"Mmrgh..."

I groaned, my head throbbing with discomfort.

“My head…”

I instinctively placed my hand on my forehead, only for my hand to meet a searing heat.

A cold?

"Five more minutes…" I mumbled, not sure to whom.

After a few seconds of waiting for a reply, I could feel myself drifting into drowsiness, so I shook my head to snap myself back to attention, determined to stay awake.

“My head is spinning. My voice sounds weird too.”

I sat up straight and scanned the room I was in. Good, it was my own. The lights were off, but the sun was shining through the curtains, lighting up the room just enough to see. However, the room was in an unrecognizable state. The ground was like a sea of empty beer cans.

“What the hell happened here?”

I got up from the bed, and I struggled my way through the ‘sea of beers’.

“I feel so… light?”

As I made my way through, I went to the kitchen.

"I'm thirsty, my throat is so dry..."

I reached for the refrigerator’s handle and opened the fridge

“Geh, only beer,” I muttered.

I shifted my gaze toward the medicine cabinet above the refrigerator

“Hm? Was that shelf always this high?”

I stood on my toes to get a better view of the shelf and looked for some medication that could relieve me of this burning headache I had.

“Tch! Nothing…”

Demoralized, I slammed the fridge’s door shut.

“But seriously, what happened to this place? I can’t remember anything.”

I fell back onto my bed and let myself sink into the mattress.

I mustered up the energy to reach for my phone on the nightstand beside my bed. I unlocked my phone and noticed I had multiple missed calls.

“An unknown number?”

Of course, I wouldn’t call back. I always had an immense fear of talking to strangers on the telephone, it just made me feel so uncomfortable.

“Alright, I’ll reply with a text message.”

[Yo, sorry for not pickin’ up the phone, lol. Who this?]

Unlike with calling, I wasn’t afraid of texting. I actually always considered myself quite good at texting, so good even, that people would always call me a ‘keyboard warrior’!

“Aand, send!”

I put down my phone and made my way to my desk. I sat down on my limited edition gaming chair and opened my laptop. The laptop already had a tab open, it was my web novel’s page.

“Ahh, I remember now.”

 

Yesterday

I just finished the anime that I was watching and felt motivated to work on my web novel.

“Alright, let’s get to work!”

But first, I headed to the fridge to grab a drink.

“Only beer, hm? I bought all that beer last week to celebrate my twentieth birthday, but I never ended up drinking it. I’m feeling good today, so I might as well celebrate it today.”

I pulled out a beer and headed to my desk.

I opened my laptop and immediately checked my mail.

“Tch! Still, not a single publisher is interested in my story. They just don’t understand! I’m the future of light novels!”

I closed my mail tab and opened my web novel’s page to check the comments.

“Let’s see what they have to say about my latest chapter.”

I scrolled down to the comment section.

“Woah, seven new comments, what’d they say?”

I scrolled down a bit further to read the comments.

This is garbage! Get this trash off of the internet!

The writing is good, but the plot and characters suck!

HaremSama-sensei¹An honorific term used to address a teacher, mentor, or skilled practitioner. It can also be used to show respect to an author or someone with expertise in a specific field. writes women like a 40-year-old virgin!

All the female characters in this story are boring!

HaremSama-Sensei can’t write realistic women!

The story started off well, but the annoying female characters ruined it!

I have a feeling that HaremSama-Sensei doesn’t know anything about women!

“…huh?”

I refreshed the page to see if I wasn’t dreaming, but the comments were still there.

“Not a single positive comment?” I said, tears in my eyes.

I slapped the laptop shut and chugged the beer I had in my other hand. I went to the fridge for another beer, and then one more, and some more, and so on.

Present Day

“I… I wish I didn’t remember… To think that my first time drinking alcohol would end up so pitiful and depressing.”

With a defeated sigh, I closed my web novel’s page, which led to my mail now filling the screen.

“Hm?”

I looked at the top right of the screen.

“That icon…”

I clicked on the icon, and it revealed my e-mail address.

“This is my personal mail!”

I quickly logged out and re-logged in on my business account, on which five unread mails awaited me.

“Dengeki Bunko²A well-known Japanese publishing imprint specializing in light novels. Dengeki Bunko is part of ASCII Media Works, a prominent media company in Japan.? That’s!”

I quickly clicked the oldest mail of the five, my eyes tingling in the hope of finally becoming a published author.

 

[Subject: Meeting Request: Discussing Your Web Novel]

[Dear HaremSama-Sensei,]

[I'm Kawakami Miho, an editor at Dengeki Bunko. Your web novel has caught our attention, and we'd love to discuss your work and your future as an author.]

[Let's schedule a meeting at your convenience, either in person or virtually, to talk about your novel, potential collaborations, and publishing opportunities.]

[I look forward to connecting with you.]

[Best regards,]

[Kawakami Miho]

[Editor, Dengeki Bunko]

 

Tears rapidly started gliding down my cheeks as I read the mail.

“I did it… I DID IT!”

The next four mails were all reminders to the first.

I started grinning. “Hehe, to send four reminders, they must really be desperate to get me published!”

When I checked the bottom right of my screen, I noticed that It was already 5:00 PM, and my stomach growled.

“Now that I think of it, I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday!”

I turned on the hot water to put into my cup ramen, and went to the bathroom to wash my hands in the meantime.

As I washed my hands, I looked up into the mirror, and.

“Heh?”

I saw an unfamiliar face in the mirror.

