Kuroha and Amaneko-chan were also dumbstruck at first, but Amaneko-chan seemed to understand and nodded her approval.
“Nii-sama is a beautiful prize indeed-nodesu.”
“Even better than those ‘Lolicon Playing Cards’?” asked the professor.
“You have a lot more free time than I expected, Professor,” sighed Kuroha.
“Nii-sama, you look so cute like that-nodesu. I’m gonna make you mine for sure-nodesu!” said Amaneko-chan, trying to look as adorable as possible. She walked up and kissed the box.
I remembered the time she kissed my bellybutton, and my heart skipped a beat.
At that moment, the holographic display changed. One of the “Kuroha”s disappeared and a new “Amaneko” appeared in its place.
“Fufufu... A preemptive strike-nodesu.”
“S-Sheesh, Onii-chan! Keep your head on straight!” yelled Kuroha.
That’s easy for you to say... I can’t exactly control my heartbeat, you know!
“Nii-sama, Kuroha isn’t able to have the kind of skinship we do-nodesu,” Amaneko-chan said smugly. “She’s a failure as a little sister-nodesu.”
“Normal brothers and sisters don’t do those sorts of embarrassing things!” retorted Kuroha.
“No, that’s not true,” I said. “In orthodox literature kissing is pretty much a given, and they usually go way beyond that, you know.”
“Th-That’s why you’re called such a literary geek!” said Kuroha.
Hey now, that’s not a nice way of putting it!
Another “Kuroha” disappeared from the display and was replaced with a new “Amaneko.”
“Kuroha-san, you’re naive, and in a bad way-nodesu,” said my jitsumai. “You really need to learn more about the world-nodesu. A proper brother and sister should each be after each other’s chastity... It’s eat or be eaten-nodesu.”
Chasing... city? After each other? Eat or be eaten? The vision of Amaneko-chan and I dressed up as ninjas chasing each other from nook to nook came to mind...
“H-How uncouth...” said Kuroha.
“Ahahaha, let’s get this started already-noda!” laughed the professor. “We’re all set, so go ahead and fight over Imose-kun all you want!”
“...Professor, are you sure you’re not egging the two of them on just for laughs?” I asked. But the professor’s look got suddenly quite serious.
“Look, Imose-kun. When things get like this, what’s best is for everyone to just say what they want to say and get it out there-noda. As long as the kindling is still smoldering, the hostility will never end-noda.”
“You have a point there. Then, is me being in a present box important somehow?”
“Ahaha, that’s just for fun-noda!” laughed the professor. “Now then, Imose-kun... choose wisely-noda.”
And then she disappeared.
She’s a hard one to get a read on, that’s for sure.
After that, the two girls crossed swords on a bunch of topics like, “Which one is my type?” and “What kind of fashion suits me?” and “What is a proper little sister?”, but the display didn’t end up changing at all.
Well, duh. Because I want to get along with both of them.
But then Amaneko-chan made her pleading eyes even more pleading-y, and complained, “If we fight on these topics, this will never end-nodesu.” Something about her attitude had changed. “Kuroha-san, let’s fight seriously.”
If I had to make a comparison... it was like she had an intent to kill.
“Nii-sama and I are going to make the future together,” said Amaneko-chan. “That’s why we’ll publish books. Kuroha-san, you’re going to translate and publish books from the past-nodesu. That’s the easiest difference to understand between us-nodesu. Nii-sama, please look at this.” Amaneko-chan took out two pieces of paper from the pocket in her pleated skirt. “The first page is written in modern Japanese. The other one is... your writing, except with the hiragana and katakana taken out. It’s what I envision writing from the future to be like-nodesu.”
It said:
Amaneko-chan, you’re so cute. I want to kiss you. I want to hug you. I don’t need Kuroha.
ℏℵ⊅∅ □¶♪⇨ ＋＋＋Ω※→→×◀◀= ▶︎︎▶︎
“Nii-sama. Do you really have to think about which one is more important?” Amaneko-chan asked. “Something ‘borrowed from the past’ or an ‘original future’?”
