Volume 8.5Chapter 6

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Towano Chikai’s Imagination Diary

“Ah, this is…”

It was something that happened on acertain holiday, in the late afternoon. I was cleaning my room, andsince I had some free time, I decided to tidy up my closet as well.And that’s what I did, until I found a certain object.

“That reminds me. I put all my oldnotebooks in here.”

Several notebooks were hidden inside asmall box. But these weren’t notebooks from my school oranything—They are my ‘Onii-chan notes’, containing all thefantasies I had ever thought of while I was thinking about myfeelings for Onii-chan.

“And these are the very first ones Iwrote…”

Yes, all these date back to when I wasstill a grade school student. Feeling nostalgic while reminiscingabout that time, I remembered that all I could think of back then wasOnii-chan, which made me feel ever-so-slightly flustered.

“R-Really… just how much do I likeOnii-chan…”

Of course, so much that I can’t evenput it into words…! Growing even more red while thinking about myembarrassing answer, I found myself unconsciously having startedreading them already. Making excuses to myself like “I’m alreadydone cleaning out the closet, after all…!”, I soon started todive deeper into my fantasies from back then.

“…Ehe, ehehe.”

Soon after, a sloppy voice escaped mylips.

“I-I sure was innocent back then…Still, I haven’t changed all that much. I can still feel all thelove for Onii-chan coming through!” I continued to go through thenotes in a thoroughly pleased manner.

The notes were overflowing with thingsI wanted to do with Onii-chan, how I wanted him to pamper me, and allthe pure love and affection a grade school kid like me could havefelt. And that wasn’t the only reason I was so extremely pleasedwith myself.

“Ehehehe… Most of these fantasieshave already become reality, after all!”

Exactly! Going on a date withOnii-chan, having him stroke my head, sleeping together withOnii-chan, even taking a bath together with Onii-chan… I hadmanaged to experience all those things!

“Well, they all happened under thepretense of us gathering data for my novels, though… B-But thatdoesn’t change the fact that I had always dreamed about thesethings!” I said, as I confidently puffed out my chest in pride.

Although I felt like an idiot feelingsuperior towards my past self like this, this just shows that I’vemanaged to grow! All the flirting with Onii-chan I could only havedreamed about has turned into reality!

“Ehehehe… But still, we really havecome a long way. We’re finally like real siblings now!” My gazedropped yet again to the notes.

Reading it now, it feels like the timewhen everything was all stiff between us must have been a lie…Well, the reason things ended up like this is because of mypersonality though… But there’s no mistaking that Onii-chan and Ihave taken important steps in the right direction.

“I-If we keep this up, gettingmarried might not be too far off, right?!”

As I held the notes in my hands whilelying on the bed, my legs started kicking up and down out ofexcitement. And I continued reminiscing. Back to when thisrelationship that Onii-chan and I currently have was nothing morethan a fantasy for the past me. A little while before I askedOnii-chan to become my stand-in.

“I wonder what the past me would havethought if she knew about my current situation…?” I muttered.

In a certain sense, it was the timethat I didn’t want to remember at all. Back when the distancebetween me and Onii-chan was at its greatest, and I felt like I wasenveloped in darkness.

“I don’t even want to think aboutit…”

Maybe it was because I didn’t want toremember that time, or maybe because I was too stimulated by the oldnotes, but I could feel a kind of resistance to remembering it.Still, the memories slowly but steadily crept up to me… Back when Iwas in my second year of middle school, and Onii-chan in his thirdyear of middle school…

*

Only the sound of the chopstickstapping on the plates could be heard in the room. Onii-chan and Iwere eating dinner together. Father and Mother would be late that daybecause of their job, and eating together with Onii-chan was nothingout of the ordinary, but…

“……”

“………”

We both kept quiet, and the room wasfilled with an awkward atmosphere.

“…U-Umm, h-hey Suzuka.”

“What is it?”

“Well, um… It’s pretty hot today,right? How about we turn on the A/C?”

“I’m not particularly bothered bythe heat.”

“Even though we’re in the middle ofsummer…? You’re pretty amazing.”

“Something of this level is noproblem for me. But feel free.”

“…T-Then, I will…”

“That reminds me, when I came homefrom school, the A/C was still turned on. Please pull yourselftogether, Onii-chan.”

