Volume 5 Chapter 3

If you like our work, please follow us on our social media, join our discord and support us on Patreon:

The Creator’s Christmas

Part 1:

“Onii-chan, now that we’ve finishedour research for a ‘little devil’ and ‘A girl who spoils me’,what do you think? Do you have a clearer image in mind for yourperfect girl?”

While we were walking next to eachother, Suzuka asked that as she looked up at me.

It was the 24th of December, lateafternoon on Christmas Eve.

In order to gather the importantingredients for our Christmas party, we went out to a shop near thehot spring at Mai’s residence. Since we already brought a lot ofstuff from home, it didn’t take too long, and now I was walkingback to the residence with Suzuka.

“Hm…Well,” Being asked thatquestion, I could only give a vague answer.

A big-breasted tsundere, a littledevil, or a girl who spoils me; Suzuka really helped me out with myresearch, and I felt like I could write an even cuter heroine, but…

“…Seeing you like this, I thinkthat you’re still missing something.”

It’s just as she says. I don’t knowwhat it is, but something is still lacking…

Putting it in words might be easy, like’A girl who loves the protagonist, and shows that openly,’ butwhen it comes to writing the actual character, there are still someparts that don’t really click yet.

“So what should we do for ourresearch now? …You don’t mean to tell me that you can’t thinkof anything else?”

I shook my head in response to herquestion. It’s true that I can’t think of anything, but there isno way that I can stop the research now after getting nothing out ofit, and I would feel bad for Suzuka.

“I don’t think that specificallyresearching a certain attribute is the wrong way to go at it oranything….”

The approach shouldn’t be theproblem. But what next? There are limits to making Suzuka acteverything out, as well…

“……Hm?”

A certain thought entered my mind.

“In terms of attributes, Mai and theothers all have different characters, so if I were to research those,maybe I could find something that would help me.”

Though I only thought of that on awhim, it certainly didn’t sound too bad.

“H-Himuro-san and the others areOnii-chan’s perfect type of girls…?!”

But, instead of agreeing with me,Suzuka’s eyes opened wide as she looked up at me.

“W-What is the meaning of this?!D-Don’t tell me, Onii-chan l-l-l-l-l-likes one of those girls?!”

“Why are we suddenly talking aboutthat?! And it’s not like that; I just said it may help me gatherinformation for my research, nothing more!”

“I-Is that so…! Really, don’t saysuch misleading things!”

I really don’t think that I said itin a misleading way…

“E-Even so, to research Himuro-sanand the others…!”

“They each have strong character,right?”

“That—might be true, but still…”Suzuka bit her lip as she responded.

I’m sorry, but I don’t know of anyother methods.

“…But still, it’s dangerous tohave Onii-chan look at the others with those eyes… No, couldn’tthis be a chance for a counterattack instead…?” Suzuka wasmumbling something to herself.

Is she thinking about my methodology?

“O-Onii-chan, I would like to be sureof one thing. Researching everyone’s attributes is fine and all,but, uhm… does Onii-chan really not feel anything towards them…?O-Of course, only in terms of one of them being your perfect girl?!”

“I told you before that that’s notthe case…” I tried to calm her down, but Suzuka still didn’tlook satisfied.

“B-But they are all so beautiful…”

“Well, I won’t disagree with that.”

“And, I-I do think that they eachhold some level of affection towards you…”

“That’s not towards me, but towardsTowano Chikai, right? If I weren’t a stand-in, they wouldn’t evenlook at me.”

“……If you say so…” For somereason, Suzuka had a really complicated expression on her face.

It’s true that Mai, DoublePeace-sensei, Minazuki-san, and the Kanzaka sisters are allexceptionally beautiful, and it may seem that they hold some sort ofaffection towards me. But that affection isn’t directed at the realme, and I wouldn’t fall in love with any of them just because of amisunderstanding.

“…But, you don’t hate them, doyou?”

“Of course I don’t.”

Why does she keep asking me these weirdquestions?

It’s true that they’re often abother, but I’ve never once felt like I’d better be off withoutthem.

“…So one of them really might havethe attributes of your perfect girl…” She muttered something toherself again, only to look up at me. “…You’re right. I alsothink that this research would be a good idea.”

Hearing her say that, I was reallyrelieved. It seems like I was headed in the right direction. ThankGod.

“At least this time I don’t have tobother you—”

“What are you saying, Onii-chan?”

“Eh?”

“We will do this research together,of course.”

“Huh? W-Why? I-I should be able to dothis research on my own, right?”

“N-No, I would be worried if it wasonly Onii-chan. And since I’ve agreed to help you with yourresearch, I’ll be seeing this through to the end.”

Again, aren’t you taking this a bittoo seriously…?

“And for this research, a differentperspective may be essential. It may become warped with onlyOnii-chan’s perspective. That’s why I’ll support you.”

“I’m really thankful for that,but…”

“And…this might a perfect chance…!If I find a shared attribute of everyone who piques Onii-chan’sinterest, I can use that myself and gain an even bigger lead…! Andwith that, I can get one step closer to being Onii-chan’s perfectgirl—”

“U-Uhm~? Suzuka?”

“Hya?! I-It’s nothing. Now thatI’ve decided to help you, the matter is settled! This is all forOnii-chan’s sake, okay?!”

“Y-Yes?!”

I don’t really know what justhappened, but I guess I have another research opportunity ahead ofme.

“I just need to research whateveryone’s charms are, and use them for myself to become theperfect heroine! Let’s give it our best!”

“Y-Yeah…”

Somehow, it feels like my researchobjective has changed, hasn’t it…?

Without giving me any chance toquestion her about it, Suzuka said “Now that it’s decided, let’shurry on home!” and dashed towards the residence.

Part 2:

“Welcome back, you two. Good work onthe shopping trip.”

When we returned to the living room,Mai greeted us. It looked like she was in the middle of decorating.Next to her were some big boxes that hadn’t been there when weleft.

“Once you’re done puttingeverything away, come here and help me.”

As I answered with a “Y-Yeah,” sheturned back to her work.

At the same time, Suzuka pulled on mysleeve.

“…Now that she’s alone, this isthe perfect time. We’ll start with Himuro-san…!”

“Y-Yeah, you’re right… But…wait. I know I said it was research, but I only thought of figuringout everyone’s special character traits and analyzing them…”

“How naive, Onii-chan. You have todecide what you want to focus on before the actual research!”

Okay…?

“Analyzing their special traits is agood idea. Let’s hear what Onii-chan thinks makes Himuro-sanspecial,” Suzuka said with a serious face as she took out her memonotebook.

Seeing her serious attitude is actuallyreally scary. And why are you glaring at me now…?

“M-Mai’s charm, huh? Uhm… let methink, the most important point should be—”

“You’re not going to say somethingstupid like her looks and breasts, right…?”

“A-As if I would…?! A-Aren’t youinsulting me by saying that…?!” I felt cold sweat on my forehead.

It’s true that I wasn’t about tosay exactly that, but they are still part of her charm, which is whyI panicked and let out a weird voice.

“So, number one would be her pushypersonality, I guess?”

“S-Something like that is part of hercharm?!”

Suzuka looked really shocked, but I dohave my reasons for saying that.

“It’s true that her stalker-likepersonality isn’t exactly welcoming. But concerning that, she’sreally incompetent, right?”

“Ah…” It looked like Suzukaunderstood what I was getting at.

Though it is a bit rude to say it likethat, it’s still the truth.

“She really wants to do everythingshe can, and she has a really pushy attitude, but because she’s soincompetent at the whole stalking thing, it completely paints overhow atrocious it all is. That’s what I think. If it weren’t forthat, she would be nothing but a bother.”

…Well, it’s true that she’s stilla bother, but if it’s at this level, I can forgive her with asmile.

“…Muuu, so Onii-chan finds thatcharming…?”

