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

◇Midnight Blue Dissolves in Sugar◇

Back then, my world was like it was always midnight, painted in dark blue.

In March of my third year of middle school, I climbed up a small hill in my sailor uniform, sat down in a sports sit, and just stared at the buildings visible through the gaps in the trees. It was the Inaba Central General Hospital, where my dad had been until a little while ago.

“…Dad, I got into high school.”

Leaning on my knees, I whispered softly, hoping the wind would carry my voice to my dad.

“Yuka-nee has been really considerate… Kizuna and I are managing well. How about you, Dad? Are you… getting along with Mom like before?”

Each time I let those words out, my heart squeezed tight.

…Just a few months ago, Dad was definitely here, right in front of us. Even confined to a hospital bed, hooked up to tubes, he always talked to us with a smile whenever we visited.

Yeah, Dad never changed. Even after being hospitalized, he remained the kind dad he always was. ────Though Dad’s no longer here now.

“…Ahaha, sorry, Dad. Just thinking about it made me feel like crying.”

By verbalizing it, I forcefully swallowed the urge to cry.

“I don’t show anyone this weak side of me. I make sure not to cry, to keep trying my best. Hey, I’m doing well, right? …Ehehe.”

After Dad passed away, I was overwhelmed with loneliness and regret… I cried every day.

But… now it’s okay.

I decided not to cry anymore, to not make Kizuna feel anxious.

At home and at school, I vowed to hide my downtrodden self and keep pushing forward… I decided that.

So I’m okay now….

“What are you doing here, in a place like this?”

“Hyah!?”

Suddenly hearing a voice from behind, I let out an embarrassingly strange sound.

When I fearfully looked back, there was a boy about my age. He wore glasses, had slightly long bangs, and his gaze was a bit sharp, his mouth formed a small frown.

At first glance, he seemed a bit intimidating…

“Ah, um… you too… What are you doing here?”

“Ah… well, this hill. It just so happens… you can see that from here. When I want to be alone and look at that, this place is perfect.”

“That” he pointed to was the same Inaba Central General Hospital I had been looking at.

“I hate that hospital so much.”

“Huh!? …Ah. Maybe… you’ve experienced a loss or something…?”

“No. It’s just personal dislike for a surgeon there.”

Oh… I see.

I thought maybe he shared a similar experience to mine, but it seems I was wrong.

And he said, gazing at the hospital:

“…Because I hate it so much, I come here when I’m feeling down, to psych myself up. To tell myself, ‘I won’t lose,’ and ‘I’ll try again.’ Ah… sorry, that’s weird, isn’t it?”

“…Ahaha. But I kind of get it. I come here when I’m feeling down too, to psych myself up before heading back.”

Coming here to psych myself up, huh… I guess that’s right.

Telling myself I won’t cry, I’ll keep trying.

By talking to my dad… maybe I was reviving my spirits.

Dad. Even now, you’re still supporting my heart──.

“You know… when you feel like crying, why not just cry?”

“……….Eh?”

────That was the moment.

When you cast a spell on me.

You brought light into my world, which had been like perpetual midnight.

“Ah… sorry, I said something weird, didn’t I? It’s just… you’ve looked like you’ve been holding back tears but forcing a smile. I thought maybe you didn’t need to push yourself so hard… Sorry if I was wrong!”

◇

Our conversation that day was really just that short.

We parted ways without even knowing each other’s names.

To you, it was probably a forgettable, trivial incident.

But that day… I went home and cried alone.

All the emotions I had been holding back flowed out like a dam had burst.

Just like the day Dad was gone, I cried a lot… a lot.

…I was finally able to cry a lot.

So.

From that March in my third year of middle school, I never once forgot about you.

When I spotted you in a different class right after starting high school, I got excited thinking it might be fate!

When we ended up in the same class in our second year of high school, I was so thrilled I buried my face in my pillow and flailed around.

That’s how much… I’ve been interested in you for a long time, you know?

That’s why I thought──it was okay to make a “Family Contract” with you.

But you probably haven’t noticed my maiden heart at all.

You’re so dense, my “brother.” Idiot.

…Hey, Ryu-kun?

I’m really happy… being with you.

With zero romantic experience, I don’t know how to make myself cute to you.

I’m too bad at being spoiled, and I always end up doing something weird.

I’m really sorry, but…

If you’re okay with me like this.

I’d be happy if we could stay together forever──.

────Right now, it’s just a “Family Contract.”

But someday, could we become a real family… I wonder?

Sorry, I’m definitely getting ahead of myself. I’ll reflect on that.