After going back to my sister and telling her that I saw the cat and realized that it had let her go, we went to the classroom. Since we were in class, we couldn't talk much, so I just did the assignments and answered the questions on the board that the teacher asked.
I like how Ayane looks at me with admiration, it makes me feel special in her life again. I know she doesn't look at me with envy or jealousy, she really just has pure admiration for my achievements.
Showing how she is a pure and simple girl who is happy and admired even by the achievements of others, and when it was 5 pm and the classes were over, I asked if we could go together on the way home.
And she agreed, and so we ended up in the current situation where she and I are walking together through the streets.
"So Setsuna, how was it for you to take the test? Were you nervous? Were you anxious or anything like that?" Ayane asks with pure curiosity, which fills me with comfort. It's different from the questions of the other students.
The questions from other girls contained envy, jealousy, or just tried to see if I would say something wrong about what I felt, just to have a reason to see me as less "special" in their perspective.
Because it is natural for people who cannot be as great as others to try to diminish them to the same level they are in.
That girl I threw the bucket at and she got hurt didn't show up in the classroom, she probably stayed in the infirmary to take care of the injury.
Which obviously didn't make me feel anything, I really don't feel anything when I think about that scene, neither remorse nor pleasure with such a thing, all I feel would be that if my beloved sister found out, I would have a problem.
"Well, I'd say I didn't feel anything, you know?" I try to sound modest and humble so as not to make my sister feel bad about it. I know that if I say silly things downplaying the difficulty too much, she will question whether she is really smart and if her efforts are worth anything.
"I'd say I just knew a lot, it's all a matter of memorizing the content. I can teach you some tricks for that, Ayane," I say with a gentle smile, and she immediately beams.
"Yes! I'd love some help, I'm not that smart, you know, hahaha," she says, putting herself down a bit, but I know that's not true.
She is smart, but the strength of my sister has never been intelligence, it was her determination and efforts. She has always been hardworking and determined, not giving up on things easily.
"Ah... it looks like we're here, sorry I talked too much and asked a lot of questions, I barely talked about myself!" Ayane apologizes for having asked so many questions on the way to her house.
"It's not a problem, I enjoyed talking to you, it was fun," I felt so much miss this, honestly it was fun. I loved talking to her again, a common and simple conversation.
Without seeing her sad or pretending to be fine so as not to worry me, her smile shines brighter than a thousand suns in my eyes. She is the sun of my world, and without her I cannot see a reason to exist.
"Bye, Setsuna!" She says goodbye with a wave as she runs to the door of her house.
"..." I start to "leave" by going to a nearby alley and turning into a magical girl.
During my sister's questions, she avoided any too personal questions or about my "mental" problems like touch and feelings, showing her consideration. She is undoubtedly very nice to everyone, it would be great if the world were fairer to her.
"Hexael, where are you?" I ask, knowing he'll show up. No matter if he's supposedly "busy," he'll show up because I'm "interesting" enough for him not to.
"Speak, Setsuna-chaaaannn," soon a black cat appears with a really annoying and drawling tone of voice.
"I don't have a house, money, or clothes to wear, and honestly I need a shower. Can you help me with that today?"I ask him.
"...I thought you didn't want to be too dependent on a 'demon' like me," Hexael says with a little smile.
"..."
"You're right, but I need a place to stay for now, and that's unfortunately a mandatory basic need," I don't have a place to stay, and even though the functions of my body are extremely slower than the human body, I still need to eat and go to the bathroom like everyone else, as well as sleep.
"Aren't you going to be stalking your sister all this time?!" Hexael asks with false surprise.
"Haaa... Hexael, don't make jokes like that..." I would even like to stay watching her all the time, but it turns out that it is extremely limited what I can do precisely because I am "human."
If I stay watching her all the time, I'll get tired, and if I get tired, I won't be able to protect her in emergencies, and so I could even die or be captured and raped.
And honestly, I'd rather kill myself than be raped. The very thought of being raped fills me with disgust. Only my sister could use me and no one else.
"Of course, of course I understand. Well, since it was so fun to see you hurt that girl, I'll give you a small reward befitting your wickedness!" Hexael says with a strange smile.
