Ore ga Suki nano wa Imouto dakedo Imouto ja Nai

Volume 2 Chapter 1

I just wanted to catch up with my little sister

Part 1:

"A signing session rehearsal?"

It was a certain day during the summervacation in July. I, Nagami Yuu, was sitting in my room, writing anentry manuscript for the contest I wanted to apply for but all of asudden Suzuka entered my room, saying that out of the blue.

"Yes, that’s right. Tomorrow is yourfirst signing session after all. To please all the fans that came outof their way to see you, we have to practice."

The girl who said that was my littleSister, Nagami Suzuka. Being the student council president of theprestige all-girls middle school Hakuou, having top-grades, a calmpersonality and athletic skills, she was, at least from my point aview, a beautiful cheat-like superhuman. And to add on that, she wasactually also a professional light novel writer, it really is unfair.

"Even if you say practice….therewon’t be any problems since I will just sign their books, right?"

"Not exactly. Since you will bemeeting the fans face to face, we will have to think of how you willact towards them. This is an important event to celebrate the releaseof the second volume, you know? I will be troubled if you don’t actlike the proper Towano Chikai."

Towano Chikai—-a new author that wonthe first place in the contest and landed a big hit with that novel,climbing right on top of the summit of light novel authors. The firstvolume of that novel [The story of a littlesister who loves her big brother way too much to cope] sold anincredible amount of 30.000 copies instantly, which became anunparalleled event in history of sales. To cut it short, a legend.And the person that wrote this was currently standing in front of me,my little sister.

"Onii-chan ismy stand-in, remember? Please pull yourself together."

And like shesaid, I am currently acting as her stand-in. This year in April—onthat fateful day. Since that day where Suzuka told me that she wonthe grand-prize, I took it upon me to play her role as the lightnovel author, Towano Chikai. On my end, I was just a normalfirst-year high school student that also shared the same dream ofbecoming a light novel author…but because of various reasons, Idecided to help out my little sister Suzuka. Because of thesecircumstances, our relationship changed drastically. Before, we wereonly able to hold the most basic conversations without any realemotion to it….but now we talk normally with each other.

"SinceOnii-chan is seen as Towano Chikai by the outer world, you have tokeep up the appeal."

"But, ispractice really necessary? We haven’t had any real problems thus far.And—", I continued, while focusing my eyes on my notebook PC.

The deadline forthe next contest was slowly closing in. Becoming a light novel authorwith my own strength, I wanted to surpass Suzuka as fast as possible.Those are the circumstances right now.

But, Suzukashowed no consent with a calm "That’s a no."

"If you letdown your guard like that, someone is bound to find out your realidentity. To prevent that from happening, I really think that weought to be doing some practice."

Ugh..she’s notwrong. And I don’t have any chance against Suzuka like that. Even inmoments like these, I wonder if our relationship really changed….?At least not in my favor.

"I gotit….But what exactly should we do for this practice?"

Turning off mynotebook PC, I turned around to face Suzuka again. Ever since Ibecame her stand-in, I was unable to deny her requests…and I didn’twant to be the big brother that turned his sister down when she wasasking for help.

"Let’s see, Ithink that it would a good start to simulate a signing session.Something unexpected my happen after all."

"I see."

"Please try tosee me as a fan. First, I will come up to you like this, right?Then…[O-Onii-chan, I am a fan of yours….please give me yourautograph!]"

Saying that, herfacial color gradually changed into a strong red one and she pulledout a small paper.

"S-Somehow…..evenif this was meant as an act, that seemed oddly realistic."

"Eh?! O-Ofcourse it would be! I have to do it earnestly after all! I-It’s notlike I really want your autograph or anything, so don’t get any weirdunderstandings!"

"I won’t makeany weird assumptions, alright…But, you just said you were a fan of[Onii-chan]…."

"I-I justmisspoke! [I am a big fan of Towano Chikai-sensei!]"

Like that, sheonce more pulled out the paper. I accepted it and said:

"Uhm…I justhave to say [Thank you very much.] and sign it, right?"

"That seems abit cold, so could you something else after that?"

That….might beright. Thank you for buying it…or something like that?

"Maybe youshould add something Towano Chikai-like. How about [Thank you verymuch. By the way, was my little sister cute?] or something similar tothat?"

"Wait! What’sup with that?!"

"Asking for theopinion of the main heroine is a given, don’t you think!"

Now that she saysso, it does seem like a good idea…but I still have some reluctance.

"Novel is novelafter all, so I think that you should make an appeal about the littlesister to the readers."

"But, it wassomething that you wrote while being possessed, right?"

"T-That is truebut still, that doesn’t change the fact that this is a little sisternovel."

It reallytroubles me that I can’t find anything to say against that. Since Ihave a little sister in real life though, a phrase like that isreally hard to get out of my mouth…..The little sister heroine ofSuzuka’s novel is super cute but it’s not like I’m interested in thelittle sister attribute, okay? Yeah, that would be no good!

"S-So I shouldvoice my thanks towards my fans and then take the paper to sign it."

Leaving all thatlittle sister talk behind me, I continued with my acting…

"And then Ishould ask for the name that I put under my autograph."

"Y-Yes! Pleasewrite [For Nagami Suzuka]!", she said, seeming really happy.

You really areinto this, aren’t you… Touched by her, I also got a bit moreserious. I moved my pen with graciousness.

"….You reallyhave a nice handwriting."

"Hehe, after itwas decided that a signing session was held, I practiced signingpapers as Towano Chikai. Since I’m your stand-in, I have to do atleast that much, you know?"

Suzuka replied tothat with an "So it was like that."

Well, it is kindof frustrating that it isn’t my own autograph….

"Ah, pleasewrite [My little sister] before my name please!"

"Eh? Why?"

"T-There’s noreal reason behind it! There might be some fans that ask for thatafter all!"

Listening to herexplanation, I decided to leave it at that and do as I was told.

"And…whilereturning it, I should say [Please continue to support me from hereon out as well.] or something similar to that, right? See? There wasno real need to practice after all?"

But, Suzukadidn’t answer me. She was spacing out, letting out a weird laugh"Ehehehe" with a flushed cheeks.

"Ehe, ehehe,Onii-chan’s autograph…."

"Ehm….Suzuka-san?"

"Hya?! W-Whatis it?!"

"No, that’swhat I’m supposed to say…"

"I-It’snothing. Don’t let it bother you. By the way, this is your firstautograph ever, right?"

Well, ittechnically is just for practice but yeah. Since I did it as astand-in though, I can’t really feel happy about it…

"Onii-chan’sfirst autograph….I am the first…."

What exactly isshe on about now?

"Ha?! F-Fornow, you should’ve understood the rules of the signing session. Nowthen, let’s practice in a more signing session-like atmosphere."

Signingsession-like atmosphere?….as I asked her for details, she turned mearound on my chair, turning me towards the door and told me to waitin that position.

"I will enterthis room as a fan of Towano Chikai and Onii-chan will give me hisautograph. Like this, we will have the fitting atmosphere."

Ah, I see how itis. Just what I would expect from Suzuka. She left the room and Iwaited on my chair exactly how she instructed me to do.

"E-Excuse me! Iam a fan of Towano Chikai!"

Without evertelling me, Suzuka instantly entered her role and I answered asTowano Chikai…but:

"Thank you verymuch for coming out of your way to—–Ha?!"

While greetingher, I almost choked. Why? Because Suzuka’s clothes changed intosomething unbelievable.

"W-What is it?Why did your greeting turn out so rude?"

"N-No, ratherthan that! You! Why are you wearing gym clothes?!"

Yes, Suzuka waswearing the sorts of clothes that you would wear during school sportsclasses. Not to forget the bloomers and the black knee-socks thatemphasized the whiteness of her plump thighs.

"T-This iscosplay!"

Suzuka was sayingthat with an embarrassed expression while I was trying to calm myselfdown.

"That might beso….but why cosplay?!"

"D-Don’t getany weird ideas. This is also part of the practice. The people thatcome to the signing session are mostly otaku right? If so, then thereis no guarantee that there won’t be any female fans that go to thesigning session while cosplaying! Since Onii-chan was surprised justnow as well, we have to prepare you for that!"

"No…well, nomatter how much of an otaku event this is, I don’t think that therewill be cosplayers attending the signing session…."

Listening to mywords, Suzuka went [Eh?!] with wide-opened eyes. It seems like shehad a misunderstanding that otaku events equaled cosplayers. Ithought that she was slowly starting to understand the otakuculture….

"Still, I agreethat we won’t know for 100%. But coming in here with gym clothes isalso a bit….you know. How did you even get your hands on theseclothes?"

"T-This doesn’tbelong to me. Double Peace-sensei forgot this when we did our cosplaycontest….so I thought I’d borrow it for a short while…."

Ah, there wassomething like that alright.

"At that time,Onii-chan was really starting at me….and this time too…."

"Eh?"

"I-It’snothing! Since we can’t exclude the possibility for sure, we have topractice that! Please welcome me properly this time!"

