The Little Sister's Final Request (1)

꒰ঌ The Little Sister's Final Request 1

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March has come and the final exam was approaching in few weeks. We had day off today, I was getting ready to eat breakfast, I stifled a yawn while descending the stairs, I happened to come across Naruko.

"Good morning, Onii-san." Naruko gave me an incredibly nice greeting. My eyes widened as I moved aside.

"Thanks," Naruko said happily, as she disappeared into the living room.

Did something happen? I mean, if she's thanking me like that…

W-what in the world could be happening…? It's not like a nuclear missile is headed straight to us from the North… right? Suddenly, I felt completely bewildered at my sister's docile attitude. I mean, it wasn't like this up until yesterday at least. Normally, if I tried to talk to her she would just face the other direction and run off somewhere… what was happening…? And then, these doubts I held in regards to my sister began to steadily strengthen.

At breakfast, after our family had gathered around the dining table…

"Here, Okaa-san, Onii-san."

Naruko dished out the rice for every person in the family. Mom acted like this was the most natural thing in the world, and accepted the rice bowls offered to her with a "Thank you, Naruko." She was smiling the entire time.

… Gulp. I unconsciously gulped when faced with this really strong feeling of unease. If this were the Uzumaki of Erza's household, I would understand what was going on. But this was my household, and it was the first time in my life I had witnessed such a vague unsettling scene.

I took a good look at the rice Naruko had given me. This isn't poisoned, right…? But all I could sense was the delicious smell of the freshly steamed rice and the steam rising up off of it. Things just kept getting stranger.

"Thanks for yesterday, Okaa-san."

"Ahh, no problem, no problem. It was fun for me."

"… Could I ask what you all are talking about?"

Faced with a conversation that I didn't understand at all, I tried to figure out what was going on. It was Mom who explained it to me.

"Well, yesterday, I went and watched Naruko while she was working."

"… Huh? Y-you went to see Naruko… while she was working?"

Wait… seriously? I mean, after all, my Mom didn't exactly look too fondly on Naruko's modeling work (at least not on the outside)…

"… Yeah, it really wasn't bad at all, Haruto. I saw lots of cute girls there. It was a feast for the eyes."

"Ugh, Mom! You sound like a pervy old man."

What the hell was up with this situation…? This was strange… it was clearly strange. W-What exactly was happening in this family right now…? Could it be… was this a dream? I mean, this… my whole family has gotten really weird all of a sudden, you know?

"What's wrong, Onii-san~?"

"What's wrong, Haruto?"

Mom and Naruko stared at me suspiciously. I once again gulped, and steeling myself, asked a question. "… W-what have you all done with my real family?"

Mom suddenly reached out with her hands… Crack! Mom gave me a finger flick in the forehead, and I saw stars dance in front of my blurred vision. Was she trying to crack my head open!?

"Awww!?"

"Idiot. Don't spew such nonsense!"

Mom faced me as I held my forehead and tears leaked out of my eyes, and spoke in a disheartened tone. "… T-this isn't a dream… it's all real…"

"Haruto, Is your head alright? Would you like to go to the hospital?"

"Ugh… Mom, there's an insult hidden in there, isn't there?"

In this series of familiar exchanges…

"… Hee hee."

Naruko was giving me a funny stare. Her gaze didn't have any of the scorn it usually had. In this series of familiar exchanges, the only thing different was how my sister was acting and how my mother was acting towards her.

Shortly after we had finished eating and I had returned to my room.

Knock knock. I heard a knock at the door. I put the reference book I was reading down on its front, and when I went out to take a look, I saw Naruko standing there. Her hands were joined together near her skirt, and she seemed hesitant about something. She didn't say anything, but she almost looked like she really wanted to go to the bathroom.

"… What's up?"

"I want to talk about something… could you come over to my room?"

That was certainly nicer than how she usually asked me to do things. I was thus summoned and headed over to my sister's room. If I recall correctly, this type of situation had happened multiple times after that incident.

