My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 529

"Oh my god...you scared me to death..."

I flinched in fright, muttered to myself, and tried to catch my breath.

I cautiously peeked over there, and there stood my beloved cat, Xiaoxue, yawning with her mouth wide open in front of the door, stretching smugly. I don't know when my cat learned to jump up and pounce on the doorknob, then violently pull it down – it's terrifying to do this in the middle of the night.

I looked back at my hand and saw a small mountain of coffee powder in the mug. It seemed I had accidentally poured too much because I was startled.

"Please come in slowly... If this were an interview, you'd already be out..."

Of course, Xiaoxue wouldn't listen; she just kept washing her face.

I put on a sour face, and just then, Komachi, wearing pajamas, walked up behind Koyuki. She saw me, rubbed her eyes, yawned, and said:

"Ah, good morning, brother."

"Oh, good morning."

She nodded in response to my greeting, then walked slowly to the refrigerator to get some milk. I took a cup from the wall cabinet and quietly handed it to her.

Komachi took the cup, thanked her in a slurred voice, and, looking like she hadn't woken up yet, wobbled toward the kotatsu (heated table). Yuki followed behind, calling out and begging for milk. Komachi casually patted Yuki a few times, nuzzled her head against her, poured the milk into the cup, and drank it all in one gulp.

She finished her milk, exhaled, and seemed to have fully woken up. Komachi opened her eyes wide and turned to look at me.

"Wow! So early! My brother's up so early!"

"Huh...no way...you noticed so slowly..."

Komachi stared in disbelief, milk still smeared on her lips.

"What's wrong? Is something wrong today?"

"No, no. I'm just inexplicably lucid..."

I took out a second mug, poured half of the mountain of coffee powder into it, and then poured it into the hot water in the electric kettle.

The black powder, which looked incredibly bitter, hadn't completely dissolved in the steam rising from the coffee-scented cup; it swirled around. Dividing it into two cups would still make it a bit too strong, but adding plenty of milk and sugar would solve the problem. I took the mug and headed towards the kotatsu (heated table).

Komachi also crawled into the kotatsu, placed the incessantly chirping Yuki on her lap, and stared at me with milk on her face.

"Um……"

The gaze that seemed to be observing something, or perhaps expressing some kind of sentiment, made me a little embarrassed. I reached for the toilet paper and pulled out two or three sheets for Komachi.

"You've grown a beard."

"Oh, shit."

While Komachi was wiping her mouth, I took the milk from the kotatsu table, poured it into a cup, made two cups of coffee au lait, and pushed one of them towards her.

Komachi paused for a moment, then smiled and respectfully accepted it.

"Thanks."

I nodded in response to her thanks, warmed my fingers with the mug, then blew on the coffee to cool it slightly before taking a small sip. Komachi also held her mug with both hands, blowing on it and glancing this way. When our eyes met, she nodded.

"...Hmm. He doesn't look like he didn't sleep all night...but my brother's eyes always seem lifeless, so it's hard to tell."

Komachi added a joke at the end. It seems she was worried something was wrong with me because I rarely get up early. Oh my god, Komachi is so kind… To thank her for her concern, I deliberately gave her a smug smile. Because I'm shy! I'm too embarrassed to thank her directly! But what can I do? I'm the one conveying my gratitude (note)!

Note: The Japanese word for "thank you" is "Shai," which is the same as the word for "shy."

"Idiot, I slept like a log. This is the most refreshing morning I've ever had. Look at my star-studded eyes."

I opened my eyes as wide as possible, as if I were about to unleash a Starburst Stream attack. "Starburst" would be a more fitting description than "sharp." (Note)

Note: The new translation of Kirito's attack technique from Sword Art Online is "Starlight Stream Strike". The adjective "Kiriito" with sharp eyes sounds similar to "Kirito".

Komachi, on the other hand, squinted her eyes, stroked her chin with a puzzled expression, and tilted her head as she fell into deep thought.

"...What does 'Starburst' mean?"

This awkward reaction made me feel awkward too... While I was stammering, Komachi suddenly laughed.

"Never mind, it's good that my brother is in good spirits."

"Don't worry. I've slept, though not for long."

