CH 67

“―Ehh? Isn’t that Kanzaki-kun?”

As I was walking towards the station with Sakura-chan hugging me, a pony-tailed girl― no, it’s actually a guy, who was about to pass me, called out to me.

Immediately after that, Sakura-chan hid behind my back and began to look at the feminine boy as if she were peeking out a little.

Yikes, she’s too cute…

I thought it was very cute how Sakura-chan looked like a little animal as she stood there looking at me while she was on guard.

However, the feminine boy, who has been subjected to this kind of attitude by Sakura-chan, has a puzzled look with a wry smile on her face.

“I’ve heard the rumors, but… when you’re actually being avoided, that’s what comes to people’s minds…”

The feminine boy scratched his cheek with his finger and muttered in shock.

Well, I’m sure this guy has never been avoided by anyone…

It’s not just his good looks, but also his friendly personality that makes everyone like him.

“Thank you for the other day, Shirousagi.”

I can’t explicitly say it because of Sakura-chan, but I thanked him for the help he gave me before.

“Ah, it’s no problem. Besides, I’ve taken advantage of it, too.”

Shirousagi smiled and took out his phone.

For a moment, I didn’t know what he meant, but the fact that he took the trouble to take out his phone gave me an idea of what he meant.

“I knew you were buying it.”

“Well, yeah. You didn’t tell me what it was, but since Kanzaki-kun seemed so confident, I thought I should buy it. Well, I don’t think you told me how much it was, right?”

Shirousagi held up his index finger and brought it in front of his nose, then winked with one eye.

He’s surprisingly shrewd in these areas.

He understands quickly and is probably smart.

Sakura-chan was staring at Shirousagi’s face the whole time we were talking.

She has a habit of staring at people she’s never met before, but I wonder if I should teach her that it’s rude to do so.

“―I’m Momoi Sakura. Nice to meet you.”

As I was racking my brains over how to warn Sakura-chan while trying not to hurt her, she came out from behind my back and greeted him politely.

“Woah, I’m talking to Momoi-san’s sister! Does this mean I’m a certified good person!?”

After Sakura-chan greeted him, Shirousagi asked me with a happy glint in his eye.

In our school, there’s a circulating rumor that anyone who succeeds in talking to Sakura-chan will be recognized as a good person.

Well, Shirousagi is actually a good guy, he just has a taste for cross-dressing.

“Looks like it.”

I said, and Shirousagi nodded happily and returned the greeting to Sakura-chan.

“I’m Nagisa Shirousagi. I’ve been in the same class with Kanzaki-kun during our first year, and we’ve recently gotten to know each other better.”

“I see. Onii-chan has always been a great help to me.”

Sakura-chan said this with a smiling face and bowed her head politely again.

S-sakura-chan…?

It’s certainly the right way to greet a family acquaintance, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to do it here…?

As expected, Shirousagi put his hand to his chin and pondered.

Then, with a wry smile on his face, he slowly opens his mouth again.

“Kanzaki-kun… I didn’t think that you were actually acting siblings just like how the rumors said you were… It’s not for me to say anything about other people’s sexual preferences, but seriously, letting a non-family member call you their brother…?”

“Hey, wait a minute! There’s a reason for this― Or rather, what’s with that rumor!?”

I’ve heard rumors that Sakura-chan is my girlfriend, but I’ve never heard of her acting like a little sister because of my sexual desires though!?

“No look, Momoi’s sister calls Kanzaki-kun as ‘Onii-chan’, so the students of the school all think that Kanzaki-kun has such preferences, okay?”

W-what the heck…

I didn’t know that such a rumor had been started without my knowledge…

But if you think about it, if you let a girl with a different surname call you brother, I guess that’s what people would think…?

Moreover, I’ve always wanted a sister, and I can’t deny that I have a preference for that kind of thing…

What should I do?

I think it would be better to honestly tell him that Sakura-chan is my sister―But if I do that, I will be indirectly breaking my promise to SakiHime.

Even though SakiHime has been acting like a spoiled child lately, she’s very scary when she gets angry…

Just like yesterday, she was very angry with me…

My feet are still a little sore from being forced to sit on the floor for so long.

If possible, I’d like to avoid telling him that we’re family… But if we don’t, Shirousagi will think we’re strange(?), I guess…

*―Jii…

As I was thinking about what to do, Sakura-chan was staring at my face.

Hmm?

What is it?

I wondered if Sakura-chan had something to say to me, so I tried to speak up, but she spoke up faster.

But it wasn’t directed to me, but to Shirousagi.

“Sakura became my Onii-chan’s sister-in-law after my mother remarried. So she calls him ‘Onii-chan’.”

“S-Sakura-chan!?”

Sakura-chan suddenly said something that I hadn’t expected, so I was surprised and called her name.

Then Sakura-chan looked up at me and smiled.

