8th of April, Monday
Entrance Ceremony. Childhood Friend. First Little Sister.
After private Shichiyou Academy"s entrance ceremony finished, I was surprised by a chance reunion.
A childhood friend of mine from the time I was in third year of my elementary school and who moved away due to her parent"s work was in the same cla.s.s as I was.
The girl who was very tall back then——Son.o.be Mariko, seemed to be at the peak of her growth now and became a lovely pet.i.te girl. Since I used to be very short back then and had to look up at her, it felt quite strange now.
What was even more surprising, were Mariko"s entrance examination results. It seemed like she was on top of the year. The Shichyou Academy had a scholarship plan, which exempted those who were in the top ten during entrance examinations.
After she learned that my last name has changed, Mariko was also surprised. Seeing we had an acquaintance in school, both of us felt relieved. Since Mariko was on top of the year, she gathered a lot of attention from our cla.s.smates.
However, their attention lasted only for five minutes. The moment I have introduced myself, everyone stared at me with wide-opened eyes.
When the homeroom was over, I was surrounded by cla.s.smates. They were saying things like "Let"s join a club together." or "Let"s be friends.". When my last name was "Domon", it was never like that.
That"s why, I fled from the school. I wanted to talk more with Mariko, but it couldn"t be helped.
Honestly, I was slightly interested in club activities.
During three years in middle school I entered the understaffed student council. At the beggining, as a mere first year I was just a handyman, from the second year"s autumn until the third year"s summer I was vice president of the student"s council.
Since I needed to be in some kind of club, I entered one before but I was only a ghost member, instead of club activities I helped out in the student"s council.
It was very busy, but it was also fun and fulfilling. Thanks to interaction with my juniors, I learned how to handle younger people despite being an only child.
Yeah, but... back to club activities. Since joining a sports club for the first time in high school seems quite hard. It would be a cultural club.
Still... the club a Taishido enters would get preferential treatment, and the amount of club members would have doubled suddenly, if that really happened it would be really scary. Shichiyou Academy was being managed by Taishido group.
Also, there"s something I have to do before I can do any club activities.
After school I ate lunch at a gyudon stall and came back to Taishido residence quite late.
It was the second day of me living alone. I still didn"t have the feeling I came back home. I took the elevator in the entrance hall on the first floor and got off at the seventh floor.
I was puzzled as I stood in front of Room 701"s door. But the lock wasn"t released.
I took the smart key out of my wallet. But even when I moved it right next to the door k.n.o.b, nothing happened. Was it already broken?
Now that I think about it, what does this key authenticate?
"There"s no way, but just in case... open sesame!"
It seemed like it wasn"t voice authentication. The apartment"s door didn"t react. Although I used it normally yesterday, did it break already?
It can"t be helped. I need to call Murasaki-san.
But the call wouldn"t go through. Maybe she was at a place with no signal, or she turned the power off. In that case, let"s send a message, also send an e-mail just in case too.
Still, no matter how I look at it, it"s way too fast. It"s a high-tech precision instrument... and, as I checked the smart key, I finally noticed a change on it.
The room number that was displayed on the LCD screen... has changed. It was displaying 101 instead of 701.
"Eh? What does this..."
Immediately after that, I learned that the special smart key given to me by Murasaki-san, would "decide the room I should be in" on its own, regardless of my own will.
The little sister selection, has already started.
Pa.s.sing through the hall room on the first floor, the Room 101 was the one furthest away in the front corridor.
There was no nameplate. I approached it and the lock opened on its own. The smart key wasn"t broken, it was calling me to this room.
It felt awkward as if I was trespa.s.sing, but I opened the door and entered the Room 101.
Inside of the room, it seemed as if a storm has pa.s.sed through. Scattered all over the floor were things like t-shirts, pants or bras.
On both the kitchen and the sink, there were unwashed dishes. The trash can was reaching its very limits of being stuffed, I could feel someone working very hard on being lazy, the trash built up had a perfect balance and it reached the level of an avant-garde art.
There was a single uniform on the hanger. It wasn"t one of Shichiyou Academy, but its blazer had an elaborate design and was wrapped in a plastic bag. Since there was a 「Middle中」 character on the emblem, it seemed like a middle school uniform.
