Volume 7.5Chapter 4

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

Towano Chikai and the lecture on how to become a little sister

Part 1:

“O-Onii-chan… Umm, ehh, Onii-chan’shand is really soft, so please pat my head some more!”

“That’s not any good, Nene-chan.You’re still embarrassed. Sakura will show you how to do it, so payclose attention… Cough … Onii-chan! Your hand is so softand it feels so kind! I love it! Please pat my head some more!”

“Just what you’d expect from aprofessional voice actress like Sakura-san. But I think that youshould keep it a bit more in-character. ‘Onii-chan, please pat myhead some more. O-Onii-chan’s hand is so soft, after all’…something like that.”

“Hawa, Suzuka-sama, it’s like thereal Yuuka-san is standing right next to me…!”

“Y-You’re overexaggerating! I-It’sjust that I always go with Onii-chan when he’s collecting data, soI’ve just gotten used to it at this point?!”

“Muu, Suzuka-chan really is amazing.But Sakura will definitely catch up to you one day!”

“………”

Suzuka, Nene-san, and Minazuki-san wereall enthusiastically talking with one another. I let out a dejectedsigh as I watched the scene.

Currently, we were in Nene-san’sroom, but I don’t have the slightest idea how we ended up likethis. The girls had no idea how uncomfortable I felt while they readphrases from light novels aloud. But let’s go back a few hours andrecount how the situation evolved into what it is now.

Part 2:

“Yeah, it’s really fun to readnow.”

On a certain school holiday, at ourhome.

After finishing reading through the newmanuscript that Nene-san had brought with her, I gave her myimpressions.

“I-I have to agree. It’s come along way, that’s for sure…!”

Suzuka followed suit.

“…W-With this, you might even beable to win the grand prize…! That’s not a bad thing, of course,but if she wins…!”

Suzuka’s expression, though, onlygrew more clouded as she read through the manuscript.

Well, that aside, after all of thisdata that we had gathered recently, it was true that the quality ofNene-san’s writing had improved.

It was a romcom filled with lots oflovey-dovey events between a Senpai and a Kouhai. Since I felt likethis could really come out on top in the light novel contest, I gaveit my seal of approval.

“Writing this kind of pro-level novelwhile only being in middle school is really amazing! It must bethanks to Sensei’s guidance, for sure!”

Minazuki-san, who had come by on a whimto visit us, voiced her opinion. Apparently, she had heard aboutNene-san’s circumstances from Mai and the others, and read themanuscript so she could present the opinions of an average reader, soto speak.

“…T-Thank you very much.”

When she heard our words, Nene-san gavean embarrassed nod, but…

“Ah? What’s wrong? Why the longface?”

“U-Uhm, it’s…”

When I asked her about it, shehesitated for a bit, but she finally seemed to make up her mind aboutsomething.

“A-Actually, I myself am not quitesatisfied with this novel yet… U-Umm… though this might be a bitrude of me…!”

“You’re still not satisfied yet?Why is that?”

“T-That’s, umm… I wanted to writethe novel even more interesting for Onii-sama…! Auauau…!”

“For me?”

“Wha—?!”

Though I was even more confused by thatresponse, Suzuka’s face was one of pure shock. But ignoring thatfor now…

“As I just said, I think that it’splenty interesting already.”

“B-But, I think that I have to makeOnii-sama feel that from the bottom of his heart, or something likethat…!”

…Hmm? Is it because I’m the lightnovel author Towano Chikai that she respects me so much?

“Since I still feel like there’ssomething that isn’t quite right about it, I haven’t sent it into the contest yet…”

“Ahhh, that’s no good, is it?”

The contest she wanted to submit it towas the one run by Ryuusei Publishing, but the deadline is closing inrapidly… What should I do about this? Even if she says that shewants me to think it’s more interesting, I have no clue what Ishould tell her…

When I glanced over at Suzuka for help,she was just mumbling something to herself like always… What shouldI do about this?

“Ah, if that’s the case, thenSakura has just the idea!”

In the end, the one reaching out asaving hand was Minazuki-san. She raised her hand with a “Yes yes!”as if she were in school.

“If you want Sensei to like it evenmore, then it’s gotta be a little sister novel for sure!”

“Huuh?!” “Ehhh?!”

But what Minazuki-san blurted out wasutter nonsense, which dashed any hopes that I had, and Suzuka and Icould only cry out in surprise.

“Since Sensei is a crazylittle-sister-lover, if Nene-chan turned her novel into a littlesister one, Sensei will definitely love it to bits!”

“W-What are you talking about,Minazuki-san?! Don’t say something as idiotic as that!”

