Haru-Naru ♪♪♪ Love is a Comedy

As I hurriedly returned home. Naruko was still at the Starbucks. I gave her clear instructions to wait there for an hour, and then to head home afterwards. I was really the only one talking and I never heard a response from her, so it's unclear whether or not she actually heard what I was saying. In either case, until she actually felt determined enough to head back, she wouldn't return home. Before that, I intended to settle the matter with Mom. Even if it seems impossible. But, I can't help it!

"Throw away everything that's in your room." "Stop being an otaku" Could I really say those things to her?! Not only did I understand her feelings, but anybody who says such things I can't forgive! Even if that person is Mom! Right now, there was really only one thing that I understood. Naruko is my sister and I'm his brother. Whether or not I hate her, whether or not I don't care about her, whether or not she's an annoying brat… I have to help my sister. That's how it is.

Thirty minutes later, I found myself standing outside the door to our living room. Somehow or other I prepared everything as I had planned. But… Honestly, there really wasn't any guarantee that this would go well. To put it bluntly, the possibility that this idea would crash and burn was pretty high.

"I'm home." I opened the door to the living room. Mom was sitting on the sofa, still angry. Noticing me coming in, she glanced at me and scowled. Dammit. She looked even more frightening now. I came to a stop around three meters from her on the side.

"Mom… I have something I want to talk about." I began to talk.

"Did you find Naruko?"

"Yeah… I came to talk… to you."

"And?" Mom pressed me without paying me even a glance.

Honestly, I was grateful. Eventually I would have to look her in the eye and make my case, but for now I really wanted to avoid eye contact. The surrounding atmosphere became very heavy. It was strangely hot, and I had trouble breathing. Sweat began to pour down my face, spilling off the bottom of my jaw.

"And?" Mom pressed me once more with the same words.

"I would like you… to approve of Naruko's hobby."

It may be my imagination, but the moment I said that, the room fell gravely silent. The only sounds I could hear were those of my own heartbeat and my ragged breaths.

"Haruto… " Talking low and without expression, Mom responded. "Earlier, I told you that it was your duty as her brother to throw away all those things. Every single piece, without leaving a single one. And you responded 'I understand. I'll talk with Naruko, and I'll definitely do that.' Isn't that right?"

"Yeah."

"Honor the promises that you make!"

What she's saying is correct. However you think about it, the person who's mistaken is me. I understand that. But… I can't retreat now.

"That's what I wanted to talk about."

"Are you breaking a promise that you made?"

Each one of Mom's words echoed heavily. Gritting my teeth, I raised my voice. "It has nothing to do with me. She won't let anyone stop her, and won't let anybody throw away the things she's been hiding. She also won't listen to reason. Please listen to me, Mom. Listen to my reasons for doing what I did."

"Fine… go ahead."

"Certainly… Naruko's hobby is not something an average girl would have. So, in her usual crowds there wasn't really anybody who shared her hobby." Taking a single breath, I continued. "… so, she tried to find friends who had the same hobby… and, she looked in a lot of different places, and somehow or other found some good people… she even met them in real life for the first time."

Mom continued to stare at me, and silently listened to me. The pressure of silence was extremely frightening. If I think about it, today was pretty unpleasant for Mom as well. To think that her beloved little daughter whom she's raised all these years would come out and say "Actually, I love ero game." And, when she tried to scold her and set her straight, she tried to beat her to death with an ashtray. On top of that, her son then comes in, uninvited, and begins to chatter about defending her sister's outrageous hobby.

"That was just recently. Today, she was coming back from meeting those friends in an offline meeting… I mean, a meeting for people with the same hobby… You probably already heard this, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"And then, you called her hobby worthless… don't make fun of her when she's tried so hard! Even though you don't know that much about her hobby, you're making such quick judgments about it!"

Because my sister regrettably couldn't say anything, I was telling her what Naruko felt in her place. Even though these weren't supposed to be my feelings, even though this entire situation really wasn't my business, I was honestly getting angry. At some point, this was no longer "somebody else's problem."

