“Oh no, little Dora. We won’t be able to do that—there are two reasons for this.” A confused Steph tried to argue her point, but Jibril held up two fingers and made her rebuttal. “One: Master explained that the purpose of this game is to raise tips. If we were to spend the entire two hours without feeling any sparks, we would never be able to recoup our spent tips.” Th-that’s true, but… “Two: It is impossible for you, little Dora, to spend two hours without feeling a single spark. Simply seeing me, let alone Master, in a yukata has you excited. The only way you could make it through this game without feeling anything…is if you were unconscious.” Without giving Steph a chance to speak, Jibril calmly continued. “In other words—while I lack the insight to fully understand Master’s intricate plan, one thing is more than obvious: You will be the one who feels the most sparks and therefore will come in last.” Y-you think it’s obvious…? “Well, perhaps not so much obvious as it is…most definite? Inevitable? …I can’t quite come up with an adequate word to phrase it… Let’s go with a predetermined fact as immutable as history itself.” J-Jibril of all people doesn’t have a word to describe it…?! Steph nearly fainted from disbelief. “However,” Jibril added, her expression doleful, “if such is the nature of this game, then that will make things rather hard to navigate—don’t you think?” “…Wh-what do you mean by navigate?” “Everyone is after the same thing—ensure that they and Master feel the most sparks during this game so that the two of them become a couple for a day. This will prove fundamentally impossible.” “Is that what you’re worried about?!” Actually, Jibril had a point. Following her logic, if Steph really was determined to come in last place—that meant the only possible couple would be Steph and somebody else…!! “Therefore, the rest of us will have to resort to plan B—make somebody else come in second-to-last place. In other words, I’ll force you and one other person out of the battle for Master’s heart. ” …So the navigating Jibril spoke of was— “I’m going to see to it that you and that junk pile find love at every corner—it’s the optimal interpretation of Master’s intent behind this game. What do you think? ” This was Jibril’s reasoning—namely: She’s going to hit on me for the next two hours. With an elegant bow, Jibril formally declared war on Steph, who subsequently felt a distinct chill run down her spine. This is bad. Steph was certain that Jibril’s assessment was true. Had she known that Jibril was the one blowing into her ear before, she most definitely would have felt a spark—enough even to be considered out of bounds! Steph was in the worst position possible for this game! What’s more—Steph could tell Jibril was gleefully mulling over how to get her heart pounding, and the sheer anticipation for what that would entail sent Steph’s spark sensor a mere hairbreadth away from out of bounds!! Oh no, oh, no, no, no!! This is bad!! Even if Jibril’s intuition was correct, and these were Sora and Shiro’s true intentions, Steph knew she couldn’t allow herself to feel any sparks during the game! If she did, and thus lost her ability to ask Foeniculum a question—that was essentially weighing the fate of Elkia against her own romantic feelings, with the latter side tipping the scale! I absolutely cannot allow that to happen!! She needed some way to escape Jibril’s clutches. But how…? Jibril couldn’t use magic in the Spratul, yet she had once proved to be nearly as physically capable as the Werebeasts during a previous game where she couldn’t use magic. Steph knew that even with the cover of the festivalgoers, it wouldn’t take long for Jibril to weed her out—she knew she couldn’t escape. Then my only option is…to make Jibril feel a spark!! There was another rule to the No-Loving game. Any players marked as out would lose their bodily autonomy to Foeniculum for ninety seconds!! And those ninety seconds might be enough for Steph to potentially escape Jibril! All she’d need to do was hide somewhere for two hours!! However, Jibril saw right through Steph’s scheme. The next words out of the Flügel’s mouth sent Steph into a downward spiral. “Dora, there’s nothing you can do to get me excited. Accept your fate. ” Steph was screwed—but what got to her even more was how Jibril denied having any feelings for her. The shock brought tears to Steph’s eyes, but then— “Good news: Irregular Number’s plan will fail. Why? Because this unit shall obstruct her.” —her eyes once again filled with hope the moment Emir-Eins gallantly swooped in to protect her. Yes, that’s right! Jibril is going to try to hook me