Volume 7 Chapter 1

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The scenery with my little sister

Part 1:

“…I’m done locking up. Let’s go,Onii-chan.”

“Yeah.”

After locking the door, Suzuka joggedtowards me with brisk steps and started walking by my side. Normally,we would’ve split up to go our separate ways to our schools, butthat has changed now.

“Ehehehehe, the weather is nicetoday.”

In response to Suzuka’s gleefullaugh, I simply gazed up at the sky. There were no clouds in sight,and you could see some sakura petals blowing around in the breeze.Even though it was the same sight as April of last year, thecircumstances had changed completely.

“The temperature is perfect, and thefresh air feels good…”

Of course, the reason for thisdifference was nothing other than the fact that Suzuka was currentlywalking next to me. Although I understood the concept that she wouldbe attending the same school as me, I would still need some time toget actually used to it.

…How do I say it? Something feelsweird.

Of course, it’s not like I hate theidea of going to the same school as Suzuka. I think it’s just thatI’ve never experienced something like this with her. After all, inmiddle and elementary school, my parents (especially my old man) haddoted on Suzuka, so we were always in different schools. That’swhy, even though this shouldn’t have been that big of a deal, Ijust can’t help being conscious of her. Especially since ourrelationship had been rather cold and distant up until a few monthsago.

“…What’s wrong, Onii-chan? Youseemed to have quite the troubled expression on your face.”

“Eh? Ah, no! It’s nothing!”

…That being said, Suzuka for her partdoesn’t seem bothered by it at all. She really has a calmpersonality.

Since I was apparently the only oneembarrassed about going to the same school as my sibling, I tried tostop thinking about it.

“You shouldn’t make such a face ona beautiful day like this, you know?”

“Y-Yeah. But you really seemhappy today, don’t you?”

“Of course. After all, I can finallygo to school with Onii-chan—”

Suzuka hurriedly snapped her mouthshut.

“With me?”

“A-Ah, no, uhm…!”

When I pressed her on it, Suzukaflailed her hands around with a red face.

“T-The weather is so nice, and in themiddle of that, I can go to school with Onii-chan, so of course Iwouldn’t feel bad. T-Though, the most important part of it is howthe weather is so nice, and going together with Onii-chan is justsecondary, okay?! There’s no deeper meaning to it!” After sayingthat, she averted her gaze. “…Onii-chan, do you hate the idea ofgoing to school with me?”

“A-As if that would be the case.”

“T-Then, you should be making ahappier face than that.”

I felt a bit startled that Suzuka wasthe one telling me that. Truth be told, despite feeling a bit weirdabout it, I was also happy that I was able to go to school with herlike this. After all, Suzuka and I had only made up a little whileago, so I couldn’t help but feel impressed that we would be able todo something like this again.

…Of course, there’s no way I couldtell her that straight to her face. Why, you ask? …That’s simple.It’s way too embarrassing, and equally dangerous. What do you thinkwould happen if I said that out loud and came out as a siscon? Shewould definitely look at me with blank eyes, saying something like”Let’s make this a one-time thing…” with a frigid tone andcross the street to get away from me. If something like thathappened, I would cry. Totally.

And even though I had these feelingswithin me…

“S-Suzuka?” I said in surprise.

“T-This is for my research.”

Suzuka suddenly took a hold of my hand.It was troublesome precisely because she didn’t know how I wasfeeling. Of course, I knew very well that she was acting like thisonly for her light novel, but it could still cause a lot ofmisunderstandings.

…But it’s fine for now, I guess.

I’m quite satisfied with thissituation myself. Walking on the same path to school, eating lunchtogether at school, going home together after school— even thoughthis kind of student life had only started a few days ago, it’salready become completely natural.

“~~~~~~♪ ~~~♪”

Like that, I continued gazing at thepleased Suzuka’s profile while we walked, and it really felt likeour time as siblings had returned. It was fine to not think toodeeply into it, and just enjoy this daily life as best as I could…

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, a new, strange feeling tookhold of my mind. Though her height hadn’t changed at all in the fewmonths since she’d graduated middle school, Suzuka looked a lotmore grown up while wearing our high school uniform.

…T-That’s weird? Even though I’veseen Suzuka like this countless times, my impression of her seemsdifferent. How to I say it… Rather than cute, she now looks evenmore beautiful…

“Onii-chan? What’s wrong? Why areyou spacing out?”

Suzuka’s words brought me back to mysenses.

“N-No, um… I just thought thatsomething seemed different. Maybe you’ve changed something aboutyour hairstyle or something…”

“Me? I don’t think I changedanything,” Suzuka said as she tilted her head in confusion.

“I-I see,” I averted my gaze.

…Yeah, it must’ve been myimagination.

It seems like I’m still not used tothis. Maybe that’s why Suzuka seems to look so different fromusual.

“You have to pull yourself together,Onii-chan… U-Um, your gallant face is much cooler…”

Though I didn’t hear the last partsince she whispered it, I acknowledged her statement and lowered myhead with an “I’m sorry.” Now that she’s attending the sameschool as me, I can’t cause any problems for her by being a lousyolder brother.

“I-If you understand, then that’sfine… And also, about today’s research—”

Suzuka changed the subject, and startedtelling me about her plans for after school while still tightlyholding my hand. While I watched Suzuka’s gleeful smile, I somehowfelt a different heat inside me, different from the warmth I usuallyfelt.

Part 2:

“D-Don’t just go home without me,okay? It’ll be over soon! …Really, why did I have to be calledover by our homeroom teacher…”

“That’s because you were the onlyone who forgot to bring in your spring break homework.”

“I couldn’t help it, I was busywith my job!”

The person complaining like that whilepouting was my classmate, Himuro Mai, who was still in my class thisschool year, despite the class rotation.

After classes and homeroom had ended,she had immediately walked over towards my seat. However, she wascalled to the teacher’s office by our homeroom teacher since shehadn’t turned in her spring break homework in time.

“Just when I thought that I would dosome research for my new novel with Yuu…!”

“That’s the first I’ve heard ofthis, though?! Don’t just decide to do things without thepermission of the person you plan to do them with!”

“I-I’m doing it out of my ownselfishness, so it’s fine! Anyway, you’d better wait for me!”

Only leaving those words behind, shedashed out of the classroom. In response I let out a sigh. Since thatrom-com competition had ended, I thought that her stalking activitieswould lessen (if only slightly), but instead, her selfishness onlyincreased. She even said something like “Since Suzuka-san alsoentered this school, I don’t have the time to relax!”, to which Icould only stare at her in confusion. I didn’t plan on playingalong with her games, so I hurriedly got up from my seat to escape.

Just then, the classroom suddenly gotmore noisy.

“Ah, Onii-chan…”

When I looked to see what it was,Suzuka was peeking reservedly into the classroom from the hallway.The reason for my classmates’ uproar was her, of course. The personin question didn’t seem to notice them at all, and entered theclassroom after she made eye contact with me.

“You were late, so I came here. So,in regards to what we talked about earlier, please treat me well.”

Naturally, she said that with a brightsmile, to which the other students around us made even more of aruckus. Unable to stand the stares around me, I hurriedly grabbedSuzuka and pulled her with me out of the classroom.

“Hm? What happened, Onii-chan?”

“Why aren’t you noticing that—no, nevermind.”

I gave up on explaining to her that shewas a presence that stood out. Even if I told her, she would probablygive an indifferent response. If the person herself didn’t mind,then I might as well save my energy.

And even if I told her, there’snothing she could do about it, because frankly, she’s a beauty. Andnot just any average beauty, but the word “super beauty” isbasically hanging over her head. Not to mention that she got topgrades in the entrance exam, and she’s the representative of the newstudents, so she’s gotten enough attention from that alone. Ofcourse, the fact that she came from Hakuou doesn’t help at all, soin just a few short days, she’s become like a celebrity both amongstudents in her year as well as among her Senpais.

