If Her Flag Breaks Volume 1 Chapter 5

Flag 5: The Birth of the Guild Leader, and Guild Rules

After school the next day, Akane and co. moved their luggage into the dormitory and gathered in the dining room, where the carpets, wallpaper, etc. had barely been renovated.

“Well, then!! Next, let’s hold the first pledge ceremony of the reborn Quest House!!”

“Pledge…?”

“Pledge what?”

Souta and Nanami originally thought it was going to be a housewarming party doubling as a friendship ceremony, so they reacted carefully to Akane’s words.

“That’s exactly what we’re going to discuss in this meeting.”

“That’s not what a pledge ceremony is!”

Souta’s retorts became increasingly heated.

“Alright, alright, Sou-kun. From now on, we're all going to live together as buddies, so our pledge should be unanimous.”

“Then, let’s celebrate our pledge. Cheers, everyone.”

Everybody gathered around a table filled with pizza and cake and made a toast with their non-alcoholic champagne.

“Anyways, although everything is still under construction! But I think we should decide on Quest House’s house prefect while we’re at it!”

“Oh. Thy proposal must indicate that thou wishest to become house prefect. Hmph, as expected of a rich girl. Thou actest cute, but in fact cravest the limelight, huh…! In that case, don’t even think about having your way. We shall also contend for house prefect!!”

“What a coincidence! I think Nanami is most suited to be house prefect, too!”

“…Huh?”

“I also vote for Nanami.”

“Then, one votes the same.”

“Since Sou-kun nominates her, I’ll also vote for Nanami.”

“House Prefect Nanami, please take good care of us.”

Akane bowed her head in salute, while Megumu and Souta applauded in congratulations.

“Eh, ah, uh, um… huh? Strange? I-in Our estimation, ye are trying to push trouble onto Us…!!”

Nanami’s face filled with rage.

“Let’s all work together to solve troublesome matters then.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Eh... weird...? Uh, that… th-thou art right…”

Nanami was made speechless by the excessive kindness, and the Rage Energy in her body had nowhere to vent. If it were Rage Allergy, she would itch all over her body every time she got angry, and she would be both angry and sad. That would be extremely irritating. Just like how a true Edo person says “Aaaa— choo! Go die” when they sneeze.

“I feel like we’re gradually becoming dorm buddies. That’s great, that’s great! The dorm I stayed in before was crowded and noisy. I’m so happy to be part of such a warm little bunch this time. We have great unity!”

“Bunch…”

A group which resembles chili peppers — Quest House. Its members forced a smile.

“…Being buddies is all well and good, but getting back to the point, this dorm really spoils the mood.”

Nanami looked around at the bare concrete walls and uncarpeted floors and sighed.

“From the beginning, the priority of the renovation was making it liveable. Decoration was secondary, right?”

“Personally, I think keeping it like this is fine.”

After Souta answered Megumu’s question this way, Akane puffed up her cheeks in anger.

“Nope. Souta-kun, you need decorations that cheer you up!”

“Big Sis is so happy that Akane-chan thinks so much about Sou-kun’s well-being.”

Kikuno called herself Big Sis again and doted on Souta.

“Heeheehee, but having said that, making your own living space is a great thing!”

“Yeah... In other words, this place is a blank canvas, and we, as paint, will vividly portray our treasured slices of life…”

Nanami crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and spoke lyrically. Akane beamed at Nanami, eyes sparkling.

“It's Nanami's poet time!!”

Akane responded to the beautiful line of verse as she did before, her eyes twinkling like several small stars, and she tightly clasped Nanami's hands. Nanami, face red as if about to spit fire due to her careless slip of the tongue, struggled to shake off Akane's hands.

“Huh?! Th-that doesn’t count! Wh-what was just said doesn’t count!!”

“One day I’ll compile a collection of Nanami's poems and send it to a society!!"

“If thou doest that, We shall drag Souta down with me and bite my tongue to die—!!”

“Why me?!”

“That said, what kind of society?”

Nobody there could answer Megumu's question. Plus, receiving that kind of thing must be very inconvenient for the society.

“Ah, but being able to choose your own wallpaper is pretty nice. That way, each room can have its own personality. Ah, Sou-kun, do you want to have the same wallpaper as Big Sis?"

