Chapter 13


TL: Akabane


***


Friday finally arrived and the first week of the new semester was coming to an end.


Although I had a day off on the day of the admission ceremony, but there were so many things going on that it was a pretty intense week.


Looking back, I wanted to go into rest mode.


"Today is different from the usual meeting place, isn't it?  You just got home?"


This time, we met in the lobby of the school building, not in front of the school gate where we usually met after school.


"I thought I would go home after reviewing the classrooms that we can use for study sessions starting next week."


"Can't we go to the library or near the teachers' room?"


"There are a lot of people there..."


In the library, there are always people from the same class.


If it was just once in a while it wouldn't matter, but if it was every day it would make it a bit uncomfortable.


In front of the teacher's room, there are desks for self-study and extra lessons, so you can study there.


But, there's also the gym teacher who keeps trying to recruit me for club activities, and I don't want to be disturbed when I'm concentrating on my studies.


I don't want to be distracted by others, and I also don't want to waste any more time than I already have.


It would be nice if I could use my house every day like I used to, but that wasn't going to happen this time.


There were several classes that could be used until the lockdown time came, so I wanted to find a suitable place to use.


"Well, from Rin-chan's point of view, it's like exploring the school, so let's take a short walk."


"Yes."


Although this was just a public high school, the school building was divided into several sections.


It's not unusual for me to go to a public high school for a whole year without ever setting foot in any classroom, let alone on the ground floor.


While considering those places, we looked for a place that looked suitable.


As we were looking around, I realized that there were many classrooms in the school building.


"There are a lot of very dusty classrooms around here."


"That's right. It looks like they're always locked up and never used."


The classroom in the uncrowded area looked dirty and locked, making it impossible for us to use.


I gave up and looked at the other classrooms that might be usable to some extent--


".....So.  Do you want to use the brass band club room?"


An unexpected question came up.


"There are things like practicing separately for each section."


"Right.  Well, if we don't practice in a certain way, we probably won't be able to play individual notes."


This was unavoidable, as the venue was being used by people who were working hard at their club activities.


It was not our right to say so in this place, nor did we want to interfere.


"Hmm.  It's hard to find..."


Although there are many spacious classrooms, the number of classrooms available is very limited due to various reasons.


"......I'm sorry.  I'm sorry for troubling you in the first place.  I think it would be better if we didn't have an after school study session...."


"No, we can go to the library if we can't get a free class. It's not something you should worry about, Rin-chan."


Of course, achieving the goal of improving her grades is much more important.


If we can't find one, we'll just have to do it even more vigorously, taking into account the fact that we'll be disturbed by others.


"I'll take a quick look at the classrooms on this floor, and if I can't find them either, then we'll study in the library next week."


".....Okay. But, there's no one here, and it looks like it's locked...."


As Rin-chan said, the atmosphere was similar to what I first saw, so I didn't notice--


"....... Social studies class?"


"I didn't know there was a place like this.  I've never heard of it."


"Right, it's my first time too.  Ah, there's a key here."


There was a key next to the classroom entrance.


And there was a sign on it that said,


[You are free to unlock the door and check the documents inside.  However, it is strictly forbidden to take the documents out of the room or do anything strange inside!  Be sure to lock the door when you're done using it!]


"It looks like this place can be used.  Let's go in for a while."


"Yes!"


When I inserted the key and turned it, the door opened easily.


When I opened the creaking sliding door, the sun shone through the window and the light illuminated the dust flying in the air.


"There are a lot of documents here.  It's like rows of thick books in a library"


"There's so much dust in here. Even teachers probably never use it."


Even with a sign like that, I'm sure there will be people who will do strange things if it continues like this.


No, there's no way anyone would go to a remote place covered in dust like this just to do something strange.


"There's a desk here too!"


At the back of the bookshelf with all the documents neatly lined up, there was a table by the window, perhaps it was a place to make corrections.


The sun was shining from the west, and I could see the sports field and the scenery outside the school through the window.


"This is a nice place, maybe we can use it to study here."


"It's quiet here and there's no one coming here either."


Even if the social studies teacher came, she wouldn't say anything if we were studying.


I used the cleaning tool to remove the dust from the table and chairs.


"Good, looks like we can study here."


Since the whole room was dirty, it would be endless if I kept cleaning it, so we only cleaned the table we were going to use.


"I'm a little tired.  I have something to talk to you about, so why don't we sit here and rest for a while before going home?"


"You're right, let's sit down."


We arranged the table with four chairs around it.


Let's sit facing each other and put our bags on the other side...


"Okay!"


While thinking that, next to me, Rin-chan also sat down slowly.


"Eh?"


"Eh?"


When I looked at her and made a surprised sound, she also did the same as me.


"Rin-chan, would you like to sit next to me?"


"Did I choose the wrong seat?"


"No, I think we should sit facing each other."


"Wouldn't that be hard to teach me?"


While saying that, she did not move again after sitting down


"That's right, huh."


I knew that forcing her to change her seat would make her feel distressed, so I would comply for now.


In the end, it was decided that Rin-chan and I would sit next to each other, with our bags placed on the other side.


"So, what's this you're talking about?"


"Today, my ability test results came out, I wanted to report them to you."


After saying that, Rin-chan took out a long, thin piece of paper familiar to high school students.


"Ranked 14th in school.......?   Isn't that amazing?!"


"Yes!"


When I started watching her study, there was a 50% chance that she would graduate.


From then on, she continued to work hard and was able to achieve this kind of result.


"If you can maintain your ranking, you can aim for a public college, so let's do our best to maintain it."


"Yes. I still haven't thought about my future...."


"If you haven't thought about it, you just need to set a higher goal.  If you want to do something below this level, then you don't have to worry.  But it will be very painful if you don't have enough ability to do whatever you want."


I said it subconsciously while looking at the results, as if it was a good grade.


It wasn't easy to improve or maintain grades like this, but she had tried so hard, and I also thought that I should live up to my sister's expectations...


Suddenly, I felt a weight on my shoulders.


"Nii-san..."


"Hmm, what's wrong--?!"


She gently leaned on my shoulder.


"I worked hard not only because of my report card.   But because you have also been very enthusiastic about teaching me."


"T-That's right.  You put in a lot of effort."


"Is that all?  Even though I've tried hard."


"........"


I thought I knew what she wanted.


So, I stroked her head gently.



"You have to try harder, okay?


"Yes!"


She replied firmly with a happy voice.


If anyone saw me doing this, there was no way I would be able to explain that we were studying.


As I stroked her head, I wondered if this would be a good time for us to start studying?  And I also knew that I had made the right choice in finding a secluded place.



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