Ore ga Suki nano wa Imouto dakedo Imouto ja Nai

Volume 1 Chapter 2

My sister reaches for the highest heights

Part 1:

"Yaaaaawn….."

"Oh what is this? You seem to betired, Sensei~"

This happened on a certain day. I wasworking in the backyard at the bookstore Maruneko. As always,Esaka-san came to see me. She is my Senpai at work, as well as thedaughter of the shop owner(TLC: senpai = year above you/older). Whileshe is a university student, her appearance looks more like that of agrade school kid. Because of that and her sometimes childish naturewhen it comes to otaku stuff, people around her often are in thedanger of looking like lolicons (TLC: pedophiles).

"Well, yes. Recently I don’t get muchsleep because I’m continuing to write light novels.", I answeredwhile biting my teeth.

Since I’ve met with the novel ofSuzuka, I’ve used her as a reference for my own novel but in mycurrent situation, I can’t seem to get forward. Especially since hernovel was such a big hit, I had to keep working even harder and mysleep time suffered from that. Still, it’s an endless circle ofrejection, rewriting, rejection, rewriting and so on every day.

"Haha, just what you’d expect. Afterselling almost 30.000 copies, even the great Author-sensei gotendless work piled up behind the shadows~"

I can only groan at these words of zeroill-intent. Esaka-san already knows that I’m the light novel author,Towano Chikai (but not the fact that I’m just a stand-in of course).

Before Suzuka’s novel got released,Esaka-san always told me to look after the new arrivals. I told herwithout thinking twice that she should order some more of them. Atthat time, she asked me why I thought so and why I knew the story andeverything. That’s why I couldn’t hide it anymore. Even I think thatI’m an idiot, I gave it my best so that nobody would find out…..Haaaa. Since it already came to that, I wholeheartedly asked her tokeep quite about it. She seemed like a person to play pranks butsince she won’t do anything that harms others around her, I decidedto trust her.

"Since this is a central bookstore,more and more demand keeps on coming~. With this, we’ve topped oursales again~. I’m thankful for that Nagamin~."

"W-Well, thanks for that….."

"Still, you’ve really become popularrecently~. At this rate, there’s no need to chose improving oversleep~."

"No, no. Working hard withoutslacking off is also important."

The thing is, even though I keep onwriting and writing, I’m still in dire distress.

"I see~. Even with all the stress,the Sensei keeps on working here~ Nagamin, you really are a cuteone~."

Since I’m normally not good with peopleshowing me their good will, I hastily change the topic of ourconversation.

"By the way, Esaka-san. What happenedwith the register? Are you skipping work again?"

"Nah, I’m on break right now~. I camebecause I have business with Nagamin~"

"Business, you say….do you mean….? And don’t start clinging to me! It’s already too small in here!"

"Now, now, never mind that, please~Introduce me to Ahegao Double Peace-sensei~"

"So it was that after all! How oftendo I have to tell you that?! Introducing or whatever, even I haven’tmet him in real life yet, you know!"

"With a relationship like you two,you should be able to meet up anytime you want.~ I beg youuu, pleaselet me meet Ahegao-senseiiiiii.~ As one of your dearest fans, you cando that right?~"

"Dearest fan, you say…..no! Youdidn’t even read my novel yet, right?! Saying stuff like [You knowthat I don’t like reading printed stuff riiiiiiight~] and so on!"

„How rude~. I bought and [saw it]though….~."

"You only looked at the illustrationsright?! Why do you want to meet Sensei that badly?"

"That’s pretty obvious~. I’m a hugefan of Ahegao-sensei after all~."

"You know that he mostly draws eroticstuff right?!"

"Fufufufufu, there are no boundarieswhen it comes to cute drawings, you know~"

While pressing her cutting board likechest on me, I felt like I heard these words before. I thought Iunderstood her actions before but the interests of this person aresolely concentrated on the illustrator field after all.

"Haaa, never mind that, please giveup. I have other worries right now."

As I was getting annoyed, I heard thenotification of my smartphone that I’d gotten a new mail. It was fromSuzuka, asking to meet up with me.

"Oh yeah, it’s almost curfew time."

"Curfew~? There were times when youwere working longer than today~?"

"Ah, no. It’s not my curfew but mysister’s."

It’s not really a curfew. To us, it’smore the time that I go pick up Suzuka from school to walk home withher. My old man made that rule since he didn’t want Suzuka to walkhome alone in the dark alleys.

"Ah, I see~. You had a sisterright~."

"Yes, I do. You already met her aswell."

"Oh yeah, a few times in the shop,right~. Never mind that, Nagamin really is amazing~. To have a littlesister and still release a light novel with such title~. As a fellowotaku, I respect that~."

"………"

I wanted to scream my disagreement ather this instant but she mustn’t know the truth.

"B-But it’s not like I have anyhidden desires…."

"Does your sister know that~?"

"For now, yes."

"Not ruining your relationship likethat, your sister must be really understanding. You have to treasureher okay~?"

I let out a dry laugh after hearing herstatement and left my work as she followed up with an "Hurry andpick her up already~"

Since I was working overtime anyway, Idecided to listen to her and left. As I stepped outside the bookstore, I sped up my pace and went to the school Suzuka attends,Hakuou Girls Academy. The school wasn’t that far from the bookstoreanyway but I didn’t want to get in another fight with my old man so Imade sure to be on time.

"As always the school is so clean andeverything. Just like one would expect from a prestige rich girlsschool.", I muttered as I looked through the gate.

With a clear white design, everythinglooked so unreachable for a commoner like me. Entering the buildingthat was to the side of gate, I told the person the reception that Iwanted to pick someone up. Getting the permission to go inside, Itook a seat at a nearby bench and waited for Suzuka to arrive.

While waiting, I took out the novel ofher and started reading it again. Even though I’ve read it close to15 times now, I still don’t get the reason why it’s so interesting.Because the protagonist is so cool; because the little sister is socute. These are the facts but I still feel like there’s somethingelse. But I don’t know what exactly that is. I even looked at reviewsand such online but I didn’t find anything else there. Honestly….how did you write such an interesting novel? As I was dwelling in mythoughts, I noticed Suzuka coming over to me from the school.

Standing up, putting up my hand likewhen saying [Over here!] but I stopped midway.

"Suzuka-sama, tomorrow, please havedinner with us aswell." "Suzuka-sama, I am aware that this isn’tworth anything but please accept it." "Suzuka-sama""Nagami-kaichou" "Onee-sama…"

(TLC: kaichou = president; onee-sama =big sister)

As it looks like, Suzuka was surroundedby at least 5 people as she was walking in my direction. They weregathering around her with an enthusiastic nature and faintly redcheeks. Being in the middle of the group, Suzuka was very calm whiledealing with them.

"This girl…..she really ispopular."

As I was standing there admiring thescene, a single female student noticed me and turned around.

"Ah it’s Suzuka-sama’s big brother.""Eh, big brother?" "This person is Suzuka-sama’s big brother?"

"A good day to you, mister bigbrother." "It is a pleasure to become acquainted with you, misterbig brother."

As I realized it, they were all comingtowards me and bowed down. To be called "Mister big brother" bythem somehow feels good…

"Hey Suzuka, I came to pick youup…….hey, why are you pulling my hands?!"

"Well then, everyone, I will take myleave here."

As I was about to call out, she came tome, took my arm and pulled me away from the group of students.

"H-Hey! Wait a second Suzuka! Why areyou in such a hurry!?"

"I couldn’t keep watching whenOnii-chan was clearly entranced by my fellow students."

After leaving the gate behind, Suzukafinally let go of my arms.

"No, It’s not like I was staring atthem or anything…."

"So you weren’t even aware of it.That’s why having you pick me up has it’s merits and demerits…."

Suzuka whispered at the end so Icouldn’t really get it. The one thing I knew was that she was glaringat me as we were walking side by side.

….What’s up with that?

