Kapitel 46: Brother Complex, Sister Complex
"Phew… I'm finally back…"
A man wearing a polo shirt was standing in front of a traditional Japanese-style house.
He was a tall, moderately muscular man who stood with his back straight. Behind the silverframed glasses of this middle-aged intellectual were the gentle eyes of someone who might
not have been the most handsome person in the world but was someone who would make
you feel safe and relaxed… His hairline, on the other hand, was clearly in danger, and he
was sensitive about it, so nobody ever brought it up. This man—Kyoutarou Kuze—was
Masachika and Yuki's father, who had taken some time off work for the first time in ages
and just arrived in Japan.
"It feels like it has been forever…," muttered Kyoutarou emotionally as he lifted his
head, which felt a bit heavy due to jet lag. He was standing in front of his parents' home after
having not been back for an entire year. After opening the gate and stepping inside, a big
white dog that was sleeping under the eaves of the roof sluggishly lifted his head.
"Rir, long time no see. Do you remember me?"
The dog called Rir slothfully and unenthusiastically plodded over to Kyoutarou, gave
him a few sniffs, and then barked.
"Yep. That's a good doggy."
He petted the dog's head with a wry smile and added:
"Are you really gonna be able to guard the house like that?"
This dog was originally a stray that Masachika and Yuki rescued three years ago. More
specifically, it was Yuki who found a puppy with an injured hind leg and said they should
save it, which Masachika quickly agreed to, so they brought the dog back with them to their
grandparents' house. That said, the story wasn't as heartwarming and inspiring as it may
have sounded…because Yuki also exclaimed:
"It's an injured white puppy… I bet it's a juvenile Fenrir! Let's take it home and make
it our familiar!"
Her intentions…were not the purest. Regardless, they ended up taking the dog home and
naming it Rir at the request of Yuki…who expected far too much from an injured puppy.
Three years had gone by since then, and while Rir grew quite a bit, there was nothing divine
about this beast. If anything, the canine only became more sluggish by the day. The excessive
pressure may have stunted its growth. Rir wouldn't survive a single day alone in the wild.
"Sigh… I wonder who he gets that from," muttered Kyoutarou in a fed-up manner as
he watched Rir lazily return to his spot under the eaves. After collecting himself, he walked
over to the front door, opened it, and yelled down the hallway:
"I'm home!"
Immediately, the sliding door on the left side of the hallway flew open, and Yuki poked
out her head.
"Oh, Dad! You're back. Welcome home. ♪"
Her lips curled into a beaming smile as she ran down the hall and threw her arms around
her father. Kyoutarou closed his eyes and tilted his head back, touched by his daughter's
undying love.
I have the cutest daughter in the entire world!
There was a decent number of fathers in the world who were unfortunately despised by
their daughters around this age, but there was not a hint of dislike in Yuki's heart. Although
he may have been a little concerned by the fact that she'd never had a rebellious phase, it
quickly became nothing more than a trivial issue when faced with such love. Kyoutarou
gently smiled and hugged his beloved daughter.
"It's good to be home. You've gotten…so big, Yuki."
"Hmm? Why did you pause for a second there?"
Yuki smiled knowingly at her father's slight hesitation as he calmly checked to see how
tall she had gotten.
"Because, uh… You haven't really gotten much taller, have you?"
"Because I'm already the perfect size! I fit perfectly in your arms! I mean, what's cuter
than that?!" argued Yuki like a thug, making it clear she wasn't insecure about any part of her
body. Kyoutarou, who was a tad worried about his daughter's development, had no choice
but to agree with her clear, enthusiastic remark.
"Yeah… Of course? You are the cutest, Yuki."
"Right?"
Her smile became smug, and she placed a proud hand on her chest. That was when both
Masachika and Tomohisa looked out into the hallway as well.
"Oh. Hey, Dad."
"You're finally home, Kyoutarou!"
"Hey. It feels good to be home."
After a brief greeting, Masachika immediately returned to the room he'd been in. It was
an extremely cold welcome compared with his sister's.
Yep… My son hasn't changed a bit. Still as cold as ever.
Though he was somewhat depressed by his son's unfriendly welcome despite them not
having seen each other for so long, he figured all kids were like that while going through
puberty and left it at that.
