I got angry.

  But I didn’t think about anything else, so it was fun.

  I ate dinner with my family.

  Fuyuko told me about Mia’s new root beer obsession after she tried it during a trip to America.

  I played more video games.

  And there’s nothing like a nice warm bath after a hard day.

  Once I was tired enough, I collapsed on my bed and went to sleep.

  It was how a normal day should end.

  13 - Winter Break

  After that very abnormal day, the rest of the trimester proceeded smoothly. Izumi greeted me in the mornings like usual. I ignored Shuusuke like usual. Final exams came and went. And with an uneventful closing ceremony, winter break began.

  Every morning, I knocked out a small portion of my homework, and then filled the rest of the day with anime, games, light novels, and eroge—variety is the spice of life, after all. Of course, I played plenty of Meteor Witches every day, usually with one of my in-game friends, SemiZemi.

  We had initially become (in-game) friends a few months after the game came out. I started playing day one and played the game a ton, so I was one of the top players. Naturally, when playing online I rubbed elbows with a lot of other high-ranked players. SemiZemi was one of these players, and they were always active and friendly in chat (unlike some other people) as well as playing on the same schedule as me. Thus, we ended up adding each other as friends and we played together frequently.

  After gorging myself on this lifestyle for over a week, I started to feel like maybe I should do something slightly more productive. I often thought of trying to write my own light novel, but I didn’t have any ideas that I felt strongly enough about. I didn’t feel like there was a story that I needed to tell. How could I come up with an idea? By consuming more, of course! I was thinking about story ideas more, but it didn’t look like I would be making any significant progress this break either.

  Maybe some other time...

  Shuusuke apparently had a date on Christmas Eve with that girl he met. He said they went to a pretty nice restaurant and then walked around town to see the Christmas lights. As proof, he sent pictures of himself in the restaurant and in front of a giant Christmas tree, but the supposed girlfriend was nowhere in sight.

  I sent a reply.

  Aki: I’ll believe she exists when I see her with my own two eyes.

  He replied back with a blurry picture of the ground and what looked like two pairs of shoes.

  Shuu: I thought you might say that so i snapped this pic by pretending to drop my phone

  Shuu: I swear shes real man

  Aki: Don’t send me unsolicited foot pics.

  Aki: That could be literally anyone.

  Aki: How is that proof?

  Shuu: That’s as far as im willing to go

  Shuu: Im not going to send you creep shots of my girlfriend

  Honestly, at this point I’m fairly certain that she does exist; I just feel like I have to bust his balls—that’s my role in our relationship.

  She’s still probably deceiving him, though. I feel pretty confident about that.

  As for me, I spent Christmas Eve alone. Whether she was a scammer or not, I can’t say I wasn’t a little jealous of them going out together on Christmas Eve.

  It’s better to have loved and gotten scammed than to have never loved at all. I think that’s how the saying goes, anyway. I don’t know if I agree with it, though. Personally, I think I would prefer to not get scammed.

  Christmas Day I spent with my family. Fuyuko really loved Christmas, plus her birthday was on December 29th, so the period from Christmas to New Year’s was basically an extended birthday celebration for her. It was always a fun time for the entire family, and this year was no different.

  Except for one thing.

  14 - Birthday Present

  “Onii-chan, I can’t believe you didn’t get me a present!”

  “I said I was sorry.”

  “It just makes me so sad, knowing how little my big brother cares about me. Sob sob.”

  You don’t sound that sad. You’re clearly fake crying.

  “When I forgot to get you a present last year, you said ‘the only present a little sister needs on her birthday is her big brother’s love.’ And I still love you, so it should be fine, right?”

  “Onii-chan, you’re an idiot! That was my way of forgiving you! It wasn’t a free pass to never get me a present ever again!”

  “Fine, then. What can I do to make it up to you?”

  “Take a bath with me.”

  “What?”

  “Like we used to.”

  That was a long time ago.

  “Can’t it be something else?”

  “After all you’ve done, you’re still going to be mean to the birthday girl? I’ll never forgive you.”

  “Ughh, fine.”

  There’s no use resisting. I just need to get this over with quickly.

  “Onii-chan, you aren’t going to face the mirror?”

  When I washed myself before entering the bath, I usually faced away from the mirror that was on the wall.

  “I’ve just always done it this way.”

  “You didn’t when we used to bathe together.”

  “Well, at some point I started doing it.”

  Sometimes you stick with a habit for no reason—you just keep doing things a certain way because that’s how you did it last time. Maybe it started with a reason, but now you do it because it would feel wrong to do it any other way.

  I do admit it doesn’t make much sense, though.

  “I like to look in the mirror. After all, I get to see how cute I am!”

  If I were a cute girl, I would probably like to look in the mirror too.

  “Yes, yes. You’re very cute.”

  If I butter her up she might let me out of here faster.

  “I also get to see if my breasts have grown at all.”

  Nope. Not thinking about it.

