6:00 PM

We return home with Mieko. Now, all three of us stand in front of the door. Haha! The gentleman that I am, I open the door for the two girls. However, upon doing so, on the other side, a hideous creature, an Eldritch horror straight out of Lovecraftian tales greeted me.

“Ah, welcome back, Takayuki-s-”

But to give context to readers, it’s Tetsuo Taketa.

Slam.

As a reasonable human being, the best response was to close the door immediately. No human would ever want to see a traumatizing sight.

OH HELL NO!

Mieko taps my left shoulder. She whispers in my ear, “I can tell what you’re thinking, just do it for the pictures.”

Since I had agreed to her deal, I had no choice but to comply.

“Fine.”

The door opens.

“U-Uh…”

Tetsuo is rendered speechless.

My little sister greets him, “We’re back!”

With that she heads inside.

Might as well celebrate, so I guess its fine.

Slam.

Mieko closes the door behind her.

“Did you wait long, Tetsuo-kun?” she asks.

“Oh, no no no, I feel fine, don’t worry, Nakatani-san.”

“No! I accidentally called her by her first name! Who am I to call such a beauty with her first name?” he thought.

Note: They agreed to not call each other by their first names (refer to Chapter 6) because they thought it would be too embarrassing.

She blushes.

“AHHH, S-S-SORRY TAKAYUKI-SAN! I DIDN’T MEAN TO!”  he panics.

“D-Don’t worry, its fine if it’s you.”

I feel the aura of romance, it’s sickening.

Mieko makes a mischievous cat face.

“Oooohhh. Why do I feel like I’m being forgotten here?”

She says whilst wrapping her arms in both Tetsuo and Nakatani.

I feel isolated here.

“Here he is, my onii-chan!” my little sister introduces me to him.

Tetsuo stands up from his chair and bows down at a 45 degree angle with one arm out.

He stutters, “H-Hello! I’m afraid we haven’t introduced each other properly before, my name is Taketa Tetsuo-san, a friend of your little sister here, and… uhhhh.”

Typical. Let’s just get this over with.

To prevent matters from taking any longer, I shake his hand.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Nakatani’s older brother, Takayuki Kibe, just call me Kibe, no need for formalities,” with a polite tone.

My little sister pushes both of us out of the door.

Huh?

“Now both of you spend some time trying to get to know each other… What do you call it?”

“A BOYS’ NIGHT OUT!” Mieko answers.

“Wh-What is the meaning of this?!” I retort.

“This is for your own good, onii-chan! You’ve been talking to yourself these past few days, you ought to make some friends!”

“Exactly what she said!” Mieko connects, “For that reason, I will entertain your precious little sister in my arms while you two have a bonding session.”

I complained, “But I don’t have any mone-”

Nakatani and Mieko throw a pool of money directly to my face.

“GRAGH!!”

WHAT THE HELL?!

Some of the bills fantastically get into my eye. I don’t know how.

“BLEGH!”

They kept on pushing us outside along with the money.

Click.

They lock the door behind us. We were forced to pick the money off the ground.

 “Ahahaha,” I fakely chuckle, “Sorry for my little sister, she’s just a bit… weird.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s okay, I, myself kind of agreed to this. Sorry if she got too pushy.”

“Don’t worry about it; I know that she’s doing this because she cares about me. Well, we should be on our way to dinner.”

…

..

.

We take a stroll towards the right.

This is also a good chance to steal some of the spotlight. I need to act out the role of a good and doting older brother.

“So, how did you and Nakatani end up as good friends?” I genuinely ask.

I start out by asking how their relationship came to fruit.

“Uhm… I was once a lonely guy, no one approached me...”

Alright, I can tell where this is going.

“…Takayuki-san approached me,” he continues.

Figured.

“Ahaha, it’s funny to think that we were classmates last year. We only started talking this year, but thanks to being acquainted in the previous year, we were able to become friends in a few days.”

I eagerly listen to his story.

“She broke me out of my shell. Now I’m trying to make friends with the rest of the class, because, I don’t wanna waste my high school life. She’s always around friends, yet makes time for me. O-Oh! Sorry, it’s just been me yapping.”

