Chapter 46: Volume 5 - CH 2

I personally love summer break. I know this makes me sound like some grade school brat or an exhausted salary man, but I’m pretty sure you’d have more trouble finding someone who actively dislikes summer break. Especially when interviewing fellow high school students like me.

After all, there’s barely any work to do during summer break. Of course, the reason I say ‘barely’ is because extracurricular classes exist, but they finally come to an end today as well. I mean, think about it. With no reason to attend school anymore, I don’t need to wake up early, thus meaning that she, Sakamachi Kureha, won’t come to wake me up.

On top of having talent for close-range combat and gifted with reflexes and athletic abilities, after being taught everything by my Mom, she constantly uses me as a punching bag, which has continued for a solid ten years now. Other young girls are gifted dolls to play with, so it must be something similar in this contest, I’m sure. She just sees me as a toy. Thanks to that, my body turned pretty tough and sturdy.

And this brings me to my main point. The reason I personally love summer break so much is simply because Kureha won’t have to wake me up. This is very crucial. Just to let you know, but her way of waking me up isn’t some romantic and gentle way by any means. Instead, she does not hold back at all with absolute demonic domestic violence, solely to make sure I don’t end up late for the first period. Of course, each time training one of her wrestling moves. With her appearance every morning, my consciousness is forcefully dragged out from the world of my dreams, being thrown into harsh reality and unfair society. However, summer break is different.

Summer break mornings happen with no Kureha. With no classes, she has no reason to wake me up. That’s why I end up staying up late, it’s a bad habit of mine. There’s just so many good things to watch at night, so I lose sight of the time. However, there’s no reason to worry now. When summer break arrives, the alarms in the Sakamachi Family are on break all the same. My sleep is not being limited, and I can relax as much as I want.

Today is the 28th of August. There’s not much left of it, and yet this summer break will leave me with great joy for its small amount left. As expected, I was staying up late a whole lot, and when I looked at the time, it had already passed 6am. The outside sky was starting to light up. If I went to bed now, I’d probably wake up at around 2pm for sure. Mm, just perfect. I have plans to go out in the evening, I can relax until then.

Ahh, such peace, such tranquility. And this is what this is all about. I better give my gratitude to another wonderful listless day—

“Guuuuuten morgeeeeen! Mornings, Nii-san!”

The door shot open, and with an energetic scream, cold reality came to slap me in the face…Now hold on. Am I that tired that I’m seeing weird hallucinations? Maybe my eyes have gone crazy on me. But, this sure is a vivid hallucination. She sure resembles Kureha a lot. Look at that white t-shirt. And that smile that looks exactly like Kureha’s. Even her hair is the same. Wait, what is she doing…She’s using my studying desk as a stepping board and leaping at me!?”

“!”

She soared through the sky. At the same time, I started praying. After all, she acted exactly like my blood-related little sister…This beautiful skill making me feel like I was about to be executed in middle-age Europe…

“Guha!?”

A guillotine drop. Kureha’s soft tights slammed right down onto my neck. Not to mention that it was diving-style, almost crushing my windpipe. It was an awe-inspiring attack to the point where I couldn’t even react.

“……”

Now hold on, why am I being tortured with wrestling moves even on a summer break morning like this?

“Nyahaha.”

After pulling off the guillotine drop, Kureha let out a healthy laugh, and got up from me.

“Morning, Nii-san! What a calming morning we’re having!”

Did she drink tequila or something? How in the world is this supposed to be calming? You’re even more excited than usual, oi.

“…Do you even know what time it is?”

“Um..half past 6 in the morning?”

“Correct. So, why did you barge into my room this early?”

“Ehehe, sorry, Nii-san. I just wanted to meet you as quickly as possible…So I came over~”

Wah, her innocent smile is somehow pissing me off. Don’t you underestimate me, you won’t win me over with just a smile.

“Oh yeah, why are you even wearing that?”

“Ah, this?” Kureha pulled on her loose Y t-shirt. That’s mine, isn’t it. Or rather, it’s an old one of mine which didn’t fit me anymore.

“Looks good, right? It might be too small for you, but it fits me perfectly.”

“It just looks like the shirt is wearing you.”

“It even still smells of Nii-san a bit.”

