Hina Tachibana stared at her sister beside her.
Rui's face was calm, and those serious eyes carried all the quiet confidence of someone who knew exactly where she stood.
So it was true.
A thought surfaced in Hina's mind.
Lin Ye had actually become her little sister's boyfriend.
Stunning. Truly stunning.
Hina had given up on the idea once. She had stopped believing it could ever happen. And yet here it was.
What on earth had gone on?
"How did it happen?" Hina asked outright, in full big-sister mode.
Rui Tachibana drew one piece of information from that question. "Sister, you believe me?"
"Huh? Don't tell me you were lying to me?"
That caught Hina off guard even more.
It had never once crossed her mind that Rui would lie about something like this.
"No. What I said is the truth."
"Then what exactly happened?"
Hina was dying of curiosity.
That impossible, thorny Lin Ye — how had he agreed to become her sister's boyfriend?
Unless her sister had…
Something occurred to Hina. "Rui, you and Lin Ye didn't—"
Then she remembered they were still in the school building, with students scattered here and there. Not the place for a private topic. She swallowed the impulse.
"Let's go. We'll talk once we're home."
"All right."
A little under an hour later, the two of them were home.
Out of habit, Rui Tachibana headed for the kitchen to start dinner, but Hina stopped her.
Right now Hina wanted the story far more than she wanted food — how her sister had turned Lin Ye into a boyfriend.
"Rui, there's nobody else here. You can tell me now."
Sitting on the sofa, Hina patted the cushion beside her, urging her sister to come over and sit down.
"But dinner—"
"It's fine, we're not cooking tonight. Let's have sushi. I'll order and have the shop deliver."
It wasn't the first time they'd done that, or the second.
Rui thought it over and accepted.
Since her sister had offered, she might as well take the easy evening.
In the end Rui Tachibana sat on the sofa next to her sister's, keeping a certain distance — enough space to breathe.
"Go on. I'm dying to know how Lin-kun agreed to be my little sister Rui's boyfriend."
"Sister, I'm fairly cute too. There are boys who think about me that way."
Rui's voice stayed level, though a thread of resentment ran through it, along with a small note of pride.
Any girl takes at least a little pleasure in being admired by the opposite sex.
"Yes, yes, yes. I told you that ages ago, and you were the one who wouldn't admit it. And now that Lin Ye has confessed to you, the confidence shows up?"
The teasing slipped out of Hina before she could stop it.
Her sister had spent so long doubting her own appeal.
Hina knew that wasn't strange, either. Growing up, hardly any boy had ever approached Rui or confessed to her.
Under those conditions, of course her sister had come to doubt herself, to believe she lacked whatever made a girl attractive.
"He didn't confess."
"Eh? So you confessed to Lin-kun?"
But if that were the case, there was no reason Lin Ye would have accepted.
Hina was thoroughly lost.
Hard. So hard.
She really couldn't guess.
"You and Lin-kun didn't — you know — do that, did you?"
"Do what?"
Faced with her sister's vague pronouns, Rui Tachibana had no idea what she was getting at.
"You know. That."
"Hm?"
Hina gritted her teeth and spelled it out. "Relations. Relations between a man and a woman."
A faint flush spread across her cheeks the moment she finished.
Rui caught on.
A flicker of embarrassment passed over her at her sister's guess.
Her face stayed stiff, barely changing, but the embarrassment was there.
"No."
"Not even that?"
Hina was floored.
Not even that, and Lin Ye had still agreed to be her sister's boyfriend?
She was more confused than ever.
"Then why on earth was he willing to be your boyfriend?"
The truth was, Rui had been wavering the whole time over how to put it.
Telling the truth was clearly out of the question.
But lying didn't sit well with her either.
"I did Lin-kun a favor," Rui said.
She also knew her sister wouldn't be satisfied with that answer.
"What kind of favor, exactly?"
"Sister, stop asking."
She added, "No matter how many times you ask, I won't tell you."
"Rui, we're sisters."
Hina wasn't ready to give up. "You do realize we're blood sisters, we grew up side by side, and whenever I had something good to eat I never once shortchanged you."
That was all true.
But that had nothing to do with whether she'd talk.
