Chapter 3 The Problem with Haruka Yamaguchi is that She Never Finds Problems, Only Opportunities.

1 hour after the masages with Akari

Miki is staring at the screen without really seeing it.

The design for Haruka's new campaign should have been finished an hour ago. Instead, she has a blank document titled “Ways to Help Nii-san Without Him Noticing - Attempt #47.”

“Miki-chan~”

Haruka's sing-song voice pulls her out of her mental spiral.

Haruka Yamaguchi, 24 years old, the same age as her brother but on the opposite end of the success spectrum, a career coach for the elite, capable of raising anyone's game. Golden hair, honey-colored eyes that shine with weaponized positivity, 5'5" of energy that should be illegal before noon. She wears a professional outfit that costs more than Shon could earn in a decade, or rather, a lifetime.

“Ah...” Miki accepts the tea, avoiding eye contact. “About that...”

“Didn't it work?” Haruka sits down next to her, genuinely curious. “It was simple: write down three things to be grateful for every day.”

“Yes, well...” Miki takes out her phone and shows a photo.

It's a sheet of paper with Shon's messy handwriting:

Day 1 - Gratitude:
1. I am grateful that rhetorical questions don't require answers.
2. I am grateful that silence is a valid form of communication.
3. I am grateful that “no” is a complete sentence.

“Oh.” Haruka blinks.

“Technically, those are three things he's actually grateful for,” Miki says wearily.

“Don't worry, Miki, I've been helping you since attempt #40, right? Besides, being the most beautiful, brilliant, and young professional elite coach, should give me the benefit of the doubt, as well as you, the best assistant in the world.” Haruka smiles, but there's something calculating in her eyes. “Brilliant but lost older brother. Worried family. Wasted potential. It's more common than you think. But we never surrender and never fail fixing them.” 

And charging them extra for family sessions, she thinks, but doesn't say it.

“Nii-san isn't brilliant,” Miki murmurs. “He's just... Shon.”

"And he had great potencial" 

Haruka's phone rings, interrupting the coach.

“Ugh,” she grimaces. “Excuse me.”

She answers in her professional voice: "Dad? Yes, I met him. No, I'm not interested. Why? Because in 40 minutes of conversation, he didn't look me in the eye once. Yes, I know what he was looking at. No, it's not ‘normal for men’. He has zero potential. If he can't maintain basic eye contact, how is he going to— I don't care if his father is— Dad, I love you, but NO."

She hangs up. She slumps dramatically onto the sofa.

“Suitors?” Miki guesses.

“The fifth this month. Crypto-bro who thinks blockchain will solve world hunger but can't solve where to look in a conversation.”

“Sounds awful.”

“They're all horrible in unique but predictable ways. It's like there's a factory mass-producing zero-potential heirs.”

Miki's phone vibrates.

At the same time, Miki's phone vibrates, and Miki looks at Haruka.

“Don't worry, answer it, answer it,” says Haruka cheerfully as she sits down next to her to watch.

                      Akari: “We need to talk about Nii-san.”

Haruka comments, “Today is Nii-san's day, it seems.” She smiles cheerfully as she snuggles up next to Miki.

“It must be the headphones,” Miki says with a poker face.

“Headphones?” Haruka tilts her head like a puppy.

“Long story.”

Her phone vibrates with new texts in response.

                      Akari: “No, no.”

                      “More serious” appears on her phone.

Now Miki tilts her head like a puppy as she exchanges glances with Haruka.

                      Akari: “Reina wants to... use it.”

                      Akari: “It's complicated. It involves suitors and his ability to make people                                        feel uncomfortable.”

Haruka and Miki look at each other. Silence. Processing.

"Wait," Haruka says slowly. 

"Reina Kuroshima...?" Miki begins. 

"Your brother...?" "Suitors...?" 

