Chapter 22 – Help My Onee-chan

Having finished their business of thanking me for tagging along on their shopping trip the day before, the Hidaka sisters went home.

“What should I do now? I’m not really in the mood to just laze around again.”

Glancing at the clock, it was just before noon. That was it — I’d eat lunch out for the first time in a while.

Once I made up my mind, I moved fast.

First, I went to Dad’s room, found an envelope sandwiched between his porn mags, and swiped a Yukichi bill. In its place, I left a note. I wrote: I don’t know about this forced-stuff genre, you know? Ah, I won’t tell Mom, though.

After that, I went to my room and shoved my wallet and phone into my pockets. I had twenty-six notifications, but I ignored them for now. I needed to fill my stomach and mentally prepare myself first.

Then I checked the locks and started walking toward town.

Where should I eat?

“Welcome~”

I ended up at a fast-food joint on the second floor of a building in town. I hadn’t been there in a while, but the uniforms were super cute. Plus, the staff were all cute girls. I was always holding out hope that one day a cute clerk would blush and say, “Umm… here,” while slipping me her contact info, but it absolutely never happened: a real mystery, that.

Anyway, it didn’t look crowded, so which clerk should I go to? There were three working that day — from the right, a bewitching older woman, a loli older girl, and a gal.

Hmm… Tough choice. It was hard to pass up any of those types. But I’d go with the gal. It really got me when a girl looked like a flashy gal but was actually super shy inside. I was looking forward to seeing what kind of face she’d make when I ordered a smile.

“Saionji-saaan! You can go on break. I’ll have Fujimiya-san cover for you.”

“Yes, understood. Fujimiya-san, I leave the rest to you.”

Well, how about that? The gal was actually a proper Japanese beauty on the inside. I couldn’t get enough of that. The type that made you want to watch them crumble.

“Welco… T-Takuma-kun… hey.”

And the person who stepped up in front of me instead of the gal was a girl with breasts so large she couldn’t button the top of her shirt. Yep, Fujimiya-san.

They had swapped places right as I was about to order, so I couldn’t exactly go to another register. Oh well.

“You work part-time here, Fujimiya-san?”

“Yeah. The uniforms here are cute, so I like them.”

That cute uniform looked like it was about to burst open at any second, though.

“Yeah. They definitely are cute. Ah, can I order?”

“Ah, right. —Welcome. Have you decided on your order?”

“A smile.”

“…Eh?”

“A smile.”

“U-Umm…”

She had seen my Spear of Longinus the day before, so this was just a little payback.

“I’m joking, Fujimiya-san. Anyway, for my order, I’ll have this set for dine-in.”

“Eh, ah…”

Fujimiya-san punched in the order, looking a little flustered. I finished paying, took my receipt, and was about to head to a random seat when—

“T-Takuma-kun!”

“Hm?”

“…(Grin.)”

Fujimiya-san suddenly stopped me, tilted her head slightly, and gave me a sweet smile.

“..!?”

“I-Is this… okay?”

“Ah, yeah…”

“Then I’ll bring it over as soon as it’s ready.”

Saying that, she skillfully started loading various items onto a tray. She must have been used to it — her movements were fast. Her breasts were bouncing too.

Still… that smile had caught me off guard. Since she was that cute, she could easily get a boyfriend without obsessing over the 2D world. Well, not my problem, I guess.

I was staring out the window, wondering if the skirt of a girl walking over a subway grate would flip up, when the burger set I had ordered was placed in front of me.

Looking to the side: breasts. Looking up: Fujimiya-san’s face.

“Thank you for waiting. Here is your order.”

“Thanks.”

“Enjoy your meal♪ , also… u-umm? My shift is almost over, so if you’d like, could you maybe… wait for me?”

“Nope. I’m going home.”

“I-I see…”

Fujimiya-san walked back, her shoulders slumped. Sorry. After seeing that flurry of messages, I was genuinely scared.

Ah, come to think of it, there was a message I hadn’t read yet. She was working right then, so even if I left it on read, she wouldn’t reply immediately. Let’s see…

“……Tch.”

Fujimiya-san had said she’d be done soon, right? I could see the entrance from there, and it didn’t look like there was an employee exit, so I’d spot her if I waited.

“Good work today~. Pardon me for leaving first.”

I turned my head toward the voice and saw Fujimiya-san bowing. Her expression was somewhat dark, and if that message I had gotten from an unknown sender earlier was true, that was probably the cause.

Sigh, I really didn’t want to do this kind of thing, though…

“Fujimiya-san.”

“..!? Eh, Takuma-kun? Why?”

“You said you were almost done earlier, right? So I waited.”