On the other hand…
"How was England? Were there a lot of pretty ladies everywhere? Hmm?"
"…I see you're as restless as always, Dad."
Unamused, Kyoutarou narrowed his eyes as his father approached him with a pervy
smirk. It was hard to believe this was normal behavior for a senior citizen.
"Honey. You haven't seen your son in who knows how long. Is that really the first thing
you should be asking him? Welcome home, Kyoutarou."
"Thanks, Mom."
Kyoutarou's mother, Asae, emerged from a room in the back of the house with the same
fed-up expression as her son. But neither of their narrowed gazes seemed to have fazed
Tomohisa at all.
"Of course it is! What is wrong with you? The first thing a real man does abroad is taste
their best booze and their best women!"
"Dad, you don't even drink…"
Kyoutarou's exhausted gaze narrowed further, but it was his mother's exasperated look
transforming into something far more terrifying that finally shut Tomohisa up.
"Honey…?"
"…!"
"Why does it sound like you speak from experience?"
"I-it's just talk. Th-that's all. You're the only one for me, Asae…"
"But, Grandpa, you told me a while back that Westerners had great butts because their
pelvises were shaped differently."
"…?! No, uh… That was because I was watching this Western movie, and…uh…"
"Oh my. Honey, you said that to Yuki? My, my, my…"
"Wait. Asae, no. Asae?"
With an ominous smirk, Asae disappeared back into the room; Tomohisa chased after
her in a panic. Kyoutarou watched his parents' usual exchange with a half-relieved, halfjaded expression until Yuki suddenly spun around with the brightest of smiles.
"So? How wasit, really? Were there any beautiful blond women with incredible bodies?"
"Yuki, you too? Really? …At least let me put my suitcase down."
He stepped inside with a troubled grin, then joined his son in the Japanese-style room on
the left and placed his suitcase and belongings down in a corner…all while Yuki followed
closely behind him, begging him to talk about beautiful British women.
"Oh, hey. Did you see any maids? England's the birthplace of maids and maid culture,
right? Did you take pictures of any real maids?"
"I saw some…but none of them were young, you know? They were less maids…and
more like housekeepers, I guess you could say…"
"Whaaat? There weren't any cute blond maids with huge racks and tiny waists?"
"Not that I saw…"
"Whaaat? Boooring," she complained before throwing herself in her brother's lap.
"Ouch! What the hell?" replied Masachika, who was sitting in a legless floor chair and
playing on his phone.
"Dad's home, so it's time to stop playing on your damn phone."
Yuki rapidly punched Masachika's stomach while he glared down at her, holding his
smartphone at a safe distance in the air.
They really get along so well.
Kyoutarou watched over them with warmth in his heart. There were countless siblings
in the world who lived together but didn't talk, let alone even make eye contact, and yet there
were no signs of these two ever not getting along. In fact, they essentially acted like best
friends whenever they were together. Perhaps it helped that they lived separately, though,
for the most part.
"Tsk."
Masachika scowled and grumbled, grabbed Yuki's fist to stop her, and placed his phone
down. Immediately, she swiped his phone, reclined across his lap, and began scrolling.
"Oh, you're already at chapter five? Impressive for a free-to-play player."
"That's not your phone. Stop. Seriously, though… Did you already forget what you just
said a few seconds ago?"
"Huh? You mean how Westerners have different-size pelvises, so they have really nice
butts?"
"What the…?! The hell are you talking about?!"
"Ah…! Does that mean Alya and Masha, too…? I'm going to have to check when we
go to the beach!"
"You better not. Anyway, give me back my phone already."
"Ahn. ♡"
After Masachika nabbed the phone out of Yuki's hand, she turned ninety degrees, facing
his stomach while still using his lap as a pillow.
"Come on, you can't tell me you're not looking forward to seeing Alya and Masha…
in their swimsuits. ♡"
"Stop drawing boobs on my thigh."
"They're eyes!"
"I don't care!"
"Yeah, yeah. That's what they all say. Don't try to pretend you're tough. I bet you're
imagining them in their swimsuits right now."
"No, that's not what I meant. I—… I know it's hard for you to understand this, but I'm
not looking forward to it that much."
