Chapter 8: The brother has no fashion sense

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Translator: Michiko

Editor: Elena

While Reiru was washing dishes in the kitchen, a red-haired girl came running in.

“Reiru! We’re going to the theater this afternoon!”

“Miss, I can’t go after this, because I have to go shopping and clean. Please take someone else with you.”

“No, no, no, no! Uruka, Nono, and Pikkusu will fall asleep during the play, so they will just  ruin the mood. On the other hand, Reiru, you don’t fall asleep, you remember all the characters, and we can talk about what we think after watching it. It definitely has to be you, Reiru.”

Reiru couldn’t help but wryly smile as she clung to his arm and threw a tantrum. She reminded him of the children at the orphanage. However, in the orphanage, the children around the same age as the little girl were more mature and rarely acted spoiled like this. 

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“Slkaw, R’x psaau, cwv usw byhl vs ts okvb bla. Rv’zz cl clvvla qsa vbl svblap vbyv oyu vss.”

Mbl xypvla alzldvle yp bl blyhle y pktb.&dcpr;

Rv bye clld qkhl eyup pkdnl Slkaw bye clld bkale yp y plahydv yv vbkp kdd. Nsnyvle dlya vbl esodvsod yaly sq y rashkdnkyz nkvu, vbkp kdd oypd’v ryavknwzyazu zyatl, cwv kv oyp vbakhkdt ewl vs kvp tsse zsnyvksd.&dcpr;

Slkaw bye zlqv vbl sarbydytl okvb raynvknyzzu dsvbkdt cwv vbl nzsvblp sd bkp cynj yde bye ds xsdlu kd byde. Tl oydvle vs tlv y zkhl-kd fsc. Wsavwdyvlzu, bl oyp bkale sd vbl prsv obld bl pyo vbkp kdd yde kdiwkale kq vblu nswze bkal bkx.

“Mbld, kv’p elnkele! Nlv’p xllv blal kd yd bswa. Jl pwal vs nbydtl kdvs vbl nzsvblp ol cswtbv ulpvlaeyu.”

Mbl zkvvzl tkaz zlqv kd y qzwaau.

“I’ve been there three times in a row now. Is there anyone else who wants to go?”

The little girl was enthusiastic about a play that was currently being performed at the theater, and Reiru had been to the theater twice before to accompany her. If he went again today, it would be the third time. 

He felt bad about getting paid to watch a play, and wondered if the other employees might want to watch the play too. Thinking so, he hesitated, but they laughed and shook their heads.

“Reiru, we used to accompany her until you came along, remember? Unsurprisingly, I am tired of seeing it.”

“It’s fine if I just have to accompany her, but when it’s over, I’m asked about my impressions. I said that the actress had big tits, and she snapped at me.”

“I’m surprised Miss doesn’t get tired of it. She goes there almost every day.”

“Reiru, if you get tired of it, let us know, okay? Someone else will take your place when the time comes.”

“Well, I’m sure Miss will calm down eventually.”

All the people at the inn were friendly and unpretentious. 

Reiru thought that all the servants would be teenage boys, but surprisingly, they all looked just a bit younger than him. 

It was said that this tourist area facing the ocean has a lot of people coming and going, and there was a lot of turnover. It seemed that there were some who would work in the town for a short period of time to save up for the boat fare and then simply cross over to another country.

Perhaps because of the familiarity among the same generation, they took care of Reiru. They told the newcomer, Reiru, that there was no need to use honorifics among the fellow servants, and treated him as if he had been one of them from the start. 

It seemed so new to Reiru.

It was different from the concern the orphans had shown him as their caretaker, and also different from the mixed feelings of pity from the townspeople who made donations. He was sure his feelings about receiving it were also different. 

Reiru casually thought, I’m not in charge of protecting these people, and they don’t need to give me charity either. 

It was the first time Reiru had experienced the small and simple kindness that came from someone on an equal footing. They were his seniors at work, but they were also the same, and they had no idea about Reiru’s background.

“Ok, thank you.”

When he thanked them, they suddenly stopped moving.

“…Reiru, you really did the right thing cutting your hair.”

They examined his face intently. Reiru was startled by the closeness of the distance and reflexively backed off.

“R-really?”

“Yeah yeah, really. Until yesterday, you looked like you’d be flashing a cunning smile with ease even if you were approached like this.”

“I know what you mean. He looked like the kind of character who would go around hooking up with married women behind their husbands’ backs.”

“What kind of character is that…”

“Well, actually, we were also thinking that the new guy we got looked like bad news. At first, we wondered if you could even do your job properly.”