"Shall we go? Your sister probably won't go out today, so you can leave her there for now," Hexael says something logical. There's no way my sister has already decided to act today. She'll probably just write in her diary about today and then sleep or something like that.
"Okay, we can go," I agree with him, and he soon starts walking without saying anything, while I follow him. He walks through several streets, and we end up walking for almost 30 minutes until we stop at a practically ruined house.
"..."
"Is that it? Is that all I get?" I ask Hexael, who looks at me with a little smile.
"Don't complain, Setsuna! You shouldn't complain about something you got for free, understand!" He says excitedly to me.
"...Okay, thanks," I thank him anyway. He's right about me getting this "for free," so I'll accept it.
"...Hahaha, you're really unique. I've never seen anyone who didn't care where they lived as long as the one they love could be safe. I like you, Setsuna, you're fun!"
"At least there's food and clean water inside for you, so don't worry," he says as I enter the house. The condition is pretty bad, the house is stinking and has a lot of trash scattered around the corners.
Click...Click...click, click...
I try to turn on the electricity, but all I hear is the sound of the switch showing that the house has no electricity, showing that there is only water and food.
I sigh and go to the kitchen. Honestly, I don't care that the place is a filthy, smelly dump. I can clean everything in one night, and with the water and food, I can live here well for a few days. Maybe this is what I deserve for letting my sister suffer.
Losing a little comfort is nothing as long as tomorrow I'm rested and clean enough to protect my sister and be pleasant to her eyes. When I was coming with my sister, she complimented me a lot on my appearance. She seemed to like how I am, so I should do my best to remain beautiful and pleasant to her.
Entering the kitchen, I open the refrigerator door. At least I notice that the furniture is acceptable. They are not destroyed or in bad condition, they just are not perfect like new ones.
The refrigerator is full of food inside, which is good, and the food looks very good, but it's all canned so it won't spoil outside the refrigerator. In the end, it's no use having electric appliances without electricity.
"...Haaa...I'll take a shower," I start walking around the house looking for the bathroom, which wasn't hard to find. The house has 4 rooms: living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom.
Being a super simple house, but thinking better, I give up on the shower and go down to clean everything first. The house has several smelly trash bags. I start carrying them outside.
This takes about 20 minutes, and after that, I look for things to wash the house, as it's smelling bad. However, there are not many cleaning products other than body cleansers, so I end up using shampoo and soap to wash the house.
In the end, all I can find are some rags, a mop, and body cleaning products with water to clean.
I start scrubbing everything with a lot of effort, while Hexael just watches. I'm used to cleaning, as I used to do it a lot for my sister when she wasn't in the best condition to do these things.
And when it's very late at night, I finish everything after a lot of effort. The house still looks pretty ugly with peeling walls and dull colors, but there's no more bad smell or trash with cobwebs and insects.
"What do you think, Hexael?" I ask Hexael, who is lying on a small table.
"It's good, but it's very ugly, hahaha," he laughs, but I don't mind because I agree and don't care. Without the bad smell, it's good enough for me.
I just go to the bathroom and finally take a long, good shower. Having spent hours cleaning meticulously was not bad. The house is small, so it was "easy," and I don't feel disgusted by trash.
In the end, this place meets all the criteria I need. After organizing everything, it became a relatively common abode, I just noticed that there are no clothes, sheets, or anything else for comfort.
So I'll sleep in the cold and have to keep the only dress and underwear I have clean. The smartest decision would be to wash the clothes when not in use and sleep naked so the clothes can dry.
Without electricity, there's no way to dry them quickly, so the options to keep the clothes clean and dry are low.
Of course, when I turn into a magical girl, my dress is replaced and I'm clean and with a normal scent, but the regular dress is not clean, only I am clean and the dress is replaced.
Besides, I still prefer to take a shower. The shower is something that reminds me of the past when, as a child, my sister and I innocently took baths together and had little water games.
"Hexael, you're really evil," I murmur about the fact that I'll have to do this, washing the clothes and sleeping naked. At least I'll try to get another dress so I don't have to sleep naked in the cold.