“……”
For Shidou Itsuka, every morning’s wake-up time was always a trial.
Well, part of it was because the boy himself often pursued sufficiently long sleep, but more of it was due to his little sister.
That lively and cute little sister named Kotori Itsuka—who was a bit excessive only in the mornings…
Though the impression of “lively and cute” had changed somewhat lately, since commander mode was truly unforgettable.
Compared to Shidou, who slept steadily, Kotori Itsuka would wake up especially early whenever she was in high spirits—and her mood in the mornings was generally never low.
The reason for this phenomenon was that, at first, their adoptive parents had asked Kotori to wake him up early when they were away on business trips.
Given the boy’s habits, he wouldn’t show any signs of waking until at least 6:30 a.m. After their parents left, Shidou Itsuka had to take on the task of getting up early to make breakfast and prepare lunch bentos.
Though Kotori’s middle school had a cafeteria for lunch, bringing a bento from home could save some expenses…
That said, Shidou himself actually preferred just grabbing something casual for lunch, so more often he’d buy bread from the school store.
But things always change.
At first, it was correct that he’d asked Kotori to wake him so he could get up early to cook—but gradually, bouncing on Shidou’s bed in the morning seemed to have become one of the girl’s hobbies.
It started with just pulling the blanket or shouting in his ear, but she grew more skilled over time.
Lately, she’d reached the level of stepping on Shidou’s body and dancing the samba, even adding a bonus “Super Invincible I-Love-You Candy Foot” that dealt ten times the damage of Little Devil Flying Kick.
Thus, when Shidou Itsuka tried to sleep in during the mornings, he had more than enough experience resisting physical attacks, briefly reducing beating-type damage by a full half.
…That said… he still had to take the combat damage—
“…Kuhm…”
Feeling breathing difficulties gradually set in from the pressure on his stomach, Shidou Itsuka groggily grabbed the edge and yanked hard.
Just sitting on my stomach like this!
Oh, my foolish little sister—you think I’ve been your brother for how many years?!
A clichéd move like this—
One, it could block the light pouring into the room from the opened curtains; two, it could make the person sitting on his stomach lose balance and fall backward from the sudden jerk of the blanket.
Though he wouldn’t do a leg-sweep counterkick, making Kotori slip and fall was a level of retaliation that carried no psychological burden for Shidou.
“Mmm…”
Heh heh… If you want to get me up, you’ll at least need to resort to a flying kick—
Though he found it odd that the girl hadn’t let out her usual super-loud yell, the boy who planned to sleep another ten minutes had no intention of opening his eyes to check.
After all, Kotori would grow through their struggles—maybe the moment he poked his head out, he’d get shaken wildly.
“How come you siblings even have the same bad habits when waking up?”
Hm? That voice…
Come to think of it, the weight he’d felt on his stomach earlier didn’t match the body-weight assessment honed from Kotori’s daily trampling—it was a bit heavier than Kotori.
The boy who had been stubbornly burrowing under the blanket to sleep stiffened.
Then he felt the grip on his hand loosen as the blanket covering his head was lifted.
His vision was still blurry.
The figure sitting on the bed’s edge appeared doubled in Shidou’s sight.
Soft morning light filtering through the window scattered across the girl’s hair tips.
Perhaps because she had just woken and hadn’t adjusted yet, Kyoumi’s silhouette seemed enveloped in a halo.
“Good morning, Shidou.”
“…Ah… good morning…”
The somewhat dazed boy blankly responded twice before regaining his senses.
“…Why is it you, Kyoumi…?”
“Kotori woke up early too. She said she had to go ahead to Fra… um… that airship thing to make some preparations. It seems inconvenient to bring Yu directly, so today Yu is the one waking you up.”
“Little Kotori said one flying kick from her would be enough for you, but Yu judged that it would affect today’s schedule, so I didn’t do it. But now it looks like you really do have some bed-staying syndrome.”
“…Um… sorry…”
For some reason sensing a hint of resentment in those words, Shidou Itsuka’s eye twitched.
“…Can you let go of the blanket first?”
“…No sleep pants faction?”
Still holding the blanket with both hands, the purple-haired girl pulled it downward in petty revenge, while Shidou also exerted strength and began wrestling with Kyoumi over it.
“This has nothing to do with how much I’m wearing—I’m getting up, okay? Go out first, I need to change—”
“Then how about adding the debt of pulling the blanket and making Yu slip earlier to the one where Kotori kicked Yu this morning—all charged to your account?”
“Why does what Kotori did get billed to me!!!”
Feeling the tugging force on the blanket grow stronger, Shidou Itsuka loudly complained while pulling the bedding even harder to cover himself.
“Because the interest from Kotori’s side has already been collected. From you, I can get an extra portion if possible—”
“You can say that so self-righteously,” The boy felt the blanket lighten in his hands.
The bedding he’d desperately protected slipped from Kyoumi’s grasp and, due to inertia, directly covered Shidou Itsuka’s head.
“Hmm. As compensation to Yu, I want something sweet for breakfast.”
“…Ah… got it, go out first—”
From inside the blanket lump, the boy gave up and let out a muffled voice.
“There’s one more thing.”
The girl reached out and lightly poked Shidou Itsuka’s side through the blanket, causing a flurry of limp floundering.
“What is it…”
“I’m returning your sleepwear. It’s folded on the nightstand.”
Her feet touching the floor, the girl stood up and walked toward the door.
Only after the sound of the door closing reached his ears did Shidou Itsuka rub his hair and poke his head out from the blanket.
He randomly reached out, grabbed the alarm clock from the nightstand, and brought it to his eyes.
“It’s only 5:20…”
Squinting at the clock’s display, the boy sighed.
Even on school days, waking at 6:00 gave plenty of time to make breakfast.
And today, it seemed there was no need to get up that early anyway.
I really want to sleep another half hour…
Placing the clock back on the nightstand, Shidou Itsuka rolled over.
His cheek pressed against thin fabric.
A neatly folded light gray T-shirt entered the boy’s vision.
There was a faint shampoo scent… mixed with something else, an indistinct soft fragrance…
Just a little… curious…
For no reason, the boy had the urge to bring the clothes to his nose and carefully confirm the smell.
But the purple-haired girl’s mischievous grin surfaced in Shidou Itsuka’s mind first.
“Vacuum, you know?”
He heard his heartbeat quicken and felt his cheeks grow hot.
“Aah…”
Locking back the fingers that had half-extended, Shidou Itsuka forcefully slapped his cheeks to clear his head.
…She definitely said that on purpose…
“…Time to get up.”
Before his random thoughts could continue, he threw off the blanket and sat up like a carp flipping itself.
“Have to prepare breakfast for three…”
Muttering to himself, his gaze involuntarily fell back on the clothes beside him…
After a moment of silence, the boy gave up and picked up the girl’s sleepwear.
He got out of bed and stepped forward.
Hanging it on a clothes hanger, he placed the shirt in the wardrobe.
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This is truly Kotori roll.jpg
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