1 A new day starts!

"——!!?"

He was about to scream, but it was interrupted by a figure standing in front of the lit door frame.

"brother—!!"

Mia Kazehaya, my younger sister, jolted me awake. She was still in her nightgown. She must have just awoken and entered my room.

"Wake up, it's morning! Mommy is cooking fried rice!!"

Mia showed a joyful smile. She ran across the room and stopped beside his bed. And after telling his brother about breakfast, she walked to the door of the room.

"W-wait, Mia..."

Mia, who was now standing in front of my bedroom door, I questioned. She snatched the handle and turned to face me before walking away.

I got from my bed and headed over to my closet. I went through my closet looking for my favorite shirt. But suddenly.

"—?!"

Mia took my arms in hers and dragged me towards the door. She has not yet left my room.

"Now come on, brother! I want to eat!"

"You know you can leave without me, right?"

"Mmm… I really want to eat with you!"

"Haah… fine, just let me get some clothes on"

"But you're wearing clothes"

"I would like to change. I don't want to wear pajamas when we're eating"

"Why not? I did it in the past, daddy didn't say anything about my clothes"

"I think it's because you're a little girl…"

I chuckled. And again, Mia got flustered.

I'm lucky to have such a cute little sister

"Now come on! Get ready!"

Mia pulled my arms, but she was too weak to pull a 64-kilogram human. I wasn't even trying to fight back.

"Could you get out of my room, I'm trying to change my clothes here!"

"I won't look!"

"Then stare at that wall—!"

Mia turned around furiously, not even moving another inch to any other direction.

—the door knocked. The sound of the knock seemed familiar to me, because I told someone to knock first at the door before coming in.

"Excuse me, Mister Kado is awaiting you three to come to the dining room"

It was our housemaid who had called. Her only responsibility is to clean the house and wash our clothing, but she never does it by herself. Mia or her mother occasionally assists her with the dishes and clothes.

"Come on brother! Father is waiting for us—"

"—I'm done"

I touched Mia's head, turning her around.

Once leaving my room and into the hallway, the smell of fried rice struck my nose like a needle.

I do not care about what food I eat for breakfast. If it's delicious, then it is what I eat. Even if there is no food on top of the table, which happened once, I always open up the fridge and make scrambled eggs myself.

"Good morning, father!"

I greeted my father. He was sitting on the couch, watching television while waiting for me and his daughter.

"Good morning to you too, Shouta"

After that, we all express our gratitude and enjoy the fried rice that our mother prepared for us.

I was eating my fried rice at the time. Yamamoto Kaede, our maid, was standing near the kitchen stove. Her arms were crossed in front of her stomach, and her gaze was fixed on the family at the table.

I was annoyed when I looked at her since there was one person who was not enjoying this delicious breakfast.

"Miss Yamamoto, are you going to eat?"

She was surprised. My call made her jump a little.

"Yeah, eat with us! Miss Yamamoto!"

"Uhh… uhmmm"

Her eyes looked at my father.

My father nodded and before I knew it, Miss Yamamoto was allowed to eat alongside us.

"—where are you going, brother?"

"School of course!"

"But… it's still too early, right?"

"It's better if I go early. And I like it when I arrive at a quiet school than an already busy one"

"So… brother likes being left alone?"

Her question, I do not want to answer.

She's right. I like it when I'm left alone. It makes me calm and removes every single stress out of my head. But, I do not always want to be left alone.

"Not… really"

"So then, what does brother really like?"

I walked to the door of the house. I was already in my school uniform, my bag hanging from my shoulder.

I do not like leaving questions unanswered. Plus, the question was from my little sister that I adore too much.

"A little bit of both, you could say that"

I believe Mia noticed my little smirk, as I opened the door and left the house.

My house isn't that big nor is it that small. It's a classic japanese style housing and luckily, for me, the station was only a minute or two away from my house.

I scanned my card and walked on top of the station's platform. It was quiet. I wasn't surprised that it was quiet. The cold morning breeze and the sun just peeping out of the horizon. A great time and place to be.

"..."

What could make this moment even more calming? I think there's nothing to add for this moment to be more than it is now.

At last, after waiting for 5 minutes, I could hear the train tracks rumbling as the train wheels rolled through the houses.

The warning bell rang then the doors opened.

It was already cold outside, but when I walked into the train, it got even colder. Is there no heater? I thought trains in winter were supposed to put some heater on, right?

Before the bell rang again, I sat down at the nearest seat to the door.

I stretched out my arms and legs. No one was on the train except me, so it's probably okay to stretch out as far as I want, I won't bother anyone.

the bell rang as the doors opened. I dashed out of the train and immediately scanned my card.

It now takes only a few seconds to reach the school's front gates.

But first, I had to satisfy my hunger. It appears that the fried rice my mother prepared for me was insufficient to satisfy my stomach.

The supermarket close to the school was fully operational. It is, after all, open 24 hours a day. It has the foods that I require to refuel my stomach: noodles, burgers, and a great can of coffee.

"That'll be 110 yen"

"Here"

I grabbed the plastic bag from the cashier's hands. The supermarket was also supplying hot water. There, I will cook my noodles.

It was still dark outside. I only saw a little sunlight when I was walking in the direction of the supermarket, west from my school.

"I'm probably too early…"

I guess I need to wait for enough students to arrive at the school.

If I'm alone in a building that is bigger than my house, I do not like that. Maybe 10 or more students need to be present.

—If I hear a sound and know that there is no one inside the building. It could make me run down the stairs and out of the building, and then wait for the others to come.

I opened the lid and began eating my noodles. It was spicy, I liked it.

The doors of the supermarket opened.

"Good morning, Shouta"

"Good morning…"

"..."

"—eh?! Sara?!"

A girl, in the female uniform of my school, was standing near the racks near the front door. She has long brown hair. Her height was 156 centimeters.

—She was one of the popular girls in the school.