6. A Little Sister's All I Need (3)

With her red eyes that infrequently blink and a gaunt appearance, Sera sat on the bed, tucked her knees, and gazed long down her arms. Her shoulders slumped, and her eyebrows withdrawn.

The sun's rays from the window dimmed the mood. Her eyes blurred, unable to concentrate. She daydreamed, for as her subconscious had overtaken her.

Maki knocked on the door. "Sera? I'm entering. Excuse me…"

Sera didn't respond.

Maki entered the room and sat on Kou's chair, facing Sera. "Putting your tray out after eating, you're a polite person, Sera-chan."

Sera's shallow tone lacked vitality. "I couldn't… repay your kindness… Mom…"

Maki touched her cheeks and cringed. "Mmm! I wanted to pinch your cheeks! You're too cute!"

"M—Mom?"

Maki coughed. "Excuse, me… By the way, what will you do now?"

Sera averted her eyes from Maki and muttered, "…Nothing… I have… nothing else to do…"

"And what do you usually do?"

"I… sleep… eat… flute… wander at my home and… listen to Annietta's stories…"

"Stories?"

"Like the story of the colorless tiger… It was a story of a tiger locked and a painter—" Sera halted when Annietta's voice visited her memories. Her chin trembled and her mouth slacked.

After pausing with silence, Maki asked, "Would you like me to tell you a story?"

Sera's eyes bulged. She incredulously dazed at Maki and hung her mouth open. Tears crawled down her eyes. When Maki witnessed Sera's reaction, she smiled.

"Don't worry, Sera-chan. I also told Kou-kun stories when he was a kid. He even said I'm a good storyteller. You can lie in bed for now. Leave the rest to me."

Sera rested her back flat on the bed. Maki searched in Kou's bookshelf in search of stories. She pressed her lips after witnessing that light novels filled it.

Disappointed, she thought: How weeb can this kid be? After searching for some time, a vibrant thick book with a crimson-red cover caught her attention. She took it and slouched back on the chair.

Sera muttered, "The book… it was thick…"

"They are called novels. A novel contained years worth of words and stories. You may not even finish this in one sitting. Aren't you familiar with it?"

Sera shook her head. "…But …I'm interested…"

"Since you're bored, there's no other choice. The story was entitled 'The Dark Lord's Bride.' If you misunderstood a phrase, or you have questions, don't be afraid to ask them."

Sera nodded and forced a weak smile. Maki coughed and spoke. "It took my courage to grow and escape a life filled with suffering…"

The story flowed smoothly through Maki's soothing voice. After the first chapter ended, Sera fell asleep.

***

I sat at the bench in the school garden, the home base of Mimirin's fanclub. Minoru applied fertilizer to his plants while I auto-farmed in my Exodia.

"I see… You forgot to bring the earplugs."

"Honestly, I forgot. But heck! Minoru, look at this shit! Mimirin was here for me!" I boasted with a wide grin, showing Minoru the ticket I got at my locker.

"Stop kidding, Kou. There's no way that Mimirin will visit this school for you."

"I verified the legitimacy of this thing online. It's the contestant's ticket for the upcoming CosCon in Hongo Kyusuiji Park. Even Kisara showed hers on Chitter!"

"And? What are your plans?"

I lost my enthusiasm and stunned myself. I dazed away with slouched shoulders and bowed, facing the floor. My smile reciprocated.

"I don't know… She wasn't telling me that I should cosplay her, was she?"

After his work, Minoru removed his gloves and sat beside me. "Someone delivered it STRAIGHT to your locker. Was there someone other than me who knows who you are?"

"There were only two of you… It's hard to say that Izumi did it. She doesn't even know Mimirin."

"Won't it be your stalkers? MagnusK's life might already been threatened."

"Of course, I'm careful! After that TV show incident, MagnusK never appeared to the public again. I'm planning to appear on Akiba's CosCon soon, but…"

The question remains… What should I do? From what this ticket tells me, Mimirin's career depends on me. My career also depended here. I'm the one that should move.

How could I convince someone I couldn't contact?

Minoru forced his loud cough, catching my attention. "Do you think I'll forget, Kou? What happened to your bondage play yesterday?"

"…HA!?" I shouted, enough to disturb the birds resting in the nearby trees.

"Why is there a crying girl in your room? Why are you interacting with a 3D girl? Are you still a virgin!? How about your otaku status!?"

I stood up and jerked away from Minoru like I was blinded by a strange light. "Stop! I don't want to hear more of this!"

"But I do… Hehe…" Minoru leaned his suspicious face at me.

I don't know too… But I couldn't say that. One mistake, the whole lie will surface. Lying was never my policy, but… Just this once, I need to lie to protect someone.

I sighed. "I—It turns out that… S—She's my little sister from abroad…"

Minoru's jaw dropped. The chirp of the birds from the vicinity overtook the silence. He sucked huge air reaching me.

"…WOW!?" Minoru cringed. His palms flew and surrounded his wide open mouth. "You should consult a psychiatrist ASAP!"

