Pushing open the front door, the familiar scent of miso soup wafted through the house.
"I'm ho."
"Welco ho. You're so late today, Onii-chan."
Komachi's voice drifted out from the kitchen, tinged with a hint of complaint.
Hikigaya changed his shoes and walked into the living room, seeing his sister standing at the stove wearing an apron.
"Is dinner early today?"
"Early? What do you an early? Look at the ti! Komachi was cooking, and now you're back so late—the soup is about to boil dry."
Komachi didn't even turn her head.
"Onii-chan, do you have a woman out there?"
"...Do you think that's even possible?"
"Fair point." Komachi nodded. "Then you must have just been loitering around outside."
Hikigaya didn't refute that. Strictly speaking, he had stood at the intersection with Saeki for quite a while, and then he'd bumped into a strange graffiti artist.
He tossed his school bag onto the sofa and sat down.
"So, who were you loitering with today, Onii-chan?"
"A classmate."
"A boy or a girl?"
"...A girl."
Komachi's eyes lit up instantly, and the spoon in her hand nearly dropped into the pot.
"Eh? A girl?" She turned around, staring straight at Hikigaya.
"Really? Who is it? What's her na? Is she pretty?"
"...Why are you asking so much?"
"Obviously to vet her for you, Onii-chan."
Komachi brought over the bowl of soup with an air of self-righteousness and sat down opposite him.
"Tell , tell , who is it?"
Hikigaya picked up his chopsticks.
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't know her."
"So it is a thing!" Komachi slapped the table. "Onii-chan actually has a female classmate willing to loiter around with him alone. Komachi is so touched."
"What's with that tone?"
"Nothing, nothing." Komachi rested her chin on her hand, smiling.
"So, who is it, really?"
"A classmate from my class."
"What's her na?"
"...Saeki."
"Saeki." Komachi recited the na. "Is she pretty?"
Hikigaya thought about Saeki's appearance.
"...She's alright."
"Alright?"
Komachi's eyes widened.
"Onii-chan actually said a girl is 'alright.' Doesn't that an she's actually very pretty?"
"You read too many detective novels."
"Komachi doesn't need to deduce; Komachi understands Onii-chan." Komachi waved her chopsticks triumphantly. "A girl that Onii-chan describes as 'alright' must be at least model-level."
Hikigaya didn't respond and continued eating.
Dinner was standard ho-cooked food: miso soup, grilled fish, and pickles. Komachi's skills were getting better and better.
There was a brief silence.
"Komachi."
"Mhm?"
"Do you rember when I transferred schools in my second year of middle school?"
Komachi's chopsticks paused for a second.
"I rember," she said, her speech speeding up slightly. "Why are you suddenly asking about that?"
"Why did I transfer back then?"
"Because of Father's job transfer, of course. During that ti, Father was transferred here to Chiba, so we moved along with him."
Hikigaya nodded. That sounded right.
"What about the school before that?"
"That one?" Komachi tilted her head. "Onii-chan was only there for a little over a year, right? Nothing special about it."
"Nothing special..."
"Mhm." Komachi picked up another piece of pickle. "What's wrong?"
Hikigaya looked at her. Her expression was perfectly natural.
"Soone told today that they saw at my old school."
Komachi's chopsticks paused again.
"Who?"
"A classmate."
"Is it that Saeki student?"
"No, a different one."
"A different one?" Komachi blinked. "Onii-chan has another female classmate?"
"...That's not the point."
"Right, right, right. What's the point then?"
"She said I helped a girl who was being bullied on the rooftop."
Komachi lowered her head and continued eating.
"And does Onii-chan rember that?"
"I don't."
"Then she probably mistook you for soone else."
She never raised her head.
"Eat, eat." Komachi urged. "If you don't eat now, it'll really get cold."
Hikigaya didn't ask further.
After finishing the al, Komachi cleared the bowls and chopsticks.
"Onii-chan, go take a bath. Komachi will handle the dishes."
Hikigaya stood up and headed toward the bathroom. When he reached the door, he stopped.
"Komachi."
"Mhm?"
"You asked earlier if I rembered."
"Mhm."
"But if I truly don't rember, do you want to recall it?"
"Onii-chan." Komachi's voice ca from behind him.
"So things are better left forgotten.
Komachi is going to wash the dishes now."
She walked away.
'Better left forgotten.'
What did that an?
He pushed open the door and entered the bathroom.
As the hot water poured down, he thought of that image again—the blindingly sunny rooftop, the crowd of people huddled together, and that figure in the middle whose face he couldn't see clearly.
Where did that image co from?
He turned off the water and dried himself.
After his bath, he ca out to find Komachi sitting in the living room watching television. A variety show was on, with canned laughter playing periodically.
"Finished your bath, Onii-chan?"
"Mhm."
Hikigaya sat down next to her.
The show was halfway through when comrcials started.
"Komachi."
"Mhm?"
"You said earlier that things are better left forgotten.
But what if I rember one day?"
Komachi was silent for a few seconds.
"Then you rember it. In any case, Komachi supports whatever Onii-chan does. Ah, that line deserves a high score in 'Komachi Points'."
Hikigaya was stunned for a second.
"...That's it?"
"That's it." Komachi stared at the TV. "Onii-chan isn't a child anymore, and besides, what if you do rember? It's not like you'll lose a piece of at."
Hikigaya thought about it.
She was right. What if he did rember?
It would just be one more mory, that's all.
"And besides," Komachi added, "if those things are truly important, Onii-chan will rember them sooner or later. If you can't rember, it ans it's not the right ti. 'Komachi Quotation Number Seven': For things where the timing isn't right, breaking your head over them won't help."
"What were the first six?"
"Top secret." Komachi said, looking serious. "The 'Komachi Quotations' only grant query permissions to Komachi herself."
"...Isn't that just making things up?"
"Onii-chan doesn't understand. Making things up is the highest level of mastery." Komachi finally turned her head and smiled at him. "Because I can change them at any ti."
Hikigaya had nothing more to say.
"Oh, right, Onii-chan." Komachi suddenly rembered sothing. "That Saeki classmate—bring her over for Komachi to see next ti."
"...Why bring her over?"
"Nothing, I just want to see what the girl Onii-chan described as 'alright' looks like."
"Just to see?"
"Just to see." Komachi nodded. "And incidentally, help you judge if she has ulterior motives."
"You can judge that?"
"Of course." Komachi said, looking very serious. "Komachi is super accurate at reading people, especially people who are interested in Onii-chan. 'Komachi Quotation Number Eight': To a younger sister, every girl who approaches her Onii-chan is a suspicious individual."
Hikigaya stood up.
"Going to sleep."
"Good night, Onii-chan." Komachi waved. "Dreaming about Saeki is fine too, you know."
"Komachi."
"Mhm?"
"Saeki doesn't have ulterior motives."
Komachi paused for a mont, then smiled even more happily.
"Onii-chan is actually helping her talk?"
"I'm not 'helping'."
"That's exactly what it is." Komachi swung her feet. "'Komachi Quotation Number Ten': When Onii-chan denies sothing, it's when he's admitting it."
Hikigaya couldn't be bothered to explain and headed toward the stairs.
He walked back to his room and lay on the bed.
The ceiling was blindingly white.
That image surfaced again. Every ti Hikigaya tried to see the face of the person in the middle, he felt an inexplicable sadness in his heart.
He turned over and reached out to touch the light switch.
Click.
The room plunged into darkness.
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