Chapter 63: I've forgotten my brother.
Although there is a nearly ten-year time difference, and the world timelines and schools are different, the arrangements of most schools are generally similar, and many times are set at similar times.
For example, school trips are usually around September or October, and the start of the school year is usually in April. Sports meets are also held during the summer, and school festival open days are all around the same time.
In short, after playing around with it for a while, Morofushi Sora'aki faced the same scene again.
The process of collecting votes during class meetings, followed by purchasing materials and making props—apart from the different people involved, all the procedures were pretty much the same.
"Morofushi-kun doesn't seem interested in any of this…" Sakura Chiyo said, holding a black marker.
During our casual conversation about the school festival, while everyone else was enthusiastically discussing their class's plans, only Morofushi Sora'aki was sitting to the side, expressionlessly flipping through Nozaki Umetarou's comic.
Nozaki Umetarou, however, was used to it and commented, "After all, it's Morofushi."
Sakura Chiyo was convinced: "That makes sense."
Mikoshiba Mikoto: "Eh? Hmm? Why did you accept it so quickly?!"
He turned to look at Morofushi Sora'aki: "Why don't you say something in response, Morofushi!"
Morofushi Sora'aki turned a page, heard his name called, looked up, and nodded under Mikoshiba Mikoto's expectant gaze: "Mm."
Mikoshiba Mikoto: "...What are you agreeing to?!"
Compared to Morofushi Sora'aki, Nozaki Umetarou's expectations are quite clear. And the reasons are also well-known.
Mikoshiba Mikoto: "Because we have another reference now, right?"
"Because Nozaki-kun is a comic artist." Sakura Chiyo said expectantly. "Are Mamiko and Suzuki-kun starting to prepare for the school festival too?"
Nozaki Umetarou nodded: "That's right, this is the draft I drew. What do you think?"
"You too, Morofushi, your insights are always very profound. I've learned a lot of interesting things from you!"
Sakura Chiyo and Mikoshiba Mikoto, being normal people, recalled the scenes where Morofushi Sora'aki had given them advice in the past, exchanged glances, but it was unlikely that they would exclude Morofushi Sora'aki at this time.
Thus, the two became determined not to be led astray by Morofushi Sora'aki, and even held each other's hands for this reason.
Nozaki Umetarou: "Huh? What are you guys playing now?"
"Ahaha, it's nothing." With that, Sakura Chiyo and Mikoshiba Mikoto came over to look at the draft. After reading his page of the comic, Morofushi Sora'aki also came over.
Then, the three of them saw the latest comic. At first, the atmosphere was fine, with classmates discussing what to do for the school festival. But then the plot started to... become too realistic.
For example, when Mamiko is shopping, she haggles with the shopkeeper—"Well, compared to that, everyone probably wants to see the romance, right?"
While haggling and such are realistic things, Mamiko is the female protagonist!
Sakura Chiyo declared righteously, "Can you imagine what it's like for Mikorin to haggle with the shopkeeper?!"
Nozaki Umetarou was convinced: "Ah, that's true. Let's switch to Suzuki-kun after all."
Mikoshiba Mikoto: "Eh? Why bring me up now?"
Morofushi Sora'aki also offered a suggestion: "We could set up a scenario where the class doesn't have enough money, so Mamiko has to haggle, but she's too shy to speak up. Then Suzuki smooths things over, the shopkeeper teases them about being a couple, and then gives them a discount, which they both blush and deny?"
This time, Sakura Chiyo and Mikoshiba Mikoto were shocked: How could this person come up with such a normal plot?!
Nozaki Umetarou's eyes widened, and he exclaimed in realization, "Ah, that's right! Let me think..."
Watching Nozaki Umetarou take back his draft and begin revising it, Sakura Chiyo and Mikoshiba Mikoto whispered to each other, "Why do I feel like Morofushi-kun's opinion is quite normal?"
Mikoshiba Mikoto was also puzzled: "I think so too..."
Sakura Chiyo's pupils dilated in shock: "So, all along, we've been misunderstanding Morofushi-kun?"
Mikoshiba Mikoto recalled Nozaki Umetarou's wild idea: "...Perhaps Morofushi's opinions were all normal, and Nozaki just misunderstood them?"
Sakura Chiyo instinctively wanted to defend her idol, but recalling his repeated strange actions, she hesitated: "...It seems...possible?"
Just as the two were repenting for their past misunderstandings of Morofushi Sora'aki, Morofushi Sora'aki spoke up: "However, normal shops also need to make money, so it's impossible to offer discounts that are too high."
Umetaro Nozaki: "Yes?"
Nozaki Umetarou thought about it seriously for a moment: "How about a 5% discount?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "The funds are insufficient, and the staff may not be able to make decisions."
Nozaki Umetarou: "So the person who can make the decision is definitely not an ordinary employee, it must be the shop owner... So why choose to offer a discount..."
Nozaki Umetarou looked closely and immediately realized something. His eyes widened as he looked at Morofushi Sora'aki: "This is a scam!"
Sakura Chiyo and Mikoshiba Mikoto: Huh?
Nozaki Umetarou got excited: "Because the materials that arrived weren't very good, they couldn't be sold. So, after the naive student Mamiko came to buy them, the shopkeeper, in order to get rid of the stock, simply used joking as an excuse to sell it! Afterwards, because Mamiko bought inferior materials, her classmates started to have opinions about her, and then the props weren't made well, so there weren't many customers on the open day. As a result, Mamiko was ostracized by her classmates, and even Suzuki-kun said he had no interest in people who take advantage of others—"
Sakura Chiyo and Mikoshiba Mikoto: Scumbag?! Didn't they go shopping together?! And the problem lies with the bad shopkeeper, not with Mamiko!