"You're the one acting like Dumbo."

"Can I slap you, Kou? I'll make sure to pull you back to reality. "

"You're only looking for a reason to slap me? Sigh! Mom adopted her on the spot. Mom was too hasty of her decision. She even asked Dad to fake her Birth Certificate. I couldn't stop her. I'm worried about that girl. Mom was an Imouto fan. Dad was an incest fan."

"What's bothering you? You said you don't mind, right? It's not like you're the one to feed her."

"But— She was a Hikikomori person! My room! She overtook my room! Her NEETness even exceeded Sagiri! the Otaku Elf Eldia! L Lawliet!"

"Was she bothering you?"

I sucked a quick breath and shook my head. "All she did was to wail and cry… and sleep in my bed. My buttocks ached in sleeping on the couch."

"Wasn't she depressed?"

"It's the parents' job to comfort them, not the brother's."

"What a worthless brother. I'm really worried about your fragile sister, you know? Being MagnusK before her was putting oil on fire."

"I know, I know… I don't communicate with her much. There's no worries there."

My phone in my pocket vibrated. I opened and read the message sent by Mom to me.

"Was that another subscription, Kou?"

I shook my head. "Do you know any shops where I could buy a flute?"

When the bell rang, we went back to our classrooms. For our afternoon class, the calming scent of coffee fogged the air again. Kaede-sensei entered the room and continued her previous discussion.

I stared at Izumi who was writing notes. I couldn't find hints of her reaction from what I've said yesterday. As I thought, she wasn't serious about it.

For a moment, she flinched. She took out her phone and read a message. Her gradually widened eyes turned at me. Her lips parted within an inch.

She should be angry or frustrated because I disrespected her… Why was she so shocked? Why did she look at me? Am I mentioned in that message?

I tilted my head to the side. "Hmm?"

"N—N—Nothing…" Izumi stuttered, blushed, and averted her gaze away from me. I witnessed her trembling shoulders from behind.

What's her deal?

The classes ended. I settled on a different path and followed the location sent to me by Minoru. I stopped before a woodwind and brass store.

Mom gave me the payment through my card. As she instructed, I bought the Yanha flute costing 80,000 yen. Mom didn't know how to judge a good quality flute… and so was I.

Our family was rich, but we weren't materialistic. Dad's income was excessive, but Mom decided to live a simple life. Yet some unexpected events like this would make Mom go barrage, threatening Dad.

I got home and greeted Mom who was cooking dinner. "Oh, Kou-kun, did you buy what I'd been asking?"

I blew the flute at random.

"Ara, you suck. By the way, can you check if Sera was awake already? Give her that long thing." I thought she meant the other long thing.

I went up to my room and saw Sera reading 'The Dark Lord's Bride.' She lay on the bed and rotated the book over her head. I squinted her eyes at her.

"Are you reading or driving? There's no way you could read letters from our world."

"I fell asleep… I want to know what happened to Sachi… she was born as another girl…"

She seemed bored. Mom probably read it to her.

"Here, a present," I said and brought her the flute covered in plastic. I sat on my computer seat to investigate Mimirin and the ticket further.

"This… This was made of gold?"

"No matter what material, a flute will always be a flute. In this world, gold was never out of reach."

"Why did you—"

"It was Mom who asked. I couldn't care less. Sigh! I'm also worried, you know? Knowing that you couldn't do anything… If I put myself in your shoes, I wouldn't survive."

"T—Than…" She was on the brink of apologizing until she flinched. "D—Don't seduce me with your kind words, human!"

"Suit yourself." I stared at my screen and scrolled the Chitter. Before the CosCon, I need to have an idea of what should I do.

Should I recruit cosplayers to fake her image? Or should I surrender this to the staff and report it as a lost item? But if I did the latter, her entry would be void. Losing a ticket was the contestant's responsibility.

But it wasn't lost… It wasn't even stolen. Someone planted the bomb on my locker, a bomb that will eradicate me from the cosplay industry. I couldn't lie to report

I scratched my head with both tensed hands and gritted my teeth. My face tightened while cringing inside. I have no other ideas…

I couldn't think at all!

A toned blow of the wind rang in my ears. The soothing sound formed an otherworldly melody that told me the story of nature. I could feel the breeze caressing the leaves, even if it was absent.

When peace invaded me, the chaos in my mind vanished. Everything was left blank like I was sleeping. I gradually smiled.

I slumped in my seat and closed my eyes. The stress in my muscles popped out of me. My breathing synchronized with her rhythm. My problems washed away temporarily.

Half an hour passed when Sera stopped. I opened my eyes and muttered.

"It was… majestic… ethereal… heavenly… It's the first time I heard that melody."

"I—I'm not playing this for you!"

"Right, right," I sighed. "Still, thank you. I'm too troubled, but… it helped me calm down."

"K—Kou…"

I turned and smiled at her.

"Do you want to know what happened to Sachi? I'm just as good at storytelling as Mom."