Tomodachi no Imouto ga Ore ni Dake Uzai

“Which necktie did you wear to school again, Senpai? The golden or silver one?”

“The specified necktie for school is red.”

Morning. A familiar-looking ceiling, the same room as always. Standing at the side of the bed was Iroha, flashing the smile of a Goddess of the Lake. Seriously, where did she even get these neckties from? They look like something a magician on a costume contest would wear.

“For this honest Senpai, I present both of them…”

“Again, I don’t need them. Just give me my normal school necktie.”

“Ahaha, to be honest, they’re actually at the bottom of the lake~”

“You…don’t tell me…”

“I accidentally spilled juice on the folded laundry! Sowwy!”

“Youuuuuuu!”

“Ugh…please don’t get angry at me! Even I’m a victim of it all, you know?! When I thought it was just normal orange juice, it actually turned out to be with MAX baking soda in it!”

“So the first thing you do after illegally invading my home is drinking everything in my fridge?”

“Isn’t it fine, it’s my lifework after all~!”

This is our daily life. Ordinary, nothing odd happening, the day starting with an annoying greeting, and me heading to school.

“Hey, Aki. You sure look tired first thing in the morning.”

“It’s because your little sister was—No, because of you? Huh?”

The familiar school, with the never-changing classroom. Sitting in a seat behind me, Iroha flashed me a smile you’d see from a prince charming in any shoujo manga. But, what kind of cast is this?

“What’s wrong, Aki? You look like you were bewitched by a fox.”

“Well of course I do! Why are you in our classroom, iroha!” ｆ𝘳e𝒆w𝗲𝐛𝘯𝐨νe𝚕.cｏ𝓶

“Ahaha, what are you talking about? I’m not Iroha, but Ozuma. I know that we might look similar because we’re siblings, but we’re not even the same gender, so I think mistaking it would definitely be pretty difficult.”

Judging from the voice alone, it really was Ozu. However, just taking his outer appearance into account, it was Iroha without a doubt. What is going on here? Some bad joke on Iroha’s side again?

“Morning…What’s wrong?”

My agony was disrupted as I heard Mashiro’s voice, entering the classroom. I turned around with a sense of relief, as if I was reunited with a long-lost member of my family.

“Good timing. Here me out, Mashi—Iroha?!”

“What? Don’t scream like that, annoying.”

Again, I heard the usual salt treatment of Mashiro, with the fitting grumbly voice. However, the physical appearance of the person next to me belonged to the unfamiliar—Well, actually awfully familiar—Kohinata Iroha.

I turned around. Sitting on Ozu’s seat was Iroha, flashing a gentle Ozu-like smile.

I turned around. Sitting on Mashiro’s seat was Iroha, glaring at me with cold eyes.

I was surrounded by Irohas. Seriously, what is going on here? Every single one of them turned into Iroha.

“Now, let’s start homeroom. You can keep whispering like that, ofcourse. As long as you have the determination to kneel down and lick the ground, being stepped on your head, that is.”

Verbal abuse I was very much used to immediately silenced the classroom. The orders of the Queen leaving the students in terror. But, of course, when I looked towards the front—

“You’re Iroha as well?!”

“My, Ooboshi-kun. That’s even less of a whisper I just mentioned. Come to the student guidance room during lunch break, okay? I’ll make sure to show you the ropes~”

The voice and words coming from the person standing at the teacher’s desk clearly belonged to Kageishi Sumire in her [Poisonous Queen] mode. Though I wanted to run away from reality, praise Iroha for her insane voice acting, my brain screamed that something was still off. On top of that—

“Hey hey, Ooboshi. You in it for some physical punishment from the Queen? That’s unfair, getting a head-start like that.”

Even male student A I would barely talk to ended up as Iroha. And if that wasn’t enough, around 30 classmates had turned around to look at me—No wait, around 30 Irohas! Looking right, looking left, everything in my sight was Iroha, Iroha, and more Iroha.

