"Brother, you're back so late..."
But when she noticed what Ishikawa Hayato was holding, she blinked blankly, then stomped her white-socked foot in anger.
"Don't bring corpses into the house!"
At this point, Ishikawa Hayato felt the need to prove that his family was perfectly ordinary, not some family of assassins.
What on earth was this stupid little sister imagining?
As soon as his sister finished speaking, a commotion came from the kitchen.
"Eeeeeek!"
Amid clattering sounds and hurried footsteps, their mother rushed out and looked anxiously at Ishikawa Hayato.
She nervously inspected what he was holding.
"I believe Hayato definitely isn't a bad boy."
Mom, could you not look so nervous when you say you believe in me?
Ishikawa Hayato was a little curious about what kind of image he had in his mother's mind.
"It's an instrument, idiot."
Ishikawa Hayato took off his shoes and changed into the house slippers. Walking up to his sister, who was still staring at what he held, he gave the foolish girl a headbutt.
His mother also sighed in relief, but after glancing back at the kitchen, she let out a cry and hurriedly ran back inside.
Ishikawa Hayato poked his head into the kitchen too. Seeing nothing that needed his help, he added what he had failed to say when he came home.
"Good evening, Mom."
He turned toward his sister, who was clutching her head and preparing to return to the living room to watch TV.
"And my stupid little sister too."
"Hmph."
He received a cold snort from his sister, along with a welcome from his mother.
Just as Ishikawa Hayato was about to carry the synthesizer and amplifier back to his room, he looked at his sister lounging on the couch with her legs hugged to her chest, lazily watching TV. Feeling obligated to give this idle person something to do, he walked in.
"Hm?"
Seeing her brother approach carrying someone's head—an amplifier—and a headless corpse—a keyboard—Ishikawa Hibiki immediately looked wary and shrank deeper into the sofa, even stacking her little feet together.
"What are you doing?!"
"Come upstairs with me."
Ishikawa Hayato did not care about the added burden at all. He simply hooked an arm around his sister's head and dragged her outside.
"Eeeeeek, Mom, save me! Brother's going to kill me! If you keep cooking, there'll be one less person eating dinner tonight!!"
Dinner
"Dinner will be ready soon."
Their mother completely ignored Hibiki's cries and merely reminded them.
"Yeah, we'll be down in a bit."
Ishikawa Hayato answered while carrying a pile of bags and one sister.
With her neck caught in his hold and her pleas for help ignored, Hibiki's eyes immediately became sorrowful and lifeless. Like a dead fish, she was carried by Ishikawa Hayato to her bedroom door.
Then she watched blankly as Ishikawa Hayato calmly opened the door as if he were entering his own room.
"This is my room!"
"My little sister's room is my room, and my room is still my room."
Ishikawa Hayato nodded with complete confidence.
"Are you Gian?! Even Gian wouldn't do this to his own little sister!"
Unable to stand it any longer, Ishikawa Hibiki began struggling.
"Little sister?"
Ishikawa Hayato released her, put on a blank expression as if he did not understand, and looked around.
"Where? Isn't there only a keyboard, an amplifier, and an idiot here?"
"I'm not teaching you, then."
Freed, Hibiki entered her room, turned to face Ishikawa Hayato, crossed her arms, and spoke coldly.
Apparently, she was not that stupid. She had clearly guessed her brother's intentions, seized control of the conversation, and put on airs.
"Oh~"
Ishikawa Hayato nodded. "Wait a second."
With that, he turned and left the room. Curious, Hibiki poked her head out and watched him head downstairs.
A moment later.
Ishikawa Hayato looked at his sister, who was sitting sulkily on the light-blue bedsheets, still wearing her school uniform, and held out one hand.
In it was a box of pudding he had just bought.
"Pudding."
He wore a pleading smile.
"What do you take me for... I'm not going to be tricked into doing manual labor by a little food."
Hibiki sighed and curled her lips.
Tch. She was usually so dumb, but she suddenly got smart when it mattered. Guess I'll have to bleed more.
Ishikawa Hayato grumbled inwardly, but the ingratiating expression on his face did not change. He held out his other hand, several slips of paper resting in his palm.
And as expected of his ultimate weapon, after Hibiki glanced over, her gaze first lingered casually on his hand. Her little head nodded slightly as if counting the slips, then a smile she could not hide crept onto her lips.
