I wonder what it was?
“Having siblings is really great, you know?” Yuzu-san whispered as she looked toward the setting sun. Perhaps she was remembering her brother. “Hey, Gin-san...”
“Yes?”
“Please, be my brother.” She said it so suddenly...
“Huh?” “Wait a...” Kuroha and I sputtered.
“If I asked you that, would you?” Yuzu-san continued.
“A-are you being serious?”
“No, just kidding.” She laughed as if something were funny.
Was that really a joke, I wonder?
Yuzu-san’s cheeks flushed red. It wasn’t just because of the light from the sunset, I was sure. “Gin-san, I’m going to put this precious story in my treasure box.” She tapped her bag with the manuscript in it. “I bet it’ll be really fun to read a long time from now. When I become an old woman I’ll read it again, and remember my feelings for my brother... I’ll probably grin like an idiot,” said Yuzu-san, and then looked at Kuroha.
Kuroha glanced back at Yuzu-san, and then at me. She began to twist her long, black hair in her fingers...
☆
For a very long time have I decided upon my own course of action. I will threaten those authors who write in the Orthodox style. There are many possible candidates, but the best of the lot is the man whose popularity has spread even to international waters.
Gai Odaira.
If that bastard rejects the Orthodox style, it will surely have an immense effect upon the literature of this world. To threaten him, it would of course be advantageous to learn the whereabouts of his personal residence. It will be easy to approach.
The name Odaira brings back bitter memories of mine. There was one time, long ago, when I allowed him to read one of my works, and he laughed at it. He said that my novel lacked any of the rudimentary fundamentals of what was necessary for “moe,” and thus was a failure, an ill-fit for the current-day literature. At the time, I had been under the impression that the public taste was more what I had written, but it turned out to be the vile works of Odaira which were popular. My masterpiece went without recognition, and that Odaira’s frivolous schlock was acclaimed.
This world is a horrible place. There is nothing good in the entire world. Therefore, the world itself must be changed.
My enemy is the Orthodox literary style. Whoever it was who coined the shorthand Orthodox style deserves death a thousand times over.
Despite its name, the contents reflect nothing of the sort. The works are all nothing but male wish fulfillment of the most banal type.
The hideous book I forced myself to read through for future reference had the main plot of a boy that traveled to the past and fell in love with a girl he befriended.
Their time periods were completely different! There was no way they would fall for each other so easily!
If the barriers between men and women were truly so low, I should have been able to find a girlfriend or two myself! Put a stop to the parade of foolish fantasy!
And if, perchance, such a boy existed in reality?
I’d wring his little neck.
Chapter 4 - I Want To Have Onii-chan’s Baby
“Gin-san, say ‘Aah...’”
“Aah...”
Yuzu-san’s chopsticks slowly approached my open mouth holding a piece of steak. The outside of the steak was grilled nicely, and the inside was tender. With each bite, the meat juices exploded in my mouth.
“Magnificent!”
“Gin-san, you’re complimenting me too much.”
It was lunch break at school. It had become a routine for Yuzu-san, Kuroha, and me to eat lunch together on the roof of the school building. We would lay down a sheet, sit ourselves down, and eat the home-made lunchboxes that Yuzu-san made.
“Gin-san, ‘Aah...’”
Aah... Such happiness. Such blissful happiness. I was so happy, I was emitting a pink-colored aura.
Kuroha was emitting a pitch-black aura, but my aura of happiness was strong, and had created a protective barrier around me and Yuzu-san.
Yuzu-san’s attitude toward me had changed recently. She would make eye contact more frequently, and she would strike up conversations more often. Even during class, I noticed that she would be looking over at me. I suspected I knew why this was happening.
According to Kuroha, I lacked a lot of common knowledge about the 21st century, and I would do strange things without realizing it. Yuzu-san must have been silently pointing out those times to me.
While we were eating, Yuzu-san asked me a question, seeming somewhat embarrassed.