The past or the future...
Comparing the two, the future definitely had a more forward-thinking connotation. If one were to just consider my tastes, clearly the future would be the winner.
A “Kuroha” disappeared from the display and was replaced with an “Amaneko.”
Amaneko-chan saw this happen and chuckled a little, while Kuroha started to look panicked.
“W-Wait a second!” she exclaimed. “You’re saying it’s original, but just using symbols itself doesn’t make it original, no?”
Now that she mentions it, that’s totally right. An “Amaneko” disappeared and changed into a “Kuroha.”
“Shut up-nodesu! It has plenty of originality-nodesu!” Amaneko-chan spat.
“And besides, the things you say are just way too out there,” continued Kuroha. “I understand you want to do something new and different, but don’t you also have to think about matching the tastes of the time?”
“Matching the tastes of the time...?” Amaneko-chan asked. “I have a question then for you, Kuroha-san. Did you read what other people wrote about Nii-sama’s novel-nodesu?”
“Yeah...”
I remembered the horrible reception the novel I had uploaded to the website had gotten. With the exception of Amaneko-chan, it had been a complete disaster.
“After I read those comments, I realized just how idiotic the masses are, and just how little vision they have for great literature-nodesu,” said Amaneko-chan. “Half the world is just people standing there with their mouths open, waiting for someone to feed them their favorite food-nodesu. But Nii-sama doesn’t care about the world, and is trying to create something new. He’s carving open the future... He’s like a god-nodesu!”
“But you can’t call it a success if most people reject it,” said Kuroha. “I don’t want to see him go out foolishly into the wild and be beaten down by the vicious winds of criticism! I want my Onii-chan to smile!”
“Even if it can’t be understood today, you need the courage to never bend your will-nodesu,” answered Amaneko-chan. “As an example, Kurona Gura was a relatively successful author while he was alive, but it was only after his death that he was truly valued as he should have been and that Japanese culture changed because of it-nodesu. Nii-sama will be the same way-nodesu!”
“Being popular posthumously isn’t going to help Onii-chan be happy!” Kuroha cried.
Ah, I see now. After listening to their conversation, I now had a good idea of their difference in opinion.
Amaneko-chan didn’t care whether I was accepted into the world today; rather, she was focused on carving a path to the future, which was why she sounded so radical. She believed that having a strong will was key.
On the other hand, Kuroha was more realistic, and she thought first about how I could be a success in the current-day. She believed that it was important so that I could look back at my life when I died and be happy about what I’d accomplished.
The scale of what Amaneko-chan’s goals were really made me excited, but the care Kuroha showed really twanged at my heartstrings. Each of their perspectives were different, and I wasn’t able to decide which one of them was right. How could I?! But I had to choose, or I would never be able to get them to back down...
Damn it... Which should I choose?
The holographic display was deadlocked, showing my own mental state.
Amaneko-chan glanced at the display. “Kuroha-san, you might pretend to care about Nii-sama, but you cannot fight for him. In the end, you are a person of the past-nodesu. And the proof is that you can read kanji,
which was borrowed from that other country. The old should be destroyed-nodesu!” Amaneko-chan walked up in front of me and yelled, her face crimson, “Nii-sama! No matter what Kuroha-san says, she cannot create anything new. Do not choose her! Choose me instead!” She gestured with her hands, sweeping them aside.
So cool! That gesture is so cool!
But I calmed back down. That strange feeling I’d gotten before was back, welling up inside me. What could it be? This feeling that something is... off...
In response to the overly-excited Amaneko-chan, Kuroha replied calmly, “I’m not rejecting the future at all. But even if you are creating the future, you can’t ignore the past and the present. The future is created by connecting and evolving the things from before, yes? If you try and create something new without building upon the existing foundation, you’re bound to fail.”
