.
.
.
Right now, I was playing Siscalypse with my sister.
"… Big Bro, there's something I want to talk to you."
While she said that, she fell from the sky and threw a continuous stream of attacks at me. The character Naruko was controlling (the mahou shoujo character) let loose a number of rings made of light, which bound my character and left me temporarily unable to move.
"Huh? What… hey, don't launch a surprise attack at me while you're talking to me!"
"Huh? But it's your fault for being careless, isn't it? Ahh, you're dead. So weak, kyahahaha."
Turning my character into cinders with her character's overly flashy special move, Naruko grinned happily.
"Hey, stop only using overpowered hidden characters!"
"I'm just using the characters I know how to use. Is that so wrong?"
Dammit, so these types of people exist… people who would just make selfish excuses and end up annoying everyone at the arcade. After thoroughly bashing my abilities at playing the game, Naruko seemed to have remembered something.
"So, what is it, what you want to talk to me?"
"… I need some life counseling."
Here we go again… a lot of pain and strife had been caused in my life by the turmoil that has sprung up from those exact words…
"… Do you want to know what I need advice about?"
If I look like I do, then you need to go see an eye specialist. Is that really what the person asking for advice should be saying? Also, what the hell was up with that smug chuckle? That's just disgusting.
I was incredibly reluctant to do this, but… If I didn't tell her what she wanted to hear, she would definitely get angry…
"… Alright, go ahead then."
"What's with that casual attitude? If you want me to tell you, be more courteous."
"What's with your casual attitude!? If you want my advice, why don't you be more courteous!? Cut it out! Also, what exactly did you want me to do to 'be more courteous'?"
"Kneel."
"Why does the one giving the advice have to kneel!?"
I seriously have no idea what's going on! Is receiving the topic for advice like getting a divine decree or something!?
"Come on, kneel."
"As if I would!"
I was completely annoyed and we fell into silence for a little while, but it seemed that Naruko really wanted to tell me what this advice session would be about, so she didn't wait for me to kneel.
"I guess there's no helping it then… this time only I'll give you special permission and you don't have to kneel. Be grateful and listen."
What a pompous attitude… as I looked at her with a sour expression, I began to listen to what my little sister needed "life counseling" on. All the while thinking that there was no way anything good could come out of this…
(◕ω◕✿)
"What? What did you just say?"
"As I said… the cell phone novel I wrote is going to be made into a novel!"
… Seriously? Well? If your sister suddenly started spouting this nonsense one day, what would you do? Scowling, I stared at Naruko as she fought hard (and failed) to keep down a broad grin.
"Ah, by the look you're giving me… you don't believe me, do you?"
What kind of sequence of terrible mistakes would a publishing company have to go through to actually put your rape novel into the general circulation? And from what Kuroneko had told me, the grammar and syntax were essentially nonexistent…
"Ahh, what can I say? When you're as talented as I am, things like this sometimes happen, right?"
Yeah yeah. Blah blah. No matter how I thought about it, it all seemed like nonsense…but I still felt a tinge of unease from the fact that my sister wasn't the type to make these statements without any basis for them at all.
And in spite of the fact that I didn't seem to believe her, Naruko did not get discouraged at all. She condescendingly crossed her arms, and looked at me as if I were some kind of dunce.
"Don't you want to know… how all this happened?"
It's not like I want you to tell me, but if I tell you that you'd just get angry, right?
"Sure…tell me."
"Hmmmm? Well, I guess if you really want me to," Naruko took out her cell phone, and began to type rapidly. Afterwards, with a triumphant expression, she handed me the phone. "Here, take a look at this site."
"Huh?" It seemed that the cell phone site was titled "Cell Phone i-Club." That title was displayed in huge letters in the site's most prominent spot. On the whole, the site was colorful and fancily designed. Under the title, a number of menus were lined up…
This is just like the time I first looked at that Siscali walkthrough wiki. When the site was complicated and there were so many choices like this, I had no idea what to do. This was completely different from using my cell phone to look up the sport news.
"Hmph, well? Do you see?"
"Not at all. Where should I be looking?"
"Huuh? Tch, give it to me!"
Naruko was peeking at the cell phone screen from next to me, and then pushed her body to mine while fiddling with the cell phone.
"Hey, don't stick so close."
Our arms were entangled. And what's more, she gave off a sugary smell and it made me feel uneasy… this isn't siscon or anything. This has nothing to do with us being related.
… Hm? I just realized that up until a few months ago, I had never had this thought before. Naruko prodded my stomach with her elbow. Because of that, the questions that were surfacing were once again pushed deep down into my psyche.
"Here! You push this library link here…!"
"This publication information thing here?"
"No. Under that. Where it talks about monthly rankings."
"Here?"
Placing the cursor on the place Naruko had indicated, I finally understood where Naruko wanted me to look. And also, how the hell do you expect me to know where to look just by handing me the cell phone? Are you an idiot?
"This is the site's monthly rankings for the cell phone novels people submit."
"Submit?" I cocked my head in puzzlement, and Naruko's lips warped in annoyance.
"Hah… you…you have no idea what this site is for, do you…?"
Well, sure… but why does that have to throw you into shock like this? Ugh, you're so annoying!
"I guess I have to explain that then… ugh, what a bother."
Naruko wearily brushed her hair back. Her actions were all so deliberately seductive. Tch… it's not like I want to hear about this! But I'll listen anyways. There was definitely something annoying about stopping midway through something.
So then… according to Naruko's explanation, this "Cell Phone i-Club" was a site that allowed you to make your own website easily from your cell phone. And then on that homepage, you could keep a public journal, or you could put a message board on there and socialize with other people online.
"This is a bit like that SNS service you signed up for before, right?"
"I guess you could say that. They are definitely similar. And also, there are a lot of terms thrown around like 'blog sites' and 'SNS,' but the actual differences between these things is vague at best."
"Hmm." As always, I gave a noncommittal response when faced with things I didn't understand.
"In the beginning, there was a lot of originality in the features people were coming up with, but lately even blog sites have SNS functionality. And there are popular sites like WebClap and Twitter, but there have also been a lot of rip-offs of those services, and everything gets jumbled up and honestly it all seems the same to me. But really, I think everyone should just use the well-known ones… or something like that. Aaaanyways…"
Naruko put an end to her speech.
"This 'Cell Phone i-Club" site has a function where you can write and submit cell phone novels."
This "NOVEL function" appeared to be the main function of this site. Putting your own cell phone novels on your home page, and then submitting it to the site and getting it voted on in a popularity poll… the "monthly ranking" that Naruko had mentioned was probably exactly that.
"And also. The Cell Phone i-Club makes the really popular cell phone novels into books."
I didn't know that before. Certainly, I've seen this kind of thing mentioned on the news, but I guess that kind of thing really happened. I guess cell phone novels were not really things written by professional authors.
Well, granted, the minute the cell phone novels were published, the author would be earning money from it, so then he or she could be considered a professional. I'm a bit fuzzy on the technical definitions here. To put it a bit cynically, this "Cell Phone i-Club" company dangled the bait of getting published in front of its members. That's a pretty good way of doing things…
Hm… I've finally started putting all the pieces together… b-but… w-wait…
"S-so you mean, the cell phone novel you wrote…"
"Yes! It was first on the rankings last month!"
"Seriously!? That rape novel!?"
"Seriously seriously! heh, isn't that amazing?"