“O-Only from the viewpoint of hercharacter, okay?”

Now that I’ve actually put it intowords, it makes sense. Mai is that kind of person, after all.

“So a minus and minus result insomething charming…! T-That surely turned into some greatinformation…!” Suzuka said as she wrote something into her memonotebook.

…That’s nice and all, but why isthat good for you?

“Hey, what are you two whisperingabout?”

“Ah, no?! I-It’s nothing.”

“If your hands are free, then help meout, will you? Setting up a Christmas tree is pretty hard to do byyourself, you know.”

“…Let’s help her, Onii-chan. It’sa good opportunity. Getting information firsthand from my rival isthe best part of an investigation—”

“Rival?”

“M-My mistake. I meant our researchtarget. Anyway, just leave it to me,” Suzuka said, and I nodded tothat.

After putting the stuff we bought onthe sofa, we walked back towards Mai.

“B-By the way, Himuro-san. There’ssomething I would like to ask you.”

“Mhm? What is it?”

“Uhm… I’ve been meaning to saythis for a while, but… as a woman, Himuro-san really has a lot ofcharm.”

“Eh? W-Where did that come from allof a sudden?”

Mai, who was using a ladder to decoratethe top of the tree, nearly fell off of it in surprise. I had asimilar reaction.

“Well, actually, I’ve secretly beenlooking up to you for a while. I’ve always wondered if I couldsomeday become a lovely woman like Himuro-san, too.”

“L-Lovely woman, I’m not really…”

“No, Himuro-san really has awonderful charm to her. That’s why I would like to know the secretto your charm.”

…I-I see, so she’s asking her likethat. She’s probably planning to make Mai spill the beans bypraising her. Just what I would expect from Suzuka.

“…M-My charm…! I-In front ofYuu…!”

Since I was working on the lower partof the tree, I couldn’t quite see her expression, but her voicetold me enough that I could picture it.

…So an opinion from the personherself… Interesting. This might be useful.

“I-I don’t really know for sure,but I guess I don’t have any dark hidden side to me or anything? Ialways say exactly what I’m thinking, after all.”

“So you say what you’re thinkingwithout holding back, I see… it might be a bit different for mebut— No, not that! That really is a charming point. And sinceHimuro-san is so beautiful, you’re probably very popular.”

“W-Well, I do think that I’m cute?I get confessed to all the time, after all.”

“S-So having self-confidence is alsoimportant…”

“And, other charming points would bethat I work very hard on my light novels, I guess? Or that I’mreally family-oriented? I-I’ve really been practising my cookingskills lately, by the way!”

“…You really don’t have to tootyour own horn that much…”

Upon hearing Suzuka’s calm, coldvoice, Mai panicked a bit. “T-That’s not the case, right?!”

“Y-You know, even I don’t reallyknow what exactly makes me charming, okay?! A-And, as long as theperson who I want to think that I’m cute does, I don’t care aboutthe rest!”

“I see, so you have a person likethat…”

Why does this feel like a policeinterrogation all of a sudden?

The ladder Mai was standing on startedshaking from her panic, and then it happened.

“Kya?!”

“W-What? Are you okay?”

Hearing a scream above me, I looked.Mai was practically clinging to the ladder, so I guessed that she hadlost her balance for a brief moment.

‘I’m glad that you didn’t fall’— is what I was about to say, but I suddenly found myself at a lossfor words. Right in my field of view were Mai’s legs stretchingdown and her fluttering mini-skirt—and what was supposed to behidden by said skirt.

…Well, uhm, you know. Seeing herpanties in such plain sight, I sort of froze up.

“…Eh? What’s wrong? You’resuddenly so quiet—Ahh?!”

In that moment, Mai realized where mygaze was directed.

“W-Where are you looking! P-Pervert!Ero devil! Ero Yuu!”

“S-Sorry?!” I screamed as hershrill voice freed me from my paralysis.

But the sight couldn’t be forgottenso easily, and even as I closed my eyes in panic, it came back to me.

…White!

“U…Uuuu…! To just shamelesslystare up my skirt like that…! Just how much of a pervert can yoube…?!”

“Y-You’re misunderstanding! I onlylooked up because you suddenly let out a scream like that! I didn’tlook at them on purpose!”

“H-Hmph, I bet you knew exactly whatwould happen if you looked up, right?!”

Of course! Why would you be standingon a ladder wearing such a short miniskirt?! But I kept thesefeelings to myself so that I wouldn’t be called an ero devil again.

“O-Onii-chan! To peek up a girl’sskirt…!”

“Didn’t you listen to me?! You’restanding right next to me, so you should definitely understand thecircumstances, right?!”

“H-Himuro-san shouldn’t have wornsuch a short skirt if she was going to work on the top part of thetree like this…!”

“That might be true but…! Thattotally slipped my mind! I was just careless…!”

Mai came down from the ladder, and weboth went “Uuu…” as Suzuka glared at us.

“C-Carelessness, huh? So that’salso one of Himuro-san’s charming characteristics…!” Suzukamuttered.

“I-It’s really not like thatthough…” Mai responded.

“…I understand. Then I’ll be theone who works on the upper part of the tree,” Suzuka said andclimbed up the ladder.

“Y-You’d better not look,Onii-chan.”

“I-I’m not. I won’t look upanymore.”

“…Y-You’re really not looking?”

“Don’t worry. My eyes are closed!”

“…Won’t you at least take a quickglance?”

Why does she sound so disappointed…?

Giving no response, I continued mywork. And it seemed that Suzuka had finished, since she climbed downthe ladder.

“…See, I didn’t look. Theincident earlier was just an accident.”

“………Yes, that’s right.”

As I puffed out my chest, Suzukaresponded in a displeased tone.

……W-What are you mad about now? Idid just as you asked…

“Uu… So it’s useless if I try toact like Himuro-san…”

“S-Suzuka-san really is acting alittle differently than usual…” Mai whispered to me.

At that moment, Double Peace-senseicame into the room with a cardboard box.

“Oh, Sensei and Imouto-san havereturned, desu. ……Hmm? Did something happen?”

Sensing the atmosphere, DoublePeace-sensei tilted her head, but Mai and I both answered with “It’snothing.”

“Is that so? By the way, Sensei, westill have some items in the storage room but they’re too heavy forme to carry, so could you help me out, desu?”

“A-Ah, yeah, I don’t mind. Youshould be fine from here on out, right Mai?”

“Y-Yeah. The tree’s up already, soI can do the rest by myself.”

Hearing Mai’s answer, I grabbedSuzuka’s hand, which was still busy writing in her memo pad, andchased after Double Peace-sensei.

“I guess that should be enoughresearch on Mai, right?” I asked.

“……That’s right. I wouldn’tbe able to act like her even if I tried—no not that! We can’treally analyze her. Setting her aside for now, we should focus onDouble Peace-san instead.”

S-So it really is thatcomplicated…? — I thought. I noticed Suzuka glaring at hermemo notebook, so I decided not to say anything else.

“Now then, what does Onii-chan thinkis Double Peace-san’s charm?” Suzuka said in a quiet voice sothat Double Peace-sensei couldn’t hear her.

“Maybe her simplicity? She’s alwaysthe mood-maker for any occasion.”

“And her breasts are big, and shealways talks about indecent topics.”

“Hey, I never said that…”

Breasts aside, it’s mostly her habitof talking about indecent things that troubles me, you know?

“Although I wish she’d consider thetime and place a bit more, she really is interesting to talk to. Itfeels like everything is going to be alright when she’s there.”

“Everything turns out alright… isit?”

While Suzuka continued writing, Istopped to think once more.

It really is troubling sometimes howDouble Peace-sensei makes fun of me with her eroge material, but hersmile is indeed quite refreshing. Her ability to keep theconversation going is definitely not a bother. At first glance, shemay seem like a troublemaker, but she might actually be quite thehonest and serious person…? Though I’ve never had the time tocalmly analyze her like that when I’m actually around her.