"Speaking of 'hard,' there's an easy way we can check to see how excited you— Bfft?!"
Yuki's temple was suddenly met with an iron elbow, sending her to the tatami-mat floor
as she writhed and groaned in agony.
Maybe they're a little…too close?
That was the first thought that came to mind as Kyoutarou watched their exchange from
where he was sitting at the low table. They looked more like a stupid couple than best friends
—to the point that you'd almost want to jokingly ask, "Wait. Are you two dating?"
No. No way. This isn't a comic book. There's no way they'd be…
There was no way his children would ever do anything like that. After he furiously shook
his head, he casually spoke up as if to dispel any fears he had and asked:
"By the way, you two dating anyone right now?"
Masachika shot his father a questioning gaze while Yuki looked up as well, albeit still
clutching her head.
"I already told you that I don't have a girlfriend."
"Me neither. I'm not really interested in dating, though."
Hmm…?
It was something he had expected, since they had told him in e-mails before that they
weren't dating anyone. But what concerned him was how Yuki said she wasn't interested
in dating at all.
I heard it's normal for even middle schoolers to have boyfriends and girlfriends these
days, and Yuki is really cute, so surely, tons of guys have tried to ask her out, right? Of
course, I don't want her to date just anyone, but…!
While Kyoutarou was analyzing the situation, the revived sister swiftly crawled over to
her father's side, then looked up at him with a sleazy smile similar to her grandfather's.
"So? Are you going to tell me or what, Dad?"
"Tell you what?"
"About England! Did you meet any beautiful blond women or not? You had to have
been invited to tons of parties as a diplomat, right? Did no politician ever introduce you to
a nice, young lady?"
"Oh, that? …Yeah, I guess there were some beautiful women, now that you mention it."
He did attend parties with a female companion from time to time due to the nature of
his work, and occasionally, he would ask his single female coworker to go with him, but he
usually went by himself. Sometimes, people would ask him if he wasinterested in dating their
daughter when they found out he was single, but he never really gave it much thought, since
he figured they were joking around or just trying to be polite. However, when he explained
that to Yuki, she seemed to express some skepticism.
"Are you sure they were just trying to be polite?"
"They were obviously joking around. One man's daughter, for example, was still in her
midtwenties."
Things did get a little…interesting between Kyoutarou and this man's daughter when
she had a little too much to drink, though, but he figured that it was some kind of honey trap,
since there was an important international conference coming up. Thankfully, the female
coworker he always asked to join him at these parties happened to see him and came running
over to save the day before anything serious occurred. She continued to reprimand him after
that as well.
"You know you can't hold your liquor, Mr. Kuze! You need to be more careful around
people like that!" she'd yelled. From that day on,she became hisself-proclaimed "honey-trap
lookout" and started to attend more and more parties with him…but if anything, Kyoutarou
was worried that perhaps this young, beautiful coworker of his was the honey trap.
She's very mature, independent, and never asks about any classified information,
though…
But after giving it some thought, he realized this was nothing he should tell his daughter
about, so he simply added:
"Nobody's interested in a divorced, middle-aged Japanese man with kids."
He did actually feel that way, and even if some wonderful woman ever did show interest
in him, Kyoutarou had no intention of getting remarried… Nevertheless, Yuki relentlessly
continued to press the issue, showing no signs of giving up.
"Then how about a sexy, middle-aged widow? Were there really no youthful older
women with kids you could talk to and make a connection with?"
"Huh? Oh, uh… There is a French diplomat I met during a conference who fits that
description…"
"Seriously?!"
"A beautiful French lady!"
Masachika's disbelief and Yuki's amusement clashed as they shouted over each other.
"I mean, she has a daughter who lives in France while she works abroad, so we kind of
hit it off. That's all," he mentioned as if to calm Yuki's expectations, but his comment only
made her further narrow her gaze.
"But, Dad, you said there is a French diplomat, not was. It sure sounds like you two are
still keeping in touch, if you ask me."
"…?! No, uh…"
Kyoutarou was essentially struck speechless by her sharp observation, but it didn't end
there, for his son followed up with yet another piercing attack.
"Wait. Is that who I was sending that anime merchandise to around six or so months
ago?"
"…?! Y-yeah, could have been."
"Hmm? Ohhh! Now I remember! The letter!"
Their father averted his gaze for no apparent reason, but apparently, that French
diplomat's daughter was a fan of Japanese subculture, so she tried to use her mother's
connections to see if she could somehow get her some merchandise of a certain show she
liked.
She ended up sending Kyoutarou a letter that clearly showed a lot of effort and passion,
since she tried to write in Japanese, despite being far from a native speaker, so there was no
way he could refuse. Therefore, he'd asked if Masachika could pick up the goods and send
it to her. Everything she wanted was relatively easy to get in Japan, so Masachika took on
the job to help his father out. The daughter promptly wrote a heartfelt message to express
her gratitude, which Kyoutarou had forwarded to Masachika, and both Masachika and Yuki
could still vividly remember it.
"Giggle. Oh, Dad. You should never tell a fib. It sounds like you have a close, personal
relationship to me."
"No, not at all. She took me out for a light lunch to thank me, but that's it. As two people
who represent different countries, deep down inside, we are always trying to read each other
and are suspicious of each other to an extent, so…"
Yuki's lips only curled upward the more he tried to explain.
"A forbidden love between two diplomats from different countries… You should follow
your heart, no matter what others say."
"Actually, there's nothing forbidden about it…"
"Follow your heart. Get married to that beautiful, blond woman and, while you're at it,
send her beautiful daughter to Japan. Can you imagine it? One day, she suddenly rings the
doorbell, introduces herself as Masachika's new stepsister, and three seconds later, they're
now living together. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"
"No, it doesn't, actually! What kind of filthy smut are you reading lately?!" complained
Masachika, standing behind his sister, whose brain was in full-degenerate mode.
Nevertheless, Yuki ignored her brother and continued: "By the way, how old is this
daughter of hers?"
"Uh… I think she was around fourteen or fifteen years old?"
"Oh? So she would be Masachika's new younger sister! We'd probably have to fight
for the position!"
"Yeah, right. You two would be best friends."
"Could this be the start of a rom-com-like war between a blond stepsister and a silverhaired schoolmate for Masachika's love?!"
"No."
"Hmm? 'Silver-haired schoolmate'? Oh, is that the girl I heard about the other day?
Uh…"
Kyoutarou paused while he tried to think back… All of a sudden, the sliding door flew
open with a thud. Everyone's eyes were naturally drawn to the doorway, where they found
Tomohisa with a radiant smile.
"Alisa Kujou! Right?! Did something happen? Are you two dating?!"
He came rushing into the room noisily, knowing exactly who they were talking about.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Grandpa, but nothing happened. There's nothing going on
between us." Masachika frowned as he looked away from his father's and grandfather's
curious gazes. Of course, Yuki wasn't going to let him off that easily.
"She and Masachika have apparently been doing their summer homework together.
Alone at home! Just the two of them! And they have been doing this a lot!"
"Oooh?!"
"Heh. That's my boy."
"No, we've just been doing homework together. That's all…," Masachika explained
desperately, clearly even more annoyed by how excited all of them were getting. Regardless,
Yuki wasn't a quitter.
"The defendant claims that he's innocent, but when I was in his room the other day…"
"Who are you calling a defendant?"
Ignoring her brother, Yuki cupped the side of her mouth as if she was about to reveal
a secret. After both Kyoutarou and Tomohisa leaned forward, eyes sparkling with curiosity,
she grinned and continued:
"I found Alya's silver hair in Masachika's bed! Oh my gosh! I wonder what they were
doing, right?! Wink, wink! Maybe they were just practicing what they learned in health
class?!"
"Unbelievable. So? Did you learn anything? Did you get enough credits to finally
graduate?"
"No! Now stop playing detective and making up weird scenarios, especially when it
involves Alya! It's rude!" Masachika replied angrily to Tomohisa's crude remark.
With a soft smile, Yuki placed a hand on her brother's shoulder. "I know. You're a
spineless virgin with no balls, so there's no way you would ever try anything with Alya. Yep.
Everyone knows that."
"Excuse me? Are you looking for a fight? Because—"
"Of course not. I'm on your side. That's why I plan on helping you during our upcoming
student council get-together. Alya's going to be all over you before you know it."
"I'd rather you not."
