HS Chapter 78: The hopeless sister is consulted with.

“— So I was talking about that with my classmates. Good grief, everyone was cruel. ‘Has anyone ever confessed to you?’ or ‘I’d rather confess to Koma-chan than Tachibana’ or ‘You’d be accepted if they have a maniac fetish’, they were saying whatever they wanted… That may be true, but I’d like for them to at least sugar-coat their words.”

The night of the same day I had a great time talking about confessions with my classmates. I, Mako Tachibana, am complaining about today’s events while serving my beloved sister Koma and Aunty Meiko dinner that I cooked as usual.

“Fuun. It’s true that there are only a handful of people who might fall in love with Mako.”

“Ahaha, nice joke, Aunty. I’m not proud of it, but I’ve never had anyone favor me that much. I’m sure you can count on one hand rather than two hands, right?

“…. Is that so. Well if Mako says it’s like that, then it’s like that.”

Aunty Meiko was the one who answered the questions in an appropriate manner, without much interest, while drinking.

“…. ‘Has anyone ever confessed to you?’, is it…”

“Hm…? What’s wrong, Koma?”

“…. Eetto, I’m thinking what to say. It’s as if my female intuition is sounding the alarm with all its might that there’s an emergency… Like an undesirable(rival) has appeared…”

“???”

On the other hand, my beloved sister Koma seems to have an anxious look on her face for some reason. An insect…? (TN: Koma says ‘Bad bug/Undesirable lover’ but Mako misunderstands the meaning of what Koma is saying so she wonders about the insect.)

“Ehm… Nee-sama. By the way… Don’t you have… plans to confess to somebody or have somebody confess… to you…?”

“…. Huh?  Do I plan… to confess to someone? No, not really… I don’t have any plans to do that…”
“Is, that so… I guess I can be relieved…”

Etto… Leaving aside plans for confessing… What is she talking about plans for getting a confession…?

Something like ‘You see, they’re going to confess their love to me this weekend♡’?

I don’t get it… What kind of situation would that be?

“….. (*Mumble*, *Mumble*, *Mumble*) I can’t believe it… They’re going for Nee-sama…? Who is… No, it doesn’t matter who it is…. Nee-sama is wonderful, so sooner or later… It’ll come to that… Anyhow… As much as possible, in school… I need to be close to Nee-sama and guard her… Also… just in case… I should prepare security items…” (TN: Kanakana, you’ve met an obstacle in the form of Koma.)

“… Ehm, Koma? Are you okay?”

Did I say something strange to Koma? Just a few minutes ago, Koma was listening to me with a smile on her face, but as soon as I told her about what happened at school, she was like… Irritated or rather… Letting out killing intent or rather…

Anyway, she’s a little scary because of the black aura that she gives off. What’s wrong, my sister?

“… Fufu, it’s nothing at all, Nee-sama. Just that… Our class was talking about the recent boom in confessions at school, too… I was just thinking that I need to take care of some things, so don’t worry about it♡”

“Ah, I see, countermeasures. Now that you mention it, Koma today… must’ve had a hard time because the captain of the soccer team approached you, forced himself on you, and then you got caught up in my sermon.”

If only he’s confessing… However, I can’t allow him to force himself on Koma or hurt her… I still need to quickly reorder the security items that were confiscated this morning.

“Besides, Koma… It seems that not only today, but also recently, you’ve been getting a lot of confessions from guys who are next in line in your class or juniors…. Though, I’ve heard you’ve rejected all of them.”

“Oh my. You were aware of it, Nee-sama? Well, yeah, I was happy that they said they liked me… But, I politely refused them all.”

… Koma says that to me with a bitter smile. Fumu… She refused them all…?

“Hey, Koma? Koma… Why do you refuse everyone who confesses to you?”

“… Eh?”

“It’s nothing! I’m not really familiar with it, but… All the people who confessed… They’re all good-looking, athletic, studious, and you’re having a lot of choices and yet…. Koma hasn’t been swayed by anyone? My friends were wondering ‘Why is that?’. The truth is… I’m a bit curious about it too…”

“…………..”

I have been wondering about it ever since I heard about it in class, and I ask Koma for the reason why she refused everyone’s confession.

“Don’t tell me it’s what I’m thinking, but. Maybe, Koma… has somebody… she likes… already? Ah! Of course, if Koma doesn’t want to answer, you don’t have to!”

“… Yes, that’s right. I have a person I like.”
“I thought so. Koma having a person she lik—– What!? You do have one!?”

I thought surely she’d reply to me with ‘I don’t like them, I don’t have anyone, Nee-sama.’ , whereas, a bombshell comment came from Koma.

S-Seriously…!? Koma really has a person she likes…!? That’s why you didn’t say OK to anyone who confessed to you!?

“Wh-Who is it!? Who is that person!? Who is Koma’s crush… Who!?”

“…. Fufu♪ You don’t understand?… It’s the person that’s in front of me, right now…The one I love.”
“… Eh?”

Koma replies to me with a mischievous wink. The person in front of Koma right now…? That means…

“Naturally, the person I love… It’s you, Mako-nee-sama. There is no one in this world that I like more than Nee-sama.”

“Ko-Koma…!”

With a big smile on her face, Koma makes a comment that melts my brain into a mellow sweetness… Of course, Koma’s love means ‘I love you as a family member’, however… Even so, I’m so happy I could die. Aah… I’m happy I was born….

“I like Koma, too! Me too, I love Koma more than anything in the world! I love you!”

“Nee-sama…! I’m happy… I love you too, Nee-sama. I’m in love with you…”

We, the Tachibana sisters, took each other’s hands and stared at each other as we whispered words of love to each other.

“Koma…”
“Nee-sama…”

“Komaaa…!”

“Nee-samaaa!”

“….. Oi, girls. Would you stop flirting with each other as if you’ve forgotten I exist even when I’m right beside you? It’s irritating, and more importantly my long earned sake drinking time is getting ruined by your riajuu life.”

“Huh? ….. Ah, Aunty. Yeah, you were here…”

“Ah…. I’m sorry, Aunt-sama. I’d forgotten about you…”

“You two really did forget about me!?”

Aunty, who I had chasen off to memory oblivion, was screaming. I’m sorry, Aunty. I’m really sorry I only saw Koma.

“… *Cough*. So, Koma… We’ve derailed the talk quite a bit, but… Why didn’t you say OK to anyone who has confessed to you in the end?”

“Ah… Etto. That’s right… The reason why I turned them down was simply because, first of all, the people who confessed their love to me were not my type…. Also in my case, I’ve made up my mind that I won’t confess my feelings to the person I love the most… unless I can cure my taste disorder..”

“Aaah… Is that so. Yeah, Koma has that problem, too…”

I remembered it when Koma mentioned it. That’s right, isn’t it… If Koma were to go out with someone, her constitution would be exposed to that person sooner or later. It’s different when it’s a person who understands the situation from someone who doesn’t understand the situation finds out about it… The worst case that could happen is that people would start rumors about Koma.

…. Un. As I thought, Koma’s taste disorder, we have to fix as soon as possible… Otherwise, it’d interfere with Koma’s love life.

“…. (*Mumble*) In general, if someone other than Nee-sama confesses to me… I wouldn’t give them an OK.”

“Hm…? Did you say something, Koma?”
“No, no, I said nothing at all…. More importantly, how about you, Nee-sama? Earlier… You said that you have no plans to confess or be confessed, maybe you’re not interested in love.”

“Huh? Me? … Ah, un. Not really. There’s Koma and schoolwork. And Koma, and the career path, and Koma. And on top of that, I’ve been so busy thinking about Koma, and cooking, and Koma, and Koma, that I don’t think I can think about my own love life just yet…”

“… You, aren’t you thinking only about Koma…?”

“What, you have a problem with it?”

I mean, I can’t imagine myself dating anyone at all, and I’m not even qualified to do so, so it’s a waste of time to think about it… Ah, If I want to imagine making out with Koma, I can do it anytime, anywhere!

“M-Me too! I’m always thinking about Nee-sama, just like Nee-sama thinks of me! We’re really compatible, aren’t we!”
“Really!? I’m happy, Koma! In that case, Onee-chan… From now on, I’ll always think of Koma!”
“… I keep telling you two. You girls keep flirting with each other at every opportunity you get, it’s irritating me. Well, I’ve gotten used to it since it’s a daily thing… Even so, confessions and career paths. That was fast. It’s finally time for both Mako and Koma to start thinking about such troublesome things. I’m deeply moved.”

