11 New Sister, Introduction
---
-Adam's POV-
After me, Milim, and Eve take a bath together. I asked them to go to my room first as I need to talk with my parents. Walking downstairs, I noticed Mama seems absentmindedly watching the TV she turned on.
"Mama." I called out to her as I sat next to her on the sofa.
"Sorry, Adam. I got a little distracted." She said with a sigh while rubbing my head making me a little guilty as I am the one who made her stressed.
"I'm just a little confused about what I should do with Milim. She's still a child your age and I'm not so cruel to send an amnesia girl to an orphanage since I don't know how they will treat her. But if we want to adopt her, we need to make more money. I'm worried if your father works too hard to the point of straining his body. Sigh... what should I do, Adam?" She said, hugging me as a stress relief.
Now, I'm the guilty one here since I take my problem, my selfishness in this house. I seldom see Mama being sad as she only works as a house wife who takes care of chores. In this thought, it makes me realize that until now I don't even know what Mama 's hobbies are. Maybe I should ask Papa, since he knows her best.
"... Mama, how about I take responsibility in making money, I can help Papa in the stock market since I've learned it quite well."
"Really?" She asked in doubt. Although she knows I'm a genius, people always thought that genius still has a limit.
"Yes, give me some money and an account, and I will show you." I said with confidence radiating from my body.
"Hmm… Later I asked Papa first, okay?" she said dotingly, before continuing… "But why are you so adamant about adopting her?"
I averted her gaze as I really don't like to lie to my family. After taking a deep breath, I look at Mama's eye.
"Truth to be told, I want to adopt her because I want her to be Eve's play companion and… I admire her parents.
While she has amnesia, she still remembers her parents and her name. She tells me that her parents were good people who loved her, but they are no longer in this world. That's why I want to adopt her so that she can be happy, like all parents want their children to be happy even if they are no longer around. I don't want to talk about her parents earlier because it's a private matter about her, and I don't want to remind her of her parents." I told the truth with a little lie. All of the reasons I told are the truth, only the amnesia one is the lie.
"... Sure, I approved to adopt her, but we still need your father's approval and you need to show your skill in the stock market very soon. I will help you to persuade Papa to adopt her. Is that enough, mister Adam~?" She agreed to my selfish request after some thought. I'm happy that she chose to trust me despite her doubt.
"Thanks Mama! I love you." I said as I kissed her cheek which made her giggle.
"Fufufu, I love you too. Let's go to your room first, I'm afraid she will be uncomfortable in an unfamiliar place." she said with concern.
I held myself from twitching my eyebrow after she said that since I sense that Milim is already having fun playing chess with Eve who grumbled in annoyance since she was losing from Milim who she teached earlier after taking a bath.
…
After Mama had a private conversation with Milim, she returned to my bedroom with a smile adorning her face. I couldn't help but wonder what Mama had said to Milim that made her genuinely fond of Mama as her mother. However, I refrained from asking her about it, as I respected her privacy.
You may ask 'why didn't you use your sense to hear their conversation?', like I said earlier 'I respected her privacy'. Nonetheless, just because I didn't bother asking her doesn't mean she won't bother me...
"Ne, ne, Adam! Do you want to know what Mama told me?! You must be curious right, right?!" she said excitedly and expectantly with stars in her eyes, much like a child who wants to show off.
"No, I'm not." I said before humming along with the music playing in the background from my iPod. Meanwhile, Eve lay beside me, trying to imitate me and look cool, though she appeared more cute than cool.
"Yes, you are! Look at Eve, she seems curious." She said stubbornly while jumping on my bed.
Looking at Eve who is really curious because of Milims jumpy behavior, I relented to her persistence. "Sigh… Yes, I'm curious, so tell us, what is it?"
"So..." she explained, exaggerating some parts which made the story longer than it was supposed to be. However, I didn't stop her since I enjoy her childishness, which makes Milim Milim.
Basically what Mama did is hugging Milim, telling her that she is fine, and she can be her mother if she wants to, and reassuring her that no one will leave her alone anymore and accompany her until she grows up. Then Milim responded by hugging Mama tightly without saying anything.
"So basically, I'm your new sister, Muahahahaha!." she said smugly which made Eve applaud her little hand.
"Little sister." I said calmly, interrupting her little celebration.
"W-what?! No! I'm the older one so I'm your big sister!" She said stubbornly while rubbing with the intention to destroy my hair, though my ahoge managed to keep avoiding her naughty hands.
"Sigh… But if I can't be your big brother, then I can't buy you a lot of delicious food because your younger sibling is the one who needs to be pampered, not the other way around." I said in distress which successfully made her shocked.
"W-what?! No! You go be the older one, I'm the younger one… Yes, that's it." she said with an encouraging look, but I know she encourages herself to strengthen her determination to be the younger one for a better future.
Then I started to bicker with her and tease her, while not forgetting to play with Eve who was staring at us with a curious look.
---
The next day I walk downstairs leaving Milim and Eve who are basically drooling on my bed and take care of Mama's hair, which is sloppy as always. After that I eat breakfast while I watch news on TV with Papa who looks more tidy than her wife.
