I have an older brother.
Actually, he’s all I have.
The people who used to be our parents weren’t blood relatives but researchers who tried to sell us off and got themselves killed for it. We had some so-called relatives after that, but my brother kept his distance, so now it’s just the two of us.
And that’s fine.
In fact, it’s better this way.
He doesn’t know we aren’t related by blood, so he doesn’t think there’s anything weird about us sleeping in the same bed. That’s fine by me.
…He has stopped bathing with me lately, but that’s more him being a gentleman. He’s a gentleman and a genius, to boot.
We were both test subjects from the Third Savior Project, but that had nothing to do with it. My brother would have been a genius no matter what.
He entered the military academy and got promoted practically right away. Then he went to Kyushu on a summer assignment and came back with another promotion.
Two promotions in six months? If that wasn’t genius, then what was?
I even sneaked a peek at the after-action reports to see how amazing he was, and they were seriously impressive. He’d taken down several huge monsters with sniper fire like it was nothing, then torched a bunch of medium and small ones with incendiary rounds. With results like that, no wonder he’d been promoted.
When he came home grinning and shouted, “I got a bonus!” his smile was so bright that it was almost like he was surrounded by a halo.
That said, two million yen? That was it? After everything he’d done?
Like, had those military commanders seen what he’d pulled off? Ten large-class monsters, and tons of smaller ones—all taken down by one pilot! No matter how you looked at it, that kind of success was worth billions, easily.
Yes, he hadn’t done everything on his own. The mech the military provided had helped. So maybe it was a stretch to give him all the credit.
And I knew the military high command had their reasons and their priorities.
Still, I didn’t think it was wrong to say he should be getting paid a lot more.
I might have let a remark slip. “Isn’t that kind of low?” I’d asked, to which Keita replied, “I guess you still don’t get it…” with this disappointed face. But honestly, I think I had a better understanding of the situation than he did.
Not that I was going to tell him that.
Especially since I was doing pretty well for myself, money-wise.
I’d rather not tell him how much I had saved up, because if he found out, he would probably lose all motivation.
Anyway, no matter the reason, seeing my brother, who’d always kept his head down and avoided the spotlight, finally going all out and having fun really made me happy. As his sister, I could only cheer him on.
…Even if it meant weird girls might start buzzing around him.
Even in my class, boys who used to keep their distance were suddenly coming up to me and saying, “Hey, your brother’s kinda amazing, huh?” and girls who used to stay away were like, “You think you could introduce me to him?”
I could only imagine how much worse it was at his school.
Still, it made sense that he was popular. It was only natural. Just like female animals are drawn to strong males, strong guys attract attention.
That said, as his rightful wife, I wasn’t opposed to him having multiple partners.
Just as long as it wasn’t some cold, calculated arrangement from the start.
He isn’t some convenient stud horse, you know?
There was no sign of that happening right now, but I had made it a point to keep a careful watch.
And if, by some chance, he got caught in a honey trap and started thinking some twisted harem fantasy was a good idea, I would personally reset his brain. Take that as a warning.
Anyway…
“Keita! Dinner’s ready!”
“Coming!”
…it was my job to take care of him now that he had returned from Kyushu. And for that, I was cashing in big—he was going to spend the whole summer break doting on me. That was my right as his sister and his future wife.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah! Your cooking is the best, no contest!”
“Hee-hee-hee!”
Nothing beat a straight-up compliment. But dessert was a separate matter, of course.
“So hey, there’s this place that’s supposed to be really good. Think you could come with me sometime? I’d be nervous going alone, and even with friends, it’s kind of scary without an adult…”