“Hey, wake up.”
“Nngh…?”
When I opened my eyes, the room was bathed in shades of orange. Letting my gaze wander, I saw the hands of the clock were already signaling the end of the afternoon. Despite the summer sunset streaming in, the room was cool. It looked like I’d left the air conditioner on. The TV was still displaying the game screen. I must have gotten sleepy and crawled into bed for a nap without even realizing it. The silhouette backlit by the window looked down at me with exasperated eyes.
“……big sis? Welcome home.”
“Are you still half-asleep? I’ve been home all day.”
“……Oh, right.”
“Dinner’s ready.”
“Got it…”
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Sajou Wataru. He was roughly fourteen when his golden-haired Nee-chan first shook him awake, and when he whined about being tired, she hauled him up by the scruff of his neck. Ever since then, Nee-chan’s voice has been the ultimate alarm clock for me. Even if I can’t snap my eyes open immediately, the signal transmitters in every corner of my brain go into full operation. It’s literally sleep mode. Just type in the password “Sajou1234” and it boots up instantly. The fact that I still act groggy is just a matter of my base specs. I’m basically running on legacy tech. Pure Windows XP.
“…………”
“……Eh? Wait, my phone!”
When I happened to look up, I saw my big sis clutching my smartphone. She glanced at the screen and then shot me a suspicious look. As the gravity of the situation seeped into my mind like water into fabric, I frantically snatched it back, even though I didn’t actually have anything to hide. Besides, she shouldn’t even have been able to unlock it.
“Ah, no, it’s not like there’s anything weird on there—”
“Just make sure you don't screw up.”
“Huh?”
Offering that cryptic warning, Nee-chan left the room. Thinking back, it felt strange that she let me take the phone without even trying to avoid me. Maybe she just wasn’t interested. Nee-chan’s really mellowed out since the beginning of last year.
……No, wait. “Make sure you don’t screw up”? What exactly was that supposed to mean? I had a really bad feeling about this. Don’t tell me she actually unlocked it and looked inside? Wait, that would be bad. Did she see through my trick of hinting that I looked at scandalous things online while actually hiding the physical goods in my room, only for her to double-back and realize I really was just going hehehe on the internet after all!?
I frantically checked my phone.
“——Hieeh.”
A massive amount of message notifications filled the lock screen. And thanks to this phone’s specs—or maybe it was a “feature”—you could flick up and down on the screen to check everything while keeping them marked as unread. You could see the content without ever sending a read receipt! Haha, what a garbage design.
[Aichi! I missed you so muuuch...!! Huff-huff (//∇//)]
[Geez... Honestly, Kei, stop saying such weird things! (*´`)]
Ashida!!! Of all the times to make your entrance, you chose now! (But also, my eyes have been blessed!! Thank you!!)
Nee-chan saw that! She definitely thought, “Wait, what kind of weirdos is my little brother hanging out with?” What are you going to do about this, you woman!! (Actually, keep it coming!!)
It was strange… maybe it was because I just woke up, but I couldn’t seem to summon any proper anger. Somewhere in my heart, I felt a sense of joy. I could clearly picture the scene of those two flirting in my head, and since I’d seen something close to it at school before, it was all the more vivid. In short, thanks for the treat.
“I told you dinner’s ready!!”
“Coming! I’m coming right now!!!”
I was wide awake.
◆
[Give me a little time.]
After the 100,000 Dollar Incident, Natsukawa said that and stopped replying. I felt like I’d messed up something monumental, but on my end, I kind of wanted time to get my own head in order anyway, so it felt like it worked out. Though I ended up just gaming and sleeping.
[Hey, about that... I guess I got a little carried away...]
That reply came an hour later. I kind of wanted to know what she was thinking about for a whole hour. Or rather, I just wanted to know more about Natsukawa in general. Incidentally, apparently there are high schoolers in Japan who earn $100,000. In this day and age, if you make a name for yourself, you can pull in ten million yen a year from ad revenue. Kids who can utilize social media and video sites are amazing. I wonder how many cups of tapioca milk tea you could buy with that. You could eat macarons as a daily snack. Man, my thoughts were sounding like a total high school girl's.
“I’m stuffed… burp.”
Once the food filled my stomach, I finished digesting the unread messages. I watched like a god looking down on the mortal realm as Natsukawa acted embarrassed while Ashida satisfied her own desires in the middle of the chat. However, toward the end, I noticed the topic had shifted back to my part-time job.
[Sajocchi, you haven't made her cry, have you?]
[Not quite... but I don't really have the image of Wataru talking much with quiet girls...]
[I bet he's saying things with zero delicacy.]
No, no, I didn’t make her cry. At least not today. That was an important distinction. Well, I didn’t make her laugh either. Wait, weren’t these kinds of things usually discussed in a group chat where the target wasn’t present? I was being called out so casually.
[Delicacy is………… yeah.]
Waaaaaaaah!!! Ashida, you bitch!!!
You tried to sugarcoat it but failed completely!! That was a straight pitch right into my gut! That hurt more than Nee-chan’s cobra twist!!
[If Aichi says so, then there's no doubt! Sajocchi is... Wait? Is Sajocchi watching? The read receipt...]
[Eh!?]
[Hah? I didn't see anything. Not a thing.]
[You are totally watching!]
[No, seriously, for real, I didn't see anything. I have enough delicacy not to butt into a girls' conversation, okay? If anything, I'm the kind of guy who lends a hand to a troubled girl in my grade. Though I'm just a loser who can't even earn a $100,000 salary and lives off his parents. Hope we can keep getting along?]
[Whoa, he's being so annoying!?]
[A-About that... that's why...!]
[Oh, and Ashida-san, it looks like you haven't finished your summer homework anyway! So sorry for interrupting your studies!]
[Guh! You're so irritating!]
Before I knew it, I was standing in the middle of my room, frantically flicking at my phone. Of course I was; there was no way I couldn’t get worked up after being roasted like that. Besides, it was completely groundless! Yes, I am a gentleman. If I lacked delicacy, I would have jumped on Ashida’s bandwagon and been huff-huffing over Natsukawa too. We-well, sure, if it were the me from a little while ago, I might have done that without any hesitation—gack… Now that I think about it, how could I have acted like that? Why did I think she wouldn’t hate it? I just took emotional damage from my own memories…….
[S-Something about Wataru feels very "little brother-ish" right now...]
[Mgggh... Th-That's true! Sajocchi did buy me a juice the other day! He knows how to treat a girl!]
[Ah! Right! Anyway, about the stuff with Airi, that's just because I lost my cool for a second!]
[Sorry, I’ve calmed down. My bad. Thanks for the flattery, that’s enough. I’m satisfied.]
[What is up with this guy!?]
Man, I was drained. It was like Sage Mode—or rather, like I’d entered the Zone. The destructive power of my dark history was all too real. It was surprisingly effective to just look at my own face in a mirror. It made me calm down instantly. It was amazing; I felt like I could think really deeply right now. I could probably come up with a theory about a non-existent secret organization.
“Whew……”
Deep breath. Burp.
Pulling myself together, we exchanged some “good job” messages and the talk shifted back to the bookstore. My head had been a total mess, but strangely enough, it looked like I’d be able to escape the punishment without overthinking it.
[So, what was the deal with that girl after all?]
[Apparently her beloved older brother got a girlfriend. So she said she had no choice but to distance herself from him, and she started the part-time job under the pretext of "independence." That’s why she couldn't just back down easily.]
[Huh... she really opened up to you, didn't she?]
[Ah, so that's why you used the Airi example with me...]
[Sajocchi... you really picked the wrong example.]
I’d started to realize that.