Volume 1 - CH 1.6

“What’s wrong, Aoyagi? Is that child lost?”

When I entered the staff room, Miyu-sensei saw me holding Emma-chan and called out to me.

It was lucky that Miyu-sensei was there.

She would be able to contact Charlotte-san right away.

“Akihito, who are they?”

As I was about to answer Miyu-sensei’s question, Emma-chan, who had been quietly watching a cat video, asked me anxiously in a lisp.

Is this a natural reaction in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar adults?

I looked at Miyu-sensei for a moment and then opened my mouth to Emma-chan.

“Do you know what a teacher is?”

“Nnn…? Lottie says that sometimes, so I know…! They’re the ones who tell you to do your homework…!”

“Yeah, that’s right. Emma-chan is very smart.”

“Ehehe~.”

When I patted her head in praise, Emma-chan gave me a very cute smile.

She’s indeed the younger sister of Charlotte-san.

Her smile was so cute, it was almost too cute to resist.

“What is she… an angel reincarnated…?”

As I was being soothed by Emma-chan’s smile, Miyu-sensei put her hands on her face and shook herself.

Apparently, she was writhing in agony at the cuteness of Emma-chan.

“…What’s wrong?”

―I unintentionally noticed that I was looking at Miyu-sensei.

Perhaps embarrassed to be seen writhing in agony, Miyu-sensei glared at me with a disapproving look on her face.

I showed Miyu-sensei Emma-chan, who was in a good mood, in my arms.

“She is probably Charlotte-san’s little sister, Miyu-sensei.”

Upon hearing my words, Miyu-sensei glanced at Emma-chan, who nodded her head and opened her mouth.

“Oh, Charlotte’s been in touch with the school. She said when she came home, she couldn’t find her sister, so she’s looking for her at every random place she can find. I’ve already contacted that girl, so she’ll be here in a little while.”

“When did you contact her…?”

“That’s when I saw you at the schoolyard. The sight of you with a little silver-haired girl in your arms gave me an idea.”

This teacher is not to be reckoned with because of this kind of thing…

Miyu-sensei has a mysterious awesomeness, so it is best not to make enemies with her.

I wouldn’t talk nor bring about the topic of marriage in the future.

I vowed to myself as I gazed at Emma-chan, who squinted her eyes as if she was being comfortably petted on the head.

―About 20 minutes after I started waiting for Charlotte-san to arrive, the door to the staff room opened with a bang.

Reflexively, I looked over and there stood a sweaty Charlotte-san.

Far from the pretty, compassionate image I had seen in class, Charlotte-san was breathing hard on her shoulders and seemed to be in a lot of pain searching for Emma-chan.

From her appearance, we could see that she was trying her best to find Emma-chan.

“Emma! Where’s Emma!?”

“Calm down, Charlotte. Your sister is sleeping over there.”

To a distraught Charlotte-san, Miyu-sensei indicated Emma-chan behind her with her thumb.

Emma-chan was tired and has been sitting on a chair for a while now, sleeping peacefully.

Her sleeping face was so cute like an angel, but when I thought about Charlotte-san’s feelings, I wished she would stay awake.

Charlotte-san, seeing her sister sleeping, slumps down to the floor.

“A-Are you all right…?”

I was so worried that I called out to her.

Charlotte-san looks me up and down from her position.

Her eyes were slightly teary, probably because she was worried about Emma-chan.

I was getting more and more worried when she looked at me like that.

“I’m sorry… but when I felt relieved, I suddenly just lost all of my strength…”

“Yeah, I know what you feel. If I came home and found my sister missing, I would be in a hurry, and if I found her, I would be relieved from the bottom of my heart. Anyway, can you stand up?”

Not wanting to let her sit on the floor forever, I held out my right hand to her.

Then she smiled cutely and took my hand in hers.

“Thank you–I mean, I’m sorry…!”

But then she stood up and for some reason suddenly moved away from me.

“Erm…?”

As expected, I stare at her in confusion, not understanding the meaning of her actions.

Then she turned bright red with embarrassment and opened her mouth while fidgeting with her index fingers together.

“I-I must’ve been sweating a lot, sorry about that…”

“Oh, that kind of thing…”

Apparently, she was concerned about her own sweat and backed away from me.

It is true that my palms are moist if you ask me, but I honestly don’t think I should be that concerned about it.

After all, she is a girl, so why should she care?

“You don’t have to worry about it. That just shows how worried you were about your sister and how hard you were looking for her.”

