“I say, big sister…”
Ayane leaned close to Shion, her gaze scrutinizing. Shion’s dark circles this morning were so prominent, they made her look like she was attempting a panda cosplay. Shion, however, merely let out a colossal yawn, completely oblivious to Ayane’s suspicious expression. The morning sun was exceptionally dazzling today; its radiant glow made Shion feel lethally sleepy, and the azure sky, devoid of even a wisp of cloud, forced her to shield her eyes as she walked. Otherwise, she was certain to doze off on this short walk to school.
Shion resolved then and there: she would simply catch up on sleep during class today! Yes, no studying for now…
“What exactly were you doing last night, big sister? You were out with Iori-san so late. You didn’t go looking for her again in the middle of the night, did you?” Ayane stared at her sister, her suspicion deepening.
‘You…’ Shion’s yawn was abruptly choked back by Ayane’s words, almost making her bite her tongue.
Shion extended a small hand and gently poked Ayane’s head. “Ayane, have you been watching too many short videos on your phone lately? And have you already skipped past BG to start watching yuri?”
Ayane stuck out her tongue playfully. “It’s not my fault, big sister! You were making so much noise in your room last night!”
“That…” Shion was momentarily speechless. It was true; last night, Shion had expended a tremendous amount of effort just to slightly weaken the mark on her wrist. To avoid disturbing Ayane, she had even fashioned a handkerchief into a makeshift gag to quiet herself. Yet, the sounds of her falling off the bed several times still managed to bother Ayane. Though, to Ayane’s credit, she hadn’t actually come over to see what was happening.
“I had a nightmare last night and accidentally fell off the bed once,” Shion quickly offered as an excuse. She couldn’t very well tell her sister that she had absorbed all the evil spirits from Iori Shigure and Iori Grandma, could she?
“Honestly, big sister, do be careful.” Despite the flimsiness of the excuse, Ayane surprisingly believed her and didn’t press for further details.
“Really… I’m so sleepy! Ayane, I’m calling dibs on tonight’s homework—let me copy it…”
“No way! Tonight, even if it means missing my evening drama, I’m going to watch you write every single answer!”
“Wuwuwu, life, can’t you just spare me this once…?”
****
Ten minutes later, the two girls arrived at the door of Class A: one, full of vibrant energy and skipping along; the other, brimming with resentment and trudging laboriously.
“I’ll head in first, Ayane, you…”
Before Shion could even finish her temporary farewell to Ayane, a blonde girl burst out and threw her arms around Shion.
“Shion-san! M-my grandma is better! The doctor said to observe her for one more day, and if there are no issues, she can be discharged!” Iori Shigure, practically wiping her snot and tears onto Shion’s school uniform, her voice trembling with excitement.
“Oh! That’s, that’s good… *cough, cough*, Iori-san, I-I can’t breathe!”
“Ah, I’m so sorry!” Shigure quickly released her, then caught sight of Ayane’s expression, which looked as if she were watching a ghost story unfold. The blonde girl immediately reverted to her naturally shy and introverted self, quickly bowing her head to apologize to both Ayane and Shion. “I’m so sorry! I-I was just too excited…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine…” Shion patted her chest, finally catching her breath.
“Iori-san’s grandma is better? Congratulations.” Ayane spoke unhurriedly. While she genuinely seemed happy about Iori Grandma’s recovery, Shigure’s actions just now had certainly made Ayane’s face darken for a moment.
Shigure, though shy, was not oblivious. She could tell Ayane’s tone was a little off. She quickly bowed again, then scurried back into the Class A classroom.
“Well then, Ayane, I’m going to go catch up on some sleep in class. Ah, I’m so tired…” Shion yawned, waving a hand at Ayane. Just as she was about to step into the classroom, her right hand was suddenly grabbed by Ayane. Turning around, she met Ayane’s now somewhat resentful gaze.
“Big sister, you *must* eat lunch with me today,” Ayane declared, as if issuing an order. “You’re not, you’re not allowed to disappear on me again!”
Well, it wasn’t *like* an order; it was a sister’s most direct command to her older sister.
“Alright, I’ll listen to you,” Shion readily agreed. “I’ll make your favorite lunch. A special compensation for coming home so late last night and leaving you hungry for so long.”
“Hmph, that’s more like it.” Ayane received the satisfactory reply she sought, and left contentedly.
Upon returning to her seat, Iori Shigure’s face was already as red as if it had been stained with peach water. She covered her face, then, feeling that wasn’t thorough enough, directly buried her head under her desk.
“Iori-san, is your grandma’s illness really better?” Shion turned around, gently rubbing Shigure’s hair. “That’s wonderful news, then.”
“Ahhh, it’s so embarrassing! I-I was really just too excited to see Shion-san! The thought of my grandma being well, and Shion-san appearing before me so healthy, just made me so happy!” Shigure’s words came out in a rapid rush. “But, but were a lot of people watching just now? It’s so embarrassing…”
“It’s fine, we arrived relatively early today… *Haaah*~” As she spoke, Shion let out another huge yawn. “Iori-san, I spent a tremendous amount of effort last night to expel some of the evil spirit aura. At this rate, I’ll be completely fine in about a week, so please don’t worry.”
“Really?” Shigure lifted her head, her eyes sparkling. “That’s, that’s wonderful! Shion-san being alright is the best news!”
“But speaking of which…” Shigure suddenly remembered something. “Shion-san, the Autumn Festival is starting in a few days, isn’t it? When I walked you home yesterday, I already saw them getting busy with preparations.”
“Ahhh! Seriously, the Autumn Festival, it’s really…” Shion had almost completely forgotten about it. These past two days, she had been so engrossed in resolving Iori Shigure’s curse that she had completely overlooked the Autumn Festival. Without Shion, the central figure, to make decisions, Kujou Sakuya and Igarashi Rie were hesitant to proceed on their own. As a result, there had been almost no progress on the shrine’s stall preparations these past few days.
She scratched her head. However, even though this was still a rather troubling matter… its importance still couldn’t outweigh, sleep. Last night, she had exerted immense effort to strip the evil spirit aura from her body. Today, she would forgive herself and just succumb to sleep.
‘Yes, just for a little while…’