In the middle of the room, there was beautiful long black hair scattered on the rug...
A girl has collapsed there. In the nude.
"H-hey! Are you all right!"
When I called out, the lump of black hair reacted with a "nuaaaahhhh", and got up slowly.
Her black hair was long enough to cover her entire back, contrary to the devastated room, it was well-kept, beautiful and shiny up to its tips.
She had a bluish-white face that looked as if it was made of ceramics and her hands were slender. The doll-like girl spoke to me in a monotone voice.
"...Onii-chan, right?"
"Ah, yeah. Rather than that, are you conscious?! Are you hurt anywhere?"
"...I"m all right."
Although she spoke as if she was in a daze, her voice was firm. I sighed with relief in my mind.
"T-that"s great... then, get dressed. I"ll face the other way."
Her long hair wrapped around her body covering her, but she was still naked.
I turned away and introduced myself like that.
"Eh, umm... I"m... Taishido Yoichi."
"...Tamiya Selene. Twelve years old, middle school freshman."![]()
From behind me came some kind of rustling sound. Was she getting dressed?
"I-is that so. Then, umm... Tamiya-san."
"...please call me in a more brotherly way."
"No, but... it"s our first meeting."
"...I didn"t expect that I would become someone"s little sister either. We"re the same then."
It was just as she said, Tamiya-san... Selene-san must"ve also been embarra.s.sed to learn an "Onii-chan" has suddenly appeared.
"Selene-san."
"...-san is unnecessary. I"ve dressed myself, so please face my way now."
She was sitting on the floor untidily, she wore a t-shirt and shorts. On her white t-shirt there was text saying "I Am Innocent", in handwritten style. Where on earth did she... buy that.
"Why did Selene collapse in the middle of the room?"
"...I washed myself in the bath, dried my hair with the dryer and I lied down on the ground, ending up like this."
"Is it like that every time?"
"...today, when I thought that I"ll meet brother today, I ended up wondering about a lot of things and before I noticed, I have dozed away in the bath."
I looked around the room and sighed. Although she said she washed herself in bath, but what exactly did the horrible state of this room mean.
It was too big of a mess to live in, there was nowhere to stand on.
"Cleaning up your room didn"t have its turn?"
"...this is the complete form. I know where everything is located even with my eyes closed."
"Although it looks like a mess to me, you keep track on everything properly?"
"...yes. In fact, I am able to find clothes I can wear."
I lightly touched my forehead with my middle finger.
"No no no, I"m saying you should clean up your room. Although coming over and suddenly preaching makes me feel bad, but this is awful."
Selene puffed her cheeks.
"...it only appears to be so at first glance, this is very functional. Please do not think of me as of a woman who can"t clean up."
"From someone else"s perspective, isn"t that all the same?"
When I thought about Selene who"s catastrophically bad with cleaning up becoming my little sister, it seemed like it would be incredibly hard. As I though that, I felt like it would be better to leave it as it was.
"What about the entrance ceremony?"
"...I took a day off. My name is very flashy, I"m sure, maybe, I will be bullied if I go to school."
A shut-in and antropophobic... is she.
In my first day after admission, the "Taishido" name also caused an uproar, maybe Selene"s name also caused such unpleasant thoughts as well.
"So you were bullied in elementary school."
"...I was always scared that I might be bullied."
So the fact was that she was never bullied!
"You won"t be bullied."
"...even so, I don"t need any friends in... real world."
Her eyes watered up, and she pulled out a laptop from a mountain of piled-up t-shirts.
"...Onii-chan. If you have internet, you can do shopping without going outside. You can have the food delivered. You can even make friends without going to school. There"s no need for a real name either. The anonymity of the net will keep me safe."
It"s my own computer society. Selene let out an "ehen", puffed her chest and launched the browser.
The number of people following her twitter was displayed on the screen, it was over ten thousand people. It was celebrity-cla.s.s. Rather than that, this name——"Undying Cicada", I felt like I"ve seen this name being re-tweeted before.
She was a shut-in, but there was some sociability in her. Selene might be similar to me...