“E-Exactly! H-Having Madenkouji-sanwrite a little sister novel is just…!”

Of course, Suzuka and I voiced ourcomplaints.

“L-Little sister novel…? Now thatyou bring it up, Onii-sama’s novel also has a little sister theme,and Suzuka-sama is right next to him… Maybe he really would enjoymy novel even more if I took that into consideration…”

“”Hey?!””

And for whatever reason, Nene-sanactually looked like she was seriously considering it.

“You definitely should do it! Sakurawill totally help you out if you want to gather data on it!”

“T-Thank you very much, Sakura-sama…”

“So with that being said… Sensei!Please let Sakura stay over at your house again!”

“Could you please not impose onothers like that, Minazuki-san?!”

…And staying over?!

“Actually, Sakura had another fightwith her older brother, so she ran away from home again.”

“A-Again?! What in the worldhappened?”

“‘I’ll definitely become an olderbrother like Sensei!’ —He said, but then he asked Sakura to treathim like the older brother from Sensei’s novel. He just saidworthless junk like that as always.”

…Ahhh, that guy really doesn’tchange. Also, seeing Minazuki-san’s face when she’s talking aboutSakurada-san is really scary!

“That being said, please let Sakurastay over at Sensei’s house like last time! I even came prepared!”

“So this is what that bag over thereis for?! Back then, we didn’t have any other choice but to let youstay over, so this time it’s definitely a no-go, okay?!”

“Just do it for Nene-chan! It’ddefinitely turn out to be some good data if she stays over at a reallittle sister’s house!”

“How kind of you to intertwine yourown personal needs with Nene-san’s like that!”

“Nene-chan must also want to stayover at Sensei’s house to collect data, right?”

“Y-Yes…!”

Ugh… Now that she’s broughtNene-san into this, I can’t shoo her away that easily… Still,having the two of them stay over won’t work. For many reasons…

“I-I will not allow that!”

Luckily, Suzuka is on my side thistime.

Yeah! Go get ’em, champ!

“Having you sleep under the same roofas Onii-chan…! That’s way too dangerous!”

“Why are you making it sound like I’msome sort of animal?!”

“E-Especially if there were some kindof accident with Madenokouji-san…! A-Anyway, I don’t have thetime for preparations anyway, so staying over today is impossible!”

Though this kinda sounded like she wasdissing me, she did say what I wanted her to, I guess… For now,that’s one crisis averted—Minazuki-san! Don’t go sulking like alittle kid now!

“B-But, in order to write an evenmore interesting novel, I’m ready to do anything…!”

Sadly, Nene-san didn’t seem like shewas ready to give up just yet. Also, does she really plan on turningher novel into a little-sister one?

“M-Madenkouji-san, your novel isperfectly fine as it is right now, so is there really a need to makeit a little sister one?”

Suzuka seemed be thinking the samething as me, but…

“I want to collect all the data I canso that I can write a novel that Onii-sama loves to bits. I have tobe as aggressive as I can about it…!”

Suzuka couldn’t say anything inresponse to Nene-san’s pushy attitude.

I know that you want to help her withher novel, but letting her stay over is taking this too far, I tellyou!

But in that moment, Nene-san looked asif she had thought of another possibility, and slowly lifted herhand.

“Then… How about everyone staysover at my house…?”

Part 3:

…Well, you probably can guess how therest went. Minazuki-san was totally A-OK with it, while Suzuka and Itried our best to turn down her offer. But in the end, we lostagainst Nene-san’s desire to gather more data, and we ended upagreeing to it.

A limousine came to pick us up,real-life maids escorted us into a western-styled mansion, andwithout giving us any time to be surprised, we had already startedthis reading session—That was the gist of it.

“Nene-chan. Little sisters in lightnovels are always full of love for their Onii-chan, so you have toclearly show that feeling.”

“I-I see…”

“Of course, not just the phraseitself, but you have to feel it with every fiber of your being, youcould say. W-Well, learning that in just one evening is impossible,of course.”

“T-That’s the Suzuka-sama Irespect…”

“O-Of course, there’s no deepermeaning to why exactly I can feel every emotion of the character soclearly.”

And like this, the girls’ littlesister lecture grew even more enthusiastic.

“…Hey, are you really fine withthis?” I asked Suzuka in a quiet voice.

And also, you said that you’d helpNene-san with her novel, not help her turn it into a little-sisterone.

“…I can’t help it, can I? I don’tthink that I could’ve convinced Madenokouji-san otherwise, anyway.”

“That’s true, but…”

“And also, this might actually be agood chance for me…! If it comes down to little sisters, there’sno way that I can lose…!”

