Younger Sister and Younger Sister

"Then when I came back this time, I could clearly feel this. But who knew that the relationship between Honami- neechan and her brother would also progress rapidly during this time, which caused Maki's situation to be stuck in a limbo. That's why it fits the situation you described between Yuki-neechan and her sister."

After Hotaru finished telling the story of the Ichinose sisters, the three of them finally arrived at the playground.

Compared to the deserted Student Council and the nearly empty auditorium, the sports field was undoubtedly packed with people. As many sports clubs held friendly exchange matches here, many spectators and club members came to watch the excitement. The stands on both sides were already more than half full, and students from ANHS and other schools could be seen playing matches that had already begun on the sports field.

"Look, Honami- neechan is over there, and the girl next to her is Maki."

Even in the vast sea of people, Ichinose Honami's long, golden-pink hair was the most dazzling sight, so Hotaru easily found her and reached out to introduce her to Sakayanagi Arisu.

"I wonder what those two will say... It seems like the match is already over."

Because of what Ying had just said, Amasawa Ichika couldn't look at the two sisters in front of her with normal eyes anymore. Although it sounded a bit like hell, it just goes to show the advantage of not having a younger sister as an IVF baby.

Sakayanagi Arisu wasn't particularly interested in Ichinose Honami's family affairs. After all, the two hadn't interacted much, and based on her understanding of Ichinose Honami, even if the matter were eventually brought up, Honami herself probably wouldn't react much. The only person who could make her emotions change noticeably during this period was Yuki, or rather, Ryo, who was involved because of her.

Moreover, judging from what Hotaru said, in Ryo's relationship with the two sisters, the younger sister's attraction to him stemmed to some extent from her dissatisfaction with the older sister's inaction, giving the impression that she could replace her.

In other words, it's because Ichinose Honami hasn't confirmed her relationship with Kitagawa Ryo that her younger sister has developed unrealistic expectations, which is why they're stuck here now.

However, the situation is completely different for Yuki and Tsubaki Sakurako. From the younger sister's perspective, from the moment Kitagawa Ryo appeared, he was already one of her older sister's old flames. Moreover, Sakayanagi Arisu no doubt that over the past year, her older sister has explained her relationship with Kitagawa Ryo to her younger sister countless times.

That's why Sakayanagi Arisu was so interested in seeing a scene where the younger sister would still develop some special feelings for her older sister's lover under such circumstances.

Just as Amasawa Ichika described her.

It can only be said that after Kitagawa Ryo used the simplest and most brutal method to modify her personality, this was indeed the most suitable little revenge for Sakayanagi Arisu against Yuki.

Perhaps the tendency to have fun is indeed contagious.

Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly began to look forward to seeing Yuki's expression back then.

"I'm back! Is it time for my brother to go on stage?"

Almost an hour later, Hotaru, who had left earlier, finally returned to the auditorium and sat down next to Karuizawa Kei and Sakura Airi, curiously looking up at the stage.

"It'll be over soon. The performance at Azabu Middle School is almost finished. Actually, it was quite well done."

Karuizawa Kei made this casual comment, then turned to Hotaru and asked her:

"Have you been hanging around the Student Council area for so long?"

"I also went to the playground and the Tea Ceremony Club. We weren't allowed to contact the outside world after the Student Council exams started, so I didn't see Yuki-neechan and Horikita-senpai. But I did see Shiina- senpai. She seems to have changed a lot. She talks more and seems to be better at communicating with people. Before, she was a complete bookworm, and only my brother could talk to her."

As Hotaru spoke, she also showed the two photos she had taken with her camera. She had captured the students crossing the finish line on the playground, the cheers from the stands, and the scene at the Tea Ceremony Club. However, compared to Kitagawa Ryo and Sakura Airi's photography skills, her technique was undoubtedly much rougher, completely at a beginner level.

As the group flipped through photos and chatted, polite applause erupted from the front row of the audience. It turned out that the Azabu Middle School team had finished their performance and were taking their final bow.

"If you want to take photos, Ying should go to the designated shooting area on the right side of the front row. It'll be clearer and the angle will be better there."

After handing the camera back to Hotaru, Karuizawa Kei pointed to an empty area in front of her. Hotaru nodded obediently, then took the camera, set up the scaffolding, and quietly waited for Kitagawa Ryo to take the stage.

She wasn't really interested in the play itself, and she had realized long ago that her brother didn't seem to be very interested in it either. But she had just heard about Yuki and Tsubaki Sakurako from Sakayanagi Arisu and Amasawa Ichika, and considering that Tsubaki Sakurako would be performing on stage with her brother this time, she ultimately decided to stand here and take this opportunity to observe.

