The white, gleaming building came into view. So that is the high-school building…
Starting today, Youtarou was going to be attending the High-school division of Konohana Academy, which was a part of the central building. It occupied a significant area of the vast former all-girls academy that included kindergarten all the way up to university.
Former all-girls school, huh… If you put it that way, it does feel a bit dignified and elegant. Youtarou was still faltering even though it was already too late to do anything. Only three years had passed since the school had opened its gates to males, and today, Youtarou was joining it as one of its few male students.
“Well, I wish you luck in your endeavors. Do your best!” Hikaru gave him a thumbs up, and showed him a strong smile, which seemed to be saying: Good Luck.
Hikaru’s smile was like the cool shade of a green tree. And yet, that smile seemed so far away right now.
So we’re going in separately… Youtarou suddenly became a bit forlorn. He felt like a little kid that had come out to the open sea for the first time with his parents, and suddenly his hands were let go…
He had been separated from the other sisters at the gate, and the only one who accompanied him all this way was the 4th Daughter, Hikaru. She was the one who had forcibly invited Youtarou to come live with the huge Amatsuka family of 19 sisters after he had lost his Grandmother; his only relative in the world.
The simple, handsome, smart and fit high-school first year, Hikaru. Among the incredible line of 19 sisters, she the only one who was the same age as Youtarou. She was an impressive beauty with long maroon hair, big, elegant eyes with dark pupils and a small chin.
Somewhere along the way, Youtarou had begun to feel that Hikaru would always be at his side. He had come all this way by comforting his cowardly heart by the presence of her kind hand. It put him at ease. But now, when that hand was suddenly taken away, Youtarou realized that the water here was too deep to keep his head above water without support. The sea shone with beautiful, blue color. But its bottom was so deep that you couldn’t even begin to imagine what lived at its depths…
Youtarou shook his head involuntarily. I ended up imagining something weird. I don’t even have any experience with deep sea swimming…
“Is something wrong?” Hikaru asked him with dubious face.
“Un-un. Nope, nothing.” He replied, raising his face quickly. A bit too quickly, as Hikaru became a little disheartened. She would like nothing more than to just go ahead and give him a tour.
“Hey, look…” She hesitated, as if it was something difficult to say. “I think it would be best if we proceed separately from here on. I mean, if we are together all the time, it would be, you know–”
“It’s alright, I’ll be fine.” Youtarou said and let out a weak self-deprecating laugh.
“We are in the same class after all, and someone might figure it out…” Hikaru looked like she was trying to come up with an excuse, which was quite unusual for her.
“Yes, and since we can already see the school building, I’m sure I’ll be fine–” Youtarou answered in bright tone, hiding his true feelings.
“If we really are found out it will probably cause quite a ruckus...”
“…A ruckus?”
“No, it will probably be even worse.”
“Eh!?”
“Yes, there is no other way…” Hikaru pursed her lips together. “Listen up! The fact that you and me are siblings–” She pointed at Youtarou’s face. “–is a secret from our classmates, no matter what!”
But we are not siblings! Of course, Youtarou’s inner voice did not reach Hikaru.
“Anyways, good luck! I’ll be cheering for you!” Flashing an excessively refreshing smile, Hikaru ran off. Her long strides and short skirt resulted in the pleats of her skirt fluttering everywhere.
Uwah! I can see her panties– Just as the thought crossed his mind, he saw that Hikaru was wearing black, short spats today. Oh, so that’s what she’s wearing all the time. I always thought it weird that she was so boyish and yet had so many skirts. So she’s wearing spats all the time. Youtarou was just a little bit disappointed.
Suddenly, he recalled what happened on the riverbank. That day he had realized that even though they weren’t related by blood, just by being together, just by living in the same house, there were people that thought of him as their own family. The taste of the Takoyaki they ate, sitting together. Being thrown by the angry Hikaru. The whiteness of her panties. The memory came back to him quite vividly.
“Uwaah!” He desperately tried to suppress himself. Just then, he heard the solemn chime of the bell signaling the start of class.
“This is bad!” Since it was new semester at a new school, Youtarou was carrying a large bag packed with things and two large paper bags besides. Without stopping to correct his posture, Youtarou ran off, barely carrying everything he had.
But still, I wonder why Hikaru is so hung up on hiding the fact that we are ‘siblings’ now…He wondered, doing his best to keep all the things in his bag from overflowing.
In the first place, the reason that he had transferred to this school from his old school was because he was now a ‘sibling’ of Hikaru and the rest, wasn’t it? If someone like Tsurara– who still hadn’t accepted Youtarou as family member– said something like that, it would make sense. What came as little bit of a surprise to Youtarou was for Hikaru to say something like that, while normally she was so hung up on things like ‘siblings’ and ‘family’. Youtarou didn’t especially want them to treat him as a family member even at school, and in truth, it didn’t really matter to him. In fact, just explaining that he was a ‘sibling’ of those unique 19 sisters, and on top of that was an ‘eldest son that came later’ seemed like it would be a chore. Not saying anything about that may be better for him. It just felt a bit strange to him, and he recalled Hikaru’s silhouette as she ran away.
I don’t mind keeping it a secret, but what is this strange feeling? Youtarou didn’t know that that feeling was normally called a feeling of alienation. Having grown up without any immediate family, Youtarou was not good a figuring out his own feelings.
Maybe, that fact that I came to this school is an annoyance to Hikaru? Now that I think about it, I just transferred to this school going along with what that one-man Mama told me to do, but me coming to this school might cause Hikaru the most trouble, seeing as we are going to be in the same class… But no, I really, truly am not thinking something like wanting them to treat me as a ‘sibling’ at school too. Yes.