After thinking for a moment, Morofushi Sora'aki said, "We can have Suzuki comfort Mamiko."
Nozaki Umetarou: "That's right, under these circumstances, Mamiko will definitely fall in love with Suzuki-kun, right? And then their career plans will become police officers... no, market supervision bureau, okay? In the end, they'll shut down the store together!"
Sakura Chiyo and Mikoshiba Mikoto: —A revenge after ten years?!
Why continue with the premise that Mamiko was deceived?!
Sakura Chiyo immediately stopped the two people who, for some reason, were thinking in unison: "-- Anyway—how about we reset the plot from where we're buying things?"
Seeing Nozaki Umetarou's enthusiasm slowly waning, Sakura Chiyo and Mikoshiba Mikoto breathed a sigh of relief.
Then Morofushi Sora'aki spoke up: "I think..."
Sakura Chiyo: "Morofushi-kun!"
Mikoshiba Mikoto: "I have some delicious drinks here!"
Sakura Chiyo: "Delicious sweets!"
Mikoshiba Mikoto: "So!"
Sakura Chiyo: "You can continue reading the comic without saying anything!"
Seeing that the two had prepared food and drinks, Morofushi Sora'aki obediently sat back down cross-legged in his original spot and picked up the comic he hadn't finished reading.
Sakura Chiyo and Mikoshiba Mikoto both breathed a sigh of relief.
Nozaki Umetarou: "...It seems like I got all the drinks and snacks...Never mind."
The room fell silent again, and in the end, in Nozaki Umetarou's comic, the task of purchasing was given to another random classmate, not Mamiko.
The open days of each school actually have a lot in common and are mostly similar. Nozaki Umetarou got a lot of reference during the open day, and he also had a general idea of the plot setting afterwards.
During the open day stage performance at Rouman Academy, the drama club's play naturally won first place—regardless of his personality in private, Kashima Yu's popularity and acting skills as the school prince are undeniable.
While watching the play from the audience, Morofushi Sora'aki turned to Nozaki Umetarou and asked, "Did you write the script?"
Nozaki Umetarou: "Yeah, what's wrong?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "...It's nothing."
"It's clearly a script written by one person, so why does it turn out like that in the Good Friends World?" Morofushi Sora'aki thought to himself, completely oblivious to his own shortcomings.
After the open day ended, the weather started to get cold, and Morofushi Sora'aki was reminded by his mother to wear a scarf when he went out.
Mother Morofushi helped Morofushi Sora'aki straighten the knot at the back of his scarf, and standing in the entryway, she held her face in one hand and sighed, "The weather is getting colder. I wonder how Hiromitsu is doing lately."
Just a few days after the open day ended, Morofushi Hiromitsu suddenly mentioned at the dinner table: "I will have some work to do later, so if you happen to run into me on the street, please try not to talk to me."
Mother Morofushi doesn't usually go out much, and Father Morofushi usually goes back and forth between school and home. The only one who goes out casually is Morofushi Sora'aki, who occasionally goes out with his classmates (specifically Nozaki Umetarou).
Realizing this, Morofushi Sora'aki, who was explained to him, nodded in understanding.
After all, my brother is a police officer. Just like criminal investigators don't need to wear police uniforms but wear regular clothes or suits when they go out on duty, it's all to hide their identities so that criminals don't realize they are police officers.
If my brother is following a criminal and I happen to show up and start a conversation with him, it could easily alert the criminal.
Two months have passed since that day, and Morofushi Hiromitsu has not contacted his family again.
As the weather turned cold, the cold air outside caused Morofushi Sora'aki's breath to turn into white mist. Morofushi Sora'aki put his hands in his pockets, and the tip of his nose was a little red.
Even though I'm wearing enough layers, I still feel like I'm going to catch a cold. I guess it's because I've caught colds too many times during seasonal changes. Morofushi Sora'aki has a lot of experience with this.
Moreover, with the recent drop in temperature, stray cats are also more likely to freeze or starve to death in such weather.
So on his way to school, Morofushi Sora'aki was scammed by a stray cat.
Morofushi Sora'aki looked down at the orange cat blocking his way, feeling it looked familiar. After a moment's thought, he thought, "...The one I sent to be neutered last year?"
Even though he was the one who took it to the hospital, it's still clinging to him like this. Morofushi Sora'aki stood motionless, staring at the cat for a long while before crouching down and stroking its relatively clean head.
Noticing the furry thing in his hand trembling slightly, Morofushi Sora'aki thought for a moment, picked up a cardboard box at the entrance of a convenience store, took off his scarf, put it in the box, and then commanded, "Go in."
The cat stared at him for a while before meowing in response and disappearing into the cardboard box containing the scarf.
After finishing these tasks, Sora'aki continued walking towards school, unexpectedly bumping into Morofushi Hiromitsu on the way. Morofushi Hiromitsu was also visibly surprised, and he jogged over: "Sora'aki? It's so cold, why aren't you wearing a scarf?"
As he spoke, Morofushi Hiromitsu took off the scarf from his neck and wrapped it around Morofushi Sora'aki's neck. The scarf, still warm from his body, made Morofushi Sora'aki involuntarily shrink back.
Seeing that Morofushi Sora'aki was staring at him without saying a word, Morofushi Hiromitsu suddenly remembered what he had said at home before and said, "Ah, my work is temporarily over, so you can say hello now."
To this, Morofushi Sora'aki tilted his head and thought for a while before he seemed to recognize it and said, "...It's my brother."
Morofushi Hiromitsu's smile froze: Hmm? It's only been two months, and my brother doesn't recognize me anymore?