Chapter 13 | One Hard-Working Girl

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“Ugh, I can’t do it, it’s too difficult to solve.”

I sighed and leaned against my desk, picking up my nearby smartphone.

In the morning, I was unusually moving my mechanical pencil at home and solving problems.

The final exams were coming up soon.

A student’s main job is to study, so I, who had been lazy until now, had to take action with a sense of urgency.

I wasn’t bad enough to get a failing grade, and my scores were average in all subjects.

However, there were many areas in the math section of this exam that I wasn’t good at, so there was a high chance that I would get a failing grade.

If that happened, I would have to attend supplementary classes during winter break.

Of course, I wanted to avoid that.

However, my actions and thoughts were completely different, and I was currently playing with my smartphone.

I hadn’t even been studying for an hour yet.

Then, I received an email.

“The tests are coming up soon. If you don’t mind, would you like to study together this afternoon?”

The sender was Kotomi. I didn’t expect to be invited to study, so I leaned away from the desk and straightened my posture.

Of course, I agreed. Kotomi always maintained the top grade in the school, so she was a reliable person to study with.

I thought that I might be a burden, but since it was an invitation from her, I had no choice but to accept it.

“Okay, I don’t have any plans. Where should we study?”

As soon as I sent the message, I received a reply.

“Then, how about my house? Karin is going to her friend’s house today, so she won’t be home. Besides, I don’t want to use your house every time.”

I was a little stiff after seeing the message that Kotomi had sent me.

Come to think of it, it had been several years since I had gone to a friend’s house.

Even though it wasn’t something to be nervous about, my heart was beating fast.

“Okay, I’ll be there around 13:30.”

I sent the message, put down my smartphone, and started preparing in a restless manner.

“Time for a break…”

When I looked at the clock, two hours had passed since I came to Kotomi’s house.

As expected of someone who was always number one in the school, her teaching skills were quite good.

When I asked Kotomi, she would explain to me in an easy-to-understand and polite way.

In addition to that, she would also create practice problems.

I had only been studying for two hours, but I felt like I had covered most of the areas in math that I was bad at.

However, fatigue would accumulate if I concentrated for too long.

I finished grading the problems I had just done and put down my pen.

“That’s right, we’ve been doing it non-stop, so let’s take a break.”

Saying that, Kotomi stood up.

I also stretched my stiff legs a little.

“I have some snacks, would you like some?”

“Thank you. I want some.”

“Then, I’ll bring them from the living room, so please relax.”

Kotomi smiled and left the room.

Then, silence visited the room. Because of that, I couldn’t help but think about things.

(I became friends with her, but I feel like there’s still a bit of distance between Kotomi and me.)

I didn’t really feel like I was friends with Kotomi.

We had become friends, but I hadn’t been able to do anything that friends would do.

Or rather, I felt like I was being spoiled by Kotomi.

The main reason I felt a distance was probably because of the polite language she used with her classmate.

Even if I couldn’t do anything that friends would do, I wanted to close the distance right now.

I thought such a thing.

Getting closer to someone was what I had been trying to avoid the most.

I thought about it for a while, but I couldn’t think properly with my head tired from studying.

I stood up to stretch my body, thinking about taking a break.

That’s when I noticed for the first time that there were photos on the shelf.

When I got closer to look at them, there was a photo of Karin with a beaming smile and Kotomi smiling.

It seemed to be a photo from a while ago, and they both looked young.

Kotomi’s smile was different from her angelic smile, and it was a genuine smile.

So, it seemed that she had always been a sister who loved her younger sister.

To put it simply, she was a clumsy siscon.

Next to the photo frame, there were several memos.

The memos were written as “to do list.” It seemed to be a list of things that she needed to do.

・ <Important> Play with my little sister, act like an older sister

・ Study properly, which I have been neglecting recently. 3 to 5 hours on weekdays, 5 to 7 hours on holidays with no plans

・ Get proper exercise. 1 hour of running in the morning

・ Volunteer at least once a month

Kotomi was probably doing all of these things.

She maintained the top grade in the school because she studied every day, and she was good at sports because she exercised every day.

Why was she able to work so hard?

She wasn’t just working hard on her studies. She was doing both.

There were two memos, and more things were written on them.

If she was doing everything that was written, Kotomi would eventually reach her mental limit.

It was because of this hard work that Kotomi was who she was now.

She was being idolized as an angel, but her essence was that of a hardworking girl.

“…That’s rough, even for an angel.”

I didn’t want to touch Kotomi’s secrets, so I stopped looking at the memo.

I had just happened to see the memo because it was next to the photo frame, but it wasn’t really polite to begin with.

Especially since she was my female friend.

I decided that I shouldn’t look around the room anymore and sat down quietly.

Just at the same time, the door to the room opened.

“Sorry for the wait. It’s a homemade chiffon cake. I’ve never made it before, so I don’t know if I made it well.”

Saying that, Kotomi placed two chiffon cakes and orange juice on the desk.

“Homemade? Seriously, I’m looking forward to it… Come to think of it, I feel like I’m always receiving from Amase.”

“You enjoy eating it, Hanazawa-san, so I end up making it with extra effort.”

“I see, so you’re the type who ends up doing a lot for others.”

“It’s not like that for everyone. It might be because it’s Hanazawa-san.”

Kotomi smiled genuinely.

I was happy that she had opened up to me more than before, but there was one thing that bothered me.

I changed the subject as if to hide my embarrassment.

“O-Oh, is that so… By the way, can you stop using ‘san’ with my name?”

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