My Little Sister Is the Best F*p Material

Volume 2 Chapter 07: A Smile Brighter than Sunflowers

“Onii-san! Over here!”

There was a female student with brown hair in twin tails waving at me in the family restaurant.

That boldness must be innate. Most of the other customers didn’t even notice, and her thick-skinned spirit perfectly cut through the Japanese tendency for excessive self-consciousness. It’s something I’d like to emulate, but I doubt I could ever reach that level.

“I just came to listen, okay?”

I had come to meet Yuka after excusing myself from Sachiko. Since Tuesday was also Sachiko’s cram school day, we couldn’t have gone on a date anyway.

After the waiter brought us some water, I ordered only one order of fried potatoes and sank deep into the sofa.

“You’re such a cheapskate.”

“I’m not paying.”

“Cheapskate on top of cheapskate…”

I don’t have any pride as an older man, unfortunately. If Miyu were here, she might scold me for not putting on a show, but I feel it’s more dishonest to pay for someone who isn’t my girlfriend.

“So, what’s this talk about?”

“It’s simple. Tell me Miyu’s weaknesses.”

“I’m leaving.”

Didn’t this kid learn her lesson? I admire her for not breaking after getting beaten up so badly, but Miyu must be bothered by it too.

Practical jokes that the other person doesn’t like are the same as bullying. It might be difficult for these kids in their teens to understand, but I think if they think about the other person’s feelings, they’ll naturally stop doing it.

“You don’t have to be so cold.”

“How can I cooperate with someone who messes with my little sister?”

“Guh… I have my reasons too…”

Yuka chugged some water, her face showing her frustration.

“What reasons?”

I took a sip of water too. Humans tend to mimic the actions of the person they’re facing. Yuka put down her glass and fell silent. I was in a similar position, my mouth shut. As we watched the waiter hurry away after bringing our fried potatoes, thinking we were a fighting couple, Yuka finally spoke.

“… Have you ever seen Miyu smile, Onii-san?”

Yuka’s face at that moment was somehow fleeting, like falling cherry blossoms. It was different from her usual bright and cheerful smile. It was somehow damp, even dark, and there was a melancholy air about it.

“What’s with that all of a sudden?”

I was at a loss for an answer to Yuka’s question.

Now that you mention it, when was the last time I saw Miyu smile? I only started talking to her recently, and we’ve had an awkward relationship since I was born… Why did I keep my distance from Miyu?

I got fed up with real girls and got into 2D because I was toyed with by a girl in my class in middle school. I don’t think I had any conversations with Miyu before that.

We both didn’t talk much about ourselves, so it naturally became like that. I also think we were both born with thin emotions. — Or is that really the case?

“I met Miyu when I was in fourth grade. She was very serious from that time on. It’s not that she doesn’t smile, it’s that she doesn’t open up to people. We’ve been friends for years now. Isn’t that terrible?”

“I can’t say anything with all that history.”

Still, I can’t say I don’t understand her side at all. If a long-time friend remains indifferent for so long, it’s no wonder you’d feel bad.

I don’t know Miyu outside, but she’s the same at home. But, what is it? Another consciousness in my head is screaming that it’s not true.

I closed my eyes and tried to delve deep into my memory. It was difficult to go back in time because the impression of her expressionless face was too strong.

Instead of trying to remember Miyu from the past, I decided to remember how I spent my childhood.

At that moment, the consciousness that had reached the center of my brain was caught behind my eyelids, and it suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.

A girl with a dress swaying, facing me with a big smile. The shadow of her younger self was happily dancing.

She was there. The bright and energetic Miyu definitely existed in the depths of my memory.

So it was that day. From the day Miyu came home from school with our mother, she stopped showing her smile.

It was a few days before Miyu entered elementary school. We went to the department store to buy a present to commemorate her new start, as a family.

Miyu had a strong interest in clothes, even making her own costumes out of vinyl bags during kindergarten playtime. After much deliberation and being dragged around the stores, Miyu chose an expensive dress that was displayed in the window. The sunflower color shone brightly, and the modest embroidery and frills captured Miyu’s heart.

“Mama! I want this one!”

“Ara, what a lovely dress. But it’s a bit too expensive. How about the skirt in the same color we saw earlier?”