  I would much rather think about Mia’s—you know what, I probably shouldn’t entertain that train of thought right now.

  “Well, that’s something guys don’t worry about.”

  “Don’t guys have a part of them that grows too?”

  “That...works a little differently...”

  “Hmm...”

  “Onii-chan?”

  “What is it, my darling little sister?”

  “This sucks.”

  “Agreed.”

  We were both sitting in the bathtub, back to back like we used to do when we were little. We were no longer little, however, and even though our bathtub was fairly large, our legs were almost pressed up against our chests.

  “Let me sit between your legs.”

  “The promise was that we would do it like we used to.”

  “Come on, I’m the birthday girl.”

  “Not happening.”

  She let out a huge sigh and splashed the water dejectedly with her hands.

  “This isn’t as much fun as I thought it would be...”

  “Well, it’s exactly as much fun as I thought it would be.”

  15 - First Shrine Visit

  Fuyuko and I were waiting in line to pray at the shrine. Our parents were a few places in line behind us, which was fine by me. They still acted like they were newlyweds with their constant lovey-dovey atmosphere, which made it kind of embarrassing to be with them in public. I guess it’s better than the alternative though.

  Are you embarrassed, or just envious?

  Man, I want a girlfriend...

  Maybe this year will be my year.

  You thought that last year.

  Yeah.

  This year, I’m not going to aim too big with my wish.

  Fuyuko was in front of me in line, excitedly bouncing back and forth seemingly unbothered by the chilly winter breeze. Or maybe she was doing that to keep warm. We were surrounded by a cacophony of various noises: people talking and laughing and shouting, the ring of the shrine’s bell, hands clapping in prayer, the sound of the wind blowing. But it was oddly comforting. It sounded like life.

  Before long, it was Fuyuko’s turn to pray. When it came time to ring the bell, she shook it vigorously. One of the reasons we came to this shrine specifically was because of the bell. There was a shrine closer to our house, but it was smaller and didn’t have a bell you could ring. In Fuyuko’s words, ‘What’s even the point of praying if you don’t get to ring the bell?’ and ‘A shrine without its bell is like a little sister without her big brother.’

  Personally, I think she needs to apologize to gods and sisters all across the world.

  I’m terribly sorry for my little sister’s insensitivity to the divine significance of both religious traditions and sisterly bonds.

  Next, it was my turn. I bowed and placed a five-yen coin in the offertory box. I then grabbed the long rope hanging down from the shrine’s ceiling and gave it a shake to ring the bell. Bow. Bow. Clap. Clap.

  I wish to have encounters with girls like you see in rom-com light novels. I’m not even asking for them to fall head over heels for me—although that would be a nice bonus. You can do that much, can’t you?

  I imagined my essence coalescing inside my body and focused it into my hands as I prayed.

  Please.

  I finished my prayer with a deep bow.

  When I straightened, I felt something was off.

  The bustling sounds of life that had filled the shrine were gone as if they had all suddenly disappeared. I spun around and was confronted by perfect stillness. All of the other shrine goers were still there, but unmoving. And not just them, everything was still. Not even the wind blew.

  What the heck is going on?

  I turned back around, and standing behind the offertory box was a person, their long hair blowing in the nonexistent breeze.

  Mom?

  Fuyuko?

  No, she looked more like—

  They opened their mouth and a single sentence reverberated through my mind, sounding like it came from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

  “What do you Want?”

  “Onii-chan! If you’re finished praying, get over here! You’re holding up the line!”

  “Huh?”

  I found myself in a deep bow, facing the shrine. Of course I did—I had just finished praying. I hurriedly straightened up and walked over to where my little sister was waving at me.

  “That wasn’t like you, Onii-chan. You’re usually more attentive to the people around you.”

  “I think I might have spaced out a little. Maybe I prayed too hard. Speaking of praying, what did you wish for?”

  “Silly Onii-chan. If you tell your wish to anyone, it won’t come true.”

  I feel like I’ve heard that in relation to wishing on a shooting star, but I don’t know if that applies to all wishes.

  Better safe than sorry, though.

  Once our parents had completed their prayers, we went to draw fortune slips. This shrine had the kind of system where a shrine maiden acted as an intermediary. After you drew your stick from the hexagonally shaped box, you would tell her the number on it and she would give you your fortune slip.

  After paying and drawing my stick, I told the shrine maiden the number, and she turned around to get my slip from one of the boxes. The shrine maiden this year was around my age, maybe younger, and had long black hair that extended just past her shoulders. I have no idea why my brain latched onto that specific detail. It’s not like that’s uncommon for girls in Japan—in fact, it’s very common. There were probably more girls than you could count on two hands that looked like her in just my school alone. Maybe a lack of bitches had finally made me lose it. Maybe it was just déjà vu. After turning back around, the familiar-looking shrine maiden handed me my fortune slip. I thanked her with a small bow before leaving.

  Once we all had our fortune slips, the whole family read them off together.

  “Great Blessing.”