…You might be getting the picture bynow, but my little sister is too perfect… And since we were oftentogether, everybody quickly found out that I was her older brother.Even though the new school year had just barely started, I wasalready being constantly questioned about her. I was constantly beingasked to introduce people to her and that sort of thing. And since Ialso had Mai also clinging to me, you can imagine the stares of envyI garnered from the boys.

…Ahhh, I don’t want to think aboutthat…

Even though all of that should’vecalmed down by now, as you can see, just her coming to my classroomcaused a ruckus.

“I don’t really get it, but pleasecheer up… W-We’ll be researching after this, you know,” Suzukacomplained without knowing about my struggles.

This was just the duty of my perfectlittle sister’s older brother, so I decided to leave it alone fornow.

“And when you say ‘research,’what exactly do you have in mind?… Um, I’d really like it if youwould hold back from walking around school grounds with your armlinked with mine…” I dejectedly said while remembering the’research’ from a few days ago.

“I-I can’t help it, can I? In thenext volume, the setting will be a high school student life. I haveto collect data on as many lovey-dovey events as I can.”

Once she said that, I had no otheroption as her stand-in but to give in. Even though Suzuka was thesuper-popular light novel author Towano Chikai, she wants to raisethe quality of her novel even more, which is why we’re always doingthese sorts of things.

…Well, even without that, I wouldn’tdecline a request from my little sister. It’s my duty as her olderbrother, you know?

“A-Also, today’s research isn’tabout that. I just want you to come with me to look at the differentclub activities.”

“Club activities?”

“Yes. Since a new school year startedand there’s new students, a lot of the clubs are holding variousevents for us to get a better look at their activities. That’s whyI wanted to check them out together with Onii-chan… Ah, o-of courseonly because I plan on adding a scene like this in the new novel!”

…I see, she’s right about that.

I was so busy writing light novels thatI completely ignored all of the clubs here, but I heard that some ofthem had some really cool stuff to show.

“…A-Also, lots of people will bethere, so I can prove to them how close Onii-chan and I are…! Andif Onii-chan and I were to join the same club, there would be so manymore chances to be flirty with him…!”

“I see. But, you don’t plan onjoining any clubs, do you?”

“Hya?! W-What is it?!”

“Hey… I asked if you had anyintention to actually join a club…”

“N-No, not necessarily. But, as theclass representative, I still have a duty to at least show my face ata few clubs.”

I see, there’s also that. Whether shejoins or not, it’s very much like Suzuka to take it seriously.

“I understand. If it’s like that,then let’s go.”

“Y-Yes! Please treat me well!”

Saying that, she suddenly jumped ontomy arm, grasping it tightly.

“Wai—?! W-Why this position?!”

“D-Don’t misunderstand! Thisresearch is called “The siblings are lovey-dovey while looking atall of the different clubs,” so it’s not like I’m trying toshow everyone how close we are, okay?!”

“W-We’re going to look at the clubslike this? You already stand out, so wouldn’t that only attractmore attention…?”

“Just what I’m hoping— I meanit’s unfortunate, but when compared to my research, it’sperfectly fine!”

Ugh… she really is far toohardworking for her own good. But that’s probably the reason whyshe’s able to write such an interesting novel.

“I-I get it. But let’s not doanything that could cause any weird misunderstandings, okay?”

“…No, that’s actually my goalwith this…”

“Eh?”

“I-I-I-I-It’s nothing at all!Anyway, let’s go!”

“Ah, whoa!”

Without giving me an answer, Suzukajust dragged me along. Of course, as we passed other students alongthe way, I gathered gazes that hurt in a lot of ways, but I couldonly resign myself to let it happen.

And like that, we arrived at the schoolclub building. Just as the title suggested, it was the place where alot of the clubs met, and since a lot of clubs were in the middle oftheir open-house events, a lot of club members were present.

“Haaaah… so these events were thislively…”

“They should’ve done this last yearas well, so Onii-chan should know about it already, right?”

“No, I never actually went to checkthem out. I didn’t have any interest in clubs, after all.”

While Suzuka and I were talking to oneanother, the people around us noticed us.

“I-Isn’t that the first yearNagami-san…?”

“R-Really? So she came to check outthe clubs.”

“Woah! We have to get her to join ourclub!”

“Hey, don’t steal her from us!”

“And she’s here with her olderbrother…”

While I was overhearing theseconversations, I realized that a lot of students had gathered aroundus.

….Well, it’s not like I didn’texpect it. Though that last person’s tone of voice kinda pisses meoff for some reason.

“W-We’re the baseball club.P-Please become our manager…!”

“No, please join the basketballclub!”

“Won’t you play tennis with us?!”

“We’ll aim for nationals if youjoin the track-and-field club…!”

“T-The sumo club…”

A lot of different sports club memberssuddenly closed in on Suzuka. Though some club activities aren’texactly made for girls, the club members seemed to be in a trance asthey desperately tried to make her join. Even the other new firstyears watched the situation, saying things like “If Nagami-san isgoing to join, then I will too…!” or “Which club will shejoin?” and other such statements, showing their curiosity.

“…Sorry, but I have to decline.”

However, Suzuka declined this flood ofrequests slowly and politely.

..S-She really is amazing. Dealing withthis situation while being so calm and collected…

Though polite, she had enough strengthin her words that none of the members tried to bother her anymore. Inthe end, I was amazed at the ritual of people coming to her, only todrop their heads as they walked away.

…I had expected this, but Suzukareally is popular with the boys. They look at her like she’s anidol or something. Really, I wish they wouldn’t look at her withthose eyes… It doesn’t sit right with me.

“Fufu, we can finally advance,”Suzuka was wearing a bitter smile by the time the path in front of usfinally cleared up.

“That really was crazy… And all theboys who got turned down were glaring at me enviously…”

“Glaring?”

“N-No, it’s fine if you don’t getit. Anyway, let’s check out some of the other clubs we haven’tseen yet for your research.”

Hearing my words, Suzuka nodded.”That’s right.”

With that, we went towards the deeperpart of the club building. Suzuka still was holding onto my arm theentire way, which kept attracting glances from all around, so I gaveup on paying attention to it.

“Over here are the culture clubs andfemale sports clubs, I see.”

Just as Suzuka had stated, the more wewalked forward, the more the atmosphere changed. It was a differentkind of liveliness than the male sports clubs before had. Of course,the fact that Suzuka (and me next to her) were gathering a lot ofattention didn’t change.

“So, is there any club you’reinterested in?”

“No, I also don’t have all thatmuch interest in joining—”

While the two of us were talking…

“Ah, it’s Nagami-san.”

“It is!”

“No way! I will get her to join ourclub!”

Just like before, a wave of studentscame rushing towards us (Suzuka).

…Suzuka’s popularity is even thishigh with the girls, huh? This reminds me of when Suzuka was called’Onee-sama’ at Hakuou.

—That’s what I pondered whiletrying to withstand the noise of all the girls around us. She willsurely politely decline their invites just like before, or so Ithought…

“Um um, I also have a request forNagami-kun?”

“Can you help us persuadeNagami-san?”

“Ah, good idea!”

For some reason, their attention wasalso directed at me.

“Eh? What’s this about?”

“Like I said, I want Nagami-kun tobeg his little sister to join the softball club.”

“Unfair! No, Senpai, ask Nagami-sanif she would join the volleyball club…!”

“No, the archery club is the perfectchoice, so if you would.”

“Ehhhh?!”

All of a sudden, it had become my jobto persuade Suzuka.

“H-Hey, wait! That’s reallytroublesome for you to ask me to do that! There’s no way thatSuzuka would join your clubs if I asked her, you know?!”

“Why? Nagami-kun and Imouto-san arepretty close siblings, right? I think that she would listen to herolder brother if he asked her.”

