When I awoke, half of the lunch break had already passed. Outside the window, the sunlight was perfect, truly inviting for an outing. From here, climbing to the school rooftop allowed one to stand on tiptoes and gaze at the azure sea. The midday ocean, no doubt, would be sparkling and shimmering under the brilliant sun.
As Shion finally roused herself, she rubbed her eyes, finding Shigure gazing at her with a deeply worried expression.
“Shion-chan, lunch break will be over in just fifteen minutes,” Shigure said, reaching out to gently poke her hair. “If you don’t eat now, you won’t have time once classes start.”
“Ah… wh-what…?” Shion, still groggy, stretched languidly. For some reason, a dull ache resonated throughout her entire body, as if she had just endured a severe beating.
“Well, ah, Shion-chan, please eat first. Ayane-chan already opened your bento box for you. And… she also took a few pieces of meat.” Shigure seemed to sense her words were slightly amiss, quickly adding, “Ah, I’ve given some of my meat to Shion-chan! So you’ll definitely be full today!”
“Ah, thank you, Iori-san…” Shion stammered, then her eyes widened. “Wait, Ayane was just here?!” she asked, belatedly realizing the implications.
Shigure nodded. “Yes, she came over as soon as class ended. She sat right next to you, and while eating, she kept hitting you with her hand.”
‘Hitting me while eating, huh…’
Shion briefly imagined Ayane’s rhythmic assault: shoveling rice with her left hand, punching with her right, and then, as an afterthought, pilfering several pieces of meat from her bento.
Lost in thought, Shion opened her bento box.
‘Damn it, she took all the hamburger steak I saved this morning! It was a rare day I hadn’t opted for vegetarian onigiri today, instead preparing a proper, exquisite lunch! If Shigure hadn’t saved a few pieces of meat for me, I would have been stuck with just rice and plain bok choy!’
‘This is no ordinary sister; I have to retaliate with full force!’
****
After what felt like an eternity, the afternoon school day finally concluded.
This afternoon, she had actually paid attention in class—even if she hadn’t understood a single thing, she had certainly put in the effort! Shion, feeling a sense of accomplishment, packed her belongings. After bidding Shigure farewell, she slung her school bag over her shoulder, ready to head back to the shrine.
She had barely taken two steps out of the classroom when a flash of blue streaked past. Before Shion could even turn to dodge, the two girls collided head-on in the bustling corridor.
“Ahhh, ouch, ouch, ouch…” a voice groaned, then perked up. “Huh? Shion-chan?”
Shion continued to rub her aching head. First, her sister had pummeled her, and now this high-speed collision. ‘Good heavens, today is truly cursed,’ she thought ruefully.
Then, she recognized the culprit: those aqua-blue eyes, and the girl who, after tumbling to the floor, had nonchalantly splayed her legs, utterly oblivious to the fact that she was wearing a skirt.
“Kazama-chan! Why are you running so fast?!” Shion chided.
“I’m just busy stocking up for the Autumn Festival, you know,” Nanami said, sticking out her tongue playfully. “Ah, it’s all for the shrine’s little treasury, so don’t worry about it, Shion-chan.”
“Stocking up? Now? No, Kazama-chan, aren’t you supposed to be selling salmon at the festival?”
“That’s right,” Nanami confirmed, nodding and blinking her large, aqua-blue eyes.
“Then… what exactly does ‘stocking up’ entail?”
“It means… going fishing right now, of course! The Autumn Festival is this weekend. If we catch the fish now and freeze them, they’ll be perfectly fresh for the festival.” Nanami shook a box she held in her hand. “By the way, want to come along? The Capybara-go has been remodeled, you know.”
“Now? But I…”
“Oh, E-Class has a big cleanup today, and Ayane-chan is on duty. I just came from E-Class,” Nanami said, instantly discerning Shion’s unspoken concern.
“No problem, let’s go!”
Her ‘heavy punch’ would be to come home late tonight, forcing her sister to wait, hungry, for half an hour after her duties before she could start cooking dinner. This was, in Shion’s estimation, the most impactful retaliation she could inflict upon her own sister.
It had been a long time since she had last visited the seaside. The afternoon sun was perfect, its light falling upon the ocean like millions of diamonds, more brilliant than any star, scattered across a vast blue canvas. Yet, against such an expansive sea, the tiny Capybara-go seemed truly minuscule.
Some time had passed since Shion last boarded the Capybara-go. Compared to when Nanami first invited her for a fishing boat excursion, the vessel had undergone numerous comfort-oriented modifications. Several chairs and cushions had been installed for passengers, and the cabin was now amply stocked with various snacks.
Shion casually grabbed a box of potato chips and settled onto one of the chairs.
“Let’s go! Today’s goal is to catch enough salmon for us to sell at the Autumn Festival!” Nanami declared, her voice bubbling with excitement. She floored the accelerator, and the small boat shot forward like an arrow from a bow, racing towards the azure horizon.
Despite Nanami’s additions of comfortable seating to the Capybara-go, the moment she floored the accelerator, Shion was already filled with regret.
For some inexplicable reason, Nanami’s vehicles possessed a peculiar magic. Whether she was speeding on a motorcycle through town or leisurely steering a fishing boat across the sea, as long as Nanami was at the helm…
Shion would inevitably feel her stomach churn violently.
‘Three times, three whole times! This is the third time I’ve ridden Nanami’s boat! Hoshimori Shion, you never learn!’ Shion fiercely admonished herself internally.
By the time she started feeling genuinely unwell, Nanami’s boat had already sailed so far that the shoreline was barely a blur. Turning back now would be quite the ordeal.
“Hmm, let me see, it’s this direction…” Nanami murmured, studying the sea chart as she gripped the boat’s steering wheel.
To ward off the creeping seasickness, Shion desperately needed a distraction. ‘Right, the potato chips in my hand,’ she thought. ‘Their flavor should help dilute this nauseous feeling.’
With that thought, Shion tore open the box and popped a single chip into her mouth.
Shion nearly spewed out the chip, along with everything else in her stomach.
‘This box of potato chips… it’s wasabi yogurt flavored!’
‘This was supposed to be Ayane’s box of hellish cuisine, wasn’t it?!’
“Heavens, Kazama-chan, can’t you prepare some normal snacks?!” Shion exclaimed, wiping her mouth as she shouted indignantly at Nanami.
Strangely, however, Nanami was scratching her head. After a long moment, she finally replied, “Oh, snacks… Uh, there should be others under the seat, Shion-chan, you can check. I’m trying to find the fishing ground, damn it, I definitely placed buoys…”
As she watched Nanami scratch her head, Shion’s gaze suddenly fell upon the sea chart spread before her.
“Kazama-chan,” Shion ventured slowly, “is your sea chart… upside down?”
“Eh, eh, eh???”