Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]
Disclaimer: I don't own Date a Live but if I did, there will be MAJOR CHANGES.
Being a member of the Swimming Club in Raizen High School wasn't something to be taken lightly, and Itsuka Shidou learned that the hard way today.
One would normally think that such a club only focuses on swimming and getting the body wet, but it was far from that.
The school year hasn't officially begun, and yet Shidou felt like he just went through a hectic school day.
"I'm homeeee…"
"Welcome home, Onii-chan!" a young girl with red hair tied into twin-tails by white ribbons appeared before him with a smile. "How was your— eh? Why do you look so worn out and tired…?"
Itsuka Kotori sent a look of concern towards her brother, who acknowledged her with a smile of his own.
"It was my turn to clean the pool today."
Members of the Swimming Club like him aren't expected to solely train and be better in the sport.
It's not just about jumping into the pool and zooming through the water as fast as possible.
It was also their responsibility to clean the school's swimming pool after being used by the club to lessen the workload of the janitors working there.
Today was his unlucky day, because he was one of the students who's assigned to cleaning duty this time.
While he was expecting this day to come one way or another, it didn't make things less-than-stellar.
"Seriously? That's pretty lame, Onii-chan. You can clean the house on your own just fine," she sweat-dropped.
"That wasn't the problem. The problem is dealing with a 75 x 25 swimming pool all on my own. Do you see where I'm coming from?"
Kotori considered his words in her mind for a moment, before nodding in understanding.
"Yeah, I get it now. That's tough luck for you, Onii-chan."
"Wanna know the actual worst part?" he asked rhetorically, stepping into the residence where he crashed at the couch. "Tonomachi was supposed to help me out, but the bastard bailed out on me before I could realize that he was gone."
"Honestly, my Onii-chan… you need friends in your life," Kotori sighed before palming her face out of sympathy for him.
"Why are you suddenly implying that I'm a complete loner who doesn't want to be bothered by other people?"
"I meant that you could use a lot more friends than the three guys I normally see you with. If you're complaining about the friends you have now, then just look for new ones."
"Hmm… nope," Shidou shook his head before donning a more serious expression. "I don't really need more friends. The guys can be a pain in the neck sometimes, but they're dependable when it matters."
Kotori shrugged in response, walking up to the couch where she stood behind him. At least she tried to help by offering her brother some advice, right?
"Well, suit yourself. I'm not really going to mess with Onii-chan's school life…"
"...and I don't need more friends because I'm already satisfied with having the best little sister in the world!"
"E-Ehh…?!"
The girl's eyes snapped wide open as she took a few steps back out of surprise.
Her cheeks sported a light red hue from her growing embarrassment, which was a sight that made Shidou chuckle.
"J-Jeez, do you really have to say such embarrassing things, Onii-chan?" she grumbled.
Shidou turned his head and looked up at his sister, smiling as if nothing was wrong with what he said.
And he's right, there's indeed nothing wrong about his statement.
"It's the duty of an older brother to make his little sister embarrassed, after all."
"S-Since when was that a part of the job description?! And when was this even a job?!"
"Ever since I became your older brother, obviously."
"Ahh, just go and make dinner already!" she yelled at him while covering her red face, eliciting a louder laugh from her brother.
"As you wish, my cute little sister."
With that, Shidou stood up and headed to the kitchen as if he wasn't feeling tired just now.
He was able to forget about his own exhaustion just by spending time with Kotori, and that's a testament to who this girl was in his eyes.
As he took out several vegetables from the fridge, Shidou took a glance at his little sister while she was watching TV in peace after getting teased relentlessly.
Contrary to what a lot of people believed, he and Kotori weren't blood-related.
He was just adopted by her family when he was still a baby and from there, he was acknowledged as a part of the Itsuka family.
His new parents looked at him as the son they never had.
He was with them when Kotori was born, and she grew up with him by her side as her dear onii-chan.
Although they weren't bound by blood, the two siblings loved each other like family, and that's what's important.
"...especially when it's just the two of us around here these days."
Their parents were currently working overseas, leaving the two siblings on their own.
However, both Kotori and Shidou had no problem with that because they were well-capable of looking after themselves.
After a few minutes of preparing the necessary ingredients, Shidou moved towards the stove so he could proceed to the actual cooking.
