I Want to Fall in Love After Getting Reincarnated as the Heroine on the Verge of a Bad Ending, but My OP Older Brother Won’t Leave Me Alone!? - Chapter 174
Translated by: ShinigamiTori
Chapter 174 ? The Start of a Strange Feeling 1
The rank exam is now less than a month away.
My stomach feels like it might develop a hole just thinking there’s no more time left, but all I can do now is give it my all to avoid any regrets.
After school today, I stayed behind in the classroom with the usual members—Therese, Willy, Reinhardt, the prince, and Yoshida—for a study session.
“Oh, I see! I totally forgot that formula!”
“……..”
The prince has such excellent grades that there is absolutely no need for him to stay after school to study, but he still accompanies us and is now tutoring Willy.
Although the two are completely different types of people, they seem to get along well, and I was surprised when I heard that Willy had gone to the royal palace by himself the other day.
It’s heartwarming to imagine the two of them playing together.
“Rene-chan, you’ve made a mistake there.”
“Oh, you’re right. Thanks!”
Meanwhile, I’m focusing intently on the practice questions, getting occasional feedback from Reinhardt, who’s seated next to me.
“Still, Reinhardt has really moved on to a whole different level….”
A year ago, he was stuck in the same F-rank as me, but in the blink of an eye, he became a B-rank.
His impressive growth is said to be something rarely seen at Heartful Academy, and he’s been drawing a lot of attention. I know it’s not just his innate talent but also his tireless efforts that brought him here, which makes me admire him even more.
“No, that’s not true! I want to be by your side more than anyone else, Rene-chan.”
“Really? Thank??Wait, your pen is stabbing into your hand!”
With his eyes sparkling, Reinhardt tightly grabbed my hand along with the pen, and I couldn’t help but worry about his pain sensitivity.
I can’t thank him enough for always being there to support and watch over me.
“Rene-senpai, you’re really close with everyone.”
“Hehe, yep, that’s the case.”
Also, Luka has fully adjusted to our circle and is studying with us for the rank exam.
Next to me, Luka was smoothly solving the problems in the workbook, and there were nothing but red circles marking the answers.
It was all early first-year material, so I thought I could help him if needed—but it seemed the questions Luka was solving were at a fairly advanced level, and I didn’t understand any of it.
“Let’s see… I’ll use this formula… Oh, it’s not working.”
“Ah, for that, you should use this one.”
Instead, I’ve become the one learning from Luka, completely losing any sense of elder sisterly pride. It seems he’s already studied halfway through the second-year material, which brings tears of awe to my eyes.
“Yoshida-senpai, could you help me with this?”
“Sure.”
“……..”
I’ll leave the academic support to Yoshida, and I’ll focus on doing my best in more physical ways, like shielding Luka if arrows come flying.
“Lukas-kun, you’re amazing. I heard you did great in the magic class, too.”
“Thank you, but I just got lucky.”
“And humble, too.”
When I introduced him as an old, important acquaintance of mine, everyone accepted it without question. Since I have no memory, I just vaguely dodged talking about the past.
“I wanted to see Rene-senpai, so I came over. Is that alright?”
Initially, I was the one who went to see him, but he has no problem coming to the upperclassmen’s floor, and he’s been visiting more often, saying he wants to get along with my friends.
There’s still a lot I don’t know about Luka, but I’m happy that we’re slowly getting closer.
Everyone will be shocked when I finally reveal he’s my brother.
“Oh, right! I almost forgot to give this to you, Rene.”
Willy pulled out a small plush toy from the depths of his messy bag.
“T-This is…?”
The limp arms and legs are unusually long, and it’s impossible to tell what kind of creature it is. Its entire body is blue, its eyes are out of focus, and its tongue is hanging out of its mouth.
It looks like a dimwitted monster, or worse, a cursed doll.
“Last weekend, I went back home for a family gathering. I went to a nearby temple to pray for help in studying. While I was there, they were selling figurines of the god of studying, so I bought one for you too.”
“Ehhh?”
To my shock, this odd figure is apparently a representation of the god of studies. I immediately apologized internally for my disrespectful thoughts. Please forgive me.
I was deeply moved that Willy had bought a figurine for me as well.
“Let’s do our best together!”
“T-Thank you…! I’ll work even harder!”
I hugged the god figurine tightly and said my thanks. I’m going to treasure it and display it on my desk in my room so that it can watch over me.
“What a cute doll. It has… a certain charm, doesn’t it?”
Next to me, Luka is smiling at the doll. When he said that, the doll started to look cuter.
Placing the doll beside my pencil case, I resumed studying. After about three hours, everyone’s rides arrived.
“Seems like someone has come to pick me up, so I’ll be heading back soon.”
“I’ll take my leave here as well.”
“Alright, good job today! Thank you so much, see you tomorrow!”
“Yeah.”
I waved goodbye to everyone as they left. I had requested my ride to come a bit later, so I would be leaving last.
Being with everyone really helps me push myself and it’s been productive, so I’m thankful for that.
“Nee-san, you’ve worked hard. Finally, it’s just the two of us.”
Eventually, it was just me and Luka in the classroom, and he hugged my arm tightly. Luka lives in the dormitory, which is just a five-minute walk from the academy. My little brother, you’re such an angel today as well.
“What did you eat to become so cute?”
“Hahaha, what’s that supposed to mean?”
His overwhelming cuteness is almost terrifying. If he asked, I’d probably hand over everything I own.
“Are you going to keep studying, Nee-san?”
“Yeah. It’ll probably take a little while until my ride arrives, so you can go back first, Luka. You’ve got dinner time at the dorm, right?”
“Okay. See you tomorrow, Nee-san.”
It makes me happy that Luka says “See you tomorrow” so naturally.
Recently, I’ve been meeting Luka in this classroom often, and since I haven’t run into Julius, there haven’t been any issues.
I saw Luka off, waving at him with a smile, and then headed back to the classroom.
“Alright, let’s keep going.”
I decided to switch to studying with my flashcards so I could leave as soon as my ride arrived. As I was putting away my study materials, I noticed something odd.
“… Huh? The doll from Willy isn’t here.”
It was definitely on the desk just a moment ago, but it’s vanished all of a sudden.
“N-No way… It moves…?”
In Japan, dolls moving would just be a horror story, but in a world with magic, it’s plausible that a doll could move. Especially if it’s a representation of a god.
However, if I saw that doll walking around my room in the middle of the night, I think I’d be too scared to stop crying.
“G-God…? Where did you go…?”
It was a gift from Willy, something precious. I racked my brains trying to find it, and began a thorough search of the classroom.
TN: Yeah, moving doll is a big no-no for me…. T.T
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