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『In your case, you’re treated like you never existed, so no one would really mind it.』
「That’s a relief to hear. I’d rather not return, after all.」
『Come back he~re. Let’s have fun chatting together. Honestly, I don’t have anyone I can be comfortable with.』
「Fumidzuki’s Kotori should be great for that, in my opinion.」
『For some reason, her father’s always around, so it’s hard to approach her. And it looks like they’re on alert or something.』

Kotori has her fair share of troubles too, huh. Still, her mother is pretty dependable, so it shouldn’t fall to the worst possible pattern. Since she’ll actually use force to solve it if needed.

『Are you having fun there? If you are, then I’m jealous, oi.』
「It’s so fun here. Right, Kishita?」
「Sorry Aya. I’ll tell you all about it later.」
『Damn you~!』

What a wonderful smile. And I think I heard the screech of Aya’s soul. To begin with, is it alright to be that loud? You’re still at the venue hall, aren’t you?

「Your mask is peeling off, is that alright?」
『I’m at the place where the fireworks is least visible, where no other people are, so it’s fine. And I’m having my sister stand guard too.』

I don’t even want to question her. A little sister ordered around by her older sister. I can already sense her hardships. Moreover, there’s no doubt that her older sister’s way of talking and her loud voice has kept her in suspense. Since if a passerby hears it, it’s all over.

『I really want to bother you. Can I barge in after this ends?』
「Please don’t come. Once the fireworks finish, Kishita will go home.」
『I just want to obstruct your peaceful sleep.』
「Oi.」

I reacted purely. Stop with the meaningless harassment. The worst part is that it doesn’t sound like she’s joking at all.

『It’s a joke, I’m kidding.』
「I can’t distinguish, so please stop it. Besides, I’m going to be awake until late today.」

I’ll need to care for the drunks, after all. Also, they might not be able to stop themselves, so I’ll have to stop them midway. At worst, they might just drink until morning. But before that, the stock would run out.

『Why?』
「The adults are drinking. Because of that, I have to watch over them, roughly speaking.」
『Aren’t the positions reversed?』

I’m aware of that. The dish and snacks need cooking too, so in general I keep them company. With their grumblings and reminiscing, I don’t get bored.

『I want to join there too~』
「Is it that bad?」

I know that doesn’t need to be asked. There are people that don’t fit there personality-wise, after all.

『Foolish question. Why would I want to be in a place where I have to be attentive to my every single move? I want to give my position up to my little sister already.』
「You want to leave the family too, Aya?」
『I plan to. I know from bro that it’s not an easy thing. But I can’t take this world, impossible.』

Like Shizuo’s boldness, I guess Aya and him have a lot in common. It’s not somewhere that’s easy to escape from. Even I would leave if I could, but the family likely won’t allow it. At worst, the twins might turn against me. Because they don’t want to be separated from Kotone.

『When the time comes, I appreciate you cooperation.』
「I’d rather refuse.」
『I’m going to drag you into this, so prepare yourself.』
「No need to correct your wording!」

She should be able to succeed by herself, I don’t understand why she wants to involve me. Is she that envious of our situation here?

『Oh, it’s the principal. I guess he managed to escape too.』

Hearing that, I froze. I haven’t told him a single thing about today and I fully intend to keep this hidden. That’s because, being blindly in love, the principal might think of barging in here. If it gets exposed, then it’s seriously dangerous.

「Does the principal know your true nature?」
『He knows~. If not, my little sister would have come running.』

No signs of this call ending soon. Still, I haven’t told Aya who the people here are. All she should know is that me, Kishita and some adults are watching fireworks.

『Come to think of it, who are you with?』

Please don’t bring up a topic I desperately don’t want you to ask about! If the principal is nearby, then I definitely can’t let it be known.

「Me and Kishita. And some others who you don’t know.」
『H~mn, are you really sure?』

Her instincts are too sharp!? She shouldn’t know about Akane, but she definitely knows about Teacher Saeki. Still, that doesn’t explain why she’s immediately thinking that I’m lying.

『Who are those adults there? Are they really people I don’t know?』

The look of her locking onto prey came to my mind. Please don’t vent your stress at us. To begin with, I can’t have the principal overhear that Teacher Saeki is near me.

「Ah, someone’s calling for me, so I’ll end it here.」

No one called me though. I just ended the call with no questions asked. If she calls again, I’ll end it before it even starts. That should make her give up. If she doesn’t, then I’ll turn my phone off.

「What did Aya say?」
「She asked a question I precisely didn’t want her to ask.」

What the heck is with her intuition? Hearing my reply, Kishita nodded in understanding, so she probably experienced something similar with her in the past. Shimotsuki family’s no joke.

「A mail?」

Did she take the hint from my abrupt response that I don’t want her to call anymore? I’d be happy if that’s actually the case.

『Let’s talk.』

It’s from the principal. Well yeah. Just with the info it’s an adult who drinks and is a part of my social circle, it’s easy to guess that the person in question could be Teacher Saeki. And since the principal doesn’t want other people to overhear, he sent me a mail. Yeah, this is the worst.

「There’s nothing for us to talk about.」
『Ms. Saeki is there, isn’t she?』

I’d love to answer no, but he’ll definitely know I’m lying with some snooping. I guess I have no choice but to give up. I’ve got no reason to go to the academy this summer break anyways. So he won’t be able to ask me for details during the break. It’s only postponing the issue though.

「She is, and so?」
『Why didn’t you inform me about this?』
「I didn’t think there was a need to. Besides, this is an all-girls party. It wouldn’t be good if a man like you were here.」

Let’s answer with logic. Inviting only the principal here would be bad in a lot of ways. Please, understand your position. Also, I can’t see the fireworks!

『You could’ve at least told me about it. We’re in a collaboration, aren’t we?』

Being that you arbitrarily made me an accomplice, I don’t quite agree with that. You have dirt on me, damn it. In the first place, just confess already. And self-destruct.

「I have other things attend to, so my replies will be late.」

At least let me watch the fireworks in peace. That shouldn’t be too rude of a reply. Though being rude barely matters at this point. Actually, do your job already.

『I’ll contact you later.』

No need. With this, the problems should be postponed now. It’s possible that he won’t even contact me, I sure hope so. That’s wishful thinking, isn’t it?

「That was seriously exhausting.」
「I don’t quite understand, but good work.」