Sasami-san @ Ganbaranai Vol 1 Chapter 4

VOLUME 1

Chapter 4: The Middle Sister, Kagami

This was something I heard later.

–

Even though she was playing in the river so early in the morning, the third Yagami sister, Yagami Tama, arrived at school healthily and without any hint of a cold. Right when my brother was getting fed by Tsurugi, she was just in the middle of her lunch.

“Lunchtime ♪. Lunchtime ♪.”

Everyone had put their desks together and the students were eating lunch.

Tama crossed her arms and nodded (pointlessly).

“Tama works hard for this time every day.”

Tama thrust her hands into her bookbag, and singing all the while, she suddenly discovered the box that my brother had given her in the morning. She looked at the box, puzzled.

“Hm? What’s this? Tama, you know? Tama really likes the lunchbox that Kagami-nee bought her a few days ago… ah! Right, this is what Paparin gave Tama!”

It seemed she had forgotten.

“What could be inside…?”

Tama opened up the box.

“Fwaaaaaaaahhhh… ☆☆☆”

Tama’s eyes sparkled as she stared at a box of somewhat intricate-looking chocolates, the kinds you wouldn’t be able to find in a convenience store.

“I-It’s chawcolate… ma’am! Umm, it’s fine if Tama eats this, right? Tama always gets cavities, so Tsurugi-nee doesn’t let her eat candy at home… even though Tsurugi-nee eats a lot herself! So having all this chawcolate all to herself… Tama… Tama…… it’ll be fine!”

Tama was completely red as she picked up one chocolate with her fingers and sent it sailing into her mouth.

“Howawawaaaaa… it’s sweet… happyyyyyy~~~… ☆☆☆”

Perhaps the chocolates looked really delicious, but the elementary schoolers around Tama suddenly took an interest and turned to look in her direction.

“T-Tama-chan! That’s great! Are those chocolates?!”

“Tama-chan has chocolates?!”

“W-Who are you giving those to?! What?! You’re eating them yourself?!”

“C-Could it be that Tama-chan doesn’t know what Valentine’s Day is…?”

“Hwa? What? Do you want some?” (This was Tama talking.)

Tama smiled at the meek-looking boy with gla.s.ses that sat closest to her.

“Sacchin showed Tama his homework, so he gets one chawcolate~.”

Tama took the chocolate… or rather, from its shape it looked more like a precious jewel, and brought it to the mouth of her small cla.s.smate, beginning to feed him. “Go ahhhh~~,” she said.

“T-T-T… Tama-chan, what are you doing?! That chocolate… you’re… I’m…?!”

“T-That’s not fair! Why only Satou?! Give some to me too!”

“Tama-chan isn’t paying attention right now, so I can get some chocolate from her… I can get some chocolate from her!”

“Hand it over!”

“Give it! I’ll kill you if I have to!”

“Ehh?! Ehh?! S-Stop! If everyone takes Tama’s chawcolates… she won’t be able to eat any of them anymore!! Hmph!!” (That one was Tama.)

The children swarmed around the chocolate like vultures, stealing more than half of them. Tama teared up and began her protest.

“So mean! You’re all so mean! Why are you taking away Tama’s chawcolates?! Hmph!! Tama got those from Paparin! They were Tama’s lunch! Tama hasn’t even eaten more than one! Ohh! Et tu, Brutus?!”

“Well, there’s nothing you could have done, Tama-chan.”

The girl who sat across from Sacchin spoke this time. Unlike Tama, she actually looked normal.

“Today is Valentine’s Day. If you bring chocolates to cla.s.s, all the guys are going to act funny. Tama-chan is really popular, after all…”

“Va… len… tine?”

When the girl got a blank stare back from Tama, she continued casually.

“Oh, you really don’t know? Well, Valentine’s Day is…”

Let’s change scenes and go back to Konohana Sakuya Academy.

It was after school.

My brother had shown his face at the club he advised, the “Production Club” (although he was actually still covering his face). The club seemed to produce textbooks or something, but my brother seemed to have nothing to do and was completely free, so he was busy trying to whittle down someone’s MP.

“………”

“………”

“………”

“… Um, sensei. Please stop silently dancing the Hare Hare Yukai dance. (1) It’s incredibly offputting.”

The middle sister of the three Yagami sisters, Yagami Kagami, looked up from the book she was silently reading and whispered in the same indifferent voice she always used.

“But Kagami-san, I don’t have anything to do and I’m completely free.”