With a shriek of despair, I dashed out of the classroom, where I passed another Iroha in the hallway, an Iroha stepping out of the teacher’s room, an Iroha wearing the janitor uniform as she cleaned the courtyard, and the principal Iroha was watering the flowers.

Seeking refuge at a nearby empty toilet, I washed my face to calm myself down, but when I lifted up my head, the image reflected in the mirror—Iroha—

“A nightmare?!”

Retorting, I opened my eyes. The ceiling this time wasn’t familiar to me at all, and the room had changed from my own to the one of the inn we were staying at.

Morning—Not quite, because the clock I checked said it was already noon. I see, after all of these things happening yesterday, I slipped in the futon only after the sun started to rise.

“Still, what a horrible dream that was.”

All the actors appearing were Iroha-only. What a horrible sight that was. Thinking about the width of Iroha’s acting skill, that wasn’t even too unthinkable either—Well, let’s stop here, I don’t want another nightmare.

“Good morning~”

“Woah?!”

I was suddenly embraced from behind.

“Senpai, you kept calling my name in your sleep, you know~? Don’t tell meeeee, you had a dream about me~?”

“…!”

“Oh, bulls-eye? I wonder if Senpai’s Senpai is at it’s limit as well~?” Iroha’s crackling laugh arrived directly in my ears.

Yesterday she constantly acted flustered, appealing to me that I would let her go from my carry, and now she’s acting as annoying and clingy as always. She’s definitely back to normal. Adding some dirty jokes in here and there, doing the exact opposite of making me ponder if she has romantic feelings for me.

Thinking if she really had romantic affection towards me, she wouldn’t be acting in this way, I tried to find relief for myself, whilst still being aware of an odd unfamiliar feeling somewhere in the depths of my chest.

“………”

“Hmmmm? Senpai, you’re so calm today. Normally you’d try to fight back.”

“I-If you think that, then let me go already.”

“See, that retort had no punch at all!”

“~~~?!”

Iroha’s reverse retort had her push her body forwards, pressing her two bulges against my back with no remorse.

“Senpai? Hey, what’s wrong, Senpai?”

“………”

Stop joking with me, why is she this pushy, does she actually have feelings for me? Also, this softness is too much! How much shore is this? Rockwell C1? I don’t know how to properly adequately categorize the heaviness of her breasts, but I’d love some separate measurement system for this!

“Wah, seriously, are you okay?”

“………”

Not good, both my body and head, I can’t properly pull away from Iroha. Normally, that would have been no easy feat, but right now, the only change was the acceleration of my heartbeat.

“Come back, Senpai! Senpai Senpai Senpai Senpai!”

“…………”

I wonder if this sensation plaguing me right now is induced because I’m aware of Iroha as the member of the opposite sex.

The Ceremony of Marriage was the trigger for that? Don’t be stupid. Just a while ago with Mashiro’s incident happening, Iroha got angry at me and told me to focus on the [5th Floor Alliance]. I’d be a failure of a man if I didn’t even have the slightest bit of consistency in my feelings.

“He’s completely ignoring me. We might actually have to get him to the hospital…”

“………”

What if Iroha were to find out these feelings I had right now.

[Uwah, disgusting. This is what happens right after you kneeled down in front of me, blurting out cool-sounding lies? Saying you’d go full force towards your goal, you fall in love with me after a few hours together in a love hotel? In the end, you were just acting like you didn’t have any interest in girls because you’re a mob character of a virgin, but you actually were the same kind of boy as everybody else? Yeah, not happening]

She’d probably never talk to me again. And, even if Iroha were to take it with a grain of salt only, I’d honestly be pretty disgusted at myself. Rejecting Mashiro’s confession, just remembering the words I gave her back then, sound so irresponsible now, I’d probably punch myself in the face if I saw this from an outsider’s perspective.

Seriously, what happened with me—

“Se-n-pa-i, wake up!”

“Gaaah, shut up already?!”

“Oh, you finally came back to reality.”

“You…you…! My eardrums were about to burst.”