“Feel like that’s fabric conditioner more than anything.”

“Nyahaha, what’s it matter? At least I’m using it.” Kureha twirled around on the spot, showing off the shirt.

Stop that, I can see your panties, alright. After all, she’s only wearing that shirt, with some short skirt beneath that. Naturally, her thighs flashing up here and there did not make my heart race. I’d be reaching a Dead End if I felt any kind of lust towards my little sister.

“Hm? Nii-san, were you expecting some panty-flashing?”

“Where did that come from? I’m used to seeing your underwear. Also, just let me sleep, or make me sleep, one of these two.”

I’m not even asking for much anymore. I wouldn’t mind being choked out to fall asleep unnaturally.

“Ehehe, not happening.”

However, Kureha smiled, and denied my hopes and dreams.

“Since it’s summer break right now, the two of us should play together some.”

“……”

That moment, I was assaulted by fear and terror, thinking that I might have woken up in hell. Play together. The two of us…I’m scared. Playing together with Kureha equals nothing short of a death sentence in my eyes. I might have to leave behind a testament while I still can.

In kindergarten, when we played together, it was always a ‘Inoki vs Hulk Hogan’ roleplay. Of course, Anton*o Inoki would go down immediately. And surprising nobody, I was Inoki, and Kureha played Hogan. The children who watched us play that were shocked, and the owner of the kindergarten said something along the lines of ‘If that girl was born 80 years earlier, she might have changed that war’. You’re being just as crazy as Kureha, okay.

“Don’t make such a bothered face, I went out of my way to get up early, so let’s have some fun!”

“You forced me to be up early, so don’t give me that.”

“Come on, let’s play~”

You ignoring me now? And yes, she did. She approached me like a stray cat, purring audibly. Of course, she’s not cute in the slightest. Cat might be cat, but she’s more of a lion or tiger than anything. Any sort of blood-thirsty beast. If I’m not careful, she’ll bite my head off.

“Alright, I get it. However, the full day is too much. I have some business in the evening, so if it’s until then, I’ll play with you.”

I gave in fairly easily. I know I have no backbone, but it’s better than having all my bones broken. If she ends up pissed off for good, I’ll end up like a watermelon after the watermelon splitting game. Ahh, farewell to my summer holiday…

“Yaay! Love you, Nii-san!”

“Don’t say that so lightly. Also, keep the playing to a healthy way. I am not going to be your punching bag for the rest of the day.”

“Nyahaha, rest assured. I actually got this thing right here yesterday.” She spoke with a bragging tone, and showed me a plastic case of sorts.

“Let’s play a fighting game, Nii-san!”

“Fighting game…”

A fighting game, huh…Ahh, so nostalgic. That’s right, when it wasn’t about wrestling, we always played fighting games. Though the times went down in number after we started attending high school.

“…Heh, fine by me, my little sister. I’ll make you regret that you challenged me.” I responded while turning on the TV.

I actually like fighting games a lot. If I get beat up, it at least happens in the game, and not in reality, so I don’t feel any pain.

“Oh yeah, what franchise? KOF1? Guilty?”

“Nope. It’s a self-made game not on the market. But, it works on the same hardware.”

“…”

Hey now. Isn’t that pretty bad? Normally those games don’t work on public hardwares, right? Is this some legal action brewing up?

“Hey, who did you get this from? Do I know them?”

I mean, I have one person in mind, but I don’t want to think about the chances of them being it. Whenever that woman is involved, nothing good will happen after all…However.

“I actually got it from Onee-sama.” Kureha nonchalantly declared the scenario I had feared the most, and named the person that shall not be named.

…This is the worst. There’s only person Kureha would refer to with Onee-sama—Suzutsuki Kanade. She’s my classmate, as well as a pure-breed rich lady. And despite that, she’s a cold-blooded monster. She’s a vampire, sucking out the blood out of my nose whenever she pleases.

“I’m surprised she created a game like this.”

“She didn’t. At our school, we have the game research club, right.”

“Game research club?”

“The people who know a lot about computers. Onee-sama offered them a large sum of money, and they made this.”

“Huh~”

Wait, weren’t the members of that club supposed to be pretty difficult to deal with? I heard stories of them going ‘3D sucks! 2D FTW!’ and so on. They even put that on posters and whatever.

