Chapter 32: He doesn't like your sister.
When Morofushi Sora'aki woke up, it was already nine o'clock in the morning. It was the weekend, so his family hadn't woken him up, and it was normal for him to linger in bed a little. After waking up, Morofushi Sora'aki felt a bit of a headache.
Morofushi Sora'aki wasn't surprised by this, after all, he had been in the other world for four days without returning, which was the longest he had ever spent in a parallel world so far.
Is this some kind of default rule between Morofushi Sora'aki and the system? Whether the mission is completed or not is another matter, but if he sleeps in a parallel world, he will sleep normally in that world if there are people around, until he is sure that there are no people around, and then he will wake up and leave that world to go home.
Simply put, even if you lose consciousness in another world, you won't immediately lose contact and go home—at least there haven't been any such accidents yet.
Previously, he had always slept on the tatami mats at the inn with Hagiwara and the others, so this time, after the four-day school trip ended, he returned to the house prepared by the system, said goodbye to Hagiwara and Matsuda, and then went home.
After all, if sleeping in both worlds were the keys to time travel, he would eventually get them mixed up. So he only travels to other worlds when he sleeps in his own world; otherwise, he stays awake and returns.
Morofushi Sora'aki sat on the bed and rubbed his temples. After a short while, he slowly put on his slippers and went outside.
Recently, he has been experiencing headaches more frequently, but it is still within a tolerable range.
Morofushi Sora'aki opened the door, lowered his head, and walked towards the stairs. However, halfway there, he suddenly bumped into an obstacle.
The black-haired boy's head hit the obstacle, but it didn't hurt. He blinked blankly, and for a moment he didn't react.
Feeling it was about time, Morofushi Hiromitsu, who was about to wake his younger brother, looked down at his brother, who hadn't been looking where he was going after leaving the house and had bumped into him, resting his head on his shoulder in a daze. A smile involuntarily crept onto his face: "Sora'aki?"
Upon hearing the voice, Morofushi Sora'aki looked up, and after a few seconds of recognition, hesitated before confirming, "...Brother?"
"It's me. Are you still half asleep?" Morofushi Hiromitsu smiled and naturally took Morofushi Sora'aki's hand. "Alright, Mom has already heated up breakfast once. Let's go downstairs."
Morofushi Sora'aki was passively led by his older brother to the living room, his mind gradually clearing up in the process. Belatedly, Morofushi Sora'aki obediently said, "Good morning, brother."
Morofushi Hiromitsu chuckled: "Hmm, good morning, Sora'aki."
"Isn't my brother going to work today?"
"Even though he's a policeman… he still gets regular days off." After Sora'aki sat down, Morofushi Hiromitsu casually patted his younger brother's head. Even though he had already eaten breakfast, he still sat down in the seat in front of Sora'aki.
After graduating from police academy, Morofushi Hiromitsu was assigned to the public security department. Perhaps because he was still a newcomer, his current work didn't involve frontline duties. Although it's called public security, the vast majority of his work involved organizing documents in the office. While it might not sound nice, it was surprisingly easy.
If he were to say that out loud, he would definitely be threatened by the two punchers who were recognized as the twin stars of the "virginity-breaking group" in a short period of time—after all, the fact that they could become squad leaders in such a short time shows how frequently they have encountered danger.
The class monitor's side is doing alright, similar to his side. Because he's a newcomer, he's not dealing with criminal cases, but rather the everyday matters of the surrounding residents.
Well, aside from the two members of the "virginity-breaking group," their current lives are quite different from the police life they once imagined.
I wonder when Zero will take a break. How about we all get together after this period is over? I feel a bit lost, as we haven't been in touch much lately.
He ran into Miyano Akemi at the supermarket last week. According to her, Zero went to the hospital to see Elena-sensei a few days ago.
Morofushi Hiromitsu harbored some resentment towards this. Wasn't it a bit too obvious that his friend had forgotten him for the sake of a pretty face?
Speaking of the Miyano family...
"By the way, Sora'aki, Akemi asked me to ask you if you've been free lately," Morofushi Hiromitsu said with a smile. "She said Shiho-chan misses you a little."
Morofushi Sora'aki, biting into an egg, looked up at his brother and asked, "Did she run into an idiot at school again?"
"The way you and Shiho get along is really..." Morofushi Hiromitsu said with a helpless smile, "If nothing unexpected happens, this is probably how it is, right?"
A few years ago, Miyano Akemi and Morofushi Hiromitsu had a plan to make their two children, who were four years apart in age, friends. As it turned out, both children were very clear about what their older siblings were thinking. The two children looked at each other and then tacitly found a book in the room. One sat on the sofa and the other sat in the corner, and they stayed there quietly reading all day.
Aside from the initial self-introductions, the two didn't exchange a single word all day.
Both Morofushi Hiromitsu and Miyano Akemi felt helpless about this, but they also felt that it was a good start. After confirming that neither side had any dissatisfaction or negative emotions, they tried to let them get along like this a second and a third time.
