Chapter 6. What all nerds want to do at least once in their life.

What all nerds want to do at least once in their life.

“Pair of jacks.”

“Heh-heh-heh. Full house.”

“ … !”

The student council was throwing a welcome party for Masachika and Ayano after school. After having a rather early, light dinner in the school cafeteria—which was open at night as well, although with less on the menu—they took the party over to the student council room, where they enjoyed snacks and soft drinks while getting to know one another. They were split up into two groups: Masachika, Touya, and Chisaki were sitting at the office table, and the other four were playing cards on the guest sofa. It was mainly just Alisa and Yuki playing, though. Things had been awkward between them when the party first started (it was more like Alisa was purposely keeping her distance from Yuki), but thanks to Yuki actively trying to talk to her, Alisa gradually started to come out of her shell. Now they were having a friendly game of poker.

“Fold. I’m out,” Alisa said with a bit of a huff.

“Oh, you are? I only had a high card, but it looks like it pays to bluff sometimes.”

“Huh?!”

“Oh my. That’s too bad, Alya.”

Each one of them had been given a bag of snacks, which they were betting with, but Yuki was crushing her peers, perhaps due to being far more experienced. Around 80 percent of Alisa’s snacks now belonged to Yuki. Maria giggled at the sight and was immediately met with Alisa’s scornful glare. Meanwhile, Ayano was wearing her usual blank expression while indifferently dealing the cards as she stood between Alisa and Yuki. Surprisingly, she was a natural at dealing. It must have been her love for serving others.

“I might have said this last time we were playing board games together, but Yuki’s a cut above the rest when it comes to games,” Touya commented from where he sat by Chisaki while watching them play.

“Yeah, she is from a family of diplomats, after all. Games like that come naturally to her,” Masachika said, nodding.

“Hmm… I’m sure that’s part of it, but I think maybe it’s also because of how bad Alya is. She’s so easy to read.”

Masachika practically fell out of his chair, shocked by Chisaki’s blunt evaluation.

“Chisaki… There are some things better left unsaid…even if I was thinking the same thing!” Masachika chided her.

“ … ?! Oh… Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine… I mean, Alya really doesn’t have a good poker face. At all.”

“Wow, Kuze. Harsh.”

“I mean… Look at her. See?”

When Masachika rested his arm on the back of his chair and looked back, he saw Alisa’s eyebrows raise and her lips press together when she picked up the cards Ayano dealt her. After pondering for a few seconds, she bullishly bet a good portion of her snacks, but Yuki immediately went all in, raising the bet and causing Alisa to fold. Incidentally, both of them only had a high card, with Alisa holding the higher of the cards.

“See the expression she made? She makes it painfully obvious whenever she gets a bad hand.”

“I wasn’t expecting Little Kujou to be this easy to read. She always seemed much more emotionally restrained than her sister, but after seeing this…maybe Big Kujou is actually the harder one to read, after all,” Touya mused.

“Yeah… I think you might be right,” Masachika agreed while observing Maria, who was watching over the match with a gentle smile.

“I’ve known her for more than a year now, and honestly, I still never know what she’s thinking. She really does come off as this morally pure and good person for the most part, so I can see why everyone calls her Madonna, but she behaves so strangely sometimes,” Chisaki chimed in with a wry smirk.

“She does see things differently from most people, huh?”

“Or maybe she’s just an airhead?”

“Didn’t I just tell you some things were better left unsaid?!” Masachika exclaimed and nearly slipped off his chair again, astonished by how blunt Chisaki could be.

“I could watch you fall out of your chair all day, Kuze,” Touya said, laughing.

“Ha-ha… By the way, why do you call Alya and Masha by those nicknames?”

“Hmm?”

“You know, ‘Big Kujou’ and ‘Little Kujou.’”

“Oh…”

Touya stroked his chin for a few moments, then grinned broadly at Masachika.

“I mean…it sounds kind of cool, doesn’t it?”

“…What? That’s it?”

