Vol 1 Chapter 4 (1/2)

“Onii-chan, shouldn’t we go shopping?”

Afternoon, the next day

My sister proposed that while ere both finishi+ng up unpacking

“Shopping?”

“Yes I’ve been thinking about various things and—”

My sister said and went looking around in our respective bedroo room, she then continued:

“As I thought, it seeo look for a place around here and buy the things we need all at once?”

“Hm”

We certainly hadn’t been well-prepared for the move My sister and I had both left in a hurry, alht the minimum of furniture and necessities with us

In an e we needed for now could easily be picked up at the neighboring super at once

“Okay, got it Well then, should we head out now?”

“Yes Let’s go, let’s go”

“But even so, I can’t afford anything too expensive, okay?”

“Yes, I know We should try to save ht?”

Frankly, we didn’t have much at hand

The Arisugawa and Takanomiya Families were both well off They had taken my sister and me under their care This tiet any financial help whatsoever

And so the living expenses for my sister and me had been provided by sos This was our fourth day living together and our savings were already… No, rather, the Hiin with

We’ve finally arrived

We took the subway to a department store in the heart of the city… As if, it was just a sohborhood

“That’s a big store, isn’t it?”

A four-story building with a parking garage that could accommodate nearly a thousand cars was in front of us My sister raised her voice in admiration She had been raised as a pure-hearted noble lady In those six years and probably wasn’t in all to many stores like this

By the way, currentlyover her school uniform Economical and independence reasons were some of the main reasons for that However, the most important one was that awa house

“…I’m sorry, Akiko”

“…? What is it?”

“Because I’ive you proper clothes”

“Ah Do you mean this?”

She said and then opened her coat slightly to reveal the n of her uniform which combined both, old and modern elements

“I really like to wear this coat When I ith the Arisugawa faht not look like it, but it’s very easy to ood in it, don’t I?”

Well, that’s true

The coat did look so aood on her that it alned for her

But, you know… it was still a little…

If she hadn’t left the Arisugawa Fain with, she would’ve had a life where she didn’t have to go shopping like we currently were That she didn’t even have any decent clothes made me feel depressed after all

“Please don’t make that kind of face, Onii-chan”

In coht and sunny smile on her face, she continued with:

“I don’t needfor ether with Onii-chan”

“That’s so there”

“Besides, isn’t our current lifestyle truly a? For exa at, it has its ownand warawa Family Over there it was too spacious and I’ve always been surrounded by servants In the first place, didn’t Onii-chan bring up soether? I’m extremely thankful for that, I’ve no reasons to be resentful over anything”

“I see Muess that’s true”

“And since Onii-chan didn’t receive any financial aid froet thatabout for awhile Onii-chan hasn’t toldabout it yet”

“Ahaha Well you know, that’s, uh…”

That ell, a difficult topic

It wasn’t so to keep it a secret

Ah, don’t worry though, it wasn’t anything illegal

“Hs That’s a grave matter If you won’t tell awa Faence to help with—”

“Hey, Akiko”

My sister was pondering over so unpleasant, I smiled at her and continued:

“I want to get along with you as much as possible While that broken down dormitory is inconvenient at ti… I really think that from the bottom of my heart Because I love Akiko, you know?”

“It’s obvious that you’re trying to change the topic Well, it’s fine, though When I hear those s those words hten up”

“Is that so? Well, that’s good then”

“After all these ether in happiness from now on”

“Mm, mm”

“…Well, even though… if Onii-chan keeps up not laying his hands on ive up and return to the Arisugawa Family… okay?”

“Muess you need to pack your things then… okay?”

“I’ot a little carried away”

“As long as you understand”

And like that we’ve arrived inside

It was spring break and a Sunday on top of it, so needless to say it was also a day off for most people Consequently, it was coy

“So, what should we buy?”

Looking at the information board, I took out a notepad

“Onii-chan, what’s that?”

“A shopping list I already wrote down sos we need earlier I asked a friend for advice”

“Hm…?”

Her eyes narrowed, she continued to stare at the notepad intently

From top to bottom, side to side,at the notebook, but then all of a sudden she started sniffing it

“…Akiko?”

“Suspicious”

She let out a sigh and continued:

“Onii-chan What’s the name of your friend? What kind of relationshi+p do you have with that person?”

“Eh?”

“Please answer honestly”

“Err, there’s nothing for me to be dishonest about… The name’s Sawatari Ginbei Haruomi, my friend has a bit of an unusual name We were already friends before I ca alone because of circus”

“…Hmm? I see”

My sister said that but still continued to stare at me intently

“I guess a woman’s intuition can be off at times”

She ca I couldn’t quite comprehend

…What in the world is she going on about…

“By the way, Onii-chan, what’s that over there?”

