“Huh… what else is there to talk about?”
“Nothing?! You have nothing to say to your big sister?!”
Fubuki grabbed him tightly.
“Are you tired of me already? Is that why you ran away from home?!”
What nonsense is this woman talking about?
Still—
Lu Yao no longer felt as resistant as he had initially.
Somehow, interacting with her had begun to feel natural.
That was probably another effect of those implanted memories.
At first, Lu Yao had genuinely resisted accepting such a suddenly intimate relationship.
Yet after only a short time together, that resistance quietly vanished.
With a sigh, Lu Yao lightly chopped Fubuki on the head with his hand.
“All right. Stop that. If you still want to talk, sit down properly.”
“Okay.”
Fubuki obediently complied.
Lu Yao sat again.
He idly played with his cup while organizing his thoughts.
“First, tell me why you’re doing all this.”
“Well, you always buried yourself in books before. You rarely paid much attention to what was happening around you.”
Fubuki automatically filled in the missing explanation for his ignorance.
“The truth is, I’ve always wanted to be number one.”
She began speaking openly.
“Intelligence, physical ability, cleverness, psychic power… I should’ve been the person standing at the top.”
Her expression darkened slightly.
“If not for that person.”
“Tatsumaki.”
“Our older sister.”
Lu Yao’s expression became slightly strange.
Fubuki was too absorbed in speaking to notice.
“That’s why I wanted to maintain my position as B-Class Rank 1. It was the first ‘number one’ I earned through my own effort.”
She clenched her hands.
“I wanted to stay there and eventually control every hero beneath B-Class, gathering enough power to resist our sister, who always operates alone—”
“Wait.”
Lu Yao interrupted.
“Isn’t your understanding wrong from the very beginning? Where did you even get this idea?”
“How is it wrong?”
Fubuki immediately objected.
“Leaving aside your looks and figure…”
Lu Yao sighed.
“If that were truly your goal, there’d be no reason to hide at B-Class Rank 1. Why not become A-Class Rank 1?”
“That’s impossible.”
Fubuki shook her head.
“I could probably reach around A-Class Rank 5, but anything higher would be difficult. A-Class Rank 4 Bushidrill, Rank 3 Okamaitachi, and Rank 2 Iaian are all disciples of S-Class hero Atomic Samurai.”
She continued.
“And the reason none of them can become S-Class is because one man stands above them—A-Class Rank 1, Amai Mask.”
“Doesn’t that simply prove you haven’t reached your limit?”
“I mean within the range of normal humans.”
Fubuki frowned.
“There are monsters beyond common sense everywhere. Most S-Class heroes fall into that category. Amai Mask is one too.”
Then she actually started lecturing Lu Yao.
“Yao, don’t be stupid like your big sister and try competing with monsters!”
Why am I the one getting lectured now?
Lu Yao nodded.
“I understand the situation.”
He looked at her.
“Then I’ll give you my conclusion first. Fubuki, if Tatsumaki is truly your goal and you genuinely want to surpass her, I recommend abandoning the Blizzard Group.”
He paused.
“Because it’s meaningless.”
“Meaningless…”
Having her long-held effort and hope directly rejected hurt.
But Fubuki couldn’t explode in anger.
The person in front of her was her closest, most cherished younger brother.
She couldn’t bring herself to get angry with him.
“Fubuki, you’ve been lying to yourself all this time, haven’t you?”
Fubuki bit her lip.
She didn’t answer.
“Honestly, if the Blizzard Group existed purely for friendship, or to help heroes weaker than you, I wouldn’t say anything.”
Lu Yao’s tone remained calm.
“But if you genuinely believe gathering a group of people weaker than yourself will somehow make you stronger, you should throw away that childish idea as quickly as possible.”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“That won’t make you stronger. Strength isn’t arithmetic. One plus one doesn’t automatically equal two.”
There was no mockery.
No condescending criticism.
Lu Yao spoke as though merely describing an unembellished fact.
“You saw what happened today. The moment you encountered a monster stronger than yourself, the entire Blizzard Group nearly got wiped out.”
He continued.
“In that situation, nobody in the Blizzard Group could help you, much less save you.”
“So fundamentally speaking, the Blizzard Group has no value to you.”
“B-But this is still a position I worked hard to establish…”
“Even so, something meaningless remains meaningless.”
Lu Yao’s voice remained even.
“Working hard at something meaningless receives less recognition than accidentally accomplishing something valuable.”
He continued.
“People who want to build careers, people who simply want to survive… everyone is working hard.”
“If you want your effort to be recognized, then direct that effort toward something valuable.”
“Then… do you think I should disband the Blizzard Group?”
Fubuki lowered her head.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
Once again, Lu Yao’s answer escaped Fubuki’s expectations.
If Lu Yao told her to dissolve the Blizzard Group, there was actually a high chance she would obey.
But he didn’t.
His words didn’t even qualify as a suggestion.
“Like I said, if the Blizzard Group existed for purposes other than your current obsession, I’d have nothing to say.”
Lu Yao shrugged.
“The root problem isn’t the Blizzard Group.”
“It’s you.”
“Me…?”
“It’s just a problem with how you see yourself.”
Lu Yao leaned back.
“To put it simply, clinging to B-Class Rank 1 while lying to yourself is meaningless.”
“You have two options.”
“Either stop using Tatsumaki as your goal and live more comfortably…”
“Or continue using Tatsumaki as your goal and keep improving yourself.”
“Train.”
“Grow stronger.”
“Keep moving forward.”
Having someone as your goal wasn’t inherently wrong.
If anything, people needed goals.
Goals provided direction.
And motivation to move toward that direction.
“That’s easier said than done…”
“Yeah.”
Lu Yao exhaled.
His tone softened.
“In reality, I’m just talking from a comfortable position. People can never completely understand each other.”
He smiled faintly.
“So I can’t truly understand your pain or your difficulties.”
“Sorry.”
He genuinely apologized.
His expression had relaxed.
Fubuki stared at him for a moment.
“Anyway, what you do next is your own decision.”
Lu Yao stood again.
“We might supposedly have a very close relationship, but even that doesn’t give me the right to decide someone else’s path.”
He paused.
“Unless you genuinely choose something beyond saving.”
This time, Lu Yao really intended to leave.
Fubuki remained thoughtful and didn’t stop him.
“All right. Time’s up. I should head home.”
“Wait, Yao.”
Fubuki looked up.
“You’re not coming home with me?”
“Consider this me becoming independent. I can’t stay beside you forever.”
He shrugged.
“I’m already grown up.”
“I don’t think our sister will care about that.”
“As for Tatsumaki…”
Lu Yao sighed.
“Try not to tell her if possible. She sounds troublesome.”
He genuinely had no idea how to deal with that tsundere, overprotective, permanently childlike older sister.
“Then it’ll be our secret.”
For some reason, Fubuki’s mood improved.
“I’m allowed to visit where you’re living now, right? Remember to leave a room for me. I might stay over from time to time.”
“Please spare me.”
“One last thing.”
Fubuki became serious.
“Yao, if I choose to keep the Blizzard Group… and you register as a hero… would you join us?”
Lu Yao stopped at the door.
He was silent briefly.
“If you can show me its value.”
“You’ll see it.”
Fubuki smiled.
“You definitely will.”
“Then I’ll look forward to it.”