Chicken katsu with curry was what he had in mind for tonight, and it's a very good thing that they went shopping recently.
While waiting for the chicken strips to be cooked, Shidou then heard the ruffling of some kind of plastic from where his sister was, something that caused him to bear a deadpan look on his face instead.
"Kotori," he called out, knowing just what his sister was up to.
Kotori nearly jumped out of her seat after being called by her brother, but she was able to calm herself… for now.
"Eep! Uhm… yes, Onii-chan?"
"Did I just hear the sound of a lollipop being unwrapped coming from your direction?"
"N-No, no, you didn't! You didn't hear anything! I'm not doing anything, no lollipop here!"
"Kotori," Shidou sighed and turned off the stove for now, before walking over to the couch.
Shidou noticed that his sister grew increasingly nervous as he drew near, but she was unable to do anything.
He managed to get a glimpse of a lollipop that she was desperately trying to hide from him, and it made him shake his head in disappointment.
"Stand up and face me."
Despite a moment of hesitation, Kotori followed his command and faced him.
She didn't bother hiding the lollipop in her hands anymore, since her brother knew about it anyway.
"You know the rules. No sweets until after having a proper meal. Hand it over."
"But it's just a snack! It's not like I'll be skipping on dinner, Onii-chan."
"Give me thirty minutes, and I'll cook up a good meal for you. Then you can have as many lollipops as you want, as long as your teeth can handle it."
She shook her head vehemently. "No, I refuse! Too long! Can't I just have this one time, Onii-chan? Pleeaaseee?"
Kotori flashed him a pair of puppy-dog eyes that would normally make any person give in to the sheer cuteness that the girl possessed.
Her lips were also trembling, as if she's going to burst into tears at any moment.
However, to someone like Shidou who lives in the same house as her, it was something that he's used to by now…
"You've used those eyes on me one too many times now, Kotori. It may have worked before, but your days of abusing that privilege are over."
"Hmph!" Kotori folded her arms and huffed, abandoning the puppy-eye strategy and resorting to being upfront with her demand instead. "Well, you're not going to take this from me! I just wanted one lollipop, that's all!"
"Kotori, can you stop and listen to me already? I'm not in the mood to deal with this, and you know what happens when you're being a naughty sister."
"No!" she hugged the lollipop close to her like it's some kind of valuable object.
"Guess we're doing this the hard way, huh?" Shidou sighed, before he made his move.
He tried to catch Kotori by surprise by reaching over the couch to grab her, but the girl was faster. She dodged his attempt easily and quickly moved away from the couch.
"You're gonna have to try harder than that, Onii-chan!" she laughed before popping the sucker into her mouth.
…and so began the chase between brother and sister across the house.
The whole place was spacious enough for Kotori to move around without being caught by Shidou, and she took full advantage of that.
Despite Shidou's efforts, he couldn't keep up with Kotori's nimbleness.
"Hahahaha, you're too slow, Onii-chan! Just take a seat and relax, there's no need to tire yourself out even more, you know?"
"I don't care how tired I am if it means taking that lollipop out of your mouth," he frowned. "Get back here, little sister!"
"I don't wanna! You're not taking this from me!"
As the chase moved to the living room for the fifth time in a short while, Kotori was unaware of a collar-looking tattoo appearing on her neck out of nowhere.
The tattoo began to glow as her body shook in response to this phenomenon.
"H-Huh…?"
Kotori stopped moving as a result, cutting off the chase abruptly. Seeing his chance, Shidou was about to lunge at her when he noticed the tattoo on her neck.
"Kotori! Is that—"
She tried looking down to see what was happening to her, only for her entire body to feel hot and her legs to lose all strength in them, akin to the effects that one would feel after consuming an aphrodisiac.
"Kyaa!"
Turning red, Kotori let out a high-pitched squeal, before slumping down on the floor.
Her body shook in growing desire and arousal as her breathing became heavy.
"Kotori!" Shidou immediately knelt down and held her in his arms. Thank god that they had a carpet here, otherwise his sister would have had a nasty fall. "What's the matter?"
"O-Onii-chan… I-I feel…… I feel weird…" she mumbled as her lollipop fell out of her mouth. "N-No…"
Her face seemed to be growing hotter with every passing second, which was accompanied by the heavy blush on her cheeks.