“I heard about some crazy negotiations or something.”

“Seriously?”

“When Onee-sama went to the club, she said something like ‘I know someone who can completely flatten all the data on your laptops’, you know.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not a negotiation if you ask me.”

“It’s important to ask people for stuff with a smile.”

“Be careful, my little sister. Her smile is filled with only bad intentions.”

Makes sense that the negotiations worked out, she was threatening them with a nuclear missile, ruining all of their hard work. Almost like the leader of a nation threatening war with another country.

“But, that’s a rare thing, alright. To think that rich lady would show her true personality to the average student…”

Normally, Suzutsuki would always try to act like an absolute honor student, or in other words, a wolf wearing sheep’s clothing. I can’t imagine her ruining her image like that…

“That’s why she apparently prepared a follow-up from the very beginning, or something like that.”

“Follow-up?”

“After the negotiations were complete, and she was about to leave the room, she said ‘I-It’s not like I wanted to rely on you for this or anything…!’ as she blushed.”

“……”

“Then the guys said ‘You are an angel blessing this boring 3D world!’, and offered their entire beings.”

“Whip and candy, huh…!”

That’s Suzutsuki Kanade for you. She really knows where to hit. No wonder these guys were entranced in a heartbeat.

“Anyway, let’s start playing, Nii-san. I’m looking forward to this fighting game~” Kureha energetically sat down in front of the TV, setting up the game.

I sighed to myself, but grabbed the controller, and sat down next to her. I’m trying to be a good older brother here. When I was thinking about that, some words appeared on the screen.

‘Rouran Academy Battle War’

Together with that, some cheap-sounding BGM started playing, making me feel like I was watching a B movie.

“Um…’Story Mode’ and ‘VS Mode’ are our only choices, huh.” Kureha took out a small piece of paper.

It seemed to be the manual. Why is that handwritten? Odd.

“I guess VS Mode for us then?” Kureha fidgeted with the controller to choose this option, to which the screen switched to the character selection menu.

Now, what characters did they add…

“…Huh? There’s only four characters.”

“Yeah, that’s the most they could do for now. Apparently it’s just Nii-san and me, Onee-sama and Konoe-senpai, but you can play as Usamin-senpai and NaruNaru if you clear the story mode.”

“Hmmm.”

…Wait, hold on. Am I hearing things correctly? What was that about the characters being us? I looked over at the screen. There, I spotted a handsome young man with a bright hair color, a beauty with rich lady vibes and long black hair, a young girl with a short haircut, and a guy wearing glasses…

“That’s me!?” I pointed at the TV, and retorted. “Why!? How!?”

“According to the manual, they used us six as models for the game.”

“Don’t say it so blatantly! They used us in their fighting game, you know!”

“What’s it matter? Don’t you want to use yourself as a fighter?”

“Urk…”

Now that she mentioned it, I often thought how cool it would be if I could use myself as a character to fight. But…you know…

“Kureha, can I ask one thing?”

“Hmmmmm?”

“Why…am I the only one not wearing clothes?”

I looked at the screen one more time. I saw Kureha and the other two, properly wearing Rouran Academy’s uniform, and a single me standing there butt-naked with only glasses on…

“Can’t be helped, it’s you after all.”

“Why!? Let me wear clothes! Why am I the only one different!?”

“A lot of players like characters with that kind of habit, you know?”

“We’re talking about female users!”

“You look like you might let out some lighting strike.”

“I wish I at least had green skin2!”

Dangerous. This is dangerous in a lot of ways. I might have to bring this to court.

“Then, I’ll be using myself. What will you do, Nii-san?”

“I…I’ll just use myself. I’m curious as to how I handle myself.” I operated my controller, and selected myself.

The screen changed again, and now we were selecting the stage to fight on.

“Wahh, there’s so many. Look at that ‘Family Market’ or ‘Seven-Eleven’. I don’t know which to pick.”

“Who cares, there’s really not much to choose from.”

I mean, all the stages are inside supermarkets or convenience markets. I’d hate fighting in a Fama.

“Alright, I picked the stage. I’m not gonna lose!”

“I’m surprised you can be this motivated with such a shitty game. Also, stay away from the screen, or you’ll ruin your eyes.”