Since the performance was only a short segment, and considering that it was intended for knowledgeable judges and members of the Azabu Middle School Drama Club, Kitagawa Ryo didn't immediately deliver a devastating blow to her sister, who knew nothing about drama, from the very first act.

After about five minutes, Hotaru in the audience had completely lost track of the storyline and characters unfolding on stage so close to her. She was lost in a state of confusion, wondering who she was, where she was, and what she was doing. She even forgot to take pictures and tried her best to keep up with the pace.

But probably because all the theatrical talent of the Kitagawa Family was poured into Kitagawa Ryo, Hotaru still felt a bit dizzy and disoriented. Apart from being able to tell that the performance on stage was a comedy and that a couple of lines were indeed very interesting, she couldn't see anything else at all.

However, she had to admit that her biological sister, who looked very much like Yuki, did remind Hotaru of Karuizawa Kei when she first debuted. It wasn't about acting talent or skills, but rather that mysterious style.

Simply put, his scenes with Kitagawa Ryo were better than his monologues, but his expressions became subtly unnatural. It was as if he wanted to get into character but couldn't. He was filled with a complex mix of emotions: he felt like he was just acting and that it didn't matter what he said, but he also felt like he was really saying those words to Kitagawa Ryo.

The emotions on screen affected off-screen, and the feelings off-screen affected the on-screen emotions. When the two were not fully coordinated, a rather obvious sense of weightlessness and imbalance would occur, which was especially evident in front of the older brother, who was performing a completely professional and immersive role.

Incidentally, all of these comments were seen by Hotaru on the internet years ago, but the person in question back then was Karuizawa Kei.

After all, she really didn't understand or have any interest in this kind of art, and even when she looked at it, she would have the thought that contact with this kind of art would lead to unhappiness.

From this perspective, it seems like it's not so bad that the older brother was picked up by a large conglomerate as their heir...

Unconsciously, her thoughts began to wander again, just like a student in class who starts daydreaming about things she's not interested in. Hotaru's attention quickly shifted away from the stage.

Oh right, it seems that the cat Ying was kept in my brother's dorm room.

I think it was room 408 in the second-year dormitory building?

Come to think of it, she didn't seem to have ever been to her brother's dormitory room at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, and she wondered if he had framed her letter and put it on his bedside table so that he could make sure every morning that he had a sister like her... cough cough, that kind of delusion seemed a bit too much.

Should we go take a look now?

After automatically turning on the camera's video recording mode, Hotaru crouched low and tiptoed away from the front, quietly leaving the auditorium and heading straight for the dormitory building of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School.

Following the road signs, she quickly and successfully found her destination.

Although I don't have the room key, with a cat's intelligence, opening the door shouldn't be a problem, right?

With this confident thought in mind, Ying was already standing at the door of Dormitory 408 in no time, and gently knocked on the door.

Sure enough, with a click, the door lock was opened from the inside.

A pair of familiar eyes came into view.

This is different from the case of Amasawa Ichika, where only the color is the same.

The moment Hotaru saw them, she could tell that they were exactly the same as her own pupils.

She is herself, and she is herself.

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Chapter 50: Sister and Sister

Meanwhile, Karuizawa Kei and Sakura Airi were still watching the competition in the auditorium, did not notice that Hotaru had secretly left. The two of them were focused on the performance on stage, but they did not look very optimistic.

"As expected, the practice time was too short... There's a difference between their performance on stage and during rehearsals; both of them were nervous."

"It's not just a matter of nervousness. Although I had thought about it beforehand, it seems that Tsubaki is still facing the same dilemma that I encountered back then."

Karuizawa Kei squinted and observed the details on the stage for a while before shaking her head and making a definitive conclusion:

"Just like when I first shared the stage with Liang."

Then, she began to explain to Sakura Airi own initiative:

"A qualified Actor must be able to distinguish between the two situations on and off stage. When you are on stage, you are the character, and the words you speak are the character's lines. All the interactions and dialogues between you two are plot segments set in the script. They are interactions between characters, not the Actor themselves."

"However, external factors are always unavoidable. After all, unless Actor fully immerses themselves in the role they are playing, they will inevitably have some degree of distraction on stage."

"When she actively detaches herself from the role, she unconsciously detaches herself from the other people on stage as well. The interaction between the characters in her mind suddenly becomes the interaction between the Actor, and then those emotions that do not belong to the character will naturally arise, which in turn affects her own performance."