Unable to come to a satisfactory conclusion about his own feelings, Youtarou headed towards the High-school building.
2
The classroom of grade 1 – C that Youtarou was transferring to was on the 2nd floor, at the very edge of the building. It faced the Tennis court which received a lot of sunlight throughout the day.
As he nervously approached it down the long, straight corridor, he could hear the echoes of the high-spirited shouts of female students.
Its noisier than I imagined. The voices of girls really echo, don’t they? He thought to himself, walking down the long corridor with the classrooms of the First years and Second years lined up next to each other. Suddenly–
‘Kyaaa!’ An unusually loud cheer reached his ears. It was from the class at the very end.
Maybe classes have already begun? Being late on the very first day and standing out is not very pleasant experience. Thinking that, Youtarou sped up to a trot and hurried towards his classroom. A strange scene was unfolding before his eyes.
‘Hikaru-sama, how are you today?’
‘I’m very happy to meet you again this morning!’
‘Now, please, let me carry your bag!’
Even though they were supposed to have been separated, Hikaru was just now entering the classroom.
“Well, it seems that there are some juniors who don’t know their place and have sent so many fan letters again…” Among the students who had gathered around Hikaru, one of the taller one grabbed the bunch of envelopes that Hikaru was carelessly holding. She held them like you would hold something dirty. “This ‘from yumi*yumi’ one; did Katsuragi-senpai from 3rd year send this? What is she doing, sending something like this while being older one?’ It looked like her anger was amplifying.
Scary! I’m already seeing new sides of the girl world. Youtarou thought to himself. Hikaru looked thoroughly bored. It was a completely different look from the gentle expression she had before.
“Read it properly before returning it.” Saying that in a quiet voice, Hikaru dropped into her seat, the bored expression still on her face. Immediately, she was surrounded by 5 or 6 girls, hiding her from view.
“As expected of Hikaru-sama, she’s kind to even these juniors who do troublesome things like these. I feel like I’m about to faint from the amount of kindness.”
“If Hikaru-sama is this kind, then we have to become a shield that protects her at all times. See here, another silly fellow has arrived to peak at Hikaru-sama–” Youtarou’s eyes met Hikaru’s.
“If he looks at our Hikaru-sama with those eyes, she will become tainted! It’s ten years too early for a guy like you to stare at our Hikaru-sama.” The girl dismissed Youtarou with a wave of her hand. Youtarou involuntarily looked behind him.
“I’m talking to you. Yes, you! Hurry up and go back to your class. Have you lost your way while searching for the middle-school building? Hmph, so lustful even though you just a kid.”
Wait, she’s talking about me!? He inadvertently shrunk back a little. This former all-girls academy is scary! I’m a little concerned about my future prospects in this class.
No matter how he looked at it, there was no way he could just say “Oh! I am a transfer student.” and walk into the class now.
This is problematic. What should I do? Just then–
“Excuse me…” Someone tapped on Youtarou’s shoulder from behind.
“Ah, s-sorry–” As Youtarou turned around, the heavy bags he was carrying hit whoever was behind him, and the person fell down.
“Ouch!”
“I’m really sorry! I wasn’t paying attention, so I was a little surprised…” As Youtarou made excuses and held out a hand to out the girl who had fell down and landed partway in the corridor–
“Kyaaah!” The girl panicked and held down the front of her skirt.
On a closer look, he found that this girl was wearing a skirt with pleats even shorter than what Hikaru had been wearing. The front of it was flipped up, and her panties were almost visible.
“Ah…” He consciously let out a small voice.
“No, don’t look!” The girl panicked and fixed and skirt.
“S-s-s-s-s-s-sorry! I really didn’t mean to do that!” Youtarou involuntarily backed up again, slightly lowering the hand he had held out. The girl, her gaze still downcast, grabbed his receding hand, pulled it in and stood up all at once. She dusted off the backside of her skirt, lifted her face, and brushed away a few strands of hair form her face. She looked up at him shyly and smiled.
“Are you maybe…” Her voice was as cute and clear as a seiyuu, he realized. “…the transfer student?”
TLN: The Japanese word for voice actor/actress, used in Western slang to refer to Japanese voice actors/actresses, mainly in anime.
As if it had been waiting for that exact moment, the chime rang with the same solemn tone again.
“Ah, class is starting.” She covered her slightly open mouth with a hand. Her shoulder length brown hair which curled inward ever so slightly swayed.
She’s…kinda cute. Youtarou caught himself thinking.
“Transfer students are supposed to come along to class with the Homeroom teacher on the first day…whatever shall we do? It’s entirely possible that the teacher is waiting in the staff room.”
Eh?
“The staff room in on the first floor. Are you familiar with how to get there? If you go down that flight of stairs, it’s right in front.” She peeked at Youtarou’s worried face. She might have been shortsighted, as she brought her face unnaturally close to Youtarou’s. Her face filled the entirety of Youtarou’s field of view; her big, round eyes were as cute as a puppy’s.
“Ah, yes.” Youtarou replied in daze.
“I’m really sorry, I really want to lead you to it myself, but…” She said with an apologetic face. Seeing that, Youtarou himself began feeling apologetic and saying “It’s quite alright!”, waved his arms in an exaggerated manner and hurried towards the stairs. Seeing him run off while carrying all his things towards the stairs, she smiled shyly.
“What a dreamy person. He looks a bit like Onii-chan.” She covered her bright red cheeks with both hands. And then saying “Oh no, I was on duty today.”, she returned to the loud classroom.