"Onii-chan, did something interestinghappen at school?", Suzuka asked as were walking.

Thus far, every time I picked her upfrom school, we were merely walking next to each other withouttalking. Since I became her stand-in, that changed drasticallythough. She also often came into my room because she had somequestions regarding her novel. Looking at it, our relationship reallychanged.

"No, nothing out of the ordinary. Atwork, I got teased by my Senpai again."

"I see, so that person was thereagain. Onii-chan has to pull himself together a bit more. How did youend up revealing the fact that you were Towano Chikai? At this rate,you’ll let out that the fact that you’re only a stand-in."

"Look, I’m sorry. I have reflected onthat. But I won’t make the same mistake twice. And even though shedoesn’t seem like it, she will definitely keep the promise, I’msure."

"Why don’t you just stop workingthere? If it’s about the money, I have enough because my novel soldso well."

"Well yeah, but that’s your moneyright? And I even took the job so our old man wouldn’t be suspiciousof the sudden increase of our money."

"You’re not wrong about that but….it still worries me. It seems like she has picked an interest on you.Even though, I want to believe that you won’t be tricked by her sweetwords and young looks."

"What rude words are you evensaying?! Against me and even Esaka-san?!"

"Onii-chan, it can’t be but might yoube a pedophile?"

"What kind of worries are you having,oi?!"

How did this happen that my littlesister accuses me of being a lolicon?!

"Can’t help it since you didn’t haveany relationships with women yet, I suppose."

"What are you saying to your pure, nogirlfriend Onii-chan?!"

That was a criticism I didn’t want tohear.

"Never mind that, just be carefulfrom now on, please."

"….I get it okay. But no matter howyou feel about it, I still am your stand-in. Maybe it would be betterfor you to take your role?"

"How often do I have to explainthat?" If Onii-chan didn’t become my stand-in, I couldn’t havebecome a novelist. This Towano Chikai person is me and alsoOnii-chan. We are two people in one, you remember?"

Yeah, going with logic, it makes sense.But the way she said it just now, that we were two in one, thatsounded really good.

"Oh by the way, how is it going withthe second volume? Did you talk with Shinozaki-san about it? Since weare two in one, you ought to tell me that as well, right?"

"Hm? You are talking withShinozaki-san via the phone right?"

"Well it’s more like chatting aboutlittle things and so on. She told me that she would talk about theimportant stuff via email."

Really, why are we even talking via thephone….this woman….

"Now that you say it, thisShinozaki-san is a woman right? I found out just recently."

"Oh, didn’t I tell you?"

"No, you didn’t. I wrote the emailsthinking that she was a man until she told me [Sensei should knowthat I am a woman though?] so I was really surprised."

Suzuka’s eyes suddenly got really cold.

"And? What is it? Is she reallybeautiful after all?"

"Huh? No, well, she really is abeauty to behold but…"

"That makes sense. It’s Onii-chanafter all. And what intention do you have, happily talking to her viathe phone even though it’s got nothing to do with the work, hm?"

H-Huh? Is she getting jealous perchance?

"A-Aren’t you making a great mistakehere?! Since we are only talking about pointless things, I’m nothaving fun in the least though?!"

"To think, that the editor would be awoman, and a beauty to add…. What bad luck….."

"She’s not listening?!"

She seems to be muttering in a badmood…so the best course of action would be to change the topic ofthe conversation as fast as possible.

"A-Anyway, since I didn’t hearanything about that second volume, I wanted to ask you about that."

"I just finished the outline and Iwill start writing soon. There are no problems so far."

Hmu. I didn’t expect any less from theperson that sold 30.000 copies. What a bold statement.

"That’s good to hear then. Sinceyou’re a pro now, you have to look after your physical conditionalright?"

"I know that very well, thank you.Are you really one to talk about that?"

"Me? What do you mean?"

"Yesterday, the lights in your roomhave been on until late in the night, right? You’ve been staying uplate again, don’t you?"

Being told that so directly, Iflinched.

"I-I can’t help it. The deadline forthe next contest is coming closer…"

"Until now, you never stayed up latethat often, did you?"

That’s…. since I read your novel, my usual quality doesn’t satisfy me anymore. I need more time, honestly.

"At least try to get up yourself inthe morning so that I don’t have to wake you up every time."

"I will try my best….", Imuttered, trying to evade further lectures.

Having arrived at our home, ourconversation abruptly came to an end. I didn’t get any usefulinformation out of her after all but I can’t help it, I guess. Theimportant thing is, I won’t get anywhere if I don’t keep on writing.

Later that evening, I had the novel ofSuzuka in one hand and took notes in my writing software. That, ofcourse, resulted in me getting woken up by Suzuka with a clearlydispleased face.

Part 2:

"Haaaaaaa. Finally finished."

The next day after school. Havingsurvived all my classes, I was running on a low battery. Since I hadsome time until my part-time job, I decided to take a quick nap….

(………?)

But, at that moment, an unusual eventoccurred. The characteristic sound that you can hear after schoolsuddenly stopped. Wondering what happened, I raised my head.Everybody around me was frozen and had a surprised look on theirfaces.

(……Is it my imagination? They seemlike they’re looking over here)

Following their gazes, I turned infront of me.

"Looks like you finally woke up."

A voice came in from above my head.

"…..You’re not still half-asleep,are you?"

A female student with a grim facialexpression was standing in front of me. Big eyes filled with a strongwill. A slender body and a presence that knows exactly what it wants.To sum it up, an undeniable beauty.

"Who?", I mumbled, probably becauseI was half asleep.

I would regret these words pretty soon.Hearing my words, the beauty in front of me opened her eyes with andispleased expression and answered in a shaking voice.

"To think that you wouldn’t knowme….?!"

…..That’s right, this person in frontof me was a famous person in this school.

"Hi-Himuro Mai?!"

"Thank you for remembering my fullname.", she answered after tilting a head a bit.

Seeing that, I really thought shedeserved to be called cute. There’s no way that somebody wouldn’tknow her in the entire student body. Even though she was still, likeme, a first-year, her popularity exploded almost instantly. There waseven the rumor that she brutally pulverized the older students thatconfessed to her. It became something like a legend. I heard thatbecause the way she turned them down was so severe, they all stillhave traumas about it. Because of incidents like these, she became abeing that no man tried to approach. [Ice Queen] or [Impregnablefortress] were nicknames she got as a result, making it seem likesomeone had a death wish if you wanted to approach her. The person inquestion though lived her life without paying attention to any of it.

"W-What do you want with m-me?!"

I was panicking. I never even spoke oneword with her.

"I have something to talk about withyou. Come with me for a second."

Suddenly, the classroom got noisyagain.

"Something to talk about…withme?….you?"

Not even waiting for my answer, sheleft the classroom. I was zoning out for a second but because I hadso much to live for, I hurriedly followed after her. Leaving theclassroom behind, I heard an explosion-like uproar. I will probablybe questioned to the extreme tomorrow.

"We can talk here without having toattention to anyone eavesdropping on us", she said after we arrivedin front of the door to the rooftop.

"Oi, entering the rooftop isprohibited, remember?"

"I got a key so it’s fine. If it’slocked, I can easily open it. And if it’s not locked, then we justhappened to enter here without thinking about it, right?"

"This is the same as saying thatsince you wear a skirt, it would be fine if anyone saw your pantiesas a result of that, you know?"

"W-What?! What are you saying all ofa sudden! Can you only think about erotic stuff like that, youpervert!!"

"Ugh…."

I’m sad that I can’t really disagreewith that. While having slightly red cheeks, she stops glaring at meand enters the rooftop. Looking at the blue sky, my field of viewimmediately widened.

"And? What do you want to talkabout?"

"Hmpf. You…. You have quite a weirdpersonality. Every other man that would stand in front of such abeauty like me would be at least a little bit nervous, you know?"

"Don’t call yourself a beauty. Thathurts your image, you know."

