"Oh, right—I brought something else for you too, Onii-chan."
Breaking free from Shirou's grip, Shiori said gently as she pulled something from her bag.
She'd packed all these bags just to bring gifts for her brother~
"Ta-da~ It's this!"
Shiori pulled a notebook from her bag with the words "To my future self" written on the cover.
"This is your songwriting notebook from middle school, Onii-chan. It seemed really important~"
WHAM!
The moment he saw the notebook, Iori instantly recognized it and dove forward to snatch it!
"Onii-chan is so happy, he jumped for joy~"
Shiori smiled, delighted, as though she were watching an animal show at the zoo.
"You little demon!!"
Iori shoved Kamishiro aside as he tried to steal it and shouted with righteous grief. He clearly remembered hiding that thing!
Why the hell was it in her hands?!
He never should've kept it!
It felt exactly like those old cringe posts you made on social media back in your chuunibyou phase—you hate them, but somehow you still can't bring yourself to delete them because they're part of your youth.
"Didn't think a bastard like you had musical talent too~ (ง ื▿ ื)ว"
Shirou teased, his expression smug. Just seeing Iori's face told him how embarrassing the contents must be.
It was like that time he secretly wrote novels in a past life—scared to death someone he knew might read them.
Truly, boys' high school was the greatest motivator of all—it even made an idiot like Iori try to write songs.
"Where did you even find this?!"
"Oh, I was cleaning Onii-chan's room a few days ago and just happened to pry open a locked drawer and find it~"
Upon hearing that, the two seniors nodded in agreement.
"That was pretty lucky."
"Better thank fate for that one."
"That was definitely intentional!"
Iori was certain now—it wasn't that he hid it poorly, it was his little sister who was the problem. He had clearly locked it in the cabinet!
(??ω??)
"Say, Shiori~ you definitely peeked at it, right? Come on, share it with us~"
Knowing there was no hope of getting the music score from Iori, Shirou Kamashiro tried a different approach. He didn't believe for a second that Shiori had just unlocked the cabinet and brought it over without looking.
Nobody could resist looking at the contents at a time like that!
Iori turned to her in horror. He was terrified of getting another "surprise" from Shiori.
"Umm~ I did take a little peek, but I don't really understand music sheets."
Phew...
Kamashiro looked visibly disappointed while Iori relaxed in relief.
"So I asked our parents to help interpret it that night~"
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, YOU LITTLE GREMLIN?!"
"Well done!"
Iori felt his whole world crumble. That meant even his mom and dad had seen it—his black history was fully exposed!!!
"I even brought a recording of our dad singing it~"
Smack!
Two hands lunged for the CD at the same time!
"Hey! Kamashiro, you bastard, what do you think you're doing?!"
"I just... haven't heard Uncle's voice in so long, I kinda miss it~ (???)~"
"You bastard! You don't even wanna hear your own dad's voice—why would you miss mine's?!"
"Lies! I talked to my dad just recently!"
"That was years ago, wasn't it?!"
"..."
Crack!
The fragile CD couldn't handle their combined force—it shattered with a sharp snap.
Destroying something is always easier than protecting it.
"Nice!"
Iori felt fulfilled. Such cursed content shouldn't exist in this world!
"Nooo!"
In contrast, Kamashiro was devastated. He had been genuinely looking forward to hearing his best friend's singing!
"Shiori! You must have made a backup, right?!"
"Umm… nope. But I did bring some of Kamashiro-oniichan's stuff~"
(′｀;)?
"My stuff?"
Kamashiro was puzzled. He had moved out early, and the house only had some old childhood junk left. Nothing useful, and certainly no blackmail material...
"This right here! Took me forever to find it under the bed~"
Grinning, Shiori handed over a few books. The covers were all filled with busty onee-sans in revealing poses~
!!!
The moment Kamashiro saw those books, he remembered. These were from when he was just ten—back when Ms. Matsushima still looked young on the covers.
His expression immediately turned serious.
"Shiori, you're still a kid. I'll take these off your hands for now. Next time, don't go digging this kind of stuff up, alright?"
Sure, in Japan, that kind of education starts early—but still! Kids this age shouldn't be flipping through that sort of magazine.
{{(°△°; "}}!
Shiori was stunned as Kamashiro calmly pocketed the magazines.
She looked around—none of the others seemed shocked. Even Nanaka and the others were treating it like it was completely normal.
Worse yet, Iori's senpais and that purple-haired onee-san were already flipping through the magazines!
"Ms. Matsushima's legs still look great."
"Though she's a bit skinny."
"And her boobs aren't that big!"
"..."
(o Д o)
Why are they already reviewing it like a book club?!