“Huh—! How sly! I also want to have the same as Souta-kun!"

“O-one wants that too! One also wants to have the same as Souta-kun!"

“They've thoroughly lost their own personality!!”

Just as Nanami said, each room almost became completely devoid of personality.

“Is Nanami the only one who wants a different wallpaper?”

“We clearly didn’t do anything wrong, so what’s up with this feeling of isolation!!”

Seeing the Souta faction grow abnormally large, Nanami began to be hit hard. If this continued, the dorm would be dyed Souta’s color. Therefore, recruiting others to join the Nanami faction was imperative.

However, Kikuno doted on her little brother and clung to Souta; Akane was also completely captivated by Souta's tragic aura. That left Megumu…

“Megu-chan, why art thou suddenly so close with Souta?”

“This is friendship between men.”

“Huh?! Art not thou a girl?!”

“……”

Megumu’s eyes lost their luster, and Souta saw the “Join Nanami Faction” flag above Megumu’s head break.

“Since your friendship between men has deepened, does that mean ye had a heart-to-heart through your fists by the river at dusk?”

“No, we didn’t do anything like that…”

Her Princess Highness’s mind is really full of mysteries — Souta thought that and replied with a faint smile.

“Then a friendship between men has not been formed.”

“Huh?! How can that be?!”

Akane unexpectedly interrupted, causing Megumu to raise his voice.

“No, one doesn’t want that! S-Souta-kun, sorry, but can one beat you up?”

“No way.”

“Sorry, sorry. One hopes you can just grit your teeth and bear with it for a bit!”

“Didn’t I just say no way?!”

Megumu refused to listen to Souta’s objections.

“08:49, 2 January 2025 (CET)Person72635 (talk)!”

Megumu yelled “sorry, sorry” in his heart and punched Souta… but—

Seeing the scene of Megumu weakly hammering Souta’s chest, Nanami and co. felt as follows:

“…They’re just a couple flirting with each other.”

“What a coincidence. My thoughts are exactly the same as Nanami’s!”

“In that sense, they seem to have a very good relationship…”

After Megumu beat Souta up with his dainty punches, he panted cutely and gave Souta a smug look.

“Th-this way, we have formed a firm friendship between men, right?!”

“This is just a one-sided beating, though. How can it count if there isn’t a beating from both sides?”

Nanami retorted on behalf of Souta, who didn’t know how to respond.

“S-… Souta-kun, one hopes you can beat one up!”

“How could I? No matter how hard you think about it, it’s impossible!!”

“Start hitting! Start hitting one now!!”

“Yikes… Megumu… That’s terrifying! The look in your eyes is terrifying!!”

Akane and Kikuno watched anxiously. How will this fierce drama of friendship between men, this clash of strong wills, develop?

Rather, this feeling was more like the feeling of watching a soap opera where the woman confesses and the man rejects her… Whether those involved knew this is a mystery.

Seeing Megumu's eyes swirling weirdly, Souta grabbed Megumu's head and tried to push him away. But when Souta saw the friendship streamers streaming endlessly from Megumu's head like tokoroten, his body was gradually overcome by fear.

“Alright, alright! I get it!”

“I'm so glad you understand me!… Come, please.”

Then, Megumu, waiting to be beaten in a praying position with her eyes closed and head slightly tilted upwards, looked like a girl waiting to be kissed.

“……”

His blushing and heart-pounding appearance made Souta flinch.

“No, Sou-kun, since he’s already mustered up his courage, you can’t humiliate him.”

“That’s right, Souta-kun. I do mind, but I won’t take it to heart. Please go ahead and kiss.”

“If not, Sou-kun, do you want Big Sis to be your practice partner?”

“That’s right, Souta-kun. I do mind, but I won’t take it to heart. Please go ahead and kiss.”

Based on these sentences, to Kikuno and Akane, Megumu’s appearance as a girl bashfully waiting to be kissed overshadowed everything. For them, the scene had already become a kissing scene.

Moreover, since Kikuno made an outrageous suggestion, Souta couldn’t help but feel frightened. He could only grimace and pretend not to hear it.

