âItâs nothing⊠itâs none of your business.â Hiroshi Fuuma turned his head; it was obvious he was unwilling to answer Seijiâs question.
âNone of my business? You think I have a lot of free time to care about your business?â
Seiji frowned slightly. It would have been normal to just thank Seiji for having saved him, but his instant change of attitude made Seiji rather displeased.
âItâs not that I want to care about your business, itâs that with your current condition, anyone would be worried about you,â he said in a calm voice. âI just risked my life to save you, and seeing how youâre currently doing, if I let you leave just like this, I think that youâll have another accident, which would waste my efforts.â
Hiroshi remained silent.
âIf you donât want to tell me why youâre like this, then Iâm too lazy to ask. But Iâm obligated to at least take you home so that you can at least survive to make it there.â
Hiroshi lifted his head and glared at Seiji, his eyes rife with displeasure and rejection.
Seiji ignored him and looked back at Mika and Kaede. âI canât help but worry about this guy, so Iâm going to take him home; you guys go on home without me.â
âSeigoâŠâ Mika stared at Seiji for a while before turning to Hiroshi and glaring at him.
ââŠBe careful on your way,â Kaede cautioned.
âYou guys as well,â Seiji said.
After he watched the double pigtailed girl and blonde beauty fade into the distance, Seiji turned back to Hiroshi, who remained obstinately silent.
âWhere do you live, Fuuma-san?â Seiji asked.
âItâs none of your business,â Hiroshi replied with a cold expression.
âDo you think I really enjoy taking care of a boy who seems like he probably had too much fun out playing? I already said that I simply donât want my effort to go to waste,â Seiji said, his face impassive. âIâm only going to mind your business this one time. After I take you home, it wonât have anything to do with me if you want to die or whatever.â
Hiroshi didnât respond to this.
âIf you donât want to talk, then walk. I donât have that much free time. If you keep dragging your heels, Iâm going to want to beat someone up.â Seiji clenched his fists and popped his knuckles.
Hiroshi finally rose to his feet and began walking. Seiji walked beside him to make sure that he didnât fall.
Neither of them spoke a single word as they walked.
Seiji thought that there might be something of a mystical nature involved and secretly cast [Astral Vision] to inspect Hiroshi for a while, but he didnât notice anything out of the ordinary. Seiji didnât know if this was because his [Astral Vision] level was still rather low.
After a while, they reached the residential area.
As they walked up a steep street, Hiroshiâs footsteps slowed; he was evidently having a hard time.
Seeing how listless this guy was, Seiji wondered to himself if Hiroshi was going to faint again before they reached his house.
Even after they made it past the hill, Hiroshiâs footsteps still retained the same slow pace, and he kept hanging his head low. He seemed just like a zombie.
Seiji was getting impatient with this slow pace. Just as he was about to say something, he heard a cute girlâs voice.
âBig Brother!â
He reflexively looked in the direction of the voice and saw a beautiful little girl dressed in a school uniform standing on the street.
This girl had a head of short, curly sky-blue hair. Her eyes were light red, and the brows above them were shaped like a gentle hill. Her face was creamy white and sweet, and she was bursting with liveliness. She seemed just like the epitome of a beautiful young girl.
Her appearance greatly resembled Hiroshi Fuumaâs, and she was currently looking straight at him. She was apparently the one who had just called out âBig Brother.â
âBrother⊠whatâs the matter?â The blue-haired little girl walked over and noticed how strange Hiroshi appeared.
Hiroshi didnât react.
âFuuma-san, is this your younger sister?â Seiji asked. âSheâs calling for you.â
Hiroshi still didnât react.
âBrother!!â the girl shouted at him in a much louder voice.
Hiroshi finally reacted this time: his body swayed and he began falling forward.
Seiji managed to catch him in time.
âBrother!?â The little girl was astonished to see this.
Seiji checked Hiroshiâs condition.
âAs expected, he fainted again.â Seiji could only inwardly sigh.
âBrotherâŠâ the little girl murmured.
