After handing in food tickets we waited at a table.
“Not just high schoolers and parents — actual college students too.”
“Clubs and circles run in summer.”
“Right — you’re not in clubs/circles? Interest-wise?”
“Got recruited heavily at welcome festival but uninterested. Plus clubs would cut time with Yuito.”
“Yeah — that reason is petty.”
(But the principal job of a college student is studying — if you’ve got that handled, no club is fine.)
The food came. Eating in a campus dining hall makes you feel college-ish.
“Heading to the bathroom while I drop my dishes.”
“Have fun.”
I came back to see a visibly flashy guy hitting on her.
“Your uniform’s Shinshiroike — actually, I’m an alum, I’ll specially guide you around as a senior-junior thing.”
“I’m good.”
“Don’t say that — it’ll be fun, come on.”
He was pushing. Probably a current Sahoda student. I cut in.
“She’s not interested — please stop.”
“Hey, don’t butt in. Also — who are you?”
“Yuito’s my younger brother.”
“You came to open campus with your big sister? Wild. Time to wean yourself off the big sis habit, kid.”
The guy was talking trash. Anger building. Then Kano dropped a bomb.
“Oh — also, we’re step siblings and engaged to marry in the future, so he’s my brother and my fiancé.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
He and I made the same sound. Step-sibling fiancé? What anime is this?
“Wait — is this for real?”
“S-something like that.”
I went along with it. The contempt switched immediately to envy.
“Damn — I wish I had a beautiful older-sister-fiancée too…”
He was sulking when a few people with Open Campus Staff logos appeared and surrounded him. He was escorted away.
“Done.”
“The flashy senpai is gone — but step-sibling fiancé? What?”
“Just siblings felt weak — I added step and fiancé. Also: polite forms.”
(In a high-pressure moment I’d slipped back.)
“Why did the staff materialize like that?”
“I LIMEd Kamishiraishi-senpai — she’s open-campus staff — to come grab him. Pretended I’d happened to see a high schooler getting hassled.”
“She does that?”
I hadn’t pictured Kamishiraishi-san as open-campus staff. She felt more like club-bar-on-weekends.
“Apparently she joined as staff specifically to befriend younger boys.”
”…Maybe she should be flagged as a person of concern too.”
“She didn’t make a move on you at the goukon, so probably fine.”
(Maybe even Kamishiraishi-san draws the line at high schoolers at open-campus.)
We left the dining hall.