Since my Useless Working Sister and Other Troublemakers Became Magical Girls, I have no Choice but to Support Them. - Chapter 1-9: Aina's Reason to Fight

Chapter 1-9: Aina’s Reason to Fight

It was four years ago. Aina was about to graduate from university.

She had envisioned a comfortable life as a working adult while living at home, but suddenly she became the breadwinner of the family.

“Since then, I’ve been the one doing the housework. My sister is hopeless at it.”

“Yuuma, you don’t seem particularly good at it either.”

Rafio looked around the house. Indeed, I wasn’t the most meticulous person either.

“That’s true. My sister’s job is to earn a living. And also to cover my tuition.”

“Tuition?”

With our parents’ inheritance and life insurance, we managed to cover living expenses and my school fees until I graduated high school. But it wasn’t enough for my university tuition or future living expenses.

“My sister works to cover my living expenses and tuition. Despite her lazy personality, she forces herself to work just so she could pay for it.”

Every morning, she complains about not wanting to go to work and uses her paid leave frequently. But quitting wasn’t an option, at least not until I graduated from university.

“There are options like scholarships for my tuition, but my sister insists on earning the money herself and using it to pay off the tuition.”

“Scholarships are essentially loans, right? Considering the agreements that may come with it. Does she not want you to have that burden?”

“Yeah, she’s worried about my future income being reduced, but there’s more to it than that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Once I graduate and start working, she plans to quit her job and live off of my income.”

“…What?”

Rafio seemed to think Aina was some saint who was suffering while working for her brother. That’s partially true, but her main motivation was her own future.

“She’s been telling me to get into a good university and land a high-paying job so she can always be under my care. She doesn’t want my take-home pay reduced by repaying loans.”

I’m currently a second-year high school student. With university being four years, she needs to endure this for about six more years.

“Is she serious about this?”

“She might seem like she’s joking most of the time, but she’s serious about this.”

“Really? And about asking me to do housework?”

“So that I can focus more on studying. Asking you to learn cooking might also be to improve our diet.”

On top of that, her becoming a magical girl to save me was probably also to secure her future income.

“She’s more selfish than I thought. But if both of you agree with this arrangement… Are you okay with it?”

“I don’t know. She’s my only family left, and it’s true she’s working for me. So her motives aren’t entirely selfish.”

“I see. So, families come in all shapes and sizes.”

“Yeah. Do you think our family is weird?”

“I think it’s just another form of family. The only weird thing is Aina’s personality.”

“That’s true.”

I shared a brief laugh with the cheeky creature who brought trouble into my life.

“Alright, I’ll do the housework as ordered. I’ll start with the dishes.”

“Thanks. By the way, about your sleeping arrangement…”

“Will you prepare something for me?”

“Yeah. You can use my brother’s room. I’ll show you later. It might be a bit dusty, but you can clean it. Feel free to rearrange things as long as you don’t throw anything away.”

“Thank you. I’ll go do the dishes then.”

I left the dishwashing to Rafio, who had taken on a boy’s form, and thought about heading back to my room.

As I stepped into the hallway leading to my room, I bumped into Aina. Fresh from the bath, she was wrapped in a towel, her skin slightly flushed.

“It sounds like you had a fun chat.”

“I explained our family situation.”

“You didn’t have to go into such detail.”

How much did she hear?

Before I could ask, Aina showed me her phone screen.

It was a news article about today’s incident. I thought there wouldn’t be anything new since I’d already witnessed it firsthand, but there was.

A breaking news headline stated: “Among the injured from the unidentified creature attack, two deaths have been confirmed.”

So, we couldn’t save two of them. They were injured before Aina transformed, before we even realized the Fear Eaters were there. I wanted to say it wasn’t something to feel guilty about.

Before I could say anything, Aina gently hugged me. The scent of her shampoo tickled my nose.

“It’s okay. Your world is safe because your sister will protect it.”

“…”

Her body, though lacking in curves, was soft and feminine. Smaller and thinner than mine.

Apart from being able to transform into a magical girl, she was such a frail existence.

Even so, she works hard every day for me, her only remaining family.

“Don’t worry about anything, Yuuma. Your sister is strong.”

“Yeah. Thank you, Sis.”

I understand. Aina isn’t supporting me or becoming a magical girl purely for her own benefit.

We are siblings afterall.

*

Morning came again to the Souri household.

I planned to have Rafio learn about chores like meal preparation, cleaning, and laundry over time, but I started him on the most important task in the Souri household’s morning routine.

That is, waking up Aina.

“Got it. I’ll go wake her up.”

Rafio, armed with a frying pan and ladle inherited from my mother, headed to Aina’s room. Shortly after, there was a scream.

“Gyaaahhh!”

That scream was loud enough to reach the kitchen.

A minute or two later, Rafio came back alone.

“Aina says that since she can run faster than a train once transformed, she doesn’t need to wait for the train and can sleep in longer without being late.”

“And you’re okay with that? Her using the magical girl power for personal convenience?”

“Not really, but I can overlook a little bit. I feel guilty making her cooperate by force.”

Surprisingly conscientious.