“Gin-san, um... I was thinking about this last night. If you were going to have a baby, what would you name them?”
Kuroha almost choked on her food.
“Oh, I wasn’t talking about having a baby with me, okay? I was just asking, you know, one day... Don’t get any wrong ideas!” Yuzu-san spoke quickly, flustered.
Don’t worry, I know what you meant.
“I haven’t given much thought about a boy, but if it’s a girl, there’s a name I’ve been thinking about.”
“What is it?”
“Kan’u.”
“Oh!”
“Onii-chan, you know I heard from Sensei about where that name comes from,” added Kuroha.
“It’s a very feminine name. I’d be nice if she grows into someone appropriate for that name.”
“You mean an old dude with a long beard...” muttered Kuroha.
Kuroha, what in the world are you talking about? We’re talking about girls here, not old men.
“That’s wonderful. Gin-san, say ‘Aah...’”
“Aah...”
Kuroha kept glaring at the two of us. Finally, she was no longer able to stand it and shouted, “I’m going to make one, too!”
“What? You’re also going to have a baby, Kuroha-san?” Yuzu-san said.
A shocking proclamation!
“Kuroha! You’re too young!” I cried. “Who is the father?”
“I never said anything about being pregnant! I was talking about making a lunchbox, sheesh!”
“You’re already planning on making lunches for your kid?”
“Now you’re just screwing with me!” Kuroha stood up and pointed at me forcefully. “I’m going to make a lunchbox for us, too! And you’ll be the poison-tester, Onii-chan!”
“Poison-tester? Don’t you mean taste-tester?”
“Gin-san, Kuroha-san is just embarrassed,” explained Yuzu-san.
“I am not embarrassed!”
“Then it’s okay if I am a poison-tester, as well?”
“No, I’m making Onii-chan do it!” Kuroha waved her arms around like a spoiled brat while Yuzu-san laughed gently.
It had been a month since we had started living in the 21st century. In the past weeks, we had gone with everyone to see Sadie, we had gotten food poisoning from Kuroha’s handmade lunchbox, I had gotten the lowest score ever on a test in the history of the school, we had tried to get our novel printed in the local neighborhood newspaper and had been chased out... We had had a lot of fun!
But we still had no idea about what caused us to travel through time. We thought we might end up living forever in the Heisei era.
Thanks to Yuzu-san, we had pretty much gotten used to the 21st century. I wasn’t going to go as far as to say we didn’t want to go back to the future, but we were prepared to accept the possibility of living the rest of our lives in this time period.
The one thing I was worried about was the results for the Newcomer’s Prize that I had submitted my latest work to. And the Homyura Prize ought to have been announced pretty soon, as well. If we couldn’t return to the future, at the least I wanted to know the results of the competition, I thought...
O God, please hear my tiny prayer!
It was afternoon on a Sunday. Kuroha and I were watching TV in the living room. Yuzu-san had gone out shopping for dinner, and Odaira-sensei was in his room writing. Miru was out sketchin
g somewhere, I figured.
The TV was showing a variety program called With Which? People or things are split into an A group and a B group, and the show guests have to vote on one or the other. Eventually either A or B gets chosen by process of elimination. We had programs similar to it in the 23rd century.
During a commercial break, Kuroha said, “Onii-chan, can I ask you something?” She was playing with her hair. “If A is dark hair, and B is light hair... which do you choose?”
“You mean like the TV program? In that case I’d go with light hair.”
“Dark” didn’t leave a good impression in my mind.
“...Okay, next. A is someone who is a loudmouth, B is someone who is reserved.”
“Well, I think the way you put it would bias my answer. But going by what you said, obviously the reserved person.” Being a loudmouth didn’t leave a good impression, either.
“Yeah... I’m not making it sound good, am I?” said Kuroha, muttering to herself. “Okay then, how about A is stockings, B is katyusha?”
