Chapter 1: Hikigaya Komachi is cute, but another person is cute too.
"I've been meaning to ask for a while, but do you make that yourself, Hikigaya-san?"
Kawasaki Taishi pointed at my bento box jam-packed with brightly coloured vegetables and deep-fried shrimp.
"Yep. My parents are waaaaaaay too busy with work, so it's up to me to make my own lunch," I told him, "Ah, and sometimes I make some for Onii-chan as well."
"...Is that so? Onii-san sure is lucky," he remarked in admiration.
The classroom was wrapped with a cozy atmosphere during the bustling lunch hours. As the starving students indulged in their sought-after meals, their satisfaction and joy would easily invite conversation. I mean, there's nothing like sharing a meal with your friends!
"Hikigaya-san's bento? I want some. Give me a shrimp, please," said Mia, a girl with black braids and the sensitivity of a caveman.
She reached with her chopsticks to my lunch to steal one of my precious shrimp. I fought her back in a duel with my own chopsticks as if we were fencing. My technique, reinforced from years of sibling rivalry, turned out to be superior, and I knocked her chopsticks out of her hands and they clattered onto the floor. Success!
"Hikigaaaaayaaaaaa-saaaaaan!" cried out Mia in despair.
"W-Was that really necessary?" nervously asked Taishi-kun who was watching that unfold.
"Eh, I'm just kinda hungry today, so I'm not about to give away my food," I said while shrugging.
"H-Hikigaya-chan, you shouldn't act like that..." softly spoke Yuuki-san, who, by the way, I would tooootally like to abduct and have her become my little sister!
Envious stares pierced both at me and at my lunch box from all directions. It was making it rather uncomfortable to eat.
"Geez, you guys. Y'all should've just made your own bento or asked one of your parents or siblings to do it for you," I groaned.
I glanced at Taishi-kun, and he tilted his head in confusion.
"Like you!" I exclaimed, "Why don't you just ask your older sister to make lunch for you!? Your lunches are always so plain."
The ham-and-cheese sandwich in his hands was so drab and colourless that the eating experience would probably be better if one would close their eyes first.
Taishi-kun scratched his head and spoke uneasily, "She does. I mean, everyday. The reason why it's so plain is because that's all she knows how to do..."
"Ah..."
I sent him a pitying stare. Kawasaki Saki's culinary skills weren't particularly high, according to some unintentional, random comments that Taishi-kun, and, surprisingly, my own brother makes occasionally. Also, Saki-san tended to overwork herself in studying and at jobs to pay for education. She probably wouldn't have the time or energy to hone her cooking ability.
"It's okay, Taishi-kun. If you think about all the care that your older sister puts into your lunch, I'm sure it will make it seem tastier!" I said, trying to cheer him up, "The fact that she's doing it every day even though she's so busy makes me go kyaaaaa!"
"I know. I get that she's really looking out for me. Although, sometimes it is annoying. But what can you do? One time I told her that she didn't have to make it for me every day, but she got the wrong idea and got hurt because she thought that I didn't like it," Taishi-kun spoke fondly.
After he said that, he bit into his ham-and-cheese sandwich. It truly was not something to be wowed over. Yet, it was cut into the shape of a cat's face. Even if she wasn't good at making tasty food, she at least tried to amuse her little brother in his busy life.
"How nice... I kinda want an onee-san as well..." I muttered to no one in particular.
My older brother does take care of me as well, but it just isn't the same. Because weren't the same gender, I could not confide in him for some things. He wouldn't be able to understand. Actually, because of how he's alone all the time, I doubt he would be able to understand normal things in general. Wait, does that mean that I take care of him more than he takes care of me?
"Oh no! That means that I never really did get to experience the care of a reliable older sibling at all!"
"What are you even talking about?" Taishi-kun said in astonishment.
Not good, not good. I mean, my brother does pamper me, but it's not the right kind of pampering. Like, if I had an older sister, I would be able to go out with her a lot to shop or to cook with her or whatever. My brother isn't that great at cooking, so it'd be fun if I had an older sister to teach me a few new tricks. Then, at night, we would be able to chat for a long time about all sorts of things, stuff that my brother would, after hearing it, probably cause him to stare at the ceiling in boredom!