Shiori couldn't wrap her head around it. Shouldn't there be some kind of reaction?! Why did this feel so wrong?! What kind of image did Kamashiro-oniichan have in everyone's minds?!
"Got anything else?"
Kamashiro asked. He seemed to remember having some CDs too. Photos were boring—video was where it was at!
(???)
Silently, Shiori handed over a disc. As expected, the guy had zero shame.
"Oh, and I also brought a bunch of your old letters."
"Letters?"
He didn't remember writing any. Were they just regular family letters?
"If it's just family stuff, then no need to—"
Whoosh!
The moment Kamashiro saw the pink stationery, he snapped into action—he snatched one and stuffed it right into his mouth!
"MMMMMMMFFFFF!!"
Mouth full of paper, he protested at Shiori, but nobody could understand a word.
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
"Holy crap!"
"Shirou, if you're hungry, I can cook! You don't have to eat paper!"
"Wait—Kamashiro has a paper-eating fetish?!"
Everyone looked at him with deep concern. Why was he eating paper out of nowhere?
Only Iori saw the truth.
"Shiori, my sweet little sister, tell your dear brother what was written on that note."
(??.??‵)
Iori wore a devilish grin. Whatever was on that paper had to be Kamashiro's dark past—and juicy enough for him to eat it.
"MMMMM—don't say it!!!"
"Umm… I think it was a love note? I remember it said stuff like, 'I've saved up all my romance and gentleness, and I want to give it to you all at once,' or, 'If you hold my hand, you'll never lose your way even with your eyes closed,' something like that."
Shiori tilted her head as she recalled. It was kind of cheesy, but also… kind of sweet?
Everyone turned and stared at Kamashiro in shock.
This guy—this womanizing flirt who used looks and pick-up lines—wrote something so embarrassingly romantic?!
Could it be… he's actually a hopeless romantic?!
Did Kamashiro just have a fall from grace?!
(?????)
Kamashiro, still unaware of their thoughts, had turned completely gray inside.
Now he remembered what was in those letters—he had written a lot of cringe-worthy stuff. And what Shiori remembered? That was the least embarrassing of the lot! There were a bunch of over-the-top "earthy" love quotes too!
What else could he do back then?!
Sure, most of the time in middle school he got by on looks alone, but sometimes a girl would get all shy—and back then, in his collection era, he had to be aggressive!
Those lines? They were deadly among kids his age—and totally reusable too! He could send the same ones to multiple girls at once!
But still!
Could people not drag up ancient history like this?!
Even he didn't want to face his past self!
(╥_╥)
After relentlessly interrogating Shiori with no results, everyone eventually gave up. Still, when they looked at Kamashiro, there was a subtle new sense of pity—as though they now understood how he became a scumbag.
Nanaka even gave Kamashiro a big, heartfelt hug!
Kamashiro didn't know what was going on, but… just for that hug alone, he wasn't going to explain anything!
"By the way, how are Uncle and Aunt doing?" Nanaka asked. She had been so shocked earlier, she forgot to ask the important stuff.
"Dad and Mom are doing great. They said next time, they'd love to invite everyone to come visit. So did Uncle Kamashiro."
"Huh? My dad?"
Images of a stern, serious-faced man popped into Kamashiro's mind. He realized he hadn't gone home in a long time.
"I remember Iori's and Kamashiro's homes are next to each other, right? Kamashiro's family runs a tea house, and Iori's family…"
"We run an inn," Shiori chimed in.
The moment the word inn came up, Aina's eyes lit up.
"Amazing!"
"We have to go sometime!"
Just from how Shiori dressed, it was clear their inn was probably traditional-style. There might even be a hot spring!
Unlike the girls, the two senpais were more focused on Iori and Kamashiro.
"So what you're saying is…"
"Iori and Kamashiro will end up inheriting the family businesses?"
!!!
Kamashiro immediately forgot about his despair and leapt forward to take Nanaka's hand with dramatic passion.
"Nanaka-nee! I can totally marry into the family, you know?!"
Smack!
Before Nanaka could respond, Chisa slapped Kamashiro's perverted hand away and stood in front of Nanaka like a mother hen shielding her chick.
(?ò?ó)
"Don't even think about it!"
"..."
Welp.
Looks like the little sister-in-law didn't approve. And she just so happened to completely block his view of Nanaka too—Kamashiro couldn't even see her face anymore.
Left with no choice, Shirou Kamashiro turned his gaze to the gentle-looking Shiori beside him.
However, at that moment, the way Shiori was looking at him was as if he were trash.
'If you dare say one more word about me taking care of your tea farm, you're dead meat!'
(.-ω-)
Kamashiro silently turned his head away—no luck here either!
As for Kiyoko and Bujima?
No way they'd have any free time for that either!
