Magical Ashley-chan (1)

꒰ঌ Magical Ashley-chan 1

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When I return home from school my sister's classmates had come over.

"Ah, Haruto-san! Good afternoon!" The blue-haired bishoujo who had cheerfully greeted me was Juvia. And then…

"Kyahaha~~, good afternooooon Onii-chan~~."

The little brat of a girl who had started chuckling in an ill-mannered way the minute she saw my face was Hoshino Ashley. Her long blond hair was tied up with a cartoonist skull hairband. She had a pair of leggings on under a frilly miniskirt. She was decked from head to toe in cute-looking attire. Ashley was sitting beside Juvia on the sofa. Oh also, when I looked at that brat, for some reason I felt like looking at my friend Lucy. Why was that?

"Kyahaha~~, Naru-senpai's onii-chan is staring in this direction~~. So annoying~~."

This damn brat… she's speaking loud enough for me to hear on purpose… as usual, you're just as bad as Naruko! I wanted to get out of this unpleasant place as quickly as possible.

"Huh? Something I want? Juvia, why do you want to know that?"

"Eh? Umm… just for reference, you know? You don't have to think too much about it… just give me an answer."

"It's because Naru-senpai did well at the track tournament. So it's congratulations for that. She wants to give you a present."

"W-wait a sec, Ashley-chan! Why did you have to ruin the surprise like that?!"

"Eh? Isn't it better if you just ask her what she wants straight on?"

From that, I could tell that Ashley couldn't care less about this whole present business. Naruko, you really okay with this? With your friends being so blunt like that? I knew all too well how short-tempered my sister was. However, having heard that, Naruko replied with the same faux sweet voice she always used.

"Ahaha, it's fine, it's fine! Just the thought is more than enough."

Oh right. When it came to her school friends, she was bizarrely considerate. As if saying "See? Told you!" Ashley began to cackle.

"See? You heard her, Juvia-senpai, Naru-senpai doesn't need a present. Honestly, I also have something I want to buy so I don't want to just waste money. Why don't we just go to Shibuya, and get some— mphphpphhh! Wra yu durrrin?! (What are you doing?!)"

I saw that Juvia had inserted two fingers into Ashley's mouth and was stretching it with a smile.

"My my, Ashley-chan is just full of jokes today, isn't she? Ahaha, don't say such lonely things~ … we're. All. Friends. Right?"

"…?! (Nod nod nod nod!) " Ashley nodded with tears in her eyes.

"Rret go! Dorr rintch mhys nrrz! (Let go! Don't pinch my nose!)" Ashley twisted her body back and forth.

Naruko hurriedly tried to intervene. "H-hey Juvia… you're going a bit too far!"

"Eh? Really?" Juvia abruptly released Ashley.

Having escaped confinement, Ashley jumped away from Juvia, and angrily pointed a finger at her attacker.

"Y-you trying to kill me!? "

"No, no, Ashley-chan. There's no way I would do something as cruel as that to one of my friends, would I?"

Scary! How did she manage to make each and every one of her words sound like they were implying something else!?

"W-well well, come on, you two, calm down… please? Honestly, I'm fine with anything if you want to get me a present. Let's talk about something different! Ah. Right, right, take a look at these earrings. I bought them at the usual shop in Shibuya, but don't they look pretty good?"

This was the first time I've seen Naruko in the role of the mediator. She was acting pretty docile the last time her friends came over, too… could it be that she acted this way at school too? She was completely different here than she was when she was with her otaku friends, and she honestly seemed to have put on a thick mask of sweetness… but even so, she seemed to be having a good time like this as well.

***

"Haruto-san, I need to ask you for some advice."

Juvia had said those words to me that day in the evening, just after Naruko's friends had all left for home. She had sent me an email asking me to meet with her.

"… Advice? You? From me?"

"Yes." Juvia nodded with a meek expression.

Ever since we had quarreled that time about my sister's hobby, she's been under the impression that I'm a top-class incest-loving, hentai brute of a big brother. Owing to the circumstances, I also couldn't dispel her misunderstanding, so I wanted to avoid meeting her if at all possible. She probably didn't want to meet with me either… or so I thought, but… I honestly was troubled by what could have caused this beautiful yet horribly stubborn Juvia to come all the way to ask someone she both hated and didn't know very well for help.

Well no, it was probably something like this…

"Is it that you want to ask me about Naruko's present?"

"Ah, so you knew. That makes this conversation easier. To be honest… I don't know what I can give Naru that would make her the happiest."

"Even if you say that… Naruko said it right? That you can give her anything. I don't think that was a lie. If it's something you choose, she'll probably be happy no matter what it is."

"That's… that might be true, but…" Juvia looked downwards, seeming vaguely troubled. She looked like she wanted to say something, but was at a loss.

"Furthermore. Why exactly are you asking me? I wouldn't know what high school girls would want to get as a present. You're probably much more informed in that area."

"But… even so… that's not… the thing she wants the most."

"Hm? What?" I could barely hear her whispering voice, and so I answered her question with a question, but this time she gave me a very loud response.

"I just thought that Naru would be happiest if she got something for her hobby! That's why I came to ask Haruto-san!"

Naruko's hobby… could she mean…?

"You… but I thought you haven't accepted Naruko's otaku hobby yet…"

"I haven't! I haven't, but… but it's a congratulations gift… and also… after that, little by little, Naru's been talking to me about anime… not anything indecent though."

"Oh?"

Juvia had that intolerance peculiar to high school girls that caused her to reject the otaku hobby. But, just like my mother had done, it seemed that she had slowly been making compromises with regards to Naruko's hobby. Family is one thing, but it was very rare to find a friend who would go that far for you. It was something to be very grateful for, I think.

"But in the end, no matter what I do it's hopeless… we even argued a bit before this."

"What kind of argument?"

"It was the time she showed me her collection of these 'Nendoroid' dolls… and I just asked her a simple question of what the point of collecting those things was, and she got angry about it. She became really grumpy and for a while wouldn't even answer me when I tried to talk to her… it almost made me cry."

'What was the point of collecting those things?' That was probably one of the top three things you couldn't say to otaku. And my sister really was pretty childish for getting so angry about it that she even stopped talking to her best friend.

"So, I want to restore our relationship with this present… it's partially a make-up present, so I wanted to give her something that had to do with her hobby. A stuffed animal from an anime, or maybe a nendoroid, I was thinking something like that would be good… so I wanted to also take Haruto-san's opinion into account and then think a bit about what to do… so…"

"… I see."

She had still not acknowledged the validity of the otaku hobby. However, from the bottom of her heart, she really just wanted to give Naruko a present that would make her the happiest… so, bothered by this internal contradiction, she came to me for help despite her hatred. I have no idea what to do… I can't just flat out refuse her if she comes to me like this…

"I understand. I'll do a bit of digging and see what kind of present might make her happy."

"Really? T-thank you very much!"

Just like the first time we met, her happy smile left me breathless. If it were for the sake of that smile, getting my sister to tell me what she wanted was a small price to pay.

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