While opening the third can of beer of the day, Aunty suddenly says something like that with a sincere smile. 

“Hey, Mako and Koma. Have you girls decided which high school you’ll be going to? As I said some time ago, if there’s a school you want to go to, public or private, you can go as you please, so don’t be shy.”
“Ah… Yeah. Thank you very much, Aunt-sama…”
“Thank you, Aunty. I’m saved. By the way, I’ve already decided what I want. What school I want to go to, what I want to be in the future— Aah, that’s right. Now that we talk about career paths, I remembered.”

The topic of career paths reminds me of something important. Otto, not good. I forgot I had to check with Aunty about something… 

“Hn? What’s wrong, Mako? You remembered what?”

“Un. Listen, Aunty, I’ll make sure I don’t forget. Actually, our school is going to start having parent-teacher conferences next week… Do you know about it?”

“Parent conference… Is it that? I know, because I read the printout which Koma brought to me yesterday.”

…. As you know, thanks to that incident that happened six years ago, the guardian of me and Koma is Aunty Meiko. Ever since that incident, parents’ day, parent conference, parent and teacher meeting… Aunty came instead of my real father & mother, and I’ll continue to ask her.

She’s usually an unreliable lazy hag… But, for both Koma and I, the only adult we trust more than our own parents is our Aunty Meiko… 

“I see, then this’ll be fast. Etto… As I recall, the interviews with me and Koma will be held together next Tuesday… Aunty, are you okay on that day? If you can’t make it because of work or something, they said we can ask them to change it to another day… Can you make it that day?”

“Yeah. I called my editor yesterday and told him, ‘I’m going to a three-way meeting with Koma and Mako next week, so don’t put in any work unless it’s an emergency’… Well, I’m a little busy at the moment, but… I’ve managed to convince the editor, so I’ll be there on the day. So, don’t worry Mako, Koma.”

“… I see. Sorry, Aunty. Thank you.”
“… I’m sorry, Aunt-sama. Forcing yourself for us…”

Koma and I thanked Aunty for taking the time out of her busy schedule to come to our meeting… Sorry, and then thank you, Aunty.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Rather… It gives me an excuse to slack off and laze around, so I’m the one who should be thanking you!”

“”….Eh?””

“Oh, you really saved me! I’m seriously in crunch time… I was just hoping to have a day off next week to relax! I’ll even crawl over there on that day, so don’t worry, you girls!”

“”….””

“… Ah, that’s right! I’ve got an idea! If you want, you can tell your homeroom teacher that you don’t mind having a parent’s conference every day! That way, I won’t have to listen to that editor’s pet peeves for a while!”

“”……..””

It seems we were idiots for thanking her. Aah, un… About it, Aunty…

“… Ehm… Don’t use the parent’s conference as an excuse to skip work… It’s a very important conference for us to decide our careers, and we’re not going there for fun, so please be serious, Aunty. Also, I ironed your clothes yesterday, so you can come to the conference in clean, comfortable clothes. Finally, put on some makeup but not so much that you’d embarrass us.”

“…. Eh? These clothes… Are they not good, Mako? Formal clothes are… I don’t like them because they’re tight…”

“Of course, they are bad! Don’t tell me that you wanted to come in a padded kimono!?”

“Aunt-sama… Are you aware of TPO(Time, Place, Occasion)?”

Where in the world are the parents from, who want to go to a parent-teacher conference wearing a padded kimono… Instinctively, me and Koma sigh while being troubled.

“Good grief… Aunty is going as Koma’s guardian, right? If Aunty came there dressed sloppily or behaved strangely, it would be the worst thing that could happen to Koma’s reputation. Why can’t you get that…?”
“Ou, no, wait. According to your logic… You’ve been causing trouble for Koma with your eccentric behavior, and now you’re known as the ‘hopeless sister’, aren’t you ruining Koma’s reputation?”

“… Don’t mi-mind me…”

“Why?”

Why, you ask? The reason is simple. Because… The whole school knows that I’ve been that kind of character for a long time now, and unfortunately, no matter how I want to fix it… It’s too late to do anything about it..

“… Nee-sama… causing me trouble? Ruining my reputation…? Dear me! What are you talking about, Aunt-sama! I don’t remember that happening, also… As long as it’s for Nee-sama, I’ll gladly take it, no matter if it’s trouble or ruin. Better yet, Nee-sama disgracing me… I think that maybe that’s more like a reward…?”

