Hoshino POV
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*
I opened my eyes and reached for my phone, turning off my alarm as I pulled it closer. My notifications were riddled with messages from the group chat—mostly from Luna and Remi, who were ranting about how stressed they were over finals. Yu and Sora chimed in here and there, but their supportive messages were buried under the stress of the two girls.
I let out a little chuckle as I read them, then pushed myself off my bed and headed over to the washroom.
After doing my morning routine, I returned to my room to see the door wide open. I stopped, focusing on the soft, subtle rustles coming from within.
I glanced over to my sister's room. The door was wide open, too, and she was nowhere to be seen.
…What the hell is she doing?
I held my breath, going quiet, then walked into my room. I'd only left it unattended for a few minutes, yet both closet doors were swung open, and countless socks and sweaters were strewn all over the place.
My sister sat at the center of that mess, too preoccupied with sniffing one of my sweaters to notice me.
I let the breath out, and with it, a fresh wave of disgust washed over my face.
"Lily… what the hell are you doing?"
Lily flinched, then snapped her head toward me. Her eyes moved up and down, struggling to accept that I was standing there.
"W-what are you doing here...?"
I scoffed, genuinely baffled. "That's what I should be asking you. Why are you in my room? And why are you wearing my socks and smelling my sweater? You weirdo."
I thought Lily would've shrunk back, but instead, she shot up and swung the sweater she was holding at me. "Don't call me weird! This is very important for me right now!"
I took a step back, getting just out of range of the swinging sweater while asking, "And why is it important?"
"Because your clothes are lucky!!!"
I froze, staring at her blankly. The way her brows creased together, the way her eyes bored straight into mine… she was dead serious.
…What???
I repeated her words over and over again in my head, struggling to make sense of what she was getting at. But there was no point. I should know better than anyone that trying to understand how my sister thought was a lost cause.
"What do you mean?" I asked anyway.
Lily crossed her arms, her face going studious, like she'd thought hard about this before. "Well, you see, if I wear your clothes, maybe I can get some of your smartness, too."
My head jerked back. I didn't see a single correlation to that whatsoever, but if that was what Lily believed, I wasn't going to question it.
"Okay… and what about the sniffing?"
Lily sighed, as if the answer were obvious. "It's because I want it to smell like you, duh! Maybe it'd trick my brain into thinking you're right beside me and guide me to the right answer."
I blinked once. Then twice, waiting for the punchline. There wasn't one.
Yeah—whatever. I give up. I shouldn't have even asked.
"Do whatever you want," I said, shaking my head.
I pushed Lily aside as I walked over to the closet and picked out my clothes. Lily, meanwhile, sat back down and continued sniffing my sweaters. Just as I found a sweater I was satisfied with, Lily snatched it out of my hands.
"Hey–!"
I grabbed it, tugging back, but Lily held on tight.
Just what is wrong with this girl?!
I could have easily ripped it away from her, but I wasn't sure if the sweater would survive, so I had no choice but to let it go.
When I did, Lily's face lit up, and she buried herself into it with a loud sniff. She stayed like that for three seconds before pulling back with a satisfied "Ah!"
"I found it! This is the one I'm going to be using!" she declared.
I held out my hand, ready to take it back, but before I could even say my piece, Lily stood up and patted me on the shoulder.
"Thanks, my useful Older Brother! I knew I could count on you!"
Without wasting another moment, she skipped out of my room with a satisfied hum and closed the door.
The moment she was gone, silence settled back over my room. My hand slowly dropped back to my side.
I took a deep breath, then let out a loud exhale.
What am I supposed to do with you…
A soft chuckle broke the silence for just a moment before fading away in the quiet.
I grabbed a large short-sleeved black-and-red jersey, baggy white jeans, put them on, then headed downstairs.
Dad was eating breakfast at the dinner table, while Mom sat on the couch, scrolling through her phone. She didn't need to make lunch for us today, since we were going to head straight home once we finished our exams anyway.
When I arrived downstairs, Mom set down her phone and greeted me with a warm, angelic smile. "Good morning, my Son. Are you ready for your exams today?"
I responded with a cold, dismissive shrug as I walked past her and opened the fridge.
"It's just an exam. It's nothing special."
Mom let out a soft giggle. "Fufu. Don't get too overconfident, Son. It's going to get you one day."
