Naruko & Juvia (4)

꒰ঌ Naruko & Juvia 4

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The next day when school ended, I hurriedly went to Naruko's and Juvia's school in Tokyo. After finally being able to convince Juvia to talk with me we moved to the roof to talk more privately.

"So? You said you had something to talk with me about. What is it?"

Her eyes gave off the impression that she was expecting to enter into a duel at any second. She was clearly on her guard. It was to be expected, but it was still an undesirable situation.

"That's obvious, isn't it? I want to talk about Naruko."

"That conversation is already over." Juvia flatly refused. "If that's all you wanted, then I'll be taking my leave."

"Wait wait, hold on a bit. Why are you jumping to conclusions like that? Please, just listen to what I have to say."

"Is there a need to? My thoughts and conclusions are just as I told you yesterday. If I can, I want to get Naru to change her ways. To get her to stop that hobby, and return her to her right senses. But…" Juvia calmly made her statement, and then bit her lip. She didn't have to go on for me to know what she wanted to say. Naruko would never throw away her hobby. Even when her public image is threatened, or when her mother strongly disapproved, she would always like what she liked. I had seen her ridiculously stubborn determination first hand.

"Why would she… go that far…" That's… really something Juvia can't understand, I think. Why is it that, even though she was warned so earnestly by her best friend, such warnings went in one ear and out the other? Even though Juvia had not said anything that was obviously wrong… whether it was that the hobby Naruko had was disgusting and repulsive, or that someone like Naruko really shouldn't get close to things like that.

Could it be, that I was mistaken in thinking they were close friends? It was natural that I would think something like that. This girl hated otaku even more than my mother did. She had been taken in by the one-sided otaku bashing that existed in the world, and had embraced a strong prejudice against them. Of course, within that prejudice there were things that might not have been far off the mark. In Juvia, aside from her prejudice, there was a part of the otaku psychology that she just might not be able to accept. At a glance, she was a girl who prided herself on cleanliness and purity.

"What kind of people do you think are the most prejudiced against otaku?" Naruko had said to me. The answer was girls in high school… she was probably speaking with her own close friend in mind. She was a very serious, pure, kind, honest, and a bit prejudiced person… My evaluation of Juvia was not mistaken. She was definitely not a bad person. I would instead say that she is an extremely good person. How many friends of mine can I count that would get this angry for my sake?

"… Haruto-san. I have a request."

"What is it?"

"Won't you talk to her too? I really do want to get her to stop." Juvia still was under the impression that I was an otaku. She thought that I was repulsive and disgusting, that my mind had broken and I was just a potential criminal. And yet… "Please help me. My… my own words don't seem to get through to her… so…"

To think that she would lower her head to someone that she hates as much as me. This was probably the reason she even wanted to talk with me here today. Because she wanted to get her most important friend back. She wanted to save her from going down a bad road. In some ways, doesn't it seem like I'm the bad guy here? It's not like I can claim to be the good guy in this situation…

"I can't. I really can't."

"No matter what?" Juvia asked me while bowing.

"Yeah, no matter what." Even if I did talk to Naruko, it's not like I would be able to get her to stop. In the first place, that wasn't what I had come here to talk about. Having been bluntly refused by me, Juvia quickly raised her head. Was it just me, or did it seem like the light had gone out in her eyes?

"Her reputation is going to be destroyed, you know? Even if I said that?"

"You wouldn't do something like that, I think."

"How would you know what I would and wouldn't do?"

"Because Naruko told me so." I didn't give any response further than that. Juvia's eyes widened, and I saw the light return to them.

Well… this seems to be a good time. I've finished reaffirming the situation, so let's get to the main topic at hand. "So… Juvia-san, to put everything briefly, what you're saying is the following. 'Naruko's hobby is disgusting and repulsive and she should not have it.' 'But even so, Naruko won't throw her hobby away.' 'So, I cannot hang around such a person. And I can't make up with her.' That's about right?"

"Yes. And?"

