"Arisu is the daughter of the current chairman of Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School. I asked her to help us get in during the cultural festival a few months from now."
Kitagawa Ryo explained calmly, as if he hadn't noticed Horikita Suzune's stunned reaction.
"All the information I gathered about what happens after enrollment came from Arisu."
His tone was steady, carrying a strange yet comforting trustworthiness.
"I invited her here today so you could get to know each other beforehand. Officially, we'll be attending under her family's name. Because of how closed-off Advanced Nurturing High School is, even during the few public events like the cultural festival, only family members of school officials are invited."
"I actually went to pick you up at school today, but I saw you were busy, so I didn't want to interrupt. Looks like you became a class committee member."
With just a few words, Ryo had already calmed Suzune down. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but couldn't find the words. The anger she had brought home began to dissolve.
"Next time, at least let me know before bringing someone home."
She protested weakly.
"Got it, got it. Now go make some tea. We have a guest, after all."
"I told you, this is my house."
Suzune sighed and headed toward the kitchen anyway.
Sakayanagi Arisu sat properly on the sofa, ivory legs together, cane resting horizontally across her knees. She curiously watched Suzune retrieve the tea set from the cabinet.
"This is the cousin you mentioned?"
"Yeah. She's a bit slow and has a prickly personality, but she's decent overall."
Ryo answered vaguely, then looked at Arisu with a subtle implication.
"What do you think?"
"No roots."
Arisu gave a flat answer. As Suzune gracefully brewed tea, Arisu smiled faintly.
"You'll see what I mean in a minute."
Suzune approached with the tea tray, visibly tense. Arisu had removed her coat in the warmth of the apartment. Her crisp white blouse made her look even more delicate, yet Suzune could feel a strange pressure radiating from her—a presence that reminded her of her brother, Horikita Manabu.
"Horikita Suzune, younger sister of Horikita Manabu, correct?"
Arisu took a sip of tea.
"Though Ryo told me you'd be visiting the school festival to meet him, I still wanted to ask you directly."
"What's your reason for doing this?"
"To show him how much I've grown."
Suzune responded without hesitation.
"Why does he have to be the one to see it? Growth should be for yourself."
"Because my brother has always been my goal and role model. Only when he sees me—no, only when I see him can I know if I've truly changed."
"I see."
Arisu nodded crisply, then smiled again.
"But what if he doesn't want to see you?"
"What if he thinks you're just a foolish little sister?"
Suzune didn't reply immediately. Though the words were baseless, she hesitated.
Maybe because she had heard something like that before.
Because... it did sound like something her brother might say.
"To tell you the truth, I've already spoken to Horikita Manabu. He doesn't want you to visit the school, nor does he want you to apply."
Arisu clapped her hands together, revealing a mischievous smile.
"That's option one."
"Option one?"
Suzune blinked in confusion. Arisu's logic was jumping too fast. She couldn't tell what was true anymore.
"Because you triggered the condition to enter that branch of the story."
Arisu put down her cup and stood up.
"What?"
Suzune watched warily as Arisu reached toward her—not for her face, but for a strand of her hair.
"Lovely hair. But it's long."
Arisu retracted her hand and explained:
"Having long hair leads to option one."
"What are you even talking about?"
Suzune couldn't process it yet. Maybe she remembered something, but didn't want to accept it.
"Because when I told Manabu you were coming, all he asked was for me to check your hair length."
Arisu sat back down and rested her chin on her hand.
"If it's long, he doesn't need to see your growth. Not your academics, sports, or talents."
"A sister who gave up her individuality over a single lie from her brother."
"No matter how much she changes, she will never surpass him."
Suzune stood frozen. Ryo had never seen her cry this way before. From the angle of the tears, she was just an ordinary teenage girl.
She thought everything she had worked so hard for these past years was invalidated in a single moment.
Just one sentence from Horikita Manabu had made her hide her true self. Now, in front of others, she was forced to confront her real identity.
Her hair had revealed the truth.
No matter how close she tried to get to her brother, no matter how much she convinced herself her path was right—from the very beginning, Horikita Suzune...
She had severed her roots, then grafted herself onto something called "Horikita Manabu."
A vine clinging to a great tree, basking in its shade. The rare sunlight that reached her felt like a blessing.
But she had no roots.
No matter how lush she became, how many leaves she grew—
She appeared strong because she was loud.
She appeared fearless because she had been uprooted.
This was the true Horikita Suzune.
And Arisu could see it so clearly because she was that kind of person.
Call it manipulative, or worse. Arisu enjoyed understanding people to their core.
In a way, both she and Suzune were problem children.
"Enough. Stop crying."