Masachika reacted candidly as if the reason caught him off guard, but after noticing that Touya seemed kind of disappointed, he added in a fluster:

“Oh! I mean … ! It definitely does sound cool! I know exactly what you mean! I was just not expecting you to say something like that with a straight face…”

“Oh… You get it, though, right?”

As Touya cleared his throat and collected himself, Chisaki put on some tea with a joyous smile.

“You don’t need to pretend. You’re just too embarrassed to call girls by their first names when you don’t have to, right?”

“W-well, uh… That may possibly be part of it, I suppose?”

Touya’s eyes flitted nervously, essentially confirming that his girlfriend was right.

“Wow. Just wow.”

Masachika didn’t know what else to say, but Touya suddenly looked smug and argued:

“I’m more surprised that you can call them by their nicknames.”

“You make it sound like I’m socially inept. It’s not a big deal.”

“Kuze, don’t forget I was pretty socially inept up until a year ago. I had almost no experience talking to girls.”

“Oh, right. I totally forgot about that.”

“Touya’s still new to this ‘being more outgoing’ thing. It took him forever to start calling me by my first name,” added Chisaki.

“That’s because you’re special.”

“T-Touya … ! Y-you big dummy!”

“Ha-ha-ha! There’s nothing wrong with being embarrassed!”

Touya laughed dryly and clutched his side after Chisaki had elbowed him in the ribs.

“Would you like me to refill your drink, Ms. Sarashina?” asked Ayano, who suddenly emerged behind Chisaki without making a sound.

“Eep?!”

Chisaki overdramatically jumped and turned around to find Ayano standing there, and a twitchy grin twisted her lips.

“Ha-ha…ha-ha-ha… I’m impressed. Not many people can sneak up behind me without me noticing first.”

“What are you? Some kind of master swordsman?” Masachika inquired somewhat jokingly.

“Chisaki actually is a master swordsman, Kuze… One who mainly specializes in punching, though. I suppose that’d make her a master punchman…”

“Has a nice ring to it. Very modern,” Masachika replied in a monotone voice. After pouring Chisaki a cup of tea, Ayano curiously looked in Masachika’s direction as well. “Nah, I’m fine. I still have some of whatever this is left.”

“Very well. What about you, Mr. Kenzaki?”

“Hmm? Oh, thanks. I’ll take some.”

Touya threw back the rest of his drink before holding out his empty cup to Ayano, who promptly topped him off. Despite the drink being a carbonated beverage, it was impressive how she poured it with hardly any fizz.

“Thanks. By the way, I heard you work for the Suou household, and I was wondering… Is not making a sound a skill you needed to learn for the job?”

“Yes, I learned how to do so from my grandparents.”

“Oh?”

“Ayano’s grandfather was the secretary to Yuki’s grandfather, and her grandmother was their family’s housekeeper,” Masachika interjected, piquing Touya’s and Chisaki’s interest.

“Oh, really? Then does that mean your parents worked for them, too?”

“No, my parents are ordinary office workers,” Ayano responded simply.

“Wait. Really?”

“Yes, I really looked up to my grandparents, which was why I decided to become Lady Yuki’s retainer, not because it was our family business.”

“Huh. By the way, how long have you been serving Yuki?” Chisaki asked. Ayano’s eyes wandered up into space, but her expression didn’t change.

“Hmm… I am not exactly sure when I started, but I remember deciding to attend her when I was in second grade, I believe.”

“‘Second grade’?!”

“A testament to how much I admired my grandparents. Furthermore, I found that Masa—…Lady Yuki was someone worth serving.”

“Oh, cool.”

Although it sounded like she was going to say something else for a moment there, neither Touya nor Chisaki seemed to notice.

“Ayano, psst.”

Masachika waved Ayano over, and she obediently complied.

“I apologize. It was a slip of the tongue,” she said in a soft voice.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you caught yourself when you did. More importantly…”

“ … ?”

“Are you not mad anymore?” was what Masachika wanted to ask, but he swallowed those words as she gazed directly into his eyes…because her admiration was clearly written in hers. The cold glare she’d given him during lunch was nowhere to be found, and all that remained was love, respect, and loyalty.

The look in her eyes—just wow. But why? What did I do to get on her good-guy list? And when?

