The Fourth Class Is Modern Chinese (Continued)

"Komachi's interested in that too, but Komachi still has to cook."

Komachi laughed bashfully and tried to brush it off. However, Isshiki and Yuihama reacted sharply to what Komachi had said.

"...I can cook a little too, you know?"

"Ugh, right. And I don't have to worry so much about messing up my manicure..."

Apparently, Komachi's roundabout jab had hit home. Isshiki shot Komachi a glance, while Yuihama's eyes drifted restlessly elsewhere. Yukino merely nodded while muttering things like, "Manicure... I see."

"Everyone has their circumstances, huh?"

Komachi nodded thoughtfully too, then seemed to realize something and suddenly stopped moving. Then she deliberately exaggerated her reaction.

"Eh? But isn't that expensive?"

"That's true."

"Yeah."

Isshiki and Yuihama instantly answered that stock phrase straight out of a TV shopping show. Their unusually serious expressions made the desperate financial situation of high school students painfully clear.

"O-oh... You're taking this way too seriously..."

Even Komachi faltered in the face of that. Yuihama, trying to ease the mood, laughed lightly.

"You can do your own nails too."

"You can get into manicures starting at a hundred-yen shop."

"Ehh—"

Isshiki spoke as though it were no big deal, and her words carried the composed air of an older sister. Komachi looked at her with what seemed to be longing in her eyes.

Seeing that dreamy, maiden-like reaction filled me, her brother, with mixed feelings. Little by little, Komachi would grow into an adult like this... Should her brother be happy, or lonely...?

Meanwhile, leaving teary-eyed me aside, Komachi nodded to herself as she thought something over.

"If it's a hundred-yen shop, it should be okay..."

As she said that, Komachi glanced at me. Her eyes alone asked me what I thought.

As someone who had always prayed for his little sister's growth and watched