“…M-Maybe I don’t need it afterall…”

Even though there were short-livedconversations like that, they ended more than quickly, and wecontinued to eat in silence. Thus the dinner would end, and Onii-chanwould return to his room. Left behind, I sipped on my tea and got upto start washing the dishes, but…

“…Haaah…”

In the next moment, a long sigh escapedfrom my mouth. I looked at the seat that Onii-chan had been sittingin a moment ago and hung my head.

“…Why can I only say it likethat…?”

The first words I said were filled withself-loathing.

“I’m such an idiot…! Even whenOnii-chan was the one to talk first…” I sank down on the table,burying my face in my arms.

Just a moment ago, I had been actingall calm and collected, but as soon as Onii-chan’s gone, I startregretting everything. I really hate this side of me. Onii-chan wouldsurely be surprised if he saw me like this. But I can’t ever allowthat to happen. It would make me look really uncool, and it’sembarrassing…

“Haaah…”

Another sigh escaped my lips… Ireally wanted to have a fun and interesting conversation withOnii-chan. I wanted to have at least one wholesome dinner together…

“…That’s right. A normalconversation should have been more, you know…”

While getting teary-eyed, I startedfantasizing about the perfect conversation I could wish for.

“ Can I turn on the A/C, Suzuka?”

“ Sure, I don’t mind. Is it thathot for you?”

“ Yeah, I just start feeling allwarm inside whenever I’m with you.”

“ Eh?! W-What do you mean bythat…?!”

“ No, it’s nothing. Anyway, areyou not comfortable with the A/C running?”

“ I-It’s not that bad, but thereare times when I feel a slight chill.”

“ I see, then I’ll hold off onusing it. I can’t make my precious little sister go throughsomething like that.”

“ P-Precious?! No no no, I’mtotally fine?! I-If you feel that warm, then feel free to turn iton!”

“ Really? Thank you, my adorableSuzuka…”

“ A-Adorable?!”

“ But don’t worry.”

“ Eh?”

“ If you really feel cold, thenI’ll warm you up.”

“ Eh?! W-W-What do you mean bythat…?!”

“ That should be obvious.”

“And with those words, Onii-chanwould softly grab my shoulders and pull me closer to him—Adevelopment like that!”

Without realizing it, I found myselfknocking on the table, going “Ehe! ehe!” at my own fantasies.

“…R-Really, Onii-chan is such a badperson! If he were to attack me like that, I wouldn’t be able toresist no matter what!”

Ehehehe! Bang! bang!

Ehehehe! Bang! bang!

…And things would continue to go likethis until I regained my senses, and let out yet another sigh.W-Well, my imagination might have gotten the better of me back then,but that is basically what I’m wishing for. Still…

“…Why can’t I just be honest infront of Onii-chan…?”

Indeed. Because my personality doesn’tallow me to show my true feelings, something like that has neveroccurred even once, not even remotely. After that day, that moment,that second, when I said those horrible words to Onii-chan that Ididn’t even mean, our relationship got worse and worse day by day.And even if I wanted to fix it, this rotten personality of minewouldn’t allow it.

“…I should be the one to pullmyself together…”

With a heavy heart, and an equallyheavy body, I got up from my seat to start washing the dishes. Thiswas my everyday life that had continued for years now.

“Onii-chan, I actually love you, youknow…”

Those were the words I would forever beunable to say in front of the person himself. Even if I practicedthem here and now, what good would it do if I never got them out ofmy lips?

“N-No, this isn’t the time to bedepressed. I have to always keep moving forward in order to one daybecome Onii-chan’s wife.”

Trying to forcefully cheer myself up, Ithought of measures for how to deal with this situation. AlthoughI’ve been doing exactly that for years now.

“…At the very least, I should bethe one to talk to Onii-chan first… And the topic to use then willbe…”

That is how I would always try toprepare for my next chance, but things never work out that way.Funnily enough, while I was busy thinking about Onii-chan the entiretime, washing the dishes ended quite quickly. I took off my apron,left the kitchen, and headed to the living room. When I rememberedthat he had been sitting on the sofa before dinner, I took a seat inthe exact same spot.

“Being able to sit next to him andspend time together would be the greatest, I’m sure.”

As I muttered to myself, anotherfantasy appeared within my mind.

“ …You’re not going to comecloser, Suzuka?”

“ Eh? B-But we’re plenty closealready…!”

“ If we do it like this, we wouldbe even closer, right?”

“ O-Onii-chan?! P-Putting your armaround my waist… So indecent…!”

“ Do you hate it?”

“ D-Don’t tease me with questionslike that!”

