Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The Boss and His Flunkies 

S OMEHOW ANOTHER MONTH had slipped by, which meant it was time for the regularly scheduled meeting of the Ranoa University of Magic’s foremost gang of delinquents. By which I mean the “special class” homeroom. The attendees were the usual suspects: Zanoba, Julie, Cliff, Linia, Pursena, and me. Nanahoshi and Badigadi were absent, since the rules didn’t really apply to them. 

I wasn’t in the best mood this morning. I’d been thinking a lot about my sisters lately…specifically Norn. She’d been living in the dorms for some time now, but giving her the space she wanted hadn’t exactly improved our relationship. She usually ignored me when we passed each other in the halls. When she didn’t, she just shot me disgusted glares. 

Okay, maybe that last part was just my persecution complex at work. But in any case, the two of us weren’t getting any closer. 

That was okay, though. It made me kind of sad, but I could live with it. It wasn’t like brothers and sisters had to be best friends or anything. And even if we didn’t get along that well normally, I’d still step in to help Norn if she ever needed me. 

Hell, I’d be on her professors like a helicopter parent if I had to. My position near the top of this school’s pecking order could come in handy there. I could step in to take care of anyone who tried to bully her, for example. And I knew the vice principal personally, so I could turn to him for help if I had to. It’s always nice to know you can go over people’s heads. I made a note to bring Jenius a few modest presents every once in a while. 

The real problem was this: Norn had been living in that dorm for about a month, but it looked like she hadn’t made a single friend yet. When I saw her in the hallways, she was usually alone. She didn’t look particularly sad or anything, but it was starting to bother me. 

You can get by without friends for a while, sure. But was she at least talking to the other people in her class? Was she adjusting to life in the dorms? 

I was genuinely worried, but I didn’t want to get directly involved either. And I didn’t know many first-year students. The only one who came to mind was a total delinquent, in fact. If I tried to get him to do something, I felt like Norn would figure it out at once and then probably resent me for it. 

Also, I didn’t even remember that guy’s name. I did recall that he looked a lot like a Siberian husky, though. 

“All right there, Boss?” said Linia, leaning down to look me in the face. “You’ve been lookin’ awful gloomy lately.” 

“Yeah, fer real,” added Pursena. 

As loud and irritating as these two could be, half the beastfolk in this school idolized them. Even after they made peace with Princess Ariel, you’d often see them wandering the halls surrounded by a pack of loyal lackeys. Somehow, I doubted they’d have much advice to offer on the subject of loneliness. 

“Well, don’t worry, meow. We gotcha a special present to cheer you up!” 

“Yep. Took us a whole month.” 

With a sly smile, Linia dropped a large lumpy bag onto my desk. 

I looked down at it dubiously. It was hard to tell what might be inside. 

“Hold yer horses there, Boss! Don’t open that until you get back home.” 

“Unwrap it in private, ya got that? Make sure no one’s lookin’.” 

This was starting to sound seriously fishy. Hopefully, this wasn’t a sack of happy powder or anything. I knew at least a couple kinds of narcotics were making the rounds of the Northern Territories and parts of the Demon Continent. Millis and Asura apparently had some laws restricting their usage, but most of the nations in this region weren’t too strict about it. 

Naturally, I had no intentions of picking up a drug habit. If I got addicted or went into withdrawal, my magic wouldn’t be enough to heal me. You needed Saintly-tier Detoxification spells to deal with that sort of thing. More to the point, I wasn’t that desperate to escape reality at the moment. 

Still, the stuff might come in handy at some point, so I didn’t see a reason to refuse. I could always just sell it if I ever got desperate for cash. 

“Well, uh…thanks, I guess.” 

“Yer welcome, Boss!” 

“Anything fer you, man.” 

Come to think of it…these two lived in the dorms, didn’t they? Since they’d been there for six years now, they probably knew everyone and everything there was to know. Maybe they’d have some useful information, if not advice. 

“About what you said, though… The thing is, I’m kind of worried about my little sister.” 

“Your little sister? Yeah, I think we ran into her once already. That’s the little girl you got dolled up like a maid, right?” 

“We saw her in the market the other day. She had your scent all over her, Boss. Figured you were related.” 

So they’d already met Aisha, huh? She was getting into bed with me on a regular basis, which probably explained the scent thing. 

“No, not her. I mean my other sister. She’s been living in the dorms for a month now.” 

“Huh?! Wait, there’s another one?!” 

