「……m home……」

Not saying it to n.o.body in particular, but simply because had become a custom to do so upon arriving home; it was in that kind of volume that I announced my return. Upon me entering the living room that was necessary to pa.s.s through in order to get to my room, my mother, noticing my appearance that was different from usual, called out.

「Fumiya, that, did you catch a cold or something?」 [1]

「Nn, ah, aah.」

That wasn't actually the case, but there was no way I could explain the circ.u.mstances, so I gave her a vague affirmation.

「Even though if you'd said you needed a mask, we have one at home. Did you go out of your way to buy it yourself? That.」

「Nn, ah, no, a friend gave it to me when I said I'd caught a cold.」

「Ara. Is that so? Heeh……」

A kind of surprised, impressed expression. Even without her putting it into words, I knew quite clearly that So you had the type of friend who gives you a mask for free when you catch a cold, hm is what she wanted to say. Such is the bond between parent and child.

「Anyway, welcome home. I'm going to prepare the food, so you can go ahead and—」

「I know.」

We're talking about the thing I always do soon after getting back. That is, taking a bath. With a Hai hai, I interrupted her sentence mid-flow and headed towards the bathroom.

「Ah, but right now is……」

*Gara*

「Ha, haii!」

Caught off-guard by the underwear-clad figure of my younger sister inside the dressing room, I replied by way of a mysterious response.

「……Onii-chan's really gross, huh.」

Giving that sort of me a sidelong glance, not behaving particularly surprised, was my younger sister, indifferently wearing a sweats.h.i.+rt. Black, lumpy, and baggy-sized. A black bra that didn't quite match the right size for her una.s.suming bust, was concealed underneath.

「It's a lie, right.」

「Ha?」

In such a state, wearing only a sweats.h.i.+rt over her underwear, suddenly turning around to face me, saying something incomprehensible. Wait, is she even wearing anything down there, I wonder.

「That.」

She pointed at the lower portion of my face.

「The mask?」

「That you got it from a friend.」

「Aah.」

So that's what it was.

「After all, Onii-chan doesn't have a friend who'd do that kind of thing for him.」

「Hey…」

This kind of troublesome thing was possible because my younger sister was enrolled one year below me at the same school.

「It's better not to make lies that can be found out, you know?」

She was a first-year, but one wouldn't have thought we were blood-related, comparing the difference in merit between that useless physical appearance and that bright personality, on account of which her uppercla.s.smen, in other words, my cla.s.smates, with whom she was acquainted were numerous, and so news on me would reach her fairly well. Actually, just why do I have to be mentored by my younger sister regarding the proper method of lying?

「I do know that sort of person, though.」

I had practically received it as a gift, and wasn't really lying.

「Then who? Who'd you get it from?」

「Why do I have to say that kind of thing?」

「See, you can't say it, as expected, it's a lie.」

Haah. So troublesome.

「Hinami Aoi.」

「……」 She peered at my face with a *jii~*. I'm not lying, you know. Had she given up? 「Haaa……」

For some reason, she breathed out a sigh.

「What is it now?」

「Um, you know? That kind of thing doesn't qualify you to say friend.」 An extremely astounded tone of voice. 「The fact you received a mask from Hinami-senpai, it's because Hinami-senpai is an angel. Understand? She's equally kind to everyone. To call her a friend because of that…… You could call her a cla.s.smate at best, right?」

Putting on a performance in an pitying tone of voice, I was lectured like a child. No, I hadn't thought she was a friend to begin with at all, you know. Even supposing that I had, it'd more mean war buddy. Calling her an angel or something is unreasonable. If she'd have said Valkyrie, I'd have understood.

「Onii-chan, don't do something like misunderstand and fall in love, okay? That would be embarra.s.sing for me, right?」

You could at least say, 「embarra.s.sing for me too」, don't you think? What selfish thinking.

「Who would fall in love with that kind of ill-mannered woman?」

「……Eh?　What?」

「It's nothing.」

「Aah, mou! It's already bad enough that you chew on your words regularly, but with the mask on I can't hear you at all!」

As she said that, my younger sister vigorously tore off my mask. Ah.

「……I really don't get the meaning. Gross.」

Saying so, she unhappily pa.s.sed by my side. ……Well, this was understandable.

「Well yeah, the meaning……I don't really know either.」

As for the person left behind, reflected in the mirror of the dressing room was the figure of a kimoi otoko [2], pointlessly floating a smile that stretched to the corners of his mouth as far as possible.

Translator Notes:

[1] Fumiya (文也): Tomozaki’s given name.

[2] In case you haven't watched enough anime to recognize the term, kimoi= gross, otoko=male/man, and leaving it there as gross man or disgusting man just didn't sit well with me.