“S-Suzuka-san?”

“I am Onii-chan’s one and onlylittle sister, so I can use this to show her that she doesn’t standany chance…! When she sees that, Madenokouji-san might actuallygive up…!”

“Give up? Give up what?”

“Hya?! N-Nothing. A-Anyway, we haveto do our best to make sure that Madenokouji-san can write an evenbetter novel! Of course, we’ll devote ourselves strictly andfiercely!”

Whatever, I guess. Still, Nene-san iswriting a little-sister type of novel, huh? I really think that herSenpai – Kouhai novel is perfectly fine, though.

While I was busy thinking about that,the reading session was moving forward, led by Suzuka. Well, Suzuka’snovel is the epitome of what Nene-san wants to write, so that makessense at least.

“It seems like you still have a lotmore to learn. Little sisters are very profound existences…” saidSuzuka with a satisfied smile.

“I-I didn’t think that graspinglittle sisters would be this difficult…” said Nene-san in adejected manner.

…Was it just my imagination, or did aconfident, victorious smile cross Suzuka’s face just now?

“…Hmm, Sakura still can’t winagainst Suzuka-chan in terms of little sister power,” saidMinazuki-san with a pout.

“W-Well, I am Onii-chan’s littlesister, after all. Madenkouji-san, you don’t have to force yourselfthis much, you know.”

“N-No, I’ll definitely pull throughthis…”

“Then, as a ‘little sister’, Iwill accept your chall—Excuse me. I’ll help out with yourresearch. Then up next is…”

It happened when Suzuka was once againlooking through the pages.

“Ah, that’s right. Let’s try thepractice that Sakura always does!”

Clapping her hands, Minazuki-san leanedforward.

“Sakura has done a lot to act like areal little sister… Ah, here it is!”

Saying that, Minazuki-san startedrummaging through her bag. She took out what seemed to be a DVD of alittle sister anime?

“Nene-chan, Nene-chan, can we watchthis?”

When Minazuki-san asked her that,Nene-san gave a slightly surprised nod and put the DVD into a nearbyvideo player that was connected to a TV.

“…Umm, is this supposed to bepractice? Watching an anime, and studying the little sister characterin it?”

“You’re wrong, Sensei. We’ll doit like this.”

Taking the remote from Nene-san,Minazuki-san muted the TV and—

“Ah, good morning, Onii-chan. You’realready awake!”

Ohhh, so she’s ad-libbing what mightfit in the situation onscreen. Is this what’s known as dubbing?

“This is how Sakura practices fromtime to time. If we can get Nene-chan to successfully ad-lib overthis little sister character, it’ll surely be good practice forwhen she wants to write a little-sister novel!”

She’s got a point. Unexpectedly, it’squite a good idea.

“P-Please wait a second. Wouldn’tit be fine to just act out the little sister from my—no, fromOnii-chan’s novel…?”

“But, there’s no promise that thiskind of novel would be a good fit for Nene-chan. Sakura thinks thatit’s better for her to find her own type of little sister that shewants to write.”

“T-That’s…!”

Minazuki-san’s logic was so flawlessthat even Suzuka couldn’t say anything back.

“Alright! Now that that’s decided,let’s have Nene-chan try this out! Ah, Sensei will play the role ofthe Onii-chan, of course.”

“M-Me?!”

“Of course! Little sisters existbecause they have an Onii-chan!”

“Umm, they could also just have anolder sister as well, I think…”

“No, that doesn’t work at all.”

Hey Suzuka, what’s with thatresponse…?

“U-Umm, I’m looking forward to it!’Onii-chan’…”

Standing in front of the monitor,Nene-san bowed down to me with a bright red face.

…Haah, I can’t help it. Dubbingwon’t work without the right people, I guess.

“Okay! Then here we go!”

“…Mu, I’ll just have to show youmy immense little sister power here…”

Minazuki-san was tightly gripping theremote, Suzuka was mumbling something to herself, and the dubbingpractice started.

“Ah, awawawa…! O-Onii-chan, goodmorning…!”

Nene-san spoke, mimicking thecharacter’s movements on the screen.

“That’s no good, Nene-chan. Thecharacter has to laugh, not freeze up like that.” Minazuki-sanimmediately stopped her.

“I-I’m sorry… B-But what should Ido…?”

“Look at the character and try tomatch the atmosphere that they’re currently depicting. There’s nofailing here, so we’ll just try again.”

“Hawawa…! O-Onii-chan, goodmorning. Such nice weather we’re having today!”

“You’re still being too forceful!”

