Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

Disclaimer: I don't own Tokidoki Bosotto Roshiago de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san or any of its characters...

Alisa had remained in her room for the better part of the day that by now, the sun was about to set and nighttime was ready to settle in.

And yet, she still didn't feel like coming out of room, even for dinner. She was only there, sitting at the edge of her bed with her head low, and her gaze solely directed towards the floor.

After cooking lunch and eating before everyone else, Alisa immediately went to her room and locked the door. She even hung a 'Do Not Disturb' sign outside to ensure that no one would go near her room, though there were still several attempts from other people to try and get her to come out.

"I'm useless…" she whispered to no one in particular, speaking for the first time since she locked herself within the confines of her room. "I let down every person who wanted me to be the same Alya that they knew… I failed all of them…"

Alisa let out a hollow laugh, having a growing urge to hit herself as hard as she could.

"Nobody needs me… Sarashina-senpai doesn't trust me anymore… Taniyama-san and Miyamae-san refuse to cooperate with me… I pushed Suou-san away… even Kimishima-san… I can tell she never forgot about what I did to Suou-san…"

Her hands gripped the sheets tightly as her eyes began to water, showing that she was near to bursting into tears.

"Masha… she hasn't talked to me since then… because she hates me… she hates me for what I did, I know it…" Her breathing became heavier and more erratic as she continued in this train of thought. "But even if she does help me, nobody's going to change their minds… and then… Kuze-kun…"

After thinking of her sister, Alya's thoughts then gravitated towards him…

The boy whom she thought she could rely on…

The only individual who stuck his neck out for her at every turn…

The person whom she thought had left her behind…

—he wasn't there anymore.

"Kuze-kun… he doesn't want to be around me too… he doesn't want anything to do with me," she thought. "I pushed him away, even though he's been always there for me… it's all my fault…"

Alya felt sick to her stomach, reminding herself over and over in her mind that this was the result of her own actions.

"Maybe it would be better if I'm gone from everyone's lives… after all, I did this to myself…"

A loud knock on the door interrupted her from her thoughts, which also put her mind and body on alert.

"J-Just leave me alone," she said in a tone that should be loud enough to be heard from the other side.

But despite that, the door opened and someone walked into her room.

"Ah, so you were here. Pardon me for the intrusion, but I'm coming in."

Her eyes widened at seeing who it was, to the point that Alya almost thought she was only dreaming… because this can't actually be real.

"Kuze-kun…"

"Hey," he greeted her with a smile while carrying two plates of food in his hands.

"W-What are you doing here…?"

"What does it look like? I'm spending my dinner here with you. I brought you your dinner too, because you wouldn't show up downstairs to eat."

Masachika walked over to the bed where she was and placed their food on the nearby dresser, before sitting beside Alya.

"Sorry about using the house key to open your room. I figured I had to, because everyone else said you wouldn't open the door. None of them wanted to bring your food here, so I volunteered for it," he grabbed one of the two plates and handed it to her.

"But… yesterday…" the girl mumbled weakly, holding her fist against her chest. Alya felt as if her heart was going to burst out of her chest from immense relief.

"Hmm?"

"Yesterday, you said that… y-you wanted to eat with everybody else instead…" she stammered, feeling nothing but confusion as to why he was even here. "And… earlier, you said you didn't want me… I… I thought it would be better for everyone if I wasn't there anymore…"

"Do you really think I'd do something like that, Alya?" he shook his head as if he had heard the most ridiculous thing ever. "Come on, we've spent three years having lunch together every time. I'll never get tired of that. And about earlier, just forget about it. I shouldn't have lashed out on you, Alya."

—hearing those words was the straw that finally broke the camel's back.

Alisa burst into tears as she collapsed to the floor, on her knees with her hands covering her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?!" he immediately placed the plate of food back on the dresser and knelt beside her out of concern.

"Why…? Why are you still so kind to me, Kuze-kun…? Why are you like this…? I don't deserve your kindness at all…!"

She tried to calm herself and stop the tears from flowing, but it was just too much. Everything that happened to her up until now had proven to be too big of a burden, and Alisa couldn't bear it anymore.

