Kousaka Kyousuke found the whole thing rather baffling.
They were complete strangers, and he was fairly certain he hadn’t done anything rude to the girl.
So why did he get the feeling her eyes were trying to devour him alive?
He watched the two young women loop their arms together and round the counter, heading straight in his direction.
“Sir, your information has been registered.
Please take your receipt.
You may take the phone now.”
“It’s ready to use, correct?”
“That’s right.”
The paperwork was done, and the staff member offered a professional smile.
Should he retreat?
He had a feeling trouble was coming.
Kyousuke hesitated for a moment, but by then it was already too late to slip away.
Aragaki Ayase had already arrived right in front of him, with his visibly displeased little sister trailing behind her.
“Would this be the esteemed elder brother of the Kousaka household?
I’m Kirino’s close friend, Aragaki Ayase.”
The beauty initiated the greeting on her own accord, using respectful language and sporting an utterly adorable smile.
Despite such refined features, she gave off the approachable warmth of a girl next door, overflowing with charm.
At this point, even if Kyousuke had wanted to pretend he hadn’t noticed her, he couldn’t due to basic etiquette.
“Hello, my name is Kousaka Kyousuke.
Thank you for looking after my sister.”
Kyousuke offered a slight nod.
The name Ayase had just come up not long ago, spoken by his sister inside the Kadokawa conference room.
It was likely because of her warning that Kirino had belatedly realized she’d been taken advantage of and found the nerve to confront her editor.
He took the liberty of sizing her up again without any attempt to hide it.
This girl, no matter the angle, possessed a beauty that did not lose to Kirino’s, and judging by how she carried herself in conversation, she was considerably more mature than his sister.
But why…
that look from earlier — what was it about?
Where had all that hostility come from?
“Geez, acting like you’re really my brother or something.”
Kousaka Kirino curled her lip.
“Hey, don’t keep staring at Ayase just because she’s pretty.
That’s seriously rude, you know.”
“…”
Kyousuke cast a rather speechless glance at this little princess.
She was the one talking to him.
Wouldn’t it be even more rude to not look her in the eye?
Besides, wasn’t she sizing him up from head to toe just the same?
He kept these thoughts to himself, though, and didn’t openly contradict Kirino — he had no desire to air the family’s discord in front of an outsider.
“Forgive me.” Kyousuke offered Ayase an apologetic smile.
Ayase covered her mouth with a light laugh and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Onii-san truly is a gentle person.
I’m sure you and Kirino will get along wonderfully someday.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Ayase?
Why are you taking his side?”
“If you live under the same roof, then you’re family.
Of course I want you two to get along peacefully.
That would put my mind at ease too, wouldn’t it, Onii-san?”
Ayase squeezed Kirino’s hand, lacing their fingers tightly together as if declaring ownership, and posed the question to Kyousuke at the same time.
What was with these two?
Kyousuke’s gaze drifted oddly between their faces, and he took note of those tightly intertwined hands.
Ordinary friends weren’t normally this intimate, were they?
Wasn’t that the kind of gesture reserved for couples?
Could it be that his little sister was…
a lesbian?
A thoughtful expression surfaced on his face as he recalled Ayase’s earlier hostility.
So that was it, how territorial.
That murderous look from before — she must have been worried he was going to steal Kirino away from her.
It made sense, actually.
Step-siblings in a blended family, sharing a roof without a drop of shared blood.
If the two people in front of him really were in a relationship, then all that intense hostility suddenly seemed perfectly logical.
Kyousuke held no prejudices about such things.
Society thirty years from now was far more accepting than the present.
Lesbians aside, when it came to gay men—even if they made advances, so long as they could take no for an answer, he saw no reason they couldn’t be friends.
“Thank you for your concern.
I hope you two remain friends for life as well.
I’ll leave Kirino in your care.”
Kyousuke gave Ayase a meaningful wink and a subtle expression.
“Eh?”
Ayase froze.
She had imagined he might be completely oblivious, or perhaps react with bewilderment.
But she never expected his answer to sound like something a father might say while giving his daughter away in marriage.
Had he seen right through her?
“What the heck are you even saying?”
Hearing this, Kirino practically bristled on the spot.
“Did I say something wrong?” Kyousuke looked genuinely confused.
Weren’t they the ones testing the waters with him?
He’d clearly expressed both his acceptance and his blessing.
“Utterly baffling.
Saying weird things in front of my friend and acting like some kind of elder — it’s revolting.”
“…”
Kyousuke found himself at a loss for words.
Seeing this, Ayase let out a “pfft” and burst into laughter.
“What are you laughing at, Ayase?”
“Nothing.
I was just thinking that Onii-san really is a good person after all.”
She’d had it completely wrong.
This elder brother…
he might actually be an ally.
The way Ayase looked at Kyousuke shifted, even taking on a hint of reverence.
She did indeed like Kirino, but it was an entirely one-sided affection.
As much as she’d tried to express her feelings, this was the first time anyone had ever noticed and openly acknowledged her.
Even Kirino herself hadn’t picked up on her almost unnaturally intense regard.
This feeling — was it like finding a kindred spirit?
“Hah?
What are you talking about, Ayase?”
Kirino glared huffily at Kyousuke and tugged at Ayase’s arm, trying to drag her away, but her friend didn’t budge an inch.
Just then, a staff member off to the side waved at Kirino.
“Um, sorry to interrupt, miss, but could one of you come over to fill out your personal information?”
Kirino remembered — she’d paid in cash at the counter earlier before Ayase had pulled her over to say hello.
The staff member had already retrieved the new device by now.
“Kirino, would you mind handling that?
I’d like to speak a little more with Onii-san.”
Ayase murmured into her ear.
“Fine.” Kirino nodded, then shot a fierce glare at Kyousuke.
“You’d better not say any weird things to Ayase!”
With that parting warning, she jogged back over to the previous counter.
….
Once she had confirmed Kirino was out of earshot, Ayase lowered her voice and fixed her eyes on Kyousuke as she spoke.
“Kirino told me you were at the manga editorial department in the Kadokawa building today as well.
What were you there for?”
“Some personal business,” Kyousuke answered offhandedly.
He hadn’t even planned to tell his mother, so he certainly wasn’t about to spill anything to someone he’d just met.
Much like how Kirino has been secretly drawing manga?”
Sharp, this girl.
A vague excuse clearly wasn’t going to cut it.
“It’s just as you’re thinking.” Kyousuke sighed.
“But unlike Kirino, what I write is light novels.”
“So you spoke with Editor Iori as well, then?”
“We simply had a brief chat.”
“It was more than just that, wasn’t it?
That woman called begging for mercy and offered triple the compensation.”
Kyousuke raised an eyebrow.
Just as he’d expected, that Editor Iori had folded.
In the adult world, it wasn’t about right or wrong — it was about weighing interests.
The fact that Kirino had signed a solicited manuscript contract couldn’t be changed now, and if she wanted a different contract, she’d have to wait until her next work.
Using the threat of hiatus as a bargaining chip to secure triple compensation had probably been enough to skin the woman alive.
He’d had no intention of mentioning the matter to anyone, since it was hardly worth bringing up, but Ayase had pieced it together on her own.
Truly clever.
“You really are a proper elder brother.
Knowing you’re by Kirino’s side puts my mind much more at ease.”
“You flatter me.
I also bear the Kousaka name.
This was simply my duty.”
“You don’t plan to tell Kirino?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Of course not.”
“Then I won’t mention it.”
“Eh?
Why?”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?
Besides, it’s nothing more than a trivial matter.”
Kyousuke spoke as if it truly didn’t concern him.
Ayase looked at him with a trace of surprise.
Trivial?
As someone who moved in modeling circles, she was already half a step into the working world herself.
Kadokawa’s relationship to Kirino, and to Kyousuke as well, was much like her own relationship with the magazines she worked for.
As a model, especially a newcomer, there was no room to bargain with a talent agency.
For him to have secured triple compensation for Kirino and forced Editor Iori to apologize and beg for mercy in person was practically unthinkable.
She’d roughly guessed he’d used the threat of hiatus, but for it to actually produce this kind of result was genuinely impressive.
“Onii-san is far too modest.”
“So,” Kyousuke asked, watching Kirino fiddle with the information form at the neighboring counter, “how long has this relationship of yours been going on?”
“Eh?” Ayase suddenly felt her heart racing.
He really had seen right through her.
“Never mind then, we’ll save it for another time.”
Seeing the time displayed on his phone was already nearing one o’clock, Kyousuke decided not to prolong the conversation any further.
He turned, ready to leave to grab a quick bite at some fast food joint, and try getting in touch with his online friend to see if they could meet up in person.
Ayase suddenly reached out and caught hold of the hem of his jacket.
“Wait!”
She pulled out her phone.
“I know this is rather forward, but would you be willing to exchange phone numbers with me, Onii-san?”
As if afraid Kyousuke might not hear her, Ayase had unconsciously raised her voice.
At the neighboring counter, Kirino, who had been filling in her information, turned her head at the sound.
“What are you doing, Ayase?”
Kirino was utterly dumbfounded.
She felt as if she were seeing her closest friend for the very first time.
Ayase, of all people, proactively asking a boy for his contact information — in all the time they’d been friends, this had never once happened.
And the target, of all people, was that nerd of a brother who’d suddenly appeared out of nowhere.