"Mom, I'm gonna go make a quick run to the store with Cene." I announced, "Will that be alright?"

"Hm? Sure, though it doesn't have to be quick." Mom shrugged, "Enjoy the stroll, we have nothing planned for the rest of the day anyway."

Oh, cool. Guess that means I can take the longer route, after all. Since our house is so far from the rest of the city, I had already expected mom to say no since it'd be too far for Cene, but I guess I can just carry him on my shoulders if he gets tired.

"Then, we're going!" I stepped outside to see the guys working tirelessly at Issei's house.

"Where to, little lady?" Dad turned to ask without even stopping his work for a second.

Eugh, creepy. I guess Lem's powers actually work like a charm, but seeing them working without a single pause all day, all the while with those unwavering smiles on their faces... It's actually scary, believe it or not. Well, then you have the upperclassman that's giving them the buff himself.

"If you pass by a store, buy me some beer." Lem ordered, "Commanding these guys for so long is making me REALLY grumpy..."

"Kids under 17 aren't allowed to buy beer, idiot." I sighed, "Besides, why would you be drinking on the job anyways?"

"Ooh, beer! Good idea, Lemmy!" Uncle called a brief timeout for his sake, "You can't be working on the field without it! Nel, if you could."

"Are you guys, deaf? I legally can't buy any beer for you, even if I wanted to!"

"Eh, no one's gonna ask." Dad reassured me, "And even if they do, just tell them you're buying it for your dad. They'll understand."

"Hmm..." I frowned, "If I get arrested, you're at fault."

"You won't, come on!" Issei piped up, "Look, I was 15 when I first came to this world and I was getting drunk with your old man almost every day of the week! Literally no one gave a damn!"

"A-Ahem, my kids don't need to hear about that part of my life just yet, Issei..." Dad pretended like he was still working, "Nelly, please be a dear and buy us some. You'll be fine."

With a long and tired sigh, I finally gave in to their demands. What is it with them? Making a little girl and her baby brother buy them beer of all things...! Ugh, this was supposed to be a nice lovely outing with Cene, but now it turned into an errand... And a dangerously close to an illegal one at that!

"Sorry about this, little bro." I held his hand as he toddled along beside me, "Four beers shouldn't be too much extra weight, but if you get tired, I might not be able to carry you back on my shoulders..."

"Mn? No wolrries!" He smiled back, "I'll calrry them fow you!"

"Heh, I appreciate that, but... I dunno how good of an idea it is for a little boy to be openly carrying a beer bottle with him." I scratched my cheek.

"I'm not a little boy! I'm big!" He flexes his nonexistent biceps.

Sure you are, kiddo. Ahh, in any case—The walk to the store commences! Seeing as there was a convenience store along the outskirts of the city facing our house, we had a pretty straight road ahead of us before we made it there. This isn't to say the walk is short by any means. No, it takes even just me about 15 minutes to get there by myself. Now add to the fact that I'll have to be matching Cene's pace the entire time, and...

"Woahh, doggy!" Cene interrupted my train of thought as he found a stray dog walking near us.

"No, Cene. The doggy might be dangerous." I tugged him back.

"Mn! He's a good doggy, my fwiends and I pet him all the time!" He tried breaking free just to reach him.

"Regardless, I can't let you get near a stray dog, okay?!"

This commotion of ours ended up piquing the dog's interest, so he slowly started to approach us. Mind you, the dogs race wasn't the threatening kind or anything. He was just a big White floof, the kind anyone would pet if they saw him roaming the streets. What can I say? Its pure smile is contagious, the relentless tail-wagging is a good omen, and it's overall carefree and slow approach is telling me nothing bad will probably happen. Hell, if I was alone, I'd pet this guy as well! But I'm not alone, cause I'm with my baby brother, and if the dog even so much as got a tad scared and started to bite...

"Next time you'll pet him." I finally shooed the dog away with a strong stomp on the ground, "When mom or dad are with you."

