Oh No, Big Brother!

Fukayama Natsuki dashed home and set down the pot she was carrying.

She opened the fridge and took a big gulp of milk.

Once she'd finally calmed down, she ran straight upstairs without looking back.

"Something's wrong! Big Brother! Something's wrong with you!" She burst through Fukayama Midori's bedroom door and rushed over to where he was still lying in bed, shouting at him.

Fukayama Midori couldn't keep pretending to sleep with her bothering him like this, so he opened his eyes and asked his noisy little sister.

"What's wrong? Did you spill the food, or did your favorite idol group get caught up in a scandal? Or did someone find out about the BL manga you draw?"

Fukayama Natsuki had been about to get to the point, but hearing her brother tease her like that made her face flush with anger.

She snatched up a slipper from beside the bed and hurled it at Fukayama Midori.

Fukayama Midori tried to dodge, but it was too late. The slipper smacked him in the head.

"Idiot big brother! Who said anything about that? I did spill the curry today, but that's not what I wanted to tell you! I wanted to tell you something else! Something important!"

Fukayama Natsuki glared at her hopeless brother, fuming with exasperation.

"Huh? You really spilled the curry? Guess we're stuck eating instant noodles again today." Fukayama Midori sounded completely uninterested and hadn't heard a word Natsuki had said.

"Idiot big brother! Fine, eat your instant noodles! But Ayano-nee is about to be stolen away by someone else, and you're still lying here! Hurry up! Go find Ayano-nee!"

Fukayama Natsuki ran to the window and yanked open the curtains in Fukayama Midori's room.

From Fukayama Midori's room, they could see the hydrangea-patterned window across the way, along with the girl's room, neat and tidy, with a white bookshelf and pretty, cute dolls.

Just then, Suzuran Ayano was looking for something in her room. When she saw Natsuki, she smiled and waved hello.

But before Natsuki could wave back, Ayano had already left the room, carrying what was clearly a man's clothing.

Fukayama Midori and Suzuran Ayano were childhood friends, and their rooms faced each other. The balconies weren't very far apart, either,

but Fukayama Midori had always been so absorbed in the two-dimensional world and so physically weak that he'd never once jumped between them.

As Fukayama Midori's little sister, Natsuki knew all about the relationship between him and Suzuran Ayano. When they were little, she'd even been jealous of how close they were.

She'd felt as if Ayano had stolen her brother away, and Natsuki had always treated Ayano as a rival.

Natsuki usually got along very well with Ayano, but whenever Ayano and Fukayama Midori were alone together, Natsuki would join them.

But things were different now.

"A tall guy with blond hair and bandages all over his face came home with Ayano-nee just now! She called him Akimoto-kun!"

"Big Brother, you were still lying in bed, and Ayano-nee didn't call for you. She called that Akimoto-kun instead!"

"How can you still be lying around at a time like this? You should hurry up and go find Ayano-nee! You can't let her get stolen away!"

Natsuki had often gotten in the way of Ayano and Fukayama Midori, but seeing the Ayano-nee she liked so much getting close to some blond guy made her feel a sense of crisis.

She was only this worried because she was looking out for her big brother, Fukayama Midori.

Her big brother was a good-for-nothing, but when they were little, he and Ayano had indeed been inseparable. If Ayano-nee got stolen away by that blond guy, her brother would surely regret it someday.

"Oh, you mean Akimoto-kun." Who would've thought that even after hearing Natsuki say all that,

Fukayama Midori would only blink, then lie back down.

"I heard they're having some kind of cooking get-together. Besides Suzuran, Kuroo Maya's going too. It's no big deal."

Fukayama Midori lay back on the bed, unconcerned. He'd known about this already.

Besides, what did it matter to him who Suzuran Ayano liked?

He could still vividly remember Suzuran Ayano inexplicably slapping him at the opening ceremony.

Besides, she was practically inseparable from Akimoto Yoichi at school, always busy with Student Council matters.

Lately, Fukayama Midori and Suzuran Ayano had barely spoken.

Part of Fukayama Midori's attitude was simply out of spite. He'd run for Student Council too, but he wasn't eager to talk to Suzuran Ayano.

"You can't just say that, Big Brother! Are you an idiot?" Natsuki glared at Fukayama Midori, who was still so careless.

With her hands on her hips, she picked up the manga lying beside the bed and used it as a weapon, whacking Fukayama Midori several times in an effort to knock some sense into him.

Aside from being kind, her big brother didn't have any other good qualities.

Even so, Fukayama Midori was still her brother. When their parents were often away on business trips, he'd been the one to take care of her.

Now it was Natsuki's turn to take care of her big brother.

In another year, Natsuki would be in high school too. If Fukayama Midori still didn't have a girlfriend by then, she'd be prepared to support her useless big brother for the rest of his life.

That was what Natsuki had in mind, but for now, she still wanted to remind Fukayama Midori not to take his childhood friend Ayano for granted.

"Even if it's no big deal, you should still stick close to Ayano-nee, you idiot! You should kick away any man who gets near her!"

"Do you really think this is okay? If Ayano-nee gets together with Akimoto-kun, would you really not care?"

"Hasn't Ayano-nee always been with you since you were little? You've never been apart before. Are you really going to give up now? Show some manliness, will you? That blond guy looks like a nice person, but it's dangerous for him to get close to Ayano-nee!"

Though she was younger, Natsuki made her case with such confidence that she seemed like a little strategist.

Hearing her words, Fukayama Midori began to take things a little more seriously.

He thought back to school, where Suzuran Ayano and Akimoto Yoichi had somehow become people from another world in everyone else's eyes. They'd all once been together, but without noticing, Fukayama Midori had been left behind.

"Fine. I'll go take a look..." Just as Fukayama Midori started to get a little interested and prepared to sit up, the phone beside him rang.

He picked it up and saw a message from Nagase Kumari.

It looked like Nagase Kumari had woken up too.

"I'll go a little later! Hurry up and get out, Natsuki. I have something important to discuss, so I need you to be quiet."

As he spoke, Fukayama Midori pushed Fukayama Natsuki out of his room.

"Hey! Big Brother, are you really going to do nothing while Ayano-nee gets... Bang!" Staring at the door that had just slammed shut, Fukayama Natsuki got so mad she looked like a puffed-up cat.

She kicked the locked door hard, then walked downstairs, deep in thought.

Looking at the childhood photo of herself, Fukayama Midori, and Suzuran Ayano hanging in the living room, Natsuki's expression gradually grew resolute. She slowly clenched her fist.

"If Big Brother... No, if that idiot won't do anything, then I will! I'll keep an eye on that blond guy and Ayano-nee! That's what I'll do!"

After glancing around the house, Fukayama Natsuki took a frying pan and a spatula from the kitchen counter, took a deep breath, and headed out.