"Making a thousand friends is amazing. But, that"s that, why don"t you try speaking with some real people instead of communicating through the net? Moreover, if you are able to do this on the net, speaking in real should be simple to you."
Selene shook her head. *sshh*, as her supple, shiny black hair danced in the air I felt the scent of a good floral shampoo. Not good, just now my heart skipped a beat.
"...I"m fine not talking to people directly. Also, I can watch all my favourite anime on the internet."
"It may be so but... hey Selene, do you intend on not coming out until the end of your life?"
"...I"m a child of the current age."
She was a poster child of the current age, a kid who turned lazy because of technology development. Even I couldn"t imagine a world without a smartphone... however, in Selene"s case it went too far.
"Being born in this age has nothing to do with turning shut in, does it. Also... did you hear from Murasaki-san?"
"...at this rate, I... will die and disappear. If Onii-chan doesn"t pick me, I will be expelled from paradise."
It seemed like she knew the circ.u.mstances, she raised her eyebrows while uneasy.
"And yet, you show me such a lazy appearance."
"...I want you to accept me as I am."
"Even if you say such positive words, unfortunately, it doesn"t change the impression."
"...I can only be my true self, nothing else."
Selene muttered these words sadly.
Come to think of it, Selene was sitting on the floor ever since she put on clothes.
I must lead her towards independence... right? As her brother.
"In that case. As the first step, why don"t you stand up?"
While slightly blushing embarra.s.sed, Selene stretched both of her hands as if she was to cheer on someone
"Umm, what is that gesture?"
"...please stand me up."
"Is that so. Good grief, it can"t be helped."
He grabbed her hands and pulled Selene"s body up.
"Theere you go!"
"...hauaaaaaaaaa."
The moment Selene stood up, her knees began to clatter. Tears appeared in her eyes that resembled black pearls and her legs wobbled like that of a newborn fawn. If just standing up was that big of a fuss, I"m worried about what"s it going to be like in the future.
Future? Future with this girl? I still haven"t decided on making Selene my little sister.
With tears in her eyes, Selene somehow managed to take a step forward.
"...kyaa."
A scream without inflection sounded and Selene fell in my direction, I managed to catch her.
Selene buried her face in my chest. *munyu*, when she came in close contact with me, I felt softness unique to girls around where my stomach was. ...what am I rushing here with my sister (candidate).
"A-are you all right?"
"...so this is the scent of an Onii-chan."
"Though, I don"t think older brothers have a specific scent..."
"...sniff sniff whiff whiff."
I lightly pulled Selene away from my body. She seemed dissatisfied, and when I looked at her, she murmured.
"...Onii-chan, is it all right to sit down already?"
"You stood up just a moment ago. For the time being let"s clean this up together."
"...why?"
"if you clean up... umm, that"s... I will consider making you my little sister."
I didn"t want to use my position like this, but I had no confidence in persuading Selene to do something.
"...yes, I"ll do my best."
She looked at me absent-mindedly and murmured. I was relieved that she agreed to do it.
"Now that"s decided, let"s start up at once. Do you have garbage bags?"
"...here."
Selene quickly pulled out a garbage bag from under the stack of magazines.
"All right! Organize things you need, and the ones you don"t. Separate the garbage from the rest properly.. I"ll help you out as well, so do your best."
"...with this, will we be officially become siblings?"
"As if! But... at the very least, I will evaluate you higher if you do it."
She responded to me with a small nod. Her cuteness reminded me of a little squirrel. I mean cute as a little sister of course.
And then, the two of us started to clean the room in silence. Since we worked together, it went faster than I expected. From a room with no s.p.a.ce to step on, it turned into one where wooden floors were clearly visible.
And, at the bottom of the cardboard boxes that were piled up, I dug up a machine that had a shape of a round disk.
"...this is... an excavated battleship."
"No no, there"s no way."
"...even though it"s gone missing... it must"ve ran out of supplies, what a cruel fate."
"It"s because a certain someone had a mess in her room, just how is this a cruel fate."
"...doing something about the mess was the mission of this excavated battleship."
I sighed with sympathy towards the cleaning robot that couldn"t reach the charging port.
I had to do something on behalf of this excavated battleship. Next, I put a hand into the mountain of clothes.
