244 Girls Have a Lot of Secrets, You Know (1/2)

The next morning.

Chiaki’s cell phone alarm rang. She groggily fumbled for her cell phone. When she found it, she turned off the alarm and casually tossed her cell phone aside.

She wanted to sleep more... sleep...

*Woosh!*

She suddenly realized something and instantly sat up and opened her eyes.

Last night... her memories were a little hazy, but she still remembered the gist of what happened, and what she said. Her face was flooded with a sudden rush of color.

‘Just why did I say that to Seiji!? Ahh, it’s so embarrassing that I want to die!’

Chiaki kept rolling around on her bed, and it took a few minutes of rolling for her to regain her senses and check the condition of her clothes.

She was wearing the same clothes as last night; only her jacket and socks had been removed. Her body felt perfectly normal.

She heaved a sigh of relief at this discovery, before realizing she felt slightly conflicted. When she looked around, she noticed a note addressed to her on her bedstand.

She opened it with a feeling of tingling anticipation. A handsome muscular boy with a serious expression and folded arms was drawn on it. He exuded an aura of light, and a large speech bubble was drawn by his mouth. It read:

From now on, you’re forbidden from secretly drinking by yourself! If you really want to drink again, you can invite me. Of course, I’m placing a severe restriction on the number of times you can do this. If you violate this, you’ll face the wrath of my iron fist!

P.s.: No being tardy to school.

Chiaki looked at the drawing and these words for a long moment, before bursting into laughter.

She covered her face with the note, her lips pressed against the drawing of the handsome boy.

”Idiot...” she mumbled.

The so-called idiot was currently in the midst of preparing breakfast.

Yesterday night, when he returned home while smelling of alcohol, Shika’s expression had been rather...

Seiji was unable to face his adopted sister’s expression. Even though he explained and Shika said she understood, he still felt that he should do something to mitigate her displeasure.

He got up extra early to make a nice and abundant breakfast as his way of making it up to her.

”Brother...”

”Good morning, Shika-chan,” he said with a smile.

Shika paused for a moment before returning his greeting. ”Good morning.”

Shika was slightly dazed when she saw the generous amount of food laid out, which made Seiji grin in delight.

This was exactly the effect that he'd wanted.

”Breakfast is just about ready; go wash up.”

Shika nodded silently.

Seiji finished cooking, but he didn’t realize that his adopted sister was still standing there, watching him cook, her cheeks reddening by the second.

This scene struck Shika's heart chords; she was charmed by it.

Her face was heating up, and she found it difficult to move away from her brother.

Only after her eyes had drunk their fill did she finally walk to the restroom and wash up. The fire in her cheeks was finally quenched by the cool water.

Afterwards, the two of them ate their breakfast together. Then, Seiji prepared himself for school.

”Shika-chan, do you want to go back to school again?” he asked at the doorway.

Shika shook her head.

Seiji expected this reaction from her, but he felt that having her always stay home by herself was a little...

”No need to mind me, Brother.” Shika knew what he was thinking and smiled. ”I like staying at home.”

This wasn’t a lie. She had no preferences regarding school either way. Just quietly staying in this home was her primary source of joy.

Seiji smiled helplessly as he looked at her. ”I’m going to school.”

”Be careful on your way,” she cautioned.

Just like usual, Seiji walked to school accompanied by Mika and Kaede.

They chatted casually on their way to school and met Chiaki when they arrived. The tomboy acted just like normal: she smiled and greeted them, cracking a few jokes as always while they made their way to their classroom.

They entered the classroom (without Kaede) and nodded amicably to their classmates. A brand-new day had begun.

The school festival was now over. The next and final major event of the school year that the students had to deal with were the final exams.

There were three weeks remaining until these critically important exams.