“These are the boxes, desu. And theones on top of the shelf might also be usable.”

When we arrived at the storage room,Double Peace-sensei pointed out the boxes she was talking about.Though they weren’t exactly heavy, they were pretty hard to holdbecause they were so big.

While I was carrying them back to theliving room…

“Uhm, Double Peace-san, I waswondering what I could do to become a wonderful woman like you—”

Suzuka tried the exact same strategythat she had used with Mai.

Hearing that, Double Peace-senseistared at Suzuka for a second, then without wasting any time…

“Hm, is that so, desu? I do thinkthat the main thing is these breasts that make Sensei happy, or maybethis butt that makes Sensei happy, or this body in general that makesSensei happy, desu?”

“Can you not just spew complete andutter nonsense?!” I shot back.

“Huh? So Sensei hates my body, desu?”

I-I felt like this conversation wouldend badly no matter what I answered with…!

“…I-I will make sure to punishOnii-chan later, but can we not talk about looks right now…?”

“But don’t you think that directskinship is what makes a woman attractive, desu? And when I do itwith Sensei, he doesn’t look like he hates it!”

Though I really wanted to comment onthat part, Suzuka didn’t give me a chance.

“D-Direct skinship…! S-So if I wantto make Onii-chan look at me, I really have to resort to that?—no,wait!” Her hand that was writing in her memo notebook suddenly cameto a halt. “T-That might be one part of it, but what I actuallywant to know isn’t that! I want to know what part of yourpersonality makes you charming!” Suzuka asked, slightly panicking.

“Personality-wise… desu?” DoublePeace-sensei stopped for a second to think. “I never really thoughtabout that, desu,” She answered with a smile.

Her statement certainly didn’t feellike a lie, and it made sense considering that Double Peace-senseihas never been the type to think too hard about things.

“M-Muu….! Another strong enemy…!”Suzuka said as she once more resumed writing in her memo notebook.

What do you mean by ‘enemy’…?

It happened when Double Peace-senseiwas trying to grab the last box from the shelf.

“Hrrgh…! So close, desu…!”

As I went to pick up another box, I sawthat she was stretching to reach it.

“Should I get it?”

“N-No, I almost got it, desu…!……Ah.”

The moment I lifted up the box, DoublePeace-sensei lost her balance and fell over towards me.

“Ah, carefu—” I panicked andtried to stop her fall, but…

Munya~

Right after that, a soft feelingassaulted my front side, and the back of my head banged againstsomething, leaving me unable to process what had happened.

“A-Are you okay, Onii-chan—W-W-W-Whatin the world are you doing…?!”

As I heard Suzuka’s shaking voice, Itried to pull away from the soft feeling pressed against my head, andfound myself unable to do so because my back was against something.

“Well I’m sorry about that, desu.Thanks to Sensei becoming a cushion, I didn’t crash into the wall.”

…Ah, so right now I’m sandwichedbetween Double Peace-sensei’s breasts and the wall, huh—?

“O-Onii-chan?! Why are you grinninglike that all of a sudden?!”

“Eh?!”

Hearing that, I returned to reality.

T-That’s right. Right now, I’m inthis wonderful—no, very unpleasant position…!

“N-No, I’m not grinning at all!T-That was just another accident! Shouldn’t you be happy that noone was hurt?!”

Even Suzuka should understand that. Butshe only glared at me in response.

“By the way, Sensei, I heard a loudbump just now. Is your head okay?”

Hearing Double Peace-sensei’s words,Suzuka came closer to me. “Let me see, please!”

“It’s not that big, but there’sstill a bump on your head! D-Does it hurt, Onii-chan?”

“Ah, no, not at all—” I answeredhonestly.

It’s true that it hurt a bit atfirst, but the soft feeling on the front side had far more impact—

“Ah, Sensei was so focused on thesoft feeling of my breasts that he completely forgot about the pain,desu! I’m glad!”

At that moment, Double Peace-senseispoke aloud what I had been thinking to myself, and I could feel timeinside the room grind to a halt.

“…………Is that so, Onii-chan?”

“N-No no no no?!” I quickly shookmy head in panic as Suzuka glared at me.

T-That just now was a figure of speech!I-It’s not like I was enjoying the situation or anything!

“I see… it was so calming thatOnii-chan completely forgot both the pain and the situation he wasin. That’s the power of skinship, huh?”

“Isn’t that conclusion a bit toofar-fetched?!”

“A-And of all the things, it had tobe the breasts…! I can’t reproduce this on my own…!”

“I-I told you that it’s not thatbig of a deal! And I really didn’t think about her breasts thatmuch or anything!”

But now that her switch had beenflipped, Suzuka kept muttering to herself. While Suzuka kept pattingher own breasts with a sulking expression, I tried my hardest toclear up the misunderstanding.

“You two really are close, desu~”Double Peace-sensei muttered as she watched the two of us.

Are you even aware that you’re thereason we’re in this situation right now?!

Part 3:

“…So Akino-san’s charm is thatshe has a novel-like way of talking, and she always speaks in a calmmanner. Haruna-san’s charm is that she isn’t honest at firstglance, but still can be if needed… Is there anything else?”

“Suzuka-san, did you say something?”Akino asked.

Being asked this, Suzuka, who had beenstaring at her notebook, jolted upright. “N-No?!”

After my fateful encounter with DoublePeace-sensei’s front side, we finished helping her out. After that,we went into the kitchen, where the Kanzaka sisters had beenpreparing the food. Suzuka and I put on aprons and started helpingthem out, and also continued our research. And just like I had donebefore with Mai and Double Peace-sensei, I had told Suzuka beforehandwhat I thought made the Kanzaka sisters charming.

“So, what was the question? Whatmakes me charming as a woman? I never really thought about that, youknow?”

“Same here.”

And both of them responded just likeDouble Peace-sensei had.

…Well, it makes sense I guess.

“Muu, this information isinsufficient… As of now, we only have Onii-chan’s opinion, andthat’s not enough…”

“…Yeah, that missing informationmight lead to an important hint,” I agreed.

“Maybe I should also start talkinglike Akino-san… But, how would that even work…? And being honestwhen it comes to everything is…!”

…How rare to see Suzuka not focusingon the food she’s cooking.

But leaving that aside for now, wemanaged to learn some information about everyone’s respectivecharms, but I hadn’t heard anything before now about Suzuka actingthem out.

“Suzuka-san, the batter for the cakeis finished.”

Just then, Akino-san came over with thebatter in hand.

“…Ah!? Y-Yes, so next is thedecoration. We have to call for Himuro-san and Double Peace-sensei.”

“I’ll go get them,” The youngerKanzaka sister said and headed towards the living room.

“Why are you calling them over?” Iasked.

“Actually, this is something us girlsdecided on yesterday. We all want to work on the Christmas caketogether,” Suzuka answered. “We wanted to wait for Sakura-santoo, but she told us that she wouldn’t be able to make it in timebecause of her job.”

“Ohh, so that’s it.”

Now I’m getting excited for thecake…!

Soon after, Mai and Double Peace-senseialso came over. While Suzuka expertly cut the fruit, Mai and DoublePeace-sensei were busy with some bowls, mixing something.

“Though it may not be veryextravagant, I thought that going with a shortcake might be a goodidea.”

“I see. So we’ll be putting creamin there.”

It seems like that’s what Mai andDouble Peace-sensei were preparing.

…Mhm, this might be the first timeI’ll get to eat such a great Christmas cake. Not to mention thatI’m surrounded by all these beauties. If I weren’t a fake TowanoChikai, this would totally be one of those harem situations like inmy light novels. Reality is such a downer.

“The cream is done!”

“Same here, desu!”

With these words, Mai and DoublePeace-sensei presented their bowls. Seeing that, Suzuka took aspatula and started spreading their frosting on top of thesponge-like cake.

