My Little Sister Can Read Kanji: Volume 1

by Takashi Kajii

  I figured out what the problem was. Miru was supposed to have thought that I was her real brother. If we’d been related by blood, we wouldn’t have been able to get married even in our world. But she had said “anymore,” so...

  “Miru... you knew?”

  “Yup. Nii isn’t my real brother.”

  I knew it! Miru had known all along!

  Kuroha and I were still reeling, but Miru was calm as ever.

  “I’m gonna marry Nii! So we’re gonna change the law back.”

  Marry me? Miru must not understand what she’s talking about. She must have been playing house or something. It was cute, I suppose, but it seemed a little childish for a ten-year-old to be declaring they were going to marry someone.

  “I’m gonna marry Nii and protect him from all the parasites!”

  “Oh my, Miru-chan. And who are the parasites?” Yuzu-san smiled over at Miru. It was the same warm smile as usual, and perhaps it was my imagination, but I thought I detected a slight sharpness to her words.

  “Even if you get the blessing of the world for Gin-kun to marry you, I will never allow it!” Odaira-sensei cried. “I’ll even become the enemy of the entire world if I have to! Now praise me, Miru-chan!” It seemed like Odaira-sensei was dead-set against Miru getting married.

  “Shut it, geezer.”

  “Wouldn’t you prefer the law not get changed back, Sensei?” I said. “That way, I could never marry Miru.”

  “No, I also want the law changed back. A lot of my books end up with a brother marrying his non-blood-related sister.”

  Kuroha looked exasperated. “A lot? Every single one of them ends with that!”

  “And what about you, Kuroha-kun?” he asked. “Aren’t you aiming for that ending, as well?”

  “I am not!”

  What did he mean, “that ending?” Perhaps he meant that Kuroha, Miru, and Odaira-sensei all wanted to return to the past to restore the world.

  Last up was Yuzu-san.

  “Yuzu-san, we’re going back to the 21st century. You’ll come back with us, right?” I asked.

  “Gin-san, do you really feel the need to ask?” replied Yuzu-san, looking put off.

  “We don’t know what might happen, and so I just need to check that you are doing this because you want to.”

  “Of course I’m going to come with you! The next time you ask me something like that, I’m gonna get angry!”

  S-Sorry!

  “Then that’s five yeas, zero nays,” said Kuroha, and everyone nodded.

  We were all in agreement. We were going to take back our culture! And to do that, we were going to go back to the 21st century.

  I was so excited, I could barely remember how depressed I had been a moment earlier. I couldn’t wait!

  “All right, everybody, let’s get started!” I cried, standing up.

  “Sheesh, you always get so raring to go once we decide on a course of action, Onii-chan,” Kuroha said.

  Damn straight I am. Didn’t everyone just agree to it? “Miru, produce the marshmallows!”

  “Oh...” Miru took out the marshmallows from her bag, and passed them out to everyone. I popped mine immediately into my mouth. It wouldn’t be long before we traveled through time.

  “It’ll be the fifth time for us. It’s old hat to us now!” said Kuroha.

  “Yes. But just in case, we should all hold on tight to Miru-chan so we don’t get separated,” suggested Odaira-sensei. He must have been extra concerned since he was the only one who had been separated the first time we time-traveled.

  “Don’t touch me,” Miru said.

  “Oh, well,” said Odaira-sensei, giving up. “Then how about Gin-kun?” He put on his precious randoseru and hugged my right arm tightly. His twin-tails brushed up against my arm and tickled.

  “Miru will, too!” Miru came up next to me and hugged my left arm tight. Her chest pressed up against my elbow. Yup, still gloriously flat.

  “I’ll go here.” Yuzu-san stood up and embraced me from behind. Two soft objects pressed up against my back.

  S-S-S-So big! I got so excited, blood started rushing to my head.

  “Hurry up, Nee!” said Miru.

  “No, I’m good,” replied Kuroha.

  “I’ll be lonely if you’re separated from us...”

  “...Fine, then.” Kuroha hesitated, but walked up to me head on and put her arms around my waist. Our cheeks almost brushed up against one another. Her breath was on my cheek, and it tickled a little. “I’m just doing this because everyone else is doing it.”

  Kuroha... You say that, but you’re the one who is squeezing me the tightest, you know? Maybe t-too tight...? Oww...

  I was surrounded on all sides. Everyone was nice and soft, but I wasn’t able to move at all, and it was a little tough to take.

  “Gin-kun, you’re surrounded by little sisters on all four sides. I’m jealous of you.”

  “Are you and Yuzu-san my little sisters?”

  “I did ask you to be my big brother,” said Yuzu-san.

  “I believe I told you that I had awoken my true Way of the Little Sister and become my own little sister, is that not true, Onii-sama?” said Odaira-sensei.

  I see. I’m everyone’s big brother. In that case, I will guide you all, my little sisters!

  We were heading to the time and date written on that picture, and I thought about Yuzu-san’s mansion.

  “It’s like we’re going on a trip. I’m never been on a trip with such a big group before. This will be fun.”

  “Since we have to go and all, it would be nice to go to a resort somewhere in the 21st century, you know?” Yuzu-san said.

  “Miru wants to go, too!”

  “Sounds nice. I like the ocean and a pool. I sometimes go swimming,” added Odaira-sensei.

  “Hey! Stop thinking about strange things. What if it affects the time-traveling? We’re going to the past for a single purpose! Don’t forget that,” scolded Kuroha.

