"You are..." the Natsuiro siblings said to the newcomer. As soon as they saw the person walking up, the two had totally different reactions. Rekka, the younger brother, looked nervous and kinda respectful towards them. Meanwhile, Matsuri looked pretty disturbed by this person showing up.
The person who greeted them was a girl with jet-black hair. She was medium height and had a really well-proportioned body. Her long black hair was like the perfect picture of "Yamato Nadeshiko," which is basically the definition of Japanese beauty. She seemed really gentle and classy, but also kinda distant, like regular folks couldn't really get close.
"Mina..." Matsuri said, clearly not happy to see her. Everyone at school knew Matsuri and this girl, Myoui Mina, were rivals. They were always competing in all sorts of stuff. Whether it was schoolwork or other things like sports and art. This kind of rivalry was normal at school, but since both of them were super popular, the whole school always paid attention to their fights. But they weren't exactly pros at any of it, which made their competition even weirder.
This ridiculous rivalry started way back in elementary school. They actually happened to live super close, like next-door neighbors. Rekka always got caught in the middle of their rivalry. At least Mina was more chill than his totally pervy sister, so Rekka looked more respectful towards Mina than Matsuri. Plus, Mina was the student council president here.
"Kaichou..." Rekka greeted, giving a little nod. Mina looked at Rekka like he was her own little brother. Since they were little, Mina had always been pretty close to Rekka.
Matsuri loved to tease Rekka as her way of showing affection. Mina, though, often spoiled Rekka rotten, giving him gifts or buying him snacks, way more than his own sister, Matsuri, ever did. When they were little, Rekka was actually closer to Mina than Matsuri. That's kinda what started their whole rivalry, like they wanted to prove who was 'better' at being close to Rekka. But Rekka, bless his heart, never even realized he was the reason for their silly contests.
"Rekka-kun, why do you call me Kaichou? It sounds like we're strangers," Mina said, putting on a sad face when she heard his greeting. "It makes me so sad when you don't call me Nee-chan anymore, like when we were little."
"Oh... sorry, Mina-nee," Rekka said with a small smile, putting his hands together to apologize. "But it's not really cool at school, you know? So I'll still stick with Kaichou here."
Again, just like with Park Soo-Young and Matsuri, Rekka showing a normal expression totally surprised Mina too. She was a little thrown off by this sudden change, something that hadn't happened since they were tiny. Mina quickly wiped that surprised look off her face and replied to Rekka. She gave him that same gentle smile she usually showed everyone. "Okay, fine, I guess there's nothing I can do about it since we're at school. But please don't act like strangers when we're outside!"
Mina's sudden smile actually stunned Rekka, making him blush. Mina just kept looking at him with her soft smile and gentle gaze. They both seemed totally lost in their own little world.
"Ahem! Hello?! Are you two gonna just ignore me?!" Matsuri burst out, sounding pretty annoyed.
Rekka and Mina quickly turned away, both blushing. Then Mina turned to Matsuri. For a second, she looked annoyed, but then her face went back to being all cool and distant. "Oh, Matsuri," she said, "I totally forgot you were here. Why don't you head back to your class?"
"Oi, Mina, you annoying jerk!" Matsuri snapped, totally furious. They just stared at each other, eyes locked. If this were an anime, you'd totally see sparks flying between them! After a few seconds, Matsuri let out a big, tired sigh. Then she told Mina, "Come here for a sec. I gotta talk to you about something."
Matsuri then yanked Mina's hand, dragging her far enough away from Rekka so he couldn't hear their chat. Rekka was a bit confused by his sister's behavior, but he just decided to wait for the two of them to finish talking.
After moving away from Rekka, Matsuri peeked at him before looking at Mina. Mina, whose hand had been pulled kinda hard, rubbed her wrist and complained to Matsuri, "Could you not pull so rough? You're still as reckless as ever."
"Enough about that! Do you... do you feel anything weird about Rekka-chan?" Matsuri asked Mina, sounding a little worried about her brother.
"Hmmm? He looks more handsome?" Mina joked back.
"Don't even joke! But Rekka-chan does look cuter and cooler, hehe." Matsuri said, kinda pervy. She almost got lost in her own weird thoughts before snapping back to reality and getting serious again. "I'm asking again. Do you feel anything strange from Rekka-chan?"