"Sister, those are two separate things."
"I want to know."
"Sister, you refused to tell me what happened between you and Lin Ye back then. You still haven't told me."
"That's for your own good," Hina said.
She could say that with a clear conscience. It was genuine — she had been thinking of Rui.
Once you knew that kind of information, you really could end up in danger.
Having lived through a Strange event herself, Hina Tachibana wanted nothing less than to drag her sister into that.
"I'm doing this for your own good too."
Rui handed her sister back the exact same answer.
The corner of Hina's mouth twitched.
That was too much.
How was she supposed to argue with that?
"Rui, whatever it is, it can't possibly be as serious as mine."
"It is."
How could it not be serious?
Even though Yukino Yukinoshita had said afterward that Lin Ye had no ulterior motive — and the explanation had sounded perfectly reasonable — Rui Tachibana still felt something was off.
There was a deeply hidden relationship between Lin Ye and Yukino Yukinoshita.
She had wondered whether they were lovers, then thought it through and dismissed it.
If Lin Ye and Yukinoshita were lovers, he could never have agreed, right in front of Yukinoshita, to become Rui's boyfriend.
So her theory had a hole in it.
"Rui—"
"Sister, I won't talk. Not unless you tell me what happened between you and Lin Ye."
It hadn't occurred to Rui Tachibana that this could become a bargaining chip with her sister.
She had no confidence that Hina would agree to the trade. But if her sister refused, then Rui could refuse just as reasonably.
If her sister wanted the answer, she had to pay an equal price.
"Rui…"
"Since you're not willing to talk, then forget it."
Rui Tachibana stood up.
Hina tried to keep her there, but Rui's stance was firm. "I'm going to rest in my room. Just call me when the sushi arrives."
With that line tossed behind her, Rui Tachibana left.
As far as Rui was concerned, if her sister expected an answer without paying anything at all, that was simply not going to happen.
She would make her sister pay the matching price.
"Haah."
Watching her sister go, Hina let out a long sigh.
"My sister's changed!"
Still, Rui becoming Lin Ye's girlfriend counted as an enormous, delightful surprise.
"Since she won't say, I'll ask Lin Ye next time. I really do want to know why he agreed to date her, and what favor she did for him."
Hina was curious. She genuinely wanted to know how her sister had pulled it off.
She had lost count of how many times she'd tried to talk Lin Ye into it, even hinting that Rui would practically throw herself at him — and Lin Ye had refused, flat out, every time.
What was she supposed to do about that?
And now, somehow, Lin Ye was her sister's boyfriend.
The turnaround had come far too fast.
Hina Tachibana didn't even know how to evaluate it.
"Well, the result's a good one."
"There's nothing wrong with Lin Ye's character."
"My sister's future is secure."
That much she could set down.
But soon Hina's thoughts turned to herself. "As for me… I'd better find someone too. If I drag my feet a few more years, I'll end up like Shizuka Hiratsuka-senpai."
The worry took hold.
She decided it was time to start paying attention to the eligible men around her.
As for her standards — not high at all, really.
"Just slightly worse than Lin Ye is fine."
She knew perfectly well that there weren't many men out there better than Lin Ye.
So all she needed was someone a tiny bit below him.
Hina had already placed the order. Now she just waited for the sushi shop to deliver.
…
So thirsty. So much pain.
Haruno drifted back to consciousness, and the first thing she registered was a mouth dry as ash. She tensed her body on reflex, and soreness swept through her from head to toe, dragging a hoarse grimace and a thin whimper out of her.
"Water." "Water."
She called out weakly and slowly pried open her heavy eyelids.
But her lids felt weighted down.
Haruno pushed herself.
A moment later, a blurred figure appeared in front of her, and then a faint wetness touched her lips, water sliding over her tongue and into her mouth.
She couldn't help pressing her lips together, then drinking, and drinking.
As the clear water soothed her throat, she felt far more human.
Just then, with a click, the lamp brightened.
Haruno finally saw the person in front of her clearly.
"Yukino."
It was her little sister, Yukino.
"Do you want more water?"
"Yes," Haruno said at once.
She was dying of thirst. That mouthful hadn't been nearly enough.
