＊ ＊ ＊
“So... what’s going on?”
Kisaki, who was now sitting on a chair in front of us, was still shooting that same confused look back and forth from me to Kokoro.
“D-Didn’t you say you’d be back on the seventh? Why are you here already?!” I asked my sister. I’d assumed she would have at least told me about something so important.
“What gives you the right to complain about when I come back to my own home?! Ugh. Anyway, forget it. Tell me what the hell’s going on,” she said, barely able to hide her bewilderment.
“W-Well, okay... This is Nishina, a friend from school. Long story short, her parents moved overseas for work. She wanted to stay in Japan, so I let her stay here since we had a free room.”
“So she’s your girlfriend?”
“No!” Kokoro and I promptly yelled, though I could understand why she’d think that.
“We just go to the same school, that’s all. She was going through the same thing that I had, so I just wanted to help her out,” I said, trying my best to explain.
“Um, K-Kisaki, was it?” Kokoro asked. “I’m totally sorry! It was me who begged your brother to let me stay...”
Kokoro looked genuinely apologetic, and she was even lying to help me out. I was surprised she’d go so far, but grateful that she’d stick up for me.
“Why is my brother so stupid...? Anyway, I wasn’t able to get any sleep at all on that plane, so I’m going to my room to get some proper rest,” Kisaki said, sighing as she stood from her chair.
I was suddenly overwhelmed by fear, and I imagined the same applied to Kokoro.
“W-Wait! Why don’t you, er, go and take a bath first?” I suggested.
I’d invited a stranger to live in our house without telling my sister about it—that was bad enough. But if Kisaki found out that this stranger had been sleeping in her room, filling it with all kinds of unspeakable things, that would make the situation even worse. Much worse. Especially because Kisaki would be mad at me, the one who’d given the stranger permission to use that room.
Thankfully, Kokoro had already taken most of her belongings out of Kisaki’s room, so maybe we could manage to make the rest disappear if we stalled for time.
“Ew, gross. Now you want to police your sister’s bathing habits?” Kisaki said spitefully, continuing toward her room.
“B-But, Kisaki, w-wait...!”
Kokoro and I stumbled after her, unable to come up with anything that could convince her to stop. Step by step, Kisaki walked closer and closer to her room, stopped in front of it, and opened the door...
“...What?”
Here we go.
“Whose stuff is...? You let a stranger stay in my room?!”
“I-I’m so sorry, Kisaki!” I said.
“I’m sorry too!” Kokoro followed, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.
“Unbe-freaking-lievable!” Kisaki shouted, letting her luggage fall to the floor. She seemed too angry to move.
Kokoro and I lowered our heads apologetically, unable to think of a way to calm her down.
“You let a girl from school live in our house without asking Mom and Dad... and you let her use my room! Are you kidding me?!”
“I’m really, really sorry...” I said, too scared to look her in the eye.
“I’m telling Mom and Dad right now!”
Anything but that! I thought, so shocked that I finally raised my head to look at my sister.
“Don’t you even—wait... I-Is this...?” Kisaki was staring down at a pile of doujinshi that Kokoro had left in a paper bag on the floor. She slowly leaned down and pulled out the copy at the top of the pile, barely blinking as she stared at the cover.
“A limited edition Fromage doujinshi? The one that was never sold online and never got a reprint!”
✦ ✦ ✦
I’d never seen Kisaki like this before. She was suddenly excited, her eyes practically sparkling, yet I had no idea what she was talking about.
“Y-You like BL doujinshi?” Kokoro asked.
“I-I mean... This is yours? You’re an otaku?”
“Ah, yeah! Most of the stuff in here is actually otaku merchandise. I didn’t know you were an otaku too, Kisaki! Ichigaya, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Huh? This is news to me too...”
Kisaki... an otaku? A BL-doujinshi-reading otaku? That can’t be true!
Back when she was still a kid, we used to enjoy loads of anime and games together, but I’d have hardly called her an otaku, even back then. I thought she’d grown out of all those things around when she’d started middle school.
“And... are these all HypMic doujinshi?” Kisaki asked, gesturing toward the paper bag.
“Yep! I used to have, like, twice as many, but I sold a bunch of them the other day...”
“Sold them? But why would you do something like that?”
“Well, you know, I had to clear out your room.”
“I wish I could have read them before you sold them. Um... would you mind if I took a look at the doujinshi you have here? Just a quick glance?”
“Sure, go ahead! You can totally read them! But, uh, if you recognized the cover so fast, does that mean you’re a Toppo fan?!”
“God, yes! I love Toppo!”
“Wow, no freakin’ way! Me too! I’ve never met another Toppo fan in real life!”
“Me neither! You’re just so... pretty that you don’t look like the type to enjoy BL doujinshi...”
“I was just thinking the same thing about you! Actually, if you want, you can read anything here! I know it’s not enough of an apology for moving into your room and all, but...”
“I’d say it’s more than enough... Wow! Look at this! I saw a sample of this one on Pixiv and I’ve wanted to read it ever since! And this one too! I couldn’t get any of this stuff in India... Who’d have thought I’d have so many HypMic doujinshi waiting for me as soon as I came back to Japan?!”
Can someone explain to me what’s going on? Kisaki... is a fujoshi? She’s befriending Nishina?
“K-Kisaki, I thought you weren’t into anime, games, or any of that stuff anymore... but you’re an otaku? And a fujoshi at that?”
“So what if I am?! It’s none of your business! Why are you still here anyway? Stop being such a freak!”
“Huh?!”
“Oh, I totally get you!” Kokoro added. “Having your family see you reading smut must be the worst. Go on, Ichigaya, get out!”
“Wh-What?”
I was given a forceful shove, then Kisaki slammed the door shut behind me. I could still hear the two girls’ voices coming from the inside.
“Whoa, you have this one too!”
“You’ve sooo gotta read it. It’s super hot!”
“W-Wait, is it a naughty one? You can buy those?!”
“Oh, and this one’s totally the best!”
All that, along with other such questionable things. I was at least relieved to hear that Kisaki wasn’t angry anymore.
I still can’t believe she’s an otaku though. A pretty hardcore one too. I thought she’d strayed from the otaku lifestyle when she started hanging out with the cool kids in middle school, but what I just saw means she’s been hiding her real hobbies from me all along...
However, this left me with another important question: why had she started hating me so much? If she really was an otaku like me, she had no reason to hate me for being one too. Maybe she was angry that I didn’t make any effort to pass myself off as a presentable, well-groomed human being like she did. Whatever the case, I could barely keep up with all this, so I decided to let the girls have their fun together and rest my head for a little while.
Even later, when it was time to sleep, I could still hear them talking. Did they plan on staying up all night giggling about BL? And how could two people want to spend so much time together after having just met?