“Please just read a book then. We have more than you could ever possibly need.”

And just as Kagami said, the “Production Club” clubroom had bookshelves erected in all four directions, and huge amounts of books were lined up on those shelves.

There were old books that I doubted anybody had ever read, reference books, historical timelines, maps… the shelves were completely filled with things like that.

“Funyaaa.”

Kagami let out a strange sound, and began to speak in a completely emotionless voice.

“If you’re free, then you should go look at some of the other clubs around. In such a big world like this, there should be someone somewhere who needs a teacher. Yes, there should be… I think.”

Kagami casually went on nonsensically. Kagami was my same year, a first year in high school, and she seemed to be sixteen… her height was average, there was nothing worth mentioning about her looks and physique, and she generally left quite a weak impression.

She always seemed sleepy, and in fact, she slept pretty often.

“Fufu, someone who needs me, you say…? Of course there’s someone like that!”

My brother seemed quite happy, and sauntered around the room.

“My cute, cute, lovely, adorable little sister! Sasami-san needs me! She always waits for me! She calls out for me! She loves me! Do you understand?! Shall I explain to you how amazing Sasami-san is?! First of all, more than anything, she’s…… hm?”

“……”

Kagami was sound asleep.

“Kagami-san? Kagami-san?”

“Ah, I apologize. I fell asleep.”

Kagami wiped her mouth, raised her head, and grumbled with a serious look on her face.

“I had so little interest in what you were saying that I suddenly becam sleepy. I already understand Tsukuyomi-sensei’s love for his little sister much more than I ever wanted to understand it, so I don’t need it explained to me again. To be honest, it’s quite annoying.”

“Ehhh… but I want to tell you! Please listen to me, Kagami-san! Ugh! You want to hear it too, I bet! If you sit there silently, I feel really awkward, so please talk with me!”

My brother danced about.

“Please pick something you want to talk about then. Like ‘Today’s Sasami-san,’ or ‘Yesterday’s Sasami-san,’ or ‘Tomorrow’s Sasami-san,’ or ‘An Embara.s.sing Story About Sasami-san,’ or ‘The Day I Argued With Sasami-san,’ or ‘Sasami-san’s Hobbies and Interests’… you can even make some dice and roll them, and we can pick a topic based on that! Please, let’s have fun and talk about my most favorite girl in the whole world until we’re tired of it!”

“………”

“Kagami-san?”

“I apologize. I fell asleep.”

–

“Fueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhnnnn!! Kagami-neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!”

–

Almost bursting open the door, Tama came rus.h.i.+ng in with her red backpack on her back.

Tama’s elementary school was in the neighborhood, so she often ended up going to the clubroom to play after school.

She seemed in a daze as she jumped at Kagami and started crying.

“What in the world…”

Kagami seemed annoyed.

“Don’t jump on me please, Tama. You’re too big and heavy.”

“Waaah!”

Tama just sobbed at her sister’s calm and composed words, when my brother casually greeted her.

“Ah, we met this morning too, didn’t we, Tama-san? Was your lunch tasty?”

“Fyah, P-Paparin…”

Tama was acting unusually shy and her face flushed deep red. Acting like a child, Tama hugged Kagami close and began to squeeze her.

“You’re crus.h.i.+ng me! I’m dying!!” Kagami let out a few cries, but Tama ignored them. Her eyes still watery, she next stared at my brother.

“Um, umm, you know, Tama…”

She gulped.

“T-Tama… loves Paparin, but… but… Tama is still an elementary schooler… so, maybe we should start as friends, umm… fueehhnn, Kagami-nee! What should Tama do?!”

“First get off of me. I’m going to die… please remember how ridiculously strong you are.”

Kagami was almost in a headlock, and she let out a feeble mumble.

Right after that…

–

“Ah, what’s this? Well well, looks like all three of us are here together.”

–

All of a sudden, Tsurugi peeked in from the other side of the wide-open door.

She seemed to be enjoying herself, and she had quite a childish expression on her face.

“I don’t know what you’re all talking about, but don’t leave your older sister out of it… fufufu.” (2)

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES

(1) The ending song dance from Haruhi Suzumiya.

(2) Tsurugi’s somewhat-trademark laugh is actually “is.h.i.+s.h.i.+s.h.i.+.” The problem is that when you transliterate this into English, it hardly sounds like a laugh at all. So I went with an option that I felt carries a similar feeling.