I Promised to Make the Class Honor Student My 'Little Sister'. It Seems She Wants to Be Spoiled a Lot - Volume 1 Chapter 8.2

A Languid Junior High School Girl, Hesitant to Become My “Family”

A Languid Junior High School Girl, Hesitant to Become My “Family”

“…’Kakogawa-san’s sister hates me?’ Well, that makes sense. Imagine suddenly finding a strange older man living in your house one day─from your sister’s perspective, it’s like the start of a suspense horror movie. Scary, right?”

Lunch break.

On the deserted rooftop.

That’s where I consulted Chitose, keeping the topic of the “Family Contract” under wraps, and he bluntly told me.

“Yeah, you’ve got a point… but couldn’t you be a bit more gentle?”

“Gentle? I’m not sugarcoating anything. If we don’t spell it out clearly, without wrapping it in oblateness, it won’t get through. Look, Ryuuki, your current status isn’t ‘Takatotti living off someone’s charity’… it’s ‘Do Not Shelter Takato!!'”

“Sorry, but can you not use bizarre analogies and just be direct? I’m not getting it.”

However, my rebuttal was easily brushed aside.

Chitose let out a deep sigh.

“…Hey Ryuuki, how long are you planning to stay at Kakogawa-san’s?”

“…Guess I should leave, huh?”

“Logically, yeah. Even if you stay at Kakogawa-san’s place, her sister is gonna stay the same towards you.”

“Right… but I haven’t found anywhere else to go…”

“…What about going back home?”

Chitose cut straight to the point.

Confronting me with reality.

“I don’t think it’s a good place for Ryuuki, but with nowhere else to go and money running out soon, continuing to run away from home seems difficult, doesn’t it?”

“I’m not planning on going back, sorry.”

Chitose’s opinion was reasonable… painfully reasonable, to the point of bursting my eardrums, but still.

Even so, I’m─not willing to budge on this one.

“I’ll find a new place before causing too much trouble for Kakogawa and the others. I’ll also look for a job that doesn’t require a guardian. Anyway─I want to see how far I can get, living outside my home.”

“…You’re stubborn, Ryuuki. What if you end up collapsing?”

“Even then… it’s better than living under my parents’ control.”

After making my stand clear, I turned on my heel and left the rooftop.

─Chitose’s words were undeniably sound.

My stance was selfish and reckless, I knew that.

But, even so… going back to that cold home is just too painful.

“…Ah. Takato-kun!”

─Feeling down, as I descended to the lower floor.

I happened to run into Ao walking along the corridor.

“Wow, I’m surprised. Running into you here… ehehe.”

Ao’s shy smile.

Made the chill in my heart… melt away a bit.

“But why are you here, Kakogawa? The second-year classrooms are one floor down, right?”

“Well, you see. Miyako-chan told me she wants to confess to a senior but doesn’t have the courage… so I was heading to the senior’s classroom with her!”

She really takes care of others…

Just like Kakogawa at school. Always relied upon by everyone.

“─Eh? Kakogawa-san, why are you here?”

“Huh? Ayumura-kun?”

Following me, Chitose came down the stairs and saw Ao.

That’s when Ao seemed to realize something was off.

“Hmm? This staircase leads to the rooftop that’s off-limits, right? Why were you two… there?”

Indeed─our school’s rooftop is officially off-limits.

So much so that it even has a dial lock installed to prevent students from sneaking in.

Chitose and I, last year… managed to guess the dial lock’s code on a whim.

So, since then, we’ve been using the rooftop as our secret space─sneaking in from time to time.

…Though, to be fair, the code was the last four digits of our school’s phone number, which is super simple?

“─Ah! You two definitely sneaked into the off-limits rooftop, didn’t you!”

“What, what are you talking about…? Right, Ryuuki?”

“Yeah, right? We were just playing ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ on these stairs…”

“Why would you play that on these short stairs! Don’t lie to me, geez!! The fence on the rooftop is old and dangerous, Yukari-neechan… Kakogawa-sensei said so. If you fall or get hurt, it’d be trouble, right!”

So exaggerated.

We’re careful, so it’s okay… I wanted to argue back, but.

Seeing Ao’s unusually serious face made us silently accept the lecture.

After all, Ao is always the responsible, caring one at school.

The nickname “Ao-mama” among the girls really is apt, I think.

▲　◇　▼　◆

Even as I mull over my conversation with Chitose, I find no answers─just me, alone, swaying in the train on my way home.

Ao, apparently, was stopped by that Miyako-chan wanting to go to a café after confessing to a senior.

I was feeling troubled today, so having someone with me would’ve been easier. But, well, can’t help it.

“…Is there nowhere a minor can live freely?”

I muttered quietly in my seat.

And then… I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Underage”─the state of not yet being an adult, where the freedoms of adulthood are just out of reach.

Just as the word implies, we haven’t reached the freedom adults take for granted.

Chained by blood, we live in a constrained world.

…Well, maybe that can’t be helped.

But if only this constrained world was a bit warmer.

I wouldn’t have thought about running away.

“─Next stop, Mahaku-Gi Station, Mahaku-Gi Station.”

“Huh!?”

Hearing the train announcement, I abruptly stood up.

Shoot… I missed my stop. I’ve gone all the way to the station closest to my old home.

Feeling deflated, I get off the train.

Thinking I need to save every penny… I decide to walk back the distance of one station.

But─that was a mistake.

“Ah… I’ve really done it now…”

I’m currently lost.

I’ve never gone from Mahaku-Gi Station to Kakogawa’s house before.

Not to brag, but even with a map app, I’m famously known for ending up in dead ends.

…Should’ve just taken the train back without trying to save on fare.

As I pass by a large discount store, feeling gloomy…

There─a group of gyarus were hanging out.

“Hey-hey. Isn’t this nail polish like, super cute?”