Today is the day my cousin Ozawa Miiko arrives from Niigata to Tokyo via train. When she comes out of the station and went to meet me at our appointed meeting place, she looks understandably exhausted since the trip took around seven hours and a half. It’s already nighttime by the time she arrived.

   ‘It’s been a really long journey, huh? Come on, let’s go to my apartment so that you could get some rest.’ I tell her as I help her pull her luggage bag.

   She’s so tired she could only nods and follow me wordlessly.

   By the time we reach our apartment, Miiko has regained some of her stamina and could start a conversation.

   ‘Nice place you got here, Takuya onii-chan.’ she tells me while looking around.

   ‘I guess. The rent’s cheap, so I can’t be choosy.’

   I bring out the charms I got from Koikana.

   ‘Here. I bought these for you.’

   ‘Thank you, onii-chan. I’ll take good care of them.’

   She then bows at me. ‘I’ll be in your care for these few days.’

   ‘Don’t worry about it. More importantly, I think you should call grandpa right now. If he got too worried, he might call the cops again.’

   She lets out a tired sigh as she takes out her phone. ‘I honestly wish he would stop treating me like I’m a three years-old.’

   ‘Just entertain him. He’s just worried about you.’

   She calls him as told. She got through almost immediately.

   ‘...Yes, I’ve reached Takuya onii-chan’s apartment.’ she reports to him. ‘For the last time, I’ll be fine grandfather. You worry too much. What’s that?’

   She suddenly hands me the phone.

   ‘He wants to talk to you.’ she informs me.

   ‘Hello?’ I ask as I receive the phone.

   ‘Listen Takuya. I want you to do your best to keep pesky insects from going near Miiko at all costs. You hear me? At all costs.’ our grandfather growls from the other side of the phone.

   ‘She’s just taking an entrance exam, grandpa.’ I remind him.

   ‘So what? Miiko’s too cute for her own good. She might attract all kinds of pests even if she doesn’t want to-’

   I didn’t let him finish and just disconnect the call. I hand the phone back to Miiko.

   ‘You don’t have to bother picking up his call for the rest of the day.’ I tell her.

   ‘I definitely won’t.’

   I start to show her around, though there’s nothing much to show inside an apartment meant for one person. It didn’t even take five minutes.

   ‘Here’s the bathroom with a toilet next to it, the kitchen, and the study table. You can go ahead and use the table to study.’ I tell her.

   I point to my bed next. ‘You can sleep on the bed. I’ll just sleep on the floor.’

   ‘There’s no need for you to be this considerate, onii-chan. I can just sleep on the floor.’

   ‘Nonsense. You need all the rest you can get to prepare yourself for the exam. Don’t worry about the house chores and meals. I’ll take care of them all by myself. You just concentrate on your studies.’

   ‘Thank you, Takuya onii-chan.’ she tells me gratefully.

   ‘Don’t mention it. Uncle Toshiharu and Aunt Koume took good care of me when I was little. This is the least I could do to pay them back.’

   Being the diligent girl that she is, Miiko didn’t waste any time and takes out her study materials from her luggage bag so that she could begin her revision immediately. Meanwhile, I start to prepare our dinner. I’ve foreseen this situation, which is why I bought tableware enough for four persons soon after I moved in here.

   ‘Will teriyaki chicken do?’ I ask her as I start to cook.

   ‘Yes.’

   ‘If you encountered any problems, don’t be shy and ask me, alright?’

   ‘Got it. Thank you very much.’

   Miiko took a short break from her studies long enough to have her dinner.

   ‘Your cooking skills have improved yet again, onii-chan.’ she compliments me.

   ‘I guess my part-time work helped me a lot.’ I tell her modestly.

   ‘Is high school fun, onii-chan?’ she asks me all of a sudden.

   ‘Nope, it stinks.’ I tell her bluntly. ‘It’s bad enough that you’re being forced to go to school, and they even want to teach you all kinds of useless knowledge that you’ll never use. To top it all off, there’s the horrible exams. Don’t even get me started on your classmates.’

   ‘Speaking of which, how are Kazuki-san and Masato-san?’

   ‘They’re doing fine. Too fine.’

   ‘What do you mean?’

   ‘They got themselves girlfriends.’

   ‘Both of them?’

   ‘Yup. You can’t imagine how annoying it is. What about you? You planned to find yourself a boyfriend after you enter high school?’

   ‘To be honest, I’m not sure. A student’s main duty is to study, after all.’

   I groan at that.

