Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard
Chapter 369 - 275: Aei and Chiaei

Chapter 369: Chapter 275: Aei and Chiaei

...

"Sor, sorry! I’m just here to ask if Aei is around, I’m worried she might have forgotten to eat lunch again."

At the classroom door, Uesugi Sakura sized up the girl in front of her.

She looked a lot like Aei, but taller, with a beauty mark under her right eye, wearing the same elementary school uniform as Aei.

She must be the sister Aei had mentioned before.

But the same uniform gave off a completely different impression on the two sisters. The younger sister wore it loosely, while the older sister wore it neatly, giving off a polite vibe.

Uesugi Sakura: "Are you Aei-chan’s sister?"

"Um... yes, I’m Aei’s sister, may I ask who you are, brother?"

Just after speaking, Chidori Chiaei quickly apologized, "I’m sorry, my name is Chidori Chiaei, I should have introduced myself first."

’One should say their own name before asking for someone else’s name.’—This was probably why the girl in front of him apologized.

"Uesugi Sakura," Uesugi Sakura explained to her, "Didn’t the school have a class event? I’m here just for the day because of that."

Chidori Chiaei seemed a bit nervous in front of him, quickly saying, "So you are the older brother helping to take care of Aei today, I hope Aei hasn’t been a bother to you! If she has, I apologize on her behalf."

Uesugi Sakura thought she stood very properly, her small hands clasped in front of her skirt, very polite: "It’s fine, you don’t need to use honorifics, just call me brother or senpai like Aei-chan does, I also attended elementary school here before."

"You... senpai... did you also study here?"

"Probably more than ten years ago, Imanishi-sensei was my teacher back then too."

"Imanishi-sensei?... So you really are a senpai...."

Upon hearing Imanishi-sensei’s name, Chidori Chiaei’s voice softened considerably, and she no longer used honorifics, feeling closer.

But compared to her sister Aei who instantly called him brother upon meeting him, the older sister still retained a bit of respect, being more mature and polite.

"Ah! It’s my sister!"

Aei, unnoticed when she discovered Chidori Chiaei, came running out of the classroom with her little feet.

Chidori Chiaei noticed some rice grains still on her sister’s mouth, softly reprimanding her, "Really, Aei, you didn’t bother the brother, did you?"

"Eh... sister doesn’t trust Aei?"

Aei pouted, tugging on Uesugi Sakura’s sleeve beside her, "Now Aei belongs to brother, and brother won’t dislike me."

Just recently, when Hanabi fed you, didn’t you say you’d always belong to the pretty sister?

Uesugi Sakura had no words left for this peculiar child.

"Aei!" Chidori Chiaei was worried that her sister’s action would trouble Uesugi Sakura, after all, he seemed a little unaccustomed to affection.

Aei fearfully hid away, mumbling softly, "Ugh... sister is so stern, I’ll go find the pretty sister."

Saying this, she took a few small steps back to her table, sitting next to Hanabi, with rice still on her cheek.

"Sor... sorry, Aei’s just like this..."

Her tone sounded more like a worried mother than a sister.

"It’s nothing." Uesugi Sakura didn’t mind these things; after all, Aei’s intentional unintentional affection didn’t come across as annoying, she wasn’t the kind of mischievous, troublesome child.

...

Aei is a very peculiar child.

But overall, she’s quite adorable, with a round face, long eyelashes, and eyes full of the innocent colors of a young girl.

Likes to pout and mumble softly, and often shifts her gaze intentionally when speaking.

"I’m full."

Sitting on the stool, Aei lowered her small head with hat on, patting her plump little belly.

But the word "full" she used was a masculine term.

Roughly equivalent to the difference between referring to oneself as "I" and the more casual "I/me" in Japanese.

It felt like words that wouldn’t normally come from a young girl’s mouth.

As soon as she said it, her cuteness level sharply dropped.

"Aei! Haven’t I told you to speak properly? Don’t say that again." Chidori Chiaei scolded angrily.

Uesugi Sakura watched Aei pat her stomach: "She must be mimicking adults, right?"

Chidori Chiaei: "Ah, right, Aei often does that."

"Not mimicking adults." Aei, finished eating, leaned against Hanamaru Hanabi, wanting her to hold her for a while.

Hanamaru Hanabi felt Aei seemed very dependent on her, quite close.

Sakura was aware of how much food she needed, roughly equivalent to three and a half small kids.

She ate a lot.

Hanamaru Hanabi helped pat her little tummy: "Aei-chan seems to really love the school’s food."

"Because the pretty sister feeds me," Aei’s lazy voice sounded like she was stating a fact, "Because the pretty sister feeds me, that’s why I eat so much."

Hearing this, Uesugi Sakura thought it wasn’t that simple: "Then how much do you usually eat?"

"Ugh..." Aei earnestly worked her little brain, then said, "The same, I can also eat a lot of meat."

So, even whether or not Hanabi was the one feeding her, her appetite was the same.

Perhaps she just wanted to thank Hanabi by changing the form of her compliment.

"The school’s food is better than at home." Aei stretched her neck, speaking slowly, causing her hat to fall off.

Hanamaru Hanabi held onto her hat: "Doesn’t your mom’s cooking taste good?"

"Sister’s cooking isn’t good, she can’t cook, she often gives me cold bento to eat."

Little Aei seemed to love the sister who fed her, Hanabi, considering her to smell nice and be gentle, snuggling her little face against her, as if acting spoiled.