An iced cafe latte from the convenience store. As the dark brown coffee mixed with the milk to create a gradation that had heat-parched people and Instagrammers alike screaming with joy lately, I decided to see if I could recreate it at home. I prepared a glass while looking at the internet on my smartphone. I readied the ice-cold cubes and chanted an incantation.
"Come forth, Ice Meteor."
The ice I released with an utterly serious face clinked into the glass. I thrust a Gae Bolg—my straw—into the center, poured in pure white milk that looked like the very beginning of the world, and then gently added the hot coffee on top.
Perfect. It wasn't just a gradation. The difference in density between the coffee and the milk created a clear dividing line, like water and oil. It wasn't even a cafe latte anymore; it was just separate milk and coffee. You two... when did you develop a relationship like the sun and the moon?
"Combine."
I swirled the floating ice, stirring the mixture slightly. Only after doing all this did I finally succeed in recreating the convenience store's iced cafe latte. My excitement rose; it really felt like I was enjoying summer vacation. I snapped a quick photo with my phone as a souvenir, then used a cheap plastic stirrer to mix it all together, ruining the aesthetic entirely.
Suddenly, a hand reached out in front of my eyes.
"Thanks."
"Sis, give me a break."
"Make me one. Now."
"As you wish."
Once I had the process down, it was a piece of cake. I repeated the steps, summoned another Ice Meteor, stabbed in a Gae Bolg, and hit "Combine!" When I glanced to the side, a gaze colder than the ice delivered a headshot to my psyche.
"Here you go."
"Mm."
The reason I obeyed her so naturally wasn't because I had yielded to Nee-chan. It was a reflex—yes, a reflex. Just as one might instinctively close their eyes when something flew at them, my body moved on its own whenever Nee-chan jerked her chin. Oh dear... the conditioning was etched into my very soul.
"You're taking it easy today. Even though you usually head to school or cram school."
"What? Is it a problem if I'm home?"
"Hey, watch the leg. That leg is T-minus five seconds from launch."
She was a terrifying sister. As usual, she wore a ridiculous outfit around the house; was she some kind of bug-catching boy? I mean, was she even wearing anything on the bottom? There was no way she wasn't embarrassed to be seen like that at her age, right?
While I wondered what kind of meltdown she would have if I handed her a butterfly net, Nee-chan stared at me with emotionless eyes while rattling the straw of the latte I had made for her.
"Don't look at me like that... You'll make me blush, you know?"
"Can you come to school the day after tomorrow and help the Disciplinary Committee?"
"Um... talk about a sudden—wait, what? The Disciplinary Committee?"
Why them? Nee-chan was in the Student Council, wasn't she? Had she seized control of not just the Student Council but the Disciplinary Committee from behind the scenes? And anyway, why school?
"The day after tomorrow? Why the hell do I have to go to school?"
"August 6th. It's a school day only for the third-years, and they're going to show the prospective students what the classes are like."
"Was there an event like that...? And? How does the Disciplinary Committee come into this?"
My awkwardness with the Disciplinary Committee President was currently at a full one hundred percent. I didn't want to try hard anymore; I wanted to let go of every ounce of radiance I possessed. Since I had only recently turned down a spot on the committee, couldn't we wait until she had forgotten about it?
"It's for the Trial Enrollment. The Disciplinary Committee is in charge of directing it."
"Huh? I thought the teachers were supposed to do that."
"The broad framework, yeah. But the ones actually on the ground are the current students. Since those of us in the Student Council decided that last year, it ended up causing trouble for Rin."
"What about the Student Council?"
"I told you, we hit our capacity ages ago. If we set aside time for the event, we'll have a massive carryover of our normal duties."
"That's a nasty kind of carryover."
The work they didn't do would just keep rolling over. What kind of hell was that? The Student Council was supposed to be a model for students, but it basically just mimicked a black company. It was even worse because there was no such thing as employee benefits.
"Why me, though...?"
"I hate owing her favors. Just do it."
Were those two really close? At the very least, I didn't have much of an image of Nee-chan initiating any contact. Thinking that Shinomiya-senpai might be the only one who considered them friends made my heart feel like it was being squeezed... What kind of conversations did they have when it was just the two of them? I was a little curious.
"Rin has been grumbling about you lately, so just go and deal with it."
"What?"
"I'm telling you not to leave things in that weird, awkward state. How am I supposed to react when a female classmate is worried about her relationship with my younger brother?"
"......"
...Could it be that I, for my part, also owed Nee-chan a favor? It must be a pain to have that idiosyncratic senior talk to her about heavy topics while she was busy and frustrated. And, although I had a faint inkling of it before, Shinomiya-senpai was surprisingly delicate.
This seemed like it would become even more of a headache if I left it alone.
"Alright, alright, I just have to help, right? I'll charge in. I'll charge right in."
"Yeah, she'll probably be happier that way. She definitely doesn't want you to hate her."
"Stop it. Saying things like that just makes it awkward for me."
"Well, for Rin, you probably aren't someone she relates to just because of me, you know?"
Wait, really? It wasn't like she was looking out for me specifically because I was Nee-chan's brother? No way... She was just saying that. She was trying to flatter me and get me in a good mood so I would buy her something, right? But then again... when you're a man of my caliber, talking to one or two older women is a breeze—as if! I'd just stutter like an idiot, you bastard.
