Chapter 37: I knew I couldn’t stop

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Translator: Soafp

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Suzu, sweating nervously, lazily activates her smartphone and sends a message to Sora.

“There’s no doubt that he’s being nice to me, so it’s okay!”

Attached was a stamp of a rabbit.

Seeing the message, Sora replies with a stamp of a robot powering up—her way of reporting she’s still alive. After all, she was the one cross-dressing, so it was her fault to begin with. Still, to think he's her as a little brother… Sure, he often pats her head, but still… she grumbled to herself while trying to pull herself together, taking a bite of her parfait to refuel on sugar and determination.

Meanwhile, Ginji and Sora—

“Was that a sudden message?”

Ginji looks at her with concern.

“Yeah, super urgent. Girls value lightning-speed responses to messages.”

“Are high school girls soldiers or something? Mind if I continue?”

“Go ahead. This is about Sora’s middle school days, right?”

“Yeah, I wanted to ask about his grades and his art and stuff.”

Suzu finishes her orange juice and hesitates a bit. If she talks in detail, she won't be able to avoid the topic of Sora's gender. But glossing over it won't help either. Maybe she could filter the conversation through what sparked Ginji's curiosity in the first place?

“Speaking of which, Ginji—earlier, you mentioned something seemed fishy. What was that about?”

Using Ginji's own suspicions as a way to redirect the conversation—this was Suzu's strategy.

“…Might just be my imagination, but a transfer student came recently. You know Mio Hazuki?”

“Hazuki… She was at our school. Same middle school too. I didn't know her well, but I knew her name from the beautification committee. Wait, she transferred? I didn't even notice—we're not in the same class.”

“So she is someone from your middle school. Could be connected to Shiki.”

“No way. A transfer's a big deal, something that could affect your future. A student couldn't make that happen.”

“Well, if the transfer was already planned, someone like her could at least move up the timing.”

“You think she'd go that far? So what about Hazuki-chan?”

“She seems hostile toward Sora.”

“Really? But Ginji, you're kinda dense.”

From Suzu's perspective, Sora was shaking her head vigorously. It seemed like strong agreement.

And actually, a nearby staff member was casting suspicious glances toward Sora's table, so Suzu was starting to wish she'd tone it down a bit.

“Dense, huh? Tetsu said the same thing recently. Anyway, that's why I think Sora and Shiki's middle school history might be connected.”

“Hm. Well, if it's something I know—Sora-chi used to be Shiki ‘Hime's' attendant.”

Sora stops kneeling and sticking to the partition and finally sits properly in her chair.

This goes back to just over a year ago.

In her first year of middle school, Aika won a local traditional dress contest, and since then, people started calling her “Hime” (princess). Her family was wealthy, she excelled academically, and she stood out in sports too.

“By the time she was in third year, she was tall and totally princess-like. And the person who followed her around everywhere was—”

“Sora, huh. So no change from when he started high school.”

“Exactly. I started talking to Sora-chi in our third year. We got paired up in an elective sketching class.”

Suzu was astonished by the sketch Sora had drawn—just an ordinary riverside landscape, but the amount of detail was overwhelming. It wasn't something that could be judged by skill alone. Suzu had simply said, “That's amazing!” and Sora had shyly smiled.

Since then, they'd talk whenever they had class together. And Suzu had started feeling something was off about the way Aika treated Sora.

“Hime would push everything onto Sora-chi. But she was clever about it. Like, when there were people around—like when moving classrooms—she'd carry her own stuff. But when no one was watching, she'd make Sora carry her bag. It was obvious if you paid attention, but she was good at avoiding being blatant. She even made it seem like a privilege. Honestly, more students envied Sora's position than pitied her. Someone—I forget who—even got so obsessed with Hime they tried to take over as her bag-carrier, but Hime insisted Sora should do it.”

“Was there some reason it had to be Sora?”

“Who knows? But because Hime treated Sora like that, other girls started ignoring him too, like he wasn't even there. I mean… I didn't have the courage to help him openly either…”

Suzu looked a little guilty as she spoke—her words a quiet apology to Sora. But Sora shook her head—she didn't blame Suzu at all.

“I get it. It's not like it was Suzu's fault. Sora was lucky to have you. When I saw you two chatting at the arcade, you seemed close, so I even asked why you weren't dating.”

Ginji said it casually, but Suzu smiled like she was holding something back. Because behind Ginji, Sora's head was nodding again in agreement.

“Tch. How come you pick up on stuff like that? You're a good guy, Ginji.”

“Only just figured that out?”

His playful grin, paired with his usual villainous look, created an oddly charming contrast.

Though she couldn't see it, Sora reconstructed his expression in her mind using her mental Ginji folder—and melted a little inside.

“By the way, that person who was obsessed with Hime… could it have been Hazuki?”

“I dunno. I don't have a memory like Sora. But it's possible.”

“I see. Well, we'll find out soon enough. How was Sora with studies and stuff?”

“I'm not sure. We didn't have ranked postings or anything. Hime was known to be smart, but I don't really know how Sora did. What I do know is that both of them painted. They were both in the art club and even won some awards. The principal would mention them during end-of-term ceremonies.”

“…So Sora submitted work too.”

Even Aika, who usually pushed chores onto Sora, didn't do that when it came to art. They would paint side by side, almost as if in competition. But Aika always won.

“Hime usually got the grand prize, and Sora got things like the judges' special award.”

“Yeah… I can see that.”

Ginji imagined Sora choosing bizarre themes if left to her own devices. For straightforward middle school competitions, Aika's ability to grasp what the judges wanted probably worked in her favor.

“Then why did Sora tear up his final middle school piece and end up drawing Aika's portrait in high school?”

“…No idea. I don't know that. I'm getting a refill on juice.”

Suzu stood up, and Ginji took a sip of his now-cold coffee. Suzu then walked over to Sora's table, crouched down pretending to tie her shoelace, and whispered to her.

“What will you do?”

“…Thanks, Suzu. I'm going.”

Sora removed her sunglasses and cap, leaving them on the table. Still dressed in girls' clothing, she walked over and stood behind Ginji, who was drinking his coffee.

Her heart pounding, she tried to cool her breath and hold back her tears.

One more step, and she could never go back. She hadn't planned for it to be today.

She thought she could choose the place and time.

She could no longer be Ginji's “little brother”—that comfortable distance would vanish.

Even so, she could borrow Ginji's courage. Even if it cost her everything.

With the greatest courage she had ever mustered in her life, Sora took that step forward.

“Ginji.”

Because you said you'd make “me” happy.

Because I believed I needed to respond.

This love can no longer be stopped.