"Haaah—"
In a certain school, peaceful ti flowed slowly by. Students sat in the classroom. So listened seriously to the teacher's lecture and took notes, while others were absentmindedly letting their attention drift elsewhere.
The boy belonged to the latter group.
Most of what was taught in high school would not be useful once they beca adults, so why did they have to study so hard? Until he could figure out the answer to that question, the boy probably would not find any motivation to study.
He stared blankly out the window.
Neatly lined buildings. Properly paved roads. Pedestrians and cars crossing back and forth. His gaze followed the familiar scenery into the distance, until it reached a certain boundary. There, the view changed abruptly, and the bustling streets beca a vast, empty wasteland.
It was as if the world had been split in two, clear as the boundary between two different realms.
This was the world the boy lived in.
Although the city affected by the spacequake disaster was still wrapped in panic, people had to eat in order to live, and in order to eat, they had to work. To do that, even with a massive crater nearby, they still had to reclaim the foundation of their daily lives.
No matter what channel he switched to, the television was filled with news about the spacequake. The tragedies born from that disaster were repeated again and again. Yet the nearby residents were unexpectedly calm, continuing their lives as usual.
What even is this?
Thinking that, the boy felt a drifting, unreal sensation, and for a mont he did not know what to do with himself.
At last, the bell signaling the end of class rang.
"Hey, want to go to the arcade together?"
The boy's bad friend, Itsuka Tatsuo, who sat at the desk next to his, called out to him. (TL:hehe)
"Sorry, Tatsuo. I'm going straight ho today."
With a wry smile, the boy refused Tatsuo's invitation and hurriedly packed his bag before standing from his seat.
"You look like you're in a rush. Sothing happen?"
Asked that, the boy paused for a mont, then gave a vague answer.
"Ah… well, a distant relative ca to stay at my house. So I need to buy so extra ingredients."
"I see. Then it can't be helped. See you tomorrow!"
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
After saying goodbye to Tatsuo, the boy left the classroom and ran ho with so urgency.
"I'm back."
"Nii-sama! Amazing! This is amazing!"
The mont he opened the door, his younger sister Mana ran up to him with an excited look on her face.
"Mana… at a ti like this, you're supposed to say 'welco back', right?"
"That kind of small detail doesn't matter! More importantly, this is amazing!"
"Calm down. What exactly is amazing?"
While soothing the flustered Mana, the boy sighed and asked helplessly.
"The girl Nii-sama brought back yesterday—"
Mana swallowed, then spoke with an extrely serious expression.
"She can speak human language now."
"…What, that's all?"
The boy did not know whether to laugh or cry, unable to understand where his sister's excitent ca from.
"B-but yesterday, she couldn't even talk."
"She's not a newborn baby. Maybe it wasn't that she couldn't talk, but that the shock temporarily left her unable to speak. Is it really sothing to make such a fuss about?"
The boy answered as if he had everything under control.
Just then, a soft sound of footsteps ca from deeper inside the house. The silver-haired girl walked out from the study. When she saw the boy, she smiled and spoke.
"Welco back."
"Ooooooh! Amazing!!!!"
To think that he would be greeted not by his sister, but by a silver-haired beauty. The boy could not help cheering in deep emotion.
"Have you regained your mories?"
"mories?"
The girl tilted her head in puzzlent.
"If my understanding is correct, I do not believe I have regained my mories."
"Eh?"
Hearing the girl's words, the boy was startled.
"But didn't you rember how to speak?"
"I did not 'rember.' I 'acquired' it."
The girl gently shook her head and pointed toward the study.
"That room contains ample information in both written and spoken form. Inferring the language system from shared elents was not difficult."
"Seriously…?"
The boy's mouth hung open in surprise.
Partly to confirm it, he walked into the study. The books that had originally been on the shelves had all been taken out, read by the girl, and then neatly stacked to the side. The computer on the desk was currently playing audio and video that resembled broadcasts or rakugo performances, apparently to help correct pronunciation.
