30

"Name..."

Name.

A given name.

A symbol that distinguishes something.

To be said, it was something that she did not have for herself.

While the girl remained silent, Mana shrugged as if wordlessly saying "it's fine".

"That's not very easy to handle. We can't keep using you forever. What about──"

"─Mio."

At that moment.

Just as Mana was in the middle of speaking, Shinji spoke out in turn.

"Huh?"

"...?"

As Mana and the girl stared intently at him, Shinji, who did not expect such a reaction, awkwardly scratched his cheek.

"Ah, does it sound strange? I thought it was a good name..."

"No, it's not strange. Rather, I think it is an unexpected good name from Nii- sama, whose naming sense usually lacks common sense."

"Well..."

He felt a drop of sweat fall down after hearing Mana's harsh critique.

However, Mana continued on without concerning that.

"So where did that name come from? Is it the name of someone you have relationship with in the past or the name you want for your next lover?"

"No, no I wouldn't do such a thing…"

She truly hit a mark for her last guess but as a person who knows how to handle this kind of situation, he immediately got an idea to cover this.

"…But you see, didn't we meet on the thirtieth? So it should be named after 30 (Mio)...that's why."

"...U-uh──..."

Mana furrowed her eyebrow in a conflicted expression.

To be said, although it might have been a little bit too simple, it was difficult to deny that the name itself wasn't bad.

"W-well, we have to ask the person herself. ──Hey, how is it?"

"Eh──?"

As Shinji was speaking, the girl stared intently with wide open eyes.

At that moment, he finally had the feeling that he had decided upon a proper name for the girl.

"Well, concerning external matters, since you'll be spending time here, it

wouldn't be much trouble at all to call you our relative. So then, the full name will be called Takamiya Mio."

"Takamiya, Mio..."

Hearing it from the girl, Mana immediately thought that her big brother is currently fishing and the fish take the bait.

She sighs in mind.

Although the atmosphere feels very wholesome, she couldn't let her guard down.

After all, her big brother is a big scumbag—

'No, wait! He has their permission to become his girlfriends so it's much more applicable to call him a 'harem protagonist' rather than a normal scumbag.'

Then she sighs.

'In the end, it doesn't even matter what my brother is. As long as he wouldn't hurt someone, I'm on his side.'

Meanwhile, as the girl spoke out──her own name, her lip subconsciously began to tremble.

With only three characters.

And pronounced with six syllables.

It was only just a string of characters tied together.

But why? When those words leaked out from her throat, the girl felt warmth coming from her heart slowly spreading out.

And at the same time──she felt something slowly descending down her cheek.

"Wa!"

"Eh...!?"

Both Shinji and Mana let out a startled look.

"...?"

As the girl tilted her head, she soon discovered the reason.

From the corner of her eyes, there were drips of liquid flooding down to the ground.

If properly expressed through the language she had just learned, this liquid would be called tears.

"Eh...how strange. Why is it like, this..."

The girl tried to use her hands to hold down her eyes in order to prevent more excess tears from flowing out, but the tears could still not be stopped.

"U, ah, ahh."

Follow this, her body swayed forward after feeling the sensation of her heart being struck.

"Nii-sama."

"...Aaah."

Then, while watching that scene unfold, he let out a faint smile as he sat down beside the girl and gently stroking her back.

With that comfortable feeling on her back, the girl──Takamiya Mio, cried during that brief time.