Japan, Kyoto, inside Shuchi'in University. (T/N: The MC is above 18 years old, so it's not suitable for them to be in High School.) (T/N2: It's written as Kyoto, not Tokyo. From what I know, Shuchi'in Academy is located in Tokyo, but after some research, I found there's Shuchiin University located in real life Kyoto.)
"Ryuya, have you heard? There are some rumors about us circulating at school lately." (T/N: The MC's real name is Liu Yu, but since I felt it's not very immersive, I changed his name to Takami Ryuya.)
On a path bathed in moonlight, a boy and a girl were walking side by side.
The girl on the left was tall with black hair and black eyes. Her skin was fair and translucent.
She exuded an aura of cold, mysterious nobility, her exquisite face as dazzling as a masterpiece carved by the Creator.
Simply standing there, she possessed a kind of untouchable beauty. The girl named Yukinoshita Yukino was a candidate for the title of campus belle among this year's freshmen at Shuchi'in University.
Her tone was cold and solemn, as if discussing something mundane, but only her slightly trembling fingers betrayed her unspoken tension.
"Rumors about us? Oh, you mean those rumors about us dating, right?"
Walking on Yukino's right, the boy walking alongside her had features so handsome they seemed almost inhuman. His skin was even more delicate and fair than Yukino's, and beneath it lay eyes tinged with a faint nocturnal glow, his irises seemingly shimmering with starlight.
Hearing his childhood friend talk about recent events at school, Takami Ryuya, who understood Yukino fairly well, nodded. "Don't worry, they're just rumors. After a while, they'll understand our relationship is more like good buddies."
It had been eighteen years since he arrived in this world. In his previous life, as an overworked office worker who finally succumbed to sudden death after three consecutive all-nighters, Ryuya was reborn into this comprehensive anime world as the only son of a Chinese family living in the Japan.
He had originally hoped to enjoy the family life he never experienced before, but in the year Ryuya turned nine, his parents both passed away in an accident at a construction site.
Before he could even process the news of his parents' departure, he met the boss of his parents' construction company, a man named Yukinoshita.
"You must be Ryuya, right? Your parents were very good friends of mine while they were alive. If you don't mind, I'll take care of you from now on."
Looking at the serious and responsible company president, and having no other relatives in the Japan, Ryuya agreed, becoming a part of the Yukinoshita Family.
Of course, due to certain stubborn feelings about his own identity, he lived in the Yukinoshita household more as a 'guest' than 'family', and kept his name as Takami Ryuya.
Though the Yukinoshita parents already regarded him as their own son.
Growing up with Yukinoshita Haruno and Yukino, nominally childhood friends but practically siblings, Ryuya understood Yukino's personality quite well.
Although he didn't know why the character 'Hikigaya Hachiman' didn't appear in this world, he was quite fond of his nominal younger sister.
Not noticing Yukino's nervous expression in the night, he said frankly, "Those people just don't understand our relationship. They see us going to and from school together and misunderstand."
"After some time, just like before, everyone will get used to it."
Hearing Ryuya's words, Yukino slowed her pace slightly, "A misunderstanding?"
"Ryuya, have you ever thought about why those people misunderstand our relationship? Is it just because we go to and from school together?"
Her personality was typically sharp-tongued and aloof, but the main reason for this stemmed from her childhood environment.
When she was very young, Yukino, who strived to be the best at everything, lived in the shadow of her older sister, Haruno.
This long-standing situation caused her to lose her sense of self. Thinking she was just a replacement, she became lost about her future.
However, this life stopped when she was nine years old. She remembered that year clearly, when her father brought home a boy about her age, saying he would be their family's new member.
'Family? Who is he? Is he also here... to steal my place?'
Her lack of self-confidence and feelings of alienation from her parents initially made Yukino regard Ryuya with hostility. But Ryuya was, after all, the reincarnation of an adult, how could he take a mere nine-year-old girl seriously?
With Ryuya's mature care and help, Yukino gradually opened her heart and began to gain confidence in her own abilities. She's no longer the mechanical doll-like figure from the original work, and understood that the main reason she could become who she was now was because of Ryuya, this 'older brother' who had accompanied and helped her for nine years.
At first, she thought her feelings for Ryuya were familial concern.
But as they grew older, progressing from elementary school to middle school, then high school...
Because Ryuya's appearance was exceptionally outstanding and his personality easy-going and gentle, he received confessions from many girls every year.
Watching those love letters and Valentine's Day gifts, Yukino felt uncomfortable… very uncomfortable.
'Onii-chan is mine! None of you can take him away!'
Gradually, the only person left in her sight was Ryuya. In Yukino's heart, the one who acknowledged her was Ryuya, the one who recognized her was Ryuya, the one who gave her confidence was Ryuya, the one who would accept everything about her and never abandon her was also Ryuya.
She desperately wanted to call Ryuya 'Onii-chan', she desperately wanted their relationship to qualitatively change, she desperately wanted to tell Ryuya that she liked him, that she was the one who liked him the most in the entire world.
But Yukino was also afraid, afraid that Ryuya's feelings for her were merely familial.
She feared Ryuya's rejection, feared that they couldn't even maintain their current relationship.
Tormented by these thoughts of love, the girl had been trying to sound out Ryuya's feelings for her indirectly, at least to see if she had any hope.
Holding onto this hope, Yukino had been waiting for today for a long time. Mustering all her courage, she shook her head and looked at Ryuya's face, "Ryuya, I think those people's misunderstanding is actually quite normal. After all, our behavior is indeed somewhat intimate."
'Going to and from school together, eating meals together, exercising together… practically inseparable at all times, to outsiders, we must seem like a couple, right?'
Just as Yukino was about to say, 'How about we try being a couple?', Ryuya interrupted her and suddenly said, "Hmm, you have a point, Yukino. We do spend too much time together."
Having unconsciously grown accustomed to taking care of Yukino, Ryuya clearly remembered when he first arrived at the Yukinoshita household, that lonely little girl hiding in the corner, motionless, neither speaking nor running away, a pitiful sight.
Habitually ruffling Yukino's hair, he also felt that he might have been a bit too close to this younger sister of his.
"Starting tomorrow, let's keep a little more distance."
Unaware that he had nearly heard Yukino's confession, Ryuya was not only rejecting the hopes of a younger sister for her brother, but also the heart of a young maiden.