Looking closely, there were not only Japanese-related books, but also English, French, language books, world history, chemistry, physics, biology, social studies, and all sorts of other reference materials.
"These books… you finished reading them all in one day?"
The boy swallowed in disbelief.
"Mm."
The girl nodded. She was calm, as if she had only completed so trivial task.
"However, much of the information is still in the inference stage, so I cannot deny the possibility of detailed errors. This book in particular describes events that could be explained in one sentence with many deliberately long and difficult expressions. Many grammatical usages also differ completely from the dictionary's records. It is very profound."
"No, no, it's not that complicated."
Seeing the girl stare seriously at the light novel he had kept there, the boy explained awkwardly.
"And honestly, what you've done is already amazing enough."
When he thought about how she had learned so much complex knowledge in only a few days, then thought back on himself, he could not help feeling that all his years of school had gone to waste.
"To be honest, your Japanese is already more proper than Mana's."
"Hoh~ At least this one's Japanese will be more proper than Nii-sama, who could only say 'ah…' and 'mm…' for the next few days."
"Wait, calm down. I like your originality."
Seeing Mana pick up the bamboo sword bag with a kind smile on her face, the boy laughed dryly.
"Hmph. As long as you understand."
"Ahem. Anyway, as a celebration, I'll make a proper feast today."
Coughing to ease the slightly awkward atmosphere, the boy glanced at Mana and then said this to the girl.
"Nii-sama."
While the boy was cooking, Mana suddenly ca into the kitchen.
"Mm? What is it, Mana?"
"After school today, I went to the police station and asked whether anyone was looking for a lost silver-haired girl."
Hearing Mana's words, the boy's hand holding the frying pan paused slightly. Then he asked, pretending to stay calm.
"I see… and the result?"
"Nothing."
Mana shook her head.
"Either her relatives haven't noticed yet, or they already passed away in the spacequake. Or…"
At this point, Mana closed her mouth, seeming hesitant to continue.
But the boy could vaguely guess what ca after that sentence.
(Or… she isn't human in the first place.)
Knowing that the girl had survived unhard at the center of a spacequake, and after witnessing the strange power she displayed yesterday, anyone would have similar suspicions.
"…Did you tell the police she's at our house?"
"…No."
"I see."
The boy let out a small breath of relief. In truth, he had also given up on his original plan to take the girl to the hospital. Surviving a spacequake without a scratch, creating clothes out of thin air, possessing learning abilities far beyond ordinary humans—if he casually took her to a hospital, she might end up becoming a test subject for so research institute. Just imagining it made his skin crawl.
"Nii-sama, what do you plan to do?"
"I…"
The boy quietly turned his head and looked toward the living room. At that mont, the girl was sitting leisurely on the sofa, watching television with a focused expression.
To be honest, even watching the girl from this distance made the boy's heart beat a little faster.
"Why don't… we let her stay at our house? She doesn't seem to have anywhere to go, and we can't just abandon her."
After hesitating for a mont, the boy made the suggestion without much confidence.
"…Well, that is very much like Nii-sama's answer."
Unexpectedly, Mana only shrugged helplessly and did not object.
"You agree, Mana?"
"Even if Nii-sama had not said it, this one would have made the sa request. Abandoning soone who has nowhere to return to would trouble this one's conscience."
"Thanks, Mana."
The boy said gratefully.
"However, that said, Nii-sama must not use this opportunity to do anything indecent to her."
"I-I won't!"
"Stare—"
Mana looked at him suspiciously.
"All right! Dinner is almost ready. Since you ca to the kitchen, help set the table!"
"Eh~"
"Thank you for the al."
"This one gives thanks for the al."
"Thank you for the al."
Imitating Mana's and the boy's movents, the girl brought her palms together in a proper manner and softly gave thanks before picking up her bowl and chopsticks.
"How does it taste?"
The boy asked a little anxiously.
"Mm, it is very delicious."
The girl nodded in satisfaction.
"That's good…"
Seeing the girl's satisfied expression, the boy let out a relieved breath.
After dinner, the boy gathered his thoughts and spoke to the girl.
