Volume 7.5Chapter 5

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Towano Chikai’s Confession Instructions

Part 1:

“Oh right, they’re going toannounce the results of the final selection today.”

During breakfast on one particularmorning, I spoke up to Suzuka, who was sitting across the table fromme. As a result of all the data that we had gathered together withNene-san, she had managed to finish her little sister novel in timeto submit it for the Ryuusei Publishing Light Novel Contest. Afterpassing through the first, second, and even the third rounds, all wehad to do was wait for the results of the final selection, and todaywas the day when they would be announced.

By the way, I had also submitted anovel myself, but I was weeded out in the second round.

…W-Well, enough about me, ahahaha!

“I wonder if Nene-san was able to winthe grand prize.”

“G-Grand prize?”

“Maybe she’s already gotten a callfrom an editor, and is just waiting to give us a surprise confessionor something like that.”

“C-C-Confession?!”

“…What’s wrong with you?”

For a while now, Suzuka has beenjumping every time I say something. To be honest, she’s been actingweird for several days now. The closer we got to the final day of theselection, the more she’d stare off into space and overreact toeverything I say.

…She’s probably very interested inthe results.

“I-I’m not panicking or anythinglike that, okay?! G-Grand prizes or confession or something?! I-I-I’mnot worried about any of that in the slightest…!”

She was obviously bothered aboutsomething, evident by the fact that she kept smearing butter on hertoast over and over again. But she herself didn’t realize that thiswas a well-known thing to do when you’re worried about something.

“…Uuuu, M-Madenkouji-san is goingthis far for Onii-chan…! If it’s come to this, I have to be morepushy…!”

…And now she was mumbling somethingto herself.

…Really, what’s with you?

“O-Onii-chan!”

“Uwa?!”

–Or so I thought, but she drew herselfcloser towards me.

“H-Help me collect some data,please!”

“W-What’s that about all of asudden?! What kind of data?”

“From now on, you aren’t allowed totalk to any other girls other than me. No exceptions!”

“Huuuuuh?!”

“A-And you’re not allowed to listento any confe—No, not that! Umm…! I know! From the next volumeonward, the protagonist will be unable to hear any voices aside fromthat of his little sister’s!”

What’s with that super crazydevelopment?!

“W-Wait a second… Don’t you thinkthat adding such a sudden development is a bad idea? And telling menot to talk with other girls is practically impossible…”

“U-Uugh… T-Then! Onii-chan isn’tallowed to read any little sister novels aside from mine! In my nextvolume, the protagonist will suddenly awaken to the beauty of littlesister novels!”

“What happened to the protagonist?!”

The little sister in your work didn’twrite a little-sister novel, did she?! The flow of your story isgoing all over the place, you know!

“A-Are you in a slump or something?I’m willing to listen to you talk about your concerns, but I don’tthink that moving the story forward like that on a whim will do youany good…”

“I-It’s not like I was… Uuuu…”

“Also, telling me to not read anynovels other than yours is impossible as well… We were talkingabout how Nene-san would show me the manuscript once she got theresults back, after all…”

Thing is, even though Suzuka and Ihelped out with Nene-san’s work on her novel, she hadn’t let usread the final result. Up until now, she had always came running tohave us take a look whenever she made any changes.

“When I get the contest results, Iwant Onii-sama to read it then and there!” she said, and we hadn’tmanaged to convince her otherwise until the very end.

Well, Nene-san must’ve had a lot onher mind as well. But it should be about time.

“That’s why I told you…!”

“…What?”

“N-Nothing!”

Suzuka gulped down her toast in onebite.

“…Uuuu, if the stubborn approachdoesn’t work, then I have to take safety precautions…! T-Thatbeing said, Onii-chan, I’m counting on you to pick me up today, aswell!”

“Wait, what being said?! And you wantme to pick you up today as well?”

Just as she had said, after classesended, I would sometimes make my way to Suzuka’s school so that wecould walk home together.

“As of recently, the curfew doesn’teven matter, and you want me to come pick you up on a daily basis.Why is there any need for that?”

“Of course, to make everyone see thatOnii-chan already has me—Not that! ….U-Ummmm, ah, I know! There’sbeen news of a suspicious person going around the neighbourhood, orsomething like that?!”

“A-A suspicious person?! What arethey like?”

“U-Umm…! A male person who followsyou around while calling you ‘Onii-chan,’ who talks aboutindecent games while he’s insulting you?!”

“This guy sounds a bit too suspiciouson multiple levels!”

And why am I getting a feeling of dejavu from this?

“W-With that being said, picking meup is a must!” Suzuka frantically said.

…W-Well, I don’t remember hearingabout a suspicious person like that, but it’s better to be safethan sorry, I guess.

“T-Thank you very much. And whilewe’re on our way home, I want to collect some data as well, soplease keep that in mind.”

“On our way home?”

“Data for f-flirty scenes, ofcourse.”