“Okay-smokey!” Kureha smiled innocently.

It really is hard to imagine she would knock me out every morning. Right now, she’s just a normal girl. If she doesn’t act like Hulk Hogan every day, she might actually be a bit cute.

“Ah, it started.”

It finished loading, and the screen switched to the battle stage. It seems to be a 2D fighting game, showing a naked high school boy with only a pair of underwear and a high school girl facing each other in a convenience market.

‘I’ll make you break with crack!’

Ohhh! The Kureha in the game said that. I mean, it’s not her actual voice, but it’s pretty similar. I guess this is more of a classic fighting game where characters taunt the other player. I wonder what I will say…

‘You wench! Don’t you dare wear clothes in front of me!’

Who!? Why!? Why am I screaming that at my own little sister in the middle of a convenience store? Not to mention that I’m not wearing any clothes myself! If this was real, I’d have gotten arrested by now.

‘Round 1: Fight!’

With a mechanical voice announcing this, the battle began. Wah, it started. Um…so this button is kicking, and this is punching. I tried out the various buttons, and got a feel for the combat. Since I don’t hold any tools on me, I must be a close-range type. But, everytime I used any ability, I would scream stupid stuff like ‘Cat ears and kneesocks are culture!’ or ‘Glasses with garter belts are my reason for existing!’, which I really wish they would patch out of the game, alright.

“Nya, it seems like I’m the throwing-type of character.”

Unlike me, Kureha could only activate skills at a close range. Isn’t that fairly accurate, huh. She would say things like ‘Out of the way, Nii-san! I can’t kill them like this!’ or ‘Sakura isn’t a monster!’, leaving me confused where they stole those phrases from.

“Nii-san, don’t run away!”

“Don’t joke with me. Who’d get closer to a throwing-type.”

My fighting mentality is a pathetic hit & run. It might not look as cool in the game, but it allows me to win, so I’m not gonna hold back. On the screen, you could see me with only my underwear being chased by Kureha, a rather surreal situation indeed. While running away, I would sometimes fight back to chip away Kureha’s HP, and sometimes throw in a big attack to seal the deal. This is it, this style is most fit for me. Heh, the me in this game isn’t half bad! If only I was wearing proper clothes, it would be perfect!

‘Oraah!’

Together with a scream in game, filled with my own energy, I attack Kureha. It looked surreal enough, with me wearing basically nothing, but I used a certain-kill technique nonetheless.

“Ahh…I lost.”

The Kureha in the game collapsed to the ground, and the Kureha next to me groaned. Oh crap, what is this feeling of superiority right now. In reality, I’m always being beaten to a pulp, but now I actually defeated Kureha. Ahh, I might just start crying…

“Not yet, Nii-san! You have to defeat me in both rounds to win!”

“Fight’s on! I’ll show you my true (2D) strength!”

The two of us got completely hooked on it. Oh yeah, that attack I just used sure was cool. I wonder what that was.

“Kureha, how do you check a character’s move set? I just did it out of luck just now, so I wanna know how to do it consistently.”

“Ah, I was thinking that as well. But, there’s no move list here in this manual. It seems like you can only stop the game mid-battle and check it that way.”

“I see. Then, you check it first, it’s the privilege of a loser.”

“Hmpf, I’ll be winning next!”

There, right as the second round began, Kureha paused the game. It immediately switched to Kureha’s move setlist. From what I can see, she doesn’t have that many moves, which you would expect from a throwing-type character…

“Let’s see…drop kick, death valley bomb, and a backwards throw, cobra twist…and my certain-kill technique is the ‘Avalanche-style Brain Buster’, huh.”

They were all proper wrestling moves. Of course, I experienced all of them myself, in reality.

“Then, next up will be me.”

Kureha swiftly continued the game, to which I pressed the pause button on my controller. Now it should show my own moves. I ran through them with my eyes, and…

“‘Laying off’, ‘Debt’, ‘Public park’, ‘Family breakup’, ‘Goodbye, my beloved family!’…?”

The hell are these moves!? I screamed out loud, and slammed my controller into the ground.

“Ahahaha, that’s Onee-sama for you, she really understands Nii-san.”