âHeâs fainted,â Seiji told the little girl. âHeâs probably overly fatigued.â
âOverly fatigued?â
âI donât know the specific reason either, but he should wake up again after resting a while⊠do you live close to here?â
ââŠBig brother, who are you?â The blue-haired little girl didnât answer his question; instead she blinked and peered up at Seijiâs face.
âIâm Seigo Harano from Genhana High School, Year 1, Class 5.â Seiji took out his student ID and showed her. âIâve met your brother once before. I coincidentally ran into him on the street just now and noticed that he was in a terrible condition, so I decided to interfere and take him home.â
âOhâŠâ
âIf you believe me, I can help carry him to your home. If you donât, feel free to make a phone call and have your family come pick him up.â Seiji put away his student ID.
The blue-haired little girl examined Seiji. âI believe you, big brother!â she said eventually. The girl smiled and introduced herself: âMy name is Airi Fuuma. Iâm⊠Hiroshi Fuumaâs younger sister.â
Airi? Seiji suddenly thought of a certain hâ
âCough cough, gentlemanly thoughts, begone!â
âMy home is nearby; please help carry my brother there.â The little girl led the way.
âAlright.â Seiji agreed and carried the fainted Hiroshi on his back.
Just like Airi said, their home was only a short distance away. After a few minutes they reached a house with a sign that read Fuuma nailed to it .
Airi opened the door with a key, and Seiji followed her inside. Upon entering the living room, he placed Hiroshi on the sofa.
âThis will probably do⊠he should wake up after a little while. If he doesnât wake up for a long time or if youâre really worried, you can call for an ambulance,â Seiji told Airi. âIâm going to get going now.â
ââŠYouâre not going to stay for a while?â The little girl looked at him with confusion.
âNo need. Iâm not his friend or anything. I only met him once and then coincidentally ran into him again on the street.â Seiji smiled at her. âGoodbye, little sister.â
Airiâs face reddened slightly upon seeing his smile.
âThis big brother is so handsome! Brother is a handsome boy as well, but he canât compare to this person at all, and heâs an idiot to boot! As for Brotherâs friends, theyâre all pretty much on the same level as Brother.â
âBut this person right here is different. His handsomeness is on another level entirely⊠Heâs so tall, so gentle, so reliable, and his smile is so alluring⊠Heâs just like a prince!â
ââŠGoodbye, big brother.â Airi reflexively said goodbye to him, and he turned around to go. Inwardly she felt a little unwilling to watch him leave.
Just as this handsome boy was about to walk out the front door, she was seized by a sudden impulse.
âW-wait!â she stuttered.
âHmm?â The handsome boy turned around.
âUm⊠could I have big brotherâs phone number?â the little blue-haired girl asked him bashfully, her face flushing crimson.
Seiji was rendered speechless.
Airi was an elementary schooler, judging by her age, wasnât she? Were all elementary schoolers like her these days? He blinked his eyes in surprise.
No, he decided to not think in that direction and to receive clarification first.
âWhy do you want my phone number?â
Airi didnât know how to respond to this.
âBecause youâre so handsome, so I want to get to know you⊠but how could I possibly say this out loud!?â
âI just⊠want to⊠is this no good?â Her face was beet-red, and her eyes were glistening as she looked up at his face.
âCute!â Seiji definitely received an impact from the beautiful little girlâs embarrassed manner.
He suddenly felt as if he understood why there were so many lolicons in the world nowâŠ
âNo, stop!â He decided to cut off this line of thought.
âWell⊠I suppose itâs alright.â After he thinking about it rationally, it was just a phone number, and it wasnât a big deal, so he decided to give it to her.
He assumed that this little girl just had an impulse in the heat of the moment and that she would end up forgetting about him.
Seiji told her his phone number.
Airi took out her cell phone and recorded it.
This was the first time in her life that sheâd asked for a boyâs number of her own volition, and it was also the first time that she had a male contact in her cell phone other than her father and her older brother!
Seigo Harano⊠a handsome, prince-like boy.
After he left, Airi stared at the new number in her contact list for quite a while and smiled dazedly while adding the description of âPrinceâ to Seigoâs name.
He actually wasnât even one of her brotherâs friends⊠her brother was so useless!
âThen Iâll have to become his friend myself,â Airi thought, a happy smile still on her face.