“The key to unraveling Yuika’s change—Iori’s letter!”

I declared with a sharp face like a great detective.
My hands are clasped in a lover’s grip, so I don’t look cool, but that was okay for now.

For now, I had to find out what was wrong with Yuika.
According to what Iori said, the night before the day before last, Yuika wrote a letter and handed it to Iori by slipping it under the door.

The content of the letter was a disappointing one, asking about my k*nks, but I think that’s when Yuika started to change.
In other words, the key was that letter. It was a brilliant deduction on my part.
…Or so I thought, but Yuika blinked.

“Eh, that’s not it?”
“It’s not!?”

My deduction was brilliantly busted.
I’m embarrassed to declare that like a great detective…
Yuika twirled her own hair, feeling a little embarrassed. We’re holding hands, so my hand was joined with hers.

“That letter, you see, was because Souta said something that made me…squeamish the day before.”
“Eh? What did I say?”
“You know…that you would protect me forever…”
“Ah.”

I certainly said that.
I’m not quite sure why such a thing would make her squeamish, though.

“So I thought I’d do a little more…with you and gather some information for the future…”
“Looking forward to the future, I would like to ask why you would have Iori spent an hour asking about my k*nks.”

“T-that’s not to say that I’m not prepared, but I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing…I’m probably a bit nervous, so if Souta presses me too hard, I won’t be able to refuse him.”
“Yuika, are you an M?”
“Ugh, I’m not sure! I’m not sure at all! But…”

She said with a subtle sense of helplessness.

“…I have a feeling that I’m made to become М because Souta is an S.”
“Wait, wait, wait, who’s an S? I demand that you retract your statement.”
“Ah, so you’re not aware of it.”

“None! Iori said something like that earlier, but I’m a perfectly normal teenager.”
“Hahaha, this guy.”
“Did you just make fun of me!?”

It was truly regrettable. While I was still feeling unconvinced, Yuika changed her smile and turned her gaze on me.

“I mean, how did Souta know about the letter?”
“Mmm.”
“I was wondering why Iori didn’t reply, maybe he’s taking too long to investigate, but from the looks of it…Souta stopped him, didn’t you?”
“I stopped him. Of course I would stop him.”

“Why? Do you have it, Souta? Give it back. It’s a reply to me, so give it to me!”
“Such letter of a world-fantasy discovery was indeed bounced into my hands, but I refuse.”

“That’s awful. You’re tearing apart the first interaction between me and my brother in a year and a half?”
“What’s worse is that you’re the one who are dragging my k*nks into it! I mean, you two talked after exchanging the letters, ugh you two!”
“Uu…”

As soon as I thought I heard a small gasp, Yuika’s face instantly turned pale.

“…That was a surprise. Really a surprise. I was happy to see Iori’s cute face for the first time in a long time, but it came out of nowhere and I thought I was going to pass out…”

As it was, she really felt like she was going to fall down, so I hurriedly pulled her hands.

“Oh my, are you going crazy remembering this? I’m sorry, that was rash of me. Hang in there, are you hurt!?”
“Souta, do something to take my mind off things. I need something fun or interesting to talk about…”
“You’re being absurd! Well, let’s see…”

I couldn’t think of anything right off the bat.
But I turned her head frantically and said a painstaking plan.

“So, shall I scratch your ears again today?”
“Mii—!?”

Her face turned red like an explosion.
Eh? What’s wrong with her face? I seemed to have distracted her successfully.
Yuika’s eyes swam in panic.

“Ea-ear cleaning, ear, ear cleaning. Well, hmmm, maybe not a bad idea, but I’m not sure about that…?”
“…No, from the look on your face, I think we’re going to do this.”
“I-it’s not about what I do or don’t do. W-well, if Souta insists, I’ll go along with you! Really, I can’t help it, Souta is so perverted!”
“Perverted? What are you talking about, what’s so different about ear cleaning?”

I was about to say…but then I thought.
If there was no trigger in the vicinity of the letter to Iori, then the only event that I can think of as the reason why Yuika became strangely aggressive is yesterday’s ear cleaning.

I thought that the only thing that would trigger it would be an ear cleaning, but if this reaction of Yuika’s was… no way, no way. I’m sure there are some people out there with overly sensitive ears…

“Hey, Yuika.”
“W-what?”

“You like ear cleaning?”
“No, of course not! Not at all, not at all!”

She shook her head with an incredibly red face and denied me with all her might.
I was only half-convinced, but she reacted in such an excessive manner. Eh, what? Seriously? No, but I’m not sure…hmm, it’s worth checking out.

“Okay. Turn sideways for a second.”
“Sideways!? Why?”
“Just turn around. Turn right. Turn right.”
“B-but…”
“Right.”
“N-no…”

After receiving the military-style order, Yuika turned her head to the right.
Both of her hands were tied up in a lover’s grip. I had no choice but to move my face closer to Yuika’s ear.
Immediately, her thin shoulders jerked in response to my presence.

“W-what are you doing? Eh, are you doing that to my ear? You can’t do that. Please let me go…”
“Quiet.”
“Oh no, you’re such an S when you don’t let me go! This is definitely a bad idea—”

She was saying something, but I ignored it for now and breathed into Yuika’s ear.