A few minutes later… I sat in a chair, and was having my wounds attended to by Rias.
"O-ow ow ow…"
"… I'll be done in a second, so please be patient for just a while longer."
With a worried voice, Rias applied a piece of absorbent cotton to the afflicted area. She had borrowed a first-aid kit from the reception desk.
"Dammit… this is just way too cruel. Why the hell do I have to go through something like this…?"
Rias seemed to take my mutterings to heart, and spoke sadly, "I'm very sorry Haruto-san, just because I overdid it…"
"Nah… well, sure there's that. But I don't think you did something that bad." I told Rias my true feelings. Frowning, I gave a glance at Naruko and Blake. "The people we should be blaming are the two that actually inflicted all the damage."
I watched Naruko and Blake talking about something in a serious manner. It seemed a bit different from their usual petty squabbling… but I couldn't hear what they were saying so I couldn't say for sure. Ugh, this is so annoying, this is not the time to be doing that.
"Those two… they're really shy but also really stubborn… won't you forgive them?"
"Even so…" It would be nice if I could get at least one ounce of an apology out of them.
"From the beginning, it was you…"
"Tch, it was all your fault!"
What the hell was up with them? Leaving their victim over here alone and just arguing with each other…
"… Hey, you two. Come over here for a second." With my eyes narrowed, I called Naruko and company over.
When I did that, they took a look at my face, and gave me completely different responses. Blake, albeit expressionless, looked down in shame, and vaguely looked saddened. On the other hand, Naruko frowned and creases ran across her brow as she gave me a complicated-looking expression.
"I said to come over here."
As I emotionlessly called out my order again, they both seemed to decide to listen to me for now, and tottered over side-by-side. They stopped right in front of me as I sat there…
"… What?" Naruko sulkily muttered. Blake stayed silent, and just looked at me with an empty expression.
I took a glance at Blake, and then looked up at my sister's sullen face. I honestly wanted to yell at them, but I hadn't forgotten that this was supposed to be a celebration and this girl was the guest of honor. But as expected, I couldn't stomach just letting this pass without saying anything. It wasn't like I was going to ask for a proper apology from these two, but I didn't want to come to more harm later. At the very least, I just wanted to tell them to leave me alone. To the very end, Naruko was today's guest of honor. I was just an extra here.
"… Hey?"
"W-what?" Naruko cowered, almost as if she was nervous.
"You know, I've been really depressed these days because of you. But, I heard that today was a celebration for you, so I came here like this, and put aside all my grief, and was ready to celebrate with you. But why is it then that you two have to only do things that just make me more depressed?"
"… That's… a misunderstanding." Having kept silent up until then, Blake spoke haltingly. But I wasn't convinced.
"Really? Well, if that's the case, then this is pretty ridiculous. And something's been on my mind from the beginning. I feel like you all have been keeping something from me. I've had this unpleasant feeling every time there's been a presentation… I mean, you're even making Naruko do one even though she's the guest of honor? Really, why exactly am I the only person who wasn't told that you were making these presentations? I would understand if you wanted to hide it from the guest of honor, but I have no idea why you would hide it from me… that's way too suspicious. Just give it to me straight and tell me what's going on… or be a bit gentler with me because I honestly can't enjoy myself like this."
"… That's not what we had intended."
Blake's voice grew fainter. In ordinary circumstances, I probably would have been more considerate at this moment of time, but I couldn't spare the effort to do that now. My first priority was getting my questions answered.
"If that's true, then just tell me what's going on."
"Hey, you, cut it out." Naruko butted in at that point. Seeming to push her own actions to the back of her mind, she spoke in a threatening tone. "You just talk talk talk talk talk talk… is it really that fun accusing my friend like that? And what's more, you're talking to a girl here… that's not cool at all."
"What did you just say!?" As usual, I had no idea why Naruko was getting all upset, so getting annoyed, I took the bait and shot back at her. "What the hell did you just say!?"
"Y-you're taking everything so seriously with a girl and that's really stupid! Even that time before! What the hell… why did you get so angry!? I can't believe you! It's really not that bad!"
It's really not that bad, she says…?
"Not bad you says!? Because of you my precious friend almost stop talking to me! Don't you know how important she is to me!?"
"I-I…"
"During the summer, when your doujinshi got found by Akeno did you just go 'it's really not that bad' to yourself!?"
"W-why are you holding a grudge just because your sister pulled a prank on you? I-it's not like that girl hates you now or something. It's… really… not a big deal…"
As if she was flustered with how angry I looked, Naruko only barely managed to get her final words out. But I didn't care. She had said something she really shouldn't have.
"Cut it out, dammit!" I spoke, with anger in my words. It wasn't the kind of wishy-washy tone I had kept up until now… I was serious. "I apologize to Rias-chan, but I'm going home. You can play without me!"
Yes. In deference to Rias, I had intended to be patient with this for as long as possible. But I had reached my limit.
"I can't take this anymore. And it doesn't matter whether I'm here or not, right!?" I spat that out coldly, and turned heel.
"… W-wait…" Naruko sounded like she was muttering something but I ignored her. I was planning to just leave like this and head straight home.
No matter what, I just had no idea what the point of my going through all of this was. Sure, I considered Rias and Blake to be friends. And no matter how much I might not like it, Naruko was my sister. But even then, it's not like they could do anything to me and I wouldn't get angry. It made it even worse since it was my friend or my sister… it just made it harder to come to terms with, so I was even more annoyed than if this had been done to me by some random stranger.
"… Haruto-san, j-just listen for a second."
Rias blocked my path to the door and faced me. And as expected, I had to stop for a moment. Because in all the time I had known her, this was the first time I had heard her voice sounding so desperate.
Next, Blake went to Rias' side and looked up at me. As if trying to buy time, she cleared her throat and steeling herself, began to talk.
"… You know, the truth is…"
"Hold on."
Even Naruko cut in at that point, and stopped Blake mid-sentence.
"… I'm… going to do this myself… so just let me do this…"
It was honestly difficult to describe my sister's facial expression at that moment. She seemed incredibly annoyed on the one hand, but also somewhat crestfallen on the other. She seemed angry, but also seemed to be hiding a sense of determination. And also, Naruko was holding a paper bag in one hand. I couldn't see the contents though.
"Move!" I spoke angrily. Just looking at my annoying sister made the anger well up in me again.
"W-what's with the attitude…?"
A dangerous atmosphere permeated the room. Sparks flew as Naruko and I glared at each other.
"Naruko-san!"
"… You know what you're doing, right?"
Rias and Blake both faced Naruko and urged her on.
"I got it, I got it! It'll all be fine if I just do it, right!?"
Naruko bobbed her head vigorously up and down and shouted. After that, she ruffled her red hair furiously.
"Ughhhhhhhhh dammiiiiiiiiiittt! Wh-why did it have to come to this… !?" Naruko bit down on her lower lip, and huge creases formed across her brow… "I-I'm sorry! P-please, take this!" Naruko thrust out the paper bag at me.
"… Huh?" Staring at that paper bag with crossed eyes, I voiced my confusion. And then, maybe out of anger, Naruko flushed a deep crimson.
"C-come on! This is a present for you! I'm giving it to you as an apology!"
"… Pre… sent…? From you… for me…?" My eyes widened and I found myself at a loss for words
"Y-yes." And then, Naruko bowed her head deeply. "I'm really really sorry about what happened!"
With her head still bowed, Naruko once again held out the paper bag to me. Half unconsciously, I took the paper bag from her. When I did that, Naruko looked up and met my gaze for just a second, and softly muttered. "… Thanks for everything… O-o… onii-san."
Onii-san? She never called me that before. This was just too much, and I felt my head go pure white. I might have fainted right then and there for a few seconds.
Naruko kept her head down, and seemed to be waiting for my response. But really, I wasn't in any condition to give a response in this state. Not hearing a response and perhaps getting worried, my sister once again raised her head. Feigning strength, she pushed up her bottom lip with her tongue.
A few more seconds passed, and after that she timidly spoke up. "Umm… did you hear me?"
"A-ahh. I heard." To be perfectly honest, at this point I still couldn't believe the words that had gone through my ears. It was completely beyond my expectations, so it took a while before I could process the situation.
Have I ever heard her say something like that to me before…?
"… A-ahh… then that's good…" Hearing my response, Naruko let out a long breath in relief.
Next, she put a hand to her chest, and blushing all the while, began to breathe raggedly. Being faced with this scene, almost as if she had just finished confessing to a boy, I suddenly became very self-conscious and felt my face heating up.
"Haruto-kun. The truth is that this party was really organized to get you to cheer up. And, it also gave Naruko-san an opening to apologize to Haruto-kun… my my, I really had intended to properly entertain you and for you to enjoy yourself, but this has become such an unpleasant experience for you instead… I really am very sorry for my failure."