"With my own eyes, I've seen her important things. I've also met with people who love the same things. Of course there's prejudice against them, and there's no helping that, since they really are an odd bunch. How they speak, how they act, how they dress—at any rate it's all pretty odd. Honestly, I can't understand where they're coming from at all. But!"

I remembered. That scene in Akiba, and my own feelings. "It's really not a bad thing, I think. They really seem like they have fun when they're together. Even though it was their first time meeting, they could argue so loudly, and raise so much of a commotion. They really love what they love! Naruko, and those others, being able to get seriously angry like that—it's not something to be taken lightly! Naruko, and those others, being able to get so entranced by the things they love… Seeing it, I felt sort of embarrassed, but at that time, they were already dear companions! Frankly speaking, they were already friends! Of course, I can't even begin to understand her hobby. I really can't! But! Is something you can be entranced by like that, can that something really be that bad?! If you think about it, shouldn't that be a pretty important thing?! Right?! That's not something you can so casually throw away, you know!"

"So, you want me to forgive her? For a worthless hobby that can have nothing but a bad influence." Mom stood up and faced me. She pierced my heart with a gaze that was a hundred times scarier than anything Naruko could pull off.

"You say that it's nothing but a bad influence, that it's a worthless hobby…?"

It was here. I decided to play my trump card. I quickly closed the distance between me and Mom, and dumped out everything in the bag onto the table.

Bang! The first thing I threw at Mom was Naruko's report card.

"Just look at these unbelievable grades. She's even one of the best in the entire country. And her great performance isn't limited to just the present. If there's anyone who knows how well she's been doing in school, it should be you, Mom."

"So what? Naruko is just keeping the promise she made to me. That's all it is. That's why I can forgive her for wearing such flashy outfits, and can allow her to be a model."

The next things I threw at her were numerous trophies and awards. The most recent one was from a big track and field tournament just last year.

"Look at this. And this. And this and this! Just look at it! Second place, outstanding, excellent… they're all like that! This one she got last year! This one is from elementary school! See?! Mom! Your daughter is so incredible, don't you see?!"

"I know. So what?"

"Don't say 'So what?'! You're being really petty! To be that good at sports and to be that smart, and also to have so many other talents… she's so talented, isn't that amazing?! So what if she has one, and only one, strange hobby?! Isn't it fine?! Look at all her other talents! Your daughter, your pride and joy, has just one thing you can't tolerate, and just because of that, you lecture her to death, you make her cry, you try to throw away her important things… isn't that right?!"

"That was just a parent disciplining their child!"

Dammit. I had tried with all my might to appeal to Mom, but she didn't seem the least bit moved. She's really stubborn. But, I still had more!

Bang! I threw a very thick book at her.

"… That album?" Mom's tone of voice softened just a bit.

In that beautiful thick album there were large numbers of photographs of Naruko, from the time she was born until now. Photos of a baby Naruko sleeping. Photos of our late father holding Naruko. Photos of Naruko playing a leading role during kindergarten's sports festival. Photos of her kindergarten ceremony. Photos of her elementary school entrance ceremony. Photos of Naruko finishing at an athletic meet. Etc. etc. Of course, all the photos were taken personally by Mom, with a single lens ridiculously high-end camera. Just with this album, it was obvious what Mom thought of Naruko.

"Why did you bring this out…?"

"Don't rush me!"

Bang! I threw another thinner book at her. Mom's expression suddenly changed.

"This is your treasured possession, isn't it?"

The book I had shown Mom was a scrapbook. In it were arranged cutouts from a teen magazine. These cutouts were all of a familiar red haired model, wearing the latest fashions and posing confidently. The photos went on and on, on and on. For dozens of pages. It's likely that from Naruko's debut to the present, every precious photo of her was in here for safekeeping.

"You were happy, weren't you? You buy all her magazines, you cut out all her pictures, you collect them… "

"D-Don't say stupid things. I-I had to keep track of what kind of things she was doing for her job."

That remark… so it was just because she was your daughter… I don't think so Mom.

