“Ta-da!” Haruka cried. “Take a look at this, Hiromichi!”
We received the results for our midterms at the beginning of June. Haruka had invited me to the cafeteria during lunch break, and she wasted no time proudly thrusting her answer sheets in my face as soon as I sat down. While her best grades were B’s, they also got as low as D’s. All in all, she’d managed to pass everything with a C average.
“These are my best grades yet! ” Haruka exclaimed, beaming. “And it’s all thanks to your help.”
My study methods—which even a dunce like me could understand—had been the perfect match for Haruka. Because of that, she’d scored her new “personal bests” across the board. Seeing as she shared the same genes as Shigure, my girlfriend had a much better handle on things than me.
“Well, I’m glad that my stupidity could be of service,” I remarked.
“Which is why I’d like to have a victory celebration today,” Haruka replied. “Everything’s on me. What would you like to eat? Say the word, and I’ll race over and buy it.”
“No need—just being able to study with you was incredibly fun.”
I was being completely honest. Studying with my girlfriend had always been a dream of mine, which meant I’d already reaped my rewards.
But Haruka wasn’t willing to budge despite my insistence. “I had fun as well,” she said. “But, on top of that, you also helped improve my grades. So please let me buy you lunch. It’s the least I can do. If I can’t do anything for you right now... it’ll make it difficult to ask for help in the future.”
“Oh crap. We can’t be having that.”
I needed Haruka to rely on me for this term’s finals and the following midterms—no, for the rest of our lives! And so I decided to accept her offer.
“Well then, I’ll have one yakisoba bread and two meat cutlets,” I said.
“Sir, yes, Sir! I—Private Haruka—will fulfill my mission and return posthaste!”
With a theatrical salute, Haruka skipped over to the cafeteria’s snack bar.
She’s so cute.
Just seeing her practically bouncing as she walked away filled me with indescribable joy. After all, Haruka was buying food for me. This adorable girl was doing her best to make me happy. I couldn’t ask for anything more. God, thank you for allowing me to live on this beautiful earth long enough to experience this.
“What’s with that dopey grin?” “Wha—?!”
Suddenly, I heard Haruka’s voice from behind me. I whirled around in surprise, my eyes practically popping out of their sockets, only to see Shigure. The only way I could tell it was her was due to the different uniform. She was holding a cafeteria tray in both hands.
“Oh, it’s just you,” I said.
“‘Just’ me? Is that any way to speak to your adorable little sister?”
Since the cafeteria was so loud, I guess Shigure felt she didn’t have to hide our sibling relationship.
Her large eyes caught sight of the answer sheets atop the table. “Oh?” she blurted out. “Are these Haruka’s answer sheets?”
“They are.”
“Wow. For someone who’s always hated studying, these are some pretty decent scores.”
“She usually barely scrapes by, if that. This time, though, she studied her heart out—with me as her partner.”
“Oh right, you did mention that. I see. They do say if you want to learn a foreign language, you should date someone there. I guess that applies here too, in a way. Speaking of which, where’s the owner of these tests?”
“Haruka’s buying me lunch as thanks for helping her. She’s over there right now,” I replied as I pointed over at the entrance of the snack bar, where Haruka was currently being jostled about by the crowd.
Shigure let out an exaggerated sigh. “You just started going out, and you’re already treating her like a sugar mama?”
“Oh, c’mon. As far as repayment goes, this is perfectly reasonable.”
“Still, if you’re gonna be eating with Haruka, I guess I’ll take my leave now.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Say Haruka runs into us while we’re together. We have everything to lose and nothing to gain in that scenario. It would be a complete catastrophe if you accidentally let our living situation slip.”
“How dumb do you think I am? We can at least have lunch together. I’m sure Haruka would be happy with that, too.”
“Also, I feel like looking at your stupid face for too long will only make it hard to surpress the urge to bully you.”
“On that note, you should leave right now. Chop, chop!” I cried, waving my hand to shoo my would-be tormenter away.
If Shigure teased me as she usually did in front of Haruka, I don’t think I’d ever be able to recover my pride as a boyfriend. Unfortunately, I was a little too late.
“Ah, Shigure!” Haruka exclaimed. “Hi there!”
“What a disaster...” Shigure groaned quietly.
Haruka had returned, lunch in hand, much faster than we’d expected. I’d underestimated the physical capabilities of an actress—after all, the band and drama clubs were sometimes grouped in with the athletic teams.
