flstandardbreds Ch. 88.2 - Chouko’s “Fall” Pt2
Ch. 88.2 - Chouko’s “Fall” Pt2
May 5th. Clear skies. 09:49.The last day of Golden Week always carried a strange sense of urgency and loss. Many students found themselves torn, wanting to return to school early to see friends again, yet also wishing the leisurely days could last just a bit longer.
But Chouko was caught in an even more delicate contradiction—
She wanted Onii to hurry and arrive at their meeting spot… yet she was also afraid time would pass too quickly, compressing the precious hours they could spend together.
10:10.
Sitting inside the same 7-Eleven where she’d once eaten rice balls with Harutaki, she alternated between anxiously staring at her phone and lifting her head to look toward the station exit, hoping to catch sight of a long-missed figure.
Ding-ling.
Ding-ling.Ding-ling.
As customers came and went, the convenience store’s chime rang again and again, like a judge’s gavel pounding against her heart, making it harder and harder for her to sit still.
Bzz.
Her phone suddenly vibrated with a new message. She hurriedly unlocked the screen, pulled down the notification bar, and opened it—
[Sato]: I’m really sorry, I’m so sorry! I overslept this morning! ???????????? — Read
Oversleeping when you’d made plans to go out with a girl?!
Onii, you absolute idiot!
Clenching her teeth, she deleted the “You idiot, go die” she’d typed into the chat box, took a deep breath, and instead sent an emoji she often used.
[Chouko]: ???????? — Read
[Sato]: I’m sorry! I was so excited thinking about getting to see you that I stayed up way too late… ???? — Read
What was that supposed to mean, was she to blame for making him too excited to sleep?
Her irritation eased a little, but her thoughts still drifted, unbidden, to another boy—
If it were Harutaki, he’d probably arrive even earlier than she did, right?
Just like last time—waving a rice ball at her like a kid, saying he happened to be hungry and figured he’d eat while waiting.
Even if Harutaki really was hungry, even if she herself had reasons—like being held up by classmates—late was still late. Breaking a promise was breaking a promise.
[Chouko]: I’m waiting for you at the 7-Eleven, so hurry up~ — Read
She waited about eight minutes…
No—more precisely, seven minutes and forty-nine seconds.
After glancing at the digital clock on her phone,Chouko raised her hand and waved at the boy running toward the convenience store.
Ding-ling.
“Haah… huff… s-sor… huff… sorry…”
Stopping beside her stool, Sato bent over with his hands on his knees, panting as he apologized.
“Chouko, I… huff… I’m late…”
“Onii, it’s barely a hundred meters from the platform to the 7-Eleven, isn’t it?”
Just like always, she teased him with a grin—but for some reason, another boy’s image surfaced in her mind again.
Judging by that anonymous forum video, his athletic ability was good enough to go toe-to-toe with the basketball team’s ace, wasn’t it?
“You can’t even manage that distance—Onii, you’re seriously weak.”
“I… huff… I spend every spare moment studying. I don’t have time to exercise…”
“See? I knew you’d end up exhausted, so I bought this in advance.”
She took out the Pocari Sweat she’d bought earlier and handed it to him as he finally straightened up and sat on the stool.
“Ah, thanks.”
Gulp, gulp.
After downing the drink in big swallows and letting out a commercial-like “haah,” he scratched his head awkwardly.
“Sorry for making you wait so long—and you even prepared a drink for me.”
If it were Harutaki, he would’ve noticed at once that she didn’t have anything to drink, wouldn’t he?
No—no, stop!
She slapped her smooth cheeks hard.
This was supposed to be a day out with Onii, so why was her head full of Harutaki?!
And worse… every time she thought of him, she couldn’t help comparing him to Onii. As for the score so fa…
3 to 0. A crushing defeat.
“Hmph. That’s because you’re just as clumsy as ever. When have you not needed me to look after you?”
“Ahaha… I guess I am clumsy. But you feel a little different than before, Chouko…” He paused, choosing his words. “Like you’re drifting farther away from that ‘young lady’ image.”
Ahhh, Onii, you ultimate, supreme, terminal idiot!
She’d been trying so hard not to think about Harutaki, and now Onii had gone and brought up related things himself.
Given his dislike of “normies,” and Harutaki’s reputation at school, she decided it was better not to tell him anything.
“There’s no difference. You just haven’t seen me in a long time, that’s all.”
“Yeah… I guess so.”
Sato laughed awkwardly, and the conversation died there, silence spreading between them.
Say something already, idiot Onii.
She felt a little impatient, but as the quiet calmed her down, a realization struck her.