They look at each other again. And then Haruka jumps up from the sofa.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???!" They both say at the same time

"NO TIME FOR SCREAMING, WE HAVE TO DECIPHER THIS! Role-play! NOW!"

"Eh?" a confused Miki exclaims.

"You're Akari, I'm your brother. No! Wait. I don't know your brother. You're your brother, I'm Akari— No, I don't know that well Akari either..." Haruka spins around. "OK, OK. I'm Reina. I know her well, unfortunately. You're Akari."

"Haruka, this is—"

"COMPLETLY NECESSARY! Ahem, action!" Haruka adopts a stiff posture, face serious. "Akari. Your brother is a NEET, and if he's a NEET, he has NEET skills, so I need his... NEET skills? (This is weird)."

"Akari. Your brother is a total waste of a person." 

Miki laughs but gets into character: "I know, Reina-sama," she says definitively. 

"Exac—" Haruka breaks character a little. "Aren't you even going to defend him a little?" 

Miki scratches her arm. "It makes me a little sad to say it like that too, but it's what Akari would say." 

"Well, never mind," she says, returning to her role. "Hmp hmp," she says, clearing her throat.

"Exactly. But I need that him, because..." Haruka thinks. "I don't know why!" she says confidently. "But it's to avoid the suitors that, no, they won't come on their own nor she called them. Perhaps? her father sent them to her?" Haruka thinks. "Yes... yes! That's her father! He's the one who sends them! Just Like me! HA HA HA, I'm a genius."

"That's  interpretation of what was Reina thinking was terrifying, and even though he doesn't want to admit it, it makes sense, Haruka. But what does Nii-san have to do with it?"

"I don't know, but," she slowly turns to Miki, adjusting a pair of invisible glasses, "but she does know," referring to herself playing Reina.

Haruka-Reina paces dramatically: "Think about it. What scares a man with an ego and tons of money? Another man who makes him feel inferior."

"But Nii-san isn't superior to anyone, much less someone with tons of money."

"Exactly, that's just a question Akari could answer. It's your turn, Miki. Think, why, niisan?" Haruka asks excitedly, yet she manages to maintain her composure and not break character.

Miki puts her hands to her chin, suddenly changing her attitude to the same as Akari's, and the answer appears " Because he BELIEVES everyone is equally inferior." 

Haruka pauses, getting more into character.  "But still, that's not enough; there are many people who think they are superior to everyone else."

"That's what's different about Shon" Miki says cleaning some invisible glasses, "He doesn't think of himself as superior either; he dislikes everyone equally."

"Okay"  Haruka says as she takes off a pair of invisibility glasses. "Maybe I'll pass the first test. Nut what  about if some offer him some money for example? i need someone immune to corruption, like, seduction, threats or bribes." Is he immune to seduction?

"Since he'll be dealing directly with men, I don't think that will be a problem, and even if they sent a woman or something like that, I think he's only ever liked one idol in his entire life."

"Social threats?"

"He has no social life to threaten."

"Again, money?"

"He believes that money is a social construct created to justify abuse"

"So, he's basically someone who doesn't care about connections, power, consequences..."

"Someone who doesn't care about... anything," Miki adds.

They look at each other. The roleplay breaks down.

"Basically," Miki says.

"Basically," Haruka says.

"Nii-san," they finally complete the sentence.

"Oh my god," says Miki.

"It's brilliant," says Haruka.

And then, unlike Reina and Akari with their existential horror, Haruka and Miki start jumping around holding hands.

"YOUR BROTHER, MEGA HYPER POTENTIAL!"

"HE'LL FINALLY GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!"

"THE SUITERS WILL RUN AWAY!"

"YEIH!"

They stop, gasping, laughing.

And then Miki deflates. 

From laughter to realization. 

"My brother. We're talking about using Nii-san. My Nii-san who never leaves the room." 

"Hey," Haruka sits down next to her. "Not even if you ask him with puppy dog ​​eyes?" 