“And yet, he was so earnest that it was disappointing. The boss was really impressed when he saw Reiru waking up early in the morning and sweeping the street in front of the inn first thing. It’s a scam in a way.”

“Reiru, it’s really true. You’re so smart and good at what you do, and surprisingly, you can even do manual labor for having such a thin body. We were all saying that your appearance was your only drawback.”

“That was until the miss kidnapped you, and when you came back, you looked like this. And the clothes you came back in yesterday were decent.”

“It’s amazing how humans can change with just a new hairstyle and some clothes.”

Yesterday, Reiru was taken outside by the little girl who came running into the kitchen, just like today. 

He thought they were going to see another play, but they ended up at a hairdresser’s. Under the girl’s instruction, Reiru’s hair was chopped off and he was given a full set of ready-made clothes at the adjacent clothing store. 

He refused, saying he didn’t have the money, but she said, “My father will pay for it! It’s the proprietor’s responsibility to take care of the appearance of the live-in employees!” and he was forced to let her have her way.

When the whole thing was over, both the little girl and the people at the inn were very satisfied.

“Now you’ve gone from being a marriage fraudster into a nice young man.”

“Miss, a good marriage fraudster doesn’t look like a marriage fraudster. Although, you could say that he’s been promoted from a third-rate fraudster to a first-rate one.”

They were having puzzling conversations like that.

“It’s a lot easier to dry the hair when it’s this short.” 

His hair, which had been longer than his shoulders, was now short enough to see his ears, and that was what Reiru was the happiest about.

“Weren’t you leaving the hair longer on purpose?

“No, I just left it up to my hairdresser, the lady who always takes care of me.”

“How old is that lady?”

“Err… she’s not as old as a grandma.”

“Ah, that’s why… her sense is a little old-fashioned.”

“It seems to have been popular in the past, a bit of feminine appeal? The clothes were a little erotic, too, and they seemed flashy. The only people who wear tight shirts like that nowadays are the guys in the nightlife business.”

“Wait, Uruka, you said it too bluntly! Don’t worry, Reiru.”

Reiru was shocked when Uruka pointed to the shirt he was wearing right now. He didn’t realize he was so tacky. Or rather, it wasn’t that important.

Reiru never really cared about fashion like they did in the first place. He just gratefully accepted what the ladies of the town, who were generous to the orphanage, were giving to him as part of their generosity. 

Even this shirt, though it was a bit tight, he forced himself to wear it thinking that it wasn’t unbearable. It could be said that this was both a blessing and a curse of being so tall and slender.

“…I guess I’ll buy a shirt when I get paid.” 

“Oh, then would you like to go together on your next payday? There’s a couple of second-hand clothing stores if you want something cheap.” 

“Really? I’d appreciate it. I’ve never picked out my own clothes before.”

When he was a child, he always wore hand-me-downs from older children. And even though he got hired and left the orphanage for some time, he used the money left over from his living expenses to buy books to gain knowledge that might be useful for his work. 

Eventually, the aging director passed on, and Reiru became the director to fill in the gap. At the beginning, he simply went to help out in his spare time from work, but that didn’t seem to be enough, so he quit his job.

Having lived most of his life on someone else’s dime, picking and choosing something for himself wasn’t something that Reiru has had much experience with.

“You…” 

“Hmm?” 

“No, well, maybe one day.”

After staring at him with probing eyes, the young man quickly turned away and lightly patted Reiru on the shoulder.

“Come on, let’s eat our meal. You can’t be late for the play. And if you happen to make Miss wait, it’ll be very troublesome.”

The young man, named Uruka, had black hair and gray-black eyes. Reiru thought he looked a bit like Gio; his sharp eyes, and the way he spoke without reservation but at the same time his actions were full of kindness.

Gio might possibly be angry with me. That I left without telling him, and that I left the money. 

Gio didn’t seem to like anything I did. So even if I did tell him properly, he’d be angry, and even if I took the money, he’d still be angry. 

No, I don’t know. I think his scolding was going to be longer because I didn’t take the money.

Reiru often didn’t understand why Gio was angry. In the past, he thought he understood more often than not, but now he only understood about half.

However, he understood that in the end, they would be the same now as they were then. In other words, Reiru and Gio were different people, and it was because Gio’s views and Reiru’s views were inexplicably different.

And yet, Gio has always been there for me, as a brother.

In a habitual motion, Reiru placed his hand on his chest and ascertained the sensation of the pendant hidden under his shirt.

TN: Thank you very much for kofis. I am sorry it is late. Enjoy reading. Our Reiru is back.