…Something wonderful as that mighthappen! …In the meantime, I started to laugh as happily as before.

“But, as things stand right now,something like that will never happen…”

This time, I got control over myselffairly quickly. Faced by the cruel reality before me, I hung my head.

“…Huh?”

And then, I happened to realize thatsomething was lying on the table.

“This is… One of those novels thatOnii-chan was reading?”

…Yes, it should be one of those. Ifit’s something that’s related to Onii-chan, I can’t justoverlook it. He was definitely reading that here before dinnerstarted. And it wasn’t just any book, but the genre that Onii-chanlikes the most—

“…Um, he called them ‘lightnovels’, right…?”

They seem to be some kind of shortertype of novel, although I’m not all too familiar with them. I knowthat Onii-chan loves them very much, and is always buying them ingreat quantities. He seems to be able to read them in the blink of aneye, too. And it’s not just a hobby, because he’s trying tobecome an author in this scene, and is always earnestly applying forwriting contests at different publishers.

Onii-chan seems to really love them,and he’s always so lively while reading them. When I see theexpression he makes while looking at them, I end up feeling jealousof the books, you know? Even when he’s talking about them, healways seems so energetic, and it makes us forget about our usuallycold and stiff relationship. But, in the end, I don’t reallyunderstand what’s so great about them, and thanks to my inability tobe honest, I end up acting cold yet again, ruining all of it…

“Uuuuu… Why am I like this…?” Ionce again hung my head in despair.

H-However… I can’t help it. I don’tknow much about this sort of thing, and just giving some adequateanswer is not something I can allow myself to do!

“T-That’s right. if I want to holda proper conversation about it, I have to understand more about thesenovels,” I said, nodding to myself.

I realized then that if I startedreading those novels myself, then I would be better at creating atopic I can talk with Onii-chan about. All this time I had triedavoiding it, but since I was pushed into a corner like this, I gavein and picked that novel up to read it.

“Um… The summary is… ‘A fantasyscience-fiction romcom where the Demon Lord is reborn into today’sworld and is romantically approached by the hero, an alien, andsomeone from another dimension. Will the protagonist be able to go ona date with his childhood friend like this?!'”

………

…………I can’t even imagine howthe story goes after this summary.

I was a bit surprised, but I decided tonot let it get to me, and started flipping the pages. The contentswere just as stated in the summary, but…

“……Mmmm.”

I don’t really understand what’s sointeresting about this. But Onii-chan enjoys himself very much whilereading this, right? Although there was some speed-reading involved,I finished the whole novel. But even up until the very end, I wasunsure why he likes this so much… Maybe I really can’t use thisas an icebreaker…

When I reached the final page,something piqued my interest.

Sumeragi Fantasy Publishing isconducting another light novel contest!

Write your own story, and let’saim for the debut together!

“…Ahh, I see. So Onii-chan isapplying for this.”

…So the publishing company is askingfor new authors to submit new novels so that they can release them.Although I like the idea of how that works, I can’t really botherto be interested in it. I closed the novel, put it back down where itwas before, and let out a sigh.

…Using this novel as an icebreakerwill surely be difficult. Once I arrived at that conclusion, I hungmy head yet again.

“But trying to just go along with theconversation would feel like I’m deceiving Onii-chan.”

I would be betraying Onii-chan’senthusiasm, and I wouldn’t be able to stand that.

“…Well, time to go back to my ownroom.”

Trying to refresh my feelings and mytrain of thought, I made my way back towards my room. I want to getcloser to Onii-chan, but I don’t know how… No, even if I were tocome up with a way, my personality would probably just ruin it. Ialways ends up hitting a dead end… Even after returning to my room,I realized the cruel reality of it, and I started feeling even moredown about it.

In an attempt to cheer myself up, Itook out a volume of my Onii-chan notes out of the deeper parts of mydesk. I would normally do some homework or school stuff, but since Ihad already finished that before preparing for dinner, I was leftwith nothing to do now. And these notes aren’t for any sort ofeducational purposes at all.

—They are filled with fantasies of meand Onii-chan being lovey-dovey. I especially feel like writing evenmore than ever on days like these. Well… I also write thesefantasies whenever I just felt a desire to, or when Onii-chan justlooks so cool that my heart skips a beat…

B-Basically, I write these almostdaily. This is part of the daily life of a little sister who lovesher brother way too much!

“Now, what kind of fantasies will Icome up with today?!”

