Aisa’s inner conflict [Manami’s Perspective]

“Mmm…”

“What’s wrong, Onee-chan…?”

“Husband and wife, huh…?”

“You don’t seem all that thrilled about it.”

I came to her room because Onee-chan called me, but she’s been like this the whole time, clutching her stuffed animal and groaning nonstop.

That stuffed animal’s pretty worn out by now… but she’s been treasuring it ever since Kouki-nii gave it to her, carefully patching it up and keeping it on display…

Onee-chan really, really loves Kouki-nii, doesn’t she?

“Husband and wife… I feel like someone said that to us back in elementary school, too.”

“Ohh…”

Back when we were super close, I think even our parents said stuff like that. Neither Onee-chan nor I really understood it, but it felt like they were praising us for being so tight, so we didn’t think much of it.

“Husband and wife… husband and wife… uuuuuu!”

“Does Onee-chan want to do, like, couple-y stuff?”

“—!?”

Her face turns bright red with a boom, like you could practically hear the sound effect. So cute… But if just hearing “couple” makes her react like that, I bet they’ll settle into this calm, married-couple vibe eventually…

Honestly, they already feel so married it’s like they’re halfway there. It’s fine, I guess… but if they actually end up like that, it’d make it easier for me to give up. I’d officially be the little sister in every sense, right…?

Whoops, anyway, let’s focus on helping Onee-chan with her problem.

Depending on how this goes, I might have to step in and help again. It’s kinda fun, honestly, and above all, I love being able to be part of their little world.

Sure, part of me thinks it’s about time they didn’t need me tagging along… but oh well. If that happens, it’d mean Yuuki-kun and I are totally out of the running, so maybe this is fine as is.

“So, Onee-chan, what kind of stuff do you want to do with Kouki-nii?”

“What kind…? Um…”

Onee-chan starts thinking hard.

Even while hugging her stuffed animal, she’s counting on her fingers, probably imagining all the things she wants to do.

By the time she runs out of fingers on one hand, her face is gradually getting redder…

“—!?”

Oh, she’s hit her limit.

Her face is so red it’s like you can hear a psshhh sound, and she turns to me with her eyes practically spinning.

…She’s such a handful, this Onee-chan of mine…

“Hey, Onee-chan, how about we call Kouki-nii and Yuuki-kun over tomorrow for a strategy meeting?”

“A strategy meeting…?”

“Yup, yup! We’ll brainstorm couple-y stuff together, write it all down, and then you can try them out one by one!”

“Couple-y stuff…”

“Exactly! If it’s just you and Kouki-nii, you’ll probably end up doing the same old stuff as always, right? So Yuuki-kun and I can throw in ideas about what we’d want to do if we were a couple, too.”

“I see…?”

“A strategy meeting to hunt for couple-y ideas!”

“Couple-y idea hunting… Alright, I’m in!”

“Awesome! I’ll reach out to Yuuki-kun, so you make sure to invite Kouki-nii, okay?”

“Got it.”

Nice, nice.

Onee-chan’s in full-on airhead mode right now, so she won’t suspect a thing.

Since I’m helping her out, she won’t mind if Yuuki-kun and I get a little something out of this too, right, Onee-chan?

I flash a sly grin while watching her, but she’s too busy blushing and sending a message to Kouki-nii to notice my scheming or my expression.

Honestly, she’s unfairly cute and so darn earnest, this Onee-chan of mine.