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Having experienced Kana’s outrageous behavior, Asuto finally understood what people meant by the following:
“Biological siblings have no concept of gender boundaries.”
That evening, perhaps sensing that the whole family would be reunited that night, Asuto and Kana’s parents chose not to work overtime for once.
“My proud son! Come and see what your father bought for you!”
Just as Asuto and Kana were preparing dinner, an incredibly ‘rich person’-like voice suddenly rang out from the entrance.
Asuto froze briefly when he heard it before black lines appeared all over his face.
‘What kind of ridiculous dialogue was that supposed to be?’
Walking over to the entranceway, Asuto saw a smiling middle-aged man carrying a watermelon and putting on slippers.
“Huh? A watermelon? Dad, did something good happen today?”
Kana also walked over. The moment she saw the watermelon in the hands of the middle-aged man, Akashi Hisanobu, the father of the two siblings, her eyes lit up with surprise.
Due to Japan’s geography and environmental conditions, fruit production was very low, and most fruit had to be imported, which made prices generally expensive.
Watermelons in particular had practically reached the level of a “luxury item.”
It was already the middle of summer, yet Asuto had not eaten a single watermelon since he had arrived.
“Hahahaha…”
Akashi Hisanobu laughed happily, clearly in a very good mood. He was just about to say something when, suddenly… The front door opened once more.
A woman in office attire, carrying yet another watermelon, walked in.
She was Akashi Hisanobu’s wife and the mother of Asuto and Kana: Hashimoto Kyoko.
“Asuto, come here quickly and look at what Mummy bought for y…”
But before she could finish, she saw the watermelon in Akashi Hisanobu’s hands.
The two looked at each other, and the atmosphere instantly fell silent.
······
“Here you are, Asuto. You’ve been working hard on your extracurricular activities recently. Eat this beef and nourish yourself properly.”
“Asuto, your father bought this watermelon specially for you. Eat it.”
At the dinner table, Kyoko and Hisanobu continuously piled food and fruit onto Asuto’s plate with smiles on their faces.
Meanwhile, Kana, sitting beside them, looked almost like an outsider.
In a family of four, she alone didn’t even seem to deserve a name.
Finally… Kana couldn’t endure it anymore.
“Dad, I want some watermelon too,” She said while looking ingratiatingly at her father.
“Oh? If you want some, just help yourself. You’re old enough to get it yourself.” Akashi Hisanobu replied without even turning his head.
Kana: “…”
“Don’t pay any attention to her. With grades that terrible in this term’s finals, how can she still have the nerve to eat? Why can’t she learn from Asuto and improve her grades, too? At least she could bring home a second-place ranking.” Hashimoto Kyoko rolled her eyes as she spoke.
“Alright, alright, stop talking.” Hisanobu patted Kyoko’s hand comfortingly and said, “Maybe our daughter’s talents just aren’t in academia. I remember her teachers saying that her club activities at school were going well too. Didn’t she participate in a competition recently and get a good result?”
The moment Kana heard her father’s words, she nearly burst into tears.
‘As expected, Dad still loves me.’
Just as she was considering giving her father a heartfelt hug, the next second, Kyoko glared at Hisanobu and said,
“And you still dare to bring that up? Their club didn’t even make it into the top eight. Meanwhile, Asuto has already achieved the club’s best historical result and is now about to lead the team towards the Nationals…”
“Ah, this…” Hisanobu instantly fell silent.
Glancing at his teary-eyed daughter beside him, he sighed deeply and realized he could no longer say anything.
Kana felt as though she had been struck by lightning.
In that moment, she began to doubt her entire life.
She simply could not understand. She had only been away from home for two months, so why did her family suddenly feel so unfamiliar?
Especially her younger brother.
Aside from being pretty handsome, she could not remember him having any other strengths.
But now…
‘What on earth did ‘second in the grade’ mean?’
‘And what did ‘leading the club in a charge towards Nationals’ even mean?’
‘Have I lost my memory or something?’
······
Meanwhile, Asuto, once again surrounded by Hisanobu and Kyoko, also felt helpless.
One look at the two of them, and he immediately realized that they had found out about his performance at school. They had probably found out during the training camp; otherwise, they wouldn’t be reacting like this today.
Honestly, Asuto felt like he should be happy, but, in reality, he mostly felt embarrassed.
Although he was the one who had actually accomplished all those things, Hisanobu and Kyoko should have been praising the original Asuto.
Caught in the middle, Asuto felt oddly conflicted, as if he couldn’t move forward or backward properly.
Fortunately, dinner ended fairly quickly.
…
Early the next morning, Asuto woke up as usual and began his morning training routine.
Just after finishing his warm-up, he suddenly heard the system notification sound in his mind, instantly lifting his spirits.
[Ding······]
[Congratulations, Host, for secretly training during the students’ precious summer vacation… Long-distance Running (Endurance Training), exceeding your teammates’ training volume by more than double and completing a Low-Level Involution.]
[Stamina · Grind Value +0.1]
‘It’s back, it’s back.’
‘Now this feels right!’
Sure enough, the holidays were the best opportunity for “involution.”
Even the team’s most dedicated members clearly wouldn’t keep training hard during the summer break.
Time to grind!
· · · ·
“Achoo!”
In the middle of the night, Nishison Tomohiko suddenly sneezed, and after groggily rubbing his nose, he quickly fell back asleep.
…
For the rest of the summer holidays, Asuto’s training plan remained the same:
“Strengthen his strengths while simultaneously compensating for his weaknesses.”
With his cheat-like system, he was fully capable of doing both at once.
Aside from that, Asuto also planned to start learning advanced skills, focusing primarily on advanced spiking and serving techniques.
He had already prepared for the fact that training Advanced Skills required actual hard practice.
After finishing his basic training in the morning, he spent part of the afternoon reading and relaxing. Then, in the evening, he picked up a volleyball and headed to the nearest multi-purpose sports complex.
After arriving at the sports complex, Asuto sat down in the resting area beside the courts while holding his volleyball.
Volleyball wasn’t actually an especially popular sport.
At least in Japan, it was nowhere near as popular as baseball.
So, even though there were quite a few people in the gym, it was common for teams to be short-handed during matches.
Sure enough, after sitting for only a few minutes, someone from one of the courts suddenly shouted:
“Hey! You over there! Do you want to play volleyball?”
Asuto raised his head and grinned.
“Sure!”
(End of Chapter)
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