“And she’s livin’ in the dorms ?” 

Linia and Pursena turned to look at each other, their eyes opening wide. Apparently, they hadn’t run into Norn yet…or maybe they had, without realizing she was my sister. She didn’t spend much time at home, so she probably wouldn’t smell like me. 

“Yeah, that’s right,” I said. “I don’t think she likes me very much, though. We’ve barely even spoken to each other for a while. I don’t know how to get her to warm up to me.” 

“Errrrr…yeah, that m-might be tricky…” 

“We could go around yellin’ about how cool you are, if ya want…” 

Hmm. I hadn’t considered an information warfare strategy. Maybe Norn would be more willing to give me a chance if she thought I was the most popular guy in school. But if I gave the job to Linia and Pursena, they’d probably just spread a bunch of nonsense about me beating the crap out of people. 

I’d prefer more of the “Rudeus saved a puppy” angle, honestly. Maybe an edited version of the day I met Julie would work. 

“Anyway, the real problem is that she doesn’t seem to have any friends yet,” I said. “She’s only been here for a month, so maybe it’s too early for me to be worrying about this… But she’s a transfer student, you know? I bet she’s having a hard time fitting in.” 

“W-well, it’s early, right?” 

“Yeah. Maybe, uh…she just hasn’t had the time to get to know people yet?” 

For some reason, Linia and Pursena seemed a little anxious. They were stumbling over their words, and that usually meant they were hiding something from me. 

“Please don’t tell me you two have been picking on my sister.” 

“N-now you’re just being dumb!” 

“Of course not, Boss! You told us not to pick on anybody weaker than us!” 

Okay. So why are you going pale, then? 

There was definitely something going on here, though I didn’t know what yet. In any case, I could probably take advantage of their guilty consciences to ensure they’d intervene if anyone tried to bully Norn. 

“H-how old is your little sister, Boss?” 

“Is she older than the maid one? Or younger?” 

“Uh, they’re the same age. She’s ten.” 

“Really?! Phew!” 

“Good to hear! Yeah, we didn’t do nothin’ to her.” 

In other words, they’d done something to somebody. Maybe they made a habit of teaching cocky new students their place in the pecking order or something? 

“So Boss, uh, about that present…” 

“Don’t get mad at us if you don’t like it, okay? We worked really hard on it.” 

It seemed kind of weird that they were revisiting this topic now. Why did they look so nervous about it all of a sudden? It was a little bit unsettling, but I was definitely curious to find out what they’d gotten me at this point. 

“Hey, it’s the thought that counts, right? I won’t get mad, I promise.” 

I wouldn’t exactly be overjoyed to find a bunch of dead mice inside or anything, but I wasn’t going to hold it against them. 

At this point, I noticed Cliff looking at me from his seat a few spots over. 

“Hey. You have any advice for this thing with my sister, Cliff?” 

“…Hmph. Who says you need friends, anyway?” 

Wow. Did somebody need a hug today or what? 

Still, Cliff wasn’t the loner he used to be anymore. He had Elinalise now. And me, for whatever that was worth. Maybe Norn would never be as popular as that social butterfly, but I had to hope she’d get to know a few people herself one of these days. 

Recently, Nanahoshi had begun showing up at the dining hall around lunchtime. Maybe she’d finally figured out the importance of eating actual meals. Not that she was being particularly sociable about it… 

Noticing my gaze, she turned to glare at me. “You need something?” 

“Nah, not really.” 

Although Nanahoshi had taken the initiative to introduce Japanese cooking to the campus, she’d almost never ventured out to sample the results until now. She didn’t like the food much, and she usually looked a little miserable when she was eating it. 

“You don’t seem to be enjoying that,” I said. 

“Well, I’m not. I know I’m the one who came up with the recipe, but it’s terrible.” 

“The ingredients here aren’t as good as what we had back in Japan, I guess.” 

“That’s for sure.” 

“Is there any kind of food from this world that you do  like?” 

“Those potato chips I ate at your house, I guess. Those were good.” 

I guess she meant the ones Sylphie made at home. That made sense. Simple snacks like those didn’t taste that different from the ones we had back in Japan. 

“Want us to make you more?” 

“…That won’t be necessary.” 

Okay, then. Next time she came over to use our bath, I’d have some waiting for her. 

Badigadi wasn’t here today, either. He used to stop by the dining hall on a regular basis, but I hadn’t seen him at all in the last month. I really wanted to sit down with him and have a talk about Ruijerd. 

