"More, Ryosuke, I want more!"
"Feel your stomach. You'll get fat if you eat any more."
"Can I ask you a secret question? If I get fat, will you stop liking me?"
"Yes."
"Ryosuke, you're so mean!"
After finishing her meal, Nibutani Shinka tapped her chopsticks on the table in protest.
"So, Ryosuke," Mrs. Nibutani asked with a smile, "have you decided on a middle school?"
"Soft Leaf Middle School, Mrs. Nibutani," Hiratsuka Ryosuke said without hesitation. He wanted to go to the same school as his sister, Shizuka, and win a national championship there.
Shinka's mouth turned down. "Then I'm going there too," she grumbled stubbornly.
Nishimiya Shoko sat quietly, making a mental note. So that's where Ryosuke-kun wants to go... Soft Leaf Middle School. It sounds hard to get into, but I still have a year. I'll do my best!
Just as she was imagining her future middle school life, she was interrupted.
"Oh, by the way, Shinka, what did you get on your first math test?" Ryosuke asked.
"88," Shinka blurted out, a little too quickly.
Ryosuke's face was completely blank as he stared at her.
"78?" she said, her smile faltering as she tried again.
He still didn't say anything, just continued to stare.
"Fine, it was actually 68," she said, throwing her hands up in defeat.
Stare.
"28! It was 28, okay?!" Finally, Ryosuke's gaze made her skin crawl. She felt exposed, like a child caught in a lie. Now, it wasn't just Ryosuke staring; Mrs. Nibutani and Nishimiya Shoko were also giving her a doubtful look. "Hey, hey! What's with those looks? Are you saying I couldn't even get 28 points?!" Shinka protested, standing up from the table.
"Alright, I get it. You won't get in with that score. Starting tonight, come to my house at 9 p.m., and I'll tutor you in math," Ryosuke said, motioning for her to sit down.
Math tutoring? Shinka's face fell. What even is math?
A pool with a hose filling it and a drain emptying it... how long until it's empty?
A cage with chickens and rabbits... how many of each are there?
She couldn't understand why anyone would do these insane things. If you want to empty a pool, just empty it! Why add water at the same time? As for the chickens and rabbits, that's even weirder! Why would you keep those two animals in the same cage? Everyone knows they'd fight, and they could get each other sick.
The more Shinka thought about it, the more her head spun. She slumped back in her chair, her mouth slightly open, staring blankly at the ceiling as if her soul had left her body.
"Mrs. Nibutani, we should be going now," Ryosuke sighed lightly. He and Shoko walked to the entryway and bowed to Mrs. Nibutani.
Shoko stood in the dark hallway, peeking at the door next door. So that's Ryosuke-kun's house?
I'm so jealous of Shinka. She gets to go to and from school with him every day and even spend weekends with him. A flicker of envy crossed her face.
"It's still early. Want to come to my place for a bit?" Ryosuke asked, opening his front door.
Shoko felt like her sincere prayers had reached the heavens. This was her first time visiting a boy's house. She took off her shoes, her pristine white ankle socks on the entryway floor.
Ryosuke took out a pair of indoor slippers and pointed to a room. "You can wait for me in my room. I need to grab something."
Ry... Ryosuke's room! A blush crept up her cheeks. Shoko barely remembered walking into the bedroom, her mind in a daze. The room was simply furnished: a bed, a desk and chair, a wardrobe, and a sword stand with two swords on it.
Oh, does Ryosuke-kun practice kendo? I never knew. Now I know a little more about him.
"Sorry, there's no extra chair. You can just make do on the bed," Ryosuke said, entering the room with a thick book.
On the bed?! Shoko's mind went blank. Her body tensed up, and she stood frozen.
"Shoko, what's wrong?" Ryosuke knelt on the bed and opened a Japanese hiragana chart, a curious look on his face.
Shoko slowly moved toward the end of the bed. She didn't dare look directly at him. She bent her knees slightly and tentatively touched the comforter before carefully climbing onto the bed. This small bedroom, this small bed, was filled with Ryosuke's scent. It made her so flustered she couldn't move.
"Shoko, listen. Starting now, I'm going to correct your pronunciation, little by little," Ryosuke said, looking down at the chart. He had a hunch that due to Nishimiya Yaeko's exhaustion and stubbornness, she likely hadn't had the time to teach her daughter how to pronounce sounds properly. Hearing and speaking are two different things, though they influence each other. It's like knowing a foreign language's vocabulary and grammar but having poor speaking skills.
"Repeat after me: a~"
"a~"
Ryosuke's brow furrowed when he heard her pronunciation. It seemed teaching her was going to be a long process. Shoko noticed her performance wasn't what he expected, and her head drooped like a wilting flower.
"Shoko, watch my face and tongue muscles, and copy me."
Shoko's spirits lifted when she heard he hadn't given up on her. She nodded firmly.
"a~"
Even though Shoko's pronunciation wasn't perfect, her voice was sweet. Ryosuke leaned in closer and used a chopstick to gently press her tongue down. Throughout this, Shoko's face was burning hot. She was torn between wanting to hide out of shyness and wanting to stay close to him.
Once Shoko got the correct pronunciation, they moved on to the next sound.
Time passed quickly. The sound of a key turning in the lock came from outside.
"I'm home!"
Hiratsuka Shizuka put on her shoes and, seeing the light on in Ryosuke's room, walked over curiously. "Huh? What are you two doing?"
Shoko was flustered, her face flushed, and a thin layer of sweat on her forehead. Ryosuke looked satisfied and even nodded approvingly. If Shizuka didn't know her brother's character so well, she might have thought he was up to something with his classmate.
"Oh, I see. Well, that's a good thing. But it's getting late. I'll drive Shoko home!" Shizuka said with a cheerful voice, leaning against the door frame after hearing the explanation.
"Thank you, Shizuka-san," Ryosuke said after checking the time.
Shizuka waved a hand. "Let's go, Shoko. I'll take you home."
Shoko said her goodbyes to Ryosuke, a little sad to be leaving, and followed Shizuka out.
"Now it's time for my own training. I still have to tutor that idiot Shinka later," Ryosuke mumbled to himself. He took his reverse-blade sword and went to the empty lot below the apartment building, next to a cherry tree. The moonlight reflected off the blade, illuminating his face. As he always did, he began his sword training.
After more than a hundred swings, he noticed a pair of eyes watching him from the building. The warm light in the room was dim, but he knew who was in there. Nibutani Shinka rested her jaw on her pale, jade-like wrist, leaning on the windowsill as she watched the boy practice below. No one knew better than her where Ryosuke's strength came from. Ever since she was a child, she would stop whatever she was doing at this time to quietly watch him.
Ryosuke's eyes grew resolute. He swung his sword again, like a precise machine, making strike after strike in the same spot. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, and the cherry blossoms fell like snow. The bright moonlight flowed over the boy under the tree, while the dim light from the window illuminated the girl's beautiful face.
Just like always.