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Gal's True Meaning is Rather Unknown to Everyone
Alice stands in the kitchen. As I watch her back, my face naturally breaks into a smile.
『Onee-chan always makes lunch, doesn’t she? I don’t want to burden onee-chan all the time, so I’ll make her lunch.』
Last night, Alice said something like that to me.
She may have wanted to reduce my burden, but I think she wants to make lunch for her.
By the way, that “her” is Yurizono-san.
Naturally, I agreed with Alice’s opinion.
However, ever since I felt Alice’s growth, the speed of her growth seems to be increasing.
I know that I should be happy about that, and I know that it’s wrong to feel lonely, but I’m still a little lonely, onii-chan.
I wonder what Kanau-kun would think at a time like this.
◆
Alice walks next to me, pouting.
It seems that the lunch-making that she started last night didn’t go as well as Alice wanted.
My mom and I ate the failed ones, and she brought the ones that turned out best, but I could tell by the way she was pouting that she wasn’t satisfied with them.
I think she did pretty well for her first time making it, though.
Even the failed one looked a little bad, but it didn’t taste that bad.
“I’m sorry, onee-chan…”
Alice, who was walking with her head slightly down, muttered with a sigh.
What? Why are you apologizing to me? Weren’t you depressed because your lunch-making didn’t go well?
“I didn’t know it was so hard to make a lunch box. Besides that, onee-chan also cleans and does laundry. Instead, I…”
I thought Alice was depressed because her lunchmaking didn’t go well, but Alice is thinking of me.
She’s a good, kind girl.
“Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and all have different goals.”
“eh?”
When I spoke to Alice while patting her head, she raised her face and looked at me.
“I want to see everyone’s faces happy. That’s one of my goals, but in your case, it’s also for yourself.”
“For myself?”
“Yes, for myself. Cooking, cleaning, and washing is a way for me to express myself.”
“A way to express myself…”
Alice repeated my words in a whisper.
I didn’t have anything that I could call a skill.
What is it that only I can do? What can I do? What can I express?
When I thought about it, I felt depressed because I didn’t have anything.
I wanted to have something that was my own.
But there was nothing. I didn’t even know what I should do.
Then, I decided to start with something that anyone can do.
That’s how I started cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry, in other words, housework.
I wanted to reduce my mother’s burden as much as possible since my father is working alone and rarely home, and I also wanted to make sure that Alice would not be inconvenienced when my mother went to live with my father.
It was a way to express myself, and it was also for the benefit of others.
It’s a simple thing, but it kills two birds with one stone.
“I’m sure onee-can is not as saintly as you think onee-chan are.”
It’s for Alice’s sake and also for Mom’s sake. If I can reduce the burden on Mom, it will be good for Dad. That’s for sure. But that’s not all.
Housework is an important way to express who I am.
“It’s a way to express myself. I never thought of that…”
Alice muttered to herself, staring straight ahead.
“What can I do? What is it that only I can do…?”
That murmur of Alice’s seemed to be a question to herself.
It’s not wrong to be troubled. It doesn’t mean that you will always find the answer to your question, but you might find something different from the answer you were hoping for.
◆
There was a crowd of people by the school gate.
When I think of a crowd by the school gate, the first person that comes to mind is Yurizono-san.
I wondered if she was doing something again, so I approached her with Alice.
Then, in the center of the crowd, there was an unexpected person.
It was all female students. At the center of the crowd was Yanomiya-san.
“Good morning, Amane.”
Takanashi-san greets me with a blank stare. Next to her is Kiniwa-san, who is smiling and waving at me.
Kiniwa-san is smiling, but her smile seems to be tense or tired.
I don’t care if it’s Takanashi-san, how can that Kiniwa-san be exhausted?
“Good morning. And what’s this all about?”
I asked Takanashi-san while returning her greeting.
“You’ll know when you see it.”
Takanashi-san muttered with a blank stare. And Kiniwa-san, who laughed dryly.
You can tell by looking?
I tilted my head and looked at Yanomiya-san.
“H-Hey, Sora-chan. Is it true that you’ve become a gal?”
