At my own house, a classmate is taking a shower. Moreover, the person in question is renowned as a beautiful girl. Although it’s not a deserted island, we’re in a situation sealed off by a guerrilla rainstorm. We might encounter an immoral scene. But we won’t.
I sat down on a chair, wiping my damp hair haphazardly and resting my tired body.
「Onii-chan.」
「Nn.」
「She’s a cute girl, isn’t she?」
「You think so…」
For now, since Susami-san went to the bathroom, the possibility of my sister being seen has decreased. Therefore, I rescue her from the storage room──I felt bad about keeping her locked up forever──and face her.
「You’re quite the ladies’ man.」
「Just leave me be.」
「I mean, bringing a girl home and all.」
「Leave me be even more.」
What I brought home wasn’t a girl, but dust. It’s a type of trash. If you look in the corners of a room, you’d normally find it there.
「Iyaa, that’s surprisingー」
My sister stretched her amorphous tentacles excitedly, like a playful puppy, and began to circle around me. It’s like some kind of religious ritual. If you make a mistake, it might be the real thing because she’s a monster. Could you stop that?
「What’s surprising?」
「I thought Onii-chan wasn’t the type to make bold moves. To think you’d have a home date… Was it because the rain made it convenient?」
「Discipline.」
To silence her for displaying inconvenient facts with embellishments, I place my hand on what I assume to be her “mouth”, though I have no idea where it actually is. Her tentacles writhe in protest. However, they don’t attack me. I completely ignored her and continued to restrain her until she felt like stopping her nonsensical talk.
「…Puha.」
Although my sister clearly doesn’t have a human form, there’s a certain human-like breath in her actions. Despite her appearance, which raises questions about the existence of respiratory organs, she moved what seemed to be her shoulders up and down.
「It’s not good to solve things with violence!」
「Sorry, it was reflex.」
「That seemed like a well-planned crime for a reflex. It looked like a carefully prepared action.」
「Sharp observation. It was a mistake.」
「Which one?」
Having just endured the ordeal of running through heavy rain, I was honestly very tired. To the point where my brain stopped functioning. As a result, my conversation with my sister became brain-dead, and an indescribable atmosphere hung between us. It was definitely not immoral.
「…Susami-san should be coming out soon.」
「Ah, then I’ll hide again. Not that it’s necessary.」
「Can I ask you one question?」
As my sister was about to hide again──this time she seemed to have time to go to the second floor──I, deeply seated in my chair, absentmindedly opened my mouth.
「Remember when I told you about a lump of meat being in my class?」
「Yeah.」
「But it seems like she wasn’t seen as a lump of meat.」
「I can’t see her that way.」
「What about the opposite?」
Drowsiness overtakes me.
My eyelids feel heavy.
「In other words──yeah. Do beings that don’t live a normal human life, or rather, weren’t born as humans, appear as humans to others?」
My sister, who pondered over that question for a while, waved her tentacles lightly.
「It’s okay. My existence won’t be recognized. Even if I’m seen, I can’t be perceived. It’s like we’re living in separate layers, like a mille-feuille.」
「Heeh.」
I don’t understand at all.
「That’s how it is now.」
「Fuun.」
Finally, as my drowsiness reached its limit, my eyelids became fixed as if with a strong adhesive and eventually wouldn’t open. My consciousness fades away. The weight on the chair increases. My back slides down.
「Good night, Onii-chan.」
After that, I heard no more sounds.
「Wake up.」
「…Nn, nn.」
Forcing my blurry vision to open, I gradually feel the blood flow easing. I seem to have been slumped over the desk. Susami-san, looking like she just got out of the bath, is standing there.
「…Huh, was I asleep?」
「Perfectly.」
「I must have been tired.」
「Seems so.」
As is the fate of falling asleep suddenly, I have no memory of what happened before. I remember sitting down in the chair, but after that, my memories are missing.
I wonder if my sister managed to hide properly. Considering Susami-san’s condition, she probably didn’t see the monster. I can’t imagine a high school girl seeing a mass of darkness straight out of a nightmare world and not letting anyone know.
I expected that being dust, her volume might decrease after a shower, but surprisingly, Susami-san was perfectly intact. I’ll have to check the drain for clogs when I clean the bathroom. There might be an abnormal amount of debris accumulated.
「Sorry for taking it before the host.」
「Can’t leave a guest soaked like that…」
I stand up from the chair and stretch my back.
Perhaps due to the sudden improvement in circulation, I felt dizzy.
As I swayed, Susami-san supported me.
「Sorry.」
「It’s fine.」
Her hand──well… hand, I guess──was more moist than usual. It’s natural since she just got out of the bath, but to feel moisture content from Susami-san, who roams as a dust-type monster, is unexpected. It feels kind of strange.