Chapter 1: Two New Little Sisters

My name is Soia Asiro, and I carry a secret that defines my existence. I’m a seventeen-year-old high school student, part of a clandestine clan known as Niroku. Our clan traces its lineage back to a single ancestor whose many sons founded villages that still bear their names. 

The Niroku operate under a peculiar tradition called the Generation System. It’s not about age but about lineage. 

If you’re from the 17th generation, you’re a grandparent to anyone from the 20th, no matter how old they are. It’s a system that binds us tightly, creating family ties where none might exist otherwise. 

But it comes with a price: silence. We’re forbidden from speaking about the clan to outsiders. Not a whisper about our traditions, our hierarchy, or even our existence. 

Breaking that rule means exile or something far worse.I grew up in the shadow of this secrecy, and for the most part, my life was unremarkable. 

School was easy enough decent grades, a handful of friends, and a routine that felt like a well-worn path. I never thought I was missing anything. 

That is, until I saw her. Aira Soa. The moment she walked into our first-year classroom, my world tilted. Her short, chestnut-brown hair framed her delicate face, and her petite frame made her seem almost ethereal, like a figure from a painting. 

But it was her eyes bright, warm, and brimming with curiosity that caught me. I was hooked, my heart racing in a way I’d never felt before.

For weeks, I wrestled with my feelings, pacing my room until the floorboards groaned, rehearsing what I’d say to her. 

Finally, one crisp autumn afternoon, I found her standing under the school’s cherry blossom trees, their bare branches stark against the sky. 

My palms were sweaty, my voice unsteady, but I forced the words out. “Aira, I… I really like you. Will you go out with me?”

Her smile was gentle, but her words were a quiet blade. “I’m sorry, Soia. I have a boyfriend. ” 

She explained he lived in another city, a long-distance relationship she was devoted to. 

I nodded, swallowing my disappointment, and walked away. The rejection stung, but what lingered was her integrity. She could’ve lied, could’ve played with my feelings, but she didn’t. 

Her loyalty to someone so far away only deepened my admiration. Aira wasn’t just a crush she was a glimpse of something pure.

The school year ended, and summer passed in a blur of heat and quiet days. When the second year began, I clung to a fragile hope that Aira’s relationship might have faded. 

Long-distance was tough, after all. Maybe she’d be single, and I’d get my chance. 

But the hallways felt emptier without her. Whispers among classmates confirmed my fears: Aira had transferred to a school in another city. 

The news hit me like a stone sinking in my chest. The chance of ever seeing her again felt impossibly distant.

Before she left, though, Aira had said something that stuck with me. 

In a fleeting moment in the school courtyard, she mentioned that one of her friends had a crush on me. 

“She’s in another city right now, but she really likes you,” Aira had said, her voice soft but sincere. “She wanted me to tell you she’d love to be with you.” 

I was too caught up in her departure to process it fully. I mumbled some half-hearted agreement, not even asking the friend’s name or what she looked like. It felt like a distant promise, one I didn’t expect to matter.

A year slipped by. I buried myself in schoolwork, trying to push Aira’s memory to the back of my mind, though it lingered like a faint melody. 

My third year of high school began, and with it came a change I hadn’t anticipated.

Her name was Hana. She walked into my classroom on the first day of the new semester, and I knew instantly who she was. Aira’s friend. 

Her long, dark hair fell in soft waves, and her eyes held a quiet intensity, like she was always watching, always thinking. 

She was different from Aira less radiant, more reserved but there was something captivating about her stillness. 

When our eyes met across the room, she smiled, and a spark of recognition passed between us. She hadn’t forgotten me. More than that, she hadn’t forgotten her feelings.

After class, Hana approached me, her steps hesitant but purposeful. “Soia, right?” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Aira told me about you. I… I’ve liked you for a long time.” 

Her cheeks flushed, and she clutched the strap of her schoolbag tightly, as if it anchored her. 

I was stunned. This girl, who I’d never met, had carried feelings for me for over a year. It was overwhelming, but also… humbling. I didn’t know her well, but her quiet sincerity pulled me in.

We started talking. At first, it was awkward stilted conversations about classes or the weather but over time, we found a rhythm. 

Hana was everything Aira had hinted at and more. She was kind, thoughtful, and fiercely loyal. 

She didn’t have close male friends, which, in a strange way, made me feel special. Her feelings weren’t scattered or casual; they were focused, singular, and entirely on me. 

I found myself falling for her, not in the fleeting, infatuated way I’d felt for Aira, but in a slow, steady way that felt like it could last.

Things were good until they weren’t. One afternoon, Hana saw me talking to two girls near the school’s entrance. They were laughing, their voices bright, standing a little too close as they teased me about something trivial. 

I didn’t think much of it; they were just classmates, and our conversation was harmless. 

But later that day, Hana pulled me aside, her voice trembling. “Soia, maybe you should leave me,” she said, her eyes fixed on the ground. “I can’t talk to you the way they do. I’m not… good enough.”

Her words cut deep. Her innocence, her vulnerability, only made me care for her more. I wanted to tell her she was enough more than enough but before I could find the words, things got complicated.Those two girls weren’t just classmates. They were Niroku. I’d never met them before that day, but during our chat, they’d casually mentioned their lineage 17th generation, same as me. 

In the clan’s eyes, that made us siblings, bound by tradition rather than blood. 

Their names were Yui and Rin, and they embraced the sibling dynamic with startling enthusiasm. Suddenly, they were everywhere teasing me in the hallways, asking for advice on homework, even linking arms with me as we walked. 

To them, it was natural; clan siblings often acted close, no matter how new the connection. But to anyone else, it looked… suspicious.

Hana noticed. Of course she did. She never confronted me directly, but I could see the hurt in her eyes whenever Yui or Rin got too comfortable. 

The way they’d lean in to whisper a joke or laugh at something I said made her withdraw further. 

I wanted to explain, to tell her that Yui and Rin were my “sisters” under the clan’s rules, but the Niroku’s code was absolute: no outsider could know about our traditions. 

Not even Hana. How could I tell my girlfriend that the girls she was jealous of were family when I couldn’t even mention the clan?

The weight of the secret settled over me like a storm cloud. 

I was torn between my growing feelings for Hana and the unspoken loyalty I owed the Niroku. 

Yui and Rin, oblivious to the tension, continued to treat me like their big brother, their laughter echoing as Hana watched from a distance, her expression unreadable. I didn’t know how to bridge the gap. I didn’t even know where to begin.

To be continued…