Shidou's eyes fell upon the violet-red collar on her neck, a phenomenon that he was used to seeing by now, yet hated whenever it appeared.
Almost immediately, he felt sick to his stomach because of the implications brought by this weird tattoo, but he pushed that feeling back for his sister's sake.
"Is it happening again, Kotori?"
"I…I think so— hyaahn!"
Kotori made a loud cry when she felt her brother's hand on her cheek, causing her growing arousal to skyrocket.
"S-Shidou's hand…… it's so warm…!"
Still collapsed on the floor, Kotori continued to breathe heavily along with face turning red.
As the collar on her neck glowed brightly, Shidou carried her towards the couch where he expressed his disappointment with his next words.
"This is the third time this month alone, Kotori. You know this thing happens whenever you're being a troublesome sister, right? Why didn't you just listen to me when I told you to hand over the lollipop?"
"Nnnnn…"
Kotori looked like she wanted to say something, but was too overwhelmed with the weird aphrodisiac sensation emanating from her collar.
"Once again, I have to do this… to my own sister."
Shidou tried to palm his face to hide his frustration, but Kotori held his hand and placed it against her cheek.
She was sweating like hell and her eyes became half-lidded from the ever-growing stimulation.
"Onii……chan… my body feels…… s-so hot…"
"I was trying to avoid this… and I was just cooking dinner in peace," he sighed to himself before snapping back to reality. "Should I do it, then?"
"Y-Yes……… please do it, Onii-chan…… "
Taking a deep breath, Shidou fixed his seating position on the floor slightly; he was on his knees, leaning against the couch, and his sister was right beside him.
He was in the perfect place to do what he's supposed to do.
"Okay. J-Just tell if I'm going too far, all right?"
"Mm…"
Shidou hated having to do this, especially to his own sister.
But just like the previous times that this happened, he didn't exactly have a choice.
It's either he subdues his dear little sister to make this stop, or he leaves her in a state of uncontrollable arousal until she loses her mind.
He would never accept the second option.
Taking a deep breath, Shidou leaned down and kissed her cheek, before moving slowly to her lips. Kotori moaned in response before she closed the distance between them, locking their lips together.
Although there was still a small part of him that felt uncomfortable with this, Shidou ignored it for Kotori's sake.
He would always prioritize the safety and well-being of the people he cared about, no matter what it is he had to do.
Also, they weren't related by blood. That's the only thing keeping him from being outright disgusted with himself.
Kotori's noises grew louder as the kiss deepened. The sensation that her body felt from her brother's stimulating actions caused her arms to reach out to him, but Shidou grasped her wrists and pinned them above her head.
After her arms were dealt with, his hands had traveled down to the hem of her shirt and grabbed it firmly.
While keeping their lips together, he lifted up her shirt until it was past her chest, exposing most of Kotori's upper body.
Pulling away from the kiss, he grabbed her shirt more firmly than before.
"Raise your head, Kotori."
His sister obediently followed, raising her head slightly which enabled him to move her shirt up even further, before leaving it by her elbows.
"Mm…… Onii-chan…… don't… leave me hanging……" she pleaded with a teary look.
"I won't."
Shidou learned the hard way that in order to get this over with as soon as possible, he had to focus on Kotori's 'weak spot' and make her submit to him.
To put it simply, he would have to touch the most sensitive area on her body and give her the appropriate stimulation until she reaches her limit.
And her weak spot was something that weirded him out the first time this happened.
Who knew that this would be the most sensitive part of her body?
His gaze shifted from her face to her right armpit. Shidou eyed it like a prize to be won, and that's when he dove down with his tongue ready to do its job.
"Aaahhh! R-Right there……!"
Kotori's body arched off the couch once her brother's wet tongue came into contact with her skin.
Her legs kicked and thrashed around, as the overwhelming feeling of sexual pleasure left her body wanting more.
Shidou took her reaction as his signal to continue; he licked Kotori's armpit slowly, moving his tongue up and down her skin while using her moans as a guide on where to go.
He used to feel uncomfortable whenever he did this but as he continued to do it for Kotori's sake, Shido got used to it. Every moan that comes out of her mouth is a reminder that he's helping Kotori, and that's all that matters.
Not to mention, Kotori's scent was incredibly tempting.