"That's whyyyyy I want Onii-chan to hurry up and get with one of them already," I moaned.
"Who's 'them'?" asked Taishi-kun.
"I know he's always thinking about them — Yui-san and Yukino-san," I said.
"Those two? I haven't seen them for a long time," said Taishi-kun with a thoughtful look, "I mean, Onii-san is like that, so I'm sure he thinks he's pretty lucky, despite what he says. But what do they think? I don't know how he can get along with that strict Yukinoshita-san, and Yuigahama-san is a whole different matter altogether."
"You have no idea, Taishi-kun," I said with glittering eyes, "You have no idea."
With all the parties and the get-togethers like at New Year's, not to mention their daily meet-ups after school for clubs, they're all definitely close to each other. Especially during December, it seems they took a drastic step. Their atmosphere was somewhat different when we all met up for Christmas.
"Basically, it's a miracle!" I exclaimed, "Like, it's the kind of surprising development that you would get in a light novel or something."
"So basically, he's in the middle of a romantic comedy or something?" excitedly asked Taishi-kun, "Does that mean that even someone like me has a chance of getting a girlfriend in high school?"
"Kawasaki-kun, no," piped up Mia, "Going to high school won't instantly make you any less spineless or cowardly."
"...Is that how everyone sees me as?" groaned Taishi-kun.
I added fuel to the fire, "Don't worry, Taishi-kun! No matter how cowardly you are, I will always be your friend!"
"Not that again..." Taishi-kun hung his head and rapidly ruffled his own hair.
Mia and I laughed heartily at Taishi-kun's misery. It was routine to bully him. Friendly bullying.
Yuuki-san, who I would willingly kidnap and force her to become my little sister, attempted to soothe him, "N-Now, now. Things will be a lot different later on so however you are now doesn't mean that you will always be that way in the future."
Taishi-kun faced me with serious eyes, "Hikigaya-san, how was Onii-san like in middle school?"
I immediately replied, "Exactly the same as now except that he still had some hope."
Every time I thought about his past and how it affected me, my heart would wrench in pain and embarrassment. Oh, the embarrassment! At one point, I almost wanted to stop associating with my brother for a while so that I wouldn't fall prey to rumours and teasing as well, but when I saw his broken face, those thoughts were instantly cast away and I immediately decided that I would always be there for him if he got bullied. I'm such a good sister.
Of course, at my words, Taishi-kun's HP immediately dropped to zero and he lost every last bit of optimism. He sprawled out on the table, waiting for someone to give him a phoenix down of comfort.
"By the way, Hikigaya-san," said Mia, "These Yui-san and Yukino-san, about how old are they?"
"Around the same age as Onii-chan. Why?" I asked in confusion.
Mia put her thumb on her chin, showing that she was thinking about something. She paused for a moment of thought. Then, she nodded to herself and began talking again.
"Is that so? That's fine, then," muttered Mia, "The thing is, though, when you think of an 'onee-san', you're probably assuming that she'll be at least as old as your brother, if not older. It's true in your case, but technically, it doesn't have to be so. Since you're two years apart from your brother, a girl can still be older than you while being younger than him."
I was even more confused, so I spoke in an incredulous tone, "Maybe. But what does that have to do with anything?"
In a matter-of-factly tone, Mia clarified, "In that case, though you would be gaining an older sister, he would kinda be, in a way, gaining a little sister. Well, that's kind've a weird way to put it, since she would be his girlfriend and all, but you get the idea, right?"
I guess she's right. I've never thought about that before, though.
"Would you be fine with that, Hikigaya Komachi the brocon?" teasingly sneered Mia.
It seems that we have a mix-up of priorities here.
"If you're going that far, that means that it would not exclude the chance that he could hook up with someone my age or even younger. But what's important is that Onii-chan meets someone dear to him, who can understand him. My whimsical desires shouldn't be what's important," I spoke in a slightly more serious tone.
"Even so, are you fine with it?" pushed on Mia.
"M-Mia-chan, what are you saying!?" gasped Yuuki-san, "Komachi-chan, don't listen to her."
I smiled warmly at Yuuki-san for her consideration. However, I shook my head. My answer had long been decided.