"I'm so pathetic… to think I'd be feeling this way because of him, and I still tried to push him away. I almost pushed him away… I thought I ended our relationship for good…"

Her mind went back to that day, when she deliberately gave him an injury and essentially made herself an enemy in everyone's eyes.

How she wished she could take it all back, but there's no possible way. The best thing she could do is forget about that day in its entirety, but there's no way… not when every time she'd look at Masachika, it'll only remind her of how she nearly destroyed their relationship.

For about six hours, she believed that to be the case and look at where it led her to.

"When did I become so miserable without him…? Why didn't I realize it sooner…? Why did I have to hurt him…? Why did I have to hurt someone important to me…?!"

As the girl sobbed into her hands, Masachika watched her with a conflicted look on his face. On one hand, he wanted to give this girl the comfort she needed but on the other, he wanted to stay his hand and let her cry her eyes out.

He looked torn between his options but one thing is for sure…

Masachika expected this reaction from her, no thanks to a certain conversation he had with his sister the night prior to this one.

"Onii-chan… I'm going inside your room~"

Yuki sang happily as she knocked on the door to her brother's room. She had to wait a little longer tonight for everyone else to finally retire to their respective bedrooms, but better late than never!

"You can come in," she heard his voice from inside.

The smile on her face grew wider as she went inside. Upon entering, she saw him leaning against the dresser next to his bed with his arms crossed.

"Sorry if I made you wait, Masachika-kun~ But everything's going well so far, just so you know! It's—"

"—all according to plan, right?"

Yuki blinked in surprise at the statement that came out of his mouth and when she looked at him, Masachika had a knowing smirk on his face.

"Oh, so you get it now?"

He shrugged. "In order to make Alya depend on me, you wanted me to keep on being nice with her. And then just as she's getting used to the new me, I have to pull the rug from underneath her feet and force her back into isolation."

"Hmm… I can tell that's not all you wanted to tell me," she flashed a smirk of her own as she challenged him to say more.

"I already started on it," he continued on. "I didn't want to believe it, but you were right. Alya has no idea what she really wants, so I just reminded her of what she told me back then."

"That's it! This was exactly what I was hoping to see from you!" Yuki clapped her hands in amazement while flashing a bright smile. "As expected of my amazing Onii-chan!"

She never had any doubt that her brother would be able to figure things out, and she didn't even have to tell him! Yuki knew that he would eventually understand, and now she can openly talk about what they can do next without worrying about revealing things too early.

"You should keep it up. Soon enough, Alya-san won't be able to—"

Masachika moved so quick that Yuki was barely able to notice him; his hand grabbed the tail end of her hair and yanked it towards him, bringing his sister along with it.

A loud yelp of pain escaped her lips before she felt her head and the rest of her upper body getting slammed to the mattress. Thankfully, the soft foam cushioned the impact but it now left her in a vulnerable spot.

"You know, I noticed something else too."

Her brother whispered those words into her ear like a scheming Machiavellian, and all she could do was lay there helplessly, completely under his mercy.

"For some reason, it felt like you knew this was going to happen either way, Yuki. Care to explain how that is?"

"D-Desperation can cause people to think irrationally… I just noticed that Alya-san needed someone whom she can depend on…" she attempted to explain herself.

"But you've been reminding me at every turn about Alya, haven't you?" he pointed out. "You keep on telling me that I'm her only hope and that I have to save her, as if you want me to do it."

Masachika leaned closer to her face, looking down on Yuki with a cold glare that's enough to send chills down anyone's spine, even her.

"Yuki… you've been manipulating me this whole time, haven't you?"

"I—"

He grabbed her hair and yanked on it, forcing her to look at him. "I don't want to hear your long, convoluted answer. But let's get one thing straight. I'm doing this for Alya because I want to, not because you're asking me to. Got it?"

She made her answer clear in a long, throaty response. "Y-Yesss… I understand!"

Yuki gasped as he grabbed her by the collar and made her lay on her back, before grabbing her jaw and squeezing it.

