“Of course.”
“And when the letters are visually based, they’re easy to understand for people from other countries, too, not just Japanese-nodesu.”
She might have a point...
“English might be the language of the world today, but if your words come to be used here in Japan, I bet they’ll spread across the world-nodesu. Don’t you think that would be wonderful, Nii-sama?”
I thought about that. “If it really came true, it might be the greatest invention Japan would ever create...”
“That’s right-nodesu! Japanese will rule the world-nodesu!” cried Amaneko-chan, clenching her fists. “And for that sake, we have to hurry up and weed out the old and the now. To create, one must first destroy-nodesu. Now come, Nii-sama! Let us create the future, together!”
She looked at me, entranced.
This conversation went in an unexpected direction...
Let’s mentally summarize what Amaneko-chan had proposed.
1. It is of serious concern that current-day Japanese has been borrowed from other countries.
2. Therefore, it is necessary to create a new Japanese.
3. To that effort, she wants to use my novels to influence the world.
Yeah, that’s about right.
I dreamed of becoming a novelist, so of course I was somewhat picky about my prose, but I’d never really thought very deeply about Japanese itself. Rather, I was much more concerned with creating the backgrounds and situations, choosing which type of panties or pantyhose my pretty girls should wear, and how best to show them off. I couldn’t believe there were people that were thinking about the future of Japanese and all that... not to mention that one was my long-lost blood-related little sister.
Spread my novels around the entire world... Create the future with my novels...
I mean, I was happy she was saying those things. While I listened to her impassioned words, I almost felt like I really could give birth to new words. But... something felt off. Maybe it was that what she was saying was just too preposterous, or had too many delusions of grandeur, but that wasn’t really what I wanted to say...
I wasn’t able to explain to myself yet what that brief feeling in my chest of “something about this isn’t right” was all about.
Although I wanted to talk more with Amaneko-chan, she said that she had a curfew and that her grandfather was really strict about it, so we left the restaurant. We headed to the nearest train station, back down AKIHABARA Road the way we had come.
On the way back, Amaneko-chan was super excited walking down the center of the road, skipping as she sang, “I met my Nii-sama! I met my Nii-sama!” and smiled a smile made of pure purity. There were still a lot of questions surrounding her, but she didn’t seem like a bad girl to me.
It wasn’t long until we had reached the statue where we had met at Pedo Park. I mentioned how the statue was “super pedo, don’t you think?” and she blinked at me. In current-day Japanese calling something “pedo” meant that it was youthful and cute, but for some reason she tilted her head at me in confusion. Maybe that’s not a word they use in the Special Cultural District?
“Nii-sama, today was really fun. I’ll come again soon.”
“Sure,” I replied.
Behind the statue, we could see the station building. I gathered that Amaneko-chan would be taking the train back. From the closest station to my house, you could get back to TOKYO Station in about 20 minutes on the “SUPER EXPRESS NEXIA.” And she said that it took five minutes to get to the Special Cultural District from TOKYO Station on the Ariake Liner.
“In the past it would take almost two hours on the shinkansen, you know. When I think about that, I’m really glad I was born in this time period-nodesu,” she remarked.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Because it makes the distance between us all the closer, obviously!” she replied, sticking out her tongue bashfully.
Well, if she’s gonna set me up with a pitch like that...
“I’m pretty sure the actual distance between us isn’t any shorter, though...”
“Oh, Nii-sama, you!” she said, puffing up her cheeks.
We made a good comedy team.
She said goodbye, and bowed her head to me. I had a ton of things I wanted to ask her, but she did say that we’d see each other again soon, so I figured I could just ask her next time. We waved goodbye to each other, and then...
“Nii...”
I heard a voice I recognized come from beside me, and it was not pleased. I turned to look, and saw my younger little sister, Miru, wearing her cat-eared beret. Standing behind Miru were Kuroha and Yuzu-san, who was carrying some shopping bags.