There was no way I could pull away from a girl who had been searching for her little sister to the point of sweating, even if I thought it was great.

So I answered with a smile, but for some reason Charlotte-san stared at me.

“…………”

“Charlotte-san?”

“Oh, um… Aoyagi-kun, you’re a very kind person, huh.”

When I called out to her, Charlotte-san smiled and said so.

I couldn’t help but be nervous when she showed me a cute smile with a reddish blush on her face.

Charlotte-san continued to speak to me.

“And Emma was also found by Aoyagi-kun, wasn’t she? I can’t thank you enough for bringing her here.”

Charlotte-san bowed politely to me.

I could see from her polite manner that she was well raised.

However, I have noticed… ever since I was in the classroom earlier, her manner of speech is like that of a young lady.

Who in the world taught her Japanese?

I was curious about how she learned Japanese, but I felt it would be impolite to ask her.

So I asked her what else was on my mind.

“You remembered my name?”

Even though the teachers and my classmates were calling my name, I was surprised that she remembered me, even though I hadn’t introduced myself.

“Oh… it’s because you helped me when I was in trouble today. Besides, I knew your name because Hanazawa-sensei told me to rely on Aoyagi-kun if I had any trouble. As she said, Aoyagi-kun is a very reliable person.”

Charlotte-san suddenly complimented me on my performance, and I quickly turned my face away from her.

I didn’t want her to see my face, which was probably reddening due to embarrassment.

I had no idea that Hanazawa-sensei, which is also Miyu-sensei, was introducing me to Charlotte-san.

I was embarrassed, but honestly happy about it.

I am glad that Miyu-sensei has been giving me a hard time on a regular basis.

As I thought of that―

“Aoyagi, it’s unusual for you to be embarrassed. Your face is bright red.”

One word from Miyu-sensei made me think I was an idiot for thanking this person, even for a moment.

“Shut up. I’m not embarrassed.”

“Ho-ho~? Shall I take a picture of your face then?”

“Please don’t harass me like that!”

This person is definitely messing with me.

If I stay here any longer, she might toy with me and tease me more later on.

With that in mind, I turned on my heel to leave the place as soon as possible.

“Charlotte-san is here now, so I’m going home, and I’ll see you tomorrow. Charlotte-san also― wait, Emma-chan!?”

As I was leaving the staff room to escape from Miyu-sensei, Emma-chan, who was supposed to be sleeping, grabbed me by the hem of my clothes before I knew it.

“Akihito, where are you going…?”

Emma-chan looked up at me with an anxious expression, though she seemed to be a little sleepy.

For a moment I could see Charlotte-san looking troubled with a sideways glance, but then I sensed what was going on.

“Sorry, I’m leaving now, Emma-chan’s older sister– I mean, Lottie-san is here, so it’s all good now.”

I smiled and told her not to worry, then turned my attention to Charlotte-san.

Emma-chan, following my gaze, looked in the same direction and her face lit up when she realized that her sister was there.

“Lottie!”

Emma-chan happily called out Charlotte-san’s nickname and ran up to me, but for some reason she stubbornly held on to the hem of my clothes.

Why won’t this girl let me go…?

“…………”

While I was puzzled by Emma-chan still holding the hem of my clothes tightly, Charlotte-san was looking at me and Emma-chan intently.

“Charlotte-san?”

When I called out to her out of curiosity, Charlotte-san looked surprised and immediately smiled endearingly.

“Oh, it’s nothing, she’s really taken a liking to you, huh.”

“Is that so…?”

“Yes, from the looks of Emma, I’m sure of it. By the way, is Akihito your first name, Aoyagi-kun?”

“Um, yes, but…?”

“I see…”

In answer to Charlotte-san’s question, she pondered with a difficult expression on her face.

Then she bent over at Emma-chan’s eye level and opened her mouth with a gentle expression.

“Hey Emma, let’s call him big brother, shall we?”

“Onii, chan…?”

What in the world is she doing?

As I stared at her, Charlotte-san somehow urged Emma-chan to call me “Onii-chan.”

Emma-chan was reciting “big brother” as if she were reading the Roman alphabet, but her pronunciation was strange because she was so young and unfamiliar with the Japanese language.

But it was somehow endearing.

“Erm, Charlotte-san…?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought Aoyagi-kun, a Japanese person, is not accustomed to being called by younger children… In Japan, you call the older man 《Onii-chan》 in such cases, right?” [TLN: Help, it’s waking up my incestry antics.] [ED/N: Jesus Christ man she’s 4.]

Ah, so that’s how it is.

