Chapter 15 My Relationship with Her
Early morning.
Sou slowly opened his eyes while lying in bed.
He felt as if everything that had happened yesterday was just a dream.
There was no sense of reality.
Last night, Sou tossed and turned, struggling to fall asleep.
He couldn’t help but want to complain:
“Is my sleep quality really that bad lately?”
Despite being sleep-deprived, when his phone alarm went off, Sou got out of bed as usual.
He kept checking his phone, seemingly wanting to confirm if Nagi had sent him any messages this morning.
Not seeing any new messages on Line, he felt a bit disappointed but also relieved as he put down his phone.
After a quick wash, Sou changed into his workout clothes and began his daily morning exercise routine.
The morning sun bathed the streets.
The rustling sound of the wind brushing through the leaves filled Sou’s ears.
And the occasional cooing of pigeons passed through his line of sight.
This was a habit he developed before last summer vacation.
At that time, Sou used to do morning exercises with Nagi.
But after entering the second year of school,
Nagi’s increasingly alluring and enticing appearance gradually became a sweet poison for Sou.
To resist this temptation,
he deliberately distanced himself from Nagi after entering the second year.
His morning exercises turned into a solitary affair.
“Ah, lovers…” Sou looked up and sighed softly.
Yesterday’s super development research.
Sou experienced a moment of suddenly transitioning from hell to heaven.
He had been worried about whether to confess to Nagi,
but it felt like a dream when he heard her say, “Do you want to date?”
Being able to date his childhood friend, whom he had secretly loved for a long time, should have been something he dreamed of.
But the premise was—
…
As usual, after finishing his morning run and returning home,
Sou took off his workout clothes and opened the bathroom door.
It was still early.
The others in the house should not have woken up yet…or so he thought.
But as he opened the unlocked door,
what greeted Sou’s eyes was a large expanse of bare, fair skin and a slim figure.
Yukino, dressed only in her underwear, stood in front of the sink, looking shocked as she turned to look at him.
From the perspective of the world,
Yukino was indeed an undisputed beauty. Not only did she have a cute face, but her figure was also taller and more graceful compared to other girls her age.
But in the face of such a fortunate scene for a lecher like him,
Sou felt not even a slight stirring in his heart.
He had recently begun to vaguely realize
that he seemed to only feel excited by girls with long, black hair.
“Ah, I’m sorry, just call me when you’re done,” Sou said while trying to close the door.
“Wait for me—!” But Yukino rushed over and pulled the door back.
“What’s with this reaction, Onii-chan!? Seeing your sister in such a sexy pose, shouldn’t you be blushing and screaming while staring at her with wide eyes?”
“Huh? Don’t say stupid things so early in the morning! By the way, you should put on some clothes first!”
“What a bland reaction! Onii-chan! I’m hurt! My delicate girl’s heart has now suffered a serious wound!”
Sou’s calmness wasn’t an act.
Even if he excluded the fact that this girl was his sister,
the visual impact and level of seduction she displayed were far less than what he experienced every night during video calls with Nagi.
Without realizing it, it seemed Sou had developed a certain resistance in this regard.
“What’s going on? Is Onii-chan ED? Are you ED at such a young age!?”
“Don’t use such vocabulary all the time, you’re a girl!”
“Or is it because I don’t have breasts as magnificent and spectacular as Nagi-nee’s? Onii-chan, you are an oppai alien!!!”
“Huh!? I-I’m not! By the way, put on some clothes already!”
After a tug-of-war, Sou finally managed to close the door.
“Speaking of which, did you send any morning greetings to Nagi-nee today?”
Yukino’s voice came from behind the door.
“What do you mean?” Sou replied, confused.
“Let me explain to you, Onii-chan—!”
Even through the door, Sou could sense Yukino’s triumphant expression.
“Girls really look forward to waking up in the morning and seeing a greeting from their boyfriend on their phone~”
“It scores high in a girl’s heart! Full boyfriend power! Boosts affection instantly!”
“Stop sounding like you’re marketing something!” Sou couldn’t help but retort.
Yukino’s marketing-like tone made Sou feel somewhat shy.
“Ah~ That response, Onii-chan definitely didn’t do, right? Right now, immediately, go send a morning greeting~”
“I, I don’t need to! It’s not like Nagi and I—”
“At times like this, you need to pay attention to the little details! Who knows, you might boost Nagi-nee’s affection in one go!”
“And for you, Onii-chan, isn’t this your dream opportunity? To establish a romantic relationship with Nagi-nee~”
“Sigh…” Sou couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh upon hearing this.
And internally thought, “Why has it come to this…”
…
…
On the way to school.
Sou could clearly feel many students whispering and secretly glancing at him.
As if confirming—
“Is this the rumored boyfriend of Nagi?”
With her outstanding appearance and cheerful, considerate personality, Nagi had become the most popular person in Hoshikage High School.
Any matter related to her
could spread through every class in the school within half a day.
After enduring the whispers as he entered the classroom with heavy steps,
Sou was immediately attacked on both sides by Suzuki and Tanaka.
“Tsukimi, have you finally betrayed us?! How could this happen! You must be happy!”
“I never thought I’d witness the day when childhood friends finally turn from losers!”
Their emotions seemed unstable, and the gaze they turned to Sou contained an inexplicable feeling of “this kid has finally grown up.”
Making Sou feel completely uneasy.
Once Sou broke free from the two and returned to his seat,
the girls in the class also gathered around.
“Congratulations, Tsukimi-san~”
“Tsukimi-kun, you must cherish her~”
…
He was inexplicably receiving warm blessings from all the girls in the class.
Except for one girl sitting far away, biting her handkerchief while crying.
Even the homeroom teacher, who came to hold the morning meeting,
looked at Sou a few more times while taking attendance.
“Sure enough, dating the most dazzling beauty in the whole school will draw so much attention, huh?”
Sou mused to himself.
…
“Sou-kun~”
Not long after the class ended during lunch,
Nagi appeared at the back door of the classroom.
“Do you want to have lunch together today? I made a bento for you by hand~”
“Uh, um, thank you, Nagi…” Sou stood up nervously, slowly walking towards his “girlfriend” under the gaze of his classmates.
“L-Let’s eat in another place…”
“Uh-huh, that’s fine~”
Nagi responded with a bright and cute smile.
As the two walked side by side out of the classroom,
it felt like the entire class erupted.
“Ahhhh! This pair of silly childhood friends finally became a couple!”
“Nagi-senpai’s homemade bento! So jealous! Damn it! Sou is such a winner in life!”
“Awesome, Nagi-chan finally has a home, she won’t be our enemy anymore!”
…
…
As for Sou,
he decided to have lunch at the secluded place of the super development research club with Nagi.
When they entered the super development research club,
Sou glanced around to confirm that there was no one else nearby.
He then quietly closed the door.
And sighed deeply.
“Is it really necessary for Nagi to go to such lengths? We are just—”
“—Even if we are pretending to be lovers, I think we still need to behave like true lovers in front of others to confirm whether that curse really exists!”
Nagi placed her bento on the table, showing a confident smile.
That’s right.
Their relationship was a “pretended romance.”
The “cursed couple” request brought over by the student council president, Miki,
had not only remained a hot topic among students lately, but was also escalating.
Voices hoping for the super development research club to step in and solve it were growing louder.
To this end,
Nagi proposed this method to Sou yesterday.
By pretending to be lovers, Nagi and Sou would confirm whether the curse truly existed.
This was also the reason why Sou, despite becoming Nagi’s boyfriend, couldn’t feel happy.
