New Novel🪶

But he didn’t want to give up. Not yet.

He refused to let his once-flat, uneventful life slip back into failure now that it had finally begun to stir with meaning.

He had to work harder. He had to become a man worthy of Chouko.

So when his father’s job transferred back to headquarters, he seized the chance to return to Tokyo. He buried himself in his studies day and night, forcing his way through sheer effort into Nichiya High, an elite prep school said to gather the top ten percent of students in all of Tokyo.

But once enrolled, he finally realized just how naïve he’d been.

As a mere ordinary person, he could rely on extraordinary effort to scrape through the entrance exam, but no matter how much he studied, no matter how many practice tests he aced, his grades always settled somewhere in the middle-lower range of his year.

And those names at the top of the rankings… they were so far out of reach he could only look up to them.

At that time, when he was on the verge of losing hope, he met a senior from the Literature Club.

He had only joined the club to experience a bit of high school life, but the senior’s encouragement and his generous notes pulled him deeper and deeper into the club’s world, until all his little pockets of free time were devoted to its activities.

He may have been mediocre and unremarkable, but he wasn’t the kind of guy to forget a debt of kindness.

Otherwise… Chouko would look down on him, wouldn’t she?

And under that senior’s guidance, he found himself falling in love with literature, and with the world that unfolded inside books.

In novels, even if a man and woman came from completely different worlds, through effort and will, they could still end up together in the end.

If Toyotomi Hideyoshi could rise from a mocked “monkey” born to a poor farmer, to the ruler of the entire nation, then why couldn’t he, born a commoner, become a man worthy of Chouko?

But fate had another twist waiting for him.

His childhood friend, like a little sister to him, Chouko, had chased him all the way from Kyoto to Tokyo… and somehow, had even gotten into the same high school.

Ah, of course.

The moment he saw her name, “Shihou Chouko,” shining in the top ten of the first-year rankings, the truth hit him like a hammer.

The gap between genius and ordinary people really was like heaven and earth.

He, of all people, knew how playful and mischievous Chouko could be in private. Yet that very same girl reached a height he could never even dream of, without breaking a sweat.

Seeing that so clearly again, he couldn’t help but feel the urge to give up once more.

He even began dodging her messages, afraid that the tiny “unread” mark would turn to “read” and expose how cowardly he really was.

“Her grades have been slipping lately… could it be because I’ve been ignoring her too much?”

He muttered to himself, as if saying it aloud could offer some kind of absolution.

“Maybe I should call her. Senpai said words can express anything, but… not hearing each other’s voices always feels like something’s missing.”

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Click.

“...Mmm? Hello? Onii?”

That mischievous, sing-song voice of hers came through the receiver, soft and teasing.

“C, Chouko… Sorry for calling this late, I didn’t mean to bother you…”

“Mm… it’s fine, it’s fine. Did you need something, Onii?”

Something about her tone felt… off.

Not quite right.

He pushed down his unease and asked gently, “Are you feeling okay? If you’re not well, we can talk another time, get some rest, alright?”

“I, I’m fine!”

Her voice suddenly jumped in pitch, louder than before.

"Onii finally decided to call first! Even if I were sick, I wouldn’t hang up now!”

“I just, uh… wanted to check up on you. How’ve you been lately?”

“Not good.”

Her bluntness left him speechless. He knew that tone, mischievous, prickly, a little tsundere.

“You’ve been ignoring me! You didn’t even reply when I invited you to karaoke after school on Friday.”

“I’m sorry! I really am busy… And if I want any chance of getting into Todai or Keio, cram school’s kind of a must…”

He hesitated, then cautiously brought up the topic.

“About that karaoke thing, ”

“Hehe, it was a mixer with my friends from middle school, you know? Aren’t you worried I might run off with someone else?”

“Well…”

He smiled weakly. “After all these years, you’ve never really had close friends, have you? And the other side of you, only I’ve ever seen that. So yeah, I’ll always trust you, Chouko.”

Then, softly, he added, “Just make sure you go with people you know, okay? And be careful, ”

That’s when he remembered something he’d seen on the school’s anonymous forum earlier that evening.

“That infamous playboy Hoshikawa… he’s in your class, right?”

“Wh, what are you even talking about, Onii?! Th-there’s nothing between me and Hoshikawa-kun! A-and I’d never fall for some sleazy guy like him!”

