I Was Hired As A Tutor By A Cute Little Devilish Junior - Chapter 15 Return Home

“Haa…I’ve had a terrible time.”

I was on my way home from Shiina’s house when the words spilled out along with a sigh.

“What do you mean by a bad time, Riku? Wasn’t it great to be surrounded by two beautiful girls?”
“Well, one of them was a person who was self-proclaimed.”

In the end, we weren’t able to do much studying at Shiina’s house until my usual time to go home, but I was pretty tired of being pushed around by the two of them.
The fact that I had given both of them minus 30 points to go back to zero, which was the starting point for both of them, seemed to have fueled their rivalry even more.

“Muu, Riku’s scoring is too strict. Look, you’re able to walk alongside me like this, don’t you have any points to add?”
“Am I like a dog being walked or something? Do you know the word self-conscious?”
“Well, well~ You’re really happy, aren’t you? Come on, you know you’re happy, don’t you?”
“…”
“Why do you shut up now~ It’s been a while since you’ve been with me. Aren’t you happy?”
“Woof.”
“Why? You think I’m not attractive?”
“Woof.”
“Come on!!”

As I was teasing Satsuki with such jokes, we were already in front of my house.

“See you. Is Satsuki going to start club activities tomorrow morning like usual?”
“Hmm. You have such a cute childhood friend next to you, but I’m not going to tell the person who ignores that childhood friend.”
“Don’t get upset. I was just joking. I was happy to be back with you after a long time.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah, I’m not lying.”
“Really, really?”
“Ten extra points if you want.”
“I don’t like that it’s a third of my glasses score, but…I’ll believe you if you say so.”

She puffed up her cheeks and was not happy, but she was in a better mood.
I couldn’t help it, the glasses were great. Well, I was probably going to get a lot of criticism from both sides, so I would refrain from adding points for glasses from now on.

“I’m going to start my club activities in the morning. Is Riku going to miss me~?”
“Woof.”
“Mmm, you’ve got to be more honest…Eh? Riku?”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Hey, Riku!”

I opened the front door and went inside, ignoring my childhood friend who was calling out to me.
It has been a while since I’ve walked home alone with Satsuki, and I was probably teasing her a little too much.
No, but I guess it was mutual.

Thinking about this, I closed the door and announced my return home a little louder than usual.

“I’m home~”

　＊　＊　＊

“Welcome home.”

The first thing I heard was my mother’s voice, who was probably in the kitchen.
Once I had dropped my bag and was taking off my shoes, I heard the sound of slippers pattering down the stairs.

I put my shoes together and turned around to see the owner of the footsteps hugging me vigorously and pressing her face against my chest.
I gently accepted it and put my hand on her head.

“I’m home, Kanade.
“Welcome home, Nii-san.”

The girl in my arms said this to me in a familiar yet slightly high-pitched voice.
Her name is Murakami Kanade. As you could tell from the fact that Kanade calls me “Nii-san,” she’s my little sister.

I stroked Kanade’s hair with care and talked to her in a soothing tone.

“It’s not safe to hug me out of the blue, is it?”
“I’m sorry. Kanade was worried about you…”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere without you.”
“Then please don’t go to school.”
“No, I can’t do that.”
“Don’t worry. Kanade won’t go to school either.”
“That’s even worse.”

Kanade is a second-year middle school student who will turn fourteen on her next birthday.
Whether at home or out, Kanade is a relatively quiet girl.

She is witty, she can do housework when her mother is not around, and she is smart.
She has two weaknesses in her perfect sister model.

“Kanade, did you notice anything unusual at school today?””
“Hmm! Yes, Nii-san, please listen to me. I was able to talk to the person sitting next to me today.”
“Ooh, that’s great! By the way, what did you talk about?”
“Hmmm. I remember every word of it. In the third hour of today, the person sitting next to me said, ‘We have to move to a different room for class, right?’ and I said ‘yes.’”
“…Is that all?”
“…That’s all.”
“I-I see? Good job, Kanade.”
“Yes~♪”

Kanade’s eyes narrowed pleasantly when I stroked her head.
The first weakness of Kanade was that she was quite shy, as you could probably guess by listening to her talk.

I explained earlier that Kanade was relatively quiet both at home and outside the house, but due to her personality, she was not the type to actively interact with people.
As she lived her life in this way, she began to feel uncomfortable around people.

“Kanade, if you don’t make friends at school, you’ll be wasting your one and only youth.”
“Mmm. It’s okay, Kanade doesn’t need friends as long as Nii-san is around.

This was another weakness of Kanade. This is what is called a “bro-con”.
Kanade has always been a spoiled little sister. She always followed me around and never wanted to leave me even for a moment.

I thought it would go away by the time she reached middle school, but I was too naive.
Even after entering middle school and growing older, Kanade’s tendency to be spoiled did not stop.

“Kanade loves Nii-san, and as long as he’s around, she’s fine.”
“Really? It’s a dream come true if you are separated from her brother.”
“The word separated is not in Kanade’s dictionary.”
“Goodness…”

While complaining, I keep stroking Kanade’s head.
Yes, this was my fault. Although I said I wanted her to be away from me, I ended up spoiling Kanade.

“Riku, Kanade. It’s time for dinner!”

Mom called out from the kitchen as if she had been waiting for me to come home.
Thinking about it, we had been talking at the door and I had left my bag there.

“”Yes.””

We both replied to the kitchen on the other side of the door.
I put my bag in the living room, took off my tie and jacket, and sat down at the dining table.
Kanade sat beside me and Mom sat in front of me.

“””Itadakimasu.”””

As usual, the three of us join our voices together before eating Mom’s meal.
As usual, my mother’s cooking was delicious, and my chopsticks naturally moved forward.
Then, my mother opened her mouth as if she remembered something.

“By the way, Riku, you’ve been coming home late lately, have you started a club activity?”
“Mmm! Kanade is curious about that too!”

After Mom, Kanade, who was picking up fried shrimp, also turned to me.

“No, I haven’t started any club activities. I don’t plan to start any club activities at the moment.”
“Then what do Nii-san do every day after school?”
“Did you just say something nuanced?”
“It was your imagination. Come on, Nii-san, confess. Or your fried shrimp will be dead.”
“You just want to eat it, don’t you? It’s no big deal. I was asked by a younger student to help with studies.”
“You do that every day? That sounds like tutoring.”
“That’s exactly what it was.”

That was exactly what she asked me to do from the beginning.
At first, the word “tutor” didn’t ring a bell, but now it was more appropriate to call it that.

“Riku’s a tutor. Are you able to teach the younger students?”

Mom asked with a worried look on her face.

“No, it’s fine. The student understands almost everything; I don’t really have to teach.”
“But you still have to tutor?”
“According to the student, yes.”

I’ve been wondering the same thing. I was confident she could get good grades without me.
With this in mind, I finished the rest of my dinner and took the plates to the sink.

“Oh, the bath is already running. Take a bath before your father comes home.”
“Mmm, okay. Kanade, you first?”
“You can go in first, Nii-san. Kanade would come in later.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“Yes.”

I patted my thoughtful sister’s head once more and headed for the bathroom.
I threw my undressed clothes into the washing machine and went into the bathroom.

“Phew~”

I soak my shoulders in the bathtub and relax my body.
I had been very careful today, which had caused me a lot of mental fatigue.

The only person who can heal me now was Kanade.
The little devil and the pervert were just not pure enough for me. They also need a pure heart like Kanade’s.

When I came home, she greeted me with a pure smile, cared for me, and worried about me.
It was hard to find a sister who was so thoughtful and pure—

The door opened.

“Nii-san, let’s take a bath together!”

…What was pure again?