“No! I want this one!”

Miyu was full of life back then. She would throw tantrums like any other child her age, and our parents were at a loss for words when she puffed out her cheeks in anger.

“Well, it is cute, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s cute.”

“But you got a five-thousand-yen game for your entrance ceremony, right? So, twenty thousand yen is a bit much, don’t you think?”

My entrance ceremony gift was a video game. Since my father played console-type TV games at home, I was familiar with games from a young age.

“…… Muu. I want this one.”

“Look, see, Miichan. There’s a pretty dress over there too.”

“I don’t want toooooooooooo!!”

She didn’t care about people’s stares; she shouted. Even Miyu had such a phase.

“I don’t need a birthday celebration, just buy it for me!!”

“Really? But won’t you want it when your birthday comes around?”

“I won’t! I absolutely won’t!”

“Hmm… but still, 20 thousand yen is…”

“Then you can also not have a birthday, okay, Onii-chan?!”

Miyu was one hell of a little sister, she’s a little tyrant in our household.

Of course, I was still young then, and I strongly objected to this.

“Eh! I don’t want to! Why me?!”

“You only play games, you know!”

“Is that bad!?”

“Idiot!”

Back then, the term “game brain” was popular, and there was a trend on TV programs to avoid games. It was during such a time that Miyu constantly denied me playing games.

Whenever this happened, my parents always sided with Miyu. Especially my father’s favoritism was unreasonable.

“You’re her older brother, you know. It’s cool to show your manliness at times like these.”

“I don’t need to act cool for this girl…”

“Don’t say that. If you put on this dress to Miyu, she will surely thank you. She’ll show you lots of cute poses, too.”

“So what!”

I was grumbling in my childish heart that it was the parents who wanted to see their daughter’s cute appearance. I wasn’t fully trusting my father at the time, as my mother had warned me not to give too many things to children, and I felt he was just using me as a convenient excuse.

“You have lots of friends who play games with you right, right? But it’s rare to be appreciated by such a cute girl.”

“Friends are more important.”

Even at that time, I knew that Miyu’s appearance was superior. She was always pampered by our relatives, neighbors, and even her kindergarten friends.

No matter how kindly I treated her, she was just one among many. In the end, it was my parents who paid for the presents. Miyu would probably forget about being grateful to me soon enough.

Miyu was born with a good head and a pretty face; she was a sneaky girl. I felt that I should be the one receiving her kindness instead. I even felt a sense of hatred towards her, and I wasn’t in the mood to make her happy.

The dress, displayed behind the glass, was so beautiful it looked almost golden. Miyu’s eyes, reflecting the dress, sparkled like stars.

“Onii-chan…”

With a droopy face, Miyu tugged at my clothes.

“I want to wear that dress…”

Even as a child, she had a seductive look in her eyes, with her long, beautiful eyelashes. I felt a sensation that the word “thrilled” described, for the first time. My heart was racing, and the emotion was terrifying for the child that I was.

“Wh-what? You called me an idiot!”

That thrill was not a sign of love. It was a feeling of protectiveness that girls often make boys feel. If I didn’t give in here, she would be pitiful. As an older brother, I had to be kind to my sister.

I didn’t like that inner voice, so I tried to deny it as much as I could.

“Buy something else, then.”

When I pushed her away coldly, Miyu closed her mouth in a straight line. She then returned to mom without looking at the dress again.

“Is that okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll get something else.”

Miyu’s back, pulled by mom, receded into the distance.

I was left alone with my father, and I was just fuming. In the first place, there was no way I could be kind to someone who used others as a tool and said mean things. Miyu should have known that. Why did she ask for such a selfish thing?

It was just selfishness born out of desire. She should have reflected a little.

If I didn’t blame and suppress Miyu, those emotions that were welling up inside me would overflow.

“Well, you sure are stubborn, aren’t you? I don’t mind that you’re like your mother in that way. Haha.”

My father didn’t join Miyu and the others; instead, we decided to walk around the department store separately until we decided on the enrollment gift. I watched as Miyu entered another store, her head down, looking much smaller than usual.

The next morning, I was surfing the internet in my room. My father had given me his old computer when he bought a new one.

