Arranging the dinner felt like brokering a peace treaty between warring nations. First, I had to present the idea to the "Sister Council." I chose a moment when they were all relaxed, watching a movie in the living room.
"I'm having a friend over for dinner on Friday," I announced, trying to sound as casual as possible.
The movie was instantly forgotten. Three pairs of eyes swiveled to face me.
"A friend?" Hina asked, pausing the film. "What friend?"
"Nami Tanaka," I said, bracing for impact.
Ayumi shot to her feet. "What?! Why?! Is she blackmailing you? Did she uncover a secret? Onii-chan, you can tell me!"
"She's not blackmailing me," I said, my voice strained. "We're partners for the Advanced Systems Architecture project. We need to work together. I thought it would be polite to have her over for a meal. It's what normal people do."
"But we're not normal," Izuwa pointed out, a smirk on her face. "And neither is she. This is her next move. A direct infiltration of our headquarters. It's a bold strategy. I respect it."
"It's not an infiltration, it's a dinner," I insisted. "And you will all be on your best behavior. No interrogations. No background checks running on your phones under the table. No asking her if she has a boyfriend. You will be polite, welcoming, and normal. Can you do that?"
They exchanged glances. It was a silent, complex negotiation. Finally, Hina, the de facto leader, gave a slow nod. "Very well, Takeshi-kun. We will trust your judgment. We will welcome your project partner into our home."
Her tone was so formal it was chilling. This wasn't an acceptance; it was an agreement to the terms of engagement.
Friday arrived with a palpable tension in the air. The apartment was cleaner than I had ever seen it. Hina had decided to cook a massive kimchi hot pot, a communal meal that would force everyone to interact around the table. It was a strategic choice, and I knew it.
When the doorbell rang, I took a deep breath and opened it. Nami stood there, holding a small, elegantly wrapped cake box. She was dressed casually in jeans and a nice sweater, looking completely at ease.
"Hi," she said with a bright smile. "I brought dessert. Hope you like cheesecake."
"Come on in," I said, stepping aside. "Welcome to the madness."
She walked into the living room where the other three were waiting. They stood up in unison, like a welcoming committee for a foreign dignitary.
"Nami-chan, welcome," Hina said, stepping forward with a perfectly gracious smile. "I'm Hina Ojori. It's a pleasure to finally meet you properly. This is Izuwa Manasaki, and my- our sister, Ayumi Kitamaki."
"It's so nice to meet you all!" Nami said, bowing slightly. "I'm a huge fan of your music. And please, call me Nami." She was radiating pure, harmless charm.
Ayumi just stared, her eyes narrowed, trying to find a crack in Nami's friendly facade. Izuwa's gaze was sharp and analytical, watching Nami's every micro-expression.
We all sat down at the table, the simmering hot pot between us. The initial conversation was painfully stilted. Hina asked Nami about her studies. Nami answered with cheerful enthusiasm.
"Takeshi tells me you're partners for a big project," Hina said, ladling some vegetables into Nami's bowl.
"Yes! He's a lifesaver. I'm good at the theory, but Takeshi is a genius when it comes to practical application. He can just look at a problem and see the most elegant solution. I'm really lucky to have him as a partner," Nami gushed.
I saw Ayumi's shoulders relax a fraction. Praising me was a good move. It aligned Nami with their own view of me as a hidden genius.
The next test came from Izuwa.
"So, Nami," Izuwa began, her voice smooth as silk. "An engineering student, top of your class. That takes a lot of dedication. Doesn't leave much time for a social life, does it? Or a boyfriend?"
There it was. She'd promised she wouldn't, but Izuwa couldn't resist.
I shot her a glare, but Nami didn't even blink. She laughed, a light, easy sound. "A boyfriend? Goodness, no! Between my studies and my part-time job, I barely have time to sleep. My code is the only partner I have time for right now." She said it with such casual finality that it was impossible to doubt. She had just neatly neutralized the biggest threat perception.
The masterstroke, however, came when Ayumi finally spoke up.
"Do you like idols?" Ayumi asked, her tone still wary.
"I love them!" Nami said, her eyes lighting up with what looked like genuine passion. "I admire you all so much. The way you can inspire so many people, the hard work, the dancing, the singing… it's incredible. It's a completely different kind of genius from what we do in engineering." She then looked directly at Ayumi. "Especially you, Ayumi-chan. Your stage presence is amazing. You have this incredible energy that just makes people happy."
Ayumi, who had been ready to hate Nami on principle, was completely disarmed. Being praised for her specific talent, for the one thing that was uniquely hers, hit her right in her idol heart. A faint blush rose on her cheeks. "Oh… well… thank you."
For the rest of the dinner, the atmosphere thawed considerably. Nami expertly navigated the conversation, asking Hina about her leadership role, Izuwa about the music production side of their work, and Ayumi about her fan interactions. She showed a genuine interest in their world, the world I so often tried to ignore. She wasn't competing with them for my attention; she was validating theirs.
By the time we got to the cheesecake, Ayumi was actually laughing at one of Nami's jokes. Hina was discussing the merits of different programming languages with her, and even Izuwa seemed to have lowered her guard, engaging in a debate about the lyrical complexity of a rival band's new song.
As I walked Nami to the door later that night, a sense of disbelief washed over me.
"How did you do that?" I asked, my voice low.
"Do what?" she asked, feigning innocence.
"That. In there. You defused a bomb that has been ticking for days. You completely won them over."
She smiled, a small, knowing smile. "I just told the truth. I do admire them. They're amazing at what they do. And I do think you're a genius, even if you're a grumpy one." She paused, her expression turning a little more serious. "They're not scary, Takeshi. They just love you. A lot. They're afraid of losing you to a world they're not a part of."
Her words hit me with surprising force. It was something I knew on a logical level, but hearing it from an outsider, from the very person who had been the target of their fears, made it resonate differently.
"Goodnight, Takeshi," she said softly. "See you in the library on Monday."
I watched her walk down the hallway until she disappeared around the corner. I closed the door and leaned against it, letting out a long breath I didn't realize I had been holding. The summit had been a success. A fragile peace had been achieved.
But as I turned back to the living room and saw my three sisters huddled together, whispering and glancing in my direction, I knew this wasn't the end. It was just the end of a chapter. Nami had won them over as a friend. But in doing so, she had also just officially entered the complex, chaotic, and dangerous ecosystem of my family. The war was over, but the game had just become infinitely more complicated.