"D-Don’t say that! It’s a given factthat I am cute. Or what? Do you prefer it if girls don’t callthemselves cute?"

"No, not really….", I answeredher.

She sighed and continued:

"You probably also think that I’mcute right? Now, now, if you get on your knees and start barking,I’ll make the exception and pet your head."

"………."

As I see her stretching out her armslike that, I couldn’t think of anything to retort. In my head, Imercilessly stamped her as an oujou-sama type of person.

(TLC: oujou-sama : arrogant, on a highhorse type of girl)

Hearing the rumors and seeing heractions, that’s the logical conclusion.

Still, after listening to her words fora bit, it seemed like the image I had was a bit off. True, she was abeauty above beauties and her actions might be a bit scary but still,she had a lot of openings. Nonetheless, I decided that it would bebetter to keep my distance from her.

"W-well, if you would excuse me…"

"H-Hey! Wait a second, where are yougoing?!"

As I was on my heels, she turned aroundfrantically and grabbed my should while almost screaming out ofconfusion.

"I thought I’d go home for now…."

"W-Why?! I said that I had businesswith you right?"

"Like I could keep up in aconversation like that?!"

"No you’re wrong about that!T-That…was..just the prologue! The prologue!"

"Why do we need a prologue!?"

"Because…… I thought that Ineeded to gain an advantage…..or it would be frustrating…."

While fiddling with her fingers, shemuttered that.

"And? What is it? I have a part-timejob I have to attend soon so I would like to end this as quick aspossible."

"Hey, don’t just take the main rolein our conversation! And if you have work, say that earlier! Iwould’ve hurried up with the prologue!"

"No, no. Just start without itanyway!"

"Being a stingy man won’t make youpopular."

She started rummaging in her bag andtook out a certain thing.

"The thing I wanted to talk about isthis…"

"Eh? T-This is….?!"

The thing in her hand was without afault the novel of Suzuka.

"Of course you would know what thisis, Towano Chikai-sensei."

"Huh?!"

Continuing with her words, I wasshocked.

"W-W-W-What is this? Is somethingwrong with that novel?"

"Ah, trying to hide it won’t helpyou, okay? I know very well that you are Towano Chikai.", she saidwith self-confident words.

H-How did she find out?! Nobody shouldknow this except Suzuka, Esaka-san, Shinozaki-san and the people Imet on the awards ceremony.

"Thinking about it, that’s a lot ofpeople, isn’t it?!"

"W-What? Don’t retort while thinkingto yourself, okay?"

W-Wait, let’s think about this calmly.The only reason she would know of my identity is….

"You…were you also at the awardsceremony?"

"Hehe. Correct. To be precise, theparty after that."

"Please wait a moment. Outsidersshouldn’t have been allowed to take part in that though?"

That must mean that she was animportant person that took part in the awards ceremony….

"Don’t tell me…. you…"

"Haha, you finally caught up. Yes, mypen name is…."

"You were one of the speakers on thestage, weren’t you?!

"How did it end up like that?! You’renot wrong about the speakers being present at the party but still!"

"I-I don’t know…. You’re a normalhigh school student right? Why were you there then?"

"You’re one too damn it!! Why didn’tyou think about the possibility of me being a light novel author aswell?!"

"A-A light novel author?!"

Being surprised by my reaction, herface couldn’t stop getting red and she started glaring at me.

"What’s up with that [I can’t believethat] reaction? Even though I’m such a famous author!"

"Famous actor….Well then, what’sthe name of your novel?"

"I debuted with [The witch that neverlaughs.] and now I’m writing [Sky Magic Guardian]. Did you ever hearof [Sukamaga] ?"

"W-Wait a second! So thatmeans……!"

"Yes, that’s right. I am that famousauthor! Enryu Homura!", she announces while letting out a biglaugh.

I instantly froze up.

"Volume one instantly sold 10.000copies. An anime adaption followed almost after that. Going at thispace, I’ll even get a movie!………Hey, are you even listening?",she asked while tilting her head at me.

Being unable to answer her, I juststood there, grabbing my uniform. After a while, I managed to takeout my memo book and said:

"I’m a big fan of yours! Please giveme your autograph!", I screamed while turning towards EnryuuHomura-sensei. I even bowed down to her. A perfect 90 degree angle.

(TLC: Japanese people normally only bowwith that angle if they fucked up somewhere, or if they’re talking toa much, much, much, much more important person than themselves.)

"A fan….you say?"

Regardless, Homura-sensei continues ina shocked tone.

"Uwu…What a shame….To think thatyou were a fan of mine?!"

To my surprise and disbelief, sheshowed me a weird reaction while her face was getting as red as atomato.

"Huh? Why are you getting mad?"

"Of course I’d get mad! After thatinsult!"

"I-Insult?! No, I’m really a big fanof yours and…"

"Not to say an autograph…?That….That’s…That’s what I want from you!"

After hearing her scream out somethinglike that, my eyes opened wide.

"Eh? What do you mean by that? Youare Enryuu Homura, right? Why would you want an autograph fromyourself? Huh? What…?"

"What are you spacing out for?! WhatI want is the autograph from Towano Chikai-sensei!"

"Huh?! Why would you want anautograph from her?"

"Her?"

"Ah. No, never mind that! Why do youwant one from me anyway?"

"That’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?"

My mind went blank thinking about herpossible reasons as her clear voice cut through my train ofthought…

"Because I’m a big fan of TowanoChikai-sensei!!!"

………Huh?

"U-Uhm…."

"That being said…Can you h-hurry upand give me your autograph? On this white paper, if you would. Withan [For my number one fan] on the top please and an [Dear Himuro Mai]at the bottom!"

While holding the white paper in frontof me, she unmistakably said so.

"Wait a second, p-please. A lot ofthings are happening in my head…"

"What? Why are you so confused?"

I try my best to get a hang on thecurrent situation.

"U-Uhm so firstly…. you…HimuroMai are the popular light novel author Enryuu Homura-sensei right?"

"Yeah, that’s right."

"And knowing that I am Towano Chikai,you’re saying that you’re a big fan of mine?"

"That’s what I’ve been saying thatwhole time."

"Why did it become like this?"

"That’s a weird question all right.Is there a reason that’s saying something like that is impossible?And by the way, if I’m a popular author then you’re a famous author,you know?"

Now that she’s saying it, that feelingdidn’t really sink in yet.

"Since this is connected to the aimthat I originally had, so I’ll give go all the way and explain it foryou"

"Aim…?"

With an expression that said "Justkeep quiet and listen to me", she continued.

"I’m going to say this upfront butfor me, light novels are my everything. I’m giving it my best towrite a supreme light novel.", she stated as she laughedwholeheartedly. "But once day, I came into contact with your novel,Towano Chikai-sensei. First, I wasn’t really interested in readingyour novel after knowing the title…but after it won the firstplace, I forced myself to read it. After reading through it, I wasshocked. I was certain, that this is a god-like novel."

I was about to shout right "I knowright!" but stopped mid-way. That was close….way too close. Iexpected nothing less from a professional author like EnryuuHomura-sensei though.

"That really smashed my pride as alight novel author. Even though I had high sales and high quality, tobe beaten by a newcomer like you was just….. At first, I thought ofkilling you and right after that myself out of pure envy."

"Dying is pretty scary, though…"

"Well, your novel was so interestingthat I couldn’t stop my jealousy from leaking out. The little sisteris ridiculously cute and the big brother is just way too cool. As Icame to my senses, I was already on my home after buying 15 copies ofyour book."

"How many copies to do you need?!"

"There are many possible uses forthem. One for appreciation, one as propaganda, one for my storage,one for the bath, one for the curry……."

(TLC: Yes, she said curry. Don’t askme…)

"They all sound pretty useless to methough?!"

"Never mind that now, I planned tostudy your book in and out, to find out why it was so interesting. Mywish was to write a novel that could keep up with yours.", she saidwhile her eyes were shining with a mysterious charm.

