My Childhood Friend, Sometimes a Schoolgirl—She Only Wears That Ribbon Around Me - Episode 8

“Hey! It’s morning already! Get your lazy butt outta bed!”

It was Friday—and that shrill voice, loud enough to shake the house, forced my eyes open as I lay in bed.

The voice came from the first floor. My room’s on the second. Honestly, it’s so loud it should count as noise pollution, but our neighbors have long since gotten used to it.

“…Ugh, it’s that late already?”

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I checked the time on my phone and reluctantly dragged myself out of bed. After changing into my school uniform, I headed downstairs to the living room.

The moment I opened the living room door, the smell of leftover curry from last night hit me in the hallway.

“Finally up, huh? Good mornin’, Sora.”

“Yaaawn… Morning, sis…”

“Wow, gutsy move greeting your elder with a yawn. Back in our hometown, you’d be dead three times over by now.”

“Our hometown’s not that rough, c’mon.”

Shaking my head at my sister’s dark sense of humor, I sat down in front of the table, where two servings of curry and salad were already laid out.

Kanami Tsuzuki—my one and only sister, and basically the person who raised me.

I don’t remember much about it, but apparently our parents divorced when I was little. I was too young to feel sad or anything. The court gave our custody to Dad, but because of his job, he was rarely home. So, it’s always been just me and my sister, spending most of our time together.

Even though she’s got a loud, tomboyish personality, she’s surprisingly domestic. Or maybe she just stepped up and tried to be a mother figure for me.

The result? I grew up totally dependent on her, and I’m still like that now.

“You’re still terrible in the mornings, huh? What, staying up late studying or something?”

“Do I look like the type to study at home to you?”

“Not even a little. If you are, quit it right now—it’s bad for your health.”

“Don’t tell me to stop being a responsible student!”

“I’m allergic to studying, remember? If you’re anything like me, one glance at a math problem would make you barf.”

“Can you not bring up gross stuff right before breakfast…?”

Honestly, with how much she does for me, you’d think I’d feel more indebted to her. But thanks to her personality, we’ve somehow managed to keep a kind of balanced relationship.

Despite claiming to have a “study allergy,” she graduated high school in March and went on to a fashion-focused trade school.

So, clearly, when it’s something she’s interested in, she’s perfectly capable.

She might act like a tough tomboy, but she looks like your typical trendy college girl. Her major demands a good eye for aesthetics, so she’s really into fashion and beauty. With her soft, milk-tea-colored long hair and matching street-style outfit, her slim figure suits her overall look perfectly.

“Oh, right. Sora—any requests for dinner tonight?”

“Nothing in particular. I’ll leave it up to you. I’m the one getting a free meal, after all.”

“That’s the worst answer. If you leave it to me every time, don’t blame me when we end up eating instant noodles morning and night.”

“That’s not exactly great for our health.”

“We’ll be fine. Cup noodles are food for the soul.”

Okay, that almost sounded like a deep quote.

“They’re tasty and all, and they do hit the spot sometimes… but eating them every day would get old.”

“There are tons of flavors. I never get sick of ’em. I’ve been having cup noodles for lunch every school day since high school—I’m a proud recipient of the ‘Cup Noodle Completion Award.’”

“Stop inventing fake awards…”

Seriously, if I weren’t here, she probably wouldn’t cook at all.

“Wait, you’re still eating at home every day even after starting trade school?”

“Yeah? You got a problem with that?”

“It’s not that big a deal… But don’t most college or trade school students have more freedom? Like, wouldn’t you be going out to dinner with friends and stuff?”

“Do I look like the type to make friends at school?”

“You kinda do.”

“Well, I do have some.”

Okay, that just felt like a jab at how few friends I have. Annoying.

“So, do your friends ever invite you out to dinner?”

“Sometimes. But it’s always guys doing the asking. I eat lunch with some girls, but they’re all working part-time jobs in the evenings.”

“Stop casually bragging about getting hit on by guys.”

“If that sounds like bragging to you, you clearly don’t get much attention yourself, little bro.”

I had no comeback for that.

“But even if they ask me out, I’m not interested. Hanging out with someone I don’t care about is just a waste of time. Especially when you’re young—you gotta use your time wisely. Aaaand besides!”

Sitting cross-legged at the table, she spun her spoon by the handle like a toy.

“I’m only interested in hot people.”

And then—bam!—she pointed the spoon straight at me.

Don’t go declaring your type right in front of your brother…

“So, none of those guys who asked you out were good-looking?”

“Not my type of good-looking, at least. And when I say good-looking, I mean inside and out. My standards are pretty high.”

“Have you ever even met someone who meets those standards?”

“If I had to say… maybe you, Sora.”

“You mean in heaven or something?”

“Not that kind of Sora, genius.”

She puffed up her cheeks in fake annoyance.

“Sigh… If someone at school asks you the same kind of stuff, don’t answer like that, okay? People will think you’re some kind of bro-con.”

“Well, I’m not exactly joking, y’know.”

“Please tell me you are…”

She winked at me with her chin resting in her hand, and I couldn’t help but wince.

“Anyway, if you want me to stop acting like a bro-con, go out and bring home a guy who’s perfect in both looks and personality.”

“I don’t know a single guy like that.”

“I’m not picky—if they’re hot, gender doesn’t matter.”

“…Wait, are you hinting that I should bring someone home?”

“Bingo! That intuition of yours? Totally hot guy material.”

She grinned smugly.

Someone who’s that perfect, both inside and out… If girls count, then there’s only one person around me who fits the bill.

Yua Yushiro—my childhood friend, who I reconnected with in my second year of high school. She’s a girl who dresses like a guy.

I’d casually mentioned the day we met again to my sister in passing. Just small talk at the time.

“Even if I got what you’re hinting at, there’s no way I’m inviting her over.”

“She used to come over all the time when you were in elementary school.”

“Yeah, well, that was elementary school. We’re in high school now. Inviting the opposite s3x over when you’re not even dating? Kinda… you know.”

“Wow, someone’s really got the whole ‘invite = s3x’ mindset hardwired.”

“I do not! And why are you so set on having her over, anyway?”

“Well, I knew her back when you two were kids. I’m curious how she turned out. Plus, I hear she’s hot. I wanna meet her.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it—you’re just in it for the eye candy.”

Tone it down, will you?

“C’mon, just ask her. If she agrees, I’ll whip up something special—something packed with liver and garlic.”

“Why are all your ingredients super high in energy?!”

You’re the one acting like “inviting someone over = s3x,” not me.

“Hmm… I dunno. It’s hard to talk to her at school, and…”

“Oho, so you are thinking of inviting her, huh? Giving in to your desires already?”

“No! I just… kinda get being curious about how she turned out, that’s all.”

“See? Wasn’t so hard to say. So why not just message her?”

“I don’t have her contact info yet.”

“Wait, seriously!?”

“Yeah. We’re in different classes, and there hasn’t really been a good chance to ask… I should’ve just gotten her number the day we met again.”

When I said that, my sister tilted her head like something didn’t add up. I guess the whole “no chance to ask” part seemed strange to her.

But if you knew Yua’s status at school, you’d understand—there’s a very good reason for it.