Yukino: He Treats Ichika Better!

And yet, Fushimi Makoto had a special kind of charm that made the Yukinoshita couple take a liking to him.

Everyone was happy with how the meeting went.

Except Yukino.

The Yukinoshita couple also invited Fushimi Makoto and Matsukaze Mayu to stay for lunch. It was almost time to eat, after all.

Neither of them refused.

Watching Fushimi Makoto grow closer and closer to her parents, Yukino suddenly thought of a phrase: do whatever he wanted.

That was right—he could do whatever he wanted!

Thanks to everything he had learned during the Time Loop, he could easily handle all kinds of people and situations he had encountered before.

She even suspected that, in front of her usually imposing mother, Fushimi Makoto had only been showing off the most basic of his skills.

If that was true, then this guy really could do whatever he wanted in her home!

After thinking it over and over, Yukino finally couldn't hold back. She spoke softly. "Mother, there's something I'd like to discuss with Fushimi alone."

"Of course." Mrs. Yukinoshita nodded.

Yukino gave Fushimi Makoto a look, and he rose calmly to his feet.

The moment the two of them reached the balcony, Yukino was still thinking about how to get him to let something slip when Fushimi Makoto suddenly said, "What's on your mind, Yukinoshita? Tell your big brother, and he'll help you figure it out."

Yukino's pretty face went completely dark.

Just as she was about to interrogate Fushimi Makoto with a cold expression, he spoke again.

"Your relationship with Aunt Yukinoshita will get better and better. I'll help you."

Yukino froze.

The anger that had just begun to rise in her heart vanished in an instant.

She looked at Fushimi Makoto with a complicated expression. "At the cat café that day, didn't you say you weren't trying to win me over?"

"I did."

Yukino bit her lip. "Then why are you helping me so much...?"

"Because you won't even call me big brother. So I have no choice but to turn up the pressure."

Unexpectedly, Yukino didn't argue. She simply stared at his face, her beautiful eyes brimming with emotion.

Yukino: He's nicer to Ichika!

Yukino felt conflicted.

Before today, she had assumed the meeting wouldn't go well. She had even thought that Fushimi Makoto might come away with a bad impression of her family.

After all, her mother had hinted over the phone that she hoped Yukino would make the most of her friendship with Fushimi Makoto.

That meant her mother was surely planning to learn about Fushimi Makoto's family circumstances and make some plans of her own.

Given what Yukino had learned about Fushimi Makoto over the past while, she couldn't believe he hadn't noticed.

And yet not only had their conversation been unusually pleasant, but Fushimi Makoto had handled himself with such ease that he seemed to be taking a leisurely stroll.

It was just like the day they first met, when he had set a one-minute timer and rescued the mother and child at exactly the right moment.

The shock and questions churning inside the girl were no less intense than they had been that day.

"Actually, there's no need to make things so complicated."

Just then, Fushimi Makoto's voice rang out.

Yukino quickly collected herself and looked at his calm face. "You know what I'm thinking again?"

"Know what?"

"What I'm thinking."

Fushimi Makoto smiled. "Your thoughts are practically written all over your face. How could I not know?"

Yukino resisted the urge to touch her face and steadied her emotions. "Why did you ask my parents to treat you as a friend of their generation?"

Fushimi Makoto had expected the question. "Because I don't want them to treat me like a child."

He wasn't lying.

With a system mission at stake, of course he wanted to become Yukino's "elder."

At least when it came to how she addressed him, he was determined to make it happen.

So Yukino watched him closely for several seconds, but couldn't detect the slightest hint of a lie.

Yukino's expression turned subtle. "You care about something like that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Fushimi Makoto countered.

Yukino glanced quickly toward the living room and lowered her voice. "You said yourself that you spent a long time in the Time Loop. Shouldn't that mean you wouldn't have this kind of youthful desire to grow up?"

Fushimi Makoto smiled easily. "It's precisely because I've been through so much that I don't want to be treated like a child."

Yukino was at a loss for words.

His reasoning made sense.

She even thought it was convincing.

"So, what do you say? Are you willing to call me big brother?" Fushimi Makoto brought the conversation back around.

Yukino suddenly asked, "What you said earlier about making short films to get some practice, and maybe pursuing a career in the film industry—is that true?"

"Mm. It's a way to find something to do. Otherwise, wouldn't all the things I've learned go to waste?" Fushimi Makoto answered patiently.