Masachika racked his brain over how he’d gotten her loyalty and affection to max level, since he couldn’t remember doing anything special, but he was distracted when Touya suddenly spoke up.

“So is it just good manners for maids to not make a sound? Is it so you don’t bother your boss?”

“Precisely. My grandparents always told me that to become one who serves, one must become air.”

“…What? I don’t think that means what you think it does.”

Masachika felt the same way as Chisaki. Ayano wasn’t wrong to blend into the background, but what her grandparents most likely meant was “Make sure to always have everything ready and neat so that your boss forgets you’re even there.” She’d been far too young to understand nuance back then and had taken what they said literally, though. “Become air? I can do that!” she replied, and ever since then, she worked diligently to become air. Her grandparents found it adorable when she first started to behave politely and carefully while trying not to make a sound. “Oh, are you trying to copy what we’re doing?” “Aww! What a cute little maid you are,” they would say. But by the time Ayano stopped expressing emotion and they realized something was off, it was already too late. At any rate, her grandparents ended up deeply apologizing to her parents for mistakenly instilling a weird habit. However, Ayano herself seemed satisfied, and Yuki had already been turning into an edgy nerd during that time period and had responded by saying, “An expressionless maid! How cute!” So Ayano’s parents ended up giving up, allowing their daughter to continue her unorthodox path as a maid. Incidentally, she was planning on becoming Yuki’s secretary one day, but she’d been gradually becoming stealthier as of late, to the point that it made you wonder if she was actually training to become a ninja instead.

“Oh, Ayano. Do you think I could have a refill, too?”

“My apologies, Ms. Maria.”

Maria came walking over with an empty cup.

“Alya got mad at me and told me I was being annoying.”

She stuck her tongue out and took a seat by Masachika, then looked back at Alisa, who was glaring at her cards with a serious expression and furrowed brow. She only had three snacks left in her possession. It looked like this was the final round.

“Hey, is everything going to be okay? There isn’t going to be a fight, right?”

After Touya expressed concern in the midst of the tense atmosphere, both Masachika and Maria simultaneously shrugged.

“It’ll be fine. Alya may not look it, but she’s actually having a lot of fun,” said Masachika.

“Yes… She’s letting loose for a change and enjoying every minute of it,” Maria said as she observed her sister.

“You can say that again,” Masachika agreed.

“Oh my. You can tell?”

“Yeah, it’s obvious.”

As Masachika and Maria exchanged glances and shared a soft smile, Touya and Chisaki were completely baffled. That’s her letting loose? the two wondered as they tilted their heads in disbelief. But to Masachika, Alisa was letting loose at a level he had never seen before. She was showing pure joy in everything she did while playing a game with perhaps her first female friend her age in years. For example, take the way she was looking at her depleted snack rations. Those weren’t the eyes of someone panicking because they were about to lose. They were the eyes of someone disappointed that the game was almost over. Her eyes were saying, “I want to play more, but the game’s going to end at this rate if I don’t do something!”

What happened to being the “solitary princess”?

Masachika thought about her second nickname at school and rolled his eyes. Even though he’d always known she wasn’t as unapproachable as everyone made her out to be, when he saw her enjoying playing cards like this, he was moved in a way that was hard to put into words.

“Oh my. It looks like we’re all out.”

Masachika turned around to the sound of Maria’s voice and saw that the plastic bottle in Ayano’s hand was empty. Ayano went to go grab another, but she soon realized the rest of the beverages were done as well, and she froze.

“How about I go downstairs and buy us some drinks from the vending machine?”

“Allow me to take care of—”

“Don’t worry about it, Ayano. You’re the heroine today. Allow me. ♪ ”

“ … ?”

Not only Ayano, but both Touya and Chisaki were also confused by what she meant, but Masachika seemed to get it.

“Uh… It means you’re one of the guests of honor today and a girl, which makes you the heroine.”

“Exactly. ♪ Now let’s go, hero. I’m counting on you to protect me. ♪ ”

“Wait. Seriously?”

Her suggestion took Masachika by surprise, but after realizing that it would be hard for one girl to carry all those beverages by herself, he urged Ayano to relax and stood.

