I (30), Who Works for a Black Company and Died While Regretting My Gloomy Life, Started Over From High School! - chapter 8

 8.My brother can’t be this cool.

“It’s been two weeks already. …… It’s been going by quickly”.

It was Sunday afternoon.

I was sitting in the living room at home, snacking on a homemade sandwich.

The first night I returned to the past, I was afraid to go to sleep.

I was afraid that in the morning I would wake up from this dream of an impossible world of the past.

But this dream did not end when I woke up the next day.

So I went back and forth between home and school as I used to do – and it’s been two weeks now.

(But I wonder what happened to Shijoin-san, after the day I sent her off to her house, we talked as usual but sometimes she would suddenly get shy)

If this is a romantic comedy, that’s a sign that she’s being conscious of me, but that’s not possible.

She’s so friendly and kind to everyone that it’s easy to misunderstand her, but I’m sure she still sees me as a mob character with a name.

(Fufufu,… “I think she likes me!“ What a common fantasy of virgins! I’m not like that time from high school, I’ ve got to take my time and build up her affection towards me every day.)

“Oh, ……, Aniki.”

“Oh, Good morning, Kanako.”

I looked up and saw my sister, Kanako, standing there.

She is an second-year junior high school student with twin-tailed hair, which only a young girl is allowed to have, and her language is a bit rude despite her very pretty face.

In my previous life, my mother worried too much about me and died suddenly, which made her hate me, and I became estranged from her.

“You haven’t had lunch yet, have you? I made a sandwich for you. I’ll brew you some tea.”

“…………”

I left my seat to make a cup of tea in the kitchen for my sister, who was silent with a difficult look on her face for some reason.

If you follow the basics of properly brewing the tea leaves and pour them into a cup filled with hot water, the color and even the aroma of cheap tea will be good.

“Here’s your tea. What’s with the difficult face? Was it bad?”

When I returned to the living room, Kanako was munching on her sandwich, but for some reason her face looked rather suspicious.

“………… Weird.”

“What’s wrong? What, you don’t like something? Maybe because I used spicy butter on the egg sandwich? Or that the Japanese onion-bacon sandwich had too much pepper?”

“It’s not the sandwich that’s weird, It’s you Aniki!”

My sister screamed loudly as if she couldn’t take it anymore.

“What the hell is going on here? What’s with these delicious sandwiches and fragrant tea!　You’ve also been making meat and potatoes, curry, hamburgers, and more for Mom, and they’re all so delicious! I just don’t get it!”

“Well, I just thought I’d do a little cooking.”

When I first started living on my own, I started cooking for myself in an attempt to lead a decent life, but it turned out to be surprisingly fun and grew into a hobby.

However, the grueling workload of being a company slave naturally put an end to such time-consuming hobbies, and I ended up eating out or eating lunch at convenience stores for over a decade, which contributed to my ruined health.

But now that I’m back in high school, where I have more free time, I’ve started cooking again, partly to ease my mother’s burden.

“It’s not like you’ve done a little cooking! On top of that, you voluntarily wash and dry your laundry, clean the house, and study at your desk every day. ……! What the hell is wrong with you? Have you eaten something weird?”

That’s a lot to cover, but all of them are mostly for my mom.

I swore to myself that I would try to make my mother smile and live after worrying her so much and causing her to die.

The first step was to make things easier for her by helping her with the cooking and housework, and the second step was to study, partly for myself of course, but also so that my mother wouldn’t have to worry about my future.

(Studying is fun now that I have an adult mindset…….)

Apparently, people are more motivated to learn after they grow up and realize the importance of learning, and studying, which I used to hate, has become quite interesting now.

After all, the more you learn, the more you can improve your future life.

Solving a problem is like a game, and you can’t help but get excited about it.

” You’ ve gone from having shaggy hair to having your eyebrows trimmed! You’ve even started running early in the morning! The next thing I know, your voice is loud and clear and you’re no longer a gloomy nerd. ……! Did you fall into a lake somewhere and get replaced by a cool big brother?”

Stop the parade of disparaging remarks about your brother.

In the first place, grooming is seriously essential for working people.

If you are untidy, the attitude of female employees will be terrible, and you will be looked down upon by the employees of your business partners, resulting in an more frequent anger from your boss.

So if I didn’t get that right at the very least, my body would feel uncomfortable, as if I were out on the battlefield bare naked.

“I was worried that my idiot brother was doing something influenced by manga again, but he hasn’t lost that reborn style for two weeks now! It’ s weird, so please explain to me what’s going on!”

I was so excited to get into the body of a high school student who is healthy and has a beautiful future ahead of him, that I put a lot of enthusiasm into it. …… Surely, from my sister’s point of view, my changes are not at the level of being weird.

But what to do ……? If I were to honestly say, “I’m from the future,” they’d seriously call an ambulance.

“That ……, actually. I have someone I like.”

“Yes, …….”

“I’ve always had a crush on this person, but after …… a lot of things, I’ve come to the conclusion that I definitely want to make her my girlfriend. But the gloomy, cowardly, and incapable person I’ve always been is just not good enough for her.”

Kanako, perhaps not expecting the conversation to turn that way, gulped and listened to my story.

