Ephemeral Ability Reflects the Heart

The closing and cleanup work proceeded more quickly than expected.

But the festival will continue tomorrow. And since the classrooms in 1-C are not going to be used for any other purpose, there is no need to decorate the store or do any other interior work.

After cleaning the kitchen and putting away the garbage, the homeroom teachers will have a short HR session.

After that, Maisaka is in charge of leading the meeting to review the day's activities. Aside from the review, most of the topics are about the sales of the day, and about the person in charge of buying the foodstuffs that are likely to be in short supply.

「Well, that's the end of the day. See you tomorrow!」

With the same subtle and appropriate closing words, the meeting was dismissed for today.

Everyone begins to move about, chatting with their good friends, or leaving the classroom quickly for a rest.

Chihiro, on the other hand, was not so happy.

「Yo, Chisato-chan!」

「...I wish you wouldn't call me that」

「Well, don't say that」

Before he could do anything, he was tangled up with a smirking Maisaka. Behind him, a smiling Kamishiro comes walking toward them.

As he was wondering why he was smiling, he heard a man's voice whispering in his ear.

「You did good joob!」

「What do you mean?」

Chihiro frowns and asks back.

「The miss contest. You were in sixth place in the preliminary round」

「Sixth place!?」

He had never heard that before.

As he recalls, he had to go up on the stage if he placed in the top five. If he was in sixth place, he would be exempted from this requirement, but...

「By the way, in which one?」

「In the girl's division, of course」

Maisaka gave him a fresh smile for nothing.

And Chihiro thought, "Isn't it obvious?" but when he thought about it again, even he didn't have confidence that he could win the prize as it was.

「By the way, that handsome guy over there is the fourth place in the boy's division」

「Oh, yeah. Kamishiro-kun, right?」

When Maisaka threw up his mouth, Chihiro nodded his head.

Kamishiro is discouraged by the strange evaluation.

「I'd appreciate it if you'd stop doing that」

「You must be happy to hear that, aren't you? You're the fourth place out of about a hundred boys, aren't you?」

「Of course I'm happy. But it's thanks to everyone's support, not something I should be proud of, right?」

Well, there is nothing Kamishiro can do but to do his best to live up to the cheers.

As he thinking this, Kamishiro turns his head to Chihiro and says this unashamedly.

「Anyway. Izumi-kun, congratulations. To paraphrase Maisaka, that means you're the sixth place winner among all the students in the school. I think you should be happy」

「...uh... Yeah, thank you」

He did not expect Kamishiro's praise.

Still, with mixed feelings, he made a smile and answered, and after a few words with them, Maisaka and Kamishiro go back on their home.

Chihiro, on the other hand, I went to Aika, who was just talking with Riko and Maria.

Maria, who notices him, looks back at him, smiles and opens her mouth.

「Congratulations, Izumi-kun. It's nice to know that you are valued, no matter what form it takes」

「Thank you. But if I get any higher, I might have to resent the people who voted for me」

When he said this in a low voice, all three of them looked away from him.

It seems that not only Riko but also Aika and Maria voted for him. If Hana, Yotsuba, Ayase, and Maisaka, who found it interesting, had also voted, that would have been seven votes.

Considering that the total number of students in the school is around 200, it is not surprising that he could get at least the sixth place.

Well, most of the votes except for those from related parties are probably due to the rarity, or the freshness of a "girl" who is not usually in the school.

「In other words, after the people you know have already voted, it won't grow any more」

「I wonder...? If it's in the top, it will stand out, and maybe some people will put it in as a story?」

That sounded like a likely scenario.

If Chihiro win a prize, he will perform on the stage and then get a final vote. But he would like to avoid this if possible. To do this, he can only pray to the heavens for a better outcome.

「By the way, Izumi, what did you mean earlier?」

「Oh...yes. Actually, my sister is visiting me and she's going to stay at the dormitory today」

Since there are other people in the room, he answers in the guise of small talk.

The implicit message is, of course, "he can't go back to the apartment today".

If Chihiro stays at the dormitory with Kaede and then leaves the dormitory, it would be as if he is telling his sister to be suspicious of him.

And, he is a bit worried about the condition of the room.

After all, some of Riko's belongings are left in the room. Although he has chosen a place where it is hard to be seen, he isn't sure if such a situation will happen or not.

If possible, Chihiro would like to go home before Kaede and ventilate the room.

「Onee-san is a graduate of this school, right?」

Aika asks, a look of concern on her face.

Chihiro, not being able to talk about the backstage, just smiles at her, thought, "It's probably okay" and say this to her.

「Yeah. She is a rank A [Lost Item], and is currently working for the police countermeasure team」

「Eh? A countermeasure team, that's super elite. That's surprising」

Izumi Kaede is 24 years old, eight years older than Chihiro.

Like Chihiro, she is a [Lost Item], and unlike Chihiro, she is an extremely talented [Lost Item]. After graduating from Shibahou Academy, she went on to university. After that, she became a police officer.

The countermeasure team is, as Riko has muttered, a super-elite team. The countermeasure team is a common name for an internal organization of the police that specializes in handling crimes involving [Lost Item] abilities.

Almost all of the members are high-ranked [Lost Item], and they investigate and control any kind of crimes that use their abilities. Naturally, there are many more complicated and dangerous cases than normal crimes, and they are often called upon to do rough work.

They are the allies of justice who continue to fight so that people can live in peace every day.

The question of why a younger brother is like this when the big sister is so capable is something Chihiro has been told many times since he was a child, so it is not a little new for him.

But hen, Maria said in a gentle voice without breaking her smile.

「The ability of [Lost Item] is not determined by genetics. Rather, it is a popular theory that the only thing that is passed on is the quality of being a [Lost Item], and whether or not it is manifested and the content of its ability depend on the individual」

So, Chihiro implies that it is nothing to worry about.

「Thank you, Fukami-san」

In fact, Chihiro and Kaede's parents are not [Lost Item].

He did not ask them again whether they lacked qualities or not.

But the fact that one's sister is good at something does not necessarily mean that one's brother is also good at it. Of course, the reverse is also true.

...Suddenly, he remembered Suzu and Yotsuba and smiled.

It seems, the reason why he felt so much about the relationship between the two sisters was because he was comparing himself with his sister.

Therefore, he did not want Yotsuba to blame Suzu.

He wanted Yotsuba to know Suzu's feelings.