I typed away at the keyboard on my laptop as I lay on the floor.
For the most part, I had finished the research project. Now it’s just a matter of making it presentable and it was complete.
With that being said, this research project wasn’t mine. My high school’s assignment was just a math workbook which I promptly got out of the way by copying down answers. No big deal, I was set on a private university for liberal arts, so math wasn’t necessary.This research project wasn’t mine, but Komachi’s, my little sister.
As for the aforementioned person in question, she was lying next to me—recovering from her exam studying fatigue—and was raising our beloved cat Kamakura high up while squeezing his paws.
This brat… how could she be doing this when there’s someone next to her slaving over her work right now…? Don’t make me squeeze your paws!1
Well, I did want her to concentrate on her exams, so I had to at least give her this much service. The pervading idea that there’s no meaning unless you did something yourself was quite right, but common sense need not rear its head before my little sister.Morality and logic were nothing but a triviality, for the meaning of “little sister” was the combination of the meanings of “woman” and “the end”.
In other words, the beginning and the future of women were little sisters and eventually, the end for all women. The Alpha and the Omega2 as they say.
From origin to the end. It could very well be called the final form of evolution for all women. To stand at the summit of all women meant standing above all of mankind; there’s no way I could go against an opponent like that. Henceforth, we established the Theory of Ultimate Little Sisters.
Therefore, I ended up doing half of Komachi’s research project… “Therefore” what? Well, how about this then? Learning how to use people and culltivating personal connections that’d come to your aid was a form of studying as well.
As those thoughts swirled in my head, I hammered away at the keyboard and the idiotic, but pleasant report was complete.
—Now then, I just needed to add the name, “Hikigaya Komachi” to the report.
And lastly, “ENTER KEY, BAM!”3 and saved the document. I pushed the laptop towards Komachi.
“There, it’s done. Make sure to look it over.”
“Mmmm.” Komachi rolled on the floor towards my side.
Komachi looked at the screen, nodding her head, and then stopped.
“….Onii-chan.” Komachi slowly opened her mouth. Her voice this time was the deepest I had heard yet. It was deep, yet her smile was scary. “What ever could this be?”
“U-Um… I figured I’d write something very Komachi-like, so…” I frantically answered when she questioned me.
Komachi’s shoulders trembled after hearing my answer. “Komachi-like… O-Onii-chan, that’s how you’ve been seeing me all this time…? I’m so shocked! Absolutely shocked!”
She held her head with her hands and rolled around on the floor while groaning. I stayed there watching her for a moment due to how cute she was until she jumped up to her feet and pointed her finger at me. “How is this like me at all!? I mean, those last two sentences were totally you, onii-chan!”
Oh okay, I guess it was no good, after all… No, actually, even I thought I was pushing it. Wait, so the first half was relatively Komachi-like then, huh? That’s more surprising to me.
“Fine, fine, I’ll fix it. I just gotta do it, right? Okay, okay. It’s not even my responsibility, but I’ll just shut up and do it anyway.”
“Stop! Don’t you take that sloven corporate underling attitude with me!” Komachi placed her hands on her hips in anger, but then sighed in resignation. She groaned as if reflecting on the situation. “…Well, it’s my assignment in the first place, so I’ll finish the rest. Thanks for everything so far.”
When she showed me how admirable she was, even I was itching to get the report done properly. It might be out of character for me, but maybe I should’ve done it seriously from the start as soon as I accepted the job regardless of how lazy I was feeling.
“Well… you know. It kind of got annoying in the latter half, so it just happened… Sorry, I’ll help you as much as I can.”
Komachi’s eyes shined the moment I said that. She looked like a “yamapikaryaa”4. That word meant Iriomote cat around here. Yamapikaryaa!
“I knew you’d say that, onii-chan! That’s why I love you, onii-chan!”
“Yeah, yeah, I love, love, love, I love you, too.”5
She was exploding with her usual Komachi points again and albeit somewhat annoying, I dealt with her nonchalantly. After all, I did do most of the research so far, so I should at least conclude it myself.
As I typed explanations one after the other, our cat dragged himself over and listlessly sat in front of the screen.
Just why did cats occupy themselves in front of TVs and sit on top of newspapers, anyway…?
“Komachi.”
“Roger.” Komachi saluted and enacted her strategy to remove Kamakura.
When she swiped him up, Kamakura floundered his legs and tried to escape. Just like how some people had soft hair, a cat’s fur was just as soft and smooth.
Komachi was quick to take his guard down by tickling his neck and as soon as he did, she began brushing him. She went from head to tail while humming in glee.
“Fufufu. You’re a bad little kitty if you think you could get in our way ☆.”
“He’s actually an old man if we’re talking about his age.”
How old was Kamakura again? He was around 4 or 5 years old when he arrived at our home. If we converted his age to human years, then he’d be roughly around Hiratsuka-sensei’s age. I want to introduce our cat to her.
I handed over the research project material to Komachi and could finally start dealing with my own affairs.
The clock was just about to point to 11. I needed to get ready to head to my summer classes in the afternoon.
When I changed into the appropriate clothes, the intercom sounded.
Was it the redelivery I requested for from Amazon? To think you guys would aim for the time period where I wasn’t home, are you guys ninjas or something?
When I opened the door of the entrance while squeezing my seal stamp, there was an unexpected individual there.
“Y-Yahallo.”
Sporting a chinese bun style with light-brown dyed hair, wearing summer-like clothes, and supporting a carry bag with both hands, Yuigahama Yui was idly standing while being cautious of her surroundings.
“Y-Yeah…”
This unexpected sight caused me to freeze in place. We both stayed quiet as if feeling each other out, trying to figure out what we should do.
Speaking of people who had come to our front door to this day, the only people who I could think of was the express home delivery fellow and the old lady next door who passed on the circular notice to us, so I found it difficult to accept the fact that someone from my school had made their way into my private domain. An appropriate analogy would be like having a gazelle at an aquarium. The only places you’d see a gazelle were the savannas, zoos, or the world of Ultimate Muscle 2.6
I squeezed the open door, retained my cool, and said, “You need something?”
This should’ve been the second time Yuigahama had visited my home. The first time was when she came to express her gratitude after the recent car accident. However, I didn’t meet her directly at the time.
“U-Um… is Komachi-chan home?”