“…. And then, you blind trust Mako too much, Koma… Jeez, you sisters…”

◇　◇　◇

The next day, after the usual anno— lively night.

“Gwood morning, Kanakana! I’m glad today is another fine day!”
“………”

“…. Fueh? Kanakana?”

I arrived at school as usual, and my best friend Kanae Kanai—- I greeted Kanakana cheerfully, but… Somehow, unlike usual, Kanakana didn’t respond today.

Whoa? It’s strange. If it was the usual Kanakana—–

‘Yeah, yeah… You don’t have to yell at me, I can hear you. Morning, Mako. You’re a cheerful girl today as usual…”

—– She’d respond like that. She should have greeted me in a somewhat gentle voice, while still being surprised by me… What’s wrong? If you act like that, Mako-chan will be lonely, my best friend.

“….”
“Ooi, what happened, Kanakana?”

“….”

“Can you hear me? Do you hear my voice?”.

“…….”

“…. Eh? It’s a lie, can you seriously not hear me?”

“……..”

…. No responses….? Muuu… So boring. You’re being mean, Kanakana. All right, then, I have an idea. Just you wait and see—-

“….. (*Mutter*) Heei. Kanakana… Cutting boa—-”

“If you say any more then Mako prepare yourself to have your mountains flattened(cut off).”

“Pya!?”

My best friend finally responds to me with a cold, unmixed killing intent. She was scary… But, I’m happy that she responded to me

“I’m sorry… Forgive me, I won’t say it again… But, but! If you can hear me, you should at least answer me. Please tell me what’s wrong with you.”
“… Ah, I’m sorry. I’m just… thinking.”

“Hah? Thinking?”
“… Hn”

After giving me a small reply, Kanakana resumes thinking about something while wrinkling her brow again.Really, what’s wrong? Even though, for Kanakana, the topic of breasts is more forbidden than anything else.

Not just that… She’s not as angry as I thought she’d be, despite me, of all people with big breasts, said it…. I’m out of tune.

In other words, Kanakana’s current problems are more serious than being stimulated by her complex? What is it that bothers Kanakana so much? Let’s see… Ah.

“Maybe, Kanakana, you’re still struggling with your career choice?”

“… Huah? Career… choice?”
“If that’s the case, I ended up not being able to tell Kanakana what I wanted to yesterday, so let me tell you as a reference.”

　Now that I remember, I think Kanakana said something about being worried about her career yesterday. I’m pretty sure we were told to submit our future plans by today… Is that the problem?

“…. Ah, about that, you see… Er, that’s fine. For the time being, I’ve written a temporary plan…”
“Oh? Is that so?”

“…. Un.”

I thought that Kanakana’s worries would be about the career choice survey that she was so worried about yesterday, but my guess was completely wrong. What is it then? Kanakana’s worries about.

“…… Haa.”

Kanakana lets out a deep sigh and looks in pain. When I see Kanakana like that, I feel like my heart is aching a lot.

“… Hey, Kanakana. How about consulting with me?”

“… Eh?”

It may be out of my concern, but… I can’t stop myself from saying such things.

“No, that’s… Kanakana, you seem like you’re having some trouble. I don’t know what’s bothering Kanakana, but… If it’s okay with you, would you consult with me?”

“Ma, ko…?”

“Yeah, it’s your Mako. I’m aware that I’m a hopeless girl… I’m not confident I can help Kanakana. Even then… I don’t intend to become a hopeless person who ignores their best friend who is in pain.”
“… ah, th… etto…”

“You know, talking about your problems with other people unexpectedly… Just by talking about them it becomes better? I’m happy to listen to anything, as long as it’s okay with Kanakana. And of course, if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”

When I said that much, Kanakana looked at me with a blank expression while her eyes were all round. For the first time today, Kanakana seemed to be looking at me properly… That’s what I felt.

“… That’s. It’s nothing… serious…”
“I see, I see. But I’m curious about Kanakana’s worries.”
“For Mako, it may be boring…?”

“Yeah? I won’t know if you don’t tell me about it.”

“… Do you really want… listen to it?”
“Un. I want to. Rather, don’t be reserved. We’re best friends, aren’t we?”

“… auu…”

Kanakana hesitated for a while, but then, as if she had made up her mind, she began to speak a few words.

