CH 29

(POV Chiharu)

The fulfilling winter break came to an end, and the day to return to school had finally arrived. As expected, Chiaki and Chinatsu struggled to wake up due to their biological clocks being slightly out of sync from the break. Despite my efforts to maintain the same routine as before the break, the extended holiday had caused some disorganization, and we had all indulged ourselves a bit too much.

I ended up letting them sleep in until about 10 o’clock in the morning.

However, Chifuyu quickly got up, folded the futon, and helped me wake up the two of them. She was always responsible and dependable.

As her older sister, I was proud of her for being such a reliable girl.

“Come on, Aki-nee.”

“Mmm… I don’t want to go to school.”

“Don’t say that. Come on, it’s time to wake up.”

“Uuu, it’s cold…”

After forcefully pulling off the blankets and waking up Chiaki, I figured that Chifuyu had hardened her heart in order to do that. Even though I wanted to keep staring at their cute sleeping faces, I also had to harden my heart and wake up Chinatsu.

“Chinatsu, wake up… It’s morning. We have school starting today,” 

“…Mmm…”

“Sorry, Chinatsu. I know you don’t like the sunlight…”

“Ahhhh!!!” she screamed.

I pulled Chinatsu, who couldn’t handle the sunlight, over to the brightest part of the room. Her scream reverberated throughout the space. It was the typical way I woke up in Chinatsu.

◆◆

(POV Chiharu)

After such a long time, we were finally back on the bus heading towards the nearest train station to get to school. Chiaki and Chinatsu yawned and rubbed their eyes.

Their steps were slower than usual, and their eyelids felt heavy. Carrying their winter break homework and art supplies added extra physical strain, which only made their moods worse.

Despite the added burden, we pushed ourselves to walk from the nearest station to school. Other students were doing the same, carrying their own loads of books and supplies. We parted ways with Chinatsu and Chifuyu along the way and entered the classroom.

I took my usual seat and put down my belongings. Chiaki did the same, neatly arranging her things on her desk.

“Hey Chiharu,”

“Sakura-san, Long time no see,” 

“How was your break?” 

“It was great. I went to visit Syama Fudoson Shrine for my first shrine visit of the year, and my little sisters became even cuter after the New Year. How about you, Sakura-san?”

“I had a fulfilling break too. Went on a trip and watched a movie,” 

“Oh, that’s good to hear,” I replied.

Having a conversation with Sakura-san after such a long time somehow helped me restore a sense of school routine that I had been missing since the second semester. I had long felt this during the second term, but I felt like me and Sakura-san were kindred spirits, and we could get along well.

“Haaah”

As I spoke, Chiaki seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, her head tilted to one side as she appeared drowsy and absentminded.

“Chiharu, your little sister always looks sleepy, even during the previous semester,” 

“Yeah, she tried to get enough sleep, but her biological clock got thrown off a bit during the break, and when you’re young, you can sleep anytime,”

“You don’t sound like a child saying that….” 

As I chatted with Sakura-san, that guy showed up once again and started bothering Chiaki. Even with the start of a new school term after the New Year, it seemed like he was still up to his usual antics and was unaffected by it.

“Hey, long time no see,” he said.

“Hmm? Oh, it’s the shorts kid. Do you need something?” Chiaki replied.

“Not really. I just wanted to hear about your pathetic winter break,” he said.

“Is that so…? Well, my winter break was actually pretty fulfilling. I went to the first shrine vistit of the year, had a fun Christmas, and even played cards,” Chiaki said.

“Heh, that’s it? I went to Hawaii,” he boasted.

“Wow, that’s impressive,” Chiaki said.

“Heh, it’s all thanks to my old man. He’s way cooler than your father,”

“……Really”

“What kind of guy is your father?”

“I don’t really have anything to say about him. However, my guardian is Kaito. He takes care of everything.” Chiaki answered.

“Hmm, well, my dad is still cooler than that guy,” 

Why do you have to say things like that to Chiaki? Shorts kid, why do you always bother her like this? If you think that by saying that that kind of stuff, Chiaki will respond with a “What did you say!” and get mad and chase you around, then you are greatly mistaken.

Chiaki would never do such a childish thing.

Other people’s families are their own, and ours is ours. It’s nothing to compare or compete about. Besides, I hope Chiaki doesn’t remember much about her own parents.

As I trembled with anger, Sakura-san tapped my shoulder.

“Calm down, your eyes are getting intense.”

“I am calm,” 

“Your clenched fists are shaking. Well, I understand your feelings. But Tadashi just wants to get involved with Chiaki… like when cleaning, he always ends up moving Chiaki’s desk.”

“But if he wants to talk to Chiaki because he finds her cute, just be honest…”

“But Tadashi can’t do that…That’s just how he is,” 

Although Chiaki didn’t react in any particular way when Nishino spoke to her, her gaze changed the moment Onii-san became the topic of the conversation.

“Kaito is more amazing!”

“What?”

“He’s good at cooking, has a gold driver’s license, checks both ways like a maniac when crossing the street, is very neat, and even have a manga!”

“My dad can do all of those things too. Plus, he’s good at sports.”

“Hmph, Kaito is good at sports too.”

