“I’m tired… I don’t want to go outside… I’m gonna melt underneath the sunlight…”
“Please stop complaining.”
Today the average temperature was slightly higher than one would have expected. It was still early April, before the yearly uniform change, and rather hot for spring break. Just walking around outside was enough to have beads of sweat form on your forehead that slid down your cheeks and dripped off your chin.
“I’ll go for a walk two days next week instead of one—and make up for it then… Okay?”
“Nope.”
“…You’re so stingy, Gak. Stingy!”
“Ha-ha-ha. Your vocabulary is so limited that you lack the power to wound me. If you really want to make me mad, perhaps crack open a dictionary sometime.”
“Unpopular kid. Virgin.”
“Hey, there’s a line you just shouldn’t cross, you know???”
It was the middle of the week. There was nothing in particular going on, so why were Shiika and her elder brother out walking around on a boiling hot day like this one, you may ask? Well, unavoidable circumstances.
“We made a deal, didn’t we? At least once a week, we’d go out for a walk for at least an hour. Now, I’ll listen to you complain as much as you want, but this is one thing I won’t budge on, okay?”
“Bleh.”
My little sister is adorable, even when she pouts.
I’d love to respond to each one of her selfish complaints, I truly would, but I had to harden my heart sometimes, for the sake of her health.
Regular exercise is a vital, vital habit.
Especially for someone who’s been a shut-in since junior high and rarely ever leaves the house. If I lost my sister to a lifestyle-related disease caused by lack of exercise, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
We lived together, brother and sister, in a nondescript house in the suburbs, half an hour train ride from the city.
A short walk takes us to a rarely utilized public park. There’s barely any playground equipment to speak of, which might be because of neighborhood noise complaints or simply a sign of the times. It would have been better overall if everything had been removed, but a shabby slide for kindergartners remained, located right in the middle of the park.
“Not a single kid to be seen, even though it’s spring break.”
“Well, yeah. It’s more fun to play indoors now.”
“A smartphone’s all you need for entertainment, hmm? Kids these days don’t know they’re blessed. They get to grow up with all the online games a kid could want—and all the streaming material they could ever hope to watch. They should at least use our tax money to make a place for poor kids to play.”
“I think this is far enough for me. Ahhh.”
Shiika walked past me as I ranted and sat down on the slide.
“We’re here for exercise. Don’t sit down…”
“Sorry, no space for you, Gak.”
“Oh, very mature.”
Shiika, who was puffing out her cheeks and claiming sovereignty over the slide, didn’t look like someone who’d just graduated from junior high school.
Her speech and behavior were childish, as if time stopped when she was still in elementary school, her development evidently delayed.
I’m certain there aren’t many people who can tell that Shiika is a talented singer just by looking at her.
“By the way, Gak. Can I needle you a little?”
“Needle away. What’s the issue?”
“If you care so much about health, then why are we always eating instant ramen?”
“Because we’re broke.”
“It said online that it’s cheaper to cook for yourself.”
“That information is outdated. Also, it’s armchair theory. It’s an opinion held by stupid people who haven’t properly evaluated self-catering against other options.”
“Really?”
“Would you like to go to the supermarket and check? Vegetables are expensive in this day and age.”
“That’s shocking.”
“Your shock doesn’t change the facts. Also, you don’t look shocked at all.”
Shiika spoke about our dining habits as if she were commenting on the personal affairs of a stranger.
In fact, Shiika doesn’t know what our family’s finances are like or what the circumstances are for our meals, and she doesn’t really care. She just eats whatever’s put in front of her. For better or worse, she has little interest in anything other than singing.
“We’re not bringing in enough money?”
“Thanks to you, our income isn’t bad… But to be honest, it’s not enough to live on.”
“That’s shocking.”
“Half of the advertising revenue from your I Tried Singing videos on WayTube goes to the rights holders of the original songs. The singer only gets a fraction of the revenue brought in from the views. And mass-producing original songs is not that easy.”
“Oh.”
“Can you try to sound more interested?!”
“It’s too complicated. I don’t get any of it. I’ll just leave all that stuff up to you, Gak.”
“Well, yes, that was what we agreed on from the start.”
