My Little Sister Can Read Kanji: Volume 1

by Takashi Kajii

  “Uh, w-wait. Like, when I said love, I didn’t mean, like, love love. I meant like brother-sister love, you k-know? I just want him to succeed, and when he’s having fun, I feel good too, and I know everything about him, so...”

  “You’re really not proving your case.”

  “But it’s not like that!”

  ...Oh... Well, yeah, I guess that’s what I should have thought.

  I couldn’t have even imagined a world in which Kuroha had romantic feelings toward me. She’d been my little sister ever since she was born, after all. I liked Oniaka, but that was 2D, not reality.

  But... is Oniaka really that much different than reality?

  “Please, stop teasing me.”

  “I’m not trying to tease you at all.”

  “Then how about you, Yuzu-san? How did you feel about your brother?”

  “Unlike you, Kuroha-san, I relied a lot on my brother.”

  “Did you love him?”

  “Yes. I loved him, but it wasn’t a romantic love. To me, he was the only family I had.”

  “Yeah, I see...” It was difficult for Kuroha to answer that.

  “You can’t fall in love romantically with someone who’s like your big brother, let alone your actual big brother,” continued Yuzu-san.

  “Of course not, yeah.”

  “Yes.” And that’s where the two’s conversation ended. There was a strange tension that remained.

  I decided that had been enough eavesdropping, and made my way silently to the front door. But then I heard voices from behind me.

  “Kuroha-san, please help me write the story, as well. Let’s put all those feelings you have about Gin-san in there!”

  “Okay, it’ll be good to have it reflect feelings.” I could hear that Kuroha seemed slightly excited. Her words stirred my heart just a little bit.

  Yuzu-san finished the story in ten days. The title was Ani MAJI Mania (Crazy for Big Brother), and I was the one that came up with it.

  It evoked the powerful and all encompassing feelings that Yuzu-san had about her brother. Also, the title had an amazingly clever trick to it. When it dawned on me, for a moment there I honestly thought I was a genius. If you don’t see it, try reading the title backwards, like “A-ni-ma-ji-ma-ni-a.”

  As for the story, it was your usual gimai story. The main character was an adopted orphan, and he had a non-blood-related little sister.

  The descriptions of the feelings of the sister were very detailed, it seemed. Since it was written in modern Japanese, I couldn’t actually read it, of course.

  According to Kuroha and Odaira-sensei, it was written using a lot of hiragana and katakana and was closer to current-day Japanese than not, but after trying to read some, I didn’t understand a thing.

  Miru drew about ten illustrations for the cover and inside. Each picture was really a detailed masterwork, and she had added a little bit of a touch of Sadie to them, which Yuzu-san’s brother had loved so much.

  With our newest work proudly in tow, we once again prepared to dive into the literature club. Since it was a team effort, we even brought Miru and Odaira-sensei along.

  We’re ready for you, Ms. Club President! Bring it on!

  For the second time, we arrived at the literature club clubroom. In an orderly line, we entered the room one after another. The club president was there. We didn’t see any other club members.

  She’s here alone again? Is the club not popular or something?

  “What, you people again? Don’t just come waltzing in here. I’m going to call a teacher!” she yelled at us.

  You clearly have a problem with rudeness. We’re not here to rob you, you know!

  “Please, give us another chance!” Yuzu-san stepped forward and handed over the manuscript for Ani MAJI Mania. “We wish to be published in your magazine.”

  The club president’s face stiffened up, but she took the manuscript.

  “...I’ll read it, but this is the last time, okay?”

  “Understood.” Yuzu-san nodded worriedly.

  We all sat down around the table. On one side was the club president, on the other were the five of us.

  She began to read the manuscript, looking down, and her glasses flashed. This time, she didn’t freak out on the very first page. She continued to read it very seriously.

  Now then, what do you think about it? Her expression didn’t change at all while she read it. I had no idea how she felt about it. I could do nothing but sit there, anxiously.

