Volume 1 - CH 4.2

After getting into town and walking for a while, Miki stopped in front of a certain store.

“Let’s choose the present here.”

“Here…?”

Sandai froze from seeing the signboard while shielding himself from the sunlight with one hand—after all, it was a lingerie shop; it was a store selling women’s underwear.

“…”

“Nn? What’s wrong, Onii-chan?”

“Mi-Miki-chan, is-isn’t this store the place where they’re selling girl’s underwear?”

“That’s right. So?”

“E-Eh so…? Umm…”

“Ah right, there’s gotta be many things you don’t know. You’re a guy after all, Onii-chan. Well, just don’t worry, because Miki here knows lots of stuff like the design Onee-chan likes or her size… Onee-chan will surely be happy, ‘cause she’s the type of woman who’s fairly into underwear.”

What Sandai remembered then was the typhoon day when Shino had come to stay the night last time.

The underwear Shino had been washing at that time had been red.

Sandai wasn’t exactly sure under what basis women would choose their underwear, but he did know that red was generally regarded as a risqué color. Since she would wear such colored underwear, it sounded like it made sense for her to be somehow or the other particular about it.

But not so fast.

Even if that was the case, it’d take courage to enter the store. Sandai groaned in cold sweat, only for Miki to shrug her shoulders exasperatedly.

“Don’t you want to see Onee-chan’s happy face?”

“I do want to, but…”

“Then you’ve gotta go in. C’mon move.”

“I-I still haven’t prepared my…”

“Move it!”

As Sandai was entering the store with Miki pushing his butt strongly, the surrounding female customers all at once went to look at him the instant he took a step into the store. Sandai froze up at the awfully awkward silence and stillness.

“H-How can I help you…?” A female employee with twitching cheeks quietly appeared and talked to him. She was clearly looking at Sandai as a suspicious person, so he tried to smooth it over with a forced smile.

“Haha…”

“Is something the matter?”

“…”

“Sir?”

“…”

“Siiiir? Hellooo… Wait, the face is bright red.”

Not knowing how to begin to speak up, Sandai got embarrassed at the sight of nothing but women’s underwear to his right and left, making his face turn bright red.

“Do you have a fever? Should I go fetch some ice?”

“No… umm…”

“Yes?”

“…”

Sandai went silent again, “We are here to buy underwear,” then Miki sent him a lifeboat. “This onii-chan is Onee-chan’s boyfriend, and for present.”

Then the female employee clapped both her palms. “So that’s how it was.”

Sandai managed to calm down a little after seeing the reaction that coming here to buy a present wouldn’t be strange. He got calm enough to be able to talk normally.

“Umm… are there plenty of men coming here to buy underwear as a present for their girlfriend?”

“There sure are.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I’ve been so flustered that people might think that I’m a pervert.”

“Eh? No, I do think there are many who think so, though.”

“Eh? No, didn’t you just answer that men also come here to buy underwear as a present?”

“Errr, men who would come to buy underwear as a present usually come with the intended recipient, which is to say their girlfriend or wife. Other than that… for example, to come here together with a little girl like this is not something you see so often. Even if there is a circumstance, you only know about it after asking it. This time I have asked about it and was relieved, but if seen from the side without the information… umm… see?” The female employee glanced at the telephone receiver on the wall connected to an emergency number.

It was a terrible misunderstanding, but if seen objectively, it couldn’t be helped even if people thought that was actually the truth, so he couldn’t make any complaint.

“And so… about the girlfriend’s body shape… in other words all sorts of sizes, do you know of it?”

“Sizes?”

“Yes.”

He could get the idea of Shino’s body shape, which was vague—just an impression based on what he had seen from above her clothes—but he was hopeless about the details. Sandai glanced at Miki. And then Miki took out a memo pad out of the front pocket of her overalls and showed it to the employee.

It seems better to leave it to Miki-chan here. Sandai decided to sneakily hide behind a pillar a little bit away and just observe from a distance.

He couldn’t hear their conversation well, but he couldn’t even give an answer were he to be dumped with a question from carelessly staying close-by, so he would defend this spot for dear life until the conversation was over.

“…Not only the three sizes, even the thighs, calves, upper arm, neck, shoulder width, and head size are all spot on.”

“Wow… What an onee-chan with a good figure. Is she modeling or something?”

“She’s not modeling or anything, but well, just the body and face. Her waryness is strong, but her head is just bad if anything.”

“What an unforgiving way of putting it… Do you not like your onee-chan?”

“Miki doesn’t not like her, you know?”

“I-Is that so? Err… anyway, since you know this much, it seems there’s no need to worry about the fitting and stuff. And so, what kind does your onee-chan like?”

“She likes slightly showy colors and fabrics with a nice feel to the touch. A cute design may be good.”

“Showy… nice feel… cute… hmmm, then maybe the corner over there.”

“I understand. Alright, let’s go then, Onii-chan… wait, where did he go?”