'I'm glad Papa approved of adopting Milim.' I thought in relief as the burden was lifted from my shoulders, though I still needed to demonstrate some skills in stock within this month.
With the skill I have, I can easily make a lot of money and more importantly, I can persuade Papa about my business plan easier in the future.
"Good morning, Adam." Papa said to me.
"Good morning, Papa." I said gently. After that we focused on finishing breakfast while watching TV.
"So, Adam, are you sure you can do it?.. The stock I mean." He asked me for the umpteenth time.
"Like I said, Papa. I'm the one who made the request, so I'm going to take the responsibility. I don't want you to work yourself to death, Papa. Mama still needs you." I said with a gentle smile.
"Sure, sure. But I wonder who you got that maturity from…- Oh yeah, that's me, hahaha!" He said to himself lost in his own world as I watched him blankly at his delusional speech before his head getting bonked by Mama because of his loud voice.
'Another peaceful morning.' I thought while sipping the freshly made tea like a wise sage.
"Adam, I need you to skip school on Monday. I will take you and Milim to the Child Guidance Center and Family Court to legally adopt her." Mama said after rubbing the spot on Papa's head where she had hit him.
For your information, the Child Guidance Center is a department that basically oversees the adoption process while Family Court is the one who finalizes the approval of adoption legally.
"Sure, Mama. By the way, I have a schedule this afternoon. I'm going to go to a music store near school with Raku, Cosette, and Yori. I'm planning to take Milim too, since I want her to take a look around." I said to Mama and Papa, informing them.
"Isn't that dangerous?" she asked me with concern.
"It's okay, it's not that far from the school, and I bet Raku's bodyguard will be nearby protecting him." I said calmly which made her sigh in relief.
"Sure you go ahead, you might as well visit Mi-chan and invite her too since she hasn't ever met your friends." she said in a teasing tone which made me helpless.
"Sure." I said.
"By the way, what happened to Shouko-chan? Why isn't she going out with you?" She asked me curiously.
"Oh, that, she said that she is staying at her grandma's house this weekend. I don't know what kind of occasion she has since I didn't bother to ask.." I replied.
We continue our conversation until Eve and Milim walk downstairs with a sleepy face which made me realize adopting Milim means taking care of another person.
'The first one is Mom, then Eve, now Milim.' I thought in exhaustion as I enjoyed tidying both of them.
---
"I'm going." I said, while Milim waved awkwardly at Papa, Mama, and Eve.
I walk with Milim right beside me. She looks more happy than when I first met her which made me glad. I don't even know what will happen to her if I left her on her own in the broken world. Will her madness subsidies but regret everything? Will she be lonely? I don't know. But one thing for sure is that Veldanava and Lucia must be happy that I 'kidnap' her.
"Milim, we're going to meet my friends. Don't forget to introduce yourself later. In this world, I want you to make friends and experience some ordinary stuff because those ordinary experiences may become cherished memories," I advised Milim.
I know she despises humans, but I hope she can change that because I admire them. With their short lives, they can turn the impossible into something possible, from flying, tall buildings, etc.
'I will convince her through friends and delicious food. Yup, the latter is the most important.' I thought to myself.
"Okay! Adam, can we go eat cakes after that?" she asked me expectantly.
"Sure, but make sure to behave in front of others." I reassured her about the cake.
"Aye, Aye!" She saluted me which made me more anxious.
"By the way, Milim. Why do you like cake so much? In my opinion, the dinner that Mama made is more delicious."
"Hehehe, I admit that Mama's cooking is good, but I like sweets more and cake is the first food that opens my eyes to the world of food!." She jumps from the spot and dramatically opens her arms as if welcoming all the cake that is running towards her.
"Is that so. Then I will take you to a cake shop along with my friends." I said, smiling at her childishness.
"Woohoo!"
…
"My name is Milim Nava! You should be glad to know me. Muahahaha!" She said in front of Raku, Cosette, and Raku who were speechless by her introduction, making me hold my forehead in a headache. If I knew this would happen, I would introduce her myself.
"So who is this?" Raku asked me in doubt, making Cosette and Yori look at me too.
"... Like she said, she is Milim Nava, my new younger sister, although her age is only slightly younger than mine."
"What?!, did your father have an af-" Raku exclaimed.
"No, it's not like that. It's just that she was adopted yesterday." I interrupt him, speechless how he can know the word 'affair' in married society this young. I interrupted her as I don't want to pollute Cosette and Yori who is not old enough to understand.
"O-oh! Sorry! My name is Ichijou Raku, you can call me Raku what Adam call me" Raku apologized with a red face, embarrassed about his own thoughts.
"Hello, Milim-san. I'm Asanagi Yori, just Yori is fine." Yori said, a little shy as she is not too sociable to new people.
"I'm Cosette Schneider. Let's be friends, Milim-san!" Cosette said expectantly at Milim while holding her hands.
"Hahaha! Of course, I'm glad to know you, Cosette, Yori, Raku!" Milim said while shaking Cosette's hand, making me smile.
