Holding a tray of juice and snacks, I entered the living room. I saw Blake sunk into the couch, having completely made herself at home. It was the place where Naruko usually sat, so it felt somewhat strange. I spoke to her, feeling almost the same way I felt when speaking to my sister.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"I already got tired of waiting. How long exactly does it take to prepare juice and some snacks?" She spoke vacantly while her gaze was focused on one of the magazines Naruko had modeled
What's with the big attitude, even though you're a guest in someone else's home? You sure resemble a certain someone I know. As these thoughts ran through my mind, I set the juice and snacks on top of the table.
… Alright, shall we begin? I plopped down a DVD case on top of the table.
"It took a bit more time than I thought to get this ready…"
"This is.…" Looking at the DVD case, Blake's eyes narrowed. The DVD I had brought was the first volume of 'Magi Magi Magical Azura'.
"What are you trying to do?"
"… I wanted to watch this with you, so I borrowed it and brought it here. Let's watch it on the big screen. The Azu girl, or whatever." I spoke in a half-resigned tone of voice. Blake's expression didn't change at all, and she followed me with just her eyes.
"Have you seen this anime?"
"I haven't. I mean, I only watched the Dragon Ball anime back when I was a kid. But Naruko kept on going on and on about how interesting this was, so I've been interested in it for a while… so, if you help me follow the show I'd be really grateful."
There was a brief period of silence… and at last, Blake softly picked up the Magi Magi Magical Azura DVD case, and after scrutinizing it in a profound manner, faced me and presented the case to me.
"Here you go."
"Alright."
I took the case and walked to the front of the TV, where I set everything up. The DVD tray that held the actual DVD receded back into the player… and the television screen suddenly came to life.
A menu screen was displayed. Ignoring the options for 'Bonus Footage' and 'Seiyuu Interviews', I selected the choice 'From the Beginning' and hit the confirmation button on the remote control. When I did that, a blonde girl wearing a black and gold costume pitter-pattered over from the edge of the screen. At the center of the screen, wielding her whip sword, she shouted in a high-pitched loli voice.
"Magi Magi Magical Azura staaaaaarted!"
I can't do this… this is way more embarrassing than I thought it would be… I felt my head heating up. But, as the person who had suggested doing this in the first place, it wasn't like I could back down now. And then, the title of the show, Magi Magi Magical Azura, was displayed boldly on screen. As I listened to the seiyuu voicing the protagonist sing the childish theme song, I tried to deal with the immense amounts of embarrassment and regret I felt.
Then the scene begins with Azura walking with her friends, she was probably going to school with her friends. As Azura goes to school that morning, the mysterious pale girl, Indra (who's appearance strangely really looked like Blake), enrolls in her class. After school, whilst visiting a record store with her friends, Azura hears a voice calling for help. Following it to a floor under maintenance, she finds a small little girl being attacked by Indra. As Indra insists that she hand the girl over, Azura refused and helped her escape by discharging a fire extinguisher on Indra. While fleeing, they are caught in a strange illusion and approached by a demonic creaturep. However, they are rescued at the last second by a black haired girl, who transforms into a magical girl in skimpy outfit and defeats the demons, dispelling the illusion. After allowing Indra to escape, the black haired magical girl introduced herself as Lightning Mistress Baraqiel-chan and heals the little girl, who then introduced herself to Azura that she was actually the Goddess of Love Salem and intends to form a contract with Azura to make her a magical girl.
"Isn't this bad!? They can show something like this on television!?"
"Mmmm…"
"I've noticed that lately, there have been too many products, and not just anime, in which young girls are pushed to the forefront. I understand that they're just trying to sell what the market demands, but something that makes it so blatant like this turns me off. What the hell is with the 'record breaking DVD sales'? Personally, I can't help but lament the fact that we live in a world where only this kind of vulgar garbage sells. The general public really should cultivate a better sense of aesthetics."
I wiped off the cold sweat that had poured out onto my forehead. Why do I have to sit here with my sister friend and watch a bunch of little girls in revealing clothes fight to the death with demonic monsters? I gazed at the living room door as if desperately searching for a way out.
