Returning home

“So, what type of relationship do you have with Suto-Sensei?” Hirata asked Koshiro, “You told me she isn’t your sister.” he paused for a moment, “Unless you don’t want to see her as a sister…” Hirata thoughtfully held his chin.

“Unless what?”

“Koike-san...”

“That is my name.” Koshiro nodded.

Hirata stared at him with a serious expression: “Do you have Siscon?” 

“K-Koike-san??!” Yasutake exclaimed, startled.

“Of course not.” “You idiot.” “What made you think that?”

“Well…” Hirata shrugged his shoulders, “Suto-Sensei is not bad looking AT ALL, did you know?! I wouldn’t blame you if you happen to fall for her.” he had the guts to say that even while being faced by a scowling Yasutake.

“I see…” “He’s not totally wrong.” “I suppose you are just worried that a “good guy” like me would be into that sort of thing, right?”

“Yep!”

“Please rest assured that I’m not into it. I could say that she’s a family acquaintance… but this might be too insensitive.”

“So…?”

“So…” Koshiro made a pause, “Yeah, you can call her my sister, you can call her whatever you want.”

“But isn’t that what you just denied?” Hirata had question marks all over his head as he and Yasutake looked at each other.

“That drunk version of her this morning is not who she truly is.”

“So S-Suto-Sensei was drunk this morning?” Yasutake was the one prying now.

“That’s right.” said Koshiro, returning to his desk, “Although it’s not like she’s much better sober.”

The three first-year students returned to their seats and, shortly after, the last classes of the day began.

***

Just as Koshiro finished his cleaning, Hirata came to talk to him: “So you’re gonna wait for Suto-Sensei now?”

“No.”

“But you said that you would wait for her.”

“Yeah, but I forgot teachers have to stay late. I don’t want to stay here so long.” he responded promptly, “And talk to drunk Sumi-nee.” he added in his mind.

“That’s how it is, huh?” Hirata murmured.

“Why are you so concerned about this anyway?” “Yeah, see you tomorrow.” Koshiro said while leaving the classroom.

“See you tonight…” Hirata waved his hand.

“What are the odds of him having a crush on Koike?” Hayami murmured to Etsuko.

“Huh? Who?” Etsuko searched everywhere.

“Hirata.”

“Hirata-san?!”

“Do you know another one?”

“No, hehe.” Etsuko touched her lips with her finger as if musing on the question. “I don’t think so. But why did you ask this?”

“He’s always worried about that idiot.”

“I believe his name is Koike-san!”

“This one, right. So, he’s always worried about him.”

Etsuko held her head, feigning despair, “Oh no! Don’t tell me you’re the one that wanted to worry about Koike-san?!” then held her chin, as if thinking: “Or maybe you wanted Hirata-san to worry about you?” she was now goggling closely at Hayami: “Or Maybe both??!” the girl pointed her finger at her friend, “Hey Hayamichi, don’t be so greedy!”

“Please Shimizu, I’m serious here. I wouldn’t be surprised if Koike was into him... I wouldn't be surprised if he was into everything in this class, he's a pervert after all.”

"Didn't you want to say 'everyone'?" Etsuko tried to correct her friend

"No."

“A...” the open-mouthed girl seemed to deflate a bit, “Anyway, I’d say he’s more likely to have a crush on Yasutake-chan, or even you!”

"What?!" Hayami jumped back, "M-Me??"

"Of course! There's a fine line between love and hate!"

"Aargh." Hayami composed herself. "Stop saying nonsense and answer me. Do you think Koike can like Hirata?"

“I dunno, I barely know him! But I don’t think so!” saying that Etsuko grabbed her bag and headed to the door. “C’mon Hayamichi! Don’t forget we have something to do tonight!”

“Oh yeah, that.” Hayami sighed as she followed Etsuko.

***

“I wonder how mad she’ll get at me.” Koshiro mused as he looked at his homeroom teacher's message:

Sumi-nee: DOT FORET to wt for me a class?

Thankfully, Koshiro was able to translate it:

DON'T FORGET to wait for me after class!

“Aargh.” the boy sighed, “I should at least let her know that I’m going home.”

Koshiro (replying to Sumi-nee): Sorry, I can’t stay ‘till late (Scar is waiting for me) so I’ll just drop by Fujimori’s bakery and go home today.

After replying to her message, he started to make his way home. Koshiro arrived at the bakery twenty-six minutes later, when a terrifying voice startled him as he opened the door:

“Hi, Koshiro-kun.”

The boy turned slowly, to see the one he wanted to see the least at the time. 

“Hi… Sumi-nee.” he said while giving a nervous smile.

“Now I’m your ‘Nee’ again?” she put her hands on her waist while scowling: “You really had the guts to bail on me, huh?”

“But I thought you’d have stuff to take care of after school.”

“I didn’t have much to do today. And even if I had you should’ve waited.”

“But Scar is waiting for me.”

“C’mon." Sumiye frowned, "Everyone knows she doesn’t care about you.”

“That one hurt.” “Although that’s probably true.” Koshiro sighed. “So, what’s so important you had to come to talk to me?”

“There’s a bunch of things.” the woman stated, “We’ll talk on our way home. I’ll make dinner tonight.” Sumiye raised a plastic bag in her right hand.