  After more than an hour and a half of tension, the club president finished reading. She lifted up her head, and tapped the manuscript sheets on the table gathering them together with a “tap-tap.”

  “It’s far better than the thing you had me read before.” Oh! That’s a pretty good sign!

  Suddenly a weight had been lifted from the room. Yuzu-san smiled happily.

  “However!” The club president immediately threw cold water all over our happiness. “It is as low-brow a work as they come.” What?! My blood began to boil.

  “First problem: What in the world is this picture?” She pointed to one of the insert illustrations.

  It was a scene where the heroine was changing. She was wearing all manner of things on her upper body; a knit cap, a muffler, gloves, and a thick winter coat. Aside from her face, she wasn’t showing any skin on her upper body. On the other hand, she wasn’t wearing anything on her lower body at all except one pair of panties, and those were almost slipping off.

  “This is completely unrealistic.”

  “Of course it’s realistic. Are you blind?” said Miru caustically. After all, she was the one who had drawn it.

  “How so? Why would someone take everything off on the bottom first?”

  “Oh, about that. It’s my fetish.” Odaira-sensei raised his hand. “Bundled up all snug on top and completely nude on bottom. It really gets your juices pumping, don’t you think?” Odaira-sensei puffed out his chest proudly as he spoke, as if there was not even the slightest wavering of his conviction.

  “I-I have no idea what you are talking about.” The club president must have been taken aback by Odaira-sensei’s commanding presence, because she was shaken a little bit.

  “Well, illustrations aren’t my specialty, so I’ll let them slide I suppose. But the content itself is incredibly idiotic.” She narrowed her eyes. “What the hell is this? Seeing his sister’s panties, a bath scene with no purpose to the plot... Do you really like this sort of stuff, Mirokuin-san?”

  “Well about that...” Yuzu-san didn’t have anything to say.

  “I despise it,” said the club president, flatly.

  The literary panty flashes and bath scenes weren’t Yuzu-san’s taste. They had been put in because Odaira-sensei had said they were “absolutely necessary.”

  “Those parts are just asides, you know? You need to focus on the main story,” Kuroha was the one to calmly respond.

  “The main story?” The club president laughed bitterly. “The adopted older brother and little sister? How trite. And how easily the sister fell in love with the brother.”

  “How easily? I think there were plenty of complications along the way...” Kuroha’s voice lowered in tone.

  “You think? To me, it seemed like all the characters were just conveniently doing exactly whatever the author wanted them to.”

  “That’s not it at all.”

  “So they’re not blood-related, so what? They’re still brother and sister. It might not be explicitly stated in the text, but they are clearly romantically in love with each other. It’s totally unbelievable, right? That’s exactly what I meant by it seeming like the author just willed the characters to do whatever.”

  “Th-They aren’t romantically in love at all!” stammered Kuroha.

  “On the contrary, they were in the very definition of a romantic relationship.”

  In the future, stories about falling in love with your non-blood-related sister were the staples of literature.

&n
bsp; “This little sister is modeled after you, am I right Mirokuin-san?” the club president continued. “You want to have an incestuous relationship with your immediate family? I think I’m going to be sick. Are you right in the head?”

  Why, you... There are some things you just don’t say like that! Not being able to stand it any longer, I stood up.

  “There is nothing wrong with Yuzu-san! She is the one that’s right!”

  The room went silent. I could tell that everyone was staring at me.

  The club president was taken aback for a moment by the forcefulness of my statement, but she then replied resolutely. “When you consider the story and the illustrations, this is what they call the moe genre, is it not? What in the hell possessed you to seriously write something like this?”

  And you belittle it just because it’s called moe? Oniaka is moe too, you know!

  “I was saved by Oniaka! My heart was healed by Homyura’s smile, by Homyura’s straight-forwardness, by Homyura’s panties!”

  “P-Panties...? Enough with this idiocy!”

