Vol 2 Chapter 2 – Little Sister【Vol 2 — Youth in the Midst of Calamity】

“Ah, Onii-chan. Are you going out?”

“Wha—! Elena, it’s you? Since when were you behind me?”

“Ehehe, Elena wanted to surprise Onii-chan.”

Just as I was about to put my hand on the front door, a voice suddenly called out, and I turned around.

There behind me was my little sister, Elena.

The fact that I hadn’t sensed her presence at all was vaguely terrifying, but when I thought about it, I never had any presence-detecting ability in the first place.

Well, stuff like this happens.

“Onii-chan, can I ask what you’re going out to do?”

“It’s nothing special. I was just thinking of going out to get some fresh air, that’s all.”

“Then Elena can come with you too, right?”

“Hm? Ah, yeah, sure.”

“Yay, Elena loves Onii-chan!”

Elena threw herself at my waist, and just like that, I was pushed out of the house.

She pressed up against me like it was the most natural thing in the world. It was probably not something you’d see often in a place like Japan, but since this had been normal for Elena ever since she was little, she didn’t feel anything strange about it.

Once we stepped outside, a breeze different from the closed-in air indoors washed over us, carrying a sense of openness.

Hand in hand with Elena, I started walking.

We wandered aimlessly through the village, and I noticed that the villagers were looking at us with warm, fond eyes.

“My, my, Elena-chan, are you on a date with Onii-chan today?”

When I turned toward the teasing yet gentle voice, there was a plump auntie smiling at Elena. She seemed to be someone Elena knew.

“A date. Onii-chan, is this a date?”

“Uh, uhh… well, yeah, I guess.”

It would’ve just made things awkward if I’d denied it and spoiled the mood, so I nodded vaguely along with the auntie’s words.

Watching Elena happily murmuring “Date, date,” the auntie brought a hand to her cheek.

“Oh my, I’m so jealous you get to go on a date with your beloved Onii-chan.”

Saying something along those lines, the auntie went on her way. She was the very picture of an obachan.

After waving cheerfully at her, Elena suddenly looked up at me and flashed a dazzling smile.

“Onii-chan, let’s continue our date.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I patted Elena’s head as she bounced with little hops at my side, trying to calm her down, then started walking forward again.

“Hey, Onii-chan. You… you love Elena, right?”

We were chatting about nothing in particular as we walked when, out of nowhere, Elena suddenly said that.

It was probably sometime after that whole engagement mess with Elena had settled down.

Every so often, Elena would ask things like this, her expression tightening just enough that you wouldn’t notice unless you were really watching her.

I understood that Elena was feeling anxious. That was why, every time, I reassured her — so she could feel that she wasn’t alone.

Maybe thanks to that, lately Elena had been asking me questions like this less and less.

And yet, for some reason, she’d started asking again more often whether I really loved her.

I don’t think I’ve done anything weird though…

I dug through my recent memories, wondering if I’d screwed something up again somehow, but nothing came to mind.

“Hey… Onii-chan loves Elena, right?”

Elena’s mood looked the same as always.

But with a slightly anxious expression, she gazed up at me from below.

I set my hand on her head and said:

“Of course I do. I love you, Elena.”

“…Yeah, I thought so! Ahaha, sorry for asking something weird out of nowhere, Onii-chan. Yeah, but I’m glad. Really glad.”

Saying she was glad, Elena showed me a cute little smile.

As we walked, Elena dropped her gaze like she was thinking about something, then looked back up at me.

Her grip on my hand tightened, squeezing hard.

“Um, Onii-chan, this might sound weird again, but, okay? Elena hasn’t gone crazy or anything. There’s just one thing — can I ask you one thing?”

Her tone had almost no inflection.

In the atmosphere hidden inside those words, I felt something that reminded me of that time, and my chest started to feel uneasy.

What is this…?

Even if I doubted it, there was no answer to be had. I had no idea.

I also thought it wouldn’t be good to keep Elena waiting, so I dipped my chin and urged her to go on.

“Okay, um, Onii-chan. Um, Elena —”

Right then, she swallowed the rest of her words.

Elena’s gaze changed. No — maybe it would be more accurate to say the air around her itself shifted.

While I was tilting my head yet again at Elena’s sudden change and feeling that something was off, she tugged on my hand.

“—Ah—… Onii-chan, never mind after all. More importantly, there’s somewhere Elena wants to go. Come on, Onii-chan, this way, this way.”

“Eh, huh? O-Okay, okay, you don’t have to pull, I’m coming.”

Elena yanked on my hand and tried to hurry me along.

She broke into a little trot to lead me, and I matched her pace with a jog of my own.

What the hell is going on…

I have absolutely no idea.

“————”

At that moment, it felt like Elena muttered something under her breath.

◯

“…Onii-chan is Elena’s —…”

Elena stole a quick, furtive glance at Will’s back. In her eyes, a flame that looked an awful lot like hostility had begun to smolder.