Chapter 21 – Round One, Fight!

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The next morning after my unexpected visitor arrived, I received a message from Mom.

“Jones-san is coming to pick up Ange tonight, so please look after her until then.”

It seemed that Jones-san would be coming to get Ange. It had been a while since I last saw him. Maybe I could vent some of my frustrations to him if we had the time.

Meanwhile, the troublemaker, Ange, was still sleeping in my bed.

She had forgotten her pajamas and ended up sleeping in her underwear. Her recently spanked bottom was peeking out from under the blanket. Honestly.

Ange had grown quite a bit. As someone who’d stopped growing both in height and other areas, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy.

“Good morning, Onii-chan,” Ange suddenly sat up, startling me.

“Whoa! You scared me! What was that for?”

“I don’t know. I just felt some kind of impure vibe coming from you and woke up.”

“Uh-huh. Did you sleep well?”

“My butt hurts.”

“That’s your own fault, Ange.”

“Yeah…”

As her brother, the last thing I needed was to be aroused by my sister in her underwear. I handed her some clothes silently, urging her to get dressed.

“Mom sent a message. Jones-san is coming to pick you up tonight.”

“…”

“Ange? What’s wrong?”

“That means we have until tonight, right?”

“Huh?”

“I want to spend time with you today, Onii-chan. Is that okay?”

Who could resist an angelic request like that?

Brothers are weak creatures. There’s no way a brother can resist a sister who is so attached to him.

—

“Even though I've only just moved here, I don't really know much about this city.”

“Really? Well, we'll figure it out as we go.”

In the end, since Ange had come all this way, we decided to explore the city together.

“I think there's a café down this way…”

“I heard that café closed recently.”

“How do you know that?”

“I researched the town where you live, of course.”

Ange said this nonchalantly as she linked arms with me. I didn't have the heart to pull away.

“This makes it feel more like a date.”

“We’re obviously siblings.”

“Have we ever been mistaken for siblings at first sight?”

“Otherwise, I'd be a creepy college student hanging out with a middle schooler.”

“Do I look that much like a kid?”

The looks we were getting from people around us were uncomfortable. Was it envy or disdain? Maybe both.

Ange didn't look like a middle schooler in her casual clothes, but to me, she was still the little girl who used to follow me around crying.

But then a new problem arose.

“We're lost.”

“Onii-chan…”

Ange looked at me with rare exasperation. This city was nothing like our small town, with its many people and winding streets.

I didn't want to look like a lost country bumpkin, but I had no choice but to use my phone's navigation app.

As I reached for my phone, I noticed a man and a woman arguing a little way ahead.

“Come on, it's fate that we ran into each other here.”

“I told you, I'm not interested.”

“We're going to be in the same department for the next four years, we should get to know each other.”

“You're being persistent…”

It looked like the guy was trying to hit on the girl. Who even does that in this day and age? Wait a minute…

These two seemed familiar.

“Seriously, leave me alone.”

“Hey, wait up, Kojima-san!”

The girl, Kojima-san, started walking quickly towards us. Our eyes met.

Oh no. It really is her.

Our eyes didn't exactly lock in mutual understanding. More like a mutual recognition of awkwardness.

Kojima-san stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me. Then she glanced over at Ange, who was clinging to my arm.

There was a brief, intense moment where sparks seemed to fly between them.

“Ugh…”

Kojima-san then quickly walked past us, her pace even faster than before. What just happened?

“Kojima-san's playing hard to get, huh? Oh, it's you, Uemura-kun!”

Following Kojima-san was Makata Makoto, a guy I had briefly talked to at the welcome party. We weren't exactly close, but a little small talk couldn't hurt.

“…What a coincidence, Makata-kun. What were you up to?”

“Oh, I just ran into Kojima-san over there. Since we're in the same department, I thought we should get to know each other and invited her to lunch, but she turned me down.”

“…I see.”

Kojima-san may seem a bit ditzy, but she's generally pretty reserved. A bit of a social misfit, really. Seems like that hasn't changed.

“So, Uemura-kun! I didn't know you had such a cute girlfriend! No wonder you weren't interested in the other girls in our department!”

“No, she's not my girlfriend…”

“Come on, don't be shy! If she's not your girlfriend, you wouldn't be walking around with her clinging to your arm like that.”

“No, really, she's my sister…”

But Makata-kun wasn't listening, leaning in and making Ange uncomfortable.

“…I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt your date. I'll get out of here. See you!”

“Hey, wait!”

Makata-kun misunderstood Ange's tightening grip on my arm as fear and quickly left.

“…What was that all about?”

As I muttered to myself, thinking we'd avoided a storm, I was interrupted.

“…Onii-chan, that girl…”

“Hmm?”

Ange was giving me a piercing look, clearly expecting an answer.

My courage wavered.

“Was that girl your ex-girlfriend?”

“Wha-?”

How did Ange know about Kojima-san? I was sure they'd never met.