   ‘Miiko, do me a favour and toss away those thoughts from last century. Besides, if it’s study that you want to do, you could argue that being in a relationship can make you learn a lot of things too.’

   ‘I guess you could put it that way. That said, I’m worried about what grandfather might think.’

   I stop eating for a few seconds.

   ‘...Now that’s a tough hurdle your future boyfriend have to go through. For starters, make sure he learns jiujitsu just in case grandpa chases him around with a hoe.’

   ‘I would, however, love to make some friends.’

   ‘You don’t have to worry about that. You’re cute and friendly, after all. I’m sure you can become friends with the whole class in less than a week.’

   ‘But, what if they don’t want to associate with me since I’m a country bumpkin?’

   ‘Listen up. If your classmates think you’re not good enough for them just because you’re a country bumpkin, you’re better off without them. A person’s worth is judged based on her behaviour, not her background. Now finish your food and go take a bath.’

   ‘Okay.’

   After Miiko is done with her bath, she studied a bit more before she goes to sleep.

   I have a habit of waking up at the wee hours of night since I want to go out and jog and practice my Muay Thai. Now that Miiko is staying over, I have to be extra quiet when I leave and come back so that I don’t wake her up. I also came back earlier than usual since I have to prepare breakfast and lunch for two person. Just as I’m done with preparing the breakfast, Miiko wakes up.

   ‘Good morning, Takuya onii-chan.’ she says to me while letting out a yawn.

   ‘Morning, Miiko. Just eat the breakfast without me. I’ll join you shortly.’ I tell her as I’m finishing up with the cooking.

   We ate our breakfast silently. After I’m done eating, I change into my uniforms in the bathroom.

   ‘I’ve already made you lunch. You can just heat it up in the microwave when you got hungry again. Call me if you ran into any trouble while you’re all alone here. And don’t open the door for anyone.’ I tell her before I leave for school.

   ‘Got it. Have a nice day at school, Takuya onii-chan.’

   Since I have to take care of Miiko, I can’t do any consultation until her entrance exam is over, and I tell Nagano so.

   ‘I guess it can’t be helped.’ she says grudgingly. ‘What about your part-time job?’

   ‘I’m stopping that too.’

   ‘Wow. You must treasure her a lot.’

   ‘Well, she’s like a younger sister to me. Stopping my part-time work is nothing if it means that she can pass her exam.’

   ‘How’s her grades, by the way?’

   ‘It was above average the last time she reported it to me. Honestly, I’m not that worried. I mean, if you of all people can pass the entrance exam, pretty much anyone can.’

   ‘Hey!’

   ‘Yup yup~.’ Suzu agrees with me.

   ‘I really wish you guys will stop making fun of my grades.’ she grumbles.

   I shrug. ‘Get better grades, then.’

   ‘I will! One of these days!’ she growls.

   After school’s over, I head to the convenience store so that I could get an ice cream or something for Miiko. Just as I was about to pay for it, I notice that a magazine that features Akiyama-san is being sold, so I grabbed one of those as well.

   ‘Welcome home, onii-chan.’ Miiko says to me without turning around after I got back.

   ‘I’m home.’

   Miiko is concentrating very hard on her studies. I look at the dining table. The plate which contained the lunch I made for her is gone. I’m glad that she’s at least eating properly.

   ‘I bought you ice cream. It’s matcha-flavored, your favorite.’ I tell her.

   ‘I’ll eat it later. Put it inside the fridge for now, please.’

   ‘I also bought you a magazine with Akiyama Miyuki at the front page.’

   That made her flinch.

   ‘I’m trying to concentrate here, onii-chan.’

   ‘No one’s telling you to read it right now.’

   ‘You know I can’t do that!’

   ‘Then read it. Just take a small breather.’

   She sighs and puts down her pen. She then takes the magazine from me and sit down in front of the dining table and starts to read it while eating the ice cream. I sit down opposite her.

   ‘Wanna know something?’ I ask her.

   ‘Yes?’

   ‘I’ve met her once. Even talked to her.’

   She almost choked on her ice cream.

   ‘Her, as in…?’

   She shows me the magazine and points at a picture of Akiyama-san.

   ‘Who else?’

   ‘What do you mean you’ve talked to her? Did you went to a fashion show that she was in or something?’

   ‘Nope. It was something much simpler.’

   I then tell her about Nitta’s request and how I solved Akiyama-san’s problems.

   ‘Wait a second, onii-chan. You know that super idol Nitta Yuki too?’

