Volume 7 epilogue

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Epilogue

That rumour settled quickly after thatincident.

…Well, ‘settled down’ isn’texactly true.

Of course, the main issue was resolved.However—

“Ah, it’s Nagami-san’s olderbrother…”

“Did you hear?”

“Yeah, ‘I will not allow anyone totake my little sister!’ Or something like that?”

“‘My sister belongs to me!’Right?”

“Whatever it was, it was quite thestatement.”

“But Nagami-san actually forgave herolder brother for it, right?”

“Uwaa, that sounds just likeNagami-san.”

“She’s a real angel. It seems likeshe has it hard.”

It had turned into a completelydifferent rumour, for crying out loud!!!

Of course, the contents of said rumourswere about the siscon older brother me, and the kind, understandingSuzuka. Thanks to that, Suzuka’s popularity skyrocketed andachieved even greater levels than before.

…Naturally, the rumour was born onthe day when Suzuka and I had talked behind the school building. Andconsidering what I said and did on that day, I can’t blame them…

Well anyways, the rumour about me andSuzuka having a fishy relationship disappeared completely, and wasinstead replaced by a new rumour.

…Ahhh, for crying out loud! I’mdefinitely the victim again here!

“Onii-chan? Why are you looking soglum? Don’t cry…” Suzuka peered at my face as she walked nextto me, holding my arm.

We were on the way to school on thispleasant morning. Of course, Suzuka wouldn’t let this chance go towaste, and she was clinging to me. Thanks to that new rumour, we cannow be as lovey-dovey as she wants at school. Her reputation won’tsuffer, since I’m the one who’s being treated as the siscon.Basically, she does whatever she wants and I take all the blame forit.

What even is this injustice? Whetherit’s self-inflicted or not, isn’t this a bit too cruel?

“~~~♪ ~~~♪”

…But every day, when I see this happyand joyful Suzuka, I don’t mind it at all. After all, the mainreason I wanted to dispel the previous rumour was so that the otherstudents wouldn’t think that Suzuka was weird.

“Ah, he’s making Nagami-san do thatagain.”

“He’s such a fiend.”

“I feel bad for Nagami-san…”

Do I have to go through this very day?!…Haaaah, well, whatever.

Whether it be that rumour, Suzuka’sfriendships, the next volume of her novel… Everything had beenresolved. No problems remain. Now all that’s left is…

“…? What’s wrong? Is theresomething on my face?”

“N-No, nothing at all.”

R-Recently, Suzuka has been lookingeven cuter than normal, and my heart’s been beating like crazybecause of it… N-No, nevermind that! That doesn’t count! Whatdisgusting things am I thinking about?! I’ve really been thinkingsuch weird things these past few weeks… What’s wrong with me?

“Ah, Suzuka. And Nagami-senpai too,good morning.”

“Morning, Suzu-chan, Onii-san.”

While I was busy questioning my morals,Suzuka’s friends appeared. With a bright smile, Suzuka returnedtheir greetings. After that incident, their friendship had deepenedeven further, which made me feel really happy of course.

…Phew, let’s forget about thatalready.

“Nagami-senpai, do you have sometime?” Nikaido-san called out to me, her cheeks slightly flushed.

“Hmm?”

“It’s about that incident the otherday. I heard about what happened behind the school… And I thoughtthat it was very similar to how the older brother in Senpai’s novelwas acting. I was very moved!” Nikaido-san said with sparklingeyes.

“W-Well, thanks for that…”

Since her words made me remember myembarrassing actions, all I could muster was a short reply.

“B-But, I cannot allow you to layyour hand on Suzuka like the older brother in your novel does to theheroine! I do have trust in you, so make sure that you don’t betrayit.”

“Would you need to say that if youreally trusted me…?”

“I-If you really need someone to sinkyour poisonous fangs into, then I will take Suzuka’s place!Whatever indecent things you force me to do, I will not falter…!”

“Why are you making it sound like Iwould actually do any of that?! And would you care to explain why youlook so happy right now?!”

…This girl… Is she a hardcoremasochist…?

“Onii-chan…? You know what willhappen if you lay so much as a finger on my friend, right…?”

“I won’t! Your glare is scaring me,so please stop!”

“Ahaha, you all are so lively thisearly in the morning,” Shiina-san said with a giggle as she watchedour exchange.

Like this, Suzuka and I somehow managedto barely scrape by, so that we could hopefully now enjoy ouronce-in-a-lifetime high school student life.

“Now then, I have to make sure that Idon’t fall behind.”

In midst of these days, I was onceagain working on my novel entry for a light novel contest. A lot hadhappened, so I wasn’t able to write as frequently. To make up forthat, I had to work even harder now.

“…Hmm? This is…?”

When I was about to create a new blankdocument on my PC, a certain file piqued my interest. It was a partof the novel that I had written in a frenzy when I was imagining thatSuzuka would be taken away from me.

On a whim, I decided to read throughit. It was a simple little sister novel. A lovey-dovey story withsiblings who were perfect replicas of Suzuka and I.

Thinking about it, I must’ve beenclose to a mental breakdown back then if I wrote something like this.But I actually did find it rather interesting. How is that evenpossible? I have a real little sister, who is exactly like theimaginary one in my novel… I know that I shouldn’t be feelinglike this, but I couldn’t stop my heart from beating faster.

“Onii-chan? Do you have some timeright now?”

“……!”

Suzuka suddenly entered my room, and Ihurriedly closed the file.

“W-What is it?”

When I asked that, Suzuka somehowseemed a bit happy as she came towards me.

“U-Umm, I would like some adviceabout my next volume…”

Saying that, she explained thecircumstances to me while holding the manuscript in her hands. When Ilooked at her expression, she somehow looked more grown-up, and itmade me feel flustered to be this close to her.

…Somehow, Suzuka’s expression feelsdifferent than before…?

“…And in order to write this parthere, I think I’ll need to do some research…!”

Suzuka smiled at me happily whilelooking up at me. When I saw that, my heart started beating fasteronce more. Since it was a similar feeling to what I felt when I wasreading through my own work just now, I was feeling a bit perplexed,to say the least.

“Onii-chan? Did something happen?”

…Ahhh, it’s no good. I’m reallygoing crazy.

Trying to rid myself of this feelingthat I was awakening to something, I shook my head and said, “It’snothing.”

Really. There’s no way, right? Thisis nothing more than my imagination, and I only wrote that novelbecause I was possessed by something. That was what I forcefullyconcluded. Rather, I had to force myself to think that. After all…

The little sister I like is the one inside the novel, and not my real one—or at least, that’s how it should be.