  Pretty soon we all started to sound the beeping alarm and flash. We would soon be transcending the boundaries of time, and traveling to the 21st century.

  The first time we had been sent back with no idea what was happening. The second time had just been to help Yuzu-san move. But this time was different. This time, we were going back for a very important mission.

  In order to take back our old world, we would travel to the 21st century! I could feel the passion rising within me!

  “Isn’t it strange, Sensei, going back and forth between time periods like this?”

  “Yes, it is. But humans have been transcending time since long, long ago.”

  Huh? I haven’t heard of any time machines before this...

  As I was about to ask, Odaira-sensei winked at me playfully. “Stories, Gin-kun! Heartfelt stories can very simply transcend time.”

  Heartfelt stories! He was exactly right. Truly great stories stay beloved for centuries. In Japanese literature, there’s the Genji Monogatari, Nansou Satomi Hakkenden, and my favorite, I Want to Have Onii-chan’s Baby. All of these great works have captured the hearts of readers across time periods.

  “I said something profound! Miru-chan, give me a congratulatory kiss!” said Odaira-sensei.

  “No way. I might catch something.”

  “Catch something from this innocent little girl? Like what?”

  “Like old man smell,” said Kuroha.

  “Kuroha-kun, take a good look at me. If I am smelling at all, it must be the fragrance of my randoseru!”

  “It probably has little Yuzu-san’s sweat and body oder steeped into it,” I added.

  “Gin-san, you’re embarrassing me...”

  “Onii-chan, don’t tell me he’s starting to rub off on you?!” Kuroha cried.

  Of course I’m influenced by Odaira-sensei! He’s my favorite author, after all.

  I was sure that his works would also become like the greats of our ancestors and be read for hundreds of years. I, too, wanted to write a story that will b
e read across eras. One that would move the hearts of a great many people.

  What would I write to do that, I wondered?

  Ah... I thought of a good idea that would make great material for a story! “I’m going to turn this experience into a novel one day!”

  Going back and forth between time periods... that alone could be a pretty fun story.

  “Sounds interesting. When you have it finished, will you let me read it?” asked Yuzu-san.

  “It might be difficult for someone from the past to appreciate my brother’s writing. It’s hard enough for even us to wrap our heads around it,” said Kuroha.

  “Nii’s prose is only for chosen ones!” Miru cried.

  “Gin-kun is definitely a high-level artiste, indeed.”

  Thanks, everyone, for the compliments! Gosh, I’m starting to get embarrassed.

  “So I wouldn’t be able to read it? That’s a shame,” said Yuzu-san.

  If I could have allowed Yuzu-san from the 21st century to read my 23rd century Japanese writing, that would have been amazing. But there were just too many differences between current-day and modern Japanese. And it was not just following the prose; it would be too hard for her to understand the content.

  “Maybe it’s not so easy for stories to transcend time, after all.”

  Kuroha smiled, and then said something kind of deep. “That’s not true. Your little sister can read kanji. She can write kanji, too.”

  I wonder what she meant by that? So if my prose can’t be understood by someone, it could be fixed by going through someone else? In other words...?

  Translation.

  Finally, the alarm grew louder, and we all traveled through time. Just before I disappeared, I thought I heard someone say something.

  “Stories transcend time, so do your best, Onii-chan.”

  Afterword

  How do you do? I’m Takashi Kajii. I won the silver award in the Novel Japan Prize (Formerly the HJ Bunko Prize) competition, and this is my debut novel. It’s kind of like a dream for me, but it’s not a dream, is it? Nope.

  So, you’ve all been reading My Little Sister Can Read Kanji, but when I submitted it for the prize it was called Little Sister Can Read Kanji. When I told this title to a good friend, this was their reaction:

  “So it’s a story about like a really young little sister who just finally managed to learn kanji? Or is it Little Sisters Can Read Kanji and a story about someone’s little sister who has mental issues and can’t learn kanji? Either way I can see like a big brother who just is super over-protective of his little sister.”

  I was shocked. That was the impression the title gave?! Since I knew what it was actually about, I had no idea what other people would think of the title. A story about a super young sister or sister with a learning disability and their overprotective older brother...?

  Man, just writing this takes a whole bunch of courage and resolve. Yeah.

  I need to move on to the usual newcomer “thank you” section! Thanks so much for everyone at the editing department and my editor H-sama, for giving me this chance. I will do my best to contribute positively to HJ Bunko.

  I’m so grateful for the wonderful illustrations by Halki Minamura-sama. They were so incredibly close to what I was imagining, it was almost mysterious. Thank you!

  And for all the other people involved, it’s thanks to you that this book was actually released. Thank you!

  Thanks to my best friend Y-san for all the advice, my family, my friends, and my acquaintances. And to you, the person reading this book, I give my greatest thanks of all! Things will be continued in volume two, so I’ll see you there.

  Until next time!

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  Copyright

  My Little Sister Can Read Kanji: Volume 1

  by Takashi Kajii

  Translated by Samuel Pinansky

  Edited by Emily Sorensen

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2011 Takashi Kajii

  Illustrations Copyright © 2011 Halki Minamura

  Cover illustration by Halki Minamura

  All rights reserved.

  Original Japanese edition published in 2011 by Hobby Japan

  This English edition is published by arrangement with Hobby Japan, Tokyo

  English translation © 2016 J-Novel Club LLC

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.

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  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  Ebook edition 1.0: December 2016