up with Emir-Eins!! And Emir-Eins won’t stand idly by and let that happen!! That puts Emir-Eins and me on the same team—I knew I could count on her!! But it didn’t take long before she was hit by the all-too-obvious reality of the situation. True, while Emir-Eins was Jibril’s enemy…it didn’t necessarily put her on the same side as Steph, for you see— “Declaration: Irregular Number’s plan is to become a couple with Master. Her twisted desire is to become his side squeeze—somebody Master will call when he wishes to engage in sexual intercourse and then kick out of bed once he’s finished. This unit will stop both parties from engaging in such relations.” , …What? Both Steph and Jibril stared at Emir-Eins, mouths agape, when— “Bzzzt!! Jibril and Stephanie!! Yer out!!” —Foeniculum’s announcement echoed through the festival. “It’s worth noting that Stephanie was out the moment Emir-Eins strutted onto the scene. I just let things marinade a bit till they got nice and juicy. How’d ya like them host skills?!” Hearing this, Steph and Jibril both scrambled to check their sensors, only to find the needle was past the point of no return. “AHHH! I lost my chance to ask a question!! N-no, this by no means indicates that I’ve chosen Emir-Eins over Elkia—! Wait, Jibril, is it true what Emir-Eins said about you?!” “N-not at all!! I—I—I just couldn’t help but picture it… Why you…lunking heap of scrap iron—!!” “Affirmative: Irregular Number’s deduction matches this unit’s. The objective of this game is to pair another player with Lady Dol—her conclusion, however, is incorrect. It is you, Irregular Number, who will hook up with Lady Dol.” Emir-Eins was on neither Steph’s nor Jibril’s side, as she intended to make the two fall in love. She scoffed, knowing that she herself didn’t need to be the target of any sparks. She could merely use Sora to make them feel sparks. And thus…an emotionless sneer appeared on Emir-Eins’s face when a livid Jibril and a distraught Steph realized they’d fallen for her trick. But never mind all that. “Now—it’s time to give our contestants their punishment!!” As soon as Foeniculum announced this, Jibril and Steph froze. …… They found themselves unable to even bat an eye. Emir-Eins waited cautiously for Foeniculum to say something next. She still didn’t understand Sora and Shiro’s intent behind the punishment gimmick. What she did know was that it was likely the game’s true purpose. They would lose their bodily autonomy to Foeniculum for ninety seconds. It was unclear what purpose this brief punishment served. Foeniculum gave them their answer—not to the three of them directly, but to her viewers. And that was: “You—the viewers—will get to decide what I’ll have Jibril and Stephanie do for thirty seconds! We’ll collect the comments that receive the most tips!! You have sixty seconds to send in your suggestions!! We don’t have much time, so get to typin’!!!!” ? The three girls were at a loss. The next instant, however, Jibril and Emir-Eins gasped in astonishment upon realizing what this meant. They had agreed to let Foeniculum control their bodies for ninety seconds. So the question remained: What was she going to do with them? The answer: Foeniculum was going to sell their bodily autonomy to the highest bidder!! This was what Sora meant by getting their investment back in no time!! The three ladies figured this out the moment they heard the endless stream of ka-chings as the comment section exploded. Then it happened the moment the sixty-second storm of paid comments came to an end. “?!” Emir-Eins barely managed to visually confirm Jibril flying toward her with unbelievable swiftness. She couldn’t react in time, nor was she able to put up a fight as Jibril pinned her to the ground, salaciously licking her chops and grinning seductively. Emir-Eins felt the warmth of Jibril’s skin and cursed her faulty machinery. I’ve made a fatal error in judgment. I was negligent with my calculations. It was downright shameful for an Ex Machina to take this long to react to a situation. She succeeded in making Jibril and Steph feel a spark, then ascertained the details of the penalty game—this was when she should have made her escape!! There was nothing the viewers—the Fairies—would have Jibril and Steph do other than try to excite Emir-Eins!! The Fairies had requested to keep Emir-Eins from escaping. Irregular Number was forced upon this unit—do the Fairies actually believe this will have any effect? she wondered. “Report: Fairy tactics are futile. Odds of this unit feeling any romantic sparks for Irregular Number are irrefutably: zero.” They may have taken advantage of her lackluster processing