Volume 1 Chapter 4: Suspicion

…Something’s off.

Today was even weirder than usual.

Soaking in the bath, I replayed the day with my brother, Kyosuke.

The morning… was normal.

At lunchtime, I only caught a glimpse of him as he headed to the cafeteria. Looked like Kuzukawa was still bumping his shoulder, but he just seemed to be grinning and bearing it, same as always.

After school, I saw him walking while surrounded by three of Kuzukawa’s goons, plus Aika and a few of her gal-pals. He seemed to be grinning and bearing it then, too.

Aika’s been acting pretty weird lately herself, but with other girls around, I figured it wouldn’t get too serious, so I just went home like usual.

But he didn’t come home at the usual time. My heart started to pound, and I couldn’t just sit still, so I went out to the entryway to wait.

The first strange thing was his eyes. Kyosuke, who hadn’t made eye contact with anyone since starting high school, was looking right at me.

Like he was reading my mind. Like it was the first time we’d ever met. Staring intently.

And then his uniform and bag. They looked brand new. It’s only been three months since school started, so they wouldn’t be dirty if he were careful.

But Kyosuke, probably because he’s a natural-born sucker for helping people, always gets himself tangled up in some kind of trouble. Willingly.

You know, finding owners for lost cats and dogs, helping girls about to be attacked by thugs, saving some old lady about to be run over by a truck.

He was the kind of do-gooder you’d expect to see in some other world, a real hero type.

Despite that, he always tried to stay in the shadows at school. His hair was a mess too. I asked him about it once, and apparently, something that happened back in elementary school was the main reason.

He said he’d reverted to how he was back then. Said it wasn’t like he had ‘eighth-grader syndrome’ or anything. But I’m sure it was really because Aika dumped him.

It’s so irritating.

No, that’s not it—the stain on his uniform cuff. The one he got when he saved a kindergartner from being hit by a bicycle.

It was definitely there this morning. But now it was completely gone. Did Kyosuke steal a uniform? No, no way.

For him to be clean when he treats his uniform like work clothes is just impossible. Normally, he keeps his hair neat and wears stylish clothes, looking cool, but…

For a high school guy, it’s usually the other way around, you know.

“No matter how many times I think about it, something’s definitely off…”

What on earth happened to my brother? I decided to email Aika, his childhood friend and ex-girlfriend until recently, to ask what happened today. If something weird is going on with Kyosuke, she’s usually involved.

That detestable girl.

“An ‘elimination game’… How vicious.”

Apparently, Aika tried to stop it in the end, maybe realizing they’d gone too far. But to think she, his girlfriend until just a little while ago, would do that… She’s too much of a scumbag. I especially couldn’t believe she supposedly started dating Kuzukawa, the guy who bullies my brother.

Kuzukawa’s probably just saying that, though. What was she thinking?

“Guess that makes me a scumbag too…”

Even knowing the situation, I just looked the other way, made him do most of the housework, gave him unreasonable orders, and actually enjoyed it.

It was when I started my first year of middle school.

My father told me he was getting remarried. He probably felt he’d reached his limit raising a daughter on his own.

I agreed without any fuss. I knew how hard Dad was working for my sake.

My stepmother was a beautiful woman. The boy who became my older brother due to birth order, though the same age as me, was also handsome and cheerful. His direct, honest gaze was beautiful. I warmed up to him immediately.

After a while, I learned that my brother had a cute childhood friend who was also his girlfriend.

Aika Naruse. She was a girl with a fairy-like ephemeral quality and delicate charm.

It’s not like I’m bragging, but I, who’d been called the prettiest girl at my old school, found my confidence shaken by how cute she was.

I was stunned. He was my brand-new brother, and I became desperate not to lose him to her. I couldn’t bring myself to say I wanted his attention because it was embarrassing, so at home, I started to imitate the tsundere heroine from his favorite manga.

Out of all the heroines, she was the easiest one to copy.

From then on, my brother, though looking troubled, started to listen to what I said. I got a taste for it, and my demands escalated.

Right after I started high school, he told me he and Aika had broken up. It’s finally happened, I thought. But at the same time, I wondered, Why? Kyosuke had seemed so happy.

Maybe because of my own situation, with my parents divorcing due to my mother’s affair, a bitter feeling of, So, it’s your turn, huh? welled up.

But I quickly dismissed that thought. That girl, Aika, she’s an obsessive psycho. By then, I had seen through Aika’s personality.

She’s probably scheming something again.

Lately, Kyosuke had often looked downcast, and though his face was unmarked, his body had bruises.

I knew because I’d “coincidentally” peeked when he was taking a bath. He was probably being beaten up, hidden from Aika.

I have to do something about this soon.

Come to think of it, I didn’t check yesterday.

I need to confirm later.