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The next morning.
Binchou-tan woke slowly, stretching a small hand up to rub her eyes. Then a smell reached her: rich, warm, unmistakably food, and and she followed it to find Kaito setting dish after dish onto a table that had not been there the night before, each one looking far more refined than anything this house had ever held.
"Oh, you're awake. Come eat."
He glanced over with a smile and waved her toward the table.
"Mr. Kaito... did you make all of this?"
"Ah... you could say that."
He laughed, a little dryly. The truth was that Kaito-sama could not cook. At his best he could manage instant noodles, and that was generous. Before he'd come of age in his previous life he'd relied on the orphanage; afterward, entirely on takeout. The porridge from last night and everything on the table this morning had been prepared by Sakuya in advance. He kept it all in his system space and retrieved it as needed.
"Oh."
Binchou-tan nodded and asked nothing further.
"Alright, wash up first. I put some things over there for you."
He gestured toward a set of brand-new toiletries: toothbrush, toothpaste, and the rest, lined up neatly to one side.
"Eh? Are all of these for me? No, they're too precious, I can't..."
"Hehe. They only look expensive. They're really not worth much." He gave her a look that made it clear the matter was settled. "Hurry up, or I'll get annoyed."
"This... okay. Thank you, Mr. Kaito."
Binchou-tan pressed her lips together and accepted them quietly.
"You can call me Kaito-nii from now on. 'Mister' is too formal."
"Eh? Really?"
Her face lit up immediately.
"Of course."
"Then... Kaito-nii!"
"Hehe, that's right."
The smile that broke across Binchou-tan's face at that was brilliant and completely unguarded. For a girl who had lost her grandmother, the idea of having a brother was something she'd never even let herself imagine. She knew it could only last a little while. Even so, it was enough. It was more than enough.
"Since you're already my little sister, come eat before it gets cold."
"Hai, onii-chan!"
"Oh my goodness, she's too cute! I'm done, I'm done, I'm done!"
Kaito crumpled to the floor on the spot. There was simply no surviving this. Little girls were the treasures of the world. Milim absolutely did not count.
Binchou-tan looked down at him with a puzzled expression. "Um, onii-chan, are you alright?"
He sat upright immediately, composing his expression into something dignified. "Don't worry. Your onii-chan cannot be defeated."
"...Is that so?"
"Cough cough. Come eat."
"Hai!"
After breakfast they went outside and settled onto a fallen log, letting the morning sun land on them. The breeze was cool and easy. Kaito felt the rare and pleasant sensation of having nowhere to be and nothing to do, and was just beginning to drift when Binchou-tan, who had been sitting quietly beside him, spoke in a small voice.
"Onii-chan... you're leaving today, aren't you. Will you pass through here again sometime?"
The sleepiness left him at once. He turned to look at her and smiled.
"I was planning to leave today. But now that I suddenly have such a cute little sister, I find I'm a little reluctant."
"Really!"
"Of course. I've decided to stay for a while."
Binchou-tan's eyes went wide, then bright. She hopped off the log and came to stand in front of him, smiling up at his face. "Then I'll go to work and buy rice. I won't let onii-chan go hungry."
"What are you talking about? How could I, an adult, let a little girl support me?" He paused, remembering that he was currently completely broke. "Don't worry. Your onii-chan lacks nothing but money... I mean, nothing that can't be solved."
He glanced at the various items in his system space and recovered his confidence.
"I can earn money to support onii-chan."
She said it with total sincerity and a very determined face.
"I know you could. But as an onii-chan, how could I let my cute imouto support me? Do you not want me as your onii-chan?"
Binchou-tan shook her head so fast the charcoal tied to her head nearly came loose.
Kaito stepped forward, reached up, and set it back in place, then circled around behind her and retied the bow on her back, which had gone crooked. He stepped back around to face her and looked her over with a nod.
"There. Better."
Binchou-tan reached up and touched the charcoal on her head, then twisted to glance at the bow behind her. Something in her face shifted. Her eyes filled, slowly, then spilled over.
"Wuwuwu... Thank you, onii-chan... Wuwuwu..."
Kaito pulled her into a hug without hesitation. "Cry," he said quietly. "Get it all out."
"Wuwuwu... Ah ah ah ah!!!"
"Grandma is gone... Ah ah ah... I have no one left... Wuwuwu!"
He held her and patted her back slowly while she sobbed. A gentleness settled over his face that didn't appear there very often. Gradually Binchou-tan's crying grew quieter, then quieter still, until she had cried herself completely to sleep against him.
He carried her inside, laid her down on the bed, and tucked the blanket around her. Then he stood and looked at the photograph of her grandmother on the shelf nearby, something unreadable moving through his eyes.
"Sleep well, little girl. When you wake up, I think your happiness will come right on schedule."
He cast a calming spell over her, walked outside, and stood looking up at the sky with the sun on his face.
"Hm. Sometimes I even start to wonder myself. Am I actually a decent person?"
Inside, Binchou-tan dreamed something warm and smiled in her sleep, murmuring softly to herself.
"Grandma... I love her the most..."