“It’s your fault for ignoring me. Also, you’re pretty calm while being hugged today. Do you not hate it?”

“…Eh. Ahh, well, I don’t really hate it, so—”

“Eh?”

“No…wait, I hate it! I think…Ah, shit! Move, my body! Move!”

“O-Okay…?”

Unable to hide my own confusion and bewilderment, Iroha just calmly separated from my back. At the same time, the sensation of her lethal weapons equally vanished, allowing me to finally take a breather.

“Um, Senpai is acting really weird, do you have any idea why?”

“I-I-I-I-I-I don’t know?! Hey, Ozuma-kun?!”

“I don’t know, maybe it’s time for congratulations.”

“Onii-chan, what are you on about? Give me an explanation for that, would you.”

“I really don’t think I should be the one to say it, you know~”

Having woken up ahead of me, Sumire gave an awfully flustered response to Iroha’s question, whereas Ozu just kept grinning at me like he had already seen through everything.

Starting from the conclusion, they never managed to come up with a proper reason for my weird behaviour. Hence, Iroha once again approached me, touching my forehead.

“Is it a fever? Maybe because you were walking through the mountain last night…”

“~~~!!! N-No, I’m perfectly fine.”

“That’s good to hear, but…Hmmm…”

Iroha still didn’t look like she was satisfied, her hand on her chin as she started dwelling in her thoughts. That gesture alone made me associate her with the word [cute] yet again. But, as I was using all my brain cells to find out how to deal with this sudden confusion—

“Fungurui Muguruunafu Kutogua Fomaruhauto Ngaaaah—!!!”

A saving grace sent from the gods above filled the atmosphere, as a weird voice—or more like a sound—arrived at our ears from the room next to ours.

“That voice just now…”

“No need to wonder, there’s only one person who could force out such an impossible to decrypt morse code.”

Even during the conversation between Sumire and Ozu, we heard a weird rumbling sound, as if something fell over, only for it to stop at once, silence taking it’s space. Followed by the sound of something standing up, footsteps resounded that left the room.

Step step step, the sounds moved for around one meter down the hallway, before stopping in front of our door, which was thrown open a fragment of a second later, the living being causing these noises crouching down on the tatami mat, looking like that box cover from Pla*oon2

“Finally…! The deadline has been defeated…!”

Holding a laptop with both hands towards the roof, the person, rather, the girl, who let out screams of joy and happiness was the familiar…well, probably familiar? I guess? Tsukinomori Mashiro.

Her normally always clean and proper dazzling hair was in a ruffled mess, her skin had an equal color to said white hair, giving her quite the grotesque zombie-vibes. She was still wearing the same clothes she had last night after we separated, so she probably kept writing this entire time.

“Mashiro did it…Finally…Hefu”

“Ah, there she goes.”

“Mashiro—?!”

“Mashiro-senpai—?!”

“Mashiro-chaaaan?!”

Taking out Ozu, everybody else quickly dashed towards her, who collapsed face first onto the ground.

“You okay?!”

I softly lifted up Mashiro’s body. Her forehead was red because she hit her head on the ground, but besides that, she just seemed tired most of all.

“Zzzz…Zzzz…”

“Explosive sleep, huh.”

“Look at that fulfilled expression. The days before a deadline sure are tough, but the joy and happiness after you defeated it can be addicting.”

“I agree on that. It’s even better than the ‘Must watch with your lover’ movie this summer. Even I feel like crying.”

“You’re just getting drunk once you make it past a deadline.”

Managing a periodically updated mobile game, I’ve experienced this quite a few times. Pulling consecutive all-nighters to fix up the ridiculous schedule without the people in question actually being aware that one is mostly doing some black work. Just to raise the quality, you take countless extra hours of overtime, gradually falling into the trap of the business, so one has to be careful early in the game already. Of course, I’m not talking out of experience or anything though? I’m definitely not practicing that with the [5th Floor Alliance] by all means.

“Huh?”