If I recalled correctly, they had been invited by a classmate of Kuroha’s to hang out today. Since there was only the three of them, that must have meant that Kuroha’s classmate had already left.
“Oh, what a coincidence,” I said, as they all approached me. They were looking... not at me.
Huh? It seems like they’re looking past me? They were looking at Amaneko-chan, who was standing behind me.
Oh, that’s right! They’ve never met Amaneko-chan before. I need to introduce her to them.
I turned around and the moment I saw Amaneko-chan, I sputtered out, “Uwah!”
Why, do you ask? Because Amaneko-chan had undergone a radical transformation.
The tips of her eyes and eyebrows were pointed up, and her mouth was shut in a tight line. I could see something surrounding her back. It was...
...flames.
Amaneko-chan’s eyes and entire body were emanating flames.
Well, I don’t mean that she was actually on fire or anything. She just had an expression that made me want to describe her that way. Not a single bit of that previous friendliness remained.
“So you show yourselves-nodesu...” said Amaneko-chan, almost growling, taking one step after another in our direction.
Perhaps she sensed the charged atmosphere, but Kuroha’s expression looked like she was taken aback.
“Onii-chan, who... is this girl?”
“So you’re Kuroha-san, I see-nodesu?” said Amaneko-chan, standing right in front of her. Thanks to their height difference, she had to look up at Kuroha.
“How do you know my name?” Kuroha asked.
“I did my research. How do you do? I am Nii-sama’s little sister, Amaneko Makoto.”
“Onii...-sama? His little sister?”
“Yes.”
Kuroha looked at me, asking me with her eyes, “What’s going on here?”
“Um...” I started to try and explain about Amaneko-chan, but she quickly slid in between us. It seemed like Amaneko-chan was still in a fighting mood with Kuroha.
“Kuroha-san, I know all about you. For example...” started Amaneko-chan. “...you’re going to make your debut as a translator of classic literature.”
Kuroha was shocked. So was I, actually. Amaneko-chan, you even know about that?
It was true. Kuroha was going to have her first translation of classic literature published. It was all thanks to that article in the June issue of Literary Gal which featured an article with translations of the Man’yoshu. I hadn’t been aware of it until just recently, either, but it was Kuroha’s translation that had been published in Literary Gal.
A wealthy individual had taken a liking to her translation and ordered a translation of a work of modern Japanese literature from her through an editing department. They had said her translation would be published as a proper book and everything.
In the current time period, it was not uncommon for wealthy individuals to sponsor professional publishing. Kuroha would handle the translation, and the book would be published by the publishing company. The cost of the publishing and translation would be covered by the wealthy individual.
It was unheard of for a high school student to make their debut as a translator. Even at school, Kuroha had become quite the person of the hour. It seemed another girl with simila
r hobbies had actually spoken to her for a change, and they had become friends. She had asked Kuroha to teach her how to read modern Japanese. It was that friend which had invited her and the others to hang out today.
“Translating ‘classic literature,’ so-called modern Japanese, to current-day language? What foolishness that is-nodesu,” scoffed Amaneko-chan.
“Foolishness...?” asked Kuroha.
“I use the language of today because I have no other choice, but I want to eliminate both the past and the now-nodesu. It seems that you and I are fundamentally incompatible-nodesu.”
“Amaneko-chan, Kuroha just loves old books, that’s all. She doesn’t have any big philosophy or dreams or anything,” I said.
“Argh, I’m so jealous that Nii-sama covers for you like that-nodesu!” shouted Amaneko-chan, getting more and more upset. “And the way you refer to him like ‘Onii-chan’ really makes me mad-nodesu. If we had grown up together instead, then maybe I’d be able to call him ‘Onii-chan’ so casually like you-nodesu!” Her words were filled with jealousy. “We would have taken baths together-nodesu!”
“Yeah, I did take baths together with Kuroha a lot when we were younger,” I added.
“I-I knew it-nodesu!” she cried.