If this continued, he would be forced to kiss someone. So Souta, seeing no other way out, raised his fist towards Megumu, who seemed to be waiting for a kiss.

“……!”

Again and again, Souta swung his fist and stopped halfway, swung his fist and stopped halfway, and finally could only poke Megumu's forehead with his fingertip.

“So weak!!”

Nanami was shocked.

More accurately, no matter how you looked at it, those two forehead-flickers looked like a flirting couple. It was the opposite of friendship between men.

Maybe she had seen enough of the two flirting, or perhaps a little jealousy appeared in some corner of her heart while she was cheerfully watching the sweet atmosphere between Megumu and Souta, but Kikuno suddenly changed the subject:

“Besides the house prefect, there are many other things that should also be decided."

“The house vice-prefect, right?” Akane asked.

“This dorm is really well-organized…”

“After that is the acting house prefect, right?”

“There’s already a house prefect, though!?”

Whether a dorm with only five people needs so many people in charge is an open question.

At the same time, the relative importance of Nanami’s position as house prefect became lower and lower.

“She probably didn’t mean that, but rather something like who would cook each of the three meals, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. I heard that we’ll be assigned a house supervisor, but they couldn’t find one right away, so we’ll have to take care of it ourselves for the time being.”

This conversation between Megumu and Kikuno was more in line with common sense. Much appreciated.

“Prepare three meals, huh… Suddenly we’re challenging independent living on high difficulty.”

“We shall not do that. Don’t expect anything from Us.”

For Miss Heiress and Her Princess Highness, the difficulty threshold of this matter was very high — to be specific, it was through the roof. It was no longer a threshold, but more like a lintel.

“Cooking is something Big Sis is good at and loves. Let Big Sis come cook for Sou-kun~”

“Ah, one can also cook a lot of dishes. Let’s take turns then.”

“Big Sis is so happy! It’s like I have a little sister in addition to my little brother!”

“Hahaha.”

Hearing Kikuno’s frank words, devoid of malice, Megumu let out a hollow laugh.

“I’ll also help out where I can. I can do the cleaning or the heavy housework,” Souta said.

“Ah! I can do the cleaning too! I’ll do my best to clean Souta-kun's room! Pack all the things that weren’t cleaned up in cardboard boxes!”

“I literally just moved in, and you immediately start trying to kick me out…”

Souta was dealt a heavy blow by Akane and Kikuno’s multiple attacks. Kikuno patted his head and comforted him:

“It’s okay, Sou-kun. Big Sis will make sure Sou-kun’s luggage is sent to Sou-kun’s room."

“Sending it from your room to your room, how troublesome…”

“While the porter is carrying my luggage, my life will be very troublesome too.”

Souta gradually lost track of what was being joked about and began to feel uneasy about being toyed with.

“Next is the bath order and the trash duty order.”

“… I’m starting to feel the communal life.”

“Logically speaking, it shouldn’t be the princess or the rich heiress who has to take out the trash. One can do it, it’s fine.”

"… I can also take out the trash. Let me help.”

Souta was very grateful that everyone there was willing to fill up the dorm numbers. He would feel awful if he didn’t do anything, so he volunteered to help take out the trash. Hearing Souta speak and become more active, Akane smiled.

“Sou-kun is such a good kid! Big Sis is so touched! Come, everyone, praise Sou-kun, praise Sou-kun!!”

Kikuno proudly patted her little brother’s head with all her might and pushed him forward.

“Souta-kun is awesome! It's like he was born to take out the trash!”

“Just imagining Souta-kun taking out the trash turns a man’s sadness into energy. How admirable!”

“Uhhh… yes yes yes, Souta, thanks, thanks.”

An inconceivable phenomenon occurred: Nanami’s casual words caused the least emotional damage. Souta immediately moved on to the next topic.

“…Then what else do we need to decide?”

“As for the bath order, one thinks that of course ladies should go first!”

Megumu listened to Souta's words and remembered the other thing he had brought up earlier. He made a proposal with clenched his fist cutely, wanting to show his manliness.

“Wanting to bathe first, Megu-chan is a girl after all!”

“……”

Megumu’s fist drooped limply.

In this way, Nanami and co. continued to discuss even after finishing their dinner. But it was pretty late, so it was almost time to go into the new, sparkling bathroom.