Her breathing grew uneven, her words coming out in little bursts, her tone strange, almost… trembling.

Sato’s brows furrowed. The sound reminded him of certain adult comics he’d stumbled across when stressed. Anxious, he tried to ask carefully:

“Chouko, your voice sounds kind of… um…?”

“Ehehe~ Onii~?” Her voice lowered, dripping with mischief. “Wanna know what I’m doing right now?”

She smiled to herself, lips curling in that wicked grin she always wore before pulling a prank.

“Y-you’re not doing anything bad… right?”

Hearing the faint tremor in his voice only made her grin wider.

“I am~”

“Eh, ?”

“I’m talking to you on speakerphone while… making myself feel good.”

“C-Chouko! What the hell are you saying?!”

Sorry, Onii, she thought, biting her lip. But I guess I’m the one who should be apologizing.

Her gaze dropped to her phone, to the picture she’d just received from Hoshikawa.

The rush of guilt and thrill, the sense of betraying Onii even as she heard his voice through the receiver, filled her chest with a wild, intoxicating heat.

Serves you right, Onii.

You’re the one who’s been ignoring me.

Who’s been treating club activities like they’re more important than me?

Who thinks your precious senpai matters more than your childhood friend?

“Ah, !”

“C-Chouko!? What’s wrong!?”

“Onii-chan… I just… came~”

(While staring at Hoshikawa-kun’s photo, that is.)

“C-Chouko! You’re teasing me again, aren’t you! You’ve fallen to eighth place in your class already, start focusing on studying! Studying is a student’s duty! You’re so smart, why can’t you treasure that talent properly…? Ah, forget it. I’m hanging up. Be careful, and get some rest. Good night.”

“…Good night…”

She bit her lower lip. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, whispered into the silence:

“Onii… me and Hoshikawa-kun, ”

Click.

The call ended.

The word “Call Ended” replaced Hoshikawa’s picture on her screen, and the air around her seemed to freeze.

It felt like someone had wrapped their fingers around her throat. Her chest tightened painfully.

Chouko was, in the end, just an ordinary girl,  ordinary enough to feel hurt just from being hung up on.

Yes, she was happy that Oni cared for her.

But what she wanted… wasn’t just that.

Why couldn’t he ask about the fun things she talked about with her classmates?

Why couldn’t he ask if that infamous Hoshikawa had been trying to get close to her, or if he’d said something flirty, something that made her heart race?

If it were Hoshikawa, he definitely wouldn’t hang up first.

He’d find every excuse to keep her on the line, saying things like,

“I can’t sleep because of your cute voice, Shihou-san.”

“Every time I picture your smile, I lose my focus.”

“I can’t wait to dream of you tonight.”

Ugh, dream of what, exactly!?

She didn’t want to be anyone’s dream girl except Onii’s!

That Hoshikawa pervert, he’d even noticed her neckline when she came back from the restroom! Obviously, the type who couldn’t stop staring at girls’ chests!

Her eyes fell to her own F-cup curves beneath her loose pajamas, and she muttered under her breath,

“So? How’s that, Hoshikawa-kun? Bigger than Nogami’s, huh?”

No matter how hard she tries, she’ll never catch up,

She stopped mid-thought.

Then remembered the rumor that had been floating around the class.

“If a girl’s breasts are touched by the boy she likes, they’ll get bigger.”

That couldn’t possibly be true.

Nogami wasn’t the kind of girl to let anyone touch her like that.

...But.

But if Hoshikawa really was involved with Nogami somehow… ?

Her mind flashed to the scene she’d seen after school, Hoshikawa and Nogami sitting side by side in the DUMBO café window, sharing donuts in the sunset light.

He’d said he’d tell her about his relationship with Nogami, but only if she revealed her other side first.

To have gotten that close to the so-called “Queen of the Campus,” the sharp-tongued dominatrix herself, in just a month,

“Ughhh, that bastard!”

The thought alone made her too angry to sleep.

Chouko might’ve been just another ordinary girl, curious about gossip like everyone else,  but she wasn’t stupid.

If anyone had dared to cross the daughter of the proud Nogami family, there’s no way she’d settle for something as tame as pouring water on them.

Maybe... maybe showing a little more of her real self to Hoshikawa wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

We will be giving out 5 bonus chapters after reaching 25 vote on NovelBin!

Feel free to leave a vote or review!!

14/25