“Now, all that’s left is thearrangement.”

I nodded in agreement as Suzukacarefully spread the base layer of frosting.

Suddenly, Mai raised her hand. “I-Iwant to be the one who does that!”

“I don’t really mind, but…”

“I really thought that Mai wasn’tthe type to do this kind of work, desu.”

“N-Normally, yeah, but there’ssomething I would like to try.”

“And what would that be?” Akino-santilted her head.

And, while her cheeks started to turn abit red, Mai answered.

“I-It’s not like I really want doto this… But you know, in a lot of rom-coms the heroine writes alovey-dovey message with cream, right? Since this is the perfectchance, I would like to get some data on that!”

In that moment, it felt like thetension inside the room escalated.

“I-I’m keeping the training camp inmind, see? Don’t you think that this is the right choice for ourcreator’s research? But since Yuu is the only man right now, I haveno other choice but to write a message for him, right? It’s notlike I want to, okay!?” She said as she stretched out her handtowards the cake, but—

Mai’s hand was stopped as Akino-sangrabbed her by the wrist.

“…I see. Then I will be the one todo that.”

“W-What did you just say?!”

“I am a light novel author too, afterall. I have the right to research that as well. And, as his disciple,I can’t just sit back and ignore you writing a message for myteacher.”

“I-It’s not like I want to do thisjust because I can write a message for Yuu—”

“Just what I would expect from Mai,desu! You really gave this a lot of thought! But I want to do it too,desu!” Now it was Double Peace-sensei who jumped in.

“H-Hey, Onee-chan… Are you reallysure about this?”

“Of course. Every author shouldexperience this once. Namely, every author should have a chance towrite a love-filled message and put ‘Love Love Kyun!’ on it tomake it more delicious.”

“As if! For crying out loud! I can’thave you do that, Onee-chan! I’ll just write something normal!”

Just like that, even the youngerKanzaka sister started joining in on the chaos.

“U-Uhm, everyone…?”

I tried raising my voice, but nobodylistened to me. As I glanced to the side, I saw Suzuka’s shouldersshaking.

…T-That’s right! Please tell themto stop already, Suzuka!

But, as her useless big brother thoughtthat…

“I-I will do it too! I can’t beleft behind now!”

“Ehhh?!”

For some reason, even she joined in.

…Don’t tell me, did the research onthe others have some bad influence on her?!

“E-Everyone, calm down……!”

But of course, the conflict only grewstronger without them listening to me.

When, suddenly…

Splat!

As that ominous sound was heard withinthe room, the bag of icing that everyone was grabbing for broke, andcream gushed out all over the place, like a fountain, landing allover the girls’ faces—

“Kyaa?!”

With a scream from one of them, Suzukaand the others fell to the ground. Seeing that scene, I associated itwith something I shouldn’t have—

“Sensei shot his sticky white stuffall over us, desu!”

And obviously, Double Peace-senseiblurted out exactly what I was thinking, and I could feel the bloodrush to my head.

…W-What the hell am I thinkingabout?! Or rather…!

“I-I didn’t do anything this time,though!”

“Ah, that’s right, desu. I onlyblurted out what came to my mind.” She smiled as though she hadn’tmade me out to be the perpetrator.

But hearing Double Peace-sensei’swords and seeing my red face, they all started blushing furiously.

“Y-Yuu… W-What the hell are youthinking about…!” Mai glared at me.

“Teacher…ejaculated on my face…?”

“…U…Uuuu…!” The youngerKanzaka sister was about to cry.

“Y-You’re wrong…! I didn’t doanything…!”

It’s true that I thought of some lewdthings for a second, but still…!

“Wow, my whole body is covered inSensei’s manly smell, desu!”

“It’s just normal frosting,right?!”

I rejected Double Peace-sensei’sinnuendos, but I also realized something.

“……Onii-chan…”

“Y-Yes!!!”

Hearing Suzuka’s voice that had beenquiet this whole time, my back stiffened and I felt cold sweatforming on my forehead.

…T-This isn’t good! I-I have toapologize now, or else—

“W-What would be your favoriteresponse in this situation…?” Suzuka muttered with a calm voice,leaving me speechless.

…I-Is she still devoted toresearching the others’ characters..?

Normally, she’d respond with”Onii-chan is the lowest of perverts!”, but instead, she was justlooking at me. And, since she didn’t know what she should do now,tears started forming in her eyes and she started sobbing.

In that moment, the atmosphere in theroom turned even colder than before.

From then on, as well as calling me a’pervert’, they postfixed it with ‘who made his pure littlesister cry’.

…This time I couldn’t exactlyrespond… Uuuu…

Part 4:

“The decoration is done…!”

After all that happened, I was kickedout of the kitchen, so I continued to decorate the living room alone.

Though I really shouldn’t have beenblamed for all of that, I was still unable to respond… Can we justforget about what happened already…?

“Did someone curse me or something…?”

As I was thinking that, I heard thedoorbell. And as I turned to see who it was…

“Ah, Sensei! We finally were able tosee each other again!”

What greeted me was Minazuki-san’sbeaming smile. Her coat was lightly covered with snow, and she wascarrying a large bag over her shoulder.

“Good day to you, Minazuki-san.Please come in. So your job is finally done?”

“Sakura worked really fast! She can’tmiss the Christmas party with everyone, after all. She wanted to comeyesterday, so she was really frustrated!” She said as she showed mea vexed expression, to which I answered with a bitter smile.

As I led Minazuki-san into the livingroom, Suzuka was bringing out the food from the kitchen. It wasfinally starting to feel like a real Christmas party.

“Ah, Sakura-san, hello there,”Suzuka said.

“Hey, Sakura-chan!Did Suzuka make all of this? It looks so delicious!”

Instead of immediately startingcharacter research like she had done with Mai and the others, sheonly responded with “Ah, no it wasn’t just me.”

I was a little confused, so I asked herabout it.

“N-No, I just thought that it wasn’tnecessary to analyse her too…”

“Really? I totally thought that you’dask her too, since you were so serious about it before.”

“U-Understood. Then let’s ask hertoo.”

And with a bit of hesitation, she askedMinazuki-san too.

“Eh? What makes Sakura charming?That’s pretty obvious! Sakura’s intense love for Onii-chan! Thatmust be it!” She replied immediately.

And of course, as she said the words’Onii-chan’, she threw a beaming smile at me.

“…Just what I expected,” Suzukamuttered, to which I responded with a “You’re right…”

Since Minazuki-san’s character was soeasy to grasp, there was no need to analyse it at all… And sinceshe was still kinda acting like a little sister, taking her characterinto consideration would be pretty detrimental.

“Ohh, if it isn’t Sakura-san, desu!So you finally arrived!” Double Peace-sensei spotted Minazuki-sanand came closer.

“Ah, Double Peace-san! Yes! Thoughwith a bit of delay!”

“We were about to finish up thepreparations, desu, so you came at the perfect time, Sakura-san! Nowthat everyone is here, let’s go change, desu!”

“Change…?”

Suzuka had just finished bringing outthe food, and she shot Double Peace-sensei a confused expression. Itseems like Double Peace-sensei hadn’t discussed this with theothers beforehand.

But… changing clothes… and it’sDouble Peace-sensei’s idea…?

While I was having my suspicions,Double Peace-sensei and the other girls left the living room.

“Well, it’s probably just anothercosplay of hers…”

Since I’ve grown accustomed to this,I calmly sat down on the sofa. In a matter of minutes, the dooropened and I heard Suzuka’s voice.

“Onii-chan……”

“Did Double Peace-sensei force you towear some crazy cosplay again?” I turned around as I asked that,but…

“———”

The moment I saw Suzuka’s appearance,I lost my ability to speak.

“I-It’s embarrassing, so pleasedon’t stare too much…!”

