“...” So that’s the reason. “So that’s why you’re upset, Orihara-san.”
“I said I’m not upset! It’s just...I have this legitimate concern that something is a little off.” Orihara-san continued to pout. “I mean, come on... This is weird, right?! Why is my big sister eating and sleeping under the same roof as my boyfriend?!”
“...” I couldn’t object right away. After all, it was a fair question.
Seriously though, why did things turn out like this? “Well, even though we’re eating and sleeping in the same house, my sister and father are here with us, so...”
“I know that, but...you’ve been eating my sister’s cooking every day lately, haven’t you?”
“Well, yeah.”
“You’re about to have had her cooking more times than you’ve had mine, aren’t you?”
“Well...” I’ve only had Orihara-san’s cooking a few times, and at this rate I’ll soon surpass that. After all, I’ve been eating Kisaki-san’s cooking for breakfast and dinner lately.
“At this point, you’ve seen my sister even more times than you’ve ever seen me, right?”
“...Yeah, that would be the case.” I mean, we do live together. Unless one of us tried to avoid it, we’d see each other no matter what.
“Jeez...how did things turn out like this?”
“I’m sorry.” I couldn’t help apologizing.
“Oh, no, it’s not like that. It wasn’t that I wanted you to apologize. I know that’s just the way things are now, and I understand that it’s not your fault, Momota-kun. In fact, as her little sister, I’m glad that she’s comfortable living in your house. But I can’t help getting jealous when I think about how my sister gets to live under the same roof as you and enjoy a side of you I don’t know about,” she said.
“...Yeah, I understand.” I felt like what I was being told was a bit needy, but I understood her feelings. If our positions were reversed, I probably would have been annoyed too. I don’t have an older brother, but if I did, and he started living with Orihara-san even though her family was there...I probably wouldn’t be able to stay calm about it.
“On top of that, all my sister does is talk about you, Momota-kun. She calls them ‘status reports.’ She says stuff like ‘Momota-kun complimented my cooking today’ or ‘Momota-kun won’t let me wash his underwear. It’s so cute how he’s going through puberty.’”
“Sh-She’s been doing stuff like that?”
“Today she sent me a picture of your face while you were sleeping and bragged about it!”
“She’s been doing stuff like that?!” Just what is my stepmom doing?! Why is she trying so hard to get a rise out of my girlfriend?!
“She tried to provoke me with a message that said, ‘I sent you a mail pic of his face while he was asleep. Oh, Hime, could it be that I got to see his sleeping face before you did?’ I can’t stand it! Why does my sister have to get one up on me like this?!”
“P-Please calm down.”
“Well, it’s pretty old-fashioned the way she said ‘I sent you a mail pic.’ That’s such an eighties kid thing to do! I wonder if kids these days would even know what that means. Well, a nineties kid like myself totally doesn’t use the word ‘mail pic’ because I have young sensibilities! I can get with the times!” Orihara-san said, trying to one-up her sister with her youth.
“Mail pic,” huh? For people from the flip phone generation, apparently it was normal to call a picture you took with your phone a “mail pic,” which was short for “picture mail.” Even now, people from that generation tend to call pictures taken with their smartphones “mail pics.” I think it’s like “Don’t touch that dial” and “rewinding” videos, where it’s leftover language that comes from old technology. I’m from a generation that’s never used flip phones, but I’ve heard about “mail pics” because my dad and adults around me use the term.
Honestly...I think Orihara-san sometimes says “mail pic” too, but I won’t bring that up right now...
“Sigh... My morning’s barely started and my sister is already making me feel frustrated.” Orihara-san let out a deep sigh.
“It is frustrating, isn’t it? All right, I’ve got it. Next time we meet up...let’s be so l-lovey-dovey that it blows all of that frustration away!” I suggested. I was a little embarrassed, but I tried to be cool about it.
“...” I could hear her gasp on the other end of the phone.
Oh no... What should I do? Did I mess up? Have I become the kind of boyfriend who tries to solve his problems with his girlfriend by just flirting?! In that instant, I was overcome with intense anxiety.
“...Y-Yes, absolutely. Let’s be really lovey-dovey.” Orihara-san sounded happy and relaxed, and I felt relieved.
Thank goodness. It looks like I didn’t mess up after all.
“I’m sorry for spending the morning making you listen to me complain, Momota-kun.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Thank you. I feel a lot better now.”
“Well, I’m glad. Oh, sorry, I’m about to reach my school.” After walking and talking on my smartphone for a few minutes, I could see the entrance to my school across the street. “I actually have a kind of meeting with my class this morning, so I have to be there a little early.”
“A meeting... Oh, that’s right. It’s almost here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later. I have to head to work too.”
Our phone call finished. After I put my phone into my bag, I looked up at the school entrance again. Right now, the school gate that I should have recognized looked slightly unfamiliar. Plywood, flower decorations, and other tools that would be used to decorate and make the entrance more eye-catching were lined up next to it. They hadn’t started working on it yet, so I suppose they were just getting things prepared.
It was time for the school festival. For most high schoolers, it’s a festival that they only get to experience three times during their high school career, and my very first one was just a week away.