"I read your book countless times. Icould cite every word and every sentence right here, right now. Isoon realized that even that wasn’t going to cut it. I don’t know thesecret behind the fun of your novel. I rea-lly have to re-sear-ch theau-thor af-ter a-ll is what I thought."

Listening to these words, at thatmoment, I felt like a lightning hit me. To research…the author?

"So…Your g-goal is?…"

"Yes. That’s why……from here onout, I will research your routine, every day that is. Like that, Iwill absorb your techniques and make them my own!"

Saying that, she stuffed out her chestand struck a pose. The shaking of her uniform was great and all but Ididn’t really have the option to admire that. Wanting to find out thefun behind it is fine but I am trying my best there as well and Istill don’t have a clue, you know?!

"H-Hey, strictly speaking, what areyou planning on doing?!"

I myself already had a bad precognitionbut I was clinging to that thin ray of hope that I having amisunderstanding.

"Hehe, that’s pretty obvious, don’tyou think? To know everything about you! How you live your dailylife, what you eat and drink, in what clothes you sleep every night,where you start washing yourself in the bath and so on!

In that moment, I got the chills of alife time.

"Eh? P-Please wait a second…. Isn’tthat like being a stalker…?"

"S-S-S-Stalker?! W-What are you evensaying?! It’s not like that!"

"R-Right?! There’s no way right?!"

"Y-Yeah! I just want to know yourentire being, that’s all!"

"That’s exactly what a stalker wouldsay though?!"

T-This is bad…. She wants the samething as me…. but her way of going at it is too fucked up….! Iwould do a lot if that would upgrade my quality…but becoming astalker is a bit too much!

"W-What? I would do anything if itwas connected to light novels! It’s your fault for giving it a name!"

"Why is it my fault now?!"

"While smashing my pride to bits….you also stole my heart….That’s why…."

She stopped for a second, trying tohide her red face, before continuing…

"You better take responsibility….",she whispered while lifting her head a little bit.

That attack was unfair…..I barelymanaged to hold myself back, being confronted with such a cutereaction!

"L-Listen, Himuro…what exactly doyou mean by that??"

"U-Uhm, for now….I’d like anautograph, a handshake, a picture and…"

"Restrain yourself a bit! And as ifthat was meant merely as the greed of a fan!"

"B-But I’m a fan after all. And wecan skip that whole responsibility thing if you’d tell me your secretright here, right now, you know? Now, now, tell me…."

"As if I could tell you that?!"

I want to know that myself! Because ofthat, I didn’t get a good nights sleep at all for the last month!

"Uwu…. well…I didn’t think I’dget to hear your secret that easy."

"No….that’s not what I meant bythat….Ah shit, we’re not on the same wavelength."

….Wait a second? She just said thatshe would thoroughly research me right? I’m only a stand-in though,so how would she ever learn that secret if she only researched me andnot the original writer Suzuka?

"Listen, Himuro, don’t get mad at mebut it wouldn’t help you even if you knew the secret, you know?", Isaid out of pure kindness. After all, it really was a waste of hertime.

"Hmpf, even if you say that, you’rejust scared that your secret will be made public right? I’m sorry toshut down your hopes but I’ll definitely fulfill my aim."

Being unaware of my aforementionedkindness, she sticks out her tongue…..He, this is bad. For herbecause she got the wrong research object and for me because I can’tcorrect her.

"Now then, Let’s start the research."

Saying that, she once again put one ofher arms into her bag, bringing out a notebook. On the title page waswritten [Towano Chikai research notes]……I shivered as I saw that.

"These are your research notes. Ialready started this morning. Even in class, I kept watching you. Notto forget in your hated subject math…."

"Don’t use me as an excuse to slackoff!!!"

"When retorting, Towano Chikai hasthe tendency to change his way of speaking."

(TLC: Meaning that he normally usesformal(polite) language. When retorting, he changes that to a moreinformal("rude") way of talking.)

"You’re taking notes in front of theperson you’re stalking?!"

"Well, just looking at you won’t giveme any new information after all. For now, I’ll have you answer me afew questions, alright?"

"Kuh….. what is this…."

I really thought about running awaybut…."

"In the event that you’re runningaway, I’ll start spreading the facts that you are Towano Chikai onthe school grounds, okay?", she says with a terrifying tone.

"Isn’t that blackmail?! That’sunfair!"

"I told you that you have no freedomof choice in this, right? I’ll have you know that even I am not keenof having to use that last resort though. It would shorten my timethat I could be alone with you to properly research you if your fansincreased here on school grounds, you see?"

"Both of your reasons are just tooself-centered!!"

"I’m just thinking ahead is all."

She really was self-centered. Even ifshe’s undoubtedly cute, her ideas and that [Towano Chikai researchnotes] book in her hand destroyed even that.

"That being said TowanoChikai-sensei, I will be in your care from now on!"

"Listen to me for Christ sake!"

Part 3:

"Weeeeell~ That’s what I’d expectfrom Sensei. To have such a cute fan.~"

After that, coming to my part-time jobjust in time, I was working while listening to Esaka-san.

"This girl…~ She’s been waiting forover an hour now.~ And she came here to ask you a lot of questions.~She’s an eager one alright.~"

"She’s not my fan at all."

"Hm? So she’s your girlfriend~?"

"No. She’s just a stalker."

Esaka-san started laughing at my coldstatement.

"Shit, this isn’t something to laughabout, you know?"

"It’s hard being a prominent person,huh~"

My shoulders dropped at her nonchalantcomment.

"But, you know.~ If it’s really thatbad, should I give her a warning~?"

"…No, so far nothing reallyhappened, so it’s fine."

"That’s that then.~ Still, ifanything happens, you can always consult your Onee-chan, okay?~"

……Says the legal loli. I’m gonna behonest but I don’t see anything but a female grade school kid infront of me. And I don’t feel like letting this girl take care of Maiis a good idea.

She pats me on the back and goes:

"You can go home now, shouldn’t lether wait for any longer.~"

I didn’t really get her point but Idecided not to complain.

"Ah, Yuu. Is your job already over?"

Putting of my apron and leaving thebackyard, I saw Mai approaching me from the book shelves. By thesound of that, it really sounds like a thing a girlfriend wouldsay….if it wouldn’t be for the notebook in her hand. The title onthat notebook was [Nagami Yuu research notes].

"Ah, yeah, a bit earlier than usual."

"I see. Today it was earlier thanusual, huh……"

Weirdly enough, she even has to takenotes on that….I think that this information doesn’t add up to thereason why the book is so fun…but Mai just answered:

"Since I don’t know which informationis important, I want to know everything."

Does that really help you in writing agood light novel, I wonder? Since it’s Mai, that Enryuu Homura-senseiafter all, I wouldn’t be surprised. Now… what if I would do thesame with Suzuka…. and what exactly am I thinking about?! Isn’t shenegatively influencing me?!

Exiting the store with me, Mai and Imade our way home. Yes, my home.

"Hey, are you really coming to myhouse…?"

"That was the promise, right? Whatare you saying after all that time?"

There really was a promise likethat…. No I was just pulled into that without my consent.

"Since I’m gonna keep my promise,you’d better keep yours."

"I get that but….the balance isclearly off here!"

"And where exactly? Outside, I can’ttalk to you like I would with Towano Chikai-sensei, you know? Youeven had me change the name of my notebook after all."

"But that’s already it…. I had alot to take care of so that your stalker activities wouldn’t causeany harm."

"D-Don’t say stalker activities! I’mjust collecting data! Data for my research! I don’t know in what kindof house you life for example! And as a fan, I have the right to knowthat!"

"Even if you say that…"

"What’s the harm?"

"Well, it’s fine I guess. Still, whyare you calling me Yuu?"

"What’s wrong with that, Yuu?"

"Exactly that. Why can’t you justcall me normally?"

