49

Kisshouin Takateru

My little sister is acting strange.

The other day, she left home on a weekend, and as soon as she got back, she began to snuggle. Fawning on me is common, but this was different. I can't see her face because she buried it in my arm, but she seemed depressed. After a while, it felt cold. My sister was crying. I wanted to ask what had happened, but she can be stubborn. I pretended not to notice and let her have my arm.

I had been busy recently, and was often late coming home, so I hadn't been spending much time with her. She was saddened enough to cry, but wouldn't tell me why. I may have made her lonely. I think that I'll come home earlier. I felt the weight increase on my arm, and found that my little sister had cried herself to sleep. I didn't want to wake her, so I put a blanket on her . Her stomach growled. Her mouth was chewing… I guess that she's hungry… I went to get a light snack so she could eat when she woke up.

After that day, my little sister started to lecture dad. "Heaven's net has large meshes, but nothing escapes" "Bad news travels fast" "The heavens know, the earth knows, you know, and everyone knows" she would mutter by dad's ear. Well, she had said things like this to him in the past, as if remembering something, but it's been happening a lot recently.

"Father, I believe in you, father," she states with a serious look to her face, but she doesn't trust him at all. Dad was depressed at not being trusted by his daughter at all.

My little sister would tell me, "Onii-sama is my only hope. Please rehabilitate father." Sis, dad's listening behind you…

I guess dad's been made out as a bad guy in my sister's mind. "I wonder if it's her rebellious phase…" I heard dad mumbling… Poor guy…

Recently, her eccentricities have changed directions. She was sighing a lot, and then suddenly held her chest. Is she ill!? A seizure?! I quickly go to her side, and she tells me, "This is a maiden's plight." What's that supposed to mean?

I was really worried if she were sick, but she eats plenty, so she's probably fine.

Dad was trying to gain points with my little sister by buying her hard to get cakes from famous pastry chefs, and fruits. She was eating those, too. Glad that she's well.

One day, she was consumed at picking at flower petals. She pick and sigh, pick and sigh. After many flowered were torn apart, she let out a big sigh and looking melancholy. She then silently cleaned up the flowers. Is she stressed?

Recently, when she was doing homework, she got a problem wrong, so I pointed it out, and tried to erase the wrong answer for her by taking the eraser in her pen case and "AAAHHH!" she screamed like the world was ending. She grabbed the eraser from my hand and then dropped her shoulders. What was with that eraser? She cryptically murmured, "Onii-sama, that's terrible…" and left my room taking her homework with her. What was? And sis, your problem still has that mistake.

"Isn't that flower fortune telling?"

I discussed my little sister with my friend Imari. When he came over before, my little sister discussed something with him. When I asked her what, she'd say "Nothing at all." …Not fun…

"Flower fortune telling?"

"You don't know? It's thing where they peel the petals, saying like, hate. Didn't girls do it when we were small?"

"Oh, I think I've heard of it." Flower fortune telling. It seemed so ghastly at how she was tearing at the flowers that I didn't think of anything romantic from it. I thought she was angry at the flowers.

But flower fortune telling? Isn't that used to divine love? Love?

"…Imari, what did my little sister discuss with you?"

"Oh, well, nothing important."

"Imari."

"Uh, but I promised the little sister-chan."

"Imari."

"Well, you do things that the little sister doesn't know, too, so…UGH!"

Shut up, fool. I hit him again as a warning. Imari coughs, but won't talk. I sigh. "Professor Kumenosuke's wife. The night of the academic meeting."

"Ugh! How did you!?

"What did my little sister discuss with you?"

"… what you're thinking."

Humph. "And the guy?"

"I don't know. I tried asking, but she wouldn't tell me. Oh, but she said Romeo or something."

"Romeo?" Is that a real person? It could be her imagination It's possible with her. Maybe she has a foreign boyfriend that only she can see.

"And she talked about making homemade cookies for him, so I talked her out of it."

"Cookies?" Oh! I remember! A little while back, she made cookies for me and dad. Mom won't eat sweets at night for beauty reasons. They were burnt in places, and tough, but the insides were sweet, so my little sister's skill may be slowly approaching normal. Dad's plate had cookies that were burnt far worse than mine.

Dad asked, "Oh, chocolate chip cookies?" and my little sister looked angry. Dad, that cookie is black, but doesn't have a speck of chocolate inside. It's a plain butter cookie. Dad silently washed the cookie down with tea.

"Oh, that."

"Oh, so you know something."

"Sort of." You used me as a guinea pig to give the one you like some cookies, little sis. Burnt crisp, they're bad for the body. Know dad's grief.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Nothing at all."

"Huh? I thought that you'd interfere."

"Of course not." I'll check if he's bad for her, though. I can't have some lowlife who'd take advantage of the daughter of the Kisshouin family. Other than that, it really doesn't matter. "Besides." After I think about it, I can't imagine that ridiculous little sister being successful at love. I'm not even sure if it's a real living human.

She mentioned wanting to go to the zoo in Hokkaido. I should take her when it's done. But little sis, if you're really in love, you should hold back a little on eating all of dad's presents. Your face is starting to get round.