Chapter 56: The Aftermath and a New Resolve

The rest of the hot spring trip is an exercise in extreme, painful awkwardness. Rina, true to the pact, maintains a five-foot distance from me, but she does so with a theatrical flair, using a measuring tape she "borrowed" from Miki’s sewing kit to ensure compliance. When I pass her in the hallway, she will hold up the tape and say, "Hold it right there, Onii-chan. You are entering the forbidden zone."

Kenji, Miki, and Hana treat me like a fragile, traumatized patient, speaking to me in soft, gentle tones and offering me snacks as if they are tranquilizers. It is miserable.

The train ride home is a silent, tense affair. The chaotic energy is gone, replaced by the heavy weight of our shared, mortifying secret.

But when we get back to Tokyo and the familiar routine of our lives, something shifts. The incident, as catastrophic as it was, has changed things. The unspoken tension is gone, replaced by an unspoken something else. We have seen each other at our most vulnerable. The last barrier of plausible deniability has been obliterated.

We are back in the workshop, Rina’s room, a few days later. The Grand Prix is looming, and the Amaterasu costume needs its final touches. The silence is not angry, just… heavy.

I am working on the final wiring for the costume's glowing effects when I feel a presence behind me. It is Rina. She is standing closer than five feet.

"The pact expired once we left Hakone," she says quietly, as if reading my mind.

"I figured," I sigh, not turning around.

I hear her sit down on the floor behind me. "Rui," she says, her voice soft and serious. "I am sorry."

I stop working, surprised. "For what? For trying to kiss me? For the ambush? For the general insanity?"

"For making things so difficult for you," she says. "I know this is all… a lot. And I know you are just trying to be a good brother and protect us. But my feelings are not a joke. They are not a phase. They are real."

I finally turn to look at her. She is not teasing. Her expression is open, honest, and full of a quiet, unshakeable conviction.

"That day in the bath," she continues, a faint blush on her cheeks, "I was not just being naughty. I was being honest. Seeing you there, it just… confirmed everything. I am not ashamed of how I feel about you. And I have decided something."

"What?" I ask, my heart starting to pound again.

"I am done trying to trick you or tease you into this," she says, her gaze steady and intense. "That is not fair to you. From now on, I am just going to be honest. I love you. And I am going to prove to you that a life with me would not be a disaster. It would be amazing. I am going to win you over, not with jokes, but by being the best partner you could ever ask for."

She stands up and walks over to the Amaterasu costume. She gently touches the golden armor. "Starting with this. We are going to win the Grand Prix. Together. As a team."

I stare at her, at this new, determined, and terrifyingly mature version of my sister. She has just declared her intentions, not as a flirtatious joke, but as a serious, long-term campaign. She is not asking for my permission anymore. She is giving me a statement of fact. Her love for me is real, and she is not giving up. The game has changed once again.