His sister's skin smelled like strawberries because of the soap she regularly uses, and it made this all the more bearable for him.
He wouldn't say it out loud, but it's like an irresistible drug that he couldn't help but be drawn to.
It's almost like Kotori keeps her body fresh on a regular basis to be prepared for whenever her brother does this……
"Ahh…… haa….. haahh… Onii…chaaann~ you're so good at this……!"
He switched his target eventually, moving his tongue across her left armpit this time.
Even when Kotori was sweating a lot more due to how hot her body had become, Shidou had no plans of stopping at this point.
Shidou ran his tongue along her creamy skin, making Kotori's body twist in pleasure. Her legs continued to thrash around, as it's the only way she had of expressing her reaction to the blissful sensation brought by her brother's actions.
"Onii-chaaaan~! I can't…" Kotori shook her head, her breathing pattern becoming even more erratic. Her tattoo glowed brighter than before, like it's a sign of what's to come. "I can't take it anymoooreee…!"
Realizing that his sister was close to her limit, Shidou decided to keep on pushing her closer to the edge of euphoria by grabbing her right breast gently.
Kotori's chest was still covered by her bra, but it didn't make this any less pleasurable for the girl.
It's exactly what pushed her to her limit.
"Haah…… ahhh… aah…… MMNHAAAA~!"
A loud shriek of pleasure came out of Kotori's mouth as her whole body shook in desire.
After a short while, the tattoo on her neck finally stopped glowing, leaving a heavily-breathing Kotori who was drained of her energy after that.
While she was recovering from that high point, Shidou pulled down her shirt so that she was covered again before wiping off the sweat from her face.
"Feeling all better?"
"Y-Yes, it's…… I think it's gone, Onii-chan. Thank you…… I love you…~"
Those words were enough for Shidou to erase any kind of guilt that was building up in his mind.
Once again, he was reminded that he's only doing these things for Kotori's sake and she was well-aware of that.
It's not because he's some kind of deviant who assaults his own sister on a daily basis.
"I love you too, Kotori."
"Wake me up when it's time for dinner, onii-chan…" Kotori altered her position slightly so that she was lying on her side, before drifting off to sleep.
"I will," he nodded while patting her head affectionately. "Have some rest while I finish preparing our food, okay? No more disobeying and eating a lollipop before we eat."
"Mmmmm……"
With that, Shidou stood up and went back to the kitchen to continue making dinner, but not before picking up the lollipop that Kotori had earlier and properly disposing of it.
Though he tried his best not to think about it, Shidou was unable to get his escapade with Kotori out of his mind, especially because it's been happening a lot more recently.
Back then, it would only happen at least once a month, and he wasn't sure if it's because of his sister's attitude or some other reason.
"Until now, neither of us know why this is happening to us… to our family."
This whole problem started about a year ago, when Kotori was undergoing a slight change of attitude.
While she was still his sweet little sister whom he would go through any lengths for, Kotori started becoming more troublesome.
From eating too many lollipops, to taking detours while going home from school, and to ordering takeout without informing him, his little sister was starting to change……
There's nothing shocking about it in the long run, because all teenagers go through the same phase anyway.
He was the same as Kotori when he was her age, having a rebellious streak and being a bit of a brat.
But one day, when Kotori fired back at him after he scolded her for going home late, the weird-looking tattoo on her neck appeared for the first time, and things were never the same again between him and his sister.
Shidou had no idea why this happened every time she acted like a brat or went against him in general, but one thing's for sure… this wasn't normal.
It's not normal when his younger sister would sport a collar-looking tattoo on her neck out of nowhere, and proceed to feel sexually aroused with no way of getting rid of the itch on her own.
For some ridiculous reason, it would only stop once he touches Kotori's body in erotic fashion and when she surrenders to the sensation she feels.
It's like his touch is special in which only he can do these embarrassing things to his younger sister!
Seriously, what are the odds?
He's the main character of some complicated erotic plot?
He has the strange power to make strong and powerful women kneel in awe of him?
Ridiculous.
"Onii-chan! It's time to wake up! Onii-chan!"
The loud voice of his little sister woke up Itsuka Shidou from his slumber, who honestly needed the little alarm because he was having a bit of trouble opening his eyes.
"...why does it feel like something is…… on me…"
"Yay~! Onii-chan is finally awake."