The problem here was simple. So, from here, how should I get these two to make up with each other? First, there was Juvia's demand that I should go and try to talk Naruko out of her hobby. But, needless to say, I would not choose that option. And that limited what options I could take. For now, there were a few things I could try. Including my ace in the hole. I had even taken off from home to prepare that one. Honestly, I didn't know if it would work or not, but I could only try and see.

"You said a lot of things to me on the phone back then… and I did a bit of research on them."

"Research?"

"Yeah. In summary… about the Siscali Attempted Murder Case, what various commentators have been saying about otaku on the news, the PTA meeting you participated in, the child pornography issue in Japan, and etcetera. The document you were talking about… it's this, right?"

"That… what's that?"

Taking out the document I had prepared for this meeting from my bag, I thrust it at Juvia.

"Let me just put it outright. What's written here is utter nonsense. There is no clear evidence linking the otaku hobby with these crimes as you had suggested. Not for now, at least."

"Eh…? " For a moment, Juvia stared blankly at me as if she couldn't process what I just said, but her expression stiffened immediately. "B-but! On the news, there was… and it was a congressman too!"

"The petition that you brought up that was submitted to the House of Representatives was also based on shaky evidence. You said that when people played eroge, they would unconsciously break their minds and lose their humanity? Well, then it's a matter of how exactly you know that's true. Because, if someone could lose their mind just by playing games, then he probably wasn't a decent person to begin with. Just think about it."

"I-I did think about it! This is all just your own personal opinion, isn't it!?"

"Yeah, it is. But, I'm not the only person who thinks this way. There are people in the Diet who also are more conservative on this issue. There was another petition, with hundreds of signatures, in which people requested that if we change the laws against child pornography, we should not be hasty and take a very cautious approach. I might be stating the obvious, but there are several different opinions on this matter. The Diet is a suitable place for debates like this after all. Just because a petition is handed to the House of Representatives, that doesn't mean that the contents of that petition are definitely correct. So, even if I give you this document right here, that does not form the basis for rejecting the otaku hobby."

Trying to keep her temper, Juvia shouted, "But, in reality, there are people like this who have become criminals, haven't there been!? The commentators have all said that, haven't they!?"

"In regards to the 'Siscali Attempted Murder Case', that was blown completely out of proportion. While it's true that outside of Siscali, the criminal had a lot of other 18+ games, the contention that his games were the cause of him falling into crime is an outright lie. Certainly, he said that he 'mimicked the game characters and tried to electrocute a girl,' but he later retracted that statement. 'I wanted to rough up a girl, so I waved my modded stun gun around,' he later said… of course, it's not clear which one of his statements is true. Taking a close up look at his motives, there's absolutely no need to talk about the influence of these games. It's just that, when they first were reporting on this matter, it was very easy for them to make a connection between the 'influence of games' and the 'attempted murder."

"And then the journalist, who made it out to be this huge thing and labeled it with the name you know, as the 'Siscali Attempted Murder Case'. And at that critical moment, the famous commentators continued to beat on otaku, and kept on talking about the eroge they found in the criminal's room and showing pictures of Akihabara. It's pretty difficult to just take it all back and apologize after doing all that. I'm not sure that's really why, but for now, I can say that I've yet to see a single news article where they admit that it really wasn't the game's fault."

"That's… but, that person's always helped out my mother so much…" Juvia desperately flipped through the document I had handed over to her. It was almost as if she was trying to find something in there that would refute what I was saying.

"I'm not saying that every single thing he said was an outright lie. And I'm not saying that every journalist who bashes otaku is a fraud. But at least this time, to push the things he himself believed in, that journalist manipulated the situation to fit his own views. If you think I'm lying, go and look into the matter yourself."

Juvia clearly seemed shaken, and bit her lip. I could hear her grumbling "Lies… it was a lie, a lie lie lie" almost as if she was chanting a curse, and it was honestly quite unsettling. She was a clean, pure, honest person, and so when she was lied to like this, she rejected it to that extent… It was pretty amazing.