I-I thought so…

Recently, whenever I came to pick herup, we would always gather data. We would hold hands like lovers, shewould cling to my arm, and sometimes I would carry her in my arms…These sorts of things were (regrettably) a daily occurence. Theproblem was…

“…Make sure that we don’t have towalk through your school like that just because you forget somethingagain, okay?”

“I-It’s not like I was doing thaton purpose! It was just a force of nature! It’s definitely not thatI wanted people to see us like that or anything?!”

“That’s not the problem here. I wasasking if we can just take a break and not keep collecting data insuch cases—”

“Then there would be no point to it.”

Suzuka cut me off in the middle of mysentence.

…Well, touching each other like thatin front of other people has been happening more and more frequentlyanyway…

“A-Anyway, I’m counting on you tocome pick me up!”

Since Suzuka had decided that the topicwas over, I could only nod and hang my head.

…But this at least shouldn’t be toobad. We might even run into Nene-san at Hakuou, so there’s a chancethat we’ll find out more about her novel then.

Part 2:

“This of all things…”

The same day, after classes had ended.

Just like I had been ordered, I went tothe private all-girls institute Hakuou, but I didn’t see Suzuka atour usual meeting place. I received an email from her, however.

The contents read ‘Some studentcouncil work suddenly came up. I need to help them out with thatreally quick, so please wait for me.’

“I guess I’ll just have to killtime for a bit.”

Thinking that I might as well readsomething, I took out a light novel and sat down on a bench justinside the gate. Just as I did,

“O-Onii-sama…”

When someone called out to me frombehind, I turned towards the source of the sound.

“Ah, Nene-san? Hello there.”

Nene-san was standing there, looking atme in confusion. Still, I had been hoping to meet her, so this wasperfect timing.

“G-Good day to you…! O-Onii-sama,are you here for Suzuka-sama again…?”

“Yeah, I’m just picking her up likealways. But she said that she had some urgent student council work totake care of, so I thought I’d wait here for a bit.”

I was lucky to meet her here, as Iwanted to ask her about the contest anyway. After all, we hadn’tseen her for a while. Though she came to our house often enough, wenever really talked about the contest in itself. It felt like sheherself was avoiding the topic, and whenever I asked about the novel,she just said “I-I’ll show you when I have results…!”, so Ihave no idea how her novel turned out.

…But, since she’ll get the resultstoday, she should be fine talking about it, right?

“Suzuka-sama is going to be late? Andtoday of all days… This must be destiny…!”

“By the way, Nene-san, about theresults for the light novel contest—”

“O-Onii-sama…!”

“Yes?!”

Suddenly, Nene-san stepped in front ofme, throwing me off guard. Her face was red, and her eyes looked likethey were burning with passion as she gazed straight at me.

This was the first time I had seen herlike this, so I was taken aback.

“I-I was hoping to talk about thatwith Onii-sama…!”

“Ah, is that so? I really wanted tohear about it.”

…It seems like Nene-san also wantedto talk with me? I have enough time on my hands since I’m waitingfor Suzuka, so I might as well hear her out.

“Ah, it’s Suzuka-sama’sOnii-sama!”

At that moment, several girls calledout to us. Judging from their uniforms, they appeared to be from themiddle school division of the school, and they were briskly walkingtowards us. It seems that I’ve become quite the celebrity since theculture festival that was held here.

…Well, only because of Suzuka’sgood reputation.

“O-Onii-sama, over here…!”

“Eh? N-Nene-san?!”

While I was thinking all that, Nene-sansuddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her.

“I-I’d like to talk with just thetwo of us…!”

She looked up at me, flustered, andtightened her grip on my arm, her face as red as a tomato. Like that,she pulled me to a deserted area. I was terribly confused by hersudden actions, and embarrassed, with that soft feeling enveloping myarm.

…W-What’s this about? Theatmosphere around Nene-san is different than usual.

“I-If it’s here, we’ll be able tohave a private talk…!”

The place we went to was a corner ofthe courtyard; a small arbour surrounded by trees. We both sat downaround a table, facing each other. The whole time, Nene-san wasstaring at me with a passionate gaze.

…Ummm, this feels really weird.

“S-So… It’s finally the day wherethe results will be announced, right? I’m really getting pumped upnow!” I said, trying to get the conversation back on track.

“Y-Yes… In about an hour, I’llknow the results…”

When I spoke up, Nene-san responded,seeming equally nervous.

“I see, it’s pretty soon, then. Iknow that it’s too late to change anything, but how are youfeeling, Nene-san?”

“I don’t really know how to respondto that… My body is shaking out of uncertainty and anticipation…”

That makes sense, I guess. If she cameout victorious today, that would mean that she would be able to debutas a light novel author.

“I-I have a request for Onii-sama…!”

“What kind of request?”

“Y-Yes, umm… Will you look at theresults with me?!”

I hadn’t expected this request, andshe sounded really determined about it, so I was taken aback.

“You want me to look at the resultswith you?”

“Y-Yes…!”