At least Julie’s table manners were starting to improve a little in his absence. Ginger was teaching her some basic etiquette, but it would have been a lost cause with the big man around. The place felt a little empty without him, though. I kind of missed that constant booming laughter of his. The more you laugh, the more you live, right? Maybe I should give it a shot myself. 

“Fwahahahaha!” 

“Uh, wh-why are you laughing? Did I do something funny?” 

“Master?” 

“Grandmaster…?” 

All my experiment earned was a bunch of puzzled looks from everyone at the table. It was kind of embarrassing, to be honest. I guess I wasn’t cut out to fill Badigadi’s shoes. 

“What’s so amusing, if I might ask?” 

Luke had popped up out of nowhere. He was looking sharp as ever, but no adoring fans tailed him today. Sylphie wasn’t with him, either. 

“Nothing. I haven’t seen our resident Demon King for a while, so I was trying to summon him with my laughter,” I said. 

“I see. In any case, Rudeus, could I trouble you to accompany me to the student council room?” Luke’s expression was troubled. Was something wrong? 

“Sure, no problem.” 

I bolted down the last of my food in a few seconds, rose to my feet, and followed Luke. 

I couldn’t have told you why, but I got the impression Luke was angry about something. He didn’t say much on our way to the student council room, and his footsteps were louder than usual. 

Ariel and Sylphie were waiting for us inside, as I’d expected. The princess’s expression was as impassive as ever, but she looked a touch pale. Sylphie seemed kind of anxious, too. 

The new term had only just begun, but apparently, we already had some sort of an incident on our hands. 

“Hello, everyone. Is something wrong?” 

“Yes, there is,” said Ariel with a small sigh. She hesitated for a moment before continuing. “I’m afraid we’ve noticed a number of first-year girls who live in the dormitories looking rather pale and distressed lately.” 

“Really?” 

Now she definitely had my attention. Whatever the cause of this was, it might be having an effect on Norn. 

“In the course of our investigation, we realized that most of the affected girls were quite pretty…and somewhat flat-chested as well.” 

Crap. Norn met both of those criteria, too. I was going to have to cooperate fully with this investigation of theirs. If I managed to save the day, maybe I’d even earn some gratitude from my sister. 

“Today, we managed to get the details out of one victim. Apparently, Linia and Pursena were going around and…er…” 

Hold on, Linia and Pursena? They said they weren’t picking on the weak anymore, but…maybe they’d smelled some beef jerky in a new kid’s pocket and chased them down or something. That was depressingly plausible. 

“…demanding that they take off their underwear and hand it over.” 

Wait, what? 

I had a very bad feeling about where this was going. 

“Further investigation revealed that they were recently overheard saying, ‘I bet the boss will love those ones,’ in the dining hall not long thereafter.” 

“…” 

“From what we understand, they were stashing the underwear they stole in a certain bag.” Saying this, Ariel quietly glanced at the present I’d accepted a few hours earlier. Luke and Sylphie did the same, undoubtedly having received a description of what the bag looked like. 

There was no doubt in my mind that the thing was packed full of plundered panties. Dirty, unwashed ones, in fact. That right there was a bag full of dreams. 

Unbelievable. When had I ever asked Linia and Pursena for a present like this? And why was I getting excited just thinking about it? Damn, I really was a sad excuse for a human being. 

“Rudeus, I do apologize, but—” 

I decided to forestall the question. It was smarter to take the initiative in a situation like this. “Linia and Pursena gave me that bag this morning. They told me not to look inside until I was back at home, so I can’t be totally sure, but I have to assume it contains the objects you’re looking for.” 

“I see. Just to be clear, did you order them to do this?” 

“No, I didn’t.” 

I was trying to keep my answers firm and concise. One wrong word could be lethal here, but I’d be all right as long as I kept it simple. This was just a misunderstanding, after all. 

“You weren’t involved at any stage, then?” 

“Of course not. I only just married Sylphie, remember? I’m not exactly sexually frustrated right now.” 

Did she really think I was the type to carry out a plan this deranged right after I’d sent my own little sister into those dorms? I couldn’t prove my innocence, though, so I wasn’t sure how to defend myself. There had to be some way to make her understand… 

“Very well then. I’ll take you at your word.” With another small sigh, Ariel abruptly cut off her interrogation. 

Well, that was easier than expected. 

“Thank you, Princess Ariel. I appreciate that.” 

