Yamato Nadeshiko, Koibana no Gotoku Chapter 12

It’s the new cla.s.s which I hadn’t completely gotten familiar with.
It seems like it’s going to take a bit of time to get used to this atmosphere.

「Hey, did you see that girl Hanasaki from the cla.s.s next door? She seems considerably high level.」

「I saw, I saw. That was a beautiful girl. Nades.h.i.+ko-chan is also formidable, but that girl is good too.」

「It seems like they say her name is written like a girl in love, “Kotome.”1 In accordance with her name, she’s a lovely girl, you know!」

The boys in the cla.s.s were swapping rumors about a girl in the neighboring cla.s.s.
Apparently, she seemed to be a very popular child.

「Kotome-san…… seems more like a grandmother’s name. Fufu.」

Excuse me for being impolite, I laughed involuntarily.
Mine is also the same, but people’s names nowadays are interesting.

「It is a simple rumor, but because of that, searching for the truth will be much harder.」

Speaking of rumors, there’s also a rumor that I’m worried about.
Even while I’m sitting in my own cla.s.sroom, there are things I was thinking about.

「That big brother has a girl he is particularly intimate with, was that really true?」

Upon hearing such a rumor, I had begun to investigate this enemy.

「I wonder just what kind of person it will be?」

Either way, if I ask the person in question directly, he will evade the question.
It will be no good unless I gather hard evidence and thrust it into his face.

「Now then, shall I try searching for the rumored person?」

During the lunch break, I began gathering information while walking around inside the school.
Fortunately, I had a few upper cla.s.smate acquaintances at this school.
By chance, after asking several seniors, one girl’s name came out.

「Yamato-kun’s lover? Speaking of that, there was that rumor I heard.」

「Do you know who it is?」

The rumors about big brother seem to be true.

「When I saw it before, that lover-like person seemed get along together like a married couple. Wasn’t that girl Sudou-san, I wonder?」

「Sudou-san? What’s her name?」

「Sudou Awayuki. She is a rather famous ojou-sama at this school, a girl liked by everyone, you know. There was a time when there were rumors about her, but I haven’t heard many rumors about her recently.」

Sudou Awayuki, I don’t have any impressions of that name.
Is this person I’m not acquainted with and big brother…… were they going out?

「Do you know which cla.s.s Sudou-san is in?」

「Eh? That girl is in the same cla.s.s as Yamato-kun, you know. It should have been that way last year too.」

Since she was right under my nose, I might have already met her.
I immediately decide to go visit big brother’s cla.s.sroom and see.
However, neither big brother nor Ono-san are there.
Though I tried asking a guy who was nearby, but,

「Nades.h.i.+ko-chan, it’s a shame, but that guy Yamato isn’t here? He hasn’t come back to the cla.s.sroom.」

Though I glanced around inside the cla.s.sroom, I couldn’t find a person resembling the one from the rumors.
It was then that the surrounding boys started to mutter some complaints.

「That’s right, everyone. I just thought of a good idea. Isn’t this a good chance to show the actual Yamato to Nades.h.i.+ko-chan?」

「Fu. That’s a good one, let’s drop him into h.e.l.l. I have a grudge against him anyway.」

「……I also concur. Let’s bring down that riajuu Yamato Takeru here. I’ll do anything for that goal.」

They turned around towards me and started telling me various things.

「It’s a good opportunity, so I’ll tell Nades.h.i.+ko-chan about Yamato’s exploits.」

「What is it?」

「That fellow already had a lover around this time last year, you know?」

I listened to their story with an extremely calm air.

「……eh, is that the case? This is the first time I’ve heard about this though?」

「Because not everyone seems to know about this. However, it’s the truth that he has a suspicious relations.h.i.+p with her. That’s a relations.h.i.+p where they’re going out, for sure!」

「That’s right! At that time, all the girls who wanted to become Yamato Takeru’s lover all fell into depression.」

「…… it seems like it might be credible. Would you let me hear more about it?」

As I thought, big brother seems to have been developing a close relations.h.i.+p with someone since last year.

「The other person in the rumor is Sudou Awayuki. When I say Sudou-san, do you know?」

「Only to the degree that I’ve heard of the name. What kind of person is she?」

According to what they said, the Sudou family is a well-known rich family which oversees the management of many companies.
An honest-to-truth ojou-sama, and a person who seems to be extremely popular in school.

「Like at lunchtime, if Nades.h.i.+ko-chan right now had a meal together with us, it would seem like we had a close relations.h.i.+p, you know!」

「To be able to go out with such a beautiful person, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Yamato. Even I want to be born as a good-looking man too!」

「At that time, even when I asked 『Are you two going out?』, neither of them actually denied it though.」

「They had this mood like lovers around them. However, did their relations.h.i.+p spontaneously end roughly around the start of winter, or did something happen? Because both of them started to put some distance between each other, so didn’t they break up then?」

「That’s because of how Yamato’s popularly exploded around Valentine’s Day. Even now, I still remember how the stares of all the single girls I knew changed at that time.」

Though this is at the level of rumors, all the information together still indicated that the relations.h.i.+p between big brother and Sudou-san was a special one.
Did they only go out from early summer till winter? Or does it seem like they have an even closer relations.h.i.+p?

