While riding the elevator up inside the tower, Amaneko-chan looked tense. She must have viewed Odaira-sensei, as well as Kuroha and Miru, as enemies. To her we were like a hero and heroine diving straight into the heart of enemy territory.
I was filled with conflicted emotions. Although things had come to this state, I really didn’t want to quarrel with Odaira-sensei or my little sisters. I hoped that there was some way for everyone to come to a mutual agreement that everyone was satisfied with...
“Nii-sama... I won’t lose.”
“...Yeah,” I replied with a nod as the elevator arrived on the top floor. The doors opened with a ding.
I had heard that the Tower of Culture was a tourist attraction, but what greeted my eyes was a bleak view. There was nothing here, just a fence to prevent people from falling off.
There was a strong wind blowing, rustling my hair. I scanned around, looking for the others.
There they are.
Everyone was there in the center of the open space. There was Odaira-sensei, in the form of a girl, Kuroha, Miru, Yuzu-san, and for some reason I could see Professor Choumabayashi there as well. They noticed us and headed our way.
I looked at each one of them in turn. Odaira-sensei was the same as always, the professor was waving both hands nonchalantly, Miru was expressionless, and Yuzu-san had a smile on her face, but for some reason she didn’t seem her usual energetic self.
And then there was Kuroha...
As the wind whipped her black hair, she had her mouth tightly closed. It wasn’t like she was angry exactly... Her face was stiff like a mask.
I had been quite worried after what Miru had said, but she looked more normal than I had expected. That’s a relief.
Before I had a chance to call out to Kuroha, Odaira-sensei spoke up.
“So you must be Amaneko-kun, yes? How do you do? I am Gai Odaira,” he said to her, walking straight up in front of us.
Amaneko-chan didn’t say anything, and instead grabbed onto my arm in shock.
“Now, now... it doesn’t look like you think too fondly on me,” said Odaira-sensei. “In that case, let us cut straight to the chase. Gin-kun, do you have something you want to say?”
“Of course I do. Please stop pressuring the publisher,” I said.
“Telling me that isn’t going to get you anywhere. Try telling that to Miru-chan.”
I switched my gaze to Miru, who was silently glaring at me. “Miru, I doubt you think this is funny, but it’s far too cruel. I’ll buy you some marshmallows, so make him stop this.”
“No way,” she answered curtly. “Now, I have a question for you, Nii.”
“What is it?”
“Did you and the weirdo do it?”
What’s with that question? The answer is obvious.
“Yes, we did,” I replied matter-of-factly.
Kuroha and Yuzu-san both looked flabbergasted and Miru made a sullen expression. Amaneko-chan next to me also looked taken aback. FYI, the professor and Odaira-sensei both went, “Ooh...” and seemed highly curious.
“We did the meeting, yes,” I added.
Huh? Why does it look like everyone just deflated?
“Let me rephrase. Did you get down-and-dirty?” Miru continued.
“Down-and... what? I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t know what you mean.”
“I’m asking if you’re still clean, Nii,” she clarified.
“I took a bath last night, sure. By myself.”
Miru said, “Looks like he’s just as pure as ever...” seemingly satisfied about something, and went silent again.
But this time, it was Yuzu-san who yelled out something she couldn’t keep quiet about any longer. “Is it true that you ran away from home?!”
“What?!” I exclaimed. What story did she hear?!
“Gin-san, are you okay?! Did she take anything from you?!” she added, worried.
“Take something from me? Amaneko-chan wouldn’t take anything from me... Right, Amaneko-chan?”
“Actually, I got his bellybutton-nodesu,” said Amaneko-chan, facing Yuzu-san and puffing out her chest with pride.
“Oh, my... stealing his bellybutton?” Yuzu-san asked. “That’s like Mr. Lighting. My brother loved Mr. Lightning.”
“Mr. Lightning? What is that?” asked Amaneko-chan.
“It’s a game we played.”
“A game?”
