A typhoon had swept in, resulting in the unfortunate cancellation of Chiharu and her sixth-grade classmates’ much-anticipated school trip.
“That’s too bad. We were supposed to go after all.”
Beyond the windows, powerful gusts of wind howled. Chiharu muttered so while watching from the inside of the house. It didn’t start raining yet, but the sky was covered with gray clouds, and it seemed like rain would start soon.
“Well, it’s a typhoon after all; it can’t be helped,” Chifuyu remarked.
“Yeah.” Chinatsu agreed.
Chifuyu and Chinatsu both muttered as they looked outside. Both of them had been looking forward to the school trip in their own ways.
“But Aki-nee seems perfectly fine,” Chifuyu said.
“Ooooh!! I’m going to sleep!!” Chiaki exclaimed.
Chiaki lounged on the sofa, idly watching an educational program on TV. She hadn’t really wanted to go on the school trip in the first place.
“You seem unusually in high spirits,” Chinatsu remarked.
“I never wanted to go on that trip in the first place! Home is the best place for me!” Chiaki responded.
“Well, I feel the same way. Home is the best.”
“I bet Kaito will feel lonely without me around; that would’ve been a problem,” Chiaki said.
“It’s you who’ll be lonely. You were saying how you didn’t want to go and were even crying about it the other night,” Chinatsu said.
“I wasn’t crying.”
“You were definitely sobbing and seeking comfort from me the night before.”
“I-I never acted that way with Chinatsu.”
Chiaki shook her head, denying it. However, the truth was that Chiaki had indeed clung to Chinatsu while shedding tears.
“I really don’t want to go on the trip.”
“There, there.”
“I’ll be so lonely; I just want to stay home.”
Usually, Chiaki would never crawl into Chinatsu’s futon, but that night, she had tearfully approached her sister.
She didn’t want to go, but to avoid worrying Kaito, Chiaki kept her feelings to herself.
“We’ll be sharing a room, so I’ll be there to comfort you when it’s time to sleep,”
“Mhmm, I…I’ll be sleeping with Chinatsu…”
She had been continuously comforted with gentle strokes on her head. Watching this from a distance, Chiharu noted how much Chinatsu had grown and chose not to intervene.
While patting Chifuyu, who slept alone, Chiharu made sure to observe her sister’s growth.
“What are you up to? It’s only 10 p.m., and there’s plenty of time,” Chinatsu asked.
“I’m going to do a little bit of studying,” Chiaki replied.
“Just a little bit?”
“Well, maybe quite a bit.”
“Hmm, if you are actually going to study, I’ll make you a delicious lunch,” Chinatsu added.
Chinatsu made a subtle gesture in order to encourage Chiaki. Chiaki reached into her backpack and pulled out her study notes and textbooks.
Chifuyu had already started studying, so Chiaki, while discussing the parts she didn’t understand with Chifuyu, worked to deepen her understanding.
“What are you going to do Chinatsu?”
“I’ll take care of chores like laundry and such. I want to do them now so Kaito won’t have to.”
When Chiharu asked her that, Chinatsu began moving quietly, starting the washing machine, vacuuming to tidy up the place, and so on.
“I wonder… what should I do?”
Chiharu suddenly stopped moving, realizing that she wasn’t sure what she really wanted to do.
(Chinatsu is handling the housework for Onii-san, while Chiaki and Chifuyu are studying and working hard to plan for the future. What should I do?)
With a sigh, she climbed the stairs and entered her room. Outside the window, torrential rain was pouring down, and she could hear the relentless drumming of water hitting the ground.
The room, which could also double as her own bedroom, had a futon laid out, and she adjusted one of them before lightly throwing herself onto it. She idly counted the stains on the ceiling.
“It’s strange how I don’t have anything I want to do right now.”
She laid on her back, passing the time. After a while, her eyes naturally began to close. Listening to the sound of the heavy rain, she started to feel drowsy.
“Well, just for a little while.”
She decided to give in to sleep, if only for a short moment.
■■
She suddenly woke up. It was clear to her immediately why she had opened her eyes—it was because she was feeling cold.
Her body shivered, goosebumps covered her skin, and her lips turned blue. There was no one around, and no one to understand her.
“Chiharu.”
A voice echoed out. It wasn’t the voices of her beloved sisters, whom she adored; it wasn’t the voices of her cute sisters, for whom she felt responsible.
Strangely, it was the somewhat comforting, slightly deeper voice of a man.
“Onii-sa…”
Even though she was alone in the midst of a heavy snowfall, she strangely felt warmth. But that was frightening. She realized that once she allowed that feeling to take hold, she might break apart.
She thought so in an instant.
She hesitated to call out his name. However, he reached out his hand towards her.
Then she abruptly woke up.
“Oh, was I asleep? but…”
A slight teardrop had gathered in her eyes, but she quickly wiped it away.
“Ah, you’re awake.”
Just then, Kaito entered the room.
“Onii-san, what about your work?”
“I finished early today. The rain and wind are so strong, it might have been tough to get home later.”
“I see.”
“You seemed to be having a nightmare; are you okay?”
“It felt cold for some reason.”
“Indeed, it’s quite chilly today.”
“…”
Chiharu brushed her skin through the long sleeves of her clothing. Despite that, a faint chill still lingered. She knew that this level of cold was not a significant concern in her daily life.
“Just a little.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Just hold me a little tighter.”
“Hold you, Chiharu?”
“Mhmm, just like you do with Chiaki, Chifuyu, and Chinatsu.”
“Well, I don’t do that kind of thing much.”
“You’re quite the charmer. You seduced and conquered all of my younger sisters.”
“I haven’t done anything like that.”
“I wonder if you’ll conquer me too someday?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.”
“Well, okay then. For now, just hold me tight.”
Despite his hesitation, Kaito drew closer to her. He tenderly stroked her head, offering comfort in a way that reassured and brought relief, much like one would comfort a child.
in that moment, Chiharu felt the strange sensation of the cold disappearing and warmth enveloping her body.
“I guess… I really do like you, Onii-san.”
“Chiharu?”
“It’s nothing, forget it.”
“Alright.”
Leaving behind those meaningful words, Chiharu rolled back onto the futon once more.
“Onii-san, what time is it now?”
“It’s around 3 o’clock.”
“Well then, let’s sleep together. There’s still plenty of time until evening.”
“I still have dinner and laundry to do.”
“All of that will be taken care of by my little sisters. Come on, let’s sleep. You should take a break once in a while.”
Chiharu took hold of Kaito’s hand. Since Kaito was the type to easily give in to the girls’ whims, he let himself be led and sprawled out next to her.
Of her own accord, Chiharu used Kaito’s arm as a pillow and closed her eyes.
(Perhaps I won’t have any cold dreams right now.)
In the end, having slept too much during the day, she ended up staying up late into the night.
************
TN: As many of you may already know, the web novel has been put on hold for a long time, and the author still didn’t update with a new chapter; the next chapter will be the latest chapter.
But I’m pretty sure the author will continue the novel since he himself said at the end of this chapter that he would end the novel once the girls graduate from elementary school.
I didn’t want it to end at this stage yet but of course we may have other side stories about the future….
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