「…… I see. Big brother has been having this kind of relations.h.i.+p behind my back, hmm?」

「I wonder, isn’t Sudou-san also being deceived and toyed with by Yamato? Since at any rate, that fellow is popular with women. Some of it is due to my jealousy, but Yamato is too nice when it comes to girls, you know? That’s fine in it of itself, but how would it be for a girl?」

I agree with that, as it’s big brother’s bad habit that I want him to correct.
Because of his gentle character, he spreads goodwill to everyone.
It’s a frequent occurrence for that to be misunderstood and for feelings of love to develop.
Big brother is attractive, so there are too many girls who will create excessive misunderstandings.
With a bitter laugh at my feelings, I let out a sigh.

「I also wish that big brother would self-reflect on his actions as well.」

That way, while that guy is minding his actions, n.o.body would try to go out with him.
Big brother resembles a devilish kind of girl, where while he’s unaware, seldom would he do something really terrible.
If he doesn’t have the intention, I wish he wouldn’t be nice from the beginning.
It’s not my intention either as the little sister to increase the number of grieving girls.

「Though there is no possibility of big brother going out with any other girl besides me, it is pitiful to let them keep dreaming.」

「Eh? For that reason?」

「Are any other reasons necessary? Big brother is mine.」

In response to my dignified remark, everyone fell into a dumbfounded silence.
From the beginning, when I also tried asking the girls’ opinions towards Sudou-san just in case,

「Ah, Sudou-san huh? Is it right to call her a healing-type? The atmosphere around her is different from an ordinary person’s, you know?」

「The atmosphere?」

「That’s right. Every person has a kind of atmosphere around them, right? That girl is kind on the inside, kind of like a super gentle person. She has this very kind atmosphere around her.」

「I’ve never heard of anyone speaking bad about her, hmm. She doesn’t have that arrogant high-cla.s.s young lady feeling or appearance at all. I don’t think there’s anyone who dislikes her?」

Her appearance is beautiful and gentle, and a good personality too.
Was there really such an ideal and perfect beauty? I honestly doubt it.

「… Speaking of which, she is a bit similar to Yamato-kun.」

「What do you mean?」

「The atmosphere they have. It’s just my opinion, but Sudou-san resembles him.」

「I totally understand. The atmosphere between those two is very similar.」

「The atmospheres are similar, is it?」

The atmosphere which shows what the person is like on the inside.
If Sudou-san has such a gentle atmosphere that anyone would come to like her, like big brother’s, then asa love rival, she’s an especially troublesome existence.

「I think Nades.h.i.+ko-san will surely also understand after meeting Sudou-san.」

「Are they that similar?」

「Yes. Are people with the same or similar atmospheres attracted to each other, I wonder? Those two definitely fit each other.」

My inner heart had extremely mixed feelings about this.
From a bystander’s point of view, to say that they suit each other…
After a while, big brother finally comes back.

「― I have been waiting for you, big brother.」

Big brother, while going 「Eh?」 in surprise,

「What, so you came. I had to step out of the cla.s.sroom for a bit. Sorry about that.」

「No, please don’t mind me.」

While I grasped his hand tightly as if to catch him,

「Big brother, I think you already know, but lying is a bad thing that you absolutely shouldn’t do. Just lying is a sin. I believe that big brother is not a liar, or to say, a person who will secretly carry a crime.」

「…eh? A-Ah. I don’t really get it, but I want to continue responding to Nades.h.i.+ko’s trust.」

「Which is why, supposing if there was something to betray my trust, I hope you’re prepared. I’m not the type to easily forgive and forget, you know?」

I reminded him as I strongly clasped his hand.

「―if there is, I won’t forget, not even a little bit.」

Big brother murmured 「Y-Yes.」 while staring off at somewhere in the distance.
The feelings of jealousy which had arose in my heart began to burn hotter and hotter.

Since the first bell had rung, I was walking down the hallway as I returned to my cla.s.sroom.
In front of me, an unfamiliar girl with light tea-colored hair was walking towards me.
As we were pa.s.sing each other, a gentle smile appeared on the girl’s face as she said,

「h.e.l.lo.」

I think that a person who can greet others even if they are strangers is wonderful.
I returned the greeting, and right when I was going to part with that senior―

The feeling I felt from her, was an atmosphere just like big brother’s.

『She’s a person with an atmosphere similar to Yamato-kun’s, so I think you’ll understand immediately.』

I understood the meaning of what I heard earlier in an instant.
Even if it’s not visible to the eye, I can feel the atmosphere.

「Rather than similar, isn’t it exactly like big brother? That person just now, was she Sudou-san?」

Even without asking her name, I already knew.
A person with a kind atmosphere just like big brother, a gentle person and a seemingly excellent girl.
For that kind of beauty to be next to big brother, and to have a special relations.h.i.+p…

「Sudou Awayuki… the next “rival in love” might be a considerably formidable opponent.」

While carrying a sudden sense of crisis, I had stopped in the hallway and continued staring at her retreating figure.

【 To be continued 】