The first time I went into my sister's room… and we had that first life counseling session… that happened around May of last year… Has ten months seriously passed already? So, has it come now? The last life counseling session?

Staring at Naruko as she walked in front of me, I was filled with inexplicable emotions. I've really come a long way… even though we've been living under the same roof for all this time, that's what I thought.

It's probably because I'm thinking about my mental closeness with my sister. The me of ten months ago and the me of the present are standing in different places mentally… that's what I meant by "come a long way." I really can't articulate it very well though…

At last, we found ourselves standing in front of Naruko's room.

"Come in."

This was also the customary exchange that I had seen happen a countless number of times. As always, a sweet smell drifted about in my sister's room. As if she had renovated the place, the room gave off a different impression than before. The curtains had turned from red to pink, and overall the amount of clutter in the room had decreased.

"Hmm, your room seems cleaner than it was before."

"Is that right?" She gave me a curt response. Naruko pointed to a cat-shaped floor cushion. "Please sit."

I didn't bother restraining myself and sat cross-legged on the cushion. Every other time I've found myself on this cushion, I was faced with the angry face of my sister, but maybe because she had gotten used to this situation or had just given up, she showed no signs of acting that way this time.

"So… what did you want to talk about? Is this that 'last life counseling session' you mentioned before?"

Sitting on the bed, Naruko took a while to respond. After searching for the right words for a few moments, she finally spoke. "… I suppose you could put it like that."

It was an incredibly vague answer.

"Well, whatever. Just speak up."

"… Hey—" Perhaps hurt by my curt tone, Naruko frowned and started to say something, but seemed to manage to restrain herself at the last second. "… Nevermind… uhh… ummmm…"

Naruko once again found it difficult to find the right words. What the hell? Was it something that was this difficult to say…? Granted, she's acting pretty strange today but it was much better than how she usually acted. If her request was something I could help with…

"I want you to buy me an eroge."

"How could you ask something so crazy so casually like that!?"

And I was wondering what she could possibly ask while she was acting so docile like that! It was just that!? Ugh, Naruko will always be Naruko! It was certainly more simple than anything she's asked me to do up until now, but for that reason I could say it straight out: I don't want to!

"But, is that seriously what you're going to ask me to do in the 'last life counseling session'?"

"… I guess."

What the hell?

"Why are you giving me that look? You disappointed or something?"

"I mean… I guess it just seems pretty light for the final life counseling session, or something…"

"Isn't that a good thing? It should be simple."

"It's not really."

Because of the pace the conversation was now proceeding at, the unease I had felt before had disappeared.

"… Take a look at this." Naruko pointed to the monitor for her desktop computer. An internet browser was open, and the official homepage for a certain game company was on display.

Notice: Midnight on the Sixth — A late night game sales session at our Akihabara flagship store! From Alice+, you can buy two of their newest releases from their hugely popular series Little Sister Maker EX all at once!

— I'm Definitely Not Love my Onii-chan!

— 3D Custom Little Sister

Both of these featured products have already gotten thumbs up from critics! Of course, don't forget about the other game companies! We have, from the new BL game maker, MF Soft Kiraru, You Came, Boiled-San!, The Familiar of Mazo Homoge Club and others all come on the market!

All the sales start at midnight! All those who want to buy and play the newly released ecchi games a step ahead of everyone else, please come!

"… So it's like that. So… I want you to stand in line when these things go on sale and buy me 'Oniai' and '3D Sister'."

"This late night game sale?"

"Yes, the late night game sale. At midnight on the sale date, the store is going to have a special opening and is going to sell these new releases."

"… Why? Are they going to sell out so fast that I actually have to stand in line? It's not like they're going to sell out that fast… you could probably buy them normally on the sale date too. Why are you asking me to do this anyway? Can't you just go buy it yourself after school lets out?"

"Well, it should be obvious that I just want to get this done as soon as possible." she answered me immediately. Naruko puffed out her chest with pride. "I'm planning to sleep in the evening of the day before, and when you come back with the game, I'm going to play it until the morning and clear at least one route."