"You said otaku were just potential criminals, so won't you take that back? I mean, there are probably bad people who are otaku too. But they aren't all like that. Remember when you asked if those two people were Naruko's friends? Those two really strangely dressed people. They were my friends. They're really good people! So please, don't lump all otaku together and speak badly of them like that!"

This matter was something that was just as important to me as getting Naruko and Juvia to make up with each other. The one thing I had to get Juvia to take back was her remark about all otaku being criminals. That was one duty I, as their friend, could not neglect.

"Fine… I understand, to the very end, I was mistaken on this matter. There is no such connection between otaku and criminals. Satisfied?"

"I see! Then—"

"But, I still have no intention of approving of Naru having that kind of hobby."

Rejected. Juvia didn't even let me pursue the issue. With creases forming across my forehead, I asked. "Why?"

"Why? That's obvious, isn't it!? So there isn't a connection between this and crime… So what, I ask!? There's still no mistaking that it's a dirty, repulsive hobby, is there!?"

"You may think that. But, and I might be repeating myself here, I don't think that's enough to justify breaking up with your best friend. I'm not telling you to accept her hobby. However I think about it, those things are not good things. I understand that much. But, can't you just pretend you didn't see anything? Pretend that you didn't see anything… and just be her friend like you have been up to now? She knows herself all too well that this hobby isn't something she can make public. That's why she's gotten so good at separating the two sides of herself."

"That's true, isn't it? Hiding it so well… and continuing to trick us like that."

"She wasn't trying to trick you. There was just no need for you to know! Of course, she was also trying to protect her public image… but first and foremost, she didn't want to lose her best friend! You two are close, right? Why can't you even understand what she was trying to do here!?"

"Liar! That's a huge lie! After all, Naru thinks that this hobby of hers is more important than I am, doesn't she!? Even though today and yesterday, I begged her to stop! Even though I begged her to heal our relationship! 'I definitely don't want to,' that's all she could say!"

"That's not right! That's definitely not what she meant by that!"

"Shut up! Don't act as if you know what's going on! What do you know about us!? I know Naru better than anybody else does! But even then, to think she would do that kind of! That person wasn't Naru! It was someone else! Definitely someone else! An imposter! Give her back! You're hiding the real Naru somewhere, aren't you!? Give me back my friend!"

This is hopeless. Completely hopeless, I think. I really can't convince this girl. To this girl, this situation probably seemed like Naruko had joined some strange religion or something. Juvia truly was concerned for Naruko's well-being, truly valued Naruko highly, and truly was fond of her. That's why she couldn't condone the present situation. She couldn't condone her friend corrupting herself.

That's not like you. You're not like that! A certain someone had once said something similar… and had gotten angry with similar sentiments. But what gives me the right to criticize Juvia? We're birds of a feather, really. Projecting a certain image of someone in our minds, but realizing that in reality that person was different, and then getting angry about it. And then getting sad about it. And then falling into despair over it. It was really a selfish thing. But this was a pitfall that occurred naturally when people got together. Especially for friends, or for people we loved and respected, that's the way we wanted things to be. There was only one person in the world who could refute these feelings from the other side. There was only one person who could slap me across the face, who could kick me in the privates, with a shout of "don't screw with me!" Yes—

"Stop screwing around! Shut it with the 'imposter imposter' nonsense!"

Yeah, just like that.

"Naruko…!?"

At the sudden loud scream, Juvia and I simultaneously turned around. The uniformed form of Naruko was walking quickly towards us from the door. Her head was held as high as it always was, and she came towards us at a fast pace.

"Ah, Naruko you finally here."

"You shut up too. Don't butt your face into our business. This is something I have to do myself!"

"That's true, isn't it? You knew that all along, didn't you? Alright then. Sorry for intruding."

Do your best, Naruko. It wasn't like I was expecting my thoughts to reach Naruko, but at that moment Naruko seemed to get re-energized and turned to face Juvia. She confronted her best friend with a tense expression.

"Juvia… listen to what I have to say."