“You mean if I were to cross-dress? Neither one. I’d go with a garter belt and high heels.”
“What?!”
The commercials were over, and we went back to watching the TV program. Thirty minutes later, when it was finished, Kuroha spoke again suddenly.
“Then, A is the 23rd century, B is the 21st century. Which now?”
I didn’t answer, and turned toward her, looking into her serious eyes. I could tell this wasn’t just a simple question.
“Do you think we’ll never go back?” she continued.
I knew it. Kuroha looked far more serious than she had earlier.
“What do you think, Onii-chan? Do you not want to go back?”
“I do want to go back, but...”
“You’re conflicted, aren’t you? Because Yuzu-san told you, ‘Be my big brother’ or something, right?”
Something like that had happened, indeed. I tried envisioning Yuzu-san calling me “Onii-san.” Yeah, I think I like it. I think I really like it. I started to blush.
Kuroha’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. She grabbed her black hair and slapped me across the face with it.
“I’m your little sister, got it?”
“Don’t forget about Miru!”
“Yeah, and Miru is, too! And Mom, and Dad...”
Mom and Dad...
Yuzu-san’s parents hadn’t been very caring, but it was different for me. My parents loved me so much that I was able to think of myself as a winner even after being an abandoned orphan. If time was flowing at the same rate in the future as here, we would have gone missing more than a month ago. They would be extremely worried about us. I missed seeing their happy faces.
But if we left, then Yuzu-san would go back to being alone. I didn’t want to leave Yuzu-san. I didn’t want to leave her smile, her cooking, her tears... All of them had taken root, deep within my heart. I already couldn’t imagine living a life without Yuzu-san.
“Aren’t you going to become an author, Onii-chan?”
“Yeah. It’s the one goal I will never give up on.”
“Then we have to go back to the future. You can’t write anything decent at all in this time period.”
“That’s not true. If I study, I’m sure I can do it.”
“Oh, yeah? Are there any kanji you have learned since we came here?”
“There are!”
“Write them for me.”
All right! Time to show her the fruits of my studies! I haven’t been going to school just for show, after all.
一 二 三
“How about that?” I asked, pointing to the kanji I had written: one, two, and three.
“Not bad. Go ahead, continue.”
Kuroha was right. I barely understand any kanji at all. Becoming an author in this time period would be extremely difficult. Not being able to read or write kanji made it hopeless.
And the cultural differences were also great. Novels written in the Orthodox style wouldn’t be accepted in this era.
Even in Akihabara, the existence of moe was still weak, and you could be ostracized in school just for saying you loved a 2D girl. I felt so sorry for this world that couldn’t understand moe.
Once, I had gained hope from Oniaka. Likewise, my wish was for a great number of people to gain hope from my own stories. But the place to fulfill that dream wasn’t the 21st century, it was the 23rd century.
Yes... I knew that. But this was the time period where Yuzu-san lived.
“Pursue your dream, Onii-chan,” said Kuroha, appealing to me, looking straight into my eyes.
I had made my decision. “You’re right. We have to go back. Thank you, Kuroha.”
“Yeah.”
“It’d be nice if we could take Yuzu-san, though...”
“...What?!”
That would solve all the problems, after all.
“Nii, Nee...” Miru had come into the living room. She was holding a plate of marshmallows.
“Weren’t you drawing?” I asked.
“I got bored.” Miru tottered over and put the plate on the table.
“Let’s all eat them together,” she said, sitting down on the couch.
“Mind if I join you?” Odaira-sensei appeared in the living room as well. It seemed like he needed a break from his writing.
We all sat around the table, and each grabbed a marshmallow.
“Sensei, how is the progress on your manuscript?”
“Going smoothly. It’s nice to hand-write things once in a while, you know?”
“With the change in environment, I bet your creativity will hit new levels.”
