Chapter 9 – Dear Sister

Reading Settings

Come to think of it, I’ve completely forgotten to reply to Ange’s messages for the past two days. Hopefully, she’s not sulking. 

“Sorry, I’ve been really busy with a lot of things lately.” 

So I quickly sent a message to Ange, but… 

“Whatever.” 

As the curt two-word response came back at lightning speed, I, the elder brother, immediately realized the situation. Ah, she’s definitely sulking now. 

In this scenario, I had no choice but to resort to a phone call. In fact, when I moved out, Ange and I had an agreement that “I would be the one to initiate phone calls.”

“What is it?” 

“Ah, I’m sorry, Ange. Are you doing okay?” 

She picked up right away, but her tone is icy. 

“There’s nothing more important than a phone call, is there?” 

“Yeah, that’s right. I’m really sorry; a lot of shocking things have been happening.” 

“Hmph. You don’t even care about me anymore.”

“No, no, that’s not it at all! I really do care about you.” 

This was a full-fledged sulk. I would have to tread lightly. As her older brother, I was no match for Ange. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way, so all I could feel was mounting anxiety.

“Well, you see, I was actually talking to Mom about withdrawing from university and coming back home because I really want to see you. But she said it’s still too soon, so I’m going to keep trying my best over here a little longer.” 

“…”

“So it’s not that I don’t care about you at all. You’re my precious, irreplaceable little sister, Ange. You mean everything to me.” 

In a moment of desperation, I resorted to my ultimate skill—the Lie Eight Hundred.

“What is mom up to? Hold on, I’m going to speak with her so you can come home sooner since you’re dropping out of university.”

“Whoa, whoa, no need for that! I’ve already got that sorted out. I’ll come back for the summer vacation, so please be patient and wait for me until then.”

“…That’s too long. I can’t wait that long.”

Ange, known as “Ice Doll Ange” for her rare displays of emotion, can be quite demanding and spoiled when it comes to me, her older brother. It’s part of what makes her so endearing, I suppose. I’ve even questioned whether we’re truly related, given how I lack even a fraction of her charm. But alas, we are bound by blood.

The reason Ange clings to me as a sibling is likely because, even if only half, we do share that familial bond. If we had no blood ties, Ange would probably pay me no mind whatsoever. Not that I’d ever entertain the thought of pursuing a middle schooler, of course.

Even as my left brain indulged in these rather pointless musings, my right brain was desperately trying to appease Ange’s displeasure. In the end, I managed to avert disaster by promising to take her to Disneyland during the upcoming long vacation. But then, a new topic came up.

“…Oh, that reminds me, Onii-chan. Uncle Jones might be coming your way soon.”

“Huh? Jones-san? Why’s that?”

“…Apparently, now that the whole divorce thing has been settled, he’s planning to start over in a big city. Mom told me about it today.”

Jones-san is actually the uncle on my mother’s side, who got divorced around the same time I was dumped by Kojima-san. Apparently, his wife had been cheating on him with a younger man. I have vague memories of listening to Jones-san drunkenly vent about being betrayed; it seemed he was no different from any other loveless man in this world, so fragile.

“… He said he’d like to stop by and say hello to you as a way of thanking you for listening to his complaints. Could you pass that along?”

“Got it. Thanks for letting me know, Ange.”

So that’s why Mother was talking about laughing off misfortune—it must have been because she’d already spoken to Jones-san beforehand. Well, Jones-san is one of the few kindred spirits I have. I don’t feel any aversion to seeing him; in fact, I might even want to vent my current troubles to him this time.

“… Oh, it looks like we’ve been chatting for quite a while. Sorry for taking up your time.”

“It’s not like there was anything more important than this call…”

“Anyway, since it’s a weekday tomorrow, I suppose we should wrap this up for now.”

“…Onii-chan?”

“What is it?”

“Tomorrow, you won’t forget about me, right?”

How deviously adorable! Even as my own sister, she’s the master of manipulation! My energy has been fully recharged!

“Ah, yes, of course. I’ll be sure to message you tomorrow without fail. Well then, good night, Ange.”

“…Okay. Good night, Onii-chan.”

And with a sound akin to tapping her lips against the phone, Ange disconnected the call.

You know, it’s not so bad to chat with my little sister every now and then. Enveloped in the reassuring comfort of our unbreakable blood ties, I basked in the warm glow for a moment. But then, an unexpected—or rather, one I should have anticipated—visitor appeared.

Ding-dong

“…Hm? Who could that be? A delivery, perhaps?”

My mind preoccupied with thoughts of Mother, Ange, and Jones-san, I let my guard down and opened the door without even checking the intercom.

The extremely low likelihood of a late-night delivery, combined with the fact that I have hardly known anyone since moving here, had completely slipped my mind.