"Then are you planning to start your own club?"

"Yes."

"I see."

Yukino took a breath and looked him in the eye. "If you don't mind, I'd like to join your club."

"You were already part of my plans for the club," Fushimi Makoto said.

For some reason, Yukino felt a little happy.

It was the happiness of being trusted and accepted.

A faint smile appeared on Yukino's face.

Fushimi Makoto asked again, "Can you call me big brother now?"

Yukino's smile froze, and she finally gave him a look of disdain. "Are you really that hung up on this?"

Fushimi Makoto casually played his trump card. "If I go through the Time Loop again, I can bring you along."

Thump! Thump!

Yukino's heart betrayed her and leapt wildly a few times.

She unconsciously clenched her little fists.

This guy was baiting her!

He knew how badly she wanted to uncover the truth, yet he was dangling the bait right in front of her!

But Fushimi Makoto had more than one trump card. "Do you remember what I told you that day? You're the only one who doesn't treat the Time Loop like a joke. That's why I trust you so much."

He gazed into Yukino's beautiful eyes.

She could feel the warmth in his gaze.

The girl's cheeks flushed slightly. She turned a little to the side, trying to hide her embarrassment behind her hair.

The weight of that trust left her feeling awkward around a boy for the first time in her life.

This time, she stayed quiet for nearly three seconds.

At last, she asked in a shy, quiet voice, "What month were you born?"

"January first," Fushimi Makoto replied, understanding what she meant.

Yukino nodded, doing her best to look composed. "You're two days older than me."

It was her way of giving herself an out.

Then, still avoiding Fushimi Makoto's gaze, she turned her little face away and called him softly, "Big brother."

It wasn't the more affectionate word for "older brother," but the more formal "big brother."

Fushimi Makoto smiled with satisfaction.

He had heard the system's mechanical voice.

[Congratulations, host. You have completed the beginner mission.]

[Mission reward (Badge of the All-Rounder Girl): A gift from the genius girl Yukino. She sincerely considers you a friend and is grateful to accept your care and concern as her elder. With this badge, you can do anything with far greater efficiency than ordinary people, and your rate of improvement will be several times theirs.]

Fushimi Makoto's first thought upon receiving the reward was: Would Yukino never be able to surpass him in studying now?

After awkwardly calling him big brother, Yukino kept sneaking glances at Fushimi Makoto's expression.

When she saw that he was merely smiling with satisfaction and wasn't teasing her, she relaxed.

He had been helping her all along and planned to keep helping her grow closer to her mother. Those really were things an elder would do.

As she thought about it, her emotions gradually settled.

But just as she was about to speak, Fushimi Makoto suddenly said, "From now on, we're brothers."

Yukino: "?"

Fushimi Makoto: "If anyone at school picks on you, just tell them your big brother sent you."

Yukino: "???"

As expected!

This guy was still a little mean!

Yukino couldn't keep a straight face. Blushing, she glared at him.

So cute.

Fushimi Makoto was delighted.

He continued, "When you're with your mother, just relax a little. She's surely happy to see how much you've grown. I'll keep helping you in the future, too, so you don't need to be so tense around her."

Yukino was taken aback.

She felt her cheeks growing warm again.

This time, she didn't look away from Fushimi Makoto. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Brothers don't need to thank each other." Fushimi Makoto waved it off.

Yukino really didn't like this kind of conversation, so she pretended not to hear him. "I remember you used to call me Yukino. Why did you start calling me Yukinoshita instead?"

"Because I felt you weren't comfortable with it."

Yukino fell silent.

She had indeed been a little uncomfortable.

But she could tell that Fushimi Makoto hadn't meant it.

Thinking of how he called Nakano Ichika by her first name now, she felt that familiar sense of being left behind rise up again.

He was nicer to Ichika!

"Come on, we should head back." Fushimi Makoto's voice reached her.

Yukino gave a quiet "Mm" and kept her thoughts to herself.

Just as she was about to return to the living room, she caught sight of Fushimi Makoto's left hand out of the corner of her eye. He had already reached behind her.

Yukino frowned. "What are you doing?"

Fushimi Makoto replied, "I told you, you can relax. You don't have to stay so tense all the time. Aunt Yukinoshita is quite easy to talk to right now. And when she sees how close we are, she'll be even happier. Naturally, she'll think more highly of you, too."