With Mashiro being completely out, her laptop just laid on the ground. From the opening of the laptop which sure made you remember what kind of parents she has, with high quality and newest specs, a piece of paper fell to the ground.

Not hesitating at all, I picked it up. I did feel bad for just reading it without her permission, but because the paper wasn’t folded, and even had words written on the outside, it just entered by eye naturally.

[Mashiro also wants to go to the sea. She’ll probably be out of strength, but even if she’s asleep, take her with you]

“Some dying message?”

“No, she’s not dead yet. I think.”

Ozu walked towards my side to check the paper as well, whose words I gave a soft retort. Following that, Iroha and Sumire reacted.

“Leaving behind a message for the event that she collapsed out of exhaustion, just how desperately did Mashiro-senpai want to come with us?”

“She’s like asking a small child asking for a present from Santa-san, so cute~”

“Good work, Mashiro. Now you can rest in peace.”

“Amen.”

Like a fallen warrior who had fought for humanity, the rest of us gave our blessings to Mashiro. But, Ozu was the first to snap out of it, as he realized something very crucial.

“Huh? But, didn’t we miss the hotel reservation at the seaside hotel?”

Words of despair, crushing Mashiro’s dying wish.

“……” I kept silent.

“……” Iroha kept silent.

“……” Sumire kept silent.

Every single one of us just looked into the round in silence, shaking our heads to the sight.

—Did you adjust our reservation?

—What about you, Senpai?

—No, that’s not important right now.

That’s basically all we figured out after 30 seconds of silence.

「As a result of you not arriving during the aforementioned time, the reservation will be cancelled. If dear customer wishes to put in a reservation again, please do so on another day」

In a panic, we quickly called the hotel, and this is what we got as a response. We tried it at other nearby hotels as well, but now in this summer season, I doubt it comes as a surprise that we weren’t successful.

“How could this happen…Don’t tell me…”

“We can’t go to the sea anymore?!”

Following my words I muttered in a daze, Iroha held her head in her hands as she screamed in despair.

“We can still just stop by the beach to play a bit and then go home.”

“That means we’d be going home immediately! I can’t enjoy it at all!”

“On top of that, playing at the sea can be very tiring. I would have to drive home for several hours, so I’m a bit worried if I can make it home without an accident…”

Sumire’s words were the deciding factor. I don’t want to die yet. Knowing my luck, this would be the end.

“Senpai…”

“Don’t give me that look, this time around…”

I honestly can’t do anything. It probably all went downhill the moment we had to alter our initial schedule. This might just be the punishment for us having used this sudden event to efficiently and positively influence our future, instead of just playing at the beach.

“Sorry, Iroha. And Ozu and Sumire, even Mashiro as well. We have to give up on this beach trip—”

“—It’s too early to give up, chirp~”

“Eh?”

These words followed mine out of the blue, leaving me in confusion. When I turned around, I spotted a blonde-haired girl with gothic lolita clothes—Kiraboshi Kanaria, her back leaning against the door, showing an awfully forced cool-looking expression.

“Prioritizing her manuscript over memories with her friends! Kanaria-chan can only appreciate that! That’s 100 points on the scala, chirp~”

Showing a peace-sign with almost audibly sound-effects was (the self-proclaimed 17 years old) Kanaria. She was the one responsible for the high sales of various ace light novels originating from the label UZA Publishing, an idol editor with high popularity as well, and the main editor for Makigai Namako-sensei on top of that.

Apparently, she happened to find Mashiro’s manuscript (?) which she had sent in for a contest, and came here with her to this inn in the village Kageishi to allow Mashiro a perfect environment to have her work on her new manuscript, not to mention in the room specifically rented by Kanaria.

“That is why~~~”

Being an absolute adult above me in terms of being a producer, she gave me a wink.

“Kanaria-chan will present you with a gift! A palatial residence one-night stop nearby! With a beautiful seaside, nothing that could ruin your fun! You, and you, and Sensei as well, you are all invited~”

Kanaria said, with almost a rhythmical tone to it.