I stated with a shrug, "Ultimately, if Onii-chan's happy, then I'm happy."
At that moment, the bell sounded, signalling the end of lunch. Yuuki-san, Mia, and Taishi-kun scrambled back to their original seats. Since they decided on their own to gather around my own desk, I did not have to move, so I simply gathered up all of my boxes and utensils and put them back in my bag.
I did not know if Mia truly meant what she said. I did not know if she was speaking in mere jest or if she was being completely serious.
The next class was Japanese. As the teacher was writing on the board, I thought about how annoyingly difficult that this class will be.
Speaking of which, my brother was top-tier in terms of Japanese. He even got third overall at his school when it came to it. I should definitely ask him for help later.
And then, I wondered if there was someone else out there, who was struggling with something, who would also unabashedly go to my brother for help. And, I wondered if he would also rub their head until their hair became messy and their smile became wild.
The pot of beef curry had reached a boil with the vigour of a rampaging child. I turned down the heat to let it simmer, as if soothing a child.
The Hikigaya kitchen was a space that was, at some point in the past, used by my mother. However, as the additional financial burden was born, the position as head chef gradually became delegated to myself. I have to be responsible for myself and lighten the load on my parents, you know!
As for why the main chef of the household did not fall on my older brother, let's just subtly say that he sucks a lot. Yes, that was being subtle because if I were to describe it in full, it would be even worse.
Well, that's speaking in relative terms. My brother does cook occasionally, and it is edible, but his skill is far below mine. That's okay, though. His bright and cheery smile after eating my scrambled eggs is the perfect pick-me-up in the morning! I just have to avoid looking at his eyes, because their rottenness is a real downer.
I left the stove and skipped over to the table where I had laid out my books. Curry does take a while to make, so I might as well get this stupid studying out of the way. I can use the curry as an end reward, a motivation, as well.
I cracked open my science textbook. Across the top of the page, in big, bold font, were the words "Eukaryotic Microbiology". Directly under that were gigantic columns of text so small that I had to squint and shoddy pictures of who knows what kind of small, circular, sometimes hairy life forms. The assignment was to read several pages of this boring nonsense.
Aaaaaaaand my motivation dropped to absolute zero. I plopped my front body on top of the textbook. Even though the pages were cold and hard, I felt bored enough to sleep.
"Th-This is why I want an onee-san. She would make this more bearable for me," I muttered to myself.
I continued to lay down on top of my books. Instead of serving as a medium to transfer knowledge, the books became a pillow substitute. Well, more like a sleeping pill. I only needed to glance at the words before I felt the seduction of sleep.
Flagella are microtubular—
Something 9+2.
K-Komachi can't think anymore. Komachi is dooooooooozing awaaaaaaaaaay.
Clatter! Something like wood impacting the wall sounded from the front of the house. It probably didn't come from the actions of a thief, but the person who did it was still trash. Nincompoop even.
"I'm back," the smasher-of-walls called out.
Ohoho, guess who decided to show his face? I dashed from my seat, knocking down a few books in the process. I headed toward the front entrance to confront the creepy person who had just arrived home.
"Welcome back, Onii-chan! But you're late today again!"
My older brother, Hikigaya Hachiman, scratched his cheek nervously. His rotten eyes uncomfortably shifted back and forth between the floor and the ceiling.
"Well, some stuff came up," he spoke vaguely.
In the past, I really hated coming home to an empty house. Therefore, my brother would, from then on, get home before me just so that I wouldn't be lonely. Recently, though, he's been violating that ritual.
"Well, that's okay," I spoke with a grin.
I knew exactly why he was so late. He only could come home earlier in the past because he had no friends or obligations. It's different now, though. After all, he has Yukino-san and Yui-san! That makes me super happy!
And, well, I'm not that childish anymore. It's not like an empty house is that big a deal for me anymore. Besides, I know that it would definitely be repopulated by my brother and parents eventually.
"Well, uh, you have no school tomorrow for some reason, right? We need your help," said my brother.
O-Onii-chan is asking me for help? I'm so flattered!
"Well, that's what Yuigahama suggested, and it seemed that Yukinoshita was fine with it too. You okay with it?"
Those two!? Help me! I'm dying of happiness!
"Of course, of course! Of course I'm okay with it!" I exclaimed.
