Stranded in the Future

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Accommodation

My dearest long-lost brother,

I can scarcely contain my excitement, and my hand is shaking even as I write this.

It may shock you, but I have done the foolish and requested a vacation so I may visit you in the mortal world. Although Hideo has placed me under strict surveillance, I am certain that I can use my wiles to make him bend to my will.

Our time has finally come, and I look forward to living happily together as siblings should.

Your ever devoted sister, Isa

******

"Having fun, Lady Misaki?" Hideo finally said after a few minutes of standing behind her undetected and watching her scribble characters like a student trying to complete their exam before time ran out.

"What?" Lady Misaki dropped the ink pen and turned her head towards him. Her stunned eyes soon narrowed in loathing. "How dare you. Don't you have any respect for my privacy?"

Hideo gnashed his teeth. He was suddenly reminded of the many nights in which he would come home after a long day at work and check on Yukari, only to be met with rage at him intruding her sacred space. He'd failed to recognize the fault in his actions at the time, but now that he had repeated the same mistake out of habit, guilt was beginning to flood his mind.

"I'm sorry," he replied in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation and regain her trust. "If it's any consolation, I can hardly read your handwriting anyway."

"Oh." Lady Misaki seemed to believe him, judging by the way her frown faded and she proceeded to fold the letter with care. "It's the writing instrument you've given me. I can't hold it properly."

"It's called a pen. They became commonplace during my lifetime."

Lady Misaki gave him her full attention. "I see. Your era really must have been incredible."

Hearing those words brought a smile to Hideo's face. He reminisced on how Japan had transformed from a still industrializing nation in his childhood to a great military power at the time of his death. 

Granted, he had recently learned that this same rapid progress had culminated in such unfathomable cruelty and fanaticism that people died in the millions, leaving survivors such as his own daughter with lasting trauma as they struggled to build things anew.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Tanimura?" Lady Misaki addressed him by his surname. "You look forlorn all of a sudden."

Hideo sighed and removed both hands from his pockets. "If I'd known then what I know now, I would have let Yukari rest and then joined her in death."

"But if that had happened, she would have been reincarnated, and you'd never have this chance to sort out your regrets."

Hideo thought about those words for a few moments and realized Lady Misaki was likely right. He'd been lucky enough to be deemed useful because of his supernatural gifts, but Yukari might have been judged as just another unremarkable human and discarded as a result.

"Anyway, it's getting late and I'm tired," Lady Misaki proclaimed, disrupting his deep thoughts. She sprung up from the dressing table chair and bounced across the room in her pajamas before flopping belly-first onto the bed like an excited child. She kicked her slippers off lazily, then rolled over with a happy sigh. "It's so warm and comfortable here. Do you really want to stay on the couch tonight?"

Hideo tensed his shoulders at her drastic change in demeanor. It was as if she had removed another mask to reveal her true identity as Ichiro's younger sister, and right now, she seemed more like a teenager than an adult woman.