*

And then, after roughly an hour had passed. We arrived at the location we had put into Sumire’s navi.

“This is…”

Stepping out from the jeep, I narrowed my eyes at the glaring sun—

“Yes, there’s no mistaking it. This time…!”

Having set foot onto the white sand, Sumire gazed at the scenery in front of her.

“Mashiro has waited so long…!”

Mashiro stood next to me, as she had a nostalgic gaze—

“It’s…theeeeee….seaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

Iroha had both her hands in the air, screaming at the top of her lungs like an idol who had just arrived at the boarding house3.

“Beautiful blue everywhere. And, there really isn’t anybody around.” Ozu muttered.

“To think such a place even existed in Japan.”

The sandy beach continued as far as your eyes could see, no other person in sight. Not to mention, if I turned around, I had a 2-floor building standing strong at my back, which could probably hold around 20 people for a sleep-over. Even for a standard family living there, the scale was far too ridiculous. Honestly looks like some training camp place for a sports manga.

“Though it makes sense that people don’t gather here. After all—”

As Ozu and I were lined up next to each other to put down our belongings from the car, we spotted another car entering the parking space. With a stylish form, a car that you can only admire as a youngster nowadays—a red convertible clearly imported from overseas.

With her golden hair fluttering in the wind, the girl, Kanaria, gallantly stepped off the car, wearing stylish sunglasses to look as photogenic as possible.

“—It’s her private beach after all.”

“She does have this overwhelming ‘I’m successful’ vibe to her alright…”

“I’m pretty sure president Tsukinomori can easily one-up her as the president of a big company like that, but in terms of individual success, Kanaria-san got him beat.”

“Are editors of publishers really that profitable?”

“No, I don’t think so.” I just blankly shook my head towards Ozu’s question.

Iroha seemed to have caught on to our money talk, and joined us.

“But, maybe that’s because she brought out so many hit novels?”

“The company might be exhilarated, but the second you are part of a very company, you have a limited annual income. I’m pretty sure that a popular publisher can spare a bit more than others, maybe up to 10 million, but it’s definitely not enough to own an entire private beach like this.”

“10 million! That already sounds like a lot, though. How much would you need to have a private beach like this, then? A hundred million?!”

“I wonder. I feel like even that much of a fortune isn’t enough.”

“Seriously?!”

“I see. With a hundred million, you’re full with effective management and preparation for your enterprise. Can’t afford something like this, and in Aki’s words, it would be ineffective.”

“If you had around 500 million of personal fortune, you could probably afford to spend it extravagantly, but a private beach…”

“Are you two really high school students? Your knowledge and sensation about money is scary.”

Iroha showed a gaze of admiration, as I showed my earnest thoughts. Rather than knowledge about money, this is more about economics, but I guess that’s just sweating the small stuff.

She says it like a normal high school student doesn’t have that knowledge, which I guess is true, but I belong to the fraction of people who argue that teaching these things early will help in creating a proper member of society, so why did they not put that into their curriculum yet.

“But, Senpai? If that is the case, then how does an editor like Kanaria-san have a luxurious residence and private beach?”

“…Just my assumption, but I think rather than her salary being the source of her income, it might just be her side job.”

“Side job?”

“Just the business of acting as the producer for authors is enough of a enterprise. I looked that up, and—”

Operating my smartphone, I showed Iroha the information I gathered.

“Ummm? An online salon with 800 yen per month, 20.000 people registered…”

“At this point in time, she already has a 16 million monthly income.”

“Phew…Every month with new book releases, she adds a CD that ends up on the Oricon Top 10…”

“Calculating the royalties, there’s another average 2 million.”

“2 mill…Wait, she even appears in TV advertisements?!”

“Calculating the event that she doesn’t do it through a personal bureau, and the amount of money the company is willing to pay, I arrived at another monthly 1.5 million.”