"Doggy, come back!" He whimpered before yelling at me, "Uuung!! Dad let's me pet him all the time! And mom gives him food sometimes too! He's a good doggy!"

Mom can protect you way better than I can, and dad has those nifty Healing powers of his. Obviously they wouldn't be as scared of letting Cene do reckless stuff, but I'm not them. If Cene got bit by a dog or Gods forbid something worse, I'd be useless. The best I could do was run back home to mom and dad, so it's best to just not let him get hurt for now. Like I said, he can always come back with mom or dad.

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***

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"Cene! Cene!" A child spotted us across the road and started running towards us at full speed, "Hey, why're you holding hands with a girl, dweeb?"

Who the hell is this kid? A bully? He looks a tad older than Cene, so he certainly isn't just joking for the laughs. Yeah, he's gotta be a bully, just look at him! Ragged clothes, spiked hair, mean Eyes... Your typical bully look, and that kid is running straight towards my baby brother! Cene mentioned he had some friends to play with, but as with any friend group with boys, there's always gotta be some kids that just can't get along...

"Petelr!" Cene let go of my hand before giving him a high five.

"Eh?" I actually yelped in surprise, "F-Friend of yours, Cene?"

"Yeah! This is Petelr!" He proudly announced, "My best friend!"

"You're not trying to kidnap my best friend, are you?" The brat gave him an overhand hug before accusing me, "I saw you, you know! His house is in the opposite direction, and you were holding his hand just now, so fess up!"

"Petew, meet my big sis, Nelly!" Cene finally introduced me as well.

"Big sister?" Peter still looked suspicious, "You guys look nothing alike though."

"How very nice of you to say..." I grunted, "In any case, I trust you've been treating my little brother well, Peter?"

"Duh, we're best friends." He answered back immediately.

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This brat is trying really hard to incriminate me from the get-go. He already knows where our house is, not to mention he's close enough to him that he probably knew something was amiss when he saw an unfamiliar face (me) accompanying him. He's definitely going on the naughty list in my book.

"Right, I got that. But surely there are a ton of kids your age to hang out with too, no?" I asked, "Why with my little brother, whom you're obviously older than?"

"Yeah, I'm older! I'm 6 and a half!" He smirked, "And Cene's way smarter and more fun to talk to than those idiots from my generation!"

He hates his own generation, noted. Six and a half and four years old. Well, it's not impossible, but usually at that age you tend to bully the younger kids around you, not make them your best friends. Maybe Cene's actually just getting used by this tyke? I doubt it though, since it's not like Peter would have anything to gain from it... Still let me ask just in case.

"You're not using him or anything, are you?"

"Yeah, I am!" He proudly confessed.

"Eh!?"

"I'm using him to learn how to read!" Peter smiled, "His parents taught him how to read way too early, so he teaches me under the shade with that picture book of his! It's really cool!"

"Yeah, I'm supew smalrt!" Cene puffed his chest out.

"Hehe, yeah!" Peter praised him with another high five, "And with the two of us, we'll take the world by storm!"

Cene can read? Wait, Cene actually has genuine friends? And older ones at that? What the hell, that's all I've ever asked for as a child, I'm so jealous! This kid, Peter... He looks a bit rough around the edges, but he seems to really consider Cene his friend. Sigh, I guess I judged a book by its cover just now. Meil would be furious with me if he saw this...

"Sorry for jumping to conclusions..." I slumped forward a bit, "Thank you for taking care of my brother, Peter."

"Yeah, thanks for not trying to kidnap him too, miss!" He stuck his tongue out before running away, "Cene, let's play football later!"

"You got it, dweeb!" Cene stuck his tongue out with the reply, "Wow, you we'lre lucky, sis! You got to meet my best fwiend!"

"Yeah, how nice..." I chuckled a tad annoyedly, "Let's continue to the shop, it's just a bit further from here."