…Anyway, writing these notes is myonly saving grace in my daily life. I know that it’s just meescaping reality, but I can’t stop myself from wanting to at leastspend some wonderful time with Onii-chan like this.

“La la la ~~~”

My somber feeling from just earlierseemed like a lie, and my pen was flying across the pages while I waslost in a gleeful mood. In my own world, I could be as lovey-doveyand honest as I wanted with Onii-chan. All the things that couldnever happen in reality are all written here in these notes.

“Alright… Today it’s as great asever…”

After writing for a while, I let out asatisfied sigh as I read through everything. The event from before atthe dinner was completely rewritten, and it was full of me andOnii-chan flirting with each other.

“Now, maybe some more…”

I wasn’t quite satisfied just yet,and I still felt like I wanted to write some more. Maybe even it up abit today?

“Ah, I know…”

I remembered back to the last page inOnii-chan’s novel.

“Maybe I could write down myfantasies in the form of a novel?”

I just happened to think of it on awhim. I might as well, since I’ve never tried that before.Naturally, I had never written a novel myself in the first place. Butit sounds pretty interesting. And to be honest, a love story betweenme and Onii-chan sounds wonderful, don’t you think?!

“A novel… So I guess that the storyis pretty important?”

All my fantasies so far aren’tconnected in any way; they’re just standalone events. A novel needsa complete story, though, right? Then what kind of story should Iwrite? Naturally, the theme of it will be a little sister who lovesher Onii-chan way too much. I mean, that’s how it’s supposed tobe, right? No, any other theme than that would be unthinkable! Butthe question is how I can implement this into the story…

Well, seeing as I’ve never written anovel until now, I don’t know how to go about doing things. WhenI’m writing my usual notes, it’s not that important, but I wantto write this properly… The best kind of plotline would be a storywhere the little sister can be as lovey-dovey as she wants withOnii-chan.

“…Ah, I know. The little sisterwould go to the same school as her Onii-chan, and they get closer toeach other as different flirty events occur?” I blurted out thefirst idea that came to mind.

Naturally, that’s nothing more than away to express my frustration that I can’t go to the same school asOnii-chan yet, but it still sounds pretty interesting, I believe?

“Not bad, if I do say so myself.Then, the start of it will be with the little sister finally enteringthe same school as her Onii-chan…”

As I let my pen run across the page, Istarted planning out the story, as well as thinking of the characterswho would appear. The little sister loves her Onii-chan very much,but can’t be honest about it—No, since this is a novel, itdoesn’t have to be too realistic.

“The little sister loves herOnii-chan, and she has a relatively honest personality, and theOnii-chan considers the little sister his most beloved existence!”

Ehehehe! Beloved little sister! Isthere any combination of words that sounds better than that?! No, Idoubt it! Both my hands and feet were pounding up and down out ofexcitement.

But if the siblings are like that fromthe very start, you might be wondering how I can make the storyprogress. However, in the face of a pure love story between brotherand sister, that is but a trivial concern. After all, I would want toread this novel no matter what!

Continuing my story-building, I wrote’The little sister joins the same school as Onii-chan -> Theycan be all flirty and lovey-dovey as they want, with the school asthe setting -> They are connected forever and ever’, coming upwith the perfect story (I think they call this the plot?). Now then,the start of the novel…

—From today onward, new days willbegin for me. After all, I will be starting to attend the same schoolas Onii-chan.

“ We’ll be going to the sameschool today, huh, Suzuka? (I couldn’t come up with a charactername yet, so I just used my own name. There is no deeper meaning toit. *Author’s comment)

“ That’s right, Onii-chan… Mydream has finally been fulfilled… My dream of being able to go tothe same school as Onii-chan…”

“ Hm? Did you say something?”

“ N-No, it’s nothing.” (Shedoes have an honest personality, but having a certain level ofembarrassment is a good idea. *Author’s comment)

—When I tried to cover it up,Onii-chan showed me a fulfilling smile.

“ Is that so? It was also my dreamto attend the same school as Suzuka.”

—And said those words to me rightout of the blue.

“ Eh?! Y-You heard me just now?!”

I panicked with a bright red face,and…

“ Hm? What do you mean? I wasvoicing my thoughts out loud.”

—Onii-chan continued with hisusual teasing smile. He sure likes to tease me, this Onii-chan! Evenstill, being teased like this filled me with a sense of happiness,and I blushed even more furiously. (Maybe it would be a good ideato have her avert her gaze out of embarrassment.Requires later confirmation. *Author’s comment)

“ …R-Really, I’m just as happyas you, Onii-chan…”

“Ehehehehehehehehehe!!!”