"I'm sorry."
Rias and Blake stood side by side and bowed.
"… So it was like that…" Dumbfounded, I tried to digest the situation. Giving her a quick glance, I saw that Naruko was frowning with her cheeks still flushed.
"Umm… I haven't said this very often up until now. It really didn't seem you would know unless I said it outright, so I'll just come out and say it this time."
"W-what…?"
Naruko impatiently tried to grope for the right words, and she finally began to talk.
"All the things you've done for me up until now, I'm really thankful for. If you weren't there, I definitely couldn't have convinced Mom to accept my hobby… and I wouldn't have been able to make up with Akeno…" She looked at Rias, then at Blake, and continued to shyly choke out her words. "I… wouldn't have met these two either. I would have just gone on sadly by myself, not being able to talk to anyone about games or anime, not being able to do anything… I really don't know what would have happened if it went on like that. So, umm, once again… thank you, Onii-san."
She quickly turned the other way. She was… really terrible at speaking at times like this. But, I understood. I knew exactly how she felt.
The sound of mild applause reached my ears. Rias and Blake were clapping their hands for us. Both Rias, and even Blake, had smiles on their faces… almost as if they were trying to tell me "I'm happy for you."
Even as I came to terms with the current situation, I couldn't believe it.
… To think that Naruko would… to think that she would go so far as to give me a present. It's like I was dreaming.
Up until now, I had done a number of things for Naruko's sake. I had helped her make otaku friends. I had desperately worked to protect her otaku goods from our mother. I had run around trying to clear up her misunderstanding with Akeno. I had taken a trip to a publishing company to deal with the theft of Naruko's cell-phone novel manuscript. I have to admit it. I… getting thanked by my sister, having her expressing her gratitude to me… It made me happy.
"… Thank you, Naruko. This present you gave me… I'll make sure to take good care of it."
"Y-you haven't even opened it yet, so what are you saying?" My sister responded curtly. But I didn't mind. Her feelings had already been transmitted to me, and had manifested themselves in this present I was holding.
"You're right. Well then, can I open it now then?"
"D-do what you want."
"… Alright." I took the paper bag and unsealed it. I softly took out the contents. Slowly, carefully, carefully, I began to peel off the outer wrapping. Just the fact that my sister had given this to me made it precious, so I didn't really care what was inside. I would definitely be happy no matter what came out, and I would probably cry.
Rustle rustle.
Like that, what I unearthed from beneath the wrapping paper was… An eroge titled Sister x Sister: Sister Love Story.
"… Umm… what is this?" I muttered haltingly.
I blinked a number of times, thinking that maybe I had been mistaken, but the item in front of me showed no signs of going away. I quickly looked back and forth between Rias and Blake, and saw that they were completely dumbfounded. It seemed that they weren't expecting this state of affairs either.
When I looked right back at my sister, I saw her with an incredibly happy smile on her face.
"This is seriously a godly game, so you should play it!"
"This… you…"
I was so moved before too… how could you burst my bubble like that!? No no, it's the thought that counts… what the actual present is doesn't matter! B-but… who would have thought that, in the midst of this emotional moment… an eroge would appear from under those wrappings…!?
Trembling, I couldn't say a single word more. But…
"Hee hee… just think of that game as me, and take good care of it!"
My sister shyly put a hand to her upper lip, and as I looked at her, I slowly felt the tension in me loosen. Because, in my sister's facial expression, I couldn't sense even a bit of the usual mean-spiritedness.
Geez, I give up. I can really feel that her words were coming from the heart. And she told me to think of this little sister eroge as if it were her, and to take good care of it!
"Heh… hahaha…"
I felt myself also breaking out into a smile. This situation was just too ridiculous, and I couldn't do anything but laugh. But contrary to expectations, this was perhaps the most Naruko-like thanks she could have given me.
"What? What are you laughing about? Hmm, you really that happy?"
"Thanks, Naruko." I put my hand on top of her head and gently pat her head. Naruko blinked in surprise. I'm sure that in a few seconds, she's just going to get angry and start yelling at me again…
But the gift she had given me, of all things, was a little sister eroge. Geez, this must be the most ridiculous, absurd… it was a memory that would make me grimace every time I thought of it… but at the same time, it was a situation that really fit us.
But most of all, at that moment… we really looked just like a normal brother and sister.