Pure white and frilly, its cloth was very fluffy. It"s shape was similar to that of a handkerchief... t-this is.
"...Onii-chan, are you interested in Little Sister"s panties?"
"U-uwaaa! T-that"s not it! It"s a misunderstanding! I had no such intentions!"
"...Onii-chan"s a Mr. Pervert."
She murmured that with a serious expression. I put the panties back in the mountain of clothes and shook my head.
"Hey, rather than having me as your Onii-chan, is it that you want to keep living a lazy life?"
"...why are you asking about that?"
"I didn"t want to phrase it this way but, you need Taishido"s money right?"
"...if there is money, I won"t be unhappy."
Either because she was bad at lying, or that she didn"t want to keep it secret, Selene said honestly what she thought. Maybe it wasn"t that she didn"t want to lie, but that she thought of it as troublesome.
Dropping my shoulders, I"ve put a stack of magazines into a plastic bag. After binding it, I asked Selene "Where does this go?" and got "...over there." for an answer.
I started to suspect that she intended on making me clean up from the very beginning, that"s the level everything was prepared and arranged.
"Throwing away all these magazines should be all right."
"...set aside all the thin books."
"What are those thin books?"
"...a maiden"s secret."
Her white cheeks turned slightly pink. Okay. I don"t get it, but I won"t ask any more. After I gathered all the magazines, I found a strange booklet.
"Selene, is this also to be thrown out?"
"...that"s... umm... yes."
Its cover were just simple fonts on a white background... rather than a booklet, it didn"t seem to be a book that"s in general circulation.
It seemed like some kind of a manual. It"s t.i.tle was——data on Taishido Yoichi.
There was a note on it, saying it"s confidential. Although it was a thin booklet with just thirty pages, its contents were all matters concerning me.
Partially because of my Grandma"s delicious cooking, I preferred j.a.panese food. Under Grandpa"s influence, I grew up while watching historical dramas.
Even my sudden growth spurt was described. After looking at this booklet, it could be easily understood what kind of person I am. There was so much details, I was too ashamed to read it.
"Just what is this booklet?"
"...I got it from Murasaki-san."
"I... see. Probably the other little sister candidates got the same thing."
"...I guess."
"Also, is this all right? Telling me about the existence of this book."
"...why not?"
"Umm, how to put it... after studying this booklet carefully, one could play a perfect little sister to get on my good side, right?"
"...there is no way I would do such a thing."
"Sorry if I offended you. I didn"t suspect Selene."
Selene relaxed and puffed her chest with pride.
"...as long as you know that."
"Don"t get too full of yourself... but, if you used this manual, you could appeal to me better as a little sister, why didn"t you?"
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"...although not having money is troubling, even if it is just pleasing you in order to get money, I don"t want to work."
"Why do you make it sound like a n.o.ble act despite being a lazy shut-in?"
"...aauuu."
As we continued to talk like that, the time pa.s.sed and it was now 6 p.m..
The living room, kitchen and dining room, it was so tidy and neat it felt like the original chaos was just a dream. Selene muttered while rubbing her stomach.
"...because of the work, I"ve gotten hungry."
"You"re right. Let"s eat dinner."
"...I"ll treat you today."
As she said that, she picked up a cup of noodles from a cardboard box in the back of the kitchen. It seemed like she bought entire boxes of it, and there was a pile of unopened boxes that formed something like a pyramid.
"...seafood or curry, which one would you like?"
Although I like cup noodles, but only as a snack. If I were to live only on this, I would definitely die. Selene"s black eyes shined.
"...I like seafood."
"Then curry... eh... haa."
While humming a song with a distinctive monotone voice, Selene poured hot water from the pot into the cup noodles. Hot water filled the cup of seafood.
"...I"ll pour some into Onii-chan"s portion... oh... there"s no more hot water."
"Then, what"s going to happen now?"
"...umm, it should work with just a little bit of water right?"
"No way it will!"
I hurried to the freshly cleaned kitchen and put a kettle full of water on the stove.
Even the sight of her preparing cup noodles is so miserable that it makes me worried about her future.
