—apparently Secretary Fujiwara had forgotten something. Seems like when it comes to being clueless, Fujiwara Chika still had the upper hand.
Chika: (๑>•̀๑) ehe!
Shirogane Kei listened to their conversation and began to feel curious about this person called Secretary Fujiwara.
Apparently Moeha's older sister?
Going to Moeha's house this weekend—maybe she'd get to meet her?
What kind of person would she be?
————
After finishing Yakiniku, since Sakurai's bicycle was still at the Shirogane house, the three of them decided to head back there together.
Got the bike.
Sakurai said goodbye: "I'm heading out now. Shirogane, Kei-chan, see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, be careful on your way home." Shirogane Miyuki called from the doorway.
Shirogane Kei also chimed in: "Saki-nii, be careful okay."
ヾ(＾ ∇ ＾).
Sakurai Saki got on his bike and turned around to wave at the two of them.
After pedaling for a few minutes—
Sakurai let out a breath: "Haa~"
The night air at just over ten degrees was a bit chilly.
Thinking about how he forgot to buy black coffee today, Sakurai Saki began looking for a vending machine in the residential area.
He didn't like sweet drinks—he preferred bitter. Not to act grown-up or anything, it was just that his taste buds were used to bitterness. He'd been drinking it since childhood, and couldn't get used to anything else now.
Every few meters there was a streetlight. As he neared a convenience store near the Shirogane house, Sakurai Saki spotted a vending machine in front of the store.
Next to the vending machine, sitting on the steps outside the convenience store, a figure caught his attention.
Curled up there was someone who had lost all hope in life.
He'd never seen her before, but her clothes were the Shuchiin uniform.
'You see a stray cat on the street and you have to help it, huh?' Sakurai Saki thought to himself as he bought coffee, inserting coins and waiting for the can to drop.
"Clink!"
The sound of the can dropping made the curled-up figure lift her head slightly. In the dark night, she had unfortunately dropped her contact lenses and couldn't see anything.
Sakurai Saki picked up the black coffee, sipping it while looking at the convenience store.
After thinking it over for a while, he stepped inside.
"Welcome~" the clerk greeted politely.
Sakurai Saki casually grabbed a few bags of bread, paid, and stepped back outside.
Whether it was a burst of compassion or just a stupid act, at the very least—he truly wanted to help this stranger right now.