Chapter 11: Chapter 10

It wasn’t long before Yuuji caught up to Hibiki, as she was sitting on the floor further down the hallway. She hugged her knees with her head down and didn’t stir as he approached.

He knelt beside her for a moment, trying to piece together the words to say.

“...I guess we both had our places we were locked away in.”

Her ears seemed to twitch slightly at his words, but she didn’t look up.

“Thank you, Hibiki. For showing me the way out.”

He gave a shy smile as she looked up, her pretty face only inches away as he looked into her wide teary eyes that were tinted red.

“...Will I have to leave here?”
“He won’t kick us out. And besides, even if he does, we’ll find somewhere else to go. It’d be an adventure.”

With a pleasing laugh, he helped her to her feet. It’d been a long time since he felt so refreshed, and it was like a looming cloud above his head had finally begun to pass, with the shimmering sunlight filtering through.

Her eyes met his for just a moment before she stepped forward and embraced him suddenly.

It was tender and caring, and though he was taken by surprise he returned the hug almost by instinct. Her head resting on his chest, he felt her warmth clearly as she must have felt his in turn.

They stood for a second that felt like an eternity, but he secretly wished it had lasted longer.

She stepped back with rosy cheeks and looked away sheepishly before he quickly did the same. He felt oddly embarrassed around her at times, and his common sense was quickly fading before he knew it.

“E-Everyone must be back at class now, we should go!”
“Right… but I think I’ll stop by the library first. There’s someone I’m long overdue a chat with.”

Hearing his words, Hibiki’s smile bloomed like a beautiful flower.

“Un! I’ll do my best in the lesson until you’re back!”

Steam puffed from her nose as she flexed her arm eagerly before skipping off towards the classroom with a wave. The wind blew gently through the open window, pulling the scent of summer breeze with it as he watched her disappear around the bend of the hallway.

“She really is something special…”

Amazed by how quickly her mood would change, her heart on her sleeve, he couldn’t help but smile. Her attitude was rubbing off on him as well, as he’d begun to change little by little from the person he’d been before, and it felt invigorating to think about what might be next.

But first, he had someone he wanted to see.

The library awaited.

******

*knock* *knock*

“Yes? You can come in.”

Yuuji knocked on the door before he’d even thought twice. It was an open library for public use, so of course he wouldn’t have to knock to enter, but with all that had happened his nerves had begun to get the better of him.

‘I’m not even this flustered facing vicious demons, get a hold of yourself Yuuji! Calm the storm, still the heart, and sharpen the soul!’

He internalised his mantra to steady his pounding heart before taking a deep breath and stepping inside.

As he had hoped, it was empty except for Ayumi, who was stacking thick tomes high up on a shelf, seemingly just out of reach.

“Can I help-uwa!?”

Turning back to see who had entered, she almost fumbled the heavy book she carried in shock when she laid eyes on Yuuji standing bashfully in the doorway, barely catching her footing as the pile of books beside her wobbled precariously.

“Here, let me give you a hand with that.”
“N-No! It’s fine! What brings you here, Yuuji-niisan?”

Despite her waving her hands with a flustered expression, he strolled over and began lifting the tomes one by one into their respective places, noting how she had already stacked them neatly in order to be shelved.

“Actually… I’m here to speak to you, Ayumi.”
“...Did grandfather send you to ask for me?”
“Haha…”

He rubbed the back of his neck with a wry smile, remembering the scene he’d departed just minutes before.

“Pretty much the opposite if I had to say.”
“I’m not sure I understand..?”

Placing the last book, he turned to face her, her curious brown eyes staring into his own. It’d been far too long since he’d seen her up close, as even in their most recent reunion he had quickly left in an awkward manner.

Despite him being tall, she was petite in stature, and with her freckled face and big round eyes, she had a very cute demeanour. Over the years she had grown pretty, and would certainly charm many who laid eyes on her, and Yuuji couldn’t help but feel it was a shame he hadn’t been around to see his younger sister grow into the girl before him today.

“I’ve come of my own volition. Against grandfather’s wishes, but there was a lot I wanted to catch up with you about, so I decided to do it anyway.”
“A-Against his wishes!?”

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She shrank away with a concerned look, but he couldn’t help returning a cheerful laugh.

“That’s right! Ahh, I’ll make sure not to get in the way of your work, so you won’t get in trouble. Matter of fact, let me help out for a while, it seems there’s a lot to do here.”

Stacks of books like the one he’d just put away lined a trolley beside them, with plenty of spaces in the sprawling bookshelves. It seemed surprising that she would manage the entire room herself, but considering it seemed to be her role at the academy the various tasks likely took up most of the day.

“A-a-a-a-a!”