Indeed, in Japan, it is rare to be called out by younger people using your name.

On the contrary, I knew that in other countries it was common practice to call someone by their given name, so I didn’t mind, but Charlotte-san must have been concerned about me.

“That’s not exactly the case here, but it’s certainly true. You don’t have to worry about it, though, do you?”

“No, we must follow local customs and traditions. Since we are going to live in Japan, I want Emma to learn Japanese customs.”

I knew Charlotte-san was smart…

She knows a lot of words that many Japanese don’t seem to know. [TLN: This wouldn’t make sense since you guys aren’t reading this in Japanese.]

This time she had a point, and we should yield here.

“Okay, that’s fine.”

“Yes, thank you.”

When I acknowledged her, Charlotte-san smiled happily and turned back to Emma-chan.

Then, bending at the waist again to match Emma-chan’s eye level, she had Emma-chan recite 《Onii-chan》 over and over again.

I watched her, smiling and smiling at the sight of her gently teaching her younger sister.

Then, Emma-chan, who had finished her recitation, walked up to me.

When Emma-chan came up to me, she looked up at me with a cute smile on her face.

And then―

“Onii-chan!”

With a very cute smile, she called me 《Onii-chan》.

The moment she called me “Onii-chan” with a big smile on her face, something shot through my chest.

I had no desire to be called “Onii-chan,” but I was so happy to hear Emma-chan call me that. [ED/N: Aoyagi naturally breathes as he lies.]

It was so cute that my cheeks almost loosened up.

And Emma-chan staring at me with a smiling face was so cute that I couldn’t help but pat her head.

Then, Emma-chan squinted her eyes like a cat and rested her head on me comfortably.

What is this cute little creature?

It makes me want to keep caressing her head all the time, and she is really cute.

“Good, you properly called him Onii-chan. Well then, Emma, it looks like Onii-chan is leaving, so why don’t you let go of him this time? Does Emma want to go home with me?”

Charlotte-san, who had witnessed our exchange, seemed satisfied that Emma-chan had called me Onii-chan properly and told her so that I could go home.

Apparently, she is a girl who even cares.

But to be honest, I’d rather just stay here with the cute Emma-chan, but I guess that’s not going to happen.

This is a staff room anyways, not a place to play with kids.

However―

“No!”

For some reason, when Charlotte-san asked Emma-chan to go home, Emma-chan turned away with a sigh.

Charlotte-san was puzzled by this attitude.

“Emma, what’s wrong? You don’t want to go home with me?”

“Emma… wants Onii-chan…! Go home with Onii-chan…!”

“””””Ehh!?”””””

Everyone in the staff room was surprised by Emma-chan’s sudden statement.

However, only Miyu-sensei was not surprised, nodding her head in agreement.

“I see… ain’t that nice, Aoyagi? Take her home with you.”

“Are you out of your mind? Why would I do that?”

“Why not?”

“No, I don’t see a reason why. Even if I walked her home, I’m sure she’d still be upset afterwards, right?”

Since she’s being so unreasonable here, it would be the same even if I sent her home.

What Miyu-sensei is saying is just postponing the problem― that’s what I thought. But for some reason, Miyu-sensei just smiled at me.

“Well, that’s the way to put it. Hey, Aoyagi, just go back home with the two of them. You’ll find out something very interesting.”

“Huhh…?”

What does she mean by, “come home with the two of them”?

Is she suggesting that I invite them to my house by any chance?

―No, I can’t do that, right?

I am not prepared to let Charlotte-san into my house, and I am sure Charlotte-san would not be comfortable with that idea to begin with.

With this in mind, I turned my attention to Charlotte-san.

From what I saw, even she looked convinced for some reason.

Hey, wait a minute.

Am I the only one who doesn’t understand this situation…?

“Aoyagi-kun, I am sorry. If you don’t mind, could you please accompany us back?”

“Are you serious!?”

“Yes, please.”

Charlotte-san then bowed her head.

I don’t know what to do, I am not following the situation at all.

Why did Charlotte-san even ask me to go home with her, let alone Miyu-sensei, who sometimes makes fun of her students?

The sudden turn of events had already messed with my head.

It was only natural, given such a sudden turn of events.

Just what on earth were Miyu-sensei and Charlotte-san thinking?

And what will happen when we return home together?

But there was no sign of an answer at all.

No matter how much I tried to make full use of my knowledge, there was no idea that would give me an answer in this situation.

So, for now―

“Okay…”

―I was tired of thinking, so I decided to go with the flow.