“When my brother would insist, I would tie him up, dunk him into the bathtub, and electrify the water. While he was getting all sparky, he would quiz me: ‘You have electric shocks and electric leaks, so what do you have when you leak due to a shock?’ And when I couldn’t answer, he’d say, ‘Me, right about now,’ with a very cold expression and crash out.”
“Whoa... That’s heartwarming, if not somewhat overly stimulating,” I replied.
“Gin-san, have you crashed?” asked Yuzu-san.
“Um... Amaneko-chan, what do you think?” I asked.
“You didn’t allow yourself to fall-nodesu,” she said. “But I’ll take you down as soon as I can-nodesu.”
“You heard her!” I told Yuzu-san.
“Oh, my... I can’t allow that to happen. The first one to bring him down will be me,” said Yuzu-san, placing her feet apart in a firm stance, and twisting her arms in a gesture like she was tying up a rope.
A dry wind whipped across me.
“Nii-sama... Miss Boobs here is a little...” cautioned Amaneko-chan.
“Ahaha! Looks like Jitsumai-chan’s been overwhelmed by Yuzu-cchi’s character-noda!” laughed the professor, like she didn’t have a care in the world.
Must be nice not having a stake in the issue this time and being able to have fun like her.
“Nii-sama, we don’t have time to do these little comedy bits-nodesu,” said Amaneko-chan.
“I don’t know what’s so comedic about them, but you’re right that we’ve gotten off track,” I said. “Miru, please. Stop pressuring the publisher.”
Miru looked up beside her to Kuroha and asked, “Nee, what should we do?”
As I was talking with everyone, I noticed something. Kuroha had been looking at me the entire time. At first glance she looked like she usually did — but the usual sparkle in her eyes was gone. She looked at me with a stare somehow lonely, cold, and empty, despite it being summertime.
When I looked back at Kuroha, she kind of half-closed her eyes, sighed, and said, “Enough, Miru. Onii-chan isn’t our personal object. He has his own goals. Right now, we’re causing him harm and pain. I... don’t want that.”
“...But aren’t you hurting?” Miru asked.
Kuroha bit her lips strongly.
“Well, I’m hurting,” Miru declared. “I noticed how amazing Nii was myself. But Miss Weirdo here took him away.”
“......Miru, if you don’t act on what’s in your heart, in the end, it’ll end up no different than if you didn’t feel it in the first place,” replied Kuroha, shaking her head no sadly. “It pains me to say it, but I have to admire her ability to act. She gave him an opportunity to debut his novel just like it was nothing, and we didn’t do anything. In the end, we weren’t there for him.” Kuroha was acting completely pitifully.
“Kuroha, what are you saying?” I asked. “Not there for me? You and Miru have always, always been there for me.”
“Sensei, Miru and I have a request,” said Kuroha to Odaira-sensei, turning her face away from me like a rejection. “Please stop putting pressure on the publisher. Allow Onii-chan’s book to be published.”
Ah, I see.
Maybe this is what Kuroha is thinking: “—Please, don’t bother me any more.”
I was left without anything to say.
Odaira-sensei nodded in agreement, saying a noncommittal, “Well, I suppose I could, if it’s what you want...” and took out his cellphone, probably to contact people in the industry to call off his pressure.
“Nii-sama, it looks like that’s that!” said a grinning Amaneko-chan. “I wa
s prepared for a tougher battle, but I’m glad that everything got settled so easily-nodesu!” She stuck up one hand while still grabbing onto my arm with the other. “Victory goes to the real little sister-nodesu!”
Kuroha glared at Amaneko-chan for just a moment, but quickly turned away.
You’re just going to let that go?
Kuroha was clearly not acting like her usual self. It was worrying to me, but the problem had already been resolved.
I’d rather not say it was a piece of cake, but...
When we’d first met up with Odaira-sensei and the others, the atmosphere had been really charged, but after we finished talking, things got quite a bit more relaxed. It was all thanks to the professor.
Amaneko-chan was wary of everyone except for the professor, who she seemed to look at as a peer, and they quickly broke the ice with one another. The two of them were now sitting on a bench talking about Mr. Bedhead.
“My brother actually moved to the Special Cultural District-noda! He’s such an eccentric-noda!” the professor exclaimed.
