Next, I will post another SBD chapter tomorrow before working on the MaguToro chapter. Also, I hope I managed to convey the melancholiness of this chapter. Enjoy the chapter!
TL: clover
ED: clover
As expected, my new father was a hard worker.
Just like my mother, he left home early in the morning and came home late at night.
Because there were many times he would leave the house on business trips, my existence would not be a burden for him.
The thing that was troublesome for me was my older sister.
Despite having such cold words thrown at her, she still wanted to see me.
Mornings would start with good morning greetings, what was interesting about yesterday's TV show, about today's news, and telling me a stupid story.
Of course, I wouldn't reply.
In front of my mother and the others, I would give an indication that I was paying attention to her, but when it was only the two of us I would ignore thoroughly.
And yet, she wouldn't stop talking to me.
What was that girl?
What did I have to do to make her cease talking to me?
Although I thought that her spirit of steel that kept her talking with a smile even when she was ignored was admirable, I was thoroughly fed up with her.
–However, this life. To be honest, it was not all bad.
Of course, the existence of my older sister was a threat in various ways. It couldn't be helped.
However, since she grew up in a motherless household, she could do whole chores of housework.
I had been doing all the housework by myself, but now that girl had divided the housework between us equally.
For example, while I was preparing breakfast, that girl would wash the clothes.
When I did the cleaning and garbage disposal, dinner was made exclusively by her.
As the burden of housekeeping had decreased, I was able to take time to study and other things.
I didn't like that girl, but I thought that I truly appreciated her.
But it was a different story whether I recognized her as an older sister or not.
"Soutarou-kun, today's breakfast is hamburger steak."
When I saw the meals on the dining table, I was concerned.
Hamburger steak was a difficult dish to make, you couldn't be careless when cooking it.
I had tried to cook it before, but honestly, it was quite difficult.
At any rate, the person who would eat it was me. Since it was good as long as it could fill my belly, naturally I cooked dishes that could be easily made, something like vegetable stir-fried was the main dish.
But my sister seemed to like cooking.
I looked down at the carefully made hamburger steak and sat down silently.
"Go on, enjoy your meal."
She didn't scold me for taking the chopsticks without saying 'Itadakimasu', but she had a smile on her face.
When I broke the hamburger with my chopsticks, the meat juice overflowed.
I gulped and took the hamburger into my mouth.
—Delicious.
"Is it good?"
"………So so."
I made a frown and answered coldly.
I actually thought that it was very delicious, and I was thankful for her to have cooked this.
But, I didn't want to acknowledge her as my sister, I didn't want to praise her, I gave her chopsticks rudely.
Even for me, I thought that it was a terrible attitude.
Without saying anything, she took the offered chopsticks silently and stared at me in an oddly festive way.
"—I can't eat if you stared at me like that."
"Ah, sorry, sorry."
When I reprimanded her, she began to eat her own food in a panic.
As I warned her to eat carefully, she was grinning with a sloppy face.
What the heck did she find so fun about.
I couldn't understand what she was thinking at all, I tilted my head confusedly and kept eating my meal.
Other than my sister who was irritating, this new life was fairly satisfactory.
I was also able to adapt to the school I had been transferred into.
However, after a month passed since I transferred, my homeroom teacher told me a depressing message.
"As we informed you ahead of time, there will be a parents' day1 next Thursday."
Hearing such an announcement, a blow was dealt towards my spirit.
Parents' day - and during a weekday?
I looked down at the paper with the announcement of the parents' day written on it and sighed out secretly.
I disliked this event called 'parents' day'.
My mother had never participated in the parents' day events.
She was so busy that she couldn't take a day off on weekdays.
I used to hate it in the past, but now I was accustomed to it.
When you were a fifth grader or so, unlike the lower grades, the number of parents who couldn't come to visit increases.
Even if your parents didn't come, it wouldn't be noticeable.
I let out a dejected sigh and put the print out in the back of my school bag.
As soon as the school bell rang, I went home at a quick pace.
When I unlocked the door and entered the house, my sister didn't seem to have gone home yet.
My sister rarely arrived home before me because my class ends quicker.
After checking that no one was home, I checked the calendar.
Father and mother would be on a business trip next week from Wednesday that lasts several days. They wouldn't even be at home during the parents' day.
When I took out the print out from my bag, I crumpled it and threw it into the trash can.
–I didn't expect anything.
My mother was busy as usual, and I didn't have any emotional attachment towards the parents' day.
Besides, it was embarrassing if she was watching me when I attended my classes.
However, in the past, I couldn't help but felt depressed during parents' day.
It is better for my parents not to come, isn't it? I would sneer at my classmates while feeling envious.
I felt the existence of 'family' that the other people had in common, I hated that event.
"I'm not stupid."
I am alone, I turned my back to the trash can.
I didn't need a family.
My mother worked hard to earn money and I could live by myself if I had enough money.
I didn't want it, I wouldn't wish for it anymore.
I dropped my school bag, and suddenly I saw a memo paper on the table.
Perhaps it was the one left by my older sister who went to school after me.
'To Soutarou-kun. There is a pudding in the refrigerator, so please eat it if you want. I ultrrecommended the milk pudding!'
It was a memo paper with an illustration of a pudding drew on it, it was a surprisingly good drawing.
Remembering my older sister's smile, I sighed out exasperatedly.
"……Why, do you still care about me."
I grabbed the memo paper while frowning.
Because I had been ignoring her all the time, I had hardly any conversation with her.
Even though she cooked dinner every day, I had never said words of gratitude.
Only complaints, I was the worst younger brother.
She should have just forsaken me.
But the small memo paper was somewhat warm.
I frowned, opened the refrigerator and pulled out the pudding.
Its sweet and soft taste seemed to heal my depressed heart a little.
1 Parents' day / Class visit: in Japan (and maybe other countries, I don't know) there is a day in each year when parents' would be invited to visit their child's classroom and watch how their children doing at school. The parents would stand in the back of the classroom. This would motivate the students to be more active during class.