“… I’m sorry for the parable, Mako. Let’s say there’s something Mako really wants…?”

“Un? Something I really want?”

“Un… It’s what you’ve been longing for so long… You don’t want to give it to anyone… You’d be willing to devote your entire life to it… Longing for it.”

We’ve been friends for about a year now, but… Kanakana speaks with the most serious expression I’ve ever seen. This is… From the flow, it seems Kanakana has something? Something that she really wants…

“But, you see. The thing you want is a prize that you have to win to get… And the person you’re competing against is someone who is no match for your current abilities. Frankly speaking it’s an impossible hard game.” (TN: I’m cheering for you, Kanakana!)

“Fumufumu… How much of an impossible game is that, exactly?”

“… Etto, that’s right. About as… ‘Go up against a world track and field gold medalist in the 100-meter dash and win in that 100-meter dash.’ that’s the level.”

“Ooouh… It’s that much…”

That’s really… high up there. You’re right, it may be impossibly hard. I get it now, so that’s why she’s so worried about…

“… Well, it’s as I told you right now. No matter how much you want it…. A game with no chance of victory, where everyone knows that you will lose. If there was such a game… Mako, if it was you… What would you do?”

“Hm? Me?”

“U, un. I’m just asking for reference… What if, what if? If Mako was in that position, I wondered what you would do in that game. Even if you knew the outcome, would you take the chance? Or… would you not show up on the playing field from the start… and give up?”

“… Fuumu.”

I think about it when Kanakana tells me to. There was something I wanted at all costs, and I had to win the game to get it… And the opponent was far superior to me, someone I would never be able to beat no matter what… is it?

I see, I see. And there would be no chances of winning, I would—-

“—- If it’s me, I’d accept it. That game.”
“……..!”

In response to Kanakana’s question, I thought for a few seconds and answered clearly.

“…. Mako. That answer… How did you come to it? You know you’re going to lose, right? You don’t have a chance in hell of winning, not even 1%? Even so… Why did Mako say she’d accept that game… And asserting it?”

“Hmm. Well, that’s… Because it’s better for me to do everything I can and then regret it than to do nothing and then regret it…”

I answer from my own experience. I remember the events of that day six years ago. There was nothing I could do for Koma that day—- No, I didn’t do anything, and I still regret it.

That’s why, if I’m going to have the same regret, I want to at least do the best I can and then regret it.

“… You’re going to be beaten black and blue, you know that? Someone might think you’re an idiot for accepting the game? Either way, you’re going to regret it in the end, you know? Even so… Even so, Mako is…”

“Un, I’ll accept it. I’m fine with being beaten up, and even if someone makes fun of me it’s an everyday occurrence. But, more importantly… It would be more painful for me to do nothing with the chance I had, and as a result, suffer and dwell on it forever.”

“…..”

I tell Kanakana everything I think. I hope this helps Kanakana even a little from her suffering…

“… Well. I know I managed to say some great and appropriate things too, however… I’m not denying that you don’t have to compete. No matter how much you want something, if you don’t have a chance to win, you might as well not play and think of another way to win. In my case, I don’t have the brains to think that far ahead, so I’m just going to have to play it straight—” 

“… Fufufu… Hahaha!”

“Eh? Ehm… Kanakana?”

Just in case, I tried to follow up on the zero chance of winning with Kanakana. But… I notice that Kanakana’s behavior is strange in a different way than before, and it makes me hesitant to continue.

Kanakana… smiled widely for some reason. She covered her own mouth with her hand and laughed, her whole body shaking.

“…. Really, Mako is always so… brave… Aah, jeez… This is why, Mako, I lo— Ahahaha!”

“Eehm, ehm… Kanakana-san? Ar-Are you all right? W-What is it? Why are you laughing suddenly? Did I just say something strange…?”

“… No, it’s different. Mako has nothing to worry about… Thank you, Mako… I’m prepared. Yeah, I’m certain. Truly… I don’t know what I’ve been dwelling on before I started, but I’m such a weakling… Ahahahaha! Aah, I’ll risk it!”

“???”

I’m unsure of what pulled Kanakana’s heartstrings, however… Kanakana seems to be regaining her energy without me really understanding why.

Hmm, frankly, I don’t know if I have given her any advice, but… Well, it’s fine either way! Anyway, if my best friend is feeling better, that’s all good!