speeds and truncated her path to safety, but Emir-Eins remained steadfast that their plans were futile. However: “…Ohhh? Then how did you end up on the ground…?” Steph approached Emir-Eins and sweetly whispered this into her ear. ……? How? Because Irregular Number pushed this unit to the ground. Emir-Eins was confused by her question, so Steph—or rather, the Fairies controlling Steph—elaborated for her. “The Covenants prevent any nonconsensual harmful acts—so don’t you find it strange that Jibril was able to force you onto the ground? ” “” A moment later, Emir-Eins almost shut down upon confirming her fears. …Could it be that…in this space that increases romantic feelings as time passes, Irregular Number’s actions were unconsciously translating into positive feelings—? “Negative: Rejection: Rebuttal: Assertion denied. Hypothesis: This unit failed to detect impending harm. Therefore, this unit did not reject being pinned. Nothing more. This unit has yet to show a reaction. This unit’s love is her master’s and her master’s alone. Inevitability: This unit is her master’s object to do with whatever he— Snap.” However, all of Emir-Eins’s rebuttals and emotions— “Bzzzzt!! There you have it!! Just like you guys predicted, Emir-Eins is out!!” —had been anticipated. Everything went according to the viewers’ requests. Foeniculum made this clear with her announcement…and not only Emir-Eins, but the now-liberated Steph and Jibril shuddered in unison, utterly speechless. Emir-Eins came to realize she’d had Jibril on her mind. Moreover, all her romantic sparks for Sora caused her to nearly self-destruct. It took less than a minute for the Fairies to come up with such an incredible strategy, and once again— “Now it’s Emir-Eins’s turn!! You have sixty seconds to send in your requests!!” —Foeniculum was asking them for another clever scheme. “H-hey, Jibril?! Let go of me!!” “Dora… Please, calm yourself…” It was more than evident that the viewers would pin Emir-Eins on the other two next and definitely set off sparks. Realizing this, Steph decided to use the viewers’ sixty-second submission period to escape as quickly as she could—but she was stopped by Jibril, who was as calm as could be. “You and I, along with that pile of junk, have already been out once. We’ve all lost our chance to ask Foeniculum a question already—it’s too late for us to escape. Doing so would be meaningless.” Well…she was right. Granted, Steph wasn’t exactly thrilled to hear that from the person who robbed her of any chance to ask Foeniculum a question. “This is exactly what my masters had in mind for this game—they want us to excite each other as much as we can in order to earn tips. In which case, I intend to do exactly that. Running away is not an option.” Jibril was resolute in her decision; she went on to add, “Furthermore: me, running away out of fear of falling in love with that garbage heap over there? Utterly asinine—it will never happen.” Asinine, Jibril said. She wasn’t even going to toy with the idea. Thus, Jibril spent the next sixty seconds facing off with a frozen Emir-Eins until the viewers’ requests came in. Tensions were high—the earth seemed to shake as if Heavenly Smites and Apokryphens might be fired off at any moment. Jibril was ready for whatever Emir-Eins was going to hit her with. She refused to feel a single spark, instead preparing to set off sparks of her own as she spread her wings and braced herself. “You can do whatever you want, Jibril!! Why do I have to stay and watch?!” “No, I mustn’t let you go.” Steph once again attempted to flee, but Jibril gripped her hand firmly. “Forcing that scrap metal and me into a couple is the worst possible outcome—a heinous atrocity worse than fleeing. I need you to come in last, little Dora.” “If you really believed she couldn’t make you feel anything, then you wouldn’t need me here as insurance!! Let go of me!! I don’t want my emotions to be toyed with any further!!” Steph hollered—but then a new thought struck her. Huh…? Doesn’t that mean…Jibril would prefer to be a couple with me over Emir-Eins—? “Bzzzzt!! I’m not sure why exactly, but that’s a second out for Steph!!” “I knew this would happen!! SOMEBODY GET ME OUT OF HEEERE!!” Thus, the Ex Machina and the Flügel—sworn enemies who once rent the heavens and the earth to decimate each other—fought over the heart of a single Immanity girl. Anyone who knew their history believed this was all but inconceivable. But it was indeed happening, as the numerous spectators and relentless flow of tips attested to. A trembling Foeniculum merely watched stone-faced as the scene unfolded before her… ……… “If all we gotta