Chapter 58 – Exam and the Winter Sky

 

“Next year you’ll be dying from studying.”

“I don’t wanna study~”

 

December.

 

The season where my breath would turn white and my fingertips would prickle from the pain has arrived.

 

Back in the day, I would put on my gloves and wage war (snowball fight) against my sister outside but we stopped doing that. One of the reasons for this was because I kept making her cry by rapid shooting the snowballs to her face. Back then, we could spend our time innocently without any worries.

 

But now, we both were charmed by the advancement of civilization and stopped going outside. We completely became what the society called ‘Zoomers’.

 

As Zoomers, instead of wasting our time outside, we were lazing around inside our kotatsu while admiring the fruits of modern civilization. This winter was the second year of high school for me and the third year of middle school for my sister. Next year, I would have to prepare for my university entrance exam while my sister would be taking her high school entrance exam.

 

“Wait a second, I just realized something terrible…”

“What is it?”

 

My sister placed her chin on the tabe as she replied to me. She sounded sleepy.

 

“I’ve never seen you study for the exam!”

“Of course.”

 

How could she have such a carefree attitude toward her own exam? I was so proud of her when I overheard that her grade wasn’t all that bad, but now she acted like this. Ugin, this action is pure disrespect toward all the students in this country.

 

“I mean, I got a recommendation…”

“Huh? Recommendation?”

“You don’t know about it, Bro? The whole family celebrated it when I got that, you know?”

“The whole family except me??”

“I think you were there too, you just didn’t pay any attention like usual. Seriously Bro, why are you like this?”

“What the hell?! So everything is already decided for you?! …Is this why you’re still doing your club activities even though you’re a third year? It’s not because you were bribed to do it by your fellow members?”

“Yeah, I got my recommendation, so I can take care of my juniors instead of worrying over the exam.”

 

The perk of getting a recommendation… I remember my rage toward those guys who got their recommendations back when I was in middle school. They were able to spend their winter break without a care in the world while I had to work my a** off to get into a decent high school. Luckily my hard work paid off, but it still made my blood boil.

 

“So, which high school will you attend?”

“Different from yours, Mikawa High.”

“Phew… Well, I guess you can celebrate the New Year in peace…”

“I guess. I remember back then, you looked like you were about to die during this period. The massive tomato juice cans on your floor were really gross… Seriously, how could you not get sick after drinking that much?”

“Dear little sister, when you’re working your a** to pass the exam, things like health simply don’t matter! The students who are preparing for their exams will naturally break through their limit during the process in exchange for their lifespans! I sacrificed two years of my life span during the high school entrance exam and I’m prepared to sacrifice eight years for the university exam! Such is the horror of entrance exams, they force humans to break through the limits of their mortal bodies and surpass even the genius!”

 

Realizing that I have to take another entrance exam made me feel depressed. Ah… I want to stay inside the kotatsu forever instead of going through that horrible thing again…

 

Dear little sister, I’m so jealous of you… 

 

“Anyway, Bro, how are things going lately?”

“What do you mean?”

“Jeez, do I need to spell it out? I’m talking about your relationship with Arina-san!”

“Nothing much. Well, if you want to hear something, we ended our usual activities recently. You know, the one where we’ll go around helping the school clubs doing their club activities.”

“What about your love life with her?”

“None. We aren’t like that.”

“Eh~ I thought you like her, Bro~”

 

I do like her, but even if I told her about it, things won’t work out. Besides, if I were to tell her about my feelings, it would be counterproductive considering how our relationship worked.

 

I’m just helping her out.

 

That was the nature of our relationship. If I were to push it beyond that, not only would it trouble Arina, it also wouldn’t help her ease her suffering.

 

“Don’t cry to me later if you regret it, okay?”

“I won’t cry from regrets. Regrets are part of our life, the proof that we’re mere mortals, filled with unending desires…”

“What’s with the sudden philosophical talk… Well, to put it in your language Bro, I would reply with ‘Love is something that transcends logic’.”

“Woah, Ugin, when did you start talking like a chuunibyou?”