Like that, Nene-san tried her hardestto act the character, with Minazuki-san guiding her. At first, shehad a rough time, but it slowly looked like she was starting to getmore comfortable with the character.

“F-For today’s breakfast, I madeeverything that Onii-chan likes.”

“Ah, really? Thanks.”

Though Madenokouji-san’s tension wasstill visible, Minazuki-san saw no need to interrupt her again.Trying not to be a bother, I keep my answers as simple as possible,and tried to keep the flow of conversation going.

“Nice acting! But it’s still a bitstiff, so try to do it more naturally! That’s very important if youwant to become the character!”

“Y-Yes. Become the character!”Nene-san gave a serious nod after Minazuki-san gave her advice.

“Onii-chan, let’s go to schooltogether again today!”

Since Nene-san had a special talent (?)for acting a character to the extent that she even loses herself,Minazuki-san’s advice turned out to be perfect for her.

“Ehehe, I’ll be going together withOnii-chan!”

Right now, the screen was showing ascene where the little sister was gleefully running around the olderbrother. Jumping up from time to time, pulling on his clothes,covering his eyes, clearly showing her enjoyment. Nene-san’s wordsperfectly matched the scene.

Just when I was thinking I’m surethat this’ll turn into some good data for her , Nene-san, stillin-character, put her hands in front of my eyes. I wanted to playalong, but…

“Haha, stop with the jokesalrea—dy?!”

Suddenly, two round lumps of softnessstarted pressing against my back.

…T-This is?! This scene isn’tanything weird in the anime, but why is it a random lucky pervertmoment in real life?!

I suddenly realized why.

The little sister in the anime isflat-chested. But since the same can’t be said about Nene-san…

“M-Madenokouji-san?! W-W-W-What areyou doing!”

Suzuka must’ve realized thesituation, since she suddenly called out to Nene-san.

“Onii-chan, hurry hurry!”

However, maybe because she was tooin-character right then, Nene-san didn’t react in the slightest.She just continued.

…This is bad…! Rather than themhitting me, it’s like she’s shoving them against me?!

“P-Please let go of him!”

In that moment, Suzuka barged inbetween us and pulled us apart.

…I-I’m saved!

“S-Suzuka-sama…? Ah! D-Did I…Again…?!”

It took Nene-san a moment to realisewhat had happened, but her red face finally indicated that sheunderstood what she just did.

“I-I lost control of myself again…!I’m so sorry…!”

…W-Well, I already knew that Nene-sanhad this kind of personality, so I’m fine with it. Though I reallywish that Suzuka wouldn’t glare at me like that!

“That was amazing, Nene-chan! If youkeep going like that, you’ll definitely write a crazy good littlesister character!”

Meanwhile, Minazuki-san was praisingNene-san, urging her to continue.

“U-Uhm…! If Onii-sama doesn’thate me, then…!”

Nene-san started glancing at me with ared face…

“N-No, I will be the one to do itnow!” Suzuka jumped into the conversation and blurted out somethingunreasonable.

“Wait a second, why would you…?!”

“A-As your little sister, I cannotstay quiet. Instead, I’ll help you collect data. Also, I can’tforget to work on my attractiveness—ahem! On the advice forMadenokouji-san! So I thought that I might as well show her how it’sdone!”

“…I wonder about that.”

“What kind of reaction is that?Onii-chan, aren’t you just saying that so that you can be allflirty with Madenkouji-san again?!”

“What are you talking about?!”

In the end, for one weird reason oranother, Suzuka ended up joining the dubbing session.

“Suzuka-chan is going to join in,too? Nice! Then let’s keep going!”

Thus, Suzuka stood in front of thescreen, switching places with Nene-san.

“H-Hey?!”

And at the same time, Suzuka alsohugged me from behind like Nene-san just had.

“I-I can’t help it. This is what’son the screen right now, so I have to act out the character!”

“B-But you just told Nene-san to getaway from me—”

“T-That was only because I wassurprised. Now that Madenokouji-san has done it, I have to followsuit.”

“What kind of logic is that?”

“A-Anyway, let’s start! Now,Onii-chan, let’s show them all how lovey-dovey we are while we walkto school!”

“Eh? Ah, you’re right?!”

As if it were the most natural thing inthe world, Suzuka started her acting, which forced me to panic andadapt… But is the little sister really this kind of character? Andshe’s saying different things than Nene-san did just earlier…

“Ehe, ehehehe… Going to school withOnii-chan while being lovey-dovey…!”

“S-Suzuka-sama is so amazing…”

“That’s Suzuka-chan for you. Wehave to work hard so we don’t get left behind.”