After that, I boiled the water and managed to finish the curry somehow, but the noodles" texture was very rough. Selene squinted like a cat.
"...eating together is fun."
"Nn? Y-yeah."
Speaking of which, how many days has it been since I parted with Grandpa and Grandma. It feels like it"s been a while since I ate a meal together with someone else.
"Was Selene always alone?"
"...Mom left to look for the bluebird of happiness and I"ve been alone since then."
"My bad... sorry."
"...don"t apologize. Being at the mercy of fate, isn"t Onii-chan the same?"
"At mercy, huh. Certainly it is so."
After I put on a wry smile, Selene also smiled.
When we finally finished eating our cup noodles, it finally felt like it settled down.
"Selene has pretty good communication skills for someone who"s a shut-in."
"...no such thing. I have anthropophobia."
"But aren"t you talking with me now."
"...Onii-chan... is special. Also, I worked... hard today."
So this is her "working hard". No, Selene must have forced herself to an unreasonable level with just this.
"That"s great, Selene. Even though you had prior information about me, you really did well during the first meeting with Onii-chan."
"...likewise. Onii-chan did his best despite not knowing anything about me, cheers for the good work."
"Thank you for the concern. I"m all right. I"m glad I could speak like this with Selene, and also work together on cleaning."
Selene faced down while blushing and muttered.
"...wonderful. Onii-chan selflessly took care of cleaning for me like a maid would."
"Don"t make me a maid. Also, I wasn"t the only one who did it. We did our best together, isn"t that right? We even managed to gather all these figurines together."
On top of the table, there were anime figurines lined up together. What Selene had on display all around the room, was collected in one place for the time being.
There were a lot of beautiful girls dressed in maid outfits and gothlic lolita dresses.
Selene"s favourite among them, was a girl with blonde twin-tails and a yellow battle costume——it was Pine-chan.
"For you to have gathered this much of them, does Selene like figurines?"
"...It even has panties. See? Striped panties. The pleated skirt is also detailed, look how neatly the clothes" wrinkles are reproduced."
"I-I"m not going to look! However, you really do pay a lot of attention to small details. Does Selene like clothes?"
The uniform hung on the wall that was covered with plastic was quite cute as well.
"...yes."
"Did you pick your school based on how the school uniform looked?"
"...how did you know?"
Surprised, Selene had a half-opened mouth. This might be a chance. Whether she were to become my little sister or not, she can"t continue like this. Unless she changes... I feel like she won"t take even a single step outside.
"All right! Let"s go out and buy some clothes together next time."
Selene looked at me with puppy eyes and started to tremble cutely.
"...to go buy clothes, I have no clothes I can wear."
"Wh...at?"
"...in course of evolution, humans have discarded the unneeded tail. And me too, since I didn"t go out any more, I have discarded any clothes that I could wear to go outside."
Just when I thought she was trembling, she cleared her throat and proudly puffed her chest.
"That"s not something to boast about. Also, if it"s clothes, then don"t you have the uniform?"
When I pointed at the uniform, Selene hung her head with a sad look.
"...that"s...no good. It"s all right if it works as a decoration."
"Even though it"s so cute, it"d be a waste if you don"t wear it."
"...I won"t wear it no matter what."
She cowered further and embraced her knees. It made her look even smaller.
"Then... that"s right. Why don"t you start your laptop?"
"...what are you going to do?"
"Let"s do the shopping online this time. Is there a site you usually browse?"
"Yes. If it"s a favourite shop, I have one."
"Then let"s buy clothes there."
Selene opened the website right away and the shopping started.
"...then, this and this, this is cute too. Also, these skirts... since I can"t pick one, let"s add them all to the cart."
Despite her appearance that made her seem like a small animal, she was agile like a carnivore in front of the prey. Selene skilfully continued shopping.
"Isn"t your pace a bit too fast? Are you choosing them properly?"
"...I"m carefully picking them out. I don"t know whether such wonderful clothes will fit me... but they are all pretty outfits. The professional designers are amazing after all."
And then, I continued to watch over her as she continued with her shopping for a while. Selene picked a lot of clothes with an elaborate design, and just as much of those that were very detailed.
