In the end, I did not see my sister until after the festival.
It seems that God really did bend the world a little. I did not attend the festival and went home as usual. I was tired and wanted to go to bed as soon as possible.
Tomorrow is Sunday, so it's great to be able to sleep in. And Monday is a substitute holiday. No blind spot.
The festival was over and I did my part, so I have nothing to complain about. I had a good time. Everyone in the student council thanked us and Alina and I went back to being regular unaffiliated high school students. We went home.

I'm tired.
'Good night.'

As usual, I was staring blankly at the TV while my sister kept me company.

How was our school festival?
It was fun. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet your brother.
Then that's good. I had a lot of fun too.
'Aren't you going out with Alina-san?'
'Why would you do that? You dropped like 20 screws in my head. Go pick them up.
I asked the students "Do you know Arina Hiba?" out of curiosity during the festival, and got many replies like "Ah, well, I've been hanging out with a guy named Sakakiki lately.
''Huh.''
Aren't you guys dating already?'
'Ugin-kun, listen to me carefully. It's true that there were rumors like that for a while. But I'm telling you the truth. I'm only involved in correcting her bad mouth.
'Oh, you just said "she".
'She's the one, Ugin-kun. She's not my girlfriend.'
'But you know, Alina is so beautiful, you'd want to go out with her, wouldn't you? To be honest.'
"More or less.
'I'm being modest. What are you going to do if she goes out with someone else? Would you continue your relationship?

It is not that we did not consider the possibility of Alina dating someone, but we had it in our minds just a little bit. She is a beautiful girl, after all, and people will come to her. It is a natural theorem in this world, and it is also natural for her to go out with someone.
The reason why I did not think about it deeply is because I thought that with her personality, Alina would not go out with anyone. Since she basically rejects anyone, I had already assumed that she is extremely allergic to people or something.
However, when my sister asked me what I would do if Alina went out with me, and I confronted her about it head-on, I was surprisingly at a loss for words.

I wondered what would happen. I hadn't thought about it.
'Seriously, bro?'
'If Alina goes out with someone else - well, I'll certainly stop being involved.'
'That's what's going to happen, isn't it?
'I don't want to mess with other people's relationships or cause them to fall out because of me.
'You're a sad person, brother.'
'Yes, I do. In a previous life, I was probably a caveman who was trampled by a mammoth.







Tuesday, after school, rose garden.

My sister told me that if you go out with someone, we'll disband the rose garden and I'll disappear.
What's with you all of a sudden?

Alina looks at me with skeptical eyes as if she were looking at a suspicious person. Shut up right now or I'll peel all your skin off, her eyes say.
I think back to my conversation with my sister three days ago, and I wonder if she thinks I'm being a pain in the ass about this. So I thought I should make it clear. It's none of my business.

I'm simply saying that if you go out with someone else, I'll disappear cleanly, and you can make love in peace.
I'm gonna throw up.
You all right?
'Put yourself in the shoes of a person who is being told what 'love' is by a guy who looks like a minced bloody worm.
'That's ...... hell.'

It was none of my business.

'Cause you're popular. If you go out with a guy, he may make some kind of physical attack on me. With rumors. Even I don't like that.
'You've already suffered because of rumors. It's your fault.
'It wasn't my fault. It was some idiot's delusion.
'Yes, yes, yes.
'We're done talking about this. Now, what are we going to do today?

I was running out of ideas, but I thought up a plan.

'If you go out with me, I'll disappear too, so we're even.

Suddenly, Alina throws a word at me.

'What? You and me going out?
'Huh? I'm going to shred it. So you can rest assured that if you go out with someone, I'll disappear like you said I would. I'm thinking the same thing.
'Interesting, this relationship. It's as if it's a contest to see who gets a boyfriend or girlfriend first.'
'I don't think it's even a contest. I don't think you and I are going to date anyone.
'Indeed.'

I giggled. Alina shook her shoulders and chuckled, hiding her face with her book.
A warmth spread through my chest that made me forget the cold.



The students were wearing cardigans and other heavy clothing as winter was approaching. I, who do not like the cold, also put on a cardigan, but the cold air came in through my legs and I ended up freezing. My breath turned white, and the days of gray skies continued. But there was still no sign of snow.
As a sophomore in high school, this winter would be the last winter of my high school life that I would be able to spend in peace. Next year, I will be taking the entrance examination, and I'm sure that I'm studying hard for the center examination right now. Aki-senpai must be working hard too.


This time of year the battery life on my phone goes down. It seems that the cold affects the chemical change and the voltage. So I go to school with it in my pocket, warming it with my body heat. I try not to use it as much as possible, but when I hear the vibration of an incoming text message, I have no choice but to take it out.

Call me if you want to do something after school.

It's Alina. I thought to myself, "Is she my girlfriend, texting me in the morning? I know it's not because it's clerical.
At the same time, I realized that I had grown up and achieved a lot, thinking, 'I'm finally getting along with Alina.
This address is worth money. Mainly for guys. I wonder how many people in our school have Alina's phone number and e-mail address. Maybe a handful? It's definitely worth it.

I haven't been very active lately.
The cold weather has made it hard for me and Alina to help out in the sports club. I admire those who are active. What we do is to gather in the rose garden after school and have casual conversations, to talk to me, to help the student council sometimes, and to help the cultural club activities sometimes. The student council has been a good source of interaction since the school festival. Tsuru invited me, and I had no reason to refuse, so it became a regular pattern that I would go to the meeting without any hesitation.
I replied, 'Nothing in particular, you're free to go. I was free, but Alina would go to the Rose Garden. They will be at the Rose Garden whether something happens or not.
But today, I have plans. I'm going to talk to Dr. Akakusa again about Alina.

I strongly feel that I have to change my mind about Alina.