“Just listening to it makes my head spin…”

“Adding the normal 5 million a month, she arrives at around 600 million a year. Adding all the small other stuff like appearances on conventions and whatever—”

“Okay, I think we get the gist now. I understood that Kanaria-san is something like a money monster!” Iroha covered her ears to shut out my words.

To her, it probably sounded like from a different world altogether, her brain denying the numbers. That being said, 600 million is around the estimate I came up with if we managed to get [The Night The Black Goat Screamed] happening under HoneyPlay, so I won’t be shocked by numbers like these. Though, since we’re talking about an individual here, I can’t deny that this is something amazing.

“Really, digging up so much about Kanaria-chan, how much do you actually love her~?”

“Mguh.”

Brushing aside Iroha, the (self-proclaimed) 17-year old appeared between the two of us. She looked up at me with a flirtatious glance, flashing the smile of a succubus.

“You didn’t have to be so dull, Kanaria-chan would have told you for free~ She’ll reveal her body, heart, and wallet for you, chirp~”

“Is it really fine for an idol to prioritize a lone boy?”

“Oh come on, don’t be like that~ Every single one of my fans is equal~”

“What a nice sophistry…”

She had large, round eyes. Albeit her rather miniature height, she had the right proportions. A big-breasted lolita, she could be called, is definitely popular with all the otaku boys out there. No mistaking it that she would get a lot of followers during live concerts and such with that honey voice of hers.

“Well, if you actually asked, then Kanaria-chan would have told you, chirp. It’s not something she has to hide anyway~”

“That is true. Kanaria-san is always boasting about her annual income. There’s probably nobody inside the editorial department who doesn’t know.”

“Mashiro.”

Mashiro had previously been charmed by the sea, but now stood at the opposite side of Iroha and Kanaria, basically clinging to me. That reminds me, Mashiro is actually the author under the protection of Kanaria. They’ve met several times already.

“Phrasing! Kanaria-chan sounds like she’s addicted to attention! Non non, everybody asked Kanaria-san because they wanted to know, so she responded to their expectations and answered them, chirp!”

“Is that really fine? Bragging about your income to your colleagues, won’t that cause some tension?”

We’re talking about an ordinary Japanese company here. Just like it happened to Ozu, people standing out from society might get treated with less respect, or even ignored. That’s why I wanted to ask for details concerning her situation.

“Humm?”

The girl showed a confused expression, tilting her head in a cute gesture.

“How could any of these pimps have the right to complain at Kanaria-chan, chirp?”

“Pimp.”

“Ah, that was in a highly rhetorical sense, of course. Actual pimps can stay away from Kanaria-chan forever, chirp.”

“Um…so?”

“Around 90% of sales from UZA Publishing come from novels Kanaria-chan is responsible for~ They absolutely do not have the right to talk back, don’t they, chirp~”

“90%.”

Woah. I guess she really can allow herself anything with a high position like this. Yet again, I was overwhelmed by the difference in skill. She looks like a small child, and the annoying girl who glared down at her, aka Iroha, looked like a stand4. And I’m going to be fighting her for Makigai Namako-sensei, huh.

“Japan’s industry is way too old-shot for Kanaria-chan~ She much more prefers a global standard, chirp.”

“Ohh. People who should be valued highly experience that special treatment…!”

Being impressed by Kanaria’s words, a voice of admiration leaked out of my mouth. By doing so, Mashiro’s expression turned into something more…heartless.

“Mashiro wouldn’t take her so seriously if she was you. Kanaria-san is just influenced by America’s exposing complexion of Hollywood.”

“Ugh.”

Kanaria’s expression froze up at Mashiro’s bitter criticism.

“M-Mashiro-chirp? W-Why would you say something like that?”

“She doesn’t want you to weirdly influence Aki. Mashiro knows. It was your dream to become a hollywood producer, but your English skill was abysmal—”

“Nooooooooooooooo stop right there, chirp! Revealing any more would mean Kanaria-chan’s immediate death!”

“Your way of thinking just now was just ripping off the words of some bossy person from this Daiteikoku Bookstore.”

