Vol. 5 Chapter 3.1

Translated by SoundDestiny Edited by SoundDestiny

She’s a fake foreigner

On the morning of the first day of summer vacation, when I woke up, Saori-chan was peering at my face from the side of the bed.

“Go-Good morning…O-Onii-chan.”

Just to make it clear, I didn’t bring her here or anything.

Even I wouldn’t lay a hand on my cute little sister.

In reality, it was Ryoko I held last night, not her.

I left Takata-san to Lili and enjoyed Ryoko’s cooking and her company at her apartment.

Her cooking was really delicious, and embracing her outside the 『King’s Confinement Room』 was a refreshing experience.

And then, late at night, I returned to my room and slipped into bed.

“Ah… Good morning, Saori-chan.”

As for why she was in my room, it quickly dawned on me when I considered her sporty attire of a practice shirt and shorts.

Due to Saori-chan’s parents becoming members of the local neighbourhood association, she had to take on the role of being the older sister leading the morning radio callisthenics for the children during this summer vacation.

However, even though it was for children, the thought of being in front of people was quite daunting for her.

As we walked to school in the morning, I couldn’t just ignore her anxious words. I ended up saying, [Well, I’ll do it with you].

So, it seems she came all the way to wake me up because she was worried I might oversleep.

If it were a situation where a girl came to wake you up in the morning, one might hope for a romantic comedy scenario to unfold. However, expecting that from Saori-chan, who is serious and reserved, would be unreasonable.

I quickly got ready and headed with her to the park in the residential area, which was the gathering spot for the radio callisthenics.

There, the neighbourhood kids had already gathered.

“You’re slow, Fumio!”

“Don’t be lazy, Fumio!”

Annoying little brats, turned into irritating kids. The discontented voices came from the elementary school kids who lived on both sides of us. The Marubozu kids. Probably the reserves for potential bullies.

[Bald]

‘Should I nip this dangerous situation in the bud early?’

Almost simultaneously with my immature thoughts, Saori-chan tugged at the hem of my shirt.

“On-Onii-chan, let’s start, okay?”

‘You kids are lucky!’

While grumbling internally like that, I pressed the switch of the vintage cassette player and began the radio callisthenics.

Finishing the first set, then the second, and finally stamping the cards the kids had brought with them.

The kids might not be cute, but getting their bodies moving was a good thing.

Feeling refreshed as I looked back, I met Saori-chan’s gaze, and she smiled gently.

“Good job. Onii-chan, if you’re up for it, would you like to come over to my place now? My mom has cut some watermelon…”

When I said, [Sure] she happily exclaimed, [Yay!] and jumped up and down. It was cute. I could empathise painfully well with the feelings of those elder brothers with sister complexes.

Of course, I believed that Saori-chan’s fondness for me was until she got a boyfriend, but the current dynamic was very comfortable for me.

×××

The early morning sunlight was gentle and the summer sky stretched high above.

Even though it seemed like it would get hot today too, at this time of day, it was still quite cool.

Saori-chan and I were sitting on a makeshift bench in a corner of the residential area, right by her house. Her father had simply placed a board over a crate of beer bottles to create this simple bench. We were munching on watermelon.

Though it was a regular road, it was part of a suburban neighbourhood in a provincial city. Furthermore, in the early morning, there wasn’t a single car passing by, just the occasional neighbourhood lady walking her dog.

We exchanged a slight nod, and the lady smiled with a look that seemed to find our situation endearing as she walked past, saying things like, [Oh, how niceー!]

The watermelon was incredibly sweet. It was nice and cold. Both of us enthusiastically took big bites, spitting out the seeds with [pepepe] sounds.

We somehow found ourselves competing over how far we could spit the seeds, experiencing a mix of excitement and disappointment over who won and lost, all while sharing laughter.

Disregard for proper manners aside, this was how you were supposed to eat watermelon on a porch.

Well, it wasn’t exactly a porch.

“Onii-chan, are you going anywhere during the summer vacation?”

Saori-chan reached for a new slice of watermelon and asked.

“I do have a few plans…the closest one is tomorrow. I’m supposed to accompany a classmate who’s a model to a photoshoot in Tokyo.”

“What!? A model!?”

Saori-chan’s eyes widened.

Certainly, there’s no way the words [model] and [me] would ever be associated, but isn’t she a bit too surprised?

“Haha, I’m just going to be a bag carrier. But I’m curious to see what a photoshoot is like. Well, I thought it could be interesting, so I agreed. Do you have any plans, Saori-chan?”

“Eh…well, it’s not so much plans, but…I have a tournament after the Obon holiday, so I’ll be busy with club activities until then. It seems a new coach is starting today…”

“Is that so? Sounds like quite a challenge.”

I had received a report from Ryoko that the faculty advisor for the track and field club was under investigation for his involvement in a kidnapping case. The mention of a new coach likely meant they were hiring someone to replace the current advisor.