…D-Don’t just selfishly decidethat…! As if I would be able to affect her in any way! My influenceover Suzuka is low enough already…!

“Ehe, ehehehe… We are closesiblings, aren’t we…?”

“Why are you blushing?!”

However, the person in question didn’texactly react like how I had expected.

…No, acting in character for herresearch is fine and all, but this clearly isn’t the time to beacting like that, you know?!

In response, all the other femalestudents only started pressuring me even more. Not to mention thatsuddenly a girl wearing a leotard, who was probably a part of thegymnastics club, suddenly appeared right in front of me and clung tomy body.

“I beg you! If it’s Nagami-san, shewill surely become a wonderful athlete.”

No, that’s not important right now!Something very dangerous is hitting me!

The person in question probably didn’trealize that at all as she continued to beg me. The sensation I wasconcerned about was almost directly transmitted to me through herthin leotard.

“Ehehehehe… Wait, Onii-chan?! Whatare you doing?!”

“That’s my line!”

When Suzuka came to her senses, she wasglaring at me with a red face. Though I replied with a desperate lookon my face, and asked for her help, she only strengthened her grip onmy arm in response.

Instead of caring about your research,do something about this situation already!

—Then it happened.

“Ahhhh! So this is where you were!”

Just when I thought that I was hearinga familiar voice, everyone present turned around. The person whogreeted us was…

“M-Mai?! Why are you here?!”

“Because I was searching for you, ofcourse! I told you to wait for me, didn’t I?!”

“…Mu, Himuro-san. W-What is thisabout, Onii-chan?”

“Ah, Suzuka-san is with you? I made apromise with Yuu to go do some research after school.”

“O-O-O-O-Onii-chan?”

“I don’t remember that promise!She’s just making that up!”

“T-That’s not true! I properlyasked! I said ‘I’m going to do some research, so prepareyourself!'”

“I never gave my okay to that, andthat sounds more like an order than a request!”

“…A-Also, what are the two of youdoing here?”

S-She’s ignoring my response…!

“We are looking at the differentclubs. O-Onii-chan went out his way to come with me. At the sametime, we’re doing some research.”

“Wha—, r-research, you say…!”

In response to what almost sounded likebragging from Suzuka, Mai replied with a bitter expression. But sheimmediately changed her expression and it seemed like she had justthought of something…

“T-Then I have an idea. I’ll doresearch with Yuu too while we’re checking out the other clubs!”

“Ehh?! T-That’s…! Theresearch is supposed to only be with me…!”

“So with that being decided, I’llcome with you.”

This time it was Mai who boldly statedthat with a confident grin, while Suzuka’s body shrunk with an”Uuu…!”

Of course, my opinion was completelydisregarded. I was starting to wonder if this was just part of beinga stand-in.

“Hey hey, what’s this about?”

“I don’t really know what they meanby ‘research…'”

“But, with this, maybe Nagami-kun canpersuade Himuro-san to make her join a club…?”

“W-What did you just say?!”

At that moment, the girls who had beenconfused by Mai’s sudden appearance started blurting out thingslike that.

…Ah, I’m getting all sorts of badvibes now.

And of course, all the club membersclosed in on me once again.

“Hey hey, if you were to listen to myrequest, I might even give you some one-on-one service, you know?”

The next second, a girl wearingcheerleading clothes with considerably big breasts came over, grabbedmy arm, and pressed her breasts against me. Feeling that softsensation on my arm robbed me of any words.

“W-W-W-W-What are you doing?!”

“Yuu! What kind of indecent thingsare you asking for! I’m totally okay with it…!”

“Now now, I’m the captain of thecheerleading club, you see, and it seems like Nagami-kun is quite thefan of it. How about you join our club so that you can make him fallin love with you?” said the club president, still pressing herbreasts against me with a teasing grin on her face.

It was a clear provocation. She’strying to use me as bait to get the two of them to join. Since herruse was so obvious, I was sure that neither of them would fall forit—

“I will be provisionally joining theclub!”

“M-Me too!”

“Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!”

“…And why exactly did you take thatbait?”

“I-I couldn’t help it, could I?It’s Onii-chan’s fault for being seduced like that! Reflect onit!”

Suzuka was glaring at me with abright-red face. Though I wanted to reason with her, it was true thatI had let my guard down because of the sensation of that girl’sbreasts… But that’s not exactly within my power to control, youknow?

“W-Well it’s fine. This will justgo into my data for our research,” Suzuka said, as she looked downat her cheerleader outfit

.

After what happened, we had borrowedcheerleading uniforms and went out to the practice area.

“That’s true. Since this outfit isone of Yuu’s favourites, it might not be a bad experience.”

At the same time, Mai also came with usunder the pretext of her “Research,” also wearing a cheerleadinguniform.

“No, it’s not like I’m a fan ofthose clothes, you know…” I said.

“Do you hate them, then?”

…Again, why do all the girls aroundme argue with that kind of logic?

“Hehehe, how nice how nice! BothNagami-san and Himuro-san are super amazing beauties, so if you wereto join, our club would be unstoppable!”

In the meantime, the club presidentwalked up to us, clearly scheming something with an evil grin on herface.

“I knew it was the right choice toinvite Nagami-san and the others. Hehehe, how about I give you somemore service?”

“My position will only suffer fromall this, so I have to wholeheartedly decline!” I replied.

…Ugh, I’m clearly being used here.But I guess that testing out a club like this wouldn’t be bad forSuzuka’s research, would it?

“So what exactly should we do?”

“That’s right. I’ve seen it acouple of times, but I don’t have any experience.”

Both Mai and Suzuka looked down attheir pom-poms.

“Since it’s cheerleading, youobviously have to cheer for someone. Let’s see, how about you justtry it here and now?”

“…What exactly should we do?”

“Ah, try cheering on Nagami-kun here.Just do whatever comes to mind.”

…M-Me?

When I looked at her in confusion, theother two twitched in response. They had satisfied expressions ontheir faces.

“I-I see, cheering for Yuu. If that’sit, then I’ll try… Cough , now then, do your best for me!I’m cheering for you, Yuu!” said Mai, as she pointed the pom-pomin her right hand at me.

She had her left hand on her hip, andwas smiling at me, but…

“How is that cheering…?”

“W-Where are your eyes! You’regetting way too excited about this, aren’t you? You are, right?!”

Well, the fact that she had tears inher eyes and a red face, as well as that good-for-nothing feelingthat I get from her, makes me think that she’s at least a bit cute.But I’d better hold back from saying that.

“U-Uhm… Cheering for Onii-chan,cheering for Onii-chan…! P-P-Please give it your best, Onii-chan…!”

Suzuka for her part tried the casualapproach, but she kept hiding half her face with her pom-poms. Evenso, you could clearly see that she was blushing all the way to herears, and it was clear that she was trying her best.

“How nice! Beauties like you reallyshine at everything they do! See, Nagami-kun, because of them, you’vegotten so much positive energy now!”

“No, it’s not like I… And, isthis really fine? I thought that cheerleading was a bit more… um,intense?”

“Well, they’re just trying it out,after all. And the thought is what counts. But they might as wellexperience the real thing,” the president said, as she put her ownpom-poms over her hands. “Cheerleading is a sport that heavilyrelies on movement. There are a lot of ways to move, but the mostimportant one would be jumping, I guess.”

Just as she had said, she lifted herhands up and started jumping up and down. Her pom-poms and skirt werefluttering, and her two big breasts were shaking like jelly—

“O-O-O-O-O-Onii-chan?! Why is yourgaze suddenly glued on her?!!”

“T-T-T-That isn’t the case, okay?!”I hurriedly averted my gaze.

…That was totally unfair!

“Hehehe. Well, like this, we try tograb attention with our movement. Now then, how about you two try?”

First I watched Suzuka. Nothing. ThenMai. Jelly-like shaking.