“Y-Yes.”

I heard two voices behind my back.

…Well, if this is going to be usefulfor Nene-san, then I’m the last guy who would complain—or so Ithought.

“Geh…”

Not bored of this simple interaction atall, the little sister on the screen now had started rubbing hercheek against the older brother’s.

…Oh, yeah, this was that kind ofsweet little sister anime. I remember now. But, well, she surelywouldn’t go this far just to collect data—

“Uhyaa?!”

The moment I thought that, I feltsomething warm and soft touch my cheek, and I was unable to hold backa shriek.

“O-Onii-chan… Rub rub…”

“S-S-S-Suzuka?!”

“Y-You’re wrong, this isn’t whatI want to do at all. I just have to act out the character! S-S-S-S-Sodon’t get the wrong idea!” Suzuka said, still continuing to rubher cheek against mine.

…No no no, you’re definitely goingtoo far here!

“Ehe, ehehehe… With Onii-chan…Funya…”

See, Nene-san is going ‘Funya Funya’already! Don’t force yourself just because it’s for your data!

“S-Suzuka-sama… That looks sonice…”

“Ahhhh! Suzuka-chan is so unfair!Sakura will do it with Sensei next!”

“Eh?! Hey, Minazuki-san, let’s notrush anything, okay?!”

“This is Sakura’s special teachingmethod, so she has to show everyone how it’s done! Ahh, uhm, ofcourse… only for Nene-san’s… reference? Yeah!”

“What kind of blatant lie is that?!”

“Come on, Suzuka-chan! It’sSakura’s turn now!”

“Funya?”

Ignoring the Suzuka’s confused grunt,Minazuki-san peeled her off of my back.

“Umm… Sakura wants to do thisscene! Onii-chan, Onii-chan, carry Sakura!”

“Uwah?!”

The screen showed the little sistergoing to hug her older brother. But because Sakura ran into me toohard, though, she pushed me to the ground.

“Really, Sensei has to match up withSakura!”

“D-Don’t ask the impossible of me…And why did the sister’s name suddenly change into your own?!”

“Don’t sweat the small stuff!That’s just what kind of little sister that Sakura is!”

“Multiplepersonalities?!”

While I was trying to shake offMinazuki-san who was sitting on top of me…

“U-Umm… Onii-sama…”

“Nene-san?! S-Sorry about this. Eventhough this is supposed to be your research, it turned into somethinglike this…”

“N-No, umm… I was just thinkingthat I also wanted to gather some data like that…”

“Ehhh?!”

Just when I thought that Nene-san wouldbe disappointed by this development, she hesitantly spoke.

“Ahh, whatever! Minazuki-san, getaway from me! …So what now, Nene-san?”

“T-There’s this one scene I’mvery interested in…” she said, and pointed at the screen.

Shown there was the older brothersleeping on his bed in the middle of the night. The little sister wasslowly and stealthily climbing onto it—?!

“No no no, reenacting that in reallife is really bad, in a lot of ways!”

“That’s right, you can’t dothat!”

“S-Suzuka?! You’re back from thedead?!”

“D-Doing that, even for datacollection, is something I cannot allow!”

“B-But I feel like I really need thisdata… If Onii-sama is okay with it…”

“T-Then, I’ll be your stand-in! I’ma real little sister, after all, so there’s no problem atall!”

“Of course there is?! It’s not a problem of who itis!”

Ahhhhh, why does it always end up likethis?!

“A night with Onii-chan?! Sakurawants to join as well! For the sake of data collection, of course!”

Even Minazuki-san jumped in on it, andeverything fell into chaos.

“Ahhhhh! Everyone, please calm down!Getting energetic about this is one thing, but wasn’t it your goalto just understand the mindset a little sister has?!”

“That’s right! We have to reenacteverything for that!”

“You became a little sister by beinglovey-dovey with Onii-chan, after all!”

“U-Umm, I agreewith that…”

…Am I the one in the wrong here?!

My world was falling apart. But thethree girls suddenly became oddly quiet at the same time.

…W-What’s this? What happened…?

I slowly lifted my head to check thesituation—

“Don’t tell me…”

Shown on the screen was a scene wherethe little sister was intruding on her older brother, who was takinga bath.

…You’re kidding me, right…?

“U-Uhm, Onii-sama… I would like toreenact this scene…!”

“I thought so! Calm down! Taking abath together is definitely not going to happen, okay?!”

“B-But, I think that this will turninto good reference material, especially because this is sosibling-like…!”

Unexpectedly, Nene-san explained herreasoning in a confident manner, which made me swallow my words.