"You said that I shouldn’t call youTowano-sensei though?"

"Then why aren’t you calling meNagami? Even I call you Himuro."

"I don’t like to be called by myfamily name. And calling others by their family name is a no-go aswell."

What’s up with that…. I don’t callany other people except my family members with their given name.

"I-It’s not a big deal. In othercountries, they call each other with their given names all the time."

"This is japan though…"

Going in circles like this, I finallysaw my home in the distance. Imagining the face that Suzuka willprobably make, my feet get heavier and heavier with each step.

"Nuu? What’s wrong, Yuu? Have wearrived?"

"Ah, yeah. This is it."

Seeing where I pointed, Mai wrotesomething in her notebook again. She even took a picture.

"….What are you doing?"

"This is important information. I’msure that depending on the house you live in, your personality willbe greatly influenced because of that."

"That really makes you seem like athief…."

"It’s fine. I’m not thinking on whereto break in first."

"As if I could trust your words inthat regard!"

Trying my best to stop her from walkingon the wrong path in life, I slowly open the door of the entrance.

"Welcome back, Onii-ch–"

As always, Suzuka was welcoming me backbut this time, she froze up after seeing Mai. Well, that’s to beexpected, I guess.

"Who might this be?"

"Ah. This is my classmate Himuro.Mai, this is my little sister Suzuka."

"Ah, it is nice to meet you. My nameis Himuro Mai and…..Yuu?! You had a little sister?!"

"Mai….? Yuu….?"

I was glared at from two sides. Sincetalking here wouldn’t help, we all went to the living room instead.

"Why did you keep quiet about that?If that Towani Chikai has a little sister, that would’ve changedeverything."

"Since I knew that you would reactlike that, I decided to keep quiet about it."

While Suzuka was preparing some tee,Mai and I were talking while sitting on the couch.

"So that means…that everything inyour novel….happened? That would explain a lot."

"No, that’s definitely not it!"

"You seem to have a goodrelationship….."

Having a blank face, Suzuka brought inthe tea she prepared. Giving me continuous side glances, I knew thatthis would be bad later…I can feel the lecture coming already….

"Thank you very much, Suzuka-san. Thetea is very delicious."

"For now, drink the tea. After you’veseen my room, you better go home. It’s pretty late already."

"I know that very well. It’s finesince my mansion is close by."

"Room….? What do you mean,Onii-chan?"

While her words may have seemed calm,her mood was clearly getting worse by the second.

"Hey, Suzuka-san. Are you aware ofthe fact that Yuu is a light novel author? Not to say a really famousone. I’m a pretty popular one as well but I couldn’t help becoming afan of his. Ehehehehe"

Hearing that statement followed by alaugh, Suzuka’s face clearly twitched.

"Y-Your sister clearly seemsdisinterested. Let’s go to your room already."

Trying my best not to get in contactwith Suzuka, I took Mai with me upstairs. As we entered my room, shehad a surprised expression on her face.

"O-Ohhh. So this is your room, huh."

"It’s pretty normal, isn’t it? Myroom isn’t anything special."

"Even if you say that, since this ismy first time entering a man’s room, I wouldn’t know any better…."

"Is that so? …. Hey, taking photosis clearly not okay?!"

"Uwu…..can’t help it, I guess. I’lljust burn this view into my memories then.", she says while lookingat every little corner in my room, until she suddenly came to a stop.

"Oh? Suzuka-san came with us?"

"Yes. I can’t leave Onii-chan alonewith another girl after all."

Not having realized it, Suzuka wasstanding in the threshold of my room.

"H-huh?! Does that mean that Yuureally….?!"

"My brother is a beast after all."

"H-Hey?! S-Suzuka?!"

"So that was true after all?! Goingafter my skirt and panties after only meeting me today… just howmuch of a pervert are you?!"

"N-No, you’re wrong! This is amisunderstanding!"

"Onii-chan…? What’s this aboutskirt and panties? Can you explain that to me in more detail please?"

"Like I said, that’s amisunderstanding!"

"B-but I won’t back down now. If it’sfor my aim, I will endure any kind of erotic plays that you force meto do!"

"Don’t force yourself if you’vegotten this red already!"

"Onii-chan? Is it alright if I callthe police now?"

"Don’t just jump in like that! Anddon’t take out your phone!"

"Oh…so today I’ll become awoman….. But it’s for my light novels….If I knew that it wouldend up like this, I would’ve worn a cuter pair of panties…."

"Don’t spit out weird things likethat while lying sideways on my bed!!!"

"Hello? Is this the police? Anintruder has entered my home…"

"Suzuka-san?!"

"Nagami Yuu pushes me onto bed whilelaughing [It’s useless even if you scream. Nobody is coming to saveyou. He he he he] Driven by desire, he reaches out his hand towardsmy chest….."

"Over there! Don’t just take noteswhile adding false accusations!!"

"Onii-chan…no. Nagami Yuu-san."

"Why did you change that?! Why areyou looking at me with these eyes?"

"Ah! Don’t tell me….to raise thequality of your novel….ramming your poisonous fangs into her, youeven did this and that to Suzuka-san as well?!"

"What do you mean [As well]?! And nohuman being has those poisonous fangs you talk about?!"

"About that…. please let me remainsilent on that."

"Why aren’t you disagreeing withher?!"

"Hey…Yuu. Is it okay if I call thepolice now?"

"Don’t end up in aloooooooooooooooooooooooop?!?!"

I retorted with all my might.

For now, I pushed them both out of myroom and pulled Mai with me towards the entrance.

"You go home now! This is as far asthis goes today!"

"Muu, unfair. You erotic devil.Ero-Yuu!"

"I will seriously prohibit you fromentering this building, you damn stalker!"

"I-I get it already. I’ll pull backfor now. We will continue our conversation tomorrow at school then."

She looked at me with a fake tear inher eyes but earnestly put her shoes on shortly after. Seeing that, Icrouched down next to her.

"Then, let’s go."

"Huh? Go where?"

"I’m escorting you home. It’s alreadygotten pretty dark outside after all. Letting you go home alone is ano-go."

As I stood up having finished puttingon my shoes, Mai had a surprised look on her face.

"T-T-There’s no need for that! I toldyou that my mansion was pretty close?!"

"It’s not a problem of the distancebut the time. Well then, Suzuka, I’m going out for a bit."

"Himuro-san. Please be careful. Don’tever let Onii-chan come into your house, okay?"

"What kind of warning is this?!"

"I don’t want a member of my familyto turn into a criminal after all."

"I-Is that it?! Is that how you gotall the girls……"

"As if!! Ah, forget it already! Let’sgo!"

Saying that, I left the house. Maifollowed shortly after that.

Part 4:

"U-Uhm, eheheh, thank..you."

"……It’s fine. I wanted to ask yousomething anyway."

"Something you wanted to ask?"…waswhat she answered and I continued while walking next to her.

"Your reason for going so far isbecause you want to know how I got my novel to be so interesting andfun, right?"

"What’s this after all this time?That’s what I said from the start."

"But… Will researching the writerreally bare any fruit in the end? Wouldn’t it be fine to just analyzethe novel after all..is what I think."

Going "You’re pretty naive", sheanswers me.

"Even if I analyze the novel, mysubjective view will always mix in. If I ask myself [Why is it sointeresting], it will always turn into [Why is it so interesting forme]. I’m not saying that that’s wrong or anything but the finalresult is still different."

"N-now that you say it…. There aretimes where I think that this or that part is interesting but peoplewill sometimes think differently about that specific scene or act."

"Exactly. You can’t help that. That’sexactly why I think that the information directly from the author isthe one that is the closest to the truth, don’t you agree?"

O-Oh, so this is the way that EnryuuHomura-sensei thinks, huh? That’s a reason I can get behind.

"You’re really amazing after all.That’s what I’d expect from a pro like you."

"But you’re the same after all! Andit’s not like my way of thinking is the only one that is correct."

