C69 You Have to Do Your Own Homework!
This was only the second day of revision, yet Shion felt as though she had become an immortal.
As the white-haired girl followed her sister home, her soul seemed to lag two steps behind, detached from her body, her pace excruciatingly slow and her footsteps incredibly heavy.
“Sister!” Ayane patted Shion’s hair.
“If you don’t hurry up, you won’t have time to do your practice problems.”
Upon hearing this, Shion’s steps involuntarily faltered, and she turned her head, her legs carrying her towards the mountainside.
“Stupid Sister, where are you going?” Ayane stretched out a hand, trying to stop her sister.
“The shrine is this way!”
“I’m going to jump off a cliff and be right back.” Shion’s words were devoid of any emotion as she walked straight towards the mountainside.
For some reason, her strides towards the mountain seemed noticeably more agile than those towards the shrine.
“Stupid Sister! If you jump, I won’t have dinner tonight!” Ayane called out from behind Shion.
Hearing this, Shion finally turned back, sighing heavily as she dragged her legs forward step by agonizing step, embodying the peculiar grace of an automaton just learning to walk.
“Sister, cheer up! My stupid sister is the least stupid of all the stupid people!” Ayane patted Shion’s hair, simultaneously cheering her on.
“For some reason, your attempt to make me cheer up just makes me want to hit you.” Shion reached out, intending to give Ayane a tap on the head, but Ayane deftly dodged it.
‘Ah, that’s Ayane for you.’
‘She’ll definitely be amazing at action games in the future.’
‘After all, she can discern the direction of an attack just by seeing the wind-up of her sister’s strikes.’
‘Perhaps she could even become an incredibly popular gaming streamer or something.’
“How about I cook tonight then?” Ayane skipped up to her sister, giving her a playful wink.
“Out of concern for the protection of the Hoshimori family’s private property, and indeed the Hoshimori Shrine, a shared cultural heritage of the entire town, I must respectfully decline.” Shion’s refusal was utterly unequivocal.
“Then, Sister, hurry home, cook for me quickly, and then open your books and review!” Ayane made another face, then puffed out her impressive chest towards Shion.
“Sister, if you rank in the top hundred of your entire grade, you’ll earn the right to freely caress your sister for a whole day! What do you say?”
Shion gazed at Ayane’s chest, which seemed almost too snug even for her school uniform, and swallowed hard.
To be honest, she was more than a little tempted.
That was something even her current self didn’t possess!
“Hmph, I’m merely doing this so I can attend the same university as Ayane later, and not disappoint her.” Shion deliberately turned her head away, refusing to look at Ayane’s proud display of the “weapon” she had so well-nourished.
“Eh? Stupid Sister, countless people in our class are waiting for an opportunity like yours, you know.” Ayane took two envelopes from her bag and waved them in front of Shion.
“I’ve already received several love letters, and it’s only been a month and a half since high school started.”
Shion snatched the envelopes from her sister’s hand.
This time, Ayane didn’t dodge, simply allowing Shion to take them, then watched as she tossed both letters into a nearby trash can.
“What kind of punk thinks they can like my sister?” Shion clapped her hands with a sense of satisfaction, wishing she could erase every trace of the letters having ever been in her possession.
“Unless they can beat me, there’s no way!”
“Isn’t it easy to beat a stupid sister?” Ayane walked forward, step by step.
“Though I wasn’t planning on giving them such an opportunity anyway.”
Summer was drawing to a close with the cultural festival, and the warm breeze of late summer swept across the stairs the two girls had ascended, gently lifting the hems of their school uniforms and Ayane’s long white hair.
Ayane suddenly turned back, smiling as she looked at her sister.
The sunlight, still suspended in the sky, was no longer scorching, leaving only a faint warmth.
The golden glow of the approaching sunset fell upon Ayane’s face, making her look breathtakingly beautiful, her fair skin seeming to shimmer with a delicate, rippling light.
“After all, I can’t possibly leave my stupid sister unsupervised.”
With that, Ayane took Shion’s hand and began to jog towards the shrine.
“Hey, hey, hey? Why are you running so fast? Be careful not to fall!”
“I’m waiting for dinner! Hurry back and cook for me, Stupid Sister!”
Watching her sister playfully jog ahead, a sudden warmth bloomed in Shion’s heart.
It was as if, living like this, might actually be quite wonderful.
****
‘Wonderful, my foot!’
After Shion finished dinner and washed the dishes, she found herself back at her desk under Ayane’s watchful eye, confronted by a vast expanse of problems she utterly failed to comprehend.
At that moment, she was already entertaining the thought, ‘Perhaps I should just go outside, find an evil spirit, bash my head against it, and get a game over.’
An hour had passed since Shion began grappling with these monstrous questions.
Ayane, having long finished her own homework, sat on Shion’s bed, flipping through a book page by page.
Her purpose in standing guard was simple: to prevent her sister from using her phone to ask Sakuya for homework answers.
However, whether due to staying up too late last night or simply being too exhausted, as Shion was still scratching her head in frustration, she suddenly heard a faint snoring sound from behind her.
Ayane lay on the bed, a book covering her face, Shion’s phone cradled against her chest, fast asleep.
‘A perfect opportunity!’ Shion thought.
‘Now was the ideal time to grab the phone and ask Sakuya for the homework answers!’
Shion tiptoed to her feet and approached her sister.
Her phone rose and fell with Ayane’s even breaths, resting on her chest.
Shion reached out and grasped her phone, but simultaneously, she felt something soft beneath her touch.
“Meow~” Ayane, lying on the bed, let out a husky sigh.
‘Ah, it seemed to be a cat’s meow after all.’
The moment Shion realized what she had touched, her face flushed crimson, and she quickly withdrew her hand.
Initially intending to give up, she glanced back at the homework on her desk…
‘Today, even if I die here, I’m getting that phone to copy the homework!’
Embracing what felt like a do-or-die determination, Shion reached out again, clutching the phone tightly.
Though Ayane was asleep, her grip remained surprisingly firm, forcing Shion to use a bit more strength.
However, the slight increase in Shion’s force pressed against Ayane’s chest, and though still seemingly asleep, Ayane’s body involuntarily trembled slightly, her breathing quickened, and her soft sighs began to flutter uncontrollably.
“Stupid Ayane, are you trying to seduce your sister?” Shion braced herself against the bed with one hand, forcefully pulling the phone from Ayane’s embrace with the other.
Her hand brushed against Ayane’s chest, and the soft sensation made Shion herself begin to feel hot all over.
Not until another husky sigh escaped Ayane’s lips did Shion finally manage to pry the phone from her grasp.
By then, Shion herself was flushed and warm, watching as Ayane’s already loose clothing became even more disheveled from the struggle to retrieve the phone…
The girl took a deep breath and opened her phone.
‘Stupid, stupid, that’s your own sister!’ she chastised herself, rapidly typing a distress message to Sakuya for homework help, all while trying to compose herself.
Afterward, she still pulled the blanket over Ayane.
Soon after, Sakuya’s reply arrived.
[If you want to get good grades, you have to do your own homework!]
‘Damn it!’