Hoshino POV
It was around 9:00 p.m. by the time I arrived home. Just like any other day, when I entered the house, Mom stepped away from the kitchen and greeted me. I gave her a small nod in response.
I thought she'd ask if I really went to the restaurant, since Dad was home, but she just left it at that. Maybe Dad didn't tell her, or she didn't bother to bring it up because it was exam season and she didn't want to take up too much of my time. Either way, it worked out for me since I didn't feel like explaining myself.
As I entered the living room, Dad—who was doing his usual wide stretches—stopped mid-stretch and looked my way with a wide grin.
"What took you so long to get home?" he asked with genuine curiosity.
I waited until I began climbing the stairs before answering. "After we left, we decided to hang out for a bit. That's all."
"I see," Dad murmured, before his voice picked back up. "Then I take it you're not going to be joining us for dinner?"
I responded with a small "Yeah." By the time I did, I'd already reached the top, bringing the conversation to an end.
Once I got to my room, I grabbed a change of clothes, took a quick shower, and then climbed into bed.
Even though I was tired, I wasn't tired enough to sleep, so I ended up killing time by doing my dailies in some gacha game. That is—until the door to my room swung open.
In the next second, Lily barged in and helped herself into my bed, flopping practically on top of me.
The two of us didn't move or say anything at first, simply remaining as we were.
Then, with a sigh, I grumbled, "What are you doing?" still keeping my eyes on my phone.
I was sure my irritation showed, and yet, she didn't move. Instead, she clicked her tongue and pulled the blanket away from me—hogging it for herself.
"Why do you sound so annoyed? I just wanted to take a little break by talking to you! You should be happy."
I let out a long sigh as I rolled off the bed and climbed into the chair at my desk.
Lily happily snuggled into the middle of the bed and burrowed into my blanket, half her face buried beneath it.
"Anyway," she said, her voice slightly muffled. "I was reading this manhwa where the girl's Brother ends up killing himself, and she has to live with that guilt forever."
I couldn't help but be just a little bit surprised; the grip on my phone loosened for a split second before I tightened it again. Out of all the things Lily could have said, I never would have seen this coming.
...Just what the hell does she read? I thought the only things you read were stupid romance dramas.
Still, I kept my face indifferent. "I thought you said you were studying?"
"I was—twenty minutes ago. I took a break to read, got to that part, then ran to your room."
"And why did you do that? You could've just kept on reading."
Lily scoffed, practically flinging the blanket off as she sat up.
"Stop acting stupid! I came because I was worried about you, obviously!"
My thumbs stopped moving. I was in the middle of a boss fight, so the second I paused, I died instantly. Game over.
I shrugged it off as I set my phone facedown on the table and looked Lily in the eyes.
Her gaze was firm, unwavering, like she was dead serious about this. But why? I'd never had those types of thoughts before—my pride wouldn't even allow such a thing—and even if I did, she wouldn't have been able to notice. So where was this coming from?
Just as I started to wonder, Lily shot up from the bed and grabbed my shoulders frantically.
"Please tell me you won't do that! That ending was so sad! I don't think I'd be able to handle it if it happened to me! Promise me right now!" she cried, violently shaking my body.
Ah—so that's what it was.
I didn't doubt that there was a part of my sister that was afraid of this happening. It was a normal thing to be scared of. But in my case…
I grabbed Lily's face and pushed her away. She staggered back a few steps before collapsing dramatically onto the bed.
"Wh-what was that for?!" she yelped.
I kicked her lightly, shutting her up. "Stop being so dramatic. And stop being so stupid. I'm not going to die."
Lily huffed, kicking me right back. "Stupid?! I'm not being stupid. This is a real worry! Stop avoiding the question already!"
She started flailing her legs violently at me as she demanded an answer.
"Okay, okay," I said, batting away her kicks. "I'm not going to do that—not that I was going to anyway. Just stop already!"
At my answer, Lily stopped and pulled her legs back with a satisfied smile.
"Good!" she nodded happily. "Now I'll leave you alone."
Just like that, Lily pushed off the bed and headed out of the room. Just as she reached the door, she turned around and gave me one last snarky look.
"See? It wasn't that hard, right? All you had to do was that."
Before I could argue back, she dashed out of my room and slammed the door shut. Her words lingered in the air for a little longer before fading away. Lily had the last laugh, and I was now alone.
Even though the bed was now free, I continued to stare at the closed door from the chair.
Geez. That girl never learns, does she?
I let out a soft chuckle as I forced myself up the chair and fell back into bed. Lily's warmth still lingered on the sheets even though she was long gone.
I didn't get back to playing on my phone. Instead, I stared mindlessly at my white cieling, the bright light piercing into my retinas.
Time passed. The soft clatter of dishes downstairs as my family was eating dinner, Dad walking upstairs and closing the door to his room, Lily doing the same thing, and even Mom's late-night television—all of it eventually faded. And yet, the conversation I had with Lily still rang true.
What a stupid girl...
Eventually, I grabbed my phone and turned it on. It was Wednesday, 5:00 a.m.
Wow, I really wasted a whole night doing nothing… oh well.
I put my phone back down, got up from bed, turned off the light, and climbed back in. I was supposed to be up in an hour, so realistically, there was no point in going back into bed. Still, even if I stayed up, I probably wouldn't have done anything anyway.
I closed my eyes. The instant I did, sleep dragged me into its embrace.
***
I woke up the next morning, then the morning after that, and the one after that. The week passed just like any other. We went to school, studied, then I'd hang out with Mei for a bit afterward, come home to talk to my sister, maybe eat dinner with the family, and repeat.
Before I even realized it, it was now Sunday.
Exams started tomorrow.
Usually, whenever it was Sunday, I would go out with my friends—or if we didn't, then we'd play games at home. For obvious reasons, none of that happened today. Even Lily stayed holed up in her room all day; she didn't even come to bother me once.
I practically spent the day doing next to nothing. I tried to pass the time by going to the park to play basketball alone and reading a few romcoms, but it was now 9:00 p.m., and I had run out of things to do.
I was just lying in bed, thinking about whatever crossed my mind.
That was when I remembered the bet I had with Mei.
Whoever scores higher gets the loser to do whatever they want one time.
I was fairly confident I could beat Mei, but still…
Let's see what I can actually do.
I leaned over and grabbed my bag, digging through it until I found a notebook, a single pen, and my textbooks.
I tossed them onto my desk and plopped down in my chair. Then, for the first time in years, I began to study.
It was boring, and I wanted to stop and crawl back into bed every time I finished a question. But I pressed on.
Not because of stress.
Partially because of boredom.
A lot because I wanted to beat Mei.
But most of all…
I want to see what I am capable of.
With that in mind, I studied into the night. Since I was using a pen, every time I got something wrong, I had to scratch it out and move on. It was messy, and there was definitely a better way to do this, but it worked for me.
And as long as it did—I didn't care.