“It’s alright… Nakatani has always been a ray of sunshine; she always attracted friends to her side…” I elaborate.

Describe the good and bad qualities of the heroine, and make him feel that she needs you.

“Yeah, it’s like she’s the embodiment of perfection. I don’t get it… why would she spend time with me? I’m not anything special.”

Note: Title of Nakatani’s story, Takayuki Nakatani Doesn’t Make Mistakes! (貴幸ナカタニさんは間違いを犯さない!) Would you read it?

“You know… despite what she seems, my little sister is riddled with openings, you know?” I state.

“FLAWS?! PERFECT! Now I can find an opening,” Tetsuo schemed.

He chuckles.

“Kukuku…”

“She keeps up the embodiment of perfection and she wants others to depend on her. If you look close enough, you’d see the various flaws she has. She’s just really good at concealing them in public.”

Note: Cellphone incident in Chapter 6.

“I-I didn’t know Takayuki-san had that kind of personality.”

Oh, trust me it’s very evident at home.

“She might not be perfect, but the one thing I can assure you is that the kindness she gives, the words she says, the things she loves… those are all true. Those are genuine.”

Now for the next step.

I continue, “That’s why I want you to take care of her when the time comes, and please comfort her when that time comes, because she isn’t good at handling problems all alone.”

“Y-Y-Y-” he stutters, “Will do!”

He forms a fist and bumps it into his chest.

“I promise I will!”

“I mean, you like my little sister, don’t you?” I ask.

“WH-WHA?”

Nailed it. This will make me gain lots of fans as the doting, totally NOT dense, and supportive brother. I hate to rush her story, but I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t said it, the next meeting would be the time I’d say it and by then, they will be left with barely any progress happening between them. This should make him realize his own feelings for her. Which gives me a chance for a spin-off.

It sucks that I’m pushing her in this direction, but denying it at this point is foolish, so I may as well bank on the opportunity.

Allowing him to realize his feelings, he blushes.

“N-NO! We are j-just friends…”

And this is where I laugh for apparently no reason.

“PFT! AHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHA!”

This hurts my dignity, but I have to do it.

“Why is he laughing?” he ponders.

“Um, why-”

I interfered, “Oh? No reason, I just found something funny, Come on, let’s go home.”

“S-SURE!”

Acting: 10/10. Perfect. I deserve an Oscar for that flawless acting.

“Aren’t we forgetting something? I feel like we did,” he says to me, as we begin our trip back.

“I feel like I am as well, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. If we forgot, then it’s probably not anything too big.”

…

..

.

Back at home…

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Someone was on the door.

“Aren’t they back too early?” Mieko asks, “They literally spent a few minutes outside.”

“Talking with a friend, makes a whole minute seem like a whole hour.”

“They were friends?”

“They became friends!”

Mieko sighs, “What kind of logic does your mind operate in?”

She went to get the door. Both of us were lying on the doorstep.

“…What on Earth, are both of you doing?” she asked.

“We forgot to buy food…” I said weakly.

“Why didn’t you go buy then? We literally gave you the time. Heck, it’s really early,” she confronts us.

“I remembered along the way… but once I did, I tripped and the money fell into the sewer.”

“All of it?”

“All of it…”

Nakatani went to the doorstep cheerfully.

“You two are back! How was th-”

She was in dismay once she saw our pitiful state.

The two girls look at each other and then face us. Red eyes emerge from their faces and raging… coins(?) And… cash(?) come straight to our faces.

Prick.

Apparently, the edge of one of the cash bills, slip into my eye.

“AHHHHHHHHHH! OW! OW! OW! OW! CAN YOU STOP DOING THAT?!”

And so the four of us proceed to eat pizza in the house.

…

..

.

After dinner…

Mieko and Tetsuo were both out the door.

“Thank you for having us!” they both said as their farewells.

Before they could leave, I tap Mieko’s shoulder and proceed to whisper some vital information regarding our earlier transaction.

“Don’t worry I’ll upload your files later,” she reassures me.

“Can I change the reward a bit? I want you to get these…”

SFX: コソコソ(kosokoso)

“That depends, but I’ll hear you out.”

A prelude to the shitstorm that’s about to occur.

Note: A plan?

END OF EPISODE 15