"Dad, Kei… there's something I need to confess."
During dinner, the Shirogane family sat around the table. After much hesitation, Shirogane finally spoke.
Kei: "If it's something serious, go talk to the police."
"It's not a crime!!"
"Your guilty-looking face sure says otherwise."
"…Actually… I have a girlfriend."
Blushing, Shirogane admitted it.
Kei: "…"
Father: "Oh, that's all?"
"What do you mean that's all!? I was planning to keep it secret until after college!" Shirogane shouted.
"So you really have a girlfriend, huh… Who is she?" Kei's interest piqued.
After all, his girlfriend would one day be his wife—meaning Kei's future sister-in-law.
Given Shirogane's usual circle, Kei figured it had to be either a classmate or someone from the student council.
Their father seemed to guess something. "Miyuko, have you and Kaguya already made it official?"
"Dad, what are you saying?" Kei instinctively dismissed the idea.
"That's Shuchiin's most dazzling heiress. No way she'd date my brother. Right, Bro?"
But Shirogane's face only reddened more, and he nodded.
"Yeah."
"…You've got to be kidding."
"I'm not."
"That perfect Shinomiya-senpai is actually dating you?"
Kei was stunned.
She had heard of Kaguya's name since middle school, and meeting her in person only confirmed she was every bit as elegant and flawless as the rumors claimed.
Looking at her own brother, Kei thought, aside from good grades, he had no redeeming qualities and was extremely annoying.
Still, the fact that the senpai she had always admired would one day become her sister-in-law was an incredible surprise.
"So why are you choosing to confess now?" she asked.
"Because… Shinomiya is coming over tomorrow."
"Coming over?"
"Yeah."
"To our house?"
"That's right."
"Then tonight we'd better clean up, and bro, you should tidy yourself up too. Don't you dare leave a bad impression on Shinomiya-senpai."
"Of course I know that."
Their father looked at his flustered daughter and his blushing son. "I'd wanted to meet my future daughter-in-law, but I've got company business tomorrow, so I can't be home."
"That's great, Dad. Hurry up and go work."
"So you really don't want little Kaguya to meet her future father-in-law?" Seeing his son's happy expression, their father felt like he had been caught in the crossfire for no reason.
Shirogane was, of course, worried his dad might say something weird in front of Kaguya.
"Dad, you'll be at work, but Kei, you…"
"Of course I'm staying," Kei said firmly.
"Huh?"
"I'm staying to make sure you don't mess things up in front of Shinomiya-senpai," she declared seriously. "She's so outstanding. If you slip up even once, she could dump you on the spot."
"Ugh…"
"Don't worry, I won't intrude on your alone time. Hina's coming over tomorrow anyway."
"I see…"
---
"I should've cooked more if I'd known this many people were coming."
"Sorry for intruding," Mei said.
"It's fine. It's rare to have the place lively," Rinji smiled.
His house was crowded today.
Kaname and the Amano siblings were there, along with Mei and Misaki.
Since Rinji would soon be heading back to his hometown for the New Year, this was a rare send-off dinner with everyone together.
If he hadn't been the one stuck cooking, he might've even felt touched.
"Rinji, you came back but didn't visit me," Hina teased. "Don't tell me you already forgot about me over the winter break?"
"Of course not. I just had things to do on the weekends lately."
Kaname asked, "I hear you'll be taking a month-long leave starting next week?"
"Yeah."
"Every semester you vanish for a month—some kind of tradition?" Kaname sighed. "Well, at least it'll be peaceful without you stirring up trouble."
"And whose fault was it I ended up at Shuchiin in the first place?"
"That idiot father of yours asked me," Kaname muttered. "But really, you're tame compared to him back in the day. Seeing how well-behaved you are now, I can't help but feel proud."
"Heh."
As Rinji chatted with Kaname, Hayasaka struck up a conversation with Hina.
"So Hina, you're in middle school now?"
"Yeah, same class as Kei," Hina smiled. "She was shocked at first. Back then she thought I was a college student. I apologized for lying."
She had once disguised herself as a college student to work part-time, and after meeting Kei, she had to keep up the act to avoid being exposed. Now that she no longer needed to pretend, she felt more at ease. They'd even become good friends at school.
"By the way, Rinji's pretty well-known in middle school," Hina added.
"Really?"
"Yeah, high school student council members are like celebrities to us middle schoolers," she laughed. "Secretary Fujiwara, Iino-senpai, President Shirogane, Vice President Shinomiya, and finally Rinji."
"Does Ishigami not even qualify to be known?" Rinji asked.
Kaname shrugged. "You're more like a comedian than a celebrity."
"Not true," Hina argued. "At the Hoshin Festival, Rinji and Fujiwara-senpai's violin and piano duet gained lots of fans."
Kaname nodded. "The festival is popular with the middle schoolers, though the high school sports events don't get much attention."
"That's good," Rinji muttered.
"Especially Vice President Shinomiya," Hina went on, blushing. "She's considered the model of a perfect lady. I'd love to meet her someday. But… my favorite student council member will always be Rinji."
"Ah… thanks."
Rinji was a bit distracted.
Kaguya's reputation at Shuchiin was overwhelming. Looks, family background, grades, athletics—she excelled in everything. To the middle schoolers, she was the flawless ojou-sama, admired and envied alike.
Rinji almost told Hina, "Your father was killed by the Shinomiya family," but held back.
After all, the grudges of the older generation didn't need to be carried by the younger one.