The three girls came out of their rooms with clothes and bathing supplies. When they passed by the dining room, they stuck their heads inside and said:

“Sou-kun, do you want to take a bath together?”

“Take a bath together? How brave!”

Hearing Kikuno, whom nobody knew how serious she was, laugh and chuckle, Akane immediately covered her fully-clothed body with her bath towel.

“I can’t do it!!”

There was only one bath, and it had just been decided that girls could use it before nine o'clock and boys could use it after nine o'clock. The girls’ camp immediately said they wanted to use the new bath.

“Big Sis is so lonely~ we clearly used to take showers together.”

“That happened?!”

Just as Nanami was about to shake off the others and go in the bath first, her two feet stopped with furious speed. Her feet are really agile.

“Th-that was before! It was a really long time ago, though?! When I was in kindergarten or just starting elementary school!”

“W-what? So it was like that…”

“Ah! Ah! Nanami’s actually jealous!? Nanami is jealous, right?! You can call me Big Sis though, Nanami?!”

“Why art thou so happy?! We shall not call thee that!”

Kikuno was like a grandmother looking forward to having a grandchild. She seemed to contract the “I want my little brother’s first date to call me ‘Big Sis’” syndrome.

“Let's not talk about this for now, let’s just take our bath quickly. Speaking of which, boys should bathe with other boys.”

““Huh, huh, huh?!””

Megumu and Souta cried out together.

Especially Megumu — the expression on his face was like a fully nude girl being locked in the boys judo club's locker room.

Akane and co. hurried into the bath, leaving Megumu trembling and almost crying and Souta on his guard against Megumu.

“…A-anyways, there’s no need to force ourselves to take a bath together, right? You can still leisurely have it all to yourself.”

“Y-you want one’s body all for yourself…?”

“The bath all for yourself!!”

Megumu could no longer hear what other people say! Souta forced a smile at his slightly insane friend.

“Oh, right… the bath… we were just talking about taking a bath…”

How much Megumu, his eyes swirling, understood was a mystery.

Even more mysterious was that for some reason there was an awkward atmosphere at that moment. Souta wanted to find a way to break the silence and tried to change the subject.

“Speaking of men… shouldn’t every healthy man want to sneak a peek?”

Megumu’s eyes lit up at the keyword “man” and he stood up suddenly.

“Souta-kun, let’s go sneak a peek!!”

“Huh…?!”

A destruction flag could be seen above Megumu’s head.

“…Megumu, you want to sneak a peek?”

“We need to be like men, peeking openly and morally!”

“That’s already a crime!!”

Note: Any form of peeking is a crime.

“But… think about it carefully! A real man would never peek!”

The formula man < real man = Souta instantly emerged in Megumu's mind.

“You can’t peek, Souta-kun! This isn’t like you at all!!”

“Huh?! Me?!”

At some point, Souta became the one actively trying to sneak a peek, which scared Souta.

“……”

Then, Akane, coming back out to get the shampoo she had forgotten and only hearing the last part of the conversation, blushed and covered her key parts with the shampoo bottle.

“Souta-kun wants to peek…!!”

“Akane!? N-no, th-that’s not it…!!”

“Souta-kun is a peeping tom!!”

“Why do you look so happy?!”

Akane let out a sound of unparalleled delight. Without listening to Souta speak, she swiftly and elegantly ran towards the changing room in the knock-kneed posture of a rich heiress.

“…………”

Souta stared at her with an odd expression and froze.

After being frozen for a while, Souta despondently squatted on a folding chair in the living room next to the cafeteria while Megumu comforted him.

But not long after, Nanami, skin white, rosy, and glistening having just taken a bath, cursed at Souta, “Take this, damn peeping tom!” and sprayed conditioner into his face. A bit of the conditioner went into Souta’s eyes, causing him to show off his superb skills and roll around in pain on the chair.

Kikuno, who similarly became more sexy, held her cheek and looked at the scene with a chuckle.

“Sou-kun has grown into a healthy boy, Big Sis is so happy.”

“Souta-kun, is it true that healthy men should sneak a peek?!”