“Wha? A little girl?”

I shook my head from side to side, trying to see if the girl in the mirror would mimic it, and she did. But as I continued to shake my head, I noticed long hair shaking along with it.

“Hm? Was my hair always that long?”

It touched the hair, and gently pulled it.

“It hurts, it really is my hair.”

Suddenly, my eyes widened.

“D…don’t tell me, I slept for five years after passing out from drinking too much, and now my hair is really long!”

I touched my face and noticed my skin was much softer than usual.

“Okay so if I really slept for five years, my skin would’ve aged, so it can’t be that.”

My eyes connected with that of the girl in the mirror once again.

“Does that mean… That’s me? That little girl?”

I swallowed, and sweat began running down my forehead.

“I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

I slowly lowered my hands to my underwear—now closer to being shorts, and let it drop to the floor.

“Honestly, I can already kind of tell, but I’ll check anyway. You never know.”

“1…”

“2…”

“3…”

I turned my head down, eyes closed. And as I slowly opened my eyes, I verified that I was now officially missing a pair.

“HEEEH!?”

###

After numerous unanswered emails and phone calls, Miho Kawakami, a rookie editor at Dengeki Bunko, decided to take matters into her own hands. Concerned about the lack of communication from HaremSama-Sensei, she felt compelled to personally visit his apartment.

She stood outside Kai's apartment, knocking on the door repeatedly, but there was no response. After knocking one more time, this time a bit harder, the door slightly opened.

“It was open?”

She decided to open the door and enter. An overwhelming smell of alcohol hit her as soon as she stepped inside, and Miho wrinkled her nose, using her fingers to close it tightly.

“Excuse me? HaremSama-sensei? I’m Kawakami Miho, an editor from Dengeki Bunko. I’m here to talk about your web novel.”

 No answer.

“Hello? HaremSama-Sensei?” she tried again as she cautiously went further into the apartment.

Silence continued to greet her, broken only by the sound of her own footsteps... Her footsteps echoed through the apartment, her progress hampered by empty beer cans scattered across the floor.

As she approached the bathroom, Miho heard soft sobs emanating from within. The heartbreaking sound led her through the sea of cans, guiding her to the source. She pushed the door open and entered.

There, in the corner of the room, huddled a young girl. She sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, tears streaming down her face. "My companion…" the girl cried.

Miho's heart clenched in her chest. The situation was beyond bewildering. "Wh…who are you?” Miho asked, her voice trembling.

“I don’t know anymore…” the girl sobbed, her words interspersed with tears.

“Wha? Ahem… I’m looking for a man that goes by… Ha… Ha…”

“Ha Ha?” The girl repeated, a confused look on her face.

“HaremSama! Is he here?”

I really didn’t wanna say a name like to a child. Miho thought.

###

She's hot...

I swallowed.

“HaremSama? That’s me, who are you though?” I said.

“Huh? You are HaremSama-Sensei?” The woman asked, a surprised look on her face.

“Mhm,” I nodded. “So who are you?”

“Ah, ehm. My name is Kawakami Miho, I’m an editor from Dengeki Bunko.”

Kawakami Miho? That's the name of the person from the mails!

I quickly wiped my tears and then reached for Miho’s hands. “R-really? Did you come here to get me published?”

Miho didn’t answer, she seemed too shocked to speak.

My face turned red when I realized how close I was to her, so I let go.

“Ah—Sorry, I got too excited.”

“No-no! Don’t worry about it! I was just a little surprised because I really thought HaremSama-sensei would be an old man.”

I’m just gonna act like she didn’t just say that…

“By the way, what’s your name? I find it a bit inappropriate to call a cute little girl like you HaremSama-sensei.

Tsk! She keeps going!

“Kai De…wa” I answered, my voice breaking near the end.

“Ooh! So Kaede-chan³A Japanese honorific suffix, often used affectionately to address someone, especially children, close friends, or loved ones. It adds a sense of familiarity and endearment to a person's name., hm! That’s such a cute name, it really suits you!”

“No… I—”

“By the way, Kaede-chan, where are your parents?” Miho interrupted.

Ah, whatever. Call me what you want.

“My parents aren’t here,” I said.

They're in the other side of the country, I haven't heard of them since I started living alone.

Miho’s eyes widened. “You’re alone? What kind of parents would let such a young girl stay at home alone?”

I let out an embarrassed smile. “Parents like mine.”

“When are they coming back?”

I raised my hand to my chin. “Hmm, they’re not.”

I knew this sounded misleading, but there wasn’t much else I could say. I couldn’t tell Miho that I was actually a twenty-year-old man, because she definitely wouldn’t believe that, but she also wouldn’t believe that a girl the age of a middle schooler would live alone. So I just went for the ‘abandoned child’ route.

“Kaede-chan!” she exclaimed; the tone of her voice a mix of worry and excitement.

“Y-yes?!” I stammered, my voice higher in pitch than ever before.

With an unwavering smile, Miho continued, her eyes glistening with sincerity, “I’ve always dreamed of having a little sister!”

my heart raced as her words hung in the air, leaving me momentarily speechless.

"Wha-?" I managed to mutter, still trying to grasp the situation.

“Kaede-chan, become my little sister!” she said, full of determination.

“heh?”

“I promise to take great care of you, unlike your parents! And I’m an editor so I can even help you with your writing! But In return, I want you to become my little sister!”

And that’s how I, Kai—no, Kaede, became an editor’s little sister.