  “Idiocy, you say? I’ll have you know that this will soon be the primary style of literature!”

  “Don’t be foolish,” she snapped.

  If only you knew...

  “The world would never become like that. Even the masses would never fall to such depravity.”

  “Why must you call it ‘depravity’?!”

  “This type of vulgar trash is the very definition of depraved. The lowest of the low. Go read our literary magazine and learn for yourself what real literature is.”

  She knows nothing! Sure, right now this type of work might be held in low regard. But why must she assume that it will always be that way into the future?!

  Odaira-sensei had told me this as an example. Back in the Meiji era, novels were once treated as foolish trash that only women read. And the kabuki and ukiyo-e which we learned about in school were also viewed as low and crude. But as the times change, the value that is placed on things can change just like that!

  “In the literary magazines of the future, there are illustrations of pretty girls on every page! Famous authors present their own individual views on panties, and debates are held on the merits of covering up virgin’s bits with a band-aid or not. That’s how the 23rd century is! The thing you call literature is nowhere near our literary magazines!” I really let loose.

  “Are you trying to be a sci-fi author? Why are you talking like you know the future?”

  “Because, of course—” we are from the future, was what I was about to say, but I held back. This person would never understand me, even if I told her. She would only think that I was crazy.

  “—Okay, then. You know, it doesn’t matter whether or not this becomes the primary style.” It wouldn’t help to keep arguing about what was literature or not anymore. There was something even more important to not give in to...

  “It’s too bad that this work isn’t to your taste. But to just look at the work superficially, and to even belittle Yuzu-san’s feelings like that... How dare you! Ani MAJI Mania holds all of Yuzu-san’s love for her brother!” I pounded the table in rage.

  She crossed her arms and stretched out her back. Her arrogant attitude was, as ever, unchanged. “It’s idiocy.”

  “Do not belittle Yuzu-san’s feelings!”

  I felt Yuzu-san gasp.

  “Regardless of how sincere Mirokuin-san’s feelings are, this novel will never be worthy of being called literature. I will never accept it.”

  “How can you say that?!” I shouted. When she is reading “novels,” what does she read? Isn’t she forgetting the most important part? “Ms. Club President, what is a novel that you like?”

  “The Dancing Girl by Mori Ogai.”

  “That’s a treasured work, even in the future. There is an Orthodox style remake.”

  “Remake?”

  “They added illustrations from the popular artist Numajiru. And the main heroine, Elise, has silver hair with mismatched eye color to make her tiny and sexy-cute. They also added a few more girls to increase the harem factor, as well as enough panty flashes to satisfy the reader.”

  “How horrid... Are you trying to demean The Dancing Girl?”

  “No. What I’m saying is that because of the remake, DANCE GIRL has once again regained its high reputation.”

  “Unbelievable. And in that case, it would no longer be The Dancing Girl.”

  She’s a real stubborn one.

  “You have to understand... When the times change, so does the culture. Works must put on the trappings to match the times to be popular. But you are claiming that those trappings are what makes the work itself!”

  “That is not what I am saying.”

  “It is so. You will not allow yourself to see Yuzu-san’s feelings that are hidden within Ani MAJI Mania. And you won’t accept the remake of DANCE GIRL. You discard a work just because it’s labeled as moe without a second’s consideration. You are someone who only judges a book by its cover!” I yelled out in a loud voice, jabbing a finger at the club president.

  “I told you, that’s not true!”

  “It is true! You have no eye for recognizing the true nature of a story!”

  “The true nature? And what is this ‘true nature’ of which you speak?”

  With all the feeling in my body, I pummeled her with my words. “The feelings contained within the work. To put it more strongly, a person’s heart!”

  As the times change, literature changes. Words change. And yet! People’s hearts never change! That’s what I believe!

  I had been saved by Oniaka, and by the heart of the work, the feelings of love for the older brother contained within it! Residing in Oniaka were the feelings of a person that transcended time!