“Don’t worry, Onii-chan. I think Onee-chan won’t get upset even if people found out that we were siblings. And I think Shirousagi-senpai is the kind of person who would tell anyone if you asked him to keep it to himself.”

“No, I’m sure she’ll get angry, you know…? Well, I also don’t think Shirousagi is going to tell anyone about it…”

It’s true that the promise not to mention that me and SakiHime were siblings was made when we were not on good terms― but even if we are on good terms now, there is still the matter of her image…

In addition, I’m aware that Shirousagi is not the kind of guy who talks down to people, but why does this girl trust Shirousagi so much even though she never met him before?

Really, don’t you think you’re putting too much trust in him once you let him in your heart?

As her brother, I’m a little worried that Sakura-chan might be taken away by a strange man in the future, okay…?

Well, to begin with, Sakura-chan will probably run away if it is with a strange man…

“I see, I didn’t know the reason for it before… That’s why Momoi-san’s sister is so attached to Kanzaki-kun. Even now she’s attached to his arm.”

Shirousagi, who was watching the exchange between the two of us, made a statement as if he understood what was going on.

“Well, yeah that’s the reason. It’s just―”

“Yeah, I know. I could hear what you were saying earlier, and the fact that Kanzaki-kun didn’t want to tell me means that he doesn’t want people to know that you’re family, right?

When I tried to stop him from saying anything, Shirousagi was the first one to smile and say so.

I’m glad you’re so quick to respond.

“Sorry…”

“No, it’s fine. Yeah― I can understand why you don’t want people to know about it when you’re dealing with Momoi-san.”

Shirousagi chuckled and gave me a sympathetic look.

The only guy who wouldn’t be jealous when they hear that me and SakiHime have become a family is probably Shirousagi.

Probably because he’s scared of her, he’s giving me a sympathetic look.

Also, if the other boys find out about it, they will be jealous and my life could be in danger, no joke…

“Still though― that’s nice, Momoi-san’s sister.”

Suddenly, Shirousagi muttered and looked at Sakura-chan enviously.

Are you jealous of Sakura-chan?

You’re not jealous of me having Sakura-chan as my sister?

I looked at Shirousagi, wondering what he meant.

Then I noticed that his eyes were on Sakura-chan’s clothes.

Sakura-chan’s eyes twinkled and she smiled happily at the sight of Shirousagi’s gaze.

“Are you saying that you like the outfit?”

“I’m jealous of your gothic lolita outfit. I want to wear it too because it’s cute, but if I wear it, it’s just too much, right?”

With an expression of resignation, Shirousagi shook his head.

Ahh― so that’s how it is.

It’s true that Shirousagi likes cute clothes and would love to wear a gothic lolita outfit.

However, no matter how cute Shirousagi’s face is, it will not look good on him if he wears gothic lolita clothes.

Or actually, isn’t Sakura-chan amazing?

She can easily notice the changes in Shirousagi’s emotions, and can read exactly what he’s thinking from the words that he casually mumbles.

She’s good at housework, and she’s ranked third in her class at our school.

In addition to that, she is able to sense other people’s feelings, so she must have very high specs.

She’s unbelievably directionless, but when you think about the fact that Sakura-chan has the attribute of being lost, it’s kind of cute.

She doesn’t seem to be good at sports, but to be honest, athleticism isn’t really necessary unless you want to be a professional athlete.

Ah, no, she seems to be a fast runner though…

But what should I do? I feel like I’ve found an unexpected gem…

But while I was thinking about this, Sakura and Shirousagi were talking about cute clothes.

It feels like I’m somewhat left out from them…?

If Sakura-chan says she’s going to play with Shirousagi today, Onii-chan will be depressed, you know?

As I was watching them interact with each other, Sakura-chan suddenly looked up at me.

And then―

“I’m going out with Onii-chan today, so we’ll leave you alone for now.”

―Sakura-chan cut off the conversation, even though it was supposed to be a lively one.

“Ah― yes, that’s right. See you later, Momoi-san’s sister and Kanzaki-kun.”

Sakura-chan’s abrupt end to the conversation made Shirousagi look confused for a moment, but he quickly said goodbye with a smile.

“Ah, yeah, bye-bye!”

“Now if you’ll excuse me.”

I could not hide my confusion at the sudden turn of events― Sakura-chan returned the farewell greeting to Shirousagi with her usual smiling face.

And as Shirousagi walked away, Sakura-chan looked up at me again.

“Onii-chan.”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?””

“No, it’s nothing!”

I asked Sakura-chan if there was something she wanted to talk about since she called my name, but she shook her head with a big smile on her face.

And then, for some reason, Sakura-chan smiled and squeezed her own arm, which was hugging my arm.

Sakura-chan’s series of actions filled my head with ‘What?’ marks in my head.

After that, I was curious if Sakura-chan knew that Shirousagi was a guy, so I asked her about it.

She thought he was a girl, and when I told her he was a guy, she was very surprised―.