“How!? This is just weird! Why are my moves making me sound like a salary man who gave up on life!”

“That’s…well, it can’t be helped.”

“Why do you look at me with such a condescending gaze!?”

“Nii-san, no matter how depressing your future may be, you need to move forward no matter what.”

“Why are you cheering me on now!?”

“You can’t run…you can’t run…you can’t run…”

“Don’t repeat it over and over!”

They’ll make an anime out of this! No, calm down. The problem here are the names of my moves. Why is my certain-kill technique called ‘Goodbye, my beloved family!’, huh!? That’s just depressing. Don’t give up, me. Move forward. There’s good things about life that you have yet to find!

“Hey, let’s change characters.”

You are reading story Mayo Chiki! at novel35.com

“Ehh? We’re still on round 2, you know? Running away?”

“Not exactly. I’m just feeling anxious seeing my character in the game.”

I ignored Kureha’s protest, and forcefully quit back to the character selection menu. I should have known that Suzutsuki would make fun of me in a game made by herself.

“Not fair~ Misuse of power and position!”

“Don’t sulk like that. You can use Konoe in the next battle then.”

“Eh? Really? That means he’ll be my exclusive use.”

“……”

Exclusive use, huh. She’s as charmed by Konoe as always.

“So you’ll use Onee-sama, Nii-san?”

“I was thinking about it, yeah.”

I’m terrified that I might get cursed if I actually used her though. We finished picking characters and the stage, and the screen changed to the battle stage, showing Konoe in her male butler uniform, and Suzutsuki, facing each other.

‘Dear master, order me whatever you please.’

Hmm, that’s Subaru-sama for you. She’s cool even inside the game. Not to mention that this is exactly what she would say in reality as well. And, as for Suzutsuki…

‘—Let me show you what a real battle is like.’

…Yup, scary. She definitely is on a different scale.

‘Round 1, fight!’

The battle started. Alright, better go confirm Suzutsuki’s attack moves…I pressed some random buttons on my controller—when the screen suddenly turned white.

“What is happening? Did you do something, Nii-san?”

“Eh? No, not really…”

Maybe the game is bugged? The screen was still white. I figured that maybe I should reset the console once, when the flashing light suddenly disappeared, and we returned to the fighting screen. However…

“Huh!? My Konoe-senpai lost!?”

When the screen turned back to normal, Kureha let out a baffled voice. Konoe had collapsed on the screen, her HP being 0. Also, hold on. Why did the convenience store stage turn into a burned-up plain. On top of that, Suzutsuki’s face was refreshed and confident.

“Let me check the commands first. I feel like I used some weird move.”

Right as round 2 started, I pressed the pause button. I didn’t use a certain-kill technique, right? Terrified, I found only one word there…

‘Nuclear Weapon’

“Hold on a damn second!” I threw in a retort. “Suzutsuki! Why do you only have a nuclear weapon as a skill! And it’s not even a final attack move!? You’re ruining the game balance!”

“C-Calm down, Nii-san.”

“Don’t stop me, Kureha! I’m not letting you silence me!”

“You’re complaining about the Onee-sama inside the game, you know!?”

“Urk…! B-But, she used a nuclear weapon inside a convenience store, you know!”

“You made her do it though?”

“How am I supposed to know that a single button press would kill millions like that!?”

Devil Suzutsuki is no joke, seriously. I feel like this is the first time I ever saw a character in a fighting game use a nuclear weapon as a move.

“I bet that Onee-sama is the last boss of this game. That’s why she alone is that strong.”

“Either way, using her is forbidden from now on.”

Nobody can defeat her. Her attack is something you can’t even defend against. Not to mention that she’s playable from the start.

“Then I’ll continue using Konoe-senpai. How about you fight with yourself, Nii-san?”

“Ehhh?”

“What’s it matter? Besides the appearance and attack names, you’re totally normal. Or, do you want to see me fight Konoe-senpai instead?”

“Alright, alright, I get it, so don’t glare at me like that.” Kureha’s sharp gaze pierced my body.

It seems like she hates the idea of fighting the guy she has the hots for, even in just a game. I really don’t understand girls. Then again, I never grasped what exactly Kureha was thinking. Either way, it was decided that I would be fighting with myself, and Kureha once again went with Konoe.