“H-Hey, Yuu! Where are you looking!You really are a sex-crazed devil! B-But, just this once, I’llforgive you!”

I unconsciously focused my gaze on her,and when she realized that, Mai’s face went red while she saidthese sorts of things.

….She’s glaring at me, but isn’tthere a hint of happiness mixed in there?

“O-Onii-chan…!!!”

When I heard that cold voice, Istiffened up. When I looked at her, Suzuka had a bitter expression onher face and tears in her eyes. Although she tried her best tocontinue jumping, nothing besides her ponytail was actually shaking.

…T-This isn’t good. Suzuka isconscious of her breast size, isn’t she? Let’s try to change thesubject…

“U-Uhm, are there any other moves?”

“Let’s see, there’s one calledkicking, where you lift up your leg like this,” the president said,and did so, pulling up her leg with both of her hands.

Ohhh, cool. She managed to stretch herleg above her head.

…That’s great and all, but in thatposition, I could clearly see under her skirt. Well, she’s wearingspecial underwear, but still.

“…Onii-chan?”

“I-It’s nothing at all!? H-Howabout you try this next?!”

Of course I had to cover my gaze… Andwhy is Suzuka so sharp when it comes to this sort of thing…?!

Though she still didn’t seemsatisfied, she copied the president’s movements. When she did, shemanaged to stretch her leg about as high as the president had before,so of course we were all surprised.

“Ohhh, amazing, Nagami-san! Your bodyis so flexible!”

“It’s not that difficult at all.”

Though Suzuka said it like it wassomething completely easy, I was still in awe. Just what you wouldexpect from a perfect superhuman. When Suzuka realized that I waslooking at her in admiration, she continued with a gleeful smile. Ofcourse, there was also embarrassment mixed into my feelings, sinceher skirt was lifted up.

“R-Really Onii-chan is just… You’reprobably remembering the panchira research.”

Again, can you stop reading my minddirectly like that…?

“Muuu…! I-I’ll do it too, sowatch me, Yuu!”

Mai watched the scene in silence, andtried to lift up her own leg.

“…Wah, kya…!”

Only for her to lose her balance andcollapse.

“H-Hey, are you okay?”

She landed on her butt and rubbed itwith tears in her eyes. But, my attention was immediately captured byher skirt, which was not hiding her pure-white panties anymore—

“…Eh? White…?”

“H-Himuro-san?! Why are you onlywearing panties?!”

“Eh?”

Suzuka almost screamed at her, whileMai only frowned at her in confusion. When she realised the positionshe was in, her face went red immediately.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaa?! W-Where are youstaring?!”

“I-I wasn’t staring or anything…!W-Why don’t you wear the special underwear?!”

“Eh? S-Special underwear?”

…T-This girl! She didn’t know aboutthat?! No, even if she didn’t, why did she still do all those riskymoves with that miniskirt!? How clumsy can you be!?

“U, uuu… I was seen by Yuu…! Mypanties…! Y-You, you really are a sex-crazed devil!”

“Why am I the one at fault here?!”

“Muu…! I was the one who did itbetter, so why does Himuro-san get all the attention from Onii-chan…!I-If it’s come to this, I will try something else!”

“Ohh, that’s what I want to see,Nagami-san!”

“Then, next is—”

“W-Wait a moment, will you!? I canalso keep going! I need to get Yuu’s attention or— Nevermind!This is for my research!”

“For now, how about Himuro-san putson the special underwear!”

“Ohhh, Himuro-san is also gettingfired up! …At this rate, I might even get the two of them to join…Hehehehe, then, let’s try to entrance Nagami-kun even more!”

“Like I said! Can you not pull meinto this?!”

…And that’s how it went.

Even after that, both of them wereweirdly motivated, “trying out” various positions and moves. Tobe fair, I didn’t need to be there, but somehow a competitionstarted to try to get my attention, so I wasn’t allowed to runaway…

“Hey! Hey! Onii-chan!”

“I’ll give you a reward for workingso hard! T-Though, anything erotic is a no-go!”

They were getting more and more heatedup. I was even starting to wonder if they remembered that we werehere for research. As I had no way of knowing, I could only let out asigh. And the next words that the club president gleefully said to mecertainly didn’t help.

“They’re the best! I really have toget these two to join the club! In order to achieve that, Nagami-kunalso has to join, alright? The cheerleader club that is, of course!”

Part 3:

Of course, we didn’t join the club.

…After all, they only joinedtemporarily for research. Luckily, both Suzuka and Mai were able toremember that in the end.

“I’m back…”

“We’re home.”

Our voices rang alone inside the emptyhome. Just a while ago, a scene like this would only happen when Iwent to pick up Suzuka from Hakuou, but since we were actually cominghome together every day, this situation had become the norm.

“…Why is Onii-chan so tired? Youwere only watching, after all,” Suzuka asked me while taking offher shoes.

…Because you were forcefullypulling me along, of course — is what I wanted to say, butSuzuka would probably only give a rebuttal like “Please pullyourself together.”

“Ahh… And how did that researchturn out for you?” I asked her as I changed into my house slippers.

One way or another, this is the mostimportant thing, after all. If she told me that it was a failure andthat we would have to redo it, I would probably die.

“Y-Yes. let’s see. ThoughHimuro-san interrupted us mid-way, I did manage to flirt withOnii-chan… O-Of course, only for the research!”

“I’m glad to hear that. With this,your next volume will be just as good as ever.”

“N-No, there’s still a lot ofresearch left for these kinds of high school events, so we will haveto continue. Being lovey-dovey — no, excuse me. I mean, you cannever do enough research, after all.”

“S-Seriously…” I found myselfunconsciously sighing in exasperation.

…Well, if it helps raise the qualityof Suzuka’s novel, then I have no other choice but to help her out.

“B-But still, I will have no problemswriting the newest volume. I’m making good progress, so there’sno need to worry, Onii-chan.”

“…I see.”

Whatever the case, her work is movingforward at a steady pace, so that’s all that matters. She seems tobe in good spirits, so if she says she’s fine, then I can relax.

“By the way, how is it going onOnii-chan’s side?”

“Me?”

“I’m asking about the work thatyou’ll be submitting for the next light novel contest. How is yourprogress coming along?”

“That’s not really anything youshould have to worry about…”

“J-Just like Onii-chan cares about mynovel, I also care about what Onii-chan is doing. U-Um, we aresiblings after all, so of course I would worry.”

Though Suzuka averted her eyes, clearlyflustered, I did understand that she actually cared. Ever since wemade up, Suzuka has been slowly but steadily working to close thedistance between us.

“I see… thank you. But it’s fine.It’s slow, but I’m steadily working on it.”

“I-Is that so? That’s great. Then,I’ll go back to my room and work on my novel.”

With slightly flushed cheeks, Suzukawent on her way.

Was she flustered? —I thought.I followed suit and went back to my own room.

“Now then…”

I changed out of my school uniform,started up my laptop, and booted up my writing software. Of course,it wasn’t to work on my light novel contest submission, but ratherto figure out what kind of novel I should write next. That’s right.At the moment, I wasn’t working on any novel. After all, even now,I still couldn’t figure out what kind of novel I really want towrite.

“A while ago, I told Suzuka that sheonly has to write what she really wants, but I don’t even know whatthat is for me…”

That’s exactly why I have to find theanswer to that as fast as possible.

…To be honest, it isn’t going aswell as I had hoped. I wrote about hundred different attempts so far,but I immediately understood that none of the had the ability toactually win the contest.

“Mmmm… Probably a battle novel…Maybe that’s the best genre for me… Hmmm…” I muttered, stillcontinuing to press buttons on the keyboard.

That being said, it’s not like I’msuffering or anything, this is just necessary so that I can become aproper light novel author like Suzuka. While I was having thesethoughts, I glanced at the wall in front of me. On the other side,Suzuka was currently also working on her own novel. In order to catchup to her some day, I have to give it my best to write the type ofnovel that suits me the best.