do is get the viewers to tip us, then it’s simple. We just need to let them participate.” This conversation happened earlier that morning. Sora called Foeniculum into his room and laid out his plan. “We’ll make an interactive game. Viewers contribute tips in order to affect what happens to the players. For example: Whoever pays the biggest tip gets to choose what the players do.” “Hrm… I just feel like we’ll end up alienating our casual viewers for the big spenders.” “Right, so we’ll make a system where the casual viewers can band together and put up a fight against the heavy spenders.” In order to do this— “Make the requests tippable, then go with whichever request receives the most tips. That way, a group of one hundred viewers can send in ten thousand points each to beat a single viewer who sends in a million.” This would allow the highest-backed request to receive the most soul points and come out on top. In order for the most desirable scenario to play out, the viewers needed to amass as many tips as they could. The best way to get more tips was to find like-minded people and get them to watch the stream. Then the viewers would flood the stream with all their friends, which would ultimately bring in more subscribers. More subscribers meant more tips. This was all it took. It was a system set up to reap five billion soul points as quickly as possible. Sora wrapped up his explanation without sparing a second thought to Foeniculum’s astonished reaction: “Fairies know way more about love than other races, so we’re gonna crowdsource some of their ideas. Who better to spice up the drama than the experts themselves?” ……… Things went exactly as Sora predicted. Foeniculum watched in real time as her channel’s subscribers shot through the roof. Sora and the others recovered their spent points instantaneously; tips came flying in before reaching unprecedented numbers. No surprise there… The viewers had the chance to control an Ex Machina and a Flügel—and not just any Flügel, but Jibril herself. The opportunity was worth more than its weight in their souls! Not to mention that the viewers could get the pair to flirt or put the moves on each other, maybe even have them actually become lovers. The Fairies engaged in heated debates over what to have the contestants do; they split into multiple factions that inundated the chat with a deluge of paid requests. It quickly devolved into an all-out tip war. Foeniculum was past the point of excitement. She shuddered at the scene. Not because of the twisted grin on Sora’s face when he’d explained his plan—it was actually the opposite. Devising the dastardly plan came as easily to him as breathing. Like the laws of nature that dictate the flow of water. She shuddered because he detailed this plan to her void of any emotion—like he was talking about the weather!! I knew it! These guys are my cash cow!! I’m so glad I took this risk!! Having said that… Why does Sora insist that he’s clueless when it comes to love? Foeniculum wondered. Everything that unfolded before her was, according to Sora, merely the beginning… Just a small event to build up some hype, he’d said. We haven’t even gotten to the main event yet! Foeniculum turned her attention to a monitor that showed Sora and Shiro and flashed a devilish grin. So: What is a summer festival in the first place…? Are they held to ask God for world peace and a good harvest? Or are they memorials for giving thanks to your ancestors? Sure, those might be accurate festival origins. But as far as Sora was concerned, they didn’t answer the question. A festival is an event for couples to dress up in yukata, holding hands and hanging all over each other!! Or it’s for those “more than friends but not quite dating” type of schmucks! You know, couples in training! It’s an event tailor-made for normies who love to flaunt their social lives—nothing more, nothing less! Sora refused to entertain any other opinions on the subject. How else would you justify getting halfway trampled by a friggin’ mob to pay eight hundred yen or whatever rip-off festival prices just to eat shitty street food and cotton candy? What reason is there to play some rinky-dink shooting game just to hit targets that’ll never fall over like part of some off-brand, county-fair-tier, con artist gig? There’s only one reason—and it’s all so that couples can get their kicks canoodling in public!! It goes without saying that Sora—a lifelong bachelor—always hated summer festivals. In fact, he couldn’t find a single reason not to hate them—a summer festival was a microcosm of socioeconomic inequality akin to the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. He