“Kuroha and I would both be naked, and that’s actually where we learned about the differences between boys and girls. We were like two peas in a pod, starin’ at our naked bods without a care in the world when we were little. There wasn’t a nook or cranny we didn’t inspect.”
“Onii-chan, you’re sounding like a pervert!” yelled Kuroha, her face red, hitting me with her dictionary.
But when we were little, she totally stared at my body out of the corner of her eye...
“You can even hit him like it’s something that happens all the time... I guess anything goes when you live together-nodesu,” Amaneko-chan accused. “I bet you get into hot situations late at night when your parents’ eyes aren’t looking, too-nodesu... I’m not sure if I’m more jealous or enraged. Either way I’ll never forgive you-nodesu.”
“H-Huh? Seriously, what’s with this girl?” Kuroha demanded.
“What’s with me? Well I’ve got an answer to that...” said Amaneko, putting on an invincible smile. “I am Nii-sama’s future. And you, Kuroha-san, are his past!”
...Wh-What?!
Both Kuroha and I were dumbfounded and at a loss for words. As Amaneko-chan bathed in our wordlessness, she turned her gaze to Miru and Yuzu-san.
“I know about the cat-eared little sister and Miss Boobs here, too-nodesu.”
Miru met her gaze but said nothing back, while Yuzu-san smiled and responded, “Oh, my. It’s nice to meet you.”
Amaneko-chan replied, “It’s nice to meet you, too,” and gave a polite bow. It seemed Amaneko-chan was very careful about being polite.
She continued to glare at Kuroha and the others for a few seconds, but then she said, “Nii-sama, I’ll be going home now,” turned around briskly, and headed toward the station.
As she walked past me, she told me this:
“Nii-sama, I’ll make your dreams come true.”
“You mean making new words?” I said. “Well, about that...”
If I could really do that, it would be pretty incredible, but that was not the dream I had. I was about to correct her when she interrupted me.
“That dream is far away, and very, very big-nodesu. I know that it won’t be simple-nodesu.”
“Huh?”
“But it is a dream that is realistic-nodesu.”
After saying that, she started to run off toward the station.
“Wait!” cried Kuroha to Amaneko-chan’s back. “I don’t know who or what you are, but if you do something fishy to Onii-chan, I won’t forgive you!” She said it like someone warning someone else not to touch their stuff or they’d regret it.
Amaneko-chan stopped in her tracks.
“I’m not going to do anything fishy to him. But you need to understand,” she said, as she turned around to give Kuroha her parting shot. “Nii-sama ish mine!”
...That’s quite the time to mispronounce things.
Amaneko-chan’s cheeks blushed slightly, and she turned back around.
“Nii-sama, until next time-nodesu,” she said, and her little body disappeared into the crowd of people.
The four of us just stood there with our mouths open, looking at each other.
Miru came up to me and tugged at my girl-print T-shirt.
“Nii, who was that?”
“My... real little sister, it seems.”
“So, she’s delusional?”
“...I’m pretty sure it’s not a delusion, actually.”
I explained to everyone about Amaneko-chan. About how she had emailed me and we had met. About how she knew that I was a 2.5D kid. About how she was born in the Special Cultural District and that she wanted to create new words.
“She’s quite the handful, isn’t she?” asked Kuroha, who wasn’t pleased. For some reason, Amaneko-chan seemed to take an unnaturally antagonistic position toward Kuroha. I supposed that it only made sense that Kuroha would get angry back. “Onii-chan, why did you see her without saying anything to me first?”
See, I told you she’d get angry.
“But everyone else was gone, right?” I asked. “I didn’t have any chance to tell you.”
“What about calling me on my cellphone?”
“Do I have to tell you every little thing I do?”
“And what about if you’re lured out somewhere and get caught up in some crime? What about then?!”
What are you, the nagging mom I’ve never had?!
“I’m telling you, Amaneko-chan isn’t a bad person. You just have that impression because you just saw her there at the end like that,” I shot back.
“And what kind of person did you see, Onii-chan?”