As Suzuka started walking towards mepigeon-toed, she pulled down the front of her skirt as best as shecould and fidgeted. Yes, there was no mistaking her costume.

“A-A miniskirt Santa…?!”

“D-Double Peace-san said that thiswas a must for a Christmas party…”

“W-Well it’s true that a Christmasparty means Santa costumes, but…”

“D-Does it look weird…?”

Of course it didn’t. On the contrary,the mixed red-and-white design only emphasized her cuteness.

“No, well, I think that it reallysuits you.”

“I-It suits me…?! I-Is that so…!”

When I responded with my honestfeelings, her face went red and she smiled happily. “Is that so, Isee…”

…Suzuka looks good no matter whatshe’s wearing, so she should have more confidence in herself.

I did expect Double Peace-sensei tocome up with something crazy, but to think that it would be such arisky santa cosplay. Well, it fits the theme of the day, at least.

“…I’m happy that Onii-chan likesit…!”

And while the two of us were smiling ateach other in embarrassment, the other girls also entered the livingroom wearing similar clothes.

“H-How is it, Yuu? I think that Ilook really good in these clothes, don’t I?!”

“You can only wear clothes like theseat a time like this, desu! How is it, Sensei? Is it erotic?”

“They look really cute! Sakura thinksthat this feels really Christmas-like!”

“…A miniskirt Santa… It’s not aholy night, but a sexy night. Fufufu…”

“Why did I have to participate inthis…!”

As everyone expected my feedback, Ianswered each of them with ‘It suits you’ and ‘It looks cute.’

“O-Onii-chan…? Can you explain tome in detail what parts look cute and what parts don’t…? O-Ofcourse only for research…!”

Even in this situation, Suzuka took outher memo notebook. In the meantime, everyone else picked up a partypopper.

“Now then, let’s start our ‘TowanoChikai meeting’ Christmas party!” Mai said as she stood in themiddle of everyone.

And…

“Merry Christmas!”

Everyone screamed these words as theypopped their party poppers.

Contrary to my expectations, theChristmas party ended up having a rather calm atmosphere. Everyoneasked me to try food and asked me what was the most delicious. Maiand Double Peace-sensei clung to my arms, which resulted in lots ofglares in my direction from Suzuka. Minazuki-san apparently wanted toget her fair share of me because she didn’t get any yesterday,which resulted in great opposition from Suzuka—

…Well, maybe it wasn’t exactly ascalm as I made it out to be, but it didn’t result in any angryoutbursts or mortal danger, so I guess I should be thankful for that.And, not forgetting about the research, Suzuka continuouslyquestioned the other girls about their charm like she was before.Just like before, Suzuka enthusiastically wrote down the results ofthat into her memo notebook.

Time passed like that as we ate foodand talked with each other, until it happened.

“Now then, let’s start the presentcontest, desu!”

When Double Peace-sensei blurted outthese words, the atmosphere in the room took a 180 degree turn.Instead of the happy-go-lucky atmosphere from before, I could almostfeel the tension in the air.

“U-Uhm, Double Peace-sensei…? Whatexactly do you mean by ‘present contest’…?” I asked, having abad premonition.

…Rather than that, I didn’t hearanything about this, you know? I was only told to bring a present fora gift exchange.

“Wasn’t it supposed to be a giftexchange…?”

“Well, at first we wanted to do that,desu~ But don’t you think that this would leave everything to purechance?”

“Excuse me, Ma’am, but isn’t thatthe entire idea of a gift exchange?”

“You’re not wrong. But in the end,everyone wanted Sensei’s present, desu. With that in mind, wetalked and decided that it wouldn’t be good to leave it to luck.”

“T-Talked…? When?”

“When we changed into the santacostumes, desu!”

“So just now?!”

As I looked around, every girl nodded.

Even Suzuka…! They really don’tcare about my opinion at all!

“And so we decided that we will holda competition, and the winner gets the present from Sensei, desu!”

“W-Why would you…!” I shudderedat the word ‘competition.’

After knowing her for all this time,I’m well aware that this won’t end well if it’s DoublePeace-sensei we’re talking about…

“H-Hey, Suzuka! W-Why didn’t youstop them…!” I asked her in quiet voice, but…

“T-That should be pretty obvious.This is a good chance, after all.”

“Eh?”

“If I win, then it means that I havesurpassed everyone else…! Isn’t this the perfect chance to showmy research results…! If I win this, we will be one step closer tofinding out about Onii-chan’s perfect type of girl…!”

She’s actually pretty fired up?!

Seeing her furiously flipping throughher notes, I couldn’t say anything in response.

“A-And when you say ‘competition,’what are you planning to do?”

Calm down, me… I have to get out ofthis immediately, or I’ll probably end up as the bad guy again…!

“The person who makes Sensei thehappiest will be the winner, desu!”

“W-Wait! Objection!”

“By the way, everyone except for Yuuhas agreed to this already, so you have no right to decline.”

…They’re trying to silence me withnumbers?!

“But listen… isn’t the wincondition a bit too vague? ‘Who can make me the happiest?'”

“On the contrary, that’s the mostimportant part.”

“Yep. It’s actually pretty easy.”

Both Minazuki-san and Akino-sancompletely ignored my complaint.

“I-It’s not like I want to do this,but I have to look after Onee-chan, so I guess I’ll have toparticipate…!” The younger Kanzaka sister said as she glared atme.

…At least pretend to listen to myopinion from time to time, please…

“And, concerning our theme, desu. Itwill be ‘Christmas’! With these clothes, everyone has a fairchance! It’s a contest of skill, desu!”

“Yeah!”—everyone EXCEPT ME raisedtheir voice in agreement.

…This is not good. This flow ofevents is definitely dangerous…! I’m gonna be called a pervertagain!

“I-I don’t exactly have anythingagainst the competition, but the condition for winning is a bit…!”

As I once more tried reasoning withthem, all the girls stared at me blankly.

…W-What kind of reaction is that?

“Onii-chan, what kind of competitiondo you think we’re planning on doing…?” Suzuka asked as shelooked straight at me.

“W-Well, wanting to make me happybasically implies that you want to get all moe’d up, right…?”

“A-Are you an idiot?! T-There’s noway we’d agree to such a competition!” The younger sister glaredat me even more fiercely.

“Y-Yuu, what the hell are youthinking?!”

“Ahahaha, Sensei really is a boyafter all~”

“I don’t hate that he’s so openabout his desires.”

Mai, Minazuki-san and Akino-san allreacted in their respective ways but… huh?

“Eh? T-That’s not it?” I asked.

“You’re wrong, desu. Since this isChristmas eve, the winner will be the one who can make Sensei thehappiest with their present, desu.”

“Eh?”

…Ah, they’re doing it withpresents… Ohhh, so that’s what they meant.

“Just what I would expect from theSensei I respect, desu! He thinks about ero stuff in every situationwithout even pretending to hide it.”

“Can you not say things while addingoil to the fire?!”

And what’s with this atmosphere?!Just because I had a weird misunderstanding, I’m treated as thepervert? You’re wrong, okay?! It’s not like I was wishing forthat to happen!

“I-I mean, until now, it’s alwaysbeen like this whenever you girls started a competition! The cosplaycompetition or the little sister competition…! That’s why Ithought that it would be the same this time…!”

“So that’s what it was, desu. I’msorry for disappointing you, desu.”

“I wasn’t anticipating anything,though?!”

Uuu… in the end I still ended up asthe bad person. And this time it was from the very beginning.

“R-Really, Onii-chan is so…! Ireally have to win this and make Onii-chan only look at me…!”Suzuka continued to mutter something to herself as she glared at me.

Her stare hurts…!

“Now then, I think that we shouldstart the present competition, desu. We will hand Sensei our presentsin order, and the one that makes him the happiest wins! And thewinner will get Sensei’s present, okay desu?!”

“Yeah!”— every girl screamed out.