“Someone from Outer Japan moving to the Special Cultural District?” Amaneko-chan cried. “What a shame-nodesu!”
The professor was in high school, but she looked so young, it was impossible to see anything other than two middle schoolers chatting at each other. Odaira-sensei, Miru, and Yuzu-san had gone back down the elevator to look around inside the tower.
Kuroha was... looking down at TOKYO through the fence. The others had invited her to go down into the tower with them, but she’d turned them down.
I sighed... Why does she have such a dejected look on her face?
Nope. I can’t just sit here when I see her like this and do nothing.
I stiffened my courage, and went over to stand next to her.
Kuroha’s shoulders quivered for just an instant, but she didn’t move to look at me.
“Is this the first time we’ve been to a tall lookout since that time in elementary school when we went with our parents to ‘TOKYO TOWER NEXIA’?” I asked.
“Yeah...” said Kuroha, the strong wind blowing her hair.
“So... Your translation going well?” I asked.
“...Yeah.”
“...”
“...”
Our conversation was going nowhere.
“Did you need something?” Kuroha said in a strict voice, but when I shied away a bit, her expression changed. “...Sorry. I’m making you uncomfortable, aren’t I?”
“No... I just wanted to say again... I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble.”
Kuroha looked really sad when I said that. “You said that when you got in the car yesterday too, didn’t you?”
“Yeah,” I answered.
“I was thinking about it all day yesterday. Why in the world would you be apologizing so seriously like that?”
Why? Because it seems I’ve been causing you trouble, that’s why. It’s what your classmate said.
“Maybe... Maybe I’ve been a real burden to you, Onii-chan...”
What?! How’d she get that? It’s the complete opposite!
“So...” Kuroha continued.
“Wait, Kuroha, that’s not it. I’m the one that’s a burden on you,” I said in a hurry, trying to correct her, but then...
“Stop! Stop right now-nodesu! Why are the two of you together all serious-like all of a sudden-nodesu?!” yelled Amaneko-chan, jumping right in between us. She had both her hands out like she was trying to direct traffic. The professor then came trotting up from a distance.
“Hey, Jitsumai-chan, wait up! Kuro-chan and Imose-kun are having some brother-sister time right now. Don’t get in their way-noda!”
“I’m his little shishter toooo!” roared Amaneko-chan, looking up at Kuroha. “Kuroha-san, Nii-sama is already mine-nodesu. You old little sisters can get out of the picture now-nodesu.”
I thought that Kuroha would back off and not put up a fight now, but...
“...Stay out of this,” she snapped. “Onii-chan and I are talking right now, got it?”
“Seems like you’ve got some fight in you, Kuroha-san,” Amaneko-chan sneered. “I guess I need to completely crush you-nodesu.”
The veins in Kuroha’s temples were throbbing, and Amaneko-chan’s eyebrows were asking for trouble. I had hoped to avoid a situation like this, but it had happened just like that...
I was in a pickle, but the professor laughed like she was enjoying herself.
“That’s my Gin Imose for you-noda! He’s got girls throwing fireworks fighting over him, but he still has that cool look on his face-noda!”
“Um, I was actually thinking, ‘Well, now I’m in a pickle,’” I said. “And it’s less fighting over me than fighting each other, I think.”
“Well, you haven’t decided on someone yet, but eventually one of them is going to break out as the one you love-noda,” said the professor in a surprisingly serious tone. “And that love of yours will even become famous in future generations.”
“It sounds like you know my future,” I said.
“Oops, I have no idea what I was just saying,” the professor said quickly, waving her hands in the air with palms up. “Please, just forget all that.”
Well, I’m used to the professor’s little jokes and pranks.
“Now I predicted this turn of events, so I prepared a little something that’ll do just the trick,” said the professor, who was starting to fish around in the pouch she wore on her front.
Is she gonna take out some item to resolve the situation? I wanted to believe that, but I felt it would be pretty tricky to stop the two of them now.