As she said that,she once more pulled out the paper towards me. Maybe because she wasembarrassed, her hand seemed to tremble a little bit. Somehow,because she was looking at me while fiddling with her hands, I got avery bad feeling in my chest…..something similar to immoralfeelings….they suddenly entered my brain…Ah! What exactly am Ithinking towards my little sister, me?! T-This is bad, my thoughtsseemed to have wandered in a dangerous direction! Let’s focus on thepractice for now!

While my heartwas beating like crazy, I returned the signed paper, saying my thanksand bowing my head.

"Not bad, notbad. There are some small things but if you do it like oursimulation, you should have no problem. Please do your besttomorrow."

"Y-Yeah. Ifthis was the real thing, I’d be a lot more serious, yup.."

Seeing Suzuka inher cosplay really took me off-track but I pulled myself together andanswered vaguely.

"N-Now then,just to make sure, we’ll do one more simulation."

"Eh? Were doingit again?"

"J-Just to makesure….But, this time please sign it with your own name,Onii-chan……"

"My ownname….you mean Nagami Yuu? Why?"

"T-There’s nodeeper meaning to that! I just thought that, if we did that as well,we might discover some new things…or something like that….Nevermind that…..I’m a big fan of Onii-chan, please sign this!"

Not exactlyknowing what was happening, I still accepted the paper in front of meand put my own name as an autograph. Adding the [To my little sisterNagami Suzuka] part too…..I wonder when I will be able to sign withmy own pen name on a regular basis…?

"Uhm, is thisfine?"

"T-Thank youvery much!….Haaaa….."

Holding thispaper in front of her chest, she sighed happily…. I understand thatthis is just a play…but somehow, she really seems into it.

"I got both thefirst for the Towano Chikai one….and Onii-chan’s own one….."

"F-For now, Ithink that this should suffice as a practice for the signing session,right?"

"….Ha?!Y-Yes, you are right. The real thing will be okay likethis….However, I really think that you should bring an appeal forliking the little sister in…."

No, really, Iwish you’d let up on that one….is what I told her uncertainly.Suzuka then looked at me with a pouting face and said "Muu, i stillam worried after all…."

Still, afterlooking at the piece of paper on her hands, her expression softenedwith an "Hya…"

"Anyway, I’mcounting on you for the signing session tomorrow. Since you and meare one as Towano Chikai, I ask you to do your best.", Suzuka saidand left my room.

Reminiscing aboutit, what the hell was all of this….

"But still, Ihave to do my best for my first signing session."

Although I wasfrustrated that I was doing it as a stand-in, it still was animportant event for Suzuka, the original author. Thinking that, Iturned the power for my notebook PC on and continued to write on mymanuscript. In contrast to Suzuka, I was always on the verge oflosing. Since I already lost a whole day tomorrow, I can’t keepwasting my time.

Still…..anappeal for liking the little sister…

Part 2:

"No, itcertainly is true that the little sister of my novel is cute, youknow? Honest, and dishonest and direct, really an idealheroine!…..But there is no way that I like my real-life littlesister because of that, okay?"

And then, thenext day, I was sitting in a certain bookstore. On the table in frontof me were papers and pens lined up and all around me were shopemployees, preparing to open the shop. In the middle of that,standing in front the table I was sitting at, was Shinozaki-san,which turned her head towards me in reaction to my words.

"You wrote sucha novel…and still expect me agree to your words?"

While I couldn’treally retort to that, I still didn’t want to be labeled as a personthat loved his little sister, so I tried my best to deny my words.

"Since most ofyour fans come here expecting you to have a real little sisteranyway, you should present yourself like that. No need to hold backthere, right?"

"As I told youbefore, I’m not holding back or anything."

"In the secondnovel, you even wrote a scene where the little sister lifted herskirt a little bit so that the brother, that turned around at thatsecond, could see her panties. Such a great scene."

"That was justa practical scene inside the novel! A-Anyway, I’ll do it as always."

"Well, ifyou’re that set on it, I can’t do anything about it."

I don’t reallyknow how our conversation about acting towards the fans turned intosomething like this but in the end, it still feels like there aresome misunderstandings.

"All thingsconsidered, you really are calm—no, you are too calm. One wouldnormally be really nervous about their first signing session."

Listening to hercomplaint, I answered "That makes sense" in my heart. Since I amthe stand-in, this doesn’t feel all to real after all.

"I know what Ihave to do after all. It’s better to break down emotionally, right?"

"How naive. Alot of authors make some blunders on their first signing session.They were fine moments before it started but there are people thatget nervous after. Letting your guard down is no good."

To my surprise,Shinozaki-san actually said some helpful editor-like words ofcaution. Linking your arms together with a serious face is good andall but it really pushes the chest area out, so it’s more like poisonto my eyes.

"….Is thatso?"

"Yes. There arepeople that hurt their physical condition, or others where they hurttheir relationships to their fans because their tension got thebetter of them in the heat of the moment. You have to do your utmostto make sure that this doesn’t happen because it might hurt thereputation of your novel. Since you’re our star writer right now, weare really worried about that.", Shinozaki-san explained, her facegetting rarely clouded. "Listen. No matter how many girls have thetype that you like, don’t let your desires get the better hang ofyou, alright? If you have to let it out no matter what, I will helpyou the best I can."

"I don’t evenknow where to retort on your statement just now though?!"

"This is thejob of an editor after all. If you’re worried, you can fondle mybreasts like you did that one time."

"Wha-?! Don’tsay such things that could lead to misunderstandings around so manypeople! And that was you forcing yourself on me…"

"Hm? Might yoube dissatisfied with this dull signing session? Just what I wouldexpect from Towano Chikai-sensei. A newcomer but always aiminghigher."

"No no! Don’tjust categorize me as such an ambitious human! And it’s not evenabout that! There won’t be coming more than about a hundred peopleright? If it’s on that scale, then—"

"Muh, you’rewrong about that. True, our plans were approximately a hundred peoplebut those are the people that we selected beforehand. We have around50 times more people that are enlisted, you know?"

"F-Fiftytimes?!"

"Of course. Alot of people from the inside of our company but also from theoutside world want to see how you look like after all."

R-Really? Ididn’t know that…..

"Your awarenessreally is lacking after all. Even though it’s technically a signingsession, it’s still an event where the fans of super popular writerslike you will come to meet you. Not counting the editorialdepartment, the people from the sales department or public relationsare coming as well. You met them a few moments ago, right?"

"Now that yousay it….I did receive business cards."

"And it’s notonly that, the people from this bookstore that we rented are here tooand not to forget our chef from the editorial department, whowould’ve come himself. Sadly, something urgent came up and he won’tbe able to make it here."

"Somethingurgent?"

"It’s somethingthat concerns your novel. Some sort of crisis you might call it."

"If you saycrisis…..did something problematic happen?!"

"I’ll tell youlater. It might be that I have to leave throughout the signingsession because I have to get in touch with them but you should focuson the session. The reason that so many people that so many peopleare moving around and about is because you are a super popular writerafter all. I won’t tell you to get nervous…but it would trouble meif you don’t take this seriously."

Ugh….Somehow, Ifelt like my calmness was washed away because of her words. Suddenlyrealizing the cold truth that , as a stand-in, I can’t afford to fuckthis all up……I’m getting kind of nervous now.

"E-Excuse me. Ineed to go to the toilet….", I said to Shinozaki-san, leaving myseat.

Part 3:

"Haaaa……"

It happened atthe time I was about to return. Hearing a tumult, I was about tocheck on the source of it from a corner. As I did so:

"I’m sorry.This area is off limits and only available for the winners, so Iwould ask you kindly to understand that and—"

The bookstoreemployee that was guiding the mass of people said that to some ofthem. Is that what Shinozaki-san was talking about? Are these thepeople that want to take a glance at the person Towano Chikai?Looking at these numbers, I felt the sweat on my forehead. I was oncemore reminded just now popular Suzuka’s novel really is. Feelinghappy for her, there was also an envious feeling, it was reallycomplicated….Well, I shouldn’t really dwell on it too much butafter what happened, my thoughts seem to wander in that directionnaturally.

"Ah, no good,no good! I have to focus on the signing session for now! Still,that’s a lot of people—-huh?"

At that moment, acertain person in the mass of people caught my eye.

"W-What’s upwith that person…? A sunglasses with a mask and hat? And also atrench-coat…..totally looks a little too suspicious…."

Pulling the eyesof the surrounding people towards them, they really didn’t fit inthere. For them to be in the mass of people…..is that person also afan of Towano Chikai? As I thought that, the person vanished into thecrowd, I heard the sound of the employee that switched places withthem.

"The signingsession will begin shortly so could the people with numbers pleaseline up—-"

"Ah, shit! Ihave to hurry back!"

I made my wayback while running.

