On the first day of the new semester, as I was leaving the house, my half-sister Mai Shibuya stood in front of me. She said she came to see me and immediately struck a pose.
After a few minutes, I decided to let her into my room. Good thing it was early morning. I was genuinely glad that no one saw her bowing to me.
In my room, sitting formally on the floor, was a beautiful girl with silver hair. She was petite, with an appearance suggestive of delicate beauty. Her silky hair was held back with a hairpin, and her straight, elongated spine was graceful.
It was my younger half-sister, Mai Shibuya.
"What brings you here, Mai? What do you want in my house?"
At that, Mai widened her eyes in surprise. Had I shocked her in some way? Wait, I can think of one thing.
"Onii-sama... The way you're talking... It's not like before."
"Really?"
"Yes, before, you were like..."
Now let's talk about "Coercion*" (abruptly). Attentive readers may have been surprised by the line I uttered earlier to my childhood friend, Najimi. I was also surprised (?).
This act was committed against my will. There is a special law in this world. It is called "compulsion." You could describe it as a force that makes a character act in a way that befits his character.
Simply put, every word I say becomes "Charao Shibuya style." For example, "Good morning" turns into "Hi★", and "Mai" turns into "My beautiful little sister Mai". Hey, Mai is being repeated here.
Charao had a slight negative modifier to his intelligence value when it came to Mai. Simply put, he was a dumb character. In order for the character known as "Charao Shibuya" to be consistent, he had to talk, look, and act stupid.
Therefore, when I said or wrote something, it was all transformed into something that was consistent with Charao's character. Moreover, some mysterious force from outside was making even my appearance more similar to Charao's. It was 'Imprinting'.
In fact, the reason for my half-sister's surprise was most likely because I used to speak in Charao's manner before, but now I spoke normally.
Incidentally, after finishing the main story, I felt that this compulsion had weakened considerably. The fact that I could speak the way I wanted was a good proof of that. However, the written words still appear to be spiritualized by Charao.....
"Was it really that strange?"
"No. You're wonderful now! You were wonderful before, but now you're really the best, Onii-sama!"
She praised me fervently. Thank you, sister. And I'm sorry for confusing you. I will live more seriously from now on.
"Thank you, love you, Mai-chan! Mwoya♡" (Thank you, sister).
...Damn it, Charao is showing up. Once I let my guard down, Charao's personality will come out. Damn this compulsion.
"It's true... you love me... ♡? I love you from the bottom of my heart too, Onii-sama...♡"
...That's not good. The Charao language (short for Charao words) complicates things. Let's continue the conversation.
"So, my little sister, what brings you to my house?"
"Ah, yes. I wanted to know if you would allow me to be near you, Onii-sama."
"So you want to live together?"
"More like helping you. From eating, housework, laundry, and taking care of all your needs."
...It's more like a maid than a sister. For someone like me, born and raised as an ordinary citizen, this offer seems too intrusive. Honestly, I would feel incredibly guilty forcing my half-sister to do all this. I should refuse.
"Thank you so much, sis!"
I wish Charao's tongue didn't suddenly pop up. Now that I can't control it, it's even harder to deal with.
"So... everything's fine!"
"No, well... that's not it."
"You... don't want me to do it?"
Tears appeared in the silver-haired maiden's eyes, and she began to sob quietly. I didn't want to bring her to tears.
"Do you... Do you really hate me, Onii-sama?"
"Aan? What do you mean I'm angry?"
Ignoring my sudden switch to the Charao language, Mai continued.
"You're angry because I was cold to you last year, aren't you?"
Last year refers to events that happened in the main storyline. During the game, in the world where I exist, Mai, who is one of the lovers, became estranged from me, her half-brother.
This was not specific to Mai alone. All the heroines, without exception, were in love with the protagonist, Minato. Charao, on the other hand, was rather indifferent to them. That was probably what Mai meant when she said she was 'cold'.
"I'm sorry, Onii-sama, I wasn't myself last year."
Tears filled her sister's eyes as she struck a pose again. I wished she would stop, it hurt to see her lower her head so many times. Nevertheless, she continued to speak as she continued to bow her head.
"I have forgotten the great favor shown to me by you, Onii-sama, whom I love, and have fallen in love with another man.... I sincerely apologize to you."
In the world I live in, Mai's character's backstory is linked to a past in which she was rescued by Charao, her half-brother. She was very weak and fragile. Charao took care of Mai every day, cheering her up. But one day, when the doctor said there was no chance of her recovery, she got desperate and tried to jump off the hospital roof. That's when Charao saved her. Protecting his sister, he broke his leg. Since that day, Mai has kept her loyalty to Charao..... That's her story.
"Last year, I wasn't myself. It was like a dream, like I wasn't really me..."
"You weren't yourself?"
"Yeah, like someone was correcting me to love this person..."
...This is just my personal opinion. It's quite possible that the power of suggestion affecting only me could have been applied to other characters as well. In other words, Mai could have been compelled to love Minato, the protagonist, despite her true feelings...
This is purely speculative, and it's impossible to confirm its validity. However, both the fact that I was manipulated by this force, Minato's strange behavior, and Mai's words and actions all seem to have been influenced by the same rule. This is something that needs to be scrutinized carefully in the future.
"I don't understand complicated things, but you shouldn't get discouraged. Let's drink some coke. EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!".
I encouraged my sister in the Charao language. It ruined the moment, really. An uncontrolled Charao language causes more trouble than a random attacker....
"Onii-sama..."
"I don't hate you. That has never changed and will never change."
That's true. Regardless of whether there's some overwhelming force or not, whether it hates me or not, I love all the characters that appear in OreNaji. I've never once felt uncomfortable.
"Uh-huh... sniffles... waaaaa... Onii-sama..."
Mai clung to me and sobbed. She must have been disturbed by her aloof behavior all this time. I wish I had realized it sooner.
"I'll stick close to Mai-chin from now on, so everything will be fine..."
★
For now, the decision to live together was put on hold. Because of school, we couldn't move our things, so they were temporarily left in place.
"So sis, shall we go to school?"
"Yes♡."
Mai clung to my right arm and smiled. That smile would have made nine out of ten men turn their heads. The remaining one was probably not interested in women. No man could resist turning his head when such a pretty sister smiled at him.
We left the apartment and took the elevator downstairs.
"Sis, would you mind stepping back?"
"Is it hard for you to walk?"
The elevator pulled up.
"No, it's just that if other heroine girls see us like this, there might be trouble..."
Tink
"Ah, Charao! Long time no see!"
"N-Najimi..."
Standing outside the open door was my childhood friend, Najimi Ota.
When our gazes met, she smiled, shining like a blooming rose. However, upon seeing my half-sister beside me, her hand intertwined with mine, that radiant rose seemed to fade in an instant.
"...Why are you here?"
"...What's wrong with you?"
О... SHURABA. [修羅場 (shuraba) is a phrase that describes difficult or extreme situations that may appear on the path to self-development. It reminds us that difficulties can be part of the process of growth and development].