"So… today, you spent a whole day as a high school student… in my place?"
That evening, after dinner, Snow Yukino—or rather, Yukinoshita Yukino—found herself staring at the cryptic message her sister had sent earlier that afternoon. Curiosity gnawed at her, so she picked up the phone and dialed her sister directly.
Snow Hiyono didn't bother to hide anything. In truth, she couldn't have if she wanted to. On a normal, uneventful day, she might have managed to come up with a story to cover it, but today was different. The Lamb Club had accepted a commission—nicknamed the "Pool Incident" by Fujiwara Chika—and handled it right under Hiyono's nose. This was exactly the kind of thing Yukino couldn't possibly be kept in the dark about.
That explained why Hiyono had sent such an offhand message in the afternoon without worrying about revealing her whereabouts. But that didn't mean she would spill everything. Take, for example, the girls who had stuffed white chrysanthemum petals into Yukino's desk cubby when Hiyono checked the security footage…
A faint glint of cold resolve flickered in Hiyono's eyes. She had already asked the members of the Lamb Club not to tell Yukino about this small incident. Hiyono would handle those girls herself.
Having grown up together, Hiyono knew her sister well. Even if Yukino found out exactly who was behind it, she probably wouldn't go to extreme lengths for revenge. Proud as she was, Yukino would disdainfully dismiss such ugly behavior, perhaps even pitying those responsible.
But Hiyono wasn't Yukino—at least, not in the same way. As the older sister, she was fiercely protective and held grudges; she would never let someone who hurt her beloved little sister walk free. This kind of matter was definitely not something Yukino needed to hear—it would soil her pure ears.
Suppressing these calculations, Hiyono smiled and said lightly, "Don't blame me. You've always been so casual when talking to the family about your school life. If you keep it up, wouldn't they get suspicious eventually?"
"Recently, Mother gave me strict orders," she continued with a sigh tinged with mock complaint, "to check up on how Yukino is living at St. Eden Academy, and report on your situation back to her—or else, my allowance would be cut off."
Hiyono's voice carried a mix of exasperation and feigned suffering. "Sure enough, it becomes obvious who the parents favor when the eldest daughter and the youngest are far apart. Looks like the little one still gets all the love."
"Using the family to pressure me again…" Yukino muttered, clearly unimpressed. She knew her sister's specialty was this kind of nine-parts-truth-one-part-lie storytelling.
Part of what Hiyono said was likely true—sure, the family would be curious—but the bit about cutting off allowance? Pure fabrication. Yukino let out a small sigh, deciding it wasn't worth digging into further. Her sister had been raised as the heir, the pride of their parents. Naturally, she had been trained in two indispensable skills from a young age:
Shamelessness.
Ignoring anything she didn't want to hear.
Where Yukino leaned toward being an upright, principled person, Hiyono was the "practical schemer." No matter how clever the schemer was, a true gentleman often had no effective way to counter it.
Hearing Yukino sigh, Hiyono knew her little sister wasn't planning to press the issue further. She quickly shifted the topic, focusing on her sister's own gains.
"So, how was your day auditing classes? Are you planning to continue tomorrow?"
"I learned a lot. The professors were very kind," Yukino replied, recalling the day's encounters, especially the 'old rascal' who taught Sakurajima Literary Phonology and told her to "go experience a romance." A faint blush crept across her fair, smooth cheeks. "I don't think I need to audit more classes until I've digested what I learned today."
"I see," Hiyono said, a hint of regret in her voice. "By the way… I forgot to ask. Why did you insist on asking me for help just to audit a university literature course?"
Suddenly, she remembered the nature of the Lamb Club. "…This is also a commission, isn't it?"
"Yes," Yukino admitted, not hiding anything from her sister, "but it's a private commission, given only to me."
"Oh?" Hiyono's interest was piqued. After today's 'identity swap,' she was already quite familiar with the environment her sister navigated. Someone had sought out her sister personally for a commission—and her sister had accepted it so smoothly. The position her sister held in that person's eyes must be remarkable indeed.
"Who's the client? Can you satisfy your older sister's curiosity?"
"It's Touma Kasa," Yukino said straightforwardly. "She's about to release her first album and commissioned me to write lyrics for her lead track."
"Oh, the daughter of Touma Yoko?" Hiyono naturally knew of the national treasure-level musician. "To trust such an important task to someone with no professional experience… that's a heavy responsibility indeed."
Despite all the frustrations Yukino had faced at St. Eden Academy, she had also made good friends—and that alone made Hiyono happy.
Thinking of the members of the Lamb Club, Hiyono's lips curved into a small smile. "The composer must be Touma Yoko herself, right? After all, it's her daughter's first album—she wouldn't let anyone else handle the lead track."
"Yukino," Hiyono continued, "don't work in isolation while writing the lyrics. Discuss it thoroughly with Ms. Touma; she's the composer and knows the song better than anyone…"
"No," Yukino interrupted before her sister could finish. "The composer isn't Ms. Touma."
"It's Hara Kei."
"…!" On the other end, Hiyono fell silent. She certainly knew who Hara Kei was. In fact, the man had made a deep impression on her today. Before marveling at his musical talent, she first recalled the very first case recorded in The Kill-Kill Incident Ledger—the one that started everything.
Wait… let me sort this out…
Doesn't this situation feel a little… off?
"Yukino, if you don't mind me asking… what's your opinion of Hara Kei?" Hiyono asked, her voice exuding cautious curiosity.
However—
"This has nothing to do with you," Yukino said suddenly, her tone turning icy. Then—click.
The call ended.
"…." Hiyono stared at the phone in silence. After a moment, she lightly tapped open her contacts and found a name she had just added today.
The name was—
[Shinomiya Kaguya]