SS-Girls’ Gossip
On a certain holiday, there were three girls sitting in the living room of the Shinra household as if their presence in this house was a matter of course.
Their names were Kanazaki Shizuku, Kirasaka Rei, and Shiraishi Momiji.
Kaede was making coffee for the three of them in the kitchen, and Minato was napping in his room.
Although they were not chatting and laughing, the atmosphere was not bleak and normal conversation was going on.
“Do the two of you usually come here on your days off?”
Shiraishi asked, and they looked at each other silently.
Well, recently, …especially since the summer vacation, the two of them have been staying in Minato’s house like this on days when they have nothing to do, but when it is pointed out to them again, they are a little embarrassed to put it into words.
As if waiting for one of them to answer, the answer flew in from the kitchen while the two were still in silence.
“Yes, they basically spend their time here.”
On the tray were four cups of coffee and a cup of cold cocoa, perhaps for her brother Minato.
As Kaede carefully placed them one by one in front of the three of them before walking out into the hallway to her brother’s room, Shiraishi was reminded once again that she is a competent younger sister.
The older brother is like that, and the younger sister is like this.
On the contrary, it seemed as if the younger sister was making up for the imbalance for her older brother.
While looking at Kaede’s back, Shiraishi turned her attention back to the two upperclassmen sitting in front of her.
“I don’t have any particular thoughts, but I’m sure it’s hard to leave Minato-kun’s care to Kaede alone.”
“A mother, huh…?”
She made a small retort to her remark that sounded like someone who looked like she was going to completely take care of him.
Moving her gaze to Kirasaka next to her this time, she opened her mouth with a dignified attitude.
“It doesn’t matter where I spend my days off, this is where I feel comfortable.”
Even Shiraishi was speechless at the sight of her elegantly enjoying a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
Only Kaede’s voice calling out to her brother from the hallway echoed in the living room, and the space was silent.
They really are strange people.
Shiraishi thinks so, chugging down the coffee in front of her.
I don’t usually drink coffee, so I can’t really tell the difference, but there’s no doubt that Kaede’s brewed coffee is delicious.
The situation is such that there are only three female students at Sakuranaoka Academy here at the moment.
In terms of timing, Shiraishi asked them an in-depth question which would only be possible at that moment.
“Why do you two like Shinra-senpai?”
“….”
“….”
A pure and genuine question.
There is no doubt that both Kanazaki Shizuku and Kirasaka Rei are excellent students.
In contrast, it is difficult to honestly nod one’s head when asked if Shinra Minato is superior.
His public reputation is neither acceptable nor unacceptable.
However, Shiraishi has been involved with Shinra Minato to no small extent.
Therefore, she has no intention of giving him an evaluation just based on his appearance.
But even so, she couldn’t help but wonder about the situation where these two people liked the same person.
Kanazaki Shizuku is a childhood friend.
So it’s not hard to see why she was attracted to him because they had been close for a long time…
Kirasaka Rei has been given special treatment because of her blessed talent and environment.
The only one who treated her as a human being without any special treatment or attitude was Shinra Minato …Well, it’s not hard to see why.
All of these factors are certainly enough to attract people, but the fact that it is Shinra Minato is genuinely questionable.
There are so many negative aspects about him that could override the factors that attracted these girls to him.
His attitude, habits, relationships, and his own motivation or vitality, if I may describe it that way.
I don’t feel it.
It is true that they may have been attracted to him at one time, but Shiraishi does not know what the reason is for their persistence.
“Was there ever a man you liked, Shiraishi-san?”
Shiraishi smiled and answered after a moment’s pause.
“Well, there are some people I think are nice…”
When Shiraishi answered from her past memories, she then gave a wry smile.
She knew without listening that it wasn’t about Shiraishi, but about herself.
“I only know Minato-kun …and he was the first person of the opposite sex that I ever met.”
“We’ve known each other since childhood…”
Then of course there is no question of being the first to know each other.
Shizuku shook her head as she muttered these thoughts.
“No, that’s not what I meant; Minato was the first. The first time a man held on to my hand without rejecting it, even though he said he didn’t want to.”
The look she turned her gaze toward was a place where numerous photos of the Shinra family were on display.