Part 4:

"We will nowbegin the signing session of Towano Chikai-sensei"

While I wassitting in front of the table, I heard these words. Shinozaki-sansaid "The circumstances of your novel have gotten worse. To sayclearly, we’re in a pinch. I have to attend a meeting as well soplease hold the fort alone!" before and left the stage. This wasthe first signing session ever for me….just where did this women gonow of all the times. Rather than that, seeing all these people nowmade my body really tense up….

Am I shaking…?C-Calm down, me! This is an essential beginning! If I get used to itnow, everything later on will be much easier! Luckily, this was aone-on-one situation with signing and all, so they let them in insmall groups. But, seeing the first person to enter, I almostchocked.

"I am thenumber one fan of Towano Chikai-sensei! Please give me yourautograph!"

"W-W-What areyou doing here?!"

That was becausethe person with the entry number one was no one else than Mai. HimuroMai. A girl that was my classmate and also at the same time the pronovel writer Enryuu Homura. After reading my (Suzuka’s) novel, shebecame a huge fan. She wanted to find out the secret of what makes itso interesting and started troubling me with conducting certainstalker activities.

Well…thanks toher personality being pretty incompetent, nothing really badhappened. Still, because of her reputation as the [Ice Queen]cool-type of character, my tension rose up even more. Having thereputation of being the school’s number one beauty and her cutechanging expressions were one thing but her bothering actions were abig minus.

"Why? That’sbecause I am your number one fan? So obvious!"

Mai instantlyanswered me with a questionable self-confidence.

"N-No, I wasasking that because I see you everyday….."

"As your numberone fan, I do have my obligations to fulfill! That is why, on yourfirst signing session, I have to be the first fan that you give yourautograph to! Anyone other than me would be impossible after all!"

"I don’t getyour point at all, though?! First and foremost, this ticket should’vebeen won by lottery! How did you manage to get that?! Don’t tell meyou used your rights as a fellow light novel author?!"

"No way inhell! I just kept on buying the tickets until I won it! Thanks tothat, I almost bought close to two hundred tickets!"

No matter howmuch you wanted that ticket, that were to many!!! And it’s crazy thatyou even kept going for so long after continuously losing!!!

"And since theline was made up of the timing when the people arrived, I was liningup from four o’clock in the morning! Now, please give me yourautograph for the first person in line!"

"Four o’clock?Is this the comiket or something, oi?! How much were you lookingforward to this?!"

(TLC; comiket isthe biggest anime/manga/doujin etc. convention in japan)

……W-Wait,this isn’t the first time that she went overboard like this…Nevermind that, for now, I’ll sign it and hope that she’ll leave quicklylike that.

"Ah, I don’thave any paper for the autograph. I came prepared for that though, soplease put your sign on this."

"Prepared yousay…you really were looking forward to this…"

"W-What aboutit? Since this is your autograph we’re talking about, that’s onlynatural….Uf"

Like the sound ofsomething heavy slamming on the ground, a big plastic bag appeared infront of me. I got a bad feeling about this….again.

"W-What couldpossibly be inside that bag….? This is…."

"That’s asclear as day! It’s the special version of your second volume!"

"You want me tosign 200 hundred books?! Are you planning to use all the time of thissigning session for yourself?!"

"No need toworry. I only brought 30 books with me today. I do have enoughconsideration for the Towano Chikai-sensei that I respect so much."

"No no no no! Ican’t do that! There’s no consideration at all there!"

She might besaying that 30 books isn’t much but you have to be joking!

"Uhm….TowanoChikai-sensei? Other people are waiting as well, so I wish you wouldspeed this up a little bit….."

"Ah! I’m verysorry!"

Ugh….the shopemployee gave me a warning…. Ah, forget it! I took one book fromthe paper bag that Mai brought with her and gracefully put myautograph on it.

"I will signit…but only this one. Not any of the others."

"Eh?! Why? Mybattle against drowsiness will all go to waste!"

"As if I care!Listen, I’ll sign some other ones next time alright?", I said in asmall voice so the other fans won’t be able to hear me.

Mai seemed to bequite dissatisfied but gave up soon after, grumbling "Can’t help itthis time." while putting away the plastic bag.

"For now,please put a [For Himuro Mai-san] on it. Ah, and in front of my namea [My number one fan] if you would!"

"Alrightalright…."

I understand thefeeling of wanting the autograph of an author you really like butMai’s enthusiasm is a bit over the top…..as I thought about that, Isigned it as I was told.

"I did it! Likethis, I will be the first person to receive an autograph from you!"

Holding thesigned book in front of her chest like it was something precious toher, she really had a happy look on her face……Well, originally,Suzuka was the one to receive my first autograph. As Mai was leavingthe line, I once more straightned my backbone to greet the next fan.I was a bit surprised to see her leave that easily but I have tofocus on the next one in the line—

"Good morning,desu, Sensei! Please give me your sign as well, desu!"

"Uhm, whyexactly is Double Peace-sensei the second one in line?!"

I was astonishedto see another acquaintance right after Mai.

"Fu fu fu. Asyour number one partner, I can’t just miss out on your first signingsession, desu! I am a fan of yours myself, so it should be prettyobvious that I want your autograph, desu!"

This person witha beaming smile that made anyone powerless, a blonde-haired westernbeauty was Ahegao Double Peace-sensei. She is also the illustratorfor my (Suzuka’s) novel. Just like her name indicated, she was aperson that basically fed off erotic stuff, explaining her positionas the main key frame animator of the eroge maker [Moon Rabbit].Originally from England, a genuine foreigner but the details of whyshe came to japan to act in the eroge business are still a mystery.In more than one way, a mysterious person.

"No, you couldhave just asked me whenever you wanted….so why bother coming here?"

"Sensei reallydoesn’t get it, desu. This is so important because this is not ameeting on an everyday basis but on a special occasion. It makes itso much more significant. In eroge as well, the meaning is completelydifferent if it’s inside or outside, right, desu?"

"What are youon about?! But it’s basically that, you came here because you werecurious and everything?"

As I tried toconfirm my thoughts, Double Peace-sensei answered with an "Yes,yes, desu!"

"By the way,there was supposed to be a lottery for these tickets right?"

"Mhm? I did wina ticket at the lottery though, desu?"

She says it likeit’s nothing…..Mai, you can cry if you want.

"But still, asigning session is a nice event after all! I love the feeling when alarge group of people come together for one single goal, desu!"

"I get that. Itreally gives of the feeling that they are all of the same kind."

"Yes yes! Itreally gives of a similar feeling to when a lot of men gather aroundthe heroine to sexually assault her, it really is the best!"

"I don’t knowwhat you’re talking about!"

For quite sometime now, Double Peace-sensei starts spouting out really dangerousstuff but it really troubles me that this happens all thetime….Well, since this has to do with her job and everything, Iguess it would be even weirder if she was reserved about usingsuch…..vocabulary. A-Anyway, lets just return to the conversationbefore this gets even worse.

"E-Ehm, for nowit will be enough if I sign something for you, right?"

"Yes! I broughtsome paper with me, so I would ask you to sign that, desu!", shesaid while pulling out a colored paper out of her bag.

What? We haveplenty of them here….no need to bring some with you….is what Ithought but the second I saw exactly what it was that she handed tome, I coughed.

"Wha-?! Coughcough"

She said coloredpaper but it wasn’t a white paper as one would expect…..on thatwhite paper, there was already an illustration from DoublePeace-sensei. But……an erotic illustration that is.

"And thisis…..?!"

"Since this isfor the signing session of Sensei, I put an erotic picture of yournovel on top of it, desu!"

"Don’t say itlike it’s something obvious?!"

On that paper,the heroine of Suzuka’s novel, the little sister heroine Yuuka, wasportrayed, together with her big brother, Ryou. Since it was anerotic illustration after all, putting in words just what exactly wasdepicted was highly inappropriate…..It had a fiendish taste….

"I am anofficial illustrator after all, desu. So that I wouldn’t beembarrassed when asking for Sensei’s autograph, I put a lot of workinto this, desu! How is it? Is it to your tastes?"

"No no! This isthe wrong way to put a lot of work into this!"

"In the secondvolume, there is a scene where the two siblings get locked up closeto each other in a locker right? That was the pinnacle of ero, desu!This illustration is based on that scene!"

"A-Actually,there was a scene like that but still!"

"If Sensei putshis autograph on this illustration, it will count as halfwayofficial, desu! Since drawing any ero doujinshi about your novel isprohibited, so I’ll get really frustrated if I can’t let out all ofthis energy!"

Just because Iput my autograph on it won’t make it official though?!

"……..TowanoChikai-sensei? If you take your time like this, the other guestswill……"

"Ah, yes! I’lldo it immediately! I’m very sorry!"

I got scoldedagain….Shit! Whatever, I’ll just do it now! Trying my best to hidethe illustration, I put my autograph in it.

"Thank you verymuch, desu! We have to hang up this paper in our company now!"

Looking verysatisfied after receiving the paper, Double Peace-sensei left theline. S-Somehow I’m very tired all of a sudden. Being dealt severedamage because of these two, what a bother really….Well whatever,from here on out it will be only normal fans, I hope.