“Ah… thanks… I’m happy…”

After leaving the store, we went to a bookstore, bought two crepes at a nearby crepe stand, and ate them on a bench. For some reason, Fujimiya-san stubbornly refused to buy anything, and even when I offered to treat her, she kept rejecting it, muttering, “I’ll get in trouble…” I told her, “If you don’t eat it, I’m going to click my tongue right in front of the clerk and smash it on the ground,” and she finally gave in and ate it.

She ate it looking like it was the most delicious thing in the world, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, so treating her had been worth it.

“Alright, shall we go?”

“Eh? Where?”

“To your house, Fujimiya-san. I’ll walk you home.”

“Is that… okay?”

“Of course.”

—Now, let’s see how this went.

“This is my… um… house? Yeah. Thanks, okay? The crepe was delicious too. Thank you so much!”

“It was nothing major.”

“That’s not true! Ah… sorry. Never mind. Let’s part here then. I’ll give you the money to pay you back now.”

Fujimiya-san said that and pulled out her wallet.

That irritated me.

The only place where money solved everything was in games.

“I don’t need your money.”

“Eh? But…”

“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, aren’t you going inside? Your keys?”

“Ah… my keys… it’s fine? Yeah, it’s fine. It’s fine.”

She was starting to look a little pale.

“Did you forget them or something? Is your family inside?”

“I-It’s fine! I’m fine, really.”

Fujimiya-san had been doing nothing but saying “it’s fine.” She wasn’t explaining what was fine — whether she had her keys, or whether someone was home. Because clearly, it wasn’t fine. So I did this.

Ding-dong.

“Aah! T-Takuma-kun!?”

I pressed the intercom and stepped out of the camera’s view.

Yes. And here I was wondering who it was… sigh.

A woman’s voice came through the intercom. Probably her mother. Looking beside me, Fujimiya-san’s shoulders were trembling.

…This wasn’t a mother at all.

“U-Umm… I-I’m home. Err… could you open the door for me?”

……

“Please.”

……Sigh.

Following that sigh, the clack of the lock turning.

Without even trying to look my way, Fujimiya-san whispered a small “Bye-bye” and tried to go inside. But sorry — I couldn’t just let her go back in and leave things like this. Because—

I had been asked to help my Onee-chan.

“Pardon the intrusion~!”

“Heh!?”

“Hold on, who are you?”

“Me? You mean me, right? I’m Itsuki-san’s friend. Well, maybe about five millimeters above a friend, though. Since we’re friends, I came over to hang out. Hey, Itsuki-san, where’s your room? Let’s hang out there. Oh, you’re her mother… right? A bit late, but nice to meet you. I’m Takuma Akasaka. I’m fine without a drink, by the way.”

“Eh? Eh? T-Takuma-kun!?”

“H… Haaah?”

While Fujimiya-san and that woman stood there dumbfounded, I took off my shoes and stepped inside. I had already been told where the room was.

“Ah, is it here? You share a room with your little sister, huh. Excuse me~”

When I entered the room, a young girl sitting on the bed with her knees hugged to her chest stared at me. Her expression shifted for a split second, but she immediately put on a disinterested face and looked away.

“W-Wait! Takuma-kun! Please!”

Not gonna wait~.

“My, my~? Isn’t this strange~? There’s only one bed and one desk~? Oh? A lamp inside the closet? I wonder why.”

“!!?? No! Really, don’t look there!”

Ignoring the screaming Fujimiya-san, I opened the closet. Inside was a desk lamp, a long floor cushion, a Leo-kyun blanket, and a phone charger. Above, a few casual outfits and uniforms hung from a rail, and in the corner, her underwear lay completely exposed, neither hidden nor put away.

“……”

“N-No… don’t look… please. Don’t look…”

Fujimiya-san tried to hide everything while crying, but it was impossible. There was no way to hide it all.

And the moment that woman entered the room, she grabbed my shoulder, yanked me back, and slammed the closet door shut. With Fujimiya-san still inside it.

“What do you think you’re doing, barging into someone’s house? I’ll call the police.”

“Sure. Call them.”

“Hah? Just get out of here right now!”

“You’re not going to call them? Then I will.”

Saying that, I took my phone out of my pocket. The woman suddenly lunged for it, so I twisted her wrist and pinned her to the floor.

“Ouch!”

“Hey, lady. What do you think they call what you’re doing to Itsuki-san? You can’t possibly not know, right? So, what should we do? Ah, right. I’ll leave my mother’s business card with you.”

“Hah!? What the hell is this brat saying…!?”

I took Mom’s business card out of my wallet and placed it right where she could see it. The instant she saw it, her face drained of color.

After confirming that, I leaned in and whispered softly into her ear.

“Just being alive is a wonderful thing on its own, isn’t it?”

…Or something like that.