I was the Prince of Heartbreak, after all.
"Ah, Shinomiya-senpai?"
"Ha...? Eh, who... a man!? Where's Kaede!?"
"Nee-chan is sleeping next to me."
"Don't act like my boyfriend."
"My—my ear!? It's gonna tear, it's gonna tear!! It's tearing!?"
"Eh, eh!? Sajou!? Why are you...!?"
I agreed to help Shinomiya-senpai as Nee-chan requested. It was a mystery whether a guy with normal specs like me would be of any use, but I had other intentions, so I'd have to ask her to overlook that.
When I borrowed Nee-chan's account on the messaging app to call her, Shinomiya-senpai was incredibly surprised to hear my voice. Did this person really master that thing called Seishindo? Ah—hey, Nee-chan? Just now, my ear made a distinct popping sound.
"Long time no see, Shinomiya-senpai. I wanted to talk for a bit, so I'm borrowing Nee-chan's phone—ow, ow, Nee-chan."
"A-Ah... I see. Kaede, let him go. So, do you have some business with me?"
Ear, released. I thought it was going to tear right off. She had no mercy even though I was just making a little joke. My ear was burning. Whatever, I'd ignore it—wait, did my earlobe actually get longer?
"The day after tomorrow is the Trial Enrollment for the third-year middle schoolers, right? I'll help out. I heard that Nee-chan ended up causing some trouble for you."
"W-What, is that all...? You don't need to worry about it. It's a job that was going to be handled by the Disciplinary Committee from this year anyway."
No way... was I just politely turned down?
My Dear Best Friend says so, but my Elder Sister, what shall we do? Personally, I'd like to just take her at her word—ah, you're telling me to do it anyway. You're telling me to go and resolve the strange vibe by meeting her in person. Fine, dammit, I'll do it.
That's right, I've been reborn. For the dozen or so days since summer vacation started, I've been talking repeatedly with a college girl and acquired a sense of "adult composure"! Awkwardness was everywhere in society. If I couldn't overcome something of this level, I couldn't call myself an adult!
"You're the one who shouldn't worry about it. Personally, I just wanted to see you, Shinomiya-senpai."
"Wha—" A string of incoherent, rapid-fire gibberish followed.
A-Ah...? That wasn't the reaction I expected. I thought she would give a reaction more like Sasaki-san's, like, "Oh, you're joking again—". She said something at a super-fast speed, but I couldn't catch any of it.
Nee-chan? What's with that look of utter shock? Even I understood that I needed to start acquiring social etiquette like a working adult. See? You're surprised, right? Wait, what was with that fed-up face? And did something just go clink on the other end of the line?
"Um...? I heard a sound like something breaking; is everything okay?"
"A-Ah... I'm fine—BUT! What are you saying all of a sudden!?"
"No, well, it's just the nonsense of a lowly man, so don't mind it. More importantly, isn't there any work left over? I have an image of the Disciplinary Committee being nothing but girls because of the 'Shinomiya-senpai effect,' so aren't you short on manual labor?"
The Student Council was overwhelmed with event prep on top of their usual administrative chores. It wouldn't be strange if the Disciplinary Committee was in the same boat. That's what I should aim for.
"Nonsense, you say... well fine—it's not fine, but fine, I suppose. I shall praise your admirable intention. If you're going to go that far... yes, our transport capacity is a bit unreliable, so I'll have you help with that."
"I see... so it's truly a man's job."
"What, do you dislike it?"
"Not at all. If it's for your sake, Shinomiya-senpai, it's easy."
The time had come to show the results of my training, lifting stacks of books during my daily part-time job. I didn't know about awkwardness or whatever, but if the Neo-me got serious, communicating with a superior was a piece of cake!
Come to think of it, with this vibe, wasn't the awkwardness already gone? Was there really still a need to help the Disciplinary Committee? Ah, right, the "favor" part. Nee-chan was surprisingly principled about strange things. She did lend me her first-year notes for my studies, after all. She was quite something. I probably couldn't become a handsome guy because I didn't have anything like that to trade... though since my face was what it was, that didn't matter anyway.
"Ah, dammit, they really are siblings..."
When I glanced to the side, Nee-chan muttered a mysterious phrase and started scratching her head. I didn't quite get it, but she apparently noticed a part of me that was similar to her. You don't have to look so disgusted, you know.
"Kaede! Kaede! Can I take this to mean he's taken a liking to me!?"
"Ah, yeah, yeah, sure. Just do whatever you want. Jeez..."
Nee-chan looked annoyed as she lightly swirled the pseudo-iced latte in her glass. She gave a reluctant reply to Shinomiya-senpai, who seemed to be misunderstanding something. I was surprised to see this unexpected dynamic. I thought Shinomiya-senpai was the type to say "good grief" to Nee-chan, not the other way around.
But you're naive, Sajou Kaede! Do you think you've demonstrated real Sister Power with that? I have recently witnessed a Sister Power far higher than yours! Compared to Sasaki-san's fluffy inclusiveness, your Sister Power is nothing but—
Ah, I'm sorry, please don't take the notes away.
How about a refill of that cafe latte?