"Now then, since we can communicate, can I ask you so questions?"
"…Questions?"
Watching the girl's expression, the boy tried to ask in what he believed was a friendly tone.
"Who are you? Where did you co from? Can you tell anything you know? I want to know more about you."
"Things I know…"
The girl lowered her eyes as if searching through her mories, trying to describe the information with the language she had only just learned.
"I rember… a flat horizon. Three humans. Two young n and a girl. They seed to be speaking English. Sothing like 'concentrate,' 'create,' 'Spirit'…"
"…Spirit."
Hearing that word, the boy frowned slightly in concern.
"Do you know those three?"
At Mana's question, the girl shook her head.
"I do not know them, but… I do not like them… ngh—"
At that point, the girl suddenly pressed a hand to her forehead with a pained expression.
"A-are you all right? Don't force yourself."
"I am all right. It just hurts a little."
Only after the girl's expression gradually relaxed did the boy let out a relieved breath.
"Besides that, do you rember anything else? For example, where you lived, or whether you have any relatives you know?"
"I… do not know."
The girl shook her head blankly.
"I see."
The boy exchanged a look with Mana, took a deep breath, and gathered his courage to make a proposal.
"Then, would you like to stay at our house?"
"Eh?"
Hearing the boy's words, the girl widened her eyes in surprise.
"Is that… allowed?"
"Since Nii-sama has decided, this one naturally has no objections. Besides, you do not have anywhere else to go, do you?"
Hearing Mana's words, the girl showed a slightly troubled expression.
"That is true."
"Then stay. This one already said it. Extending a hand to those in need is a samurai's duty of honor. Ah—right."
At this point, Mana seed to suddenly rember sothing and asked awkwardly.
"Co to think of it, we still don't know your na. Do you have a na of your own?"
"Na…"
The girl fell into a long silence. Clearly, she did not have an answer to Mana's question.
"I suppose so. We cannot keep calling you 'you' forever. Is there any—"
"—Mio. How about that na?"
The boy suddenly spoke.
"Eh?"
"…?"
Mana widened her eyes in surprise.
"W-what? Did I say sothing weird?"
"No… the na itself is good. I was just a little surprised. After all, Nii-sama's naming sense is sowhat detached from common sense."
"Hey, hey…"
Hearing Mana's sharp remark, the boy broke into a cold sweat.
"Then, what is the origin? Is it the na of a manga heroine? Or a na you gave to an imaginary lover?"
"How exactly do you see your brother? There's no special reason. We t on the thirtieth, so thirty—Mio. Sothing like that." (TL: Mi(3), o(O), sa thing with Tohka)
"Mm…"
Mana's expression was rather subtle. Although the reason was far too simple and casual, the na itself had no issue, so it was difficult to reject.
"Well, in the end, the person herself has to agree. So, how about it?"
"Eh? Um…"
The girl seed not to have fully understood the situation yet, her face full of confusion.
"Oh, right. We also need to explain it to outsiders. If you are going to live here, it would be better to say you are our relative. If we add our family na, it becos Takamiya Mio."
"Takamiya Mio…"
The girl lowered her head and looked at her palm, reading those three words in a very gentle and clear voice.
"Takamiya Mio… Takamiya Mio… Takamiya Mio…"
As if confirming sothing, the girl repeated it again and again. She looked like a child counting the coins inside a piggy bank.
Gradually, clear tears slid uncontrollably down the girl's cheeks.
"These are… tears… but… why… like this…"
The girl kept wiping her eyes, yet even so, the tears would not stop flowing.
Seeing this, sothing in the boy's heart was quietly touched.
Even if she had mysterious abilities, even if her learning ability was extraordinary, she was still human.
A lonely ordinary girl, afraid of solitude, in need of a place to belong, and in need of soone beside her.
A faint smile appeared on his face. Mana and the boy sat on either side of the girl and gently stroked her back.
"It's okay. Mio, starting today, this is your ho."
After that, Takamiya Shinji quietly made a vow in his heart.
No matter what happened, he would protect her.
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