   ‘We’re in the same school, remember?’

   ‘Yes, but I wasn’t expecting you to know her personally!’

   ‘Well, it all started when she came to the club I joined and asked for our help.’

   ‘Wasn’t the club you’re in helps people with their love problems? I remember you telling me that the last time we talked over the phone.’

   ‘Yup.’

   ‘...I’ll, not ask any more than this.’

   ‘Wise choice.’

   ‘But, to think that the Akiyama-san I admire actually has a boyfriend.’

   ‘Are you disappointed?’

   ‘On the contrary, I’m glad that she found someone she loves. Are they doing well?’

   ‘Beats me. Her boyfriend isn’t someone who tell the world about their relationship. Also, I couldn’t care less.’

   Miiko chuckles at that. ‘Are you still being bitter that pretty much everyone you know has a girlfriend or a boyfriend?’

   ‘You bet I am!’

   ‘Just so you know, I’m not going to make a deal with you that I’ll be your girlfriend if you failed to find one by the time you’re 30 or something alone that line.’

   ‘You don’t have to, nor am I expecting you to. Grandpa will never forgive me if I ever make a move on you.’

   Just in case you guys are wondering, it’s legal to have a relationship with or even marry your cousin in Japan. That said, I’ve no romantic feelings towards Miiko, just one of family. And that goes for her too.

   She gets up after she’s done with the magazine and the ice cream. ‘Well, enough breaks for me. Time to continue with my study.’

   ‘You got any trouble with it so far?’

   ‘Now that you mention it, I do find some questions about Physics difficult.’

   ‘Let me see.’

   Thankfully, I still remember the things they cover for middle school level Physics. I mange to teach her about those things that she doesn’t get without any problem.

   ‘...This is how you do this part, right?’

   ‘Yup. That’s it.’

   ‘Thank you. I finally understand.’

   ‘No problem. Just keep on relying on me if you got stuck again.’

   Usually, I would pass the time by playing video games, but there’s no way I can do that while Miiko is studying. Therefore, I go to my bookshelf and take a light novel that I bought months ago but never had time to read. It was written by the Shut-In Oni, real name Itoh Hiroto, the non blood-related younger brother of Itoh Hitomi, the treasurer of the student council.

   ‘Say, Takuya onii-chan.’

   ‘Hmm?’

   ‘I’ve been wondering about this ever since you allowed me to use this table. Don’t you have to do revision of your own?’

   ‘Revision?’ I ask her as if I’ve never heard of that word.

   ‘...Must be nice to be smart.’ she says a bit enviously.

   ‘Hey, I’m not smart. I’m just good at listening and remember every single thing that my teacher said. These are two different things.’

   ‘Still, you need some intellect to be able to understand what was taught without going through it more than once, right?’

   ‘I guess. But don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just do your best and don’t overwork yourself. Remember, entrance exams aren’t everything.’

   She inhales deeply, and exhales. ‘Got it.’

   ‘Good. What do you want to eat for dinner?’

   She thinks about it for a while.

   ‘Breaded shrimps.’ she answers.

   This girl has good taste just like me.

   On the next day, it started to snow so bad there’s an actual blizzard out there. As a result, school’s closed for the day.

   ‘Oh yeah, now I can laze around in here for the whole day!’ I say happily as we’re eating our breakfast.

   ‘It wouldn’t hurt you to do something productive when you have day off from school, Takuya onii-chan.’ Miiko tells me.

   ‘Like what? House chores? I cleaned up the whole place two days ago, and the laundry basket’s only half-full even with your stuff inside.’

   ‘That reminds me. I’ll be the one who’ll do the laundry while I’m here, okay?’

   ‘Sure. Knock yourself out.’

   The blizzard lasted until noon. By then, the streets are covered with snow several inches thick.

   ‘Want to head outside for a bit and play on the snow?’ I ask Miiko while looking at outside through my window. ‘It’ll be fun.’

   ‘Sometimes, I have a real hard time on figuring out your mental age, onii-chan.’

   I shrug. ‘It changes depend on the situation. So are you coming or not?’

   She smiles and gets up from her chair. She then rummages through her luggage bag to look for some thick clothes.

   After the two of us are well-equipped for the cold weather, we head outside and walk through the thick layer of snow. It’s a good things both of us have our snow boots on, or our feet will definitely get wet.

   ‘This reminds me of when we were still in Niigata.’ Miiko recalls.

   ‘Yup. With Kazuki, Masato and the rest. Ah what the heck. Let’s call them over. I’m pretty sure that they’ll be delighted to see you after all these years.’ I say while taking out my phone.

