Ordinary I and Extraordinary Them - Chapter 164

The same day.

This was an unexpected encounter, brought about by coincidence.

After Minato and the others departed from their home, Kaede, who remained alone at home, was working diligently on the household chores to relieve her restless mood.
In front of the Shinra household where Kaede was, was a girl standing.

“I happened to be near by, so …no, it would be more natural to talk normally…”

The girl, who hesitated to press the intercom, muttered something, and walked restlessly right and left, in an overly suspicious manner.
Kaede, who was hanging laundry in the yard, watched the scene for a while, then approached the girl, who had never left the front door, and called out to her

“Ano …can I help you?”

“Wawawa, yesh, yesh!”

Suddenly, the girl, who was called from behind, blurted out what she was muttering.
The girl with her cheeks red with shame, turned back in the direction where the voice came from …and gasped when she saw the appearance of Kaede.

There stood a beautiful young girl with black hair and a face with a hint of childishness, but there was no mistaking it that she was a beauty.

In addition, she was dressed in short sleeves and short pants in the midsummer heat, which seemed both casual and friendly.

“Cute.”

It was a simple feat to distract Shiraishi Momiji, the girl who was visiting the Shinra family today.
To begin with, she has always been too vulnerable to unexpected developments.

The presence of such a beautiful girl in Shinra Minato’s house was in itself an unexpected event.

“Thank you… so then, how can I help you?”

Kaede, who never lost her attitude while dealing with guests, accepted Shiraishi’s compliment and asked her again.

“Ah… right, I wanted to have a talk with Shinra-senpai today…”

“…Another girl.”

“Yes?”

One more woman whom I do not know of, came to meet Nii-san.
The mere mention of an arranged marriage had just sent Kaede’s grumpiness gauge soaring, and this further accelerated that.

However, Kaede put on a facial expression so that others wouldn’t notice.

“I’m sorry, but my brother is out. If you would like, I could pass on a message to him.”

“I see, he’s out… eh, you’re his sister?”

“Yes, my name is Shinra Kaede.”

With a startled look on her face, Shiraishi confirmed Kaede’s appearance several times.
She seemed to be completely unaware of it till now, and there was a brief moment of silence.

But it was not long before Shiraishi’s demeanor changed abruptly.

“I’m sorry, my name is Shiraishi Momiji, a first-year student at Sakuranaoka Academy. I’m here today to consult regarding a matter of student council with Shinra-senpai.”

“…I will let my brother know about Shiraishi-san’s visit when he gets back.” 

It was only a moment, but Shiraishi did not miss the brief pause before she spoke.

“The gestures you make when you think, the little pauses you take during conversations, they’re just like your brother’s.”

“We are siblings.”

She replied it as a matter-of-fact, smiling.
After that, they exchanged some information with each other.

Reactions to various topics were shown in response to the topics and they changed their tones and facial expressions accordingly.

The two of them were fully utilizing high-powered brains trying to figure out how to deal with someone they had never met before.

They stood at the entrance with a smile on their faces.
From the outside, it would just look like they were having a friendly conversation in front of the entrance.

“By the way, where did senpai go? I heard he would be at home for the summer vacation.”

“…”

At that one sentence, Kaede’s expression turned grim.

The slightest bit of jealousy for her older brother took over just for a moment.
Why does Nii-san tell his vacation schedule to her junior whom he had known just for a small period of time?

“It’s an arranged marriage.”

“Hii~iiii, an arranged marriage… arranged marriage! …a gal-game?”

“Did you say something?”

Her actual thoughts leaked out, and Shiraishi shook her head vigorously to express her denial.
It might be a natural reaction to hear a high school student in their summer vacation hearing something like this.

However, the latter part of the statement was limited to Shiraishi.

“It’s not a gal-game, okay?”

“You heard me!?”

Shiraishi was feeling relieved thinking that she wasn’t heard, and then she tried to cover it up with a few words.
Just a few moments later, she felt embarrassed, she also reaffirmed that she was Shinra Minato’s sister indeed.

She was completely been played.

For Shiraishi, the senior named Shinra Minato was an ordinary student, but strangely had good connections. She regarded him as a senior with a twisted personality, yet he did not take advantage of anyone.
However, his younger sister is so good-looking and probably has a bright mind.

In addition to this, she also has no small resemblance to her older brother.
Shiraishi and Kaede, they shared the same generation and gender.

This is what gave Shiraishi a sense of dislike toward Kaede.
I’m not trying to assign superiority or inferiority, but it’s not surprising to have negative feelings towards people who are better than we are.

“I will visit you again at a later date.”

“Yes, it would be convenient for my brother if you could contact me in advance.”

With these last words, Shiraishi turned her back and walked away from the Shinra household.

“Absolutely… I alone is enough for my brother as someone younger!”

Kaede muttered her complaint, directed more towards her brother than towards Shiraishi.
This was an accidental encounter between two people of the same age.

It was not until Minato returned home exhausted that he learned of it.

<TL>: I’ll be on a hiatus after this, see the next post for more details.