Nene-san looked straight at me, likeshe was imploring me.

“Of course I don’t mind. Let’swait for Suzuka as well, th—”

“N-No! Umm…! I-It’s fine if it’sjust Onii-sama, so there’s no need to bother Suzuka-sama likethat…!” Nene-san became a bit flustered.

“I don’t think that Suzuka would bebothered, though.”

“I-I know that I should just look atthem alone, so I would only feel selfish…!”

I really don’t think that she has tobe this considerate. Not to mention that Suzuka is the real TowanoChikai, so she deserves to see how her pupil did.

…Of course, I can’t say that.

“I-I’m fine just having Onii-samaby my side…! Auuu…!”

But if the person herself asks me to, Ican’t exactly say no. I guess I’ll have to explain the situationlater to Suzuka. Once I’ve escorted her home, of course.

“I understand. If it’s just that,then I’ll do it.”

“T-Thank you very much…!”

When I gave my response, Nene-san gavea relieved sigh. Or so I thought, but she suddenly started blushingfuriously. She put her hands on her cheeks as if she was trying tocalm herself down.

“I-It’s finally the day…”

“Yeah,we’ve been waiting for a long time for the results to beannounced.”

“T-That’s also true…!”

“Hmm?”

“Auuu…! It-It’s nothing…!Rather than that, there’s something that I’d like Onii-sama tosee…!”

Nene-san suddenly averted her gaze. Shetook something out of her bag and handed it to me.

“T-This is…! T-The novel I sent infor the contest… Please read it…!”

“Eh? Is that okay?”

“Y-Yes… I-I wanted to wait until Ihad gotten the results, but I thought that I might meet Onii-samahere today, so I brought it with me… And I had already planned onletting you see it if I really did run into you…”

I see, so that’s what this is about.What a perfectly-timed coincidence.

“Then I’ll take you up on thatoffer and read it, okay?” I accepted the manuscript, barely able tocontain my excitement.

I had been really eager to see how thefinal version of the novel turned out.

“P-Please do…! I poured all myfeelings into it…!” Nene-san said, her face reddening even morethan it already had.

She must’ve been incredibly nervous,but I think that she can be proud of her novel, since it’s alreadymade it to the finals.

…But this isn’t the time for that.

I cut that train of thought and focusedon the manuscript in my hands. I flipped the pages, eager to see howmuch impact our data-gathering had on the story.

…Just as Nene-san had said, it was aromcom with a stepsister. The girl had always looked up to herSenpai, and she ended up as his stepsister. Her feelings for himintensified as the novel progressed. All sorts of normal rom-comcliches happened, and the distance between the two kept shrinking,with them being flirty at every possible moment.

The story—was interesting. This wasnothing compared to the first manuscript she had showed me. As I readthis, I understood just how serious she had been when applying allthe data we collected. However…

“………?”

While reading through it, somethingstuck out to me. It started out like a hazy feeling, and it slowlystarted to fill my chest, or something like that. But I didn’t havethe chance to dwell on it for very long, since there was somethingelse that stuck out to me even more.

“…U-Umm, Nene-san?”

“Y-Yes, what is it, Onii-sama?”

“These siblings that appear in yournovel… This might just be my imagination, but are they modeledafter…?”

“Y-Yes…!”

In response to my inquiry, steamstarted wafting up from the top of Nene-san’s head. With a gentlenod, she raised her head and looked directly at me.

“…Y-Yes. I wrote them withOnii-sama and myself in mind…” She gave me a direct response.

…So it really is like that?! I hadsuspected it all along while reading the manuscript!

It was like a feeling of deja vu. I hadbeen thinking ‘Oh wow, this is what it would be like if Nene-sanwas my step sister’, and I was partially right! Ah, of course,there’s absolutely nothing romantic going on between Nene-san andI, okay?! Just… how do I put it? It really surprised me.

“Why would you…?”

Since Nene-san’s novel had ended uplike this, I found myself very confused. But, thinking about it, itall made sense now.

Why would she always ask us to help hergather data? It was deeply connected to why she had used me as themale model (although I wish she had toned that down a bit). And,since she was a girl, it made sense to use herself as the model forthe female character.

…Basically, there’s no deepermeaning to this. It’s just a natural choice… Phew, I waspanicking for a bit.

“No, it makes sense. You just wantedto put the result of us collecting data directly into the novel.Though it really surprised me for a bit.”

When I said that in a relieved tone,

“…E-Eh?”

When I looked up at Nene-san, I wasgreeted by her stiff gaze. Her eyes were slightly moist.

“Umm, Nene-san?”

“Th-That’s not what I…!”

“Eh, what?”

“Agan, I…! Using both of us ascharacters in the story didn’t just happen…! Auuuu…!”

With her face as red as ever, Nene-sancontinued.

“I…! I wrote the story withOnii-sama and I as the characters because I wanted to, because I hadto…!”

“…Huh?”

…But what’s the reason behind that?

“…………”

“………………”

Neither of us spoke for an extendedperiod of time.