Hearing that familiar voice, Shidou looked down and saw his dear sister in a very unorthodox position.
She was straddling him with her legs on either side of his body, while her hands were planted firmly on his chest.
When Kotori noticed that he had finally opened his eyes, a huge smile broke out on her face.
"Kotori… what are you doing……?"
"Eh? I'm waking you up, what does it look like I'm doing?"
"This is quite an unusual way of waking someone up."
"Would you rather have me dancing on top of your chest, Onii-chan?" she laughed while shaking her head in amusement. "I thought you would be happy about me waking you up."
If Kotori truly wanted to wake him up, then she could have gone on top of his stomach instead.
Maybe she couldn't see where it was…? Because his sister ended up sitting on his hips instead……
Anyway, it was a school day today. Spring break had just ended and a new term had begun for students everywhere.
Because of that, Shidou expected Kotori to be dressed in her school uniform already, but she wasn't.
Her attire this morning consisted of a pink shirt and white shorts, which was surprising because she normally wore pajamas when going to bed.
The sight of Kotori's bare thighs while his sister was sitting directly on top of his groin caused Shidou's face to turn hot, as much as it brought him shame.
Despite this, his eyes couldn't help but be drawn to one particular spot.
"Did Kotori run out of shirts to wear or something?"
The shirt that she adorned actually belonged to their mother, so the garment was too big for her. Because of that, her right shoulder was exposed… just one tug would free her arm completely and allow him another sight of her creamy armpit—
"Eh? What are you staring at, Onii-chan?"
"—I was just thinking about why you're wearing one of Mom's shirts instead of your pajamas."
"I didn't want to take too long changing clothes last night, so I picked the easiest thing to put on."
…after going to Mom's room, you mean?
Shidou had no idea why Kotori was even in their parents' room, but he didn't want to press further. He might end up thinking about the issue even more if he does.
Maybe she was just cleaning the place yesterday, it's been a while since the last time they've done that, after all.
"Come on, we've spent enough time here. Get up already, Onii-chan!" she rocked him back and forth with her hands, unaware that she was grinding against him.
Shidou suppressed the urge to groan from the sensation brought by their hips.
Ugh, why did Kotori choose to wake him up like this?
"Yes, yes, I will. I have to prepare breakfast for me and my little sister, after all."
"That's right. You know I can't leave the house without getting to eat— wait, I feel something… hard…"
"It's nothing…! Just my phone, I must have left it there last night," he spoke in an attempt to explain himself.
He tried to eliminate any stimulating thought out of his mind as well, but such a feat is easier said than done.
"Can you get off me so I can get it?"
Kotori didn't say anything for a while, because she was trying to figure out why there's something stiff and hard under her.
Her dear Onii-chan can't be ripped, can he?
Sure, he's a part of the Swimming Club in his school, but she's never seen him possess a six-pack in all the times that she's seen him without a shirt!
Wait a second…… was she even sitting on his stomach………?
A loud gasp escaped Kotori's mouth as she realized her current predicament.
"You're such a pervert, Onii-chan! Are you actually getting hard because of your little sister?!" she accused him.
Shidou merely rolled his eyes. He tried his best not to give it away, but Kotori managed to notice it.
Welp, there's no use hiding it anymore.
"Oh, don't place the blame on me, Kotori. I appreciate that you came here to wake me up, but I think you overlooked the fact that you're sitting on my hips. Right above that hard thing you're referring to, even. You're as much to be blamed as me," he turned the tables on her.
"Ah…" she mumbled, throwing him a glare. "Well, that's because of this blanket on you! I didn't see where I was going to sit. A-And besides, that doesn't explain why Onii-chan is hard down here."
"My beautiful little sister is in a pretty questionable position on top of me. How did you think I was going to react?" he deadpanned.
"W-With some decency!" she cried out yet for some reason, Kotori remained where she was. "But Onii-chan is a teenager who has hormones, so I guess… this is to be expected from him…"
"...I can't actually argue against that."
If it's possible, Shidou would rather hide under his blanket and spend the rest of the day locked inside his room.
The school can go to hell because there's nothing more shameful than this!
Getting an erection because of his little sister……
Shame on him.
Did he really fall off this hard? Is there no hope for him anymore after doing shameful acts with his dear Kotori? Has he stooped down to the levels of lecherous perverts who prey on young women?
