Kyouhei just stared wordlessly at the illogical sentence that had just left Mizuhito’s mouth. He had no idea how to respond.
The second hand of the clock had finished a revolution before he finally managed to open his mouth: “Uh... what did you just say?”
“I said that I’m actually an onee-sama,” Mizuhito repeated, arms folded and nodding.
“Mizuhito...” Kyouhei muttered, pressing his fingers to his forehead. “I see... that’s what it is.”
“That’s what it is.”
“The illness... has finally hit your brain...!”
“I didn’t know either until a bit ago,” Mizuhito continued, ignoring Kyouhei as the latter searched for a neurologist’s phone number. “On my run this morning...”
● ● ●
“Schwester!” cried a girl in German, clinging on to Mizuhito.
The term ‘little girl’ might be more effective in conveying her appearance than simply ‘girl.’
She was probably around ten. Even if she was baby-faced and looked younger than she actually was, she couldn’t be more than fifteen.
Her sparkling gold hair fell in a short bob cut, covering her cheeks. Her eyes were her most blatant feature, seeming to fill her face, like pools of sky-blue sapphires. Her skin was a porcelain white.
The lines of her body emphasized her lack of development... but when coupled with her adorable features, they lent an otherworldly, innocent feeling to her appearance. If there were white wings on her back, you’d be forgiven for thinking her an angel.
Indeed, the girl now tightly holding on to Mizuhito was as she had been born... So stark naked, basically. With how clearly young she was, the scene certainly seemed like a crime.
“Ahh, schwester schwester schwester schwester schwester schwester schwester schwester schwester schwester schwester schwester schwester schwester schwester schwesterrrrr!” the girl continued (still in German), rubbing her face against him as she tightened her grip.
“Ahn, what a wonderful sen—no,” Mizuhito let out, an expression of ecstasy making its way onto his face before he came to his senses. “What was that?”
His brow had furrowed at the unfamiliar language. He got fairly decent grades, but German was out of a high schooler’s wheelhouse.
“What language is that?” he asked again. “It wasn’t English.”
The girl fell silent and looked up at him, her eyebrows crinkling.
“...I see, you’re saying that when in Rome, one should do as the Romans do. So you’re telling me I should use Japanese as this is Japan. Correct, Onee-sama?” she asked after a brief pause.
“Well, we are in Japan... Wait, ‘Onee-sama’?”
“Indeed,” the girl nodded, “I, FR-MC10 ‘Lorie III,’ have longed for the day I could meet you, Onee-sama! Our base designs are the same, so we’re a literal sister series! And as the body double android for the first princess of the Bergmann Kingdom, and the body double android for the second princess, you’re my onee-sama in two ways!” the girl explained.
She didn’t realize, though, either through poor eyesight or poor faculties, that she was explaining this to the wrong person.
And thus, with a horrified expression, Mizuhito began to groan: “I... was an onee-sama?!”
● ● ●
“And that’s how I awoke to the truth,” Mizuhito declared, his fist clenched. “I decided that if I was an onee-sama, I should live my life in that way!”
“Just drop dead ten times,” Kyouhei said with a long sigh. “Turning up in drag is one thing, but why the gothic look?”
“Because I’m an onee-sama. In these clothes, you could also use ‘aneki’ for an energetic, sporty impression, or a relaxe—”
“You just got dragged into a fantasy by some girl you’ve never even seen before. Anyway, a naked girl popping out a coffin, speaking German... and saying... she’s a body double... an...droid...”
A feeling of déjà vu suddenly forced Kyouhei into silence. Turning to his side, he saw that even Pamil had folded her arms in apparent thought, as if she had likewise had a realization.
A naked girl coming out of a coffin wouldn’t be a common occurrence. And she called herself a Bergmann too, so it was hard to consider it a coincidence.
“Pamil,” he said, “do you think...”
“Indeed...” she nodded thoughtfully, “it might just be in vogue.”
“Vogue?!” Kyouhei yelled.
“It was a joke.”
“A joke? You seriously said that as a joke?!” he demanded.
“I can’t say for sure without seeing her, but from what I’ve heard, it seems reasonable to assume she is one of the androids constructed as a sister-machine to me. Princess Pamil did indeed have a younger sister in Princess Lorie. It wouldn’t be strange for her to also have a body double,” Pamil continued, unconcerned with Kyouhei’s stricken expression.
“When you put it like that, it sounds like it’s the first time you’re even hearing about it,” Kyouhei said. If his conjecture was correct, then this Lorie would indeed be Pamil’s younger sister.
But...
“It is,” she answered bluntly. “Isn’t it obvious? A machine wouldn’t have the serial numbers of later installments, even in the same series, in its database, would it?”
Well, assuming her claims of android-hood were true, the logic at least followed.
“But... actually, wait. In that case, why did she decide Mizuhito was her ‘Onee-sama’?”
“Hmm, well, this is just an assumption...” Pamil began, her head tilted in thought, “but it was probably her imprinting.”
“What are you lot, ducks?!”
Ignoring Kyouhei’s quip, she continued: “Well, with what my memory data holds, Princess Lorie was always clinging to Princess Pamil. Princess Pamil also spoiled her, and they were always together, so she might have been set to designate whoever she first saw as her elder sister?”
“Not her parent?”
“Well, the royal family was always busy running the country, so the only time parents and children saw each other was essentially during morning and evening greetings,” Pamil explained. “Princess Pamil was the closest to a guardian that Princess Lorie had.”
Pamil was speaking casually, but it was a rather sad tale. Apparently, being royalty didn’t mean that you were blessed in every way, though that was obvious.
“Kyouhei, what are you both talking about?” Mizuhito asked, leaning forward in interest.
“Ah, nothing you need to worry about,” he answered.
He’d been careless due to the shock, but Mizuhito didn’t know about Pamil declaring herself an android.
Pamil drew attention at the best of times, so her being known as a bit of an eccentric would stand out all the more. Considering the number of things in their home that should stay hidden, he wanted to avoid any more scrutiny, so he kept all of that secret as much as possible.
“Mizuhito,” Pamil said, grabbing the skull around his neck and pulling him level with her, “where is that Lorie III?”
“Huh? She’s right he—” he started, pointing off.
Standing there was a small girl wearing just a tracksuit top and an angry expression. “Onee-sama!” she yelled.
● ● ●
A few moments earlier, on the landing of a nearby building’s fire escape.
“What’s that?” mumbled a figure watching the shopping district through binoculars. They were referring to a group walking through the street full of shops.
They wore a suit, tie, felt hat, and sunglasses. Everything they wore was black, so in a phrase, they had the Men in Black look.