Chapter 36: Going astray is a privilege of adolescence.

Translator: Soafp.

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[Sakuya Pov]

“Ushio, I’m done with my summer project! Now I can enjoy my summer vacation without any worries!”

　My brother, who was working on his assignments in the living room, threw out his pencil and said something like that.

　He had done the crazy thing of finishing his diary first among the assignments, but it felt too much to finish everything already. It’s still July, you know.

　I guess it’s better than playing around and not doing any assignments at all, but how can a student not study from today until the second semester?

　Isn’t the reason why there are so many assignments during the long vacations because they don’t want students to get too far away from their studies during the vacations, and isn’t it supposed to be done little by little every day?

　Well, I’m preparing to take the high school entrance exam this year, so even if I finish my assignments, I’m still going to study independently.

　I want to go to the same high school as my brother. I’m not that desperate because I have the academic ability to pass the entrance exam, but as a student, I can’t afford to slack off. However, as a student, it’s hard to skip exams.

“…………”

　My brother, who has finished his assignments and even cleaned up, is reading in silence. According to the diary that he wrote on the first day of summer vacation, I don’t remember which day it was, but he must have written that he went to the mountains in July to collect insects back to his childlike mind. However, as I knew, I completely ignored it. Is he still not planning to go out even on the days when he wrote that he went out with his family?

　Before the summer vacation, my brother was hardly ever home, but since the summer vacation, he only goes out when he goes shopping. I am glad that we have more time to spend together, but we mostly just did our assignments.

　Even though we are students, my parents are still busy with their work and are rarely home during the summer vacation. I am grateful to my parents for their hard work. I’m not saying that I want to go to the beach, as my brother wrote in his diary, but can’t we go out together or at least make time to spend together as a family?

　The time we spend together as a family is much less than it used to be. As an adolescent, I feel embarrassed to spend time with my family, but I still feel lonely from time to time.

　My brother once told me that it is a privilege of adolescents to have conflicting and confused feelings, but is this the case?

“…………”

　My brother is still reading in silence, but if I want to go out, will he come with me? When I saw in his diary that he wanted to go out, he said he would if he felt like it, but I don’t know.

　Would he enjoy it if he went out with me in the first place? I’d rather spend time at home than be in an awkward situation with him…but he might go out alone after he finishes his assignment…. And I want to go somewhere too… It’s hard for me to invite my friends because I’m a student preparing for an exam. In the first place, is it okay to have fun when I’m preparing for an exam?

　My mind wanders all over the place, and I don’t know what I want to do anymore.

　Since I’m thinking about all these things, unlike my brother who has already finished his assignments, my assignments are not progressing very fast.

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