After hearing Kikuno's words, Megumu, as if waking up from a dream, said this. Souta was busy rolling around because of the conditioner-induced damage to his eyes, so he didn’t hear this. However, Nanami heard it; thus she added more conditioner, and Souta rolled around even more. Please use conditioner correctly.

Having rolled around for a while, Souta was the last one to finish his bath after Megumu and went back to his room. Akane was hiding in the corner of the corridor, tiptoeing and sneaking a look at him.

“What art thou doing, Akane?”

“Ah!? No, nothing!? I wasn’t sneaking a peek! Please don’t spray me with conditioner!"

Nanami has gradually become like an unfathomable monster in this dorm — as long as someone was sneaking a peek, she would unconditionally spray conditioner at them.

“We won’t scold thou…”

“You’re already able to control it?”

“Is that some kind of symptom?!... Back to the point. What art thou doing sneaking around in a place like this?"

“M-me? I-I wouldn’t do anything inappropriate like going into a boy’s room at this kind of time!”

“Oh, so you're wondering whether to go to Souta's room…” After Nanami figured it out, she smiled at the blushing, bashful Akane.

As for Akane, she was anxious about being scolded by Nanami since she remembered that Nanami was house prefect. This was the reality.

“…Thou wantest to go find Souta, right? Isn’t this very good?”

“Uh… no, but…”

Precisely because she was already hesitant in the first place, once she successfully obtained permission she backed out at the last minute.

“That guy wouldn’t do anything to thee. We are not familiar with him either, but it’s obvious that he doesn’t have the guts to do that. That guy needs a friend or lover, so it’s actually better if thou gettest close with and takest care of that guy.”

“Love-...!” Akane was speechless for a moment, then said with slightly red cheeks:

“Nana-Nanami, do you want to come too?”

“Why must We get close with that guy…”

After saying this, Nanami waved her hand and went into her room.

Although Akane felt even more embarrassed to go, she hesitated for two or three times before raising her hand and knocking on the door... but there was no response. She knocked again, but still no response.

“……Ah, I knocked on my own door.”

If there was a response, it would shake things up and change it into a supernatural event. That said, saying ‘shake up and change’ is fine, but ‘warm up and change’ sounds weird. Would that mean that it was a premeditated change? How terrifying.

Akane pulled herself together and knocked on Souta’s door. This time there was a response and the door opened.

“Akane? What's wrong?”

“Is Souta-kun going to sleep already?”

“No. I'm not going to sleep yet…”

“Th-then, I want to talk to you!”

“…Well, that’s fine.”

Standing in the corridor and talking was not an option, so Souta invited Akane into the room.

“It’s very clean.”

“Because the luggage has barely been unpacked…”

It felt a bit inappropriate, but since there was no other place to sit, Souta asked Akane to sit on the edge of the bed while he himself sat on a folding chair. After he sat down, he thought that their seats should be reversed, but by then it was too late.

“By the way, I haven’t fulfilled my promise to clean your room yet.”

“Yeah... since we’ve been tied up with other things lately.”

“Souta-kun is either tied up or flailing around.”

You make me sound like a bug... Souta thought to himself, responding with a stiff smile.

“Right, you wanted to tell me something, yeah?!”

“Chat about what?! What do you want to chat about?!”

Souta didn’t expect the choice to be up to him. He was slightly shocked and his smile became even stiffer.

“Huh… well… let’s just chat about whatever Akane wants to chat about.”

“Me? Isn’t there anything Souta-kun wants to say?”

“I don’t have anything to say to Akane…”

Souta finally took action to break the flag waving above Akane's head.

“Could it be that Souta-kun is very unwilling to deal with me…?”

Akane’s flag broke, and tears were about to flow. She dejectedly drooped her shoulders and jabbed her index fingers together.

“I want to hear Akane talk about herself. I want to make an effort to understand Akane better!!”

However, Souta also hated making girls cry because of him.

“Really?!”

Akane immediately showed a sunny smile. Her quick response and the flag’s extraordinary speed of recovery made Souta’s smile tighten.

“But I’d rather learn more about Souta-kun.”

“Me…?”

“Why does Souta-kun distance himself from other people?”