“It’s all right. I already thought it seemed strange you’d be behind this. Considering how thoroughly you seem to be enjoying your nights with Sylphie, I couldn’t imagine why you’d want to harass any other girls.” 

Wait, did she know how we were spending our time together? Oh, god. Had Sylphie told her about those ridiculous lines I used on her the other night? 

“Uh, Sylphie? Are you giving Princess Ariel reports on our private time?” 

“Of course not!” protested Sylphie, shaking her head vigorously. “I-I wouldn’t tell anyone about that! How did you even find out about this, Princess Ariel?!” 

I did believe her. I knew the two of them were close friends, but I couldn’t see a girl as shy as Sylphie talking about her sex life to anyone. Not that it would be that big a deal if she did…as long as she wasn’t complaining about my performance or whatever… 

“Well, I didn’t,” replied Ariel lightly. “I was just fishing for a reaction. I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying each other’s company, though.” 

Okay, well played. 

Anyway…what were Pursena and Linia thinking? Gathering up an entire bag of freshly worn underwear had to be their stupidest idea yet. Had I ever done or said anything to make them think I wanted… Wait a second. Didn’t they say something about bringing me a bunch of panties as tribute a while ago? 

Oh, crap, they did. 

I’d assumed it was just a joke at the time, but maybe they’d been serious about it. Well, whatever. This still wasn’t my fault, right? Yeah. Definitely not. 

“I think this was a misguided attempt at doing me a kindness, so I’d appreciate it if you let me scold Linia and Pursena myself,” I said. “Oh, and could you arrange to have the underwear returned to their owners? Just to be clear, I haven’t even looked inside, let alone touched anything.” 

I handed the bag over to Ariel without hesitation. 

Linia and Pursena might not have meant badly, but I’d have to be firm with them about this. The only panties I liked were freshly removed ones. It didn’t do anything for me if I didn’t get to see them coming off. 

Wait, no. That’s not the issue here. 

“Very well, then.” 

Ariel peeked briefly inside the bag, then nodded once again. It seemed we’d managed to resolve the matter neatly. 

“I must say, though,” Ariel continued, shooting a glance over at Sylphie, “this is quite a lot of underwear. Aren’t you a bit disappointed to lose such a treasure trove, Rudeus?” 

“Not at all. I don’t have an underwear fetish or anything.” 

“…I see. Well, my apologies for doubting you.” 

“That’s quite all right. I’m glad we managed to clear up the misunderstanding.” 

Honestly, I was lucky it had played out like this. If I’d actually taken those panties home with me…well, I didn’t know how I would have gotten rid of them. It was all too easy to picture myself freaking out for a while, then soaking them in booze to make an experimental “panty beer.” Which would inevitably lead to Sylphie and Aisha finding them, and then I’d never hear the end of it. 

“Well, that’s a relief,” said Sylphie softly. “I was worried I wasn’t satisfying you, Rudy.” 

Ariel and Luke looked over at her with amused expressions on their faces. It took her a second to realize exactly what she’d just said, but then a bright red blush spread across her face. 

And at that exact moment, the bell rang. Our lunch period was over. 

“Oh, that’s not good. We’re going to be late for class.” 

“I’m very sorry for all the hassle Linia and Pursena caused you, Princess Ariel…” 

“It’s all right, Rudeus. These things happen.” 

Luke held the door open and invited me to step through it. Ariel and Sylphie followed, after which he came out himself and locked the door behind him. 

“Let’s get going, then.” 

Ariel fell in beside me as we walked. Sylphie and Luke followed slightly behind. Maybe I was supposed to be hanging back too? I wasn’t too clear on the etiquette here. 

“Oh…” 

Before I could make up my mind, though, we turned the next corner and ran into Norn. She was loitering in the hallway, looking around uncertainly. She pressed her lips together tightly at the sight of me. 

“What’s the matter, Norn?” I asked. “Class is about to start.” 

Instead of replying, Norn turned her face away from mine. By sheer coincidence, she met Princess Ariel’s gaze instead. 

“Hello, there. I’m Ariel, the president of the student council,” Ariel said. 

When Ariel favored her with a pleasant smile, Norn’s face instantly went red. The princess tended to have that effect on people, I guess. “I’m, uh… Norn Greyrat.” 

“Nice to meet you, Norn. Is something wrong? Your next class will be beginning soon.” 

“Uhm, well… I’m not sure where the third practice room is…” 

“Ah, I see.” 