"Yeah right, you had to keep track… and what did you find out? Was it the same kind of showy, flashy job that you were prejudiced against?" I spoke while turning through the scrapbook page by page. "It was different, wasn't it. If it wasn't, you wouldn't have kept this scrapbook so carefully all this time like some kind of treasure… that's true, isn't it?" I felt like I was walking on a tightrope. My eyes met those of Mom. I didn't flinch, and I didn't look away.

Mom let out a long exhale. "But, it's not something she needs to hide. Even now, though, I'm not sure what to think about that."

"Then, how about this?" From my chest pocket, I threw the last photo at her.

"… !"

It was a picture of Naruko, Ruby, and Mio. This was a photo that Mio had just taken today with her cell phone camera. While I was talking with Naruko at the Starbucks, I had looked through the photos on her cell phone and printed this out… she definitely argued before letting me borrow this though.

"Is this also something you need to hide?" It was a photo of Naruko with her friends at the offline meeting. The three people squeezed close together to fit into the small frame of the shot. One person was standing in front with her arms outstretched, leisurely setting up the cell phone camera. The other two were in the middle of the argument, but somehow still managed to look at the camera.

"It's a worthless hobby that can only have a bad influence on her?" I could almost hear their loud chatter… and behind their scowls their true feelings were hidden… it was that kind of pleasant photograph. At least, that's how I saw it.

"You might not want to admit it, but this is something that she has!" And then— "This album where she's with the family too… and these pictures of her modeling, and these pictures of her wearing the latest fashions, and these pictures of her stylishly posing. And even these photos of her with her otaku friends, raising a fuss with scowls on their faces… all of these are Naruko! Only when all of these things are there is she Naruko! If even one is missing, she wouldn't be herself anymore!" These words that I was throwing at Mom welled up from deep inside me, and were my own sincere feelings. "Don't you see? Looking at this, If you don't know anything about something, don't judge it like that!"

As Mom gave me a grave stare, she responded. "I… I understand what you're saying." Blood vessels popped up on her face, and her expression became terrifying. She's seriously a demon. I flinched a bit. "For now, I will take back what I said about her otaku hobby being worthless. I acknowledge that I was prejudiced against these things. Alright, then. I will defer to you and I will let her for having this hobby."

"S-Seriously?!" By this time, I had already given it all I had. I was shouting, fueled solely by the momentum, without a shred of a logical argument. It was honestly a jumbled up petition. But even so, through my frantic efforts, it seems that I had gotten something through to her.

"I will let her for having this hobby…" the Moment these words were spoken, I had won this battle. But Mom continued.

"But there is one more thing. I cannot possibly ignore the indecent contents of that case. This is not a question of whether it's good or bad. This isn't related to whether or not I know about these things, or whether or not I have prejudice against these things. This is about the fact that this was an 18 product."

Ah, at last, this issue came up… there was no ignoring the logic behind Mom's words. If it's an 18 product, then it would be bad if someone under 18 had it. But, if Mom went through with what she was saying… then we would have to throw away the majority of Naruko's collection. That would be defeating the purpose. But however I thought about it, Mom was right. She was right, but… there was room for argument. After all, I had predicted that eventually we would come to this point. And so, just in case, I had thought of a few ways of dealing with this.

"Actually… " I had prepared for this… but honestly speaking, this was the one topic I didn't want to discuss. This was the first time I felt such a storm of conflict raging in my chest. I had already made up my mind to decisively push forwards in this direction. So I spoke, "Naruko doesn't have any age-restricted things… "

Upon hearing my words, Mom closed her eyes as if she was trying to restrain herself, and her hands began to tremble. And then, suddenly, she opened her eyes.

"You… at this point you're still trying to lie to me?!"

"I'm not!"

I had gotten something from those people, and I had changed. I had become an idiot. I had become an embarrassing person. For that reason, I could put such a ridiculous plan like this into action.

"THIS IS MINE!" For me, this was the worst thing I have ever said in my life. "This is definitely not Naruko's! I'm the one who owns it, it's mine! So it's alright if you don't throw it away, isn't it?!"