"No, I also think that you’re right.It became a good lesson. Thanks for that."

"L-Lesson? Well, it’s not that Imind. But as thanks, you could tell me the way you think about yourown novel."

"No, I’ll pass. That’s impossibleafter all."

I can’t answer her since I’m not thereal author. Not like I could tell her that, though.

"Hmpf, fine then. In the end, you’restill going to tell me everything!"

Burning with passion like never before,she suddenly comes to a stop. As I started to wonder, I realized thatwe probably arrived at our destination….This is?

"Is that the mansion that recentlygot renovated here…? Pretty huge alright…."

I look up the building that standsbefore my eyes. The original building was already huge but that haschanged drastically it seems.

"Thanks for walking me home. I’llmake sure to write this in my notebook as well."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I don’t care how muchyou dramatize that though."

"Nagami Yuu is….being a [take-homewolf] and plans to enter my home…..just like we found outearlier…."

(TLC: take-home wolf = taking a womanhome and then trying to enter their house)

"Why are your dramatizing in thatdirection?!"

"I-I’m just joking. I’m seriouslythankful for today though. I’ll see you tomorrow okay?"

I saw her off while she trotted intoher mansion. This is going to be a pain in the ass in the future, waswhat I thought. I didn’t think that suddenly a stalker would show up.And with the same passion as myself. Being a professional authorreally has it’s problems.

"Well, gotta work with what youhave", I sighed as I gripped my hand.

If you want to find out why the novelis so interesting, you have to understand the mindset of theauthor….huh? Luckly, I am in a position where this is prettydo-able. Picking up my speed to get home faster…..I forget acrucial part in my plans.

"Onii-chan? I hope you will explainyourself now…"

What greeted me as I returned home, wasthe sight of Suzuka sitting behind the entrance.

Part 5:

"And? What do you personally thinkmakes your novel interesting?"

Facing each other, I explained thesituation to Suzuka and asked her for her opinion. Since I was at aloss myself, I honestly told her everything, from Mai being thatfamous Enryuu Homura, to the fact that she’d go so far as to stalk mebecause she wanted to find out what made Suzuka’s novel sointeresting. While making the food for dinner and even while eatingthat, she continuously glared at me while saying stuff like "Isee." or "Himuro-san is really beautiful after all." or "Herbreasts were really big as well". After we finished eating dinner,she seemed to have calmed down a bit, making it possible for us tohave a decent conversation about it……her expression didn’t reallychange though.

"What is this so suddenly? With whatkind of aim do you ask that?"

"No, well, Mai asked that countlesstimes…so yeah, on the outside I am Towano Chikai, right? Wouldn’tit be really suspicious if I couldn’t even answer a simple questionlike that?"

The truth was, that nobody wanted toknow her secret more than me but this time, I chose Mai as an excuse.

"And what if I told you, were youjust going to tell it to her? You really are honest, aren’t you?Going so far as calling each other by your given names, you must havegood relationship."

"I was forced by her to do that…..and besides, if I could just give her a straight answer, she’dprobably stop her stalker activities, don’t you think?"

"Uwu….that might be true..but…"

After muttering that, she took a deepbreath, sighing before she continued.

"How did it even come to this? Justwhen I finally got a shared topic to talk about…. why did such abeautiful person have to appear in front of Onii-chan…"

"What does this have to do with herouter appearance….?"

"A lot…..and even a stalker? She’sgoing to follow you everywhere, right? Onii-chan? You might even givein to her temptations."

"Temptation..you…. I said that it’sfine. I will keep her stalker activities in check after all."

"That’s not what I’m talking about."

Then what exactly are you talkingabout…?

Even if I asked her, Suzuka wouldprobably just avert her head and keep quiet…

"In any case, to release me from herclutches, you’d best answer my question as fast as possible."

"I don’t know myself."

"…..Huh?"

"I thought I told you that from thevery beginning. That I was possessed while writing the novel. This iswhy even I can’t tell you why it’s so interesting."

"N-No, wait. To think that the authorhimself wouldn’t know the answer to that question is just…."

"Now that I think about it, my novelis still insufficient. I always thought that something wasmissing….it wasn’t like I was completely happy with it myself, andthere was somebody else that thought it was f-i-n-e."

(TLC: In case you forgot, it was Yuuhimself who said that because he was butt-hurt.)

"Who in the world said something likethat about the first-place winner anyway?"

"Onii-chan, I’m a little irritatedright now, so can you keep quiet for a bit?"

S-Scaryyyyy. I never felt so scaredbefore because of mere words.

"Since an enemy like Himuro-sanappeared, I can’t be slacking off."

How did she turn into your enemy likethat? I’m the one who is suffering, remember? Is it because Mai isalso a fellow author?

"But….I don’t know exactly what I’mmissing, what I should change in the second volume… nothing comesto my mind."

So she still isn’t satisfied even aftercreating a perfect little sister rabucome and landing a big hit? Waita second, this isn’t the time to voice my respect! I wanted to knowabout her secret but our conversation took a full turn! I couldn’treally think of anything lacking..but leaving her alone in thatregard was something I couldn’t do, so I raised my voice.

"Hey Suzuka."

"What is it onii-chan?"

"When you’re searching for that thingyou’re lacking, do you mind if I help you?"

"……Excuse me?"

Having a shocked expression on herface, Suzuka looks right at me.

"W-Well, it’s that, you know? I can’treally do nothing if you’re looking so troubled. I heard it afterall. And I’m your stand-in, so it’s only natural, right?"

I thought that helping her find outwhat she was lacking would connect me to the reason why the novel isso interesting.

"Onii-chan…?"

"No, well, two heads think betterthan one right? I know that I’m not really in the position to assu-"

"No that’s not true! Please, helpme!"

…..Stopping me mid-sentence, Suzukaalmost screamed out. Thinking that I’d definitely get rejected, I wasa bit shocked.

"U-uhm, I know I was the who asked inthe first place but are you really fine with that?

"Yes. Onii-chan’s ideas will surelybe a great help."

Taking out a notebook and a pen, sheimmediately started writing on it.

"Well then, please tell me the pointsand aspects that my novel lacked."

"Eh? Ah…but….even if you askme…I can’t think of anything on the spot."

"That certainly can’t be it. No, ifanything else, only Onii-chan would be able to pinpoint thesethings."

"What’s up with this pressure?! Whydo you put so much faith in me?!"

"Huh?! Well…that’s because….yeah!Since you’re a light novel author as well, I figured that you wouldbe able to help me!…..Or what is it? Do you mean to tell me thatyou blurted out something like that without having any ideas at all?"

Hitting exactly where it hurt, Icouldn’t do anything besides shrink. At this rate, acting like anideal big brother might only end up deducting a lot of points…..Notlike I had a lot from the beginning though. I turned my head anddesperately tried to think of something….

"T-That’s it! How about askingShinozaki-san for advice?"

"Shinozaki-san?"

"Yeah. She is the person that’sclosest to you in terms of writing your novel. Asking your editor intimes like these is the best starting point."

I saw that written on the internetafter all…..since I never had a personal editor….

"But is that fine to ask for advicebecause of something like that?"

"That’s nothing to worry about. It’sher job after all. Well? Let’s go."

Pushing Suzuka out of the living room,we made our way to her room. After starting up the notebook, we wrotean email for Shinozaki-san.

"I wonder if she’ll be disturbedbecause I need her help."

"Well, she is a bit specialyeah….but since it’s about light novels, I think that she’llearnestly listen to your request…? Let’s wait for…tomorrow Ithink. She’ll probably have answered by then."

Just having finished my assumption, anotification sound came Suzuka’s notebook.

"Oh, an answer just came in."

"Just now?!"

W-What is this……doesn’t she haveanything else to do….?

"W-Well, the faster the better. And?What did she say?"

"Let me see…..[It’s admirable ofyou to try to aim even higher, even though your sales were off thecharts. Now, you say that you want to make your novel moreinteresting but I think that you might want to flesh out a fewparts.]"