Miki almost laughs. "With shon? I think puppy dog ​​eyes will backfire."

"But he's your brother. Something must—" Haruka stops. "Dang... I knew it wasn't going to be that easy, was it? Still, how did he agree to fill out the paper?"

"The paper?"

"The one about the three things you're grateful for, let's try to replicate that way."

"Of course, you're a genius." Miki tries to think about how she managed to achieve such an achievement (what did I do? What did I do?) " Miki stops. "Mmm?"

"I remembered, I--" Miki says at first.

"Don't worry about the expense, Miki. I'll help you however I can--" Haruka says, who is interrupted.

"I just asked him," Miki says, lost.

"Oh?"

"I don't usually do it, a lot, but Shon, always."

She searches her memory.

When she was 12 and wanted first place in the science competition, she asked Shon to help her. He gave a lecture on fraud while helping her with the model.

When she was 16 and needed someone to take her shift at her part-time job because she wanted to go to a concert, Shon did. He complained about, but he covered 8 shift hours.

Today when I ask him about filling out the paper...

"a" Miki whispers.

"What?"

"He's never... he's never said no to me. Ever. He complains. He makes me feel terrible for asking. He lectures me on why I shouldn't want what I want. But..."

"But in the end..."

"But in the end?"

"He does it." A gleam crossed her eyes.

"I need to talk to Reina," Haruka says, taking out her phone.

"Wait, Haruka, I don't think it's any good"-- Haruka grabs her phone and sends her message without looking back.

Haruka: "Reina-san! I know about the anti-suitor Nii-san."

Reina: "...?"

Reina is writing(...)

Reina: "What? Wait, What???"

Reina: "How?"

Reina: "...?"

Reina is writing(...)

Reina: "I need to block you."

Haruka: "Go ahead, but, Shon will be mine. I want him."

Reina: "No."

Haruka: "I NEED him MORE THAN YOU! I have FIVE suitors this month."

Reina: "I have seven."

Haruka: "SEVEN?!"

Reina: "I NEED him more."

Haruka: "It's not about numbers, dear."

Reina: "You were the one who started the numbers... "

Haruka: "..."

Haruka: "Dumb!"

Reina: "How dare you?!"

Reina: "He's the brother of MY second hand."

Haruka: "He is also is the brother of MY star designer."

Reina: "Your 'star designer' that I could hire tomorrow."

Haruka: "Try it. Let's see if your toxic corporate environment keeps her."

Reina: "Better than your circus."

Haruka: "At least my company doesn't need robots in suits."

Reina: "At least my employees don't need 'motivation time' every morning."

Haruka: "Jealous that they have potential?"

Reina: "Jealous that mine have performance?"

Miki grabs Haruka's phone while she's caught off guard fighting. "Give me that."

"No! I have to—" Haruka says anxiously.

At the same time, in Reina's office, Akari does the same.

"No, wait!" Reina's face turns red.

After a few seconds, both Miki and Akari return their phones. A little lost, Reina and Haruka look at their phones, but upon seeing the last chat, they notice that both Reina's and Haruka's phones are typing a message. This reignites the fire in their eyes, and they're about to type again.

Miki: "Reina-san, it's Miki."

Akari: "Haruka-san, it's Akari."

The message from the two sisters appears, and a shiver runs down both their spines.

Miki: "Stop."

Akari: "Now."

Reina: "Akari, please give the reas—"

Haruka: "Miki-chan, this is important—"

Akari: "Shon is OUR brother."

Miki: "WE decide."

Akari: "And we came to the conclusion that they won't stop until they have it."

Miki: "That's why we reached a consensus between both of us"

Akari: "And we decided you share."

Miki: "Or neither of you has him."

Pause.

Both Reina and Haruka looked up from their phones to glance over their shoulders at the quiet Akari and Miki, who were in their respective rooms. This surprised them both. How could they complement each other so well in a conversation they'd never had before?!