Dad cut in with a loud, childish laugh, spitting some food out in the process. "Ha! He always says that, and he always does well. I think we don't have anything to worry about, dear."
"Yes, I know," Mom said mildly. "Still, it's not good to be cocky…"
Mom's voice trailed off, and she suddenly went quiet, like she'd forgotten what she was going to say. It only lasted for a brief second, though. "But… just this once, I'll allow it. He deserves to be confident after how well he's done."
Lily—who was sitting on the couch across from Mom—looked at her with a sullen frown. "Oh, so when there's something wrong with Older Brother, you say it's okay. But when it's me, you start yelling at me."
Mom shot Lily a glare, clicking her tongue. "You always say stuff like that—always love to compare this and compare that. Not everything is that simple, Lily."
Compared to the way she spoke to Dad and me, Mom addressed Lily in a somewhat harsher tone. They had been fighting more lately—or at least more compared to a year ago—so I guess it was reasonable. Mom must've had her patience, too.
But Lily wasn't going to take that lying down. Hearing the way Mom spoke to her, her scowl deepened.
She opened her mouth, ready to argue back, but before the words could come out, I walked over to the couch and handed her a slice of cake I'd grabbed from the fridge.
"Here," I said. "It's not good to do an exam if all you can think about is food. Eat a little bit."
Lily's frown flipped to a grin in an instant.
"Really?! Thank you!" She picked up the fork that I'd set down for her and began to stuff her face into the cake.
Mom watched as Lily ate right in front of her. Not once did Lily pay her any mind. Mom's brow twitched, but with some force behind it, she turned away and went back to her phone.
A taut silence hung in the air, with only the sound of Dad's loud chewing filling the space. There was nothing more I could have done, so I took a seat at the table across from Dad and started on my cake.
Dad looked between his plate and me awkwardly for a few moments before he let out a deep breath and gave me a bright smile.
"So, are you nervous for finals, Son?"
I was mid-chew, so I answered with a simple shake of my head. It came off a little more dismissive than I wanted it to, but Dad didn't seem to take any offence to it, as his smile didn't waver.
"How about your friends?" he asked. "The same ones that visited a week ago. How are they doing?"
While I did believe he was interested, I doubted he actually cared about how they were doing. It was just small talk, something that usually irked me. Still, I found myself swallowing the piece of cake before I could finish chewing it.
"Most of them are fine," I said. " Well, except for Yu. That guy was going on about how he'd stayed up late to end up not studying."
"Hihihi. Sounds like he's just like you!"
My brows furrowed together, offended. "Don't compare me to him. Unlike him, I can stay up late and get away with it. He's barely passing. We are not the same."
Dad's laughter slowly died down, his lips curling into a playful frown. "Yeah, you're right. I was only joking. You don't have to get so mad!"
"I'm not mad," I replied flatly.
"I don't knowwwww," Lily cut in from behind me, causing Dad and me to turn around.
"It's hard to tell when you look like…" Lily set the fork on her lap and started contorting her facial features into something strange. I didn't get it, but Dad burst out laughing.
"You're doing it wrong! He looks something more like… this!"
I turned back to Dad. His brows were knitted together, crumpling his forehead, and his mouth caved into a flat, unamused frown. He looked caught somewhere between furious and ridiculous.
I gave him a cold stare. "Haha. You guys are so funny." Then, I turned to Lily. "I don't look like that at all."
Lily looked between Dad and me, and they both burst out laughing.
"HAHAHA! You hear that, Dad? I think he's mad!"
"I know! But he tries to act so cool by looking all mysterious!"
I suppressed the urge to groan at their heckling. There was no winning this argument, no matter how hard I tried. So I picked up my fork and went back to eating my cake as leisurely as I could.
"Look!" Lily said through a laugh, pointing at me. "Now he's trying to act like he doesn't care! You aren't fooling us, stupid Brother!"
I stabbed the cake harder than I intended to, a small *clack* ringing through the room as the fork hit the plate, and brought the piece to my mouth.
Dad was still laughing with Lily, but his gaze would occasionally drift back to me, the laughter flickering in that brief moment before he returned it to Lily.
I continued to eat the cake in feigned ignorance, even as they went on.
In truth, I wasn't mad at all. I didn't really care about it, even. But, hearing Dad and Lily's laughter, I kept moving with measured irritation.