…W-What is this atmosphere…?

Nene-san looked at me with a seriousexpression, making my heart hammer on in my chest.

…This is the first time I’ve seenher this serious… But why is she serious now?

In the end, I wasn’t able towithstand the awkward atmosphere anymore, and I was about to open mymouth, when…

“O-Onii-sama…! There’s somethingthat I have to tell you…!”

Right before that, Nene-san got thejump on me. She started speaking, her voice filled withdetermination.

“…T-The truth is, I wanted to dothis when the results were announced, but…!”

Nene-san looked almost frantic as sheforced those words from her lips. As I watched her in surprise, I wasabout to ask her what she meant by that, but…

“…Ugh.”

Seeing how serious she was, I couldn’topen my mouth. And she continued.

“I-I…! Uhm…! Always… I…Towards Onii-sama, I…!”

It happened when Nene-san was about tofinish her sentence.

“Onii-chan? Where could he have gone?…I told him to wait, so I did the rest my work as fast as I could!”

“!!”

Suddenly, the both of us heard a voice,which made Nene-san suddenly stop.

…And not just her. Maybe it wasbecause of that weird atmosphere, but I jumped when I heard Suzuka’svoice, too.

“Really, Onii-chan is just…”

When I turned to look, I saw Suzukawalking around the courtyard while looking all over the place.

…I guess her work for the studentcouncil is over, and since she couldn’t find me at our meetingplace, she’s started searching for me. But this arbor is hiddenpretty well, so she probably didn’t see us.

“Hey, Suzu—”

I raised my hand and started callingout to her, but…

“…Mguh?!”

A hand reached out over my mouth, and Iwas pulled backwards.

“…! …?!”

Of course, the person who did this wasNene-san, and while I was busy wondering why she would do somethinglike this, she started pressing her body against me. I felt likesomething was hitting me.

…No, they’re definitely hitting me!This soft, spongy feeling can only be one thing…!

“…So he’s not here either? Hedidn’t go inside the building to start doing anything indecent, didhe?”

Meanwhile, Suzuka’s voice grew moredistant. She probably hadn’t been able to spot me since I was beenpushed down, so she was going off to search somewhere else.

And thus silence fell.

When I looked up, Nene-san was lookingdown at me with eyes like a predator eyeing her prey. When I saw thatlook on her face, my heart started pounding…

“Ah….”

Nene-san had come to her senses, andshe hurriedly took her hand off of my mouth.

“…Pwah?!”

“Awa… Awawa…! I-I’m verysorry…!”

When I saw her blushing from ear toear, tears forming in her eyes, I started feeling like I was the onewho had pushed her down.

N-No, nevermind that.

“W-Why did you do that…?”

I asked her the obvious requestion.Nene-san wouldn’t normally do something like this. She was just toomeek.

“T-That’s…!”

However, Nene-san frantically waved herhands, unable to give me an answer.

“I-I was about to…! B-ButSuzuka-sama was…! Auuuuu…!”

This is starting to feellike I’m bullying her… Ahh, whatever.

Nene-san might have just been surprisedby Suzuka’s sudden appearance, so let’s just forget about it.

“I’ll go call Suzuka here.”

Whatever the reason, it seemed thatSuzuka had finished with her student council duties, so she couldlook at the results together with us.

Or so I thought, but when I got up…

“P-Please wait!”

For some reason, Nene-san stopped me.

“Uhm, ehm…! Calling Suzuka-samaover right now is…! Auuu…!”

“H-Hey?!”

Teary-eyed, Nene-san held onto my arm.

…Ahhh, what’s even going on here…?!

With no other options, I sat downagain. For whatever reason, Nene-san doesn’t want Suzuka to be withus right now.

“Would it be bad if Suzuka heard whatyou want to say?”

“T-That’s…! It’s certainly notlike that, but…!”

“Well, it’s fine if there are somekind of circumstances around it.”

I had absolutely no idea what kind ofcircumstances those could be, but it had to be something serious,considering that Nene-san was acting this frantic about it.

“So what were you about to say justnow?”

“T-T-T-T-That’s…!”

This is a prime example of beingflustered, alright. It seemed like she was embarrassed because of theinterruption.

…Hmmm, it’ll probably take her sometime until she finally calms down.

“Then I’ll go see Suzuka off, andyou can tell me the results later, okay?”

I decided to give Nene-san some time tocool down, so I pitched that proposal to her, but…

“Eh?”

Nene-san’s eyes opened wide, as ifshe had never expected to hear those words.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

“U-Umm, you’ll escort Suzuka-samahome? What about looking at the results…?”

“I know, I know, but there’s stillsome time before they’re announced, right? So I’ll just go escortSuzuka come, and then we can meet up a little later.”

“So Suzuka-sama takes priority…”

“I did promise her, after all, and Idon’t even want to think about what could happen to her if shewalked home alone.”