After I had written this far, Icouldn’t hold back my excitement, and I started laughing. T-Thisis… pretty nice! That’s a pretty nice start, if I do say somyself! At the very least, I can barely hold myself back from theexcitement! After reading through the few lines I wrote, I gavemyself a satisfied nod. The content in itself isn’t all thatdifferent from my notes, but as a novel, and as the start of one toboot, I think that this sounds very intriguing.

“Just how should I have the siblingsbe lovey-dovey from now on…? And in what way will theirrelationship progress…? So this is the charm of a novel, I see!”

It had all started on a whim, but I wascompletely engrossed in my writing. I began to think on what kind offlirty scenes I wanted to put in there. Not standalone occurrenceslike before, but scenes that fit well with the flow of the story.

“Let’s see… A flirty scene ontheir way to school…! Maybe holding hands…! No, something evenmore bold, like clinging to his arm…! And once they arrive atschool, they do have to separate, but then the little sister startsto feel lonely, and then Onii-chan tries to cheer her up…!Ehehehehe! Then they’ll be enjoying their lunch together…! Withhomemade lunch from the little sister, which is filled with lots oflove for Onii-chan…! A-And then they could even feed each other?!Of course, they’ll be walking home together as well, right?! Andtheir way home, it would turn into a small date…!”

With all these different eventsfloating around inside my head, I realized something crucial.

“Isn’t it more important to thinkabout what to do at the very end?”

…Yes, since this is a novel, it iscrucial to think of a way to end it.

“What to do for the final part of it…That’s obvious!”

There’s only one thing that I couldthink of.

“F-For the end, there has to be aconfession…! And it has to be from Onii-chan…!”

When I muttered that to myself, I couldfeel the blood rushing to my head. Just from imagining it, I couldfeel my head start to spin… I-I have to pull myself together…!It’s the important confession scene from Onii-chan…!

—For some reason, Onii-chan calledme to the back of the school building. (The rooftop or thecourtyard might also be nice, but I just felt like going with theback of the school building. The actual location will be decided onlater. *Author’s comment)

—Once I arrived, Onii-chan lookedstraight at me. He normally looks cool, but right now he feels evenmore gallant than ever.

“ So you came, Suzuka.”

“ What happened, Onii-chan? Why didyou call me to a place like this?”

“ The thing is, there is somethingthat I definitely have to tell you.”

“ Eh…?”

—Because the atmosphere aroundOnii-chan felt different than usual, my heart skipped a beat.

“ Something you need to tell me…?”

“ …I finally realized it after Istarted to attend the same school as you. I don’t want anyone totake you away from me.”

“ Eh… Ehhh?! W-What do you meanby that?!”

“ I want you to always stay mylittle sister. But it’s not just that…”

“ O-Onii-chan…”

—Onii-chan looked like he had madeup his mind about something, and he formed a fist with his hand…

“ Suzuka, I like you!”

“ I love you, too, Onii-chan!!!”

After writing this far, I was unable tohold back my excitement. I screamed that out loud while standing up,and I jumped onto my bed.

“Ehe, ehehe, ehehehehehehehe…!”

Tightly gripping my pillow, I startedrolling around.

“Ehehe!” Roll, roll.

“Ehehe!” Roll, roll.

“T-The stimulus here is way tooimmense…! I’ve fantasized about Onii-chan confessing to mebefore, but writing this in a novel it makes it even more dramatic…!”

I feel like my brain is about to melt!No, it’s already melting! …Uuuu~~~! If something like this wereto happen in reality, I might just die of happiness!

I continued to roll around on my bedlike this for a while. But finally, I could feel my head cooling downa bit, as I stood up from my bed and shook my head to clear it.

“T-The confession in itself is a goodthing, but the stimulus is way too strong…! If I feel like thisjust from trying to write it bit by bit, then I might faint if Iwrite it for real…!”

Not to mention that Onii-chanconfessing to me is both my greatest wish and my greatest fantasy,and it would feel wrong if I just wrote about it like this.

“A-Anyway, let’s give up on writingthe confession scene at the very beginning. It would be bad if I wereto run into Onii-chan with this weird smile on my face…!”

Telling that to myself, I walked overto my desk again. I decided to reserve the story about Onii-chan andme going to the same school (and the confession scene) for later. Itwould be better to write that later, and focus on something else fornow.

