Older Sister and Younger Sister

Horikita Manabu pondered for a moment; it seemed he truly possessed the capability to produce two million private points. "How about this, Amasawa? I will give you one million private points. But this million is a gift from me, not something obtained through extortion."

"You certainly have the nerve to haggle, especially when we have the video of the fight," Morishita Ran interjected from the side.

"I am not haggling. I have a better proposal to discuss with you, Amasawa. I think you will find it very interesting. However, it is a bit too late today. Shall we discuss it another day?"

As he spoke, he took out his phone and, without a moment's hesitation, transferred one million private points to Amasawa Yuto.

Amasawa Yuto picked his phone up from the ground, staring at the lit screen, which had developed a few cracks from the fall.

Seeing Amasawa Yuto staring blankly at the screen for some reason, Morishita Ran leaned in. "You're just going to agree to that?"

Horikita Manabu heard her and let out a soft chuckle. "I believe you will agree, because you, Amasawa, are not such a boring person, and neither am I."

Amasawa Yuto put his phone away and nodded. "I would be happy to hear your proposal later, President Horikita."

"If you wish to join the student council, I can approve your entry."

"I'll consider it for the time being."

The two shook hands.

"If your phone screen is broken, I can have it sent for repairs. I'll put it through the student council's reimbursement so it won't cost you any points. Consider it my apology."

"That won't be necessary. Thank you for your kind offer, President Horikita, but I will take it to be repaired myself later."

If it had been just a moment ago when he showed him the phone, it would have been fine. But now, Amasawa Yuto could not let him touch the phone again.

Not even Morishita Ran, not Sakayanagi.

Not even Yuki.

"What are you daydreaming about all by yourself?"

Horikita was sitting in a chair, lost in thought, when a cold metal can was suddenly pressed against her cheek.

She was startled and nearly jumped out of her chair, only then noticing that the person who had arrived was Tsubaki Yuki, who was sitting right next to her.

Tsubaki Yuki held two cans of coffee she had just bought from the vending machine. She opened one for herself to drink and pressed the other against Horikita's face.

Horikita silently accepted her kindness, took the coffee, opened it, and took a sip. "Thanks."

"So, you're the younger sister of Student Council President Horikita?"

Tsubaki Yuki leaned against the vending machine. The two girls, one standing and one sitting, formed a beautiful picture under the dim light of the vending machine.

"So you really saw it, then?" Horikita Suzune lowered her head, her tone timid, devoid of her usual arrogance.

"I am an incompetent sister... I can't make my brother proud... He even feels humiliated just by being in the same space as me..."

Tsubaki Yuki listened quietly. Associating this with the way Horikita usually looked down on everyone, she felt a bit of pity for Horikita Suzune now.

At the very least, as an older sister, she would never say such things about Sakurako, nor would she allow anyone else to say them. Sakurako was her pride and joy.

"So, what do you plan to do now?"

Horikita Suzune did not answer. Her entire being seemed to be shrinking, inch by inch.

Horikita Suzune, whose gaze never lingered on anyone, was curled up on the bench like a cat drenched in the rain.

"I don't know." Horikita Suzune's voice was muffled. "Maybe... just leave it at that."

Tsubaki Yuki's brows furrowed.

Just leave it at that. Give up. Anyway, no matter what I do, it's useless. Anyway, I'm never good enough. Anyway—

Tsubaki Yuki's fingertips tightened. She thought of Sakurako, who had taken care of her in the hospital and tried every way possible to make her happy.

She thought of when she was nine years old and had a high fever, burning at forty degrees in the middle of the night. It was Sakurako who had cried out and run to find Butler Matsuo.

Yuki had been delirious from the fever, yet she had gripped Sakurako's hand tightly, refusing to let go.

That night, Sakurako had barely closed her eyes, sitting by Yuki's bed, wiping her forehead over and over again with a wet towel.

When dawn broke, Yuki's fever had subsided.

Sakurako, who had fallen asleep slumped against the bedside, woke up, and her first words were: "Sister, look at my eyes, are they as red as a rabbit's?"

Later, after Yuki was hospitalized, whenever Yuki was in a good mood, Sakurako would sometimes squeeze into the hospital bed to sleep with her. At night, she would suddenly hug her and say:

"Sister, I'm not very capable, but I will try my best. I know that because you were born before me, you've suffered so much."

Sakurako was fifteen this year, as tall as she was. After Yuto returned, Yuki's mental state had improved significantly, and her relationship with Sakurako had grown better and better.

Occasionally, Sakurako would still run into her room before bedtime, squeeze onto her bed, and unscrupulously roll up most of the blanket.

Sometimes Yuki would be poked awake by Sakurako's elbow, and looking at her sister sleeping like a little pig beside her, she felt that everything in this world was endurable.

She had never said, "You are my pride," to Sakurako. She couldn't bring herself to say it. But she knew that Sakurako knew.

Tsubaki Yuki had never imagined that there could be a sister in this world who would make her younger sister feel like a "humiliation."

She looked at Horikita Suzune, who was keeping her head lowered in front of her. "You make me think a little of my sister."

Yuki's gaze shifted away from Horikita Suzune and landed on the black horizon in the distance.

"Her name is Sakurako. She's one year younger than me."

"In our family, I was the one who received all the love and attention. My parents focused almost entirely on me. Even though Sakurako worked so hard and was so adorable, she never received their undivided affection."

"But she never denied her own worth just because she wasn't 'good enough.' And she never felt inferior just because her older sister was the favorite."

"Because she knew that no matter what she was like, I would never find her embarrassing. On the contrary, I was the incompetent sister who stole the love that belonged to her."

Horikita Suzune's shoulders gave a slight tremble.

"Horikita Suzune. You think your brother is disappointed in you, don't you?"

"Then have you ever considered," Tsubaki Yuki took a step forward, closing the distance between them, "that perhaps his disappointment isn't because you aren't good enough?"

Horikita Suzune raised her eyes, revealing her confusion.

"Perhaps his disappointment is because you've turned yourself into his shadow, instead of being yourself."

"You said earlier that you were an incompetent sister. Let me ask you, what do you think a sister is? Is it a number on a report card? Is it a label that makes people say, 'Oh, that's Horikita Manabu's sister,' wherever you go?"

Horikita Suzune opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

"It isn't," Tsubaki Yuki answered for her. "A sister is just a sister. You are alive, you are here, and you are his sister. That fact won't change no matter how many points you score. You don't need to use anything to prove it; you already are."

"What your brother thinks is his business. What you think is yours. If you build your life on his approval, then you will be waiting forever. Waiting for a day that will never come."