A.N. (7/21/21) - I swear, this will be the last chapter for a while.

Chapter 3 - The Next Bell Rings

"Isuzu," her mother's loud voice called out to her. "Wake up, you don't want to be late for school."

Groaning to herself, she forced herself out of bed and groggily made her way towards the bathroom. Before she could reach for the knob, the door opened and her bother sidestepped past her as he left the room. Ignoring his half-naked state, Isuzu entered and closed the door shut behind her.

"Are you half asleep moron!?" The doors opened again as she tossed her brother's clothes out of the room. Shutting the door once more, she began preparing for the day.

Mornings in the Miyamura household were early due to the busy schedule of their parents. While their father always left early to check on the shop, their mother always made time for the two of them by making breakfast for the day. It wouldn't be until they left for school would their mother finally join their father in serving customers for the next couple of hours.

Izumi was already halfway finished with his own meal at the table. She smiled as she sat down and began quickly consuming the small meal her mother prepared for her. The woman sighed at that.

"Slow down or you'll choke."

Isuzu nodded and relaxed her pace. "Thanks for the food."

Truthfully, Isuzu always thought that their mother didn't need to stay behind in the mornings for them. Maybe she just felt guilty of the fact that they were sometimes neglected because of their busy schedule. Not that either sibling truly thought that was the case, but it was Isuzu's best hypothesis for why their mother always insisted on cooking them breakfast.

Well, it was somewhat true that the two siblings were forced to grow up quickly due to their absence. Nowadays, Isuzu often alternated cooking dinner between her brother and herself. Other household chores were also taken care of by them while their parents were away, so it could be said that the two siblings were quite independent.

Both of them finished their meals and moved to the sink to drop their bowls.

"I'm off. See ya later!" "Bye Mom!"

The two of them left for school together.

}-{

"Later, Big Bro."

Izumi blinked as he saw her get up from her seat. "You're going somewhere?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I made a new friend yesterday at the bookstore. She's a girl in our year, and we made plans to meet up at lunch."

He blinked. "Well, have fun I guess."

Waving him goodbye, Isuzu began making her way towards the direction of Kouno's class. The two had decided to meet up there first before figuring out where to eat next. Not only that, but Kouno also wanted to introduce Isuzu to her friend.

While the girls in her class weren't exactly unlikable, it was hard for Isuzu to see herself as anything more than friendly acquaintances with them. If it was just working together for school projects or some casual small talk, then they would be fine. But anything closer than that, and Isuzu thought it would be a bit more difficult.

That was why she was on her way to Kouno's class since they seemed to hit it off pretty well yesterday. And while she hasn't met Kouno's friend yet, Isuzu assumed that they would be a pretty cool person too.

Also, she was still aware that she could be a bit overbearing while around her brother. Since the argument yesterday was still fresh on her mind, she was hoping that giving him some space would help him feel better. Though that plan was only a temporary thing since Isuzu was still planning on having her brother get involved in things more.

Opening the door to Class 1-1, she called out in a loud voice, "Kouno-san, I'm here!"

"Ah, Miyamura-san!"

The girl waved at her from where she sat, and Isuzu's eyes were immediately drawn to the girl standing next to her. She blinked as she saw the hot pink hair.

The heck? Is that dyed? There's no way that's natural, right?

"Ah, I haven't introduced my friend yet." She gestured towards the girl with pink hair. "This is Remi, my best friend."

The other girl gave a cute smile and waved at her. Meanwhile, Isuzu was having several thoughts as she took in the appearance of the person in front of her.

There was no doubt in Isuzu's mind that she was a part of the main cast. And by that extension, that probably meant that Kouno was also part of the Horimiya story.

"Nice to meet you," Remi said. "My full name's Remi Ayasaki. You're Izuma Miyamura, right? I heard about you and your brother from the other students."

Kouno looked confused at that. "Brother?"

"Ah, yeah." She gave a sheepish laugh. "My brother and I are twins, and I guess it's pretty rare for similar-looking siblings to attend school together. Since it might be confusing referring to either one of us, it's fine if you just call me by my first name."