“That’s why I decided to change. I’ve done grooming, study, and sports. I’m trying to change the gloomy and sullen voice I used to have to a cheerful and loud voice, and I’m trying to improve myself so that I can do housework, cooking, and everything else to become a better person.”

” Ah, yeah, that ……….. seriously? Are you serious, Aniki?”

“I’m serious I have never been popular, that’s why I’m trying to be a more attractive person.”

“～～～～～～～～! That’s great! That’s really great, Aniki!”

When I finished speaking, Kanako respectfully looked at me with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Aniki! I can’t believe that my dark as shit Aniki would say something like that! You’re really cool for changing for the girl you love!　Wow, the power of love is really great!”

“Dark as shit…..”

“Yeah, that’s really great! I always thought that you would spend the rest of your life hiding in your room, reading novels, watching anime, and just become a laughingstock!..”

“I’m gonna get mad. Hey!?”

After raising my voice, I realized that, come to think of it, the only thing I enjoyed during my life as a company slave was reading novels, anime and playing games at home, so Kanako’s prediction was totally on the mark.

…… It’s sad.

” So,.. what kind of girl is it that you love? A beautiful girl? A gal? An athletic girl? I can only guess that she has big tits, which you like!”

As a junior high school student, she seemed to be very interested in the topic of romance, and my sister asked me, somewhat excitedly, about the girl I was in love with.

But well, it’s not like something to hide. If you wish to hear about it, I’ll tell you all about it, Kanako.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you. This girl is my classmate. Her name is–”

So I told my sister as much as I could think of the charms of Shijoin-san. …… After a mere 20 minutes, my sister reached her limit.

“Ah,..Enough! That’s it! Because I already know how much Aniki loves that person! You know, the fact that you talk so much when you talk about what you like hasn’t changed at all!

“I haven’t told you enough yet……. Well, but now you understand how great of a person Shijoin-san is, don’t you?”

“I mean, what’s with that person …… who’s beautiful, has big tits, is a rich young lady, and is so kind and innocent …… that she’s willing to talk to anyone? Is she actually real? It’s like the embodiment of your delusions.”

“It sure sounds like a bunch of delusional nonsense when you analyze it calmly. …… Ah well, then I’ll show you what she’s actually like.”

She began to doubt the existence of Shijoin-san because of her many specs, so I had no choice but to go back to my room and bring the class group photo.

It was a photo I had taken on my phone later in my previous life, and I had seen it on the verge of death just before I returned to the past.

“Wow ……, are you for real? Wow …… what’s this, she’s so beautiful and she’s got such huge tits …… and she’s got such a pure smile …….”

” Yeah, isn’t she cute. That’s Shijoin-san.”

“Why is Aniki so proud of himself ……? But if she’s this beautiful, it must be a confession fest. Are you really sure she doesn’t have a boyfriend?”

“Yeah, I heard that she’s so popular with the boys in the school that whenever someone tries to confess, they get interrupted by others. And she’s so innocent that she doesn’t even notice the hot stares that are directed at her.”

“Eh, …… what’s that? …… Why not just let the person who wants to be kicked get kicked? It’s so ridiculous and disgusting to make such an unspoken rule and sabotage those who have the courage to do so.”

“That’s harsh, Oi. Well, it’s definitely a stupid unspoken rule, but it’s not so much that everyone is abiding it, it’s more like once it’s in place, no one can break it.

“But ……, that means if you try to confess, you’ll be interrupted by all the cowardly guys around you.”

“You’re right. But it doesn’t matter.”

In order to confess to Shijoin-san, in addition to earning her favor and deciding when it’s ” the right time ” to confess, I may also be hindered by the rivals around me.

But I’m no longer delicate enough to be freaked out by such things.

As long as I have this crazy “regret” in my heart, my mental strength is invincible.

“I’m no longer the guy who sat around waiting for a heroine to fall from the sky. No matter who’s in my way, I’m going to blow them all away and confess……. All I have to do is go out there and win.”

A nerdy guy like me dreamed of something like that.

I’m hoping that an unexpected encounter with a beautiful girl from the sky, from another world, or from a detour on the way to school will happen and change this dull everyday life.

But even after 30 years of waiting, there was never a single girl to be encountered at these events, let alone Shijoin-san.

I realized that there was no point in waiting any longer.

“Well said, Aniki! I’m seriously impressed!”

I looked over at Kanako and saw that she was very excited.

She even seems to be a little moved somehow.

“It’s seriously amazing that you can say it like that! If you confess, you’ll definitely succeed! Because Aniki is really cool right now!”

“Kanako……”

Even in my previous life, this girl was a shining example of the opposite of me, with her innate cuteness and communication skills.

That’s why she always thought of me as her “dark and dull older brother,” and the older we got, the less we talked.

“Do your best, Aniki! I’m rooting for you!”

Such Kanako described me as cool, and was supporting me wholeheartedly.

This fact made me feel as if I had gained something that I had been missing out the whole time, and it made my eyes get hot.

” Oh, I’ll do my best! I’ll even bring her home when she becomes my girlfriend!

“Ahahaha! That’s the spirit! Fight, Aniki!”

And so the afternoon of the holiday went by.

Slowly, I had a precious moment where I could talk and laugh with Kanako, who hated me so much in my previous life.