By god, he's become the very thing that he wished to avoid being.
"Whatever the case, I don't want to argue anymore because it might end up in Kotori having horny urges again, so could you get off of me already?"
"—ugh, don't talk about it like that, Shidou! It's embarrassing……!"
"What am I supposed to call it then?"
"I don't know! Just not that!"
"I'll keep it in mind, now could you please get off already?" he asked again, lifting his hips slightly off the bed for emphasis, earning a cute squeal from his sister because of his sudden action. "Next time you want to wake me up, just do it normally, Kotori. Okay? We don't want another incident like this to happen again."
This time, Kotori complied and finally removed herself from atop his groin, although her blushing face was hidden by her hair. He was barely able to hear these next words from her mouth, but it seemed to be about him.
"I wasn't really… troubled by it……"
"What was that?"
"...nothing! Just hurry up and come downstairs so you can make breakfast! I'm starving, Onii-chan!"
Shaking her head frantically, Kotori left her brother with some final words before high-tailing it out of there, leaving Shidou as the only one left in the room.
With his sister gone, Shidou released a huge sigh and allowed himself to fall back on his bed.
Now he can rest easy and focus on calming down his raging mast that was at its peak right now, no thanks to his cheeky sister who thought it was a good idea to wake him up by mounting him.
Yes, yes, he's supposed to cook breakfast for Kotori…… just give him some time to recover from this shameful moment, please.
After a short while, Shidou emerged from his room with a smile on his face and headed downstairs to where his sister was.
It looked like everything was fine now, and he had moved on from his embarrassing moment with Kotori not too long ago.
As he was fetching some eggs from the fridge, Shidou heard the sound of the TV coming to life from behind him, followed by a news anchor reporting the latest news.
Kotori had a daily routine where she would eat breakfast while checking out horoscopes or fortune-telling corners from news channels. These segments usually come during the end of the main programs, so there's time for him to prepare breakfast before they're shown.
While he could understand why Kotori would be interested in this subject, he didn't really see the appeal of them.
They're mostly speculations and predictions that have no guarantee of being reality, anyway.
"Early this morning, in the suburbs of Tengu City—"
"Hm?"
Overhearing the latest report from the program, Shidou raised an eyebrow and paid attention to it for a moment.
After hearing a familiar street name, he turned around and looked at the television screen to see what this news report was all about.
"That street's pretty close. What happened?"
"Take a look, Onii-chan."
Leaning over the counter, he narrowed his vision and stared at the TV.
On the screen, the image of a street that had been absurdly destroyed was being displayed. There were several buildings and roads that were reduced to mountains of rubble.
To put it simply, the amount of destruction was as if a meteor had crashed into Earth.
Shidou scrunched up his brows, before he looked at his sister.
"A spacequake? I didn't feel anything, though. Did you, Kotori?"
"I didn't feel anything either," she shook her head while listening closely to the report.
A 'space earthquake', or more commonly known by the term 'spacequakes', referred to the phenomenon of the shaking of a wide area.
While normal earthquakes were phenomena that take place because of stress under the Earth's soil, a spacequake is an event that takes place for unknown reasons and they can happen at the most random times and places.
Though the implications were quite scary, what's more terrifying is the damage that one can do to the environment that it affects.
The first documented spacequake was around thirty years ago, which came to be known as the 'Eurasian Sky Disaster'.
From the name itself, it was a spacequake that happened in the middle of Eurasia, destroying a large part of the continent that included countries like the Soviet Union, China, and Mongolia.
Over 150 million lives were lost in the tragedy, marking the Eurasian Sky Disaster as the largest and deadliest disaster in human history.
Six months after the first spacequake, similar incidents occurred on a smaller scale all around the world.
Although the exact number was unknown, it was determined to be around fifty. On land, at the poles, in the ocean, even on small islands, no place was safe from the devastation of these spacequakes.
Of course, Japan was not exempt from it.
Six months after the Eurasian Sky Disaster, the region from South Tokyo to Kanagawa Prefecture had turned into a circle of scorched earth, as if it was completely erased from the map.
This disaster came to be known as the 'South Kanto Sky Disaster' and the area that Shidou and Kotori were living in was one of the places that fell victim to that spacequake.
"It's been happening more recently too, which is weird. It's been years since the last major spacequake, and now a lot of reports about it are popping up."