“At least call it respect!! Also, why are you so cruel?! Mashiro-chan, you said you wanted to go to the sea, and Kanaria-chan even offered you her residence and private beach.”

“Mashiro is thankful for that…But, you were aiming for something as well, weren’t you?”

“Ugh…phew phew phew~”

Being harshly glared at by Mashiro, Kanaria averted her eyes in fear, failing horribly at faking a whistle. I don’t really get their relationship too much, but I can tell that they’re awfully close. Almost as if they had been through a long-term serialization, their exchanges awfully relaxing to watch.

“Well, Mashiro doesn’t hate you for going on about defeating that Daiteikoku Bookstore.”

“Now that you say it, is that bookstore really that amazing?”

I haven’t looked into the light novel business too much recently, so I wouldn’t be up to date with any news. I know a few names of publishers and such, and Daiteikoku Bookstore is one of them, but…

“Honestly, seeing Kanaria-san’s achievements, personal fortune, and how well Makigai Namako-sensei is selling, I’m wondering if you’re not already winning—”

“Eh, are you an idiot?”

I was harshly insulted.

“S-Sorry for my insufficient research. I have no idea about the novel world.”

“For example, a lot of editors in publishers have a very high educational background—”

“Ohh, really? Is that the case for Kanaria-san as well? …Maybe Tokyo University?!”

Having found something to pique her interest in Mashiro’s words, Iroha jumped into the conversation. By doing so, Kanaria flashed an overly-confident grin.

“Oh no~ You found out Kanaria-chan graduated from Tokyo University~ Oh no, how could this happen, chirp. Bragging about her academical background isn’t one of Kanaria-chan’s interests, but she doesn’t want to lie either, chirp~”

“So she’s still bragging about it…I feel like she’s even more annoying than me.”

“She’s annoying on a different level from you, but her noisy level can’t be underestimated for sure.”

Iroha and I were honestly a bit conflicted about what to feel about this, where Mashiro showed a cold smile.

“This is what she always answers when she gets asked about it. Even though her academic background wasn’t enough to get into Daiteikoku Bookstore.”

“What…did you say?”

“Guh.”

“Wha, Kanaria-san?! Are you okay?! Your lip is bleeding even with your shit-eating grin?!”

Shocked by the flood of blood coming out of Kanaria, Iroha supported her body. With a pale face and shaking body, she tried to keep a tough face as she responded.

“K-Kanaria-chan is fine, chirp…She just bit her lip out of frustration…!”

“You don’t seem fine at all, though?!”

With Iroha’s retort, Mashiro showed audible satisfaction as she continued.

“That company gathers insanely talented people with money, getting producers that graduated from Stanford University and created several hit movies at Hollywood, or psychology graduates from Yale University that showed great results in marketing, or an Oxford University graduate that had acted as an agent in England to create a magic academy novel hit world-wide, and apparently they only take graduates who came from universities that are in the upper ten in the world-wide ranking.”

“Is this the Google of the publishing world…”

I mean, I knew that they were an incomparable company. That being said, we’re talking about a publishing company here, not some global business.

“Grrrrrr…Hearing it again makes Kanaria-chan explode in frustration! Come on, get inside already, chirp! Kanaria-chan has to check Makigai Namako-sensei’s manuscript as well!”

“Wah, hey.”

Wrapping her arms around us, Kanaria tried to push us inside the building, when Mashiro panicked.

Hm? What did she just say…?

“Kanaria-san, Makigan Namako-sensei’s manuscript? You have it with you?”

“Exactement, chirp~ Sensei has just finished the manuscript for the new release of [Snow White’s Revenge Classroom], and what a coincidence that it happened just now~”

“Ka…Ka-Kanaria-san…~~~!!!”

“Hmmmm? What is it, Mashiro-chun~? Kanaria-chan was just in a good mood that feels like talking a bit more~ She wasn’t planning on giving any hints or anything~”

“Ugh…trash…”

“Ehhh? Can’t hear you~ This is just a bonus stage with the manuscript as a hostage~”

“Why is Mashiro getting angry? Also, about Makigai Namako-sensei’s manuscript.”

