Not much to say about this one.
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My home is a 10 year old detached house built in a residential district located a short distance from the main city. I can still remember the tension of moving to a newly built house when I was in the first grade of elementary school.
The layout is a 4 LDK, the first floor is the kitchen, living room and guest room, the second floor is my parents room, my imoutoâs room and my room.
Living in the house was my father Ikuo, my mother Yukiko, my imouto Yuuna, and me. With me having gone to a different world it should only be three people.
Though, my father often was abroad for work and was rarely at home.
â I was relieved when I saw my house for the first time in a year and it still looked the same as I remembered it.
The only difference appeared to be a faded missing persons paper that was attached to the fence. On it was my name and picture along with my mothers cell phone number. My chest hurt as I realized how much worry my disappearance had caused my family.
Another thing that had changed was that the intercom now had a monitor.
I pressed the intercom call button.
⌠I hope someone is here.
ă⌠Yes, who is it?ă
It was my imouto, Yuna, who responded.
The voice sounded very suspicious.
I guess it canât be helped with my present figure. Iâm thankful that she didnât just pretend to be away.
ăI know the whereabouts of your onii-san. Could I talk with you?ă
ă⌠If this is about religion we donât have the time.ă
As expected, she was vigilant. I had heard stories that there are religious solicitors that will come to your house when there was a misfortune. There are many such stories.
⌠It canât be helped, Iâll use my trump card.
ăI heard an interesting story from your onii-san⌠On a summer night in sixth grade you couldnât fall asleep due to a thunder storm and went to visit your onii-sanâs room. And, with the loud thunder rumbling in the background, you couldnât even go to the bathroomâŚă
When I start telling the story of my imoutoâs black history, there was signs of a trembling voice on the other end of the intercom.
ăWai!? Wait a moment!ă
A loud noise was heard from inside the house and the front door was flung open. Yuna, wearing a high school uniform, came out from inside.
ă⌠For now, come inside.ă
The room we entered was the living room on the first floor. It appeared that my parents were absent based on the lack of shoes at the door. It was necessary for my sister to take precautions when allowing a stranger into the house without the rest of the family, or so I thought, does she feel safer letting me in because of my current form?
ăSo this is Ikuto-sanâs house.ă
I heard the voice of Alicia for the first time in a while. Incidentally, both of us had kept silent after that awkward situation in the restroom.
Even so, I had missed itâŚ
The layout of the living room was almost the same as when I had left last year⌠However, because my line of sight is now lower, there is a small sense of discomfort.
ăAh. The person in front of me is my imouto, Yuna.ă
When I had left, Yuna was in her third year of junior high, now she was a high school student.
Her hairstyle that used to be black shoulder length hair was now slightly brown and reached down to her waist.
Her height that used to be around average for a girl was now around 10 cm taller, the legs extending from the uniform's skirt were long and supple.
It seems that some parts filled out with the growth of her body, my imouto has a good look.
ăSo, this person is Yunsan. She is younger than meâŚă
Even though I am supposed to be a year older, my body looks like one that could easily be mistaken as an elementary schooler, I wonder what I should think.
ă⌠Alicia will also grow bigger.ă
ăIkuto-san. Havenât I already told you, that these are your affairs now?ă
I was urged by Yuna to sit at the dining table. However, the seat was too high and I had to jump to get on it. I feel uneasy since my feet donât touch the floor at all.
Yuna sat across from me at the dining table and was observing me who appeared to be in cosplay.
ă⌠So, what do you know.ă
ăYou were still in elementary school, you were scared of thunder and didnât want it to leak out?ă
ăWhy is it thatâŚ!?ăOnii-chan, you promised not to tell anyoneâŚ!ă
⌠You have an amazing facial expression, my imouto.
ăI told my onii-chan that if he told anyone I would kill him and then commit suicide, I wonder if heâs forgotten⌠Hey? You, you told me you knew where onii-chan wasâŚă
It seems we must solve this misunderstanding soon.
Rather, what are you going to do when you learn about your brotherâs location!?
ăThere seems to be a misunderstanding, your onii-san didnât tell anyone your secret.ă
ă⌠Eh? Then whyâŚ?ă
Yuna freezes at my words.
ă⌠No, No, No, thatâs impossible. How could you be my brother. Youâll have to come up with a better lie than that.ă
Well, thatâs how it is.
I would think the same way if I was in her position.
ăThen, ask me something only your brother knows. In that case, would you believe it?ă
ă⌠I understand. What is onii-chanâs favorite food?ă
I quickly answered the question she asked. I was nervous about her asking a question I wouldnât know, and sighed at her persistence. After all, I donât know things like my little sisters three sizes.
ă⌠Where did you go on your junior high school graduation trip and who were you with?ă
ăI went with Souta, Hisui and you to the hot springs for 2 days and 2 nights. The plan was initially for only the three of us to go, but you felt left out and started crying⌠It wasnât even your graduation.ă
ă⌠I was not crying.ă
ăWell, I didnât mind. It was fun for us to all go together. Because there wouldnât be an opportunity for everyone to do something together after thatâŚă
And, I was summoned to a different world on the first school trip I had as a high school student.
ăYou really are onii-chan⌠right?ă
ăWhat have you been doing for the past year?ăFather, mother, me, everyone, we were all worried about you. Besides, how did you become like that?ă
ăItâs a long story, do you think you will be able to listen to it all?ă
ăYeah⌠Letâs hear it all.ă
After that, I explained what had happened after I fell off the ferry during the school trip.
All the things about the other world, about me and Alicia.
ăI see⌠Then, it really is you onii-chanâŚă
ă⌠Do you believe me?ă
ăI canât help but believe it when the real thing is in front of my eyes⌠You both speak and act exactly like my onii-chan.ă
When I look back on it calmly, itâs an absurd story.
⌠Itâs good that Yuna has already seen similar stories in manga and anime.
ăAnyway⌠Welcome home, onii-chan.ă
Tears were forming in Yunaâs eyes.
I felt the familiarity that was always directed towards me as her brother, I finally felt like I had come home.
ăâŚOu, Iâm home now, Yuna.ă
TN note: I used onii-san and imouto instead of brother and sister because they have slightly different connotations than their English counterparts. If you want to know more then just look it up.