Chapter 12
 The Kaminagi Siblings
I go to KĆchĆ« Academy, a private school with three programs: an advanced course aimed at top universities, a sports course, and a general course.
Iâm in the advanced course, which means we even have âsummer classesâ during the week starting August 20th.
Iâm actually pretty smart⊠or so I say. My grades usually hover around the 20th place out of 30.
But I also have another important duty: picking up my best friend, Seiya Kaminagi, the top student in the advanced course.
Seiya lives with his younger sister Tsukiyo Kaminagi, and on school days I stop by their place in the morning. In fact, I even have a spare key to their apartment. At this point Iâm basically their liveâin spouse.
I climb the stairs of their lowâsecurity twoâstory apartment and stop in front of Room 204, the second from the end.
I ring the bell once, but if that were enough to wake them up, I wouldnât be here.
Using the spare key, I step inside. Itâs small, but technically a 1LDK. Passing through a kitchen that barely looks like a kitchen, I reach the living room. Time to wake them up.
âFwaaaahhhââ
Suddenly the door opens, and out into the living room comes a yawning girl: Tsukiyo Kaminagi herself.
Sheâs wearing a rumpled pink pajama set, rubbing her eyes with a dazed look. Probably just woke up to use the bathroom or something.
Even disheveled like this, Tsukiyo is so pretty you canât help but stare.
âHuhâŠ?â
âHey, good morning.â
Our eyes meet. Sheâs still halfâasleep, but as the seconds tick by, her awareness catches up, and her eyes go wide.
âEh!? Eh!? What are you doing here, TaiyĆ!?â
âTodayâs a school day. Youâre in the advanced course too, remember?â
âOh⊠oh yeah, thatâs rightâŠâ
She seems convinced. Sheâs not the type to actually forget a school day. Itâs just that, like her brother, sheâs such a sleepyhead that scenes like this happen.
And one more thing I should point outâ
âAnyway, how about you get changed? I donât know where to look.â
âEh?â
Tsukiyo glances down at herself. Her pajama top has ridden up, showing off a cute little belly button. Because itâs still hot out, her bare shoulders and upper arms are also exposed.
Somehow, in her current stateâŠ
âKyahhh!?â
She hastily fixes her clothes, dashes back into her room, and hides herself completely behind the door, peeking out only her face with her long chestnut hair hanging down.
Her cheeks are red with embarrassment, and she wonât meet my eyes.
âShowing myself off like that⊠how embarrassingâŠâ
A girl as cute as Tsukiyo loses nothing by itâin fact, itâs all gain. This is partly why I canât quit this job.
Still⊠there are limits.
âActually, this is one of the better days. That time you were just in your underwear⊠that was really something.â
âStoooop! Iâm not going to school anymore!â
She slams the door shut and holes up inside. Well, sheâs not really the type to skip, so itâs fine. Hopefully thisâll make her a bit more careful.
But honestlyâ
âSheâs so cute.â
âOi. Keep it down.â
The voice comes from the living room couchâthe actual master of this house.
Waking him up was another reason for the loud conversation just now.
Seiya Kaminagi, my best friend and Tsukiyoâs big brother.
âSeiya, itâs late. Get up already.â
Seiya sits up, throws off his blanket, and grabs his phone from the table.
â7:30⊠Itâs still night.â
âAre you blind? The sunâs already up!â
Both brother and sister are total spaceâcases in the morning.
Youâd never think this guyâace student, top scores across all subjectsâcould be like this.
Seiya runs a hand through his messy chestnut hair. Side by side, Seiya and Tsukiyo are truly twins in appearance. If the sister is a breathtaking beauty⊠then Seiya Kaminagi is best described as a onceâinâaâgeneration handsome young man.
With a face worthy of an idol or actor, he draws sighs of admiration from the girls at school.
As a fellow guy I donât care about his looks, but his overwhelming presence really is something. âŠEven if it means I have to come drag him out of bed every morning.
âIâm skipping school today.â
âYouâre saying the same thing as your sister, you idiot! Get up!â
I yank off his futon and give him a kick. Another noisy morning begins.
But honestlyâŠ
The days I spend with the Kaminagi siblings are the ones I look forward to the most.