Chapter 8: Friends (II)

As we reached the daycare center, We spotted both our younger sisters talking to one another animately. As we got closer, they turned their heads to us.

"Onii-chan!"

"Onee-chan!"

They shouted at us as they rushed towards us.

Fuutarou: "Little Raiha, did you make any friends today?"

Raiha: "Of course Onii-chan. Let me introduce you. Her name is Yuzuru Nishimiya, and the friend that I played with today!"

Fuutarou: "Nishimiya? I also have a friend with me today. Her name is Shouko Nishimiya. What a coincidence!"

As both pairs of siblings looked at one another, we started laughing.

"Hello Shouko Onee-chan! My name is Uesugi Raiha! Thank you for taking care of my brother!"

Shouko: [What a lively girl! How cute!]

Raiha looked at me with question marks popping out her head, wondering what she was doing. I lightly chuckled as I told her about Shouko's deafness and translated what she wanted to say to her.

Soon, the four of us continued on our way home. As we walked to our house, I wondered why they (Nishimiya sisters) were still following us (Uesugi siblings). As we reached our house, I realized that they were living next to us!

Shouko was pleasantly surprised too.

Shouko: [Yay! My first friend is living next to me!]

Yuzuru, who was beside Shouko and talking to Raiha, was surprised too. Not only did we live next to each other, but her sister was happy too. 'She was never this happy in her previous schools. It must be due to this onii-chan.' Yuzuru thought as she looked at me.

Noticing her gaze, I turned my head and met her gaze. Yuzuru averted her eyes quickly while rushing home. Shouko, seeing her actions, quickly waved us goodbye before following her sister.

After reaching home,

Raiha: "Onii-chan, you finally got a friend! I was worried that you would be lonely all the time!" as she gave me a cheeky smile.

Fuutarou, who was amused at her antics, pretended to be mad. "Hmph! Who do you think your brother is? Just because you didn't see anyone with me doesn't mean that I don't have any friends, okay? And you are too young to worry for me!" Fuutarou started tickling her.

"Hahaha..stop it onii-chan..haha," Raiha screamed as she wormed around in my grasp. I stopped tickling her and started to prepare dinner. "Hmph. I hate you onii-chan." She crossed her arm while pouting, sticking out her tongue before rushing to shower.

And so, our day continued peacefully. I managed to coax Raiha and my mother with my delicious dinner since she was pissed that we didn't introduce ourselves to our new neighbors together as a family. After dinner, I did my homework before singing Raiha to sleep. I checked the house with my mother before going to bed myself.

∞Two-day time skip∞

Yesterday before going to school, I met Shouko, Yuzuru, and their mother. I noticed that their mother-daughter relationship was pretty awkward, similar to the anime. On the way to school with the four of us, I thought about dealing with the bullying problem and improving her relationship with her mother. 'Maybe our mothers can have a chat with each other. Perhaps that will help with Shouko's mother's emotions.'

Today during a history lesson, the bullying began. A spiky-haired boy named Ishida was one of the six boys in the class. He made a megaphone by rolling up his book and shouted next to Shouko's ear.

"ROAR!" he roared loudly from behind her, shocking her greatly and causing some giggles around the class.

'Sigh, I don't really want this to happen,' I thought to myself as I got up and faced Ishida.

"Shouya-kun, I don't think it's very nice of you to do this, right?" I tried convincing Ishida with a friendly smile.

"Hmm? Uesugi-kun, why are you helping her? She is just a disabled person." Ishida looks at me like I'm the weird one for interfering with the bullying.

"Shouya-kun, it's not nice to bully someone. How would you feel if everybody else did this to you? Besides, you can get punished for bullying, you know?" I would explode hearing what he said but tried to calm myself down and hope to convince him. After all, I was popular and had some influence over the students to some extent.

"Fine then, but only because you are my friend Uesugi-kun." Ishida looked at me, then sat down in his seat, but not before giving Shouko a glare.

Shouko: *Did he do that for me? Why did he help me? Could it be...* her face a bright red but as soon those thoughts appeared, she quickly shook her head with doubts. *No..just being his friend is more than I can ever hope for...he wouldn't want someone like me* smiling melancholically at herself.

"Don't worry, Shouko-chan, I am your friend and will protect you from bullies," I told her with a gentle smile without having any ideas about what was going through her head.

"Thank you," Shouko said softly, barely a whisper, but I did manage to hear it, smiling to myself.

[Hidden quest completed: prevent Shouko Nishimiya from getting bullied]

Description: Find a way to prevent Shouko Nishimiya from getting bullied.

Rewards: 3x normal gacha spins

Quest failure: Shouko Nishimiya becomes depressed, relationship with her mother worsens.

This was an unexpected reward for me. Thinking back, it was good that I had stopped it early on. Otherwise, Shouko's kindness will be taken advantage of, and her self-esteem will be lower than ever before. I had promised myself not to regret anything early in my life, and I didn't want to regret not helping Shouko.

I hope that I will be able to help her overcome her trauma and solve her deafness once and for all. And thus, I have managed to solve her biggest crisis without any further trouble.