felt it needed to be labeled as the terrible evil it was. There was one day, however, when Shiro asked him to take her to a festival. It happened two years prior… Sora was still sixteen, and Shiro was nine at the time; he’d never forget it. They’d already committed to skipping school and shutting themselves in their home. Nevertheless, Shiro said she wanted to go out—to a summer festival, of all things. Where there were crowds. Though she refused to say why she wanted to go, Sora could tell that she really wanted to see a festival. Holding his sister’s hand, Sora mustered up the courage to go to the local festival for the first time in who knew how long. …And then they got split up. Jostled around by the surging crowd, Sora let go of his sister’s tiny hand for only a second, then lost sight of her. He ran through the festival grounds—trembling as tears ran down his cheeks—in search of Shiro among the throngs of people. Even though Sora wanted to curl up into a ball on the spot, he knew Shiro was probably crying, so he kept up his frantic search. …He eventually found her after the festival had ended, huddled alone in a corner. She’d hidden away in the shadows with her knees curled up to her chest, quivering and stifling sobs. Sora scrambled over to her to embrace her, but she just continued crying in his arms. “…There’s…no more, fireworks…” was all she said. Sora tried everything he could to cheer her up: We can see fireworks whenever we want, wherever we want. But Shiro just kept on crying…and crying and crying…… ……… And thus, two years ago, Sora’s dislike of festivals had evolved into hatred. He never imagined he’d ever visit another summer festival… The siblings stared down at the Star Festival from atop a small hill, where they could get a panoramic view of the entire event. Sora wanted to make sure he and Shiro wouldn’t get separated this time, so he had Foeniculum teleport them to a far-off vantage point. They watched the summer festival game while seated atop a fallen tree, each holding a caramelized apple they’d bought with the overflow tips. Yes—they were bystanders. “Bzzzzt!! That’s Stephanie’s fourteenth out!! And that’s out number eight for Jibril!!” With every bzzzt Foeniculum set off, the siblings’ smartphone was hit with a new influx of tips. Sora grinned; he could tell their romance event was going viral. That’s right: Sora and Shiro weren’t actually on the festival grounds. At the risk of sounding like a broken record: Sora knew absolutely nothing about love, let alone games involving love. If he wasn’t going to serve a purpose on the stream, he might as well work behind the scenes. Besides, he’d never start any game without Shiro by his side. Not to mention that crowd; what would happen if he got separated from her in there? He didn’t even want to think about it. Thus, when he laid out his plan for Foeniculum, he made sure to have her drop the two of them off atop a hill. All they needed to do was wait for the game to end before they’d get a massive payday, along with the chance to ask two questions. Granted, the whole question-and-answer outcome was nothing more than a way for him to wrangle Steph into participating… Nevertheless, the two siblings were sitting on that log, watching the festival from afar when Sora was hit with a random thought. He turned to Shiro—who wasn’t in her usual position atop his lap but seated next to him—and asked her a question. “Hey, Shiro. I was just thinking: Why’d you suggest a summer festival?” While Sora was the one who came up with the idea for this game, it was his sister who chose the setting. You see, the only knowledge Sora had regarding love and romance came from manga and visual novels. He’d considered a wide variety of settings—a pool, a camp, a theme park—but they all lacked a certain oomph needed to get the viewers really hyped up. Shiro proposed a summer festival. From Sora’s perspective, an event like that would only serve to make her cry. I would’ve guessed she’d find this traumatic, Sora thought. Shiro replied softly, looking down at the ground. “I wanted…to see…fireworks…with you, Brother…” BOOM. A firework could be seen going off in the distance, just as they had throughout the night. For only an instant, Shiro’s face was illuminated by their ephemeral glow, causing Sora to remember… …She said the same thing two years ago, and she’d been crying that time. It’s not like fireworks weren’t everywhere back home… They could even see them from the balcony of their bedroom prison— “…Brother…why did you…hate, festivals…again?” “Hmm? I feel like I’ve told you before, but it’s because festivals are only for