Vol 2 Chapter 7 – Confinement【Vol 2 — Youth in the Midst of Calamity】

Since teleportation magic exists, it should be possible to deliberately summon someone from far away.

After all, this is a world with magic.

Maybe nothing that happens here should surprise me anymore.

At any rate, Aria had just given me a heated confession, and I was completely getting swept away by the mood.

Then, the moment I saw the scene in front of me, my head cooled instantly.

—What the hell is this?

“Onii-chan, thank goodness… Onii-chan… I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

Elena threw herself at me as I lay on the floor.

She wrapped her arms around my back and hugged me so tightly it hurt.

“Elena…?”

“Onii-chan, um… Elena loves Onii-chan. More than anyone else in this world, way, way, way, way more. Elena loves Onii-chan.”

“…Huh?”

Wait, wait. I can’t process this.

Calm down. Let me go over what I know.

The fact that she treated my sudden appearance like it was completely normal meant Elena was the one who had summoned me here.

And the way Elena was acting was stranger than ever.

Maybe because she’s still young, Elena is easily influenced by other people, but this felt different.

This was abnormal.

More specifically—

“Hey, Elena. Just calm down for a second…”

“Yeah, sorry, Onii-chan. Elena didn’t understand. Even though Elena loves Onii-chan this much, even though I want to stay with you forever, I was wrong. It was wrong to stay away from Onii-chan and knit scarves all by myself. Really, Elena is no good. Ehe, aha, ahaha.”

—She’s not listening to me at all.

Elena was laughing shyly, and at first glance, she looked no different from usual.

But something was fatally off.

“So Elena won’t make mistakes anymore. Elena loves Onii-chan, so we’ll stay together forever, okay? Don’t worry. Elena is the one who can make Onii-chan happiest. …Yeah, that’s right, that’s right, absolutely, yeah, absolutely. —So, okay? Onii-chan?”

A chill ran down my spine.

I didn’t know why.

Elena squeezed me even tighter.

“H-Hey, Elena.”

“Mmm, what is it? Onii-chan?”

Elena suddenly lifted her face from my chest and gave me a beaming smile.

“Did something happen?”

At my words, Elena blinked at me blankly for just a second.

But then—

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Of course something happened. Today is Onii-chan’s birthday, right?”

“O-Oh, right.”

“Yeah! And today Onii-chan turns fifteen, right? The age when men can get married. Congratulations, Onii-chan!”

“Thanks, Elena… But that’s not what I meant—”

“Yeah, and so? Onii-chan?”

Whether consciously or not, Elena cut me off, her voice bouncing with excitement.

Her two different-colored eyes stared right at me.

“Elena has been thinking and thinking about it for so long. And I finally figured it out.”

“F-Figured out what?”

“That Elena loves Onii-chan and wants to stay with you forever. So in the end, Elena wants to marry Onii-chan!”

That topic came out of Elena’s mouth again.

Something about her casual tone made a line of sweat run down my cheek.

“Onii-chan said it before, right? That getting married just because you love someone is wrong. …But not marrying the person you really love is strange too, right? That’s wrong too, isn’t it?”

“————”

“Elena loves Onii-chan so much, and Onii-chan said you love Elena too. But Onii-chan also said you don’t want to marry Elena. —So, okay?”

—This is bad.

“Elena is going to do her best until Onii-chan says you want to marry Elena! Elena will understand Onii-chan better than anyone, stay by your side no matter what, treasure you most, make you happiest—”

“E-Elena, um…”

“Mmm? What is it, Onii-chan?”

When I tried to cut in, Elena tilted her head and looked at me.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

I couldn’t say anything.

Elena was wearing a pure, straightforward smile.

A bright smile.

Too bright.

“…? Um, Onii-chan. Elena is no good, so maybe I’ll cause trouble for you again. …But Elena really, truly loves Onii-chan more than anyone else.”

Elena looked me in the eyes as she said it.

Her face was close.

With her cheeks still flushed, Elena’s expression softened.