One loved horse betting, the other shopping and designer handbags—there was no way either of them would be into tending a tea field!
(?????)
"Oh God, just give me a little brother or sister already!"
Suddenly, Kamashiro felt envious of that idiot Kitahara. He was so dumb his old man didn't even want him inheriting the family inn.
Just then, Iori happened to mention, "My old man said he doesn't want an idiot like me to inherit the inn."
"Well, that can't be helped."
"Honestly, that's a pretty sound decision."
"I'm suddenly super jealous of you, Kitahara. Must be nice to be an idiot so easily."
(???皿??)??3??
"Why are all of you agreeing with this?!"
Iori felt offended. Just getting into Izu University should be enough proof that he wasn't an idiot, right?
"Well, I don't really plan on taking over the family business anyway."
"Oh, really?"
"Is it because idiots don't make good businessmen?"
"At least he's self-aware."
"I could recommend a job for you after graduation—how about fertilizer transport?"
"...Can you guys stop saying the word idiot?! And you, Kamashiro, you scumbag—I'm in the mechanical engineering department!"
"Then I'll allow you to use machinery to transport fertilizer!"
"I swear to— Look, it's not like what you're thinking, I'm not—"
Iori tried to continue defending himself but was interrupted by a small hand tugging at him.
"Please don't say things like that, Onii-chan! If you work hard enough, even idiots can be cured!"
(?ò?ó)
"My adorable little sister... the whole premise of that statement is wrong!"
Everyone around them shook their heads in unison—as far as they were concerned, the logic was flawless.
At that moment, Azusa also noticed something. It seemed like Shiori really wanted Iori to return home.
But... it didn't quite seem like it was because she just wanted to cling to her big brother.
"Hey Shirou, how close are Shiori and Iori, exactly?"
Detective Azusa, on the case!
She felt like something was definitely hidden beneath the surface!
"How close? Hmm, maybe a little closer than the relationship between humans and cockroaches."
"..."
Whatever was going on here... it was clearly more complicated than she thought.
Iori, meanwhile, gave up on arguing and grabbed Shiori's hand, trying to escort her to the station. "Alright, alright, you've done everything you came here for. Time to go home. It's dangerous for a girl to be out alone—some scumbag like Kamashiro might target you."
"What do you mean scumbag like me?! Besides, Shiori finally came to visit—of course she's staying a while!"
Kamashiro grabbed her other arm. He hadn't seen Shiori in forever—no way he was letting Kitahara send her away so soon.
He still wanted to ask how things were going back home. Sure, they stayed in touch, but his dad... well, his personality didn't match his stern appearance at all.
Just the fact that he waited a whole month before calling to ask whether his son had you know, was enough to tell that Kamashiro's dad was quite the character.
All day he just played pachinko and doted on his wife. Kamashiro had long suspected that his very birth had been for the sole purpose of inheriting the tea house...
When he was a kid, his dad even used him as a toy sometimes—like holding him up as a sun umbrella in the tea field, or treating him like a rubber duck during bath time...
That was one of the reasons Kamashiro had wanted to leave home in the first place.
Just thinking about it—how could he ever fully trust a dad like that?
Yep, better keep his little sister around.
Kamashiro nodded to himself in silent resolve—once again mentally assigning Shiori to the Kamashiro household.
Nearby, Nanaka and the others were also chiming in.
"She definitely should stay a few more days."
"Shiori has entrance exams coming up this year!"
Iori countered righteously using the exams as an excuse—when he had his entrance exams, he studied himself half to death every day!
"So how's the entrance exam prep going?"
Kamashiro asked Shiori. Someone who could rework a house's tech at age ten—would she really worry about some exams?
"No problem at all!"
Her confident reply was a slap to Iori's face!
"You guys are the worst!"
Iori's face turned dark. Shiori was clearly a dangerous threat if she stayed here any longer—everyone was already siding with her!
He let go of her hand and solemnly patted her on the shoulder.
"Shiori, listen to your big brother!"
"Yes~"
"Success in studies is all about perseverance!"
"..."
(???)
Kamashiro looked at Iori with disgust. "You seriously have the nerve to say that to a top student when you needed to cheat just to pass?"
"Let's go home, Shiori!"
"No! Shiori's come all this way. Besides, you can study here too—middle school stuff's not exactly hard for me!"
Iori and Kamashiro locked horns again!
Just then, Shiori finally spoke, looking up at Iori with the sad eyes of a wounded fawn.
"Onii-chan... am I just a burden to you?"
!
Iori froze. Looking into Shiori's eyes, his heart suddenly clenched.
Yeah... no matter what, she was still his little sister—his gentle yet subtly manipulative little sister.
Realizing that, a huge smile broke out across Iori's face. "You're the biggest pain in the ass ever!"