CH 24

"Wonder how about? Nii-san"

"........ooh"

It's an angel... an angel exist right in front of my eyes!

.......Whoa there, because if I let my guard down, my soul is likely to end up being taken away, so pull yourself together, me; it’s still too early to die.

Today was the previously promised day of the summer festival however, Chisome was dressed in a yukata, which was very appropriate for the occasion.

"........It amazingly suits you. It looks cute and beautiful.....err......anyway it's amazing"

"Ehehe, thank you Nii-san♪"

Rather than the light blue yukata, I feel that Chisome's sense of translucence has increased instead.

Chisome can sometimes also be seen as a gal due to the way she speaks and her atmosphere, and that is certainly something Chisome has, but her hair color is silver and gives off a sense of sanctity....... if she was wearing a light blue yukata, it would naturally suit her, and above all, like me it wouldn't be strange if the tension rose when an angel flew down.

“......Ahaha, that one is also in high spirits alright.”

Kuro Chisome is with a red yukata, but the same color as her eyes makes it look awfully good.

All the clothes she wears are created with reference to Chisome, so this yukata is also an image of what Chisome is wearing now.

"When I look at you two like this, It's looking like that beautiful sisters' impression, and it's a feast for the eyes...... I'm glad I'm alive."

"Nii-san silly, you're too exaggerated. If so then be more happy♪"

After saying that, the two hugged me from both sides.

Human warmth and softness from one side, unhuman coldness and softness from the other...this contrast is really wonderful.

I was perfectly embraced by the two and ended up turning into an old man, but this is, if I had to say it in a few words, precisely heaven.

"Alright, then you two, to the festival we go!"

"O~!!"

The three of us went out to the festival.

Did the atmosphere between me and Chisome make it feel like as if we were going to fight, Kuro Chisome instantly put on the demon mask and completely went for a dark raid style, though......I think this kind of innocence is really cute.

"There's amazingly lots of people isn't there"

"'Cause it's like a big event thing."

"Because it's my first time, so it's very much fresh to me."

In that case, to make sure they can say that their first experience was a good one from the bottom of their hearts, I'll have to make sure not to not properly escort them both right.

Various stalls are lined up and crowded, but if there are also people who just want to eat with friends, there will also be people waiting for the fireworks after this...there really are a large number of people.

"Don't get separated okay, Chisome."

"Of course. I won't be apart from you even for a moment♪"

And even tighter she clung to my arms.

Kuro Chisome, in a fresh-likeness of the hustle and bustle around, was enjoying the surrounding scenery in a curious way, slightly apart from us.

Even if I say apart, she can't leave Chisome more than a certain distance, so there's no worry that Kuro Chisome will get lost.

"From what I can see, there are also a lot of acquaintances darting about, but..... I wonder if everyone is thinking about who the transcendent-beautiful girl next to me is."

"Then we must show off to them while we still can!"

There are some nothing-in-particular-to-talk-about classmates from school, but they look at me in surprise, and Chisome scowl at them with *fushaa* as if she were a threatening cat.

So, I wondered why they turned their backs and left like spiderlings scattered though, at the point when Chisome tried to casually intimidate them, it resulted in a glimpse of her power leaking out, so I think they instinctively sensed that.

"Takoyaki and yakisoba... standard but looks delicious."

"Let's go buy something. we plan to let it end outside today anyway."

"Got it♪"

After that, we bought some takoyaki at a food stall, and while being careful not to burn ourselves, we breathed on them and shared them happily.

(.......A festival date with a cute girl in a yukata....... isn’t it the best. I'm so moved just by this to the extent that tears almost let out.)

If I let my guard down, I'll burst into tears....... jeez, I end up thinking if I've ever been this easily moved to tears, but everything is also because after spending time with Chisome.

When I look at her like this, Chisome notices and gives me a smile, really cutely; given that, she is full of such powerful charm that it gives me the impression that I want to keep watching her.

"... Otto, that's right. You too are a cute girl I say."

Perhaps because I was only thinking about Chisome, Kuro Chisome hugged me from behind with a dissatisfied face.

However, the figure of her constantly licking candy apples with *pero*pero* makes her look like a young child, and rather than being flustered by her expression, it is rather healing.

After that, we finished eating takoyaki and moved to another place.

It was because Chisome suggested that we should go to a place with a nice view and few people, since the fireworks were about to go off.

"o, wonder if this here or such isn't already good?" (Taiga)

"That's fine isn't it. Because there are only a few other people, so it's very much quiet anyway." (Chisome)

We arrived at a hill overlooking the townscape, approximately.

