“It was right before I started middle school. We used to watch anime and play games together all the time, but then he started taking all those things to his room to do by himself...”
Hmmm? Watching anime and playing games by myself, instead of with her... Well, maybe that does ring a bell...
Years ago, I did all of those things in the living room with Kisaki. Middle school, however, marked somewhat of a coming-of-age for boys like me, who begin to develop a taste for... improper material. Anime and games with sexy scenes in them, erotic manga and illustrations, and other things in that vein.
Of course, I couldn’t check out that kind of thing in front of Kisaki, which is why I’d started spending more time alone in the privacy of my room. Kisaki had often tried to come in, and she once even did so without knocking. Thankfully, I wasn’t doing anything indecent at the time, but I realized that if I wanted to avoid an encounter that could traumatize both Kisaki and me, I had to set some boundaries.
At the time, I’d scolded her and told her not to enter my room without permission. She’d started knocking and asking me what I was doing, but more often than not, I’d tell her to leave me alone because I was busy. And busy I was... as boys often are during puberty.
Could she be talking about that? Did she think I was avoiding her?! That’s more or less the same time as when I thought we’d started drifting apart...
“When I tried to find him in his room, he’d just tell me to go away...” Kisaki told Kokoro.
“What?! That’s horrible! He didn’t tell me that!” Kokoro replied, clearly infuriated.
Y-You see, I had a very good reason...
“So, since he was avoiding me, I thought I’d keep out of his way, and we grew distant in no time. To be honest, today was the first time in years that we talked so much.”
Wait, wait, wait. So she started acting like that because she somehow thought I was avoiding her... Just because I needed some privacy to practice using the mouse left-handed?! She didn’t start hating me or anything?!
“I wondered what I’d done to him, and I still do... but it’s not easy asking something like that. N-Not that I was lonely because he wasn’t playing with me or anything though!”
“Unbelievable! Why would he do something like that to his cute little sister?!”
I was in a kind of trance listening to Kisaki’s explanation, so it took me a second or two to remember the reason why I was down there in the first place. But I couldn’t go to the toilet now—the flushing noise would have made them realize that I’d overheard them.
So I snuck back up to my room, taking care to be even quieter than I had been the other way, and got back into my bed with a full bladder.
She was basically just lonely because I wasn’t playing with her... That’s way sweeter than I expected! Did I really risk the bond I had with my sister for something so stupid? I can’t believe it! I still wanted to play games and watch anime with her too! The non-sexy ones, at least...
I turned and twisted over and over, torn between relief and regret. I would never get back the years I’d spent unwittingly driving Kisaki away, but at least I could be kinder to her starting tomorrow.
And then, when she comes back to Japan for good, I’ll do my best to fix things, so we can go back to being two happy, loving siblings again.
I promised to myself that I’d try my very best to improve my relationship with my sister, before praying to whoever was up there that the two girls would find their way back to their room before I wet the bed.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Good morning, girls.”
Kokoro yawned. “...What? Ichigaya? You’re already up?! What are you doing? You’re making breakfast?!”
Kisaki, who had come down just behind her, was also staring at me in disbelief.
“Huh?! You’re cooking?!”
It was the next morning, and I was greeted by nothing but surprise. Our rule was that Kokoro and I would each worry about our own breakfast, and so, as I wasn’t forced to cook in the morning, I almost never did. As for Kisaki, she had never seen me near a stove top at any time of the day, so her surprise was understandable.
“I’ve actually had to cook for myself since you guys left for India, you know? Well, not every day, but still...”
“You’re the last person on the planet I’d ever imagine cooking,” she replied.
“You’re not going to show some appreciation when I’ve gone through the trouble of cooking for you?”
“What...?”
I ignored her conflicted expression, plated the wieners and sunny-side up eggs, and put the three dishes—one for each of us—on the table. Then, I plucked three slices of toast out of the toaster and put one on each.
“Y-You made mine too?” Kisaki stammered. “What’s gotten into you?! You’re scaring me!”
“In all the time since I moved in here, this is the first time I’ve seen him wake up early to cook breakfast,” Kokoro said, just as bewildered.
“What? Aren’t you going to eat?” I asked.
The two girls immediately responded with a “Yes!” and sat down. After what I’d heard last night, I’d decided to attempt some kindness toward Kisaki, for at least for as long as she was going to stay in Japan. But instead of gratefulness, I’d somehow just made her suspicious.
“Kagetora actually cooked this... Is this some kind of weird dream...?” she murmured to herself.
“I wanted to ask before, Kisaki, but is there anything I can do to help with your doujinshi?” I knew she’d already had a hand from Kokoro, but I might as well give it a try.
“...Huh?! Where’d that come from all of a sudden?!”
“It’s just a few days till Comiket, isn’t it?”
“Th-There’s nothing in particular... and I don’t want you to see my drawings anyway!”
“Hmm... All right. Just let me know if anything comes up.”
“Why are you acting like this?! It’s creepy!”
“Hey! Is this how you thank me for trying to be nice to you?!”
Now that she’d gone straight from surprised to creeped out, I was starting to regret trying to make it up to her.
Kokoro, meanwhile, watched our back-and-forth in silence with a faint smile on her face.
＊ ＊ ＊
The night before Comiket, Kisaki and Kokoro were busy preparing in Kisaki’s room. My sister had to take care of her doujinshi, and my roommate had to take care of her cosplay; both were a lot harder than what I had to do. Since I was only going to help out with the booth, my preparations amounted to putting a couple of bottles of water in the fridge so we’d have something cool to drink the next day.
Had we been planning to line up with all the other visitors, we’d have also needed hand fans, cold compresses, and other measures to avoid dying of heatstroke, but thanks to the circle ticket, we didn’t have to worry about any of that.
“Ichigaya! Can you come here for a sec?” Kokoro shouted from upstairs while I was killing time in the living room.
What does she need me for now?
I announced my presence outside my sister’s room, rather than just opening the door, and heard Kokoro ask Kisaki whether it was fine to let me in. My sister told her that it was, and I walked in to find a whole mess of doujinshi and cosplay-related items scattered all over the floor.
“What do you think of this dress?” Kokoro asked me.
To my surprise, she had taken my advice and bought a white sundress, an off-the-shoulder one with a few frills—simple but cute. It was precisely the kind of dress that any otaku would conjure up in their mind when thinking of cute summer attire for girls.