CH 21

Two days after Renji-san suggested the treatment.

As Saika’s middle school midterms were over, I finally decided to talk about the clinical trials.

Saika was sitting straight in the living room of the small apartment where we lived and listened to me earnestly.

And she smiled after showing a moment of conflict.

“Well, I’m also in favor of you undergoing a clinical trial… I will miss you for a year, Onii-chan. But if your body continues to be like this, you would just be hurt…”

“You’re right about that. Though I’m not having any health issues.”

“I don’t think it’s something you know about yourself. Onii-chan is so careless about his own body!”

Saika puffed out her cheeks and looked at me in protest.

“ —Ah! That means I’ll get to see my brother’s less swollen face once the treatment is over!”

“Don’t be like that.”

“I like Onii-chan as he is now, but I’m looking forward to it a little too. I wonder what your real face is like?”

“I can’t even imagine… for me, it’s normal to be swollen.”

“I bet you’ll be ridiculously handsome~!”

“Oh, come on, don’t raise the bar so high.”

“Eh, it’ll be fine! Besides, no matter what you look like, I love you Onii-chan, so don’t worry!”

“Haha, that’s reassuring.”

Reality is ruthless.

There is no doubt that dramatic changes will take place, but I’ll probably end up with a mob face at best.

Regardless of such unimportant matters, I think about the last remaining problem.

It’s the biggest problem for us, because we don’t have parents.

“Saika will be alone, so do you want to go to one of our… relatives?”

Saika’s expression clouded as I said that.

It was a rare expression from Saika, who was always smiling in front of me

“Onii-chan, I… you know, might do something if they say something bad about you. I mean, I’ll probably leave.”

“Violence is bad.”

All my relatives hate me.

On the other hand, everyone likes Saika, so if I ask them, they’ll accept her and she won’t have problems…

Of course, it’s not hard to imagine my relatives making fun of me for my ugliness in the middle of a conversation.

Saika has been living with me of her own volition, but our relatives think that it’s only because I may have been playing tricks on her.

Well, I think Saika just feels sorry for me since I’m alone, so out of sympathy she’s staying with me… but if I say something like that again… I’m sure Saika will get angry with me.

“And… um, I hope I’m wrong about it but…”

Saika frowns as she’s having trouble saying it out loud.

“ —I’m getting some nasty looks from our cousins…”

“… For real?”

I was crestfallen, but Saika is the cutest girl in the world, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

Saika has a naive personality, but she’s rather sharp in those areas and has fought off a number of perverts on the train.

If they hear such a story, it is understandable that they are paranoid that I am taking Saika away.

“Umm, only Rumi-chan is a good…”

“Eh?”

Rumi Nagata.

She was the daughter of my mother’s brother, the girl who verbally abused me at my grandparents’ house just a few days ago.

“But every time I see her, she makes fun of me though?”

“Haha, Poor Rumi-chan, she’s still like that…”

“Certainly, compared to the other relatives, the swearing is mild.”

“You often see her at the same time when you go over to our grandparents’ house, right? Well, that’s because I’ve been telling her all this time~”

Saika said this with some kind of grin.

Considering the significance of Rumi going out of her way to meet me at the right time.

“Could it be that Rumi-chan―”

“Oh? Finally noticed~?”

“For her to come all the way there to talk s**t to me…! Just how much does she hate me!”

“Zuko!” [TLN – reaction to a letdown]

Saika fell down in an old-fashioned way.

“You’re wrong!”

“Oh! Then, she’s been looking forward to the food I cook! I always cook for them when I go there~!”

“Hmmm, that’s fine for now… I guess that’s one way of saying you can have a home-cooked meal. Though it’s Rumi-chan’s own fault that people think of her in that way in the first place.”

“…?”

Leaving me in the dark, Saika nodded her head and took out her cell phone.

“Then, I’ll talk to Rumi-chan about this clinical trial.”

“Well, I don’t think she’ll be interested in the first place~”

— The next day, Rumi called me to her house.