That’s a match-up and a half, alright. Konoe was quite balanced, promising a thrilling fight with every round…Or so it should have been, but…

“Urk, I lost again…” Kureha grit her teeth in frustration.

That’s right, I don’t really know why, but even as it turned into a close battle, I would always come out on top. We’re both the close-range type of fighter, so it shouldn’t show that much of a difference…

“How about you use your brain a bit more?” Kureha was basically playing with her face glued to the screen.

Because of that, she lost the bigger picture. Not to mention that her moves are so easy to read. Ah see, she activated another counter again.

“I mean, even if it’s in a game, there’s no way Konoe-senpai would lose against Nii-san…”

Ahh, I see. So that’s the reason she’s so passionate about…Wait hold on.

“K-Kureha-san?”

If my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me, then I was indeed seeing my little sister crying.

“Unya…In reality, Konoe-senpai would definitely win. Maybe it’s because I’m not worthy enough of Konoe-senpai’s strength…!”

Ah, crap. She’s crying for real now. Come on, who was the bastard who made a girl cry? Ah, me, right. This is bad. Kureha really hates losing, doesn’t she. According to my experience, if I don’t let up now, I won’t have any more ground to stay alive.

“A-Ah, I’ve grown tired of playing as myself. Maybe I should switch to a different cha—”

Crack, it sounded like something was getting close to breaking. Looking over, I saw fissures on Kureha’s controller, like an elephant had stepped on it.

“Huuuuuuh…Nii-san, you’re running away with your victory?” I heard a cold warning next to me.

My little sister showed a forced smile, as the controller in her hands started raising screams of terror and agony. Alright, guess I have to hold back. I have to make sure that she doesn’t realize though. I’m trying to be a good brother after all, so as long as I can make her win, and happy…

“Just to let you know, but this is a serious battle. If you were to hold back against me…”

More cracking sounds followed…Gaaah, the controller! It’s slowly turning into dust!

“Ah, it broke.”

“No no no no! You broke it!”

“Nyahaha, not quite, Nii-san. It must have been broken from the start.”

“Broken from the start…”

“After all, that thing couldn’t handle a bit of an endurance test like this.” Kureha said, and threw the broken controller into the burnable trash bin in my room, and connected a new controller to the console.

…Anyone, help me. At this rate, I’m dead meat, and it’ll be by the hands of my own sister.

“Next. We’re going again, Nii-san. This time, me and Konoe-senpai will win!” A determined gaze came from Kureha’s eyes.

Problematic about this however is that the more passionate she gets, the easier it becomes to read her movement. It’s a devilish downward spiral. And, since I’m not allowed to hold back, it becomes much easier for me to win.

“……”

Before I realized it, it was 42 wins and 0 loses for me. The difference between us was overwhelming. If this was a baseball match, it’d be a called game, and if this was a round of boxing, her coach would have thrown the towel by now. Talking about soccer, the angry fans would have probably stormed the field by now. Naturally, Kureha’s anger meter was reaching critical levels.

“…Um, Kureha-san?” Terrified, I called out to my little sister.

I mean, she suddenly got all quiet, you know. Because she was looking at the ground, I couldn’t see her reaction too well, but her small body was shaking…

“Nii-san, you dummyyyyyyyyy!!”

As expected, she exploded like a volcano erupting.

“…Alright.”

I can still make it in time. If I leave behind a testament now, I can make it. Umm…for starters: ‘My, Sakamachi Kinjirou’s life is in danger. I do not know why someone would aim for me. All I can tell you is that it is related to Oyashiro-sama’s curse3…’. No, better not. That sounds like it would be straight out of some visual novel.

“C-Calm down, Kureha. This is just a game, nothing more.” I tried to calmly reason with her so as to not get her more worked up.

“Dummy! Nii-san, you dummy!”

“Why are you acting like a child now.”

“Who’s a child!? You got all serious even though it’s just a game!”

“You told me not to go easy on you, right!?”

“Urk…I-I can’t help it! I didn’t think I would lose this much!”

She must have felt that a lot of the blame was with her, as her anger subsided much more quickly than I had imagined. Thank god, at least I managed to avoid the worst-case scenario. Man, she sure has grown up a lot…Wait hold on. Why does she look like she’s about to cry yet again?