"…..Uhm, I’dlike your autograph, please."

"Yes, thank youvery much for going out of your way to come here……wha-?!"

However, the nextmoment I raised up my head to look at the fan in front of me, I sawthe suspicious person wearing a trench-coat, making me almost burstout screaming but I barely managed to hold back.

"….Why areyou so flustered? I am worried that at this rate, the signing sessionmight crash."

Adding to that, Ieven got scolded by the suspicious person which really confused me.W-What’s up with this person? She’s even saying similar stuff toSuzuka…….

Ah. At thatpoint, I realized it. This small stature….This overwhelmingpresence….And that manner of speaking….

"Y-You….Areyou….Suzuka?"

"N-No? Pleasedon’t say any weird stuff all of a sudden, Onii-chan."

"You just said[Onii-chan] didn’t you?!

As I retorted tohis statement, the suspicious person answered [You must have misheardme] but that made it even more weirder to believe since that persontook his sunglasses and mask of as he said that. Visible there werethe the well-known, always displeased eyes and pouting lips fromSuzuka’s face.

"You-?! Wh-?!What are you doing here–"

"Be quiet!",she said, while putting her hand over my mouth."Be quiet please….What would happen if the people around you heard you…?"

"T-That mightbe true but….."

"Thisis…..yeah. This is an observation. I am checking on Onii-chan tomake sure that he doesn’t do anything stupid during the signingsession."

W-What?Observation?! True, she said that she was worried yesterday but am Ireally that unreliable that you have to do that?

"Y-Yes. It’snot like I wanted to burn Onii-chan’s majestic figure into my eyes orthe sight of Onii-chan standing in front of people as an author oranything like that."

"Just for thatreason, you…..you came here with a disguise like that….?"

No matter how onelooked at it, she clearly looked like a suspicious person…no, withone step you might look like a pervert……..

"I can’t helpit, can I? Taking in every possibility, I can’t just appear like thatin front of all the people that gathered here."

Still, putting ona disguise and the such……these actions don’t mix up with theSuzuka that I have in mind…..

"Additionally,seeing how such an event goes down is something that I had to see atleast once as a light novel author after all. The awards ceremonywere pretty much impossible for me after all, so I had to do withthis signing session."

"Well, it’strue that here, other people are also allowed but what did you doabout the entry ticket?"

"I did win it.Although only at the second try."

This one ispretty lucky as well…..I’ll stay quiet about this for Mai’s sake.

"And because ofwhat I mentioned earlier, I came with these clothes that wouldn’tmake me stand out."

"No, you’llstand out in another way though…."

"T-That’simpossible. No matter how you look at it, this is a perfect disguise.It was supposed to keep Onii-chan from finding out too…..How didyou find out?"

"Even if youask me that….I just happened to."

It’s like not I’msaying anything weird but somehow, it’s still pretty embarrassing.

"H-Hmpf, youjust happened to…huh"

Turning her bodyaround in one motion, Suzuka’s cheeks seemed a bit flushed and shewas snickering.

"In any case,you came here because you were missing some data for the research, isthat it?", I said, confirming it for myself.

Suzuka, althoughbeing a super popular light novel author, never knew anything aboutlight novels or the otaku culture before winning the grand-prize (Andstill she wrote such an interesting novel, it’s just so weird, allthings considered…….or it’s better to say absurd). And to keepher series going, we conducted a lot of this [research] that shedeemed necessary. In the end, it fell onto me to show her grips oflight novels and otakus…..but I’d rather not remember all thedetails to be honest.

Being forced toplay an eroge for example, or explaining what a panchira is by havingher do it ……and just why am I listing all these memories I triedso hard to forget?! A-Anyway, normally Suzuka is prettystraight-forward and strict but somehow she act kinds of weird duringsome of these activities.

"Christ, youreally are ambitious, aren’t you."

"That’s right.It’s not like I came here to see a different side of my cool lookingOnii-chan or anything, so don’t get any weird ideas."

"There’s no wayI would get any weird ideas like that, don’t worry…."

Still, to thinkthat I would see three people I knew straight at the beginning ofthis signing session….

"I get yourpoint for now. Since you’ve accomplished your goal now, how about welet the next person in line come up—"

"Ah, that’sright. Well then."

At first Ithought that she was going to leave but she pulled out a coloredpiece of paper and….

"Please putyour autograph here."

She said such anunbelievable thing.

"Ha?! Why areyou asking for an autograph?!"

"Asking for anautograph at a signing session is pretty normal, isn’t it?"

Suzuka looked atme with eyes that said "What are you saying, Onii-chan?" but hey,that’s what I’m supposed to say here!

"Isn’t it fine?It’s true that I received your autograph yesterday already but Istill want one memento from this—-is not what it is! I-I have tocheck if you really give your best here, that is all!"

"Isn’t it a bitweird for me to give you an autograph in this kind of situation?!"

"T-That iscertainly not the case. Currently, I am merely a fan of yours. Ratherthan that, is it really the time to be thinking about this? Theemployee over there is looking really worried….."

Turning around,there really was one that continuously checked at his phone with aworried impression, all the while sneaking glances over here.

Ugh….. can’thelp it. Although my heart was really against it, I forced myself tosign it. Adding the [For Nagami Suzuka] part and everything.

"Is this fine?"

"Yes! Thank youvery much!"

Accepting thecolored paper, she held it in front of her chest like it wasextremely important. It was the same like yesterday but why is thetrue writer of the novel so happy about the autograph of thestand-in? As I muttered these words, Suzuka answered.

"T-This is allfor the sake of the research, okay? A-Anyway, thank you very much forthe autograph. Please do your best from here on out as well. I amchecking on you after all, Onii-chan!"

As she said witha somehow flushed expression, she left the line without waiting formy reply. What was that about? Her face was gradually getting morered….is she okay? Still, even though I only signed threepapers…I’m really tired. I hope that I got beyond the hard part. Myshoulders dropped from exhaustion. However, I also felt refreshedsomehow. Maybe it was because of these three….different individuals(although Suzuka was behaving the most different than usual) butsince they were the first three to arrive, my nervousness somehow gotblown away.

"U-Uhm, TowanoChikai-sensei’s novel was really interesting!"

The next personthat came, was a stranger to me and a normal fan.

"Thank you verymuch. I will do my best from now on out too, so please continue tosupport me."

Of course, Ianswered just as Suzuka and I practiced yesterday. Is it because ofthose three that I’m so relaxed now, I wonder…. And after that, thesigning session went down pretty calmly. But still…..

"Hey, how aboutyou start acting like a super popular light novel author! This isn’tanything like Towano Chikai normally behaves!"

"Oh, the nextfan is a cute girl, desu! I’m sure that Sensei will put his poisonousfangs into her too!"

"W-What did yousay…? Onii-chan, I will never allow that….!"

Mai, DoublePeace-sensei and also the disguised Suzuka all kept screaming towardsme from the sidelines. Now listen….can’t you just go away until thesigning session is finished please?! You have no intention to hideanything and you’re voice is clearly audible as well! I take back myprior statement! All I can see is that you came here to hindermeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Part 5:

"I hope foryour continued support from now on."

Finishing theautograph for the last fan, I watched their back as they walked awaywith a down-casted head. It’s over…..It felt like such a long time.I continuously signed papers for about an our after all. Though, thefeeling of pride and accomplishment highly outweighs my exhaustion.

"Thanks foryour hard work. I’m glad that it turned out into such a wonderfulsigning session."

The shopemployees came to shake hands with me and I thanked them deeplymoved. Fu…..I somehow managed to make it through. Like this, Suzukawill also be happy. While we’re at it, where did the three of themgo? No matter where I looked, I couldn’t find them. Maybe they werepassing the time inside the shop somewhere.

"And….what amI supposed to to now?"

The people herehave started cleaning everything up and Shinozaki-san didn’t returnyet either. It happened as I was about to stand up from my seat tosearch for her.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait!!!"

Surprised by thesudden loud scream, I stayed in my current position and only mutteredan "Eh?" As I looked for the source, I saw a single runningtowards me with a rushed expression.

"W-Wa—Ugh!"

"Uwa-?! A-Areyou alright?!"

Falling down allof a sudden, I made my way towards her and help her.

"I-Imsowwy…."

Although she hadtears in her eyes, she returned these words with a smile. But,looking around the scenery, her tears started dwelling up.

"I-Is italready over….?"

"Alreadyover….. do you mean the signing session? If so, then yes, just inthis moment."

Listening to myanswer, the girl let her head down immediately.

"Are you…perchance a fan that came here for the signing session?"

"No, that’s notcorrect. Sakura isn’t a fan or the like…"

"Eh? Y-You’renot?"

"Sakura isn’tjust a fan, she’s a super duper mega fan!", she replied with anearnest expression."I even won a ticket for the signingsession….. Here, I have the ticket with me…But because of my jobI didn’t manage to get here on time…."

"U-Uhm…"

"Ah…Sakura isso sorry! For me to grumble about that to a complete stranger! Thankyou for worrying about me! But, I’m fine. Things like these don’thurt Sakura in the least!"