“Being able to be this lovey-doveywith Onii-chan truly is wonderful, but maybe I should also take it abit slower… What kind of flirting can I add here…?” I crossedmy arms in thought.

…Hmm, what would work? I haveconfidence that I’m able to come up with multiple ways of beinglovey-dovey with Onii-chan, but putting that into novel form is a bitmore hard to achieve. Maybe I should aim for something moreunpredictable. For example…

“M-Maybe married life between thelittle sister and the Onii-chan would work well as the theme…!” Imuttered to myself, only to immediately start feeling hot.

N-No, wait a moment. I had problemswith the confession just now, so jumping to a married-couplelifestyle might be a bit dangerous.

“I-I could technically add ahoneymoon trip, or a wedding ceremony?! B-But that would be kind ofunfeasible, right?!”

But my fantasies were already movingfull speed towards those ideas, so I might as well try writing themdown!

“Umm, for starters, Onii-chan and herbecome husband and wife, and about a year has passed? It’s aroundthe time they’ve managed to calm down a bit, and the flirting hasbecome more reserved. The little sister feels a degree of danger inthat—No, I have to call her the wife now! Anyways, she goessearching for a solution to it…A story like that doesn’t sound too bad, right?!” I nodded to myglorious idea yet again.

…A wonderful story, yes. If there wasa novel like that, it would immediately get printed in tremendousvolume. Maybe it would even win the nobel prize in literature, don’tyou think?! While I was excited like this, I immediately went tothink of the details.

“T-They are married after all. Youcan be flirty in a different way from being normal siblings. You caneven do this or that…!”

…Feeding each other is something morelike what a married couple would do, right? A-And there won’t be aproblem if you wanted to take a bath together, either! Well, not likethere’s a problem if siblings did that, either!

“N-Not to mention that, as a marriedcouple, you might do more than just wash each other’s body. Thereshould be other ways to be flirty, right?”

…F-For example, let’s see… MaybeI would feed Onii-chan Valentine’s Day chocolate while in thebath?!

“The melted, hot chocolate, wrappingaround my fingers… W-Wait, what kinds of indecent things am Ithinking about?!”

I was wrapped in my fantasies there yetagain, and I started feeling dizzy. T-This feels way too immoral…!What am I thinking…?! N-No, the idea in itself is wonderful, andthis is something I would love to try once Onii-chan and I getmarried, okay?! H-Having Onii-chan… with my finger…!

“N-Not good. Let’s keep that ideaon the back burner for now. The stimulus is too strong…!”

For now, I should probably write ashort story of a normal evening as a married couple.

—On an evening of a certain day,after the Nagami Household finished their dinner, Onii-chan and thelittle sister spend some relaxing time alone. (I think that sincethey’re married, keeping the normal names should be fine. But ifthat’s too stimulating, then it might need some rewriting later.*Author’s comment)

“ It sure is a quiet night,Suzuka.”

“ Yes, that’s right, Onii-chan.”

—The little sister calmlyresponded while sitting on top of Onii-chan’s lap. Since they’rea married couple, this is something normal.

“ But it does seem a bit too calm.How about we watch some TV?”

“ Just being with Onii-chan likethis is fulfilling enough for me.”

“ I see.”

—With these words, Onii-chanstarted softly patting me on the head. Feeling fulfilled during it, Ileaned back against Onii-chan’s chest. Calm, soothing, lovey-doveyflirting like this the proof of being a married couple, after all.

—Time went on like this, and thenight soon arrived.

“ Now then, how about we go to bednow?”

“ Is it already this late? I see,then let’s go sleep .”

—Feeling a bit lonely that thistime had ended, I quickly cheered myself up, because I realized thatOnii-chan and I would be sleeping together. We are a married couple,after all.

—But I could feel some deepermeaning behind Onii-chan’s words.

“ We’re going to sleep already?”

“ Eh? What do you mean by that?”

“ We’re married now, right? Isn’tthere something else that we could do before that?”

“ W-W-W-What do you mean by that?”

—Onii-chan flashed me the greatestteasing smile ever and continued.

“ …Don’t you want some? Youknow, our own ki—”

“———!!!”

The moment I arrived at that point, theinside of my head went white, and I felt like I was about to loseconsciousness… W-W-W-W-W-What was I about to write there?! I-I-Itjust came out unconsciously?! K-Ki—-?! N-N-N-No way…!