'Kyaaahh~' Naruko gave out a high-pitched squeal. Putting both hands on her cheeks, she grinned bashfully. She was acting similarly to when she was putting on her nice act, but this time she actually seemed genuine. To think she would be able to be so unguarded and happy in front of me… it actually made me quite happy. She also didn't seem to mind that I had, without thinking, called her book a "rape novel." But… I guess there really were people who liked her novel.
That's surprising… if Kuroneko caught wind of this, she'd probably die from the shock. I mean, to think a novel she had heaped so many insults on would turn out to be really popular and actually get published… she would have no option but to rethink her outlook on writing. Although, it is true that I still haven't read this cell phone novel Naruko had written. And I really didn't feel like reading a story my sister had thought up. All the more after I heard that awful summary of it. Although…
"Isn't it highly unusual to get the first thing you ever write published…?"
"Eh? Ehh? This is pretty unfamiliar territory for me, so I don't really know. That might be true, I guess? Well, it's because my talents just towered so high above everyone else! Sort of makes you feel sorry for all those big-headed wannabe idiots who have been submitting things for a long time, doesn't it?"
Annoying. Today's Naruko was more annoying than usual.
"Hmm… well, for that to become a book, there must have been some pretty generous people over there."
"Hm? Ah, no no. Even though I said it was going to get published, it's a bit different…"
"Hm?"
"It's not like just because I got first in the rankings, they're going to publish my novel."
"What do you mean?"
"Go and bring me some snacks and juice first."
"What the hell does that have to do with anything!? Don't just order me around and break the flow of conversation like that!"
"I already said this before, but if I want to get my novel published…"
According to Naruko, while it may be true that she placed first in the monthly rankings, it wasn't the case that she would be able to get published immediately. Just because she had placed first in the rankings was not enough to prove that her work had enough appeal to be published. The criteria for getting published was not the monthly rankings, but rather…
"In general, the standard for getting published is having over a million page views."
"Page views?"
"It's the number of people who have read the novel."
"So, it can't get published if less than a million people read it?!"
"You don't have to go that far. Even if the same person reads a page twice, the page view number increases. It's basically like an internet access counter. It's a counter of the total number of page views across all the pages in the novel."
In other words, if someone read a 100-page novel to the very end, that would count as a hundred views. So, one million wasn't the number of people who had to read her novel, but how many times her novel was read.
"But even then, a million is an absurd number. After all, if for instance your novel is 100 pages, it's not necessarily the case that someone would read it from cover to cover. If it's boring, for example, they would stop reading in the middle."
"Well, that's true. But the really popular cell phone novels get over a million views within three months. And then, only once they get past that number do they get contacted by the Cell Phone i-Club. Of course, even if you do get over a million views, that doesn't guarantee your novel is going to get published."
Hm. To put it simply, if the managing company for the site didn't think a novel would sell, no matter how many views it got it wouldn't be made into a book. They were a business after all, so this was probably a pretty obvious statement…
"That's a pretty tough process…"
I had misunderstood the situation a bit because my sister came to me so suddenly with all this talk about getting her cell phone novel published. It really wasn't the case that anybody could get a cell phone novel published. And well, that statement is probably rather offensive to people who have published books.
"… It's quite a dangerous journey, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"By the way, around how many views does your cell phone novel have?"
"Around three hundred fifty thousand. It's been a month since I submitted it."
That's pretty amazing. At that rate, she really might be able to get a million views within three months…
"But, you're still quite a bit off of a million views."
"Yeah. I was pretty surprised when I heard about all this… hehe." Naruko grinned.
"Yesterday, I got an email from one of the editors. They said they had read my novel."
"Really…? But Naruko…doesn't this seem like it's going just a bit too well?"
"Maybe."
I thought she would get angry at me for raining on her parade, but Naruko seemed to be viewing the situation rather calmly.
"The editor requested a personal meeting with me to talk more about the details…"
"Is it a man? A woman?"
"I think it's a man?"
"For example, what if he's lying about being an editor? If it ends up being some strange person, it could be dangerous, you know?"
I apologize to the editors of the world, but just judging from the name, that occupation just felt suspicious to me.
Also, it's pretty well known that cell phone novels are often written by female high school, so… it could be possible that the person was really a seducer who was pretending to be an editor and was dangling the promise of getting the girl published as compelling bait.
My facial expression sobered and I crossed my arms, at which point Naruko peered at me.
"Heh, what? Are you worried about me?"
"D-Don't be stupid. Who would worry about you…!?"
When I turned the other way, Naruko seemed to be strangely enjoying herself and burst into laughter.
"Kyahaha… well, after all, you are a siscon. Ahh, gross gross."
"I told you I wasn't worrying! Cut it out!"
Dammit, for how much longer did she intend to torment me with that line…?
"Sure sure, I'll do you a favor and cooperate then. Well, what do you want to do? If you want to come, I'll let you tag along with me."
I see. The life counseling was about this… in other words, she was afraid of meeting with this alleged editor by herself, so she wanted me to go with her. Hah… if she just asked me that straight on, because I'm not a monster, I would be able to honestly accept her request and go along with her. But her attitude was just horrible.
If I said I would go at this point, I would look like I was going out of my own free will out of worry for her, wouldn't I!? Who the hell would agree to go from this position!? Am I an idiot!? There's got to be a better way for her to ask! Mounting a counteroffensive, I asked a question in a disgruntled tone.
"Hm. Well, if I don't go with you, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going alone."
Do what you want… is what I wanted to say, but I suddenly imagined what it would be like to let my sister go alone. After all, she was pretty cute looking… if she went to a crowded place like Tokyo then she really might get hit on. And if that editor or whatever was a bad person, no matter how much she tries, there's only so much a single junior high school student can do to resist. It's not like I'm worried about her, but when she tells me about this directly it does bother me… I guess I have no choice.
"… Alright. I'll go with you."
"Huh? What's with that reluctant expression? If you don't ask me properly I won't take you with me."
"Please take me with you, Naruko-sama!"
I had gotten desperate! Ugh…now if someone accused me of being a siscon, I don't know if I can argue against it! Even though it really isn't anything like that.
(◕ω◕✿)
And before long, it was Sunday. We had come to a publishing company in Shinjuku.
Leaving from the Western entrance, we walked in the direction of the Tokyo Government Office, and walked halfway around Shinjuku Central Park in the clockwise direction. The building we arrived at was a black, tall building. It seemed that the publishing company in question was housed in this building.
… But really, Shinjuku is just filled to the brim with tall buildings, isn't it? The district was so crowded with people, and the station was so difficult to navigate through. It was almost like an underground labyrinth.
I checked the time on my cell phone, and sighed, "That was close, but we seem to have made it on time."
"Hmph, there wouldn't have been a problem if we didn't get lost. I don't even have enough time to fix my makeup. What the hell?"
Today, Naruko was dressed up even more maturely than usual. I mean… usually she also dressed in quite a mature fashion, but this time it felt different… she was wearing a pair of light-yellow-brown pant suits, along with some light, tasteful makeup, and indeed looked like a trendy, professional woman.
"This is the first time we came here, so there's no way we would not get lost at all, you know?"
Also, this map was terrible. Walk for eight minutes from the station… how damn fast did it expect us to walk? Our getting lost in the station was a bit to blame as well, but it took us over fifteen minutes to walk here. I grumbled internally about the map I had printed out from the publishing company's public website.
"So, you were supposed to wait for them in the lobby, was it?"
"Yeah… they told me to be in the lobby by four-thirty… you, wait around here."
"… Hm? You sure you don't want me to come with you?"
"Idiot. I spent so much time dressing up formally today, and if I'm seen next to a punk like you it'll all come to nothing. You better not come with me."
… But, wasn't the entire point of this trip that she was afraid to meet with this guy alone, and so took me with her? Perhaps she understood my doubts, but Naruko tightened her lips and fell into silence. We stood there for a while, and she finally spoke.
"You don't have to come with me… but stay somewhere close. And, if I send you a blank mail, come."
"Yeah yeah, roger."
Alright, let's do it as you say.
"Well, I'm off."
"Good luck."
Naruko lightly lifted an arm in farewell, and entered into the lobby. The automatic doors opened and then shut behind her.
Not wanting to stand in the way, I moved towards a nearby pillar, and waited next to the entrance of the building. I might be getting an SOS from Naruko, so I held my phone in my hands.
… Hmm. Was there really a point in me coming today…? Just as I was thinking that, Naruko came out of the building with a long blond haired slender man in a suit and sunglasses. Even though I had nothing to feel guilty about, I found myself quickly hiding in the shadow of the pillar.
I felt my cell phone vibrating.
"!"
I braced myself, thinking that the SOS had come, but it wasn't that.
"We're changing the meeting place. Follow us."
"… Yeah yeah."
Well, it seemed that she could multitask and mail me while she was doing other things. It definitely wasn't something I could do. Hm. But, I guess they weren't going to talk in the editorial department? Keeping a bit of distance between us, I tailed Naruko and company. They quickly crossed an intersection, walked South for a bit, and entered into a cafe.
"Hm…what should I do?"
Should I go in as well? As I stood there hesitating, my cell phone once again vibrated.
"…!? Ah… it's just a message."
Geez, because she had given me such a weird order when we parted, every time I got mail I was really surprised. I would start thinking that something dangerous had happened…
So… what was it this time? "Wait there"? Yeah yeah…
"Haaah…" Looking up at the evening sun, I sighed. After that, I stood stock still near the cafe door for around an hour.
The day ended, and just as it was getting dark, Naruko came out of the cafe by herself. She was grinning and seemed very satisfied about something. It seemed that things had gone well.
I raised one hand in greeting.
"So? How did it go? Was this editor a reliable person?"
Naruko answered my question energetically.
"He said there were a lot of interesting points in the book! And, he said it really did feel modern girlish! And so he thought a lot of readers would be able to connect to it… he really praised it!"
"… I see."
That's not exactly what I was asking… but whatever. From her response, I could at least tell that he wasn't a dangerous person. Nonetheless, I had to make sure.
"What kind of person was he?"
"Hmmm…" Naruko thought with a finger on her lower lip.
"He was definitely a serious person. How do I put it… an elite businessman? Something like that. He also had great manners. Yeah, I also asked him a lot of questions about his editorial department, and he answered them all without hesitation… and, best of all, he gave me lots of commentary about my novel. He wasn't as bad as you were worried he would be."
It's not like I was worried.
Hm, so it seemed he was legitimate. I'm glad.
Well, certainly, he seemed like a punctual person. I didn't really see much of him except from the back, but with his classy suit, he really did seem like an able company employee.
"Hehe… he was also pretty cute."
What does that have to do with anything? This is why women are so… don't judge a person just from his looks, dammit. When I fell into silence, Naruko said something like "Why are you getting angry?"
"See, he also gave me this." She held out the editor's business card. I took it, and took a good look at it.
MediAscii Works Second Editorial Department Mobile Division, Ryuunosuke Kumagai. Under his name was written his company's phone number, and under there, in pen, was written what was probably his personal cell phone number and mailing address. This information was annotated with the comment "Use these please," so he probably wanted her to use the personal information should she want to contact him.
"So, Kumagai-san, huh?"
"I've gotten business cards from publishers while modeling before, and they do look like this."
"It's not like I was saying it was a fake card or anything… well? Are you getting your novel published?"
I could no longer tolerate my sister's arrogant tone, so I changed the subject. Naruko didn't seem to mind at all.
"Well, that's the other thing. They want me to write a new book. He talked about a lot of things with me, but he advised me that as it is now, the novel didn't have enough of an emphasis on the target audience. So, I should write it with more focus on the people reading it. A story that's conscious of the audience would be more popular, right? And if I can write something good, they'll publish it."
"… So, are you intending to take them up on that offer?"
At this point, a bunch of concerns were going through my head.
"Yeah. I've already made it this far, so I'm going to try."
I got the feeling that any objection I raised would be meaningless at this stage… but let me just bring up a single point.
"You've already decided, so it's not like I can interfere much with your decision… but there's one thing that might water down your motivation… do you seriously have enough free time to be doing this?"
My sister was a track and field ace, an active teen magazine model, an honors student who had some of the top scores in the prefecture, and after her Comiket debut recently, was also an otaku. So, how exactly was she planning to free up enough time to do this as well? Both your club activities and work were going swimmingly, so things pile up and you're especially busy near the end of the year, aren't you?
Didn't you also say that the game you made a reservation for in Akihabara was coming out near the end of the year? And because it's you, you would definitely make sure you cleared that game, right?
… Geez, this idiot, at the present moment I already didn't know how she found time for everything she was doing… and then she's planning on adding writing a cell phone novel on top of all that… what exactly is she trying to do?
"Eh, I'll manage… it'll definitely get busy though…"
Naruko probably had similar concerns about finding enough time. She crossed her arm and lifted her lower lip, seeming to sink into thought. She raised a hand and began to mumbling things like "there's that, and this, and that…" while counting on her fingers. But that stopped before long, and she made a firm declaration.
"Well, I'll figure it out. After all, who do you think I am?"
"I suppose… well, just do what you want." I responded nonchalantly. I felt a tinge of pride from somewhere, but it must have been my imagination.
"Even if you didn't say it, I would do what I wanted. Oh right. Before long, I'm planning to take a trip to Shibuya to collect data. And you also coming with me."
Yeah yeah… whatever your command princess. It's not like saying anything to you would make a difference. Once she decided on something, nothing I said after that point would register.
(◕ω◕✿)
And time passed… and before long it was December 24th. Naruko forced me to go 'date' with her.
"Why do I have to come with my sister to Shibuya…?"
"Did you say something?"
"Tch, nothing." I responded curtly to my sister's menacing question.
Leaving the station, we walked towards the scramble crossing that faced the 109 building. Annoying preaching about God and this and that blared from speakerphones attached to a van.
The sky was tinged with the color of sunset. Night would probably fall soon. When that happened, the various lights set up around the city would turn on, and the place would probably look prettier.
Today, Naruko was also decked completely out in model fashion, and because she was in her natural element here, she completely fell in step with her surroundings. This was a place filled with people like Naruko.
The crowd in front of the station reminded me of Akihabara and Comiket, but the people walking around felt completely different in terms of how they looked and dressed. Everyone seemed excessively stylish, and the probability of passing by a good-looking guy or girl was remarkably high. It was to the point where my sister didn't really stand out from the crowd.
"There are going to be a lot of Christmas Eve scenes in the cell phone novel I'm planning to write, and I'm also on a deadline, so we had to come today to get Inspirations. I even had to turn down Ayase when she asked me to hang out with her. If it weren't for this, I would be going with Ayase to a Christmas party her office is holding."
Naruko went on and on and on and on… I feel like I'm being patronized here. I also would have gone to the Christmas party at Chiaki's house if I didn't have this plan. I had to declined Chiaki's mom invitation and come with you, so you should be thankful too.
"Hey, are you listening to me? Did you really hear what I just said?"
"Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah… I heard eeeeverything."
"… Hah, don't act so conceited. It's gross."
"I said I heard you! Are you listening to me?!"
Naruko and Ayase, Kuroneko and Rias, Weiss and Chiaki… why do all these girls never listen? I appreciate a certain redhead, glasses-wearing girl now more than ever, dammit.
"… Well? What Inspirations exactly are you trying to get?"
If all we're going to do is stroll around like this, then there's no reason I should be here. Thinking these thoughts, I looked at my sister, and saw that she was staring at a notebook and mumbling.
"Naruko?"
"I heard you. I'm figuring it out now, so be quiet… so, first off is…"
The notebook Naruko was staring at appeared to have an outline of the cell phone novel written on it (It seemed like the plot outline).
Naruko looked back and forth between the notebook and Shibuya, and pointed to the intersection in front of us. It was a famous intersection I had often seen in TV dramas. When the light turned green, a huge number of people crossed through the intersection.
"We'll start there."
"The Shibuya Scramble Intersection, huh…?"
I have no idea what kind of story she's planning on writing, but this place definitely fit her character pretty well.
"And, what are we going to do at the Scramble?"
"We're going to follow the events of the prologue in order. The protagonist, a high school girl, meets her boyfriend for a date on Christmas Eve."
"Huh?"
"As I said, we're going to follow the scene and simulate what the protagonist does in the story. If I personally experience it, I'll be able to write it more realistically."
"I see. So You'll be fulfilling the role of the protagonist, and I'll be her boyfriend."
"Reluctantly, yes, that's the case."
Finally, I understood the reason she brought me here. But seriously… when she set her mind on something, she gave it a hundred percent, didn't she…? To the point where she sacrificed her own Christmas… you're really giving it your all, geez. Take her track club for instance, or her studies, or her modeling work, or her eroge hobby… and now, her cell phone novels.
"Okay okay. Soo, what should we do first? Should we hold hands and cross or something…?"
"Well, first you can go get run over by that dump truck."
"You make minced meat out of the boyfriend from the very beginning!? What kind of gore-fest was this novel supposed to be?!"
"Yuck. Stop with the grotesque expressions. It's a pretty established strategy in a love story to shock the readers by starting off with a tragic event."
"Speaking as if you're a know-it-all… there's no way I'm going to do that!"
"Huh? Don't be selfish! I said we're going to do everything as it happens in the plot. If you don't try to do everything exactly, I won't be able to get any real experience from it."
"As I said, why the hell are you trying to get me to simulate the death of her boyfriend!? What kind of experience exactly do you think you can glean from your brother's corpse!?"
Hearing my shouting, Naruko raised one hand as if she were a psychometer helping the police.
"A clue to track down the killer?"
"You're the killer!" Also, do you seriously plan on killing off the boyfriend in the prologue? That seems like such a heavy story…
"For your information, cell phone novel readers want these kinds of plots."
Seriously…? Exactly where is her confidence flowing out from? To me, it seems more like the prologue to a horror novel…
"Well, whatever. It would be bothersome to quit after we've just begun. So I'll just snap a few photos here and that'll be it."
While she said that, she took a few photos of the intersection. Ohh, she seems to be doing things relatively professionally.
"Everything's okay here. Let's move on."
Next, we arrived at the 109 building. I saw that they had constructed a concert stage in front of the entrance, which reminded me that tonight was Christmas Eve. 109 is a building in which there were many clothing shops popular with younger girls. Naruko had explained what this building was to me just now.
The total area of each floor was not that large, but the building extended from two floors underground to eight floors in the air, and was naturally packed with Shibuya-style girls. This was the first time I had ever entered this building. Just watching the slender girls who looked a step away from being professional models along with the gaudily dressed girls walking around in groups was quite a sight in its own right. Oh also, there was a strangely sweet smell in the room, and when I thought about it, it was the same scent I had smelled in my sister's room.
"For now, let's go up on those escalators over there and look at some clothes."
"Yeah yeah."
Steeling myself, I took a step forwards. Then, we began to look at clothes while going up and up and up on the escalators.
"But seriously, this place is filled to the brim with quite… interesting clothes. Like, who in the world would wear this incredibly revealing, pervy miniskirt on this mannequin here?"
This place seemed to regularly sell clothing that would embarrass you if you wore them and were not incredibly good-looking. Clothing that you would expect to see on Marilyn Monroe or worn on singing programs. I guess celebrity performers might also shop here.
Going up one more set of escalators, we came upon a floor that sold cute clothes. The clothes sold on this floor seemed a bit more aimed at children, so even if normal girls wore these it probably wouldn't look strange. The price tags also seemed reasonable, and didn't really go past 5000 yen.
"Why are you looking at that mannequin so closely? Could it be you want to buy something? Like that."
"Well… I was just thinking how nothing in this building would look good on Karin or Chiaki…"
"Hmph, that's not really true. The clothes on this floor especially aren't that showy."
Having explored the building up to the eighth floor, we turned around and this time headed underground. We passed by floor B1 without stopping, and continued on to B2.
"So, are you getting Inspirations just by strolling around this building like this?"
"Sort of."
Walking heavily, Naruko led me to the accessory shop SAMANTHA McBEE located on the floor B2. Earrings and ring accessories sparkled on their displays. When I picked a few up to check the price, I saw that many of them were reasonably priced at around 2000-3000 yen. Perhaps because this place was geared towards the youth, there was a surprising number of cheaper goods that they had put together.
"Well? What kind of scene are you getting inspiratiom from here?"
"The date scene between her and her boyfriend." Naruko absentmindedly and bluntly mumbled her response.
"Her boyfriend? Didn't you already make minced meat of him?"
"Well obviously, it's a different boyfriend. This is a scene that happens a month after the original boyfriend dies."
Hm… hmmmmm… one month later, huh?
"What's with that look? You want to say something?"
"Nah… I was just thinking how she got a new boyfriend pretty quickly even though her old one had died…" And she's a junior high school student? What a bitch.
"That's normal, isn't it? You got a problem?"
"Yeah. Won't that just make the readers hate her? At the very least, I'm not a fan of this cold-hearted protagonist."
"You don't know anything, do you? That's how boys think. For me, I don't take it as cold-heartedness, but rather resilience in the face of misfortune."
"I guess that's a possibility."
I didn't pursue the issue any further. After all, I couldn't even begin to understand how this girl thought. It's Naruko's book, so she can do what she wants with it.
"So, for that reason, buy me an accessory."
"Huh? What? What did you say?"
Doubting my ears, I asked Naruko to repeat herself, prompting her to click her tongue.
"This is the scene in which she gets an accessory from her boyfriend, so buy an accessory for me."
"W-What kind of trickery was this!? You just been using this as an excuse for getting money out of me!
"What? What is this? Could it be you can't even do that much? I can't believe it. This throws all our plans off track."
Now she's just saying whatever the hell she wants… to an outside observer, wouldn't I look just like a poor boy who couldn't even buy a present for his girlfriend on Christmas Eve? Dammit… people are glaring at me… I feel like I'm lying on a bed of needles here…
"Tch, fine! Which one do you want me to buy?" I had no choice but to concede.
"The truth is, I already picked something out the last time I came here… I want a Christmas limited-edition silver ring and accessory set. Here, look, isn't this suuuuper cute?"
Naruko seemed to have already picked something out, and wasted no time in pointing out a showcase to me. Well, if that it, I can probably manage.
"Excuse me!"
I called the female shopkeeper over and ask her the Price.
"T-Thirty thousand yen!?"
Dammit, I thought the price only three thousand yen. U-Ugh… with an exceedingly cool expression, I wiped the cold sweat off my forehead… with an exceedingly cool expression, I wiped the cold sweat off my forehead.
"N-Naruko-chan, Onii-san doesn't have more than 18000 yen right now. Can you lend me some money?"
When I turned around, my sister had disappeared. Dammit! That brat! She probably scented danger in the middle of my sentence and ran away!
"Ahaha, sorry, it turns out I didn't need anything! Hahaha!" Giving the approaching shopkeeper a shameful smile, I hurriedly left that place behind.
"Ugh, I can't believe you! Why didn't you have enough money!? Isn't that impossible!?"
"Shut up! Isn't it your fault in the first place for trying to get me to buy you something idiotically expensive!?"
Naruko and I argued as we left the 109 building. It was probably my imagination that I could hear an occasional chuckle from the people we passed by. At least, that's what I wanted to believe.
"Hah… geez… how could you do that? I'm so embarrassed! I can't ever go back to that shop now! And I couldn't get any Inspiration for the scene where the boyfriend gifts the protagonist an accessory…"
Naruko 's lips thinned and she pouted. Her expression was certainly cute, but I'm not buying it. She's definitely cursing me off on the inside.
"Just calm down and think. In the first place, I'm a normal high school student, so there's no reason I would be walking around with that kind of money. Isn't the protagonist's boyfriend the same way?"
"No. He's already employed at a company, so he has plenty of money. Hmph, if I made him a poor punk like you are, at that point all my readers would stop reading."
"Huh? Wait just a second, Naruko."
"What?"
"He's employed at a company and he's going out with a junior high schooler!?"
"Yeah, so? He's the young president of a start-up company."
He's definitely an pedophile asshole! He's definitely a good-for-nothing! I wanted to shout that out loud, but finding fault with her directly would probably piss her off, so I tried to raise my objections in a more roundabout way.
"Isn't it… a bit risky to have the main character dating a company man?"
"What are you talking about, this kind of setup is normal. It's a setup that's relatively common, in fact."
Seriously? It was like that? Ugh… sorry, but I can't even begin to comprehend what counts as "normal" to you. Although, I've heard that lately, shoujo manga has been getting pretty extreme… perhaps she could deduce my fears from my facial expression, but Naruko began to explain her rationale.
"I'll teach you then. Girls like me are particularly weak to setups where the girl is dating an handsome looking-rich man. So all the boys at the same school seem like idiot to us. We would rather go out with a monkey at the zoo than with one of them."
I sympathized with the boys in her class that had probably developed a crush on her. But certainly, for boys having her as a girlfriend would be a lot of work. If there was a person who would go out with her, he would have to have the patience of a Buddhist monk or be a complete masochist.
"But seriously, what should I do… because of you, now I can't write the scene where the protagonist gets a gift from her boyfriend at Marukyuu…"
Naruko mumbled complaints while writing with her ballpoint pen in her notebook. She was probably changing the plot.
"Ah, alright. Let's make the scene like what happened… the boyfriend didn't have money and couldn't buy her the present."
"Didn't have money… you mean he dropped his wallet or something?"
"No, I'm not writing anything that clich´ed. The scene now is a date scene with a different, poor boyfriend."
"Poor… different boyfriend…? Where did the idiot handsome company man run off to?"
Naruko explained the fate of the idiot handsome company man.
"His affair with a junior high school student was leaked to his wife and company and he fell into ruin."
"He was having an affair!?"
This man was the worst! Would anybody even care if he was killed!?
"And after everything descends into chaos, in the end he returns to the wife he loves. Having been cruelly tossed to the side, the protagonist is severely hurt… and loses her faith in men… isn't that so sad?"
Not at all? It's the protagonist's own damn fault. In fact, the one who drew the shortest stick in all of this was probably the wife. The wife was just too kind. She really shouldn't forgive him. Mino Monta would definitely say that as well. If her husband was fooling around with a junior high schooler, the normal thing to do would be to divorce him and take his money in the settlement. My heart was completely frozen, but Naruko didn't seem to notice and continued her explanation.
"And then? What happened to this terribly hurt protagonist? She self-destructs and joins a prostitution group. Compensated dating."
"What a damn bitch…"
I couldn't keep it in anymore and voiced my real opinion. And who can blame me in this situation?
"What the hell did you just say!?"
"Nothing!"
Faced with my sister's glare and bared fangs, I put on an innocent smile. Naruko seemed satisfied with that, and made this announcement while staring at me.
"And then, from the next scene on she gets a new boyfriend."
"She just keeps getting new ones huh… by the way, does this new boyfriend die or fall into ruin as well?"
"Nooo. She stays with him to the end. After all, the theme in this novel is pure love."
"… Pure love?" What is she saying? I cocked my head to the side, confused.
"Yes, pure love!" Naruko puffed out her chest, full of confidence. She had absolutely no doubts with regards to the words she just spurted out.
If I examined the situation closely, it seems that to her, the character who goes through so many boyfriends, is involved in an adultery scandal, goes into prostitution, and then remains faithful to the last boyfriend counts as "pure love. Wasn't she just mixing up "pure love" with "dirty love"?
(◕ω◕✿)
Having finished in the 109 building, we entered Shibuya's center street.
As we came near to the Sakuraya, Naruko spoke, "I'm a regular at that shop over there. The things they sell are cheap and relatively fashionable, so it's a good shop to use when a high school boy wants to give his girlfriend a gift."
"You… you're hell bent on getting me to buy you something, aren't you…?"
"Isn't that obvious? This time, the poor boyfriend doesn't have much money, but for all that he's incredibly perceptive and has good sense. So he says 'sorry I can't buy you something expensive' and brings the protagonist to his regular shop. Hehe, don't you think that's pretty cool?" Naruko proudly talked about the boyfriend that she herself had made up.
"Well, sorry I can't buy you something expensive."
"Shut up!"
In the end, even though she complained all the way, she still made me buy her a 10,000 yen pair of earrings! When we exited the shop, it had already gotten dark. As expected from the middle of winter, the nights were incredibly cold.
The breath of the people we passed by solidified into white mist even above their face masks. We walked straight through the center street. Turning left at the appropriate corner, we exited onto the main street. Facing directly right, we walked for a while, until we could finally see the Don Quixote and the Tokyu.
Naruko pointed straight ahead.
"The next scene happens there. This scene happens well into the second half of the book… but we're already here, so let's just doing it now."
"Alright. So, what do we do next?" And I'm in a lazy mood to further investigate.
"First, I'm going to face the Tokyu and start running, alright?"
"Alright."
"Next, because it's a red light, naturally there's going to be a car headed for me while I cross the street, right?"
"Alright…"
"So then, you run over and protect me and get hit in my place."
"Your boyfriends really have a tendency to get hit by cars!"
"You don't really have to get hit by a car. After you push me out of the way, it's also fine if you make a magnificent leap and dodge the car."
"Like hell I'm going to do those acrobatics!"
"By the way, after that he gets amnesia."
"Geez, these clich´es are just piling up to the sky in this cell phone novel, aren't they!?"
Actually, if she piles on the clich´es that thoroughly, her novel might actually seem original! As I recovered from my shortness of breath, brought on by retorting to her in rapid succession, Naruko shrugged her shoulders and sighed.
"Hah… you've been acting so selfishly for a while… do you actually want to help me or not?"
"I want to help you but I don't want to die! But hey, what kind of story is this in the first place? Is this type of scene really necessary? Let me see that notebook for a second."
"… Fine, I don't mind."
As if showing me the story she wrote as a bit embarrassing, Naruko faintly blushed. I took the notebook and gazed at the plot that was written across several pages.
"Hmm… what's this?"
Characters Protagonist. Name is Ruko. High school student, first year. Reasonably cute. Around half as cute as I am.
Around half as cute as I am!? What a self-aggrandizing memo… she used her own cuteness as a standard with which she made the characters…? And what's more…
"Ruko… don't tell me you parodied your own name to make the name of the main character."
"Is that wrong? To some extent, if I can empathize with the main character it's easier to write, so that's what I did?"
"It's not wrong, but few monts ago you read Kuroneko's doujinshi and said it was gross that she projected herself onto the main character, didn't you? So now look who's talking?"
"Well, I'm doing it this time, so it's fine."
No hesitation at all with that answer! Just look, this is what my sister is like!
The setup for this protagonist Ruko or whatever continued as follows: Very pure personality. Love is very important to her, and she is easily hurt. She has a super cute little sister.
Hm? She wasn't a bitch? And she had a very pure personality? Geez, I seriously don't get how she thinks at all… and she had a super cute little sister? That's just the author blatantly inserting her own hobbies into the work, wasn't it? The little sister's name is "Chino-chan." And what's more, the little sister's inspiration came from an eroge.
Boyfriend 1. His name is Kanji. He suddenly dies after being hit by a dump truck. He's a rough type, but occasionally has a nice side. *This is his first time dating a girl, so he isn't sure what to do. - Isn't that cute?
Boyfriend 2. Name is Akihiko. Thirty-two years old. Young president of a start- up company. Actually already has a wife and children. His adultery is exposed to his wife and his company, and he throws the protagonist away. His social life falls into ruin. Maybe he kills himself ? He's very good at ecchi things. Suit moe type. He treats dating the protagonist like a game, but occasionally can get serious. Has the air of an adult male. Isn't it cool that the protagonist can manipulate a man like that? Occasionally can get serious. - I can't see that as anything short of Asshole.
I can't take this… what the hell is up with these males. And also, was it just me or were all the people she went out with dropping like flies? This went way beyond just being an unlucky sequence of events.
Boyfriend 3. Name is Rito. Last person Ruko gets involved with. Normal-looking. Blonde hair. High school, first year. He always spends all his time on his band. He's the bassist in the band. He can also sing. Grades are Average in his class. Incredibly kind and prone to worrying. He loves the protagonist, but does not want to admit it. He tries his very best at everything, and doesn't give up even in the face of great adversity.
I read the descriptions to the end, scowling the entire way. Following the character descriptions, the story was outlined in bullet point form. In the prologue the first boyfriend gets hit by the truck, and then she gets caught up with and thrown away by the asshole company president, and then she self-destructs and gets involved with compensated dating… well, it matched well with the data we had been collecting. And if you ask what happens after that, after she hit rock bottom, she meets with a new person. This Rito or whatever. That person is very kind, he scolds Ruko about her compensated dating habits and gets her to stop, and goes out of his way in various ways to help her out.
Of course, at that point Ruko had lost her faith in men, so at first she doesn't trust Rito. Rather, initially she just shouts terrible things at him and tries to distance herself from him. But Rito persevered and continued to stick with her. Because her previous boyfriends had all died or fallen into ruin, rumors were circulating that Ruko was jinxed, but he didn't mind those rumors at all. He treats her with care and gives her advice, and marches into the places where the rumors have been circulating and gets seriously angry about it in her place.
… This is ridiculous. I'll be damned if such a convenient guy exists for a girl like that! Also, as I read this Rito character description for some reason I began to get incredibly annoyed. I wonder why…
Having her heart finally opened, Ruko begins to date Rito and stops her involvement with compensated dating, beginning on an honest path. Even so, one day, Rito gets hit by a truck and loses his memories. He gets that way by protecting Ruko, and even then, he falls in love with Ruko once again. Having lost his precious memories, Rito continues on with Ruko.
And then, one day, Ruko gets raped. Even so, Rito still loves Ruko, comforts her, and supports her. And then, one day, Rito gets leukemia. Because he is hospitalized, Ruko becomes very lonely and has an affair. Rito's close friend, Ryo, seduces her. He has always liked Ruko, and because Rito has been reduced to this state, he thinks that she can make him happy instead. - This love triangle creates drama.
… What a cruel story. It was seriously a cruel story. This is getting difficult to read. What kind of cruel fate has been put on Rito's shoulders?
Hearing about his good friend's betrayal, Rito tries to back out of the relationship himself. But in the end Ruko loves Rito, and doesn't care that he's sick, and tells him she wants to be by his side.
"Hey, Naruko, have you decided on a title yet?"
"I haven't yet… but the words 'Little Sister' will definitely be in it."
"The little sister is only in the character descriptions and hasn't shown up even a bit in the story!"
"After this, she'll appear as a super important character!"
Geez, wouldn't a more appropriate title be "The Girl Who Invites Disaster" or something? She clearly invited death and misfortune, this Ruko-san. And every single damn character just acted so purely in the moment without any planning whatsoever.
Hah… at this rate, I really wonder what kind of bad ending awaits…
Ruko and Rito wept together. They decided to spend what little time they had left together. And in the end The boyfriend dies? No matter how I looked at it, this was a pretty gloomy…
At the last second, the power of love cures Rito of all illness. Happy ending.
"You've got to be kidding me!" I almost did a spit take.
"Huh? You got a problem with the plot I worked out?"
"Agh… it's this last line! Even if I give you the benefit of the doubt and ignore the story so far, no matter what that last line is just impossible! You just thought it was too hard to write a proper ending so you gave up, didn't you!? At least think the plot through to the end!"
"I did think about it! You have no idea what you're talking about. Lately, readers really want happy endings!"
"Even so…! I'm used to write a story for Mom article and I know this is bad!"
"It'll definitely be alright! You just think like that because you're reading the outline! Once everything's written out it'll be fine! I mean, this type of ending happens in a lot of famous eroge! Having the poor heroine on the brink of death, but then reviving her in a flash of light is a staple pattern of emotional eroge! I was just applying that technique to cell phone novels! Do you understand?!"
"This not eroge!"
Dammit, where the hell is this confidence coming from!? Whatever, just do what you want! Now I understand perfectly what Kuroneko meant when she told me she wanted to kill you!
While our argument was unfolding, we continued to walk, passing by the side of the Tokyu and headed in the direction of Maruyama-cho. We turned off the main street into an alley-way, and our surroundings gradually became more and more shady.
Basically, around there the walls began to become specked with obscene graffiti, and suspicious looking hotels also began to pop up… where exactly were we headed? At that moment, I heard a voice in front of me. "Would those with reference number up to B100 please proceed inside in order!" Now that I looked at it, there were quite a few long lines set up here.
Nice quiet residential district next to Shibuya. Lots of good small restaurants. I was reminded of Comiket for a moment, but there's no way something like that would be happening in Shibuya. Hmmm… It seemed that the line in front of me was for a live music concert of band called "Melancholy Wolf". Wait, Melancholy Wolf? Isn't that Kakashi-san's band that Chaiki told me. Man, I didn't expect that pervert shopkeeper had live performence here.
"… Alright, for the time being, I'll agree that… you thought out the plot to the very end."
But… could I just ask one question? There's just one thing that's been really bothering me.
"… Naruko… this guy… Rito? About him…"
"What?"
"Why does he go so far for this damn woman?" I couldn't think of any other reason than plain masochism.
"Well, that's…"
Naruko seemed to want to respond instantly, but stopped right on the edge of making her answer for some reason. For a while, she sunk deep into thought and searched for the right words… and finally said…
"… Because he loves her, right?"
"Huh?"
Dammit. What the hell is she saying!?
(◕ω◕✿)
Having walked in the direction of Maruyama-cho, we ducked into a live music concert and watched "Melancholy Wolf" live performance.
I really suprise that Naruko was fan of Kakashi-san's band, It seemed that Naruko really wanted to base the band that Rito and his friend made in the story off of them, so she closely watched the performance, burning the experience into her memory.
I guess part of the reason Naruko invited me on this trip on Christmas Eve especially was to see this band's Christmas performance. The live performance ended, and we were exiting the building.
"Alright."
Naruko seemed to have thought of something, and ran towards a convenience store on the other side of the street.
"What's up with her?"
As I watched her with my hands thrust into my pockets, I saw my sister return clutching two water-filled buckets. With a heave-ho, heave-ho, she slowly walked back to my location. It seems that they were buckets she had borrowed from the shopkeeper…
"Hey Naruko… what exactly do you plan on doing with those things?"
She's not going to go and sprinkle the streets over there, right…?
"Don't tell me you're going to throw all that water on me…"
"Why would I do that?"
I see… I see… as expected, even she wouldn't do something as cruel as that. And then… Splash! I heard the sound of water reverberated through the air.
"Wha-"
The origin of the sound of water was…
"What the hell are you doing!?"
I was completely taken aback, and my eyes opened wide in astonishment as I shouted. Right in front of me, I saw the soaked form of my sister. Her hair clung to her face, and her wet clothes dripped with cold water. It was a tragic sight to behold. The water sound that I heard before was Naruko dumping the buckets full of water on herself.
"…"
Completely soaked, Naruko seemed to completely ignore my words and the stares people were sending her way.
"… Haah… haah…"
She settled into the fetal position, with her arms hugging her knees, and began to shiver. Her breath solidified into a pure white in front of her. It was the late of December. The sun had gone down, and the temperature had precipitously dropped. And that water must have been freezing…!
All the guests were also shocked at Naruko's strange action. I have no idea what she was doing! What the hell is she trying to achieve here!? My thoughts had been thrown completely into chaos.
"You big idiot! I'm going to go bring a towel, so-"
"Don't."
"What!?"
Turning around, I showed my teeth, not even trying to hide my irritation. Of course, I had been surprised at my sister's actions, but my anger came before that. I had no idea what reason she had for doing what she did, but she really shouldn't do such stupid things in front of her brother. And what's more, this idiot sister responded like that while she shivered there on the ground… so I was surprised.
"… I-I still don't know what the protagonist was feeling… so just wait a second."
"Don't screw with me! Are you an idiot!?" I shouted on reflex.
Even now, I couldn't make head or tails of what my sister was saying. What? What did you say…? You don't understand what the protagonist was feeling…?
"What are you talking about?!"
"You're completely soaked and shivering! I have no idea what you mean! Your breath is condensing into such a pure white too… just stop what you're doing right now!"
I can't watch this! Geez…
"… On Christmas Eve, Ruko gets soaked by the rain and waits for her boyfriend even though she knows he won't come… that kind of scene exists… so… "
"Shut up! Come on! Just put this on!"
I took off the jacket I had on, and forcibly draped it onto my sister as she sat there next, I glared at the people around us, trying to chase away the curious onlookers. Fortunately, faced with my serious anger, the onlookers checked themselves and the strange stares and sneers directed at Naruko somewhat lessened in intensity.
"And then a towel… umm…"
Rushing into the convenience store, I quickly bought a towel and returned. And then, I put the towel to my sister's face as she sat there silently looking downwards, wiping her face fanatically.
"W-Wait… don't touch me in weird places…!"
"I'm wiping you off, dammit!"
I can't believe she doesn't let up her abusive mouth even in a situation like this. Also… what should I do? Her wet clothes are sucking up her body warmth more than I envisioned, and she'll catch a cold at this rate… was there a public bath house around here somewhere?
Completely flustered, I tried to work out a plan, when Naruko began to tug at my sleeve. She called out to me with her face pale.
"I-It's cold…"
"No kidding! You idiot, you were the one who poured water over yourself, so why are you saying that all of a sudden!? You complete dumbass! You didn't think about the consequences of your actions at all, did you!? No matter how serious you say you are, there are just lines you do not cross!"
She even ruined the outfit she had so carefully chosen for today…
"T-The scene where Ruko and Rito first meet… she was sitting after being soaked in the rain… and was found by Rito after he finish with his concert… I thought a scene like that would be interesting…"
"… Tch."
She had told me to get hit by a dump truck, and to get amnesia, and those kinds of absurd things… but she really might have been serious when she said all of that. I mean, she's straining herself and doing such unreasonable things to her own body…
In a way, being able to go so far to pursue her goals… that was pretty damn impressive. But I still can't comprehend why she did what she did. I mean, I can't help but be put off by her actions. I mean, honestly, it was a pretty unpleasant situation.
"Hey…?"
"Hm? I'm thinking about what to do from here, so just wait for a se-… what?"
"T-The next place for Inspirations… is over there."
"You still want to do that even now…?"
Naruko's voice was firm and she pointed somewhere, and dumbfounded, I turned in the direction she was pointing…
"What the hell!?"
Completely shocked, I bit my tongue. Looking up at the blue building Naruko was pointing at, I began to tremble … I think people familiar with these parts already know, but the area around here was the so-called "Love Hotel City."
"A-Are you an idiot!? Why does a brother and his sister have to go into a place like that!?"
"D-Don't shout out that we're brother and sister like that! … Achoo! After Rito finds Ruko drenched in the rain, it's natural that they would go to a love hotel, right? B-Because, besides, there's no other place she can take a shower… Achoo!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I should have never come here! I should have never come to Shibuya with you!"
(◕ω◕✿)
"… Well, I'm going to go shower… you better not peek."
"Who the hell would peek? Just go shower."
"Hmph." She snorted, and disappeared into the shower room. I also snorted, and sat down heavily onto the double bed.
"… Haah…" Flustered, I sighed and looked around the room nervously. It was a small room around with around 8 tatami of space. More than half the space was taken up by this big double bed. The ceiling lights were turned on, but even then the room was quite dim.
"…"
Click. Flipping the switch near my pillow, the lights right above the bed also turned on, and it became a bit brighter. But it still wasn't completely bright.I heard the sound of the shower going in the other room. The smell of soap began to gently fill the air.
Naruko probably had not noticed yet… but I could see her silhouette from this side of the frosted glass. This lighting and the frosted glass… it was all probably meant to build up a lustful atmosphere.
"…"
Whoosh. The minute I discovered the secret of the frosted glass, I quickly averted my gaze. Completely against my will, my feet started tapping on the floor nervously.