“T-That’s right. Though thisdoesn’t happen very often, siblings do this all the time. When Ihelp Onii-chan for his research for example…?!”

“Y-You! As if we’d do somethinglike that on a regular basis?!”

“Though Onii-chan seems to be a bitforgetful about it, this is indeed something normal if you have alittle sister, Madenokouji-san.”

…W-What’s your intention with this?

“If Suzuka-chan does it, then Sakurawill too! Then let’s all reenact the bath scene with Onii-chan!”

“H-Hey?!”

Everyone (besides me of course)immediately agreed with a roar.

…Why does my opinion never count?!

I was actually dragged into the bath,just like that. I suddenly found myself resting in the hot water ofone of the many (!) bathrooms in Nene-san’s mansion.

“T-Taking a bath together withOnii-sama…”

“Ehehehe, have to brag about this tothe others on LINE!”

“W-Well, I’m used to this, so thisisn’t anything special!”

Around me were three beauties revealingtheir bodies.

…O-Of course, not completely naked oranything! We were all wearing swimsuits!

That was the one thing that stopped mefrom dashing out of the bathroom immediately. While I had beenadamantly trying to stop this whole bathroom scene research, theymanaged to barely convince me by saying “If we go into the bathwhile wearing swimsuits, it’s like we’re at a pool”.

“T-Taking a bath together with a boy…Auuu…! So it was something as embarrassing as this…!”

“It’s Sakura’s first time aswell, but with the little sister and Onii-chan setting, this is noproblem at all!”

“T-That’s right. This is somethingcompletely normal for a good little sister like me!”

As if! You’re just as embarrassed! Ican see your eyes spinning in their sockets! Is it that? Is yourpride as Towano Chikai forcing you to boast about it?

“A-Anyway, this is to collect data,so let’s hurry up and finish this,” I said, hoping that we couldget this over with as fast as possible.

Even if they’re wearing swimsuits,the fact that this is a bathroom still gives me a weird feeling…

“Y-Yes… Then let’s try recreatingthat scene we just saw… W-Washing Onii-sama’s back…!”muttered Nene-san with a bright red face.

T-This feels really immoral…

“It’s perfectly normal, after all!”

“I-It’s my duty as a little sisterto wash Onii-chan’s back.”

Duty aside, it’s true that this isbasically the only thing you can do in this kind of situation. I gotout of the water and sat on a stool, turning my back towardseveryone.

“L-Leave it to me… Onii-chan…!”said Nene-san, already in her role as the little sister, as shestarted scrubbing my back with a sponge.

“H-How is it? Am I doing it right?”

“Y-Yeah, it’s good, I think?”

I gave a nervous reply as I feltNene-san’s hesitant washing. Though I wasn’t able to distinguishgood from bad, since this had never happened to me before, I wasn’tfeeling bad, so that was all that counted.

“That’s no good, Nene-chan. Youcan’t use a sponge to wash his back. You have to use your barehands!”

When Minazuki-san blurted that out, theatmosphere in the place slowly started to change.

“B-Bare hands…?!”

“M-Minazuki-san?! What kind ofridiculous things are you saying all of a sudden?!”

“Something like that isn’t weird atall, Sensei. With lovey-dovey siblings, It’s good skinship.Literally!”

No no no, that doesn’t explainanything?!

“Uoah?!”

But while I was trying to formulate aresponse, I felt the sensation of soft skin hitting my back.

“N-Nene-san?!”

“U-Umm… Since I was the one whobrought up the idea… I’ll try my best… Onii-chan…!”

Without giving me any time to stop her,Nene-san immediately started running her hands over my back. Althoughit wasn’t exactly any different from when she had done it with asponge, I felt a weird sensation running through my body when Ithought about it being her hands now.

“O-Onii-chan?! W-W-W-What kind oflecherous expression is that?!”

“N-No, it’s not like I was…!Nene-san?! Can we take a short break—?”

“…Onii-chan? Does it feel good?I’ll try even more…!”

Wait a second… Is she getting toomuch into her character again?!

“Then, next is… Onii-chan, pleaseturn around.”

“Eh?”

I did as I was told, and we were nowsitting facing each other—

“Heayah?!”

Suddenly, Nene-san’s hands startedwandering all over my chest and belly, sending a shiver throughout mybody.

“You can’t move like that,Onii-chan. Please stay still, okay?”

“That’s easier said than done!”

I was about to dash off, since thesituation was worsening by the second. But Nene-san immediately tookhold of my body and resumed her washing regimen.

“W-Will you stop it already?!”

In that moment, Suzuka once againforced herself in between Nene-san and me.

