“Good morning, Ayaka, Chiaki, Fuyuno.”
After finishing his morning routine, Harutaki greeted his sisters, who were already seated at the breakfast table, and picked up a piece of bread. “Itadakimasu.”
“Hoho, Harutaki-nii, did you know?”
“Know what?”
Harutaki looked at Fuyuno, who was grinning mischievously. He thought about wiping the milk off the corners of her lips, but that felt too intimate, so he focused instead on his hot, freshly baked toast.
It was different from the usual cold bread—it was actually toast today, and it was almost too hot to bite.
Maybe his efforts to change himself had softened Ayaka’s attitude toward him.
He glanced at Ayaka, but the moment he did, she caught his gaze. She responded with a cold hmph and turned her face away. The sound reminded him of a half-frozen “Green Tongue” ice cream: a mix of soft, hard, and icy.
“Ugh…”
Seeing his attention diverted to Ayaka, Fuyuno puffed out her cheeks, her little devilish personality kicking in. She was ready to cause a big stir.
“Last night… sometimes in Chiaki-nee’s room, I could hear some… weird noises~”
Chiaki, still half-asleep with half a piece of toast dangling from her mouth, shot up in shock, eyes wide. She didn’t even care about the bread that fell onto the table—she bolted straight for Fuyuno.
“I bet she was looking at the photos of Onii-chan secretly taken on her phone, and, you know… doing… that…”
“Kuh… cough… cough cough…”
Harutaki choked on a mouthful of milk, coughing for a while. Despite having a composed face, Fuyuno’s revelation hit him hard.
He had seen many things in his life, but nothing quite like this first thing in the morning. Even flirting with his girlfriend on WeChat hadn’t been this bold.
He considered defending Chiaki—but seeing her slump to the floor, looking utterly devastated, he realized Fuyuno might have exaggerated, yet the self-indulgence was real.
Speaking now might not help; it could only pour salt on the wound.
But doing nothing?
As an older brother, he couldn’t just let Fuyuno harass Chiaki.
Then, recalling the principle behind certain viral internet controversies, the only way to suppress one bombshell is with another bombshell.
A little self-sacrifice would do.
Clearing his throat under the watchful eyes of his three sisters, Harutaki said, “Ahem, speaking of photos of me… don’t you want to know why I suddenly changed my image?”
“Because you finally realized you’re a dark, incompetent, perverted shut-in?”
Fuyuno covered her mouth, her cherry-colored eyes forming crescent moons as she giggled.
“Because fapping all the time isn’t as satisfying as having a real girlfriend… I’ve decided to find a high school JK girlfriend in the little time I have left and have a real, serious relationship!”
A hundred percent honesty feels too raw, a hundred percent lie will get exposed—blend fifty-fifty, and you get something plausibly true.
At least, that worked… for now.
Ayaka: ?
Chiaki: !
Fuyuno: !!!
Their reactions varied wildly.
Ayaka’s cheeks flushed. Was it embarrassment at her brother being such a shameless pervert, or shyness at hearing him say such brazen things to her face?
Chiaki… wait, why were her cheeks redder than Ayaka’s? She wobbled in her seat, almost toppling over. Was she even okay?
And Fuyuno—
“Hehe, Onii-chan, your girlfriend won’t mind seeing three adorable sisters at home, right? Won’t get mad at us?”
Tea-level overload… She’s young, not even in high school, and already saying things like this. There was no limit to how much trouble she could cause in the future. She absolutely couldn’t be allowed to wreak havoc on anyone else.
“You always think with your lower half, Aniki. You’re terrible!”
Ayaka’s glare could have crushed bugs crawling up a drain. Full of disdain—but with her flushed cheeks, it somehow looked endearing.
If words and glances were knives, Ayaka’s were cotton-candy knives from a fairy tale.
Fuyuno, ever the instigator, knelt on her chair, one hand on the table, the other gesturing in the air. “Actually, Fuyuno could help Onii-chan with your… troubles too.”
Harutaki, still adjusting to his new life, didn’t feel like an older brother at that moment. If he treated them the old way, he couldn’t comprehend his own perverted thoughts.
For now, it felt more like dating a friend’s younger sister—awkward, but strangely exciting.
