Chapter 107: Chapter 106 - Akari’s Crisis
Akari Tachibana learned a horrifying truth.
A horrifying truth.
An unbelievable truth.
A truth so horrifying that she almost spilled her strawberry milk.
The world was changing.
And she was failing.
Akari realized this during breakfast.
Aoi sat quietly eating her toast.
Typical.
Normal.
Suspicious.
Akari narrowed her eyes.
Extremely suspicious.
For just recently...
Aoi had landed a job.
Aoi was getting out more.
Aoi kept getting messages.
Aoi sometimes smiled into her phone.
All of which was terrifying.
Meanwhile...
Kuro was smiling whenever Aoi mentioned her job.
That fact alone sent warning alarms off in Akari’s head.
Danger.
Extreme danger.
Then there was Minami.
Minami kept showing up.
Beach trip.
Festival.
Apartment problem.
Mom problem.
Everything.
In everything...
Akari looked...
There was Minami.
That wasn’t good.
That wasn’t okay.
Not at all.
And then there was Rika.
The worst villain to humanity.
The romance specialist.
The manga loving troublemaker.
Whenever Rika saw Kuro, she began teasing him.
And she always looked amused doing so.
Akari despised that behavior.
Meanwhile...
Akari accomplished absolutely nothing.
Nothing.
Zero.
Failure.
She knew that now.
The realization devastated her.
That afternoon, Akari locked herself in her room.
Closing the curtains behind her.
Plopping herself on her desk.
And staring into space.
Like a heroine in emotional turmoil.
"This is bad."
Very bad.
Extremely bad.
Catastrophically bad.
Akari envisioned the future.
Aoi becoming independent.
Minami growing closer to Kuro.
Rika showing up everywhere.
Meanwhile, she was...
Akari.
The loud little sister.
The household gremlin.
The annoying sister.
"No."
Akari pounded both fists against the desk.
The battle wasn’t over yet.
The battleground wasn’t over.
There was still hope left.
She just needed to form a plan.
Ten minutes later.
Akari produced a notebook.
A very dangerous notebook.
Atop its cover, the following message:
OPERATION:
BECOME KURO’S FAVORITE
Akari smiled at her brilliance.
Her legacy would live forever.
Definitely not in a positive light.
But still.
Opening the notebook, she went to Page One.
Objectives.
1. Grow up.
2. Become reliable.
3. Become a good wife.
4. Beat the competition.
5. Win.
Perfect.
Perfectly perfect.
Brilliant.
Step One.
Cooking.
Akari marched into the kitchen.
Today, she would cook something amazing.
Amazing enough to make Kuro cry with joy.
Thirty minutes later...
The kitchen was engulfed by smoke.
First came Shizuka.
Then Daichi.
Then Kuro.
Finally, Aoi.
Everyone was watching.
Akari stood proudly next to her burnt food.
"What happened?"
Kuro asked.
"I cooked."
Silence.
As Aoi inspected her charred creation.
"That looks like a crime against humanity."
"Rude."
"And correct."
Without hesitation, Shizuka flung open all the windows.
Cooking mission:
UNSUCCESSFUL
Akari noted that in her notebook.
Step Two.
Study.
Akari failed the cooking attempt.
So she needed to impress Kuro with her smarts.
Opening her books, she plopped down beside Kuro.
And studied her books for exactly twelve minutes.
Then she got bored.
Eight minutes of boredom later...
She began doodling.
Exactly four minutes of doodling led her to watching videos.
And two minutes of video watching ended with her falling asleep.
Kuro found her an hour later.
Sleeping face down in her textbook.
And snoring softly.
Study mission:
UNSUCCESSFUL
Akari made a note of this as well.
Step Three.
Mature appearance.
This shouldn’t have been a difficult step.
Taking her sister’s sweater, tying her hair in a new way,
And improving her posture, she went into the living room.
Kuro looked up.
Then instantly, he asked.
"Why are you wearing Mom’s clothes?"
Critical damage.
Emotional damage.
Spiritual damage.
Akari fled back upstairs.
Maturity mission:
UNSUCCESSFUL
Another note was added to her notebook.
Step Four.
Being reliable.
Akari knew she’d succeed with this one.
Helping throughout the day...
Laundry.
Failed.
Mixing colors.
Turning a white shirt pink.
Cleaning.
Failed.
Breaking a flower pot accidentally.
Organization.
Failed.
Making the house impossible to find things in.
By the end of the day, the household was objectively worse.
Reliability mission:
UNSUCCESSFUL.
Akari stared at the notes in her notebook.
Four failures.
Four total failures.
Absolutely nothing was working.
She collapsed onto her bed in dismay.
"This is impossible..."
Meanwhile downstairs.
Kuro sat in the living room.
Aoi brought in some tea.
"Akari is acting strange."
"Stranger than usual?"
True statement.
Both siblings looked at each other.
Confused as to what had happened.
Akari had managed to keep her operation hidden.
Or so she thought.
That night...
Akari wrote in her notebook.
Status of Operation.
Cooking - Unsuccessful
Studying - Unsuccessful
Maturity - Unsuccessful
Dependability - Unsuccessful
Everything had gone wrong.
She sighed.
And carefully placed the notebook under her pillow.
Her weapon.
Her plan.
Her hope.
Unfortunately...
The next morning.
Aoi walked into Akari’s room.
Only because Akari had forgotten her phone downstairs.
An uncommon miracle.
Putting the phone back on the desk...
Something else caught Aoi’s attention.
A notebook.
Hiding half underneath a pillow.
Normally she would have ignored it.
But there were some large words that caught her eye.
Large, bold, impossible to ignore.
OPERATION:
BECOME KURO’S FAVORITE
Silence.
Deadly silence.
