“Do you have any business with my little sister?”
I asked with a voice devoid of any emotion, the same goes to my expression.
Looking at his outstanding appearance, a thought suddenly entered my mind. Is this the same boy who had been disturbing my little sister despite having already told him that his presence is nothing but an annoyance in her life? Because I had been very busy working, I didn’t have the time to visit the school to give a warning to the boy.
But now I see that this little rat still couldn’t understand his own place. I guess I have to teach him a lesson as an adult in his parent’s place. With that thought in mind, I slowly put more strength on my grip which caused him to visibly groan from the pain but otherwise no one would have noticed what was going on. Everyone was busy minding their own business.
“Ryu-nii!”
Ayumi exclaimed in surprise upon detecting my presence behind the rat—an annoyance. In response to her, a smile appeared on my face as I greeted her just like the usual. As expected her smile is the cutest.
“Hey, little devil.”
While I was greeting my little sister, my hand remained gripping on the rat’s shoulder as it should be. Judging from the look he is giving at me, he doesn’t seem to be the type that would stop if someone told him so. An annoying type of person, exactly what I hate the most. If it wasn’t for the fact that we’re in high school, a place where children gain knowledge for their future, I might have gone hard on him.
It doesn’t matter that he is younger than me. The fact that he annoyed Ayumi, my little sister, is enough of a reason for me to act.
Perhaps, I might have been spoiling her too much. Fortunately, she didn’t turn out bad like what one would have expected. Though sometimes she seems to be taking advantage of me by asking me to buy her stuff and the likes, she never went too far in my book.
There was a time she kept hinting that she wanted a smartphone since most of her peers already have one in their pocket, most likely, she doesn’t want to feel left out. At that time, I was planning on getting a car to make it easier for me as I could just drive straight toward my workplace instead of taking so much time waiting for the bus to arrive at the bus stop.
It only required me a couple of months worth of my salary since I had been saving my money for quite a while then. At that time, smartphones were pretty expensive compared to today. Of course it couldn’t be compared to a car’s price, however, it was still enough to give me a headache for hours. But in the end…
I have said this before but I’ll say it again, my highest priority is my little sister. That is all you need to know.
Unlike most spoiled kids, Ayumi didn’t mind even if I ended up not getting her a smartphone mind you. It must have been due to mother’s teaching that she grew up fine despite me spoiling her so much. I definitely didn’t get some scolding from my mother as a result of my spoiling, definitely.
“Ryu-nii! What are you doing here? I thought you were busy with your job? Is it okay for you to be here?”
See? She’s more worried about me than herself. Indeed, I might get ruthlessly slaughtered by my boss, but that doesn’t matter. What mattered to me is the girl in front of me. To be exact, that dimple smile of hers.
“Guh! Could…you..please!”
“Hmm? Ah, right.”
When I heard the rat having trouble with my grip on his shoulder just by looking at the pained expression on his handsome face, I thought that was enough of a lesson for him at the moment as I let go of him. The moment I let my grip off his shoulder, the rat took a few steps back with his forehead covered in sweats as if he had a marathon.
Perhaps, he might have thought I wouldn’t notice his glare filled with ill intent due to the fact that my back is against him, he didn’t bother to hide it. Despite knowing I’m the brother of the girl he’s trying to woo, instead of curry a favor, he actually thinks my presence is annoying? I need to have a talk with his parents someday before something unfortunate happens. To him, that is.
“Ryu-nii!”
“Mhm, I heard you the first time, you know? I’m fine, I still have time before my shift anyway so you don’t have to worry.”
Along with my reassuring words, I didn’t forget to pat her in the head as I always did. Upon hearing my words, she seems relieved and at the same time, I could see joy and happiness hidden within her eyes. She missed me, huh… The feeling is mutual.
“Or maybe, you don’t want my presence here? I’ll take my leave then.”
Before I could turn my back on her, Ayumi quickly grabbed my hand in order to stop me from leaving.
“No no! You can stay if that’s the case!”
I tried my best to hold my stoic expression from breaking apart into a smile at her words. If not for the fierce glares piercing into my back, I might have ended up smiling like an idiot. Thanks, you’re very helpful, rat.
“So, do you mind introducing me to the cute ladies over here?”
As expected for young maidens, my terrible choice of words caused them to blushed like a tomato. Umu, though it was my mistake I’m sorry to say but my sister is cuter.
Anyway, I’m happy for her. After all, my shy little sister actually does have friends. I can be at ease now.
Even though she had told me about her school life plenty of times during the call, it’s more believable to see it with my own two eyes. This isn’t about trust, but more of a protective side of me in the act. I can’t help it, alright?
When Ayumi heard my words, she couldn’t help but give me a strange look before shaking her head as she slowly started to introduce her friends to me with a wry smile on her face.
“From the right, this is Nakamiya Ayane. Ayane-chan, this is my brother, Takahashi Enryu, in short, Ryu-nii!”
“N-nice to meet you!” Said the bashful girl while her eyes were roaming around, afraid of connecting her eyes with me. She’s shy, huh. I responded with a curt nod before Ayumi started introducing her two other friends.
However, before she could continue, all of us, the teacher and students in the classroom included, were surprised by a strange magic circle suddenly appearing on the floor, flickering from time to time. The scene was so mesmerized and mysterious that the room was filled with silence for a moment. But it was immediately filled with chaos when something absurd like this happened right in front of them.
“W-What?”
“What the hell is this?”
“Is this magic circle? Am I finally awakening as a true wizard?!”
“This isn’t the time for you to act like that! Come on, let’s leave the classroo—”
Before the student could finish his words, he vanished on the spot as if he had been spirited away by an unknown supernatural power. Just as his friend was about to scream in fright upon witnessing such a freak scene in front of him, he also disappeared soon after.
Following the two examples, the other students also started to disappear without being able to utter any word before their whole figure vanished.
‘The hell?’ I was left astounded. However, it wasn’t just me that saw everything that happened in the classroom. When faced with unknown circumstances out of nowhere, all they could do is just staring fearfully at the spot their friends once stood while one by one, they also disappeared by unknown means. At this point, even if someone told me that God is real to an atheist like me, I would believe him without a second doubt.
Though I don’t have a single idea on what’s going on, I quickly stepped forward and put my arms protectively around Ayumi. I have a feeling even if I tried to escape, it won’t work. I trusted in these gut feelings much more than I trusted others since it helps me plenty of times in the past.
“Ryu-nii…”
“Don’t worry, whatever happens, your brother here will protect you.”
When Ayumi whispered to me in response to me hugging her, I gently consoled her while also patting in the back of her head. It wasn’t long before I, along with my little sister, also disappeared as silent filled the classroom.
…
When the students that have just finished eating in the cafeteria came into their classroom, they were surprised that no one else was in there. But even so, they didn’t find it abnormal, most likely, they thought everyone else would be coming back once the bell rang.
However, the bell rang and no one came back, not even their homeroom teacher. It was then that they felt something was wrong and told the other teachers about it.
The next day, many parents were saddened upon seeing news on their televisions in the morning, it was the news of a strange incident, spirited away. A few students, a single teacher, and an adult man, all of them disappeared without any logical explanation. None can explain what had happened in the classroom, it was as if they just disappeared suddenly, at least that’s what the clues they found indicated. It was a really unfortunate event.