"Then you should call us by our first names too," Remi said. "Right, Sakura?"

"U-Um," Kouno - no, Sakura - said. "Alright then, it's nice to meet you Isuzu-san."

"You can drop the '-san' part if you want," Isuzu said. "Is it okay if I just call you Sakura?"

She gave a smile at that. "Yes, there's no problem."

"Alright, are you two going to eat here?"

"We're thinking of moving to the courtyard," Sakura said. "Oh, do you still need to buy lunch first? We can wait if that's the case."

"No, that's alright." She gestured towards the bento in her hands. "I brought something from home this time."

"Alright then," Remi began pulling Sakura's arm and the three of them moved outside. Sitting down at a bench, Kouno sat in the middle while the other two took the seats next to her.

Remi spoke while they ate. "So, we should probably get to know each other more."

"I guess," Isuzu said as took a bite out of her sandwich. "All I know about Sakura is that she and I like the same genres of manga. It's pretty hard to find someone who has similar tastes."

"Erm," Sakura raised a finger at that. "Is it okay if you not talk about that at school? I don't want my classmates to know that I read manga."

She blinked at that. "Oh, so you're a closet fan?"

"Not really," Sakura said. "It's just that a plain-looking girl like me doesn't look like the type to read shonen manga."

"Hey," Remi whined. "What did I say about downplaying yourself like that."

Isuzu frowned. "Listen up, there is nothing wrong about a young lady liking manga. As Japanese citizens, we should take pride in enjoying one of the reasons why our country is a cultural superpower."

With her free hand, she quickly pulled out and opened up her phone before tapping away at the keys at an incredible speed. Flipping it around, she showed the screen to the girl sitting next to her.

"According to a JETRO* 2005 report following up the 'Cool Japan' strategy, it was noted that Japan's soft power is now mainly powered by our fields of animation, pop music, and the publications of both magazines and manga. In the case of manga, the distribution, translation, and publication of select popular titles has made it so that it has gained a well-received reputation amongst foreigners with popular success overseas."

She dropped her phone in Kouno's shocked hands and threw her arms out. "Manga itself is synonymous with Japan, with attempts to replicate it overseas netting mixed results. It is a part of our cultural identity and an aspect that we should embrace without fear of rejection for liking it."

"Um…"

Well, Isuzu could also see why Kouno was worried. The toxic stigma against certain fans of otaku culture was a widespread fear that made it difficult for some students to openly express interest in their hobbies. But that wasn't Kouno's problem, since she was just a casual reader at best who took a small enjoyment from reading weekly magazines.

"Just reading Weekly Shinobi isn't enough to justify it as a dirty hobby that needs to be kept out of sight. Honestly, I have a one out of three chance of hitting a fan of the serial if I threw a stone at a random classmate."

She gave an angelic smile, causing the other two girls to stare at her in a daze.

"All readers of manga shouldn't feel ashamed of liking it. Even if you are not brave enough to express your interests, you should never feel like it is a bad thing to like manga. Whether it's shonen, shojo, seinen, josei, or more. Because we are all Japanese, and thus, we are MANGA!"

Seeing her suddenly standing up in a pose as if proclaiming the heavens, the only response she got from them was a stunned silence.

She coughed embarrassingly and sat down. "Well, I'll respect your wishes if you want to hide your hobby."

Remi sweatdropped. "You're excitable, aren't you Isuzu?"

Sakura gave an awkward laugh. "Maybe the right term is passionate. I certainly wasn't expecting you to cite an official report like that out of nowhere."

"Ahahaha," Isuzu smiled back. "To tell you the truth, that was one of my references when I tried to help a classmate with recruitment for her literature club in my old middle school. Since the best way to recruit any members was to appeal to the masses, I did a bit of research into popular media and emphasized light novel culture."

Remi's eyes widened. "Oh, speaking of which. Are either of you thinking of joining any clubs soon?"

"Erm, not really," Sakura admitted. "I'm not interested in any of the sports clubs. And other than the cooking club, I'm not sure what else looks good."

"I haven't given it much thought either," Isuzu admitted. "I don't even know what clubs are good at Katagiri. Do you know any, Remi?"

