Chapter Eighteen: Start of the disaster [1]
Important note concerning whether harem or no-harem down in author's note...!
Slightly long rant. Forgive me for that, but it's an important aspect I have to talk on.
And so we moved on.
Our daily life remained unchanged.
... we hope that this peace will last for a long time to come, however.
April 10th.
"Today's a fresh new day."
From the lips of a young male came those words.
A handsome young man with straight blue hair and bands down to his neck and amber-brown eyes.
They wore the Raizen High School uniform as they walked past the gates of the school.
Left to right, students flooded past the entrance, walking past the walkway as cherry blossom petals fell.
It was about 8:15 A.M. when he got to school.
Normally, following the usual academic calendar, today was supposed to mark the start of a new semester.
But due to some federal education policy changes,
it was extended.
Rather, their academic schedule had been revised.
Instead of three semesters, the academic year was now divided into two,
each spanning four months, with an additional short summer term.
An inconvenience to some, but a welcome change to others.
"Mmmm."
With a light hum, Shidou surveyed the classroom.
There was still quite a bit of time until homeroom, but a large amount of students had already gathered.
However, there didn't seem to be any faces that Shidou knew yet.
Shidou tilted his head.
Usually, one of his friends was always earlier.
By the time he'd enter class, the male would have been seated, doing whatever he pleased.
Now that he thinks of it, ever since the Kendo club left for the nationals last week.
…Morgan had always donned a stiff expression throughout.
But the most surprising thing was this.
"For Morgan to be late today, that's weird."
Just as he mused, however,
"Yo, Shidou! As energetic as ever! What's up, already daydreaming about ravaging Origami, huh?"
Bringing him out of his thoughts with an energetic laughter, coupled with vulgar words.
Nay,
He needn't turn back before knowing who the person was.
Tonomachi Hiroto.
One with the case of,
rather, the walking embodiment of, 'Lord, help this one.'
For some reason, lately, this guy has been getting worse.
"Haaah. No, I was thinking about another person, not Origami,"
Shidou clarified with a sigh.
Which, in hindsight... only made things worse. He shouldn't have said that.
"Hou? So you're thinking about your fellow man, huh? And I'm the one who supposedly swings that way?"
"...!? What the hell are you even on about—"
He flinched.
Looking at Tonomachi's questioning stare.
Somehow, some way, the tables had turned on him.
Now it was him being stared at like the degenerate, while his actual degenerate of a friend stood there with a smug look.
"N-no! I didn't mean it that way, idiot!"
"...yeah, sure sure, I sure don't think of my fellow man—wait, Morgan's not around?"
Having pressed in to tease Shidou when he stared at the empty seat which, by this time, its owner would have been there.
Shidou, meanwhile, gave him an 'I was trying to tell you that' kind of look, frowning.
Regardless, both went about their pace, talking it out till the classroom door slid open.
Shhck—!
Their home room teacher, in charge of Social Studies, Okamine Tamae, or as they would like to call her,
Tama-chan-sensei,
Strode in slowly, as she stopped right in front of the podium in front.
"...?"
In the middle of this, sitting to the left side of Shidou was Origami, who was intently staring in Shidou's direction.
"..."
Usually, this wasn't the case.
Well, no, sometimes she did, but he usually almost didn't notice it.
However, today he seemed more spatially aware.
And what was it?
Something he couldn't put his hands on.
Even as he glanced over to the right side, the person who was usually among the first to be in class was missing.
It felt strange not seeing him there.
As though in sync however,
"Eh? Sinclair-kun isn't here today."
For her childish appearance and looks, she had a pretty good grasp on all her students.
At the same time,
Morgan's face was still relatively new.
It has only been a month since he'd started coming to school, and then...
When she took a survey, or rather, a roll call, Morgan was found lacking.
"Uhm. He doesn't seem to be in school yet."
Tonomachi raised his hands, answering the question, however,
... thank you Tonomachi, we can see just that.
Everyone's wry expression seemed to almost say that in unison.
"Mmhm. I see, he must have a reason. Alright then, let's continue on."
Tama-chan-sensei seemed to mutter that before continuing on.
And the moment the bell rang again, the time for classes fully commenced.
… since then, approximately three hours had passed.
It was now Lunch Break.
