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That day, Yūha woke up much earlier than usual.
It was five in the morning, a quiet hour before the city began to stir.
The home she had started living in only yesterday still felt a little unfamiliar. She opened the window to let in the light, stretched her whole body, and left her room.
She washed her face, brushed her teeth, and fixed her bedhead. After returning to her room and changing from her pajamas into her school uniform, she put an apron on over it and headed to the kitchen.
It was Yūha’s own way of showing consideration for her busy older brother: she wanted to prepare breakfast for him.
The omelet rice from the previous night had been well received, and Rokurō hadn’t seemed bothered by the misshapen egg.
Granted, it had only turned out well because Nako had helped her, so it was hard to call it a reflection of Yūha’s actual skill.
“If you practice, you’ll be able to make at least this much on your own.”
She had no choice but to believe Nako’s words. For now, her immediate goal was simply to spend more time in the kitchen.
Besides, she wasn’t planning to make anything difficult first thing in the morning.
Just salad, soup, and toast. She was a little awkward, but she could use a kitchen knife without any real trouble. She could handle the stove well enough too, as long as she was careful. Her only issue was occasionally misunderstanding which ingredients she needed, so she had to pay close attention.
She cut cabbage, potatoes, and carrots, then put them into boiling water. For seasoning, she used consommé.
“Don’t get greedy trying to make it taste better…”
Nako had told her that the urge to add some kind of secret ingredient was nothing more than a distracting thought. A cook had to overcome that temptation.
Especially an inexperienced one.
For the salad, she simply tore up lettuce and cabbage and served them with dressing. The fact that raw vegetables alone could add color to the table made them truly wonderful.
The tasks themselves were simple, but because she had so little experience, many things took longer than expected. In particular, she still hadn’t completely memorized where all the dishes and cooking utensils were kept.
As a result, the salad and soup weren’t finished until an hour and a half after Yūha had woken up.
It was already six-thirty in the morning.
If she hadn’t gotten up early, she would have been guaranteed to arrive terribly late.
While toasting the bread, she knocked on Rokurō’s room at the far right side of the living room.
“Rokurō. Breakfast is almost ready. Are you getting up soon?”
“I’m home.”
“Hyau!”
She spun around and, for some reason, Rokurō was standing at the entrance to the living room.
He was on the complete opposite side of the room from where Yūha stood.
On top of that, he was already dressed and looked as though he had finished a job.
“W-When did you wake up?”
“What was that noise you just made?”
“That doesn’t matter! Tell me when you woke up!”
Her face turned bright red as she desperately tried to gloss over the embarrassing yelp she had let out.
Rokurō scratched his head with a troubled expression and muttered, “Uh…”
Apparently, he decided to forget about the whole “hyau” incident.
“I deliver newspapers. That’s why I’m up early.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Because I never told you. I’m going to wash my hands.”
His steps wobbled slightly as he headed toward the washroom.
After everything that had happened yesterday, he already had to work again today.
Every time Yūha learned how much Rokurō was carrying on his shoulders, her chest tightened painfully.
But she also knew there was very little she could do.
Yesterday alone had made that painfully clear.
So at the very least—
Her slender fingers touched the ribbon of her school uniform.
Rokurō returned, noticed the gesture, and tilted his head.
“Why are you wearing your uniform? You brought regular clothes, didn’t you?”
“I’m going to…”
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to school… I think… am.”
“You think… am?”
A devastating slip of the tongue.
Unfortunately, the man in front of her was nowhere near gentlemanly enough to let something like that slide.
With pure, innocent eyes, Rokurō tilted his head as though he had discovered an amusing new toy.
Yūha snapped.
“That’s not the point! I said I’m going to school! You always make fun of everything! Idiot, moron, you’re the worst!”
“You’re going… am.”
“Idiot!”
“Sorry, sorry. I messed around a little too much.”
Rokurō raised both hands, trying to calm Yūha as she puffed out her cheeks.
“You’re going to school and you even made breakfast? Are you okay suddenly pushing yourself this hard?”
“This doesn’t even count as trying hard.”
“Uh…”
Rokurō was being completely left behind by Yūha’s sudden burst of determination.
He was pretending to be relaxed, but there had been a crease between his eyebrows for a while now.
It was proof that he was desperately trying to figure out what had happened.
“Well, okay. If you’re going to try, I’ll support you. By the way, how are you getting to school?”
“Uah.”
“There you go making another weird noise…”
“Don’t call it a weird noise! It’s your fault for suddenly surprising me!”
“You’re surprised just because I asked how you’re getting to school?”
“I hate reasonable arguments.”
“Are you me?”
Yūha covered her ears, and Rokurō shook his head in exasperation.
He went to the entryway to look for something, then returned to the living room.
“Here. Bicycle key.”
“…Thanks. You had a bicycle?”
“I bought one recently. This place is a little far from the supermarket. After we eat, I’ll adjust the saddle for you, so make sure you get everything else ready too.”
“Okaaay.”
Come to think of it, she hadn’t prepared her textbooks yet either.
What else did she need…?
As Yūha sank into thought, Rokurō suddenly frowned in front of her.
“Does something smell burnt?”
“Ah! I forgot I was making toast!”
Apparently, things weren’t going to go perfectly just because she had suddenly decided to change.
Rokurō desperately helped Yūha as she rushed around preparing everything.
The hectic morning scene looked like something from any ordinary family.
And with a little anxiety and a great deal of determination in her heart, a new day began.
Yūha’s high school had 240 students in each grade.
With that many people, finding someone she knew among the crowd gathered around the main gate in the morning was difficult.
And so, returning to school after so long felt completely unfamiliar.
It was almost as though she had transferred to another high school where she didn’t know a single person.
Would she even be able to graduate after missing this much school?
Would strange rumors start spreading about her?
Unpleasant possibilities like those clung stubbornly to her thoughts.
She parked her bicycle in the bike lot, hugged her bag tightly against her chest, and walked toward the school entrance as though trying to make herself smaller.
Then, a massive shadow blocked her path.
“Good morning.”
It was a deep, booming voice.
There was no hostility in it, but it carried enough force to make the ground itself seem to tremble.
Yūha looked up.
Standing there was Kumagai, a teacher in charge of student guidance.
She often saw him during school assemblies, so even Yūha remembered his name.
(I’m finished.)
Despairing internally, she bowed deeply.
“Good morning.”
“Come with me to the career guidance room.”
“Yes.”
She had been absent from school without permission for over a month.
How badly was she going to be scolded?
No, being scolded was fine.
The thing she feared most was being told,
“You can no longer graduate.”
As she walked behind Kumagai-sensei, Yūha continued praying desperately.
—Please, Kumagai-sensei.
Please help my little sister.
Please help Yūha.
I stepped out onto the balcony, where I could see the high school in the distance.
The school Yūha attended was the same one I had once gone to.
It had been three years since I graduated, but even now, several of the teachers from my time there were still around.
Kumagai-sensei was the man who had regretted my decision to give up on continuing my education even more than I had.
It’ll be okay.
That man will definitely help you.
“Do your best, Yūha.”
There was still time.
Nothing was over for you yet.
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