“Okay, but don’t you think rumors are gonna spread if someone sees us?”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Sumiye said confidently, “And I can’t just let you eat all your meals here.” she added while pointing at the Bakery with her head. “Fujimori’s Anpan is delicious but it’s not healthy for every meal.”

“Sometimes I eat junk food at that restaurant on the other side of the street too...” Koshiro muttered.

“What did you say?”

“That I’m looking forward to your food! Thank you very much!”

“That’s what I thought.” the woman released Koshiro from her glare and entered the bakery to say: “Excuse me, Fujimura-kun, but I’ll borrow Koshiro for tonight.”

“No problem. I was beginning to worry about him myself.” Fujimura replied with a smile.

“Okay then, let’s go Koshiro.” she handled the plastic bag to the boy and then started walking to the Koike’s household.

“Where’s your car?” Koshiro asked after a couple of seconds.

“I left it in front of your house. Maybe you should go to school by bus, it would be much faster.”

“Nah, it’d be a waste of money if I can walk.”

“You’re right. You better start sparing some money to when you get a nice girlfriend.”

“Where did that come from?” Koshiro looked annoyed, “Don’t tell me you’re here to yak about this.”

“Not exactly.” Sumiye smiled.

“What is it then?”

“About that girl, Takayama, you can see it too, right?” her expression was a bit more serious.

“That she’s a devil? Yep.”

“That’s great!”

“How can a devil be great? Don't tell me you kept watching that TV series.”

"Of course not! I've to wait for Daichi to do so! You're the one without chains."

"Without chains?? The series in itself chains me with that stupid third season..."

"Hey, Koshiro. Are you bad-mouthing one of my favorite TV shows?" Sumiye looked at the boy with her eyebrows twitching.

"I'd never do that, Sumi-nee!"

"Huh." the woman returned her attention to the street, "Anyway, talking about the devil, I hope you continue getting along with her and her friend."

"Are you talking about the heroine?" Koshiro tilted his head.

"No! I'm not talking about the show anymore, I'm referring to Takayama and Shimizu."

“Erg." the boy rolled his eyes. "I don’t think you can call that ‘to get along’ with someone.”

“Yeah, I guessed you’d say that.” Sumiye stopped for a moment, “But at least try.”

“No.”

“Pleaseeeeeeee?”

“Ugh.” Koshiro sighed, “I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you Koshiro-kun, you’re such a nice person!” she grinned at him.

“Hmm, am I though?”

“Of course! But leaving that aside, did you come up with any good ideas today?”

“Hmm… maybe.”

“Oh! Tell me about it!”

"Hmm..." Koshiro reflected on his answer. “If you really want to know I’ll tell you during dinner, okay? We’re almost home.” he indicated his house, only a few meters away.

“Okay, I’m looking forward to it! I hope you finally come up with something decent because the last one...” Sumiye grimaced.

“Ouch, don’t you think that last part was a bit unnecessary?”

“Hihi, I’m sorry for that.” she gave this suspicious apology and then walked ahead of Koshiro, picking her keys for his house.

***

“Thanks for the food!” Koshiro and Sumiye uttered. They were now sitting in front of each other while enjoying the food she had made.

“So, what’s your idea?”

“Straight to the point, huh?”

“I just want to be the first to witness this historic moment. Your first great and original idea!”

“Haha.”

“Hey! Don’t laugh! I really want to hear about it.”

"Hmm... okay then.” Koshiro stopped, cleaned his throat, and heaved a deep sigh. “First things first, I got this idea because of a Senpai I met today. She pretended to be the bea…”

“Kuma-chan.”

“She pretended to be Kuma-chan at lunch, and I thought it was kinda cute, so my mind started working on something…”

“Oh no, so what I heard is real?” Sumiye interrupted again, “You were hitting on Kuma-chan and a child-looking girl? What a taste you have.”

“Aargh. Weren’t you the one that wanted to hear my idea??”

“Okay, I’ll be quiet until you’re done.”

“Thank you.” Koshiro sipped some tea. “So, my mind started working and I thought ‘What about a girl pretending to be a bear?”

“Ku…” Sumiye stopped herself after she received Koshiro’s intense glare: “Don’t you dare to interrupt me again”

“So, maybe we have this isekai story where a little blond-haired girl can use bear costumes to hide in the midst of other bears! Maybe she can even turn into other animals! Other forms of life even! The possibilities are limitless!”

After finishing Koshiro nodded to Sumiye, indicating that she could talk:

“Hey, Koshiro.”

“Huh?”

“By any means did you thought of it as a story for a game?”

“Hmm, now that you mention it, a game would be the best media to tell this story, so… yeah.”

“Wow!” she gazed at him with admiration, “That’s a good idea.”

“Right???”

“But…”

“But…?”

“I feel bad for you when after 5 chapters that’s the best you’ve got."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because it's a plagiarized idea.”

“What?!”

“It’s exactly what you heard.” she crossed her arms. “Five chapters are equal to one rip-off.”

“Shit. You sure?”

“Yep, it’s from that anime ‘Old Game?’. A pretty cute one by the way.”

“Aargh.” Koshiro let some air out of his nose, with disappointment, “I’ll think about something else then.”

“Good luck, you’re gonna need it.”