couples.” “…Mm… That’s right…” Another round of fireworks lit up the sky. “…Do you think…these fireworks are…pretty…?” Shiro asked, though she had her eyes closed the entire time and wasn’t actually watching the fireworks herself. “Yeah, sort of, I guess… But I still don’t get how they’re any different from fireworks you see anywhere else.” Even Sora had feelings. He thought fireworks were pretty, just like anyone else did. He simply couldn’t see the difference between watching them from his balcony or through a computer screen. Without knowing why Shiro was looking down, Sora started laying it on especially thick to try getting her to watch them with him. “You know why people think festival fireworks are the best? I’ll tell ya why: Because couples aren’t actually watching the fireworks!! They’re at the festival for fireworks, but what they’re really lookin’ at is each other!!” That’s precisely why people enjoy festivals. In other words! “No matter how much they try to rip you off at a summer festival—actually, that probably plays into it as well… At the end of the day, couples just wanna gaze into each other’s eyes and do the usual spiel: She’ll say, The fireworks sure are pretty, and he’ll say back, Not as pretty as you, then she’ll be like, Aw, you’re so sweet! I love you , then he’ll be like, I love you, too, baby!! If we loners had any sort of legislative pull, I’d pass a shoot-on-sight decree for any nasty couple PDA—that’d be something!! Screw ’em; they can all burn in hell!!” “…Um, Brother… You’re the king…of Elkia…” “Hrm?! You raise a good point!! Holy shit, I know exactly what I’m gonna do as soon as I get back on the throne!!” The sound of festival drums mixed with the fireworks bursting high in the sky. Despite the noise, a strange silence enveloped the siblings. Sora was unable to see Shiro’s expression; she was still facing the ground. Her voice hoarse, she said to him: “…Are all fireworks…like these?” Then, out of nowhere, Shiro grasped Sora’s hand. Her grip was surprisingly tight. He could feel her slightly trembling—this was when Sora took his first proper look at the night sky. “” His eyes widened. Even the stars that glistened in the heavens took a back seat to the nightscape that was peppered with colorful, gorgeous streaks of falling light. Did the Eastern Union have more advanced fireworks than his own world…? For some reason, the fireworks he saw that night far outranked any he had seen before. Sora’s breath caught in his throat at the sight— “…The fireworks…sure, are…pretty.” “Yeah, they are. They’ve got nothing on you, though.” “…I love you…Brother…” “Yup, your brother loves you, too, Shiro. A whole lot.” “…I wanted to…ask this…two years ago…” Now I see… Sora felt ashamed at how shallow he was. He realized: Summer festivals could be enjoyed by more than just couples. He could tell there was unparalleled value in the fireworks when he watched them together with his sister. Thoroughly convinced of this, Sora dropped his gaze, but what he saw was— “…Yeah… This is what…I wanted to, ask you…” —Shiro’s face, close enough for Sora to feel her breath. Her eyes glistened with the flashes of fireworks. Sora could feel the warmth of her cheeks through the darkness. He could see her quivering lips open slightly as the words escaped them. His sister’s voice was so small and faint that it was almost fleeting—and yet despite the cacophony of distant booms that took a moment to reach them, he was surprised to find he could hear her quite clearly. He was about to find out the true reason Shiro had wanted to go to a festival two years ago. This was a question she wanted to ask him while they watched fireworks together: “…Brother—why can’t you and I…be more, than this…?” , He knew better than anyone else that Shiro was gorgeous…or at least, he thought he did. But seeing her like this: in her yukata, illuminated by the glow of fireworks in the sky as her lips seemed to beckon him… Sora thought, She’s more beautiful than anything I could ever imagine—no festival in any world could ever hold a candle to her. In that instant, Sora felt his heart stop. And then— “Bzzzzt!! Finally!! Sora, yerrrr out!!!!” —there came a sudden announcement. The next thing to stop functioning was Sora’s brain. “Ya did good, Shiro!! Just leave the rest to us Fairies!!” ……, …………Huh? Wait a sec—what’s going on here…? After a brief moment when his brain ceased to function, a panicked Sora looked around until his gaze at last landed on the spark sensor on his right arm—the needle on the watch was indeed past its mark. He looked to his sister. She was neither trembling nor were her cheeks red. She was her