"Ugh, you're gross... Okay, honestly, Rekka-kun is really weird now. He actually showed an expression!"
"Exactly! Rekka-chan hasn't shown any expression since forever. Mom even took him to a psychiatrist when he was little. The doctor said my brother has this Alexithymia thing, where it's hard to know or show feelings. Dad even wanted to take him to a temple because he thought Rekka-chan was, like, possessed or something!"
"Totally what I'd expect from Uncle. He's so weird, haha."
"Hey, don't call my dad weird! Even if he is kinda weird..." Matsuri tried to stick up for her family, but it was hard to argue with Mina because her dad was indeed a strange guy who believed in all that occult stuff.
"Isn't it a good thing if Rekka-kun can show emotions? At least people won't call him a 'demon child' anymore." Mina said slowly, remembering how sad and mad she got when his classmates picked on him in elementary school.
When their class pet rabbit died, Rekka was the only one who didn't cry. After that, his friends just stayed away from him and gave him a hard time. They'd often call him the 'devil's child' just because he couldn't show feelings.
Of course, Mina and Matsuri always stood up to the bullies who picked on Rekka. When they were kids, Matsuri, being a tomboy, would often get into fights with the boys who made fun of her brother. Mina, though, was actually scarier for the bullies, because she'd secretly get back at them!
Hearing her frenemy's words, Matsuri realized her brother's change wasn't a bad thing after all. And like Mina said, Rekka looks way more handsome when he shows emotions, compared to his old self, who was like a lifeless robot.
"You're right. Rekka really should show his emotions like he is now, instead of his old self."
Rekka figured his older sister and the other 'older sister' were done talking. So, he walked up to them and said, "Hey, Nee-san, Kaichou... you guys done chatting?"
"Ah... Rekka-kun, were you eavesdropping?" Mina teased.
"Yep, we're done. And you... stop teasing my little brother!"
"Ugh, how tacky..."
"Good that you guys finished. Kaichou, have you had lunch yet?"
"Unfortunately, I already ate. Bummer. Though if I had lunch with Rekka-kun, it probably would've been more fun."
"Total bummer, right? So, Rekka-chan, let's go on a lunch date together!" Matsuri said, all excited. She gave Mina a smug look.
"Alright, we're gonna go get lunch first. See ya later, Kaichou."
"See ya later, Ka-i-chou~" Matsuri mocked, sticking her tongue out.
Mina ignored Matsuri and replied to Rekka with a charming smile, "See you later, Rekka-kun."
"Kiiii...!!"
======== That same evening, the exact same thing happened back at the Natsuiro family house. Rekka's mom and dad just stared at each other, totally disbelieving their son's changes. They freaked out for a second about this sudden shift, but then they just burst into happy tears for their boy! After that, Rekka's mom cooked up a huge feast to celebrate her son getting his emotions back.
Rekka just shook his head at his family, but he was also super happy that they were so overjoyed. The Natsuiro family was always a mix of sweet and totally chaotic, every single day.
====== In the middle of the night, the Natsuiro house was quiet because everyone was asleep. Rekka was sleeping in his room, but he looked pretty restless. He was dreaming about living another life in a world that felt kinda like his, but also different in some big ways.
He lived as a super skilled, hardworking programmer. His days were just packed with endless deadlines. A single guy, totally unlucky in love. Whenever he dated someone, it just ended fast or went really bad.
In his crazy busy daily life, the one fun thing he loved was watching anime and playing games. He also totally admired some idols who sang and danced on huge stages. These idols had tons of talent and could really entertain people. Honestly, sometimes he wondered if they were more like idols or comedians! And among them, he even knew some of his friends and people he knew.
He also dreamed of watching these idols stream for days, non-stop. Even when he was sleepy, he just kept watching. Even when his body was screaming for a break, he didn't stop. Until, finally, everything just went black and silent...
[Synchronization complete] [Host memory was missing during synchronization] [Attempt to recover memory] [Failed] [Repeat attempts to recover memory] [Failed] [Repeat attempts to recover memory] [Failed] [Looking for another solution] [Attempt to run solution] [Failed] [Repeat running solution] [Failed] [Accept another solution from the Administrator] [Installing System] [Success]