One Worry After Another...

“Where’s Nick?” Vang asked the small robot that met him by the door.

He wore his usual plain clothes, and his hair was messy after running downstairs from his apartment room.

“That is none of your concern,” Bob said as he pushed on Vang’s legs to get him out of the apartment.

“Is his sister cute?”

“Get out.”

“How old is she?”

“Out.”

“Is she— Ow!”

A toy ball slammed onto his face. The ball rattled from the inside as it ricochet and landed on the floor.

An overly excited Nisa rushed towards the toy, slapping it around a few times with every rattle.

“What was that for?!” Vang turned to Ritsue.

“You’re being creepy again.”

“Creepy? How am I being creepy?”

“Do you really need me to answer that?”

Ritsue was probably the only girl that was willing to tolerate Vang. Whether consciously or not, he had always been a little bit of a creep. It probably had to do with his over-extroverted nature.

The fact that Ritsue and Vang had gotten to the same college was nothing short of coincidence. They had known each other since High school, but neither knew that the other had applied to the same college.

Even though he had a chance to change his reputation in college, he didn’t seem to be taking it.

“But this is a perfect opportunity for me!” Vang exclaimed, resisting Bob’s pushes. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if his best friend in the entire world dated his sister, right? He can be my wingman!”

“Ugh…” Ritsue looked at him disgusted. “You do understand that she’s in high scho—”

Before she finished her sentence, Vang was out the door. For as creepy as he was, Vang had a limit. The last thing he wanted was to catch a case.

“Thought so.”

Right as he left, Nick emerged from the bedroom. His sister poked her head from behind him.

“Did he leave?”

“Yeah. You can come out now.” Ritsue answered.

“We’re going to have to be quiet so he doesn’t hear us again,” Nick said in a low voice.

“Is he a stalker or something?” Delia asked nervously.

Ritsue walked up to her and placed both hands on her shoulders. She brought her face close to Delia’s ear and whispered something.

“Huh?! Really?!” Delia yelled.

Ritsue nodded.

Whatever she had said, Nick hadn’t been able to hear, but he decided not to ask either.

Nisa, seemingly unaware of their troubles, held the rattling ball and shook it around a few times. Eventually, after inspecting it a few times, she bit into it, but quickly let go.

---

After that, Delia asked Nick to get them something to eat. Although he tried using the excuse that he had no money, which was true, she gave him some money to force him to go anyway. Reluctantly, he ended up going.

Nisa seemed comfortable being with Ritsue, and Bob was going to stay too, so he decided it’d be fine for him to go by himself.

Now, Delia and Ritsue sat on the couch while Nisa sat nearby on the floor. For some reason, she seemed to prefer it over the couch.

“So,” Delia started, “What are you to my brother exactly?” she boldly asked.

“A bit defensive, eh?” Ritsue laughed before answering. “We’re just friends. I swear.” She raised both hands.

“Are you sure?” Delia scanned her expression.

“Of course. Are you that worried about your older brother?”

Delia pouted as she looked away. “It’s just because he’s an idiot. I don’t want other people taking advantage of that.”

Having an older brother herself, Ritsue could relate to her plight. She was always worried that her older brother would be taken advantage of. Mainly because it’d happened multiple times before.

She was always powerless to do anything. All she could do was see him come back to school with a frown on his face sometimes even a black eye. There were even times when she would hear him crying at night. But with how young she was, she didn’t know how to comfort him. The best she could do was to ask him to play video games, which was his favorite pass time.

Now her brother had a family of his own. She didn’t have to worry about him as much anymore. Delia on the other hand, had her work cut out for her.

Nick was a loser all the way through. He ate nothing but ramen, barely had money, was barely passing classes, and now he was taking in a catgirl as a “daughter”. Anyone would be worried about a family member like that.

Ritsue put a hand on Delia’s shoulder. “You don’t need to worry about Nick. He might be a loser, but he’s a proactive loser.”

“I know that much,” Delia said, not denying the fact he was a loser. “It’s just…” she hesitated to continue, “Did he ever tell you what happened the day he left for college?”

“I don’t think he did. He never really talks about his past.”

She had only known him for two years, but in that time, she had known very little from before he arrived at college. She had never asked either, so maybe It was partially because of that.

“I don’t think it’s my place to say it then,” Delia said with furrowed brows. “But it’s not only me, our parents have also been worried about him ever since he left.”

Ritsue started to feel like there might’ve been something deeper going on than she’d first suspected. Whatever had happened on that day must’ve been bad enough for them to be worried about him more than usual.

“I actually tried moving in with him. I was prepared to move to a nearby high school and everything, but he refused.” Delia fidgeted with her fingers. “At the very least I’m glad to see he has friends.” She looked over at Ritsue.

Although she had been acting a bit bratty this entire time, Ritsue was realizing it was more or less an act she played in front of Nick. She was trying to hide how she truly felt. How worried she was about him.

What could’ve happened? She asked herself.

After a deep breath, Ritsue brought Delia closer and embraced her. “You don’t need to worry about Nick. I’ll keep an eye on him for you.” She whispered. “Vang might be a pervert, but he also cares about Nick a lot.”

Delia hugged her back.

“Are you sure it won’t be too much of a burden?”

“Not at all. Plus, I can use Nisa as an excuse to visit.”

They both let go and turned to Nisa who was tracking a fly with her eyes. Her head snapped into different spots as the fly quickly moved around.

“You’ll watch over Nick too, right Nisa?”

Nisa’s tail stood on end as she turned to look at the two girls on the couch. After a moment, she nodded.

“And there you have it! You have three people looking after Nick. That should be enough, right?”

Delia laughed, “Let’s hope so.”

The two of them laughed together at Nick’s expense.

“Don’t forget me too!” Bob decided to chime in as he rolled into the living room.

---

Having been kicked out of my apartment, I headed for the nearest fast-food restaurant. I wasn’t the biggest fan of that place, but Delia was adamant about me buying things from there, so I caved in.

After getting enough food for the four of us, I headed back to my apartment.

But right as I turned the corner of my apartment building—

WAM!

Someone rammed themselves face-first into me and we both fell backward onto the floor.

“Watch it,” I said as I looked at the person who’d run into me…

…

My breath was caught in my throat and my body froze.

On the floor in front of me was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen.