A guide to survival in a heavy girl's world

"Uh...even if the facts are really as you said, then what?"

Chihaya Tetsuya asked with a confused look on his face.

"Will anything special happen after you get a lover?"

"...By then, I won't be able to cling to you like I do now."

Having said this, Chihaya Aine lowered her head again.

"You'll spend more time with your partner, and you'll keep your distance from me to avoid being considered a sister-con. Maybe we'll end up in a relationship where we can only contact each other on weekends or holidays..."

Having said this, her tone began to become more depressed.

"Just thinking about this future makes me feel terrified. I always feel like my brother will be snatched away from me sooner or later..."

"………………I see."

Finally, Chihaya Tetsuya understood the reason for her anxiety from his sister's explanation.

Considering her current age and the recent events surrounding Hoshino Ai, it is understandable that she would have such thoughts.

So, after thinking for a while, Chihaya Tetsuya turned around and sat on her bed under Chihaya Aine's increasingly surprised gaze.

"Although I really want to tell you that these are just your illusions and imagination, I'm afraid it's difficult for you to believe what I say with just words, right?"

Having said that, he patted the bed gently.

“In that case, I’ll answer with my actions… Come here, Aine.”

Chihaya Tetsuya said to her in an extremely gentle tone:

"Tonight, let's sleep together as a brother and sister for the first time in a long time."

"……kindness!"

After hearing this, Chihaya Aine immediately put away the anxiety and depression on her face, and nodded happily.

"I'll get you a pillow! Brother, wait for me a moment!"

"Oh, I see."

Looking at his sister's brisk and impatient back, a gentle smile appeared on Chihaya Tetsuya's face.

For the Chihaya siblings, this long night still seemed to be a little while away from ending.

Chapter 53: Because it is a single bed, we can only stick together

"Hehe, it always feels completely different from when I was a kid."

After Chihaya Aine crawled into bed, she immediately burst into giggles because of the overcrowded bed.

"Even though my brother looks so thin, he's actually quite big when we lie together."

"That's because we are now two adults squeezed into a single bed."

Chihaya Tetsuya responded somewhat helplessly:

"Besides, my skeleton is originally the same as a normal male's, I just don't have much flesh on it."

“…Indeed.”

Chihaya Aine reached out and squeezed Chihaya Tetsuya's shoulder.

"If you feel it carefully, it's definitely a boy's physique... I wish I could have a little more flesh."

"At least it's much better than when you first came to our house, right?"

Chihaya Tetsu just quietly let his sister massage him:

"At least I weigh more than 50 kilograms now."

"This level is far from being considered healthy..."

Chihaya Aine withdrew her hand.

"However, it is indeed much better than seven years ago."

For a moment, she couldn't help but recall the scene when Chihaya Tetsuya had just arrived at Chihaya's house.

He was the closest child to the concept of "skinny" that she had ever seen. Although he was three years older than her, their heights were basically the same. Not only that, Chihaya Tetsu, who had not had time to buy new clothes, even looked a little too loose when he temporarily changed into his old clothes.

"When I had dinner with you for the first time, I was really scared."

Chihaya Aine said with a tone of great nostalgia:

"He only eats half a rice ball in one meal. His appetite is like that of a pet cat."

"Actually... besides having a small appetite, there's another reason."

Chihaya Tetsuya said:

"Because I was worried that my father and mother would dislike children with big appetites like the adults in the orphanage did, I deliberately ate less."

"…………"

Hearing this, Chihaya Aine was stunned at first, then she immediately moved close to Chihaya Tetsuya and put her cheek against his back.

"what about now?"

"I haven't thought that way for a long time...it's better to say that I couldn't maintain my vigilance for even a week."

Thinking of his experience when he first came to Chihaya's house, Chihaya Tetsu couldn't help but laugh helplessly.

"My mother would come to ask me every hour if I wanted something to eat, and my father would always try to take me out. Even you, who was only nine years old, always shared your favorite snacks with me... In this situation, even the most cautious person would be moved by you."

"After all, my brother looked so pitiful back then... He was always so respectful to everyone he spoke to, and he'd double-check with us before doing anything. He even asked if we needed any chores done before going to bed. He looked like a hired servant."

Chihaya Aine curled her lips:

"I can't even remember how long it took you to stop using honorifics for me."

"About a month or so."

Chihaya Tetsuya replied:

"You said, 'If you use honorifics again, I'll cry,' and I was forced to change the way I addressed you."

"Because we're so distant. Even though we've become family, I still have to keep using honorifics."

When this matter was mentioned, Chihaya Aine couldn't help but complain angrily:

"And even after changing the name, we didn't become close immediately! Ah, now that I think about it, my brother back then was really difficult to deal with!"