Yukino soon returned with another cup and held it to her lips.
Haruno drained it in one go.
"Grrrmble…"
Haruno's stomach growled.
"Wait a moment."
Yukino Yukinoshita went to fetch the bento.
It had gone cold, but it was still edible.
"Sister, make do with a little of this."
"Mm."
Haruno lifted her hand, only to find both arms aching, raising them a real struggle.
In the end all Haruno could do was gaze pitifully at Yukino. "Yukino."
"I understand."
"Yukino really does care about her big sister. Yukino is so good. Yukino is an angel."
Haruno heaped on the praise, all but crowning her sister in heaven.
Yukino stayed calm, not reacting in the slightest.
"Completely unlike that awful man Lin-kun, who has no sympathy for girls at all."
"He never contacts me."
"I nearly died."
Her consciousness really had come close to ascending to heaven — and to dropping into hell.
She was genuinely out of options.
Facing Lin Ye, a thread of fear had taken root in her now. She felt she could hardly look at him anymore.
And she knew that any future mention of punishment would carry today's experience with it, inescapably.
That savage, mad sensation of being flung to the sky and back down again — she truly never wanted to feel it a second time.
Yukino went on feeding her calmly, indifferent to every word.
As she saw it, her sister had brought this on herself and deserved every bit of it.
If Haruno hadn't done so much, how could she possibly have been punished?
"The one who makes me angriest is you, Yukino. You didn't even put in a good word for me."
"Sister, if you're full, then stop eating."
"Eh, no, not yet, not yet," Haruno said quickly.
She hadn't had nearly enough. She wanted more, much more.
So Yukino continued.
Ten minutes later, the last grain of rice gone, Haruno sprawled flat on the bed.
"It hurts. Everything aches."
"Yukino, give your big sister a massage."
Yukino Yukinoshita didn't budge.
"Lin-kun, massage me, won't you?"
Lin Ye glanced over. "I can let you feel like you're flying again."
"No, no, no."
Knowing exactly what he meant, Haruno backed off in a hurry.
That sensation was the last thing she wanted to revisit.
"Rest first. Once you've rested, we'll continue the punishment."
Haruno: ???
"L-Lin-kun… isn't it over already?"
"How could it be? I'm not satisfied yet. Besides, who was it who said that if once isn't enough, then twice, three times, until you're satisfied?"
"Gulp."
"Please, let's not!" Haruno said awkwardly.
But Lin Ye held to his position, giving her no room to refuse.
About twenty minutes later, Haruno's laughter and cries for help rang out again.
Yukino Yukinoshita waited it out calmly, though her chest still trembled despite herself.
In the end—
Well.
Her sister had brought it all on herself.
Turning that thought over and over, Yukino Yukinoshita felt somewhat better.
After roughly half an hour of punishment, Haruno lay limp on the bed again.
"Relax. It isn't finished yet."
"No — I'm begging you…"
"L-Lin-kun…"
She pleaded again and again, wanting only for Lin Ye to let her off, but his mind was made up. He had no intention of giving Haruno the slightest chance.
This time she had to feel the pain to her core. Only then would Haruno understand what she should and shouldn't do. Otherwise this would never end.
And so, after the wringing-out, Haruno passed out cold once more.
Watching, Yukino Yukinoshita felt a pang of pity for her sister.
"Feeling sorry for her?"
"No."
But under Lin Ye's gaze, Yukino Yukinoshita eventually nodded and admitted it.
"A little, maybe."
"Then how about you take some of it in her place?"
Yukino: ???
What did that mean?
He wanted her to be punished instead of her sister? Lin Ye could bear to do that?
Several questions surfaced at once, and Yukino's gaze went unfocused.
"A joke. Don't mind it."
Lin Ye had meant it as nothing more than that.
"All right, go get some rest. It's late."
Haruno had the bed to herself.
The floor was wide enough, but no one would sleep comfortably on it.
Meeting Lin Ye's eyes, Yukino Yukinoshita thought it over and decided to stay here with her sister.
If Haruno woke in the middle of the night, she could help.
Given Yukino's choice, Lin Ye didn't bother getting another room either. He stayed in this one.
Tonight.
Three people in one room.
…
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