"I don't want to listen to anything an imposter like you has to say!" Juvia shook her head stubbornly. She shouted with bared fangs, "Let me meet the real Naru!"

"What is 'the real Naru'?"

The Naruko that stood before me was a completely different person than the Naruko who was completely overwhelmed by Juvia back in that other incident. She haughtily puffed out her chest, and with energy that matched the intensity of the furious Juvia, she faced her opponent head on.

"A beautiful girl, someone with distinguished fashion sense, a sports prodigy, and someone who excels at her schoolwork. She has a lot of friends, she is looked up to by everyone at school, has a great rapport with her teachers, flourishes in her club activities, is even a model outside of school, is relied on by everyone, is loved by everyone… She's absolutely perfect, amazingly cool, super cute, and really beautiful. That Uzumaki Naruko, you mean?"

I didn't know anybody else who could so confidently praise themself like that. It must be refreshing to be able to go so far with self-praise. She really loves herself, doesn't she?

"Is that what you mean by the real me?"

"Yes! That's Naru, isn't it!? Even when we go out shopping, even when we're surrounded by boys in town, even when there's something in school I don't understand, even when I feel overwhelmed with modeling, even when we put on a show at the culture festival… to me you were always… you were always with… but…"

"But it's strange for me to get close to such a hobby? It's impossible? It's not like me? I'm dirty and repulsive, an imposter? Sorry, Juvia, but that's a complete misunderstanding."

"… Mis… understanding?"

"Yes, so just listen to me… although, I'm not sure if I can say this well…" Facing her bewildered friend, Naruko began to speak, "Well, for me, I really love those doujinshi books that you hate and think are repulsive. I also have many of those 18+ games that you think are dirty and make you nauseous, and I love those as well. No matter how many times I watch anime with cute little girls, I can't get enough, and just looking at all the goods I bought is enough to make me happy. It really is a strong love like that. You could say I adore them. No matter what anybody else says, that is me."

Juvia looked like she wanted to say something, but it seemed as if she couldn't put it into words. Sorry, Naruko was saying. Sorry that I'm not the person you hoped I was. But, this is me. That's what it sounded to me like she was trying to say.

"So, I know that you're really worried about me, but please don't be. I definitely don't want to give up this hobby. It's something I like. What I like is what I like. If I stop it, if my hobby becomes no more, I would not be myself anymore…"

Like she had once done with me before, Naruko let out her own feelings. She laid herself bare. As if she couldn't understand what was happening before her eyes, Juvia shook her head a number of times.

"Is it something that's more important to you than your friends? That hobby… it's more important than me!?"

"That's not true!"

"But—"

Naruko cut off Juvia before she could continue, and shouted with all her strength. "I really love you, Juvia! But I also love eroge! It's not a lie! Why won't you understand!? If I could just choose one, I wouldn't have been so troubled to begin with! My school friends as well! My otaku hobby as well! All of these things are incredibly important, precious things that I can't throw away, and that's the reason why things have come this far, isn't it!?"

"W-w-wha…" Having been struck with that heavy killing blow, Juvia stumbled a step and wavered. She probably was flushed bright red because there was not a shred of dishonesty in Naruko's words, and her message had gotten completely across. I didn't know if she was angry, happy, embarrassed… or some combination of the three.

Facing her blushing, bewildered friend, Naruko put on the pressure. "Alright, Juvia? I don't have any intention of throwing away any of these things. Neither my friends, nor my hobby, so I've decided! I'm definitely going to make up with you! And I'm definitely not stopping my hobby! You have a problem with that!?"

Well, things just got serious. This idiot! Don't say something so unreasonable! But… there was nothing more like my sister than this arrogant, haughty side of her. This was the genuine, bonafide Uzumaki Naruko. Juvia probably understood that as well. She really was this kind of person. Her best friend should know about that, right?