Ryo came over and gently patted Suzune's back. His experience comforting others came solely from taking care of Hotaru, but Hotaru rarely cried, so he was at a bit of a loss now.
He glared at Arisu.
Suzune thought Ryo had finally turned soft, but then he said:
"If you keep crying, dinner's over. Time to practice piano."
Suzune sniffled and, under Arisu's quiet gaze, took a seat at the table.
Fine. Maybe that "Golden Chef" talent was worth something.
Ryo sighed and served the dishes. He had intended to continue training Suzune until she could defeat her brother. If she broke, he would guide her to reassess her past and grow from it.
But Arisu's brutal insight had left her shattered.
Even in past simulations, the compatibility between those two hadn't been this terrible.
Frustrated as he was, Ryo had no choice but to roll with it. Worst case, start over.
He'd never seen Suzune cry and eat at the same time before.
Though her occasional sobs made her choke a little.
"She can't have seconds."
Even then, when Ryo served a third plate, Suzune objected.
"We're still counting on Arisu to get us in."
"It doesn't matter anymore."
Her fighting spirit had bottomed out. She sounded like a completely different person.
"Really?"
"Mm."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Absolutely positive?"
"You're so annoying, Ryo."
She pouted.
"I'm just making sure. Miss your chance now, and you'll have to wait two years to enroll."
"My brother doesn't want to see me. He doesn't even want me to go to that school."
She lowered her eyes. Without the puffed cheeks, the sadness might have been more convincing.
"Maybe you should think differently. Maybe that was a lie too."
"He did lie to you as a kid, didn't he? That guy who lies to little girls."
Ryo really felt like he was dealing with a child. Arisu, meanwhile, was covering her mouth to hide a laugh.
Honestly, Ryo agreed Manabu had problems. Lying to his adoring little sister wasn't exactly honorable.
But then again, Ryo had lied to Hotaru plenty himself.
Ahem.
Suzune didn't answer. After eating, she collapsed.
Her whole body seemed to deflate, eyes vacant.
"Up. Time to practice."
Ryo nudged her shoulder.
"No."
She buried her head in her knees, curling up on the sofa.
Now she looked even smaller than Arisu, who sat primly nearby.
Ryo sighed and went into the music room. He tore a photo off the piano.
"Look up."
Suzune instinctively lifted her head.
Smack!
He slapped the photo on her forehead.
If this had been the old Suzune, he might have been kicked out.
But now, she didn't even react.
Arisu's words had stripped her bare.
"What is this?"
Suzune wobbled her head, trying to shake it off. It was oddly cute.
"Horikita Manabu's photo."
Ryo shoved his hands into his pockets, watching her with a smirk.
"You shoved him into your life like this, didn't you? Forced him into your thoughts."
"Even when you couldn't see him or touch him, you imagined he was always there. That's ridiculous."
"You'll never beat him like that."
"Getting lied to just means going back to the start."
"Grow up again, Suzune."
-------------------------------------
"She's merely weaving a phantom from her most passionate memories and deepest wishes. In that illusion, Horikita Manabu is always ahead of her, and she can never catch up," Sakayanagi Arisu said softly as she leaned against the door of the car waiting to pick her up.
The night had grown dark, and the early autumn air was tinged with chill. The Sakayanagi family's chauffeur handed her a coat without interrupting their conversation. He stood respectfully nearby, silent and attentive.
"They barely spend a few hours together in an entire year."
"And it's precisely because they never see each other that the fantasy grows stronger."
Kitagawa Ryo stood in the stairwell, the glow of the streetlamp casting light only on the space in front of him. Half of his body remained in shadow.
"A deep impression in childhood, followed by years of separation... often, those old feelings and memories ferment like fine wine—but sometimes, they spoil."
"Even without our interference, Horikita Suzune would eventually wake up. But that would require her to see Horikita Manabu with her own eyes."
"Because the one truly deceiving her isn't Horikita Manabu—it's herself."
A bright, round moon hung low above Sakayanagi Arisu's head. From Ryo's perspective, it looked as if she could reach up and touch it.
"Do I still need to write down her name?"
"Of course. Horikita Suzune will go."
"Even in her current state?"
"Even in her current state."
Sakayanagi chuckled quietly, clearly amused by Ryo's unwavering reply.
"Understood."
"Next time I visit, as repayment, play 'Moonlight Sonata' for me, Ryo."
Under the streetlight, Sakayanagi's shadow stretched long behind her. Her silver hair shimmered nearly translucent in the moonlight, making her appear like a distant mirage.
"Or... should I call you—"
The fairy-like girl blinked slowly, a mischievous glint in her violet eyes:
"—Onii-sama?"
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