At the door to Chisa's room, a small girl had appeared—dressed in a kimono, carrying multiple bags.
A little loli?
Well, at least to Kamashiro Shirou, she looked like one.
"Shiori!!!"
The moment Kamashiro saw the girl, he dove forward with open arms!
That's right!
This was Kamashiro Shirou's (crossed out) long-lost little sister—Kitahara Shiori!
But as he pounced, Shiori casually sidestepped and pulled out a handkerchief, which she gently pressed over his mouth and nose.
Thud!
(o Д o)*
A wave of intense dizziness struck Shirou, and he collapsed to the ground. Just before blacking out, he could swear he heard the voice of a demon:
"You bastard… just you wait… we still haven't settled our score."
Shiori had no idea how this guy had the nerve to try hugging her like that, after all the awful things he'd said before!
Her movements had been so subtle that to Nanaka and the others watching, it just looked like Kamashiro tripped and fell on his own.
And they hadn't heard her muttered threat either.
To them, Shiori just looked like an ordinary, harmless, black-haired loli who didn't resemble Iori at all~
But right now... the little loli seemed kind of angry?
"What do you mean 'getting married' without telling me? And marrying into someone else's family?! I absolutely forbid this!!"
Shiori jabbed her finger at Iori again and again. Clearly, she was very upset about what he just said.
"Nanaka-nee!"
"Eh?"
Nanaka blinked, still dazed ever since Shiori had shown up. This morning was way too chaotic...
"Chisa-nee doesn't seem like someone who'd throw books around like this, right?"
Shiori picked up a book from the floor and continued, walking toward Iori and Chisa.
"Also, they're both fully dressed. And sleeping together without any sort of precaution when you might come home suddenly—that's obviously not normal! So clearly, this is all just a misunderstanding!"
Looking at Shiori who had suddenly appeared in front of her, Nanaka froze again.
"Now that you mention it... that does seem right…"
"See? I told you so, Onii-chan, Chisa-nee~"
With the situation now resolved, Shiori returned to her sweet, harmless mode, her voice gentle and adorable.
"Y-Yeah…"
Chisa was still completely out of it. She hadn't recovered from Shiori's surprise entrance.
"That may be true, but… how do you know all of this so well?"
Iori was confused. He didn't remember his sister having this kind of skill. It was as if she had seen everything happen.
"Well… that's just because I have sharp instincts, of course."
Shiori gave a gentle smile.
Kamashiro, who knew her all too well, immediately saw through the lie!
He knew all her tells—if he looked away when lying, she smiled sweetly when she lied.
Still lying on the floor, Kamashiro glanced at Chisa's desk—and spotted a stuffed bunny on it. One of Shiori's handmade creations.
The bunny's eyes briefly flashed red—exactly like the look Shiori just gave him.
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
I didn't even say anything yet!!
At the Grand Blue Dive Shop Lobby
"Woooow!!"
"So this is Iori's little sister?!"
Once word spread that Iori's sister had arrived, the main members of PaB (minus Kouhei) rushed over—including the two upperclassmen who hadn't been seen in a while!
"I'm Kitahara Shiori. I hope you'll take care of my foolish brother."
Despite being surrounded, Shiori was calm and graceful. Having grown up in a family-run inn, she was used to this sort of attention and wasn't the least bit nervous.
Her looks and demeanor stood in stark contrast to Iori's—no one could tell they were related at all.
"Oh no, you're too polite!"
"Nice to meet you~"
"So well-mannered!"
"Such a good girl!"
Everyone was pleasantly surprised—who wouldn't love an adorable, polite girl?
Well... maybe there were two people here who weren't thrilled...
One was Kamashiro Shirou, of course. Not that he wasn't happy about Shiori's arrival.
In fact, he welcomed it with open arms!
But that joy didn't last.
Azusa showed up... bringing one good news and one bad news.
The good news: Kiyoko and Busujima had restored his room before leaving.
The bad news: They also took every single item from his "collection" when they left!
They only left behind some bizarre and unusable stuff!
And—
They said they'd be "visiting often" in the future…
A complete nightmare!
Kamashiro was already seriously considering moving out. No way those two would ever go their separate ways.
Yeah, they were totally a couple.
As for the other person who wasn't happy...
Iori, of course—the very person at the center of this whole mess!
He was the only one not excited about Shiori being here. To him, she was nothing but trouble.
Big, big trouble.
Knock knock knock!
Iori pounded irritably on the table.
"So what are you even doing here?!"
"To see you, obviously~"
"Waaah, Shiori, that hurts my feelings! Couldn't you say you came to see me too?"
Kamashiro gave up on thinking and went full "live one day at a time" mode.
"Of course I also wanted to see Kamashiro-nii~"
A visible vein popped on Shiori's forehead. If it weren't for the crowd, she'd already shown Kamashiro what "little sister's love" truly meant.
"Didn't i already sent a letter updating you on my situation?"
Iori ignored the interaction between his sister and Kamashiro. He just wanted to get her to leave ASAP. Something told him if Shiori stayed, something terrible would happen.
"That's true~"
Shiori admitted. She had indeed received his letter.
Not only that—she got one from Kamashiro too. That guy just didn't know when to give up!
"Wait—what letter?"
Azusa looked confused. She felt like she'd missed a lot by being away just one day.
"Ah, just Iori's letter home. You know, the kind where he writes stuff that's nothing like reality."
Kamashiro explained. Okay, maybe not completely unrelated to reality... but still vague enough that it didn't count.
"You bastard! That is my real college life!"
"Sure, sure. Your very real college life—pfft."
Kamashiro couldn't hold back a laugh. Did this guy really lie so much he started believing it himself?
"He wrote about spending each day at college diligently studying and living cleanly, so I knew it was fake. I came to check in person~"
"Shiori!"