"Wow, just what you’d expect from aprofessional editor. Coming up with an advice like that."

Reassuring Suzuka that she’d made theright decision, she continued to read the content of the mail.

"[For example a few of the servicescenes. There aren’t really any shortcomings but in my opinion itwouldn’t hurt to make them a bit more lewd.], she says"

"Huh?…"

I-Isn’t there quite a turn of theconversation?

"I’ll continue for now. [To beprecise, how about adding a few panchira-scenes? That’ll please theaverage reader. Not only doing it via illustration but also going indetail in the book itself that is.]"

(TLC: panchira = pantsu (panties) +chira (onomatopoeia for catching a glimpse of something)

"W-Wait a second!!!"

What ridiculous vocabulary is thisperson throwing out so suddenly?!

"[I know that there are probably alot of other possibilities but how about you think about that one fora bit?]….That was all."

Having finished reading the mail,Suzuka turns around to face me. Was it my imagination or did theatmosphere in the room suddenly got a lot colder?

"Onii-chan…."

"Ah! T-This is…I’m sorry! Thisperson is a no-good in the e–"

"What exactly is this panchirathing?"

"H-Huh?"

The second I wanted to jump on my kneesto procrastinate in front of Suzuka, she stopped me mid-sentence.

"I have never heard this panchiraword before."

"Eh? Really? To have never heard ofthat…"

…..Granted she goes to a prestigeOjou-sama school…but still….This level of innocence is a bitweird…

"And? What exactly does this panchirathing mean now? She said it’s service for the readers?"

Having apparently really no clue, sheearnestly ask me such a question. In what world does the brother haveto explain such a thing to his little sister….

"No, no, no, no! Just forget aboutthat! That was probably meant as a joke by Shinozaki-san!! Yeah, thatmust be it!"

"Why would an editor like her makejokes now? You definitely know what this panchira thing is right?Please explain it to me."

"E-Explain?! Panchira?!"

"Yes. Since Shinozaki-san said it, itmust be an important vocabulary concerning light novels right?"

"Well, it’s not like it’s completelyunrelated but…"

"If that is so, then I must know whatit is."

Uwuu….don’t look at me with theseearnest eyes please….Telling her isn’t wrong….it’s theexplanation of it.

"W-Why don’t you just search for iton the internet?"

"Huh? But you already know it, right?Onii-chan? There’s no reason for me to do that when you could justtell me right now."

"Y-You’re not wrong about thatbut….this is this and that is that…"

"What’s wrong? I though that youwanted to help me?"

Ugh…. these words really pull on myheart…..

"Now that we’re talking about it,you’re probably still mad that I became a professional light novelauthor before you. That’s why you refuse to help me…"

"I’m not mad though?! It’s true thatI’m really envious and frustrated but I’m not mad at you just becauseof that!"

"Then there’s no problem, right?Teach me about this panchira thing, please."

S-Shit…. Since it’s come to that, Ican’t decline her anymore. She’s going to find out anyway, so it’d bebetter to tell her as her big brother!

"I-I get it, I’ll teach you about it!But! Keep in mind that this is just for your research….for yournovel only, okay?!"

"Yes, of course.", she answers meas she tightly grips her notes.

I slowly open my mouth.

"Firstly, it’s important to tell youthat the word panchira is an abbreviation."

"I see. So it’s just like FAQ or likethe word advertisement often turns into ad."

"Yeah. And this abbreviation consistsof two words. The chira part of panchira means that something isvisible for a short amount of time."

"I see, I see. Something is visiblefor a short time….."

(TLC: i already explained it abovealready, but this is pretty difficult to put into English words, Ihope you kind of get the meaning)

"And the pan part of panchira is anabbreviation for….panties…."

(TLC: originally pantsu = panties)

"Hmmm, Is that so…panties……..huh?"

Hearing my words, her pen suddenlystops. Ah….. now that I’ve said it, I have to pull through!

"Yes! So panchira means that thepanties of a girl are visible for a short moment, most of the timewithout the girl even realizing that!"

"Is this supposed to be a bad joke,Onii-chan?"

Suzuka looks at me with a face full ofscorn…Shit, why is it that even though I merely explained it, I’mmet with these eyes?!

"You’re wrong! That’s really what itmeans! This scene is often used in light novels to fire up thereaders and such!"

"I don’t get it. Shinozaki-san saidthat the readers would appreciate more fan-service, right? Why is itconsidered service when one can see the panties of a girl?"

"Well because you….."

You’ll get happy. You’ll get happy whenyou see the panties of a girl. That’s the undisputed truth of thisworld…….But what the hell am I even saying?!

"What’s wrong? Was it a joke afterall?"

"Ahhh for Christ sake! Because itmakes us happy! Since most of the light novel readers are in my rangeof age, you get aroused easily after all! Nothing more, nothingless!"

Contempt me as a pervert big brotherfor all I care! What I’m saying isn’t wrong in the least!

"Because it makes you happy, yousay…."

Contrary to my expectations, Suzukaactually takes notes.

"Uhm….Suzuka-san?"

"Onii-chan…do you also feel happywhen this panchira thing happens?"

Her next words straight up shocked me.

"H-Huh?! W-What are you even sayi-"

"If what you just explained was thetruth, then it must be like that, right? Since you’re a light novelreader, and a boy. And you also like writing them, after all.Regarding all that, you must be happy after all when it happens,right?"

W-Well of course I don’t hate it…. ifI had to say, I like it. I would even be thankful if it happened tome! But do you really think I could proudly announce that in front ofmy little sister…? I surely can’t.

"So I was right after all."

"I didn’t say anything though?!"

"But I understand it now, what theword panchira means…. that explains why there are so many scenes inyour books….."

"Heeeey, Suzuka-saaan?!"

"So you get happy if ithappens…..But to have my panties be seen is…..uwuuubut….but…"

"Excuse me but can you listen whenother people are talking? I’m begging you!"

Tss, she doesn’t listen to one word Isay….she keeps on talking to herself…..Ah…in her head, sheprobably already labeled me a [panchira loving pervert]…..I feellike I can literally hear my respect as a big brother beingsquashed….

"I’m sorry, Onii-chan. Can I ask youto leave my room?"

…..?! I even got kicked out of herroom….not that I can’t understand her feelings. She doesn’t want tobe in the same room as her panchira loving big brother…. that’s tobe expected. What should I do after this…?

Part 6:

At the moment, I’m heading towards thekitchen on the first floor. I needed to drink something to calmmyself down or I’d probably collapse on the floor. Suddenly, I canhear the sound of the door opening so I turned my head towards thesource.

"Onii-chan, are you there?"

"Huh? Suzuka? Why are you even-?!"

Before I could’ve finished my words, Ifroze up. I realized that Suzuka changed her clothes. Until now, shewore short pants…but now, for some reason, she changed into askirt. Not to mention a super short one…. She had one of those,this girl… That’s just barely covering the important parts, oi.

"Hm? What happened, Onii-chan? Youhave a face like you met a bear on a mountain."

"H-Huh?! No….that’s my line?!What’s up with your clothes?!"

While looking at her revealing clothes,Suzuka answered with a calm expression.

"This…I want to research thispanchira thing right now. That’s why I changed.", she let out theseunreasonable words.

"Eh?! Research…you say?"

"Yes. Since I want to put it in mynovel, I have to gain some experience first-hand after all. I wantyour help as well, Onii-chan."

"No, no, no, no….wait a second. Idon’t understand a thing you’re saying…."

"Why is that? You also raise thequality of your novel by gaining different experiences, right?"

"Well, yeah but…..panchiraresearch?!"

I don’t get it. I don’t get theconnection at all. You can’t normally gain any experience withpanchira, right? Mixing light novels and real life is bad after all.And what exactly do you want to research about panchira anyway?!