Ever since they were kids, she’d always been the one leading, choosing what games to play, what to talk about…
So when had she started getting used to passive conversations? When had she begun enjoying being taken care of?
It was that jerk Harutaki again…
Turning her, Chouko, into something shaped entirely like Harutaki.
“Um… Onii, have you decided where we’re going first?”
After a moment’s thought, she figured he couldn’t possibly not have planned anything, and used it to start the conversation.
“Ah… where… how about Chidorigafuchi in Chiyoda? It’s still spring—if we don’t go see the cherry blossoms now, the next chance will be after March next year.”
“Huh? You know a place like that? And you even suggested cherry blossom viewing.”
At least he wasn’t being completely hopeless. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
“What do you take me for? I’m still a high schooler. I can communicate, you know. I even check trending topics on Twitter.”
His tone was helpless.
“I thought you’d say something like an arcade, or the library…”
“How could I take a girl to places like that?! I know I’m kind of dumb, but you—”
He stopped and looked at her, then sighed when he saw her barely suppressed grin.
“Anyway, let’s go. I heard you can rent boats at Chidorigafuchi, seeing the blossoms from the water should be even prettier.”
“Mm…”
Hm?
Only when Onii stood up and headed for the store exit did she finally notice his outfit—
His hair wasn’t long, but it was a messy disaster, like he’d just rolled out of bed without touching it at all. A tuft even stuck out at the back of his head.
On top, he wore a white crew-neck T-shirt under a blue hoodless windbreaker—plain enough. But when her gaze dropped lower, her brows knit together.
Wrinkled black casual pants, with slightly frayed hems. They looked worn and shabby.
And his shoes made her mouth twitch.
Some unknown Nike sneakers—white once, perhaps, but now mottled gray, the edges near the sole almost black. The laces were crooked and loose.
Who goes out with a girl dressed like this?!
It wasn’t that she cared about other people’s opinions, but at the very least… she wanted to feel that Onii took this rare opportunity seriously!
Couldn’t he at least comb his hair before leaving?
If he didn’t want to think too hard about his top, he could’ve just gone full Normcore with a T-shirt—but layering it with that awkward blue windbreaker? What kind of coordination was that?
Want to look mature? Then choose khaki or dark blue. Want to look youthful? Light blue or black to contrast the white tee. She let out a soft sigh, watching Onii wait for the next train.
A bad top was tolerable—she could ignore that. But the bottom half?
That idiot clearly hadn’t even considered ironing. Even without ironing, he could’ve worn clean, neat pants!
She knew Onii wasn’t wealthy, but basic clothing didn’t cost thousands of yen. Even secondhand would’ve been better than this.
And the shoes…
Couldn’t he at least wipe off the dirt?!
She’d already given up on expecting him to understand that even if you liked sneakers, you should at least wear something classic and stylish like Air Force 1s. After all, which high schoolers wore no-name trainers on their days off?
At the last gathering, Izumi wore canvas shoes, Sae wore platform shoes, Minako matched her dress with loafers—and Harutaki wore stylish combat boots…
In the end, what Chouko cared about wasn’t whether Onii was handsome or fashionable, but whether he was attentive, whether he valued her and this date.
Looking at Onii’s disastrous outfit, she couldn’t help recalling her “date” with Harutaki on the first day of the holiday—
He ironed clothes he wasn’t wearing and hung them neatly in his closet.
Before leaving, he spent nearly three minutes in the bathroom styling his hair, adjusting his collar, hem, and cuffs.
At the entryway, he checked his shoes’ cleanliness, wiping off dust with a fiber cloth from the cabinet.
And when walking, he always slowed his pace slightly, staying just a step ahead to match hers.
“Onii… next time, remember to tidy yourself up properly before going out, okay…?”
Inside the not-too-crowded train, she took out wet wipes from her handbag, reminding Sato to smooth down the back of his hair and clean his sneakers.
“Sorry, sorry. I overslept today, so I didn’t have time. Normally I do pay attention to my hair.”
Smiling apologetically, he accepted the wipes, pressed down his hair, and bent over to wipe his shoes.
But still…
This wasn’t just a hair problem at all, you idiot, she thought. No wonder classmates and “friends” always looked surprised when she mentioned Onii.
The Shihou family’s perfect young lady—Shihou Chouko—and gloomy bookworm Sato Kaoru probably looked like people from completely different worlds.
Even so, she didn’t care.
After all, he was someone she could—
…Huh?
She froze slightly.
Now, besides Onii, there was Izumi, Sae, Minako… and Harutaki too. Everyone she could interact with freely, as equals—good friends, all of them…
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