#147

The summer sun irritates my skin.

The usually unhealthy white skin should look like that of a high school student who has spent some outside in this summer vacation.

I am supposed to be spending a long vacation, confined to my room spending alone, but instead, my brain is packed with a schedule.

Days from the beginning to the end of summer vacation.
The time and number of days in the Student Council till the elections.
Need to talk to the required people along with it.

…was what occupied my mind.

As for time to finish assignments, I am glad that most of them are done this year.

Most people would think that was what I have had planned for my nearly month-long summer vacation.
However, let me tell you.

My original plan was to get up in the morning, eat, read, take a bath, and go to bed.

It was supposed to be a completely indoor person, which is far from what the case is.

Some time have passed since when I returned home after my talk with the president. I threw myself on the sofa as soon as I came, in the air-conditioned living room without even turning on the TV or the lights.

The impact on my face was stronger than I had imagined, and I mistook that my nose was bleeding.

In fact, I even mistake my runny nose for a nosebleed sometimes.

“…-I wonder?”

It was just a monologue, not something uttered in search of an answer.
But unexpectedly, a reply came back.

“What happened?”

“…I didn’t know Kaede was home too.”

Kaede, with a shopping bag in her hand, stood at the entrance of the living room, tilted her head and asked a question.

Kaede looked at me with a little sweat pouring down her forehead, moving in the direction of the air conditioner breeze, as if to relieve the heat built up in her body.

It must be a strange situation from Kaede’s point of view.

Her brother, who was supposed to be at a study camp to finish his assignments, came back only to find him talking to himself in the living room.

“I just went shopping in the shopping district. …So, is there something troubling you nii-san?”

“No, nothing’s troubling me, though, …It’s just a little something related to the student council.”

Kaede sat down next to me and took out an iced coffee from a bag and listened to me as I sipped it.

We were as close as ever, and I could feel the heat on my arm from Kaede’s body, who had just returned.

I know the root of the problem and the answer.
But I can’t connect the path to get there.

I know the quickest way to solve the problem.
I can just bow down to Shizuku and the others and ask them to cooperate with us.

I’d rather throw away my petty pride than to report that I couldn’t do anything with my big mouth.

But while it sounds good to rely on them that way, it also sounds somewhat forced.

As a council member, I would have to be active in the student council, so I won’t be able to help much.

‘I can’t do it, but you guys do your best!’ …might make me question my humanity.

I feel guilty that because I am friends with someone I could easily ask to do something.

I’m not sure if Kaede could tell from my voice and facial expression that I was talking about something serious, but instead, she said in a cheerful tone.

“Nii-san has been always been an over-thinker, so why don’t you just talk to Shizuku-san for the time being?”

She then pointed to a room in the house across the street.
It was a window with a single light-source, where Shizuku’s room was located.

“…”

“I can’t say too much when it comes to Nii-san’s school, and I’m sure Shizuku-san won’t deny your request.”

No, imouto (*Younger sister), Shizuku-san is the main issue as well.
Rather, Shizuku-san is the main issue.

My legs are heavy, partly because she was somewhat grumpy when we parted at school.

But in the end, the fact remains that we are going to talk.

It’s just a matter of whether it’s sooner or later.

If it were true, I would have liked to have talked to her later when I made a firm decision, but now it’s clear that it’s better to move quickly.

“…Can I ask you to contact Yuuto and Kirasaka from my phone? I’ll go get Shizuku.”

“Understood!”

Pointing to the phone on the table and requesting her, I nodded once to Kaede, who made a saluting pose, and then decided to go to Kanazaki’s household across the street.

: The next episode will unfold more quickly. ---