Wiping the tearsaway, the girl answered like that with a smile once more. Her smilewas so cute, that my heart almost skipped a beat. Looking closely,she really was beautiful. Her fluffy hair and large and bright eyesreally gave her the feeling of a cute girl.

"Anyway, Sakuracan’t help it since it already ended, so she will have to wait forthe second one."

The girl wasabout to leave as I stopped her with my voice.

"W-Wait amoment, please. You want the autograph of Towano Chikai, right?"

The girl answeredmy question with a straight forward "Of course!"

……Yup, Ican’t just let such an enthusiastic fan go home with out anautograph, I wouldn’t be able to.

"I will dosomething about it. Please wait here for a bit."

I said to thegirl and turned around to ask the passing shop employee:

"Ah, excuse me.This fan seemed to have missed the signing session but she really isa zealous fan, so would it be alright if I got just a little bit moretime?"

I knew that I wasasking for something difficult but I still cast down my head.

"If it’s likethat, there’s no way that we could go against Sensei’s wish. Ofcourse it’s fine. Thank you for your hard work."

However, my wishwas granted. Maybe it was because of Shinozaki-san’s influence butall of the shop employees were really giving it their best… Sayingmy thanks to the employee, I turned around to the girl and showedhere towards the table.

"I will signsomething for you, so please come this way."

"Eh? Eh? W-Whatis this about?"

"You willreceive an autograph yourself, is what this is about."

"Autograph yousay….from whom?"

"That is, fromme of course."

"U-Uhm, I’mgrateful that you would go out of your way to deal with Sakura’sproblem..but the autograph Sakura wants is from Towano Chikai-senseiso…..Ah! But it’s not like Sakura would dislike your autograph! Onthe contrary, she would be happy because you helped her just now andeverything…uhm…"

Ah, I forgot totell her who I really am.

"I’m sorry, Iforgot to tell you. I am Towano Chikai."

"……………….Eh?"

Looking clearlyconfused, I once more repeated my statement.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH?!"

After listeningto it, the girl shrieked in a very loud voice. I thought of it beforebut her vocal volume is something else…I’m actually impressed.

"U-Uhm,a-a-a-are you really, that, uhm…Towano Chikai-sensei?!"

"Yes.Well…..yeah."

I’m just astand-in though, is what I thought in my heart but naturally, I keptthat to myself.

Although she justwent "N-No way…." at first, after confirming it once more, sheapparently trusted me and continued.

"Ah!S-S-S-Sorry! Sakura is just so confused on this whole situation! Uhm,would you sign this for me please?!"

Stretching outher right hand, the item that she wanted me to sign was the newlyreleased special edition of the second volume.

"Ah, thank youvery much for buying it."

"No no! Sakurashould be the one to thank you! My thankfulness can’t be describedafter you’ve made the second volume just as interesting as the firstvolume!"

The girl wasseemingly confused with the whole situation.

"Ah, might Iknow your name?"

"…Ha?! Nowthat you say it, I haven’t introduced myself yet! V-V-V-Very sorry!Just what rude things am I doing in front of Sensei…."

"Uhm, it’s fineokay? Please don’t let it get to you!"

"Once more,it’s nice to meet you! My name is Minazuki Sakura!"

"Minazuki…Sakura-san,I see……Heh?"

….What isit….I feel like I heard the name Minazuki before….? However, evenif I kept on thinking about it, I couldn’t come up with anything.Still, it would be better to ask her before I’d regret that later.

"Uhm, I mightoverstep my bounds here but….have we met before?"

…That soundslike a cheap pickup line….Of course, it’s nothing like that though?

"No, today wasthe first time Sakura met Sensei."

"M-Makes sense.I’m sorry, I thought that your name sounded familiar but it wasprobably just my imagination."

"Ah, mightSensei be watching [Utopia] at the moment?!"

"Utopia…..Ifyou say Utopia….do you mean the currently airing anime [RainbowPieces of Utopia]?"

"Yes! I’m alsoa part of that, so you might know Sakura’s name from there."

While mumbling"If I think about Sensei seeing me, I get embarrassed….", hercheeks were slightly blushing. But, that wasn’t what I was on about.She’s a part of Utopia…..and her name is Minazuki Sakura….mightshe be?!

"A-Are you perchance the voice actress Minazuki Sakura?!"

"Yes! Sakura isthat Minazuki Sakura!"

I was at a lossfor words as she answered me with a happy looking smile. Talkingabout that voice actress Minazuki Sakura, although she is a newcomerin the business, she already got the role of the main heroine andgetting the role of the main heroine of such a popular anime made herseem like a new star in the business. Being extraordinarily good atacting with a powerful voice, it wasn’t an understatement that shewas very often asked for roles.

"Hm? Sensei, issomething the matter?"

"Ah, no….it’sjust that I didn’t imagine that you would be that professional superpopular voice actress…."

"Ahaha, Sakurajust had her debut, you know? And I didn’t show my face to the mediayet. Still, for you to recognize me so fast, thank you very muchSensei."

I was a bitstaggered to hear such a response.

"Uhm, Sensei?You stopped signing half-way through…"

"….Eh? A-Ah,I’m sorry! I was just a bit surprised that such a professional andpopular voice actress would be a fan of my novel…"

"No no! A lotof people in the voice acting scene are fans of your novel! Since thetalk about an anime is going around, everybody is aiming for a rolein it! But, Sakura won’t give the role of the little sister-chan toanybody else! I will absolutely absolutely absolutely get that rolefor myself okay!"

"T-That’s someexceptional eagerness…"

"Of course!Sakura really likes the little sister-chan of Sensei’s novel afterall! How did you manage to do that? They are the ideal siblings! Ah,if only I had a real big brother like that as well…"

"Real?"

"Ah, no, it’snothing. Rather than that, I slowly started to get more and more intothe role of the little sister because of that! Recently, Suzukawondered if she didn’t already become one with that littlesister-chan!"

"S-So far?!"

"Because ofthat, please don’t hold back and call me Yuuka!"

"No no! That’sa pretty bad idea though?!"

"Ah, whilewe’re talking about Yuuka, Sakura has something that she wants togive to Sensei!"

"The person inquestion changes the subject?!"

While I wasretorting her sudden change of topic, Minazuki-san took out aUSB-stick.

"W-What is itthis time?…"

"I recorded afew lines that the little sister-chan said in volume 1 and put themon this stick. Please Sensei, would you listen to it?"

"A-Avoice-over? You even did something like that…?"

"That’s becauseI wanted to get one step closer to becoming Yuuka?"

Saying it likeit’s something so obvious makes it even more scary though?! Somehow,I don’t want to see any other fans of the novel that are this eager?!

"Oh and by theway, this file consists of about 23 recordings."

"Heavy! Soheavy?! I can almost feel the heaviness in my hands here?!"

"Another thing,Sensei modelled the Onii-chan character after himself, right?"

"N-No, it’s notreally like that…."

"That’s a lie.Because, the more Sakura talks to Sensei, the more he resembles theOnii-chan in the novel."

Mai and DoublePeace-sensei also said something similar before…but I’m really notsuch a cool big brother okay? Why is everybody mistaking that?

"Well then, isit alright to call Sensei Onii-chan from now on?"

"How did we getto that?!"

"Eh? That’sbecause Sensei is really similar to the novel Onii-chan and Yuuka isthe little sister-chan, whose role I really want."

"Please don’tjust label our previous conversation as a done deal?!"

Ugh, what’s upwith this person. It’s true that she is enacting this terrific lovejust like the novel little sister but why do I feel a certain levelof madness here?!

"Heeey,Onii-chan?"

"She keepsgoing without waiting for my retort?!"

"…..Yeahthat’s right….I suppose that acting doesn’t compete to being realsiblings after all."

"No, that’s notreally what I was on about…."

"Uhm, I wouldlike to talk to your parents concerning the topic of adoption. Wouldyou be so kind to contact them?"

"I beg youplease don’t say such things with a straight face!"

Scary! Too scary!Although she follows up smiling, with a [I’m just joking.], her eyesare crazily serious?!

"A-Anyway, Ifinished signing your paper, so here you go!"

"Ah, pleasechange [For Minazuki Sakura-san] to [For my little sister Yuuka] ifyou would."

"I won’t writeanything so groundless?!"

"Muu, Onii-chanis so mean…"

Shit! Hearingsuch words from a super popular voice actress would be a heaven-sentfor many fans but somehow it doesn’t make me happy at all?!

However, in thatmoment, a certain thought flew into my mind. Minazuki Sakura-san diddebut while I was still in my third year of middle school, right? IfI remember correctly, you’re only allowed to actively work as a voiceactress if you’re in high school….

"Uhm? You sayOnii-chan…..but aren’t you older than me—-"

"What are youthinking about, Onii-chaaaaaaan?"

Although she saidit with a smile, seeing some weird black aura dwelling up from herback, I unconsciously dropped my head on the table, trying toapologize.