Shiika’s lack of understanding about our financial situation was nothing new. In fact, it had been a constant thing since she started her activities as Seeker.
I was the one who noticed my sister’s vocal talent and pushed her to use it. Now, this may be common among true prodigies, but Shiika has an almost fatal lack of desire to become famous or earn money with her talents. She just does whatever she wants. I take care of all the complex stuff that’s unrelated to singing, like her virtual avatar—and managing money and rights. That was the arrangement we came up with when we started working together.
But now I’m in a fix. I’ve been doing what I can to make ends meet, but it’s become impossible to get by on WayTube alone. And I know how unhealthy it is to continue eating instant ramen.
Three housewives with children in tow entered the park. This was clearly a great place to gossip while the kids ran around.
But when they saw us, they frowned and began whispering.
I could see the contempt in their eyes.
A man in dirty clothes, roaming around during the day like this… That’s the way they were looking at me.
I’m not mistaken. I don’t have a persecution complex.
I always get these kinds of looks when I go out shopping for dinner.
In this country, people act cold to the unemployed, who roam around freely during weekdays.
“Hmm, but still… If you wanna eat, you have to work.”
I’m Gakuto Ikebukuro, eighteen years old.
I just wanted to live a life doing household chores, playing online games, and taking care of my incredibly talented sister, but perhaps it was time to face reality and pay my dues?
“I don’t wanna…”
Just the thought of working in a company somewhere, the kind of place that wore you down with endless human interaction… It made me feel sick.
I wanted to find a way to live without working, somehow.
“““Eek!!!”””
The sound of women screaming rang out across the park, yanking me back to reality.
A pervert, perhaps? In broad daylight, though?
I looked over to where the screams had come from and saw that the housewives who’d been whispering before were now acting very strangely.
Holding up their phones in one hand, jumping up and down, waving their free hands. It was an undignified display, not how grown adults ought to behave at all.
But apparently those screams weren’t screams of fear but of excitement.
“It’s Kei!” “It’s Kei, in the flesh!” “Oh lord, I can’t believe it! I could die happy now!”
Their eyes had now taken on a different expression compared to when they’d been scowling at us two siblings moments before.
I noticed a black luxury car had parked near the entrance to the playground. The group of housewives had flocked over to the person who had just emerged from the car.
“Ah, excuse me. I’m in the middle of some work at the moment, so please save your adoration for later, ladies. ☆”
“““Of course! ”””
The man’s voice was low and deep but had a lighthearted cadence.
The wall of housewives parted as they trilled a response that was as sweet as melted ice cream.
A lone middle-aged man appeared where they parted.
He must have been in his midthirties. He was relatively tall and wore an age-appropriate outfit, a suit in a subdued color.
He was handsome…maybe. To be honest, I couldn’t really tell.
I mean, he was wearing black sunglasses and a cowboy hat, and I couldn’t really see his face.
If not for the scruffy stubble on his exposed chin, I might have pegged him as a little younger.
The man walked straight over to Shiika and me.
“Hello there.”
He greeted us, smiling.
“…Hi.”
“…”
Exercising maximum vigilance, I looked up at him.
Shiika was silent. She held on to my sleeve shyly.
The suspicious gazes of the housewives were trained this way.
A junior-high-age kid and a high-school-age kid, being addressed all of a sudden by a suspicious man in glasses… I mean, it’s exactly what it looked like… But the housewives seemed more skeptical of Shiika and me than they did of the guy.
…Who was he, some kind of celebrity?
“What business do you have with us?”
“Oh my. You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve encountered someone who actually has their guard up around me. Don’t you watch TV?”
“We don’t even have a TV at home.”
“Wow, the times, they are a-changin’, huh? I guess kids these days are like that, spending all their time on WayTube… Right, Seeker? ☆”
“What…?!”
I stepped forward quickly, blocking Shiika from view.
They discovered her identity… But how? There was zero personal information in her channel’s bio, and there shouldn’t have been any possible way for anyone to track her down in person.
“Who the heck are you?”
“Eh-heh-heh. Ah, to think, the day has finally come where I actually have a use for these business cards.”
With a creepy smile, the old man offered me his card.