Iori was in despair. Even his own sister didn't trust him anymore! What if he really was telling the truth?!
"What kind of image do you even have of me?!"
"Alcoholic!"
"Naked guy!"
"Idiot!"
"Pervert!"
"Potential member of the Big Bird Spinner Club!"
"I wasn't asking YOU GUYS!!"
Iori roared. How had things between him and Shiori gone so off the rails?!
You guys are seriously too much! Not a single one of you matches his actual image!
How could you mislead a child like this?!
? o?o?
At some point, Iori had come to genuinely believe he was a hardworking, disciplined, model student!
"Why would you ask something like that, Onii-chan~?"
Shiori still wore a gentle expression, although deep down, she was seriously considering switching out her brother. Doesn't he know what kind of person he is?!
Slap!
Iori solemnly patted Shiori on the shoulder.
"Think about it—have I ever lied to you even once? You should know that better than anyone!"
"Yes…"
'About half of everything he says is total BS.'
"I absolutely hate lies and dishonesty!"
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
That one line from Iori caused everyone's internal CPUs to overheat.
"Sometimes when a person lies too much… they actually start believing it themselves…"
Kamashiro Shirou chose to quietly watch the performance. After all, he'd already sent Shiori the evidence earlier.
"Well, I can't say I don't understand the little joke you just made, Onii-chan~"
"Hold on, did you just say I was joking?"
"What a considerate little sister, exposing the truth so gently…"
"That's right!"
"Iori, you owe your sister a proper apology!"
"A real man takes responsibility for his actions!"
"Shut up, all of you!!!"
Iori glared furiously at Kamashiro Shirou. That guy had been interrupting him from the start—he was clearly just jealous of him for having a little sister!
?(￣︿￣)
Shirou spread his hands helplessly—he was simply standing on the side of truth.
"But, Onii-chan, I saw an interview a while back~"
"They were interviewing Chisa-oneechan, and suddenly this older girl pulled out a nude photo of you and said: 'Oh, about this… this girl already has a boyfriend like this. Even if you try to hit on her, there's no chance!'"
"That was Azusa-senpai!!!"
Iori completely broke down. When did that even happen?!
"Well, I only did it to stop guys from hitting on Chisa~"
Azusa looked completely innocent. Iori had been desperate to go watch a strip show, and asked her to block the guys flirting with Chisa.
Never mind the method—at least the outcome was good! To this day, no one had dared flirt with Chisa!
"…So what exactly were you rushing off to do that day?"
Kamishiro looked at Iori with disgust. He'd even helped sneak them in, and this was what happened?
(￢_￢)
"You damn bastard! You seriously have no memory of this at all, do you?!"
Iori was tempted to slap him on the spot. If Shirou hadn't lured him in with that strip show talk, he would've never ditched Chisa in the first place!
Meanwhile, Shiori continued explaining why she'd come.
"So I was really worried that Onii-chan might end up marrying into someone else's family…"
As she spoke, she even rubbed her eyes, like a sweet sister reluctant to leave her dear brother.
"Your imagination is way too wild…"
"Such a rich fantasy life."
"Guess she's in her adolescence, after all."
Clearly, the senpai and Aina thought Shiori had gone too far with her imagination. No way Iori was capable of marrying into someone else's household.
"But Onii-chan just told Chisa-oneechan that they should get married temporarily~"
(o Д o)*
"What the hell is 'temporarily get married'?!"
Aina shouted in outrage. She couldn't accept this at all! Just yesterday, Iori was saying he saw Chisa as a little sister—and today they're planning marriage?!
What the hell happened last night?!
(;￣Д￣）
"A lot happened…"
"In short, Iori snuck into someone's room…"
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
"That's literally a crime!!!"
"It was a misunderstanding!"
"Let's be honest—the intent wasn't exactly pure…"
"You scumbag, stop taking things out of context!"
"..."
As the three of them descended into another noisy exchange, everyone else tactfully turned away—clearly, the priority right now was Iori's little sister.
"So you came because you were worried about Iori?"
"Yes… and also to say hello to everyone. Thank you for taking care of my brother."
As she spoke, Shiori took out some souvenirs she'd brought from home and handed them to Nanaka-nee.
"What a thoughtful girl."
"She's really your sister?"
Senior Kotobuki looked suspiciously at Iori. Back when he joined, he didn't bring any kind of souvenir!
"…You guys seriously underestimate me."
Sporting a panda-eye bruise, Iori ran over to stand beside his sister and flashed a peace sign together.
"Look at us side by side! Don't we look like we came from the same mold?"
Everyone gave them a closer look. And sure enough, there were some similarities.
"You both have the same number of eyes."
"Same number of fingers too."
"Can't you point out something else?!"
Those things apply to literally everyone!
Why couldn't someone say something about their expressions or face shape? His mom always said Shiori looked like his clone when she was little!
Just as Iori tried to salvage the moment—
WHAM!
A shadow came flying out and kicked him across the room!
BANG!
"Stop embarrassing yourself—Shiori is my little sister!"
Kamashiro Shirou shamelessly clung to her side. Like he always said—if you tell a lie often enough, even you start to believe it…
And truth be told, Shirou and Shiori did look more like siblings when they stood together. At least in terms of looks, they matched better.
But…
Shirou's signature squinty eyes gave him away!
They looked alike in everything except… the eyes.
It was obvious Shirou was trying so hard to open his eyes wider, but some things are just destined!
"…Give it up, Shirou. You've done enough."
"No! I have to prove it!"
"..."
In the end, Shirou failed. If he pushed it any further, he'd be heading to the ophthalmologist next.
(╥_╥)
Shirou suddenly found himself resenting his squinty eyes. He wanted a little sister too! Preferably one who could inherit the teahouse!