"After all, it's very difficult for people to completely adapt to a completely new living environment. Even though I already know in my heart that you won't bully me like the people in the orphanage did, I still subconsciously imagine it in that direction."

Chihaya Tetsuya said:

"But if I had to say what truly changed me, it was those gloves... It was from that day on that I made up my mind. I was no longer 'Tetsuya' without a last name, but Chihaya Tetsuya of the Chihaya family. And... I would pass on my craftsmanship and everything I'd learned from the Chihaya family to as many people as possible."

"...Yeah, that's right."

Chihaya Aine smiled smugly where Chihaya Tetsuya couldn't see.

"But... I never thought that pair of gloves would be so important to my brother."

“It’s really important, whether it’s the gloves or you, Aine.”

Chihaya Tetsuya calmly said these words that made Chihaya Aine stunned.

"You are the biggest motivation for me to embark on the road of design, and you are also the important person who makes me feel warmth and family love. No matter how much time has passed, these memories between us will never change."

"So...Aine, you don't have to worry about me leaving you or alienating you one day, because you're the very origin that has brought me to where I am now. Without you, I would definitely lose my way forward."

".........!"

Ever since she found out about Hoshino Ai, Chihaya Aine has been living in a state of tension, worried about gains and losses.

There are more and more outstanding and lovely girls younger than her brother, which makes her, as a younger sister, always feel a sense of crisis that she will be "pushed out" by others at any time.

However, when she heard Chihaya Tetsuya's confession, she suddenly felt an incomparable warmth and sense of security in her heart.

She knew that Chihaya Tetsu was not very good at lying, so everything he said came from his true words and thoughts.

Chihaya Tetsuya will not leave her, nor will he dislike her just because of those girls who are better than himself.

This is enough. As for what happens next...it’s up to her to think and work hard on it!

"...As for me, I have always been unilaterally accepting my brother's care."

Chihaya Aine said as she put her arms around Chihaya Tetsuya.

"Although you always say that I'm indebted to you, for someone like me who has always lived in happiness, all I've done is just ordinary sharing... On the contrary, it's your guidance and care for me that are far more precious and hard-earned."

"These are what I should do—"

"That's not true. I've asked other students who have siblings, and their older brothers and sisters can't do what you do, and they don't take such good care of their younger siblings."

Chihaya Aine interrupted Chihaya Tetsuya's refusal.

"So sometimes I wonder, is it really okay for me to continue being so happy? Do I really deserve all the love I've received? Can I really just enjoy it all with an empty mind? ... It wasn't until I formed this band that I finally got the answer."

"Before they disbanded, everyone in [CRYCHIC] never imagined they would experience such a painful separation. Also...after the breakup, they never had the courage or ability to mend their relationship. If it weren't for their brother, they would definitely continue to be lost and in pain."

"I don't want to become so powerless, nor do I want to experience that kind of pain, so... I will strive to become more mature and strong. Until I can personally protect everything I cherish... including my brother."

"……Is it."

Chihaya Tetsuya smiled after hearing this.

"Then I will look forward to that day."

"kindness!"

Chihaya Aine nodded vigorously at first, then she suddenly remembered something and immediately took out her cell phone.

"By the way, as a souvenir... let's take a photo together before going to bed!"

"? Is this necessary?"

"After all, we haven't slept together like this for years, and... I also want to show off to everyone in the band, hehe..."

"…What's there to brag about?"

"That's because you don't understand how happy a girl is to have a handsome and reliable brother! Okay, take a picture with me!"

After saying that, without waiting for Chihaya Tetsuya to respond, she raised her hand to turn on the bedside lamp and switched her phone to selfie mode.

"Brother, just lie here, and then I just need to do this-"

As Chihaya Aine spoke, she moved her cheek closer to Chihaya Tetsuya and rested her chin on his shoulder.

Click.

With the sound of shutter clicks, a very intimate photo of brother and sister was completed.

"Okay!"

“…Did you finish filming?”

"kindness!"

"Then turn off the lights and go to bed...it's almost one o'clock."

"Okay, wait a moment."

Immediately afterwards, Chihaya Aine operated her mobile phone quickly for a while before putting it down and turning off the bedside lamp again.

"Good night, brother."

"Well, good night, Aine."

……

…………

"So, you're just going to hold me in your arms as you sleep?"

"Eh? No way?"

"Will it be hot?"

"? I remember that brother was the type who wasn't afraid of the heat at all?"

"I mean you. I felt it when we were taking the photo just now. You're sweating a little, right? Can you really sleep if you're stuck together like this?"

"!!!"