One of the girls surrounding Yanomiya-san asked her with a look of fear.
“That’s right!”
Yanomiya-san, who was wearing a black hat with a stag beetle applique on it, raised her hands and shouted cheerfully.
Yes, Yanomiya-san didn’t just play in the sea and get sunburned, did she?
“What should I do? Sora-chan has turned into a gal…”
“Is the innocent Sora-chan everyone knows is gone…?”
“Summer vacation, summer vacation has made Sora-chan crazy…”
The girls muttering and sobbing. And then there was Takanashi-san, who let out a sigh with a blank stare, and Kiniwa-san, whose smile tensed up.
What the hell is this?
“No matter how many times I explained that Sora hadn’t turned into a gal, people kept asking me afterward. I got tired of it and left it to her, and as you can see here…”
Takanashi-san, muttering with a jittery look in her eyes, laughed dryly.
Oh, I see.
So the students who saw Yanomiya-san with her brownish tan were gathering around, worried that she had turned into a gal.
There wasn’t much of a commotion yesterday, but the rumor must have spread under the surface. And today it exploded.
It may not have been Yanomiya-san’s intention to do so, but she’s an adorable mascot for everyone.
When the students heard the rumor that Yanomiya-san had turned into a gal, they rushed in one after another, and Takanashi-san and Kiniwa-san tried to explain that she hadn’t turned into a gal, but there was no end to it, so they got fed up and left the explanation to Yanomiya-san herself.
As a result, the place became chaotic.
Kiniwa-san must have already dealt with quite a few students because she was exhausted.
“Amane, do something about it…”
Then Takanashi-san came crying to me. Kiniwa-san also clasped her hands together with a dry smile on her face.
Good, good, you did your best.
“Kuu-chan, come here.”
When I raised my voice, the female students who surrounded Yanomiya-san turned around at once.
“It’s Amane-san…”
“Amane-san is here…”
“If Amane was there, how can Sora be…”
The girls looked at me and muttered sadly.
“It’s Amane!”
Yanomiya-san, who seemed to have noticed me, came running towards me. Then she jumped on me.
I held her in my arms.
“Have you become a gal, Kuu-chan?”
“Yes!”
Yanomiya-san answers my question immediately with a big smile on her face. Then the sobs coming from around me got louder.
“Does Kuu-chan know what “gal” mean?”
“It means a young, energetic woman! That’s what it says in the dictionary!”
I knew it when I heard Yanomiya-san’s answer.
A young and lively girl. That was the original meaning of gal, and what Yanomiya-san had said indeed correct.
Yanomiya-san always carries an insect illustrated book with her.
Looking at the tattered book, which I wondered how many times she had read it, I realized that she must like to read.
She probably reads a lot of books and dictionaries as well as illustrated books.
In terms of insects, I once read a Japanese translation of the Fumble Book of Insects, and it was very gentle, poetic, and beautifully written.
She likes to read such things, so that’s why Yanomiya-san’s spirit is so beautiful.
“Yes, gal means a young and energetic girl, right?”
“That’s right!”
Yanomiya-san nodded widely with a big smile on her face at my question.
Ah, how lovely.
I want to protect this pure smile.
With this in mind, I placed my cheek against Yanomiya-san’s cheek.
Yanomiya-san’s skin was soft and smooth like a baby’s.
She smiled happily and rubbed her cheek against mine.
And there was a shout of joy.
“That’s right! I was such an idiot! There’s no way Sora would have gone astray with Amane-san by her side!”
“If a cheerful and energetic girl is a gal, then Sora-chan is more of a gal than anyone else!”
“That’s right! Sora-chan is a better gal than anyone else! That’s right! You’re a better gal than anyone! You read “gal” as “angel”!”
The schoolgirls are clapping at us, whooping and hollering with yellow cheers.
They were exaggerating.
“Onee-chan is awesome…”
I turned my gaze to the voice I heard and saw Alice staring at me, smiling.
She’s smiling, but she’s looking down.
“Alice?”
The smile on her face was so fragile, and it seemed like it could disappear at any moment.