Perhaps because they read books together so often, Miyano Shiho would remind Morofushi Sora'aki whenever he randomly picked up a book, "That's the second book in the series. You should read the first book first before reading that."
This sentence became the beginning of breaking the ice, and the two would occasionally exchange a few words.
Once they started talking, Miyano Shiho realized that this person was different from others; at least he could keep up with her train of thought. When she asked questions that no one but her parents could answer, he could, within two minutes, tiptoe to pull out a dry medical book that most people would never read and hand it to her, saying, "It's written on page 154."
When Miyano Shiho opened it with suspicion, she discovered that it did indeed contain detailed explanations.
After a while, although we're not exactly friends yet, our relationship has gotten better.
Recently, Morofushi Sora'aki hasn't been visiting the Miyano family, so Miyano Shiho is missing them a little... well, that's probably an exaggeration by Akemi.
It's highly likely that the girl was just bored, so Akemi asked Sora'aki if he was free; at least two people are better than one.
Miyano Shiho is a genius, but ultimately the Miyano family chose to let her experience the adolescence that comes with her age and to let her meet other children her own age. This precocious Shiho finds school boring and thinks her peers are childish, often complaining about it and saying she wants to be with her older sister.
It happened to be the weekend, and Morofushi Sora'aki had nothing else to do, so he didn't refuse the invitation.
When they arrived at Miyano Clinic, Miyano Shiho was sitting in a room looking at a medical book in her hand. It was a dry research book that children her age would never be exposed to, but Miyano Shiho was reading it with great interest.
When Miyano Shiho looked up and saw Morofushi Sora'aki, she didn't close the book in her hand, nor did she stand up to welcome him. Instead, she said directly, "Did my sister send you?"
"Hmm." Morofushi Sora'aki also adopted a rather matter-of-fact attitude, standing in front of the bookshelf and randomly picking out a book he hadn't read before, before sitting down on the other side.
"Okay, if you come, I won't be so worried." Miyano Shiho pouted and complained, "Everyone at school is so boring, how could I possibly like a brat who doesn't know anything?"
"Romantic topics?" Morofushi Sora'aki hadn't even opened the book yet, so he casually asked, "You're at that age too?"
Miyano Shiho frowned unhappily: "What weird TV show have you been watching this time?"
"I've been reading a lot of romance comics and magazines lately." Morofushi Sora'aki replied.
Miyano Shiho looked confused: "You? A romance comic? A reference book your brother bought for you because he wants you to date in high school?"
Miyano Shiho doesn't think that Morofushi Sora'aki would be interested in romance comic.
"A classmate of mine draws romance comics, so he stuffed a lot of comics into my hands," Morofushi Sora'aki replied, flipping through a book. "He even asked me if I knew anyone who looked like a comic book protagonist…"
As he said this, Morofushi Sora'aki raised his head and asked in confusion, "I think you look quite like it."
A genius girl is a standard trope for a protagonist.
"If you want the male protagonist of a comic to appear in the operating room and be dissected by me." Miyano Shiho said sarcastically.
"How terrifying, shoujo comic has turned into horror comic."
"...I'm really curious what happened to you in high school. Your tone of voice has become so frivolous." Miyano Shiho's expression was somewhat disgusted: "Don't corrupt my sister."
"I don't get along with your sister." Morofushi Sora'aki lowered his head and turned to the next page: "You should worry about Rei-nii instead of me."
Miyano Shiho: "..."
Miyano Shiho didn't answer. Morofushi Sora'aki looked up and noticed the little girl's dark face: "I hate Furuya Rei! He always steals my sister! Every time he comes, my sister won't stay with me."
Since the conversation had turned to romance, Miyano Shiho looked at Morofushi Sora'aki and asked suspiciously, "Do you think Furuya Rei has feelings for my sister? Otherwise, why does he keep coming to my family's hospital for no reason?"
Morofushi Sora'aki answered honestly, "He doesn't like your sister."
Miyano Shiho immediately bristled: "My sister is so wonderful! How dare he not like my sister!"
"I didn't say anything bad about your sister." Morofushi Sora'aki said in a flat tone. "He doesn't like your sister; he likes your mother."
Miyano Shiho: "..."
Miyano Shiho: "...!!!"
Miyano Shiho's pupils dilated in shock: "What did you say?!"
Hearing the sounds coming from the room, and the unusually excited voice of the young girl, Morofushi Hiromitsu took the tea that Miyano Akemi had made for him and sighed, "They have such a good relationship."
Miyano Akemi smiled gently, "Yes, Shiho has become more lively too. I'm so grateful to Sora'aki."
The two siblings exchanged a glance, and it was as if invisible little flowers were sprouting around them. Both sides were very satisfied with this.
Unaware of the situation, Furuya Rei, who was working overtime in the police station, exclaimed: "Achoo!"