“Even though I haven’t gottento do this yet…! This is a duty for Onii-chan’s real littlesister—”

“H-Hey, Suzuka?!”

Suzuka moved too quickly, however, andlost her balance. Since I was wet all over, I wasn’t able to get agood hold of her.

“Kyaa?!”

“Careful!”

I barely managed to catch her body, andI ended up as her cushion as we fell down. Luckily, the impact wasn’tall too strong, so we both ended up fine.

“Suzuka-chan is using her whole bodyto wash Sensei’s body?! Sakura knows about that… It’s the bodysponge!”

“You’re way off!”

Wait, this isn’t the time to betalking to her like that!

Name aside, I couldn’t help but thinkabout what she really meant, and I felt the blood rushing to my head.My whole body was slippery, and Suzuka’s soft body was beingpressed against mine. All in all, it felt really immoral—What am Ithinking about?!

“…Eh? Ah…!”

And it didn’t take long for Suzuka torealize her own position, either…

“————!!!”

All her strength seemed to leave herbody, and she collapsed on top of me.

…This is even worse than before!She’s practically glued to me!

“Hawa… Hawawa…! S-Suzuka-sama isso bold…!”

“That’s Suzuka-chan for you. Sakuradidn’t think she’d go this far.”

“Funya… I-I’m Onii-chan’slittle sister, after all…”

“Why are the two of you appreciatingthis scene right now?! Suzuka! Come back to your senses already!”

While saying this, I went to grabSuzuka to try to push her off of me, but…

“Mu, just Nene-chan and Suzuka-chanis unfair! Sakura wants Sensei to wash her body instead!”

“Ah, I-I’d like to experience thatas well… My whole body… by Onii-sama…!”

“No no no, can you two read the moodfor a second?!”

Minazuki-san approached me, closelyfollowed by Nene-san.

In the end, neither of them gave me anyroom to argue, and when Suzuka came back to her senses, she insistedon joining in. To keep it short, the bath scene research continuedfor quite a while after that.

Part 4:

That night, I was rolling around on abed in a guest room, letting out a deep sigh. The reason for that ofcourse was all of the little-sister data collecting. Not just theincident in the bath, but also during dinner… Ahh, let’s justforget about that.

“W-Well, if it turned into some goodreference for Nene-san, then I guess that’s fine…”

Thinking that, I closed my eyes and cutthat train of thought. Immediately afterwards, I felt myself driftinginto the land of dreams, but…

“…Hmm?”

I heard a sudden sound, and I slowlyopened my eyes.

“Ah…!”

“…Eh? N-Nene-san?!”

In the almost complete darkness, Icould barely make out Nene-san’s bright redface, which made me jump in surprise.

“W-What are you doing?! Shouldn’tyou be sleeping in your room?!”

“T-That’s…! I-I just felt like Ihad to experience that one scene from the anime…!”

She was probably thinking that such ascene happened in everyday life.

“Onii-sama’s novel had scenes likethat, so I thought that I had to experience those myself in order towrite a good little sister novel…!”

“Ugh… This is really taking it toofar! Please just try to imagine it and write based on that!”

When I told her that, she seemed togive up. She bowed down to me, her face still bright red.

“U-Umm… I’m sorry for causing allthis ruckus…! Please let me make it up to you with some tea…!”

“…Yeah, my sleepiness is all gonenow, so I might as well…”

Trying to calm ourselves down, inmultiple ways, both of us made our way towards the parlor. At noon,many maids had been walking around here, busy with housework, but nowthe entire mansion was asleep, so Nene-san was the one who made thetea.

“U-Umm, I’m really sorry about thisjust now…”

“Nah, it’s okay.”

“B-But, forthe sake of my novel, I wouldn’t mind…!”

“Just forget about that already!”

Even the bath research back then wastotally unacceptable already, so going any further than that would bea no-go! …But, well, I’m glad to see that she’s so zealousabout her novel. Oh, right. This is a perfect chance to ask her aboutsomething that’s been bugging me all this time.

“Nene-san. Are you really going torewrite it into a little-sister novel?”

“Yes. Instead of a Senpai – Kouhairelationship, I want to write a romcom with a non-blood-relatedlittle sister, and use that as my entry for the light novel contest.”

“Are you really fine with that?”

“U-Umm, what do you mean?”

“No, nothing in particular, I wasjust wondering why you’d decided that so suddenly.”

“I-It’s just that I wanted to writea novel that Onii-sama would enjoy from the bottom of his heart…!”

Well, that’s what she always said.She really is a huge fan of Towano Chikai, huh?

