Little Sister, Nadia

The bedroom door burst open with a loud *BANG!* and Nadia, still in her pajamas, came flying out. 

"Good morning, everyone!" 

"Oh, good morning, Nadia." 

"Keya!" 

From where Nadia was standing, she probably hadn't noticed her older brother standing in the corner of the living room. 

As soon as she spotted me, she leaped at me. 

Nadia has these days, about twice a month, when she wakes up in an unusually high-spirited mood. 

Unfortunately, today just happened to be one of those days. 

"Keya, Keya, Keya! Ahh, my dear friend! Why must you be so beautiful? Keya! I love you!" 

"Ah, wait, Nadia, Nadia—" 

"Hm? What?" 

"Big brother's back." 

"Huh?" 

"Ah, I'm home, Nadia." 

"..." 

Nadia stood up as if nothing had happened and silently walked back into her bedroom, leaving behind a horribly awkward atmosphere in the living room. 

"..." 

"..." 

"Um, I think the bath should be ready now." 

"Oh, right. Then, I'll go ahead and take one." 

Shahzad headed toward the bathroom. 

Some time later, the bedroom door burst open again with a loud *BANG!* 

Dressed impeccably in the new clothes we bought together last week, Nadia stepped out with a model-like pose. 

"...Huh?" 

"Oh, your brother's in the bath. It's yesterday's leftover water, though." 

"Oh, I see." 

Looking a bit deflated, Nadia sat down next to me. 

"Hm? Wait a second. Yesterday's leftover water?" 

"Yeah, that's right." 

"*What?!* My brother is bathing in *our* leftover water?!" 

"Are you the type to care about that?" 

"No, I mean, we're siblings, so it's not *that* big of a deal… but, Keya, doesn't it bother you?" 

"Hmm… not really." 

"Really? If you're okay with it, then whatever, but… I dunno, doesn't it feel kinda *criminal* for a guy to be bathing in water used by two high school girls?" 

"Yeah, it does." 

"Then why didn't you stop him?!" 

Her ears turned bright red. 

So cute. 

"More importantly, how long do you plan to keep fooling him?" 

"…What do you mean, 'fooling'?" 

"Not telling him that his streams have become a global sensation." 

"I'm not *fooling* him… I'm just not *telling* him." 

Nadia averted her eyes. 

"Hey, look at me." 

"..." 

"I'm really getting tired of covering for you." 

"…It's not like I *want* to do this. My brother isn't good with attention. If he finds out the truth, he'll probably stop streaming altogether." 

"Well, yeah…" 

He did say he gets nervous even in front of a hundred viewers. 

"Then at least clear up the misunderstanding. You *do* know that he's feared by other streamers, right? That no one dares to approach him because of it? He was really hurt by that, you know?" 

Technically, he thought it was because he *smelled* bad and got depressed about it. 

(That was a little sneaky of me, maybe…) 

Nadia's expression turned pained. 

"That's… " 

"Or is it because you don't want other girls getting close to him?" 

"Wh-why would you even say that?!" 

"Because, Nadia, you *love* your brother." 

"You're wrong! That's not it at all! It's—uh, branding! Yeah, branding!" 

"Branding?" 

"It's *better* if people fear him. It makes the streams more exciting, and that means more money!"

"Money, huh?" 

"That's how it works! The only reason we can live in such a nice apartment is thanks to my brother's streaming career. He needs to keep going!" 

"Hmm. Oh, right, big brother got a message earlier." 

"A message?" 

I turned on my device and read out the message from his streaming account. 

"*Shahzad, I love you, love you, LOVE YOU! Marry me! I'm a 19-year-old university student in Tokyo, G-cup! My contact info is—*" 

*"BLOCK HER, YOU STUPID SHIT! GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!"* 

Nadia snatched the device at the speed of light. 

"..." 

"Huh?! W-wait! This is…!" 

"Nadia, you've also set the stream chat to block all romance-related words, haven't you?" 

"That's just… branding too! Filtering that stuff out makes the channel more profitable!" 

"Then this is perfect timing." 

"What do you mean, 'perfect timing'?" 

"You want money, right? Big brother taught me a potion recipe the other day. If we use it, we could make *billions*." 

"Well, that's… but…" 

"But what?" 

"There are a lot of people who *need* something like that… And besides, if my brother gave it away for free, wouldn't his reputation skyrocket? That would boost his streaming revenue even more…" 

"I doubt it would bring in *billions*." 

"But… my brother would do it. If it could help people, he would." 

"…Heh. You really understand him, don't you?" 

"Huh?" 

"He already gave me permission. He said it's fine to release it for free." 

Nadia's face instantly turned red. 

(Oh no… I made her mad…) 

"Keya…" 

"Sorry, sorry. I wasn't trying to tease you." 

"…Then what?" 

"I've been thinking for a while now. Do we even *need* to keep streaming?" 

"Why not?" 

"Because there's no clear purpose. Big brother doesn't *want* this. And you—you're just coming up with excuses. Why are we lying to him just to keep this going?" 

"…Do you hate it?" 

"I don't hate it. I'd never have the guts to dive into dungeons myself, but I love them. Being part of big brother's streams is really exciting for me. But…" 

I paused for a moment to gather my thoughts. 

"At first, it was just video calls, right? No public streams, just the two of you. Why not go back to that? If there's useful information, we can post it anonymously. That way, big brother won't be in the spotlight. He won't be misunderstood and feared. Gold-diggers won't swarm him. And we won't have to keep lying to him. Even without streaming revenue, I can support both of you financially." 

"But that's not fair as a friend…" 

"Yet you're fine deceiving your *own brother*?" 

Nadia fell silent. 

But eventually, she shook her head. 

"…I don't want that." 

"Why?" 

"I don't want other girls near my brother. But I also don't want him to be avoided because of a misunderstanding. And I hate having to lie to him…" 

Nadia's voice grew more intense. 

"Then—" 

"*But!* More than anything, I hate when people underestimate my brother!" 

"…No need to cry over it." 

"I-I'm not crying!" 

"Oh, you totally are. You're full-on bawling." 

"Ugh… B-but he's amazing! And people just laugh at him because of his weird foreign name! He got so sick of people that he shut himself away in the dungeon! He's incredible and they don't even see it!" 

"Alright, alright. I get it. I'm sorry." 

I pulled the sobbing Nadia into a hug. 

"If that's how you feel, then I'll keep supporting the streams." 

"…Thanks." 

"But you should be more honest about your feelings. We're friends." 

"…Yeah. Sorry." 

"It's okay." 

As I gently stroked her head, she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me back. 

Just as we were reaffirming our friendship, the living room door opened, and big brother walked in. 

The moment he did, Nadia *shoved* me away. 

"Man, that was a great bath..…Wait, Keya, what are you doing?" 

"Don't mind me." 

"I do mind. You look like you just got suplexed onto the floor…" 

As for Nadia, the one who had just been bawling like a child… 

She was now sitting on the couch, legs crossed, playing with her hair, inspecting her nails—acting like one of those "high-class ladies" you see in TV dramas. 

"…Nadia, what is this act of yours lately?" 

"Huh? Act? What are you talking about? This is just how I am." 

"..." 

What the hell is wrong with this girl?

***

[A/N: Keya is Nadia's best friend and so Keya also calls Shahzad big brother!]