“Un…I hope the new coach isn’t too strict. The third-year students are really motivated because it’s their last tournament, and if the coach is too tough on top of that, they might be pushed too hard and burn out.”

‘Which means around Obon, Tashiro-san and Kei-chan will probably be busy..’

As I absentmindedly thought about that, Saori-chan turned towards me with a somewhat nervous expression.

“So, Onii-chan…If it’s okay with you… well… the thing is, if I asked you to come watch the tournament, would that be a bother…? I think I could do my best if you were there to cheer for me.”

“Yeah, I’d be happy to.”

“Really!? Yay!”

Saori-chan raised both hands in excitement, then continued to smile as she reached for another slice of watermelon. If she could be this happy just from the idea of me coming to support her, it made me happy too.

And at the moment when I was about to reach for another piece of watermelon, I felt an unsettling presence and looked around.

‘What’s….?’

There, hiding in the shadow of a nearby utility pole, was a girl who was staring intently at us.

Long blonde hair down to her waist, vivid blue… or rather, odd eyes, I suppose. One eye seemed to have a slight tinge of purple.

A foreign girl with fair white skin. Her legs extending from the low-rise denim hotpants were long, and her upper body, covered only by a layered camisole, looked slender.

This incredibly conspicuous girl seemed to be gazing at us with an envious expression.

‘What’s with her?’

Even if she’s a complete stranger, being looked at like that makes it hard to enjoy the meal.

“Um… Would you like some?”

As I forced a smile and asked, she nodded in agreement and stepped out from behind the utility pole.

Immediately, Saori-chan exclaimed, [Hya!?] and jumped. It seems she hadn’t noticed the foreign girl’s presence.

The foreign girl accepted the watermelon and started munching on it, her face lighting up with a big smile.

While looking up at her with a puzzled expression, Saori-chan whispered to me.

“W-What should we do? Big brother, I-I can’t speak English.”

“It’s okay, leave it to me.”

My English grades aren’t bad, and I’m sure I can manage somehow.

In my slightly affected pronunciation, I asked the girl for her name in English. Saori-chan looked at me with a gaze of admiration and said, [Big brother, you’re amazing!] It felt good.

However, the foreign girl had a somewhat apologetic expression and said the following.

“Sorry, I don’t understand English.”

An unexpected strike. It hurt my pride as much as I tried to put on a show.

“O-Onii-chan, it’s okay! She just wasn’t from an English-speaking country. But you looked so cool!”

Saori-chan’s consideration made my heart ache even more.

“By the way, I was born and raised in Japan. Sorry for pretending to be a fake foreigner.”

“Oh… I see.”

Now that she mentioned it, while her facial features were foreign, her expressions were Japanese. It felt quite odd.

“I actually moved into this neighbourhood yesterday. I was taking a walk with the intention of exploring, and I saw you guys enjoying the watermelon so much…”

“Are you a neighbour?”

“Yeah, because of my sister’s job, we moved here from Onomichi.”

“Oh, what does your sister do?”

“She’s a coach for track and field. She’s going to be coaching at a school nearby, and I’ll be attending there starting the new term.”

Both Saori-chan and I exchanged glances at that revelation.

×××

“Claudia, where did you go so early in the morning?”

“Just for a little walk.”

Fumio and Saori. After having various conversations and enjoying watermelon, I returned home to find my sister preparing breakfast for us.

“I’ll be leaving soon, so once you’ve eaten, make sure to change quickly.”

“Yeah, starting at a new school…it’s definitely something to look forward to.”

The unpacking from the move was mostly done.

After this, my sister would be making her first appearance at the school’s track and field club. I, on the other hand, would be going through the process of transferring to the new school.

“Oh yeah, sis. I met an interesting kid during the walk.”

“Interesting kid?”

“Fumio Kijima.”

“What!?”

My sister’s face suddenly showed surprise.

“Haha, I certainly didn’t expect to meet the suspect himself so unexpectedly.”

“How was it?”

“Normal. Just a completely normal boy you’d find anywhere. We only chatted about general stuff today, and he didn’t seem to lie about anything…Was it Tachioka? I feel like the possibility of his misunderstanding is higher. After all, he was full of lies even during our investigation. Honestly, I dislike that guy.”

Upon hearing that, my sister frowned.

“Claudia, jumping to conclusions is not a good idea. Even if he wasn’t lying, there could be rare cases like split personalities.”

“I know, I know. Today’s conversation was all harmless stuff. And while he might not have lied, that doesn’t mean there’s no issue with Fumio…he was constantly staring at my chest. He’s a full-blown pervert. Also, the girl who was with him…that Saori girl. Honestly, I’m more curious about her.”

“Curious about her?”

“I couldn’t tell if she was lying or telling the truth. Her story, I mean.”

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