“Hmmm… This is… No, but…”

Like that, time passed until it wasmidnight.

Though it was quite surprising to findout that Suzuka would be attending the same school as me, even as weconstantly kept doing research for her, I’ve started to growaccustomed to this situation. If our days continue going on likethis, things will surely calm down. Suzuka is working hard both as afresh high school student and as a light novel author, and it’scertainly not like I’m suffering under these circumstances.

Basically, the spring of my second yearin high school has had quite the calm start, is what you could say—

…or at least that’s what I thoughtat the time…

Part 4:

“Some friends of yours are comingover to play?” I asked.

It was on holiday around two weeksafter Suzuka had started attending my school. While I was relaxing inthe living room, Suzuka suddenly spoke to me.

“Yes… What’s wrong? You look likeyou’ve seen a ghost,” She answered.

“N-No, uhm, by ‘friends,’ do youmean yours?”

“…I don’t know what you’retrying to ask with that question. Is there any other meaning besidesthe literal one?”

“You actually had friends…?”

The moment I said those words out loud,I could see Suzuka’s eyebrows twitch, and all human emotionvanished from her face.

“Onii-chan…? What did you mean bythat…?”

“N-No, don’t get me wrong! I’msorry! I didn’t mean it like that…!” I hurriedly apologized.

Those words had just slipped out of mymouth before I could stop them.

…But, you know. I would like for youto think about my position. The words “Suzuka” and “friends”never had any relation to one another in my mind. When she was stillin middle school — attending Hakuou, she was indeed something likea celebrity. But that was more like “respect” and “worship”rather than actual “friendship,” or at least that’s how it feltto me. Of course, there’s no way I knew absolutely everything abouther friendships and whatnot (because that would be rather creepy,after all), so maybe there really are people she could call herfriends. But, as far as I know, she had never brought anyone likethat home. That’s why I just couldn’t picture Suzuka actuallybringing friends over.

—Basically, I thought something like Does she actually have any friends like that…? But there’sno way I could say that out loud…

“Somehow, it feels like Onii-chan isthinking something incredibly rude.”

“T-That’s not the case, you know?!…It’s just, um… It’s so unexpected… or something likethat…”

“W-What do you mean by ‘unexpected?!’Do I seem like the kind of girl who wouldn’t be able to makefriends?!”

“I-I said that’s not it! When youwere still in Hakuou, this sort of thing never happened, after all!”

“Muu, you certainly aren’t wrongabout that. But everyone was living in a dorm over there, so therewas never a need for them to actually come over to play, and wecould’ve just used the lounge there if we wanted to meet up.”

Ahh, she’s right about that.

“ Cough Anyway, I managed tomake some friends. And in order to deepen our friendship, they willbe coming over. They really wanted to see my house…”

“I see. All right, if that’s it,then I don’t mind,” I responded, completely relieved from thebottom of my heart.

I was really happy to know that Suzukahad managed to make some friends. It’s not that I don’t believein her ability to make friends, but it’s more like I was afraidthat other people would see her as an unobtainable flower because ofher superhuman status.

“Alright, then, I’ll try to actaccordingly so that I don’t shame you as your older brother.”

“No, that’s not necessary. Afterall, I want Onii-chan to stay in his room while my friends are here.”

“……Eh?”

While I was in a state of shock, Suzukafollowed up with a “That’s why I came here to ask.”

“Ehhh?! W-What do you mean by that?!”

“Like I said, I don’t wantOnii-chan to show himself while my friends are over.”

Suzuka’s words echoed inside my head.

…Ooooohhhhhh! T-This phrase hurtsmore than anything else…!

“W-Wait… N-No matter how much of auseless older brother I am, isn’t that a bit too harsh…?!”

“…? What are you saying, Onii-chan?And why are you close to crying?”

“I-I mean, you’re so embarrassedabout me being your older brother that you don’t want your friendsto see me, right…?”

Ahhh, saying it out loud makes me wantto cry. Well of course it would!

“Wha—?! Y-You’re wrong! I didn’tmean that!”

But Suzuka just turned red and startedpanicking.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that…!I’m always talking about Onii-chan to them…! If they were to talkto Onii-chan face-to-face now, there’s a one-in-a-million chancethat towards Onii-chan, they might actually…! U-Uhm…!”

“Towards me… what? And, what do youmean you’re always talking about—”

“Hya?! A-Anyway, Onii-chan has tomake sure that he doesn’t meet them! I-It’s embarrassing, afterall! It would be a worst-case scenario!”

Of course, those words didn’t cheerme up at all, but rather depressed me even more.

…S-So Suzuka has that kind of view ofme, her older brother…!

It’s true that we made up a whileago, and I still expected her to be quite cold to me, but having ittold so directly was still quite the shock.

“I-I hope that you’ll help me outhere. We’re planning to spend most of the time in my room, butplease make sure that you pay attention when you have to leave yourroom.”

…Uuuu, it’s miserable, but I can’thelp it. She’s saying this to me so directly, after all. However…

“I get it… But at the very least,let me greet them when they arrive here.”

“Ehhh?! W-Why would you…?!”

“I mean, it’s proper etiquette togreet guests that come over to my house, don’t you think?”

Since I was completely in the righthere, Suzuka couldn’t say anything in response. But there wasanother reason. As her older brother, I wanted to at least have abrief glimpse at what kind of friends Suzuka would be bringing over.I can’t imagine that Suzuka would make friends with weird people,but I still am a bit worried.

“Mumumu… But, making them meetOnii-chan directly is still dangerous…!”

“Dangerous in what way?! I’m justgreeting them! Anything other than that would just be rude, don’tyou think?!”

“Kuuu…! Onii-chan is using logicfor once…!”

What’s with this reaction…? Is youropinion of me really that low…?

Though Suzuka hesitated for a bit, shefinally let out a sigh, apparently giving up.

“…I understand. It’s just asOnii-chan says. A greeting should be fine.”

It seems like Suzuka finally wassatisfied… Though she still didn’t seem to like the idea.

Around 30 minutes later, Suzuka’sfriends arrived. Suzuka and I went to the entrance to greet them, butthey let off a very different atmosphere than I had expected.

“Welcome, Kaede and Kotomi. This ismy Onii-chan.”

“I-It’s nice to meet you. I’mSuzuka’s older brother, Nagami Yuu.”

When I was introduced by Suzuka, Ifollowed suit with a short bow.

“It is good to meet you. My name isNikaido Kaede. Since I want to become even better friends withSuzuka, I hope to get along with you.”

With a dignified expression, the girlcalled Kaede gave a very polite greeting.

How do I say it? She gives off a veryserious atmosphere and has a straight posture. Along with this, herblack hair makes her almost look like a samurai.

“I’m Shiina Kotomi. Fufufu, so thisis Suzu-chan’s rumoured big brother, I see,” said the other girlwhile showing a gentle expression on her face.

She seemed rather tall for a firstyear, and she looked pretty grown-up for her age. Her long,fluffy-looking hair stretched down to her waist, and if she looked atyou with a smile, anybody would probably get flustered with howcharming she looked.

…S-So these girls are Suzuka’sfriends, huh? Not to mention that they’re both very good-looking.Is this a character trait of Suzuka’s, to attract other beautieslike her?

“Onii-chan…? Why are you juststaring at them…?”

“Eh?! N-No, I wasn’t staring oranything…!”

I really didn’t plan on doing so, butI completely froze up when I noticed Suzuka’s cold stare. Seeingthat, Shiina-san let out a small giggle, and Nikaido-san just glaredat us.

…A-Anyway, it seems like the two ofthem aren’t bad girls.

Realizing that Suzuka was glaring atme, clearly telling me to leave now that I had achieved my goal, Iexcused myself and went back to my room. When I glanced back at themfor a second, it felt like Nikaido-san’s and my eyes met for asecond before she entered Suzuka’s room.