Akane asked thusly. She moved to the corner of the bed — beside Souta — and looked Souta’s eyes up and down, even to the depths of his heart… with a gentle voice, gentle eyes, and gentle heart, Akane lightly touched the fear in his heart.

“……”

“……”

Silence flowed between the two people, so close they could feel each other’s breath.

“……”

Souta looked mournfully into her clear eyes that reflected his figure.

Specifically, he was looking at the indistinct object above his head that was reflected in her eyes…

“I… am…”

Souta slowly, slowly opened his mouth. Akane didn’t rush him at all, waited patiently, her expression as gentle and peaceful as a loving mother’s.

…Unexpectedly—

“Sou-kun, Big Sis peeled an apple. Do you want to eat it? I cut the peel into rabbit ear… Ack!”

Because it was the room of the little brother she was very familiar with, Kikuno opened Souta's door without knocking and poked her head in. When she saw Akane and Souta close together, she thought she saw something she wasn’t supposed to see. She shut her mouth and said loudly:

“S-Sorry, Big Sis couldn’t imagine that Sou-kun would be like that even in her dreams!! I-I didn't mean to disturb you! Please do as you wish! Continue what you were doing!!”

Nobody knows how Kikuno interpreted the situation where Akane and Souta’s faces were less than two fists apart. She looked in another direction, face flushed, and she said this in a strange tone, almost shouting.

“Oh god… Okiku-nee…?”

Souta frowned, not understanding what she was saying.

“I-it’s fine! Big Sis totally approves of that kind of thing! Sou-kun is a bit of a late bloomer, so Akane-chan, you have to guide him, alright?!”

Seeing Kikuno clench her fists, Akane and Souta looked at each other. After noticing how close they were, they finally realized the implication of Kikuno’s words and jumped back at the same time.

“N-no, no! Kikuno-senpai, this is a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!!”

“Th-that’s right, Okiku-nee! It’s not what you think…!!”

“No problem! Big Sis won’t tell anyone! Big Sis will keep it a secret for you! Especially not Nanami and Megu-chan, right!!”

Kikuno chattered on, not giving Souta a chance to retort “Huh, why? What can’t be told to anyone? And why specifically can’t you tell those people?”

“Sou-kun is leaving Big Sis behind and becoming an adult first… Even so, remember that Big Sis is still Big Sis though, Sou-kun!”

Kikuno was filled with emotion and shed a tear, which she wiped away with her fingertips.

“If you run into any trouble, call Big Sis, okay?! Also, wh-when it’s over, you two should eat together, okay?!”

Kikuno put the plate of apples cut into the shape of rabbits onto the bed with difficulty and left the room with his cheeks still red and his movements stiff.

“What do you mean by ‘over’?!”

Souta’s question was naturally unanswered, left aside just like that.

“The rabbit apples are delicious.”

“You’re already eating!?… Is something over? Something is over, right?”

“For example, Souta-kun's life?”

“It was forced to end! It's all because you ate the apples immediately!”

Akane smiled and thought, "Souta-kun is so interesting when he's full of energy" while carefully chewing her apple.

Because it would soon be midnight, Akane decided to retreat from the room after ending Souta's life and the conversation. I really wanted to talk a bit more… Although she harbored such thoughts in her heart, the opportunity would come again in the future.

From now on, they were dorm buddies. There was no need to rush, there would be plenty of opportunities to improve their relationship. Smiling at the thought, Akane said goodnight to Souta.

Souta, left alone in the room, swallowed the words he was about to say to Akane along with the apple, and fell back on the bed.

“……”

He stared at the ceiling in deep thought for a rather long time. Although he gradually became sleepier and almost fell asleep, he still got up and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

It seemed to be lights-out time already, so the hall was dimly lit with night lights. The bathroom at the front of the hall was brightly lit, and it was obvious that someone was already there.

“…Nanami.”

“Wah uh huh huh huh huh.”

Nanami was brushing her teeth in her pajamas, and whatever she said was completely unintelligible. If what you said while brushing your teeth could be understood, there would usually be toothpaste dripping out of your mouth. That gets pretty messy. As for which is better, it’s case by case. That is, container buy container.”

The sight of the two of them talking to each other with toothpaste flowing out of their mouths would be rather crazy, so they brushed their teeth side by side in silence to avoid that situation.