"You're… not lying? I'm also really… important to you…? " Juvia seemed to be taking a few moments to digest what Naruko had said, and finally spoke, "I… understand your feelings. I also… misunderstood in a lot of places. I got taken in by other people's opinions… and said some terrible things… that was wrong of me. Sorry. I'm really… sorry." Juvia bowed very deeply. "I… also want to make up… with you, Naru…"

"Yeah." Naruko smiled shyly.

From the beginning, both of them had wanted to quickly make up with each other. Now that they had been able to speak frankly with each other, it seemed that they had finally come to understand that… geez, what a roundabout way of doing things. They should have just done that from the very beginning… Well, I can't say I acted completely correctly either. I also had misunderstood her feelings, got angry, and was worried without knowing what to do about it.

"I really love you but I also love eroge!" She certainly got her feelings across. It was a hopeless situation to the end, but she got them across with her strongest words. I mean, to think that she was able to solve the issue by saying something like that… I felt it was just a bit counterintuitive. if anybody else had used that line in any situation, they couldn't possibly hope for results this good. Here and now, all the more because Naruko was facing Juvia, those words had their effect. In any case. I'm glad everything got resolved. That's what I thought, but… as Juvia looked downwards, she continued in a frustrated tone with a "But…"

"… As I thought, this is hopeless… I definitely want to make up with you. I want to make up with you but I can't approve of your hobby!" She mumbled things like a certain someone had a while ago. Naruko and I both simultaneously widened our eyes.

"W-what are you saying!? Didn't you say you were going to make up with me!?"

"… I… sniff…" After Naruko angrily yelled at her, Juvia began to cry. Blinking a number of times, she wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand, and choked out her words through her tears. "Because… because… I really can't do it… Naru… I-I… those types of games and books… I honestly hate them… I really hate them… even if they don't make you a criminal, they're dirty, repulsive, disgusting things… I might be overreacting… but… sorry, it's useless…"

"J-Juvia…"

As expected, Naruko also was in pain, and recoiled. We had proven that there was no connection between otaku and crime. That misunderstanding had been settled, and Naruko had gotten her feelings across. But in the end, there was still the matter of the characteristic psychological prejudice of high school girls. It was a negative image that couldn't be wiped away. This particular situation was truly futile. It wasn't a matter of misunderstandings, but was squarely in the realm of Juvia's personal principles.

"W-what should I do? Naru… what… what should I do?" Juvia gazed at Naruko with desperate eyes. No matter how she tried, it seemed that her feelings did not allow for compromise. She wanted to make up with Naruko. But, she couldn't approve of otaku. She also couldn't just pretend nothing had happened. This inflexibility came from her belief in cleanliness.

And then Naruko, who had been driven into a corner… suddenly turned and faced me. " Do something! " she seemed to be saying to me.

You want me to do something here!? You're turning to me now!? Even though you had told me not to butt in!

"… Naru… I… I…"

"Uuuuuughh…" Blink, blink blink blink. "Fast! Do something now!"

She seemed to want to tell me with the rapid winking she was sending my way. But… even if you tell me to do something… I mean… I did happen to prepare a trump card for situations like this… but… this was… honestly, I really didn't want to do that. I did prepare it just for this meeting, but however I think about it, it wasn't a good thing. But maybe, with this, they could actually make up with each other…

Ugh… dammit, if I think about this any longer, it'll soon be too late. Screw it! I should just go for it! Dammit! Don't blame me if something bad happens! After you hear my brilliant explanation, don't regret it, alright!?

"Hold on, Juvia-san. Listen to what I have to say." Juvia watched me through her upturned, tear-filled eyes. I started speaking boldly. "You think that this hobby we're obsessed with is dirty… and no matter what you can't approve of it, so you can't make up with Naruko, right?"

"T-that's obvious, isn't it… because, because…"

Well, that's what teenage girls were like, wasn't it? It would be unreasonable for me to just tell her to approve of it.

"Well, let's remodel that opinion of yours then. Take a look at this…" From my school bag, I took out a thick book I had just borrowed today from the library.

"… The Odyssey… and… the Nihon Shoki?"