Part 6:

"Thank you verymuch for today! I will definitely get the role of the little sister,so please have your fingers crossed for me!"

After that, Isomehow got her to stop calling me Onii-chan and she said "Iunderstand. I will hold off until I get the role.". However, Ican’t stop shivering at the thought that she might really get it andjust how things would turn out…probably really bad. Well….let’snot dwell on it too much for now.

I kept on sittingon the chair for a little longer, trying to calm down but after ashort while I decided to head for the bathroom. I wanted to freshenup a bit before searching for Shinozaki-san but…

"What were youdoing? Onii-chan?"

Being suddenlycalled out with such perfect timing, I stopped mid-way and swallowedmy saliva. That’s because the voice that called out to me seemed socold, it might’ve just frozen up my legs on that spot.

"H-Hey, whathappened to the other two?"

As I tried to putan end to this heavy atmosphere with that answer……

"I don’t care.They just went to do something else." , she said with herwell-known glare and bad seeming mood. She continued:

"Rather thanthat, who was that woman just now? Why were you two so close?"

"W-Well, thatperson was a fan and I decided to help her out because she didn’tmanage to make it to the signing session in time."

"Humm…..thatis indeed very nice of you but might you be so free to explain whyshe was calling you [Onii-chan]?"

"Y-You heardthat?! T-That was…yeah! That person is the super popular voiceactress Minazuki Sakura and it seems like she wants to get into alittle sister role……"

"She really wasbeautiful. And her breasts were the size you like them, right? Didshe make your heartbeat go faster when she called you [Onii-chan]?"

"S-Suzuka-san?A-Are you listening to me….?"

"….Really,why does this keep happening….Around Onii-chan, pretty girls justkeep on appearing….I finally had a chance to get closer to him bymaking him my stand-in….."

"Ah…she’s notlistening at all huh"

Seeing hermumbling with a small voice, I dropped my shoulders in defeat.

"And herbreasts were really big….. Is it really a no-go after all if mybreasts are small…..Breasts…..My breasts are…."

Something similarto the dark aura from before seemed to be forming above her headwhile she was looking down at her breasts. For a moment it seemedlike there was a sad Ding sound……but that’s not the timeto be saying that.

"A-Anyway, thesigning session ended safely, so I thought it was about time tosearch for Shinozaki-san. Really, where did she go? Or perhaps itwould be fine to just go home like this, ahahaha?"

"I will certifyif it ended safely after we’ve had an evaluation meeting afterreturning home. There are a lot of things that I want to talk aboutas well."

A mercilessstatement. Even though I did my best, was there still something bad?

"W-Well, fornow, we’ll have to search for Shinozaku-san, I guess? Maybe she hadsomething planned after the signing session after all."

"Yes, that’sright. Before I happen to meet up with her, I will go to the bathroomin the meantime to freshen up."

Leaving me behindwith an "Until later then", she vanished from my sight.

"Ah, Yuu! Youwere here after all!"

As soon as Suzukawas gone, now Mai suddenly appeared.

"Oh? You’re nottogether with Double Peace-sensei?"

"That girlreceived a phone call from her workplace so she returned earlier."

Did she skip herwork again just for something like this…?

"Ha! She justcan’t compete with me! To be able to come here to this signingsession, I completed my next manuscript with perfect marks! Noblunders on my part!"

I wanted toretort her with "Are you a kid?!" but I couldn’t really do thatsince she actually finished her work.

"Ah, so this iswhere you were Towano Chikai-sensei."

With these words,Shinozaki-san appeared as well, just where did she come out from?

"If it isn’tEnryuu-sensei. What brings you here?", she asked as she saw Maistanding next to me.

"Since I amYuu’s number one fan, I just had to come to this signing session!"

Mai answeredsomehow arrogantly. Are you like this with everybody you meet…..?

"Uhm, by theway Shinozaki-san, where were you until now?"

"I was busywith a phone call this whole time. As a result of that, we somehowmanaged to avert the crisis concerning your novel. I’m currentlywaiting for the final phone call from the chief of the editorialdepartment."

Oh yeah, she saidsomething about that but what happened in the end?

"But that’s notthe important part. I have to tell you about the plans after this."

"Eh? Afterthis….but the signing session ended, so can’t I just go home?"

"I can’t justlet the writer come here, finish their stuff and let them go homelike that. After this, there will be a dinner party. Normally, itshould have been the chief, Sensei and me but I told you before thatthe chief won’t make it. Because of that, it will only be the two ofus."

"Dinnerparty….just the two of us?"

"To have adinner party with Yuu alone…how unfair!"

For some reasonor another, Mai suddenly raised her voice to join the conversation.

"Then doesEnryuu-sensei want to come along? Spending time together will fellowauthors might not be a bad idea at all."

I somehow feltreally uncomfortable, imagining how this would turn out. Of course,that was about Suzuka as well. I can’t just leave her here alone buthaving her meet Shinozaki-san by coincidence is also no good too…..

"Uhm….", Iwas about to decline the offer to the dinner but at that time:

"Ah, excuseme.", Shinozaki-san grumbled as she took out her phone from a bag.

"Hello? Yes,it’s me…Yes……Yes…..What did you say? You’re saying that youwill have to give your agreement to that? Impossible! What should wedo about that? We can’t properly talk this out on the phone. I willreturn immediately.", she said with a serious looking face and cutthe call. "I’m sorry Towano Chikai-sensei. Something urgent came upand I have to return to the company for now. It pains me but you twowill have to go eat dinner alone. It’s a good place and I put areservation there as well. Show them this and they will let you eatanything you want."

Saying that, shehanded me a business a card from the shop.

"R-Rather thanthat, what happened anyway? Did that crisis you were talking aboutget worse or something!?"

Shinozaki-sanwent "Ah…." with a gloomy expression.

"A certainproblem occurred with the project of Sensei’s novel turning into ananime."

"What happenedwith the project?!", I frantically asked Shinozaki-san with a badpremonition.

"The chief yousee, he decided on a super popular anime production company. Also,media franchising, games and manga, all of these were also decidedupon just now, so I will be pretty busy with all the resulting phonecalls."

Feeling somehowconfused, I only muttered "Eh?".

"W-Well, u-uhm,that isn’t really a bad thing…is it?"

"What are yousaying? We can’t just settle down with our current progress. Wefinally got our hands on such a big hit. We have to at least setsights on a Hollywood film production."

"H-Hollywood?!"

"That’s only ifeverything else works out. First, we have to make everyone kneel downat your novel like it’s the new bible and raise up the sells numbersby quite a bit."

"U-Uhm,Shinozaki-san? Do you understand what you are saying?"

"Of course. Mymission as your editor is to make sure that the name of TowanoChikai-sensei goes down in the world history of us humans as thehighest novelist. To be precise, we have make sure that in thefuture, the names of the most influential names of Japaneseliterature will be [Murasaki Shikibu - Natsume Souseki - TowanoChikai]."

(TLC: MurasakiShikibu: wrote the Genji Monogatari, one of the most influentialliterary works of Japanese history.

Natsume Sōseki:one of the most famous writers in modern japan.)

"Wouldn’tI be publicly scorned if I was in that line-up?!"

"Youcan’t help standing out. You are the one light novel author thatstands out the most at the moment…..Fuu, light novels really arethe ultimate form of writing."

T-Thisperson is no use. I can’t connect with her at all.

"Anyway,I have to go now or the situation will never change. For Sensei, youdon’t have to think about such a small thing and just keep on writingsuch high quality novels."

Withthese words, Shinozaki-san left the two of us behind.

………..Waita second. The crisis that she was talking about…..was somethinglike this?

"Sothe reason for all that chaos….is maybe just Shinozaki-sanherself….?"

Whywas I even so worried in the first place…..

"Well,it turned out to be pretty big but I have to agree with her thatTowano Chikai is the best!"

Suddenly,Mai seemed to be agreeing with what Shinozaki-san was blabberingabout.

"Ratherthan that…we we’re talking about that dinner party thing but whatdo you want to do?"

"Ofcourse I’ll go with you! She went out of her way to put a reservationout for us, so it would be rude not to accept."

Shemay say that but she somehow looked really happy.

"Thenit will be Yuu, Suzuka-san and me…..by the way, where didSuzuka-san go?"

BeforeI even got a chance to answer her, we heard something that seemedlike an incoming call sound. And it wasn’t from me…that must’vemeant….

"Ah,sorry. It’s my phone. Uhm, the editorial department? What do theywant at a time like this?"

Asshe waved her hand at me, saying "Excuse me for second", sheanswered the call.

"Yes,it’s me. Yes…..Yes….Eh? Do you mean? Yes, I understand. No, I amcurrently in Tokyo. Yes, I will make my way there…."

Thereason for the call seemed like a pain in the ass, I thought as Ilooked at Mai’s clouded expression. Ending the phone call, she turnedaround with a depressed face and said:

"Sorry.I can’t go with to the dinner party with you. Something came up and Ihave to meet my editor.", she grumbled with a displeasedexpression.