…Was that just my imagination? Well,whatever.

“Now then, just as Suzuka asked meto, I guess I’ll shut up and stay in here.”

I entered my room and sat down in frontof my PC. I was going to work on my own novel anyway, so she didn’teven have to tell me to stay in my room—

…Ahahahahahaha….! D-Don’ttease me like that…! Fufu, Kaede…

“………”

From across the wall, I heard gleefulvoices from Suzuka and the others, to which I unconsciously lifted myhead. I didn’t think that it was a bother or anything. On thecontrary, I felt weirdly happy to hear voices coming from Suzuka’sroom. Since they seemed to really be having fun over there, I thoughtthat maybe a comedy or slice-of-life novel wouldn’t be too badeither, but as soon as I went to type on my keyboard again…

“Hm? Who is it now?”

In that moment, the chime at theentrance rang, signifying that someone else had arrived. I stoppedtyping again. Since I didn’t want Suzuka’s fun to be interrupted,I took it upon myself to answer it.

“Ohhh, Sensei! Hello, desu!”

“Hello Sensei. Your cute, favouritepupil is here.”

“…I-I’ll just say this upfront,but I was forced to come here, okay?”

But as soon as I opened the door, I wasat a loss for words. After all, the people who greeted me were Ahegao Double Peace-sensei and the Kanzaka sisters.

“D-Double Peace-sensei? AndAkino-san, and the younger Kanzaka sister…? W-Why?”

“We came over to play of course,desu! It’s our precious holiday, after all!”

…I see. This was the same reason asusual. Though normally I would just sigh in response and be satisfiedwith that, the circumstances were different this time around.

“I bought lots of other cosplay thatI want Imouto-san to try, desu!”

“H-Hey, Double Peace-sensei! Pssst!Psssst!”

“Eh? A urination play? E-Even I’membarrassed about that, desu…”

“Y-You… you’re a hardcorepervert…”

“You’re wrong! I’m telling you tokeep it down! Suzuka has friends over right now!”

“Suzuka-san’s friends?”

For now, I brought everyone into myroom and explained the situation.

“…And that’s why I would like youto keep it down. I don’t want to bother Suzuka and her friends,after all.”

“Oho, I see, desu. But, I’mkind of interested in Imouto-san’s friends, to be honest. I reallywant to introduce myself, desu!”

“That won’t do!”

There’s no need to introduce them,anyway. If we told them about Double Peace-sensei being anillustrator, we would eventually have to explain about me (althoughas a stand-in) being Towano Chikai. Since she’s keeping that asecret at school, we have to protect that no matter what.

…And if they thought that I wasTowano Chikai, they would think that I wrote that novel…

‘The story about a little sister wholoves her big brother way too much to cope.’ What would peoplethink about Suzuka if they found out that her big brother wrote sucha novel…?

“Anyways, that’s an absoluteno-go.”

When I stated that with a serious face,Double Peace-sensei hesitated for a bit, but finally…

“I understand, desu. If it’s likethat, then I can’t help it.”

She gave affirmation with her usualsmile. All in all, she’s the kind of person who understands whenit’s something serious.

“…Well, introducing ourselveswouldn’t do us any good, either…”

“Now that Suzuka-san is away, we canmonopolize Sensei.”

Since the Kanzaka-sisters also seemedto understand, I was relieved from the bottom of my heart.

“That’s right, desu. This isactually the perfect chance! While Imouto-san is out, we’ll enjoyourselves with Sensei!” Double Peace-sensei suddenly started takingoff her clothes. In response, the Kanzaka sisters and I startedpanicking.

“Wait! W-What are you doing?!”

“Eh? I mean, I’m going to put onthe cosplay I brought with me, desu. And in order to put that on, Iwould have to change, right? So I have to strip first, desu!”

“A logical conclusion.”

“Don’t just agree with her,Onee-chan!”

The younger Kanzaka sister tried tostop the half-undressed Double Peace-sensei, while Akino-san onlynodded in agreement.

…Why did everything turn chaotic thesecond they arrived?

While I was watching the scene in frontof me unfold…

“W-What are you doing in Onii-chan’sroom?!!!”

Suzuka, who should’ve been having funwith her friends next door, suddenly opened the door and jumped intothe room with a bright-red face and tears in her eyes.

“S-Suzuka?! You… Shouldn’t you betalking with your friends…!”

“As if I could do that while hearingall this ruckus from over the wall!!!”

—Eh?! She could hear everything wesaid?! Wait, that makes perfect sense! I could hear theirconversation earlier, too! Am I an idiot?!

“S-So, what kinds of indecent thingshave you been doing while I wasn’t watching, Onii-chan…?!”

“No no, we didn’t do anything ofthat sort, desu. I was just about to change into my cosplay here,since I couldn’t do it in Imouto-san’s room.”

“Wha—?! And Onii-chan was justwatching while grinning like that?!”

“Not at all! And Double Peace-sensei,don’t start pouring oil onto the fire!” I desperately tried togain control of the situation.

However, neither of them looked likethey were really listening to me, so I only could think of one way toget out of this.

“…I-I’m sorry! I promise I’llkeep it down…! So, hurry up and go back to your friends. Leavingthem alone would be bad, right…?”

“Muuu…! D-Don’t do anything weirdanymore, please!”

Though Suzuka still didn’t seemsatisfied, the moment I brought up her friends, her body twitched,and she stomped back to her room. When the door finally closed, I letout a relieved sigh. But, since it was my fault to begin with, I hadto reflect on it.

“…Well, you see how it is, so anyruckus is prohibited. Of course, cosplay is also prohibited.”

“Hm, then what should we do, desu? IfI’m like this, I can’t show Sensei my panties while playingtwister.”

“A-Ahi, you were thinking about that?…Ah, that’s why you told us to wear skirts?!”

“Why else?” said DoublePeace-sensei, to which the younger Kanzaka sister pulled down herskirt with a red face.

A-Anyways, I’m glad that her terribleplan was thwarted.

“Sensei, Sensei.”

While I was busy thinking that,Akino-san suddenly tugged on my sleeve.

“Mhm? What’s wrong, Akino-san?”

“How is it?”

“Eh?”

She suddenly stood right in front ofme, and like a model from a fashion show, she spun around on thespot. I didn’t know what she wanted to hear from me in response toher perplexing question.

“…W-What are you doing?”

“I wanted Sensei to look at me. Howis it?”

“Again, what do you mean by ‘How isit?'”

When I responded with another question,Akino-san’s expression didn’t change, and she only let out adisappointed-sounding “Mu.”

“Sensei really is dense. I’m notthe same as always. Now, I’m going to a women’s university.”

“Ahhh, I see. You became a universitystudent this spring, didn’t you?”

Now that she had reminded me, Iremembered. Just a little while ago, Akino-san was a third-year inhigh school.

“That’s right, a women’suniversity. A place brimming with adult female charm. That’s why,as your beloved pupil, I want to hear your impressions on my newlook.”

“Ehhh…?”

…Even if she says that, she stilllooks like the usual Akino-san to me. She has her usual smallstature, her usual expressionlessness, and her usual concise way oftalking. Her movements were still the same, and as far as I couldsee, there wasn’t anything that looked different. It was the sameAkino-san as before.

“Now that I’ve become an adult, Imight actually excite Sensei without meaning to, fufufu.”

However, without knowing what I reallyfelt, Akino-san just continued to snicker.

…T-This isn’t good. I know whatkind of answer she’s expecting from me, but that would be a blatantlie, and it would be very unpleasant to say.

While I felt a cold sweat forming on myforehead, Double Peace-sensei suddenly raised her voice with an “Ah,that’s right desu!”, thankfully changing the topic.

“I came with a new eroge we’vefinished, desu! Let’s play it together!”

Of course, what she said didn’t helpme in any way, but only made the situation even worse.