“Foundation... You mean your foundation with Nii-sama?” asked Amaneko-chan.
“I wasn’t talking about Onii-chan. That’s not what I was trying to say.”
“You’re trying to hold your history with Nii-sama against me-nodesu! Well, I’m not going to lose to history! Nii-sama and I are gonna create the future!” Amaneko-chan shouted.
Foundation... History with Nii-sama...
Amaneko-chan’s word rang a bell in my head and I remembered a number of things from my past.
For example, the time when I had been in shock after learning that I was adopted. Kuroha had been there, silently reading a book next to me. She hadn’t been any different than she usually was.
I had always wondered why she’d never said anything. Recently, I’d asked Yuzu-san what she thought, and she replied, smiling, “Gin-san, Kuroha-san was trying to show you by acting like she usually did, ‘Even if we’re not related by blood, nothing will change between us.’”
I felt my love for Kuroha well up in my heart once again.
I had many more memories of Kuroha. Like when I would console her when she locked herself in the basement library, or when we’d play write-on-the-body in the bath together... It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that my past had been spent together with Kuroha.
“Ah...”
I finally realized.
That’s it... Kuroha has always been there by my side. I felt I had an answer to the decision I had to make between Amaneko-chan and Kuroha.
...I couldn’t allow myself to be trouble for Kuroha any longer, could I? I still couldn’t get the words of those girls at school the other day out of my head. I didn’t want to be a bother to Kuroha.
Amaneko-chan wants to create the future together with me, but in the end, I think it’s more about me not wanting to be a bother to Kuroha.
The “Kuroha”s on the display disappeared one after another and were replaced with “Amaneko” “Amaneko” “Amaneko”... Amaneko-chan’s face lit up like a star.
“Onii-chan, you can’t be... Why...?” said Kuroha in shock, backing away.
Kuroha, you’re going to be a translator, right? Well, I’m going to be a writer. Let’s both chase our dreams together.
Almost as if the game had been won, the box in which I was wrapped destroyed itself with a pop. At the same time, paper confetti came fluttering down.
“Nii-sama...” said Amaneko-chan, reaching out her hand to mine. I went to grab it with my newly-freed arm. “Nii-sama, you see the future, too. In the end, the past will always be the past-nodesu.”
“...No...” Kuroha was not able to form words properly, and Amaneko-chan faced her with confidence and stuck in the dagger.
“Kuroha-san, Nii-sama is nothing more to you than a ‘borrowed item.’ He should go on together with his original little sister-nodesu.”
Kuroha didn’t saying anything in response.
“What’s new is what’s right-nodesu,” Amaneko-chan went on.
I stopped my outstretched arm. Something made me pause.
When I listened to Amaneko-chan speak, there was always this strange feeling. I couldn’t really put it into words properly, but I finally had a clearer picture.
“What’s the matter, Nii-sama?” said Amaneko-chan, making puppy-dog eyes and tilting her neck at me.
Amaneko-chan had decided that new things were right, and old things were wrong. Those words reminded me of some things that had happened a little while ago, when I had argued with Mr. Bedhead and the president of the literature club. Both of them had been people who supported things from the past and rejected new things.
Back then, I had been the one on the side supporting new things. Amaneko-chan was trying to create new things. Her stance and mine were basically similar. So then, why?
Why can’t I see things the way she does?
“Nii-sama?” Amaneko-chan’s expression darkened as she noticed the change in me.
Amaneko-chan’s words just don’t resonate in my heart. What is that?
As I asked myself that, I finally understood. The reason I couldn’t sympathize with Amaneko-chan fully was that she completely rejected the things from the past. Because she was intolerant and didn’t make an effort to understand.
She’s... a lot like I was back then.
I had thought that orthodox style literature was the pinnacle of perfection and hadn’t been willing to recognize anything else. The same as her. Like I had been back when Odaira-sensei and I had complained about how Usubi, a book without any moe, had been nominated for the Homyura Prize.
