After their parents passed away, this house beca the most valuable asset Tenkuji Yuu possessed.
Of course, selling it could bring in a lot of money, allowing them to live luxuriously for a while, but Yuu wasn’t that foolish.
Beyond short-term concerns, the importance of a ho far outweighed money.
Moreover, while their family’s finances were sowhat tight, they weren’t so desperate as to need to sell their family’s assets.
It’s just that Yuu was accustod to making long-term plans for the future, so he always felt his family was short on money and had to work hard every day... Even though his little sister was a hikikomori who had no intention of attending school, Yuu had been saving for her high school and even college fees.
Without a few million in his savings account, he wouldn’t dare relax.
"Could this thing have popped up out of nowhere to stop from finding a rich woman to live comfortably with..."
After studying it briefly and gaining a slight understanding of this so-called system, Yuu couldn’t help but purse his lips.
Simply put, wasn’t this just the "rent-a-boyfriend" trend that had been popular lately?
Pretending to be a boyfriend for specific purposes, except the platform had shifted from the internet to a mysterious system, and the reward had changed from money to sothing else?
Since the system wouldn’t answer his questions and the mission hadn’t started, he could only draw this conclusion from the limited information. The rest was still full of question marks.
Pressing his slightly aching forehead, Yuu genuinely didn’t know where to begin complaining.
The bizarre "Boyfriend System" issue went without saying. Why didn’t the system appear when he first arrived in this world, when he needed help the most, instead of suddenly showing up to disrupt his life plans just as things were stabilizing...
The most infuriating part was that this damned system didn’t even have an AI—he didn’t even know who to vent to.
"Haaa... Let’s just leave it for now. Tomorrow’s the 24th; maybe I’ll learn more then."
Closing the "System Panel" in front of him, Yuu took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and cald his emotions.
There was excitent, but for him right now, what mattered was an ordinary life, not so strange system that appeared out of nowhere.
He was a practical person. Rather than overthinking, it was better to handle what was in front of him first. Moving forward step by step was the truth.
After standing foolishly outside long enough, Yuu gripped the doorknob again, pushed open the door to his house, and shouted upstairs:
"I’m ho!"
As he finished changing his shoes at the entrance and was about to head to the kitchen, a slender, petite figure appeared at the staircase.
"Yuu, welco ho."
"Mmm."
Yuu nodded lightly. The girl on the second floor descended the stairs with light steps, following him into the kitchen.
"Sora, you didn’t eat chips earlier, did you?"
The girl didn’t answer his question. Instead, with a blank expression, she took a can of soda from the fridge. Hugging her black bunny plushie, she casually asked:
"Yuu, what’s for dinner tonight?"
"Potato and at soup... Don’t try to change the subject." Yuu turned around, poking her smooth forehead with one finger, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Didn’t I tell you last ti? No eating chips before dinner. If it happens again, I’m confiscating all your chips!"
"Yuu, don’t get mad."
Her forehead playfully rubbed against his fingers. The girl wasn’t fazed by the stern expression her brother put on deliberately. Instead, she slightly lifted the hem of her short skirt, intentionally showing off her slender legs wrapped in white stockings. With her eyes lowered and a faint smile, she said softly, "Look, I’m wearing the white stockings you like."
As she spoke, her toes mischievously poked his calf.
Yuu pursed his lips, instantly turning the poke into a flick—a hard, rciless flick that landed on her forehead.
"I never said I liked white stockings."
Even if he did like them, white stockings on his sister’s legs held no appeal for him whatsoever!
"Ugh..." The girl stepped back, clutching her forehead, hugging her bunny plushie tightly, and glaring at him angrily.
"Yuu, you’re bullying !"
"I haven’t even said you’re slandering ."
"Don’t dodge it. Last ti I asked whether black or white was better, you clearly said white!"
"Who knew you were talking about stockings!" Yuu felt no pity for her near-tearful expression. With a blank face, he pushed her out of the kitchen.
"I’m going to cook. Go to the living room and watch TV. If you’ve got nothing to do, clean the house."
"Hmph, fine~" Her long silver hair fluttered as the girl slightly pouted her pale pink lips, turning away with an unhappy face.
But Yuu knew she was probably secretly pleased, since his attention had been diverted, and he forgot to confiscate her chips.
"Really..."
Sighing lightly, he refocused, opened the fridge, and began selecting ingredients for tonight’s dinner.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Whether by coincidence or design, Yuu’s little sister’s na was Kasugano Sora.
From her surna alone, it was clear she wasn’t his biological sister but his cousin.
The relationship between the Tenkuji and Kasugano families was very close. As a child, he often t Sora, and the two families had even jokingly discussed arranging a marriage between the two kids multiple tis.
Sadly, before this joke could beco reality, they perished at the bottom of the sea in a plane crash.
It was a tenth-anniversary honeymoon trip planned by both families.
Due to Sora’s poor health, which prevented her from traveling far, they entrusted themselves and Sora to their grandmother in the countryside to be cared for. They never returned, parted forever.
When Sora heard the news, her condition worsened imdiately. She was hospitalized for half a year before she could physically and ntally adjust.
After that, many things happened—too complicated for Yuu to want to recall. In any case, reaching this point with Sora had taken an imnse amount of energy and thought.
In the end, custody of both was transferred to their respective relatives, but they didn’t move to live with them. Instead, they settled together in the Tenkuji house.
Though many adults were willing to help, Sora rejected them all, stating she would only follow Yuu’s arrangents. Then she truly locked herself in her room, refusing to leave the house or attend school, becoming a hikikomori.
What else could Yuu do?
He could understand Sora’s anxiety and fear over the sudden changes in her life, and he knew she needed ti to accept everything and recover.
So, as her older brother, he ignored the "wise choices" adults spoke of and chose to indulge the wishes of a little girl, supporting her entire world, shielding her from wind and rain.
The accident insurance money was deposited in the bank to cover their school and insurance fees, while Yuu worked part-ti jobs while studying. At a young age, he took on the responsibility of their living expenses so his sister could peacefully surf the internet at ho.
Before getting the system, Yuu had thought this life would continue—until Sora ca to her senses and returned to school, or until he graduated high school.
But he hadn’t expected...
Well, even with the system’s arrival, he still had to cook, still had to scold his sister. Nothing had changed.
"Dinner’s ready, co get it."
Shouting to the living room, Yuu scooped two bowls of rice first and brought out two pairs of chopsticks together.
"Okay."
Setting down her plushie, Sora walked gracefully, like a beautiful moving doll. The scent of shampoo wafted to his nose as her silver hair swayed.
Unconsciously, Yuu sniffed the air.
Unlike the scent of the woman he passed earlier, it wasn’t a matter of which was better, but... there was a difference between youthfulness and maturity.
As that thought crossed his mind, Sora suddenly stopped at the kitchen threshold, turning to him with slight suspicion.
"Yuu."
"What’s up?"
Her brows furrowed slightly, and she stared at him sharply, as if trying to read sothing from his face.
"You... were you just thinking about another woman and comparing to her?"
"..."
Yuu wondered if his sister had also received a system.
One that could read minds.
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