“Hey, I’m gonna go grab some drinks at the vending machine downstairs. Need anything?” Masachika asked while facing the sofa where Alisa and Yuki were sitting.

“Get me a soda, Kuze, will ya?”

“I’ll have a cola… Wait. Ginger ale, please.”

“Um… I’ll go with the lemon tea.”

“I would love a caf é au lait if possible. Oh, the brown one, not the white.”

“Sweet red-bean soup, please.”

“I’m fine with just water.”

“Who do you think I am, Prince Shotoku? Stop yelling all your orders at once. And, Masha, you don’t need to tell me what you want. We’re going to the vending machine together.”

“Oh, right. ♪ ” Maria smirked as if to say “oopsie,” and Masachika smirked back at her. Touya then began looking for something to write everyone’s orders on, but Masachika spoke up before he could find anything.

“ Sigh… Soda, ginger ale, lemon tea, the brown caf é au lait, red-bean soup, and water. Got it.”

“““ … ?!”””

Both second-year students and Alisa stared in utter astonishment as Masachika and Maria left the student council room. Once in the hallway, the motion detectors sensed their movement, and the lights turned on. The red evening sun gilded the schoolyard outside the window as they walked down the hallway until Maria said with a relaxed tone:

“Thanks again, Kuze.”

“For what?”

“For helping Alya. For deciding to run with her in the election… I’m sure she’s thrilled.”

Her expression was brimming with compassion, fitting for someone also known as Madonna at school.

“That’s nothing you need to thank me for…”

“Oh? But it is. Before you came along, Alya didn’t have anyone she could count on.”

“Huh…”

Maria was wearing a gentle, more relaxed smile, unlike her usual bubbly one, when Masachika unconsciously stopped in his tracks and muttered:

“Wait… Are you … ?”

“Hmm?”

“Oh, uh…”

After almost involuntarily saying what was on his mind, he stopped himself and wondered if it was really okay to ask. However, before he realized it, he was already raising the question again as if Maria’s gentle gaze was compelling him to.

“This might just be my imagination, but do you purposely try not to act serious around Alya?”

Maria slowly blinked as if she was caught off guard. She then shifted her gaze to the outside world on the other side of the window, her lips curling into a breathtakingly beautiful, mature smile.

“I don’t want to compete with Alya.”

Although what she said didn’t sound like an answer at first, Masachika seemed to understand. I knew it , he thought.

“Alya is an extremely hard worker who always puts everything she has into anything she does…and that is one of the things I love about her.”

Maria spoke as if she was imagining a world where only the two of them existed.

“Meaning you’re playing the part of the ‘laid-back older sister’ so she won’t see you as a rival?”

She giggled at his straightforward, blunt question.

“I’m not acting. Taking everything so seriously gets tiring. Does it not? You have to relax at least a little. Everything in moderation… Oh, but I don’t deny I do behave more ‘free and easy’ around Alya.”

“Ha-ha-ha… ‘Free and easy,’ huh?”

“ Giggle… Can you blame me? She spoils me because of it.”

“Oh, she does, does she?” Masachika said with a wry smile, thinking about how it was usually the other way around with sisters.

It’s hard to tell when she’s joking and when she’s being serious.

Masachika scratched the back of his head while staring up at the ceiling, wondering if she was actually a serious person deep down inside or as laid-back as she usually appeared. That was when Maria’s whispers tickled his ears.

“I don’t want Alya to be alone.”

When he lowered his gaze and saw her serious expression, his heart skipped a beat. He swallowed his breath as she gazed right into his eyes, smiling softly before continuing as if she was speaking to herself.

“Not only sisters, but relationships between siblings in general are also really difficult. They’re the closest people to you, but because of that, you compare yourselves to each other.”

“Yeah…”

Masachika was painfully aware of what she meant. Masachika, the boy who’d abandoned the home he was born into, despised his mother, rebelled against his grandfather, and ran away from home…but once he had escaped, he realized he was empty. There was nothing he wanted to do. There was nothing he wanted to be. He had forced everything upon his sister and became a free man, and yet he was nothing.

