"Everyone! The sweets are here!"
Koshigaya Natsumi's voice rang out from the hallway, and soon she walked in, carrying the snacks Sato had brought.
"These are from a shop near my apartment. Everyone, have a taste."
"Sure!"
Everyone reached out at once.
"So, Sato, how's life out there?" asked Miyauchi Hikage, grabbing two snacks from Komari's hand with a grin. Ignoring her pout, she sat down and looked up at Sato.
"Not bad, actually. The neighbors in my apartment are pretty nice, and school's great. I've made a lot of friends."
"Huh?"
Hikage let out a surprised noise and slumped dramatically across the table with a sigh.
"What's wrong? School problems?" Sato asked, glancing at her.
"Not school, but the apartment residents are the worst…"
"The lady next door is fine, just an old lady. But downstairs there's a drunk, so I'm scared to come home late. And upstairs… the couple fights all the time. Sometimes there's even domestic violence. It's scary."
"You really need to be careful, then," Sato advised seriously.
Fujimiya Konomi rolled her eyes. "I told you to go to the county school with me, but nooo~ You had to choose Tokyo."
"Because it's Tokyo! It's a dream for young people! For a country girl like me, of course I wanted to see it…"
As Hikage said that, she paused and glanced over at Renge, who had suddenly lowered her head, her mood dropping visibly.
"So… this place really is the countryside, huh."
Hmm?
Sato looked at Renge in confusion.
Komari leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Lately Ren-chon's been super obsessed with whether or not this place is 'the countryside'..."
Why… would she care about that all of a sudden?
Sato frowned slightly. Could it be because of Ichijou Hotaru?
Maybe the differences in what Hotaru, who had just moved from Tokyo, said or showed made Renge question her surroundings?
While he pondered this, he subconsciously glanced over at Hotaru.
On the other side of the room, Hotaru was still chatting with Natsumi when she suddenly noticed Sato looking directly at her. She sat bolt upright, flustered.
W-What do I do?! Senpai's looking at me… D-Did I do something weird earlier?
She stiffened, her thoughts racing, hands fidgeting on her lap.
Seeing this, Komari quickly leaned in and added, "This actually started before Hotaru came. Maybe it's because you and Hikage both left to study in the city..."
"There's no supermarket here, no mall… not even a high school. So this really must be the countryside, huh..." Renge mumbled.
Silence fell. Everyone stared at the little girl, pondering her serious question with troubled expressions…
It was common knowledge that Renge had a mindscape beyond her years. Her little head harbored a unique sensibility and unexpected insight. She often had thoughts and ideas that others found difficult to understand.
What to do…
Sato sighed. The girls around him all looked equally concerned.
"Ah! That's right!"
Suddenly, Hikage sprang to her feet, looking as if she'd just solved a great mystery.
"I almost forgot something important!"
She turned to everyone, grinning.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Natsumi whispered to her sister Komari.
Sato exchanged a knowing look with Konomi as they all felt it, especially as Renge's gaze began to drift curiously between them.
"Ahem!" Hikage cleared her throat and scratched her head with a sheepish laugh. "My onee-san asked me to invite everyone to help out at school tomorrow with some repairs. Especially you alumni..."
"Ehh?!"
The girls all slumped in despair.
"Seriously? Even this kind of stuff we have to do ourselves?"
Komari's expression fell, filled with dread.
"But it's the weekend! This is child labor! I'm gonna report Onee-san to the board of education!" Natsumi shouted dramatically, standing on the table and waving her arms.
"Huh? Natsumi-chan's going to report her sister?" Renge asked innocently.
"Ahem, just kidding," Natsumi quickly sat back down, face red with embarrassment.
If Renge got interested in that idea, things could get messy.
"I've been out of school for two years already. Why am I still doing this kind of stuff..." Konomi muttered with a bitter smile.
"Well, you all know the school's situation, right? Just keeping it running is hard enough. Stuff like this, we've got to handle ourselves," Hikage said, unusually supportive of her older sister.
Being far from the city, combined with population decline and low birthrates, Asahigaoka's school was critically underpopulated.
If no new students enrolled this year, the school's entire student body would basically be sitting in this room…
The three Koshigaya siblings, Renge, Hotaru… after Sato and Hikage graduated, there were only five students left.
Come to think of it, the Koshigaya and Miyauchi families were practically propping up the entire school. The only teacher left was Hikage's oldest sister, Miyauchi Kazuho.
Wait… something was off.
Sato's brow furrowed as he looked at the now-empty dessert plate.
He suddenly had a strange look on his face.
Raising his head awkwardly, he asked, "By the way, where's Suguru?"
The room went silent.
Komari and Natsumi's faces turned beet red as they avoided eye contact, fumbling for words…
As the eldest and second daughter of the Koshigaya family, they had completely forgotten about their older brother.