"Do these sisters read each other's minds?" Haruka wondered.

"Some kind of telepathy?" Reina wondered.

Thinking this with a look of doubt made the sisters stare more coldly at their bosses. A little scared, they returned to their phones in seconds.

Reina: "This is blackmail."

Haruka: "I support the blackmail"

Reina: "Of course you do."

Haruka: "What does that mean?"

Akari: "ENOUGH. Proposal: Same day, different times."

Miki: "Tuesday. One in the morning, one in the afternoon."

Akari: "You alternate weeks."

Miki: "Salary split 50/50."

Reina: "I want the mornings."

Haruka: "NO. I need the mornings, the suitors have lunch—"

Reina: "Mine have lunch at 2."

Akari: "Rock paper scissors."

Haruka: "Seriously?"

Miki: "Do you have a better idea?"

Silence. Rock Paper Scissors. Reina won

Reina: "Im first tomorrow."

Haruka: "AHH CHEATER I DONT TRUST HER, AGAIN"

Reina: "This is ridiculous. I WON, GROW UP"

Haruka: "SHUT UP DWARF"

Haruka: "You started it."

Reina: "You started it—"

Akari and Miki: "TOMORROW. AKARI AT 9 AM, HARUKA AT 3 PM. END."

Haruka and Reina, in their respective locations, stare at the screens. They agree.

In somewhere houses, in the same city

Shon is lying down, staring out the window. The curtain is half open. A ray of sunlight streams in. It's not dramatic. It's not poetic. It's just light.

Sunny days suck, he thinks. Hot as hell. You sweat like a pig and you can't sleep.

But...

Maybe he'll open the curtains, he thinks. Not for any particular reason. Just to remind himself that the sun

exists regardless everything.

Another day, he thinks. There's always another day. Until there isn't. But statistically, for me, a young man, there's a good chance there will be a tomorrow.

Even so, he has a bad feeling. Maybe he'll catch a cold?

His computer buzzes. Discord.

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "Hey, did you see the new anime, Neko Love?" 

Shon gets up and sits in front of the screen.

Shon: "The one with the protagonist who says he wants a peaceful life but collects waifus?"

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "That's the one. Hypocrite. I'd destroy him with my bare hands, but... I'm a really good person, but you... do you want a job?"

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "I can pay you good." 

Shon: "I'd never work for you." 

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "You've never had a job, lol." 

Shon: "Neither have you, piggy." 

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "Don't call me piggy! Slug!"

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "Hey, did you see the new anime, Neko Love?"

Shon gets up and sits in front of the screen.

Shon: "The one with the protagonist who says he wants a peaceful life but collects waifus?"

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "That's the one. Hypocrite. I'd destroy him with my bare hands, but... I'm a really good person, but you... do you want a job?"

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "I can pay you good."

Shon: "I would never work for you."

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "You never had a job, lol."

Shon: "Neither do you, piggy."

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "Don't call me piggy! Slug!"

Shon: Anyway, collecting waifus like that protagonist seems sad to me.

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "Any problem with collecting waifus? >:c"

Shon: "Nothing, it's just that the term 'collect' is for objects. When you encapsulate all the feelings and thoughts of a character in a 'waifu' and then throw it away like it's nothing, was it really anything special? Is it just another one in the pile?"

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "What?"

Shon: "Besides, nothing comes for free. If you collect feelings, you collect problems. If you were just chasing after women you find attractive, sooner or later reality would hit you. They look pretty, yes, but they have their own problems, worries, and dreams. And that's just the beginning. What will you do when your 'waifu' finds out you have other 'waifus' ? How will you react?"

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "Whoa, that was very virgin."

Shon: "Hey."

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "But also deep. Good play, Shon."

Shon: "Thanks, Piggy."

XxDarknessMaster2003xX: "Don't call me Piggy, you mother(...)"

Piggy and slug talk all the afternoon, i dont seem that the play along too well, or do they?.