So, do they just call each other dweebs? Does that like, come from a place of love? I'm confused. A friendless girl like me just can't understand how boys work in general. I thought boys and girls were roughly the same, and just assumed Lem was the exception, but turns out all boys are just as weird in that sense. Ah, we made it to the store, finally...

"Good day, kiddos." The kind older lady working there greeted us, "My, you two are adorable. Helping your parents with the shopping?"

"F-F-F..." I bit my tongue as I anxiously pointed to it on the shelf, "Four b-beers, p-p-pl..."

"Fouw beews, please!" Cene said without a hint of reservation, "It's fow ouw dad, so don't awwest us, please!"

"Hahaha, is that so?" The lady simply laughed it off as she went to put the bottles in a bag, "If that's the case, then sure."

"Eh?" I was taken aback by this nonchalant answer, "But we're underage though?"

"Ah, so you were planning to drink it?" She raised an Eyebrow.

"No! It really is-!"

"Then it's alright, don't worry." She smiled, pointing to her Brown Iro, "I trust you're telling the truth. Now, anything else?"

"A bag of chips!" Cene smiled, "And apple juice!"

"Hey now, you can only pick one." I pulled out my wallet with a slightly disgruntled tone.

"Oh..." He frowned before pulling out a few shils from his pockets, "Then, I'll get the apple juice, and you get the chips!"

"Where did you...!? Ugh, fine, put that away, I'll pay for both..." I gave up, "Don't go spending your allowance on snacks, okay?"

"You've a very kind sister, Cene." The clerk suddenly called him by name.

"Huh? You...!" I did a double take at her as she handed us our bags.

"We're all neighbors here, miss." She winked back, "Please come again soon."

All neighbors here... So, in other words, she already knows Cene. Either from him coming here with his friends or mom and dad, but the fact still remains. Heh, I really don't know anything about my little brother. The friends he's made, the things he can and cannot do, the life he's lived up until now... It's all something that happened in this one year I was away from home, and yet he's changed so much... She says I'm a kind sister, but that couldn't be further from the truth, it seems...

"Dogg-!" Cene reached out his little hand on the way back before returning it quickly, "Nevewmind..."

"...C'mere, boy." I ducked, opening the bag of chips to feed him.

"Huh? But sis, you just said..!'

"Sorry, big sis was wrong." I nodded, "Yeah, you were right. This doggy really is way too fluffy to be dangerous!"

"Woof!" The dog barked happily as we fed him the chips.

I didn't notice it as much, or rather, I didn't want to notice it, but... Cene's been doing a lot of growing while I was in university. At his age, I never bothered to make any friends, cause we were always on the move. I met Meil, and thought—He has a place he wants to stay in. A forever home, and I wanted that too. I shut myself in, studying everyday cause I so badly wanted it—A home... a friend. But Cene has all that and more, and as his sister, I couldn't be more proud.

"So..." I tossed the bag of beer in front of the boys, "We got what you asked for, so you better appreciate it!"

"You actually bought it?" Lem couldn't believe it, "Damn, I was only half-serious when I said that. Sorry for the trouble."

"Emilia says a single thank you is worth more than a thousand sorrys." Issei pointed out.

"Emilia? Don't tell me you bagged a third chick while we weren't looking." Issei groaned before turning to me, "But I guess whoever that person is is pretty smart to hand out such advice. Thanks, pal."

"Pal? Not even gonna call us friends anymore?" I giggled.

"Oi, I'm trying to regain your father's trust here." Lem smirked as he handed dad his beer.

"Ah, none for me, thanks." Dad shook his head, "I don't drink alcohol."

"Eh? Why'd you ask her to buy you one, then?"

"You'll understand when you become a pop too." Dad winked at him, "That being said, you can drink mine. Sounds like you need it."

That wink, did the old man somehow guess I would meet all these people Cene's acquainted with? Was this all part of his master plan to get me to come to the conclusion I came to? ...Guess I'll never know.