It seems Ooki"s little sister, Rino-chan, also couldn"t hide her surprise.

「He isn"t here…」

Guiding us through the house, eventually all 3 of us made it to Ooki"s room.
The design really drew the picture of an ordinary house with Ooki"s room on the second floor.

「What do you mean?」

Rino-chan let a deep breath out of her nose seeming troubled at my question.

「…Well since this morning there was no way he was leaving his room」

However, now Ooki wasn"t in his room.
The room reeked of a man"s scent but it"s not like it was a mess.
Since he is a weird guy, I definitely thought he was an otaku.
However, Ooki didn"t have any distinctive characteristics.

「I wonder where he went…」

Rino-chan enters his room seeming a bit worried.
Mia and I were idly standing in the corridor.

「Ah, sorry. Can you please wait in the living room?」

I honestly felt it"s better to leave.
However, Mia and I had no plan to head home.

When we got down to the living room, we sat on the sofa.
It was a living room with a hint of a j.a.panese style to it and yet it was a bit s.p.a.cious.
It was filled with things making it feel homey.

After a while, I could hear light footsteps running down the staircase.
Continuing to the living room and opening the door, Rino-chan, who had changed into a gray parka from her uniform, appeared.

「I"m really sorry. Even though, you expressly came all the way here」

Opening the refrigerator, Rino-chan poured some sort of beverage for us.

「Well, we were just a bit worried…」
「Don"t worry. Onii-chan occasionally does this」

Rino-chan replied to my words with a surprised tone.

「So, do you know where he went?」

This time Mia asked.
Placing the drinks on a tray, Rino-chan comes around to us.
She sits one the same sofa as me and Mia.

「Probably the mountain」
「Mountain?」
「Yes. It seems like Onii-chan will be a sage in the future」
「Huh?」

When I went to drink my beverage, I stopped my hand.
As I thought, Ooki is a genuinely strange guy.

「I don"t really understand it well myself but…well, it seems his master for becoming a sage lives on Mt. Nomiya」

Speaking of Mt. Nomiya, it"s supposedly a famous sacred mountain.
The alt.i.tude of it wasn"t that high but it was quite steep. The summit is always hidden by clouds.

「That"s where he went. When I just checked his belongings, his whole set of tools he uses to go to the mountain is missing」
「Huh…」

Mia gave a vague reply.
And then I looked at Rino-chan"s face.

「How long until he returns?」
「I wonder…」

After drinking a mouthful of barley tea, Rino-chan looks upwards.

「Before he came back after three days. I think it should be the same this time」
「Why the mountain?」
「He said to clear away wicked thoughts…He said if he doesn"t purify his worldly desires regularly, then he can"t become a sage」

Ooki likes Mia.
Since it became difficult to go to school, he confined himself to his room.
And then, he must have remembered to train in the mountains in order to become a sage.

「Don"t worry…」

After finis.h.i.+ng my drink, I stood up.
Mia also stands.

「Sorry, even though you came and everything…」

Rino-chan was courteous to the very end.

「Ah, that"s right. Is it fine if I could get an address I could contact you with?」

Mia and I turn around at Rino-chan"s proposal.
If she wants to contact someone it would probably be better if it was me, who belonged to the Human Culture Research Club.
When I took out my phone from my pocket, we quickly exchanged addresses.

「Then, I"ll call if something happens…Thank you very much」

Rino-chan sees us off bowing her head and Mia and I start to head out.
It was an unexpected development but we will come back 3 days later when Ooki finishes his cleansing.
I hope this won"t turn into something annoying.

「She"s a good kid, huh」
「N?」
「You know, his little sister」
「Yeah…」

Walking down the street, we were casually strolling to the station.
I gave a short reply to Mia"s words.
Certainly, Rino-chan was a good kid.
She was a bit different from her older brother. She was quite a popular girl.
Her face and the development of her cute b.o.o.bs was good as well.
She must be the most popular girl at school.

「It"s still quite early…」
「Yeah」

It"s too late to go anywhere.
But, it"s not late enough to go home.

「Where do you usually go to play around?」
「Eh?」

Mia was confused at my sudden question.

「Where you say, the normal places…I go shopping and to karaoke? And then afterwards, go somewhere like a cafe?」
「Fuun」
「…That"s quite an invite」

I know that.
Even if I try to meet her, she is usually busy with a previous engagement.
Certainly, she does consider me special but Mia isn"t the kind of person who can ignore her friends.
Since I want to put off dating, she doesn"t consider me a priority.
That"s why a day like today is quite special to me.
It seems she realized that as her pace starts to slow down as well.

「Nee…Where should we go?」

We were quite a ways away from the station when Mia said that.
I stopped and stared at Mia.

「Where would be good…?」
「That"s for the guy to decide」

Lifting her chin up a bit, Mia smiled.
After a bit of silence, I tried asking a question as a joke.

「What about a hotel?」

There was even more silence.
Even though Mia should have heard me, she didn"t show a reaction.
She couldn"t help her face from turning a bit red.
I inevitably rephrased it.

「Let"s go to a hotel」

And then we immediately head out.
Mia followed behind and said.

「You pa.s.s」