Aoi slowly picked up the notebook.
Opened it.
Read the first page.
Then the second.
And the third.
Pause.
Long pause.
Very long.
Dangerously long.
Then finally...
For the first time in summer...
Aoi burst into laughter.
Not laughing quietly.
Nor politely.
Full on laughing.
Meanwhile upstairs...
Akari felt a chill run through her.
Instincts of a younger sister.
Instincts of prey sensing a predator.
Slowly turning to her door...
Realization dawned upon her.
Something horrible had just happened.
Extra Scene: The Notebook Mishap
As soon as Akari opened her bedroom door, she knew something had happened.
Something very wrong.
Wrong enough to change lives.
Wrong enough to go into the history books.
Aoi was sitting on her bed.
Calming.
Quietly.
Holding a notebook.
Not just a notebook.
The notebook.
Akari froze.
Her soul fled her body and headed to a new country.
"Aoi."
"Akari."
The calmness in Aoi’s tone was horrifying.
Shouting Aoi could be dealt with.
Disappointed Aoi was manageable.
Calm Aoi?
Natural disaster.
---
"I can explain."
Aoi turned to a new page.
"I’m listening."
Akari instantly knew she couldn’t explain.
Without making everything worse.
A remarkable feat given the situation.
---
A few minutes later.
Aoi dragged Akari downstairs.
Not by hand.
Just by sheer force of personality.
Kuro sat calmly in the living room reading a book.
A peace-loving individual.
A happy person.
An individual who had no clue he was about to have the worst day of his life.
---
"Kuro."
Kuro looked up.
"What’s wrong?"
Aoi placed the notebook in his hands.
Akari tried to tackle her.
Too late.
Way too late.
---
Kuro read the cover.
Blinked.
Then blinked again.
---
PLAN:
TO BECOME KURO’S BEST FRIEND
---
Silence.
---
"...What?"
---
Akari immediately pointed her finger at Aoi.
"This is her fault."
"Why?"
"Don’t know yet."
---
Kuro opened the notebook.
Great move.
Really terrible choice.
---
The first page had thorough rankings.
---
Current Threat Levels
Aoi: Extreme Threat
Minami: High Threat
Rika: Annoying Threat
Unknown Childhood Friend: Potential Threat
---
Kuro stared.
---
"Threat list?"
"I don’t want to think about it."
"Strategic list."
"That’s worse."
"Slightly."
"Yeah." Aoi agreed.
---
Kuro continued flipping.
---
Why Kuro Should Love Me More Than Anything
1. I’m cute
2. I’m really cute
3. Super duper cute
4. Look at me
---
Kuro laughed.
Instantly.
With absolutely no hesitation.
Deadly mistake.
---
Akari’s face turned bright red.
---
"STOP LAUGHING!"
---
"Trying!"
Clearly not.
---
The next page worsened the situation.
---
How to be Mature
Drink coffee
Get glasses
Stop acting childishly
Result: Failed.
Coffee is gross.
---
Even Aoi was impressed.
---
"I kept track of my failures."
"History is important."
"Not at all."
"Yes it is."
"Sure, keep telling yourself that."
---
Kuro flipped again.
---
Emergency Strategy In Case Aoi Cuts Into Kuro’s Time
1. Steal charger
2. Take snacks
3. Psychological Warfare
---
Aoi slowly put down the notebook.
---
The temperature dropped.
---
Significantly.
---
"Psychological warfare?"
Akari instantly stood.
"Sounds even worse than I meant."
"Exactly as bad as you meant it."
Aoi smiled.
Evil smile.
---
Kuro quietly stepped back from both sisters.
Instinct.
Unfortunately.
The most damning page was still to come.
---
Kuro reached the last section.
---
Title alone made him depressed.
---
In Case Aoi Ever Gets a Girlfriend
---
Silence.
---
Akari’s face turned pale.
Because she remembered the contents of the pages clearly.
---
Kuro slowly read aloud.
---
"Step One: Destroy Reality."
Aoi shut her eyes.
"Step Two: Become Villain."
Akari hid her face in the pillow.
"Step Three: Cry Dramatically."
Kuro was getting mad now.
"Step Four: Future Akari will Fix It."
Silence.
Then Kuro began to laugh again.
Aoi followed.
Even Shizuka who walked in without knowing joined in the laughter.
Except Akari.
Unfortunate fate.
Except.
He saw one more thing.
---
A note.
Small.
Written.
Almost hidden.
Kuro stopped smiling slowly.
---
It read:
"I don’t want Kuro to leave the family."
"I love it just the way it is."
"Even if I’m ridiculed by everybody I want us to be together forever."
---
Silence.
---
This silence was different.
---
No more jokes.
No ridiculous plans.
For a second, Kuro saw the real reason why.
---
Not jealousy.
Not competition.
Not even romance.
---
Fear.
---
Fear that someday, everybody grows up.
Moves away.
Changes.
Leaves.
---
A common feeling of fear.
Especially common for Akari.
---
Kuro gently closed the notebook.
Then leaned over and ruffled her hair.
---
Akari froze.
---
"Idiot."
"W-what?"
"I don’t need this notebook."
Silence.
---
"Regardless of anything."
His tone became soft.
"I’m your family."
Akari looked down.
Unusually.
She had no retort prepared.
Nothing witty.
Absolutely nothing.
But then.
Aoi ruined it again.
---
"You still got to delete that psychological warfare section."
Akari immediately jumped up.
"NO WAY!"
More chasing ensued.
Aoi ran after Akari.
Shizuka chuckled.
Daichi pretended he did not see.
Kuro finally set the notebook aside after one more glance.
The chaos continued unabated.
Absurdly loud.
Ridiculously silly.
Actually.
Wouldn’t trade it for anything.