And now she’s quickly changing the subject Well, whatever, it’s fine

U at

There was a salesperson with a red Happi[1] coat as shouting ‘Ti over there

“Ah Looks like there’s so on”

“Sale?”

“It’s basically a bargain A discount sale They’re selling stuff cheaper than usual to attract more customers…”

“How much cheaper?”

My sister’s eyes started to sparkle

“How s for?”

“U a ten pack of disposable hand warmers for 90 off”

“90?!”

She got even more excited

“Calm down, Akiko It may be 90 off, but they’re just disposable hand war soon as well, so this isn’t the ti this sale so they can get rid of redundant inventory——”

“By the way, Onii-chan, just what exactly is a hand warmer?”

She got excited without even knohat it was As expected from someone raised as a noble lady

Ah, well Here I say that, but I’ve also been raised in a wealthy family

In any case after I gave her an explanation, ly more interested

“What an a so convenient exists… They didn’t tell awa Fa one of the Arisugawa Fa like that Judging it by appearance, right?”

“Well, probably”

“Onii-chan, let’s buy that”

“Wait, wait We came here to buy necessities, didn’t we?”

“But, it’s selling for 90 below its usual price, isn’t it?”

“Even with that, we’re only saving about 100 yen at the most——”

“Is 100 yen not a big deal? Those who laugh at 100 yen will co for 100 yen”

“That’s true, but still”

Hm

She see cheap She probably learned that froawa Family That fa low and selling high

And well, it also see out she’s never done before

“Onii-chan, what’s your decision? If you don’t hurry up they ht sell out”

“I don’t think we have to worry about theht away at this season, but… Well, okay, let’s buy one Just one set though, okay?”

“Yes! Well then, I’!”

“Will you be okay by yourself?”

“I’ll be alright I know enough to distinguish between a ten and a five yen coin”

That makes me a bit nervous

“The one with a ‘ten’ carved on it is a ten yen coin, and even though they look si a hole in it ht?”

“…”

“Please don’t look at me like that It was just a joke”

“…Be careful, okay? Until just recently you were a pure-hearted person living a sheltered life, so I’m worried”

“I know there are ways to pay for things that don’t involve a credit card And that there’s money that isn’t paper currency You don’t need to worry about me”

“I’m a bit nervous”

“With that, I’m off!”

Ignoring etically ran off

Well, she needs to learn new things for a new lifestyle, and that’s a good chance for her to gain experience I guess this is what they call ‘letting your child experience the world’s harshness instead of pa it[2]‘

But even so

My sister really stands out

Long black hair, grey coat, and black tights

Even though she was si off a strong impression All the shoppers slowed dohen they passed by my sister and admired her looks, it made me feel very proud as her older brother

Oh She’s standing in front of the sale corner now

I can’t hear the conversation between the shopkeeper and her, but she’s probably saying so like, ‘Givewithout a worry on her face and the shopkeeper’s face started to blush

It’s not hard to picture it

She’s a beautiful girl who’ll never enore her bro-con tendencies

—Oh She’s co back

“I’ve returned”

“Mm Welcome back”

“Look, I’ve bought them without any problems!”

“Mood”

“Pat my head as a reward, please!”

“Why?”

“Is it okay if I use theht now then?”

“Ah Hm That’s fine”

Though if she uses theet sweaty

Well, it’s fine

My sister took the hand war an expression of great delight I’ll gladly spend the little I have for soh I can’t get her nice clothes, I can at least afford her disposable hand warmers

Now then

Now that she looks satisfied, ti——

“Onii-chan, Onii-chan!”

She waved both her hands around with ferocious appeal

“Look at this! It looks like another ties this ties! Ah, there’s another one on the other side starting! They have detergent at such a price— Ah, there’s o, Onii-chan!”

“…Uh”

“Hurry, hurry! If we don’t hurry they’ll sell out, you know?! They only have a limited stock!”

“Ah, whatever I got it, I got it”

Well

I also like ht as well queue up for the sale, can’t hurt

However, there are still other things we need to buy Plus, we need several of those things right now

So ifto lose time

Can’t be helped We’ll have to split up for different lines so that we can get all the stuff we need

“Hmm…? Onii-chan and I should separate into different lines?”

When ed into that of despair

“I was finally able to go shopping with Onii-chan and noe have to separate? H-How can such an unreasonable thing be… But even though sales are going to start, there’s still the possibility that it ht end in the next ten ether with Onii-chan, although it’d be regretful to ignore the price drop… But I want to be together with Onii-chan… ah, ah, ahh, aughhh, hat should I do?! Just what in the world should I do?! Is there no way I can do both at once?! T-There has to be so——”

She looked like such a poor thing

Looks like she really likes sales, huh?

“Akiko”

“Y-Yes?”

“I’ve got a task for you It’s an extremely important one, you can’t decline it”

“Important task…?”