"Honestly, there aren't any good clubs here." Remi shrugged her shoulders. "Unlike other schools, there's not a lot of pressure for students to enroll to look good on their transcripts. Maybe it's because of that, but that means that this school has a lot of 'hobby' clubs instead."

"Well, that's not strictly true," Sakura said. "There's a small percentage of students here who manage to get into good colleges. Most of those students would join the student administration instead of a club to look good on their transcripts."

"Administration?" Isuzu's eyes widened. "You mean like the student council or something?"

"Isn't it mostly second-years that join the council?" Remi asked. "Or rather, are you thinking about joining the student council Sakura?"

"Yes," she said. "It's something that I thought about in the past. I'm interested in seeing if there are any positions open to even freshmen."

She blinked after saying that. "Ah, but if there are any other clubs that look interesting, I might join those instead."

A memory flashed by Isuzu's mind as she finally recalled who Sakura and Remi were. If memory served her right, the two were supposedly members of the student council in the future.

Unless things changed, then it was likely that Remi and Sakura would join the council. Not that there was any need to do anything about that.

}-{

After school ended, Isuzu wanted to make up for leaving Izumi alone by treating him to something to eat. The two went to a nearby family restaurant and ordered a standard hamburger meal for each of them.

"You made some friends?"

"Yeah," Isuzu replied. "They're both from Class 1-1. So far, they seem nice. Remi apparently likes novels more than manga, but we managed to discuss a few genres together. She recommended a few books for me to read."

He smiled contently at that. "Good, it's nice to hear that you're finally making friends."

She paused in the middle of taking a bite before turning to stare at him. "Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Erm…" her brother began to stammer. "Well, it's something that our parents and I have talked about. You don't exactly have many friends, Isuzu."

She scowled. "I have plenty of friends."

"No, you have 'friendly acquaintances' at best." Her brother said that while holding up finger quotes to emphasize her own words against her. "You don't hang out after school with anyone, and you never tell Mom and Dad any stories of what you do at school for fun. You pretty much just head straight home and read manga or play games all day."

She blinked. That wasn't true, was it?

Well, now that she thought about it when was the last time she was ever invited out to a social event? Was it the class karaoke that her class did for graduation? And before that, maybe that one time she finished a group project with a couple of classmates… back in her first year of junior high.

Okay, maybe she was seeing her brother's point.

Izumi began to mutter to himself. "Still, to make friends with people from another class."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Isuzu replied. "Once you get to know them, then it's a lot easier to talk to them. Since I met Sakura outside of school, it was a lot easier to befriend her."

He nodded at that before switching the topic. "Anyway, I was wondering for a while. You're pretty low on cash, aren't you?"

Her eye twitched. "Yes, I've been spending a bit much recently. What of it?"

"Mom's been asking this morning if either one of us wanted to help out in the shop," he answered. "Either helping with the baking itself or just with the register. We'll get a standard part-timer's pay if we work hours."

Huh, they must have talked about that while she was still busy prepping for the day.

Thinking it over, Isuzu realized that it was a pretty appealing idea. Until now, she's mostly relied on savings or allowances to fund her hobbies. But having an actual part-time job would not only give her some experience for working but also act as a small source of income. Even if it was just working at her parent's shop.

"I'm guessing you're also thinking of helping out?"

He nodded. "I'm still too inexperienced to get involved in the main baking process, but I can help out with other small stuff at least."

"Are we working same shift days or alternate ones?"

"Alternate days," he replied. "We can split it down half the week each, which is perfect since the bakery is only open six out of seven days."

Well, she was convinced. "Fine, but you're taking the weekend shift."

"Heh, nice try." He smirked at her. "Our alternating days are also moved around, we both take turns doing the weekend shift every other week. Since our mother's the manager, don't think you can escape from it."

Ugh. She made her displeasure about that known by throwing a crumpled napkin at him, causing him to laugh in response.

}-{

The two finished their stay at the restaurant and began making their way home. Entering the elevator, a voice called outright as the doors began to close.

"Ah, wait up!"