"Well... I guess teaching you isn't impossible."
She slowly yet swiftly took the slips, not forgetting to lay down a threat.
"Let's get one thing straight: if you're too stupid to learn, I'm not responsible."
Even while asking for help, Ishikawa Hayato still snorted at that.
"Heh."
Hibiki immediately bristled. Waving her little fists, she glared at Ishikawa Hayato through gritted teeth.
"You dared to snort at me! Just you wait!"
When it was time to eat.
The siblings came downstairs.
One looked deep in thought, while the other followed behind her brother unsteadily, as if she had lost all hope in life.
"What's wrong with you two?"
The head of the Ishikawa household, Ishikawa Jinpei, had returned not long ago. Sitting at the dinner table, he took a small sip of alcohol and was about to begin eating, but he looked up at the siblings' strange appearances.
Ishikawa Hayato came back to himself and said,
"Oh, right. I joined a band today, so I'll be coming home later from now on."
Ishikawa Jinpei nodded, showing no objection, then revealed a smile.
"Planning to build a harem by being a band guy? Not a bad idea."
He said it with the proud expression of someone telling Hayato he still had a lot to learn.
"No. How could I accept a harem built with such third-rate methods?"
Ishikawa Hayato sat in his seat and shook his head, dismissive of his father's idea. That stuff was outdated.
After his sister sat down, the first thing she asked was directed at Ishikawa Jinpei—her father.
"Dad, do you know your son is a pervert?"
Ishikawa Jinpei froze and blinked in confusion, wearing an expression of surprise that seemed to say, Why did you only realize that now?
Seeing her father once again display every thought on his face like an idiot, Hibiki angrily decided not to speak to him anymore and instead called sweetly toward her mother, who had not yet left the kitchen.
"Mommy~~"
"Coming."
After wiping her hands dry, Ishikawa Shizuka walked out of the kitchen with a smile.
When his wife arrived, Ishikawa Jinpei's expression became slightly more serious. He did not dare show that sneaky look he had worn while talking with his son.
With a serious expression, Hibiki asked Ishikawa Shizuka,
"Is Brother really Dad's son?"
Hearing this earth-shattering question, the two men of the Ishikawa family stared dumbly at Hibiki, exchanged a glance, then turned to look at Ishikawa Shizuka.
The mistress of the Ishikawa household, who had been about to pick up her chopsticks, had her smile freeze. Then she narrowed her eyes.
"Hibiki, do you not want this month's allowance?"
Faced with the issue of her allowance, Hibiki immediately regained her intelligence.
With clean, polite movements, she put down her chopsticks, pushed back her chair, and walked aside to kneel.
"I'm sorry!"
Watching his sister like this, Ishikawa Hayato rubbed his chin. It seemed his sister had the potential to become a pervert too.
"But that was way too exaggerated. Why is Brother such a pervert?"
After Hibiki explained, her parents understood the situation.
So what if he had gone from not knowing how to play piano at all to being able to play a piano piece in just a few minutes?
They were already used to it.
"That was merely a thinking ability countless times superior to your almond-sized brain. Please call it intelligence, not perversion."
Ishikawa Hayato ate properly. He had his own standards for what counted as perversion; not every weird thing should be called perverted.
"But Brother, you are a pervert."
Hibiki stated it with certainty.
After all, it was something her brother had called himself for over ten years.
"Of course I'm a genuine, proud, upright pervert."
Ishikawa Hayato answered proudly, his name unchanged and his seat unmoved.
Seeing her son act like this again, Ishikawa Shizuka sighed. She began worrying about her underage son's future love life.
"Hayato... no girl will like you if you're like this. You won't be able to build a harem either."
Hearing his mother say that, Ishikawa Hayato boastfully brought up what had happened that afternoon.
"Ah, right, speaking of girls, I met two angels today! They spent over an hour with me, helped me buy books and a keyboard. It was great~"
He happily swayed from side to side.
Hibiki slowly put down her chopsticks and pressed her hands together in silent prayer.
"Poor salesclerks. I hope they encounter something happy in the future and forget today's painful experience."
She did not take a single word from her wise, perverted brother seriously.
Ishikawa Hayato turned to look at his parents. Seeing that they too seemed to agree with his sister, he quickly finished the rest of his meal.
Then he picked up his rice bowl and stood.
Before you continue