…Well, this talk about a suspiciousperson does sound like total nonsense. But I can’t ignore thatminiscule chance. That’s my duty as her older brother.

“………”

‘So I’ll be back soon’—is whatI wanted to say, but Nene-san gave absolutely no response.

“Nene-san?”

I was about to ask if something hadhappened…

“O-Onii-sama…!”

“Uwaah?! W-What is it?!”

She suddenly jolted upright, forcing meto take a step back.

“There’s one thing I’d like toask you…! I-I was speculating about this, but…!”

“H-Hey?! What do you mean?”

I tried holding Nene-san as sheapproached me, but she showed no intention of stopping.

“Y-Yes…! It’s something that Ihave to know right now, no matter what…!”

“But wait, what did you want to tellme just now?!”

“I-It’s also related to that!”

I don’t know what you mean, though!

I was confused by the suddendevelopment. Nene-san on the other hand took a deep breath andcontinued speaking with a serious look on her face.

“H-How does Onii-sama feel aboutSuzuka-sama?!”

“Ehhh?!”

What came out of her mouth was aquestion that I had never expected to hear.

“W-Why are you asking that all of asudden?!”

Needless to say, I was beyond confused.

…If you suddenly ask me about that…That question is completely out of the blue, isn’t it?!

“I-It’s very important…! Veryimportant to me…!”

But Nene-san showed no indication thatshe was joking or teasing me. What I think about Suzuka isn’t evena question that I would normally have to answer, but…

“…………!”

When I saw how serious Nene-san seemedto be about this, I couldn’t just dismiss the question.

…Ahhh, okay, fine!

“Suzuka is—just my little sister.”

That was why I responded with that…

“That’s a lie.”

But Nene-san gave me an immediateresponse.

“What makes you able to deny that soconfidently…?”

“Because that can’t be true. Ican’t imagine that Onii-sama would have such half-baked feelingsfor Suzuka-sama…!”

Nene-san’s words were clear, filledwith confidence, and her usual timid atmosphere was nowhere to befound.

“E-Even if you say that… it’sstill true that she’s just my little sister…”

As a result, I started getting nervous.

…And I have no idea why we’re eventalking about this…

However, Nene-san only continued,

“I think that there is somethingspecial… something different between Onii-sama and Suzuka-sama…It’s very easy to see when looking at Suzuka-sama, and Onii-samashows it as well…”

“N-No, there’s nothing special oranything, that’s not…”

“That’s what I want to know. I wantto know what you think about your little sister—about Suzuka-sama…”

I started feeling like I was on thelosing side of this battle of the wits.

“W-Why do you have to know, anyway?”

I was starting to feel more and morelike the bad guy, since I was questioning everyone and everything.Nene-san responded with the following words.

“…For me, Onii-sama and Suzuka-samaare my ideal…”

“Eh?”

“I respect both of you from thebottom of my heart, but I sort of feel jealous about the two of youbeing as close of siblings as you are…!”

“I-Is that so…?”

“Y-Yes…! And on top of that,Onii-sama, as kind as you are, you looked like you were shining sobrightly…!”

Seeing Nene-san desperately try to putit into words, I could feel my cheeks burning.

…S-She’s just glorifying me… I’mnot that great of an older brother.

“I’m not as great asyou—”

“N-No, Onii-sama is a wonderful person… That’swhy I definitely need to know Onii-sama’s true feelings!”

“After all!” Nene-san continued,”There’s no way that Onii-sama would think of Suzuka-sama as’just a little sister’…!”

“Ugh…”

When I heard that, I swallowed mywords. To be honest, I had absolutely nothing I could say againstthat.

“……!”

But since Nene-san was staring straightat me, I couldn’t find it in myself to tell her ‘You’re wrong,that’s not how it is.’ What kind of misunderstanding is she evenhaving? I’m really not that good of an older brother. However, eventhough I’m an unreliable older brother, I definitely do havefeelings towards my little sister. If this had led Nene-san to writea little-sister light novel, then as the two-in-one Towano Chikai, Ican’t lie to our pupil.

…This really isn’t something that Ishould tell other people, but…

“Haaa…”

Letting out a sigh, I hung my head.

“…This is a secret, okay?”

I softly whispered my response.

Part 3:

“…Of course I’d treasure Suzuka.She’s my important little sister, after all.”

I can’t imagine an older brother whowouldn’t care about his little sister. For older brothers, littlesisters are meant to be protected. Whether it be fate or duty orsomething else, it’s completely natural to us. At the very least,that’s what I think, and I’ve never once doubted myself.

“Whenever she’s in trouble, I’llalways reach out my hand to help her, and if she asks for help, I’ddrop everything and come running… Well, since she’s a perfectsuperhuman, I don’t really ever have a chance to do that, though…”

It’s the same as back when she askedme to become her stand-in. I accepted her request without paying anyregard to my own dream, or the hardships that would follow, oranything like that. And I have never once regretted it.

…Well, there’s a whole pile oftrouble that came with me being her stand-in… Just like thissituation now. I’m sure there will be even more in the future.

