"I'm back."
Taking the elevator to the twelfth floor of the apartnt building, Hoshino Gen passed the fingerprint and iris scan, successfully pushing open the door to his ho.
The apartnt was spacious—at least 350 square ters—luxuriously decorated with a modern flair. It was a genuine luxury residence.
"Welco ho—"
A soft and delicate voice drifted from the living room, though it sounded sowhat listless.
Hoshino Gen swapped his shoes at the entryway and carried his backpack into the living room.
The Hoshino family’s living room was impressively spacious and brightly lit. Floor-to-ceiling windows composed of 270-degree panoramic glass offered excellent views and natural light.
The last rays of the setting sun filtered through the glass, bathing the room and illuminating a slender figure curled up on the sofa.
The girl’s damp hair hung loosely over her shoulders. She was dressed in an oversized T-shirt and shorts, clearly fresh from a bath.
Petite, with fair skin, almond-shaped eyes, delicate eyebrows, and small, rosy lips, she possessed features that countless won envied. These traits blended seamlessly to form a beauty that, even as soone who had seen countless people, Hoshino Gen had to admit—his sister was undoubtedly the most stunning girl he’d encountered in this life and the last.
Hoshino Rin pouted slightly as she held a ga controller in her hands. Her heterochromatic eyes, the sa as Hoshino Gen's, were fixed intently on a massive TV that occupied nearly half the wall.
Glancing at the screen, Hoshino Gen wasn’t surprised to see a ga—a visually striking AAA adventure title he had already completed.
Ah, his idol sister was also a gar, a fact the agency had incorporated into her idol persona. After all, this kind of trait is popular among otaku fans these days.
Hoshino Gen walked through the living room without stopping to his room.
At that mont, Rin’s character in the ga was defeated by a boss. Only then did she seem to notice her brother, casting him a quick glance before flashing a bright, idol-perfect smile. It was srizing.
"You're back. Grandpa called this afternoon to say an elder in England passed away, so Mom went back there. I made myself a vegetable salad for dinner—there’s another portion in the fridge if you’d like it."
"Got it."
Gen paused for a mont before continuing to his room.
Their relationship, despite sharing a biological connection, was only marginally closer than that of strangers.
After all, they had been separated since he was three, an age too young for most mories to stick. Although their parents had reconciled a year ago, leading to them living together again, Rin was already a busy idol at that point. She was rarely ho, let alone in Tokyo.
Their interactions had been brief, and even when both had free ti, conversations were scarce.
Watching her brother disappear behind his closed door, Rin finally withdrew her gaze. She turned back to the ga screen, though her eyes appeared sowhat unfocused.
Her feelings toward her brother were complicated.
Growing up in England with her mother, Hoshino Rin always knew she had a brother abroad. To say she had never fantasized about him would be a lie.
In her imagination, her brother was a handso, kind, and talented young man. And when they first t...
Well, at least her initial impression had been great. His appearance matched her fantasies perfectly—his looks were undeniably striking.
But after so ti together, Hoshino Rin’s excitent faded into disappointnt. Not because Hoshino Gen was bad or unpleasant, but because he was simply too ordinary.
Coming from a prestigious family in London, Hoshino Rin had grown up surrounded by accomplished peers. Compared to them, Hoshino Gen’s traits—aside from his good looks—were unremarkable.
Average athletic ability, diocre grades, no special talents... Strip away the family background and appearance, and he was just a quiet, introverted, and thoroughly ordinary boy.
To be honest, Hoshino Rin held no grudges against her brother, but she couldn’t feel particularly close to him either.
With a soft sigh, Rin pressed the ga controller and resud her battle with the boss.
"Roar—!"
The monstrous figure on the TV screen let out an earth-shaking roar, as if intent on crushing the world. By contrast, Rin’s character huddled in the arena's corner, desperately avoiding even the slightest blow that could deplete her health bar.
...
The sun finally set.
Inside Hoshino Gen's room, darkness reigned. He sat on the carpet before a low desk, holding a wolf-hair calligraphy brush in his right hand, its tip soaked with a vivid, wet red.
As his arm gently pressed downward, the soft brush tip t the yellow paper resting on the low desk.
With a flick of his wrist, a red mark spread across the paper.
The brush moved like a wandering dragon; each stroke flowed seamlessly, and the mont it stopped, the talisman was complete. It took no more than two breaths from the first stroke to the last.
In the dimly lit room, the talisman flashed with light, faint and fleeting.
Hoshino Gen let out a deep breath, setting down the brush before tossing the completed talisman onto a growing pile beside him.
He collapsed weakly onto the carpet, his gaze fixed blankly on the ceiling.
"If I do it on my own... it just doesn’t work out, huh..." Hoshino Gen muttered, draping an arm over his eyes.
That collapse turned into an unintended nap. Five hours later, he groggily opened his eyes again. Pushing himself up from the carpet, he realized he’d dozed off, likely from how much energy the talisman-drawing had drained out of him.
Rubbing his eyes, he reached for his phone and saw that it was already past eleven at night. His stomach was hollow and growling in protest—he hadn’t even had dinner yet.
Shaking his head vigorously to dispel the lingering drowsiness, Hoshino Gen stood up and opened his room door.
The living room was dark, illuminated only by moonlight streaming through the glass and the faint glow of an absurdly large TV screen.
Just as he’d left her earlier, Hoshino Rin was still curled up on the couch, engrossed in her ga. But sothing felt... off. Her posture, hugging her knees while gripping the controller, seed a bit forlorn. Looking closer, her eyes were rimd with red, as if she might burst into tears at any mont.
Curious, Hoshino Gen glanced at the TV screen and blinked in surprise. If he rembered correctly, she had been fighting that sa boss before he went back to his room.
His lips twitched slightly. For once, he spoke to her first.
"You... still not going to bed?"
Hoshino Rin didn’t look at him. Her fingers furiously clicked the controller buttons, the sounds sharp in the quiet room.
A few seconds later, the screen turned black and white.
In the moonlight, a single tear glided down her pale cheek. Hoshino Gen was sure he wasn’t imagining it—this kid was actually crying.
"...You want help?" he asked after a mont of hesitation.
Hoshino Rin wiped her eyes but shook her head silently.
Shrugging, Hoshino Gen walked past her to the entryway, slipping on a pair of sneakers.
Leaving his crying sister behind to go buy food for himself wasn’t sothing a decent older brother would normally do, but hey—she had made it clear she didn’t want him butting in, so it didn’t count. Right?
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