Early November.

As always, people like to use the spare key they were lent with for Gin's house.

Anna intruded without prior notification to his brother as she figured that he does not do anything important not very long after sundown. The kotatsu is still proudly situated, imposing on the living room, while the owner of the house and the cat sits under the warmth as they eat. Needless to say, the TV was turned on for the only reason his brother does.

"Excuses~" and she welcomed herself under the heated table.

"'Sup? What do you have there?"

She placed down her notebook without a word and prompted to stare on the screen.

"I've already watched this episode earlier."

"Uh… Huh…?" he did not stop on the still steaming soup yet he shot a confused look on her younger sister.

"Not eating with Nee-chan today?"

"Feeling a little gutted saying this but she's busier than me, a working man."

She then murmured a hum while resisting to spoil Gin on her mind.

Gin finally got it. Anna was just waiting for the anime to finish, the same with him eating to speak up. Thus, he put his hands together and put the dishes to the sink.

"Nii, do you still have a copy of your resume?"

"Yeah. Oh, second semester started this Monday, huh?"

"Wait, that means that Nee-chan is 19 now? It's odd saying this, but don't you think some odd numbers are literally odd?"

"You said odd three times just now. But yeah… I guess. I also thought that it was an unusual number last year. But because it's unusual that it made surprised that she is 19 now. I don't know if this applies to everyone but I was like, 'Wait, really, I'm 20 now?'

It felt like you unconsciously pass by that number."

"…Is that what I'll also think when I get to your age?"

"Nah, it's probably just me. But why would you say it like that? You're cruel."

"…

Actually, what are we talking about again?"

"Huh, why did you come here again in the first place?"

"I think I got infected by your bad memory, Nii."

"Sorry."

Fortuantely, Haku may have a better memory than those two.

"Ahh, right, resume. Are you guys on it now?"

"Next week. I really just want a point of reference in advance. I'll try to make a mock one right now."

"…

I guess life isn't really that much of a mystery adventure. The mind may be powerful, but the process is slow and so is the mind. I guess I really can't talk since I'm one percent a human out of 101%. But I think that it's a shortcut that can still be difficult.

I'd suggest you read or watch Oreg*iru. I didn't really understand a lot of the vagueness that ought to be understood, but I guess that is its quirk that I liked. Maybe that's something I can genuinely recommend when dealing with real-world situations. There were unconventional things there that are hard to interpret even with a lot of thinking, but it really took a lot of my interest."

"How did you come to say so much when you're just literally putting down your resume…?"

"I was an imbecile to rate it a 7 when I first watched it. Now it's a 9."

"Anyway, thanks for this. I guess I'll skim it and take some inspiration."

"Then hold up right there, imouto. I think you need to hear this:

Ginji Satoshi (2019) stated in 'My Cognitive Realm' that mere spoon-feeding of information and datum to others will lead to nothing but nothing down the line. In his experience, those that did not take the initiative to actually learn ended up in front of an impenetrable dead end or a high wall while those on the contrary had to put all their strength to open a door; end quote.

Choose wisely. A dead end or a door that you can open through endeavor?

Well, I need to clean up on the resto so I'll be back in a few minutes. You know that I'm a bit harsh on written practices."

"Why is it that you only read light novel and manga but you make constructive criticism…"

"If I am quoting G again, 'I like writing when the pressure put on my shoulders isn't something I dislike.'

Anyway, toodles."

"…

Wow, I guess even if Yuka Ginji suffered in Mykes, it was still a life lesson, huh?" Anna muttered to herself. "And I guess Oreg*iru really was that good."

Gin words were not very simple, but not hard to interpret. Anna understood their essence. Those who only rely on others without putting a genuine and substantial act on it is bound to be met at a standstill, while those who place a real effort on one thing will continue to their tracks. Anna knows that hard work does not always pay off, but stopping in the midst of that is a display of one's loss in the battlefield called life.

On the more literal side of things, her brother is just one opponent out of the countless. Gin is someone who can be subjective and objective at the same time. If what he feels is not something acceptable, at least in the current problem at hand, he could integrate it to a reasonable argument. It may seem unfair, but looking for improvements is not entirely the same as placing expectations.

But if anything, Gin Sakato is someone who was facing the dead end, stagnant for a decade; but took the initiative and crossed the wall even if it amounted to him breaking. In the end, the other side had repaired him.

