I Promised to Make the Class Honor Student My 'Little Sister'. It Seems She Wants to Be Spoiled a Lot - Volume 1 Chapter 2.2

Chapter 2: Me, Not Returning Home, Yearning for a “Family”

After that, I finished changing my clothes in the washroom.

And then took a seat at the dining table arranged with the breakfast Kakogawa had prepared.

“All this… Kakogawa made it?”

“Yeah. It’s just simple stuff, sorry about that.”

No, no, it’s not something you should be modest about?

White rice and miso soup, salad, bacon. A fluffy, tender omelet that fits the description just right. And for dessert, yogurt topped with blueberry sauce.

…I’d probably believe you if you said this breakfast was catered by a hotel.

It’s too impressive for something a high school student whipped up casually.

Ah… looking at it, I’m starting to feel hungry.

So, with gratitude to Kakogawa who prepared it, I decided to enjoy the breakfast.

“Hey? Speaking of which, where’s Kakogawa-sensei? Did she go out somewhere?”

“Nope. Yukanee is always terrible at waking up. On her days off, she sleeps in until nearly noon.”

“Is that so. So, usually, it’s Kakogawa who wakes the teacher up?”

“Yep. Yukanee and the little sister, even when the alarm rings… they won’t wake up at all! It’s kinda troubling, you know?”

Kakogawa, puffing her cheeks as if troubled, made gestures with her hands.

Such a gesture, somewhat resembling a small animal… made me burst out laughing unintentionally.

“Ah. Don’t laugh just because you saw my face, please.”

“Don’t say something impossible, you came here making me laugh on purpose.”

“I didn’t come to make you laughー!! Geez… ahaha! It’s kinda fun, isn’t it? Talking with Takato-kun this much, it’s a first for me.”

“Really now.”

I mean, not just Kakogawa, I hardly ever talk with girls in general.

Since entering high school… having a girlfriend, or planning to confess to someone. Such topics are always flying around me, but.

Unconsciously, I think I’ve been avoiding such matters of love and romance.

For example, if you start dating someone, there are essentially two outcomes.

One is breaking up somewhere down the line.

The other is spending a lifetime together. In other words… becoming a family.

The latter, I suppose, is generally categorized as a “happy ending” for most people.

But for me… both outcomes can only be seen as “bad endings.”

I think experiencing a breakup would be painful, of course. And even if I were to become family with someone, I can’t imagine a bright future.

Because… I’ve never experienced a happy family ever.

“Hey, Takato-kun. Do you remember what I said yesterday about the ‘Family Contract’?”

Around the time I finished my breakfast.

Kakogawa suddenly brought up such a topic.

“Yeah, I remember. I was kind of out of it at the time, so I let it slide, but it did sound like a phrase I hadn’t heard before.”

“Curious?”

“I am curious. But… it’s okay whether I hear about it or not.”

“Why’s that?”

“If it’s something you don’t want to talk about, it’s bad to force you. I don’t know what this ‘Family Contract’ is… seems like it might involve some complicated circumstances. Stuff like that, nobody wants someone else stepping in with dirty shoes, right?”

While saying that, I thought back on my own family.

Refusing to accept others’ thoughts, getting angry at the slightest thing, deciding my future for me without asking.

I certainly wouldn’t want to openly talk about such an irrational father to anyone willingly.

Doesn’t everyone have something like that?

Locked away in a corner of their heart, with a key turned on it. So that nobody else can touch it… that kind of circumstances.

“…Takato-kun, you’re really kind, huh.”

Resting her cheek on her hand at the dining table, Kakogawa murmured.

Then, with slightly moistened eyes, she looked at me.

“Thank you. Normally, I… wouldn’t want anyone prying into ‘family’ matters. But somehow, with Takato-kun… I felt like I wanted you to hear about it. Oh! Of course, if it’s going to be a burden for you, it’s okay not to talk about it?”

“It’s not a burden but… why am I getting such special treatment? Now and even when you were checking for a fever earlier.”

To repeat, there was hardly any interaction between Kakogawa and me until now.

Despite that, the distance felt oddly close at times, and she even attempted to share secrets.

Why does Kakogawa… open up to me this much?

“I guess… because we’re similar? Despite having lonely eyes, you try hard not to show it. That part of you, Takato-kun…”

──At Kakogawa’s words, resembling a sweet whisper.

I couldn’t help but feel a jolt.

Then Kakogawa took out a piece of paper folded in two from a rack case nearby.

And placed it smoothly on the dining table.

“This is what binds us ‘family’ together… the proof of the ‘Family Contract’.”

It was unmistakably a contract.

Sections like Article 1～, this agreement～, and complicated phrases were listed.

However, the name written at the top of the contract was…

An amusing phrase that you wouldn’t expect to see on a formal contract.

Yes──”Family Contract.”

“What is this? Some kind of kids’ magazine supplement or party goods?”

“Ahaha! It might look like that. It doesn’t have any legal basis, right? But for us three, it’s… an important proof of ‘family.'”

Flipping through the pages.

On the second page were the names of the three apparently bound by the contract… and their relationships listed.

Kakogawa Yukari …　【Older Sister】Ao　【Younger Sister】Kizuna

Kakogawa Ao　…【Elder Sister】Yukari　　【Sister】Kizuna

Kakogawa Kizuna　…【Oldest Sister】Yukari　　【Older Sister】Ao

“──Ao and Kizuna, we don’t have a father or a mother.”

Kakogawa let it slip out.

When I looked up… Kakogawa seemed to have distant eyes.

“My mom passed away in an accident when I was in elementary school. After that, it was just Dad, Kizuna, and me… but right before I graduated junior high. Dad also passed away due to an illness. It was Yukanee who took us in after that. Without Yukane, we… might have ended up in a facility.”

As if reading a fairy tale.

Kakogawa spun the words indifferently.

But the content… was too heavy to fully digest in one go.

Then Kakogawa looked at me briefly.

“…Honestly. I was happy she took us in, but I felt inferior, too. Sure, Yukanee is a cousin on my dad’s side… a relative, but compared to Dad, Mom, or Kizuna, the blood connection is fainter, isn’t it? Yet, we imposed so much… I wondered if it was okay.”

────Blood connection.

Coincidentally, that was a phrase that crossed my mind on the day I ran away from home.

“──That’s when I said it. Even if the blood flowing through our bodies isn’t the same, even if the blood connection is faint… if our feelings are connected, we can become a ‘family.'”