I, Izumi Masamune is not someone who worry too much.
You might said that Iâm an idiot or an optimistic, but no â both are wrong.
Itâs not like I did a lot of amazing thing and donât care about those little details anymore. Itâs just that after meeting something bad, I had a habit of stop thinking about it after some time has passed.
Donât care about the pass and focused on what is right in front of me ⌠I have that habit,
When my father passed away, I was still a kid. There were many things that I had no choice but to practice. Maybe because I had to interact with adults too soon that I turned out this way.
Anyway, I donât care if you called it good or bad, but Iâm a realistic.
I could easily give up on things that I deemed impossible, like a kid who was trying to be an adult.
Those girls around me actually criticized me, calling me âa light novel protagonistâ. But I myself donât think I have any quality to be a protagonist.
Iâm not a hot-blood, nor am I an optimistic. Iâm not even a normal high school student.
Really, Iâm at the middle of everything.
Â
âUmmâŚ..â
Today, I had a rare problem. I was hiding inside my room, troubled.
Itâs now July. Outside of the windows, the rain had stopped, the sky was clear. It was a good chance to clear my mind.
â I like you.
â Masamune, I like you the most.
â I refuse.
â Because I already have someone I like
Those word kept repeating itself inside my head.
âUghhâŚ..â
I have someone I like.
I was rejected, but my feeling didnât chance. It was still here.
Thatâs why I didnât go out with anyone. Even if I will never got a chance for such a cute girl to like me again.
But my answer will not change.
âStill ââ
â I have someone I like.
People said that âlove confessionâ is the climax of a story, is the turning point where victory and defeat was decided.
I thought it was true too. But no, reality wasnât like that.
That was a lesson Elf and Muramasa-senpai taught me.
Confess your love then goes out with them or get rejected â
ââŚ.But this is not the end.â
Even if the dream come true and love blooms or the dream shattered and get rejected, life continued.
As long as you are alive, then life will continue no matter what. Happy and sadness. Laughing and crying. Meeting and separate. All will continue.
Even if life was full of irreversible thing.
âBut even if they want to try againâŚ.itâs fine.â
In the past, Iâd have never though of it this way.
â Before the Izumiâs siblingâs dream came true, I will become victorious
â This is not a reason for not challenging.
They confessed and lost. Just like me, they were rejected.
But they will do it again.
They will kept saying that they like me.
One still think that she can win. Still trying her best to find a way to victory.
One announced fiercely, saying that a weak opponent is too boring.
Both of them showed their courage â
âAnd me?â
When I was rejected by the one I like â
I think this is enough.
Because we are siblings.
I decided to be just her family â I think itâs enough.
âWhat a big lie.â
My chest hurt is the evidence.
I want family. I want Sagiri to be my family. I donât want to be alone again â what I said earlier wasnât a lie.
But that didnât mean Iâm
happy with just that.
I didnât satisfied with my choice.
I donât have the courage of Elf or Muramasa-senpai, I just use a convenience lie.
That was what I finally realized:
âGood.â
I have to act.
I went to the locked room in the second floor, knocked on its door.
*Knock. Knock*
How many times I have done this after meeting with Sagiri again?
In the past, nothing happened no matter how hard I tried. But nowâŚ
âNii-san, what is it?â
She will answer me. This simple fact made me happy.
I told Sagiri:
âWell, Sagiri. A year agoâŚ.you saidâŚyou have someone you like, havenât you?â
âYes.â
The sudden topic made Sagiri puzzled.
ââŚWhat kind of person is he? Do I know him?â
ââŚWhyâŚ?â
âHuh?â
ââŚ.WhyâŚ.are youâŚ..asking me this nowâŚ..?â
âBecause an elder brother is the little sisterâs â no, that isnât right.â
Asking her this way wonât work. I coughed, tried to hide my embarrassment.
âOf course I would like to know about him. Since I like you.â
ââŚAhâŚumâŚâ
Sagiri looked down, blushed in embarrassment.
âWh, what are you talking about!?â
âI got a change of heart, so I will not lying anymore.â
I put my hand on my chest. My heart was beating like it was about to burst.
âSagiri.â
ââŚ.Yes?â She answered, a bit nervous.
âIt will take a lot of timeâŚbut after our dream become true, I have something to tell you â thatâs all for now. Sorry for worry you.â
ââŚâŚ.Sure.â
She looked up at me, eyes filled with excitement.
Just seeing her face made me want to spoil her even more. I donât want to give her to anyone
I wasnât lying when I said I wanted to become a normal pair of sibling with Saigir.
Deep down, itâs true that I wanted family.
It wasnât a lie, but there was more. There was a relationship I wanted even more.
Elf already told me more than once that I only want small thing. To me, fixing all of my trouble mean happiness.
After my dream come true, I wanted to tell this to the person I like. I need to try harder, so she can accept me.
ââŚ.Wait, Nii-san.â
Before I could left, she called me. I turned back and saw that she was looking at me through the gap in the door.
âIâŚIâŚ.â
âYes?â
âIâŚthe one I likeâŚ.â
âââââââââ
I stared at her, waiting for the next word.
âWhen our dream come trueâŚâŚâŚâŚI will introduce him to you.â
â!âŚI see.â
Thatâs why I have to try even harder.
I have decided. Even if Iâm the underdog, that didnât mean I could gave up on challenging.
Someone couldnât say his true feeling out have no right to be a winner in love.
âSagiri.â
âY, yes?â
âI will win against that guy.â
Â
Still â
I though that our dream would only be true in the far future.
But just a few days later and the publishing company already called me. The meeting room is the highest floor, where normal meeting would never be held.
âThey asked me to come hereâŚ.why?â
I didnât have any idea. Today is Saturday, so I didnât meet anyone on the way here. I walked to the end of the corridor and stopped at the hallâs entrance. This was the right place.
âŚThere were people inside already. That must be Kagurazaka-sanâŚright?
âItâs Izumi.â
I knocked on the door. Someone answered:
âPlease enter, Izumi-sensei.â
âSure.â
I turned the door knob.
â âEh?â
There was a long, white table inside. There were someone else nearby, not just Kagurazaka-san. They all looked at me carefully.
âKa, Kagurazaka-sanâŚthis is?â
I was frozen on the spot. I did asked my editor, but she just sat immobile and looked at me in silence.
A woman with round glassess in front me smiled and answered in Kagurazaka-sanâs place. She looked even younger than me. Among those adults here, she alone had an unique light.
âPlease to meet you, Izumi Masamune-sensei.â
âCongraturation, your novel The cutest little sister in the world will be made into anime.â
âAfter our story is made into anime.â
âI will bring my little sister to the living room and watched it together with her.â