“Here you go,” she said, placing my food in front of me. “One yakisoba bread and two meat cutlets.”
“Th-Thanks.”
“Are you joining us for lunch, Shigure?” Haruka asked.
“I suppose so. Hiromichi looked so lonely sitting at this big table all by himself, so I figured I’d grace him with my presence in case nobody joined him.”
“Hey, I’ve got friends!” I interjected. “They’re just, uh... all sick today...”
“So it would seem,” Shigure replied. “I wouldn’t want to intrude on a couple’s private time, though. I’ll go find another place to sit.”
Shigure tried to leave, but, as expected, Haruka stopped her.
“Why don’t you sit with us, then?” she asked.
“Thanks for the invite, but I’ll have to pass,” Shigure replied. “I don’t exactly want to be the third wheel here.”
“But all the other tables are full,” her sister astutely pointed out.
“Erm...”
When I surveyed my surroundings, I found the cafeteria more packed than I’d ever seen it before—all of the chairs were occupied besides the extras at our table. There had been plenty of options while Shigure and I had been talking. Where the hell had all these perfectly-timed backsides sprouted up from?
Shigure was already holding on to a cafeteria tray, so I felt reluctant to chase her away from the only open spot.
“Hiromichi, do you mind if Shigure eats with us?” Haruka asked.
“O-Of course not,” I replied. “I don’t mind at all. Why don’t you join us, Shigure?”
“See? Even Hiromichi says it’s okay,” Haruka insisted.
“In that case, how could I refuse...?” Shigure mumbled.
Shigure plopped down next to Haruka, completely defeated. She glared at me reproachfully from across the table. Ever since we’d started living together, we’d grown accustomed to this sort of nonverbal communication. We began to have a heated conversation through eye contact alone.
“Why didn’t you refuse?” Shigure asked.
“How could I say no?” I responded. “There aren’t any other seats anyway. I don’t want to make Haruka think I’m an asshole.”
“Couldn’t you have just spouted some sappy line? Something like, ‘But Haruka, our time together is too precious to be interrupted!’ You can’t do anything right, can you?
“Well, I know for a fact that that wouldn’t have made her happy.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right about that.”
Shigure was all too aware of Haruka’s disposition—they were twins, after all. With no further counterarguments in mind, she finally dropped the matter.
“In any case, we’ll have to cooperate and ride this out together,” said Shigure.
“Please just don’t torment me in front of Haruka—I have my dignity as a boyfriend to uphold.”
“Who do you take me for? I won’t make any comments about your ‘dignity’—or lack thereof—and I don’t intend to make Haruka feel awkward in any way. More importantly, don’t you dare slip up and say something about our living situation.”
“Y-Yeah, I’ll be careful.”
Shigure really was a completely different person as soon as she left the confines of our apartment. At home, she caused me nothing but trouble, but at school, she actually came across as... reliable. It all went to show just how much she valued Haruka.
So that’s how the three of us ended up having lunch together. Shigurely quickly—and rather shrewdly—brought up our recent midterms, allowing her to lead the discussion and prevent any personal matters from cropping up. Quick as a whip, that one. I hopped in on occasion, filling in the conversation by grumbling about our teachers. And just like that, lunchtime flew by without too much incident.
Alas, if only that could have lasted. Near the end of our break, Haruka brought up a new topic—one that required some delicacy.
“Speaking of which, you two sit next to each other in class, right? Do you get along?”
“Um...”
My heart started racing. Had Haruka had mistaken us for friends? Did I mess up and act too enthusiastic when I’d spoken with Shigure? While that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, Haruka and Shigure were identical—even the slightest trigger could give rise to suspicion. If that were directed at me, I wouldn’t mind, but I was worried that Haruka would beat herself up over the matter.
“Not at all,” I replied, trying to make myself as clear as possible. “In fact, the two of us are more like cats and—OUCH!”
“He’s just joking,” Shigure quickly added after a swift, covert kick to my shin. “We’re on pretty friendly terms—we exchange greetings when we see each other and all that. But we haven’t spoken to each other much since the seating plan changed after midterms.”
My shin! This girl kicked me right in the goddamn shin!
“What was that for?” I asked, glaring at Shigure.
“Quit being such a dumbass,” she replied with a look a hundred times more venomous than mine. “It’s a huge red flag for us girls if our boyfriend is a prick to our friends. And I’m not just a friend—I’m Haruka’s little sister. Do you seriously want her to hate you?”