“Uuuu…Nii-san, you dummy…” Large tears came streaming out from her eyes, as she pouted.

How could this happen? Second calamity occurred. But, why? Is there really a need to go this far just because she lost in a game?

“So cruel…I wanted to have fun at least for today, so…”

“At least for today?”

The heck is up with that? Is that why she’s so full of energy the second she woke me up?

“B-Because it didn’t work out last year, I wanted to make up for it this year…!” Kureha explained while sniffing.

…This year? And it didn’t work out last year…does she mean?

“Kureha, did you want to play with me today because it’s your birthday?” Hearing my words, Kureha twitched once, and stopped moving.

That’s right, today is the 28th of August, and also the 16th birthday of my little sister Sakamachi Kureha.

“S-So what about it! Last year, you forgot about my birthday and went out to play with Kurose-senpai, didn’t you! I didn’t even get a present!”

Yup, she’s right. Kurose told me he got concert tickets for a band I’m a big fan of, so I ignored my little sister’s birthday to go there. I really regretted that a lot later on, you know.

“That’s why I decided we’d play all day long! I even used the birthday present I got from Onee-sama…!”

Ahh, I see. That’s why Suzutsuki went out of her way to make this.

“I even got a Silent Sheep plush toy from Konoe-senpai as a birthday present. Yet, my own older brother forgot about my birthday!”

Well, I can’t blame her for crying like that. We always treasured these kinds of events in our family. Mom loved birthday parties and all that, so each year was noisy. But this year, Mom isn’t home, as she’s out overseas for the past half a year. That’s why she must have been worried that her older brother forgot.

“……”

This moron. Why are you acting like this? You’re ruining the big surprise I prepared.

“…Nii-san?”

Seeing me suddenly get up, Kureha gave me a dubious gaze. I slowly headed towards the closet in the corner of my room, all to show her what was inside.

“Kureha.”

Calling out her name, I took out a large plastic box, decorated with a red ribbon, from inside the closet.

“N-Nii-san, is that…”

“Yup, it sure is.”

I actually prepared this around a month ago, to ensure that I didn’t commit the same mistake as last year, and so that she would be happy.

“I actually planned on getting the cake I ordered later, but you just had to ruin my plans.” I hid my embarrassment with a complaint, and offered the large box to Kureha.

And then, I said the words I had prepared for an entire year.

“—Happy birthday, Kureha.”

Happy Birthday my sister. I hope you like your present.

×

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?” A shout pierced my ears.

Some switch must have flipped, because Kureha carried my present on her shoulders like some WWE belt, and screamed even further.

“Nii-san Nii-san Nii-san…!”

“…What?”

“—Thanks so much!” She smiled like a blooming sunflower.

She’s as honest and direct with her feelings, huh.

“Can I open it up?”

She embraced the box, and looked at me with a tilted head.

“Yeah. Go ham.”

“Okay!” Kureha nodded, and tore off the wrapping paper like a cat scratching its claws at a cat tree.

After everything was removed, and the box thrown to the side, what appeared was—

“Waaaaah, such a large plush toy! It’s a white puppy, right!”

“……”

Sorry, Kureha, that’s actually a bear. It was a white bear about half the size of me. Seeing its reckless face and stature, I figured it would be the perfect punching bag for Kureha. It cost me a lot of my allowance to hire this newcomer, but it was worth it. As long as she liked her present, everything was worth it.

“Yaaay! Thanks! Thanks so much, Nii-san!”

Full of joy, Kureha held hands, as she danced through the house with her new friend at hand. It truly is a heartwarming sight.

“I’m glad you like it.”

I guess I can call this year’s birthday a success, disregarding the many ups and downs. Happy birthday, truly. I think I somehow managed to act like a proper older brother this year—

“——Heh.”

There, I grinned. All according to keikaku. Man, I was panicking like crazy when she suddenly talked about playing together, but I’m glad things ended fairly smoothly. Indeed, everything I had planned today was in order to avoid the tragedy that had occurred exactly one year ago—The 8.28 Accident.