It was so-called gothic lolita fashion. Since Selene had beautiful long black hair and a slightly darker atmosphere around her, any of them would fit her nicely.
"...selection complete. Click... eh? I can"t buy it."
"Can"t buy.... it must"ve been over the limit of your credit card."
The name that appeared on the balance sheet screen, was Murasaki-san"s. She must have taken some legal steps and changed it. Selene put on a face that seemed like she would cry at any moment.
"...after I picked everything I wanted... the world is so cruel to me."
The discontinuation of aid was already determined, but it was still something that whould have happened in the future.
Or rather, for a credit card to reach its limit even though it"s just the second week of April...
"Wait wait. It isn"t that the world is being cruel, but Selene is wasting money right? What the h.e.l.l did you buy?"
"...I did not waste it."
Selene closed her laptop, stood up and pointed towards the back of the room.
"What"s in that room?"
"...my everything."
She said that with a serious expression and opened the door of the room in the back. I wanted to cover my eyes. The housecleaning chapter that continued until 8 p.m., please spare me from any more of this.
"...please go in."
After Selene switched the light on in the studio. What I found there was... a workshop.
There was a giant sewing machine installed in the front. It really felt like an industrial-type machine, just by it being there, a tremendous presence could be felt.
Bundles of cylindrical cloth were lined up and cla.s.sified by patterns and colours. After I opened a wooden cupboard, there were a lot of small drawers inside.
Although the room was filled with things, every corner of it was neatly organized.
"What is... this room?"
"...it"s a sewing room. This is the main sewing machine. That"s the lock sewing machine. The soundproofing is very good in this apartment so no noise is being leaked even in the middle of the night."
"This is amazing. It feels like they"re professional tools. Is Selene good at sewing?"
"...I love design, cutting cloth in patterns and sewing them on the machine. I also love selecting the lace, b.u.t.tons and the ribbons. I also prepare embroidery. I"m a bit bad at knitting though."
"Can I look inside the drawers?"
Selene nodded lightly.
When I opened a drawer, I found decorative b.u.t.tons. Also in the drawers next to it, there were b.u.t.tons of different types. All of the b.u.t.tons were shiny and it looked almost like a jewellery box.
"...I bought b.u.t.tons, lace and beads from abroad... and money ran out."
"Can you show me the clothes you made?"
I suddenly heard a mail"s ringtone. On the sewing machine"s table, there was a smartphone. Although she was a shut-in, she used both a smartphone and a laptop.
"...perfect, it seems like another shipping has reached."
She checked the content of the mail on the smartphone and muttered.
"Shipped? You mean, you"re selling the clothes you make?"
"...selling would be outrageous. I made them for my friend, Hope-chan."
"Gave you mean..."
"...it"s these clothes."
Selene showed me a sample photo of the clothes she made with her smartphone.
It was probably a custom-made clothing there was only one of in this world. There was an abundant amount of lace on the pretty green dress.
I had no idea about the price of these clothes, but I felt like the material cost must"ve been pretty high.
"Gave you mean... it can"t be that you give them away for free?"
"...I properly received the shipping cost."
"Just the shipping cost!?"
"...she was very delighted."
She displayed the thank-you mail on the screen and showed it to me with a smug face.
"Hmm, mm... Are you really all right with this price? Although I bought it, aren"t there two zeros missing? Hey, the person who bought it is worried about you."
If the shipping costed a thousand yen, and the client evaluated it to be missing two zeros, that"d be a hundred thousand yen... h-hundred thousand yen?!
"By the way,. how much did it cost the"Selene-san store" to make those clothes?"
"...the material cost was just twenty thousand yen."
"You"re completely on red. How much time did it take you to make it in the first place?"
"...a week... but as I make it, I hole up in this room. As long as people like the clothes I make, I"m happy."
I somehow understood the reason Selene had so many followers on her Twitter. The reviews made by her friends and the news of the cost spread, and attracted people.
The living room was a mess because she concentrated her efforts and abilities into tidying the sewing room. She was cutting on food expanses because she didn"t have enough money for clothes" material.
"Isn"t it fine to sell them at a high price?"
"...these clothes are something I made as a hobby, since they were made by a simple hobbyist... to put a price on them, would be rude to professional designers."