“I’m going to punch your face.”

 

She then threw an orange to my face.

 

*   *   *

 

Aki-senpai was probably focusing on her studies for the entrance exam. Lately, I stopped talking to her because I was afraid that I would trouble her. I could technically give her an encouragement or two, but I felt like it would give her unnecessary pressure if anything.

 

I missed her a lot since she was such a good Senpai for me. She will be gone from this school soon too and that made me feel a bit lonely. Yeah, sure we could still chat like usual even after she graduated, but I’m sure that it wouldn’t feel the same anymore. After all, we could still talk casually because we were both high school students, but after she graduates, I’m sure that there will be a gap between our relationship.

 

I noticed that the hype brought by the school festival had completely died down. Not only did it freeze the atmosphere, but winter could also freeze people’s excitement, huh?

 

I was on my way to school, in the middle of the gentle snowfall. There was no wind, so the snow just fell down quietly. By the time I arrive at school, the snow will probably turn my head and shoulders white.

 

I tucked my face into my scarf and tried to warm my freezing nose with my breath. I hate winter so much, I feel like dying going through this cold…

 

As I was spouting my curses toward the winter, someone patted my head from behind.

 

I turned around to see Hiwa Arina.

 

“…”

“As expected, I couldn’t just ignore you. If I let the snow pile up, your walnut-sized brain will get brain freeze.”

“What’s inside that walnut, I wonder?…”

“The void.”

“Try to hit my head, it might make a good sound.”

 

She looked cold. I could see the tip of her nose and cheeks blushed from the cold, it was cute. She always maintained a cold attitude, but the innocent face she showed from time to time always managed to make my heart skip a beat. I wish she could stop being cute and catch me off guard like this. She was a tsundere, and her dere side sure was something.

 

She seemed to be struggling against the cold while relying on the scarf around her neck. I moved my gaze toward her legs.

 

“Black tights. Seen in winter. Black pearls.”

“That’s an awful haiku.” (T/N: Haiku. Idk how to explain it.)

“High school girls love their black tights, huh? Same, me too.”

“Gross. Go die.”

 

We went to the school together with that mood. We kept our silence for a long time after that. I didn’t know what Arina was thinking about, but I felt so awkward. I wanted to say something but I couldn’t think of something to talk about. If I had been in my usual mood, this would be where I would crack a joke, but I was too nervous to do that. What am I so nervous about, you ask?

 

The answer should be obvious. I glanced toward the girl beside me. Her cheeks, slightly tinted with the shade of pink struck me dumbfounded. Her long eyelashes looked so delicate and beautiful.

 

I could see her moving her lips and that snapped me back to reality.

 

“So, what happened after that?”

“A-Ah?…”

“Your stalking, what happened after I left?”

“Nothing… He asked me to tell you that he’s thankful and sorry because he troubled you.”

“That’s boring. I shoulda did a selfie instead of taking their pictures properly back then, I wonder what would have happened if I did that?”

“That’s just cruel.”

 

After we left the all-you-can-eat sweets store, Arina, Shirona and the others left me behind. I remembered I was standing there alone like an idiot. I never asked what happened to them after that and I never intend to.

 

We walked through the school gate as I patted my uniform to remove the snow off of it before entering the building. I tossed my shoes into the shoe box and it was at that timing that my phone vibrated. I pulled it out of my pocket and opened the screen.

 

“What is it? Are you going to take a look at your p**n collection?”

“Idiot, I’m a gentleman. My gallery is filled with cultured thing like the contents of the British Museum (lie), not p**n.”

 

It was a message from Shirona. I opened it while wondering what she wanted from me this early in the morning and when I read the message, my drowsiness was instantly blown away.

 

“You look like a frozen mammoth, what happened?”

 

Arina huddled closer toward me and looked at my phone.

 

“Eh? This–?”

 

Arina was dumbfounded while I went past that stage and entered the Zen. I reached a state of selflessness that would almost be comparable to Buddha.

 

[Sui, I love you. Can you meet me today after school?]

 

That whole sentence was sent by none other than Namiki Shirona.