Chihiro’s Panic

After parting ways with Pablo—with Setsuna Ena—Chihiro headed for Itsuki’s apartment, fretting anxiously. Setsuna Ena. Pen name: Puriketsu. Never for a moment did she make the connection.

He was the illustrator for Genesis Sisters of the New World, Itsuki Hashima’s second series, and apparently he and Chihiro’s brother were a good match, because they still hung out even after the series ended. They had even gone on a trip or two together.

On average, though, Setsuna only visited Itsuki’s apartment about once a month, so they had never run into each other before. That, of course, was just the luck of the draw. If Chihiro kept coming to Itsuki’s place, there was an extremely high chance that Chihiro would see him at her own brother’s apartment. Even worse, Setsuna apparently didn’t carry a smartphone around and tended to drop in without warning, so there was no way to predict when he’d show up.

And if that’s how things were…then instead of all three of them running into one another, and Itsuki finding out she was a girl, it was probably better to just explain everything to Setsuna and ask for his assistance in keeping it a secret.

She’d need to meet with Setsuna again. Now she regretted not exchanging contact info earlier—but he still did work for GF Bunko, and anyway, he was incredibly eager to see her again. Chances were they’d spot each other around this neighborhood before too long.

But even if she explained things to him, would he be willing to cooperate? Already, Chihiro could imagine Setsuna sneering.

“Geh-heh-heh… If you don’t want me to spill the beans, you know what to do, right?”

“Y-yes…all right… You just want to slap my rear one time, right…?”

Setsuna would no doubt laugh maliciously at the trembling Chihiro. “Ee-hee-hee! I don’t think that’s gonna be enough, no… I need you to take off your pants and show me your entire ass…”

“Oh noooo…”

Showing her naked self to someone who wasn’t even her lover disgusted her. But she’d do it anyway—Itsuki’s career was at stake. And even with all that shame, all that humiliation, she’d lower her pants, and…

“…What am I even thinking about?!”

Blushing furiously, she shook her head to banish the prurient thought from her imagination.

…The search for Setsuna could begin tomorrow. For now, she had dinner to make at Itsuki’s.

“Hello!”

Using her key to get in, Chihiro found a pair of woman’s shoes by the front door. Kani or Miyako, maybe? she thought as she ventured into the living room. Instead, Aoba Kasamatsu was chatting with Itsuki around the kotatsu.

“Hey, Chihiro,” Itsuki said.

Aoba gave her a sincere smile. “Hope you don’t mind me hanging around, Chihiro!”

“N-not at all…but you’ve been coming here more often, Kasamatsu?”

“I had an editorial meeting earlier,” she cheerfully replied, not noticing Chihiro’s dubious expression, “so I stopped by before going home. Ms. Yamagata said my writing and characters read as way more alive than before! I owe my big bro Itsuki for that big-time!”

At the term big bro, Chihiro looked even more dubious.

“Ha-ha-ha! Keep up the good work, Aoba,” the boundlessly joyful Itsuki said. “…Oh right, I finished reading your novel a little bit ago, but…yeah, I think the influence Kanikou had on you is a little too front and center. But your writing’s nice, and you keep a good pace going with the story events. I enjoyed it from start to finish.”

Despite the praise, Aoba’s face suddenly clouded. “Thank you very much, Big Bro. Online, though, it’s still getting slammed. All those one-star Amazon reviews…”

“Pfft! Those one-star reviewers all have brains the size of hermit crabs, so quit paying attention to them. Besides, when you post a review in public, it’s not the book or its author being judged—it’s the intelligence, opinions, and sensibility of the reviewer. And if these sham reviewers don’t understand that, then why bother letting them take over your mind, huh? So forget those idiots. You got the guarantee of an honest-to-God genius—you do have talent. So quit wavering and keep pushing forward!”

As always, Itsuki was talking to himself as much as to her—but it still left a deep impression on Aoba.

“I will! I’ll do my best, Big Bro!”

She proceeded to show Itsuki the results of that day’s editorial meeting—the plot summary and opening to her second novel. She was opting to create a brand-new work instead of writing a second volume for Memories of the Sky, and she wanted his advice.

Itsuki, of course, gave her the most sincere guidance he could. And Aoba listened—but she didn’t just meekly accept it. She followed up on it, asking questions until she was convinced, and if she disagreed with him, she said so.

It was an honest, frank exchange between two professional writers, and there was no room for Chihiro to join in. She sulked about this as she prepared dinner for the three of them.

Once everything was ready, the trio were seated around the kotatsu. Chihiro took this chance to delicately bring up the topic.

“Um… Itsuki, starting tomorrow, I’m not gonna be able to stop by here for a while…”

“What?!” Itsuki replied with visible surprise. Chihiro had been “stopping by” for four years now. Even during exam time, she still made at least one visit per week. The news was therefore rather shocking.

“…Something happen?”

“Um… Well, my test scores are kind of dropping, so I just kind of wanna focus on my classes for a little bit…”

This was a lie, what Chihiro was giving to her concerned brother. In fact, she had just decided it was wiser to avoid Itsuki’s apartment until she was able to work out matters with Setsuna.

“Oh… Yeah. You’re in your last year of high school now, huh? Try to keep your head above water.”

“S-sure. And I mean, I hope I can work out my schedule so I can come back more regularly real soon, but try to hold down the fort until then, okay?”

“A-all right.” Itsuki nodded, but his eyes were having trouble focusing. The advanced robo-vac would be able to keep up with the cleaning well enough, but he was completely reliant on Chihiro for meals, so frankly, this was cause for concern.

“…I guess I’ll rely on restaurants and convenience stores for a little while,” he muttered.

“Um, Big Bro!” exclaimed Aoba. “If you like, can I come over to cook?!”

“Huh?!” Chihiro half shouted. “You know how to cook?”

“It’s been my job to prep dinner around the house since I was a kid. I’m not that great at it…but I can handle this much easy.”

She turned her eyes to Chihiro’s spread laid out on the table.

“Really?!” Itsuki asked, sounding fairly joyous. By the way, that night’s dinner was spaghetti with fava beans, spring cabbage, bacon, and chili flakes, along with pan-fried nikumaki asparagus and potatoes, as well as a side of potato salad. None of it was technically challenging, but creating something like this in a cramped kitchen in a short period of time certainly took practice.

“W-wow… Easy, huh…?”

Chihiro gave a polite smile. “W-well, I didn’t go crazy today, what with how little time I had and all…but I usually make better stuff than this, right?!”

“Oh, you do? Wow, you’re a really good cook, Chihiro!”

“Nngh…”

Chihiro had meant to snap back at Aoba a little, but the completely earnest praise made her feel impossibly small.

“Well, I may not be able to live up to your usual standards, but I think I can do better for you than the convenience store, at least! Will you let me cook for you, Big Bro?”

“Sure! I’d love you to!”

“Okay! I’ll do my best for you, Big Bro!”

Aoba was brimming with enthusiasm, and Itsuki was all too willing to let her have a crack. Chihiro visibly frowned but couldn’t say “Actually, never mind, see you tomorrow” at this point. All she could do was keep quiet and accept it.

…If that’s how it is, then I’ve got to work this out with Setsuna as soon as possible. Even if I have to, um, show it…