"Which do you prefer: Alya's swimsuit coming off and floating away, or being stuck
on an uninhabited island together with—?"
"What is wrong with you? Are you stupid or something? I can't choose just one."
"All right, I'll make sure Alya's bikini top falls off after you and Touya are banished
to an uninhabited island together."
"Wait. No. Being stuck on an island with Touya sounds like hell. You said together—"
"You interrupted me before I finished my sentence. What I was about to say was
'together with Touya.'"
"Tsk…! I can't believe I fell for such a simple trap… Who would even want to see
something like that?"
"A fujoshi would. Plus, there are guys who like watching cute girls in bikinis but don't
like it when there are other guys in the scene."
"Oh, like me, huh?"
"Exactly. So you should probably start working on turning yourself into a girl first if
you want to join us."
"'First'? Great. There's more."
"Don't worry. Ordinary guys turn into beautiful women when they switch sexes. It's just
one of those unwritten rules of the world."
"Even if I could do something like that, how am I supposed to explain it to the others
in the student council?"
"Huh? Obviously, we'd introduce you to them as your cousin, Chika Kuzemasa."
"Wow, great name. That'll fool 'em."
"Don't worry! I'll call you Big Sis Chika!"
Seeing Yuki joking around and try to help Masachika with his love life erased any
concern that Kyoutarou may have had.
Oh, thank goodness… It looks like I was just overthinking things. Yeah, what was I
thinking?
These two siblings would never do something so taboo. Entertaining the idea at all was
absurd, and Kyoutarou was embarrassed that the thought ever crossed his mind.
They're just close. Yeah… And that's a good thing.
Once he came to that conclusion, Kyoutarou warmly watched over his children with
Tomohisa… Yukisuddenly wrapped her arms around Masachika from behind, then followed
up by tightly wrapping her legs around him as well.
"Is something the matter?"
"Oh, no… I just gave Dad a hug earlier, so I thought I'd give you one, too."
"This isn't really a hug. It's more like a piggyback ride…and you're heavy."
"Excuse me? Did you just tell a young lady she was heavy?"
"Yeah?"
"How dare you!" shouted Yuki, baring her fangs as they drew closer to his neck, until…
"Nom, nom, nom."
"Stop biting me."
"Hmm… I'd say that's A2-grade meat right there."
"Hmph! Cut me some slack. I'm at least F1 grade."
"There is no F1 grade. We're not talking about cars."
"Yeah, I get that, but it's usually an F in these kinds of situations."
"You mean like My Little Sister Called Me F1-Grade Meat, So I Became the Best in
the School Cafeteria?"
"Yeah, something like— Wait. Did you just say 'school cafeteria'?"
"Yeah, but that was just the subtitle. The main title is That Time I Got Reincarnated
as Beef."
"The hell?! What kind of title is that?! I'm going to get eaten?!"
"The protagonist is reborn in another world as a Minotaur and starts working as a chef at
a depraved, cuisine-ignorantschool cafeteria where he cooks his own flesh, and whenever the
heroines eat his cooking, they yell, 'Yummy!' while their clothes explode off their bodies."
"You can't trick people into reading this just because you stripped a few cute girls
naked."
"Oh, by the way, all the heroines are literal trolls."
"Goddammit. Gross."
"How can you say that? This is a story about different creatures and races finding
common ground and sharing joy through food. It's a really touching story."
"Minus the cannibalism, maybe."
"And at the very end, when the protagonist lets the school director's granddaughter eat
his remaining right arm, his lips curl into a bittersweet smile, and he says, 'Well, it looks like
I won't be able to cook anymore.' Heartbreaking, huh?"
"You'd have to be legally insane to want to read that."
"The story ends with the protagonist getting back at his sister, who made fun of him, by
making the most incredible cuisine with his heart."
"That's the worst revenge story I've ever heard! Disgusting!"
"But, well, his sister's a Minotaur, too, and a vegetarian, so she didn't eat it."
"That ending really left a bad taste in my mouth. Ruined the whole thing."
"Other than the ending, though, what do you think?"
"I think you're sick."
As Yuki cackled, violently shaking Masachika, Kyoutarou continued to smile. He
slightly averted his gaze and thought:
Yeah, maybe they are a little too close.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein