Chapter 24: pSychic; or, My Little Sister Can't Be This Powerful!

July 6th

I sat on the couch and did my best not to pout.

There was no real reason for me to be pouting, anyway! At least, none that anyone would understand. But it's not my fault! I'm the world's biggest brocon, and this was the perfect time for me to spend a whole lot of time with my beloved big brother. We both had the entire week off thanks to the festivals going on, and naturally that meant I could increase my stock of Kazutonium up to its absolute, impressively large limit.

Or, at least, that was the plan. Instead, it was like the universe was conspiring against me and my love for Kazuto. My super amazing chance at extra big brother time vanished like the wind every day, and I could never complain without letting him know how I really felt, which was definitely out of the question. First we had a kendo camp for the first five days of the week to practice for the big tournament soon, and even though I'd used the wireless internet to steal a few video calls seeing Kazuto through the screen just wasn't the same as being able to stare at him while he ate, or while he was focusing on his homework, or while he was sleeping-

Eh? Did Kazuto just twitch? No, it's probably just my imagination!

I'd gotten home late yesterday but fully energized at the thought of finally getting to see my big brother after a whole week without him, only to find out that some of those awful, horrible... h-harpies had stolen a march on me! He'd been invited to the beach, with that scary-looking girl and that one that wore a weird eyepatch.

So unfair! I wanted to go to the beach too, and show off for Kazuto, and maybe even get a chance to rub sunscreen on his back. I'm not going to give him up to those thieving cats!

"Suguha?"

"Eh?"

I blinked to see Yuuna staring at me with a little shaky smile. It still felt really weird to know that the Yuuna Shigemura, one of the best and most beautiful idols around these days, was my friend. "Is something wrong, honey? You're squeezing the life out of that poor throw pillow."

"Eheheh..." I let go of the pillow. It was a little tiny bit squashed... I must have been clenching my arms tighter than I thought. Whoops! At least Kazuto didn't seem like he was paying any attention. I don't want him to think that I'm angry or crazy or anything. He should think that I'm the cutest little sister ever, and maybe even fall for my charms. That would be the best ending of the day, after all.

"Hey, hey! Yuuna, don't forget about the reading!"

Yuuna wasn't the only one here today. Yuuki and her big sister had come over to spend time with me. It was nice to spend time with my friends, but they weren't Kazuto, you know? There's some things only a big brother can provide in my life, you know? And it's totally fair for me to be upset with Yuuki and Aiko for taking away extra big brother time, you know?

But I couldn't be too mad around them. The Konno sisters were really really good friends of mine, and I couldn't be that upset at them for taking up my Kazuto time. Yuuki's powers were really cool, too. I watched her get 'possessed' by a ghost that was super good at math sometime last month so we could study for our midterms and get better grades. Aiko was a super sweet girl, too, and was really good at getting her twin to focus when Yuuki was running around.

In this case, Aiko had been floating over the living room table and staring down at a spread of cards. "Yuu, be patient. Stop pestering Yuuna."

"C'mon, I really wanna know what's in the future," Yuuki said. "It's so exciting!"

"Yuu, you could just wait until the future happened..."

"Yeah but this is so cool, Big Sis. Don't you think so?"

Aiko turned upside down and folded her arms instead of answering her sister. She was still a little see-through, though, so I could see how she puffed out her cheeks.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming, girls," Yuuna said. Yuuki's twin puppy-dog eyes were incredibly powerful! Yuuna couldn't possibly resist, so she turned away from me back to the matter at hand. Specifically, the cards that were laid out on the table. "Let's see, where were we... I shuffled the picture cards randomly, then spread them out. That should be good enough, I think. So it's time to do the reading! Darling, I need your help~."

Kazuto sighed, but leaned forward. When he asked what she wanted him to do, Yuuna giggled.

"Just pick a card randomly!" He stared at her, then reached out and tapped one of the cards. "Alright, thanks, Darling. Now, the rest of you girls pick a card. That means you too, Aiko, no skipping out. It's important that everyone is involved, you know."

Aiko grumbled a little bit. "I still think this is silly," she said.

"You're a ghost summoned by your spirit medium sister-"

"Necromancer!"

"- and Yuuna can see the future," I pointed out. "Kazuto and I are the only normal people here, so if we're not saying it's silly..."

I trailed off and Aiko looked away from me. "...I guess you have a point, Suguha. You don't have powers, so if you're doing this then I'll do it too." Eh? I feel like she just thought something kinda mean, like I'd said something wrong but she wasn't going to tell me! That's rude, Aiko!

I didn't say anything about my gut feeling, though, since it would be just as rude and Kazuto wouldn't want me to be rude to our guests. "Alright, let's begin!" Yuuna said. "Um... I'm supposed to say something about how this isn't a perfect reading of the future, and things are subject to interpretation, but, eheheh... I think we can skip that part. We're supposed to flip cards over in the opposite order we picked them, so can you show us the card you picked, Aiko?"

After each of us had flipped over our cards, we all stared at the colorful pictures. "That's really weird," Yuuki said. "These cards are all filled with fire and explosions and stuff."

"But what's with Kazuto's card?" Aiko asked as she floated upside down in front of him.

Yuuna giggled. "Now, now, it's fine. I'm sure the picture of the moon means something... right, Darling?" Kazuto just shrugged and told her that she was the fortune-teller, so why didn't she know? "Aww, don't be like that, Darling. Don't pout~."

She reached over and poked his cheek playfully. That's not fair, Yuuna! I should be the one to poke my big brother's cheek, because his skin is so soft-looking it must be wonderful to touch. Maybe I could offer to take a bath with him later tonight, and we could wash each other's backs? Yeah, yeah, yeah! And I bet my amazing big brother's hands would feel great rubbing my back and making all the tense muscles from training go away. He'd be so gentle, and then we'd rinse off and climb into the tub together. But it's too small for us to face each other, so naturally I would have no choice but to sit in his lap.

He'd probably get all embarrassed, which was great because no matter how cute he is normally (which is very cute, since my big brother is the cutest big brother in the world!) when he gets all awkward and shy it's even better. I haven't gotten to see him blush for a long time, though, which was really disappointing. So, when we were taking a bath together, I'd get him to wrap his arms around my chest and I'd cuddle into his back, getting a two-for-one deal on cuddles with Kazuto and -

Kazuto's head slipped from his hand and he nearly hit his forehead on the table, which would have been awful! My pleasant little daydream floated away at the thought that he'd hurt himself, but he straightened up and told Yuuna to keep going.

"If you're sure you're okay, Darling," she said slowly. "Anyway, where was I?"

"Something about how fire filled our futures?" Yuuki said.

"Right... It's weird how we all pulled cards like that, isn't it? That means that there's going to be fire and explosions in our future."

"Whoa... You mean, like that event they did for ALO's closing?"

I tilted my head. "I think I remember that, Yuuki... What was it called, again? Rag... Ragger... Manga..." When Kazuto reminded me it was called 'Ragnarok', I nodded and clapped a fist in my palm. "Right, that! Where everything got set on fire."

"Mm-hmm! Man, that was weird," Yuuki mused. "But how come it's gonna be like that for us? Ooh! Do you think ghosts are gonna come out and start causing a lot of trouble?"

"Why are you asking us? You're the spirit medium, Yuu," Aiko said.

Yuuki giggled and folded her arms behind her head, kicking her legs in the air. "Maybe, but you're way better at knowing stuff like that, Big Sis!"

"Yuu..."

*Beep beep beep!* *Chime!* *Ding!* *Beep beep beep!*

Four phones went off simultaneously. Naturally, my notification sound matched Kazuto's phone. I'd stolen his phone once to make sure he wasn't texting a secret girlfriend or anything like that, and matched my sounds then. But, why would Asuna be texting us?

"Ooh! Asuna's inviting everyone to a festival near her house," Yuuna said. "It sounds like a whole street is setting up stalls tomorrow, and they'll be going all out. Fireworks, food stalls, games, the works!"

Yuuki looked up at Aiko. "That sounds like a lot of fun, Big Sis."

"Sure does, Yuu. We should go."

I... I don't wanna go, not with all of these, these hussies that will be hanging around my big brother. I want it to just be the two of us, and we can both dress up in yukatas like old times. Heheh, thinking back, it's kind of funny how all the people we talked to mistook us for sisters. Kazuto would just get upset if I brought it up, though, so I'll be quiet.

Yuuna looked at me. "Oh? You're being quiet, honey. Not interested?"

I made sure to refresh my memories about all the times we shared together by looking at my KazuSugu picture albums every night before going to bed, but that couldn't compare to the real thing, you know. So really, I want to go to the festival! I really really do! But... "I can't, not without a really good reason," I sighed. "We have a tournament coming up in a few days, and I have to train my absolute hardest to win."

"Aww, but I really wanted to go with you, since you're one of my best friends," Yuuki complained. "Please, Suguha? Pleeeeeease?"

"N-No, I can't. I have to..." Her eyes glistened, and I bit my lip. "Umm... Kazuto, you're gonna help me train, right? So we definitely can't go."

My big brother will definitely back me up!

Yuuki turned her super-powered eyes on Kazuto, and Aiko flew down to hover next to her sister and do the same thing. Kazuto gasped and tried to look away, but I could see him unable to look away from the twin puppy-dog stares.

My big brother will definitely not back me up!

Darn it, he was always so weak to the pleading stares. I'd taken advantage of that before, and now Yuuki and Aiko were double-teaming him... Not fair at all. When he gave up and said that he'd go, I coughed and cleared my throat. "Well, I-I guess that taking one day off to relax won't be so bad..."

"Yay! It's gonna be lots of fun, Suguha," Yuuki exclaimed. Aiko flew over and the twins hugged me tightly. "Thanks for changing your mind."

"Well, with this heat, it's also pretty tough to train..."

Yuuna giggled. "Sure, sure, honey. We understand."

"And training too much is a problem too, so this is good..."

"Uh huh, sure, honey."

Yes! I've successfully distracted everyone from wanting to spend time with my big brother. Because if I didn't go, then he'd have fun with all those girls hanging around him, and that's no good at all! I have to protect him from them, since I'm definitely the only one for him.

...

July 7th

When I woke up, the sky was really grey, and I scowled at the sky. Stupid weather... You'd better not rain.

Then, I put that aside to go practice my morning kendo swings and then take a shower. Hmm, maybe I should grow my hair out a little bit? Kazuto's surrounded by so many girls with really pretty hair, so he might be into that? But, it would make kendo harder, and my morning showers would take longer to dry all that hair - which would definitely make it even harder to time it so Kazuto catches me just walking out.

Not that I've succeeded yet, but I won't give up!

I realized I was clenching my fist in the shower in an inspiring fist pump, and blushed before turning off the shower. Today was my long-awaited date with Kazuto (even if other girls were going to be there but they weren't Kazuto, so I can ignore them) and I wanted it to be perfect. I even spent some extra time brushing my hair so it would be nice, and bounced downstairs to start making breakfast.

Kazuto stumbled downstairs a little bit later and rubbed at his eyes, and then yawned. "Morning, Kazuto," I said. "Breakfast is almost ready."

He nodded and sat down at his usual spot. I put the toast on a few plates and sat down across from him, my mug (which I'd made sure to thoroughly wash and then hide so that Yuuna couldn't get to use it again) in my hands. For the first few minutes, both of us ate without talking at all.

After that, I curled up on the couch. If I was taking the day off from training to go to the festival, then I was gonna go all-out slacking. I didn't have any ice-cream, but -

"Eep!" I jumped when something cold pressed against the back of my neck. "Oh! Kazuto, you scared me." He just raised an eyebrow and waved the popsicle in my face. "Jerk. But thanks. How did you know I wanted one?" He didn't answer me, but oh well. That wasn't important. What was important was the delicious, sweet treat I was holding in my hand, and I happily dug in. Yummm, delicious~!

The rest of the morning drifted by lazily as I watched TV in the living room. My Kazuto Radar told me that he was upstairs in his room and hadn't moved since breakfast, but that's fine. Knowing where he is at all times is my specialty as one of the world's best brocons, you know. There's nowhere in the country he could go without me knowing exactly where he is, period! So I wasn't surprised at all when he came downstairs to make us lunch.

Naturally the pasta was the tastiest thing ever, since Kazuto had made it for me! I think I remember having some sort of silly daydream about running through a field of wheat, chasing Kazuto as he laughed and ran away... But eventually I finished eating the food and curled back up on the couch.

Am I being too lazy? No way, of course not! This was just the best place to relax and digest my food.

*Kra-koom!*

I blinked at the sudden clap of thunder and looked out the window. "Oh..." Rain was pouring down, and even though I'd seen it coming a little bit, I was still a little disappointed. "I hope it clears up soon, so we can all go to the festival."

Despite my hopes, though, the weather forecast wasn't very rosy when Kazuto and I switched channels. "-and the sudden storm blew in, but doesn't look like it will blow out any time soon," the weather lady reported. "Sorry to anyone who was looking forward to the festivals hosted all over town, but most of them have been cancelled."

"Canceled?" Nooooo! My perfect festival date with Kazuto was ruined! And I was going to wear a yukata and dress up and everything. This stupid weather - that's it, the weather needs to go. I have to come up with some way to make the weather be perfect for me and Kazuto to go on dates! Then again, this is also perfect, isn't it? The rain hitting the roof makes for really soothing background music, and we can sit on the couch together and cuddle, just the two of us.

Kazuto sighed, and I looked over to see him pulling out his phone as it blared one of Yuuna's songs. He answered it and held it up to his ear for a second, and then tapped something on the screen and let her know she was on speaker. "Thanks, Darling," Yuuna chirped. "Hi, Sugu."

"Hi, Yuuna." Her voice is really lovely, isn't it? No wonder she's an idol. Aah, but I always get distracted by that the first time I hear her in a while. "Are you calling because of the rain?"

"I got the feeling something bad was going to happen when I woke up this morning, but man, this sucks! I was looking forward to a bright and shiny festival with all of you."

"Yeah, I feel the same," I said. "But with this rain, there's nothing we can do about it, right?"

"Fu fu fu! Ah, how did you like that laugh, Darling? I'm trying to practice my 'all-knowing laugh'."

Kazuto just sighed and asked her why she was calling, if she knew that it was going to rain.

"Well, since it was going to rain, and isn't that a surprise..." She trailed off for some reason, but my big brother rolled his eyes and told her that it wasn't like it was his fault, or mine. "Right, right, of course. I believe you, Darling. Aaaanyway, like I was saying, since it's raining and the festivals are canceled, I thought to myself, 'Where would a festival still be held?' See if you can guess what I came up with! You have ten seconds~."

She started humming a quiet little song, and I scratched my cheek. Yuuna's an amazing idol, but she could be a little weird sometimes. Then again... I might as well play along, right? I don't want to disappoint her by not figuring it out! So what could it be.

Hmmm...

Hmmmmm...

HMMMMM...

"Oh! I got it!"

"Aaaaand time's up~!" Yuuna chirped. "What's your answer, Suguha?"

I grinned smugly at Kazuto. I got it right first! "The VR world! We're gonna go to the event there!"

Yuuna giggled. "Ding dong! That's correct! So you two had better log in quickly, so we can get ready!"

I spun around once, and looked down as the soft fabric of the kimono twirled around with me. I giggled and smoothed out one of the wrinkles in it. "Thanks again for lending us some of the yukatas you'd collected, Yuna."

"Don't worry about it, honey. These items are meant to be shown off, right? Now, let's go wow that brother of yours with how pretty we look!"

Yuna nodded one last time and patted my back before she shoved me forward lightly. "Ah, hey, stop pushing, Yuna-" The pretty silver-haired idol just giggled and shoved me again, and I stumbled out of the back room we'd borrowed to get changed.

The idol had insisted on dressing up normally instead of equipping the fancy yukata through the menu; it really made it feel authentic, but the two of us had taken a long time to get dressed up. After all that time, I really thought my big brother would have gotten tired of waiting for us and gone ahead, but surprisingly enough he was still standing around.

"Ta-da! What do you think, Kirito?" Yuna cheered as she posed next to me with a fancy fan in her hand. Her yukata was surprisingly reserved for the girl's usual flamboyant costumes on the idol stage. It was mostly pink with white flowers decorating the fabric, paired with a black obi tied around her waist. She'd also added a pretty flower ornament to her hair, tucked right above her right ear to offset her braid.

"U-Um... Do I look good?" I asked. W-Why am I being so shy? This is the perfect chance to show off for my big brother, and wow him with my s-s-sex appeal. I even have the excuse of wanting to spend the festival walking around with him, so it won't even look weird to anyone else. Yuna had chosen a simple forest green yukata with leaf patterns to match my name, with a red obi that had golden butterflies pinned to the front.

Kazuto scratched his cheek and looked away, then muttered that we looked great. Then, he added that he was kind of surprised.

"Yay!" I cheered. "You look great too, Kazuto. That yukata is really cute on you, you know."

When he grumbled and asked why he had to wear one too, Yuna giggled. "Leafa mentioned it, you know?" Wait, how did - I made a mistake! I don't know when, but I screwed up on accident! "All about how the last time you two went to a festival together was when you two were doing kendo together, and how you were so cute wearing a yukata back then. Something about being mistaken for sisters~?" He sighed, and Yuna took the chance to loop her arm around his.

Aaah! That's not fair, Yuna! But two can play at that game, and now I have an excuse to walk side-by-side with my big brother without looking weird! 'I might have been holding him extra tightly, but there sure were a lot of people, so I didn't want to get separated~.' That's what I'll say if anyone asks.

"C'mon, we gotta go," Yuna said. "The festival has already started, so we don't want to be late, right?"

I blinked even as we started dragging Kazuto off (and I made extra sure to squeeze his arm against my chest) to the inn entrance. "Wait, is it just the three of us? What about the others?"

"I got a message from Argo a little bit ago. They're gonna meet up with us once they finish getting dressed, so we have a little bit of time to look around."

"Oh, okay..." Perfect! This is the best thing that could happen! Now, I get Kazuto all to myself, without Asuna trying to steal him from me. I can get ahead of my rivals. "I can't wait to meet up with them." We had tons of time to ourselves first, so I grabbed Kirito's hand and dragged him forward. I needed to make the most of my Kazuto time.

Ahhh! Walking around a festival with my favorite idol, and my big brother! What more could I want? Well, there were a lot of things, like having Kazuto feed me a candy apple, or play the shooting games and win me a big stuffed animal, or -

"Wow..." The gasp slipped out of my mouth as I stared at the glittering lights. This had all appeared overnight, but it looked like it was going to last forever! Lanterns were lit and hanging overhead, and the entire streets sparkled and shined! It was like walking through an amazing fairy tale... There were people everywhere, too, so the excuse I'd come up with wasn't even necessary - I was shoved up against Kazuto's side just trying to walk around.

Kazuto pointed out that there was a performer over to the side, but I couldn't see over all the people surrounding them. Dang it, I can hear everything, too, and it sounds really interesting! Let's see... Over there, right? "Hey, I have an idea! I can just climb up there and see. Hup...!"

"Ah, honey, look out -"

"Aaah, I'm gonna fall!" Kazuto's arms grabbed my shoulders as he scolded me to be more careful. It wasn't my fault that it was hard to balance in these sandals! But after he suggested I hold onto his shoulders and lift myself up, I got a great idea. "Pardon me~!"

Kazuto sighed when I hopped up on his shoulders. But, it wasn't like he could complain, right? He'd made the offer in the first place! Once I was up on his shoulders, I could see the show perfectly.

"What do you see, honey?"

"It's a monkey-type trained monster," I said. "With purple fur and - whoa, it's juggling!"

"Cool!"

I made extra sure to lean forward and press myself against the back of Kazuto's head. I was gonna take advantage of my best weapon, you know?

Once the show was over, though, I had no choice but to slide down off of his back. Darn, I wish I could have stayed up there longer... "Oh, I got another message from Argo," Yuna said. "She sent it while you were watching the show, so they should be showing up right away."

"Whoa..."

"Is that Princess Orihime returned?"

"J-Just another gamer girl, right? Shut up I'm not staring..."

"There aren't girls online, there aren't girls online..."

The murmuring came up from behind us, and we turned around. A gap had formed in the crowd, as though nobody could possibly get close to the group of girls walking towards us. It was understandable - with that many pretty girls clustered in place, none of these gamer guys could muster up the courage, but this group was super powered on its own. The chocolate-skinned beauty, and the rare sight of whiskers normally hidden by a hood... My rival that surpassed even my own chest, and the mascot of half the game's players... A cool beauty, and a girl that's all fired up.

Naturally, no matter how cute all the girls were, all eyes were on the radiant beauty in front of them. Even in the middle school, we knew about our school's Princess - Asuna... She was leading the group, and when she smiled at something Yuuki had said to her, there was an audible gasp from all of the surrounding players. Sparkles and globes of light seemed to swirl around Asuna, and her usual beauty seemed even more radiant in her lovely blue yukata.

"Tch."

Did I just click my tongue? Of course I did! How else should I react to seeing the most powerful foe getting such an unfair powerup?

"Heeeey, Asuna!" Yuna ran over and hugged the girl. "Wow, how did you get prettier? You're practically blinding!"

"Y-Yuna, don't say things like that," Asuna protested. "You'll embarrass me..."

"You're my best friend, so hold your head up high," Liz said.

Yuuki nodded. "Yeah, Asuna's really pretty!" I'm used to her bluntness, but it's still a little surprising when I hear it, you know? "I bet that's why her guardian spirit is a beautiful angel, and why a bunch of angry ghosts have grudges and are always trying to -"

"Ahahah, Yuuki, why don't you come say hi to my brother?"

I grabbed Yuuki's arm and dragged her away from Asuna before she could scare the poor girl again. It was a little bit too late, because I still saw a shiver run its way all the way up Asuna's body, from her feet to the top of her head. Hopefully the high school girls could handle things!

Sinon and Silica walked over with me when I dragged Yuuki away. "Huh? Where's Premiere?"

"I'm right here," a calm, expressionless voice said. I turned to see Premiere standing next to us with her fingers held in a sideways peace sign over one eye. "I saw Kirito having fun with cute girls, one of whom is my classmate, and I thought to myself, 'Yahoo, I have to surprise him'. Yay." She snapped her finger closed.

"...I think it's better if you don't have any special character at all, Premiere," I said. "I bet Kazuto would like you best as yourself, right?"

Kazuto nodded, and Premiere immediately clasped her hands in front of her chest. "I'm looking forward to the large amount of delicious food we get to try today." She blinked once. "I've heard there's a lot of new and unique foods only available during festivals from Big Sis Yui."

There, that's better. And now Kazuto will see I did a great job, and praise me a whole lot!

"I-I-It's nice to see you again, Mr. Kirito," Silica said. "Your yukata looks very nice...?"

"Pfft. Master, you shouldn't dress up like that, unless you want us to think you're Leafa's big sister instead," Sinon said with a small grin.

Argo snickered. Wait, when did she get here? "How's it going over here with th' pretty-boy prince? Lookin' cute, Kii-boy."

Kazuto sighed as the girls got their teasing out of their systems. I couldn't blame them, since he did look really nice in the grey flower-patterned yukata. Not that my classmates didn't look really nice either - their clothes were really colorful, and Sinon had chosen one that was really daring and showed off her shoulders. I caught my big brother peeking at her from time to time.

At least, now they know how pretty and awesome my big brother is! But wait... That's just going to increase the number of girls after him now! M-Maybe I should have...

"Oh, that's right, Darling. Rain said she and her sister would be going around together, so they won't be playing with us," Yuna said, then clapped her hands. Everyone looked at her, even Asuna (who had been busy burying her face in Liz's chest and muttering about no such thing as ghosts while the red-faced blacksmith patted her friend's back). "Now that everyone's here, let's go have fun, everyone!"

Yay! Time to walk around with my big brother! Even if there are other girls, I'll still get to -

"Let's go over there!" Yuuki snagged my hand and dragged me forward towards one of the stalls. The rest of my friends followed behind. But, to my mounting dismay, all of the high school girls were dragging my lovely big brother the other direction.

Nooooo...! My rose-filled festival dreams are falling apart in front of my eeeeeeeyes...!

...

"Look, look," Premiere said. "I'm a doll. Yay, peace~." She posed with a peace sign, but this time she had a cute hat sitting on her head. It was orange with googly eyes, but I wasn't sure what it was supposed to be aside from that.

"Ha ha ha! That's great, that's great!" Yuuki laughed. "Check it out you guys, we should all get a mask!"

After a quick buying spree, all of us had one. Sinon ended up with a fox mask, and I had one with a bird's beak. Silica ran around with a dragon mask for a little bit, then pulled it off to the side when Pina kept nudging at it. And Yuuki ended up with a regular demon's mask, and giggled about it.

"I've been meaning to ask," Sinon said. "What does Aiko do when you're playing SAO, or other VR games?"

"Huh, Big Sis? Oh, she possesses me," Yuuki said. So casually! "That way she gets to experience things too. Right, Big Sis?"

"That's right," Yuuki said. Except wait... Her demon mask was the thing that spoke! "Also, Yuu, couldn't you have found something cuter?"

Ohh, so that's why she was giggling earlier. She was pranking her big sister.

"I have a question," Premiere said, and raised her hand. "Where are the food stands?"

"There's a bunch set up over there," I said. "That entire street should be nothing but food stands."

When we got to the street in question, we all gasped in awe. It wasn't just a street full of food stands... This was a food stand paradise! Stalls as far as the eye could see, and the smell of delicious food was so strong that it was practically visible. After being presented with something like that, there was only one option...

"""Let's eat!"""

Ooh, what do I try first? What a stupid question that is! Could it be anything other than the festival staple? That's right, takoyaki! I ordered a tray of ten of the delicious little treats, and popped one in my mouth. "Mm! Haaah! Haah!" Of course, it was too hot, but I knew that!

"If you knew it was hot, why did you eat it?" Sinon sighed as she puffed on one of her own takoyaki. I blinked, and looked down at my food, and -

"Hahhh, mmm... Hey!" I swallowed the piping hot octopus ball and pouted. "Sinon, that's mine!"

Her lips twitched, which was like getting a rolling-on-the-floor-laughing smile out of her. "Mine now."

"...Oh, fine." I crossed my arms under my chest, and Sinon stopped chewing for a second before she looked away. Weird...? "How do you like the taste?"

Sinon swallowed, and tilted her head. "It's... different? I'm not really sure, since it's been a long time since I've had the spare money to buy takoyaki or anything like that."

I licked my lips again to get the last tastes of the food I'd just eaten. "It was kinda hot for me to taste it, but I think there was some flavoring that was a little different."

"Makes sense if it is. The game probably didn't use real octopus and ginger, or make actual takoyaki sauce." Sinon raised a finger. "It's all using their weird ingredients."

"...So we just ate monster?"

"Probably."

"It... It wasn't bad, so it's fine," I decided. "Where are Silica and Premiere?"

"Over there." Sinon pointed in a direction without hesitation. "I can see their lines wherever we go, so it's not like we'll lose them in the crowd."

I nodded and bit into another takoyaki. Gah, still hot! "Sho, you can see them even in the game?"

"I have to focus a little bit, but it's not like imperfections don't exist in the virtual world."

"Imper... huh?"

"Imperfections. That's what I'm gonna call the lines I see."

I stared at her. "...You've been talking with Premiere's weird friend too much."

Sinon snorted. "Sachi's nice." But you didn't say she's not weird, Sinon...

We walked over to where Silica and Premiere were, and saw that the twin-tailed girl was holding a huge fluffy cloud of cotton candy. Premiere was standing nearby, eyes locked on the candy treat in Silica's hands even as she munched on a caramel apple. Or, wait, no. It'd be something kinda like an apple, but not really. "Hi, you two," Silica said, and took a huge bite out of her cotton candy. "Mmm, yummy! I was looking forward to this!"

"There is a lot of food here," Premiere said. "And it is all incredibly good. This caramel apple is also delicious." She nodded and chomped down on it again.

"Hee hee! Premiere, you've got caramel all over your cheeks," Silica said.

"Kyuuri!"

*Chomp!*

"Ahh!" Silica gasped. I stared in surprise at the tiny blue dragon that had flown off of Silica's shoulder and gulped down all of the cotton candy in a single gulp. Pina fluttered heavily back to her tamer's shoulder and landed there, letting out a quiet 'kyuu' of contentment.

I giggled. "She definitely loved it too," I said.

"Auuu..." Silica whined. "Now I have to get more."

"Ah, wait a second, please. And hold still, Silica."

We all looked at Premiere, but the quiet girl only reached out towards Silica. Her hand reached towards her cheek, as if to cup it... Wh-wh-wh-what am I watching...?! Is this the birth of something new?!

Gently, Premiere scooped up a piece of cotton candy that was stuck to Silica's cheek, and popped it in her mouth. "...Delicious," she said.

"Awawawawawa..." Silica babbled, her cheeks flushed.

"Whoa, Premiere is so bold..." Maybe I should do that with Kazuto the next time we're alone! I bet I could play it off casually, and it's not like he'd expect me to do something like that at all, so I'd definitely get away with it. Hmm, this new strategy has some merit to it... I'll have to plan it out so I can maximize the impact of my Kazuto-time next weekend.

Premiere tilted her head. "Would you like some more cotton candy now?"

"I... I'm good," Silica said weakly. Then, she rallied and looked around. "Where are Yuuki and Aiko?"

I blinked. "I... huh. Where are they? I thought they'd be with you."

"Wooo! Got another one!"

I blinked. "Oh, there they are."

The excited shout had come from an alley over, and we all sighed together. How had Yuuki even gotten distracted by something other than food? Once she knew where to look, Sinon was able to lock onto their lines (and apparently it was like seeing two set of lines layered on top of each other, which was really cool and I'm not jealous, I'm not) and we crossed through the alley.

Yuuki was crouched down in her yukata. She held a thin net in one hand, and a bag filled with water and tiny swimming fish in the other. As we watched her, she stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth in concentration and then... *fwish!* Her hand darted out and swiped up another swimming fish from the pool in front of her. "Yay, that's ten!"

"Yuu, that's enough," Aiko's demon mask murmured - quietly, so that the other players nearby didn't hear. Huh, I wonder what it'd be like to have her powers. Maybe... I'd be able to have Kazuto around me all the time. Whoa... That would amazing... heheheh... Because then we could take baths together, and cuddle in bed together, and -

"Why do you need that many?" Sinon asked Yuuki, the blue-haired girl sounding slightly confused.

Yuuki grinned. "Heheh... I'm gonna give these to Asuna as a gift! She can probably make something super tasty out of them, right?"

"Ah... I hope so," Premiere said, as a small bit of drool leaked from her mouth. "Asuna makes such wonderful food."

"""Yeah..."""

The wistful sigh came from all of us as we got lost in a taste-fueled fantasy.

...But Kazuto's cooking was still way better.

Since we'd crossed over to the street with all the different games, we wandered around there for a while. Sinon hustled one of the shooting game booths for all of the prizes it held with a small grin, and the stuffed animals and novelty items (like fireworks that would go off and do small amounts of damage to enemies) got spread around. Then, as we entered the center of the city, my Kazuto senses went off wildly and I immediately snapped forty-three degrees to my right.

Directly ahead, staring at a massive bamboo tree with colorful slips of paper dangling from every branch, was my big brother. Wow, even from a distance, he's super handsome! And now that we've met again, it's time to have our happy sibling alone time!

"Hey, everyone," Asuna said with a smile as we approached the group of older girls. "How are you enjoying the festival?"

"It's a lot of fun," I said. "What are you up to?"

Strea turned around and stretched her arms waaaaay out. Beside me, Silica stared and whimpered. "We're having fun, silly! This is the first time I've been to a festival like this, and it's super exciting!"

"They host them every year, in certain parts of the human towns," Kizmel said. "Though, until now I haven't done more than turn invisible and walk around. There's... something exciting about being here with everyone."

Wow, I never thought of it like that. I'd always been able to have lots of fun at the festival, so I'm glad this year Kizmel gets to make lots of happy memories.

"A place like this is a great event, Papa," Yui said from her position perched on Kazuto's shoulders. "There's plenty of chances to raise affection with lots of heroines! At least, that's how it appears in the research I've done. But at the end, there's always a special event, and that's this!" She pointed at the bamboo tree.

Liz grinned. "Sounds like a great idea. Let's all write a wish down, and tie it up! Let's do it, Asuna!"

"Nya hah hah! Wonder what A-chan's gonna write~."

"It'll be a normal wish, Argo! And don't grin like that, it's bad manners."

The paper slips only cost 100 col, since it was an event, and we all bought them. I stared at mine, and thought to myself... What dream could I want? What dream was there that I absolutely needed granted?

As if there was any question! If I put anything else down, I'd be a disappointment to bro-cons all over the world!

"Leafa, are you almost done?" I jumped and whirled around. Silica clutched her paper slip to her chest. "We need to tie them upon the tree. Oh, let me see what you wrote down..."

"A-Ah, I screwed up!" I laughed and hurriedly scribbled over the wish I'd already written down. "I screwed up some of the spelling, heheh... I need to write a new one really quickly, so hang on a second." What's the next best thing... 'I wish I had some special thing like all my friends'. That'll do...

...

After we all tied our wishes up on the tree, we wandered around a little bit more until the sky got darker. "Okay, everyone, it's time to watch the fireworks!" Yui cheered. "Now, who's got the highest affection levels with Papa-"

"Sorry, but Kazuto promised we'd get to watch the fireworks together," I said, and unleashed the strongest Little Sister Martial Arts attack I knew - 'Shameless Puppy Eyes While Hugging His Arm Against My Chest'. My big brother would definitely fall to an attack of this level.

Some of the girls (Yuna and Asuna in particular) complained, but Kazuto explained that it was an old promise that he'd made a long time ago. Naturally, that meant I'd win, and get to cuddle up with Kazuto while we watched fireworks. It was a super romantic scene, and I'm glad I managed to share it with Kazuto!

"As expected of my husband," Strea said. I refuse to accept her as my big brother's wife, since that belongs to me! Heheheh... His wife... Heheh... "I'll give you permission, so it's okay if you play around with Leafa tonight."

Yui led us to a hill perfect for viewing, and everyone sat down. I cuddled up next to Kazuto, who sighed but didn't try to pull away. Thank you, past me, for making this promise and making such a perfect dream come true! Beside us, Yuuki sat happily in Asuna's lap as the older girl ran her fingers through Yuuki's long purple hair. The others were sitting in a big clump.

I leaned up against Kazuto's shoulder - and then deliberately grabbed his arm and wrapped it around my shoulders on my own. "What?" I asked when he stared at me. "I'm cold, okay? Stupid game, replicating it getting colder at night." That wasn't it at all, but it was a perfectly acceptable excuse!

*Pfweeeee-boom!cracklecracklecrackle...*

"Oh, the fireworks are starting!"

"They're pretty, ain't they? Nya hah hah! I woulda loved ta write an article 'bout this fer th' school paper."

"Woooooow... This is neat, Big Sis!"

"This is much different than seeing it from the forests. Kirito... I'm grateful to you for being my Chosen One."

I stared up at the colorful explosions and sighed in happiness. What could possibly be better than this? Nothing, that's what.

...

"Good news, everyone," Yuna said as we were saying our goodbyes. "This is just a hunch, but something tells me... All our wishes are coming true!"

I collapsed to my hands and knees. Nooooooooo! I could have had Kazuto become my husband, but I had to change it at the last second! Whyyyyyyy!?

July 11th

Ah. Yes, hello, it's me, Kazuto Kirigaya. You know who I am by now, so there's no need for self-introductions again.

You might be wondering, though. 'Kazuto, your entirely-too-obsessed little sister was narrating the chapter up until this point! Why are you narrating now?' First off, that's nowhere near enough to describe the depths of my little sister's brocon-levels. Calling her entirely-too-obsessed is like saying SAO and the NerveGear were a little influential on the state of VRMMOs. Or maybe like saying those new computer parts I'd ordered with my New Years money had been a little expensive.

As for why I'm suddenly narrating now...

"Please... Stop it... Be quiet, please..."

That desperate whine came from the bed I was sitting on. More accurately, it came from my little sister, who was huddled under the covers and miserable with a splitting headache. She's clearly in no condition to continue her job, or we'd be in the middle of a tournament arc.

Thankfully, I've been spared that. It would have been something ridiculous, too, with Sugu suddenly awakening to some special ability thanks to the power of love or something like that. Instead, she'd awakened to a special ability that I knew all too well. So, I reached over and gently patted her head after making sure the cool cloth was draped over her forehead.

I know it's loud, Sugu, but you have to focus. I promise that you can do this.

"Haah... Hahhh... Kazuto, I'm trying..."

You're my precious little sister. I know you can do this.

'...He's saying things like that, so how can I let him down! I have to focus and block these noises out!'

There. That should give her enough motivation.

Naturally, my little sister had managed to finally unlock her psychic powers. She wasn't a match for me, of course, but after having her powers for only a few hours her telepathy was strong enough to reach throughout the entire block.

'All of you, shut up shut up shut UP! I'm right here, and Kazuto is holding my hand, and I need to make sure... I need to make absolutely sure I burn every possible second into my memory forever!' Sugu squeezed my hand a little bit tighter and I stroked her hair. The things I do for my little sister...

Mom hadn't been able to help at all when Sugu was running the fever, so she left me in charge of taking care of my sister. Since I could read her mind, I knew exactly what the cause was. But, she'd need to get control all on her own, so I was relegated to just cooling down her fever and holding her hand while she struggled with her new powers.

After what felt like an hour but was really only a few minutes, Sugu blinked open her eyes and stared at me. "Kazu...to..."

Hey, sleepyhead. Good morning. Feeling better?

"What... ow, my head hurts so much... What's going on? I'm scared, Kazuto..."

There, there. It'll be okay.

I smiled at my little sister and helped her sit up, slowly. Then, I let her wrap her arms around me.

You've finally unlocked your psychic powers, Sugu.

"Psychic powers? What are you talking about? I, I thought I was going crazy from hearing voices in my head."

That's just telepathy.

Even while I started explaining some of her powers, I frowned internally. This was stupid! Her powers were weaker than mine, yeah, but she didn't have any downsides at all! She shut off her telepathy perfectly, and when I asked her to float a few things to test out control over her telekinesis, she made all of her stuffed animals dance around in the air.

How come she gets all the cool, useful powers?!

"Um, Kazuto, thanks for helping me..." 'Kyaaa! Kazuto's in my room! It's been so long since he's been in my bedroom.' It's been about a month, Sugu. Your timelines are weird! "But, um..." Sugu looked at me from the bed. "How come you know all of this?"

Because psychic powers run in the family. That's how I knew you'd get them sooner or later.

Sugu gasped and brought her hands up to her mouth. "Wait, you're not saying - you have powers too?! Can... Can I see?" Wordlessly, I made a pen fly around my head and then around hers until it gently dropped into her hands.

Happy?

"Eheheh... This is so cool, you have psychic powers just like me!" 'We have something special that we share, just the two of us! That means we're definitely soul-mates, drawn together... Wait, hang on. If we have the same powers, then that means he also, has, telepathy... all along...'

Slowly, red crept up Sugu's neck until her entire face was a brilliant scarlet. She looked down at the simple red sleep top and pants that she was wearing, with the top button left undone to, uh, make herself comfortable. Then, she looked back at me with wide eyes and let out a quiet little squeak.

'He, he, he, he knew he knew he kneeeeeewwwwww!'

Steam poofed off of her face and my little sister fell backwards onto her bed. Her eyes were practically spinning in her skull, and I sighed. Sheesh, my little sister was such a handful… Then again, I knew that already.

Since she was passed out, there was no problem erasing Sugu's memories of the last minute or so. The real problem, though, was as long as Sugu could read my mind, she was going to realize that I could read hers, and then she'd freak out because I would know about her massive crush on me. I'd have to deal with that every few minutes, and that was such a pain.

Ugh… Now I have to waste the next day or so figuring out how to block her telepathy. This suuuucks, I was gonna go play SAO!

What? Couldn't I just tell her the truth?

…Are you crazy?! That's the worst thing I could do! I really, really don't want her to realize I've known all along. Dealing with that wouldn't be as bad as the time a few years ago when she learned we weren't really brother and sister but actually cousins, but it'd be a pretty close second.

After a few seconds, Sugu sat up and yawned cutely. "Mmm… Sorry, I must have zoned out."

Don't worry about it. Now that you're feeling better…

"Hey! Why'd you suddenly mess up my hair! Now I have to go brush it," Sugu pouted. I'd stood up and, when heading out the door, I'd patted her head and ruffled her hair.

I'll go make breakfast, so go wash your face, Sugu.

"...Yes!"

Writing Sugu chapters is surprisingly fun, what can I say?

And yes! She does have powers! And yes, I did name the chapter pSychic. What did you expect? Either way, it was a festival chapter (since every anime needs one) followed by Sugu getting depressed that she doesn't have powers. Fortunately, psychic abilities run in the family! Kinda. They're cousins, it counts.

Plus, it's a fun joke to have Sugu get real powers that work and aren't a pain, just to make Kazuto suffer more.

Many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or reviewed.