Sigh, forget it, forget it. He's my boyfriend, after all.
If I don't feel sorry for him, are we really going to wait for some flashy vixen to do it?
Recalling some girls secretly chatting about her boyfriend that she had "accidentally" overheard in the restroom on a few occasions, Utaha couldn't help but feel her teeth itch.
You flashy vixens, can't you see that guy is already taken? He's mine, with my name written all over his forehead!
Listening to the noise from the office and realizing Miyahito probably wouldn't be done anytime soon, Utaha turned around, leaned her back lightly against the wall next to the office door, and held the bento box she had brought for her boyfriend behind her back.
From time to time, she casually kicked the air with her foot.
Come to think of it, why had Miyahito said that night that he had no talent and wasn't as good as her?
And a few days ago, a certain piece of news from Ayase had been bothering Utaha greatly.
That day was Saturday. Ayase had come to Tokyo for a modeling job, and after finishing work, she had stopped by to have dinner with Utaha at Miyahito's house, staying over as usual.
Coincidentally, that day Miyahito had been invited by Tooru, so after his morning cram school, he went to Tooru's house to play games and ended up staying the night there.
That night, while the two sisters were chatting before bed, Utaha casually asked Ayase some questions about her brother... Utaha still remembered very clearly that when she asked about what Miyahito was like as a child, the normally cheerful Ayase suddenly fell silent, as if she had remembered something.
After a moment of hesitation, Ayase had looked at her with a serious little face and warned her.
"Onee-san, I'm telling you a secret. You absolutely must not tell Big Brother."
Sensing the change in Ayase's attitude, Utaha's heart had tightened. After nodding and promising she wouldn't tell Miyahito, Ayase had hesitantly spoken.
"Actually, Onee-san, Big Brother when he was little is nothing like the Big Brother now. Even though he used to smile and was very gentle to me, Mom, and Dad... but..."
Saying this, Ayase lowered her head slightly, as if trying to figure out how to describe her feelings to her "sister".
"I don't know how to describe that feeling to you, Onee-san, and I don't know if Mom and Dad noticed it either, but back then, I felt like Big Brother was very... sad?
No, not sad.
Not quite right either. It was more like a sense of alienation, as if he was hiding a lot of sorrow in his heart and didn't want to tell me or Mom and Dad.
Later, until middle school... hmm, let me think, oh right! It wasn't until Big Brother decided to go to Toyogasaki that I stopped feeling that same sensation from him."
"Phew....." Letting out a slow breath in the hallway, Utaha looked up, her gaze drifting toward the blue sky outside the corridor window. After watching it for a short while, she silently withdrew her gaze, tilted her head slightly, and her line of sight seemed to pierce through the tightly closed door in front of her, landing on her boyfriend, who was seriously discussing matters with the President.
Combining the secret Ayase had told her with the fact that her boyfriend occasionally had inexplicable bouts of low mood, Utaha silently said to herself in her heart.
'Sigh... it seems my Miyahito still has a lot of things hidden in his heart.'
So, Mr. Miyahito, when exactly will you tell me the things you've been keeping inside?
Putting that matter aside for now.
Noticing that the discussion from inside the office had quieted down considerably, accompanied by the slightly discordant sound of chairs being dragged.
Utaha straightened her body, turned to the office door, and raised her hand.
Knock, knock—!
"Come in."
Finishing the sentence, the President, who was busy looking over the proposal Miyahito had just handed him, looked up toward the door. Seeing the familiar Kasumigaoka-san standing there, a faint, "old father" smile appeared on his face. The President looked up and called out to Miyahito, who was talking to Sho and occasionally drawing on the whiteboard.
"Miyahito! Your girlfriend is here to see you."
"President." Having frequented the Student Council lately, Utaha had learned a thing or two about the President's personality—which, to put it nicely, was unconventional, and to put it bluntly, was completely unserious. Thus, feeling no particular restraint, Utaha directly rolled her eyes at the grinning President.
"My name is Kasumigaoka Utaha. You can call me Kasumigaoka, Senior, but please do not address me in such a strange tone."
After snapping back at the unserious Senior, Utaha turned her head. With a gaze that was partly cold and partly complaining, she looked at Miyahito, who had walked up to her with a sheepish grin. Tilting her head up slightly, she stared straight at Miyahito, whose expression was gradually turning guilty, and said.
"Forgot to eat again, didn't you?"
"N-no... I didn't."
Facing his girlfriend's piercing gaze, Miyahito guiltily averted his eyes.
Just then.
"You're absolutely right, Kasumigaoka-san." Sho, who had returned to his seat, naturally added fuel to the fire. "I can guarantee you that this guy Miyahito hasn't even thought about eating today."
"He completely forgot everything you said when you came to the Student Council yesterday."
Sho, you bastard! You damn well betrayed me!
Looking at the look of utter disbelief and shock on Miyahito's face as he glared at him with accusations, Sho smiled disdainfully.
Hmph, jump around, keep jumping!
You kept dragging Ishikawa-kun to the library to spy on me and Ayasaki-san before. Now that I have the chance, how could I possibly let you off?
"Oh, right, Kasumigaoka-san, there's something I need to tell you."
Snapping his folder shut with a smack, Sho wore a blatantly mischievous smile, yet his tone was extremely amiable as he spoke to the Utaha, who was smiling without reaching her eyes.
"I think you should properly educate Miyahito-kun about the dangers of bad eating habits. That way, he might remember it a bit more deeply."
The moment those words fell, Miyahito's brain completely short-circuited. Before he could even recover, the next second, a chillingly quiet voice rang right beside his ear, as if the temperature in the air had suddenly dropped.
"Miyahito."
"!"
Watching Miyahito being dragged out of the office by Utaha, his cheeks being pinched as he bared his teeth in pain, looking utterly pitiful.
Sitting in the main seat, the President, whose expression was a bit strange, silently raised his head. After making eye contact with Sho, whose face was filled with the sheer satisfaction of a long-awaited revenge.
"I hope Kasumigaoka-san goes easy on him."
"About that, don't worry, President. Miyahito is already used to it."
".....Why do I feel like you're actually quite happy about this?"
"That's an illusion."
"Is... that so? Fine. Since Miyahito has been taken away by Kasumigaoka-san, Sho, let's take a break too."
"Yeah."