…Haah, well whatever. Thiscompetition is more normal than the others were, so this shouldn’tcause many casualties before it’s over.

“By the way, you can choose the wayyou hand over the present for yourself, desu! You can even strip orcling close to Sensei!”

“Yeah!”— …Wait a damn second?!

“Isn’t that the exact same thing Iwas just talking about?!”

“Now, now, Sensei, this wouldn’t bea competition if we didn’t take this a bit more seriously, desu~”

So why were you all glaring at me justearlier, when I was right all along?! You’re just trying to breakme, aren’t you?!

Having no energy left to respond, Ionly slumped forward in defeat as the girls prepared their presents.

…Huh?

“But wait, are these the presentsthat everyone brought for the present exchange?”

“No, desu. They are the ones for thecompetition.”

“Eh? But you just decided on that,right?”

“Actually, everyone happened to bringa separate present for Sensei~” Minazuki-san answered my questionwith a smile.

“Yes. When we found out, we decidedon this present competition,” Akino-san added.

Hearing that, a big question mark feltlike it appeared above my head.

“Presents just for me…?”

“B-Basically, we all brought apresent for you, in addition to the one for the present exchange.”

Because Mai was glaring at me withslightly red cheeks, I responded with “Why are you glaring at me?”

“Sensei really is different, desu.”

I don’t get one bit. Even as I turnedto look at Suzuka, she only averted her eyes and said “T-That’show it is.”

It seems like she knew…

“But I didn’t bring any otherpresent except for the one for the gift exchange…?” I said.

“…Hmpf, I’ll forgive you if youpay me back three times the amount.”

“Seriously…?”

So it seems like everyone brought me aseparate present since they’re all fans of Towano Chikai. I reallydidn’t expect that.

…Why didn’t Suzuka tell me anythingabout this? And you’re the actual author yourself, so why would youbring a present for the stand-in? I really don’t get it…

“Now then, who goes first, desu?”

As I was trying to think it allthrough, the competition started. And in response to DoublePeace-sensei’s words, Minazuki-san raised her hand and said “YesYes!”

“Nyufufu, Sakura will be the one tostart!” Saying that, she took out her smartphone and held it out infront of me. As she did…

‘Merry Christmas, Onii-chan!’

From the smartphone came a recording ofMinazuki-san’s voice saying that.

“Sakura’s present for Sensei isthis! Sakura recorded a lot of voice lines with this, and she’ll besending you the data later!”

Just as she said, there were otherlines such as ‘Good morning, Onii-chan!’ or ‘Good night,Onii-chan…’ or ‘You’ve got mail, Onii-chan!’ and so on.It’s true that you could use these for a lot of differentsituations.

…A present befitting a voice actress,yes. Every recording was in very high quality, and any fan would paya lot to get their hands on this.

But, while I was thinking that,Minazuki-san’s voice inside the recording slowly started to change…

‘Haaah… Haah… D-Don’t,Onii-chan! If you do that, Sakura will…!’

“Wai—?! Isn’t there somethingweird mixed in there?!”

“It’s not weird, though? Sakuraprepared voice lines for every situation! Though it was a bitembarrassing, Sakura gave it her all to properly record them!”

“What kind of situation would I evenuse that for?!”

“As a boy, you should now that~ Andplease tell Sakura your thoughts after you’ve used it~”Minazuki-san smiled.

I realized that everyone was staringblankly at me, and it felt like I was sitting on pins and needles.

“Using your fame as a popular voiceactress isn’t fair. But I won’t lose.”

The next girl who stepped up wasAkino-san. What she handed me was—

“…Eh? What’s this? A manuscript?”

“My new work. It’s a syrupy-sweetlove novel about forbidden love between teacher and disciple. Ofcourse, the characters are modeled after Sensei and I.”

“I don’t remember there beinganything between me and Akino-san that could be material forsomething like this?!”

“And it’s a R-18 one too. I neverknew that I could write something like this, but I might haveawakened to something thanks to Sensei.” She deeply lowered herhead to me.

Of course, I don’t remember doinganything that could’ve helped her awaken to anything.

…And why is the little Kanzaka sisterglaring at me?! These are false charges, I say!

As I was trying to prove my innocence,Akino-san said “Fufufu, I won…” with an expressionless face buta satisfied-sounding voice.

“Ah, really, why do even I have to dothis…?”

The next girl who stepped up was theyounger Kanzaka sister, and with a forced expression, she handed me aplastic bag.

“Mhm… Clothes, huh?”

“I’ll just say this up front, but Ididn’t make them myself. The price tag is still on there, right?”

Just as she said, it was a store-boughtsweater.

“I only got this as an apology forwhat happened last summer, so there’s no deeper meaning to it,okay?”

“T-Thank you… But I’ve alreadyforgotten about what happened back then.”

“Sensei, that’s just an excuse forHaruna. She also honestly wanted to hand you a present. After all,she really took her time, searching through countless magazines andthe Internet to find the perfect one—”

“Hey?! O-Onee-chan, don’t say weirdthings like that!!” Haruna hurriedly put her hand over Akino-san’smouth.

Since her underwear was almost visiblefor a moment, I looked away and once more said thanks inside myheart.

…Thank God, a normal present foronce. It’d be great if they were all like this—

“Now it’s my turn, desu!”

Well, there goes that hope.

With a charming smile, DoublePeace-sensei came closer to the sofa I was sitting on and planted herbutt down next to me. Her sweet aroma and the soft feeling assaultingmy arm caused every muscle in my body to tense up completely.

“Wa—! W-Why are you clinging to melike this…!”

“I told you that we could decide howwe hand over the presents, right? Since I’ve prepared a present foradults, I have to create a fitting atmosphere first, desu… Fufufu…”Saying that, she softly blew into my ears.

…Uwa, that gave me goosebumps!

Everyone else said things like”Unfair!” or “Not good!”, but Double Peace-sensei didn’tpay them any mind. Instead, she handed me a box which seemed to bethe present she was talking about.

…It’s rather large and heavy, so isthis possibly…?

As I gulped once, I slowly opened thebox. What greeted me was…

“It really is an eroge after all?!”

“There isn’t any other adult-likepresent that would make Sensei quite this happy, desu!”

…I wonder what it is. This doesn’tfeel like she gave it to me out of goodwill at all… Everyone’sclearly glaring at me.

“I-I will go next!” This time itwas Mai who stepped in front of me with a red face.

And, in one smooth motion, shestretched out both of her hands to hand me something.

“……? This is… a letter?”

“Yes, that’s my present…!” Mailooked straight at me with her lips slightly shaking.

The letter was put into an envelope,and said envelope had a heart sticker on top of it.

…Is this possibly…?

Not only me, but everyone else in theroom had the same idea when they saw the letter. And in the middle ofthat, Mai opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.

“This is something that I wrote withall my feelings…………………a fan letter!”

“……Eh?”

But, contrary to all our expectations,the words that came out of her mouth were not words of affection.

“F-Fan letter…?”

“Yeah! I have many more!” Withglittering eyes, she went towards the corner of the room to retrievea box.

And as far as I could tell, the wholebox was filled with letters.

“…D-Don’t tell me, are theseall…?”

“Of course, they’re all fan lettersaddressed at Towano Chikai! Every single one I’ve written up untilnow.”

“Why would you go so far?! You canalways meet me in person!”

“T-That’s something different! Butaren’t you happy about this?! I, your number one fan, wrote themwith all my feelings! You are happy, right?! Here, don’t hold back!Take them all!”

I found myself unable to say anythingback after seeing Mai’s genuine smile, so I accepted them.

…I completely forgot, but this girlreally is a hardcore stalker.

You could say that this was a veryMai-like present. But I couldn’t tell her that I was happy aboutthem.

…They aren’t even really addressedto me, for fuck’s sake…

I let out a deep sigh, and it wasfinally Suzuka’s turn to give me her present. With a downcast face,she held a present-looking box in her hand. And just as I waswondering what she was going to give me…

“Eh?”