"Since I’ve never experienced thispanchira thing, I wanted to know how it feels like. To be seen, or tosee it. Please, teach me, Onii-chan.

(TLC: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )

"So…that means that you want it tohappen right now? You basically want me to…see your panties…?"

I see, my head has gotten crazy now. Ican hear weird stuff after all. Well, got to go to the hospital, Iguess.

"If I remember correctly, you can dothis….I can grab my skirt to raise it a bit so that you can see-"

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!"

I quickly stopped the hand of Suzukathat was grabbing her skirt.

"A-Are you an idiot?! Can you stopwith that?! This isn’t something a girl should be doing in front of aboy you know?!"

"I most certainly am not joking."

Certainly, looking at her calm face, itdidn’t look like she was joking at all.

"I want to improve my novel. Toachieve that, I have to have the resolve. Truly, I can’t go around,showing people my underwear. That’s why I’m asking you, Onii-chan."

"Uwuu…"

Listening to her honest words, even Ican’t help faltering. To be ready to do almost everything in order towrite an interesting novel. That’s the same resolve that I have.Admitting that, I can’t think of any words to turn her down.

"This is merely an act. Nothing else.That’s why I’m begging you, Onii-chan. Work with me please."

To think that Suzuka would earnestlyask for my help, that’s a first all right. And I can’t keep myattitude when she asks me so straight-forward.

"Haaaa….."

I take a deep breath to calm myselfdown. This is just for collecting data. It’s important to write anovel of high quality. It’s nothing different from trying to act howa light novel protagonist would.

"I get it, I’ll help you."

"Onii-chan….thank you very much."

Seeing her resolve, I steeled mine aswell. It’s just for collecting data…even if that consists of actingout a panchira moment! Yes, even if it consists of me seeing thepanties of my little sister!

"….Alright, there’s one thingthat’s important before we start. There’s a difference between apanchira and you lifting the skirt up yourself, remember that."

"I see. There’s a surprising depth inthese things."

Suzuka takes notes on that, while Icontinued.

"And? What exactly do you want toresearch about panchira?"

"Mainly the situation that inducesit, I would say. In what circumstances, to be precise."

"I see. So a simple approach it is.Suzuka, try sitting down right here."

Suzuka goes "Like this?" while taking a seat on the living room floor. As she does that, her skirt rolls up, revealing her panties clearly for me to see.

…….Striped. The so-called shimapan.

(TLC= literally means striped-panties)

So she wears panties likethese……….and what exactly am I commenting on in thissituation?!

"I see, that really makes my pantiesbe visible."

(insert illustration)

"You really are calm about this…"

Really, no matter how much I steeledmyself for this, it’s still embarrassing.

"Huh? What’s wrong, Onii-chan? Whyare you averting your eyes?"

"W-Well, even if it’s helping you,kind of, it still feels wrong to just keep on staring, you know?"

"Still, I don’t have anything else Ican ask here. Can’t you just keep watching a little bit more?"

That’s got to be the first time every agirl asked the lucky boy to keep watching after her panties arerevealed. I forced myself to turn my head and continued to look ather panties…..it’s impossible after all!

(TLC: yeah, "force" lol)

"Again, why are you looking away?"

"If I keep on looking, my eyesightwill get worse."

"We’re not talking about a TV-screenhere."

"It’s the thought of it that counts!"

"Don’t say it like my pantiesresemble the direct sunlight….Could it be….that you’re happywhile seeing my panties?"

That statement made me almost stand upwith shock.

"T-There’s no way, alright?! Even ifit’s panties we’re talking about, they still belong to you, right? Mysister?! It would be weirder for me to be conscious of it!"

I focus my eyes on her panties again,telling me countless times that they belong to my blood-relatedlittle sister. Doing that, I managed to calm down. All right.

"Hmpf! There’s no way an olderbrother would get excited after seeing his little sister’s panties!"

"Hmh, so that’s it. Then tell meabout other situations where the panchira happens."

"Yeah, no problem. Can’t have youmisunderstand this crucial vocabulary."

Having taken my embarrassment undercontrol, I propose another situation.

"Picking up something, while onlybowing your upper body is also a thing."

"I see. Like this then."

She turns her back to me and acts likeshe would pick something up. Since her skirt is so short, reachingout with my hand just a little bit would reveal her pantiescompletely. Ha, nothing impossible.

"It’s also possible when you’recrouching down to match your line of sight with a child."

"Like this? …..Yes, that makes themvisible."

No matter what she does, since herskirt is so short, her panties are almost always revealed instantly.

"Trying to reach out for a high placewith your hands is also pretty simple."

"I see.", is what she says aftertrying it out for herself.

If you just match your line of sight alittle bit, it perfectly reveals everything. To wear such amini-skirt is a sinful act against all men…It will get them arousedway too easy.

"Other options are sitting on a chairwith your legs pulled up for example."

"Like this? Can you really see themlike that?"

"Don’t worry. Looking like this, youcan see a triangle part of the panties. Even that counts after all."

"Eh? Oh, you’re right. So that’s alsoa way to induce a panchira."

"Don’t give any space when wearing amini-skirt. Boys are always aiming for that panchira moment afterall."

"That’s very interesting, alright.Just what I’d expect from Onii-chan, being very passionate aboutthis, aren’t you?"

"Ha?! W-Wrong! That’s not what Ispecifically think! It’s what all boys think! Don’t get any weirdideas!"

"Is that so?"

"Guh….And? I’m sure this turnedinto a good lesson for your novel, right?! So, what now? Are yousatisfied?"

"Yes. I understood that there are alot of things one has to keep in mind about panchira."

"I’m glad then."

"Also, judging from your reactions, Iunderstood why this panchira is considered a fan-service scene."

"Don’t say that!"

Shit…it feels like I lost somethingimportant as a human being….

"Still, do you feel like you canwrite the second volume even more interesting now?"

Yes, that’s right. This was my goalafter all……Well it’s not like I think that all this panchira talkwould change things dramatically…..

"Yes, I don’t understand everythingbut I think I’m going into the right direction."

"Are you serious?"

What exactly is this thing that she wasunsatisfied with after all? I thought that I would be able tounderstand after all that…but it feels like I’ve gotten furtheraway.

Being tired after all that, I leaned onthe sofa in our living room. It feels like the stress and fatiguefinally caught up with me. Suzuka on her part keeps on taking notes.She’s pretty tough after all.

"Thanks to Onii-chan, I feel like Ican put this experience in good use concerning my novel. I’m reallythankful for today."

"Ah, yeah. It’s fine if I couldhelp….."

I couldn’t keep my eyes from closingany longer. This feeling of exhaustion is just too strong. I wantedto take some mental notes on panchira as well…but my mind stoppedworking.

"Well then, I will return to myroom."

Remembering a crucial thing, I forcedmy body to wake up one last time before finally drifting off.

"Wait, Suzuka."

"Yes?"

I called out to her, telling her tostop for a second. I forgot something I wanted to tell her.

"This mini-skirt….never wear thatoutside, okay? It’s too short. I will help your research no matterhow often, so don’t show other people your panties just for the sakeof researching panchira."

"Huh?"

I realized too late what I just blurtedout…. I just don’t want Suzuka to turn into anotherShinozaki-san…..As I tried my hardest to put my head up, I heardSuzuka.

"….What are you saying? That’s justself-explanatory.", she said after looking straight at me.

"Well…it’s fine as long as youunderstand."

"I won’t do something like that,really. I only did it to collect data. And also-", she starts asshe turns around and opens the door.

"—–I won’t do something like thatwith no one besides Onii-chan, you know….?"

Being left alone, I pondered aboutSuzuka’s last words.

"Yeah, I wish you’d really cut mesome slack…."

Huff….. What a chaotic day this was.And I didn’t even make any progress at all….

"And…what should I do about thenovel for the light novel contest?"

I haven’t made any progress at alllately after all.

Thinking about that, I fell asleep on the couch.