Independence—handling your own business. If I took it seriously, it wasn't some lukewarm thing like finishing school assignments or organizing government paperwork; it was about securing your own food, clothing, and shelter while handling all your own cleaning and laundry, wasn't it?
"I think that’s amazing... but isn’t it a little early?"
"..."
"...?"
With her small stature and incredibly unreliable demeanor, the word seemed out of place. If it had been Natsukawa, I might have been able to wrap my head around it, but coming from Ichinose-san, it felt like a story from the distant future. If anything, I figured it was normal for a high school freshman to still be unable to do those things.
Ichinose-san looked down in silence. While her reason for starting the job was likely for the sake of independence, there was clearly a separate motivation driving that desire. Was it a problem at school? Honestly, she looked like she had plenty of things on her mind. I started to worry that I had stepped into territory where I really didn't belong.
"─────... I wanted to... break away from my brother."
"Eh?"
Wait, she was actually going to tell me? And the reason I heard sounded a bit painful. Breaking away from her brother? She wanted to put distance between them? That was... well, the kind of thing that would likely deal massive damage to an older brother. Hearing it now, I could treat it like someone else's problem and just say, "Oh, I see," but if I imagined Ichinose-san were my own younger sister, I’d probably become obsessively overprotective. The day someone said something like that to me would be way too terrifying... I was glad I didn't have a sister.
Wait, hold on a second. "Ichinose-san's" older brother...?
"Um, sorry. By any chance, is your brother that senior who’s a third-year Disciplinary Committee Member...?"
"Ah..."
When I asked, Ichinose-san gave a small reaction and nodded. I knew it! It was that Kuma-san-senpai from back then! He had a large build but a gentle face and was constantly smiling. Honestly, he didn't look like the petite Ichinose-san at all, but if I considered that Kuma-san-senpai’s gentle personality was shaped by having a sister like her, it made sense.
"Why? From my perspective, he was a kind senior. You don't have to break away from him; you could just lean on him as much as you want."
"........."
"Ah—er? Even if you want to lean on him, you can't?"
When I asked, Ichinose-san gave another small nod. That sounded like a difficult situation... or rather, it was starting to sound like a private family matter. I wondered if she could just lean on her mother or someone else instead, but there was no way for me to know her family circumstances. I really didn't want to poke a nest and have a snake crawl out... but for a "punishment," this was already a sufficient enough harvest.
Essentially, it was like this: she wanted to lean on the big brother she loved, but there were circumstances that prevented her from doing so anymore, so she felt she had no choice but to break away and become independent. To cultivate that spirit, she couldn't let herself quit her job easily. Yeah, that sounded about right.
"...I see. I understand the reason why you're working so hard now, Ichinose-san."
Since she had used a grand word like "independence," I’d assumed it was a more complicated situation... but as it turned out, it was a rather sweet reason. From Ichinose-san's perspective, it was probably a huge deal, but "breaking away from a brother" was a path everyone eventually had to take, wasn't it? Though, I had a strong impression that most younger sisters in the world found their older brothers annoying... I guess it came down to whether or not it was embarrassing when people found out you were related. Kuma-san-senpai seemed to have a good reputation, and Sasaki was a handsome guy as refreshing as toothpaste.
"───I... I loved my big brother so much."
"Eh."
"Um... I still do, even now, but───"
Wait, um, what? She was still talking? Even if you love your brother, you don't have to tell me everything so candidly, you know? Ah, thinking "candidly" about a girl feels kind of lewd—no, no, what was my brain doing thinking of such wicked things right now? This was a serious moment, right? Switch gears, head, switch gears.
Ichinose-san continued to speak with her head slightly down, her face cast in shadow. Was she even talking to me, or just muttering to herself? If you want to vent, Ichinose-san, there are social media apps for that nowadays...!
"Um, Ichinose-san?"
"Whenever I read books at home, I’d always sit between my big brother's legs, using his stomach as a backrest. It was warm and comfortable, and that had just become the norm for us..."
What was that? That was incredibly heartwarming. It was like a scene from a story about ideal siblings. Hearing that made me almost want a younger sister—no, no, no, why was she telling me this? Didn't she hate me? This wasn't the kind of thing you talked about with someone you didn't trust at all, was it? It was a cute story, though.
"Ichinose-san, well—"
"One time, my big brother brought over a girl from his class... I think her name was Yuri-san. Gradually, I started seeing her more and more, and the time I could spend talking with my brother began to dwindle..."
Ah... "Yuri-san," right? I remembered her. She was a senior on the same Disciplinary Committee whom Kuma-san-senpai called "Yuri-chan." She was the capable person leading the Transport Team during the middle school Trial Enrollment.
Oh, I remembered her alright. Doing all that lovey-dovey stuff right in front of me. Just thinking about it made my exhaustion increase fourfold. It was so intense that the people around them tended to avoid them because they were hard to approach, seriously. But since I knew both Kuma-san-senpai and Yuri-chan-senpai were proper people, I couldn't really complain.
Wait, if that was how it was going, then that was it, right? Because Yuri-chan-senpai and Kuma-san-senpai were being all lovey-dovey, Ichinose-san was starting to feel neglected?
"Even so, I wanted to be with my big brother... One day after school, I decided that I would tell him how I felt as soon as I got home."
Ah... ───W-Wait a minute, isn't this flow getting dangerous? I was getting a bad feeling about this. Was this something my psyche could actually withstand? More importantly, was it something I should even be listening to?
"When I got home, there were shoes there that didn't belong to my family... I realized immediately... that they were Yuri-san's. But at the time, I couldn't help myself..."
"Ichinose-san Stop. Wait, stop."
"Ah..."
Stop, please. I already kind of figured it out. There was no need to go out of your way to say it out loud, right? Let's calm down for a bit; it was like you were about to dive into a carpet of thorns of your own accord. And it felt like if you kept going, you were going to grab my leg and drag me in with you.
"......gh........."
Ah, don't make that face like you're about to cry. Wait, you really look like you're about to cry. Am I the one being weird here? You don't have to say things that hurt, you know? This was looking bad. I really didn't want to be responsible for giving her a new trauma two days in a row.
"Ahem... cough. Sorry, just had some phlegm. Please continue?"
"..."
Ichinose-san gave a little nod. As I urged her on, her "about-to-cry" face steadied. Apparently, it was better for her mental health to just get it out. F-Fine, if you want to talk about it that much, I'll listen! No matter what it is, bring it on...! I'll make it through!
"...I went up the stairs to my brother's room and opened the door without even knocking."
After a pause, Ichinose-san began to speak more dispassionately. For some reason, the light faded from her eyes and a shadow fell over her face. If she was trying to vomit out her pent-up resentment, the "Stop" I had called might have just left her hanging. Meanwhile, the pounding of my heart wouldn't stop.
"...T-Then... um."
"..."
"T-Then—!"
Please...! Let my prediction be wrong...! My heart feels like it's going to explode! Please, have mercy on me──────
"Yu... Yuri-san was on top of my big brother... and they were... k-k-kissing...!"
U-UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!