So she’d been left behind when her class changed rooms, huh? Poor kid. It might sound insignificant, but things like that really hurt when they happened to you as a kid. It seemed my concerns about her turning into a loner might be justified. 

“Luke, would you show her the way, please?” Ariel asked. 

“Of course. This way, Norn. It’s not far.” 

Gently placing a hand on Norn’s back, Luke led her off down the hallway. 

My sister’s face was crimson with embarrassment. It was understandable, since Luke was a handsome guy, but I’d have to warn her about him later. The man was a born playboy. 

Just before they turned the corner, Norn paused to look back at us. Her gaze darted between me, Ariel, and Sylphie for a moment. But then she turned around again and left. Without having said a single word to me. 

It made me feel a little sad. 

Once classes were over, I had Linia and Pursena meet me in the back of the main building. I had a great deal to say to them about the events that had taken place today. 

The two of them showed up in high spirits. I think they liked the idea of a secret meeting behind the school. It was exactly the sort of place you’d have a dramatic scene in some romantic drama, after all. 

“What’s up, Boss? Why’d you have us come all the way back here?” 

“Finally ready to admit you’re in love with us? Well, you better run the plan by Fitz first. Don’t want her gettin’ mad at us.” 

I almost felt bad about spoiling their good mood. Almost. 

“We need to talk about that bag you gave me,” I said. “I handed it over to Princess Ariel at lunch and asked her to give its contents back to their owners.” 

At first, their faces were blank with confusion. But a moment later, they started elbowing each other in the side and hissing at each other. 

“I told you so! He didn’t want ’em after all!” 

“It’s your fault, Linia. You said the boss loved panties.” 

“What? You thought so too!” 

“I wanted us to test the waters first. By giving him yours.” 

“Why just me?! That wouldn’t be fair!” 

“Yeah. That’s why we grabbed the dorm kids’ too.” 

“That’s not what I mean! You coulda given him yours, too!” 

“Nope. I’ve got big boobs, so he wouldn’t be interested.” 

It was kind of entertaining to watch their pathetic attempts to blame each other for the situation, but also kind of irritating. Why did they think I only liked flat-chested girls, anyway? 

“Okay, pipe down!” It felt like they could have gone on forever, so I clapped my hands sharply to interrupt. “Do you remember what I told you before, girls? I told you not to pick on anyone weaker than you. You do recall this, right?” 

That got them trembling. 

“W-we didn’t pick on anyone, Boss. Honest!” Linia whined. 

“T-that’s right. We just asked ’em real nicely,” added Pursena with a whimper. 

Oh, come on. As if some poor little freshman girl was ever going to say no to a pair of terrifying bullies twice her size. 

“Look, you’re beastfolk, aren’t you? I’d expect you to understand how humiliating it is to have your clothing torn off you.” 

“B-But we gave them new underwear and everything! It was just a trade!” 

“Oh, really? From the sound of things, a whole bunch of girls ended up pretty shaken afterwards.” 

“Their new ones probably didn’t fit right, that’s all! We didn’t take any panties from the girls who said no, I swear!” 

Hm? This sounded different from the way Ariel had described it. That brought me some relief. I’d feel terrible if they’d forcibly ripped anyone’s clothes off. I might have been tempted to make them walk around naked in public for a while, just so they’d understand how humiliating it was. 

“You said you wouldn’t get mad, Boss! You promised!” 

“It was just a misunderstanding, y’know? Cut us some slack here, man…” 

The two of them were obviously more scared of being punished than anything else. At the end of the day, though, they’d gone to a lot of trouble for my sake. They’d noticed I was feeling down and tried to cheer me up. That was their only motivation here. 

It was still a nice gesture, in that sense, even if I didn’t like their present. I had sympathy for their victims, but they’d basically meant well. It wasn’t like they’d deliberately set out to humiliate anyone, like the bullies who’d targeted me in my previous life. 

Yeah. They were more like a pair of innocent kids who’d gone around collecting cicada shells, honestly. Would it really be fair for me to slap them with some massive punishment? 

“All right, fine. But if I find out you actually traumatized anyone, I’m going to make you grovel naked in front of them and apologize.” 

“O-okay, Boss.” 

“We’re sorry…” 

I had a feeling Ariel would make sure their victims were taken care of. With that in mind, I couldn’t find it in myself to get too angry at them, which actually surprised me a bit. Maybe I was biased because they were my friends? 

