Chapter 93: No wonder it's so childish.
[eleven]
Sometimes, being a high school student can explain everything. No matter how outrageous something is, it seems perfectly normal once it involves a high school student.
Hagiwara Kenji commented, "Because I think it looks cool!"
Furuya Rei stated, "Actually, I don't quite understand, but I'm not that curious about these things."
Matsuda Jinpei casually retorted, "Heh, good student."
Furuya Rei glanced over: "What do you mean?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu smiled and said, "Is Matsuda praising your studies?"
Furuya Rei: "...No, that doesn't sound like that at all, Hiro."
Morofushi Hiroko instinctively wanted to open her mouth, but then realized that the 'Hiro' was not calling her.
"I have a rather subtle feeling about this." Morofushi Hiroko thought to herself.
Hagiwara Kenji commented, "Actually, it doesn't matter what Sora'aki-chan's true identity is. After all, even if he really has a yakuza background, we've already accepted it."
Matsuda Jinpei: "This guy used to have a lot of wild ideas, but it's just aliens, so it's easy to understand."
Morofushi Sora'aki: "I always feel like aliens aren't as cool as other worlds?"
Matsuda Jinpei: "Isn't another world also Earth? But it's not the same Earth, so it's also considered an alien planet. So you're an alien, is there a problem with that?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "..."
Morofushi Sora'aki: "Then to me, Jinpei-chan is also an alien."
Morofushi Sora'aki and Matsuda Jinpei looked at each other for a moment, then extended their hands to each other and clasped them together.
Hagiwara Kenji cheered from the sidelines, "Ta-da! Extraterrestrial diplomatic relations are now established!"
"I came from afar from another planet, so I brought you gifts." said Morofushi Sora'aki.
Matsuda Jinpei asked curiously, "What gift?"
Morofushi Sora'aki took out his phone: "I have a picture of a girl named Furuya on my phone, anyone want to see it?"
Then, everyone present except for Furuya Rei raised their hands: "Yes!"
Including Morofushi Hiroko.
Furuya Rei: "...Hey! You guys?! Hiro too! Even Hiroko-san...?!"
[twelve]
They say it's only Furuya Rei, but in reality, there aren't any gender-swapped photos of Furuya Rei, since their relationship isn't that good.
On the contrary, there are many more photos of Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei.
Kenji Hagiwara stared silently at the photo, falling into a daze: "Where's the promised Furuya?"
Matsuda Jinpei: "Isn't it just Hagi and me?"
Morofushi Sora'aki confessed, "I'm sorry, I forgot that I don't get along with her."
Furuya Rei: "..."
Furuya Rei: "I have a bad feeling."
Matsuda Jinpei clenched his fist: "Exactly! Look, Hiromitsu now has an older brother to pair up with, and Hagi and I have photos too. Isn't there just one person left here?"
Furuya Rei: "...Wait a minute?!"
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "It does feel a bit unfair, doesn't it, Zero?"
"And what about Sora'aki? He's in the same boat!" Rei Furuya immediately dragged him into the fray.
Matsuda Jinpei said, "His older brother is here, let him go for now!"
Hagiwara Kenji held out his hand: "I have a rubber band! Any male high school student who hasn't dressed as a girl has wasted his youth!"
Matsuda Jinpei grinned maliciously: "That's right!"
Furuya Rei: "But the photo doesn't even show you guys, does it?! This isn't the same!"
"Anyway, it's pretty much the same!" Matsuda Jinpei took out a rope.
Furuya Rei's pupils constricted in shock: "Where did you get that rope?!"
Matsuda Jinpei pointed at Morofushi Hiroko: "Provided by my brother."
Morofushi Hiroko, who seemed quite pleased to be called "brother" by her classmates, gave a gentle smile, as if she hadn't done anything wrong.
She felt that getting involved in the high school students' fights wasn't a big deal, so she reduced her presence to almost nothing.
Morofushi Sora'aki revealed the truth: "Actually, my brother was also very happy watching it."
Morofushi Hiroko's smile was exceptionally perfect.
[thirteen]
Furuya Rei was no match for the four of them and was almost completely overwhelmed, his hair tied in twin ponytails. Morofushi Sora'aki, standing to the side, almost instinctively took a picture of him that was considered an embarrassing moment in his life.
The others immediately said, "Send me a copy later! Sora'aki."
Morofushi Sora'aki nodded and then directly selected to send the message to the group. Morofushi Hiroko also said, "Send me a copy when you get home too."
Morofushi Sora'aki didn't get a chance to photograph Furuya Rei (female), but Furuya Rei (male) dressed as a woman is still easy to photograph, especially since he has a group of friends who love to watch the drama unfold.
Furuya Rei is not yet an adult and is not as tall as he will be in the future; he still has a chance to grow taller. However, he is already 18 years old, and the difference in physique between him and a woman is still quite obvious.
Even with a baby face, he looks very strange in women's clothing.
Just then, Matsuda Jinpei suddenly noticed something: "Raki, why are you dressed as a woman?"
Morofushi Sora'aki replied, "I did."
Matsuda Jinpei: "Oh, you've been through..."
The curly-haired boy turned around abruptly, exclaiming in surprise, "You've been through this?!"