“I-It’s way too early for that!I-I’ve never imagined that before in my fantasies…!”

My face went bright red, and I startedpanicking in response to my own thoughts.My arms and legs were flopping up and down, and I couldn’t bear itanymore. I jumped onto my bed yet again, rolling around furiously.

Roll roll roll roll…

“Auuuuu…!”

And even after quite some time hadpassed after that, I still hadn’t quite recovered completely.

“I was about to write somethingtotally unthinkable there…”

…T-This can’t go on like that. It’sway too early to write a married-couple lifestyle as the book’stheme.

“Uuu… it’s a shame, but I have tothink about that when I’m a bit more grown-up.”

I decided to save that idea for laterand started thinking about other themes.

“What should I do next?”

I finally managed to get up from thebed, and sat back down at the table. It shouldn’t be too extreme,but I still want the general idea of the story to be about beinglovey-dovey with Onii-chan.

“…No, that just then might havebeen a bit too realistic.”

Then maybe I should take away therealism? This is a novel, after all, so that’s a very common theme.

“That sounds good. Then, umm… havethe setting different from reality…”

I tried coming up with an idea withthose parameters. In the end, what came to mind was that Onii-chanwas a prince, and I was a princess.

“Siblings in a certain country,connected to each other through blood, and a story of them findinglove in each other. It’s not too realistic, but the drama is morethan sufficient.”

When I looked at my notes in mynotebook, I gave a satisfied nod. Naturally, the main charactersbeing siblings is necessary no matter the theme!

“E-Even if the characters end uplovey-dovey, they can’t go too far. Still, I have to make sure thatthe impact isn’t too great.”

Staying on high alert for that, Istarted writing again. For now, I’ll keep the flirting in mind, andI should try something that is only doable in a setting like this…

—The little sister spots herOnii-sama in the castle’s courtyard and dashes towards him. (Ipersonally think that Onii-sama is the right way of addressing him.You barely ever use it except in times like these. Although Ipersonally prefer ‘Onii-chan’ more. *Author’s comment)

“ Onii-sama, what are you doing ina place like this?”

“ Suzuka, you’re as cute as ever.You’re my most important existence.”

“ O-Onii-sama, please stop teasingme.”

—Onii-sama softly pat his littlesister’s head, but his expression looked a bit dull. And the littlesister immediately saw through that.

“ What happened with you,Onii-sama? You seem a bit troubled by something.”

“ …It seems like covering it upwon’t work against you. The thing is, there has been talk about megetting engaged to a princess from a neighbouring country, and I’ma bit worried about that.”

“ E-Engagement?! You can’t!”

“ I don’t want to, either. Theonly person I’ve sworn my love to is you, Suzuka.”

—Onii-sama returned the littlesister’s gaze with a serious expression on his face. After all, thetwo of them had already sworn eternal love for each other.

“ But I do have my responsibilitiesas a prince, as well.”

“ E-Even so, I don’t want to beseparated from Onii-sama.”

“ …Then let’s leave the castle,Suzuka.”

“ Eh?”

“ I feel the same way. I won’tstand to be separated from you. My love for you is much moreimportant than my duties as a prince.”

“ O-Onii-sama, it’s the same forme!”

“ …I see. Thank you. From now on,we’re not a prince and a princess anymore. We’re companions whohave sworn eternal love to each other.”

“ Onii-sama…”

“ Now Suzuka, let us vow towardsthe heavens above. Close your eyes…”

With those words, Onii-samacarefully lifts up her chin. Doing as she was told, the little sistercloses her eyes, and soon after, she feels a soft sensation on herlips—

“—Wait, what am I writingagain—?!” I returned to reality and let out a scream.

Before I had even become aware of it,the development had moved forward this much, and I panicked because Ihad already told myself that I didn’t want things to go this far.

“A-Again, the stimulus is too great,so I can’t write things like this…!”

Rereading what I had written up untilnow, I could feel my face burning up. Although it was justsubconsciously, how did things end up like this…?! I had to takesome deep breaths to calm myself down. F-For all the parts of it thatare less realistic, my fantasies went more rampant…

“Maybe this sort of setting wasn’ta good idea after all. In the end, the prince and princess would havea romantic wedding, and what comes after that is…! Auuu…!”

T-This kind of story won’t work out.I feel like things would just go the same way as before if I keptwriting. However, with this being the third failure of an idea in arow, I felt some kind of impending danger. I know that I don’t haveto write a novel or anything, but I can’t leave now that I’veseen all the possibilities. And now that I’ve decided on it, I willdefinitely come up with a novel, no matter how many ideas it takes.