Kuroha was standing there with her feet spread out and her arms crossed, with an aura of violence emanating at full power from her back. Amaneko-chan had both her hands balled into fists, and looked like a wild dog ready to strike at any time. Maybe it was because of her facing down Amaneko-chan, but the once-down-in-the-dumps Kuroha was now fully back to life.
“Nii-sama, Kuroha and I are two people who can’t stand beside one another-nodesu,” Amaneko-chan declared. “Just as there cannot be two suns in the sky, there cannot be two little sisters-nodesu.”
“Um, you know that I’ve had two little sisters for a while now, right?” I asked.
“What she means is that you can only have one partner, Onii-chan,” said Kuroha. “In fact, a long time ago, the kanji for ‘little sister’ could also mean ‘wife’ or ‘lover.’ Of course I have n-no intention of being your l-lover, but bring it on!”
“Well I do have the intention of being his lover-nodesu!” replied Amaneko-chan.
“Um, are we sure that we all just can’t get along?” I asked. “I really think that’d be for the best...”
But Kuroha ignored me.
“When it comes to me and Onii-chan and our future, well... I’ll admit that you were the reason I started thinking about that...”
“Oh, what an honor-nodesu,” scoffed Amaneko-chan.
Are they even listening to me anymore?
“At first I thought I would just be good and back out of the picture, but now I see clearly,” declared Kuroha. “My pride will not allow me to give him to the likes of you!”
“That’s exactly what I’d like to hear-nodesu! Kuroha-san, let us battle, with Nii-sama on the line!” Amaneko-chan exclaimed.
Nope. They’re just firing missiles that are flying right past me. Nothing is going to make them back down now...
I was at my wits’ end when the professor spoke up.
“Imose-kun, use this-noda,” she said, holding a yellow helmet.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Put it on and you’ll see-noda. It’s an item for having a fair battle-noda.”
I didn’t really understand, but I took the helmet and put it on my head. Immediately a holographic screen appeared in the air surrounding us. There was a picture of what seemed to be the inside of my brain, and there were words floating inside of it.
Kuroha Kuroha Kuroha
Kuroha Kuroha Amaneko Amaneko Amaneko Amaneko Amaneko
Kuroha and Amaneko-chan’s names were shown, and they appeared exactly the same number of times as each other.
“Professor, what is this?” asked Kuroha. “Is it showing which one of us is taking up the most space in Onii-chan’s head?”
“That’s right-noda,” said the professor. “This way Imose-kun can’t avoid the question and try not to hurt people’s feelings-noda.”
“What occupies my brain?” I asked. “But if that’s what it shows, why doesn’t Odaira-sensei’s name show up? I’m pretty sure I’m thinking about him the most sometimes. I love literature, after all!”
Kuroha glared at me and Amaneko-chan shot me a look that showed her displeasure after I said that.
“I’ve adjusted the settings so it only shows the two of your names-noda,” explained the professor. “But be careful! If it sustains too strong a shock, the settings might change-noda.”
“So it’s a one-on-one duel, leaving out the cat-eared sister and Miss Boobs. Sounds like fun-nodesu,” said Amaneko-chan, pointing her finger straight at Kuroha and challenging her. “Now, Kuroha-san, it’s time to settle who has rights to Nii-sama once and for all-nodesu. The prize for winning: Nii-sama-nodesu!”
“Ah! You just said something about a prize, right? I have just the thing for that-noda!” exclaimed the professor. She rummaged around in her pouch and took out another new item. “The ‘Meguri Present Box’!”
The professor was holding a red box in her hand which was wrapped in a gold ribbon. When we all looked a little confused, she then chucked it right at me!
In an instant I was blinded by a flash of light...
“Uwah!” I cried, instinctively shutting my eyes. After a few seconds, I ever so slowly opened them back up...
Nothing in particular had changed.
Wait, something is strange. My arms and legs feel oddly constricted...
I looked down...
“Wh-What the hell is this?!”
I couldn’t believe my eyes. From my neck down I was stuck in a box. The box that the professor had showed us before had grown in size and wrapped me up. I was like some Christmas present with only my head sticking out.
My Little Sister Can Read Kanji: Volume 3 Page 11