Fikush-ON!

Ch. 12: The Second Year

"Oh? Uh, well, I just accompanied my sister here," I explained.

Hirasawa just got even more confused. "Your sister applied here?"

I nodded, and pointed my thumb towards the board behind me. "Yeah, and she actually got in."

Understanding the situation, Hirasawa began scoping the board out herself. After a few seconds, I saw a flash of joy in her eyes.

"I got in, too!"

I, of course, had spotted her name earlier, but still decided to act surprised. "Well, would you look at that. Congratulations to you, too."

After thinking for a couple of seconds, I decided to point at a group of girls further away. "By the way, my sister is that light haired gal, in case you want to get to know her."

Hirasawa gazed at my sister, a bit puzzled. "How come she looks so European?"

"Ah, our mother's mother is from Northern Europe, so we have some European genes. It seems that my sister has inherited most of them," I explained as I turned to look at Tamiko, who had her back turned to us.

After looking at her for a bit, I turned back to Hirasawa. "I'm sure you'll be friends. She's nice and kind, just like you." I quickly realized what I had just said and wanted to reword the latter part of my sentence, but then decided to just it be.

"Thank you," Hirasawa said with a warm smile.

"Ui!" another familiar voice could be heard.

We turned to face the voice. It was Yui, who was a nervous wreck, almost shaking in her boots.

"Why are you so nervous?" Hirasawa asked her. 'Nervous' was a complete understatement. "My name is there. I passed."

Yui flinched. "R-really?"

Her expression turned exited... and a second later tears started dripping from her eyes. I had to take a step back as she ran to hug her little sister.

"Sis, I can't breathe..." Hirasawa muttered, smiling embarrassedly.

As Yui started congratulating her sister and thanking everyone around us, I couldn't help but feel a little concerned. "Now she's lost it..."

However, both of them looked so happy that I decided to give up on the witty remarks and just smile. A sound of camera shutter made me turn my gaze. It was the members of Yui's club; Tainaka, Kotobuki, and Akiyama, the latter holding a camera. Wait, did I just get into a photo? They walked to us, each giving Hirasawa their congratulations. However, they soon noticed me, too.

"Wait, what's this guy doing here?" Tainaka asked, taken aback due to my presence.

I frowned, unamused. "I have a name, you know..."

"Yeah, why are you here, Sugimoto-kun?" Yui asked me, finally letting go of her sister. Don't tell me she didn't notice me from the very beginning...

Before I could even open my mouth, Hirasawa explained to them what I had told her.

"You mean the sister who gave you this bracelet?" Akiyama asked, raising her left wrist with the aforementioned thing around it.

I nodded. "The very same. Nice to see that you like it."

Startled a bit, she hid her left hand behind her back, blushing a bit. So, she's as easily embarrassed as she was at the Christmas party, huh. Gal, at least let me take you out for a dinner before you start acting like that... I noticed Tainaka glancing at both Hirasawa and I.

She scratched her head, puzzled. "Seriously, are you two sure you're not da—"

"We're not dating!" Hirasawa and I yelled in unison, getting a few confused looks from the people around us.