#nana56b
Synopsis
No matter what I tried, nothing lasted
long.
Was it a lack of perseverance, or was I
simply not cut out for this society? In
the end, I quit the company I’d clung
to for three years as if fleeing, and I
returned to my hometown as if running
away.
“Welcome back.”
When I opened the front door of my
parents’ house, my older brother—who
happened to be visiting—was standing
there.
“…I’m home.”
I couldn’t bring myself to look him in
the eye. I felt pathetic and miserable—I
couldn’t even look him in the eye.
But even when he saw how haggard I
looked, my brother didn’t ask, “What
happened at work?” or “What’s going
on?” He just made his usual tactless,
silly remarks—like, “Did you gain
weight?”—and laughed heartily.
Yet that meaningless conversation was the
greatest comfort I could have asked for
at the time.
A few days later, the two of us ended up
going to the neighborhood summer festival
together.
The light from the lanterns blended into
the twilight, accompanied by the somewhat
wistful sound of festival music. Amid
families and couples strolling in yukata,
my brother and I wandered aimlessly among
the food stalls.
“Hey, you two. So you’re back?”
It was an uncle from the neighborhood
association who lives nearby who called
out to us.
“Ah, it’s been a while,”
my brother replied cheerfully. The man
looked back and forth between my brother
and me, his eyes narrowing.
“You two went to that prestigious high
school, didn’t you? Just as I thought—both
of you are smart.”
“That high school”—he was referring to
one of the top-ranked public high schools
in the prefecture, known for its high
academic standards.
It’s true—my brother is a graduate of that
school. You could even call him the pride
of the community. But I’m different. I
graduated from a private high school that
was nothing like my brother’s—one I’d
applied to just as a safety net.
“Ah, no, I…”
I tried to correct myself. But now that I’d
quit my job and hit rock bottom, I didn’t
have the energy left to string words
together. I didn’t even have the courage to
say self-deprecatingly, “I went to the
‘dumb’ school.”
My brother standing next to me was so
dazzling that I felt as if I were stuck in
the mud; all I could do was look down.
Then, my brother gave my shoulder a light
tap and declared confidently to my uncle,
“We went to different high schools, but my
little sister is amazing. She studied hard
and got in on a scholarship.”
I felt embarrassed and looked down.
“Big bro, you don’t have to praise a
scholarship student from a low-level private
high school.”
“It was all multiple-choice questions,” I
thought to myself. My face burned with
embarrassment, but I was overjoyed.
What’s up with that? He’s never said
anything like that before…
Even though we’re always just talking
nonsense…
Even though my little sister has a sharp
tongue and a bad temper…
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