"Soit’s a direct meeting with your editor. I have never done thatbefore."

"Idon’t have it that often either…..Ugh, just when I finally managedto go somewhere with Yuu….how did it turn out like this!"

Maikept on complaining for a short while but after saying her goodbyesto me with a "I’ll see you on the first day of school then." sheleft me alone.

Sonow it’s just me….

"I’mback…..Onii-chan? Did something happen?"

Butat that moment, Suzuka returned with an oddly perfect timing. Still,this flow of events…..doesn’t this mean…?

"Onii-chan?Why are you spacing out like this? I know that the signing sessionended but we aren’t home yet so pull yourself together please."

Suzukais in her displeased mood like always so I guess I’ll have to use mytrump card here.

"HeySuzuka, do you wanna go eat something together?"

"That’swhy Onii-chan is always…..eh?"

Stoppingher mid-sentence, Suzuka had a really surprised expression on herface. In the next moment, her cheeks flushed and she only producedsounds like "Uwawawa"

"Dinner…..?Just Onii-chan and me?! Isn’t that just like a dat—"

"Nope,it was planned by Shinozaki-san as a sort of dinner meeting orsomething.", I explained to Suzuka.

Ithought that it would burden her if she had to prepare the dinner nowand maybe eating something delicious in a restaurant might brightenup her mood…..

"……………..Eh?"

However,her spaced out expression suddenly turned back to the one before andshe said these words while shaking slightly:

"D-Don’tlet my expectations down like that! Onii-chan you idiot!"

Eh?!Did I say something bad?!

Part7:

"Fornow, I’m glad the signing session went over without problem."

Stillsitting at the dinner table, Suzuka summed up today’s events.Although she seemed to be in a bad mood at first but it improvedpretty quickly. Saying stuff like "Eating outside with Onii-chan"with a faint smile…..girls must really like to eat in restaurantsand such.

"A-Ah,yeah, I’m glad myself."

Atfirst I had a bad feeling. The restaurant that Shinozaki-san reservedfor us was a pretty high-class one which made me shrink a little bit,not forgetting when Suzuka was eating calmly but still lookedbewildered as well.

"Onii-chan?Is something wrong?"

"Eh?What do you mean?"

"Don’tbeat around the bush please. You’re been absent-minded for a time nowand your expression looked really dark for some reason. Are youworried about something?"

Ugh….shesaw right through me.

"I-Iam always looking at Onii-chan after all, so it’s really apparent tome."

Suzuka’sperception is always right on me, so she would see what I’m hidinganyway. Guess I’ll have no other choice but to spill the beans.

"D-Don’ttell me….You’re not thinking about a woman that you’ve taken a liketo, are you?!"

"W-Wha?!What are you saying all of a sudden, I don’t understand anything?!"

However,since the conversation turned into a complete different direction, Isounded even more flustered than I would normally.

"…..I’mthinking about the next manuscript for the great contest."

"I-Isthat so? Haa….Please don’t scare me like that…"

Whyare you patting your chest with that relieved expression….?

"Areyou still depressed because you didn’t make it past the secondpreliminaries?"

Shehit it right on the mark. As always, my little sister can’t hold backat all. But, she is right. I made it through the first preliminariesof the Ryuusei publisher contest but I splendidly managed to drop outin the second ones. But don’t get me wrong okay? I don’t mean toboast but since my third year of middle school, my manuscript wasalways rejected instantly in the first round, you know? Normally,one’s spirit would have been broken at that rate! Still, not tryingto brag here!

Well….it’strue that I was seriously depressed about it….and I almost faintedon top of my bed because of the agony….but I have accepted it in myheart and I’ll focus on the next contest with a new novel. Of course,as my room neighbor, Suzuka already knew about that.

"….Isthat so? Please pull yourself together, Onii-chan. You should stillhave some strength left, so it’s fine to just focus on polishing yourtalent. If it’s Onii-chan, then you can do it. Didn’t you say soanyway?"

Nowthat she says it, as I was feeling down because of the results, sheencouraged me as well…. It’s true that I thought so at thattime….No, I still think so. But still…you know. There is stillsomething that Suzuka didn’t know about.

Ithappened a few days after I have gotten the results. I received somesort of evaluation sheet for the novel that I applied with. Thejudges from the contest specifically wrote these sheets for thepeople that made it through the first round. Finally making it to thesecond round and being extremely excited about their opinion, Iopened the envelope while my heart was beating like crazy. But, myhappiness and excitement was destroyed in that moment. The commentswere terrifying. They were packed with such relentless words like Ihad never seen before.

Therewere a few praising comments but most of them seemed like anintroduction and immediately following were phrases like [But] or[Even so], basically to fortify the bad points. Most of thesecomments, I would rather forgot and never remember but there was onethat wouldn’t get out of my head no matter how hard I tried to deleteit from my memory.

—-Eventhough the potential is clearly visible here, the characters areclearly lacking in quality and resolution. Especially theprotagonist, who is a essential piece for moving the story forward.

Welleven if you say that, what am I supposed to do about that?! I reallywrote the characters with every fiber of my being! Especially theprotagonist! What are you on about?! Those were the thoughts goingthrough my head at that time. Thinking "Don’t fuck with me!", Ithrew that evaluation sheet out but that one point still remains inmy heart. I often tried to write a new manuscript for the nextcontest but as soon as that comment came back flying into my mind, myhand naturally stopped. I’m still wondering if I can go on like thisand I can’t decide on a new plot either.

Assoon as the signing session ended and it was just Suzuka and me, Iturn back from my stand-in personality Towano Chikai to the normalNagami Yuu but the moment that happens, these worries come flyingback to me and makes me worry what would happen if I can’t manage towrite a high quality novel. But well, these are my currentcircumstances. Oh and by the way, I didn’t show Suzuka thatevaluation sheet and she probably doesn’t even that that somethinglike that exists. I have no intention to show her either. It’s notlike something would change even if I did and since this is my ownproblem, I have to get over it on my own or else I won’t feel happyif I do.

"Sothat is why you were so absent-minded. I do understand thecircumstances but please don’t let other people see that weak spot ofyours."

"Isaid it’s fine, right? I managed to act out as a good Towano Chikaitoday right?"

"Well,it is true that there weren’t any big problems but….there was thecase where Onii-chan was basically goggling at a female fan….."

"Idon’t any recollection of something like that happening though?!"

"Evenso, that can’t be allowed to happen. If we don’t change anythingabout that, our secret will be revealed pretty soon, so I will haveyou act more like Towano Chikai."

"LikeTowano Chikai….you mean like…?"

"Y-Youreally should clearly state that you have a thing for little sistersafter all! Saying things like [Thank you for your support. Oh andaren’t little sisters the best thing ever?!] every time would be agood starting point, don’t you think!"

"Iwouldn’t like an author like that!"

"Oryou could try adding a phrase like [I like little sisters so much Ican’t help it!] while your signing something!"

"Evenif I did that, that would only trouble the fans though?!"

"T-Thatis not true! These are the things that Towano Chikai would say afterall! Onii-chan is my stand-in after all so it troubles me if youdon’t try harder!"

She’ssaying that with a red face but I wish she’d just take it easy on me,honestly. The title of the the book [The story about a little sisterwho loves her big brother way too much to cope] is hard enough butnow you’re asking me to state things like that in open broad light?!I even have a little sister, Suzuka, in real life! How could youforce me to say such gross stuff? And also, I’m already prettyoccupied with my own problems…

"Hmpf!After this will be the time for the anime production as well, so thechances for me to go out with Onii-chan are steadily increasing, youknow? Please force your consciousness more into the role of TowanoChikai!"

Right…unlikemine, Suzuka’s novel is in top-form, which is one reason why I’mworried right now. To catch up with Suzuka in this state, I reallyhave to give my best. Yup, I don’t have the time to be downheartedbecause of that evaluation sheet.

"Noworries, I will fulfill my role as your stand-in properly."

"Iam not worried in the slightest! I-It’s just….I want Onii-chan toshow more interest in little sisters….so that…"

Suzukasays something like that with a red face but that’s not my problemhere. I just can’t wait to go home and keep on writing on mymanuscript for the next preliminaries.

"Ratherthan that, we’ve finished eating now so shouldn’t we just go home fornow?"

"Whyare you in such a hurry? The dessert and after-meal coffee are stillcoming."

"Eh?"

Iwidened my eyes open in surprise….and as if Suzuka saw rightthrough that, she continued.

"Youwill be the stand-in until we come home. Have more self-consciousnessplease. And—"

"I-Isthere something else?"

"Itold you to show more interest in little sisters….but I am the onlyone who has the right to call Onii-chan [Onii-chan], okay? So pleaselook out for that…."

Eh?Is the talking about that incident with Minazuki-san? Why are youtalking about that now?, is what I was about to ask her but I stoppedmyself as I saw Suzuka’s red face while she was sneaking glances atme….she looked mysteriously cute.