"… What exactly am I getting nervous about?"
This is bad, isn't it? This is really bad. Hey, hey, calm down, Naruto, it's just your sister.
"I know that… I know that but…"
My feet began to tap even more heavily. I could feel my face heating up. Not being able to tolerate my restlessness any more, I looked for something that would distract my attention.
I found a remote control near my pillow. Pushing the power button, I saw the LCD television in the corner of the room turn on. However…
"C-Crap…!"
I quickly turned the television off. Why the hell was there an porn video on!? I hurriedly glanced at the shower room, but luckily it seemed Naruko had not heard anything.
Phew… I rubbed my chest in relief. If I had really watched an adult video while my sister was taking a shower, I have no idea what she would say to me. That was close… although… yeah, I suppose this was a hotel in which people did that kind of thing. So, why exactly was I here with my sister…?
"Arghhhhhh what should I doooo…?"
Frustrated, I scratched at my chest. I could feel my heartbeat throbbing. To think I would get involved in a mess like this and come to a place like this with my sister…
Steam slowly leaked out into the bedroom from the ever-continuing shower. Accompanied by the sweet fragrance of the soap…
"Haah… geez… I'm beat…"
How far did she want to go to collect data? If I thought about this situation calmly, this definitely isn't normal, right? Also, just wait a second. In the cell phone novel she's writing, after the protagonist gets out of the shower… there's no way… nothing would happen… and they'd just check out, right? If she wants to do a simulation… uhh… exactly how far is she planning to take it?
"… Uwaaaaah."
I just imagined something disgusting. Really damn disgusting… but there's no reason that would happen, right!? That's insane! As I listened to the sound of flowing water in the next room, I was seized by a sense of discomfort I could not express.
How long is she planning to shower!? Hurry up and finish, you dumbass! And then, I heard my phone go off. The cell phone in my back pocket began to vibrate.
That surprised me. Who's it from? When I looked at the LCD screen, I saw "Karin" displayed. Feeling just as if a saving hand had been extended to me, I picked up the phone.
"Hey. What's up?"
"Ah, Naruto? You picked up, thank goodness…"
"Hm? You sound like you have been trying to call me for a while or something."
"Y-Yeah… sorry for being so persistent."
"I don't mind. I'm sorry for not realizing you were calling me. Well, what did you need?"
"A-Ahh… that is… around what time… do you think you'll be back?"
"I have no idea, but I'll probably be back by nine-thirty."
My parents are probably wondering where we went out to after all. Although now that I think about it, today Mom probably asked Dad out on a Christmas date, so today was the only day in the year where we'd probably be fine even if we broke curfew. If that wasn't true, I don't think she would be spending her Christmas Eve with the older brother she hates so much.
"A-Ahh…"
"What's wrong?"
"I-I… I made you a cake…so maybe… if you could… if you could drop by after your plans are over… that would make me happy."
Her voice gradually became harder and harder to hear.
"Ah, I see. If I have time I'll stop by then."
"T-Thank you."
Why in the world are you the one thanking me? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Karin continued to hesitate with a number of "Umm"s, and then asked the following:
"N-Naruto… c-could it be… right now… you're with a girl…?"
"…"
Ah, I see. So she's made some weird misunderstanding then. Although geez, it took me a while to figure that out, didn't it! Was this the reason Karin had been acting strange before as well!? Uwaah, not good… h-how should I answer her? I mean, there's no way I can just answer truthfully and go "Ahhh, well I'm here in Shibuya with my sister at a love hotel." If I did that, before I could explain the situation to her she would just make a more terrible misunderstanding… ugh, this isn't good.
"W-Why aren't you answering?"
Oh crap. If I keep silent, she's going to jump to some weird conclusion all by herself… I guess I have no choice. I'll just leave out the parts that she might misunderstand and tell her the truth.
"Nah, I'm with my sister."
"Naruko?"
"Yeah."
"So, soo tonight you're on a Christmas date with Naruko?"
I really don't want you to put it like that, though. But if I think about it, that's pretty much what we're doing.
"It's not really a date… we just went shopping for some things."
"Well, that's a date, isn't it?"
Shut up. I don't care what you say, it's not like that.
"But, I understand. If that's the case, make sure to have lots of fun with her."
Karin seemed to have readily accepted the situation. I let out a relieved sigh.
Graaa~
"Phew… after that shower I finally feel refreshed. It's waaarm. Hey, in love hotel bathrooms, the lights are rainbow colored! I never knew that before!"
You idiot! What the hell are you saying, and what the hell is up with this Godawful timing!?
"N-Na-NaNa-Naruto…? Where are you right now with Naruko…?"
"Oh no, I think the signal's going, I can't hear you…!"
Click. I cut off the phone call and turned the phone off.
Crap, does she suspect something now…? She seemed to have figured out the situation… and not being able to think up an excuse, I had immediately cut off the call…
Haah… I'm so beat… how the hell am I supposed to clear up the misunderstanding that happened just now…!?
This is bad. No matter how I think about it. What kind of brother goes with his real sister to a love hotel on Christmas Eve? And also, I really was at a love hotel with my sister, so it's not like it was really a misunderstanding!
Dammiiiiiiiiiiiit…! I cradled my head in my hands in agony, when I heard Naruko's voice.
"What? Who were you on the phone with?"
"Shut up! Everything is your fault! What the hell!? Now Karin thinks I'm doing something terrible! Everything's over, dammit!"
"What do you mean 'what the hell'…? I don't have any idea what you're talking about…"
As the smell of soap came off of Naruko, she spoke.
"Why don't you just quick load and choose another option?"
"This isn't an eroge dammit!"
If only I could do something like that…! And then…
"W-What the hell are you wearing…?"
The minute I lifted my head up, I stiffened. My sister was standing there in nothing but a bathrobe!
"Hentai. Don't look at me that way. It's not like I have a choice, since my clothes are not dry yet. Stop looking at me so blankly and go the hairdryer or something to dry my clothes."
"Shut up!"
"Hmph. Don't tell me that you were getting aroused seeing your sister in a bathrobe? This is why siscons are so… ugh, gross gross."
"You're the only person I don't want to hear that from!" And I meant that in two different ways!
My retort went in one ear and out the other, and Naruko quickly turned the other way. And then, my sister, still only clothed in the bathrobe, began to wander around the middle of the room. She opened and closed the surrounding drawers, and flipped through some of the pamphlets on the desk… she then took out her cell phone and began to play with it. Occasionally, I heard the sound of a camera shutter, so it seems that she was taking photos.
"W-What are you doing?"
"Taking some inspirations."
While Naruko continued to wander around the room taking notes, she opened one of the pamphlets in the room.
"About the storyline for the novel… remember how I said it seemed like there would need to be a prostitution scene?"
"… Y-Yeah… so?"
"Could you call this prostitute line for me? For the Inspiration of course."
"Don't make me smack you!"
Dammit. My sister always goes way beyond anything I could possibly imagine…! Of course, I never called that number.
After that, we exited the love hotel and walked towards the station through the nighttime streets. And like that, our "date" came to an end. On the train back, my sister immersed herself in thought, mumbling all the while. She might have been quickly trying to work out the plan for her novel. I guess she was fine with how things turned out? I have no idea.
And the next day was Christmas. Naruko seemed to have already quickly begun to work on her cell phone novel. And then… after the closing ceremonies at school, winter break arrived.
.
.
.