“Thank you. But there is something that is eating at me. Even if I finish the novel, here in the 21st century, no one will be interested in it. It’s not like I can rewrite the readers’ brains. I’m beginning to feel the era I belong in is the 23rd century.” Odaira-sensei looked depressed. He finally wanted to go back to the future.
“Do you want to go back, Miru?” asked Kuroha, as Miru popped a marshmallow into her mouth.
Miru thought for a second, and said, “I could go back, sure.”
Miru was only ten and really loved our parents, but since we had come to this time period I had never heard her say a single thing about missing the future. She must have not wanted to worry us and kept it all to herself. She was like that, not wanting to have people worry about her.
“Sensei, what do you think caused us to travel through time?”
“I have no idea, really. Could it be like a present from God answering my wish? No, couldn’t be...”
“Your wish?”
“Well, there was a time I wished to become a little girl and travel to the Heisei era, after all.”
“I see.”
“And if God is going to grant my wishes, there are other ones I’d rather have anyway. Like, I want to have a ten year old little sister. I have twenty little sisters living in my head, but I can’t actually reach out and touch them...” He trailed off with a happy look on his face.
Kuroha suddenly stood up and was about to escort Miru out of the room, but Miru hadn’t eaten enough marshmallows and shied away from her like a cat.
Right then, we heard the creak of the front door opening.
“I’m home!” Yuzu-san called. She had returned from shopping for dinner. “Oh, you’re all gathered together?” She popped her head into the living room. She was holding a plastic bag in her hand, and I could smell fresh green vegetables.
“We were having a snack,” Kuroha explained.
“Oh, I see. Tonight I’m making eggplant and chicken sauté, Mexican style.”
After telling us tonight’s dinner menu, she headed to the kitchen. It sounded like we could look forward to another amazing dinner. I was about to thank her as she walked away, but...
Pipi...Pipi...Pipi...Pipi..
Suddenly, an alarm went off. It was quite loud, as if coming from somewhere nearby.
Is that the alarm on
my cellphone? Yuzu-san must have thought it was something similar, because she took out her phone to check. That wasn’t it, it seemed, since she put it back.
There wasn’t anything like an alarm clock or timer in the living room. Wait, isn’t this sound...
I looked around in distress. Odaira-sensei’s body had started to flash.
“Ooh!” Odaira-sensei stood up in shock.
Next, Miru’s body began to blink. “Nii, Nee...” Miru looked back and forth between me and Kuroha.
Then Kuroha and I started to blink. Alarms were ringing out from all four of our bodies.
“Onii-chan, this is...” Kuroha looked down at her own body, dumbfounded.
She was right. This had happened before. Time travel!
It must have been an act of God, like Odaira-sensei had said. No rhyme or reason, and not caring at all about our circumstances!
“What? What?” Yuzu-san was frozen and couldn’t figure out what she should do.
Pipipipipipipipipipipipipipi!
The beeps of the alarm turned into a continuous tone. It wouldn’t be long until we disappeared. Which meant it wouldn’t be long until I would be separated from Yuzu-san.
Damn it! This is too sudden! Even if I wanted to take Yuzu-san with me, I didn’t know how. There weren’t any clues!
I don’t want this! I want to talk more with Yuzu-san! I want to go places with Yuzu-san! And I want to fulfill her brother’s wish! I don’t want to leave her!
But the alarm showed no mercy and kept ringing...
Is there nothing I can do? If we have to part, what should I do?”
“Yuzu-san, please listen to me carefully!”
“R-Right!” she stammered.
At the least, I had to get this out. “I think... this might be goodbye.”
“What...?” Her face froze. She collapsed like a leaf onto the floor.
“Thank you so much for everything!” I burst out.
This isn’t good. I’m going to cry. But, I’m a man... I can overcome this.
“Please, tell me this is some kind of joke.”
“This is no joke. This is what happened when we travelled through time before.”
“Oh, no! Please, please tell me it’s not true!”
I wished it weren’t true myself.
My Little Sister Can Read Kanji: Volume 1 Page 13