Izumi quickly stuck a foot in the gap, causing the automatic safety to activate and retracting the doors. A boy their age quickly made his way through while giving them a grateful look.

"Thanks for the help."

"No problem," Izumi said. "I know how long it takes to wait for the lift to return to the ground. It's better if you just head on up with us."

Isuzu nodded in agreement but stayed quiet as she leaned against the wall behind her. Now that she got a good look at the other person, she blinked as she realized that he looked quite similar to her brother.

Maybe if her brother cut her hair and was a bit taller, then the two of them might actually be mistaken for brothers. Which was a little ironic on her part, given that she was Izumi's twin sister.

"What floor are you headed to?"

"The seventh."

"Hey," Izumi's face brightened. "That's the same floor we're going to."

The lift soon opened and all of them exited. The boy continued to walk alongside them for a few seconds before they all stopped before their respective doors.

She blinked. "Oh, so we're neighbors."

"Huh," the boy said. "Well, I guess this is our first time meeting. My name's Akinori Sawada." He quickly gave them a polite bow. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Izumi said with a bow of his own. "My name's Izumi Miyamura, and this is my sister Isuzu."

Isuzu also bowed. "Hello there."

The three of them stood around not knowing what else to do. It was Isuzu who spoke first.

"Well, nice meeting you."

The other boy quickly responded. "Yeah. See you another time, then."

Everyone quickly entered their respective apartments, and both of the Miyamura siblings gave out relieved sighs once they were inside. Both of them turned to stare at the other before bursting into laughter.

"That was so awkward," Izumi began. "I didn't know what to say."

"I never knew that there was a guy our age living next to us," Isuzu said. "I don't recognize his uniform. I guess he doesn't go to Katagiri."

"Yeah," Izumi muttered. "But we're probably going to run into him a lot if we both head to school at the same time. Might as well make sure we stay polite."

"Well, that's obvious."

The two stood around for a few seconds before her brother spoke. "Wanna play some video games together?"

She grinned. "Of course!"

And it wasn't until late into the night that they finally remembered to pause to make dinner. After bickering around over what to make for a dozen minutes, they finally found something quick to eat before going back to playing games together.

It was simple times like this that Isuzu was glad to have someone else to hang out with at home. Without Izumi, staying at home would have been a lonely experience with both parents always busy.

Although recalling their previous conversation, maybe that was also the problem. Since she always relied on her brother to entertain her, Isuzu never felt the need to hang out with her other classmates at school. And while that may not be the main reason for her brother, her presence might also have added to his reasons for not needing to befriending others.

Despite her brother's mistaken belief that she was an extrovert, Isuzu wasn't an outgoing and sociable person. Sure, she could play the part while in class. But at home, her real personality was that of a bratty and lazy girl. The only one who saw that side of her was her brother.

Her brother wore a mask that allowed him to hide his insecurity from others. But she wore a mask that allowed her to interact with others as well as to hide her own loneliness.

In that regard, they were exactly the same. Both couldn't express their true selves easily to others.

But, maybe that was alright. After all, she knew a side of her brother that nobody else knew about. And he knew a side of her that nobody else knew about either.

That was their relationship. They both shared a side of themselves that nobody else saw.

But that didn't mean that they couldn't still expand their social circles. Humans were complicated in that they had multiple parts that made them up. Just because she showed one side of herself to her brother, doesn't mean that he knew about the part of herself that she shared with Sakura or Remi.

Even though she wanted to keep her brother to herself, she knew in her heart that it was best for him if he got more friends to bond with. And the only hopes she had for achieving that were hidden within the depths of her past life's memories.

She had a plan in the works. But first, she needed to make contact with the other protagonist of the story.

Isuzu needed to talk to Kyoko Hori.

This will probably be the last chapter for a while. I wanted to write a good 10k words at least to get things started before taking a break.

So yeah, wait in anticipation for the next chapter when Isuzu meets Hori.

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Notes:

* (JETRO) stands for the Japan External Trade Organization. They provide several services such as promoting exports to other countries, market intelligence, encourage business between foreign companies and Japan, etc. The report in question is titled "Cool" Japan's Economy Warms Up and is available online to read.