"You really don't know anything, do you!?" With strength enough to kick down the door, someone entered the living room. Naruko quickly lumbered over with heavy steps. Blake watched the sudden intruder with cold eyes.
"Naruko…" Even though I acted surprised to see her, I was really relieved.
Alright, everything seemed to have gone well… in truth, when I had borrowed Magi Magi Magical Azura from Naruko, I told her this, "There's a gift for you from Rias-chan in the living room, so at least come down to get that," I had said.
Remember, her stubbornness knows no bounds. If I tried to convince her to come down-stairs in a straightforward way, she definitely wouldn't listen. I understood that all too well. But, if I watched her beloved Azutan with Blake, and we talked about Azutan, I thought that maybe she wouldn't be able to handle it and would barge in. And it happened just as I had expected. Just look at how angry she is.
"Azutan is about friendship! Just because the Moonlight Fantasy anime DVD doesn't sell as well, don't just go off saying what you want and calling it disgusting! Hah, what the hell do you mean, 'sense of aesthetics'? That arrogance… are you sure your vision hasn't just gone blurry? Haha, leaving the webnovel aside, is your 'sense of aesthetics' just calling anything and everything you can't understand garbage? Idiot, don't act like some sort of expert if you can't even see what the writers for Azutan were trying to do. And also, you shitty cat, exactly how far did you watch this series on your PSP!?"
"What exactly did you come down here for? Nobody invited you."
"Shut up! I came to get a drink when I heard someone say something I couldn't forgive, that's all! Well!? How far did you watch!?"
"Until the middle of episode three."
"Tch, why did you stop watching there!? That was when Bara-chan sacrificed herself to save Azutan, it's one of the saddest episodes! I cried the whole night after watching that episode."
"Hmph. That episode only centered about that fallen angel girl who blindly accepted the demon's challenge without any plans. And also in that battle with that fire bird monster, because her overconfidence and her arrogance led to her own demise. She lost because of her own stupidity."
"Huh? What exactly were you watching? She had no choice but to sacrificed herself to protected her dear kouhai, Azutan. Don't call her stupid you shitty cat!"
These anime otaku… they're really annoying, aren't they!? As I was getting pretty fed up with everything, Naruko and Blake once again erupted into a tumultuous verbal debate.
Suddenly, Blake took the remote and paused the DVD playing on the television.
"Hmph. Well, I can't appreciate the godly artwork on a small screen, right? If that's what you believe, then I never really watched it. So quickly, go get all the disks that have all episodes on it." She made that proposal belligerently, responding to Naruko's anger with anger of her own.
"Ah, those were your words. Those were your words, right? Alright I'll bring it down right now." Naruko flatly thrust a finger at Blake's face. "Hah, I'll definitely make you eat your words!"
After those words, Naruko ran up the stairs.
Is she a child? Geez… it was a bit early to let my guard down, but at this rate, it seemed that somehow, the anime appreciation event would actually happen. Facing the door my sister had just run out of, I sighed.
In the end… just as we finished watching the fourth episode of Magi Magi Magical Azura, time ran out. The anime appreciation event had only lasted thirty minutes, but there was nothing I could do about that. It might have been better if I had gotten home a bit sooner though. When it had gotten to four in the evening, Blake announced that she was going back home. I didn't even have to ask why she needed to go home at that elementary-school-ish time.
By the way, while we were watching Azutan, the entire time, Blake and Naruko were arguing back and forth like they always did. I couldn't really decide if they honestly disliked or liked each other, but I tried to calm them down, to coax them to play nice, to sweet-talk them, and in the process was slapped around, kicked, and insulted… somehow or other without moving from my spot. Standing in the space between Naruko and Blake, I succeeded in acting like a buffer zone between the two. I think you can guess from what has been happening up until now, but this was really difficult. I seriously respect Rias for being able to do all this with a smile on her face. After all, it was like having to deal with two Narukos. It was terrible. Honestly, I was relieved that it ended after thirty minutes.
"Alright, I'll borrow this then."