“—I love you, Onii-chan. I love you, love you so much, ahh, Onii-chan, Onii-chan, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you————”

And then Elena kissed me.

Our lips met, and I could feel her hot breathing directly against me.

“…Mmh, nn.”

“——!!?”

My brain nearly short-circuited from how unexpected it was.

No, this is bad.

This is, this is, this is—

That kiss showed no sign of ending.

As if she were releasing something she’d held back all this time, overwriting something unbearable, and then—

“—Ahh, finally.”

○

“Ehe, ehehe… Onii-chan… ehe, Onii-chan… Onii-chan, …Onii-chan.”

Elena wouldn’t let go of me.

We were on the bed now, with Elena having dragged me onto it.

She clung to my body and kept smiling at me with that same melting expression.

Every now and then, Elena would bring up random things, the same ordinary chatter as always, and I’d give her harmless answers.

The only thing different was that Elena stayed pressed against me the whole time.

I couldn’t do anything.

All I could do was answer safely and try to get through this without anything more happening.

I thought back to what had happened right after Elena finally let me go from that kiss.

○

“Ehehe, sorry, Onii-chan… ehe.”

“W-Wait, Elena… y-you…”

The shock of suddenly being kissed by my little sister was beyond measure.

My thoughts couldn’t keep up.

When Elena finally pulled her lips away, she looked at me with an embarrassed smile.

In the shock of the moment, I instinctively moved to wipe my lips with my hand, the lips Elena had kissed—

—And stopped.

I didn’t know why.

It wasn’t because I was worried about how Elena would react or anything.

I didn’t know.

But—

—Somewhere deep down, I probably did know.

Elena stared at me anxiously when I said nothing.

Her cheeks were red.

I opened my mouth.

“H-Hey, Elena… that just now…”

“Yeah, sorry, Onii-chan. I kissed you… kissed Onii-chan… ehehe. But, you know, I think Onii-chan is at fault too. Because you let Aria-chan push you around that easily, and let her kiss you, and it was so, so…”

Elena looked down.

Her eyes fell shut.

Her tone hadn’t changed from usual.

But I couldn’t see her expression.

I didn’t know what kind of face Elena was making.

Then Elena suddenly looked up at me.

“Ahh, sorry, Onii-chan. I started thinking about all kinds of things… ehe.”

“O-Oh. Yeah.”

That was all I could say.

I didn’t understand this situation.

I didn’t understand my little sister, who had always been by my side.

It was as if Elena had—

“Ahh, right! Onii-chan! Elena is going to make a feast for Onii-chan now! And, okay? If Onii-chan stays with me, stays with me, and helps, that would make me really happy!”

Scary.

That feeling had only just begun to take root in me.

For now, this was bad.

For now, I needed to put some distance between myself and Elena.

So I opened my mouth.

Thinking back on it now, it was so stupid it hardly needs saying.

Being confused by what was happening right in front of me was no excuse.

“Yeah, thanks, Elena. But, um, Aria probably got confused when I suddenly vanished right in front of her, so first I should go explain what happened to her—”

“————Eh?”

That was the first time Elena’s expression changed completely.

Her eyes went wide, and she stared at me in stunned disbelief.

“Onii-chan… do you still like Aria-chan better…?”

Huh?

How did this suddenly become that—

“Hey, Onii-chan, hey, Onii-chan, hey, hey, do you… hate Elena after all? Do you hate me?”

Elena’s eyes filled with tears, like she was about to cry at any second.

“N-No, that’s not it. Why would this turn into that? There’s no way I hate you, Elena.”

Something was wrong.

Something was really wrong.

Normally, just saying I was going to Aria’s place would never have led to this.

“Then why?! Onii-chan likes Elena, right? You said that before! But, Onii-chan, Elena likes you too. I love you so much.”

A chill ran through me.

First, I had to calm Elena down.

That was what I thought.

“Elena, calm down first. It really makes me happy that you’d say you like me.”

“Really…?”

“Yeah, really. And I like you too, Elena. Yeah, that’s right. So, Elena, let’s calm down first.”