She recognized them, right? Yes, what I just handed over to Juvia was the ancient Greek epic poem 'The Odyssey', and the oldest record of Japanese history, the Nihon Shoki. I also handed over a third book, entitled 'Egyptian Myth — Osiris and Isis'. As Juvia stood puzzled by my intentions, she wiped her tears and her gaze dropped down to the books.

"Izanagi and Izanami… Cronus and Rhea… Osiris and Isis…" Labels were taped onto the books, so she probably knew where to look. Juvia scanned the books from start to end, and she became even more bewildered. "What's this for?"

"Those are all stories of brother and sister deities. There are alternative theories, but… these siblings all got married a long time ago."

"Umm… excuse me, but what exactly do you want to say? What does this have to do with Naruko's hobby?"

"Well, just hold on. Just keep what I said in mind. The real article I want to get to is this…" I slowly took my trump card out of my bag.

"T-that's… !?" Naruko raised her voice in astonishment. What I took out of my bag were the treasured 'little sister hentai doujinshi' Naruko had bought at summer Comiket.

I handed the hentai doujinshi casually over to Juvia. Juvia blinked in surprise, but began to flip through the books…

Smack! Her hand slapped me across the face.

"Aww…!"

"W-why are you showing me this!? Do you have a death wish or something!?"

Is that something you should be saying after you slap me!? What the hell, this girl!? Dammit Naruko, this is the second time I got slapped by a woman because of you!

"D-disgusting! D-d-d-disgusting! How shameless, you pervert!"

"Disgusting? You're wrong… you're mistaken, Juvia-san! Those books are not disgusting at all! The books I just handed over to you are all written with the same topic in mind!"

"Wha—!?"

"What are you saying?" Naruko's mouth hung half open, and spoke as if she had just realized what was happening. After all her brother is going through to convince Juvia, she's being quite uncooperative.

I spread my arms wide, and proclaimed my argument to Juvia. "Just think back! That collection of ours that you called dirty… they're all drawn works of art based on the love of a brother and her sister! Am I wrong!? Is there even one exception!? There isn't, is there!? So how are these different from the hard covers I just handed you!? Just because one is older and one is newer!? If I mixed them together, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference!"

"W-what did you just put into the same category as these national myths?!"

"Incest doujinshi, of course! Got a problem with that!? What's drawn in those ero books are the stories of love between brother and sister that have been passed down by humanity since ancient times. It's the most beautiful, precious literature in the world. Yes, our strong feelings for these things are definitely not evil at all!" I quickly pointed to the things in Juvia's hands, and shouted at the top of my lung. "THOSE ARE THE PROOF OF THE LOVE BETWEEN NARUKO AND ME!"

There was no mistaking that this was the most idiotic thing I've said in my life.

"Eeeehh!?"

"W-w-wha— …"

Both Naruko and Juvia looked at me with their eyeballs stretched out of their sockets.

"Wha… what outrageous things are you running your mouth with— mmph!" In an instant, I hugged Naruko and smothered her face, cutting her off. She wriggled and squirmed in protest, but I wrapped her arms around her back and somehow also pinned those down. As I hugged her tight out of 'proof' of our mutual love, Juvia stared at us, dumbfounded.

"W-w-w… What are you… !?"

Just like Juvia had done back when she had gotten angry, I went on and on without letting her speak.

"It's just as it looks, Juvia. We love each other! That's why we have to collect these stories of forbidden love! Don't call our love for each other dirty! It's literature, didn't I say!? There are drawings of naked girls in there? There are passionate ero scenes in there? That's not the true substance of these works! They aren't as trashy as people like you claim they are!"

As I continued to ad-lib, I gradually became more and more emotional, and soon wasn't even conscious of what was coming out of my mouth… the line began to blur between where the act ended and where my true feelings began. Before I knew it, my mouth was moving unconsciously and the words were flowing out on their own.