Souta didn’t want to look at his mirror image... Strictly speaking, he didn’t want to look above his head, so he glanced at Nanami through the mirror.

“……”

At this time, Souta finally realized something strange.

Huh...?

He noticed something about Nanami that he had never really paid attention to until now.

Once he noticed it, he even wondered why he didn’t think about it earlier.

Nanami’s… flag, I’ve never… seen it even once.

No matter who it was, they would raise a flag at least once or twice. Love flag, death flag, defeat flag, disagreement flag, reunion flag, attack flag…

As long as they lived together for two or three days, he would still see some.

However, Nanami was the only one who couldn’t raise any kind of flag.

“No... that’s not right... it shouldn’t be. It’s not that she can’t raise a flag. It’s probably…”

Nanami finally noticed Souta’s suspicious behavior of freezing with his toothbrush in his mouth. She gargled out her mouthwash, wiped the corners of her mouth with a towel, and asked warily:

“What? Why is thy expression like that of a guy who transferred to another school and found out that the girl who was one year older than him who he admired like a big sister is now his classmate?”

“That’s the true story though?!”

Because he hadn’t gargled it out yet, toothpaste dripped down from Souta’s mouth. Why haven’t you gargled it out yet?

“Thou art so messy!”

Because Nanami scolded him, Souta washed his mouth and gargled. Specifically, it was gargle gargle gargle puh. Why did you gargle three times?

While doing these things, Souta gradually came to a conclusion.

It’s not that Nanami’s flag can’t be raised.

I’m afraid... I’m afraid that Nanami's flag is the only one I can’t see…”

Seeing Souta staring at her with wide eyes again, Nanami retreated slightly.

“Wh-What…?”

That fleeting, unbelievable thought urged Souta to gaze at Nanami intensely and say:

“Nanami… might be someone special to me.”

“Wh-…!? What does that mean?!"

Nanami's face instantly turned red, as if she was about to spit fire and gas, and she raised her voice. It’s best not to spit gas along with fire; that’s dangerous.

“Exactly, Sou-kun! How are you going to explain this to Akane-chan?!”

“Okiku-nee!?”

Kikuno came to the bathroom with toothbrushes at the perfect time, and her incomprehensible question scared Souta silly.

“Ah! Uh! Sorry! I’m sorry, Sou-kun!! Big Sis didn’t mean to blame you! A-and yeah, changing your mind is just human nature, you can’t be blamed for that! Big Sis is just too narrow-minded!!”

“No, Okiku-nee, what are you talking about…”

Big Sis’ heart was as wide as the sea, but she would raise up waves to sweep up Souta’s words, dragging them to the depths of the ocean trenches so that they can never come back. Thus it was common for their communication to fail.

“It’s okay! You don’t need to say anything, Sou-kun! It’s okay! Big Sis will help you explain it to Akane-chan! Akane-chan is a good kid, she will definitely understand, Sou-kun!”

But Big Sis didn’t understand at all.

“Ugh… Oh god…”

What Kikuno would explain to Akane remained a mystery, but Souta didn’t think he could see a bright future.

But on the other hand, no matter what she explained to Akane, Akane seemed to listen with feigned understanding and give a completely unrelated positive explanation. So you could say it was no harm no foul.

“Then Big Sis will go, okay? Sou-kun can rest assured and be happy! Just like Big Sis, Akane-chan should also want Sou-kun to be happy! Y’know?”

After saying this, Kikuno made Nanami and Souta hold each other’s hands tightly and then left the bathroom brimming with self-satisfaction. As you all know, she didn’t gargle. Because she hadn’t brushed her teeth yet. After all, it’d be weird to gargle when you clearly haven’t brushed your teeth.

Anyways, the two of them were once again stunned into place thanks to Kikuno.

“…We are tired. We shall go to bed…”

“Oh, okay. Goodnight, Nanami.”

Souta looked above the back of Nanami’s head as she returned to her room...

While wondering whether there was an invisible flag planted there.

Is the problem with Nanami or Souta?

Enveloped by the aforementioned mysteries, their life in Quest House and the academy passed by smoothly and peacefully…

Translator notes and references

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