Shiraha ate quickly. After all, it was the first day of the new semester, theoretically, the best day to make new friends.
He puffed out his cheeks, chewed the last mouthful of rice, downed his glass of milk in one go, and hopped off his chair.
"I'm done!"
"I'm done too." Mei followed right behind him, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him toward the door.
The two vanished through the entrance.
Himeko ate her porridge unhurriedly, though her gaze drifted toward the doorway now and then.
"Himeko... I'll be counting on you with this child."
Ryoma Raiden set down his chopsticks, his tone carrying a rare note of entreaty.
"I know this sort of thing might not sit entirely well with you, but right now you're the only one in Anti-Entropy suited for this. Whatever you need, don't hesitate to ask."
Himeko: ....
So you do know it's not exactly great?
But she remained unhurried. "No harm done. Shiraha and I aren't of the same generation anyway. A little deception won't hurt. By the time he grows up, I'll probably already be married with kids."
Himeko was only twenty right now, young, slender, full of life. And at this age, she hadn't yet started drinking and smoking heavily. When she smiled, she had a spirited, radiant energy about her. She genuinely looked like a bright, sunny college girl.
Besides, could some imaginary secondary personality seriously be more attractive than a real, flesh-and-blood older sister?
Elysia walked with a light, skipping step. She was up ahead, stepping along the grid lines on the pavement, moving in a perfectly straight line. Shiraha followed behind, stepping on the same squares, one by one.
"Himeko seems to be sneaking glances at you."
Elysia didn't turn her head. Her voice carried a teasing, mischievous lilt.
Shiraha didn't think much of it. "She's probably just curious. I talk to thin air all day, anyone would glance a couple extra times."
"Not necessarily." Elysia spun around and walked backward, her starry eyes curved into crescents. "A cute kid like you really has to be careful around older girls, you know. Who knows what goes on in their heads?"
She sighed and put on an expression of deep anguish. "Why are there people in this world who sneak peeks at little children? So depraved."
Shiraha still didn't take it seriously. "She definitely doesn't have any weird intentions. She's probably just curious about the data on Mei-nee and me. Himeko doesn't really seem like the type who'd obediently sit around doing research."
Himeko was someone with grand ideals, actually, every freshly graduated college student was full of bright visions for the future, let alone a nineteen-year-old PhD like Himeko.
But Himeko's Honkai resistance was very poor. She'd only gotten a boost through an artificial Stigmata. Anti-Entropy didn't have that technology, she'd have to research it all over again. Still, she was young. She believed in her own potential.
Elysia pursed her lips. "You think you know better than me? You've never even been in a relationship."
Just because Himeko looks almost exactly like Dr. Himeko, is Shiraha really going to let his guard down entirely around her?
Shiraha's voice remained perfectly calm. "Like you've ever been in one either."
He really didn't think Himeko required any special attention, not for subjective reasons like personality, but because of combat ability.
Without an artificial Stigmata implanted in her body, Himeko was simply unsuited to be a warrior. Her combat instincts might have been decent, but her physical aptitude was far too poor.
"I haven't been in one, but I've flirted with plenty of older girls."
"Himeko was sneaking peeks at you even during breakfast. A cute kid like you seriously has to be careful around older girls."
Elysia earnestly tried to make Shiraha understand, no matter how harmless Himeko looked, she was still the kind of shameless older sister who'd sneak glances at little children.
Shiraha lifted his head and gave Nee-chan a complicated look.
Elysia returned his gaze with righteous confidence. She was different. She wasn't depraved.
Shiraha was quiet for a moment, then laughed aloud. "I've flirted before too. Nee-chan might not actually know more than me in that department."
Elysia blinked, her starry eyes flickering. Her smile turned a little subtle. "Flirted with who?"
She knew Shiraha was a remnant of the Previous Era, but shouldn't he have been the type who was lonely from childhood, had never met any bad women, worked hard his whole life, had a perfectly blank romantic history, and then died in some Honkai eruption, a total "41-knife"?
Shiraha tilted his little head and blinked. Elysia blinked back. Staring into that direct, unflinching gaze, Elysia belatedly seemed to catch on.
"Sigh. A bad boy who sneaks peeks at older girls."
So it was me he was flirting with. Well, that's fine then.
Elysia gently scooped up Shiraha and lifted him high into the air. But she quickly put him back down, there were still people around.
Mei... Mei was used to it.
"Shiraha, you play with your fierce ghost friend every single day. Aren't you worried your grades will drop?"
Mei offered the admonishment half-heartedly. She knew it was probably useless.
"I won't. Besides, I have to tutor my fierce ghost friend every day." Shiraha paused. "If Mei-nee doesn't understand something, you can always ask me too."
Shiraha wasn't a genius. But elementary and middle school material honestly wasn't hard. Tutoring Mei and Elysia-nee was still fairly easy for him.
It was worth noting that the Far East had a special academic calendar. After a winter break of only about two weeks, they'd entered the final semester of the year, lasting just over a month.
The classroom after a break was always especially lively. All sorts of little cliques clustered together, chattering about what they'd done over the holiday.
Elysia, for lack of anything better to do, spoke up. "Everyone else is chatting. Why isn't Shiraha chatting with me?"
Shiraha glanced up at Nee-chan. "Semester just started. Even though elementary material is simple, I should still at least review it once."
Elementary material was simple, for everyone else too.
Even if a couple of extra-credit questions showed up at the end, others might well get them right. So Shiraha couldn't afford to drop a single point anywhere.
"But... has Shiraha ever considered dropping a few points on purpose through a little 'slip-up'? Then putting on a show of fierce determination, and finally reclaiming first place?"
Elysia let her thoughts drift. This kind of tactic was absolutely viable in interpersonal relationships.
Showing a little vulnerability now and then wasn't such a bad thing.
"I could try that as an adult. But right now I'm in a dropped grade. I don't think a slip-up would be viewed as a good thing."
Elysia puffed out one cheek. She'd just discovered a point where she and Shiraha differed. But that was only right, children did indeed imitate the people around them.
But Shiraha was different. He'd long since been fully self-made.
So knowing this, whatever she did, she wasn't a pervert!
But other people still treated Shiraha as a real child. So other people were perverts!
Yes. Exactly like that. Elysia had found yet another point where she won.
Victory!
At this thought, the corner of Elysia's lips curved gently upward. She settled back onto the windowsill and gazed outside.
All kinds of children, laughing and chattering. Occasionally she'd spot a few discordant notes, after all, no two families were truly alike.
She even spotted a lost ten-yen coin in one corner. In this world of unified economies, ten yen was actually quite a bit for an elementary schooler.
"Shiraha—" Elysia suddenly spoke, her voice quieting. "Downstairs... I think there's a little girl crying. She dropped her money."
You could go try to win her over. But Elysia swallowed those words and didn't say them aloud.