  Perhaps she could never understand moe, as a person from the past. But she must have the ability to grasp the true root of a work, the heart of a person. Ms. Club President, open your eyes!

  I met her fierce gaze eye-to-eye. I appealed to her wordlessly. I wanted her to understand.

  But...

  “...What kind of childish thing is that? A person’s heart?” Her attitude was unchanged.

  Damn it! Will nothing I say change her mind? Is this what they call a generation gap? I was about to be disappointed, but then the club president’s defenses began to slightly crumble.

  “So childish, and yet you can say embarrassing things like p-panties without hesitation...” Her face had gone red.

  “Why shouldn’t the heroine show everyone her panties?”

  “But, the character of the work...”

  “Character of the work? Don’t be so pretentious! If you are the club president, then have confidence in your own words! Go and write a vivid panty flash scene, I dare you! And if you cannot, then never speak the word ‘literature’ again!”

  “Like you know a thing about my writing! What about you, then?”

  “Gladly! I will write one right here, right now!” I took a deep breath and looked at everyone. “It’s a battle, then! Someone, show me your panties for inspiration! Now, hurry up!” I yelled, and Kuroha stood up without saying a word.

  Yes! She will reveal her panties for me. You are indeed my beloved sister!

  Embarrassed, Kuroha hid her eyes and bravely lifted up her—

  Wait, what are you...

  —hand.

  Before I had a chance to react, she slapped me hard across the face.

  Ow! That hurt!

  “Cut it out, you hentai!” Kuroha snarled.

  H-Hentai is a compliment, you know...

  The battle was over. Yuzu-san and the rest all came to the conclusion that any further struggle was worthless. Maybe because I had gotten so heated, everyone else reacted coolly. Yuzu-san bowed to the club president again and again, apologizing for causing her so much trouble.

  How vexing...In the end, we were unable to move the club president’s heart. My heart was overcome with the feeling of defeat.

  Th
e club president stood there silently with her arms still crossed. The sun had already begun to set, and seeing her back-lit, her chest puffed out like that, was extremely irritating.

  What was her name, anyway?

  “Ms. Club President, I admit defeat. Would you at least tell me your name?”

  “As you wish.” She nodded, and introduced herself. “I am Kuroka Imose.”

  “Imose?” My eyebrows twitched. It was the family name I had used these past 17 years, after all.

  Could it be that she is... No, no. There’s no way such a coincidence like...

  There was no longer any reason for us to be in the room, so we left. I was curious about something right before exiting, and looked back at the club president’s thin legs.

  They were clad in black stockings.

  Our shadows stretched out from the setting sun on the way back from the school. Kuroha, Miru, and Odaira-sensei walked in front, with Yuzu-san and myself in the back. Having not achieved our desired result, our heavy footsteps plodded one after another.

  “I’m sorry. In the end, I wasn’t helpful at all,” I said.

  “Gin-san, please don’t give up. It was so fun creating a story together with everyone.” Yuzu-san rescued me from my feelings of powerlessness with her smile.

  “It really helps for me to hear that. Let’s think of another plan.”

  Yuzu-san looked from me to everyone else, and replied with a cheerful “Yes!”

  “Anyway, I always knew you were a passionate person, Gin-san, but...” she continued.

  Remembering my exchange with the club president, I got a little embarrassed. I had overdone it back there. “I’m ashamed.”

  “Oh, don’t be. It really made me happy.” Yuzu-san’s footsteps were light. I felt like she was in a happy mood, even though we had lost the battle.

  “Ha ha...” Yuzu-san laughed suddenly. “But Gin-san, I’m sorry, you seemed to have misunderstood something.”

  “Huh?”

  “It’s true that Ani MAJI Mania contains my feelings for my brother, but it’s really more about...”

  When Yuzu-san said this, suddenly Kuroha swung around from in front of us. She had her eyebrows furled and was looking at Yuzu-san.

  “...Never mind.” Yuzu-san decided against saying whatever she was planning.