Even so, no matter how tough it willend up, no matter how many days I have to help her to collect dataabout weird things, no matter how much I want to cry, since I’mpretending to be an author even though I haven’t debuted myselfyet, I have no intention to stop being her stand-in.

Why?

That’s obvious. It’s because Suzukaasked me to. Since my little sister asked me for help, of course I’massisting her with all of my ability. And since Suzuka actually askedme outright like that, it made me really happy.

“Since she’s such a perfect humanbeing, she almost never asks people for help. Even more so from herunreliable older brother. But when the time finally came, I wasreally happy. You might think that I’m kind of pitiful, but I feltproud that I could be of help to her in any way.”

To be honest, even I think that thisstory is just miserable. I’m basically saying that I’m just agood-for-nothing older brother who was asked for help by hisgood-at-everything little sister. But it’s the truth, so I can’tchange that. Since my little sister Suzuka is an amazing girl likethat, I didn’t want to let this chance to show my good side go towaste.

…That’s how I accepted my role asher stand-in. What a simple-minded older brother I am. It’spathetic, really. But I don’t care if I’m pathetic or useless oranything else as long I can be of help to her.

“…I’ve never told anybody aboutthis, and you might not believe me, but up until a while ago, wereally weren’t all that close, you know? On the contrary…”

I remembered back to that time… Well,not even a year has passed since then, I guess.

“Well, it was more like she justhated me. Ever since grade school, our relationship has always beencold and awkward. Just up until this spring—Well, somethinghappened, and we ended up being able to talk normally again.”

Suzuka had won the grand prize at alight novel contest. That was when she had asked me to become herstand-in. Her novel ended up being a big hit, I met a lot of people,and I was constantly engulfed in trouble as her stand-in—

But I don’t regret it one bit. Evenif I was able to time travel back in time to that very moment, I’msure that I would make the same choice again. After all, once mylittle sister, Suzuka, asks me for something, there’s nothing I cando other than help her out.

“Well, I kinda lost my way in themiddle of all of that, but that’s about it.”

When I realized that I had been goingon for a while, I felt my cheeks turning red out of embarrassment.But I won’t try to cover it up. Those are my real feelings, afterall.

…Well, this just shows what kind ofembarrassing older brother I am. Even so, my stance on this matterwon’t change.

I took a deep breath, and decided on apunctual way to end it.

“Basically, for me, Suzuka is themost important little sister in the world.”

And thus, I ended the conversation witha phrase that made me sound like the world’s greatest siscon.

After that, there was a long silence.

While I was going on with my monologue,Nene-san hadn’t responded at all. She had just kept quiet the wholetime. When I was recalled all the stuff that I had said, I felt soembarrassed that I wasn’t even able to look at her.

…I-I might’ve gotten a bit heatedthere, and wasn’t what I said really disgusting? No, it totallywas.

…Uwaaah, Nene-san must be pretty fedup with me, right? Maybe she’s even going to look at me like I’mhuman trash…?!

“…U-Umm…”

Expecting the worst, I glanced atNene-san. But her response wasn’t quite what I had expected.

“………Onii-sama’s feelings forSuzuka-sama…”

“E-Eh? Nene-san?”

None of what I had feared happened, andshe instead looked like she was lost in thought. Her eyes were wideopen.

“U-Umm…?”

“…Suzuka-sama must also… I’msure… But then…!”

Nor did I receive an answer when Icalled out to her.

…All I can hear is some softmuttering… Suzuka and I… What exactly?

“…But then… My space… Isnowhere…”

“W-What is it this time?”

I called out to her in concern. Andwhen I reached out my hand to shake her shoulder…

“O-Onii-sama…!”

Her face suddenly lit up, our eyes met,and I was so startled that I let out a shriek.

“Y-Yes?!”

“U-Umm…! I…!”

However, that momentum immediatelydispersed, and she looked like she didn’t know what to say.Finally,

“……”

With a determined expression, shelooked up at me, and formulated her question.

“U-Umm…! W-What did you feel whenyou were reading my novel, Onii-sama…?!”

“Eh? W-Why are you asking me that allof a sudden?”

“I-I didn’t hear your impressionyet, that’s why…! It’s very important to me…!”

“W-Well, that makes sense. Umm, Ithink it was plenty interesting.”

“Really? Do you really feel that wayfrom the bottom of your heart?”

“…Y-Yeah. But, to be honest, I feellike your previous Senpai – Kouhai novel might’ve been a littlebetter…”

The enthusiasm that had I felt in theprevious novel was nowhere to be found here. It almost felt like shewas forcing herself to write it.

“Ah, but this is just my own opinion,so there’s no need for you to take it too serious—”

But I immediately regretted sayingsomething so carelessly. Whatever I say won’t have any influence onthe final result, after all… However,

“Ah……”

Nene-san stared at me in shock, hereyes wide.

…T-This isn’t good. Is she gettingworried now because I said something so careless right before theresults were announced?

