Breathing into his ear, I somehow managed to bring Iori back to reality.

A small exhale escaped from my arms.

“I couldn’t use summoning…I’m just a little disappointed.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“It’s okay. I’m the one who couldn’t accept reality properly…ah, but…”

Iori’s cheeks flushed and he rubbed his left ear.
He looked at me with half embarrassment and a little bit of irritation.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to do such a naughty thing out of the blue. It’s good that I love Souta Nii-chan, but in this day and age, it’s sexual harassment even between boys, you know? Of course, if it was a girl, you’d be out of the question at once, and what if I was a girl dressed as a boy for some unavoidable reason?”

That’s what he told me, and I winced.

“I-I see, there is such a cliche… Iori, you’re a man, right? Take off your pants right here!”
“Take my pants off!? And you should know that because you’ve bathed with me many times before. I’m a boy!”

“Oh Yeah!? You’re a guy? … Oh, thank God. I thought I almost had an affair with you. Well, we’re not together.”
“Oh my goodness, give me a break. This kind of thing is only for Onee-chan…eh?”

Iori, who had been fixing his pants and undoing the bandages on her hands, stopped moving for a moment.

“We’re not together…? What do you mean by that? Souta Nii-chan and Onee-chan have been dating for quite some time now, right? It’s quite annoying.”
“Ah, that…”

I scratched the back of my head, ignoring the word “annoying” for the moment.

“We’re not dating, you know. It’s a long story…”
“No, no, no, no…”

He even went to the trouble of standing tall and grabbed me by the shoulders with a firm grip.

“That’s weird! If you two weren’t dating, Onee-chan wouldn’t be asking her brother about her childhood friend’s k*nks! If you two weren’t in a relationship, I wouldn’t reveal Souta Nii-chan’s k*nks, no matter how much I wanted to!”
“Eh, S-So that’s what you were thinking? I’m a little relieved.”

“I’m not relieved! If you two weren’t in a relationship, you wouldn’t be cleaning her ears while she was moaning! Ah, ! I’ve been trying to hide the fact that it’s a pink voice! What should I do?”
“Yes, I’m very sorry about the ear cleaning…”

“If you were sorry, you wouldn’t have blown in my ears? The day you blew on Onee-chan’s ears was the day after she cleaned your ears, right? Reflect on it, I don’t see any remorse in Souta Nii-chan.”
“Well, the order of events is back and forth there. The truth about ear blowing was revealed by the ear cleaning, actually what actually is ear blowing?”

“I don’t care about that right now!　Oh, God, we’re getting nowhere. When I’m very, very angry, you know? I can’t help it. I’ll figure it out on my own. Here, roll up the bandage! I’ll put it back in the first aid kit when I get home!””

“O-Oh, okay. You can throw the bandage away, but you’re a good boy who takes good care of things, Iori.”
“I’m ignoring you. I’m thinking about something.”
“I-I’ve been ignored…”

It seemed like I should do as he says.
I quietly wrapped the bandage that was given to me into a round shape.
Iori put his hand over his mouth and began to ponder something.

“…There’s no doubt now that they have feelings for each other, right? So, there must be some reason why they aren’t dating yet…Is Onee-chan being a tsundere by any chance? No, that’s not right. Onee-chan has always been a spoiled brat, and Souta Nii-chan should be the one in control. Which means, yeah, he’s putting dating as the goal of escaping the reclusiveness.”
“…Hmm? I thought it was a long story, but you understood it in three seconds!?”

“In light of this, the k*nks letter thing was a good idea. …Souta Nii-chan blurted out that he was thinking about the future, and the shocked Onee-chan went in the opposite direction?”
“T-That’s really close to the right answer!? How did you figure all that out!?”

“If that’s the case, then it’s reasonable to assume that Souta Nii-chan was out of control when he cleaned her ears. Onee-chan felt like she was getting f*cked, but Souta thought it was just ear cleaning and kept on doing it, which caused a gap in their feelings.”
“What the hell is this? My little brother is giving me some mysterious insight! Scary!”

“If I’ve come this far, the rest is easy. The ear blowing is the result of Onee-chan running out of patience. I think the truth is that she couldn’t hold back her burning body and asked Souta Nii-chan for help. Then Souta Nii-chan finally realized what was going on and blew on her to confirm his suspicions. Yeah, I feel better now that I understand. So that’s how they were making out even though they weren’t in a relationship. I guess this explains all the past cases.”
“I-Is it really that obvious!? No, no, no…”

I was so shocked that I involuntarily rolled the bandage in my hand.
I was taken aback, making a gesture like a squirrel spinning an acorn.

“Iori, are you…some kind of psychic or something?”
“Psychic? What are you talking about, Souta Nii-chan? It’s just a bunch of deductions and theories, so anyone can do it. Psychic, I’m not in chuunibyou anymore.”
“Ehhh…”

I’ve been told that it’s a bit of a simple thing to say. No, I think you’re doing something that no one else can do…
I’ve also gotten over my chuunibyou and seem to have become a bit more mature. I don’t know what it is, but I miss it slightly.

Iori mumbled, “well…” and put his hand over his mouth again.
This time, he mumbled in a whisper that even I couldn’t hear.

“I know what’s going on with the two of you, you’re still not going to go out with her after you’ve done the ear blowing, but you’re going to have to put up with it, Onee-chan… To be honest, I also felt so good just now that I didn’t care what happened anymore, and that will change my outlook on life… But it’s Souta Nii-chan, so as long as he says he won’t go out with her, I’m sure he won’t touch her…Poor Onee-chan.”

He glanced at me and gave me a look.
He looked at me like he was accusing me of something, so I got a little flustered and said, “Oh…”
There was something different about Iori from earlier. It’s as if his outlook on life has changed. Iori furthermore murmured in a whisper.

“…Maybe Souta Nii-chan thinks that if he becomes her girlfriend, Onee-chan will lose her desire to go out. That’s my opinion too…But Souta Nii-chan underestimates himself. If Onee-chan falls in the dark once or twice, that’s about it, Souta can usually save her. So why don’t they just become lovers as soon as possible? —I’ve decided. I’ll be on your side.”

“Heh?”

I heard some kind of whispered, audible or inaudible, declaration of determination.
Then Iori suddenly raised his hand.

“Souta Nii-chan, please listen to me!”

He lowered his hand and announced with a stern voice.
It was an unbearable bolt from the blue for me.
Iori announced and winked adorably at me.

 

“Iori Kisaragi, 14 years old, from now on—I’m going to enter a rebellious phase against Souta Nii-chan!”

 

I was astonished.
I couldn’t understand what was going on.

“Wha… Whaaaaaaatttttttt!!!??”

My scream was the loudest of the day, echoing across the riverbed.