Chapter 136 - Sister, Incoming!
Wednesday
“Didn’t forget anything?”
“Nope!”
It was Wednesday. Since it was the day I was visiting Mion’s house… my stomach was slightly hurting. Not really hurting, but you know.
Still, since I was helping out (?), Mion with her part-time job, I figured I should at least greet her parents.
“Alright, setting the home security to ‘Away’…”
Just as I thought that, footsteps approached from beyond the front door.
“I’m home!”
“Sister!”
Miki dropped her bag and pounced on Mashiro-nee.
“Miki! You’ve grown… haven’t you?”
“Hehehe, I’ve grown one centimeter!”
She was nearly 180cm tall. My older sister, whom I was proud of, had inherited Mom’s tall, slender build and looked incredibly beautiful at first glance. If only she didn’t speak, that is…
“Huh? Shou, no ‘welcome home’ for me?”
“Oh, sorry. Welcome home, Mashiro-nee. But you could at least tell me when you’re coming back.”
Why did she have to come back at this exact timing?
Well, either Mashiro-nee would stay home alone, or she and Miki would stay together.
“Hmm? Are you two going out now?”
“Yes! My brother is going to meet the parents of a certain girl, you see. I shall accompany him as a guardian!”
“Then I can come along too, right?”
…
Sigh.
“We’re meeting at the station, so please get their permission properly there.”
“Alright!”
If I’d known this, I should have gone to Mion’s house much earlier…
*
“Hmm, so she’s a delicate child, then.”
On the way to the station, I was made to explain my relationship with Mion—Izumo-san—from the beginning.
In any case, the reason I was called today, the talk about club activities and part-time work, and meeting Mion’s parents, I definitely had to explain all that to Mashiro-nee.
So that part was fine, but…
“Sister, do you know about IRO?”
“Yeah, I know about it. It’s super popular now, and there are people playing it in the dorms too.”
“Eh? Aren’t the dorms super strict?”
“You. My university isn’t the military, telling you not to play online these days.”
Apparently, full-dive games aren’t prohibited because individual authentication can be done with WearID. Still, the places accessible from the dorms are limited, but IRO, fortunately, is allowed.
“Are you perhaps already playing?”
“Nah, I’ve been invited to play, but I don’t really get a lot of stuff, so I came home to ask Miki.”
“Leave it to me!”
Apparently, she even bought the latest VR HMD.
She said it was difficult because she had so few places to spend her allowance.
“My university doesn’t let you go into family restaurants or arcades, you know? Besides, there’s nowhere to hang out around there anyway…”
As expected of an elite women’s university. They’re strict about real-life behavior.
Before I knew it, we arrived at the station.
The meeting point was on the other side, by the rotary… but it’s still 10 minutes away, so maybe not yet?
“Hmm, isn’t that it?”
Miki pointed to a private car parking spot at the edge of the rotary, rarely used.
Beyond that was…
“Ah, that’s it. They’re early.”
“Heh…”
Mashiro-nee seemed impressed, but we moved nonetheless.
“Mion, sorry to have… kept you… waiting…”
Huh? Her usually messy hair was neatly waved, and her eyes, which had been somewhat hidden, looked cat-like…
“?”
“Do not worry. My brother is simply captivated by Mion-dono.”
“Ah, sorry, sorry. You just looked so different from school…”
…I might have actually been a little captivated.
No, no, putting that aside, Mion’s gaze was directed at…
“Oh right, this tall one here is Mashiro-nee. The one Kumano-sensei was homeroom teacher for. She just got back when we were leaving and insisted on coming along…”
“I’m Mashiro. Nice to meet you.”
“I… Izumo Mion, it, is.”
Ugh, I feel so incredibly sorry, like I’m forcing her to do something…
Conversely, Mashiro-nee’s eyes sparkled.
“This girl is too cute. Isn’t she too good for Shou?”
“Augh…”
She stroked Mion’s head.
“Mashiro-nee, stop it. …You’re scaring her.”
“Oops, sorry, sorry.”
When Mashiro-nee took her hand away, Mion shook her head slightly.
She probably meant she wasn’t scared, but she didn’t have to force herself.
“Please get in…”
“Roger. Wait… this car?”
Well, we were at a private car parking spot, so I figured we’d get into the car behind Mion, but… it looked like a super luxury car.
Mion nodded repeatedly, so there was no mistake. Come to think of it, she did mention her mother ran a company.
“Sister! Brother! Let us board quickly!”
“Oh, oh…”
Even Mashiro-nee was a little taken aback.
I let them get in first, and Mion and I followed… it was my first time riding in a car with facing seats.
“Young lady, is everything alright?”
“Mm…”
Somehow, the driver’s voice came from the speaker. A woman? But I can’t see the front!
In an era where you can use an automated tour bus for the price of one pet juice, to purposefully own a private car and even hire a driver…
Just now, she was called ‘young lady’ too, so Mion’s parents’ company must be a major corporation, right…
“?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Please don’t peer at me like that; it gives me such a start that I can’t think straight…
*
Less than 10 minutes in the car, which moved as if gliding.
Turning left off the main street, we entered the basement floor of a high-rise apartment building.
Reaching the very back, where it quietly stopped,
“We have arrived.”
The same voice from before said.
With a click, the door unlocked, and it seemed to open on its own, or rather, it was opened from the outside.
“Welcome home.”
The woman in a suit who seemed to have opened the door said to Mion.
Huh? It sounds like the driver’s voice, but how did she get ahead to open the door?
After Mion, then I, Miki, and Mashiro-nee got out,
“Welcome. Ise Shou-sama, Miki-sama, and… who might that be?”
“I’m Mashiro, the eldest daughter. I apologize for our sudden visit.”
Mashiro-nee can actually speak properly!
As I was surprised by that, Mion nodded to the woman in the suit.
“Excuse me. I will guide you then.”
Saying that, she led the way down the hallway.
Mion had subtly taken hold of my sleeve and was gently pulling me along.
“Okay, thank you for having us.”
I couldn’t tell where Mion’s house began, but…
I glanced over and saw Miki, perhaps nervous, holding Mashiro-nee’s hand.
No, perhaps it was the other way around? Considering what was ahead, Mashiro-nee would be the nervous one. Miki was perfectly capable of putting on an act…