  “Great Blessing.”

  “Great Blessing.”

  “...”

  What?

  “Come on, Onii-chan. What does your fortune slip say?”

  Huh?

  “Ha ha, come on and tell us. You don’t have to be embarrassed that you didn’t get ‘Great Blessing’ like the rest of us. Not everyone can be as lucky as your old man.”

  How?

  “Don’t tease him, honey.”

  I don’t get it.

  “He can take it. He’s a man.”

  “It’s blank. It’s completely blank.”

  I showed the slip to my family and they were surprised as well. It’s probably possible for some kind of printing error to result in the text being faded, but this was completely white. Not a hint of ink. How ominous.

  It tickled my brain. A blank fortune seemed familiar somehow.

  Déjà vu? Again? I really am losing it...

  Better not think about it too hard.

  “Ha ha, a misprint like that must be incredibly rare, right? I guess you might be luckier than me after all.”

  “If it’s a misprint, it might still be ‘Great Blessing.’ It would be wonderful if our whole family had the same fortune.”

  “It could even be a ‘Great Great Great Blessing’!”

  I don’t know about that last one.

  While the rest of my family discussed the specifics of their fortunes, I tied my slip to the fence where people usually tied their bad fortunes.

  I don’t believe in magic or supernatural stuff, but I’m not going to take any chances.

  Better safe than sorry.

  Part 2 - First Meetings

  1 - Dawn Attack

  So warm...

  I don’t want to go back to school...

  I just want to sleep forever...

  I had my arms wrapped around a second pillow.

  I promise I wasn’t trying to emulate what it was like to sleep with someone else in the bed. It’s just comfy!

  My internal clock was telling me that it was about time for my little sister to come wake me up, but I hadn’t heard anything to indicate that she was coming...

  Whatever. More sleep for me.

  I rolled over.

  Wait...why’s my door open? I always sleep with it closed—

  “SNEAK ATTACK!”

  I rolled off the bed before I could even begin to process what was happening, the pillow still clutched in my arms. I knew instinctively that I was in danger. Although, the forewarning certainly helped.

  A fraction of a second later, my little sister crashed into my bed at unbelievable speed. The bedframe creaked and groaned like it was going to burst apart due to the sheer force of the impact. Fuyuko flew back up into the air from the recoil, almost colliding with the ceiling.

  “Hey!”

  Seriously, I could have died there! Is she trying to kill me?!

  “DOUBLE JEOPARDY!!!”

  I don’t think you’re using that phrase correctly!

  Without thinking, I extended the pillow towards my little sister like it was a shield. She kicked off of the ceiling and shot through the air, springing towards where I was lying on the floor. Her body collided headfirst with the outstretched pillow, and my arms nearly crumpled from the force. She was little, but she was still heavy!

  Luckily, she can’t read minds, or else she would have clobbered me for thinking that.

  Somehow, she managed to do a perfectly balanced headstand on the pillow in my hands. From there, she gave her usual morning greeting.

  “I love you, Onii-chan! Breakfast is ready!”

  She then shifted her weight to fall over and land softly on her feet, posing like she was an Olympic gymnast who had just completed an incredibly difficult routine.

  I pushed myself up off the floor and greeted her back.

  “Good morning to you too, Fuyuko.”

  She spun around to look at me, her eyes shining.

  “Hey, Onii-chan, how were you able to respond to my sneak attack so quickly? Even though I tried my best to be as quiet as possible too! Can you read minds? Did you sense my killing intent?”

  You were trying to kill me!

  “Next time, try not shouting ‘sneak attack’ right before you strike.”

  “Hmm...did I really do that? I really was trying to be quiet...”

  She was scratching her head with a puzzled look on her face. It really seemed like she had no idea she had said anything.

  “Yes, you did. I heard it loud and clear.”

  The confusion on her face completely vanished and was replaced by a giant grin.

  “Well, if you say so, Onii-chan! A big brother would never lie to his little sister!”

  I think it’s probably pretty common for big brothers to lie to their little sisters...but I don’t want to ruin her image of ideal sibling relationships.

  I placed my hand on her head and ruffled her hair.

  “Now get out of here. Your big brother needs to get changed. Make sure to close the door behind you.”

  “Sir, yes, sir!”

  She accompanied her response with an exaggerated salute before rushing out the door.

  I let out a sigh and sat down on the edge of my bed, looking at the door my little sister had just left from.

  She really trusts you, huh?

  2 - Double Jeopardy

  Fuyuko and I were on our way to the first school day of the new trimester. It was now solidly winter, so it was quite cold out. We hadn’t been outside that long and my hands were already starting to get cold.

  I rubbed my hands together to try and generate a little warmth.

  “I can’t wait for spring.”

  “I like the winter.”

  “Of course you do.”

  Not only was Fuyuko’s birthday in December, but the first character of her name was also the character for winter.

  “Not just because it’s my name, but also because of this!”

  Fuyuko grabbed my right hand with her left.