After I’d gone back to the 21st century, seen all kinds of things, and had been admonished by Odaira-sensei, I’d changed a little bit. That was why I couldn’t get used to Amaneko-chan’s narrow view of the world.
Amaneko-chan hated the Special Cultural District and her grandfather. She hated them so much she wanted revenge on them.
But, Amaneko-chan... Without the Special Cultural District, you wouldn’t have even been born. It’s because the Special Cultural District accepts and protects old things, even in a world that rejects them, that you were able to be given life.
I turned from Amaneko-chan to Kuroha.
Kuroha, you can be stubborn about some things, too... But you’ve somehow found a balance.
The display began to change again. “Amaneko”s were being replaced by “Kuroha”s.
“...Enough of this already!” I cried.
Professor, I’m sorry about doing this to your invention! I took off the helmet and threw it on the ground. It rolled to a stop and the holographic display disappeared.
“Nii-sama... Did you... change your mind? Did you choose the past over the future-nodesu?!” Amaneko-chan exclaimed.
This was my answer.
I took Amaneko-chan’s hand.
Then I took Kuroha’s hand.
I forced their hands together, while they were still in shock.
“The past... The future... Both are important.”
The two of them stared at me from my left and right. For a time, there was silence. Then, Amaneko-chan spoke as if squeezing out the words.
“Nii-sama, I hate things that are left ambiguous and change in the wind-nodesu...”
“Amaneko-chan, the enemy I should be fighting is narrow-mindedness and intolerance,” I said.
“...I don’t... really understand-nodesu.”
“You’re too narrow-minded right now, Amaneko-chan,” I said, and Amaneko-chan recoiled back in silence. “I was like that too in the past. But then I met new people who changed my mind. So that’s why...” I looked down at the three of our hands all together. “I think we can change the way we think if we expand our horizons.”
I wonder if Amaneko-chan will understand my feelings?
“I think that the past is something that gets in the way of the future-nodesu,” Amaneko-chan shot back. “I think that if you’re too self-conscious about the past, it will prevent you from creating the future-nodesu.”
I guess it will take more than that to change the way she thinks.
I couldn’t force her to think the way I did. And it wasn’t like I w
as the last word on it, either. But I would still tell her what I wanted to say.
“You told me that my novels are part of the future, right? Well, the origin of my novels is none other than Oniaka. What I usually read is orthodox style literature. I don’t create anything from nothing. I’m influenced by everything I’ve touched up until now.”
“Nii-sama, what are you trying to say?” she asked.
“I’m saying that creating something is a lot like this tower.”
Painted on the outside of the Tower of Culture were illustrations from throughout Japan’s cultural history. From the lowest levels to the highest, new eras built upon the old. The ancient stonework, the middle-ages samurai, the modern tentacles, the current-day panty-flash girls...
“I think that you connect to the future by building on a foundation of the past,” I said.
And the tower slowly gets taller.
“I treasure my past, my foundation with Kuroha, but I think the future you strive for, Amaneko-chan, is important as well. What do you two think?”
“What do I think? Sheesh...” said Kuroha...
“Nii-sama, you’re making too much sense-nodesu...”
I chuckled.
“I can’t agree with everything you said just like that-nodesu,” Amaneko-chan continued. “But I’ll take it all to heart.”
Amaneko-chan looked just a tad bit less hard-edged than she did before.
“Hey, Kuroha, don’t you think with all the cool things I’ve said today, I’ve taken one step closer to becoming a wise sage like Odaira-sensei?” I asked hopefully.
“Putting aside the question of whether to call Sensei a ‘sage,’ you really got way too into this,” Kuroha said tartly. “And if we’re talking about the metaphor you just made, your novels wouldn’t be at the top of the tower, they’d be somewhere up in the sky. They have barely any foundation underneath.”
“Uh...” I guessed that was what I got for just writing whatever I felt like.
My Little Sister Can Read Kanji: Volume 3 Page 12