"Was Hui like this from the beginning? It's hard to tell."

"Because my idea at the time was to simply use off-stage emotions to directly replace the emotions the characters should have on stage. So when performing various love-themed dramas, I could naturally get away with it. After all, although the love in Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth is different, the essence is the same; they are just different branches extending from the same root. However, it didn't work for other plays. Later, I really didn't take any shortcuts and practiced diligently for a long time."

As she spoke, Karuizawa Kei looked up at the stage again:

"Actually, being completely immersed in or out of character doesn't make a theatrical performance look particularly awkward or uncoordinated. It's precisely this kind of stage, where you're stuck in a rut, constantly switching between being immersed and out of character, that's the most disastrous."

Although she was reluctant to admit this fact from the perspective of the vice president of the Drama Club, Karuizawa Kei still gave her own judgment:

"They're probably going to lose. Liang's appearance has only made the situation more out of control... Having worked with him for so long, I've forgotten that Liang was known as a 'stage killer' in his early days. Any Actor who acted opposite him was criticized, and several eventually left the Theater Troupe due to the excessive pressure."

Drama is not a sport that can be won simply by having an older brother to lead you. In fact, if the skill gap is too large, it will only make the situation more embarrassing. The honors of the Drama Club this year have always been contributed by Kitagawa Ryo and Karuizawa Kei. You can't have every performance highlighting only one person's solo act.

"Why does Hui's statement sound a bit Versailles-esque?"

"Hmph—it's just stating a given objective fact."

After a brief moment of smug satisfaction, Karuizawa Kei sighed again:

"I need to think of how to comfort them later, especially Sakurako. I can tell she really wants to win this match... It seems like I should just go up and cross-dress."

"After all, they've only been formally studying for less than two months, and this competition was just a friendly exchange. I hope they won't be too discouraged."

"I feel it also has something to do with the play I ultimately chose. 'Much Ado About Much Ado About Nothing' is indeed a bit too difficult for a beginner. Not only is the dialogue frequency high, but the male and female leads also have their own distinct characteristics. If I had chosen a role where the female lead wasn't as outstanding, and let her naturally fade away with the fading of popularity, it probably would have been better."

Sakura Airi responded with an awkward yet polite smile. After all, although Karuizawa Kei said this now, as a friend she had known for a long time in the Theater Troupe, she knew Karuizawa Kei's personality best. In the past ten years or so of Karuizawa Kei's life, what she valued and was most proud of was her status as Kitagawa Ryo's leading lady. So even though she chose a romantic play this time, she deliberately chose the more comedic "Much Ado About Nothing" and selected clips from the early and middle stages where the male and female leads were basically bickering.

However, Sakura Airi herself has no reason to object to this. After all, no one is a true saint. Even if one can choose to be tolerant in many things, one will still unconsciously want to preserve each other's unique memories, and she is no exception.

"It seems like Ying is gone?"

After sentencing the Drama Club to death in this Special Exam, Karuizawa Kei was slightly distracted and soon realized that only the cameras remained in the photography area, and the people were no longer there.

"Did you go to the bathroom? Or maybe you just found it boring? Hasn't Hotaru never liked watching plays since she was little? Even if it's Ryo herself acting, she's always yawning and dozing off."

"That's true, but now that you mention it, I remember that Hotaru, who's always so sleepy she's about to fall asleep in our theater, seems to be full of energy when she's with Airi."

"Elementary school girls would definitely prefer idols to dramas."

The two chatted for a while about some interesting things from the past. As the Drama Club's performance on stage came to an end, Hotaru, who had been gone for some time, carefully circled back at just the right moment, only to be caught red-handed by Karuizawa Kei and Sakura Airi.

"Look, Hotaru is back."

"He looks very happy with his smile; it seems like something good has happened."

Should we call her?

"Never mind, the performance will be over soon, we can go together then."

After another two minutes, the Drama Club finally finished their performance and took their bows on stage. Karuizawa Kei and Sakura Airi then stood up from their seats and walked towards the backstage area, calling Hotaru, who was adjusting her camera, over with them.

In the backstage dressing room, the atmosphere was indeed somewhat somber, just as expected. After all, as the performers on stage, Nanase Tsubasa and Tsubaki Sakurako were aware that their performance was not quite satisfactory. However, it seemed a bit strange to apologize to Kitagawa Ryo, since this was originally their First Year exam, and Kitagawa Ryo was just a senior member of the club who came to help out of kindness.