"Now, I asked you about this before, and all you gave me was a joke for an answer. So I'm going to ask you again. What exactly do you gain from this whole thing? Why do you want me to save Alya so badly?"

He loosened his grip on her jaw so that she could speak, but made it clear that she should be careful on what to say next.

"My answer… doesn't change, Onii-chan…" she muttered. "I… want you… to be happy…"

He released her after hearing her answer, but it didn't make him any less confused. "Happy? You think I'm going to be happy doing this to both you and Alya? You're screwed in the head."

"But you like it… don't you? You like to have Alya-san depending on you. You enjoy it when she needs you, because you get to spend time with her that way. If she didn't need you, then you'd feel all alone…"

"Me? Alone? Are you sure you're not making stuff up in your scheming brain?" he frowned in confusion.

She smirked. "You value Alya-san too much, Onii-chan. I can spend our remaining days stuck here getting you to look at me as a woman, but I know that your eyes are on Alya-san more… and rightfully so, after spending three years being by her side."

"Obviously, dumbass. You're my sister and it's still hard to believe that I'm doing all of this with you."

"This isn't about me, though~" Yuki giggled. "It's about Alya-san, and your relationship with her.

"Alya's important to me, you know that already."

"But is friendship all that you really want out of your relationship, Onii-chan?" she probed. "If Alya-san gives herself to you, then she'll be yours in mind, body, and soul. You'll be able to label your relationship however you want. You'll be able to do all the things you want to her~"

Masachika stared at her weirdly, while wondering if this was truly Yuki's reason why she's insisting on this whole thing.

It's honestly ridiculous… if she wanted to set him up with Alya, then there were far more ways of doing that without involving the threat of isolation and manipulating someone's emotions!

One reason he could think of is because she herself is getting something out of this. However, even that reason was pretty shallow on its own because the only thing that Yuki was getting from this is being intimate with him… at least that's what he thinks.

Could his sister be planning something else other than that? At the moment, he had no idea what else she could possibly want from this arrangement other than the physical pleasures of it, but he'll definitely keep an eye on Yuki.

"...I don't know how to answer that, but remember this. I'll ask you for advice here and there, but you don't get to tell me what to do."

To further accentuate his point, he wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed. It wasn't strong enough to hurt her, but it made Yuki struggle to breathe properly.

"Khhh— ack… O-Onii…chan… nnghh—!"

"You better not forget about this, little sister. The next time you try to manipulate me like this, you won't like it. You're the one who told me not to hold back, so I won't. You wanted this, not me."

Yuki stared up at him with wide eyes and a panicked look, while her fingers tried and failed to pry his hand off her neck.

"Don't do this again. Is that clear?"

"Ye-Yesss…!"

Satisfied with that answer, Masachika removed his hand from her throat and turned to his dresser rather angrily, rummaging through its contents for something.

"Put this on and turn your ass here," he threw an accessory towards her, which landed next to her. "I have a lot of stress to get rid of because of you."

Despite being choked mere moments ago, Yuki was still able to find the energy to laugh when she noticed that it was her collar… the same one she made a while back and gave to him as a present.

"You're becoming more assertive than before, Onii-chan…" she laughed while fastening the collar around her neck, before positioning herself on all fours. "I can't wait for when Alya-san finally crumbles and gives herself to you~ I'll be there to watch the whole thing for myself."

"I didn't ask you for your opinion, did I? Stick your ass out," he narrowed his eyes and pulled on the leash hard, choking her for a brief moment.

A mad look of glee took over her features as spit came flying out of her mouth.

Despite the pain brought by his actions, Yuki derived some kind of sick pleasure from being helpless against her own brother and his sadistic urges deep within.

"Kkhh—! I'm… s-sorry…!"

From there up until their bodies gave in to exhaustion, Masachika personally reminded Yuki that no matter how much she tries to hide something from him, he will always figure it out.

…because not once in their entire lives has she been able to win against him.

MINASAN, YONDE KURETE ARIGATŌ! AISHITEMAAAAASUUUUU! *starts playing air guitar*

-Lance