Yuika and I continue our fumbling and fawning.

It started out as an argument about whether or not to look at the pink bra, but my strong reasoning and brilliant strategy has led to the current situation.

Hmmm… I’m quite the strategist myself. I’ve been a little off my game lately, but I guess this is a way to redeem myself and get my name back.

Just as I was thinking this, I heard an urgent voice coming from the next room.

“‘I-I’m not, into naughtly scenes…’”

Me and Yuika stopped for a moment.
We both screamed in a whisper together.

““(I-I forgot—!)””

But my conscience got the better of me and I immediately retracted my previous statement with all my might.

“(No, I didn’t forget! I didn’t forget! It’s just that I was out of my mind for a bit…Y-Yuika?)”
(Yes, yes, yes! I have not forgotten! It’s not like you’re in a flower garden and forget about your precious brother in a crisis. Right, Souta!)”

We nodded at each other, making endless excuses, and pretended it all didn’t happen, and put our ears to the wall again.

Iori had just said, “There are a lot of erotic developments in this novel, which scene was your favorite, Aoi-chan?”

I don’t think it’s been that long since we’ve been back in the game…
I shuddered and concentrated on their voice.

How will she respond to the almost sexually harassing questions that have been asked of her?
There was a pause for a moment, as if she was taking a deep breath, and soon after, I heard an extraordinary response.

“I thought the part where the heroine of the sisters was stripped naked by the protagonist and had a rainbow painted on her body was really cool!”

We went pale with shock.

“”(I didn’t expect a straightforward reply!)””

We were so shocked that we clasped hands and trembled like a doe.

“(What’s this? What’s this? What’s this!? What in the world is happening right now? Normally, Iori would retract his previous statement since it was always a good idea to change the subject somehow. But why is she answering right up front!?)”

“(My Onee-chan’s intuition is whispering…! Maybe this was Iori being too sullen and failing to change the subject. Aoi-chan tried to follow it somehow, and failed even more. The mood became so suffocating that Aoi, in a hurry, successfully blew herself up! That’s what was going on!)”

“(Wow, Onee-chan’s intuition! What’s wrong with you all of a sudden? But if you ask me, I think that’s exactly what’s going on… Hoshikawa Aoi, you are…!)”

Apparently, she was the type of girl who would self-destruct in a hurry.
But I would like to express my heartfelt respect for the fact that she worked so hard for our Iori.

I’ll be honest.
I’ve never been sure what to call her. In fact, I think I’ve called her two or three different things.

I mean, calling her by her full name “Hoshikawa Aoi” is kind of clerical and cold, but calling someone you’ve never met “Aoi” is weird, isn’t it?
On the other hand, it would be creepy if I were to call her “Aoi-chan” outright…

But now I’ve decided.
Let’s be brave and go with ‘Aoi-chan’ here. That’s what Iori called her. Then I want to do the same to show my respect.

So, I’ve decided on a proper name for her.

“All right, let’s go help them out.”

I changed my expression and announced in a voice loud enough for the other side to hear.
Next to me, Yuika made a face like, “Oh.”

“Is the watchdog mode over?”
“Yeah. It’s a good lesson for Iori to make mistakes like that. This time, he’s got a partner, so let’s give her a helping hand here.”

I did not just forget that Iori was in trouble… …Well, I forgot about it for a moment, but I decided that it would be a good experience for Iori. Boys learn from their mistakes, you know.

But I think he’s going to need some help soon. Wait for me, Iori, Aoi-chan.

“(Yuika! Grab my phone!)”
“(You have a good idea? I know what to do!)”

I went back to whispering loudly again and instructed Yuika.
My childhood friend’s heart-to-heart communication made her move quickly and she grabbed my phone from the table.

All the while, I keep my ear to the wall and continue to assess the situation.
There was a heavy silence in the room.
Neither Iori nor Aoi said a word. Then…!

I quickly typed a message.
The sound of a pitter-patter echoed from the next room.

Iori’s phone can display part of the text on the screen without starting the app.
In anticipation of this, I typed the two words “Yamato”.
Yuika peeked at my hand and raised her eyebrows.

“(What is this? Yamato…? Is that a battleship name?)”
“(No, it’s not. It’s a character song. Or it can be a purely Japanese word. Iori would definitely recognize this code.)”

As I had planned, the air in the next room changed.

“‘Umm, Iori-kun, your phone rang…? Don’t you have to reply?’”
“‘No, it’s fine. No, it’s okay. I recognized it at a glance.’”
“‘Recognized it? What…does that mean?”

Aoi-chan raised her voice in surprise.

“‘Ah you’re stroking…Iori-kun stroking my head… Ah, um, awawawawa!’”

“’Aoi-chan, do you like it when I do this?’”
“‘I-I don’t hate it, but…Eh? Eh? Awawawawa.’”

The answer was puzzling, but in fact, she doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, she sounded rather happy.
Aoi-chan must be turning red right now.

The awkward atmosphere dissipated with a sudden pop of the head. I was right on target.
I gave a thumbs-up to the girl next to me, Yuika.

“(Mission accomplished. Brother and sister working together to get through this.)”
“(Umu, good job. But what does it mean?)”
“Yamato(大和) -> Yamato Nadeshiko(大和撫子) -> Stroke(撫) -> Stroke her(撫でろ). It means that if you are having a conversation with a girl you are close to and the mood gets weird, just stroke her.)”
“(I~ See~)”

She nodded her head as if she understood, and then immediately looked at me.

“Womanizer.”
“Ku…”
“Yuika-chan won’t fall for it again.”
“Umu…”

I’ve exposed my hand.
When Yuika sulked, I might not be able to use my petting hand to fool her anymore.
But it was okay. As long as I was able to save the adorable Iori, I have no regrets whatsoever…

I turned to face the day after tomorrow, avoiding her stare, and was lost in thought when I heard another voice talking from behind the wall.
But for some reason, it was a strange whisper, and I couldn’t hear it properly.

“‘Um, Iori, isn’t this…about time? Well, I’m…glad I’m done with the head stroking, but…’”
“‘Ah, yeah, that’s right. In the end, I really misspoke, and Souta Nii-san helped me out, but…it created a good atmosphere. I’m sure…this would not be unnatural.’”

No..? Excuse me? What did he say?
I asked Yuika with my gaze, but she didn’t seem to hear me there either.
She tilted her head while putting her ear to the wall.

And then, the next moment.
The next moment, we were taken aback by an unexpected turn of events.

“‘Aoi-chan.’”

Iori’s voice was strangely strained.

Iori’s voice was strangely strident, and it was hard to believe that he had just been talking about an erotic scene.

“‘I know it’s sudden, but…please go out with me!’”

A pause.
The air stopped.
My thoughts also stopped.
I forgot to keep my voice down.

““…W-Whhhaaaaattttttt—!?””

I don’t know what’s going on anymore.
It, it’s just so sudden! What the heck is going on here?

Our voices echoed throughout the neighborhood, and outside the window, a crow was startled and flew away from the telephone pole.