“Fuuu, I ate so much!”
Having finished a huge meal, Masanojo left the restaurant looking satisfied.
“But was it really okay for you to treat me?”
As they stepped outside, he asked Kyoka with an apologetic look.
She smiled and replied.
“I already told you when I paid, but if people found out I made a high school student pay, I’d get scolded.
So you don’t need to worry about it, Masanojo-kun.
Besides, the payment is covered as an expense by the Protection Agency, so it doesn’t hurt my wallet either.”
“Is that how it works…?”
“That’s how it works.”
When an adult put it that way, there was nothing a high school student could say in return.
Thinking about it carefully, after karate matches or during training camps when they went out to eat, the coach or the club captain had always covered the bill.
Ah, I see.
That’s just how it is, Masanojo accepted it without resistance.
As a post-meal break, Kyoka suggested they rest at a nearby park while having some dessert.
Masanojo gladly agreed.
There happened to be a large park nearby where they could enjoy nature, so the two of them chatted amicably as they headed there.
Once inside the park, while looking around for a promising food stall, Masanojo noticed something.
“Hm?”
On a bench sat a small girl crying loudly, and a high-school-aged girl who was trying to soothe her while looking around in a somewhat flustered manner.
They seemed to be in serious trouble…
Noticing this, Masanojo moved before he even thought about it.
“Masanojo-kun?”
Kyoka was surprised by his sudden action, but without paying her any mind, Masanojo approached the crying girl and called out without hesitation.
“Is something wrong?”
The sudden voice made the older girl turn around in surprise, and when she saw Masanojo’s face her expression grew even more startled.
Paying little attention to her surprise, Masanojo crouched down and gently spoke to the crying child.
“Hello.
What’s the matter?”
“Hic… hic… hic… Mama… Mamaaa…”
“Mama?”
“Um…”
The older girl who had been watching their exchange spoke up.
“This child… seems to have gotten separated from her mother…”
Ah, a lost child.
That was why she was crying so hard.
Masanojo realized it.
And apparently this high-school-looking girl was not the child’s older sister, but someone who, like him, had been trying to help the lost little girl.
That was why she had been looking around with such a troubled expression.
Masanojo spoke to the lost child.
“Did you get lost?”
“Hueh… hueeeh… Mama… Mama… hueeeenn…”
“I see.
Mama went somewhere, huh.
I know!
Onii-san will look for Mama together with you!”
“Hic… hic… hic…”
“If we look together, I’m sure we’ll find Mama right away!”
“Hic… hic… …Really?
…Hic…”
“Really!
Even though I look like this, Onii-san is good at finding people!
So we’ll find your Mama soon too!”
“Hic… Onii-chan… hic… will you… look for Mama… with me…?”
“Leave it to Onii-chan————!”
Masanojo thumped his chest and declared it to the girl.
Faced with his confident appearance, the little girl seemed to relax a little, and her tears gradually subsided.
“Alright then, let’s go look together with Onii-san!”
Masanojo held out his hand to the girl.
“…Okay.”
The little girl took his hand with her small one.
――――――――――――――――――――
“And you see~, Mama is really hopeless!”
“Is that so~?
Mama is hopeless, huh~”
“That’s right!
The other day, you know—!”
Riding on Masanojo’s shoulders, the little girl was in high spirits, kicking her legs and squealing with joy.
She took a bite of the cup ice cream resting on top of Masanojo’s head, looked delighted, and then squealed again.
While searching for the girl’s mother in the park plaza, Masanojo walked around the area, chatting with the older girl who was helping him look.
He had decided to give the child a piggyback ride because it would make it easier for her mother to spot them.
When he first suggested it, both Kyoka and the older girl had been very surprised.
Then, when they said that if someone was going to carry her, Kyoka should do it, Masanojo firmly refused, insisting that he couldn’t let a woman do that, and overruled Kyoka’s opinion so that he ended up carrying the girl on his shoulders.
Making a woman do something like that while he took it easy himself would be unmanly.
That was how Masanojo thought, though the fact that this was a world with a completely skewed gender ratio had completely slipped from his mind.
But perhaps that was for the best — right now Masanojo and the others were standing out a great deal.
He had thought that this way they would find the girl’s mother quickly, but so far they had not obtained any useful information.
“Nnnn!
The ice cream is so good!”
The little girl pressed her cheeks with her hands as she happily ate the ice cream.
“Is it that delicious?”
“Yes!!”
“Eeh, I’m jealous~~.
Give Onii-chan a bite too~~”
“Eeeh~, what should I do~~”
“Please!
God, Buddha, Mao-sama~~~!”
“Nnnn, well, I guess I have no choice~~!
Here, one bite!!”
“Yayyy!”
He took a bite of the ice cream held out from above his head.
“Is it good?”
“Yes!
It’s super delicious!
