A/N: I don't know much about getting an apartment in Japan, but I've read that it can be quite difficult, even if you have money.

I woke up some time later. With the lights off and the curtains closed, it was hard to tell what time it was, but I got the impression that I had slept a long time and it was now around 5am. I felt groggy, but very warm and satisfied from the afterglow of the sex. I tried not to think too much what that might mean to our relationship, or all the bad stuff that had happened before that.

Kirino was next to me (I had moved off her of her during the night), still asleep. She was also still naked. Her body was mostly covered by the bed sheets, but I could see some of her breasts, rising and falling with her breath.

She was so beautiful, so fresh and healthy and sexy that it made my heart stop. I remembered what we had just done, what she felt like and smelt like as I touched her everywhere. Well, to put it bluntly, I got excited again. But that was OK, right? She was my girlfriend now, and we had just done it- doesn't that mean that she'd let me do it again as much as I want? Or do we start over again at level one, needing to earn affection points again?

I didn't have any real life experience with this to draw on. In eroge, it could go both ways. Sometimes the girl would even start to hate you after you had sex, so you'd have to work hard just get her affection back to normal! I really hoped that Kirino wouldn't be like that.

I decided to test things a little. I reached out and gently brushed the hair off of her cheek. Then I kissed her there. She slowly opened her beautiful blue eyes. And she smiled. Success!

But then her normal tsundere returned.

"Don't stare at me with those perverted eyes!" She snapped.

"Huh? My eyes aren't perverted. I was just thinking how beautiful you are."

"Eh? Well... I am beautiful... but still. It's obvious what you were thinking."

"So what? We just did it. Why can't I think about it?"

"Because... you just can't, OK! ... I need some time to think about this and settle my emotions."

I felt sympathy for her, but I was also still very horny. So I pushed a little more. "Maybe you'll feel better if you just enjoy it and don't think too much," I said, and I moved to kiss her again. For just a second, I felt her lips on mine. But I moved my body against hers, and she felt my crotch pressing into her.

"Hentai!" She screamed. "Stop! This is too much!"

"Doing this much is fine, since we're in a relationship, isn't it?"

"No, this is just sexual harassment! And besides... we shouldn't have gone all the way like that."

My heart sank, at hearing that. "Why not?" I asked. Hadn't she felt the same as me?

"Because I'm not protected you BAKA! I could get PREGNANT! And, you know, we're siblings... that would be really bad."

Shit! In my rush of emotions, I hadn't thought about that at all! I had just followed by instincts like a stupid animal.

"Should I uh... buy some condoms?" I asked lamely.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you? I need to get tested!" She paused and then added softly "Then... maybe. Anyway, I need to go take a shower, so look away while I get up."

I felt like crying. Not only was she not letting me have sex with her, and there was a chance of a really bad pregnancy, but now she wouldn't even let me look at her? But I did as she asked. Except for taking one quick peek at her butt as she got out of bed.

As she showered, I tried to calm my emotions and think logically. I knew that Kirino was like this- she had always been a whirlwind of emotions. So I knew that she still loved me, even if she didn't want to admit it. One unprotected sex PROBABLY wouldn't make her pregnant, right? We would soon sort out the physical issues between us, and then we could do it as much as we wanted. Yeah!

Unfortunately, there were other issues too, as I tried to remind of myself with the more logical part of my brain. We couldn't stay in this hotel room forever. We needed to figure out a long-term place to stay. And then, somehow, get our friends and parents to accept our relationship, or at least get our dad to not kill me on sight.

"Right!" I said. "We can't just live in a hotel forever. Time to get an apartment!"

"An apartment of our own? I feel so grown-up..."

"Don't you think what we just did makes you more of a grown-up than getting an apartment?"

"..shut up!"

First we went out to eat breakfast (at another cheap family restaurant, which was the only thing open nearby). Then we went to some real estate offices. Unfortunately... there we hit a snag. We met with a bald, middle-aged real estate agent who treated us both like children.

"So... your name is Kousaka-kun? And this is your sister, Kirino-chan?"

"Please call me Kousaka-san. I'm 18."

"Right... Kousaka-san. I guess your ID does say 18." (he seemed skeptical) "But do you have a job?"

"Uh, no. I'm still a student. But my sister has a very high income as a model."

"Yeah!" She gloated "I'm a top model! I'll be the one paying, so just leave it to me!"

The real estate agent frowned. "That may be but... I can't allow a minor to sign a lease. Do either of you have anyone who could co-sign for you? What about your parents?"

We looked at each other. I answered simply "I'm afraid not."

"Well, either you, Kyousuke, need to get a steady job, or you'll need an adult to co-sign. Now get out of here and stop wasting my time!"

Humiliated, we left, and started arguing in the street outside.

"Ah, why are you so useless!" Kirino screamed at me. "How come you don't even have a job!"

"Give me a break, I'm only 18! I just started college!"

"That's no excuse! I started modeling when I was 12! And one of my characters was already a company executive by 18!"

"Don't care me to some fictional character! Or to you! Don't worry, we'll find a way!"

"How!?" Kirino cried. "What are we going to do? Stay in hotels until I'm 18?"

"Don't worry. I know exactly what to do." I answered as confidently as I could. "We'll do what we always do."

"Which is?"

"Ask for help from our friends!"

As I thought about it, there was one other person who had always helped us. She was an oddball, but she was also smart and had a good heart. It didn't hurt that she was rich, too.

And so, some time later, we arrived at Saori's house.