Chapter 206: The Brocon and the Siscon
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 206: The Brocon and the Siscon
Once Yuika started talking, it was as if a dam had burst. She began to grumble nonstop about her brother, seemingly releasing all her pent-up frustrations.
"The problem with Oppa has always been his indecisiveness. If he'd just clearly say 'I like you' or 'I don't,' women wouldn't flock to him like this. But he can't say that one simple thing, so he always ends up losing out. The other day, we went to a tea house together, and some random woman asked for his number. Can you believe it? I was so dumbfounded that I asked her what she was doing, and she had the nerve to tell me to stay out of adult business and called me a kid. How ridiculous is that? How could a beautiful lady like me possibly look like a kid?"
"Hahaha…"
After chattering on by herself for nearly twenty minutes, Yuika seemed to realize she had been monopolizing the conversation and glanced at me sheepishly.
"Um… was I the only one talking?"
Surely no one would be bold enough to say "yes" to her face.
"Not at all. It was quite entertaining."
"I'll try to hold back a little…"
Just moments ago, she'd been chattering as if she had a motor in her mouth, but now she suddenly clammed up, looking dejected. The mood instantly soured.
After about five minutes of this uncomfortable silence, Yuika glanced at me and asked.
"Have you ever thought it was strange, Sunbae? Why my brother and I attend Ichijo Academy, which is so far away, instead of a school closer to home."
"Now that you mention it… yeah?"
I had my reasons for going there—to avoid being in the same school as Ryuji, the protagonist of Scramble Love, and to steer clear of anyone who remembered the old Kim Yoo-Sung. But the Sakamoto siblings had no particular reason to attend.
I had just assumed they went there naturally because of the original story's plot.
"It's a bit strange for me to say this, but my brother is a very kind person."
"Mm."
That much I knew.
He had the personality of a typical shonen manga protagonist who couldn't turn a blind eye to injustice. I had benefited from that side of him many times, so I couldn't help but agree with her completely.
"Thanks to that, he's been popular with everyone since he was a kid, but sometimes that kindness can be a double-edged sword."
With a bitter smile, Yuika set down the teacup she was holding.
"It happened two years ago. I was still in my first year of middle school, and Oppa was in his third."
The story of Ryuji's past, as told by her, was shocking.
He had seen a female student being groped on the subway and stepped in to help. But the middle-aged man who was doing the groping turned around and sued Ryuji for assault. The girl he helped ran away, leaving no one to testify on his behalf, and he ended up with a community service order.
"Did you check the CCTV?"
"We did, but it was useless. The subway car was so crowded at the time that the crime itself wasn't caught on camera."
However, the fact that her brother had injured the groper was easily proven, and so it was her brother, not the man, who was put on trial as the perpetrator.
Yuika calmly explained what happened next.
"After everything was over and Oppa went back to school, a strange rumor had already spread. Something along the lines of him getting into a fight with a man on the subway and getting a criminal record for assault. It was probably started by someone who held a grudge against him, but by the time we realized it, it was too late. No one would believe him when he tried to explain."
"…"
The story was much heavier than I had expected.
So Ryuji hadn't had a perfectly smooth life just because he was the protagonist.
Since I hadn't read the original work, I'd never dreamed he had a past like that.
"Well, I'm just glad he seems to have forgotten about it and is getting along well with his friends now."
Perhaps thinking the mood had become too heavy, Yuika abruptly wrapped up the story and glanced at me.
"So… what do you think of my brother, Sunbae?"
It was a question loaded with meaning. She was probably worried about Ryuji, who had already been betrayed by his peers once in middle school.
I didn't answer right away, taking a moment to organize my thoughts before giving her a response that would put her at ease.
"I think he's a good guy. As long as nothing major happens, I'm sure we'll be good friends for life."
He was the kind of guy who would rush over to fight alongside me in the middle of a date just to repay a favor, even when there was nothing in it for him.
And I had trusted him with my back.
That was proof enough that I already considered him a friend.
"So you don't have to worry so much, as his little sister. Ryuji is surrounded by good people right now."
You know what they say, birds of a feather flock together, right?
Hearing my half-joking remark, Yuika,
"Pfft-"
suddenly burst out laughing.
"What was that? You sound like an idiot."
But she didn't seem to be in a bad mood.
Screech!
