Holding a tray of juice and snacks, I entered the living room. I saw Blake sunk into the couch, having completely made herself at home. It was the place where Naru usually sat, so it felt somewhat strange. I spoke to her, feeling almost the same way I felt when speaking to my sister.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"I already got tired of waiting. How long exactly does it take to prepare juice and some snacks?" She spoke vacantly while her gaze was focused on one of the magazines Naru had modeled
What's with the big attitude, even though you're a guest in someone else's home? You sure resemble a certain someone I know. As these thoughts ran through my mind, I set the juice and snacks on top of the table.
… Alright, shall we begin? I plopped down a DVD case on top of the table.
"It took a bit more time than I thought to get this ready…"
"This is.…" Looking at the DVD case, Blake's eyes narrowed. The DVD I had brought was the first volume of "Zodiac Angel Haruka".
"What are you trying to do?"
"… I wanted to watch this with you, so I borrowed it and brought it here. Let's watch it on the big screen. The Zodiac girl, or whatever." I spoke in a half-resigned tone of voice. Blake's expression didn't change at all, and she followed me with just her eyes.
"Have you seen this anime?"
"I haven't. I mean, I only watched the Dragon Ball anime back when I was a kid. But Naru kept on going on and on about how interesting this was, so I've been interested in it for a while… so, if you help me follow the show I'd be really grateful."
There was a brief period of silence… and at last, Blake softly picked up the Zodiac Angel Haruka DVD case, and after scrutinizing it in a profound manner, faced me and presented the case to me.
"Here you go."
"Alright."
I took the case and walked to the front of the TV, where I set everything up. The DVD tray that held the actual DVD receded back into the player… and the television screen suddenly came to life.
A menu screen was displayed. Ignoring the options for "Bonus Footage" and "Seiyuu Interviews", I selected the choice "From the Beginning" and hit the confirmation button on the remote control. When I did that, a blonde girl wearing a black and gold costume pitter-pattered over from the edge of the screen. At the center of the screen, wielding her whip sword, she shouted in a high-pitched loli voice.
"Zodiac Angel Haruka staaaaaarted!"
I can't do this… this is way more embarrassing than I thought it would be… I felt my head heating up. But, as the person who had suggested doing this in the first place, it wasn't like I could back down now. And then, the title of the show, Zodiac Angel Haruka was displayed boldly on screen. As I listened to the seiyuu voicing the protagonist sing the childish theme song, I tried to deal with the immense amounts of embarrassment and regret I felt.
Then the scene begins with Haruka walking with her friends, she was probably going to school with her friends. As Haruka goes to school that morning, the mysterious pale girl, Sakura, enrolls in her class. After school, whilst visiting a record store with her friends, Haruka hears a voice calling for help. Following it to a floor under maintenance, she finds a small little girl being attacked by Sakura. As Sakura insists that she hand the girl over, Haruka refused and helped her escape by discharging a fire extinguisher on Sakura. While fleeing, they are caught in a strange illusion and approached by a demonic creature. However, they are rescued at the last second by a blue haired girl, who transforms into a magical girl in blue outfit and defeats the demons, dispelling the illusion. After allowing Sakura to escape, the blue haired magical girl introduced herself as Water Princess Juvia and healed the little girl, who then introduced herself to Haruka that she was actually the Goddess of Love Lunaru and intends to form a contract with Haruka to make her a magical girl.
"Isn't this bad!? They can show something like this on television!?"
"Mmmm…"
"I've noticed that lately, there have been too many products, and not just anime, in which young girls are pushed to the forefront. I understand that they're just trying to sell what the market demands, but something that makes it so blatant like this turns me off. What the hell is with the 'record breaking DVD sales'? Personally, I can't help but lament the fact that we live in a world where only this kind of vulgar garbage sells. The general public really should cultivate a better sense of aesthetics."
I wiped off the cold sweat that had poured out onto my forehead. Why do I have to sit here with my sister friend and watch a bunch of little girls in revealing clothes fight to the death with demonic monsters? I gazed at the living room door as if desperately searching for a way out.