Among them were those of Shizuku and Minato as children.
Shizuku, with a big smile on her face, hugged Minato, while Minato looked away from the camera and looked uncomfortable.
Shiraishi thought to himself that no matter how many years have passed, that senpai has not changed.
“If I were to make an analogy like Minato-kun, I would say that because we exchanged words or just because we played in the same place together, doesn’t mean we know each other .. So I guess it’s not because you’ve been childhood friends, but because he was the first person to recognize me and take my hand.”
When she finishes, Kirasaka next to her, sighs at the sight of Shizuku’s cheeks turning red and looking embarrassed.
“The other day, I was in the middle of a conversation with a friend of mine who was a teacher at the school.”
“You should fill in the rest… we haven’t left you know!”
At Kirasaka’s words, Shizuku frowned in frustration.
Kirasaka’s shoulders slump and her eyes narrow as she considered the situation.
While Shiraishi was envious of the beauty of even her thoughtful face, Kirasaka spun her words.
“Just as we are considered different by those around us, he is different from our perspective.”
It was an unexpected statement.
Shiraishi quietly listened to Kirasaka’s words without any concern.
“He is always on the sidelines, not dyed in any color, not fitting in, maintaining a certain distance. …Perhaps it is he who is lonely in the truest sense of the word.”
Kirasaka’s eyes conveyed some sad emotion as she said this.
Shiraishi, too, was no stranger to Kirasaka’s words.
In this day and age, that person is different from other students in a different sense.
While everyone else is looking forward, he can easily turn his back and move in the opposite direction.
This is not because he prefers solitude or is rebellious because he is an adolescent, but because it is his true nature.
If Shinra Minato wants to fit in with a group, he can.
In other words, he is a person who can adapt to any place.
He can walk the middle ground without being ostracized or despised by those around him.
However, this is not the case with Shinra Minato. His personality refuses to allow it.
“Minato-kun is really a kind person, …and he has made it so that those around him don’t notice, can’t see it.”
Shizuku was likewise smiling in her expression, but sadness was oozing from the depths of her eyes.
The truth is, she appreciates Shinra Minato more than anyone else, and she is the one who has seen him the closest and truly wants those around her to recognize that.
“I wonder if we are attracted to Shinra Minato because he understands more than anyone else that we are not the perfect people or whatever people around us think we are…?”
The last thing Kirasaka said to Shiraishi was with a question mark, and she poured the rest of the coffee in her cup.
Next to Kirasaka, Shizuku added with the same expression on her face..
“In fact, we really can’t think of any words that people would understand either, so please just take it as a …reference.”
With Shizuku’s words as the last, the girls’ talk that from Shiraishi’s question came to an end.
What came was an indescribably awkward atmosphere.
What reached their ears as if to counteract it was the sound of Kaede’s footsteps as she was running from Minato’s room back to the living room.
Kaede returned to the kitchen with a tray under her arm, looking impatiently at the cups that were already empty.
“I’m sorry, have you already finished drinking?”
“No, don’t worry about it. We just talked a little too much.”
Kaede smiles at the first smile Kirasaka has shown today and pours her another drink.
“Speaking of which, how was Minato-kun?”
Shizuku suddenly asked Kaede.
She was concerned about Minato, who was still in his room and did not seem to be coming out, so she asked him about it, but what came out of Kaede’s mouth were words that made the girls’ faces darken involuntarily.
“No… for some reason, my brother said, ‘Since Shiraishi is there, and they’re also here, I’m going to be short on words that I don’t even know, so I’m not going to leave the room.'”
As soon as they heard Minato’s behalf coming from Kaede, Shizuku and Kirasaka sat up.
Their expressions are dark and their fists clenched tightly.
The two juniors, who even feel fear at the sight of these two seniors, silently watched the scene before them.
They leave the living room at a quick pace and entered the room where Minato was without saying a word.
From beyond the closed door, at first they hear what sounds like a complaint, and then an exclamation.
Shiraishi, who was watching the scene with a rattled body, was painfully reminded that these seniors should not be offended.
BrutalBot Tl 
So there’s a bit more to it than just: “He doesn’t favor me so I feel relaxed around him.” It gives a bit more flesh to their love.
Thanks.
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