"I'll be heading out first today. I have to go home and make dinner for Oppa."
Yuika gave me a slight bow and then said, her voice tinged with laughter.
"I'm really glad I talked to you, Sunbae."
*
The next day.
When I got on the subway to go to school as usual, I ran into some familiar faces.
"Oh. Yoo-Sung-ah."
"Hey, Kim-kun."
"Hello! Sunbae!"
It was Ryuji, Yaguchi, and Yuika, in that order.
The moment Yuika greeted me, Ryuji and Yaguchi whipped their heads around at the same time, looking as if they'd seen a ghost.
"Wh-what did you just say? Is the sun going to rise in the west tomorrow?"
"Yuika, who's usually so shy around strangers, greeted him first?!"
Seriously, was it that surprising?
As I stared blankly at the two of them, who had suddenly started their own little comedy routine, Yuika pinched Ryuji's side and said in a sharp voice.
"Oppa! Is it really so strange for me to say hello to Yoo-Sung Sunbae?!"
"Well, you don't even greet Satoru first, and you've known him longer than Yoo-Sung."
"That's because he's Satoru Oppa!"
Somehow, that reason was convincing.
When we all hung out together last time, Satoru did get particularly harsh treatment.
"Honestly~"
Still huffing as if she hadn't calmed down, Yuika turned her head. Her eyes met mine as I was standing right in front of her. With a prim expression, she bowed her head.
"Thank you for your advice yesterday. Thanks to you, I was able to solve a problem I'd been dealing with for a long time."
"I'm glad to hear that."
Seeing a conversation happening between me and Yuika that he wasn't privy to, Ryuji asked in alarm.
"Advice? What advice? You didn't say anything to me."
"Ah, we just happened to run into each other on the way home yesterday and talked for a bit."
"That's right, Oppa. It was nothing special. We just had tea at a cafe for about an hour."
The moment Yuika said that, Ryuji's eyes narrowed as he asked.
"You're not trying to make a move on my little sister, are you? Even for you, Yuika is…"
I was dumbfounded by the strange turn the conversation was taking and immediately corrected his suspicion.
"I have a girlfriend, you know?"
Hearing that, Yaguchi's eyes widened in surprise.
"Kim-kun, you have a girlfriend?!"
Ah.
I belatedly realized my slip of the tongue and tried to come up with an excuse, but Yaguchi didn't give me a chance, bombarding me with a storm of questions.
"Who is she? Does she go to our school? Is she older? Younger? Don't tell me she only exists on a screen!"
"Wait, hold on."
Overwhelmed by the barrage of questions, I glanced at Ryuji beside me.
"Don't tell me you're seducing an innocent girl to two-time someone…"
"Hey!"
"Haha, just kidding."
Waving his hand dismissively, Ryuji calmed down his girlfriend, Yaguchi.
"But this is unexpected. I didn't know you already had a girlfriend, Yoo-Sung. Why didn't you say anything? Is it a secret relationship?"
"Well… something like that."
If a rumor started that the top student of the third year, the Student Council President, and the top student of the second year, Kim Yoo-Sung, were dating, I dreaded to think what kind of talk would circulate around the school.
There were already all sorts of slanderous rumors about me; if the President got dragged into it, things would only get worse.
"So please keep it a secret from everyone."
"Don't worry. My lips are sealed."
"Yaguchi, what about you?"
Suddenly being called out, Yaguchi jumped and asked, "Me?" but then averted her gaze and replied.
"I'll try my best."
"…You know what'll happen if this story gets out, right?"
As I said that, I crushed the cider can I was holding in one hand. Yaguchi let out a short "Eek!" and clung to Ryuji.
With my two classmates taken care of, the last one was my junior, Yuika.
"What will you do for me if I keep your secret?"
Yuika boldly made a counter-proposal.
I let out a short laugh, "Heh," at her audacity. With her hands behind her back, she smiled brightly and said.
"From now on, please give me advice whenever I have something on my mind. As my senior in life, you can do that much for me, right?"
Contrary to what I first thought, it wasn't an unreasonable request.
I nodded and held out my right hand.
"If it's just that, then anytime."
"Then it's a deal."
Yuika reached out and shook my hand.
And there was Ryuji, looking back and forth between me and Yuika with anxious eyes.
It was a familiar, yet unfamiliar, morning commute to school.