Bath Break – Where Memories Reside

This was a story from a few years ago, before Touya was summoned to another world.

The moon bathed the apartment building in a blue light. It looked like a decently upper class apartment at first glance, but the faded walls couldn’t hide the building’s age. Touya had been living in this apartment building in a quiet residential neighborhood at the time. His parents had yet to return from work, so it was just him and his younger sister at the moment.

“...What are you doing, Yukina?”

Touya came out from the bath to find Yukina, who had finished bathing before him, standing naked in front of the television. She was holding a bath towel against herself, but was only covering her front with it, so her pale back and butt were in full view. Touya instinctively checked to make sure the curtains were closed, which they were, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hey, Touya, look at this!”

“I can see, so dry your hair and put on some clothes first.”

Her hair, which was still black at the time, was moist. Touya patted her hair dry with a towel as he watched TV, which was airing local news coverage on a school’s peculiar sports match. He finished drying her hair, then sat down on the sofa. Yukina kept her eyes glued to the TV as she put on a pair of panties.

“It’s so cute~♥”

“Mhmm... it is.”

A schoolgirl was currently being interviewed on the screen. Yes, Yukina’s eyes were glued to the sailor uniform that the girl was wearing.

“I wish I could wear that already~”

“Next year. I’m sure it’ll look great on you.”

She would be entering middle school next spring and could hardly hold back her excitement about being able to wear the sailor uniform. She finished putting on her favorite pink pajamas and then jumped onto her older brother’s lap.

“You know, I’m going to make lots of friends in middle school!”

“That’s right, make sure to get along with your classmates and club members.”

“And then, and then, I’m going to go shopping with my friends on the way home from school!”

“You’re going to get yelled at if you’re seen goofing off in your uniform.”

“Oh yeah.”

Yukina lay down on the sofa using Touya’s lap as her pillow, listing out all her future dreams with a wide smile. She hadn’t been able to attend elementary school that much due to her weak constitution that often landed her in the hospital. That was why she was moving all her goals to middle school. For her, the sailor uniform wasn’t just a uniform—it symbolized middle school itself.

Yukina continued to talk about all the things she wanted to do, Touya smiling and nodding along all the while, and eventually she started to grow silent. She was doing her best to put up an energetic front, but she was sickly and had little stamina.

“...Let’s get you to bed.”

“...Okay.”

Touya stroked her hair and picked her up in a princess carry that he seemed all too used to. Yukina wrapped her arms around Touya’s neck to keep her balance.

“Hey, Touya...”

“What is it?”

“When my school uniform comes, I’m gonna make sure you’re the first one to see me in it.”

“I’m looking forward to it. I’m sure you’ll look cute.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna get better, so let’s play together when that happens.”

“Are you planning to go in your school uniform?”

“It’s fine as long as we don’t go far, right?”

“...Well, that shouldn’t be an issue.”

They walked to bed as they exchanged casual banter.

“...After that, Yukina went in and out of the hospital several times. She tried her best, but right before the start of middle school...”

“So that’s what happened...”

“Sniff...”

“That poor girl...”

Now back in the present, where Touya was continuing to practice his magic.

Clena and the others had asked Touya what kind of girl his little sister was during their break, so he recalled their memories together, and then Roni and Rakti broke down in tears. The ever-silent Rium and Clena, who stared at them stunned, also looked like they had tears in their eyes. They had differing reactions, but they all shared the same desire to rescue Yukina.

“I want to bring Yukina back and grant her dream of wearing that sailor uniform.”

“I don’t really know what a sailor uniform is, but if it’s something like a dress, then I know how your little sister felt.” Clena folded her arms and nodded. She must have shared a similar experience in the past.

“So you understand now?”

“Yes, I’ll help you out. Let’s make your little sister’s dream come true!”

“Thank you, Clena!”

Clena reached out her hand, which Touya firmly grasped. And then he followed, “And if she wants to go shopping with her friends, then everyone will need their own sailor uniforms... so I ask of you all, please wear sailor uniforms!!”

“Yes, of course we will!”

Roni was the first to jump on board, then Rakti and Rium took Touya’s hand as well. Lastly, needless to say, all eyes rested on Clena. She turned red as all the expectant gazes pointed in her direction, then averted her eyes for a while until she finally softly murmured, “...I’ll think about it.”

In response, Touya and Roni exchanged a wordless thumbs up. After that, Clena grew angry and intensified Touya’s training regimen, but that was a story for another time.