Blood vessels appeared on her forehead, and she responded expressionlessly. "You think I'm stupid? This is something you play on a computer, and in this house, the only person without a computer is you!"

Dammit. I had to come up with an excuse in the spur of the moment.

"T-That's because… Naruko lent me her computer!"

"W-Wha-What?! I-I see… y-y-y-you used your little sister's computer, i-in her room, to play games in which you do indecent things to little sisters?"

"It was really fun! You got a problem with that Mom?"

SMACK! Mom raised her hand and slapped me across my face with the back of her hand. She hit me so hard it made me fall on the ground.

"Urgh!" Am I a dumbass?! At the very least, I should have said that I used a laptop to play it in my room! Dammit… but, not just yet! As if I could bear to let it end here! I raised my head and continued my plea. Listen to me! Listen to my saintly, virtuous explanation! "In any case, that's mine, I said! I'm a boy, so having ero things is ok, right?! Even Mom, when you found my ero books collection under my bed, you said it was normal for a healthy boy to have that, right?! And, how is that game different from the magazines?! Is there really a difference?! Is there?! There isn't, is there?! So don't you dare throw them away! You better listen well, Mom. Anime and eroge… I… LOVE… THEM! You could say I adore them! If you throw these away, I won't be me anymore! EROGE ARE MY HEART AND SOUL!" With all the power I had left, I let out a desperate, jumbled up scream. "UNDERSTAAAAAAAAAAAAND?!"

Receiving the full brunt of my soulful cry, Mom teetered around as if dizzy. "Y-You… y-you… " As if she had been dealt a severe blow to her head, Mom grasped her temples. "YOU IDIOT SON! Do whatever the hell you want! I don't care anymore!"

What a huge yell. I haven't ever seen her flip out like this before. But Thankfully, it didn't seem like she was planning to kill me. Breathing deeply and moving her shoulders up and down, she quickly turned around and with loud footsteps left the room.

Alright, this was my victory. While my cheek was red and I held onto it, a smile floated to the surface. Haha… how's that, Naruko… your collection… I protected every piece, without leaving a single one. Heh heh heh… even ven though, as you could expect, I did it in a pretty sloppy way.

On the following day, after returning home from school, I saw my sister in the living room on her phone, just like she was on that one day some time ago.

"I'm home." I gave a greeting out of courtesy, but not only did I not get a response, she didn't even look in my direction. In her sailor uniform, she sat deep in the couch with her legs crossed in her extremely short skirt. She was on her cell phone and giggling about something or other. Certainly, that smile was cute, but it would never be directed at me. As I was thinking these thoughts…

"Huh?! Did you really watch it?! The DVD edition?! Then how the hell did you come to that conclusion?! I can't believe it, I guess that's what I get for asking for the opinion of an edgy girl… well, whatever… you should seriously get over being so edgy. See ya."

What kind of conversation was that supposed to be? I watched in interest as Naruko nonchalantly cut off the conversation and tossed her cell phone away from her.

Well, even she's changed a little from before, perhaps. Even without me, she seems to be doing well… doesn't she? At any rate, with this, all her problems have been resolved. So, again, in terms of the unusual life counseling sessions… my work was done. While I continued to talk to myself in my head, I opened up the refrigerator. I took out a pack of wheat tea, poured it in a glass, and gulped it down. Filled with many emotions, I let out a heavy breath. Feelings of relief, of satisfaction, and of just a bit of loneliness passed through my head. Shrugging my shoulders, I tried to leave the room.

"Hey." I stopped with my hand on the doorknob, and turned my head. As I turned, my sister, in her usual blunt way, said something unthinkable. "Um, I still need life counseling."

Seriously?

"And… also, uh… um," Naruko hesitated, and our eyes met. It was just simple words but…

With an awkward smile… "Thanks, brother… for protecting my collections. " She said that, her words clear. Afterwards, she quickly turned the other way. She might have been slightly blushing.

With my mouth hanging open and eyes staring, I couldn't do anything except be dumbfounded. It's been a long time since she called me that. As I wondered if I was seeing or hearing things, a thought passed into my head. My sister can't possibly be this cute