For some reason, Suzuka took the ribbonoff the box, and put it around her neck.

“H-Here I go…!” Saying that, shesuddenly clung to my chest.

A weak impact. Suzuka’s soft scentdrifting off of her. Paired with the soft feeling of her embrace andher warmth, my ability to think completely shut down for a moment.But when I returned to reality…

“S-S-S-S-Suzuka?!” I panicked andraised my voice in response to the girl inside my arms. “W-W-Whatis the meaning of this?!”

“Y-Your present…! For Christmas…!”

Even though she tried to explain itwith her wavering voice, I had no clue what she meant.

“Basically, uhm…! I myself am yourpresent…! Auuu…!”

What did she just say?!

The moment I understood her words, Icould feel the blood rushing to my head, and the heat resulting fromthat.

…W…W-W-W-What?! You… since whendid you become so…!”

“…T-This is my result of myinvestigation…! To surpass everyone else’s charm, I have to bemore aggressive, more honest with myself…! Uuuuuu…!” Shecontinued with a weak voice. “T-This is all for research…! Tofind out Onii-chan’s ideal girl…! And I won’t hand overOnii-chan’s present to everyone else…!”

…Doing something like this forresearch…?! The impact is so stimulating that I can’t thinkstraight…! Why are you going so far just to find out about my idealtype of girl…?!

“O-Of course, I also prepared anormal present…! I-It’s not like I really want to do this afterall…!” With these words, she handed me the box she had taken theribbon off of just now.

Since I was unable to move, I couldn’tdo anything besides silently accept it, but I didn’t have theleisure to check inside just yet. With Suzuka snuggling so close tome like this, both my head and body wouldn’t move.

“…N-No way…?! T-To think thatSuzuka-chan could get this aggressive?!”

The moment Minazuki-san raised hervoice in surprise, time started moving again.

“Ohh, just what I would expect fromImouto-san, desu…!” “She really got us.” “U-Uwa, are youserious…?” “Ahh! That’s what I wanted to do for Yuu’sbirthday…!”

In my stead, everyone else raised theirvoices in shock.

“H-How is it, Onii-chan? Am Icharming…?” Suzuka looked up at me with tears in her eyes, and Icould only nod furiously in response.

Seeing that, Suzuka let out a smallsigh and responded with “I’m glad…” in a relieved tone as sheonce more leaned against me.

…As if there could be anyone whowouldn’t get moe’d in this situation…!

“To think that Suzuka would pull offthe ‘Your present is me~’ strategy like this…!” Mai said.

In response to Mai’s words, theothers chimed in with “I’ll have to use my full power in the nextcontest…!” or “I won’t lose next time,” but to be honest, Iwasn’t paying much attention to what they were saying.

“I think we all know the answer, butwho is the winner of this competition, Sensei, desu?” DoublePeace-sensei asked. The answer was obvious, though, just as she hadsaid.

In response, I could only look down atSuzuka, who was still clinging to me.

“Eh? T-Then I will get Onii-chan’spresent…!”

“It can’t be helped, desu. Thewinner will be Imouto-san, and she can choose the present she wants.”

Hearing Double Peace-sensei’s words,Suzuka immediately stood up and went to the Christmas tree, where sheimmediately picked up my present.

“I’m really happy…! Ah, can Iopen it now?!”

As soon as she saw what the presentcontained, she happily took it out and hugged it with all her might.It seemed like she had already taken quite a liking to the rabbithugging pillow.

“I won against everyone, and even gotOnii-chan’s present…! Ehehehe!” She let out a weird laugh witha bright red face.

“S-Suzuka-san really is actingweird…! She seems different from usual…! During the party, shewas constantly taking notes as well!” Mai muttered as she resumedeating.

Though Suzuka couldn’t hear herbecause she was so busy hugging the pillow, I heard it loud andclear.

“But Imouto-san is always very strongwhen it comes to competitions like these, desu?”

“Yeah, but… it feels like she’staking it even further today…”

“That’s because this was acompetition she didn’t want to lose. I should’ve been a lot moreserious too.”

“Onee-chan, you don’t have to feelbad losing to a brocon like this…!”

And the others also resumed theirdinner while talking about Suzuka.

I, for my part, was just worried thatthey might get suspicious of us, thinking that this was just moreresearch. Even Mai was glaring at me, but I didn’t pay anyattention to her.

“Ahhh, I really can’t acceptthiiiiis! I want a remaaaaatch!!”

But she suddenly blurted out thesewords, making me tense up in fear for another reason. For somereason, her eyes looked really drowsy, and her articulation was allover place, but I had to focus on the main problem: Her request foranother competition.

“A-A rematch?! You can’t justoverturn the result like that!”

“I don’t care about the present!But I’m still frustrated, so I want another competition with Yuu onthe lineeeee!”

…Excuse me?! W-What’s gotten intoher all of a sudden…!?

“Exactlyyyy! It’s unfair thatOnii-chan is always only looking at Suzuka-chan! Sakura also wants tobe spoiled by Onii-channnn!”

Ehhh?! Even Minazuki-san is actingweird?!

As I was panicking, Akino-san gaveMinazuki-san a chop on the head.

“Calm down. That’s the right of thewinner.”

At first glance, she seemed to beacting normal, but…

“W-What happened, Akino-san?”

“I’m fine. I’m not drunk. By theway, I see three Senseis here, but which is the real one?”

…Something’s weird! Really weird!

“Hey, you! Don’t harass Onee-chanlike that, you pervert!”

“Little Kanzaka sister, you too? Whatin the world happened to everyone…?”

“Uuu… But in the end, it’s myfault because I didn’t look after my Onee-chan enough…! And aspunishment, I will be violated by you! Waaaaaah!”

W-Why are you suddenly crying?!Something really is weird! Their faces are red and they keep talkingnonsense—

But in that moment, a certainpossibility entered my mind.

Didn’t Akino-san say something aboutbeing drunk…?

“……”

Turning around, my fears wereconfirmed. On the table where they were eating, I spotted some largeglass bottles. Upon closer inspection, I realized that they werechampagne bottles.

“…So that’s the reason! Sincewhen did they have those?!”

“Ahh, I was the one who brought them,desu. I thought that we all could drink some. And that’s whateveryone did, desu.”

The perpetrator named herselfimmediately! And I hadn’t realized any of it!

“So that’s why everyone’s drunk!You know that we’re still minors, right?!”

“Of course, desu. That’s why Ibrought non-alcoholic champagne.”

“Eh?”

After hearing that, I once more checkedthe bottles, and they did indeed say that they were non-alcoholic.

“T-Then why is everyone acting sodrunk?”

“Ah, maybe it’s because they allgot heated up because of the competition, and when they starteddrinking, they started feeling like they were drunk, desu?”

“So a drunk atmosphere…?”

This looks to me like they’recompletely intoxicated, though!

“Hey, Yuu!”

“Uwa?! W-What is it, Mai? Don’tsurprise me like that!”

“Just how much of a total siscon areyou?! I’m really giving it my best, too, so why won’t you look atme?!”

“C-Calm down! You’re not thinkingrationally right now! Well, that’s always the case, but it’sworse now!” I tried to calm Mai down, but…

“Sakura also wants more attentionfrom Onii-chan! To become the best little sister ever!”

“No. He prefers older girls. That’swhy Sensei will fall head over heels for me.”

“Uu… I deserve to be toyed aroundwith by you!”

Minazuki-san, Akino-san and the youngerKanzaka sister all started to close in on me.

“Wait a moment!”

As I turned around, Suzuka was standingthere with her hugging pillow in one hand.

…That’s right! Suzuka won’t beinfluenced by this atmosphere!

“I’m the only one who’s allowedto be lovey-dovey with Onii-chan! That’s because I am Onii-chan’sideal girl, ehehehehehehe!”