Thanks, Mao-chan!”
“Ehehe~.
Mao is the big sister, so I’ll give you another bite!”
“Really!?
Yay!
Thank you!”
“Fufufu, ei!!”
“Wawah!!”
“Ahaha!
Onii-chan can’t eat ice cream with his nose, you know?”
“Gugunu!
You little…!!”
“Kyahahahaha!”
Masanojo grabbed the girl’s legs and ran around the park.
The little girl held onto his head, enjoying the wind against her body.
Watching Masanojo like that, the older girl wore a surprised expression.
“Kasumi-kun, you’re really good with children…”
When Masanojo returned to the bench after running through the plaza, the older girl spoke to him.
“Hmm, you think so?”
“Yes.
How should I put it… you seem very used to it.”
“Ahh, that’s probably thanks to my little sister.”
“Your little sister?”
“Yeah.
I used to take care of my little sister a lot like this.
Lately she’s gotten bigger, so she’s become more formal and we don’t have chances to interact like this anymore.
As an older brother I should be happy about my little sister growing up, but still, it feels a little lonely.”
He looked back on the past with nostalgia.
Nowadays his little sister would call him “creepy Aniki!” and talk back, but long ago she had clung to him calling him “Onii-chan.”
“Is Onii-chan lonely?”
The little girl on his head peered down at his face.
“Hm?
Well~, just a little lonely, maybe~”
“I see—.
Ah!
I know!”
“What is it?”
“Then— Mao will become Onii-chan’s little sister—!”
“Eeh??”
“Nishishi—.
Mao will— play with Onii-chan a whole lot—!
So—!
“Is that so—!
Mao-chan is going to become my little sister—!
Thank you, Mao-chan!”
“Ehehe—, is Mao happy to be your little sister?”
“Yes!
I’m really happy!”
“Ehehe!
Mao is happy too!
Mao is happy that Onii-chan became Mao’s Onii-chan!”
“Ahaha.”
“Ehehe.”
After that the two of them continued playing in the park as if they were real siblings.
――――――――――――――――――――
After that, Masanojo and the others successfully found the little girl’s mother.
They were thanked profusely by the mother and were able to safely return the child to her.
“Onii-chaaaaan!!
Bye-byeee!!!”
“Yeah!
Make sure you listen to what Mama says—!”
“Nishishi—!!”
The little girl and Masanojo waved big goodbyes to each other.
“Fuu, I’m glad everything ended without incident.”
“Good work, Masanojo-kun.”
“You too, Kyoka-san.
And thank you for everything.”
Masanojo bowed his head to Kyoka.
Yes, in this lost-child incident, Kyoka had actually been working hard behind the scenes.
She had been contacting someone on her phone and continuing to exchange information.
Finding the girl’s mother had been thanks to Kyoka as well.
She had probably made full use of the Protection Agency’s network to locate her.
“No, I didn’t do anything particularly special.
The reason the little girl didn’t stay sad is because of you, Masanojo-kun.
Being able to move with that kind of snap judgment isn’t something just anyone can do.”
“I-I also… thought Kasumi-kun was amazing…”
Not only Kyoka but the older girl as well praised Masanojo’s actions, but since he did not feel he had done anything particularly special, being complimented like that made him feel a little itchy and embarrassed.
“Compared to that, I… couldn’t be of any help at all, and I feel so sorry…”
“Eh?
That’s not true at all.”
Masanojo objected to the dejected girl.
“You were the first one who stayed by Mao-chan’s side, right?
That’s how I was able to notice her too.
And if Mao-chan had just stayed there without anyone speaking to her, she would probably have gotten even sadder.
She might even have gotten involved in some kind of accident or incident.
You saved Mao-chan.
You’re definitely not useless.”
Yes, it was not something just anyone could do.
Masanojo simply had a little sister and had made use of that experience.
But this girl, despite having no such experience, had still boldly taken action.
That was something truly amazing, and something she should be proud of.
Because he thought that, Masanojo could not help but object to her self-deprecating words.
“You shouldn’t put yourself down like that.
You have to praise yourself more.”
Masanojo smiled at the girl.
“Thank you for helping Mao-chan— Ah.”
Realizing something, Masanojo gave a wry smile and turned to the girl with an apologetic look.
“Come to think of it, I never asked your name.
Sorry, I haven’t introduced myself yet either.
I’m Masanojo.
And this is my bodyguard, Kyoka-san.”
“Special District Special Bodyguard, Kukon Kyoka.”
At their introductions, the girl looked a little surprised, then made an expression that somehow seemed sad and lonely.
But she quickly smiled and bowed to the two of them.
“My name is Ichinose Yuka.
Thank you very much for all your help today.”
“Ichinose-san, huh.
Thank you too.”
Masanojo held out his hand.
The girl shook the offered hand with that same somewhat lonely expression.