“Okay then, let’s settle it after the half coming-of-age ceremony and the classroom parents’ visitation day. We’ll have a volleyball match to see which parent is better at sports.”

“O-Okay…L-let’s do it!”

“Later then, you’ll regr….”

Right then, Nishino noticed me staring at him and shuddered. He quickly moved away from Chiaki. I couldn’t believe he had this kind of attitude on the first day of the third semester.

It can’t be helped, though.

Come to think of it, I wonder if Onii-san is athletic too.

“C-Chiharu?” Chiaki turned to ask me.

“What’s up?”

“Can Kaito do sports?”

“Uh…I don’t know either.”

“What should I do? I made a rash decision to have a match.”

“Well….Onii-san seems like he can do anything, so…”

“Y-yeah, you’re right. Kaito can definitely do sports!”

“P-probably…”

Chiaki seems to be worried about that as well, her face slightly changing in a fluster.

“Well, it’ll be okay, won’t it?”

“Hmph, you guys are such blossoms.”

“B-Blossom?”

Sakura-san, who had been watching our exchange and the conversation between Chiaki and me, spoke up.

“Although I’m quite interested in this nickname that has been given to me that I don’t quite understand, the volleyball tournament seems like it’s just a loose gathering of people from the area forming teams, so it’s not really a competitive atmosphere,” I reassured Chiaki.

“Oh, Blossom!” exclaimed Sakura-san.

“Blossom? Well then, there’s no problem in that case,” 

Sakura-san’s comment blew away Chiaki’s worries like a newspaper on a windy day. She breathed a sigh of relief and started to doze off again, feeling drowsy from the relaxed atmosphere.

Unfortunately, this drowsiness persisted throughout the opening ceremony and the first classes of the semester. I tried to help her by tapping her shoulders or writing her stuff on small pieces of paper, but….

She was eventually caught by the teacher.

“Chiaki, wake up,” the teacher said.

“Huh!?”

“Were you sleeping just now?”

“N-no! I wasn’t sleeping!”

“But your eyes were closed just now, weren’t they?”

“Th-that was… oh! I was doing the world’s longest blink!”

“I see, that’s funny, so I’ll let it slide. But please be more careful from now on.”

“Got it!”

Chiaki was truly quick-witted. She had a knack for finding solutions to problems. However, she began to doze off again. Perhaps it was due to her frustration with the difficulty of her studies. When she played with her older brother during winter break, she never felt sleepy.

Chiaki was not lacking in concentration. On the contrary, when she became interested in something, she became completely absorbed. She had spent the longest time and concentrated the most on making Christmas cards.

Maybe if she put her mind to it, she could study well… but everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.

Ideally, I want both Chiaki and Chinatsu to be able to study well, but I don’t want to force them into it.

Now that the new school semester has begun, I hope they will be able to focus on their studies with renewed determination. However, I don’t want to force them to do anything they don’t enjoy.

It was difficult, I didn’t know how to interact with my younger sisters… The third semester was filled with many events, and the classroom parents’ visitation day was particularly important.

Come to think of it, there was also a jump rope tournament before the classroom parents’ visitation day.

It felt like the third semester was going to be full of ups and downs.

◆◆

(POV Kaito)

As the winter break came to an end, the four sisters resumed their school lives. However, it appeared that the habits they had formed during their break were not easy to shake off, and they struggled to get up and prepare for school, which brought a smile to my face.

“Hey, how was your winter vacation?” My coworker sasaki asked me.

“Not much has changed, just the usual family time,” I replied.

“Hmm…How do you interact with the four sisters?” he inquired.

“What do you mean by ‘how’?”

From time to time, while at work, Sasaki would inquire about the four girls. Although I knew that Sasaki was probably just asking out of boredom, I decided to indulge him and talk about my winter break. Reflecting on my own life may help me identify areas where I can improve as a father. Okay let’s talk it out.

“Um, are you like, carrying them or bathing them or something?”

“I barely even get to pat their heads,” I replied.

“Huh. I thought you’d be more hands-on since they’re kids and all.”

“Hey, what kind of weird thoughts are you having? Let me tell you something. Those girls are in fourth grade. Generally, it’s around the ages of 7 to 10 years old when fathers stop bathing with their daughters. It varies by individual, but the girls’ age aligns with that. As they mature mentally and emotionally, they may have various thoughts and feelings about interacting with their father. Some daughters may express dislike for their father’s touch, while others may not mind. However, there are also cases where daughters pretend not to mind but, in reality, feel uncomfortable with their father’s touch. So, it’s best not to overdo the physical contact. The conclusion is to just pat their heads as a borderline action. Of course, if they seem uncomfortable with that, I stop right away.”

“How old are you again?”

“I’m 21.”

“No way.”

“That’s normal, isn’t it?”

“No, no, you’re kind of scary, man.”

I didn’t know much about fathering, other than what I found out from searching online…

It wasn’t anything significant; just a bit of ego-surfing. But regardless of what others might say, it didn’t matter to me.

After all, I only had myself to work hard for my sake.

************

TN: Ego surfing is the act of searching for your name on the internet; I think what he meant by this is that he searched for father related topics on the internet, and since he is a “father” himself, then he was just doing ego surfing on the internet.