Chapter 22: The New Dynamic of Affection

The unspoken agreement to "go back to normal" lasted for approximately twelve hours before Rina decided to set it on fire. The quiet, heartbroken girl from the theme park vanished, and in her place rose a cheerful, clingy, and unbelievably bold agent of chaos. Her new mission: to completely and utterly shatter my composure.

The campaign began with a hug offensive.

"Good morning, Onii-chan!" she chirped the next day, greeting me not with a sleepy grumble, but by wrapping her arms around me from behind as I was pouring cereal. The hug lasted just a few seconds too long to be considered normal. "What are you doing?" I asked, my body going rigid. "Just hugging my favorite brother!" she said, squeezing tighter before letting go.

It didn't stop. There was a "welcome home from work" hug. There was a "thank you for helping me with this prop" hug. There was a "you passed the soy sauce" hug. I was living in a constant state of being ambushed by sibling affection, and it was setting my every nerve on edge.

Then, she escalated to verbal warfare.

We were in her room, now our shared workshop, planning the final construction phase for her Amaterasu costume. She was sketching out a timeline.

"Okay, so if we finish the armor plates this week, and the silk dyeing next week, that leaves us a full week for assembly and details," she muttered, tapping her pen against her chin. She looked up at me, a beatific smile on her face. "You're so good at this planning stuff, Onii-chan. You're so reliable."

"I'm just reading your list," I said flatly, trying to ignore the compliment.

"It's great practice, though," she continued, her smile turning mischievous. "For when you have to help our future kids with their crazy school projects. One of them is bound to be an artist, you know. It's in the genes."

My brain screeched to a halt. "Our- our what?"

"Our kids," she repeated, as if discussing the weather. "They're going to be so talented. And beautiful, of course. Can you imagine?"

"Rina," I said, my voice dangerously low. "What are you talking about? Are you delirious from paint fumes?"

"Nope!" she sang, popping the 'p'. "Just thinking about our bright, happy, and definitely not-at-all-forbidden future together."

I stared at her, completely speechless. She had just deployed the nuclear option on the second day. The awkward silence was dead. In its place, Rina had cultivated a new dynamic of pure, unfiltered, romantic torment, and she was thriving.