Half-a.s.sed hobby... is it. It was just as she said. The clothes she showed me weren"t something that could be casually worn.
They were clothes of an anime character, it was close to being a stage costume. It was somehow unrealistically frilly. But, I think they had their own charm.
"I"ve got a question, what are you using as a reference when you make clothes? 『I want that person to wear this』 or something like that?"
"...yes. I"m imagining girls out of my favourite anime. If it"s Orange-chan then a short skirt would be nice, since she"s an active girl. If it"s Grape-chan, then there"s a need for adult charm and I want to emphasize the chest."
Maybe, if she went out to the streets and saw clothes the girls out there are wearing, Selene"s impulse would be stimulated further?
She could make clothes that fit not only anime characters, but also ones that ordinary girls could wear. Selene still hasn"t seriously tried her best.
If she is able to take a step outside, she might become a great designer.
I felt like having this precious talent stay buried in a room would be a waste.
"It"s too late now... but let"s go out next week."
"...impossible. Going outside... even if a chicken flaps its wings, it won"t fly in the sky."
"I"ll have you go out no matter what, prepare some clothes you can wear outside. If you can"t buy them, make them on your own. If you can"t prepare any, you"ll be wearing that uniform."
"...do I have to go out no matter what?"
"Yeah."
"...I"ll throw up. I will throw up because of tension."
"In that case, you better keep your stomach empty."
"...I"ll spit the gastric juices. Oh, I"ll have an unimaginable headache too."
"You can"t go to school unless you go out right? This cute uniform would go to waste. Doesn"t Selene want to go to school wearing it?"
"...even though I"m this reluctant, are you going make me go out by force?"
Her self-defence became self-advocacy.
"Going to school isn"t a bad thing. If you make friends, you might be able to prepare clothes that match that friend"s personality."
"..t-that might b-be so. But... for me that"s..."
The roots of her withdrawal syndrome went quite deep. Let"s try from another angle.
"Right. Is there any place you would like to go to?"
"...I-it"s not like there isn"t. However, the difficulty is too high. I can"t get on the Yamanote line. It"s packed so tightly, death awaits me."
"There"s no need to ride together with the morning rush. Even so, if you say Yamanote line, it seems very specific. Where do you want to go?"
"...Nippori."
"So it"s neither Shibuya nor Harajuku."
"...Nippori has a wholesale district with fibres. And it"s not just fabric, it has a lot of material for clothes."
"I get it. If Selene does her best, I"ll take you there and do anything you want, carrying the luggage or whatever. It has nothing to do with me determining whether I"ll make you my little sister or not. This is a promise between you and me as individuals."
"...r-really? You promise?"
"Yeah, you have my word. That"s why you should get ready to go out next week."
After I said that, Selene went to the toilet in a hurry. I could imagine that a lot of tension must have a.s.saulted her stomach.
"Haa..."
As I sighed, there was a sound of ringtone. A mail came to my smartphone, it was from Murasaki-san.
Supplemental content on interaction with little sister candidates... or rather, the confirmation.
For two weeks from today onwards, I am to spend weekdays (Monday to Friday) with a different little sister candidate every day.
The room number on the smart key will turn back to 701 at 12am, midnight. In other words, I am to spend my time in the little sister"s room until midnight every day.
Even so, for the email describing the interactions to come when the first person"s time is about to end, is it also dictated by the testament?
As I thought about that, Selene came back from the toilet. She was looking refreshed.
"Since all I"ve been doing is to make requests of Selene, is there anything you want from me?"
"...I want to laze around together with Onii-chan."
We spent the remaining time watching her favourite anime together. Five girls were fighting against evil enemies, Pretty Girl Rangers Mono.
Orange, Apple, Grape, Peach, Pine——the Pretty Girl Rangers were depicted with fruity attributes, it was an anime for young girls.
I wonder if I"ll be able to help Selene get independent. If it"s just her I might be able to fix her social withdrawal little by little.
However, aside from her, there were four other little sister candidates. They could form a Pretty Girl Little Sister Rangers with these numbers.
Since the amount of time to spend with each of them is limited, I might need to use drastic measures when it came to Selene.