In the entranceway of the Namikaze house, Blake was just about to leave while carrying a paper bag. In that paper bag was the DVD for 'Magi Magi Magical Azura' that we didn't have enough time to finish watching. Naruko crossed her arms, and responded triumphantly. "Fufuu, you seem to finally understand the true value of Azutan."
"Don't be an idiot, please. Certainly, I will admit that one part of the battle scene was pretty splendidly drawn, and I have to give the DVD version credit for fixing many of the artistic failings of the TV version. But my opinion that the scenario is crap has not changed. Hmph, I suppose it is at least good enough for me to watch it to the end out of obligation."
"You're still pretty stubborn aren't you? You could just be honest with yourself and just say that you want to continue watching it because you liked it."
She's the last person who has the right to say that…
I sent her a reproachful look. Pulling myself together, I spoke to Blake, "Thanks for coming over today to play with Naruko." I slackened my shoulders and curved the edges of my lips upwards. "Feel free to come again any time. Let's hold a proper anime appreciation event next time."
Blake stared me in the eyes. "… Please just indulge my curiosity for a bit. This is a good opportunity to ask, but why exactly do you meddle so much in your sister's business even though she treats you so badly?"
Indeed, why was that…? I didn't really know myself. At the beginning, I was just reacting to the situation… well, that was still somewhat true… but it wasn't just that anymore, I think. But I definitely didn't want to admit that. In the end, I couldn't say anything but the following:
"Sorry, but I don't really know either."
"Siscon?"
"Definitely not!"
What are you saying!? There's no way that was true! After I denied her accusations with all my might, I felt someone kick my heel with her tiptoe.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Turning back with an angry shout, I saw Naruko looking at me with a scornful stare.
"… Gross."
"What the hell… !? I understand that you don't like anyone suggesting anything about siscon, but I wasn't the one who said it, and I denied the accusation! Don't just kick me like that so suddenly!"
Watching our bickering, Blake said one word. "Masochism?"
"What the hell are you talking about!"
"Well, what then?" Blake tilted her head to one side. I didn't know why, but she didn't seem to want to let this topic go. She didn't look like she was going to stop with the questioning until I gave her a satisfactory answer.
I guess there's no choice… scratching my head, I tried to put this thing that I couldn't figure out how to say into words. After knocking around a few words in my head… what came out of my mouth was honestly a terrible cliche.
"Well… since our father is no longer around… it's my responsibility to take care of my little sister, I guess?" I quickly averted my gaze and knocked myself on the forehead. Trying to hide my embarrassment.
"I see. I understand. You're a good man." Blake gave me a light nod and smile. She then spoke in a gentle tone of voice that gradually sunk into my chest. "… She's very lucky to have you as her big brother. I'm very jealous."
She faced Naruko and whispered. Normally, I would expect Naruko to respond with something like "What is that supposed to be, sarcasm?" but Naruko just stood there with her arms crossed and frowned. It seemed like they were having some sort of silent exchange with each other. I had no idea what was happening, so all I could do was keep watch. For a little while, the silence persisted… until finally, Naruko haughtily scoffed. She looked at Blake closely.
"Hm… what? You like this punk? You have bad taste."
At that statement, Blake didn't make a move, but her eyes widened.
"You should heed my advice and not even think about it. After all, he's only attracted to ugly girls."
"What the hell are you saying!? Who are you talking about!? Depending on your answer, I might really smack you!"
"Yeah yeah, don't take it so seriously. Sorryyy," Naruko shrugged her shoulders as if making fun of me.
T-this bitch…! Her attitude was just… ugh! I started to voice my objections, but before I could, Naruko faced Blake and stuck out her chin.
"If you're really okay with him, I'll give him to you. In fact, he's gross, so just take him home with you."
As I clenched my fists tightly in anger, Blake watched us intently from the side.
"… Attracted to ugly girls… huh?" She mumbled vacantly. Blake seemed to have come to a cool understanding of the situation. Afterwards, Blake sent Naruko a cold stare, and then turned the other way, "I'll come again sometime," she said and quickly began to walk away.
Watching Blake back as she left, Naruko still with her arms crossed, stuck her tongue out mockingly.
This girl…