"Naruko's hobby is reconnecting the sibling ties that had been broken between us. If I hadn't found out about her hobby back then, we would have continued to have a cold relationship with each other. I couldn't do anything to help my beloved sister by my side. I would say that it had nothing to do with me, and would only watch as my sister cried! So I'm thankful from the bottom of my heart! Thankful for all of this otaku hobby that you say is so dirty! Because this hobby existed, I was able to start a real sibling relationship with my sister! And I stopped just standing by watching my sister cry, making terrible excuses of how it didn't have anything to do with me! Can anybody dare to deny these feelings I have!? I'm not lying, these things are proof of our love for each other! So, just listen to me, because… I—" I hugged my struggling sister close with all my strength, and shouted, "I LOOOOOOVE NARUKOOOO!"

After I shouted this from the depths of my soul, all the light extinguished from Juvia's eyes. She let the books drop to the floor.

Even though I had released her from my hold, for some reason Naruko stood stock still, her mouth flapping open and shut. While Naruko unsteadily waved from side to side, Juvia came closer and took Naruko by the hand as if to steal her from me… and hugged her close.

"Naru… let's make up. Right away."

"J-Juvia…? "

"I'm sorry… sorry… for saying those things are dirty, that I can't approve of them… this isn't a time to be making such a big deal over the little things… I'm really sorry… I didn't realize…"

"Eh? Eeh?" Naruko seemed completely bewildered as her close friend hugged her tight and wailed.…

I did it. Even I didn't think that would work this well. After all, Juvia was strongly prejudiced. But Naruko's hobby, and these doujinshi were not just dirty things. If I pleaded that point desperately with her, even if the argument didn't completely make sense, I thought that perhaps she would accept what I was saying. It seems that my speech didn't completely go to waste.

"Geez, well that was all pretty troublesome." With a cynical smile, I started heading towards the two girls.

"D-don't come any closer, Hentai!" Juvia hugged Naruko close as if to protect her, and gave me a glare.

"… Uummm… who are you talking to?"

"Shut up! Don't talk, Hentai! Hentai Hentai Hentai! You're making my ears bleed!"

Huh… Well this was a bit different from what I was expecting! I was correct in thinking that she was really prejudiced, and she had seemed to have accepted my argument… but didn't she jump to an incredibly strange conclusion here by herself!? Juvia stared at me with her empty, dark blue eyes.

"As I thought, you're the source of all this evil! Never touch my best friend again! You're dirty! Repulsive! Disgusting!"

"J-Ju… via… san? "

Still holding onto Juvia's hand, Naruko quickly began to distance herself from me. She swiftly turned back around one more time, "Urgh… you're Idiot!" Giving me a glance she left her sharp parting remark with me.

I was left alone on the rooftop.

"… And everything went according to plan!"

Isn't that great, Naruko? At least You were able to properly make up with your best friend.

"Hah… how pitiful…"

Well, there's no helping it. This was just the result of me carrying out my own will, and doing what I wanted to do. At the very least, I didn't regret what I did, so I would quietly accept the consequences. I mean… I was at least able to achieve my goal of getting Naruko and Juvia to make up. In the end, my embarrassing actions… they weren't all wasted, right?

***

It was after school on the next day. When I came back from school, just like she had done in the past, my sister was on the phone in the living room.

"I'm home." As I gave the standard greeting upon returning home, not only was there no response, but she didn't even glance in my direction. In her sailor uniform, Naruko was sitting deeply on the sofa with her legs crossed under her extremely short skirt, and was nodding at something while on her phone.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks, Juvia. There's nothing to be worried about… yeah… mm… ahaha… really… mm… oh yeah, do you want to go shopping together tomorrow?"

And that's how it was. Having been branded with the stigma of the 'hentai brute brother,' it's not like I could have asked her directly about it, but it seemed that their relationship was doing relatively well. Because, at any rate… It seemed like usual day, they were calling each other and chatting on the phone.

She couldn't permit Naruko to have such a dirty hobby, but also didn't want to separate from her… Juvia was imprisoned in a paradoxical situation, but by using me as a scapegoat, it seemed that she had found a loophole out of the paradox. After that incident, I had gotten an email in my inbox.