“From now on, you’re to separate into a different line Then you’re to get your hands on as et”

“—!”

“I’et to complete this task… You understand, Akiko? That’s not your objective alone, but h I know it’ll be painful to be separated… With all your knowledge of all sorts of things, I know you’ll carry it out properly”

I handed her soed her

“Understand? Let ain, that’s for my sake You’re not allowed to decline, okay?”

My sister accepted the money with a blank look on her face, and I felt a bit relieved

“I don’t want to be separated froo to all the sales… And I’ll be doing it for Onii-chan’s sake…”

Before long, her eyes started to shi+ne with understanding

“I understand, Onii-chan Akiko will do her best For Onii-chan’s sake I’ll give it e of all the sales, so that the family finances will prosper”

“That’s the spirit When you’re finished, let’s et going”

“I’ off then! Yahoo!”

Why the yahoo?

She looked very happy though, huh?

She did look as if her shoes had sprout wings while she dashed away I atching her leave from behind her with a wry smile

Well, up until now I haven’t really done anything older-brother-like

It’s fine to spoil her at least that ht?

Now then

It’s about ti over with

Even though I’m not as bad aseither My budget’s limited, so I’ll have to be careful

I took out the notepad once again and confirmed the contents of the list

I started off by looking around in front of the information board

…Hm

At any rate, this store’s pretty big, isn’t it? Feels like it’s al as the Tokyo Do, and the central plaza that I’m currently at… The furniture section’s on the third floor in the east wing I can find the daily necessities on the second floor in the ing, huh? I know it has to be this big so that all these items can fit in, but it’s bothersome nonetheless

Well, whatever

I’ll just go tackle one task at a time

Um, let’s see, which as the elevator——

…Huh?

Shortly after I started to walk, I’ve already stopped in my tracks

It was in the middle of the central plaza where I had planned to meet up with my sister later

Nor around there, yet for some reason it seemed like there was an area devoid of people

What’s going on?

It looked like all the passerbies were looking at that empty space with their eyes wide open Was there soain, it didn’t see on either

As it happened to be in the direction of the elevator, I naturally looked into that direction while walking

I eventually found a gap in the crowd and was able to have a look at as going on

“Wow”

…Unintentionally slipped out of my mouth

The person in there was so incredibly pretty that she absolutely stood out

It was a girl

Probably about the sae I was

However, she looked more mature than me

And she had blonde hair

She was a beautiful woht, and wavy honey-colored hair that was styled in hanging twintails She was just standing there, doing nothing

Is it a mannequin…?

I thought that for aout of flesh and blood If so like that were possible to betio

She was standing there silently… Or perhaps I should say that she was giving off an icy aura… No, both of those are wrong How should I put it, she simply had an emotionless expression However, even that unsociable aura didn’t detract from her beauty at all This must’ve been a so-called ‘cool beauty’

People like that actually exists

But yeah, if she puts herself on display in such a conspicuous place, anyone would be charet close to her

Now that I think about it,off a similar impression For today, it seems like this place has a random increase in beauty-appearance-rate

Well, whatever

This certainly is an astonishi+ng encounter, but that’s that I need to finish up ot so much I need to buy——

Wait, hold on, hold on

It see all of a sudden

The aforementioned mannequin-like beauty came closer

See at ht that, she walk towards me with quick steps

“You”

She was now in front of me

With the same cool and expressionless face she continued:

“Name?”

“Eh?”

“Let’s hear it Your name”

Even with her splendid blond hair and blue eyes she doesn’t seem like a pure caucasian It feels like she has some japanese features blended in

Her height’s about the same as my sister’s and

“Name? Mine?”

“Yes”

She said and then stared at me Directly, with the same facial expression

…What the heck?

It was a

Just from how her expression looked one could think that she’d have a very oppressive and arrogantand the same counted for her behavior However, that wasn’t the case It was more like a ‘that’s siot from her

Soopen from confusion

“I’m Akito”

“Akito? That’s your first name, isn’t it? And your last name?”

“Um, Himenokouji”

“…I understand”

She said and then started to stare at ain

“Iton occasion, I guess?”

“Woman’s intuition?”

I’ve heard those that before somewhere

“U me all of a sudden?”

“It’s for no reason in particular Only that I s from you”

“Eh? Me?”

“Yes You”

“…”

That’s some crazy reason I just heard

Ibaths everyday and I’ve never had any strong body odor before… unless?! Could it be yesterday’s dinner?! My sister’s cooking’s delicious, but she tends to use a lot of garlic ‘Eat a lot and replenish your stah I was already careful… Looks like I have to be even more careful…

“The sarlic I had yesterday”

However, she just shook her head and said:

“It’s simply a smell that seems to only affect lect on your part Please don’t worry about it”

“No, saying that makes me worry about it even more…”

Well, ouldn’t be worried when a coer said, ‘you smell’