usual emotionless self, minus the slight grin. It was an evil grin—a traitorous grin. “…Sorry, Brother… But it’s your fault for getting tricked… Right?” “?!” The words left her lips like a mask falling from her face. Sora couldn’t actually move his face due to his impending punishment, but he knew what’d happened: She tricked me!! Everything up until that moment—everything—had been an act!! Sora set up this game to keep himself out of the fray, but that wasn’t the case for Shiro!! Foeniculum was likely in on it. Together they’d planned this stage, Shiro’s earlier behavior, and this question—everything!! Did they make me feel a spark just so I’d get penalized…?! But—why would they do that?! The viewers have only thirty seconds to control me! What are they gonna do with just thirty seconds?! Sora had no idea what point there was in subjugating him to the Fairies. Unable to come up with a single plausible answer, he sank into doubt and confusion. Onlookers would have no way of knowing what Sora was thinking from his frozen expression. But Shiro knew exactly what was on his mind. She knew within an instant that he’d realized she and Foeniculum had teamed up to trick him. However—once she confirmed he’d misunderstood one thing and become suspicious of another, Shiro chuckled softly. First, the misunderstanding: that everything Shiro had said was an act. …It was no act; she was literally trembling from nerves. That was real. She had been terrified to the point that she could’ve burst into tears and run away at any moment. That’s right—this game Sora planned out, this summer festival… Shiro even colluded with Foeniculum to get her brother and her together, alone. She set the stage and the mood—all to make Sora feel a spark! However—that was all she did. What if he didn’t feel a spark even after everything Shiro had done…? What if after spending a week together in a space that amplifies feelings of love—he still didn’t feel anything? This gamble could prove that Sora lacked even an iota of love and affection for his sister. Shiro didn’t think she’d be able to recover if that happened… Hence why this was the biggest gamble she’d ever made. But considering what she stood to find out, it was worth the risk!! Her brother would never resolve the suspicions plaguing him in that moment. Namely: Why had this happened to him? It would be more than evident to everyone but him. “Okaaaay, everyone!! It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for!! Today’s main event!!” Yes—this was the real goal of the summer festival!! So this is the main part of your plan, Brother—how clever. Tricking others into fighting among themselves—your skills as an agitator, a con artist, and a gamer are second to none. But just as you’ve made abundantly clear, all things related to love fly right over your head. When it comes to this game—A Space That Only Couples Can Leave—you’re a complete amateur! Indeed—her brother was the heart and soul of this game. Shiro, not to mention Steph and Emir-Eins, knew this. The same went for Jibril. It was blatantly obvious that the girls had their eyes set on Sora—and Sora alone—from the get-go. The only person who failed to pick up on this was Sora himself—so much that he even tried to keep himself out of the festivities. In a situation like this, where the viewers are able to affect the turn of events, the Fairies had just one collective goal. That’s right: “You know what to do, bitches!! Send in your request to get Sora’s love life in motion!! We’re the race of love—with our powers combined, we’ll show these fools what that word truly means!! C’mon, drop them tips!! WA-HA-HAAAAA!!” Drag the main character off the sidelines and throw him back into the game!! The moment that would receive the most tips for this summer festival—it was none other than when Sora felt his first spark of love. In other words: the viewers’ chance to make Sora realize his feelings for Shiro— This very moment!! There were sixty seconds left until the Fairies’ request for Sora was chosen. That minute felt like an eternity to Shiro. …She wondered: Would they really be able to make that happen…? I love my brother more than anyone else in the world. I can say with confidence that I love him more than anybody else loves him. I think my brother feels the same way. I hope he does. I just think he doesn’t know it yet; that’s what I want to believe. And I want to believe his sensor was set off by his love for me, even if it was only momentarily. But still… It’s hard to tell how much he really felt that way. I’m so scared. I’m ready to just run away from here. But Shiro kept herself rooted to the spot, no