“Soooo insensitive~ Basically, Mashiro-chan is Maki—”

“Makiri5!!”

“Ginjo sake?!”

Suddenly, Sumire jumped into the conversation, closing off Kanaria’s mouth.

“Ahh, now that we’re at the beach, I felt like drinking some [Makiri] sake~ It’s such a luxurious residence, so you must have some stock on sake, right?! Come on, let’s have a party!”

“It’s barely afternoon though?! Also, about the manuscript—”

“Then, I’ll drink the sake, while Kanaria-san is fighting her job~”

“What is this, why are you so against Kanaria-chan! She came to the sea, so she’s going to enjoy herself as well, chirp! Why did you think she invited you here?!”

“Alright, alright. You can take a swim, so show me your stock, okay?”

“So persist—Wah, where are you grabbing Kanaria-chan, chirp! …Ah!”

Kanaria tried to resist, but Sumire didn’t hear any rebuttals and pulled her along with her. Was ist just my imagination, or did she give Mashiro a wink the second she turned around?

“What was that about…”

“W-Who knows. Aha, ahaha.” Mashiro showed an awkward laugh.

Well…I still wanted to—

“You wanted to ask something, Senpai?”

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t quite satisfied with this. Iroha, you really have a good few parts in you. Emphasis on a few.

“Well, since Makigai Namako-sensei’s deadline was defeated, I thought of giving him a new job.”

“Are you a demon?”

“You’re the worst. Die.”

“Ehhh…?”

I was retorted from both Iroha and Mashiro at the same time. But, why? I was just thinking of not leaving any holes in his schedule. But, either way. Chasing after the ‘grown-up’ pairing of Sumire and Kanaria, the rest of us also entered the private residence.

*

「Now, it’s time for the beach event that everyone was waiting for. You’re looking forward to Iroha’s swimsuit, right?」

「Don’t just represent other people’s opinions. I don’t feel like that at all」

「Not honest at all, huh~ Objectively speaking, I think that my little sister is pretty cute though~」

「If you just close your eyes to how annoying she is」

「Thus speaks God. Her annoying traits are also cute」

「That annoying and cute are one entire trait?」

「You want to argue against that?」

「………」

My room with the super cute Iroha-chan (2)

Iroha

Se-n-pa-i~

AKI

Hm?

Iroha

How’s it feeling over in the boys room? Is it comfortable? Are you doing it with Onii-chan?

AKI

Could you finally stop giving Murasaki any more fuel

Iroha

Just joking~

AKI

Also, what kind of group name is this. Makes it sound like I was the one created it

Iroha

From your point of view it’s true, so no problem~

AKI

There’s a limit to how much you can fabricate it. Give me the rights to edit this room then…

AKI

Also, aren’t you in the middle of changing over there? Just talk with Mashiro or Sumire-sensei

Iroha

Of course I am? Unlike Senpai, I don’t have a communication disorder~

Iroha

You should know that talking while texting on the phone is one of the special skills possessed by a JK!

AKI

Saying it like it was from some cheap social game sales message…

Iroha

Don’t be like that, I’ll give you something nice~ 𝑓𝗿𝐞𝘦𝘄ｅ𝘣n𝘰𝘷eƖ.c𝘰𝗺

AKI

Huh?

Iroha

There you go~

AKI

Wha

AKI

Hold on, you…

Iroha

This time, it’s the real one~

Iroha

My new summer swimsuit~!!

Iroha

You’re so happy you can’t talk anymore? I can see you already read my message~

Iroha

Fufu, I can’t wait until we meet up at the beach again!

Iroha

See you later, Senpai~

Note:

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1Shore and Rockwell

2Dis

3 Gotta be some Love Live (or any other idol series, really) reference

4 IS THAT A MOTHEREFFING JOJO REFERENCE?!

5 The joke here being that it’s some anime-like attack, as it’s written like [Demon/Devil Cut]