But no matter how much I thought aboutit, I couldn’t come up with a good idea at all. I felt like therewere some scenarios that were plausible, but none of them reallyclicked with me.

“Hmm… This is pretty difficult…”

Quite some time passed as I wracked mybrain for ideas. If I’m writing a novel, I want it to be somethingthat reflects my fantasies, and the siblings have to be able to flirtto their hearts’ content. But I don’t know how to create such asolid story.

“When it comes to the Onii-channotes, I can write them to no end…”

A novel is a story. It has a beginningand an end. Between those, I have to write a story about the twosiblings.

“A beginning and an end… Abeginning…” I whispered to myself.

But then, something popped into mymind. And that was—

—Those Onii-chan notes I had beenwriting all this time… What was the beginning of that?

I headed towards the closet that I keptthese notes in, and I opened the box that contained my very first setof Onii-chan notes, assaulting me with a strong feeling of nostalgia.

“…Ahh, that’s right.”

When I read what was written there, Ifinally realized it. They were from back when I was in grade school.They were poorly-written, they were selfish fantasies, and above all,they were just my honest wishes. When I read them, I couldn’t helpbut smile. It made me wonder how I could have forgotten my originalintentions.

“…Haha, I haven’t changed at allfrom back then…”

What was written there was nothing butthe normal everyday events. They were just stories about Onii-chanand I spending our time together as normal siblings. But, when I wasunable to achieve that… My very first fantasy was just me andOnii-chan going back to how we were before.

“But this is the origin of myOnii-chan notes—No, my own origin,” I gave a bitter smile.

How did I forget this? The story I hadbeen wishing for all this time was to regain the bonds that the twoof us once had.

“…Yes, that’s right…”

I closed the journal, feelingrefreshed. At the same time, I knew that I had come up with the ideafor my novel. A story about a little sister who can’t be honest,and a wonderful Onii-chan who are slowly growing closer to eachother. Naturally, I can put all the flirting I want in the middle.But I’m fine with that.

I sat back at the table, feeling morerelaxed than before, and once again picked up my pen. So this is whatit feels like to finally understand what you want to write… I gavein to my feelings for Onii-chan, and was about to start writing, butI realized that I should probably think of a title first. That beingsaid, I don’t have very good naming sense when it comes to thingslike that.

“Well, it doesn’t have to be afinal title just yet, anyway. Umm…”

I wrote the following sentence withoutpausing.

“ The story of a little sister wholoves her big brother way too much to cope.”

*

“And that novel that I happened tosend in for the light novel contest won the grand prize…”

Looking up at the sky, I muttered thosewords. I felt immensely emotional, reminiscing back to that time. Iclosed the notebook and continued to clean the closet. Around thattime, I felt a certain urge to say the following words to the pastme.

“Don’t worry. I’ve grown, andI’ve managed to regain my relationship with Onii-chan and even moveforward with it.”

…Well, my inability to be honest isstill the same… B-But, I’ll work on that until the day comes whenI don’t need the pretense of gathering data anymore. It’ll bejust like in all the Onii-chan notes I’ve written! It’s not thatfar away! Probably!

“…………I’m home~”

“?!”

I suddenly heard Onii-chan’s voicedown at the entrance, which made me twitch in surprise. What badtiming…

“…But I have to go greet him.”

I quickly left my room and headedtowards the entrance. But then, a certain thought made its way intomy mind… M-Maybe now I could try to write all the ideas that Iwasn’t able to back then? A-And maybe I could ask Onii-chan forhelp?!

Just from thinking that, I could feelmy face growing hot, and I panicked ever so slightly. W-What am Ithinking while going to greet Onii-chan…?! My face must be redenough for him to tell…!

“W-W-W-W-Welcome back, Onii-chan!”

“Yeah, I’m home—Huh? Didsomething happen?”

“N-No, nothing at all!”

“Okay, then… By the way, what willwe be having for dinner today? I was looking around Akiba today, soI’m dying for some good food…”

As I tried to cover it up, I feltimmense happiness just from being able to hold such an everydayconversation with Onii-chan.

“Y-Yes, today I was planning onsome—”

And, although I was unable to say it tohis face, I said it within my heart.

—I’ll definitely turn myfantasies into reality one day, so you’d better prepare yourself,my beloved Onii-chan!