Just as I was wondering what to talk about next, Océan arrived at the perfect moment, chewing on a piece of baguette.

  “Hey, your sister and I are paired up, right? But she’s nowhere to be found,” she said. “I got lonely standing around by myself, so I came over.”

  “She’s te because of a committee meeting. Apparently she should be here soon.”

  Of all people, my friend Océan had been paired with my sister. Since I had told Océan so many personal things about Roman, the situation made me feel strangely embarrassed. I only hoped Océan wouldn’t say anything strange to her.

  “Your sister’s not gonna bully me or anything, right?” Océan asked jokingly.

  “Roman isn’t that kind of person.”

  “What if she secretly slips a habanero into my food?”

  “My sister is basically kind to everyone else. You’ll be fine.”

  Just then, as we were talking, a familiar voice came from behind us.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

  Before I even had time to regret turning around reflexively, my eyes met the sight of my sister’s sad smile.

  Because of what had happened recently, it was painful to meet her gaze. She must have felt the same awkwardness; she only gave me a brief smile and said nothing to me.

  “Roman, good work with the committee. Your partner has been waiting for you.”

  Jeanne lightly took Roman’s right hand and spoke to her in a sweet voice that sounded two octaves higher than the one she had used with me.

  The sight made a sharp heartache.

  Countless girls flirted with Roman, but the fact that one of them happened to be my Sister was unbearable. It hadn’t even been thirty minutes since the event started, and already I wanted to run away.

  “Sorry for being te. Nice to meet you, Océan.”

  “Pleasure to meet you, my sister.”

  Océan bowed with exaggerated politeness, and the sight made me burst out ughing. Roman smiled awkwardly, then peered into the pot of ratatouille.

  “The food your group made looks delicious,” she said to Jeanne with a smile.

  “You can have some too,” Jeanne replied pleasantly.

  “I’ll try it ter. I should take care of my junior first.”

  Roman gnced toward Océan.

  Perhaps she wanted to escape the awkwardness of sharing the same space with me, because she soon walked off with Océan, chatting as they went. What had started as a small ache was already turning into a pain that pierced straight through my heart.

  What kind of retionship do you have with my sister?

  What do you think of her?

  The questions rose up to my throat, but there was no way I could ask Jeanne directly.

  “Your sister is handsome, isn’t she?” Jeanne said while serving pasta from a rge bowl onto a pte. “She’s talented and kind too. No wonder she’s popur in her css.”

  “My sister has always been popur,” I replied.

  Ever since elementary school, my sister—with her refined features and gentle personality—had been adored by girls. In middle school she even had a fan club. One of my fond memories was going around after school, peeling down the posters that read ‘Roman-senpai Fan Club Meeting’ from the walls all over the school, just to sabotage their activities.

  “You’re lucky to have such a kind sister like Roman.”

  “…I suppose so.”

  But I wasn’t lucky. At least, not now.

  I always felt as if happiness were slipping farther and farther away—like something I had finally grasped, only to have it spill through my fingers like sand.

  Why, of all people, had I been paired with this woman?

  I didn’t like her. And she probably didn’t like me either.

  The way she spoke to Roman so familiarly, the soft, feminine tone she used with her, and my sister’s gentle responses to it—

  Everything about it irritated me.

  I shouldn’t have come here today. I had thought about skipping it many times, inventing some convenient excuse. The old me would have done exactly that. I had never cared about retionships with anyone other than Roman. Even without this ridiculous pseudo-sister program, school life would function perfectly well. I wondered who had created such a pointless system in the first pce, and for what purpose.

  Just as I was sinking into that uncomfortable feeling, Cire approached from the next table with her partner, Mia.

  “Avery, Mia is having a Christmas party at her house,” Cire said. “When I mentioned that you and I are friends, she asked if you’d like to come.”

  “Can I really go too?”

  “Of course,” Mia answered with a smile. “It won’t be a very extravagant party. A few models and actresses will be there as well.”

  The thought of attending a party filled with famous people from another world made me feel a little intimidated. Still, it felt rude to refuse an invitation from a senior. When I said I would go, Mia’s face lit up with a bright smile.

  “I’m looking forward to seeing you there.”

  Her smile was completely natural, and her voice was as clear as a summer breeze rustling through grass.

  Cire and Mia seemed to get along extremely well—both having worked as child actors since they were young—and their conversation never seemed to run out. Part of me found myself envying their retionship. If Mia had been my partner, perhaps I wouldn’t have felt this way.

  After the two of them moved to another table, Jeanne gnced at them and said, almost pointedly,

  “Those two really get along like real sisters.”

  Around us, my cssmates were happily chatting with their gentle-looking seniors while eating the food. Roman and Océan were at a distant table, ughing together with about four other pairs.

  “By the way,” Jeanne whispered as she came close beside me, “what kind of person do you think your sister likes?”

  “Honestly, even as her sister, I can’t quite tell.”

  Since middle school, Roman had been with all kinds of girls—boyish athletic girls, elegant feminine girls, dreamy airheaded ones, even slightly delinquent types.

  Roman herself was never particurly proactive about romance. If anything, she was passive. But with her come-as-you-are attitude, she rarely turned down confessions from girls unless there was a serious reason. Their retionships ended quickly, though. Sometimes Roman broke things off first, and other times the other girl left, saying Roman’s affection wasn’t enough.

  “Actually,” Jeanne said, gncing at me as if gauging my reaction, “I kind of like Roman. It might sound strange since we’re both girls…”

  Her gaze lingered on me, as if she already knew that my feelings for Roman were not entirely ordinary—as if she were deliberately testing me.

  I felt my heart stir uneasily.

  “Could you ask your sister what she thinks of me? Recently we’ve been paired together in css, and maybe I’m imagining it, but she seemed a little nervous around me. I wondered if maybe she’s conscious of me. It would be amazing if we could go out.”

  Her words, spoken with feigned innocence, felt like a heavy weight dropping onto my heart.

  Roman dating Jeanne would be the worst possible outcome. Of course, I couldn’t say, I like my sister too, so I can’t promise anything. But refusing her outright would only complicate things. After all, she and I were supposed to be Sisters now. I wanted to avoid creating unnecessary tension between us.

  “Actually… I’m not living with my sister at the moment for certain reasons.”

  “Oh? Really? Did you two have a fight?”

  I didn’t miss the flicker of curiosity in her eyes.

  I’ve never been particurly interested in other people, yet for some reason I’ve always been unusually sensitive to their emotions. My suspicion that Océan and Ciel’s mother didn’t like me was probably correct as well. She had never openly shown disgust toward me, but I could sense it from her eyes and small gestures. That was why I had left Océan’s house early and moved to Cire’s instead.

  Perhaps Jeanne could also tell that I didn’t like her.

  “No, we didn’t fight.”

  “I see… that must be difficult for you.”

  I tried to return Jeanne’s superficial sympathy with a smile.

  But I couldn’t manage it.