“Okay! I understand, Onii-chan! Ehehe… I see… I knew it, I’m so glad.”

Elena nodded with a bright smile and let out a soft breath.

—And then she looked at me.

“So, okay? Onii-chan… Onii-chan likes Elena more than Aria-chan, right?”

At that moment, I saw something on Elena’s face I’d never seen before.

Insecurity.

But I didn’t think deeply about that change.

“No, Elena, that’s not it. You can’t compare that kind of affection.”

“No, it’s okay, Onii-chan. You don’t have to hold back. Elena is okay, so, okay? Onii-chan?”

“No, it’s not that I’m holding back. It’s that I can’t clearly say whether I like you or Aria more…”

“Really…?”

“Really.”

Elena lowered her eyes again.

“Hmm. I see… I see… So that’s how it is. I see… then I guess that’s how it is, Onii-chan.”

Elena raised her face and looked at me again, her eyes carrying a different mood now.

“That means, Onii-chan, you like Elena and Aria-chan about the same, right? Then I think Elena, the one who loves Onii-chan more than anyone else, should be the one who stays by your side forever.”

“…Huh?”

“Because that’s true, right? Elena loves Onii-chan the most.”

“————”

Elena looked at me with clear, unclouded eyes.

“So from today on, Elena and Onii-chan will always be together. Forever and ever and ever and ever, no matter what we’re doing, forever together, okay? Onii-chan?”

“No, what are you even saying—”

“—That’s why, Onii-chan, starting today you can’t see Aria-chan anymore. Absolutely not. Yeah, absolutely. Because if Onii-chan stays with someone like that, something bad will happen.”

Okay? Elena tilted her head at me.

I opened my mouth in the gap between her words, but I couldn’t find the right thing to say, and in the end, nothing came out.

“Yeah, so it’s definitely better if Elena stays with Onii-chan. Elena can do anything for Onii-chan. Yeah, if it’s for Onii-chan, Elena can do anything, okay?”

At that point, I finally answered something Elena had said earlier.

“N-No, Elena. Even if you tell me I can never see Aria again, t-that isn’t possible.”

“Why?”

“I mean, our houses are really close, and even now we see each other practically every day. And then…”

“Ah, right, that’s true. She can come to Onii-chan anytime she wants. Even when Elena and Onii-chan are finally alone together, she always comes to get in the way, doesn’t she?”

Tilting her head at me as if asking for confirmation, Elena clapped her hands like she’d just thought of something.

Like she’d come up with a brilliant idea.

“I see. Then Onii-chan should just stay in this house forever. Ahh, don’t worry, Onii-chan. Elena will take care of everything for you, yeah, everything. Anything Onii-chan wants, Elena will handle it all. Because it’s for Onii-chan, right? …Aria-chan, Elena will drive her away.”

“No, what are you saying, Elena? There’s no way you can do that.”

“I can. Because Elena loves Onii-chan so much.”

The way Elena was acting made something close to irritation start bubbling up inside me.

Maybe I needed to be completely clear with her.

“No, Elena, that’s impossible. Me staying in this house forever, and Elena taking care of everything for me, that’s just not possible.”

When I said that, Elena’s eyes widened, and she looked down as if thinking something over.

Then she looked at me with a bright smile.

“Then okay, Onii-chan. If we try it once, I’m sure, I’m sure Onii-chan will understand. —How much Elena loves Onii-chan, how much I adore you, and how much I can devote myself to you. That no matter what situation Onii-chan ends up in, Elena can make it all work. That if it’s for Onii-chan… Elena really can do anything.”

“…Huh?”

“So, okay? Understand, Onii-chan. I’m sure Onii-chan will understand. Because you’re Elena’s Onii-chan. Because Elena loves Onii-chan so much more than that girl, so much more, so much more, and Onii-chan will—”

That was when I realized it.

Elena’s two different-colored eyes were vacant, yet perfectly sane, fixed on no one but me.

And my body had completely stopped responding.

My eyes caught Elena’s faintly glowing hand pressed against my stomach.

“Onii-chan, I love you, okay?”

And then Elena kissed me—