"You really don't know anything, do you!?" With strength enough to kick down the door, someone entered the living room. Naru quickly lumbered over with heavy steps. Blake watched the sudden intruder with cold eyes.
"Naru…" Even though I acted surprised to see her, I was really relieved.
Alright, everything seemed to have gone well… in truth, when I had borrowed Zodiac Angel Haruka from Naru, I told her this, "There's a gift for you from Rias-chan in the living room, so at least come down to get that," I had said.
Remember, her stubbornness knows no bounds. If I tried to convince her to come down-stairs in a straightforward way, she definitely wouldn't listen. I understood that all too well. But, if I watched her beloved Harutan with Blake, and we talked about Harutan, I thought that maybe she wouldn't be able to handle it and would barge in. And it happened just as I had expected. Just look at how angry she is.
"Harutan is about friendship! Just because the Dragon Slayer anime DVD doesn't sell as well, don't just go off saying what you want and calling it disgusting! Hah, what the hell do you mean, 'sense of aesthetics'? That arrogance… are you sure your vision hasn't just gone blurry? Haha, leaving the webnovel aside, is your 'sense of aesthetics' just calling anything and everything you can't understand garbage? Idiot, don't act like some sort of expert if you can't even see what the writers for Harutan were trying to do. And also, you shitty cat, exactly how far did you watch this series on your PSP!?"
"What exactly did you come down here for? Nobody invited you."
"Shut up! I came to get a drink when I heard someone say something I couldn't forgive, that's all! Well!? How far did you watch!?"
"Until the middle of episode three."
"Tch, why did you stop watching there!? That was when Juvia-chan sacrificed herself to save Harutan, it's one of the saddest episodes! I cried the whole night after watching that episode."
"Hmph. That episode only centered about that water girl who blindly accepted the demon's challenge without any plans. And also in that battle with that fire sheep monster, because her overconfidence and her arrogance led to her own demise. She lost because of her own stupidity."
"Huh? What exactly were you watching? She had no choice but to sacrifice herself to protect her dear kouhai, Harutan. Don't call her stupid you shitty cat!"
These anime otaku… they're really annoying, aren't they!? As I was getting pretty fed up with everything, Naru and Blake once again erupted into a tumultuous verbal debate.
Suddenly, Blake took the remote and paused the DVD playing on the television.
"Hmph. Well, I can't appreciate the godly artwork on a small screen, right? If that's what you believe, then I never really watched it. So quickly, go get all the disks that have all episodes on it." She made that proposal belligerently, responding to Naru's anger with anger of her own.
"Ah, those were your words. Those were your words, right? Alright I'll bring it down right now." Naru flatly thrust a finger at Blake's face. "Hah, I'll definitely make you eat your words!"
After those words, Naru ran up the stairs.
Is she a child? Geez… it was a bit early to let my guard down, but at this rate, it seemed that somehow, the anime appreciation event would actually happen. Facing the door my sister had just run out of, I sighed.
In the end… just as we finished watching the fourth episode of Zodiac Angel Haruka, time ran out. The anime appreciation event had only lasted thirty minutes, but there was nothing I could do about that. It might have been better if I had gotten home a bit sooner though. When it had gotten to four in the evening, Blake announced that she was going back home. I didn't even have to ask why she needed to go home at that elementary-school-ish time.
By the way, while we were watching Harutan, the entire time, Blake and Naru were arguing back and forth like they always did. I couldn't really decide if they honestly disliked or liked each other, but I tried to calm them down, to coax them to play nice, to sweet-talk them, and in the process was slapped around, kicked, and insulted… somehow or other without moving from my spot. Standing in the space between Naru and Blake, I succeeded in acting like a buffer zone between the two. I think you can guess from what has been happening up until now, but this was really difficult. I seriously respect Rias for being able to do all this with a smile on her face. After all, it was like having to deal with two Narus. It was terrible. Honestly, I was relieved that it ended after thirty minutes.
"Alright, I'll borrow this then."
