As i wake up the next morning, i find Tsukihi sleeping next to Nadeko.
“………”
While i don't scream, that isn't to say that i'm not surprised. i'm so surprised that i can't make a noise.
i'm super surprised.
You could say that i let out an ultrasonic scream.
i thought Nadeko's throat and lungs might give out.
It seems like wanting to sleep next to Nadeko is something that runs in the Araragi family... Tsukihi is sound asleep and holding onto Nadeko like a hug pillow.
Nadeko can't move.
Nadeko's going to repeat herself here because some explanation might be needed. Tsukihi is scary, It's common knowledge in the middle school community just how brutal she is.
How she can get so out of control that people even compare her to a nuclear weapon.
Who else can claim to know just how frightening it is to wake up and find yourself in the arms of a nuclear weapon? But i guess the image Of being in the arms of a nuclear weapon is kind of a "sirreal" one.
i don't like being touched by people, it makes Nadeko feel icky no matter who it is, even if it's her parents. But there's nothing i can do when i'm being restrained like this, especially when it's Tsukihi doing the restraining.
All i can do is turn ashen.
"Mmh…”
Then, as i'm doing all of this—in other words, nothing—Tsukihi wakes up with Nadeko in her arms.
"Wh-Whoa! Nadeko!"
"You scared me there!"
Tsukihi leaps out of bed.
She tries to get away from Nadeko and rolls off the bed in the process. She's overreacting... She really is different from Nadeko, isn't she?
Are we really the same age? Are we really both girls?
"Wh-Why are you in my big brother's bed, Nadeko?! I thought I had my arms wrapped around him, not you!"
She's made an extremely awkward statement.
It seems that around dawn, Tsukihi sleepily rolled into Big Brother Koyomi's bed—he's always being woken up by Tsukihi and Karen, but...i guess that wasn't all there was to it?
i guess there was more to it?
Anyway, i look around the room.
Hm. Karen doesn't seem to be here.
"Good morning, Tsukihi," i say.
i ought to, it's morning.
"Y-Yeah. Good morning, Nadeko.”
By the way, while Tsukihi and i used to call each other "Sen" and "Rara" when we were in elementary school, that started to feel a little too juvenile and lately we call each other by our given names.
N-No.
This isn't the time to be providing that sort of commentary.
Rising, Tsukihi straightens out the hemline of her yukata, which got ruffed when she tumbled out of bed, and stands. Her yukata matches Nadeko's, and it feels somehow weird.
Of course, the same must go for Tsukihi, or rather, seeing one of her yukatas worn by Nadeko without permission (timewise, i doubt Koyomi explained the situation)—
“?”
She looks puzzled.
Her expression says she's wondering if she's still half asleep or in a dream.
Koyomi mentioned this too, but Tsukihi's notable for her droopy eyes. She looks very sleepy, though she probably isn't.
"Uh. Um... Th-This isn't...what you think," Nadeko tries to excuse herself incoherently.
Her biggest fear right now is Tsukihi misunderstanding and thinking, Nadeko borrowed one of Tsukihi's yukatas without asking and just went ahead and slept in Koyomi 's bed.
Tsukihi has the strongest possible tendencies towards having a thing for her brother (sorry), and if someone like her got that misunderstanding, i could even end up on the bad side of every middle schooler in the neighborhood.
That would be scarier than getting possessed by any aberration.
"Er, um... Tsukihi, Big Brother Koyomi told—"
"Nadeko! Did you disguise yourself as me and assault my big brother?!"
“…”
Her misunderstanding easily exceeds what Nadeko "antissipated."
Seriously, what a scary little sister...
No, what scary siblings.
She is her big brother’s little sister.
"Now, that's bold!"
She seems happy for some reason and gives Nadeko a thumbs up—while there may have been some amount of misunderstanding, the situation seems to be acceptable.
i can never get a read on Tsukihi...
i can't even guess what might affect her mood.
"W h... What about Karen?" i ask hesitantly.
The Fire Sisters are advertised as always acting as a pair, so just because one of them isn't here, Nadeko can't afford to relax.
Nothing extreme should happen as long as Tsukihi, the brains of the operation, has given her blessing, but i still want to be careful.
If things go poorly, Nadeko is going to get kicked with no room for excuses.
"Hmm, I dunno... I think she might be jogging…"
Oh?
A vague answer, somehow—are the Fire Sisters not as joined the hip as i've heard?
Or did something happen recently, something that changed the Fire Sisters' dynamic—even if it wasn't a fight or a rift?
"Anyway, Nadeko. Great to see you again," Tsukihi greets Nadeko after all that—however late, though, manners are manners.
She's staying polite regardless of how close we are, having just shared a bed. While the two of us might have been classmates in the past, we're in different schools now. Nadeko and Tsukihi aren't really that close, and a proper greeting is a must.
"N-Nice to see you again," i say. Nadeko holds her head low—but part of the reason is that i'm embarrassed to have my face seen right after waking up.
"Yep."
Tsukihi grins.
Speaking of being late to it, i notice now that Tsukihi's hairstyle changed while we didn't see each other in a while—well, she changes hairstyles the way you change outfits, so i really am being late to it.
Nadeko isn't fashionable, so i don't know what the hairstyle is called, but it feels all jaggy everywhere.
It's perfectly between stylish and avant-garde...
i could never
manage such a hairstyle, which must attract a lot of attention. Actually, all Nadeko does with her hair is grow out her bangs.
The rest she trims herself without much thought.
i've never been to a salon or anything. i don't like it when people touch Nadeko's hair or her scalp... Apart from that, having to socialize with the hairdresser throughout would be too much for Nadeko.
Of course, never having been to one, her image of the socializing you do at a salon is all the product of her imagination.
"Oh, I get it," Tsukihi says. "My brain's finally starting to work.
So Koyomi found you and brought you here. Which means he let you have his bed and is sleeping on the first floor. Aw, what a gentleman.
Wow. No wonder she's the brains of the Fire Sisters.
Her shot made it onto the green.
Aside from the part about him being a gentleman, she was basically right.
"S-Sorry, Tsukihi.. .for the trouble. For making you lie for Nadeko. That must have been annoying, right? Getting a call from Nadeko's Mom and Dad in the middle of the night...”
"Hahaha, it wasn't that late. And I was listening to the radio, anyway. Plus, I'm used to coming up with alibis for my friends. Don't worry about it."
“…”
It's not very proper of her, but it's her impropriety that saved Nadeko, so there's nothing i can say to it.
Still, as far as Nadeko's parents go, they were fools to have believed her.