"I wonder why…?"
After the South Kanto incident, spacequakes had not been detected for a while.
However, five years ago, these mysterious phenomena started popping up here and there again.
And they were happening mostly in Japan.
"Well, best not to get worried too much. If another spacequake happens, we'll be ready for it this time," Shidou shrugged before shifting his focus back to preparing breakfast.
"Yep, we have spacequake alarms and shelters now. No spacequake will get us if it happens, hah!"
"Let's not be too complacent, Kotori. The last thing I'd want is for you to be in danger."
Thirty years ago, after the damages brought by the first spacequake were finally repaired, the construction of underground shelters had spread at an explosive rate.
Together with the fact that it was now possible to make rough predictions on a possible spacequake, a certified JSDF disaster response team had been put together.
Their purpose was to travel to disaster areas and rebuild the destroyed facilities and roads, but their work can only be described as magic.
Through their efforts, streets and buildings that were completely destroyed could now be restored to how they used to be, and in very little time as well.
"Hey, Kotori. Haven't you noticed that the area around here has a lot of spacequakes? Especially last—"
Shidou turned towards his sister momentarily, where he caught a glimpse of her unwrapping a Chupa Chups in a very subtle manner that one shouldn't be able to notice her.
However, as someone who had a guy for whenever his sister was doing something inappropriate, Shidou was easily able to catch her in the act.
Before she could pop the candy in her mouth, Shidou rushed over to the couch and swiped it off her hands, causing Kotori to gasp in surprise.
Shidou frowned. "You still haven't learned, huh? How many times do I have to tell you not to eat sweets before meals?"
"Okay…" Kotori pouted, which was a damn cute sight that it took every bit of his mental strength not to give in and admit defeat.
He's fallen victim to this many times in the past, but it won't happen again!
He had to set an example for his younger sister, damn it!
"Good. Eat this after breakfast. I'm done, anyway. Come on and help me prepare the table, Kotori."
"Yes, Onii-chan……"
As the two siblings ate breakfast together, which was a simple meal of eggs and toast, a sudden thought came to Shidou's mind regarding the day ahead of them.
It was kind of a special occasion, at least for students all across the country.
"...now that I think about it, you're having an early dismissal today, right?"
Kotori nodded. "Yep. First day of the new term. Why?"
"Then we'll be having lunch here… anything you want to have?"
"Hmm… the Deluxe kids plate."
"Uh…… you know that's a meal in the restaurant that we go to…"
The girl folded her arms and pouted again, making it clear that she wasn't going to change her mind.
"I want it……"
Shidou's first thought was to ignore his sister's attempt at making him give in to her wish, but it made him wonder whether he was being too harsh on her at this point.
From tonight onwards they would have to eat meals at home for a while, until they receive their monthly allowance and house expenses from their parents overseas.
That being said,.today was the opening ceremony for the two of them. Splurging a bit of money shouldn't be a problem.
……as long as Kotori orders food that's within reason.
"Okay, you know what? Let's just eat out for lunch today."
"Really?! You're not kidding?" Kotori asked, snapping out of her funk as her red eyes brimmed with excitement.
Shidou smiled and shook his head. "I wouldn't joke about this. What do you say we meet at the usual family restaurant after school?"
"Of course, of course! But…!" Kotori pointed an accusatory finger at him. "No going back on your word, okay? Promise me! You have to be there even if a fire erupts or a spacequake happens or if the restaurant is occupied by terrorists!"
"Uh, if there are terrorists there, then how exactly will we eat?"
"You have to be there!" she insisted.
"All right, I promise I'll be there. No matter what."
"Wooooo! I love you, Onii-chan!"
Shidou stared at Kotori in surprise as she got up from her seat and walked over to him, before she planted a sweet kiss on his cheek.
He couldn't even say anything in response because Kotori immediately went back to her seat and continued with her breakfast.
…hm.
Shidou didn't even consider that Kotori would be so happy about eating out that she'd show him affection like that, but he wasn't going to complain at all.
Heck, now he felt motivated to get through this day without any mishaps!
All for the chance to spend time with his beloved sister later on.
MINASAN, YONDE KURETE ARIGATŌ! AISHITEMAAAAASUUUUU! *starts playing air guitar*
-Lance