The conversation seemed to have ended, so Miki began to look around looking for Sandai; then she found him hiding behind a pillar, dumbfounding her.

“Since when you were here…”

“O-Only for a bit. Like, even if the subject was brought up, I can’t even answer, you know?”

“Yikes… that’s just too pathetic.”

Even Sandai was aware that he had run away, but he didn’t want to put it into words if possible; having it pointed out pierced him deep in the heart.

But well, no use worrying about bygones.

“It’s over here.” In any case, Miki began to move, so he chased after her, then arrived at a corner where there was nothing but grown-up underwear.

Many were in colors such as purple, red, and pink, and lewd designs to top it off; Sandai’s cheeks turned bright red for the third time, and he ended up covering his face with both hands.

“Hey, Onii-chan… c’mon, you have to choose now.”

“I-I think I’ll have you choose, Miki-chan…”

“Miki will give advice, but the one deciding gotta be you, you know? It has meaning because you choose it, you know? Do you get it, Onii-chan?”

Although that was a sound argument, he couldn’t take a straight look at it nonetheless.

“…Guess can’t be helped. Let’s see, Miki thinks the one that should make Onee-chan happy is… something like this maybe?”

Sandai created gaps between his fingers and glanced at the underwear in Miki’s hand. It was a deep, cherry-blossom colored see-through top and bottom set with gathered lace.

It was the kind of underwear which was sexy but still cute and such.

“This is…”

“Onee-chan likes something like this, you know? And the size is certainly 65F, too.”

“…F?”

“Huh? You didn’t know? When Onee-chan takes her clothes off, she’s fairly big-boobed, you know?”

Shino seemed to have hidden big boobs according to Miki, but that also didn’t seem to be entirely mistaken. When Shino and Miki had almost gotten into a quarrel, he felt like there had been some mention of a small melon put on her bra and so on.

Moreover, he had just recently piggybacked Shino, and it was indeed breasts with enough presence that he could feel its sensation.

Indeed—it was big.

The reason Sandai hadn’t realized such a clear-cut fact until now was because the majority of the feelings he was harboring for Shino were directed internally.

Of course he got the interest in a woman’s body like a young guy would, but he was repressing it well in his own way. Though, because of Miki’s exposition, the balance of reason that had been in equilibrium until now was beginning to tilt in the no-good direction.

“…Go imagine it, Onii-chan. Imagine Onee-chan with this underwear.”

When he tried to imagine it as Miki told him, a nosebleed started to ooze out on its own. Sandai hurriedly wiped his nose.

W-Why nosebleed… I just imagined it after Miki-chan told me to, it’s not like I’m thinking of anything to feel bad about… I’m not!

While making a silly excuse in his heart, Sandai shook his head with a gusto and erased the image of Shino in the underwear from his mind.

“Onii-chan… Your face sure was turning into a pervert’s face a bit. That was just awful.”

“Tha-That’s not true.” Sandai glossed it over with a cough and forcibly put up a composed face to the best of his ability. “It’s just your imagination, Miki-chan.”

“Is that so?”

“It is. That aside… that underwear sure feels a little too mature; in Onii-chan’s eyes.”

“If anything this underwear is in the cute type and not that mature, though… Isn’t it just your lewd-ish delusio—”

“—-A-At any rate, let’s go with more normal ones.”

“Miki thinks this is also normal enough, though. It’s the issue of how you see it, you know?”

Now that she said it, not choosing this underwear would also seem to be the very thing attesting to his own wicked thoughts.

Having wanted to avoid being branded as a ‘perverted man,’ Sandai decided to buy the underwear in Miki’s hands after much mulling.

“…That said, Onii-chan sure does think that this one is good, too.”

“It’s suddenly changing, isn’t it? What you’re saying.”

“That’s not true. Just like you said, this one should certainly be the cute type, and I think it would look great on Shino. That’s right, it’s ‘cute’ after all.”

“…”

“What could that ‘yikes’ face mean? Hey, Miki-chan.”

“…No, it’s nothing. You’re right, ‘cause this underwear is ‘cute,’ isn’t it?”

Miki seemed to have made many guesses, and didn’t say anything to delve further after that. What a girl who could read the mood.

When Sandai rushed to the cash register with the underwear in hand, the female employee from earlier was standing at the counter. He was relieved as it was possible for him to be given a strange look and to give an explanation again had it been another employee.

“Oh my… the one from earlier.”

“The bill, please.”

“Certainly. …That will be 24,580 yen.”

“Twenty?” Sandai doubted his own ears at the unexpected large amount; he thought he had misheard. “…Umm.”

“Yes.”

“24,580 yen?”

“That is indeed.”

It seemed it hadn’t been a mishearing, so Sandai’s jaw dropped.

In the first place, the variety of underwear for women with big breasts is small, and the ones with a good design among them would be especially pricey—but Sandai was unaware of such special circumstances, and could only think nothing but, ‘Why is it so expensive?’