"There's no need to keep quiet like this. Actually, both of you performed better than I expected today, especially Sakurako. You've only been officially training for less than two months. If you can seamlessly adapt to the stage, then all those years of training by Megumi would have been for nothing, wouldn't they?"

As the head of the Drama Club and a second-year senior, Kitagawa Ryo naturally had to step in and comfort his two juniors. Since Nanase Tsubasa seemed to be doing well, he also took special care of Tsubaki Sakurako.

"Um... I know, I know."

However, this comforting words didn't have much effect on Tsubaki Sakurako for the time being. She was still in a low mood, which made Nanase Tsubasa look at her with some concern. It wasn't the first time she had seen her like this, but compared to the last time in the hotel, Tsubaki Sakurako seemed to be more devastated this time.

At this moment, Karuizawa Kei, Sakura Airi, who had retrieved the camera, also came over. The former two naturally blurted out all the comforting and encouraging words they had prepared beforehand, while the latter, having barely watched any performances, couldn't really comment on the content. Therefore, she simply looked at Yuki's younger sister with curiosity, hesitated for a moment, and then took the initiative to speak to her:

"Um--I don't know if it's convenient, but could you come outside with me and we talk alone for a bit, Tsubaki-senpai?"

Perhaps not wanting to linger in the current atmosphere, or perhaps curious about what Hotaru wanted to say by suddenly calling her out alone at this moment, Tsubaki Sakurako quickly nodded and left the backstage dressing room with Hotaru.

"... Minister Kitagawa's sister called Sakurako out alone."

Nanase Tsubasa seemed a little confused about what was happening, looking at her club president with a bewildered expression, as if she wanted to get an answer from him.

"I don't know either. Sakurako and Hotaru didn't really interact before. She's more familiar with Yuki, but she's basically never seen Sakurako."

Kitagawa Ryo wasn't quite sure what Hotaru was thinking at that moment. After all, he himself had only gotten to know Tsubaki Sakurako in the last two months, and he had even approached her with a purpose when he first started doing this. He thought she could help him solve Yuki's problem.

"I hope they won't say anything too offensive..."

Seeing that Kitagawa Ryo couldn't give a clear answer, Nanase Tsubasa was also a little worried. After all, she and Tsubaki Sakurako had been friends in the same club for two months, and seeing that the other party's mental state seemed a bit off, she was also worried that she might be subjected to some kind of further shock.

"That's definitely not the case. Hotaru isn't that kind of person, and she doesn't even know Sakurako. I'd rather believe that she's trying to get closer to Sakurako because of Yuki... maybe."

Perhaps because he had developed a psychological trauma from Hotaru's antics over the past two months, Kitagawa Ryo suddenly became a little worried that his younger sister might repeat Ichinose Honami's attitude towards Yuki when school started, and give Tsubaki Sakurako a taste of her own medicine.

"Actually, ever since the last Special Exam, Sakurako has really wanted to prove herself to the captain through this Special Exam."

"Last time... I already told her not to worry about it."

Hearing Nanase Tsubasa point this out, Kitagawa Ryo felt somewhat helpless. He could only say that he really couldn't control other people's thoughts, especially for Tsubaki Sakurako, who had no past data to support her and whose close interaction with him had only been in the last two months.

But in reality, the other person was never just an accessory to Yuki, but a living, breathing girl with delicate and sensitive thoughts. Kitagawa Ryo knew that he wasn't unaware of this, but he deliberately ignored it because he felt that caring too much would only complicate things further for Yuki.

In this respect, his feelings were similar to those of Karuizawa Kei at this stage, but after Nanase Tsubasa pointed it out so bluntly, it seemed that he could no longer pretend to be oblivious.

However, the situation with the snow has improved somewhat compared to when school started. Let's adjust our plans a little and see how they react.

"I understand, I'll go out and take a look."

Taking a deep breath, Kitagawa Ryo nodded to Nanase Tsubasa, who was staring straight at him, and also stepped out of the lounge.

After leaving the backstage dressing room, Hotaru and Tsubaki Sakurako walked a short distance down the corridor until they finally stopped near the back door of the auditorium.

Although the two had never communicated before, they both believed they had grasped each other's deepest thoughts. In addition, given their relationship with Kitagawa Ryo and Yuki, the atmosphere wasn't particularly awkward, and they both chose to get straight to the point.

Do you like your brother?

Do you like my brother?

After asking the question, both of them simultaneously took a half-body step back in surprise, and then their tacit understanding was once again at its peak:

Who told you that?