"A-Andalso, thank you for being my stand-in in that signing session. Youreally worked hard today. Onii-chan."

Beingconfronted with her flushed cheeks and bright smile, I could onlymutter an insecure "Ah…yeah" at her words. But….still. Why amI so flustered…I feel like all the stress of today suddenly flewaway.

"….?Is something wrong, Onii-chan?"

"N-No,it’s nothing."

As Iwas confused of my sudden accelerated heartbeat, I couldn’t help butto swindle. Looking at my reaction, Suzuka merely answers "Onii-chanis weird" and smiles at me. At that time I couldn’t help but tothink anew that Suzuka really was a beautiful girl.

Part8:

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwn…."

Aftersitting down in my seat, I couldn’t help but yawn. It”s been quitesome time since that signing session. On the first day of school, Ifought against my sleepiness. The day after returning from thesigning, I fell asleep almost instantly which forced me to take backthat time-loss by continuing to pull all-nighters again. Thatresulted in my sleep-deprived days. As a result of that though, Imanaged to finish my manuscript for the time now. Only the polishingremains.

"Still,I’m really sleepy."

Well,today is the last day of classes before the summer vacation, so Ishould be able to make it through that. I opened my bag to take outmy workbook. In there was the manuscript that I would send to theentry of the contest. I wanted to polish it as fast as possible, so Ibrought it with me to school.

Ah,I won’t take it out of course? I thought of checking it a bit whilewalking home. I originally wanted to do that during the break but Iwould run the danger of anyone seeing it and possibly revealing myidentity as Towano Chikai (although only as a stand-in). Well,there’s only one person that really knows that but I wouldn’t everwant to show her my manuscript….

"Morning,Yuu."

"Uwa-?!"

Suddenlybeing spoken to, I straightened my backbone in reflex. As I turnedaround, that one person was standing behind me, namely Mai.

"Whyare you letting out such a scream?"

"I-It’snothing! Y-You just surprised me a little bit that’s why…"

"Ha?What are you on about? And what’s in that bag?"

"Eh?…..Oh!"

Maiwas about to come closer to check, so I hurriedly closed the bag.

"Inthere….is it possibly the manus-"

"N-No!That was….uhm…..a research book for world history! Aha, ahahaha!"

Itried to cover it up but Mai’s expression didn’t change in theslightest. ….Ah, that was close. I have to change the topicsomehow!

"A-Anyway,you were late today, right? Normally, you’re always waiting for me inthe classroom."

"Mhm,yeah. Ah, right, this isn’t the time for this. Yuu, come with me fora second!", she said and pulled my arm along with me outside of theclassroom.

"W-Woah,w-wait a second?! What happened?! It’s almost time for classesright?!"

"Thatdoesn’t matter right now!"

"Ofcourse it does?! And wait….! My arm…!"

Sincethis is the first time that she pulls on my arm like that, I wasflustered because of the voluptuous feeling. However, Mai doesn’tlisten to me at all and instead accelerates.

"Ihave something to talk about, so hurry!"

Leavingthe classroom behind, I heard loud comments like "So they reallyhad a relationship like that?" or "This bastard Nagami….to beso close to Himuro-san…." or "That Himuro-san is solove-struck?!" but I didn’t have the time to correct them.

"W-Whatdid you want to talk about…?"

Beingpulled to a corner of the stairs with no other human in sight, Ithought that it wouldn’t be anything serious as usual but Mai showeda really earnest and serious expression.

"Yuu,I will have you tell me your secret for making your novel sointeresting right here and now!"

"……………………………………..Eh?"

Whatis she saying all of a sudden?

"N-Nono. You were conducting all these stalker activities because youwanted to know that, didn’t you…."

"D-Don’tsay stalker! Of course, I gathered a lot of information about youthrough that research. Still, the current situation is that I didn’tfind anything concerning your secret yet…."

Shehad a really painful look on her face but that’s just to be expected.After all, I’m not the real author.

"That’swhy I changed my way of thinking! No matter how much I searchedaround for your secret, I won’t find it anyway. That’s why I shouldjust make the person in question spit it out…or try to spy on themto find it out myself "

"Whywould you tell that to the person in question?!"

"Fu…..Ihad an awakening after all! I’m not the same person as I was lastweek! That being said, just go and spill the beans!"

"Evenif you say that, do you expect me to just start talking like that?"

Thisperson is just crazy after all! She’s always like that but today iseven more extreme.

LikeI said before, I’m just the stand-in for Suzuka, so of course Iwouldn’t know of her secret? Even I just found out recently whatmade the novel so interesting for me but I doubt that’s what she islooking for. (What exactly does she mean by secret anyway?).

Maithen started glaring at me with some sort of puppy eyes but thatwon’t work against me. Finally, my savior, the bell, finally ringedand I started dashing off.

"Ah,hey Yuu! We’re not done talking!"

"Yeahbut classes are starting you know? Hurry up and go back to theclassroom as well!"

"Ah,h-hey, wait! Yuu! Heeeey!"

Maitried to catch up to me with tears in her eyes but I manged stillkept going towards my classroom.

"I-Iwon’t give up, okay?! I will definitely find out your secret!"

"Don’tscream such threatening words in the hallway!"

Ahh…withthat, my peaceful school life continued to crumble away beneath myfeet. Well, it’s not like there was anything to repair anyway!

Part9:

Iwas saying that but it won’t be that threatening anyway. Mai’sthought process was probably hindered because of the summer heat andtomorrow is the start of summer vacation anyway, so she’ll probablygive up anyway.

But,I realized it too late. It slipped my mind until that event in gymclass. Normally, the boys and girls are separated in our school butcertain activities are done together. For measuring the times of theshuttle run, both of the groups gathered in the gym hall. On top ofbeing sleep-deprived, conducting a shuttle run in this heat issimilar to hell. However, I realized something more important.Something was greatly different.

Inthe cases of us boys and girls coming together for gym class, Maiwould normally continuously gaze at me because of her self-proclaimedresearch but today, I didn’t feel her gaze at all. Wondering that itwas weird, I asked another girl if she knew something and apparentlyMai didn’t feel very well and slipped out. At that moment, a very badfeeling crept up my spine. And it turned out to be true. Havingslipped out of the gym hall, I started sprinting towards theclassroom. And—–there she was. Mai took out the manuscript I wrotefor the preeliminaries out of the bag and was currently reading it.

"W-Whatthe hell are you doing?!"

Ofcourse, I immediately took my manuscript out of her hands. However,as I turned around to look at her face, my movements came to a suddenstop and I gulped.

"Hey…Yuu?What in the world is this….?"

Whileher normal expression was full of emotions, now she just stared at mewith a blank face. Seeing her like this for the first time, Icouldn’t do anything but freeze up.

"Is…this….amanuscript for a light novel? Don’t tell me….did you writethat….?"

"N-No,this is….."

Ofcourse I couldn’t just spill out the truth. To Mai, I am TowanoChikai. I didn’t have the choice to reveal it.

"Y-Y-You’rewrong, okay?! T-That’s….yes! That’s the novel of a friend of mine!He wrote a novel and wanted me to have a look at it!"

"Oh,so that’s it."

"Yeah!So that isn’t a novel from Towano Chikai, okay?"

"Isee. I already thought that the quality was really low. It’s notinteresting at all, the writing style is also pretty weird and mostimportantly, all the characters don’t seem alive at all. They alljust seem like the puppets of the writer. This won’t win any awardsfor sure."

"Aha,ahahahaaaaaaaa…….."

Beingconfronted with these harsh words, I almost started crying on thespot. Is it really that bad…? Nevertheless, I did my best to holdback my tears. I didn’t have any other opinion but to swallow mydisbelief. As long as she would believe, it’s fine….but that waswishful thinking.

"Still,that’s weird. I think I’ve seen that writing style somewhere before."

"Eh?W-What do you mean?"

"…Yeah,there’s no mistaking it. This is pretty similar to the manuscriptthat I found thrown away in the garbage can in Yuu’s room."

"W-Waita moment! You were searching around in my garbage can? When?!"

"Eh?Little by little, as I was invited to come over to your room."

"Don’tjust answer so honestlyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!"

"W-What’syour problem? This is just natural because I want to find outeverything about you! Since you threw it away, that meant that youdidn’t need it anymore right? It’s totally fine!"

SinceI made it a custom of printing out the manuscripts to check them, itmust’ve been from when I checked it and threw it away because itwasn’t good. Even though I should’ve seen this coming since Mai is ahardcore stalker, I didn’t imagine her to just check my garbage……

"Hey,what’s this about? Why is the writing style of your friend and yoursalmost identical in that manuscript?!"

Beingdriven in the corner, my possible answers were very limited now. Ofcourse, I couldn’t tell her the truth either. Betraying Suzuka’strust is the one thing I couldn’t do. While I was still trying tofumble my way out of this situation, Mai continued her lethal attack.

"Hey….Yuu?Are you really Towano Chikai?"

Thinking back, that one phrase marked the beginning of my agonizing summer vacation.