“…Is that… So…”

Her voice was full of discouragement.

“…That makes sense.”

“Eh?”

But in the next moment, Nene-san took adeep breath and smiled at me. Her stiff posture had vanished, and herghastly presence was gone as well, like a demon that had possessedher had been exorcised.

I was left baffled, not completelycertain what had happened.

“Thank you very much, Onii-sama. Forbeing honest with me…”

“Ah, no problem…? Like I just said,don’t let it bother you too much…”

“No, I finally understood it thanksto Onii-sama. About your feelings, about Suzuka-sama… How there’snobody who could get between you two right now… And also theweakness of my feel—No, my novel…”

“S-Suzuka and I…? And your novel’sweakness…? Again, I was just stating my own opinion. That doesn’tchange the results of the contest in the slightest.”

“No, that’s not true. I finallyunderstood…” Nene-san said with a soft smile.

That smile was so soothing and calm,and it felt like Nene-san had turned into a different person.

“…It seems like I still have quitea ways to go because of my weak confidence… I thought I could do itthis time because of Onii-sama, but in the end, I turned aside to the’Little sister’…”

“W-What do you mean by that…?”

To be frank, I had no clue whatNene-san was actually talking about right now. But since she saidthat she had finally realized something, I decided to trust her.

“…It should be around here… Therewere people who said they saw Onii-chan walking in this directionwith Madenokouji-san, after all…!”

Suzuka’s voice suddenly appeared outof nowhere, and my body twitched in surprise once again.

“……Huh?”

To my surprise, however, Nene-sandidn’t move an inch. She just turned towards the sound of theapproaching Suzuka.

“…Onii-sama, I think I’ll look atthe results by myself, after all.”

When she said that, I could onlyrespond with a confused “Eh?”

“I have to see things through to theend myself… That’s what I think.”

After excusing herself, Nene-san leftme alone.

…I guess I can’t stop her if that’swhat she says.

“O-Onii-chan! So you were in a placelike this!”

It didn’t take Suzuka too long tonotice my presence, and she called out to me.

“I-I just saw Madenokouji-san leavinghere! What in the world where you doing alone with her in a placelike this?!”

“W-Well, that’s…”

“D-Don’ttell me. Did she confess without waiting for the results…?!”

“Huuuh?! C-Confession…? Don’t saystupid stuff like that…!”

Suzuka suddenly blurted out somethingridiculous again, which made me flustered.

“…Eh? S-She didn’t?”

“Why would Nene-san even confess tome in the first place? That’s not it at all. We were just talkingabout the light novel contest and the announcement that’s comingup—”

I started explaining the incident toSuzuka.

…Of course, I kept all the talk abouthow I feel about Suzuka a secret, though.

“—And she asked me to look at theresults together with her.”

“Ehhh?! Looking at the resultstogether with Onii-chan…! So Madenokouji-san was aiming for thatkind of timing…!”

“But in the end, she said that she’sgoing to look at the results by herself, and she went home.”

“………Eh?”

Suzuka’s reaction was quite thesight, but I couldn’t explain it any further since I didn’t knowany more myself.

…But I do wonder what had happenedwith her. I’m glad that she was in high spirits towards the end,and she was smiling as well… But she also looked a bit lonely.Maybe it was because of something I said?

“Madenokouji-san…?”

Suzuka just started blankly in thedirection that Nene-san had walked off on just now.

That evening, I went to check theresults of the Ryuusei Publishing light novel contest. I found outthat her novel had just barely missed the mark.

Part 4:

The day after the Ryuusei Publishingcontest results were announced.

That day, I found myself spacing outall the time. The reason was, of course, Madenokouji-san. Since shewas my Kouhai, and since we had been helping her gather ideas for hernovel, it really was a shame that she hadn’t won the contest. But,even more than that, I was even more concerned about whyMadenokouji-san hadn’t confessed to Onii-chan. She had definitelytold me that she would confess at the same time as she won the grandprize.

Granted, she hadn’t won the grandprize, but would that really stop her from confessing after all thistime?

Not to mention that she had showedOnii-chan her novel—her love letter to him—before the resultswere even announced. She must’ve been planning to confess evenbefore the results were announced…

Yes, there’s no mistaking it! Myimouto senses are tingling! …But it seems like she didn’t confessin the end. Though I still have my doubts that she did actuallyconfess, and Onii-chan is just trying to hide it from me, it suredoesn’t look that way.

Onii-chan is really bad when it comesto hiding things after all (t-though that’s also what makes himcute). Apparently Madenokouji-san had even said that she would gohome to look at the results alone, so it’s probably safe to assumethat no confession happened.

…But why? Why did she stop herconfession right before the crucial moment?

I’ve been wracking my brain over thisall day. I spaced out all the way until classes finally ended.Thankfully, my job in the student council also ended soon after…

For now, I decided to make my waytowards our meeting place like always. After all, Onii-chan is alsocoming to pick me up again today. I just wanted Onii-chan to comepick me up, and to make sure that I wouldn’t be too late, Inaturally finished my student council duties very quickly.