Shidou leaned back, stretching his back against his chair with eyes closed before dropping his arms.
"Yo Shidou!"
Already approaching his desk as usual was Tonomachi, with that slippery grin plastered on his face.
"Sorry, I have other plans."
"WHUT? A girl?"
Tonomachi suddenly almost shouted that while clutching his chest as though he'd been struck by an imaginary arrow.
Lately, he didn't know what type of character his friend was becoming.
When he thought of it,
Tonomachi's character began to change into this especially around when Morgan transferred.
…was Morgan the cause?
Thinking of it, he imagined Morgan shooting him a questionable glare.
'Maybe not.'
Regardless,
"I bought lunch today."
Shidou shook his head, correcting his friend who simply let out an "oh," before nodding his head.
In the next moment,
He turned the chair in front to face Shidou's table as he sat on it, removing his chopsticks from nowhere.
Shidou eyed him.
"What are you doing?"
"Mhm? What do you mean what am I doing? Isn't it obvious?"
With the most serious gaze he could muster, Tonomachi pointed dramatically at the bento box on Shidou's desk.
"Our food."
Shidou squinted his eyes.
"The hell do you mean, our food?"
Hearing that,
Tonomachi rolled his eyes almost exasperatedly.
… he knew Shidou knew what he was referring to.
"Gah! Don't act like you have no idea."
Shidou stared at him for a moment before relenting with a sigh, motioning with his hand, giving the go-ahead.
"Oooh! That's what I'm talking about!"
Tonomachi then clasped his arms together, "Thank you for the meal."
As they both dined,
"Mmhm. As expected, your cooking is something else, man. Kotori-chan sure is enjoying it."
Between mouthfuls as he picked up a karaage, Tonomachi said that.
Though Shidou raised an eyebrow, he said nothing more.
However, Tonomachi continued, now pointing his chopsticks towards Shidou.
"By the way, Kotori-chan's in her second year of middle school, right? You think it's about time she got a boyfriend or something?"
Shidou's mouth went agape.
"Huh?"
All that escaped his lips was that stupefied sound.
"Uhm, there's no hidden meaning behind this, but what would Kotori-chan think about a guy three grades her senior?"
Shidou's expression went blank. His hand twitched.
As expected, this guy really was a degenerate.
Hearing his friend's words almost provoked him to poke his friend on the stomach with a chopstick.
"I rebuke you."
In contrast to Shidou's words,
"Haha. In any case, I'm not so much of a jerk that I'd disturb two happy siblings. I try to play by the rules."
Tonomachi shrugged, raising his hands slightly before casually returning to eating while grinning like an idiot.
"You always say just a bit more than you're supposed to."
Shidou sighed.
"But man, don't you think that Kotori-chan is super cute? To be able to live with her under the same roof must be the best."
While chewing on a piece of eggroll while leaning slightly, Tonomachi added that.
All Shidou could do was sigh while shaking his head.
He didn't think the same as Tonomachi. Well, not entirely; hence,
"If you actually had a younger sister, I think that you'd definitely change your opinion."
Shidou said that.
While indeed, they're the cutest creatures out there to any older brother.
At the same time, they are bundles of chaos, waiting to be unleashed.
Pandora's boxes.
Since they're called little sisters, they do have every right to be willful, especially to the creatures,
Older brothers.
"Ah... You hear that a lot. So is it really true that people with little sisters don't have such fetishes?"
Tilting his head to the sides before rubbing his chin with his free left hand, Tonomachi muttered that.
Naturally, this prompted Shidou to nod his head a couple of times.
"Yeah, they are not girls. They are just creatures called little sisters."
In fact, this morning was a prime example.
He was woken up by a creature stepping on his stomach.
Note: very early in the morning.
Of course, he had his own way of getting back at her, which was fun, yet, at the same time, he wasn't willing.
He wasn't really keen on being woken up like that anymore.
Unfortunately, Tonomachi, who had no little sister, couldn't understand this.
"By the way, do you think Morgan would have a little sister?"
Speaking of him…
Tonomachi couldn't help but glance at his seat while saying that, but after he did, he and Shidou paused for a moment.
In the next moments, however,
In unison,
"Nahhh." "I doubt it."
Both muttered that while laughing, about to pick up their chopsticks to resume eating once more when…
UUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu—
The sound of calamity struck.