"Maybe… this is his own way of art?"

After Gin returned, Anna was given a GJ.

▪ ▪ ▪

The next week, Monday.

"Uhhh… Why Nii?"

"I am Mom's messenger."

"Shouldn't you be at work right now?"

"Doesn't matter. What letter is it now?"

"L. Still quite a ways away."

"Hmm. I guess I'll take a look at our plants then. This won't take long."

Anna Sakato is a senior in high school. With that, the second semester signified as the start of the hectic days of being a senior high school student. Although it came a little later this year, the orientation is now undergoing in the middle of the cold weather.

But while she watched her brother disappear to the crowd, she heard a very noticeable voice from the broadcast.

"Attention, Mr. G. S. Please don't scan your silver pin anymore. Your name is standing out in our server."

In her mind, she is hearing an insincere "my bad~!" but on the other hand, a smile arched on her lips after hearing the voice.

"Hey, you're fawning too much."

"Nii…?! You're back already?!"

…

"Good morning Sir Heins, Kiiro-sen."

The face to face orientation's alphabetical order has landed to the letter S, and so Anna and Gin took their seats inside the administrative office, with the feeling of warmth around them.

"It hasn't even been a year since you graduated, but you look the part now, Gin."

"Ahahaha, much appreciated."

"Well, since you are her guardian, I suppose that our meeting would not take long."

"Yes, I would like to know about the terms in her department, and if there are any changes to the work training system."

"We understand. Sir Heins, if you may?"

…

"That only took us five minutes…?"

"I basically know the ins and outs already, and that's why Mom made me come instead of her. Oh well, we'll also be taking care of some kids in CA.

Oh, right, CA. Say, are you friends with a girl named Reina Nijisaki from S2CA?"

"Yeah? How about her?"

"Nothing. I guess she's the only CA student I know right now from the club.

Anyway, if you managed to complete your WT without any issues whatsoever, I'll treat you for a whole day."

"What?! Am I seriously hearing that from my useless brother?!"

"Oi, that hurts.

Call it redeeming myself as an actual older brother. I'm not gunning for the material stuff, but for the time.

I've been the worst brother in history, haven't I?"

Instead of the end of the sleeve of Gin's jacket, Anna tugged somewhere on the shoulder as they walked.

"…

Yup. Yuka Kei is sooooo much better than you."

"He definitely wins as long as he doesn't lose his glasses."

"Right~"

▪ ▪ ▪

One's sense of time shifts when time itself is being used with a worth. A person with hands that are full sees none of the time but it still sprints.

One small turnaround for the seniors, and three weeks have passed by.

Winter still has not shown any signs of wavering or stepping back, but they still walk forward with that thought.

…

No one however is stopping a group of girls from using the rooftop to their lunch. The snowfall has long stopped before the noon hit, the sun almost being at its zenith from time to time assists the girls on clearing up the snow that had amassed on the floor of the open space while at the same time maintaining the life of the plants cultivated before them.

Those who do not work do not eat. The band was about to give up after seeing the pile, but Sora is ever confident with her ability of persuasion, thus the endeavor with their meal as a reward.

"Waaaahhhhh… I guess food tastes way better when you work hard for it…" in satisfaction, Naru muttered while nabbing meat on Anna's lunch.

"Mm?! How come your lunch is so warm, Anna?"

"Wait, you just realized that? I make my lunches something I can microwave without problems and that's why I go to HE Room."

"That's a spark of inspiration, Ringo," Reina praised.

"Can you just call it practical? I basically learned a lot of these things from Nii."

"By the way, Anna… Your brother made me realize how serious dishwashing can be…"

"He's teaching them weird things again."

"Is that a roundabout way of saying that you still don't have access on the entire kitchen?"

Reina drooped, "Yes…"

"I suppose Nii is a cruel one. Experience comes first before he accepts your skill, I think…? I also heard that he fires people from the kitchen when you make too many mistakes."

"Eek…! I don't want that! I want a proper break from WT before our trip…!"

"Ehhh, going somewhere, Reina?"

"Ah, you didn't hear, Naru-chan?" Ai chimed in a question which Sora then confirmed.

"Our club is actually going on a trip in between the winter-spring break."