   I called the two of them, and they said they’ll come right away. They, in turn, called Takeuchi and Murata.

   Miiko is very excited to see Kazuki and Masato after all these years, and they spent some time talking about the good old days after introductions were made.

   For those who are wondering how we got to know each other, the four of us grew up in the same village in Niigata. When Kazuki was eight, he and his whole family moved to Tokyo. And their neighbours happened to be the Muratas. Which is why Kazuki and Murata are childhood friends. Masato and I joined Kazuki at Tokyo only after graduating grade school. Miiko, on the other hand, had to stay at Niigata since our grandfather refused to let his precious granddaughter leave his side.

   ‘Is Takuya treating you well so far?’ Masato is asking Miiko.

   ‘Yes. He’s being an excellent host.’ she replies.

   ‘Now that’s surprising.’

   ‘Just so you know, I can take good care of others if I set my mind to it.’ I tell him.

   ‘I would say that you’re lying, but since Miiko-chan isn’t contradicting you, I guess I have to trust you.’

   ‘Just remember to tell us if he ever bullies you.’ Takeuchi tells Miiko next.

   ‘That will never happen, but I’ll keep that in mind nevertheless.’

   We didn’t stay outside for long since we can’t risk Miiko catching a cold. After all, she needs all the studying she can get.

   ‘Thank you for the simple outdoor trip, onii-chan.’ she thanks me when we got back.

   I look at her closely. She looks much more relaxed than before. I guess the outdoor did her some good.

   ‘You’re welcome. I can’t have you stay cooped up in here all the time, now can I?’

   ‘Well, I’m going to continue with my study now.’

   ‘Yup. You do that.’

   Three days later, it’s finally time for the entrance exam. Miiko got up a bit earlier than usual and gets changed into her middle school’s uniform.

   ‘Exam identification pass?’

   ‘Check.’

   ‘Pencil case with extra pencils and other stationary?’

   ‘Check.’

   ‘Charms?’

   ‘Check.’

   ‘Alright then. You’re good to go.’

   To make sure that she reaches Jindai safely, I made sure to escort her.

   ‘You don’t really have to, onii-chan.’ she tells me along the way.

   ‘I have to insist. I’ll never forgive myself if I let you go there alone and something happened to you.’

   ‘Geez, you’re becoming a worrywart just like grandfather.’

   ‘Somebody has to. I’ve seen too many tragedies happening on the news.’

   When we got to school, I met Motozawa and his girlfriend at the entrance.

   ‘Good morning, Bandou-senpai.’ he greets me politely.

   ‘Morning Motozawa.’ I greet back.

   His girlfriend and I greet each other with a polite nod.

   ‘Senpai, this is Matsuda Enri. She’s, well, my girlfriend. Matsuda-san, he’s the Bandou Takuya-senpai I’ve told you about.’

   Matsuda-san gives me another polite nod. ‘Nice to meet you, Bandou-senpai. Keizo-kun told me that he had the courage to ask me out on a date because of you. Thank you so much.’

   ‘No need to thank me. It all came down to Motozawa in the end. By the way, this is my cousin Ozawa Miiko.’

   More polite nods.

   ‘Let’s pass the exams together so that we can enjoy our high school lives together!’ Matsuda-san tells Miiko.

   ‘Yes! Let’s!’

   ‘Good for you, Miiko. You already made friends even before you started high school.’ I tell Miiko. ‘Well, off you go and good luck, all of you.’

   I went to get Miiko after the exam’s over, and she was waiting at the school gate with Motozawa and Matsuda-san.

   ‘How was the exam?’ I ask the three of them.

   ‘I think I can do well.’ Miiko tells me confidently. ‘The question I asked you about in Physics actually came out!’

   ‘Is that so? Good for you then.’

   ‘I-I think I can pass.’ Motozawa answers while looking a bit ashen-faced.

   ‘Whoa there, stop looking that scared, man. You got to be more confident.’

   ‘He’s right, Keizo-kun. You have to be confident, or you’ll get stressed out right until the day that the results come out.’ Matsuda-san adds.

   ‘Speaking of which, that’s the only thing left for all of you to do. Just wait. The worst is over, so get some well-deserved rest.’ I tell them.

   We talked some more before we said our goodbyes and head back to our own places. Miiko goes back to Niigata two days later. She did want to stay for a few more days. Unfortunately for her, our grandfather’s starting to have a fit, so she has to go back early.