Chapter 24

☆ Kengo Ohashi ☆

"Here. Blow your nose with this. You're ruining your beauty, you know?"

"Zuzuzuzu!!"

I just kept handing her tissues until she calmed down.

After an hour and a half of waiting. Finally, she stopped crying…

Then, I checked her whole body.

It seems like she's going through a lot of stress again.

Her black hair, which is usually so beautiful that particles appear, has wilted.

Her skin looks a little rough…probably because of the shock.

As I was looking at her, she was holding herself in her arms.

"Kengo. You're not thinking that you might be able to embrace your heartbroken sister, are you?"

"Of course not!!"

Did you hear? Did you hear that?

I turned down my girlfriend's offer to come over, and this is what she said to me?

On the contrary, I feel relieved! I'm glad she's okay!

"Just so you know, Shota-kun is the only one who can freely touch this body."

"Who was it that Komori rejected?"

I quickly realized that I misspoke when I said that.

I said it out of reflex, but I think it's not a good idea to say 'rejected' to my sister now.

I'm such an idiot!

Sure enough, my sister,

"Uuu-uuu…uuuuUWAAAAAAHHH!!! Kengo~, Kengo~, you~!"

She started crying out loud again, with large tears streaming down her face.

Oioioi… Give me a break.

Why do I have to babysit my sister when I'm already in high school?

If anyone knows, come here and explain it to me.

I feel as if I'm the hero who just encountered Mr. ◯.

…Hah~. It's going to be a long day after school today.

☆

"No matter what, Sis can't be a stalker, right!?"

"…Guhhh. Anyone who wasn't there can say whatever they want. But I heard it for sure."

After an hour and a half of crying, my sister explained to me how Komori had rejected her.

Of course, I wasn't there, so I can only speculate.

However, in my mind, I think my sister is the one who caused the problem.

But it's troublesome because she refuses to admit it.

"If Komori and the others were aware of Sis' stalking, don't you think they would have told you directly?"

"That's why they're going to tell me at school! We're going out now, so please don't follow us around any more, like that!"

"Of…course not…"

The only reason I'm having trouble deciding is because it's all a bunch of rambling hearsay.

First of all, the source of the information is a waitress. This is difficult.

This is because there is no one here who has directly heard Komori's conversation.

In other words, there are too many possibilities.

For example, the waitress misheard him. Maybe the stalker thing was just chit-chat, but she applied it to Komori and Takamine and told Sis about it.

You know what else I can think of?

The stalker is real (but not Sis) and Komori became Takamine's lover to ease her anxiety.

I'm pretty sure this is the most likely scenario, but… I can't say anything until I know the truth.

"What should I do now?"

She said weakly. Her voice was beautifully snobby.

This is where I think hard.

To be honest, I want my sister to decide what she should do.

Even if Sis is a beautiful woman of the highest rank, there is no guarantee that her love will be fulfilled in the future.

I don't know what will happen if she asks for her brother's advice every time.

That's why I'm not going to give an answer, I'll just let her make the decision,

"Needless to say, you have two choices."

"Eh?"

"It's 'give up' or 'never give up.'"

"No, there's no such thing as 'never give up,' you know?"

"Is that so? If that's what Sis thinks, that's fine."

"What? You're throwing me away like I'm a stranger."

"That's because it's a fact. It doesn't matter if your lost love is a misunderstanding or not. The only thing that matters is how you feel. Let's say Komori had a girlfriend–would your feelings be so weak that you'd give up over that?"

"WHAT!!! No, of course not! My feelings for Shota-kun are real!"

I smiled inwardly and continued. I looked at my sister straight in the eye.

" Then take him. Take Komori. "

"Steal him from her… Is that what you mean? No matter what, that's just–"

"–Is that so? I mean, if he was married to someone, you might as well just give up, but we're still students, remember? It's much less likely that they'll stay together. If we compare it to a game of chess, right now, you've just lost a lot of pieces to your opponent. If it's too confusing, we can change it to Othello. You may have lost at first, but if you get it all back later, you'll win."

I told her semi-aggressively.

She put her hand on her chin and pondered thoughtfully.

Eventually, she came to a decision.

"Right. Kengo is right. As long as I end up with Shota-kun, right?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying."

I guess with this, I'm off the hook.

"That means it's important for Shota-kun to recognize my charm, right?"

"…Ah, yeah. That's right."

Whoa. She's a lot more aggressive than I thought she'd be.

Is she having some kind of a crazy idea?

As I waited with anticipation for my sister's next words,

"I'm going to ask you for the favor of a lifetime, Kengo. Pretend to be my lover."

Eh, what? This is weird.

I can hear the voice of the kid with glasses who always comes across a murder scene.

What the hell is her thought process!?

If anyone knows, come here and explain it to me.