Currently in the Yukinoshita household, dinner had already ended, leaving just the two sisters behind.
"Yukino, hurry up and let me hold it!"
Haruno kept chasing after the snow-white cat, but Yukino wouldn't let her touch it, leaving her visibly frustrated.
"If you don't have any more business here, could you please go home, Sister?"
Came the impatient tone meant to kick her out.
"Nope~ You suddenly collapsed today, so I'm worried. I'm spending the night here."
Haruno's shameless insistence only earned her an angry glare from her little sister. In the end, Haruno gave a sigh of feigned helplessness and went about doing her own thing.
"Yukino, tell me—do you like that boy?"
Lying on the couch and stretching lazily, Haruno suddenly blurted out what seemed like a teasing question. Her eyes narrowed in a smile, and though she wore a playful expression, her gaze was too serious for it to be just a joke.
Yukino's body visibly froze for a moment. Her eyes showed a brief flicker of confusion before she lightly parted her lips.
"Sister, are you that bored? Didn't I tell you already? He's just an ordinary classmate from school. There's no such thing as like or don't like."
Her voice was like a blizzard in midwinter—sharp and freezing. It turned Haruno's teasing words into shards of ice, burying them beneath a storm of snow until not a trace remained.
Yet Haruno simply responded with a relaxed smile.
"But it's really fascinating, you know? It's the first time I've ever seen you invite a boy over to your apartment for dinner. It's completely unbelievable. Of course, Yazuki-kun himself is also quite the interesting character. So interesting that I almost wanted to hit him~"
Saying that, she chuckled again. Part of her seemed amused by Yukino's reaction, while another part seemed to harbor some kind of grudge against the boy.
"Youth only comes once, you know. If you don't want to have regrets, you need to seize the opportunity and enjoy it—though don't go too wild."
Yukino ignored her.
"But you know, Yukino, if you are serious about him, your opponent is pretty formidable. And the obstacles won't just come from rivals. Mom is one of them too."
That final mention—"Mom"—caused Yukino to react, even though she had no intention of continuing the conversation.
"Mom has extremely high standards when it comes to people. And Yazuki-kun is so blunt—he doesn't even hesitate to say he's an otaku. That's exactly the kind of person Mom disapproves of the most, so—"
She still remembered how shocked she was to find out that boy lived just across the way.
Haruno had shamelessly tagged along to peek into his place—only to be overwhelmed by the sheer otaku energy inside.
"So you're looking down on him too? You're the same as her? You don't know anything—how dare you judge someone based solely on their appearance and behavior?"
Yukino's reaction came with a rare burst of emotion, catching Haruno by surprise.
She even saw a cold smirk on Yukino's face. Her eyes seemed to be saying: "You people who call others failures—if he truly wanted to, he could become someone you'd only be able to look up to."
Interesting. So she's actually defending him. Still, Haruno figured that for her proud sister to consider someone a friend, there must be something special about him.
She also noticed a faint bitter smile flash across Yukino's face—as if she had once felt the same way herself.
"Ehhh? Is that so? But from what I've seen, he's just your typical otaku. No wonder he treats me like that. People like him, wasting their youth on a fake world, obsessed with meaningless things—"
Once again, Haruno's voice sounded like teasing banter, but her gaze was full of disdain for people like that.
"BANG—!"
Yukino slammed her hand on the table and stood up. She looked like she was about to explode.
She was truly angry now.
"Sorry to disappoint you—but this 'kind of person' is the one who drew The Devil's Mercy you were so obsessed with—!"
Yukino spoke through gritted teeth, but then suddenly shut her mouth.
She gave her sister another sharp glare—not because of the insult toward Yazuki, but because she'd been tricked. Her sister had deliberately provoked her just to get her to slip up.
Haruno now wore an "Aha, you fell for it" look, her eyes widening slightly in surprise at what Yukino had revealed.
"The Devil's Mercy? That painting? Yukino, are you saying that Yazuki-kun drew that? Wait, wait, wasn't that from two years ago? He would've only been in middle school back then. Was that really his?"
Haruno's skeptical questioning was met with silence from Yukino, who had calmed down again.
Seeing that no more interesting info would be extracted, Haruno felt a little disappointed.
Still, she was truly amazed.
Someone with that much artistic talent—why would he give it up to drown himself in the otaku world? Was he hit by some sort of trauma?
"Nope. Sorry to disappoint you again—he didn't suffer any kind of setback. The only reason he submitted that piece to a competition was because he needed money to buy some otaku goods."
Yukino, having noticed Haruno's curiosity, decided to explain proactively. Since she already let the secret slip, she might as well make it clear.
What she meant was: Yazuki doesn't care about fame or high society. He just lives for his passions.
A truly free person who does whatever he wants.
Not like her—or like Yukino herself—who could only live within constraints.
The words sounded like sarcasm aimed at Haruno, but in truth, Yukino was also mocking herself.
Haruno, of course, noticed this. She could tell Yazuki might have even more surprising aspects to him, but Yukino wasn't going to tell her.
So is that why Yukino was drawn to him? Maybe not just that.
"I see... But Yukino, are you really okay with just staying classmates with Yazuki?"
"What do you mean by that, Sister?!"
"What do I mean? It's you who should be asking yourself that. You need to seriously consider what your heart truly wants, Yukino!"
Haruno's smiling face faded, replaced with an unusually serious, almost oppressive expression.
"Like I said—youth only comes once. Don't let it slip away and regret it later."
"Don't worry. I'll make sure my youth is fulfilling. I don't need you to worry about it."
Yukino's cold reply made Haruno sigh inwardly. If Yukino truly liked Yazuki, as her older sister, she'd support her with everything she had.
Of course, that depended on whether Yukino was willing to take the initiative. Didn't she see that cousin of his always by his side?
Though Yazuki seemed to view that Ikaros girl more like family—dotingly so. Maybe even a sister complex?
Still, if they spent enough time together, feelings could change. If Yukino didn't act, she might miss her chance.
As for Yukino's feelings toward Yazuki? It probably wasn't romantic—at least not yet. But she definitely saw him as more than just a random classmate.
He might be the first boy in years she could truly talk to, someone she could let in, even if only a little.
There was some goodwill there. Maybe even a subtle sense of gratitude?
Ahh... What a troublesome little sister.
Meanwhile, on the other side, as night hadn't fully fallen yet, the otaku internet world was once again buzzing with life.