“Ehhhhh?!”

You-! Why-! What are you saying?!…Suzuka also seems to be acting weird! D-Did she get swept along bythis crazy atmosphere?!

“H-Hey, Suzuka! Come back to yoursenses already! You’re not really drunk!”

“Yes, I am not drunk. I am completelysober. And because of that, I can say this clearly. I am the onlygirl worthy of being together with Onii-chan! Ehehehehehe!”

Ahh, she’s also drunk.

“What are you saying! There’s noway that a little sister could become Yuu’s lover!”

“Although I am a little sister, I amnot his little sister. I am just a lovable girl right now! Ehehehe!”

“A-All of you, calm down already!”

I tried to separate the two fightinggirls, but I was really lost as to what I was supposed do in thissituation.

…They’re really hard to deal withwhen they’re completely sober, so what should I do now that they’redrunk…?!

“Uhm, it seems like everyone is alost cause, desu.”

In that moment, I realized that therewas one person who wasn’t drunk, and that she could help me resolvethe situation.

“D-Double Peace-sensei!”

“Yes, I know, desu. I’ll also getdrunk, so let’s all have some fun!”

But, the answer I received was thecomplete opposite of helpful, which made me despair even more.

“Why…! Why……?! Why would youever think that’s a reasonable response…?!”

“Well, isn’t it wonderful, desu?Being drunk produces the best ero situations ever! So Sensei, join inand start your ero-ero harem event right now, desu!”

Uu… I was careless…! This person isalways trying to disturb my peace, so of course she wouldn’t helpme. Am I an idiot?!

“Yuu! Hey, Yuu! Look at me!”

“Ahh, Sensei is going to sink hispoisonous teeth into all of us, desu! My body is getting hot justimagining it!”

“Onii-chan, Onii-chan! Sakura won’tcomplain no matter what you do! I’m your little sister after all!”

“I will do what Sensei wishes for. Ifyou want, we can reenact the scenes in the novel I wrote.”

“Ahh, this situation is reallyfitting for someone like me…”

Every one of them was just blurting outwhatever they wanted, and all I could do was take a few steps back soas to not get swallowed up by them. Suzuka stepped in between them,seemingly trying to protect me.

“Onii-chan only belongs to me, so Iwon’t hand him over to anyone else…!”

And, in this crazy situation, I couldonly droop my shoulders in defeat and wait until all of them hadcooled down.

Part 5:

“A christmas party is supposed to bemore of a — you know — normie event, so why…” I muttered,taking a deep, deep breath, which came out in the form of a purewhite cloud.

Well, I’ll leave it to yourimagination just what happened after that. Just let me say that itturned into a very noisy situation. For now, it’s important to notethat the other girls somehow collapsed, leaving me an opening tosneak out. And that’s how I ended up outside on the second floorbalcony, trying to calm myself down with the pleasant breeze. Ofcourse it was cold, but that really helped me clear my head of allthe stuff that had happened.

“Onii-chan…? So you were here?”

In that moment, I heard a voice behindmy back, and as I turned around, Suzuka entered the balcony.

“Oh, you’re awake?” I asked, andSuzuka nodded as she came closer.

“…Fuu, the cold air feels reallygood.”

“Did you finally sober up…?”

When I asked that, Suzuka startedpouting and responded with “I-I wasn’t drunk!” So she said, buther face was still a bit red and she didn’t seem all too steady onher feet.

…Is she really fine? It would be goodif the cold air helped her sober up.

“Woah, the stars look reallybeautiful from here, Onii-chan…” She stretched out her arms asshe looked up at the night sky.

When I followed her gaze, an ocean ofstars entered my view.

“…Yeah. You can’t see them nearlyas well where we live.”

I continued to gaze at them, only torealize that Suzuka was looking straight at me.

“So, Onii-chan, did you get anycloser to your ideal girl?”

“Eh? Well, uhm, that’s…”

“…Haaah, Onii-chan really can be sotroublesome. Even though I tried my best to help you, it seems thatit still wasn’t any good.”

I really felt bad after hearing herwords.

“But don’t worry, I will stick withyou until the bitter end.” As she said that, her face turned a bitmore red, probably because she still wasn’t completely sober.

In response, I looked up at the nightsky once more and closed my eyes.

“…Suzuka.”

In that moment, I was wrapped in a warmfeeling from Suzuka’s words, and I started to beat myself up overit.

…Ah, for crying out loud! Why can’tI just get something right for once…! Suzuka was always supportingme, doing everything she could… Be it information, or experiences,we gathered everything for our research. But still, it feels likesomething is missing.

“……”

Looking at Suzuka, who was stilllooking up at the sky, I apologized inside my heart.

…Sorry, Suzuka, for being such auseless big brother. But that ends now. To make sure that I won’tever have to bother you with this again, I’ll think about it rightnow. As seriously as I possibly can.

…Now then, what exactly is missingfor me? Suzuka has showed me all these cute heroine-likecharacteristics, after all. There shouldn’t be anything missing.

No, that’s not it. It’s been evenmore than enough. Suzuka is plenty cute all on her own. But that’snot important. It all comes down to me not being able to figure outmy ideal type of girl.

Really, even without acting like abig-breasted tsundere, or a little devil, or a girl who spoils me, oreven a Christmas present, my little sister is plenty cute already. Ican’t even imagine any other character than the current Suzuka. Butsince she hates me, I can’t experience this cuteness for myself—

“…Hmm?”

That second, it felt like somethingstarted working inside my head.

…That’s right. Suzuka doesn’thave to be a tsundere. I like the normal, serious and strict Suzukajust as much as that.

…I’m fine with just spending timewith her like this, without her having to act like a little devilcharacter. She doesn’t have to spoil me at all; I’m fine justtalking normally with her.

“Ahh, really…”

I finally understood. The reason forthis uncomfortable feeling I had—it’s because we were movingfurther away from the goal. I wasn’t looking for a special type ofgirl; I was always fine with just Suzuka. She’s plenty cutealready, even without her acting out all these different roles. And Ishould be fine with that. Really…

…I really am an idiot. It makes mewonder why it look me so long to arrive at this conclusion.

“Haha…”

I just have to write the heroine withSuzuka in mind, and the heroine will be the cutest character ever. Itreally was that simple. But now that I understand my ideal type ofgirl, I just have to put her into my novel—

“……Eh?”

As I thought this in my mind, Ireturned to reality.

…Wait a second? What did I just thinkof…? I just have to write a character like Suzuka and the heroinewill be cute…? No, that’s not what I meant… It’s that, youknow… So basically, doesn’t this mean…? M-My perfect type ofgirl is…Suzuka?

………

…………

…………………Eh?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHH?!

“Wha—?! N-No way…?!”

I could barely hold back my urge toscream out. But the most surprising part was that I didn’t feel anyresistance to that thought.

Basically—my ideal type of girl…is the normal Suzuka.

No objection. Exactly that.

The neurons in my mind all agreedwithout hesitation.

…No no no no no!!! S-Suzuka is mylittle sister…?! Even so, she’s my ideal type of…?!

Girl.

…Seriously?

As I stood up, my thoughts continued torun wild.

“Onii-chan? Did something happen?”

“Uwaaaa?!?!?!”

“Kya?! W-Why did you suddenly startscreaming like that…?”

Being suddenly called out by the personin question, I thought that my heart would give out.

“I-I-I-I-It’s nothing!” I triedto cover it up, but she didn’t seem satisfied.

But there’s no way I can tell her,you know?!

Saying that I was going to my room, Ihurriedly dashed back inside.

…No, that can’t be. It shouldn’tbe—

I told myself this countless times,but…

“Muu, Onii-chan! Wait up, please!”

But these thoughts didn’t disappearat all, and as if they wanted to reinforce my conclusion, theycontinued to float around in my head.