Chapter 34 - Lost child

Chapter 34. Lost child

A little girl about five or six years old with short brown hair in twintails.

『”A-Atsushi-san. You have such a cute little sister?”』

『”Of course no.”』

Atsushi answered immediately to Yuri’s crazy words.

Even so, the situation wouldn’t change. The girl holding the end of Atsushi’s pants was deepening her anxious expression.

“Hm? It’s not my onii-chan… where’s onii-chan … where did you go… hueee…”

In an instant, Atsushi and Yuri understood.

That it was bad.

However, when they thought so, it was already late.

“Ueeeeeeeee…!!”

As if the anxiety in the little girl exploded at once, tears flowed out of her eyes like a flood.

For a little girl who got lost and was lonely, it was a natural reaction.

But the problem was, the two who witnessed it must do something.

『”Aaaa, w-w-w-what, what should we do, Atsushi-san!? I-in a time like this, yeah that, you should lift her high up in the air!… Alright, Atsushi-san, please do that once!”』

『”Are you stupid!! If a stranger man does that, she’ll cry more. Besides, it’s me, you’re talking about!!! This scary me you know!! Even if I hug a little girl, I’ll straight go to jail!!”』

『”At times like this, please don’t lose your confidence!!! Aaa, but it’s really bad if we leave her alone…!!!”』

Like what Atsushi said.

Nowadays, you might be regarded as a criminal just by greeting a child. The best way was, to not get involved, but leaving a crying child alone would lead to another problem.

『”T-that’s true… it can’t be helped. Should I do ‘that’?”』

『”Do what? Do you have something in mind, Atsushi-san?”』

『”Well. But, don’t expect too much.”』

Atsushi bent down on the spot to the same line of sight as the little girl.

“H-hey, little lady. Can you please look at this?”

Atsushi said with an awkward smile.

The girl responded to his words, while still crying.

“Hic… Hic… What…? Candy?”

『”Oh, that’s the one you got for free at the coffee shop.”』

Atsushi took out the candy that was distributed free of charge at the cashier of the coffee shop.

“Look carefully at this candy.”

The little girl was staring at the candy in the palm of Atsushi’s right hand. By the way, Yuri behind him was also looking at the candy, thinking what Atsushi would do.

Atsushi then closed his palm and squeezed it tightly.

And when it was opened… the candy that had been there before was gone.

“Aah, it’s gone”

『”Oh, It’s gone”』

The two who responded in the same way, mysteriously stared at Atsushi’s right hand.

“Where did it go?”

“Little lady. Please check your right pocket.”

Atsushi said so while pointing at the little girl’s right pocket. As he said, she searched her own pocket, from there, the same candy as before came out.

“Wow!! It’s there before I knew it!! Amazing!”

“I’ll give it to you, little lady. It’s a present.”

Atsushi said such a word to the surprised little girl.

In the little girl’s eyes, there were no longer tears, and her face was full of smiles.

『”Ah, Atsushi-san, you can do magic tricks…?”』

『”Well. As I said before, my mom used to be a magician. I had been taught by her from time to time. If it’s just about this much, it’s a piece of cake.”』

Moving an object like that, such a simple magic trick that most magicians could do, but it should be more than enough to surprise a child. In fact, the little girl who had been anxious until earlier, her face had regained its brightness.

『”By the way, how did you do that?”』

『”It’s easy. While she was concentrating on the candy in my right hand, I put another candy in the child’s pocket with my left hand so that she wouldn’t notice it. Then, as I closed my right hand, I used my finger to hide the candy in the back of my sleeve. That way, the candy will disappear from my right hand, and it will look like the candy has teleported into your pocket.”』

『“………..”』

『”Oi, what is it?”』

『”Well, I’m a little surprised because you could say such a difficult thing to do like it’s a matter of course…”』

Ordinary humans wouldn’t be able to do such a thing as slipping a candy with their left hand while the other was concentrating on their right hand, or hiding candy in their sleeves with their fingers at the moment when they closed their right hand.

Yuri was a little irritated by Atsushi, who said that it was something easy to do.

“Onii-chan, are you a magician?”

Then, the little girl who didn’t know the conversation between these two people asked a question.

“Hm? No, that’s…”

“That’s right. This person is a super magician.”

Before Atsushi could finish his word.

Yuri made such a ridiculous remark.

“Huh? Oi, You…”

“Really? Then, I want to see more magic!!”

Atsushi, who was upset, was asked by the little girl to show more magic.

『”Did you hear what she said? What to do? Atsushi-san.”』

『”Shirasawa… Damn you, I’ll remember this.”』

Atsushi smiled awkwardly, even though he uttered angry words in his heart.

“I-I understand. Then, next―――”

With that said, Atsushi showed off more magic, one after another.

When he saw the little girl smile every time he did a magic trick, Atsushi thought that a child’s smile was, in a sense, unfair.