Then Fuyuno’s next words extinguished any such spark: “But if Onii-chan could be satisfied by just little Fuyuno’s hands, wouldn’t that be pathetic?”
“Ah, that’d definitely make your future girlfriend annoyed. If Onii-chan is willing to beg Fuyuno on his knees, maybe she could teach you… how to make a girl happy~”
She put on a mock-serious expression, theatrical and teasing.
Hard. His fists clenched.
How could this little sister of his be so shameless?
Harutaki might pamper his sisters, but he wasn’t infinitely tolerant—he wasn’t the type to quietly suffer.
“Eh? With Fuyuno’s little size, not even chopsticks could handle it. Poor Fuyuno’s future boyfriend—”
Mimicking Fuyuno’s tone, he emphasized each word:
“—that’s not pleasure, that’s a tor-ture.”
“Guh…”
Fuyuno’s biggest insecurity was her height—she was practically still an elementary schooler in stature.
Even though she’s about to enter high school, anyone who sees her walking down the street would say something like, “What a cute elementary school kid,” or “Such a kid with an adult vibe,” or “Trying so hard to act mature—super cute for an elementary schooler, lol…”
She couldn’t stand it!
Especially with her sisters, one’s figure being more outrageous than the other.
Chiaki was normal for a high schooler, but Ayaka…
Ayaka was on an entirely different level—how could an ordinary high school girl have such a lewd figure!?
All of Mom’s genetics must’ve gone to the eldest sister!
Fuming from the touchy subject, Fuyuno shouted without thinking:
“So what if I’m an elementary schooler! Do you have any idea how precious it is to have a legal elementary schooler in a few years from now? Doesn’t Onii-chan, who used to be a gloomy, creepy otaku, know that?!”
Pointing at Ayaka, she continued:
“Something as disgusting as a pig’s ball sac, like my sister’s, can only have a sagging future!”
Ayaka: !
The room fell into an awkward silence.
With their parents away, the eldest sister, Ayaka, had been running the house for years. No one dared provoke her.
Fuyuno’s messed up big time—Chiaki and Harutaki shared that thought silently.
And confirming their fear was Ayaka’s hammer-like pink fist.
Thwack.
Fuyuno’s head rang sharply.
Ouch.
Harutaki’s jaw tingled in sympathy.
Ayaka’s fist was slightly red, her other hand shielding her chest, her teeth gritted, like a fluffed-up cat.
Noticing Harutaki staring, she turned, expressionless: “You think it’s disgusting too, right?”
“Uh… well…”
Harutaki hesitated, took a deep breath, and calmly said: “Please, let me measure it with both hands.”
“Go die, perverted siscon.”
Ayaka glared, then grabbed Fuyuno’s cheek. Between her cries of “Ouch! Ouch!” she dragged her off to the bathroom to fix her hair and uniform.
Now, only Harutaki and Chiaki remained in the dining room.
They exchanged awkward glances.
“Well, Chiaki…”
“Uh, Nii-san…”
“You first.”
“No, you first.”
After another glance, Harutaki sighed as he noticed Chiaki’s toes peeking out of her socks.
“Well… that kind of thing is normal. But there should be limits; don’t let it interfere with your routine.”
“Guu…”
Chiaki buried her face, letting out a small animal-like whine.
Harutaki, having been there before, knew how curious adolescents could be, especially when they discovered the pleasures of self-indulgence.
If unchecked, it could affect both life and studies.
“Alright, as long as it doesn’t affect life or school, Ayaka and I won’t interfere. Don’t dwell on it. Any troubles, come to me or Ayaka.”
He reached out to ruffle Chiaki’s hair. Her long, smooth brown hair felt like silk beneath his fingers.
“I’m off to school. Say goodbye to Ayaka and Fuyuno for me.”
But as he tried to leave, something tugged hard on his pants, preventing him from stepping forward.
“Mm… Can I really leave all my troubles to you, Nii-san?”
“Promise,” he said after a moment, holding out his pinky. “Pinky swear. If I break it, I’ll swallow a thousand needles.”
Chiaki carefully touched his finger with hers and whispered a request:
“Th-then… Nii-san… could you take a selfie in the mirror for me?”
“Ah?”
“J-just in shorts…”
“Eh—?!”