In the entranceway of the Uzumaki house, Blake was just about to leave while carrying a paper bag. In that paper bag was the DVD for "Zodiac Angel Haruka" that we didn't have enough time to finish watching. Naru crossed her arms, and responded triumphantly. "Fufuu, you seem to finally understand the true value of Harutan."
"Don't be an idiot, please. Certainly, I will admit that one part of the battle scene was pretty splendidly drawn, and I have to give the DVD version credit for fixing many of the artistic failings of the TV version. But my opinion that the scenario is crap has not changed. Hmph, I suppose it is at least good enough for me to watch it to the end out of obligation."
"You're still pretty stubborn aren't you? You could just be honest with yourself and just say that you want to continue watching it because you liked it."
She's the last person who has the right to say that…
I sent her a reproachful look. Pulling myself together, I spoke to Blake, "Thanks for coming over today to play with Naru" I slackened my shoulders and curved the edges of my lips upwards. "Feel free to come again any time. Let's hold a proper anime appreciation event next time."
Blake stared me in the eyes. "… Please just indulge my curiosity for a bit. This is a good opportunity to ask, but why exactly do you meddle so much in your sister's business even though she treats you so badly?"
Indeed, why was that…? I didn't really know myself. At the beginning, I was just reacting to the situation… well, that was still somewhat true… but it wasn't just that anymore, I think. But I definitely didn't want to admit that. In the end, I couldn't say anything but the following:
"Sorry, but I don't really know either."
"Siscon?"
"Definitely not!"
What are you saying!? There's no way that was true! After I denied her accusations with all my might, I felt someone kick my heel with her tiptoe.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Turning back with an angry shout, I saw Naru looking at me with a scornful stare.
"… Gross."
"What the hell… !? I understand that you don't like anyone suggesting anything about siscon, but I wasn't the one who said it, and I denied the accusation! Don't just kick me like that so suddenly!"
Watching our bickering, Blake said one word. "Masochism?"
"What the hell are you talking about!"
"Well, what then?" Blake tilted her head to one side. I didn't know why, but she didn't seem to want to let this topic go. She didn't look like she was going to stop with the questioning until I gave her a satisfactory answer.
I guess there's no choice… scratching my head, I tried to put this thing that I couldn't figure out how to say into words. After knocking around a few words in my head… what came out of my mouth was honestly a terrible cliche.
"Well… since our father is no longer around… it's my responsibility to take care of my little sister, I guess?" I quickly averted my gaze and knocked myself on the forehead. Trying to hide my embarrassment.
"I see. I understand. You're a good man." Blake gave me a light nod and smile. She then spoke in a gentle tone of voice that gradually sunk into my chest. "… She's very lucky to have you as her big brother. I'm very jealous."
She faced Naru and whispered. Normally, I would expect Naru to respond with something like "What is that supposed to be, sarcasm?" but Naru just stood there with her arms crossed and frowned. It seemed like they were having some sort of silent exchange with each other. I had no idea what was happening, so all I could do was keep watch. For a little while, the silence persisted… until finally, Naru haughtily scoffed. She looked at Blake closely.
"Hm… what? You like this punk? You have bad taste."
At that statement, Blake didn't make a move, but her eyes widened.
"You should heed my advice and not even think about it. After all, he's only attracted to ugly girls."
"What the hell are you saying!? Who are you talking about!? Depending on your answer, I might really smack you!"
"Yeah yeah, don't take it so seriously. Sorryyy," Naru shrugged her shoulders as if making fun of me.
T-this bitch…! Her attitude was just… ugh! I started to voice my objections, but before I could, Naru faced Blake and stuck out her chin.
"If you're really okay with him, I'll give him to you. In fact, he's gross, so just take him home with you."
As I clenched my fists tightly in anger, Blake watched us intently from the side.
"… Attracted to ugly girls… huh?" She mumbled vacantly. Blake seemed to have come to a cool understanding of the situation. Afterwards, Blake sent Naru a cold stare, and then turned the other way, "I'll come again sometime," she said and quickly began to walk away.
Watching Blake back as she left, Naru still with her arms crossed, stuck her tongue out mockingly.
This girl…