"To the big liar Haruto-san,

Because of you, I could make up with Naru. Don't think that I have approved of Naru's hobby, and don't think that I am withdrawing the opinions I presented yesterday… but while I can't come to a compromise, and while I can't accept her hobby, I've decided to move on. There's no helping it. But, don't think that I've given up! I will definitely save Naru from your evil influence one day! I will definitely not lose to you!

PS: If you ever do anything dirty to Naru, I'm going to kill you!"

W-what the hell!? This girl is totally scary! I'll never want to meet face-to-face with this girl again!

I drank down my tinge of doubt with a bottle of cola. From the refrigerator, I returned to the living room, and passed by my sister's side.

"Alright, Juvia, I'll see you tomorrow at school." Naruko cut off the phone call, and looked bashful.

When I saw her looking happy like this, the entire conflict with Juvia and the stigma that had been passed down to me all seemed like trivial matters. Just now, I could think like that. I'm glad. Well, at any rate… with this, now, our life counseling session to make fond summer memories for her has come to an end. This was the last time. Certainly, this time was the last time. At long last, I could return to the quiet, normal days I had wished for from the bottom of my heart. Now, I wouldn't be forced to play eroge, and wouldn't be dragged to absurdly tiring events… It was nice. Shrugging my shoulders, I tried to leave the room.

"Bro," I already had my hands gripped around the doorknob when I stopped. Then, my sister spoke with her usual blunt tone of voice. "Come here for a second."

"What do you want with me now?" I did what she asked. Naruko looked down and seemed to have a hard time saying what she wanted to…

"… Umm… Bro… when you shouted that back then… how serious were you being?"

"Does that matter? Why were you asking this all of a sudden? I mean, let's just drop that subject, please! I'm begging you!" When I looked at her with pleading eyes… the atmosphere around Naruko completely changed.

"Y-yes… it does matter…!" She looked downwards, grasping tightly onto the hem of her skirt, and her cheeks were flushed.

What? What was up with that… that strange response? That's… not like you at all… bewildered, I asked. "Why?"

"… You don't know?" From her position on the sofa, she looked upwards, hot in the head, and gazed at my face. When our eyes met, I realized that Naruko's eyes were wet. Her face was red, as if she had caught a cold.

"Well… because…"

And then Naruko, as if saddened and helpless at seeing my actions, looked like she was about to cry. She stood up from the sofa, and desperately caught my sleeve.

"Do you really… not know…? " Well… maybe… there was that… but how should I respond? Seeing me completely perplexed and unable to speak, Naruko resolved herself and began her confession. She spoke while looking downwards, trying not to make eye contact. "You're too slow… idiot… don't make me say it… it's embarrassing…"

Gulp. I gulped down a mouth of saliva.

"I… I… I thought about what you said back then… and then… umm… that is… urg… this is hard to say… s-so… please just listen?"

After that, Naruko resolutely raised her head, and faced me directly. Then, she gathered her strength. You! What are you trying to say?

"I… a-also love you… O-Onii-chan."

WHAAAAAAAT!

"S-s-seriously!?"

"Pft… Is that what you thought I would say? Are you seriously getting that worked up over it? You hentai siscon."

"Wha… t-t-t-thi… this…?"

My mouth and eyes opened wide, I couldn't do anything but stand there in mute amazement. I mean, just look at my face! Dammit! Daaaammit! Daaaaaaaammmmiiitt! This is impossible! This girl! Crap! My head was burning up, and I grabbed it with both hands, twisting my body harshly back and forth.

"Kyahahaha! That's so lame! You were actually being serious, weren't you?! Ahahaha~~!" Laughing uproariously and pointing at me, Naruko finally wiped away her tears, and poked my stomach with her elbow. "Come on, how long are you going to stand there looking like an idiot? Let's go, you siscon brother!" She pulled strongly on my sleeve, and lightly turned around. A daring smile appeared on her face. "You promised to play Siscali with me, remember?"

.

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