As Chisome said, only the figures of a few people could be seen, and regarding each of them was it a couple or just the two of them, so no one was making a fuss.

"Chisome"

"Un"

I sat down on a vacant bench, and there was also meaning to take this break, so I breathed out.

When I glanced at the side, there was Chisome staring into the empty sky where the fireworks had not yet risen, but her profile was so beautiful that I was almost captivated by her.......nay, I was captivated by her.

(...... me, just how much do I like this girl)

Originally, they were two-dimensional partners and could not meet for this reason; as a result, a longing-like affection exists, and in this way, by actually meeting and spending time as brother and sister, it changed into something strong.

A mixture of my pure fondness for Chisome as an older brother and my desire to love Chisome as a man is the current me now.

"Naa Chisome――"

"Nii-san, is it true that you are a person from another world?"

"......e?"

For a moment I didn't understand what she said, but I understood that immediately.

Chisome, without a doubt, asked me if I was a person from another world...

I look hard at her face more seriously seriously than before.

"Sorry for being sudden. Nii-san was talking to a classmate... I overheard it."

"... A～, so that's how it is huh"

Just because I thought no one was by my side, the fact that Chisome was listening was unexpected.

This way of asking means that, in all likelihood, almost all of it ends up being heard and it might also be fine to think of it that way... I was certainly quite surprised, but still, I wasn't particularly impatient to let it be known to Chisome.

Reaching out towards Chisome, I grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her towards me.

"...If that's the case then you must have been very much surprised, isn't it? It must have come as a shock to Chisome right?"

"....I.....suppose so."

“The fact that I am a person from another world anyway, and also including the fact that I died before I entered high school.”

".....Did I.....do it?"

"What would you do if I didn't accept Chisome, without interfering with one another as it is trying to assault you with my shitty old man?"

"........"

To one's delight, the present Chisome would not be able to imagine me like that right.

However, even so, suppose if that were the case, it was easy to imagine what it would have been like, because Chisome also couldn't deny it, she felt like crying at any moment now.

"It recalls painful things.... no, was it wrong. Sorry to make you imagine that? But it means that the possibility of a world like that exists. It just, didn't happen."

"Nii-san......."

"That you heard the talk that time means that, you also did hear my murmur after that, didn't you? and your mood became better?"

"a......Un"

"I see," I muttered, and stroked Chisome's head, who was looking down while her face turned red.

Kuro Chisome held my arm from Chisome's other direction the whole time, and she looked hard at me with her usual expressionless face, but I was grateful to her for the way she always was.

"I realized that I reborn in this world, was at that time when I saw Chisome. Because I was originally born as Taiga and I also have memories of living up until now, so it's not like I'm not Taiga, but there was a bit of a strange feeling see."

"..........."

"Chisome too must have noticed, I think, but I was afraid of you. You don't know when you'll be eaten, and if there's a possibility that you'll die without knowing, of course that'd be scary."

The two of them hugged me tightly.

I continued my words while pretending not to care about it.

"Nevertheless, the reason why I didn't leave you is, to put it simply, that even before I met Chisome, I have loved you. I knew the power you possessed too anyway, and because I also knew of the screams you uttered inside your stories......that's why I thought of wanting to save you."

In the end, no matter how many logics I lined up, this feeling, which can be said to be the starting point, will not change.

"Now I'm living in this world. At the point when everything can change with a single choice I make, a single word I say, my knowledge and the likes of the story can't be relied on at all. Being by your side as Chisome's older brother in this world became my reason for living, and Chisome became an irreplaceable, precious girl."

Yes, this girl has become the most important, precious existence to me.

For this reason, I've always embraced the most straightforward yet easy-to-understand feelings.

“Chisome must have been thinking strangely about it too, but I was able to easily accept you is because there is that kind of background, was also big huh (the sounds of fireworks). Anyway, I liked Chisome from the beginning... Un, this was really big alright (the sounds of fireworks)."

"......Nii-san"

Fireworks went off with a loud bang.

Even so, Chisome and I didn't turn our eyes in that direction; we just stared at each other's faces illuminated by the light of the fireworks.

"I, to you Chisome...... I want to watch over you two from now on and always, also as an older brother and alone as a man too, I want to watch over you by your side. That's why Chisome――I love you. Do go out with me."

So I conveyed.

TL: Maza Miya

Editor: Maza Miya

[Tl note: the kanji used for "I love you," is "愛, ai," which means love, but far intense.]