3 bar menu

Chapter 50×1 Part 1

(Interlude 2) Elena, Part 1

「Soon you will be a big sister, Elena.」

Mama said so in a smile as she held her big belly.

After finding out that mama was pregnant some time after papa died, mama and I moved out of the house we had been living in and went to live in an inn near the sea.

Emmy (Emanuela) Mama and big sis Anna, Suzanna mama and Sera-chan. We parted with the four people we were close to and lived with just the two of us.

I was only two or three years old at the time, and I was lonely, but mama encouraged me that it would be alright because we would have a new family member.

The newborn baby had something that I didn’t have on the crotch.

「Elena! It’s a boy, a boy was born! Do you know how wonderful this is? Ah… For a boy to be born soon after that man passed away… By any chance, could this be what reincarnation is all about? Uu, ugh… but I wish you could have held him in your arms, dear….」

At the time, I still didn’t quite understand how precious boys were.

Just as I thought that we had parted with my beloved papa and the mamas we were close to, this time, mama was blessed with the long-awaited baby boy. I think we were on an emotional roller coaster day after day.

Even so, mama had a very kind face whenever she was taking care of the baby.

Urged by mama, I tried to touch the baby, who was sleeping peacefully.

When I stroked his head, his dark brown hair, a little darker than mine, was soft and nice to the touch.

His skin was glossy, and every part of his body was plump and squishy.

When I tried putting my finger in the palm of his hand, which was in a pose like that of beckoning cats, he clasped it tightly.

At the same time, I got the feeling that the baby smiled.

At that moment, *squee* I felt a tingle in the depths of my chest.

The small, fragile-looking, adorable baby.

My little brother named Yuu.

I adored Yuu.

It was the moment when for the first time, I thought that I would protect Yuu forever as his big sister.

◇ ◇ ◇

After spending some time at the inn, we moved to Ibaraki Prefecture, where mama’s papa and mama – in other words, my grandfather and grandmother – lived.

There, in addition to the grandmother from mama’s side, whom I had met several times before, there were three other grandmothers and five older sisters from mama’s point of view… I guess? (Some of them lived outside the house, so it was only the younger two that I often saw).

Plus their daughters.

In this house, which was very large, a family of more than 10 people lived together, so it was very lively.

At first, mama said it would be fun because we would have so many family members, and it was true that grandpa and the grandmas were very kind people.

There were also some children who were close in age with me, so I thought I would have no trouble finding someone to talk and play with.

However, except for grandpa, the only boy in the house was Yuu.

Although Yuu was small, his cuteness was unrivaled, so he was already very popular.

It seemed that they thought of me, who was always by Yuu’s side, as a nuisance, so the girls who were close to me in age always treated me badly.

The girls who lived with us were all older than me, but I didn’t want to lose, so I tried my best not to let them take Yuu away from me.

I entered kindergarten the year I turned four, but it was hard for me to be away from Yuu, so in the end, I quit after just one year.

I enjoyed being with Yuu more than playing with children my age outside, after all.

I got to see the moment when Yuu stood up and walked for the first time, and when he called me 「Nee-nee」 for the first time, I was so moved that I cried.

However, as Yuu grew up, this time the aunts began to press mama, saying 「Let him be my son-in-law in the future!」, so….

In the end, we lived in Ibaraki for about two and a half years only.

Before I went to elementary school, we moved again.

This time, the three of us lived together in a condominium.

There, we were finally able to live a peaceful life.

When mama, who had started working for a newspaper company, was away from home, I was alone with Yuu.

When Yuu was a baby, there were times when he was left with grandmother as mama and I played outside in the park.

However, mama said that it was too dangerous for a boy to go outside, so after we moved to the condominium, we came to spend time alone together.

We watched TV together, read picture books to him, and played with toys.

Those days were really good.

I mean, Yuu would always follow me around like a goldfish turd, saying 「Big sis, big sis!」, after all.

When he got sleepy, for instance, he would lean close to me, going funya-funya in a cute voice and acting all spoiled, so I found him so, so adorable!

I treasured the times when I took a nap in the same futon as Yuu after giving him some kisses, imitating mama.

By the time I entered elementary school, the time when mama had to leave for work also increased, so it was decided that we should hire a childcare worker after carefully selecting a company that we could trust given that we had a boy in the house.

Unlike kindergarten, I was told that I had to go to elementary school properly, so days passed as I went straight home after school and said 「I’m home」 to Yuu.

Unlike before, Yuu now had time without me around, so we made it a daily routine that as soon as I got home, we would have a snack and talk about what had happened that day.

It was inevitable when I had to do my homework, but most of the time, I was always with Yuu.

Be it when we took baths or went to bed.

Mama encouraged me to take lessons, but I only did what I could do at home, like correspondence courses.

I mean, I didn’t want to be away from my cute Yuu who would say, 「I love you, big sis!」, after all.

After three years, this time, Yuu entered elementary school, the same one as me, so I was happy that I could go to and from school together with him as his upperclassman.

There were always more than 10 children in the group commuting from the same apartment complex as us, but including Yuu, there were only one or two boys.

That was why we upperclassmen girls had to protect them, making sure no strange girls made a pass at them.

By the time Yuu entered elementary school, I had a hard time teaching him that women were scary.

「Mama and big sis are so kind, so why should I be afraid of women?」

I was troubled when he asked me as such with round and cute eyes.

「Because we are family.」

I am sure that was the only answer.

I am his big sister, so Yuu is the most important thing to me.

Only mama and I can protect Yuu in this world.

As Yuu grew up along with his advancement in the school year, he gradually developed not only cuteness but also coolness.

Among the boys that were few in number to begin with, Yuu had outstanding appearances, so I heard that girls were fighting over him at school.

There was a need to protect Yuu from the girls who tried to follow him even on the way home.

As expected, as they were unable to defy a senior three grades above them, they showed a look of frustration on their face, which made me feel good.

At that time, Yuu was still a big sis’ boy, so it was my duty to pat Yuu’s head and comfort him as he expressed his anxiety about school, which he was unfamiliar with.

I also asked for cooperation from the neighborhood girls with whom I was close with to protect Yuu, but I strongly warned them that touching him directly was a no go.