“Is something the matter?”

“N-No… umm… err… it’s nothing.”

“Then please proceed with the payment.”

In shambles, he went to check the inside of his wallet. When he counted the bills with trembling fingers, it felt like he just got barely enough with him.

As a result of living alone, Sandai would have money transferred by his parents on a set date each month for living expenses, and that would just be an amount enough to live normally, not enough for him to live in luxury. He felt depressed at the thought that life would be harder from tomorrow onward because of this pretty costly expense.

However, thinking that this would be a small price to pay if he could see Shino’s happy face, Sandai paid the bill.

He got no regrets.

“Thank you very much, and this will be your change. And about the wrapping… thinking normally, it’s needed, isn’t it? It’s for a present, right?”

“Please do. I’m thinking of giving it for Christmas, so I would be happy if you could wrap it up for that.”

“So it’s for Christmas. You sure are so quick to start preparing for it now.”

“I don’t want to panic at the last minute, so…”

“Your girlfriend sure is blessed to have you thinking so dearly of her. Then please wait a moment.”

The female employee moved to the next counter and began cutting the wrapping paper with practiced hands, but… “Fhuu,” she smiled self-deprecatingly and mumbled something midway through.

“…Underwear for a Christmas present, huh. Is it, ‘I don’t want today to be a holy night, I want it to be a sex night,’ or something like that? Young guys lately sure are incredible, like having a meek face but a beast. Well, better that than a wuss, though.”

He couldn’t really hear it, but she was supposed to tell him directly if there was something amiss. And Sandai rather gazed at the now lonelier contents of his wallet.

…It sure is making me want to get some kind of part-time job.

Expenses like this time would continue to happen from now on. Times would also just go by so fast that even winter vacation would come by in no time. At that time, they would surely be talking about going somewhere a little farther away even.

The more entertainment expenses you have, the more extent and options you can enjoy. He felt like he could work hard for that, for the sake of an enjoyable moment with her.

Having been a loner until now and with socializing not being his forte, he didn’t know whether he could work with no problem, but still, he thought of giving it a shot.

Not even realizing his own face unknowingly turning into a smile, Sandai got home and hid the underwear wrapped in flower-patterned wrapping paper in the closet. And then Miki poked Sandai in the back with her finger.

“Looks like there’s nothing to do anymore so Miki’s gonna go home now. It was a lot of fun, and Miki was satisfied, too.”

Sandai couldn’t figure out where the fun factor had been, but Miki apparently would be going home now in any case.

“I see. Then I’ll walk you to the station.”

“Thanks.”

“Same here, thanks for the advice. By the way… what about lunch? I don’t have a lot of money, but if you’re ok with someplace cheap, I can make it just barely, you know? Wanna go somewhere to eat?”

“Miki’s happy with the feelings, but Miki actually told Dad and Mom that Miki will be home by lunch. They’re probably waiting for Miki.”

“I see. So that means you plan to be back by lunch from the beginning.”

“Miki’s not gonna be outside till dark, you know? There are many dangerous people in the world today, and today’s Miki’s first time riding a train alone too, and Miki doesn’t wanna get lost after dark and stuff either.”

Miki seemed to have solid crisis management. He could somehow understand the reason why her parents had allowed her to go walk around alone this time.

“Ah, also… Miki got a request, Onii-chan.”

“A request?”

“Keep it a secret from Onee-chan that Miki came here today, okay? She’s gonna get so mad if she finds out Miki came here on her own.”

Miki certainly had helped Sandai in a lot of ways today, so he decided to accept her request; he gave a brief nod. Miki sighed in relief and smiled.

When they arrived at the station platform, the train arrived exactly right then. Pssh—Miki jumped in as soon as the door opened.

“Be careful, okay?”

“Okaaay. …Oh that’s right, Onii-chan, got a moment? Lend your ear.”

Miki was beckoning him with her hand, so Sandai brought her face closer while scratching his head—chu—only to get kissed on the cheek.

“…Miki-chan?”

Sandai was dumbfounded, and Miki smiled broadly.

“Miki’s adding insurance, okay? If you break the promise, Miki will tell Onee-chan you cheated on her with Miki.”

It got a weird punch to it; he sensed something that if he broke the promise, she would really put it into action, and not just a mere threat.

That daringness with no hesitation whatsoever in acting up to own words somehow reminded him of Shino. Although their personalities were clearly different, he could tell nevertheless that they were sisters from such a point.

With a wry smile, Sandai told her, “I got it.”

Even if Miki were to say something, Shino wouldn’t be likely to believe it straight away, but still, he had been overwhelmed to the extent of making him think that he should be careful about it just in case.

“Then see you later, Onii-chan.”

As the doors closed and the train moved forward, Miki looked at him as she stood in her seat with her hands sticking on the window.

When Sandai waved his hand, Miki waved back.