“She acted like someone from the Special Cultural District where everything here was really new and rare to her. She was running around without a care in the world, laughing and smiling... She was really cute.”
“Oh, that’s what you’re into? You damn lolicon,” said Kuroha, scorn oozing from her voice, as she stared at me.
Hey, Odaira-sensei will get pissed if you call someone who goes after middle-schoolers a lolicon! It’s gotta be elementary schoolers or younger!
“Gin-san, you said that she was from the Special Cultural District and found everything here new and rare. I’m from the 21st century, so absolutely everything is new to me!” said Yuzu-san.
“But Yuzu-san, you don’t really have that kind of reaction... I mean, you’re really even-keeled about it,” I said. She had completely slipped in to living in the 23rd century.
“O-Oh, my...” she murmured.
“Nee, you’ve gotta watch out for that girl. Nii’s tasted fresh meat,” said Miru.
“...Miru, what is that supposed to mean?” demanded Kuroha with her arms crossed, looking annoyed. “So she knew about your birth and is from the Special Cultural District, huh? The whole deal about her being your real little sister is ridiculous, though. But if she was born in the Special Cultural District, then...”
Kuroha had switched into her “Great Detective” mode that she enters sometimes. I started turning around everything I knew about Amaneko-chan in my head, as well. But then Yuzu-san suggested something to all of us.
“Um, the Special Cultural District is the city that came about because we changed history, right? So in that case, why don’t we all think about it together?”
“Together, you say?” I asked.
“That’s right.”
Aha! I’d figured out what Yuzu-san was trying to say. There were some people who we had changed the future with who weren’t here right now.
I took out my cellphone and called up Professor Choumabayashi and Odaira-sensei.
*
One day in the 23rd century, in Kuroha’s room.
“Kuroha, Yuzu-san! Odaira-sensei’s radio program to
day is gonna be amazing! He has Miru and Haruka Haruka-sensei as guests!”
“Onii-chan, don’t Odaira-sensei and Haruka Haruka-sensei have a bitter feud over gimai versus jitsumai?” Kuroha asked.
“Oh, my... In the Japan of the past they used to say that the more you fought, the closer you were,” Yuzu-san said. “I bet the two of them actually get along really well!”
“At any rate, it’s not something we should miss!” I announced. “Let’s all listen together!”
Special Program Gai Odaira Hour: Original Broadcast July 15th, 2202.
Guests: Haruka Haruka (Author), Miru Imose (Elementary Schooler/Illustrator)
“Letters from the listeners segment”
From Listener A:
Earlier when I took my little sister to a conveyor-belt foie gras restaurant, she complained, “I can’t believe you’d take me out to a cheap place like this!” What kind of place should I take my little sister out to?
Haruka: “First, I just must know whether your little sister was a jitsumai or a gimai. If she is your jitsumai, take her to a five star restaurant. If she is your gimai, she can eat alone cooped up on a toilet.”
Odaira: “On a toilet? Did you hear that, Miru-chan? This is why I hate jitsumai fundamentalists as much as I do. Although being cooped up in a girls’ bathroom with a gimai is just where I’d want to be...”
Miru: “And may you never leave it again.”
From Listener B:
I know you focus on elementary schoolers, Odaira-sensei, so if you could become any object in an elementary school, what would you be?
Odaira: “I’d like to be a kiddie chair made for little girls, I think.”
Haruka: “Hmph. So cliché.”
Odaira: “Fine, then what would you like to be, Haruka-kun?”
Haruka: “A thermometer.”
Odaira: “...Damn it, I didn’t even think of that...”
Miru: “What a waste of brains.”
From Listener C:
I can read kanji, you see. Don’t you think the kanji for little sister, 妹, and the kanji for stock, 株, look similar?
Odaira: “I have no idea what this person is talking about. 妹 is made out of the characters for female, 女, and unripe, 未. The meaning is completely different!”
My Little Sister Can Read Kanji: Volume 3 Page 4