I couldn’t continue like that. I had to do something—something I couldn’t do when I lived in that house—something I truly wanted to do. Because what would be the point of ever running away otherwise?!

…I was anxious, but nothing changed. There was nothing that got me excited. In the end, I was nothing more than a brat who impulsively ran away from home and was too proud to go crawling back.

Yuki took over as the eldest child of the family and grew up to become a magnificent young lady. And I? I wasted the talent I was blessed with and slowly faded away until I was nothing. I could make a difference if I put my mind to it, and yet I didn’t even try to do anything. There was no importance to my existence.

It was impossible not to compare a worthless piece of garbage like him with his hardworking sister, who had unconditional love for her family. The only reason he wasn’t overcome by inferiority and remained close with his sister was because of the effort she put into their relationship. She never changed. Even now, she made sure her brother knew that she loved him. To her, it didn’t matter if he was Masachika Suou or Masachika Kuze. She loved him all the same. And she wasn’t embarrassed to say so, which was why Masachika couldn’t help but love her back.

If it wasn’t for her, he most certainly would have kept his distance.

She really is the perfect sister.

That was when he suddenly realized something. Was Yuki acting like a bumbling nerd around him so that he wouldn’t feel insecure? Was she purposely acting like an idiot at times for his sake?

No… That’s really just who she is.

Although he realized he was overthinking it, he also realized that it may be somewhat true, and that was why he felt like he could kind of understand why Maria did what she did. It wasn’t merely an act. It was a side of her that she wanted to keep secret because she loved her sister…and she wanted to be loved by her as well. Most people want to look cool in front of people they like. Maria simply strived for the opposite, but the why was no different.

“Masha… You’re a really good sister.”

“Heh. ♪ I am, aren’t I? Looks can be quite deceiving.”

She proudly puffed out her chest with a smug grin, but her smile almost immediately turned mischievous as she placed a finger in front of her lips while closing one eye.

“You can’t tell Alya any of this, okay?”

Masachika’s heart skipped a beat, having never seen Maria look so alluring before, so he dryly snorted to hide his nervousness.

“I won’t tell her. She wouldn’t believe me even if I did. ‘Hey, your sister is actually a very serious person.’ Like she’d buy that.”

“Oh my. I think you’re overestimating my seriousness. I’m still far more laid-back than Alya. Besides…”

Maria’s troubled smirk instantly faded, and she looked into Masachika’s eyes as if she were looking into his soul.

“…I’m not the only one hiding their more serious side. Isn’t that right, Kuze?”

“…”

Masachika was going to try to joke his way out of giving a real answer, but he immediately realized that would be pointless and shrugged.

“I don’t have some respectable reason why I do what I do like you.”

I wasn’t doing it for anyone else. The only reason I was goofing off and acting like an idiot was to protect myself.

“I do it for myself…because I’m selfish,” Masachika mumbled self-deprecatingly, figuring Maria wouldn’t understand his incoherent grumbles. Masachika recognized and accepted that he was garbage, but that didn’t change the fact that he was still afraid of people knowing that part of him. He joked around because he didn’t want people to realize that deep down inside, he was a scumbag. After all, being known as a slacker or an idiot was far better than people thinking he was a scumbag. He would never be completely open with anyone in order to keep that part of himself hidden from them. But all he was doing was protecting what little, insignificant pride he had in the end. He was the great pretender, living his life as a fraud, which was why people who lived true to themselves looked so bright to him. They were radiant, and it made him sick that he couldn’t live his life like them.

“I guess you could say I play the unreliable slacker because it’s fun. That’s all. Anyway, just don’t worry about me.”

And yet again, he played the fool so he could avoid actually opening up to her and having her realize who he really was. Why did he start talking about himself like this in the first place? He hardly ever showed vulnerability, even to his family.

I keep lowering my guard when I talk to Masha for some reason…

Perhaps this was due to how accepting she was? Masachika goofily smirked while looking away, regretting revealing this side of himself to someone he hadn’t known for very long. Maria quietly approached him and gently raised her hand.