Chapter 15: Sister’s distance

” Mother,……, is thinking of getting a divorce.”

“…… Really?”

The day I swore revenge on my father and sister.

My mother came home and told me such a story.

It sounds like a push back. I was trying to figure out how I was going to protect my mom, but I think a divorce will do the trick. I feel like God is blessing me for her decision. More than anything, listening to Mom’s voice soothes me. It was unbearably painful earlier, but now that she’s home, I’m okay.

I wonder if something happened with my father.

I’m worried that he might have hurt her.

“In terms of timing, I’m thinking of timing it around Nagisa’s graduation from college. …… If Ryosuke stays home until then, will you come with me?”

“Yeah, I’m with you.”

It was a natural decision.

The next three days passed.

At school, I was still treated in a condescending manner.

Mai seemed to have gotten used to it, but I was totally uncomfortable.

The student council president and my older sister have been absent from school for a long time.

As for the younger sister, I haven’t even seen her face since she seems to be locked up in her room.

She is a goldfish of my older sister who can’t think for herself and act for herself.

I thought she was a helpless and pathetic sister, but …… I never thought that Nagisa was the best one.

My classmates are all acting like they want my forgiveness, and Kirishima keeps coming to me every day apologizing and saying that she wasn’t serious about dating him and that kissing him was a no-go.

I am enjoying a very fulfilling and hellish school life.

“I had a lot of fun today. Cats were gathering around the flowers I had planted at school and I couldn’t help but pet many of them. I was surprised when I bought some without knowing and the math didn’t add up. The air conditioner isn’t working well, so I’m a little worried about whether it will make it through the summer. I warned a younger guy who was running down the hallway and he got all red in the face, and I don’t like it when people act like they have a crush on me, even though I have Ryosuke. I’ve been helping out the student council president since she’s been absent lately, but other than Ruiko, the rest of the student council officers are all incapable of doing their jobs, and I’m not sure what the future holds for them. I’ve been thinking about the math teacher who was irrationally angry with Ryosuke. He regretted what he said to you and went into a depression. I bought a cup of straight tea by mistake and it was too bitter for me to drink, so I’ll leave it in the fridge for you to drink. The game is a smartphone game that Ryosuke is playing with …… Mai, I started playing it too, but it doesn’t drop the weapons I want for a long time, and it’s hard to collect four of the same weapon. I’m sure there’s a statue of the loyal dog Lord Roku in front of the station, and there’s a strange couple there—“

“Hey, sis, it’s been 10 minutes.”

“—-Is it time already?”

“I’m going to bed. Good night.”

“Aah, right.”

Kaede rises from her cushion in disappointment.

The bandage around her finger is painful. Although she told everyone around her that she had injured herself in a fall, it was a crazy wound that she broke herself.

“See you later.”

“Yeah. …… good night, Ryosuke.”

She left the room with a regretful look on her face.

She complies with the half-assed request to leave the room without any resistance, but there is a reason for it.

When Ryosuke made up with his sister under false pretenses, he had proposed two conditions to her.

The conditions were simple…

First, she would not talk to him in the presence of others.

Second, she would only talk to him for 10 minutes before going to bed.

The first rule he had convinced her of in advance, but thanks to the second rule, which she was stubborn about,……, he was having a hard time convincing her of it.

Still, he managed to get her to obey him by using insulation as a weapon.

“As I thought, I still think 10 minutes is too long.”

—No, if I shortened it any further, my plan to make her dependent on me would go haywire. I brought up the subject of insulation to reduce the amount of time we spend talking to each other to 10 minutes a day. …… If the resistance is too severe, there is a slight chance that it won’t work.

I think that after those two rules and the threat of insulation in the first place, she would normally give up and distance herself from me, but that sister is truly abnormal. That kind of normality doesn’t work.

She happily comes over every day and reports the day’s events in a rambling …… manner, and she talks like crazy all the time.

I should make her miss me more and knock her off.

I should be nice to her for that, but I don’t think I can do that right now. I’m even holding back on letting her in my room.

But still, I feel like my sister is going crazy these days.

—The next morning, I go to school as usual.

“……… hmm?”

Then I found a piece of paper in my shoe.

The only thing written on it was, “Can we talk today?” and the sender’s name is Nagisa.

I quickly wrote “Impossible” on the back of the piece of paper and put it in my sister’s shoe.

“Ryosuke~have a nice da~y!”

While I was distracted by the exchange with Nagisa, Mom came hugging me from behind.

“Mom…I will be going”

My mother is short, only about the size of my dove-tail.

I was more saddened by my inability to notice my mother’s approach because of Nagisa.

—-And furthermore, the next day.

[I’m sorry I was so unreasonable yesterday. How about today?”

There was a letter from Nagisa in my shoe again.

But it’s better that she doesn’t show her face. …… It’s way better than my sister who talks to me every day …… or my father who thinks he’s already back to being a father.

“Ryosuke, let’s go to school!”

“Mai, you look so cute today.”

“Ah, t-thank you again.”

“Shall we go? —Ah, I’ll be back in a minute, okay?”

I wrote ‘impossible’ on a piece of paper and put it in my sister’s shoe.

—Next day.

[How about today?]

[Impossible]

—-And the next day.

[How about today?]

[Impossible]

This exchange went on for a week.

“…………Haa”

She was really persistent.

And yet, I didn’t feel the same kind of droll dislike toward her as I did toward her father and older sister.

The content is concise and only the requirement of ‘I want to talk to you’ is written each time. If it were a long document, I would never read it.

I would reply because it was only two words in katakana, ‘Impossible'(ムリ) , and I would return it.

Besides, after my sister and father, it seemed too serious.

─ ─ But the next day after Saturday and Sunday. The next day after the weekend, my mother had a serious expression on her face at the door before school. I was worried about her, so I called out to her.

“Is something wrong?”

“Nagisa hasn’t been to school for two weeks now, and I’m wondering what I should do about it.”

“…… is that so?”

“Yeah, but mom can handle it, don’t worry about it!”

Mom immediately returns to a cheerful expression.

However, no matter how I look at it, she seems to be in a bad mood.

I don’t mind not seeing Nagisa, but Mom does not. She is seriously worried about her daughter who continues to miss school.

I tried to put on my shoes as usual.

I knew the letter was still in there today,……, if you have time to plant such a thing, go to school.

“……It’s for Mom’s sake, I’ll write it down.”

[Go to school.]

Well, if this is all it takes to get her to school, she won’t have any trouble, right?

I put the letter in Nagisa’s shoes as usual and headed to school with Mai.

That day, Mai’s mother saw Nagisa arrive at school a little late.

She said that she was humming a song and skipping to school with a smile on her face. ………I think she’s crazy, seriously.