I’m your precious baby sister, you JERK!
“Your importance isn’t the issue here. This is about whether you need to meet my friends. And the answer is no.”
“So if you get engaged, you’re not going to bring her home to meet the family, is that it?!”
My importance is MOST CERTAINLY the issue here! Who do you think you’re talking to?!
“Okay, now you’re being ridiculous. Friends and fiancées are not the same thing.”
Don’t you roll your eyes at me! You’re treating me like a little kid! God, I hate you!
“I introduce you to my friends all the time! But ever since you started high school, you haven’t really brought anybody over, so... Wait, which friends are these again?”
“Clubmates. From the Cultural Research Club.”
Ah, yes, this Cultural Research Club I’ve been hearing so much about! Or “CRC” for short! His club doesn’t seem to really accomplish much of anything, but there have been many times that he’s left the house in the name of “club activities.” Stupid CRC, interrupting our brother-sister time... Okay, maybe I’m getting off-track.
“Then I really do need to meet them, because I know they’re super important to you! I mean, isn’t it kind of ridiculous that I haven’t met them by now? You’re three-fourths of the way through your second year of high school!”
Of course, he’s shown me pictures of them in the past, and I caught a few glimpses of them during the recent Culture Festival at his school, but I’ve never actually spoken to any of them.
“Don’t you think you’re being a little too nosy? Like the time I introduced you to my girlfriend... Ugh, I don’t even want to remember...”
Ah yes, the war I waged against the woman my brother calls his girlfriend. Obviously I wasn’t going to pull any punches with her. She’s his first girlfriend, after all!
“Come to think of it, Inaba-san is in the Cultural Research Club, too... Does that mean she’s coming over today?”
He mulls over whether to admit it, then finally nods. Oho, I see. So she’s coming, too. In that case, I’d better bring my A-game.
Taichi takes one look at my smile and scowls darkly at me.
“Okay, that’s it. I don’t want you anywhere near them! Just stay in your room, or go hang out with your friends or something!”
“Wh-Who died and made you dictator, you fascist pig?!”
“I’m not a dictator! And where the hell did you learn about fascism?!”
“In school, duh! I’m in sixth grade now, Taichi! And next year, I’ll be in middle school! That means I can legally get married!”
“No, it doesn’t! ...Does it?! Either way, we’re getting off-topic!” He let out a big sigh. “Look, I’ll introduce you real quick when they get here, but you have to promise me you’ll leave us alone after that, got it?”
“No way! After all that, I’m going to need to do a thorough investigation!”
I’ll grade them on their performance and write a report and everything! Then I’ll call a family meeting to discuss! And I won’t go easy on him! That’s final!!!
“You better stay out of my business. If you hassle my friends, I’m gonna be pissed.”
“In that case, I’ll just make it MY business! In which case, YOU can butt out!”
Oh, YOU’RE gonna be pissed? Go right ahead! Knock yourself out!
He tries to argue with me further, but I simply ignore him.
△▲△
“We’re heeeere!”
“Thanks for having us!”
“P-P-Pardon the intrusion!”
I hear voices call out as the front door opens and several people file into the house.
“For starters, I guess I’ll show you to my room... Might be a bit of a tight fit with all of us, though.”
“No big deal! The more, the merrier!”
“You know, Taichi, if it gets to be too cramped, we could have half of the group hang out in the living room instead.”
“Ooh, classic Inaban! She knows the place inside and out!”
“I’d really rather keep this contained to my room if at all possible. I don’t want you running into her.”
Concealed inside the first-floor bathroom, I listen in on their conversation.
“Wow... He really doesn’t want to include me at all...”
It’s infuriating... but I decide not to approach them just yet. If I initiate things too early, my brother will only let me say a few words to them before shooing me away to my room to do my homework, and that’d throw a major wrench in my plans. Yeah, that’s right, Taichi! I see right through you!
After the group heads up to the second floor, I step out to the hallway and peer up the stairs. What do I do now? Ideally I’d like to wrangle them in one by one so I can have a long, uninterrupted conversation with each of them. I could try to find the right time to take them some drinks and snacks, but I’ll need to make sure my brother doesn’t get in the way...
“Sorry, guys. I’ll go grab some more cushions so everyone can have one. I think there’s some in the linen closet... Be right back.”
...Is this my big chance?!
I grab the baumkuchen cake from the fridge and put it on a tray. Then I dash upstairs and barge into Taichi’s room.
“Knock, knock—”
“Aha! Pro wrestling DVDs! ...God, how many does he have?! There’s, like, a million!”
“Makes me wonder how many of those DVDs he has... Any idea, Inaban?”
“I did some digging, but as far as I can tell, he doesn’t have any.”
“Hmm... Well, I can’t imagine him successfully hiding them from you, so...”
“Real talk, I don’t think he owns any, Iori-chan. I’ve lent him a few of mine, but he’s never offered me anything in trade.”
“......You still have that crap, Aoki?”
“This was over a year ago, Yui, dear! I already threw them away! ...I mean, I’m plannin’ to! I swear!”
“I’m inside Taichi-senpai’s room... One small step for me, one giant leap for mankind...”
“No it isn’t. It’s just a step.”
“You ought to be more excited about this, Chihiro-kun! Think about it! We’re in Taichi-senpai’s room!”
It’s sheer chaos in here. No one notices that I came in. B-But I can’t give up yet!
“Huh? Ohhh! Are you the little sister we’ve heard so much about?!”
Then one of them, the pretty girl with the long, dark hair, points me out to the others.
“Y-Yeah, I’m Yaegashi Rina. Hello, everybody.”
They all turn to look at me—one, two, three, four, five, six. Six high-schoolers I barely know, all packed into the same room with me. This is actually... kind of scary!