[fourteen]
The pleasant time passed quickly. Furuya Rei, with his hair in pigtails, took advantage of the fact that no one was staring at him and quickly untied his braids. Since his hair wasn't particularly long, even with pigtails, it wasn't very clear from the front.
Their gathering took place in Sora'aki's house. Morofushi Hiroko helped see the four high school students out, then turned to her younger brother and said, "Looks like you're having a lot of fun, Sora'aki."
"Yes." Morofushi Sora'aki nodded. "Because I like them very much."
"That's wonderful." Morofushi Hiroko's eyes crinkled into a smile. "With friends growing up together, my brother can finally rest easy."
"But, it's a little disappointing that Sora'aki has such a good friend, and it took my brother so long to find out." said Morofushi Hiroko, cupping her face in her hands. "And won't the pressure of attending two high schools be too much?"
Morofushi Sora'aki thought for a moment and said, "It's alright. I took a break from school for a while and had a lot of fun."
The Morofushi family takes their children's education very seriously, as evidenced by Morofushi Hiromitsu and Morofushi Taka'aki. However, regarding Morofushi Sora'aki, the family's attitude has always been that as long as he's happy, that's all that matters.
Seeing the similar expression in her younger brother's upturned cat-like eyes, Morofushi Hiroko didn't say anything more, and ruffled her brother's hair: "Yes, that's good."
"Next time something fun happens, remember to call your brother to play together." said Morofushi Hiroko.
Morofushi Sora'aki: "Brother's purpose has been exposed."
Morofushi Hiroko: "Hahaha."
[fifteen]
After leaving Morofushi Sora'aki's house, the high school students belatedly realized what had happened.
"Speaking of which, the person in Sora'aki-chan's photo... is us." Hagiwara Kenji said. "I'm a little envious, after all, it's Jinpei-chan, a girl..."
"Hey, what do you mean?" Matsuda Jinpei pursed his lips.
Furuya Rei: "Actually, I still can't understand why you guys accepted it so quickly."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "Rather than accepting it... it's more like I didn't even have time to process it?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu answered honestly, "That older brother... well, how should I put it? Seeing her, him... well, just him alone made my brain go blank for a bit. After that, all my reactions were just normal instinctive reactions, right?"
Furuya Rei: "Instinctively braiding my hair?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu laughed: "Isn't that cute?"
Furuya Rei glanced at the smile on his childhood friend's face, then looked away and clicked his tongue.
Matsuda Jinpei: "It wouldn't be very polite to react too much if the other person's older brother was there."
Hagiwara Kenji: "Jinpei-chan is actually starting to consider manners now!?"
Matsuda Jinpei: "Was it necessary to use such a shocked tone? I understand that principle."
Hagiwara Kenji also said, "I had a pretty good idea, because Sora'aki-chan asked me a bunch of weird questions recently... so I couldn't help but start thinking in a weirder direction."
"But when I saw my brother, I really suspected I was overthinking things again, so I held back and didn't say anything..."
Hagiwara Kenji suddenly paused, and the remaining three also realized what was going on: "Now that you mention it..."
"Speaking of that older brother... actually—"
"No way?"
"But they look so alike...!"
Morofushi Hiromitsu narrowed his eyes: "Before, he, she... in short, Sora'aki's brother, when he called out 'Zero', he subconsciously called out 'Zero', and only added 'kun' afterward."
"Could it be Hiro, you?" Furuya Rei eyes widened.
Morofushi Hiromitsu hesitated: "When I grow up... do I need to undergo gender reassignment surgery to join the underworld?"
This statement is a derivative of what Morofushi Sora'aki said earlier about his brother being involved in organized crime.
"No, not necessarily. Maybe in Sora'aki-chan's world, we're all girls, hahaha..." Hagiwara Kenji chuckled dryly, then suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Another world..."
The other three high school boys also stopped in their tracks: "So..."
"...Another world."
"Does it really exist?!"
Furuya Rei: "So, you guys didn't even realize what was happening!"
"No, no, no, how could it be another world? This is reality, not a comic book!"
"The atmosphere was really built up just now..."
"It's photoshopped!"
"But Sora'aki-chan isn't so boring!"
"This explains the unexplained physical similarity between Sora'aki and Hiromitsu!"
"Ah." Hagiwara Kenji paused, then hesitated, "So, that means... if that's really the case..."
The boy with shoulder-length hair looked at his friend: "Hiromitsu-chan, so, you mean... you should have had a younger brother?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu paused for a moment, then laughed: "It would be interesting to have a younger brother like Sora'aki, wouldn't it?"
Matsuda Jinpei grasped a key point: "Wait a minute? If Raki is Hiromitsu's younger brother, then isn't he younger than us?"
The other three people: "..."
Matsuda Jinpei rubbed his hands together, eager to get started: "I have to make that guy call me 'brother'!"
Hagiwara Kenji coughed lightly. "I'm curious too. If I'm not mistaken, Hiroko-san should be the same age as that older brother? He looks like he's about the age of a college graduate... So, Sora'aki-chan should be considered an elementary school student?"
Matsuda Jinpei: "No wonder he's so childish."
Furuya Rei: "Is it possible that he's actually already 18 years old, and the time difference has nothing to do with him?"
Matsuda Jinpei said decisively, "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"