Chapter 14: Doki Doki literary club

“You’re home early.”

The setting sun still painted the sky in hues of orange.

I greeted my sister at the entrance as she took off her shoes and walked inside, her steps unsteady. I took the bag from her small back.

“Yeah… student council work finished early today. I heard you went home early this morning?”

“Ah, I wasn’t feeling well. I’m fine now.”

“Really?… Yawn, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up for dinner.”

Her voice sounded more listless than usual.

Her eyes drooped with exhaustion, half-hidden behind heavy lids. Even her doll-like face looked relaxed.

She glanced at me briefly, as if confirming my words, then went to her room, her steps faltering slightly.

I watched her go, my gaze full of concern.

Her usually pristine uniform, always impeccably maintained befitting a student council president, was rumpled.

It didn’t suit her usual, perfectly composed appearance.

Was she that tired? It had been a while since I’d last seen her like this, and I hesitated for a moment, unsure what to do.

I couldn’t just ignore it.

I felt a pang of concern.

After pacing outside her door for five minutes, I finally made up my mind and opened it.

The first thing I saw was my sister asleep on the bed, still in her uniform.

She hadn’t even bothered to cover herself with a blanket, sprawled out like a sloth.

Her white shirt had ridden up, revealing her cute belly button.

I walked towards the bed to get a closer look.

I sat down gently on the edge of the bed, and I could hear her soft snores.

I leaned closer, looking at her face.

Her sweet scent filled my senses, and her lovely face, looking younger than her high school age, filled my vision.

They said even the most beautiful faces got boring after three years, but she was an exception. I could look at her forever.

Her large, down-turned eyes, her perfectly shaped nose, her slightly thick eyebrows… every feature blended harmoniously, creating a picture of youthful beauty.

It felt surreal that someone like her and I shared the same genes, a fact I’d never questioned before.

“…Hmm.”

Her plump lips moved slightly, mumbling incomprehensible words, as if she was eating something in her dream.

I lowered my head further and brought my ear closer to her lips, and I could clearly hear what she was saying.

“Mmm… Sia’s… …delicious…”

…What kind of dream was she having?

Feeling a sudden sense of danger, I quickly pulled away, a bead of cold sweat trickling down my cheek.

“…I should probably start preparing dinner.”

Judging by her request to be woken up, she was probably planning to make dinner.

But I didn’t want to wake her up when she was sleeping so soundly.

Besides, I was quite confident in my cooking skills, though not as much as my sister.

And I had nothing else to do, so I decided to prepare dinner.

I was about to leave her room, picturing the contents of the refrigerator in my mind, when a small, soft hand grabbed mine.

“What? You were awake?”

“No… I just woke up. Don’t go. Give me a head massage.”

“A head massage?”

“…”

Her sleepy voice mumbled something unintelligible.

She smiled faintly and tugged at my hand, her eyes half-closed. She looked just like a child asking for something from their parents.

She was acting spoiled, completely abandoning her usual mature demeanor.

This was a rare sight, something she only did when she was extremely tired or sleepy.

I had to start preparing dinner soon if we wanted to eat on time.

I sighed softly and climbed back onto the bed.

She was like a child in this state, quite difficult to handle.

It felt like I was parenting a spoiled child.

Though she looked the part, with her cute appearance.

“…Is this okay?”

“Yes… Sia’s lap is soft… like a plush toy…”

I shifted my legs and settled into a comfortable position.

She wriggled like a caterpillar and rested her head on my lap, her long hair cascading down like a waterfall, covering my bare legs below my skirt.

I smiled faintly, feeling the ticklish weight of her head on my thighs.

“By the way, why are you so tired?”

“I had a late night at the student council yesterday. I came home really late.”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen her last night.

She must have come home very late, since she wasn’t around when I went to bed.

And as student council president, she probably left for school earlier than usual this morning.

She must have been exhausted.

Since she usually kept a regular schedule, the aftereffects must have been even worse.

“Then get some rest. I’ll keep giving you a head massage.”

“Thank you…”

I gently stroked her soft hair, and her fluttering eyelids slowly closed.

Watching her fall asleep, I leaned back against the wall.

I could hear the faint sound of rain outside the window.

Two hours later, my sister finally woke up.

As if she suddenly realized what had happened, her face flushed red like a tomato, and she rushed out of the room, saying she would prepare dinner.

And I couldn’t even stand up for a while because my legs were numb from sitting still for two hours.

“…Ugh.”

I had originally planned to make dinner, but my legs were still trembling. I massaged my tingling thighs and stood up with difficulty.

I could at least tidy up the bed, which she had messed up in her haste. I slowly got up and pulled back the thick blanket. Something rectangular fell out.

“What’s this?”

I picked it up and looked at it closely. It was a photograph. A picture of a girl lying in a hospital bed, in a generic-looking hospital room. Her head was shaved, probably due to surgery, and her skin was pale, making her look frail. Her face, which must have been cute originally, now looked gaunt and pitiful.

Why did my sister have this picture? I turned it over and examined it closely, but there was no information other than the image of the girl.

Well, she must be a hospitalized friend or something. I shrugged it off and placed the picture aside, then straightened the blanket.

Next Chapter