When Soyo opened her eyes and subconsciously picked up her phone, her still-groggy mind was instantly jolted awake by the message at the very top of her feed.
[Slept with my favorite big brother for the first time in forever!]
"...Huh?"
Soyo stared at the line of text for a moment, then immediately clicked on the post.
And then, when she saw the intimate photo of the two of them in bed, she instantly understood what had happened after she had fallen asleep yesterday.
Without a moment's hesitation, Soyo threw off the covers and immediately walked out of Tetsuya's room.
However, the scene before her made her stop in her tracks, halting her "march to demand an explanation."
"Ah, Soyo, you're awake!"
Anon, who was wiping down her guitar in the living room, turned to look at Soyo.
"Do you want to eat breakfast now? Or wait a little longer?"
"...We can talk about breakfast later. Where's your brother?"
Soyo looked around.
"Is he not up yet?"
"Nii-chan already left for the studio. It seems he's planning to focus on finishing up the last of the work there."
Anon said.
"He told me to tell you that he'll probably be back before lunch, so you can just wait here for a bit until then, Soyo."
"...I see."
Hearing that Tetsuya wasn't home, Soyo nodded and took out her phone.
"In that case... could you please explain to me what this is all about?"
"Hm?"
Anon looked at Soyo's phone screen, and when she saw the content, a rather proud smile appeared on her face.
"Hehe, that. I was just so happy about sleeping with Nii-chan yesterday that I couldn't help but show off a little."
"Seriously... do you have any self-awareness as a teenage girl?"
Soyo couldn't help but frown.
"Even if you're siblings, sleeping in the same bed at this age is very strange in the eyes of others."
"Eh? Is it?"
Anon tilted her head in confusion.
"It shouldn't be that weird for close siblings to sleep together occasionally, right?"
"It is weird. Incredibly weird, in fact!"
Soyo was rendered speechless by Anon's confusion.
"Aren't you embarrassed yourself? Sleeping with your older brother at this age?"
"? Not at all. The reason I asked Nii-chan to come to my room was because I had something I wanted to discuss with him."
Anon's tone and expression were perfectly calm.
"Besides, I've talked to other classmates who have siblings, and they all sleep together during family trips!"
"That's because it's a family trip! The situation is completely different from usual!"
"And I only invited Nii-chan over because you were staying here, Soyo! Normally, even I wouldn't want to make Nii-chan sleep in such a cramped bed!"
"..."
Hearing this, although Soyo had a lot she wanted to say, the fact was, as Anon had said, the whole thing started because she was staying over in Tetsuya's room.
And from what she knew of Tetsuya, he must have been half-forced, half-persuaded into agreeing to sleep together. Judging by the look of utter resignation on his face in the photo, the picture was likely taken on Anon's own initiative as well.
"Fine, even if it's normal for siblings to sleep together occasionally, what was the point of posting this picture on social media?"
Soyo pressed on.
"Didn't you say you'd only show off your brother to the few of us? Or do you just want everyone to know you have a hopeless brother complex?"
"Ah~ About that, I was just so happy last night that I posted it on social media on impulse."
Anon scratched her head with a sheepish laugh.
"Thinking about it calmly now, it is a little embarrassing... Should I delete it?"
"Hurry up and delete it."
Soyo gave her an annoyed glare.
"Before anyone starts making fun of you in the comments."
"Alright, alright~"
Anon nodded, then picked up her phone and deleted the photo with Tetsuya from her SNS.
"I deleted it from SNS, but I'm not going to unsend it in the group chat."
"You... would it kill you not to show off?"
"Hey, this is one of the few areas where I can beat you guys right now. You have to let me show off a little!"
"...I'm speechless."
Soyo shook her head, then sat down next to Anon.
"By the way, are you planning to start practicing your guitar this early in the day?"
"Yep. After all, our first live is tomorrow."
Anon said.
"To minimize mistakes as much as possible, I need to at least build up some muscle memory!"
"..."
Compared to when the band was first formed, Anon had made significant progress in both her attitude and her technique.
Besides being motivated and warned by the stories of the other band members, Tetsuya's guidance and support must have also played a large part.
If this band continued to grow at this pace, then... a major debut might not be that far off for them.
"After I get my outfit... let's call everyone and go to [RiNG] together."
Soyo said.
"More than individual skill, what we need now is team cohesion."
"Ooh~ Team cohesion, huh~"
Anon cheekily brought her face close to Soyo's.
"At this rate, our band is getting more and more united. So what's going to happen with [CRYCHIC]?"
"...I'm going to go wash up."
Soyo had no intention of responding to Anon's provocation. She simply stood up with a blank expression and strode towards the bathroom.
However, her footsteps, completely unlike her usual ones, suggested her mood was far from as calm as she appeared.
"Hehe, even Soyo looked envious. I wonder what the others will think when they see this picture."
Anon held her phone and muttered with a huge smile on her face.
"It's hard to say with Raana and Taki, but Tomori would probably be pretty envious, right?"
It was a shame it was so late last night; otherwise, she would have definitely made Tetsuya take a few more pictures in different poses.
But... there was no need to rush.
Her brother had already promised over and over that he wouldn't leave her, so they would definitely have more chances to take pictures together in the future.
"What pose should we do next time?"
Anon gazed at the photo, which she had already set as her wallpaper, with a thoughtful expression.
...
"...So she deleted it."
Looking at the now-inaccessible post on her phone, Hoshino Ai tilted her head.
"Looks like she has a bit of shame after all... Chihaya Anon."
She murmured to herself as she continued scrolling through the post history. After a moment, she suddenly said to her companion beside her:
"...Uika."
"Mhm?"
"Since this is a rare opportunity, how about the two of us... make an impromptu guest appearance at [RiNG] tomorrow?"