Chapter 52: Little Sister
With the arrival of Kuzuryuu Shiori, most of the issues surrounding the Fuyunagi family were more or less resolved.
Well, that’s assuming Shiori eventually succeeds and becomes the coordinator of the Kuzuryuu Group, in other words, its president, but there’s no point debating a future that far off right now.
We’re just students, after all. There’s no way we can predict the future of a company or a household.
All we can do for now is decide where to go after graduating high school—whether it’s university, a job, or something else. That’s about the extent of our choices.
And even those decisions still have another year of leeway. We can think about them slowly.
For now, we’ve ended up with this bizarre gathering made up of me, Fuyunagi-san, the Kuzuryuu’s little sister, and Fuyunagi’s mother, a chaotic combination that makes absolutely no sense.
Where the conversation will finally land, only God knows, I suppose?
But among everything that’s happened, the biggest change is probably Fuyunagi-san’s mother.
It seems that even without Kuzuryuu’s little sister showing up, her mother had already intended to respect her daughter’s wishes.
The proof is that she actually came today to tell her that in person at her daughter’s apartment.
And apparently, Fuyunagi’s mother has one more thing she needs to tell her daughter.
It seems that, to her, that’s actually the main topic.
“Um… Shizuku… the truth is…”
“W-what? Why are you being so formal…?”
“You might be getting a little sister or brother!”
“Ha!?”
Yes, there was one more thing she needed to tell her.
Apparently, Fuyunagi-san might be getting a little sister or brother.
“W-wait? Hold on? What do you mean?”
“I don’t really know how else to put it… but your mother might be pregnant…”
“Ha?”
“It’s not certain yet, but there’s a possibility…!”
“Wha…? Ah…!? …Haa……”
Fuyunagi-san put a hand to her head, looking utterly exhausted.
“Wow! Is it a daughter? Congratulations!”
“Ah… thank you, Shiori-sama. But we still don’t know anything for sure yet…”
Kuzuryuu’s little sister offered congratulations for reasons I didn’t fully understand.
Well… it would be something worth celebrating, I guess?
“And, Shizuku… after discussing things with your father, I realized something. I was shown that man’s kindness and sincerity as a human being, his greatness as a parent… and the difference in caliber he has as a father. When a parent one-sidedly forces something onto their child, it distorts the child’s growth… it is nothing but evil. If we truly wish for our children to have the freedom to form their own will, then one-sided discipline is nothing but wrongdoing… That is what I was taught.”
“I… I see.”
“And so… um… I’ve fallen for him all over again. No, that’s not quite right… I’ve come to truly love your father—in the real sense of the word!! So, you see… well…”
Fuyunagi-san’s face looked… complicated.
A subtle, indescribably awkward expression.
Well, of course. Right now, her mother is—how should I put this…? Showing a face you really shouldn’t show your child.
To put it plainly… no, I can’t put it plainly!!
Anyway, I decided to…
“Shiori-chan, how about we go over there and play for a bit?”
“Eh? But I’d really like to stay here and watch this heartwarming family moment.”
“If you want to stay friends with Fuyunagi-san forever, I highly recommend listening to what I’m telling you right now. Okay?”
“Hmmm… in that case, I’ll trust the instructions of the one and only gentleman chosen by Shizuku-san!”
Such grandiose phrasing isn’t necessary.
Honestly, I don’t want to see this kind of scene from my parents normally, and neither would Shizuku.
“So what are we going to do?”
“Umm…play a game?”
“A game? Well, I’m pretty strong at them!”
“What games are you good at?”
“I often play Quarrycraft or Critter Crossing with friends~”
“Ahaha… I guess a two-player game would be better~”
Both of those are single-player type games.
I mean, if I’m also playing, I could probably invite her to my Quarrycraft world, or join the world Kuzuryuu’s little sister made on her own account… but I don’t play that game, so…
“How about Smash Friends?”
“Oh! Sounds good!”
And so, we ended up playing a major, large-scale crossover fighting game that features all sorts of characters from various other major franchises.
“I’ll have you know, I’m super strong at this game~!”
…or so she claims, but people who say things like that tend to follow a certain predictable pattern.
“Fweeeh~ I lost agaaain~!! One more! Just one more, pleeease!!”
Yes—she’s super weak.
Well, she plays enough that her basic controls are solid, but the character she uses is the standard balanced type.
And her fighting style is the classic blindly charging straight ahead.
She walks right into my feints and counters like she’s getting pulled in by a vacuum, to the point where it’s hard even to lose on purpose.
“Whyyy~ why can’t I wiiin…?”
“Ahaha…”
“Don’t laugh, teach me pleeease!!”
“Uh, well, you see…”
“What’s wrong…?”
“Ah… ah… ahhhh…”
At that moment, all I could manage was a voiceless gasp.