"Uh, this isn't a good place to talk about the details. Is that curry I smell? Let's talk it over dinner," my brother suggested.
We migrated over to the kitchen-living room space. While I skipped and skated along the hardwood floor, my brother's steps were rather heavy.
I told my brother to sit down while I prepared the meal. Onto plates, I scooped out plenty of rice for myself, and even more for my brother, who, being a boy, has a huge appetite. I spooned the curry over the rice. The rich and potent smell of special herbs and spices tickled my nose.
I carried the plates and cutlery over to the table. Just before I laid my brother's plate in front of him, I caught him heaving a sigh.
I sat down across from him as usual after putting my plate in its place and distributing the cutlery. Unusually, my brother was looking rather disinterested in the food.
"What's wrong?" I asked before I began eating.
"Well, remember the Christmas event between our school and Kaihin Sogo High?" said my brother as he poked at a carrot with his spoon.
"Yeah. You said they were a real pain or something. Like they wouldn't listen or decide on anything," I said between my bites.
My brother stabbed the spoon straight in the centre of the curry-covered rice and stated with annoyance, "We're at it again. We got another event to COLLABORATE with them."
He shoved whatever made it onto his spoon into his mouth and mashed the food in his mouth without closing it.
"Sounds tough," I said in monotone, not really sympathizing with him at all.
Sorry, but because I wasn't there when you talked with each other, your sob story doesn't really mean anything to me.
"And now, he's trying to involve everyone again. And by everyone I mean colleges, universities, middle schools, and elementary schools. Aw geez!"
My brother slammed down his spoon and ruffled up his own hair in frustration. Was such an act popular with boys now?
"What the hell's a community event anyway? What's with the need to spread PEACE AND PROSPERITY to our CITY FELLOWS? Won't corporate slaves feel the most comfort sitting down at home instead of walking and standing outside all day?" my brother lamented and flailed loudly.
"There he goes again..." I tiredly spoke.
"I don't want to do this at all..." he spoke, simmering down.
Without spirit, he resumed eating his meal in peace. After a few bites, his lethargic pace began speeding up.
"Oh, this is quite good," he commented between gratuitous bites.
It seemed that he already brightened up. His previous frown had already spread into a curry-covered smile.
"Onii-chan, you're way too simple," I said with unamused eyes, "So, what did you need me for? Helping out with cooking like last time?"
"It would be great if you could, but you'll also need to take care of the kids," my brother explained, "Tamanawa's got the elementary school kids to do something for us again, and, given the success of the Christmas event, even more kids are joining in. We desperately need help."
"Practice for another play?" I asked.
"Well, yeah. I don't even know what it is yet, though. We'll decide tomorrow in a meeting."
"How does me not having school tomorrow tie into this?"
"So that we can meet up as soon as possible for the meeting and so that everyone involved can get a good idea of what's going on. And don't you want to take another look around the school that you'll be at for the next three years?"
My brother smirked at me as he said those words.
I groaned, "I don't really know if I'll get in."
"No, you'll definitely get in," he assured, "My geniusness has surely rubbed off on you. And take a look at Yuigahama. I know you're at least three times as intelligent as her, if not seven times."
"Even though I should be happy about what you said, I'm feeling a lot of pity for Yui-san right now," I said as I placed my face in my hand.
The two of us got more into the meal after that, and the conversation began to wither. Even so, spending time with another person, even in silence, seriously makes your heart feel light and bouncy. That's a good thing too because if my brother ever finds some time alone with Yukino-san, I bet those two will exchange a maximum of twenty words, given how the two of them are.
Once my plate became clearer and my belly stretched more, I once again opened my mouth for a reason other than swallowing.
"By the way, Onii-chan, a lot of the requests that you've been doing these days are for the student council. Is there a reason why?" I asked out of curiosity.
He shrugged and spoke in exasperation, "Don't ask me. Who knows what's going on in Isshiki's head."
"The student council president? Sure doesn't sound so hot for a person like that to be relying on you guys so much."
"Even if she doesn't have a request, Isshiki always manages to sneak out of the student council and go to the Service Club for no reason. Weird girl."
I spoke with a low voice, "Wasn't it your idea to have her become president? Take responsibility, Onii-chan."