In fact, my sleep quality was quite good. I don't know if it was because I was finally free from the recent busyness or because of fatigue, but I relaxed completely and slept straight through until dawn.

I slept very soundly last night and didn't even dream.

However, it took me a long time to fall asleep.

After I got home, I tossed and turned in bed, staring at my phone, wondering whether I should tell Yui Hama what had happened. I tried texting, but I kept writing messages that were either too long or too short, deleting and rewriting them repeatedly.

Finally, I realized it wasn't good to bother them so late at night, and I should talk to them face-to-face another day. As I thought about it, my eyelids grew heavy, and I realized I had to stop.

Looking back at the last time I saw it, I roughly calculated that I slept for about three hours.

According to one theory, human sleep consists of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which relieves mental fatigue, and non-REM sleep, which relieves physical fatigue, with each cycle lasting approximately 90 minutes. To wake up refreshed, simply align your wake-up time with the end of the light REM sleep phase.

Mastering this sleep method guarantees you'll quickly become a top-notch office worker with peace of mind, security, and affordability after entering the workforce. Just one and a half hours of sleep a day is all it takes to work non-stop! Waaaaah... I'll die from this...

Okay, everyone dies eventually, but not now. Rather, I'd say I'm still quite energetic compared to usual.

Komachi, who lives with me, seems to think so too. Sipping her slightly bitter coffee au lait, she said softly:

"Oh...yes. My brother looks very refreshed."

"Because the work was completed successfully."

I pressed my shoulders and twisted my neck, making a loud cracking sound. Komachi heard this and tilted her head, looking at me with her eyes and asking, "What kind of job do you do?"

"Didn't I mention the ball to you before? It's definitely going to happen."

"Ah—I did mention it. There's going to be a ball! I'm so excited!"

Komachi said with a smile.

If the dance becomes a regular event, Komachi, who got into Soubu High School, will also be able to attend it upon graduation. It was probably when I mentioned the dance earlier that she started to look forward to it. Thinking about this, I find her quite adorable.

"You're already thinking about graduation? You're being too hasty... Think about the opening ceremony first. Oh, no, I mean the junior high graduation ceremony first."

"Yes, next week."

Suddenly, I remembered Komachi's casual reply.

"Wow, really? That's fast! Where is it? What time does it start? Are there any arrangements for graduates' families?"

"No, no, no, why would your brother want to come? Nobody invited you, you have class, right?"

Komachi looked serious, waved her hand, and finished speaking in one breath.

I was so refuted that I was completely speechless, and could only make "ooh" sounds.

It's only natural that you can't attend if you haven't received an invitation.

Even at class reunions or simple gatherings with friends, the same applies. If someone who wasn't invited shows up, the atmosphere will definitely become awkward, or even completely freeze. Not only that, after the meeting, whether in real-life conversations or on social media, someone will inevitably ask, "Why did that guy come?" followed by a barrage of criticism.

Yeah, that's true. Nobody's happy when an outsider interrupts a fun time with friends. Those uninvited guests are just incredibly inconsiderate. Take deadlines, for example. This guy has absolutely no sense of propriety, always saying, "Hey, it's deadline... I'm right behind you..." You turn around and get scared half to death. It's scarier than a horror movie, more like a supernatural phenomenon, almost like a ghost or monster... So, deadlines aren't actually real things?

Despite having such thoughts, based on past experience, deadlines and submission dates do exist. The only thing that doesn't exist is the possibility of me attending Komachi's graduation ceremony.

I groaned as I observed Komachi's expression. She crossed her arms and sighed unhappily. Seeing her furrowed brows, I couldn't continue boasting, "Don't worry! No one will ask me out, no matter when or where! I don't mind getting glared at! I'm used to it!"

"...Okay, okay. I won't go. Just kidding."

After wailing for a while, I said this. Komachi sighed helplessly, closed her eyes, and nodded to indicate, "You finally understand."

"Good to know... Sigh, Komachi will probably cry. It'll be so embarrassing if her brother sees her like that."

Komachi silently looked away and muttered to herself. From an older brother's perspective, I'm used to my sister's tears, so I don't really feel anything. But for a teenage girl like Komachi, it's not like that—no, wait. Thinking about it carefully, I actually do feel something; she's incredibly cute! In fact, she doesn't need to cry at all; Komachi is adorably cute all the time.