I went to the meeting spot and sat downnearby, when…

“Suzuka-sama!”

“M-Madenokouji-san?”

When I heard my name called out, Iturned around, only to be greeted by none other than Madenokouji-san.

“Good day to you, Suzuka-sama. Areyou waiting for Onii-sama?”

“Y-Yes. My work at the studentcouncil ended a bit earlier than expected, so I’ll be waiting herefor a bit.”

“Is that so…? Umm, can we talk abit?”

When I nodded, Madenokouji-san gave aquick “Excuse me” and sat down next to me. I was a bit perplexedby this sudden turn of events, and I found myself unable to calmdown.

“Umm… It really is a shame. Theresults of the contest, I mean…”

I didn’t know how to start theconversation, so I prepared myself for the upcoming awkwardness andpoked the most prominent topic.

“…Well, it’s a shame, yes, but Iknew that it would end like that.”

“Eh?”

But to my surprise, Madenokouji-sanlooked more refreshed than depressed.

“Right now, I feel like it was forthe better that I didn’t manage to win.”

“Ehhh?! W-Why is that?”

“I understood that I don’t have theright skills yet,” Madenokouji-san said with a refreshed smile.

I on the other hand could only mutterin confusion. “What kind of skills…?”

“Yes… Umm, there’s one thing thatI have to talk to Suzuka-sama about. Yesterday, I was about toconfess to Onii-sama.”

With the word ‘Confess’ came up, Imentally screamed “I thought so!”

“…But I wasn’t able to do it. Orrather, I was reprimanded by Onii-sama.”

“………”

Reprimanded by Onii-chan? W-What doesshe mean by that?

“I made Onii-sama look at my novelbefore I confessed to him. But, he told me that he preferred myprevious Senpai – Kouhai novel.”

“H-He did?”

“Yes, and I realized it then. Why hadI suddenly changed it into a step sister novel? In the end, it wasjust to cover up my own lack of confidence…”

Madenokouji-san gave me a bitter smile.

“I was uncertain if Onii-sama wouldeven look at me how I am right now, so I tried to cover myself up.And Onii-sama completely saw through it.”

…U-Umm, I find it hard to believethat Onii-chan put that much thought into it. He probably just had agut instinct for how interesting the novel itself was… But becauseof that, he unknowingly had averted a serious catastrophe…

That’s my Onii-chan!

“That’s why I gave up on confessingto Onii-sama. Because I don’t deserve it as of right now, and Ican’t directly tell him my feelings…”

She said this with a smile, but I couldsee a faint glimmer of loneliness in her eyes.

…Really, Madenokouji-san such anearnest person. If she weren’t, she probably wouldn’t havearrived at this conclusion.

I just stared at her profile in silenceas I pondered her words. She continued.

“And hearing Onii-sama’s honestfeelings was also a big part of why I didn’t confess… I can’thope to win, after all.”

“F-Feelings? What do you mean bythat?”

I was unsure what to make of this vaguestatement.

When I asked for confirmation,Madenokouji-san let out a small giggle, and whispered one sentenceinto my ear. “You really are loved, Suzuka-sama.”

“L-Loved…?! Ehhh?”

…W-What exactly is Madenokouji-santalking about…?! L-Loved in what way…?!

“Ah? You’re pretty early today,aren’t you?”

In that moment, Onii-chan came walkingtowards us, which made me panic even more.

………Wai—?! What kind of timingis this, Onii-chan?!

“Onii-sama, hello.”

“Ah, Nene-san…!”

When he realized that Madenokouji-sanwas there, Onii-chan also started panicking.

“U-Umm, I saw the results, but don’tlet it get to you too much, okay? Even I—Ahh, nevermind!”

Onii-chan barely managed to stophimself. He was probably about to bring up how he had already droppedout of the contest way earlier.

“It’s fine. You don’t have tomind me,” said Madenokouji-san. She seemed to really mean it.

“T-Then that’s fine… But there’sbound to be many other opportunities, you know, so don’t give upnow.”

“…Yes, that’s right. Maybe Ishould start with ‘The little sister’s friend’ this time.”

“Eh? The little sister’s friend?”

…S-So basically…

“…I’m not giving up yet, afterall…!”

When she announced that,Madenokouji-san smiled at me. When I saw that, I finally realized hertrue intentions.

I see… So that’s how it is…!

“O-Onii-chan!”

“What is it Suzu—ka?!”

I jumped up and clung to Onii-chan’sarm.

…It’s embarrassing, but I can’thelp it!

“L-Let’s walk home now, as closelyas we always do!”

“B-But why like this…?!”

Ignoring Onii-chan’s pleas, I lookedover at Madenokouji-san. I couldn’t find any traces of the timidgirl from before. She was now a full-fleshed rival.

…Very well. I accept your challenge.But Onii-chan belongs only to me, so remember that!