"Please. She's been telling me the same thing over and over," my brother said with a cynical laugh.
"Train her then."
For some reason my brother widened his eyes and stumbled specifically at that phrase.
"T-Training skills, right," he spoke hesitantly.
By this point in time, both of us had completely cleared our plates. I stood up and began gathering everything up to bring to the sink.
My brother stood up as well, blocked my hands with his, and said "Hang on, I got this."
"No, no. You must be tired, you poor thing," I spoke in an exaggeratedly grating voice, "Onii-chan, last time they were waaaaay too dirty after you tried washing them. Like, I put my finger on a spoon and it was still oily."
The kind of things that my brother were good mostly involved thinking, rather than doing. That was one of the reasons why he was pretty smart and why the kind of club he's in suited him, for the most part, decently. It's just that he tends to half-ass things when it came to manual labour. It's why he has never kept a part time job for very long.
"Leave it to Komachi!" I triumphantly exclaimed.
I beamed at him to show that I truly was okay with doing it all. He nodded.
"In that case, if you need me, I need to keep Vita-chan company after neglecting her for so long," said my brother.
"Yeah, yeah, go on and play video games while this poor little sister slaves away for the lazy older brother," I said while shooing him away with flicking gestures.
"Why are you contradicting yourself? But hey, to work is to lose, and I'm always up for working less."
With that worthless final comment, he exited the room. Rapid stomping echoed from the stairwell, revealing just how trashy my older brother was for wanting to play video games so badly. But wait, I like playing video games too, so does that means I'm trash as well? Oh no, Komachi is going down the wrong path!
I piled up the larger things to be washed like the pot beside the sink, while I chucked the smaller utensils like forks into the sink. I filled the sink with water and mixed it with soap until it was nice and frothy.
"Uh, I don't really like doing things like this very much either," I muttered to myself.
But hey! If it was my role, if it was something that I could do, if it was something that no one else could do, then I would gladly take it up. I kinda wanted to reliable like that. I wanted to make sure that Hikigaya Komachi was a person who could not only stand up on her own, but also use her own power to support others when necessary.
I wanted to make sure that even if something really troublesome arises, I would definitely be able to help get rid of that troublesome thing. I don't want to feel powerless. Not again.
I began washing the dishes and putting the washed dishes in the alternate sink to be rinsed later. When those are rinsed, I will neatly arrange them on the rack with sufficient space between everything so that drying is faster. Tidiness and cleanliness are wonderful things. It's good if everything is in order.
Swishy swish. With a dishwater-soaked towel in hand, I wiped a spoon from top to bottom. While it was formerly laden with chunks of meat and drenched with the sauce of the curry, it was now completely shiny and clean.
I am so good at this. I could do this all day.
Wait, didn't I just say to myself that I hated doing something like this? But once I got going, it doesn't seem so bad anymore, and I would even feel frustrated if I had to abruptly stop and do something else for some reason. I-Is this kind of mental momentum why corporate slaves aren't super dissatisfied with their boring jobs? I think I might understand why my brother desperately hates working so much.
Speaking of my brother, he sure has become more and more meddlesome over the past year. That's almost fully due to his club activities, but I'm sure he could have refused way more requests. Yet, he hasn't had a huge rejection rate, from what I've heard from him anyway.
There's just one little thing that I feel is a bit wrong, though.
Isshiki Iroha.
That name has started to leak out of my brother's mouth every now and then, and with increasing frequency. It's the same with Yui-san and Yukino-san, but I definitely felt that there was something different with regards to Isshiki.
Just who exactly was Isshiki anyway? What was she really like? I only knew her name, her position at their high school, that she was a year younger than my brother, and, from my brother's vague descriptions, that she was rather sly, mischievous and cute. Yet, way back, he had once described her as uncute as well. I've also only seen her once or twice as I helped out during the Christmas event, but I didn't speak to her at all and I thought nothing of it at the time.
Images popped into my head. A girl clinging on to the arm of my brother. A girl playfully slapping his shoulder as he frowned in displeasure. A girl looking depressed, followed by my brother offering her a few ridiculous words that would have not been comforting to any other person.
Those images were unpleasant.
They were not in the least bit unique.