“Y-You want all of us to play eroge?!Ahi, is your head really okay…?”

“Now now, Runa-chan, I justremembered because of Kino-chan’s words. The heroines in the gameare all students at a women’s university, and since it was justreleased recently, I wanted Sensei to play it soon, so let’s dothat right now, desu!”

“Ahi, nice idea. With this, Senseiwill surely realize my charm. And accepting him even if he pushes medown is the duty of a pupil.”

“Youuuuuuuuuuuuuu! You’re thinkingof doing that just because you’re Onee-chan’s teacher?!”

“Why am I the one at fault here?!”

And just like that, chaos erupted oncemore. From out of nowhere, Double Peace-sensei had suddenly broughtout an eroge and a laptop, while the younger Kanzaka sister tried tostop her with a red face. While booting up the game, Akino-sancontinued to pull on my clothes, trying to grab my attention, but Ihad already given up at this point.

—Now, I think that anyone couldprobably guess what happens next…

BANG!!!

“….O-Onii-chan?!”

The door opened with a loud bang, andSuzuka entered emanating a black aura. Double Peace-sensei was on myright arm, Akino-san was clinging to my left arm, the younger Kanzakasister was clinging to my leg, and the laptop screen was showing thetitle of the eroge. No matter how you looked at it, I wouldn’t beable to talk myself out of this.

“W-What are you doing————?!!!”

“C-C-C-C-C-Calm down!!!”

Of course, at the same time as thatscream rang out inside the room, Suzuka immediately stepped in toseparate me from everyone else. When I tried to reach out with a handto stop her—

“Kyaa?!”

“Uwaa?!”

With how unstable I was, and with howforcefully Suzuka was striding towards me, we both fell over andlanded on the floor. Before I had realized what had happened, I sawSuzuka’s face looking up at me. She was laying down face-up on thefloor, being embraced by me. When I looked around, I saw DoublePeace-sensei and the Kanzaka sisters looking down at us. And, in theopen doorway were…

“Arara, you really are close.”

“Wha—?!”

Shiina-san, who had one hand on hercheek, was letting out a gleeful giggle, and Nikaido-san was staringat us with wide eyes.

“Uuu… Onii-chan…”

…Why did it have to come to this?!

Part 5:

“Haaaaaaaaah~~~”

I walked down the street illuminated bythe setting sun, a plastic bag from a convenience store in hand.

“Suzuka’s probably still mad, isn’tshe?”

Letting out another big sigh, I startedwalking even slower. It was a vain attempt to give Suzuka some moretime to calm down.

To be honest, I really don’t want torecall what happened after all of that.

…Well, to put it simply, I somehowmanaged to cover it all up. Me embracing Suzuka was nothing more thanan accident. Double Peace-sensei and the others were just friends ofmine. Of course, we skipped right past the introductions, and justsent everyone home with the excuse that it had gotten late. ThoughSuzuka was incredibly mad, she somehow managed to calm herself downenough to keep up appearances until everyone was gone.

“W-While I wasn’t watching, you…!”or “My friends even saw us…!” or “Ah, but, he was huggingme…” were all things she muttered to herself while glaring downat me. Since Suzuka didn’t seem like calming down anytime soon, Idecided to give her some space. I left the house, deciding to take atrip to the nearest convenience store.

“For now, once I get home, I’llapologize once more…” Saying that to myself, I continued to walkhome with heavy feet.

And once that home of mine entered myview, something else that shouldn’t be there greeted me as well,and my feet stopped.

“…Huh? Who’s that?”

I saw someone walking around in frontof the house.

… Don’t tell me; is it anintruder?! —is what I thought at first, but soon after, a quiet”Ah” leaked out of my mouth. After all, I recognized that personas Nikaido Kaede-san, whom I had just met a few hours ago.

“Um, is something wrong?”

Though I didn’t know why she wasstill in front of my house, I decided to call out to her.

“?!”

When I did, Nikaido-san hurriedlyturned around. When she realized that I was the one calling out toher, her eyes opened wide.

“Y-You’re Suzuka’s older brother— N-No, Nagami-senpai?!”

“You were Nikaido-san, right? Did youforget something?”

“N-No, it’s not like that…! Ugh,to be seen in a place like this…!”

For a second, Nikaido-san had anexpression like she was blaming herself for something, only for herto straighten her posture and look straight at me.

“Excuse me for that. I was beingcareless. As a swordsman, I couldn’t be more embarrassed.”

“N-No, it’s not something youshould be too hung up on… Wait. A swordsman?”

“Yes. My family has a long lineage ofmartial arts.That’s why I’ve walked the path of a swordsman froma very young age.”

“I-Is that so…?”

I was a bit overwhelmed when she toldme that with a straight face.

…A lineage of martial arts… That’swhy I got that samurai-like feeling from her before.

Wrapped up in Nikaido-san’s ratherunknown atmosphere, I felt myself calming down for some reason.

“…Um, so why were you still here?Should I call for Suzuka?”

When I said that, Nikaido-san lookedlike she was flustered for a second.

“Ah, no… Actually, there wassomething I wanted to talk about with Nagami-senpai.”

With me? — I tilted my head inconfusion.

“Yes. There is something that I hadto ask no matter what. Of course, it’s about Suzuka.”

“Something about Suzuka? Me?”

In response, Nikaidoo-san nodded.

…I wonder what it is? I-It’s notrelated to Towano Chikai, right? Knowing Suzuka, she wouldn’t allowherself to make such a blunder…

“So, Nagami-senpai, are you aware ofSuzuka’s reputation in school?”

“Eh? Reputation? …It’s notanything bad, right?”

“Of course not. Suzuka really is awonderful girl. She has a calm, dignified composure, but isn’t coldto anyone. She has a firm resolve, but she’s kind if needed. She’sbeautiful, cute, and everyone looks up to her as a role model.”

“O-Okay…”

“There is no trace of bias in hereyes. Everyone is equal to her, and she even offered to spend timewith someone as stuck-up as me. For me, Suzuka is a friend offriends!” Nikaido-san’s eyes were sparkling.

…Well, how do I say it? It seems likeshe really looks up to Suzuka. But I don’t think that she’sexaggerating, because that’s just how much of a superhuman Suzukaactually is.

“I couldn’t be happier from beingable to meet Suzuka and become friends with her.”

Though her words seemed more energeticthan rational, I was still glad that she thought of Suzuka in thisway.

“Is Suzuka’s reputation really thatgood?”

“‘Good’ is something of anunderstatement. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to say that everysingle student in our grade looks up to her. Nobody would sayanything bad about her.”

“I see, I see! Well, that makessense, doesn’t it!” I strongly nodded in response to her words.

Of course I would use this opportunityto boast about my little sister!

“Obviously, that is the same for boysand girls alike. That in itself wouldn’t be so bad, but immediatelyafter the start of the year, there seemed to be no end of confessionsfrom all kinds of boys. Though that seems to have calmed downlately.”

“W-What did you say…?!”

“Do not worry, she has rejected everysingle one so far. After all, she won’t be led astray by those weakactions.”

Hearing that, I was relieved from thebottom of my heart.

…Suzuka accepting a confession likethat was something I didn’t even want to imagine.

“Anyway, just like I said, Suzuka isa very wonderful person. And to me she’s a very important friend.That’s why I want to deepen our friendship even more.”

I was really thankful that she feltthat way. As her older brother, I felt like thanking her for that,myself. I’m glad that she has found friends like this…

But while I was busy thinking that,Nikaido-san continued talking with a serious face.

“However, that’s exactly why Icannot stop worrying about her.”

The atmosphere suddenly grew tense.

“What is there to worry about?”

“…That is something I would like toask of Nagami-senpai.”

Her eyes narrowed, and Nikaido-sanlooked straight at me.

“Nagami-senpai, there isn’tanything weird going on between you and Suzuka besides beingsiblings, right?”

