Episode 45: Winter Arrives (1)

The person who introduced herself as Abe Hikari was absolutely radiant.

She seemed to be glowing from within. She sparkled so brightly, I almost thought she was a firefly or something.

‘Sis, what’s with this person who looks like a living fluorescent lamp?’
‘That’s rude, Hoshizora!’

Hikari replied, looking very cheerful.
In response, my sister clutched her head.
　Mayo-nee took her hands off her head and began to speak in a calm, measured tone.

The story goes back to the end of the summer holidays.

＊＊＊

‘Are you in Tokyo too, big sister?’
‘—Yes.’

The girl who had spoken to her had eyes that sparkled. Although she was dressed in a mature style, her face looked childish, making it hard to tell her age at a glance.

‘I’ve got nowhere to stay tonight. Please let me stay at your house!”

The girl, with a beaming smile, started saying things that made no sense. What on earth was she thinking, shouting such strange things so loudly in a public place?
In stark contrast to her sparkling enthusiasm, I replied matter-of-factly.

“Why on earth would I do that?”
“Please!”

As she was bowing deeply and drawing attention to herself,
I warned her, “All right, just sit down quietly.”

“Thank you so much! My name is Abe Hikari! Nice to meet you!”

And so, that’s how I ended up taking her to the flat where I live on my own.

We chatted about all sorts of things whilst on the Shinkansen.

It’s not so much that Hikari has some mysterious powers, but she’s a good listener, I ended up telling her everything: the situation at home, my current circumstances, my relationship with my younger sister Hoshizora, and even how my feelings were starting to change because of what Hina-chan had said.

‘So, shall we run away together tonight? I’ve fallen for you at first sight, Mayo-nee-san.’

She said it with such a ‘hehe, just kidding’ sort of tone, so I brushed her words off lightly, trying not to take them too seriously.

Hikari knows how to joke around when she’s joking, but when she’s serious, she speaks in a manner befitting her age, so I often found myself unable to keep up with the contrast.

When I asked her about herself, I discovered some rather troublesome facts.
　It seeHikari-san has cut ties with her parents.
It looks like she’s run away from home.
A runaway beauty…

The tricky part is that this isn’t just a simple case of running away. Apparently, she had a row with her parents after they told her they couldn’t afford her university fees because they were poor, and she stormed out of the house.

She told me she absolutely wants to become a psychologist and get her clinical psychologist qualification. To become a clinical psychologist, you have to attend university for a total of six years: four years of undergraduate study and two years of postgraduate study.

　She left home because she didn’t want to be a burden on her parents and because they opposed her plans, determined to make her own way in the world.

Apparently, she’d been working part-time since high school without her parents’ knowledge to save money, but she hasn’t found a place to live yet, and the money she saved back then isn’t going to last forever.

So, she ended up coming to live at my house.
I feel as though I’ve been dragged into quite a mess.

　However, I envy and respect Hikari, who, unlike me, forges her own path regardless of her parents or the circumstances around her. It’s partly thanks to Hikari that I’ve started to think I might be able to change my current situation.

　＊＊＊

　My sister calmly recounted the events leading up to this point.

‘So, are you covering all the living expenses, Mayo-nee?’

‘I suppose so.’

“I really didn’t want Mayo-nee to end up with a freeloader.”

“Who’s a freeloader?! Apart from the rent, I pay half whenever I can!”

“How do you manage the rent?”

“I… pay with my body…”

　Hikari hugged herself and looked over at Mayo-nee. Seeing that, I too found myself looking at my sister with a suspicious gaze.

“No way. I’ll make sure you pay me back properly once you start working.”

“Yes! That’s exactly what I intend to do! In fact, I’m starting a part-time job next week, so I’ll work hard and use that money to pay you back!”

She says she’ll work her hardest, and I don’t think my sister is stupid enough to keep a mere freeloader in the house, so I decided I didn’t need to interfere and asked about something else that had been on my mind.

‘How did you manage to get to university until summer?’

‘I was moving from place to place, staying with anyone who’d let me stay. Most people didn’t want me, so I was left with nowhere to go. That’s when Mayo-san took me in.’

Well, that makes sense.

Unless you’re an absolute softie, you wouldn’t let someone stay in your house for days on end for free. I reckon the only person who’d put up with that is someone like Mayo-nee, who loves looking after people.

‘You just tagged along like a piece of goldfish poo, didn’t you?’

‘Don’t treat me like poo!’

It’s great to see they get on so well, even I can tell. I’m relieved to see she seems to get on better with Mayo-nee than I’d expected.

‘I’d be worried leaving Hikari on her own at that house…’

　I was flabbergasted by Mayo-nee’s words.
　It’s true that my sister can do anything, but that doesn’t mean she has to take care of everything for Hikari-san. Is she even doing the housework? I can’t help but think she’s being far too overprotective of Hikari-san.

“Hikari-san, please do at least the housework. Don’t cause my sister too much trouble.”

　I can’t help but feel a little sympathy for Mayo-nee. It seems she really hasn’t changed a bit—she’s still just as caring as ever.

“No, she can do everything except cook, you know? It’s just that if I let her cook, she cut her finger the other day, so I’ve been worried ever since…”
Mayo-nee gazed at Hikari-san with concern.

Yeah. Hikari-san’s lifestyle is exactly like mine.

That’s probably why Mayo-nee is so soft on Hikari-san. Even so, she’s far too soft on her.

“I brought her here, but she’s so noisy I’m worried my parents will find out. It almost came out yesterday. So, Hoshizora, I’ve got a favour to ask… Could you ask Hina-chan if Hikari could stay at her place tonight or tomorrow? If it’s not possible, I’ll find somewhere else, so please!”

Mayo-nee bowed her head and pleaded with me.

Well, Endo-san must have her own commitments, and her house isn’t really meant for that sort of thing.

‘I’ll do my best to sort out that university thing we were talking about earlier, too. If her existence is discovered, it’ll make it harder to move forward with that as well…’
I was about to refuse before even asking Endo-san, but my sister looked so genuinely distressed as she pleaded with me that I simply couldn’t bring myself to say no.

Sigh… Why does she always get dragged into these incidents?

　I could have sent Endo-san a message, but as the situation was a bit complicated, I decided to give her a call. Partly because it was the first time I’d ever phoned her, I felt a bit of a strange nervousness.

Endo-san picked up after about three rings.

“——Takizawa? What’s up? Has something happened?”

After explaining the situation in detail, he agreed straight away.

“Endo-san says it’s fine.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Thanks for everything, Endo-chan!”

I’d actually preferred it if Endo had turned me down.
Or rather, are Endo-san and Hikari going to be staying at that house together?

Hikari’s really good at getting on with people. I can easily picture the two of them getting on well and having a lovely chat.

That’s… well… I don’t like the sound of it.

In the end, I decided to take Hikari with me, grab my pyjamas, and head over to Endo-san’s place.