Struggling to comprehend what he was saying, she looked to be going into meltdown, so he gently placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair with a smile. It was soft and fluffy to the touch, a comfortable feeling he could easily get addicted to.

“I’ll take responsibility if he gets mad. For now, let me be a big brother, even if I am 17 years late to the starting line.”

Her face reddened and her eyes began to water slightly. She sniffled slightly with his touch, holding back a dam of tears as her cheeks puffed up cutely.

“Uuu… Yuuji-nii!”
“...Yuuji-nii…?”

She launched over and hugged him firmly, nearly knocking them both off their feet. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist as he patted her head again, letting her act childishly for the first time in what must have been years.

‘I somehow feel this has been happening a lot recently…?’

Quickly forgetting the somewhat embarrassing way she’d addressed him, he dismissed his brief concern and waited for her to detach her relentless grapple before he lost feeling in his legs.

******

“...So that’s how you met that girl.”
“That’s right. Which led me to ask for grandfather’s help, which led us both here.”

The siblings quickly and efficiently tucked away books on shelves as they chatted together. Yuuji’s legs had finally stopped wobbling as he described the events of the last few weeks in detail, finishing with his slaying of the oni in the village.

“Hmm…”

She eyed him suspiciously, giving sharp glances from around the middle point of his story.

“You haven’t changed at all, Yuuji-nii.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ayumi pouted and crossed her arms with a ‘hmph!’.

“Every time I’d see you you’d be surrounded by pretty girls! Even from my first memory of you!”
“...Oh come on, those sisters at the church thought of me like a little brother.”
“And in South America?”
“The village girls were just tutoring me…”
“That pretty boy in Russia?”
“We were only friends!”
“...I don’t even want to imagine the frivolous life you’ve been having in the decade since then.”

His pure and chaste character assaulted, Yuuji sulked as he desperately searched for a way to change the topic before he suffered any further damage.

“Oh, right. A lot of these don’t seem to be standard textbooks, are there all kinds of texts here?”
“Anything you could want for. Research papers and religious scripts are generally held on the second floor near the independent study rooms, but the more popular reads are here.”
“Hibiki seems to love books, especially fiction from what I gather. Do you have any recommendations?”
“That depends, what is she looking for? Fantasy? Sci-Fi? Reincarnation? Isekai? Adventure? Romance? Thriller? A combination of all of the above?”
“Isn’t this supposed to be an academic library? Whose decision was it to stock these…”

Yuuji felt a headache coming with the onslaught of genres rapid-fired by Ayumi as if it were nothing. He turned to face her only to find she had vanished with a poof of smoke, dashing between the aisles with a new book appearing in her hands every second.

“These are my top 15 recommendations, but with more concise requirements I can offer more!”
“It’s enough! It’s enough, thank you Ayumi. I’m sure she’ll be grateful.”

He picked up the heavy heap of books from her trembling hands and placed it to the side for now, wondering how he was going to manage to get the hoard out and back to the dorm when he could barely see over the top of them.

Ayumi proudly puffed out her chest as she looked at the vast arrangement of different novels, with a variety of genres and both popular picks and hidden gems alike.

They continued to chat as the stacks dwindled until the sun hung low on the horizon when the last was put in place.

“Phew. You do this kind of thing every day?”
“It keeps me busy, and it’s fun seeing what new reads I might have missed.”
“You always did like the peace and quiet from what I remember?”
“There wasn’t much else to do but read…”

Ayumi’s face softened slightly as she reminisced, and Yuuji patted her on the head once again, causing her to smile bashfully.

“Next time I’ll check out any recommendations you have for me. Plus, I’ll need a guide around town… if your evenings aren’t too busy.”
“Yes! I’m usually here or at the faculty dorms. My room is right next to Aoi-nee, she’s the doctor…”

Her voice trailed off as her tone became cold. Yuuji’s hand froze in place, shocked at the sudden chill that ran down his spine.

“You mustn't meet Aoi-nee.”
“O-Oh? W-Why would you say that?”
“She would surely ‘Ufufu’ and ‘You’re interesting~’ like that. It’s a firm N.O. from me.”

Crossing her arms into an X above her head, Yuuji avoided her gaze, cold sweat running down his back.

“...”
“W-Well! I should get going now. I’m sure Hibiki is wondering where I am!”
“Yuuji-nii…”
“Let’s grab lunch in the canteen tomorrow, how about that?”

Her cold piercing eyes disappeared as she nodded her head eagerly, beaming with innocence as if the devil he saw just moments before was an illusion.

Saying his farewells, he escaped out the library door carrying as many books for Hibiki as he could handle and headed back to the dorms for the night under the warm glow of the evening sun.

It had been a long first day of lessons, but he couldn’t help but smile thinking about spending his time here going forward.

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