Living Normally In An Abnormal World

Chapter 31.2: Interlude – A Story About My Little Sister and Her Friend

One holiday after the sports festival, my little sister, Yuuna, and her friend, Sanae-chan, went out to buy some clothes.

“Do you think Nii~cha would like this?”

“Yuuna-chan, I think that might be a bit too early, you know?”

“Do you think so?”

We had originally gone out to buy clothes, but since we couldn’t find anything that caught our eye, we decided to buy new underwear instead.

And Sanae-chan was giving me a bewildered look because I couldn’t take my eyes off the black underwear.

“So, Sanae-chan, which one do you like?”

“Hmm, maybe this one.”

Sanae-chan picked out a white underwear with a cute bear illustration in the middle.

“I don’t think that will make Nii~cha fall head over heels for you, though.”

“But your brother does all the laundry, even washing your underwear without any hesitation.”

“Ugh.”

Sanae-chan’s point was well-taken. Nii~cha did all the housework, including the laundry. I also helped Nii~cha with the chores, so I could do them all by myself now.

However, Nii~cha didn’t seem to find housework burdensome at all. For him, it seemed more like a hobby. Whenever he had free time, he would start cleaning, and on holidays, he would cook whatever dishes he felt like making and eat them with me.

Seeing him washing and hanging our underwear without any hesitation as if it were a normal thing to do, I sometimes wondered if I lacked appeal as a girl. Even Mama sighed when she saw this.

I wished he would react a little more, but if I said that, he might misunderstand and think I wanted him to be a pervert.

By the way, after the elementary school entrance ceremony,…

“Yuuna, if you ever want me to separate your laundry, just tell me, okay?”

…Nii~cha said in a trembling voice. I wondered what was wrong. I told him that it wasn’t necessary yet, but…

“I see, so it’s still… I’ll prepare myself mentally for when that time comes.”

I really wondered what was wrong with him.

Ah, I got sidetracked. Let’s get back to the underwear.

“Yeah, let’s just buy these two for now.”

“Ah, so you’re buying them?”

“Yeah.”

Well, sort of…

“By the way, I’ve never seen my brother wear a skirt before, but do you have any, Yuuna-chan?”

“Nii~cha doesn’t own any skirts, you know?”

“Huh?”

“I think his wedding dress was the first skirt he ever wore.”

“That’s a pretty unique first experience.”

Nii~cha didn’t own any skirts. If he cross-dressed, wearing a skirt would give away the fact that he was a man.

Also, if I remembered correctly, he once said, “I don’t have any sense when it comes to fashion, and I don’t know how to choose clothes. Yuuna, if you see anything that suits me when you go shopping, could you buy it for me?” That’s why I always wore the clothes Mama bought for me, and I didn’t buy any skirts since I didn’t have any occasions to wear them.

“I think I saw your brother shopping at the department store before.”

“Nii~cha only goes shopping for groceries. He doesn’t browse the clothing stores.”

“The fact that he doesn’t use home delivery services shows that he really wants to go out by himself, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Nii~cha was only allowed to go out alone to school and for shopping. Other than that, Mama or someone she knew would always accompany him.

“He’s always surrounded by women, so it’s understandable that he wants some alone time.”

“I guess Nii~cha also wants some male friends, huh?”

“Yeah, but I wonder if he’ll get along with them…”

“I hope so…”

And so, the man who was being worried about by his little sister and her friend was currently,…

“……”

…sleeping soundly and peacefully under the futon.

After that, when I was washing the underwear we bought,…

(In terms of size, this is probably Yuuna’s, but black might be a bit too early for her… But it’s hard for me to say that directly…)

…Nii~cha thought to himself as he looked at the underwear with the bear illustration, which he thought would suit Yuuna well at this age.

Only Nii~cha knew that Sanae-chan’s choice of underwear left a good impression on him.

I, Takahashi Sanae, am a love-struck first grader.

Every night before bed and whenever I have free time, I read Onii-san’s newspaper to keep up with what he’s been doing.

“Ah, Onii-san bumped his thigh on the corner of the table again.”

Onii-san is sincere, kind, smart, and athletically gifted. However, he’s too honest to lie effectively. But despite all that, he’s a very important person to me.

I got to know Onii-san through Yuuna-chan, my friend since kindergarten. We’ve been playing together ever since. However, Yuuna-chan hid the fact that she had an older brother until the day of the entrance ceremony.

Although I’ve already let it go, when I first met him, I was so flustered by his coolness that I couldn’t hide my nervousness, and my heart was pounding so hard that I ended up acting a bit strange.

But Onii-san was kind to me even then.

Ever since I met him, my image of what a man should be like has been completely shattered.

I mean, whenever I visited him, he would greet me while wearing an apron! And when I asked him why, he said, “I was cleaning the range hood.” How many housewives do you know who would do that?!

Ah, but the pancakes he made were delicious. Onii-san knew that I liked pancakes, so he always made them for me when I came to play. Onii-san is truly a kind person.

Speaking of kindness, his newspaper is also an example. Every time I read it, I see him being called a ‘common boy who’s actually unusual’, a ‘screw-loose angel’, and other nicknames by the author.

It’s a common sight to see Onii-san reading his newspaper and then chasing after the author if it, Yanagida-san, in anger.

Normally you wouldn’t be angered by it though, unless it, I think, defamation? And he can just instead sue her, that’s what the upperclassmen said.

Well, he’s Onii-san, after all! He has a broad mind and can forgive such things!

At first, I just wanted to be able to talk to him. But now, I want to marry him and be with him forever, even if I’m just one of his many wives.

I act spoiled and make him worry, but he still moves for my sake.

That makes me incredibly happy.

Ah… I’m so selfish. I’m taking advantage of Onii-san kindness.

I always cause trouble and end up apologizing. I hate myself for that.

But Onii-san says,…

“It’s no problem. Sanae-chan, it’s only natural for an older person to let a younger one act spoiled. So, don’t worry about it.”

…with a smile, forgiving me and gently patting my head. That always saved me from my self-loathing.

Onii-san, in the future, I’ll definitely let you act spoiled with me…