“Tell me something, though. Why the heck did you decide to give me a bunch of underwear as a present, anyway?” 

The two of them looked up at me in blank confusion, as if I’d asked the strangest question in the world. 

“I mean, you worship panties, don’tcha?” 

“Yeah. You got that one pair in your special altar and everything.” 

Ah, right. So this was ultimately my fault. I should never have allowed these two idiots to lay eyes upon my holy idol, not even for a second. 

“You’ve got the wrong idea,” I said. “I’m not worshiping the panties themselves. They just belonged to someone who I do worship. They’re a holy relic, basically.” 

“Wait, really?” 

“We totally thought you were in a panties cult or something.” 

I did have a certain fondness for panties, but I’d never taken things that far. “Well, now that that’s cleared up…make sure you don’t repeat this mistake, all right?” 

“You got it, Boss!” 

“We’ll be good from now on.” 

Was there anything else that needed to be said? Hmm…oh, right. 

“If you really feel the need to give me panties, I’d prefer ones you take off yourselves right in front of me.” 

“Huh?” 

“Huh?!” 

Whoops, maybe that part didn’t need to be said. 

Now I had the two of them smirking at me knowingly. 

“I knew it! You do wanna mate with us, Boss!” 

“Well, of course he does. Deep down, he’s just another dude. We’re irresistible.” 

Wow, this was extremely annoying. It also didn’t make that much sense. Shouldn’t they be grossed out or something, instead of teasing me like this? Did they have a crush on me? 

Nah, that wasn’t it. This was something different. I could tell they liked me, but it wasn’t in the same way that Sylphie did. I couldn’t put my finger on the exact difference, though. For now, I’d just think of it as a weird kind of friendship. 

I’d said everything else I needed to, which brought this meeting to an end. My reputation was probably going to take a hit as a result of this incident, but I could live with that. I didn’t care that much what people said about me behind my back, anyway. 

As the three of us emerged from behind the building, we bumped into a group of first-year students. They were all carrying their school bags, so it seemed they were heading back to the dorms. The moment they spotted us, they all shifted over to the side of the path to get out of our way. 

As they were moving, though, I spotted Norn at the very back of the group. She looked at me, and then at Linia and Pursena. Her expression shifted from surprise to one of outrage and disbelief, and then, as she passed us, she shot me a nasty glare. 

Linia and Pursena turned around to watch her go, looking none too pleased themselves. 

“What’s that kid’s problem? She’s got a real attitude.” 

“No fuckin’ kiddin’. We oughta teach her who’s on top around here.” 

“Just so you guys know, that was my little sister,” I said mildly. 

Linia and Pursena cringed, their ears visibly drooping. “Uh, well, good to see she’s got some spirit!” 

“Yeah. She’s a real cutie, too.” 

Talk about transparent. 

With a smile, I thumped the two of them on the shoulders. “Try to keep an eye out for her, okay?” 

“You got it, Boss!” 

“We’ll play nice.” 

Still, this silent treatment from Norn was really starting to get to me. I wanted us to least get to where we could have a basic conversation…but as long as she was managing okay on her own, it didn’t seem right for me to force the issue. 

For a while, things were relatively uneventful. I wasn’t getting any closer to Norn, but she was stopping by the house once every ten days like she’d promised. 

I was a little surprised that she didn’t disobey me more often, considering the fact that she obviously disliked me. But for the most part, she didn’t push back at me directly…although she did grimace sometimes. 

When you thought about it, though, I hadn’t spent much time with either of my sisters after their infancy. Maybe it was stupid of me to expect they’d think of me as family right off the bat. Aisha’s friendly attitude was probably the more unusual of the two. Just because you’re related to someone doesn’t mean you’ll unconditionally enjoy each other’s company. I knew that all too well. In fact, family members can often be the people we resent most bitterly—and most persistently. 

I’d punched my father in front of Norn. Paul and I had made up quickly and put that incident behind us, but the memory probably still smoldered in my sister’s heart. If she ever brought it up, I’d have to apologize sincerely. Even if it seemed like ancient history to me, the pain and anger might still be fresh for her. 

There was no need to rush things, though. The two of us would probably be living close to each other for years, or even decades. If it took a year or two for her to warm up to me, I could live with that. 

It wasn’t like siblings had to be best friends with each other. We just needed to find a relationship that felt comfortable for both of us, and that might take some time. 

Only a few days after I reached this conclusion, I got some alarming news. 

Norn had shut herself in her room.