Like now, the way she deliberately clears her throat to change the subject is so cute, and the bright smile she flashes to hide her shyness is also so cute. Even the way she opens her mouth is so cute!

"So, we'll have to celebrate my brother's graduation another day!"

"Yes...we should really celebrate with you. Your birthday party hasn't been held yet."

I've been incredibly busy lately, and a ton of things have had to be postponed. Especially regrettable is not being able to give Komachi a grand birthday celebration. Feeling guilty, I said with a faint, wry smile. Komachi gently shook her head.

"It's alright, don't force yourself. Besides, there's a dance to be held, everyone's probably busy, right?"

This must have been something Komachi said unintentionally.

However, I was speechless for a moment.

"...Oh. Yeah, that's right...but I'm super free. There are things I need to do, but there's no specific schedule."

I quickly added a sentence, shrugged, and brushed it off.

However, the excuses I came up with in a moment of panic wouldn't work on Komachi. We'd been siblings under the same roof for fifteen years; she knew my habits and personality inside and out. Even if my words weren't abrupt, she probably still sensed something.

Komachi stared at me suspiciously, and said with some difficulty:

"that……"

However, she immediately swallowed her words, picked up her mug, and took a sip of her coffee au lait, as if using the opportunity to consider whether or not she should say it.

Without needing to ask, I could roughly guess what Komachi wanted to say. I took a sip of my now-cold coffee au lait and waited for her to continue.

Seeing that I remained silent and only responded with my gaze, Komachi put down her cup and, as if observing my reaction, cautiously asked:

"Brother, has something happened?"

She had asked a similar question before. I vaguely remember hearing it in late autumn or early winter, right after my graduation trip.

Back then, Komachi had asked jokingly, but this time it was a little different. She remembered that it had turned into a long-awaited sibling quarrel, which was probably why she hesitated to ask this time.

Nevertheless, she couldn't resist asking. Not out of mere curiosity or amusement, but knowing the question might spark an argument, she still dared to ask. Her thoughtfulness and gentleness brought a smile to my face.

"...Yes. That's right."

The words came out of my mouth.

Komachi's mouth dropped open, surprised by my direct answer. She blinked her large eyes a couple of times, then asked again with a surprised expression:

"Yeah?"

I responded to the bewildered Komachi with a wry smile.

"Yes... a lot has really happened."

Unconsciously, my tone softened, as if I were reminiscing about a time that can never be returned to. As I spoke, I deeply realized that that period of time had indeed come to an end.

"Has a lot happened?"

"Um."

My tone was calmer than I had expected. There was no confusion or hesitation in my voice; I stared straight at Komachi.

"I see."

Komachi spoke in an innocent tone, paused for a moment, and then fell silent. She gazed at my face, as if deep in thought.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

I couldn't stand that gaze, so I spoke up. Komachi didn't even flinch, replying casually:

"It's nothing, it's just that my brother is too honest, and I feel really uncomfortable with it."

"Huh...you asked me that yourself?"

Hearing that, I almost fainted. Komachi pouted.

"Komachi didn't expect her brother to answer honestly."

"Oh, really... yeah, that's right. That makes sense."

Seeing that I was complaining but also showing understanding, Komachi nodded vigorously.

indeed so.

I could have easily brushed it off, or, like before, used barbed words and a sarcastic attitude to subtly suggest that Komachi shouldn't interfere. However, I didn't do that; instead, I casually uttered those words with a laugh.

To Komachi, this action seemed very unusual. She's still looking at me uneasily.

"...May I ask what happened?"

Komachi carefully chose her words, raising her gaze to observe my reaction.

I pretended to be deep in thought and glanced at the clock. Komachi also turned around and looked back. But she quickly turned her head back, biting her lower lip, waiting for my answer.

There's still some time before I leave for school, but that's not enough time for me to explain things clearly. Besides, this isn't a topic that should be discussed first thing in the morning. More importantly, I have other things to do. Under these circumstances, anything I say will be unclear and incomprehensible.

There's not much I can say right now, so I'll just tell her the one thing I'm sure of for now.

"I will explain everything to you once everything is settled."