“…Eh? E-Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!”

Being surprised by this question, Icouldn’t help but let my voice out.

“Ah, a weird relationship?! W-What’sup with that? Of course not! W-Why would you even think that?!”

It might be obvious, but I waspanicking.

Of course, it’s not like she’scompletely off-base, considering the whole stand-in part of it, but Ithink she’s asking about something else?!

But Nikaido-san watched me with anunapologetic expression and continued.

“There’s a rumour like that goingaround. It’s like you two seem to be very close, even forsiblings.”

…W-Was there really a rumour likethat? Why would something like that…?

But after thinking about it a bit moredeeply, I immediately realized why.

…T-There’s no mistake! It’s gotto be because of our ‘research’! It’s because we’ve beenacting all lovey-dovey at school for Suzuka’s next novel!

Holding hands while walking home,eating together in the cafeteria while feeding each other, crossingarms while checking out the clubs—

…Of course people would get the wrongidea!

Naturally, that doesn’t mean that wehave a weird relationship, but the fact that we did all of thatremains reality.

…But to think that a rumour wouldstart going around because of that…!

“So what is it, Nagami-senpai?”

Nikaido-san asked me again, forcing meto return to reality.

…T-That’s right, this isn’t thetime to be panicking! Otherwise she’ll get the wrong idea! I don’tcare if they judge me, but I don’t want Suzuka to suffer from anyweird rumours!

“L-Like I said, we’re just normalsiblings…! There’s no weird relationship between the two of us…!”

But, I couldn’t summon enoughconviction when I said that statement. After all, we’ve been actinglovey-dovey, so in order to clear up that misunderstanding, I wouldhave to tell her about Towano Chikai. And there’s no way I could dothat.

“I don’t want to believe it either.However absurd it is, there must be a reason for that rumour, don’tyou think?”

Yes, I know exactly what it is! …Ugh,but I still have no other choice but to lie!

“And there was also that incidentbefore… T-Taking that sort of position with Suzuka…! T-There hasto be limits on how indecent you can be!”

“Again, that was nothing more than anaccident! An unlucky accident!”

“Don’t tell me… You do thingslike this on a regular basis?! Just how low do you have to be to dothings like that with your little sister?! I won’t allow you to layyour hands on Suzuka!”

“I won’t! It’s just a badmisunderstanding! It’s a false charge!”

“Hah! You’re probably using her asa substitute since no girl would ever fall in love with you, right?!D-Don’t come any closer! I-If you dare do anything improper to me,I would rather bite my tongue and die!!!”

“Can you not go imagining things allon your own?!”

While Nikaido-san glared at me with ared face, I could only retort with tears in my eyes.

…W-Why am I being treated like thescum of the earth again?!

“E-Excuse me, I took it too far.”

“Really…”

“A-Anyway, if you really sink yourpoisonous fangs into Suzuka, then I will cut you down right then andthere!”

“That really will never happen! AndI’ve explained it countless times already, haven’t I!?”

All that gratitude I felt for herbecoming Suzuka’s friend was suddenly gone, and now she seemed tobe a complete bother.

“Ahhh really, just how can I make youunderstand…?”

“I-It’s not like I want to believeany rumours like that…”

So the basis for my denial is too weakfor her to believe it. Is there any way I could make her believe me?

“You know, there’s no reason for meto put my hands on Suzuka, don’t you think?”

“But I heard that Nagami-senpai is anotaku…”

“Otaku?”

“Ah, uhm! …You see, I’m justworried since Suzuka is an exceptionally charming woman.”

“T-That’s true, but I wouldn’tassault her just because of that…”

When I responded, Nikaido-san hesitatedfor a bit, but finally…

“Nagami-senpai, do you have any girlyou like besides Suzuka?”

She threw that bomb of a question atme.

“…Eh?” I could only force out aconfused, short reply.

I didn’t even understand why she hadjust asked me that. I wanted to deny it immediately, but I realizedsomething.

…Ah, if I told her that I likedsomeone else, would she believe me? I can totally use this!

Of course, I didn’t have a girl thatI liked. After all, I prioritize my dream of becoming a light novelauthor above getting a relationship. And there’s also the problemwith me not being popular.

…Would it really be okay to lie here?I mean, if I don’t, Nikaido-san probably won’t be satisfied, andSuzuka might suffer from the weird rumours that are going around. Notto mention that nobody would really care if I actually had a crush onsomeone.

“…That’s—”

That’s why I have to do this.

Though Suzuka’s face suddenly enteredmy mind for a second, I shook my head, and spoke the words that I haddecided upon.

Part 6:

“Haaah… I really hate myself…”

I rolled around on my bed, tightlyhugging my pillow. The reason for that was of course the incidentfrom earlier. Since I couldn’t trust Onii-chan to not belovey-dovey with Double Peace-san and the others without mysupervision, I ended up forgetting about my friends and entered hisroom.

“B-But, they were all clinging toeach other… Playing such an indecent game…!”

Of course, I couldn’t approve of thatsituation, so I don’t feel any regret about that… However, Ithink that I’ve gone too far.

I’m sure that Onii-chan wasn’t theone at fault at all, and he was probably just forced to go along withwhat Double Peace-san’s and the others were doing. Even so, I onlyblamed him. As soon as I see him with another girl, all the bloodrushes to my head…

“B-But Onii-chan really should pullhimself together a bit more! He already has a girl like me next tohim…!”

That’s right. Now that we’reattending the same school, we’ve been able to be even morelovey-dovey, although under the pretense of research. If onlyOnii-chan would start only looking at me, I wouldn’t have to worrylike this… If that were the case, I could introduce my friends tohim without any problems.

“W-When Onii-chan and I becomelovers… and a married couple in the future, ehehehehehe…!”

Of course I want to brag to my friendsabout how Onii-chan is the world’s coolest big brother, but Icannot do that just yet. If, in the one in a million chance, theyalso realize how cool he is… Ahh, I don’t even want to thinkabout it…!

“…Uuuu, I have to properlyapologize when Onii-chan comes home…”

I’m sorry Onii-chan. I actually loveyou so much. That’s why I don’t want you to be taken away byanyone else. I want you to only look at me. Could I even saysomething embarrassing like that out loud?!

Burying my face into my pillow, Icontinued to roll around on my bed. But I have to prepare dinnersoon, so I’ll get up now.

I’ll make some of Onii-chan’sfavorite food today, I thought, but that’s when it happened.

“Huh? Onii-chan and… Kaede?”

Coincidentally, I looked out of thewindow, only to see Onii-chan and Kaede talking in front of thehouse.

Shouldn’t Kaede have gone homealready? — I titled my head in confusion. Since theirconversation looked a little interesting, I hurriedly rushed down tothe first floor. And, when I went to open the door to ask them whatthey were doing…

“Nagami-senpai, do you have any girlyou like besides Suzuka?”

My hands stopped. I had opened the doorjust enough to hear that question, but I stopped, my heart almostleaping out of my chest.

…O-Onii-chan… a girl he likes?!

Though I didn’t know how theirconversation had led up to that question, I held by breath, waitingfor the answer. Since I almost couldn’t hear them because of myannoying heartbeat, I moved a bit closer.

…W-What are they talking about?

“…That’s—”

While I was at a loss, theirconversation continued. And, when I heard Onii-chan’s voice, myheart skipped a beat once more.

“……Yeah, I do.”

And, when Onii-chan’s answer arrivedat my ears, I could feel all the blood draining from my face.

…Eh? W-What did he just say?O-Onii-chan has a girl he likes…? I-It’s me, right? It has to beme? Ah, but, didn’t Kaede just say ‘besides Suzuka’? Sobasically, does this mean… What? Eh?

“I have a person that I like! And ofcourse, that person isn’t Suzuka!”

……….

……………

…………………Eh.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!?!?!?!?!