matter what. Foeniculum told me to leave the rest to her. She’s going to pull this off. Fairies know more about love than any of the other races in this world—and one of them told me this was going to work! Her brother trusted Foeniculum; he trusted her enough to put their fates in her hands—so Shiro was going to trust her, too!! …I’ve done…my part…, Shiro thought. Show me what you’re going to do next—show me something incredible. Something that in a mere thirty seconds would make her brother realize his love for her, acknowledge Shiro as the object of his affections. If there’s really a way to make it happen—then show me. Show me the abstruse, unknowable masterstroke that will win his love, a move so complicated it makes chess look like child’s play. Give me an unmatched, unparalleled answer that I’d never see coming—give it to me!! “Shiro… There’s something I need to confess to you.” His sixty seconds had passed, and Sora—no. Sora, under the control of the viewers, turned straight to Shiro and announced: “I…like Loli girls.” Yeah, I know. And? He proclaimed a well-established fact about himself but nonetheless continued with grandiosity. “Yes, I get off on cute Loli girls. And you’re the reason I do!! You see, I’ve been romantically attracted to you—and then, as my sexual attraction to you grew, one thing led to another, and I started fapping exclusively to Loli content!! …You asked earlier if we could ever be more than this, right?” He took Shiro’s hand and looked straight into her eyes with utmost sincerity—and yelled: “There’s absolutely no reason we couldn’t. Now, Shiro, it’s time for us to truly become one. It’s time to unite…physically!!” “What the hell?! That’s a big friggin’ red card for every single one of you nasty little shits!! You gotta be out of your damn minds to pull some crap like this!!” Foeniculum was livid. She couldn’t believe her viewers went with such a dirty joke. As for Shiro—overcome with emotion, she could do nothing but shudder. This is what the Fairies, the race of love, had him do? Talk about a god-tier move!! You see, in terms of 2D characters, her brother was a complete and utter lolicon. The average age of his favorite Loli characters was 12.344, 48.8 percent of whom were also little-sister characters. And the notion that this preference of his was Shiro’s doing—it was completely unprovable!! True, he’d been physically forced to say those things just now. That wasn’t how he actually felt. But now that he’d said it, he’d forever be plagued by the question of whether he’d ever seen his sister in a sexual light!! This was because—albeit for a second—he’d undeniably felt a spark of love for her!! The Fairies… What a formidable race… This was the perfect check. Shiro was only a few moves away from a checkmate, and there was nothing her brother could do to escape it. Ultimate props, viewers. All Shiro had to do was act less like his sister and more like a girlfriend. That would inevitably cause her brother to see her in a new light… Shiro’s mind was going a mile a minute—however, she’d soon come to the painful realization of her own terrible oversight. From the perspective of the Fairies, the world’s experts on love and romance, Shiro was no different from Sora on the subject. A complete amateur. To think she could ever utilize the Fairies—beings categorically superior when it came to the game of love—to suit her own means was hubris to the fullest extent. And thus—despite this rational conclusion, all Shiro managed to say was: “…………………………………Bwuh?” Her cheeks as red as her caramelized apple, she could produce merely a single sound. Just as her racing thoughts came to a stop and her head nearly burst clean off her shoulders— “Bzzzzt!! There goes Shiro, down for the count!! Looks like we’re still in this, folks!! Sure, Sora doesn’t know his own feelings…but the same goes for Shiro!! All right, here’s where it gets interesting!! Now hit me with some requests for Shiro!!” —Foeniculum could be heard walking her chat room through Shiro’s punishment. But it all sounded so far away… Those words never even reached her… …… … …The game continued after that point—as far as Shiro could tell, at least. The viewers had Steph, Jibril, and Emir-Eins meet up with Shiro and her brother. The two siblings were still sitting at one out each. With both present, though, the viewers were able to give a wider array of requests to the other three contestants—particularly in ways that added to Steph’s number of outs. The Fairies grew even more engaged with the game, and their tips ballooned far beyond Sora’s wildest imagination—or so Shiro would learn later.
Chapter 172
33 min read