Because… because…
Grab!
“Eek!? F-Fuyunagi-shan!!?”
Kuzuryuu’s little sister was suddenly grabbed by the shoulder, and from behind her, Fuyunagi Shizuku emerged with a slow, ominous rise.
“You two seem to be having a lot of fun, don’t you, Takuma~?”
“Ha… haaah… haahaaAAhh…”
Not “Taku-chan,” but Takuma.
It’s been a while since she called me that.
And honestly, I can’t blame her for reacting this way.
She’d been calm lately, so I let my guard down.
If you’re sitting there happily playing games with a beautiful girl, just the two of you, well… of course this is what happens.
After this, she gave me quite the scolding…
And for my own sake, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t ask what it was about.
Character Summary (non-official)
- Majima Takuma / Taku (真島 拓真 / タク) — Taku is an utterly average high school boy in both appearance and ability. His hair and uniform are always neat but unremarkable, giving him the classic “background character” characteristic.
- Fuyunagi Shizuku (冬柳 雫) — Fuyunagi Shizuku is a stunning black-haired high school beauty with a mature, graceful aura. Her long, silky hair, elegant posture, pure and innocent atmosphere, and impressive figure—including her large chest—give her an appearance so gentle and comforting that a tired working adult might instinctively want to cling to her and call her “Mama.” Her looks alone make her feel like a UR-rarity heroine. At school, she’s admired as a pure, wholesome, and almost ideal girl—popular among girls, constantly confessed to by boys, and always at the center of her class. In private, however, Shizuku reveals a selfish, bratty, and emotionally unstable side. She’s clingy, easily upset, mentally fragile, and relies heavily on her boyfriend for emotional support while demanding secrecy and setting controlling conditions in their relationship.
- Sakurada Nagisa (桜田 凪咲) — Sakurada Nagisa is a gyaru and one of the central members of Fuyunagi-san’s friend group. With light-brown hair, piercings, and perfectly applied bold eye makeup, she has a flashy style but is undeniably beautiful—cute enough to stand out even among the popular girls. Sado Kengo’s current girlfriend.
- Natsume Kano (夏芽 華乃) — The class president. A dignified, serious beauty whose pure appearance gives her a charm distinct from Fuyunagi-san. She prioritizes efficiency, logic, and rationality above all else, resulting in a rigid, no-nonsense personality that makes her unpopular with most classmates.
Sado Kengo (佐渡 健吾) — A high-spec soccer club member who once acted as Shizuku’s fake public boyfriend. He is now Sakurada Nagisa’s actual boyfriend.
- Katou Susumu (加藤 進) — The textbook “protagonist’s best friend” character. He’s a founding member of the self-proclaimed “Unpopular Men’s Club”. Although he’s extremely jealous of Takuma for landing a girlfriend like Fuyunagi—thus “betraying” the Unpopular Men’s Club (a group Takuma never actually agreed to join)—Kato remains loyal to him despite both his jealousy and the negative public opinion surrounding Takuma.
- Fuyunagi Reiko (冬柳 澪子) — Fuyunagi Shizuku’s mother. She is, in every sense, the woman Shizuku was shaped from—from their breathtaking beauty to the way they view men and even their underlying desires all mirror one another. Beneath that elegant, doll-like exterior lies a strict and controlling parent fixated on restoring the Fuyunagi family’s former prestige. Unlike Shizuku—who directs her warped affection toward someone she genuinely chose—Reiko tries to force her ambitions onto her daughter, believing that arranging Shizuku’s marriage is the key to reclaiming the family’s lost glory.
- Fuyunagi Kanemasa (冬柳 兼政) — Fuyunagi Shizuku’s father. A highly capable and successful man who even took the Fuyunagi family name in order to marry Reiko. Despite the family’s rigid traditions, Kanemasa is the one person who genuinely supports Shizuku, encouraging her to live freely and choose her own path—including whom she loves. The only reason Shizuku’s mother and grandfather don’t openly oppose his stance is because his success and value to the family make him too important to antagonize.
- Kuzuryuu Shiori (久豆流 詩織) — Souma’s younger sister—a beautiful, sharp-tongued genius with strikingly foreign features. Despite her Japanese-sounding name, she is a natural blonde with radiant golden hair, inherited from their great-grandmother, and possesses elegant looks that stand out strongly against Souma’s more traditionally Japanese appearance. Cold, dismissive, and brutally honest toward her brother, she seems to harbor open disdain for him, even though she once adored him as a child. Academically, she is a prodigy who skipped grades at fifteen, now attending university with multiple acclaimed research papers to her name. Her intelligence creates a stark contrast to Souma, fueling his inferiority complex and twisted sister-obsessed longing.
- Kuzuryuu Souma (久豆流 創真) — Fuyunagi Shizuku’s arranged marriage partner.