I’m not sure if it was a good idea to let an elementary school student use a computer, but the one given to me at the time had no blocks on harmful websites, and I think it was a terrible lack of literacy in hindsight.

“Konkon! Onii-chan!”

I turned to the door at the cheerful knock. Since my mother got pregnant with me and bought a house right away, Miyu and I each had our own rooms from the start.

“Ehehe~ I’m coming in~”

Miyu peeked in, her long hair tied up in a half-up style. She entered the room, swinging her body and clasping her hands behind her back.

“Mufufu. How do I look, Onii-chan?”

She spread her arms and turned around once. The frills of the sunflower-colored dress spread out fully, and the dress seemed to be alive and happy to be worn by Miyu.

“Thank you for buying it for me! I’ll take good care of it!”

Miyu smiled brightly, her eyes and mouth wide open, shining as brightly as the sun. It was a smile that made me happy just by looking at it.

“U-um, yeah…”

I couldn’t find the right words, and the voice I finally managed to squeeze out was that.

After that, I told my father that I would give up my birthday present and asked him to buy Miyu the dress. My mother was surprised, but she didn’t ask me to change my mind.

“I did this myself! I haven’t even shown it to Mom and Dad yet~ How do you like it?”

Miyu showed off her head, which she had apparently done her own hair and makeup for, swaying her face from side to side. The whiteness of her neck, revealed every time her hair moved, was alluring. I was so taken aback that all I could do was open and close my mouth like a carp.

“Muu. If it’s cute, just say it’s cute.”

Miyu started to get angry at my lack of reaction.

“Eh, um, oh…”

“Hmph! Onii-chan will probably be a virgin forever anyway!”

In the end, Miyu stormed out of the room, shouting insults.

“What’s with her?”

I was still unable to acknowledge that I was a good-for-nothing, and I could only stare blankly at the open door.

From then on, Miyu coordinated various cute outfits and went to school almost every day. In her second grade, instead of asking for clothes on special occasions, she begged for a sewing set, fabric, and small tools. She realized that if she said she would make the clothes herself, her parents would agree to any amount of material, no matter how much.

One day, when Miyu was in third grade, she returned home late at night with mom, her eyes swollen red, and ran straight into her room.

That was when Miyu began to change. She sealed away the frills and ribbons she had been so obsessed with and started wearing simple T-shirts with a sullen expression every morning.

I don’t know why that happened. I deliberately avoided asking, and I had never gone to the lower grades’ floor to investigate.

“Oh, is that about… that thing?”

Yuka took my french fries without asking and dipped them in ketchup before popping them into her mouth. She looked so delicious eating it. That’s the information fee.

“That thing?”

“I heard a rumor about it before. Apparently, Miyu beat up… five or six boys at school.”

“Eh…”

Miyu gets angry when she’s angry, but I can’t believe she’s that hot-tempered. Or did those boys do something really bad?

“She also beat up some boys in fifth grade. Maybe something similar happened in the past.”

“Seriously?!”

Can a girl fight against several boys on her own?

Miyu is smart, but I don’t think her physical abilities are that high.

“Did you know about the fifth-grade incident, Yuka-chan?”

“You can just call me Yuka. I know about it, but it didn’t become a big deal. But after that, the number of boys who fell for Miyu and those who were scared of her seemed to increase drastically.”

“I see…”

I hesitated, but in the end, I nodded my head. I don’t like digging up the past, but if I go home without asking, my distrust of Miyu will only grow.

From the way Yuka was talking, it didn’t seem like Miyu was entirely at fault.

I wanted to hear about it. I wanted to understand my mysterious little sister a little better as her brother.

“Alright. But in exchange, you have to tell me about Miyu’s weaknesses.”

“That’s impossible, and I don’t know them anyway. I wish I knew more than you do.”

“You’re useless!”

“Don’t call me useless… I hear there’s a secret between her and Haruka, but you probably know more about it than I do.”

“Secret? There’s no doubt that the two of them are lesbians…”

So those two are seen as lesbians, huh. I wonder if the guys around them don’t mind that.

“But it seems like Miyu isn’t that into it… and yet she seems to feel grateful to Haruka… she rarely disobeys what Haruka says…”

Yuka rubbed her chin and thought hard.