"You're seriously a hardcore otaku, aren't you… you're going to go that far?"

"Hmph… of course. Are you that surprised?"

She sounded like the prototypical hero who was going off to his death. This was the very embodiment of determination.

"But, for me to go buy an eroge for you… there are still a number of problems with that."

"Huh? What problems?"

"Well, first, there's curfew."

Our family's curfew was basically set at six-thirty, and if you weren't at the dinner table at seven when the meal started then you didn't get to eat. Granted, my mother occasionally came home late because of her work, and there were a few times that I was allowed to bend my curfew after I had called in beforehand. For example, when I had stayed over at the Erza household, I was allowed to stay out past curfew. However…

"The sale starts at midnight in Akiba, right? So I won't be able to get home until past one in the morning. No matter what excuse I feed to Mom about having to go out, when I come home at that time of the night she is going to be really pissed. And if she found out that I had gone out to buy eroge…"

Terrifying. I didn't even want to think about it.

"I'll figure out how to deal with that part. Call my cell phone once you get back home. When I get your call I'll check if Mom is awake or not, and if she's still awake I'll provide a diversion."

"So, while you're keeping Mom busy, you want me to sneak in? You really think that's going to work?"

"It'll be completely fine. Well? You still have a problem with this plan?"

My sister waved her hand back and forth as I sighed and answered.

"… This might be obvious, but I haven't ever bought an eroge before. Can I really just walk in and buy the game if I go to this late night sale?"

"I don't know, but… I mean… I really, really just want to do this as soon as possible."

Why was she so desperate? This is why otaku confused the hell out of me.

"Come on… this is the last time… so… please."

Ughhhhhhhh… although, when I thought about it, it just wouldn't do for me to let her stand in line in the middle of the night… and honestly, compared it to everything I've gone through up until now, this wasn't a big deal.

"… Fine, fine. I'll do it."

"Really?"

"I never go back on my word."

Ohhh, she looks really happy…

Ahh. I'm also just way too soft… or just stupid. Just because my sister asked me with her hands together like that… not only did I easily agree to what she asked, but when she looked so happy as a result, it even made me happy.

Her eyes sparkling, Naruko smiled and spoke firmly. "I would like to bestow upon you a single, grand mission."

Puffing out her chest like she was the general of an army, placing one hand on her chest, Naruko pointed at me. "To protect the beautiful maiden, fly through enemy territory with a single plane, thirty-two kilometers. Can you do it?"

"Beautiful maiden… is that what you're comparing an eroge to?" I didn't like that metaphor at all. And I had no idea what her words were suppose to be a reference to. Well, whatever. I answered sluggishly. "Yeah yeah… roger that. Hime-sama."

Although… for the last life counseling session, this really seemed pretty simple… or pretty light. It's not like I was wishing for something more difficult though.

… Was she really okay with having this as her final request?

For that reason, that night I made up the excuse that I was going to stay at my friend Gray's house, and came to Akihabara.

"Sorry Gray, but could you just pretend I'm staying over at your place tonight without asking questions?"

When I had asked him that, he agreed to it pretty quickly, with a "Ohh, it's fine Haruto, it's fine. Go do nice things with Lucy." It did seem like there was a misunderstanding happening here though…

He was incredibly nosy, and he was an annoying joker on the one hand, but he was also a good person. Probably. This was the first time I had come to Akihabara at night, but it was more crowded than I had imagined.

Going against the flow of the salaryman getting almost sucked into the train station, I went out through the ticket barrier.

"… Damn, it's so cold…"

The minute I left the station, a cold wind blew around me. I unconsciously thrust both my hands in my coat pockets, and shivered while pulling my coat closed. It was 11PM. The electric city had its shutters closed, and only the streetlamps and a small number of shops illuminated the streets. It was quite a bleak sight.

"It's even drizzling…"

And I had thought it was really cold… when I glanced up at the sky, a mist of raindrops splashed on and sapped the warmth from my face. Unfortunately, I hadn't brought an umbrella.

"I really hope it doesn't start pouring…"

Leaving the station grounds, I headed towards the game shop in question. It wasn't far. It wouldn't take but a few minutes for me to get there. When I arrived at the store, I saw that a number of people were already lined up in front of the shutters.

Wait… there were almost fifty people here, weren't there…? And what was more surprising was that a good number of them were girls. I didn't know what kinds of games they were planning to buy, but… don't tell me that these people were all in the same category as Naruko… bravo people, bravo.

As these thoughts raced through my head, I moved to the back of the line. The store's shutters were shut, and a sign announcing the midnight sale was erected in front of the shop.

A list of the titles being sold by each company was pasted on the shutters.

I looked at the guy standing in front of me… he really was wearing quite an amazing jacket. What I would guess was a character from one of the eroge on sale tonight was printed hugely on the back of his jacket.

Don't tell me that he actually came on the train wearing that… he must have quite the burning spirit to pull that off. I can't say I'm not impressed. Although I would never do something like that myself. Granted, it's to be expected that the people here would all be motivated like that.

I mean, they went out of their way to come here in the dead of night, even though tomorrow (basically, roughly 11 hours later) they could just buy these games at a shop during normal hours. If they had school or work, they could also order the game by mail. In other words, these people were all in the same league as Naruko.

I mean, to actually take the time to take the train to Akiba, and then to line up in this insufferable cold… even if I get it one second faster, I want to play this new game as soon as possible. I can't be patient, even if only for ten hours. That's the gist of it, right? They are seriously obsessed. I really couldn't start to understand how they felt, but… If they were looking forward to this game that much, then that would surely make the game makers really happy as well. After all, the game they had poured their heart and souls into was being so heavily anticipated like this.

That was something to be thankful for. I wonder if it was because I had met people who created content when I went to the publishing company a while ago, but that's what I thought.

I stood in line and waited for a few minutes. There was still a bit of time before the shop would open. To be honest, there was not much to do. I should have brought a book to read or something, but I didn't. Getting more and more bored, I casually looked in the direction of the Radio Kaikan, and saw quite an amazing bicycle there.

Just from a glance, I could tell it was an expensive road racer bike. On the back wheel was drawn a picture of an eroge character!? Where the spokes were supposed to be was a disk instead. This is what they called a "disk wheel", right? On one face of the disk was drawn a smiling bishoujo. It definitely gave off a strong impression… in more ways than one.

My eyes narrowed. It wasn't just that the entire spectacle was pretty embarrassing, but the fact that this person went through so much trouble to modify an expensive bicycle like that was just wrong. The owner was seriously out of his mind.

… Whoa!… was the person who rode here on that somewhere in this line? Alright, whatever, let me just try not to think too much about this…

I shook my head and tried to turn my attention somewhere else. Suddenly, a downright downright chilling wind blew past me. I wound both my hands in my shirt, mumbling,"F-freezing…" it was really damn cold.

Everyone who was standing in this line probably felt my pain. It was cold, so the salaryman who were passing us on the way to the station gave us cold glances as well. Jabbering OLs also pointed at us.

"What are they doing in this cold…!?"

"Late night sale! It's a late night sale!"

"Ohhh, so this is the rumored."

And to top it all off, a group of foreigners were there whispering and not even trying to hide their shivering. I couldn't really hear them very well, but I think it went something like this:

"W-w—-whatsu?"

"Hei, rooku!… late night sale… hentai geemu."

"… Ohhh… hohohoho… kureezi…"

You're all here in Akihabara like us, so can't you just be a bit nicer about it!? Damn it all. Even to the other people in Akihabara, we look strange right now.

"… Ughhh…" Can't the shop open soon…? I really want to just buy it and get out of here…

I checked my cell phone, and saw that there was still more than half an hour until midnight.

Haah… I languidly leaned on the shutter, and watched as my breath condensed in front of me. And here, I met with someone completely unexpected.

"Umm, excuse me~… Is this where the line starts for the late night sale?"

"Ahh, yeah it is…" I answered casually and turned around, when…

"Uwaah—?!"

"Ugyahh?!"

Both of us gave out a shout of alarm.

"Ahh… hhh…"

We stared at each other, our bodies stiffening in surprise and our eyes widening. He wasn't much taller than I was. Good looking face and muscular body, and he was easily recognizable from his spiky black hair. He stood out even in the dark with his black, down jacket. The one standing in front of me was precisely the person I had been talking to on the phone a bit before…

"G-Gray?"

There was no mistaking it. It was Gray.

"H-Haruto… is that you…?"

Gray looked pretty cautious. I probably had a similar look on my face. Because, I mean, just think about where we are… you understand, right? In short, it was like that sick feeling when you bumped into a classmate in the 18+ corner of a video store.

Ughhh… what should I do…? But also, why the hell was he in such an unbecoming place like this!?

"W-why… why are you here, Haruto?"

"I want to ask you the same question, Gray…"

Both Gray and I had already guessed why the other was here, but we just didn't even want to think about it…

"Haha… my, my, it is really cold today, isn't it, Haruto-kun."

"… You know, you're right, haha, Gray-kun… hahaha."

We were both just shameless in putting on our little acts.

And then we suddenly fell into silence.

Gulp… What do I do now….? H-he's probably here for the same reason I am, but… and then, I realized something. I braced myself and very quickly broke the silence.

"Hey, Gray! I definitely just asked you to pretend that I was staying over at your house, didn't I!? And you agreed to that really quickly, so why the hell are you here at an eroge late night sale lineup!?"

"S-shut up, Haruto! People have these things called 'priorities' you know!"

"S-so you're telling me that buying eroge took priority over your friend!? You damn otaku!"

"Ugh… there's a deep reason for that, alright!? I-it's completely fine… even if your family called my house, my sister would have taken care of it! I definitely made sure it was okay with her before I left! Also, how can you be accusing me here!? I had agreed to give you an alibi because I thought you were going off somewhere with Lucy and wanted to keep it a secret from your parents! Why the hell are you in Akiba buying eroge out of all things!? I'm just so damn confused right now I have no words… !"

"… T-there's also a deep reason for that!"

In a complete turnaround from the restraint we were showing just a bit ago, we started to have a loud argument at the back of the line. Why in the world was I arguing with one of my friends about eroge?

Now, the guy with the otaku jacket in front of us was also glancing back at us every once in awhile. If I could just calm down and think about this situation, I would have realized how embarrassing this all was.

"A deep reason? What deep reason, Haruto? Just spit it out."

"… Umm…"

It wasn't something I could just blurt out. Just think about what would happen if I told him that my sister had asked me to come and buy 'I'm Definitely Not Love my Onii-chan!' for her… and I didn't think he would believe such an outrageous statement in the first place.

I immediately countered his question with a question of my own, "W-well, let's get off me for a second. What's your reason, Gray? Tell me."

"… Umm…" Gray looked desperate as he fumbled for words. Even though it was damn cold, sweat still managed to form on his brow. I probably had a similar look on my face.

We glared at each other for almost a minute. It wasn't clear which of us would be the first to break the silence…

"… W-well, it seems that we both have our own difficult issues that we're dealing with."

"… T-that seems to be the case…"

"H-hey Haruto. It's just a suggestion, but… can we just pretend we didn't see each other here?"

"Good idea, Gray! What a wonderful plan! Let's do that, definitely. Neither of us went to Akihabara, and neither of us ended up standing in line for a late night sale!"

"And of course, neither of us bought any eroge!"

"Friendship is about helping each other—"

"And expecting nothing in return!"

Clap. We exchanged a firm handshake.

There was definitely a deep sense of friendship between us at that moment. With impeccable timing, clash! the shutter opened halfway, and a shop employee came out from under it. The employee held a megaphone in one hand.

"Ohh, it looks to be about time, comrade."

"No no, I do believe there is some time left, comrade."

Still shaking each other's hands, we listened to the shop employee's announcement.

"Ahh, we're going to form a line starting now! Those who reserved their game beforehand, please form a line in front of each game!"

It seemed that the people who reserved the games beforehand would be able to buy them first. I (or I should say Naruko) didn't make a reservation, but…

"Haruto, I reserved a game beforehand. What about you?"

"No, I didn't."

You reserved an eroge? I thought Gray was a really lively guy before, but I guess there was a side of him that I didn't know about… but I wonder what game he had come to buy. The sister games, probably?

But he had a sister… if he was still buying sister eroge of his own free will, then I really pitied Ultear Sensei for having him as her brother. In that case, that hentai would be a disgrace to brothers everywhere.

As we had made a pact, I didn't ask him what game he was going to buy, but as I thought about which games they were selling today I felt myself growing more and more confused. Right then, the shop employee hoisted up a box of eroge, and spoke into the megaphone.

"Those who have a reservation for 'Homoge Club' should form a line here!"

"Ah, alright!"

"… Whaat!?"

Swish! With the coldest, most uncomfortable feeling I have ever felt running down my spine, I promptly threw away the hand that I was still shaking, which belonged to my former comrade. Because the eroge box that the shop attendant was holding had pasted on it a drawing of a bunch of macho looking men hugging each other. Also, I swore that some of them looked a bit like me.

Brrrrrr! At that repulsive feeling, I couldn't stop my entire body from shaking.

"G-Gray… y-y-y-y-y-you… that… you… you're getting that seriously ho… d-don't tell me… you're…"

"Haruto! You've got it completely, completely wrong here!"

"… I-I honestly didn't know. T-to think that… you would have a hobby like that…"

"N-nooooooooo! Just listen! We're comrades, right!? Come on, Haruto, look me in the eye!"

"What are you looking so serious for!?"

Gross! This person was just gross! I suddenly knew exactly how Naruko felt!

"Y-you damn homo! D-don't come close to me…! S-sorry, but I don't swing that way… !"

"H-hey, Haruto! What happened to that pact of friendship you just made with me!?"

"I don't remember ever making a pact like that with a homo!"

"I keep on trying to tell you that I'm not a homo, dammit!"

"Then why the hell did you make a reservation for a homo game!? What's up with that drawing and that title!? No matter how I look at it, you're a complete homo!"

"C-certainly, I'm trying to buy a homo game right now! And it's even a hardcore, no-holds-barred one without any artistic value otherwise! I'll admit that! But, there's a good reason I'm doing all this!"

It seemed that, now that he was cornered, Gray was a bit more willing to talk about the reasons he had for doing this.

"The truth is…"

"T-the truth is?"

"The truth is that my sister was the one who asked me to buy this!"

"What, Ultear Sensei asked you to buy this?"

"N-no, it's not my big sister. It's for my little sister Weiss.

"Ohh… so your little sister…" Well, there's no helping it.

"Wait, how the hell is that possible!? At least try to make up a better excuse, dammit!" I thrust my finger at Gray, and made my retort. "Your little sister is still in junior high school, isn't she!? Where in the hell could you find a little sister who would ask her older brother to buy ero… Well, I guess it might happen every once in awhile."

"Hey! Why the hell did you suddenly start agreeing with me!?"

"… Ah, no, sorry for doubting you before. But yeah… sometimes in this world, there are just things that you can't possibly understand…" I muttered deeply.

Well, this wasn't a big deal. I was here on my sister's orders to buy an eroge too, after all. Even if Gray was really just making up an excuse right now, it's not like I was in a position to call him a liar. And I certainly didn't want to believe that someone I hung out normally with was a homo. Nah, I refused to believe it.

"So, Gray… your little sister… umm… she plays homo games?"

"Yeah, she's really into them."

Really into them…

Well, I also had a sister who was really into eroge, so even if there was a little sister who was really into homo games, I shouldn't find it strange. At last, I took a look at all the girls standing in line for the homo game.

I see… so this was the reason that there were all these girls lining up at this late night sale…

"So they call these things… BL, was it?"

"Well, how should I put it… there's soft core and hard core stuff, and a number of things in between—"

"You don't have to go into detail like that!"

I didn't want to hear a lecture about homo games. A number of things, indeed. End of conversation.

"In any case, my little sister is one of those so called 'fujoshi' types."

"Fujoshi?"

"… You probably don't know about that world, Haruto. They're called 'fujoshi'. You take the kanji for 'wife' which is pronounced 'fu' and replace it with the kanji for 'stink' pronounced the same way. So they're stinking women, or fujoshi. To be honest, I don't fully understand that culture either… they don't care whether it's 2D or 3D, but they're obsessed with guys loving other guys and sex, and they're completely controlled by their disgusting lust for that kind of stuff… you understand?"

With a serious expression and tone, Gray chose his words carefully and explained everything to me. It seemed that this was quite an important point. But it was honestly all confusing to me. Also, was it really alright for him to be blabbing all this about his sister's hobby to me?

Well, his situation was probably not the same as mine… but I could empathize amazingly well with his desire to grumble nonstop about unreasonable little sisters to someone who would listen. So I won't interrupt him here and I'll just listen.

"Sorry, I really don't get it… but these… fujoshi, was it? Why do you call them that again?"

"Because they're rotten." Gray answered instantly.

He didn't care to explain what exactly was rotten, but his words had a forceful persuasiveness behind them. These were the words of someone who wouldn't be moved by any argument, who had already drowned himself in a helpless sea of shame.

So, even though I wanted to, I just couldn't bring myself to ask him exactly what he thought was rotting. The only response I could give was the following, "So it's like that…"

"Yes, it's like that. You see now?"

"No, not really."

Gray did a faceplant. Getting back up firmly to his feet, he came at me almost desperately.

"They like homos! Couplings between anime and manga characters! People like Kuroko Tetsuya from the Kuroko no Basuke! "

"Don't shout stuff that could be taken out of context like that!"

Because, honestly, people around us might mistake what you said and assume you're the one who loves Kuroko.

"… Hey, Haruto. Why is it that all the fujoshi I meet love me? Is it because I'm handsome?"

"How the hell should I know?" What an idiot.

"We're getting off track. So, what you're saying is… for the sake of his fujoshi little sister, Gray Onii-chan is standing out here in Akihabara in the middle of the night buying homo games."

"So don't try to blame me for this one, Haruto… I have my reasons." Gray shook his head sadly.

I nodded, feeling a large well of empathy swell up within me.

"… I see." No, I seriously knew all too well how he felt. In fact, I felt the same way. I had my own reasons for being here too.

"… You know, you really were pretty quick to believe me. Honestly, I didn't think you would believe me even if I told you the truth."

"Y-yeah, I guess." But I'm seriously surprised. To think there was a big brother who had been put into a similar situation as I had… and to think I would know that brother personally.

"Hey, Haruto, I should probably mention that all the stuff I just explained to you came from my sister. I'm definitely not a homo, so don't get the wrong idea."

"I got it, I got it. You know, if you keep on trying to make excuses like that, it's going to start looking pretty suspicious. It's fine, so just ignore me and get over to that other line. The shopkeeper is looking this way and waiting for you."

There might come a day when I could talk to this person frankly about my situation. Indeed, I had a feeling that day would come.

"Alright, then, I'm going over to the reservations line."

"Yeah."

I raised a hand and waved to my classmate. Gray gave me a bright smile, and turned the other way. He jogged lightly over to the homo game line. Everyone else in the line was probably a fujoshi, so he stood out like a sore thumb. Also, those other girls standing in the homo game line probably thought Gray was flaming gay. Poor guy…

As I stared at his retreating back, I saw him finally reaching the back of the line, at which point he turned back to me and raised a hand.

"Haruto! I'll see you at school tomorrow!"

Ah… ! C-crap. People are going to start thinking I'm his boyfriend… !

I mean, that's what was going to happen, right!? Just look. All the fujoshi were gathering and holding a hand to their mouths, going "… kyahh BL! It's BL!" Ugh… my heart sank, just like the rain that was endlessly drizzling down from the black night sky.

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