“…But I still think that instead oftaking my opinion into consideration, you should just write yournovel however you want.”

“Y-Yes, I know. But the novel I wantto write is the one that Onii-sama enjoys the most…!” Nene-sansaid, her cheeks slightly flushed as she looked straight at me.

Hmmm? I think that we’re somehowtalking past each other, but I can’t say anything about hermotivation, I guess.

“U-Umm, thanks to all your worktoday, it feels like I finally understand what a little sistercharacter is all about, and I’m sure that I can put that into mynovel…!”

“That’s good to hear. It seems likemy suffering was worth it in the end…”

“Little sisters are supposed to charmtheir older brothers…!”

“That kind of dangerous thinking issurely because of those other two, right?!”

Not just Minazuki-san; even Suzuka goescrazy as soon as we bring up little sisters in any way…

“But try not to overdo it, okay?” Isaid, thinking that it was about time for me to go back to sleep.

“Ah, Onii-sama—N-No,Onii-chan…”

“Eh?”

But before I could walk away,Nene-san’s voice stopped me.

“U-Umm… If we can’t sleeptogether, then how about a good luck charm?”

“Good luck charm? What kind?”

“Well… In order to make sure thatthe little sister doesn’t get any nightmares, you softly pat her onthe head…!”

I was a bit hesitant at first, but…

“Okay, fine. Then good night.”

Seeing this as another chance for herto gather data, I gave a bitter smile as I patted her on her head.

“Thank you very much… Thanks tothis, I’m sure I can write a good novel that Onii-sama will enjoy…”

When I did, Nene-san returned a pure,little-sister-like smile.

After separating from Nene-san andreturning to my room, I laid down in bed again, certain that I wouldbe able to sleep this time for sure, but…

“Wha—?!”

When I pulled back the blanket, Ialmost had a heart attack.

“…O-Onii-chan, where have you beenthis late at night?”

For some reason, Suzuka was currentlyoccupying my bed, staring up at me.

“Y-You…?! What’s your plan withthis…?!”

“T-That’s… I-I wanted to sleeptogether with you…!”

Sleep together?! Again with that?!

“D-Don’t get the wrong idea, okay?!This wasn’t my only intention, but I want to collect some data forthis kind of event!”

“Why is there any need for you to doresearch?!”

“Although this scene is standardfaire in light novels, I cannot let Madenokouji-san actually reenactit in reality!”

So you’re being her stand-in?! Howdoes that make any sense?!

“A-Anyway! It’s late already, solet’s go to bed! T-This is just to collect data, so there’s noneed to think too deeply about it!”

Saying that, Suzuka laid back down andaverted her gaze.

…Haaah, there’s a mountain’sworth of things I’d like to say, but she’ll only glare at me if Isay them.

Having no other choice, I laid downnext to her, and trying not to touch her anywhere, I closed my eyes.Though doing this with Nene-san would be an absolute no-go, it shouldbe fine with Suzuka since she’s my actual little sister. Reciting”It’s just to collect data” in my head, I hoped that I couldfall asleep soon. And just as I was about to enter the land ofdreams, I thought I heard a faint giggle from next to me.

“Ehehehe… Together with Onii-chan…”

Part 5:

“S-She’s got the jump on us?! Justwhen Sakura thought that she would wake Onii-chan up in the morning,Suzuka-chan got the jump on us!”

“S-Suzuka-sama…!”

The next morning, just as I hadsuspected, Sakura-san and Madenokouji-san came to wake up Onii-chan,only for me to greet them instead.

…Fufufu, the operation was a success!

When it comes to being a little sister,I won’t lose against anyone, so you don’t even stand a chance.O-Of course, sleeping together with Onii-chan was also embarrassing,but I was happy the whole time… Ehehe…!

“…Fuaaah? Ah—What’s going on?!”

When Onii-chan finally woke up, it tookhim a few moments to make sense of the situation. But at least thesleepover at Madenokouji-san’s house ended with no other incidents.

My final goal had been to showMadenokouji-san that Onii-chan only needs me as a little sister.However, even after all that had happened, she ended up wanting towrite a non-blood-related little sister novel.

…Ugh, I really want her to give up,but I can’t help it now that it’s come to this. After all,Madenokouji-san already sent her novel to the light novel contest.Right now, I have no other choice but to wait for the results.

She probably plans on confessing toOnii-chan if she wins the grand prize. I really want her dream ofbecoming a light novel author to be fulfilled, but I don’t want herto confess to Onii-chan. While I was busy feeling conflicted, I wasunable to do anything in the end, and I could only watch asMadenokouji-san’s novel easily made it through the preliminaries.