Just as Kureha stated, I completely forgot about her birthday back then. But in order for you to get my point, I need to explain one simple yet important thing…I don’t remember anything. Nothing at all. From the night of the 28th to the dawn of the 29th, I don’t remember anything at all. It’s like all my memories of that single day were removed entirely. All I remember is that I came home after the concert, and was greeted by a demon— Kureha—the second I entered the front entrance. After that, it’s a blank slate.

When I woke up, I was laying on my bed, only wearing a single pair of trunks. Time and memories had vanished. All I was left with was the pain inflicted on my entire body, and my legends quivering in an unknown fear, like I was a freshly-born lamb. And if that wasn’t enough, when I confirmed my appearance in the large mirror inside my room, I was forced to scream in terror.

—Nii-san, you dummy.

These words were written on my body with a red pen, with me wearing nothing but a pair of underwear looking at it in shock. My entire body was covered in these words. Luckily, she held back from writing anything inside my underwear, but the fear had already filled my body. And, the words Kureha said had yet to leave my head once.

‘Um…Sorry, Nii-san. I went too far yesterday.’

Let me declare this right now, that was the last time Kureha ever acknowledged she went too far in all these years of us living together. Not even waking me up like that every single day had her show me that kind of reaction. And yet, now she apologized. Will you understand what kind of catastrophic event this has been? The second I understood the tragedy that had happened, I stopped thinking, and ignored any kind of memories I still had. And then, I swore to myself, namely that I would not commit the same mistake ever again. This is the summary of the 8.28 Incident.

“…Haaa.”

I finished my personal flashback, and sighed in relief. Because of the high cost of her present, I’ll have to live a poor man’s life for the next month, but it was all worth it in the end. She’s happy about her present, and I’m safe and healthy.

“Ehehe, thanks a lot, Nii-san.” Kureha smiled, while tightly embracing her plush toy.

It seems like she sure has taken a liking to it. Well, I guess it’s thanks to everything working out smoothly. Honestly speaking, it’s even grossing me out a bit at how everything worked out so smoothly.

“I’m feeling very happy today. Onee-sama, Konoe-senpai, and now Nii-san, you all gave me wonderful presents today. This is the best birthday ever, I think.”

“Glad to hear that.”

“But…I feel too happy…” Kureha started blushing ever so slightly. “I suddenly feel like…being spoiled by Nii-san a bit.”

“……”

Now hold on, what is she saying? And why does it sound like I walked into some horror movie?

“Nyahaha.” Kureha showed a bashful smile.

While fidgeting nervously, she approached me. Her eyes were staring at me, almost like she had set her eyes on her prey…

“…Ah.”

I forgot. How could I forget? Why is she waking me up with a wrestling move every morning? Why does she want to train with me? It’s all…her own way of showing affection. Just like a kitty would gently scratch your leg when asking for food, she sees this as innocent skinship. However, with how much power she has, it’s not just a bit of playful joking.

“Hey…Onii-chan…”

That’s a nostalgic tone. That’s how she would approach me back in grade school when she wanted attention from me. Ahh, I can already see the upcoming development…

“Can I…get a hug?”

Why not do that with the plush toy you literally just got? I desperately wanted to utter these words out loud, but Kureha already grasped my body from the front, and tightly hugged me. In wrestling terms, this is what you would call a bear hug. And it was one full of a little sister’s feelings towards her older brother.

“Nigyaaaaaaaaah!”

Even though the soft shirt, I could feel her soft body, directly pressing onto me…inside my head, three different points popped up in my head, going from ‘What to reflect on today’, ‘Ambition of the future’ and finally ‘Current state of mind’.

1: This is my fault for not considering my little sister’s personality.

2: I won’t commit the same mistake next year.

3: Well, one bear hug isn’t as bad. I’ll just pass out once.

I felt my consciousness slowly growing more distant. Of course, my little sister was to be blamed without a doubt for activating my gynophobia like this, but I’ll ignore that for today. After all, it’s her birthday, so I’ll spoil her at least that much. After all, I’m the oldest son of the Sakamachi Family, and her older brother. I need to show off at times.

“Ehehehe, Nii-san—I love you~”

Together with the sound of my bones breaking, I felt like I heard my little sister’s sweet whisper, but my consciousness already left me behind.

1 King of Fighters

2 I have no idea. DBZ? Don’t ask me

3 A reference to the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni series

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