Kamiyā Yuu gave a faint, ambiguous smile and didn't answer. He gently pulled her fragrant, delicate body into his arms and said softly, "Sleep. Otherwise, you won't be able to get up for school tomorrow."
"Yuu, answer me. Besides me, who else have you kissed?" Kamiyā Sora grew anxious at his attitude, her tone sharp yet laced with pleading.
Kamiyā Yuu hadn't expected her voice to become so cold and cutting. Looking at her delicate yet frosty expression, he paused before replying, "Maybe. It's not really something worth pressing about."
He wasn't lying. Before becoming Kamiyā Yuu, he had some experience in this area.
Sora's brows knitted tightly. His answer filled her with dissatisfaction. Why wouldn't he answer her directly? Had he kissed someone else like this before?
The mere thought made her heart turn cold, as if shards of glass had been stuffed inside it, causing a faint, piercing pain. She had personally felt the changes in him during this time—he seemed the same, yet also strangely distant and unfamiliar. She couldn't understand him anymore, couldn't see through his thoughts, couldn't grasp how he truly felt about her.
She had already realized this when she saw him going through their mother's belongings. She feared that the most important thing in her life was changing, regardless of whether it was for better or worse.
The Yuu from before was her brother—the one who treated her as the most precious thing in his life. If he had kissed another girl back then, it would have been one thing. But if it happened after his attitude changed, then to Sora, it would feel like a deep betrayal.
Now, his role in her life had become blurred. Perhaps things were moving toward the future she secretly longed for—after all, the old Yuu would never have crossed that forbidden line. This should have made her happy, yet instead it filled her with growing unease. That was why she had been so clingy lately—desperate to find answers from him, to uncover the source of her anxiety, to bind him to her side.
But his vague response had already given her an answer. No matter what the truth was, it meant one thing: the silent Yuu no longer belonged entirely to her. He had begun to devote himself to animation… or perhaps he had met another woman who moved his heart.
Then what was she to him now?
Even though she had just felt a happiness so intense it melted her whole being, a simple question had plunged her into an icy abyss of despair.
She regretted it—regretted asking, and regretted giving in to that moment earlier.
Her soft lips tightened slightly. Lowering her gaze so he wouldn't see her eyes, she stood up from his bed and said tiredly, "I'm not feeling well. I'll go sleep in my own room."
Kamiyā Yuu remained silent.
Before closing the door, she glanced back at him and said calmly, "Yuu… I started writing a diary last week."
Click. The door shut—decisive and cold.
Only after she left did Kamiyā Yuu let out a bitter smile, touching his lips as he felt the lingering trace of warmth. He muttered helplessly, "I'm really not cut out to be a siscon… guess this counts as scumbag behavior."
With his emotional intelligence, would he really say something like that by accident? It was precisely because he saw further than Sora that he gave such an ambiguous answer.
What surprised him was that, during that moment, images of two other women had flashed through his mind—Morishita Aoi and Uehara Etsuki. On top of that, without fully confirming their blood relationship, he didn't want to recklessly cross the final boundary.
In the end, there was only one reason behind his words and thoughts—
Sora was no longer the entirety of his world.
His transmigration, his "cheat," and the outstanding women he had met—all of it combined. As a writer in his previous life, how could he not know what choices lay before him? Even if the decision rested on a single thought, hesitation was only natural.
In a world where someone like Uehara Etsuki existed, was choosing Sora really enough?
The moment that hesitation appeared, his own self-analysis led him to respond the way he did. He didn't even want to explore the answer, nor force himself to choose. At that moment, he almost envied the dense protagonists of harem anime—perhaps only with such low emotional awareness could they live carefree lives.
Thinking of Sora's expression just now made him feel uneasy as well.
Of course, he knew the idea of "choice" itself was somewhat ridiculous. It wasn't certain he would ever find someone better than Sora. What troubled him wasn't the answer—but what it meant that such a choice had even appeared in his mind.
Or perhaps the choice itself was immature and unrealistic. If so, what caused him to think this way?
He wasn't searching for an answer—he was searching for the root.
He understood Sora better than anyone. Her unease came from this, and everything she worried about, he had to consider as well. Everything she couldn't foresee, he had to resolve.
It wasn't until that moment that he realized: alongside sweetness, this shift in their relationship also brought an awkwardness he didn't know how to handle. Deep down, he was resisting the change, afraid to truly cross that line.
"Yeah… I'm pretty selfish, and I don't have much integrity either. Guess that saying fits—being awful and still overthinking it," he mocked himself inwardly.
He had taken advantage of Sora's intense attachment to delay giving her a clear answer.
"The first barrier… really is the blood relationship."
He raised his right hand, a strand of silver hair still caught between his fingers.
"I originally planned to look for clues at the university, but I've been too busy. Now that I have $100,000… I should be able to arrange an urgent DNA test at a major hospital. I heard the results come out in a week."
Such tests weren't cheap. The old Kamiyā Yuu would have needed months of saving to afford one. But he was the type to act quickly—now that he had the means, he didn't want to delay. Clarifying their relationship might also help him understand his own heart.
—How did things end up like this…
His first animation had achieved success, and he now had the Sora he had always dreamed of.
Two wonderful things overlapping should have brought immense happiness—a dreamlike life.
But… why had it turned out like this?
Holding his forehead, he let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Her question reminded me of 'White Album'… Guess I've officially switched classes to 'White Album protagonist.' Hope I don't get beaten to death."
…
Back in her room, Sora hurried to her bedside drawer and took out an old white envelope. Seeing the neat handwriting on it, she seemed to realize something, and her body gave out as she collapsed to the floor.
She tossed the envelope aside, buried her head in her knees, and muttered weakly with a trembling voice, "That's not the issue… why… why did it become like this…"
"Why am I so… selfish…"
"Yuu… baka…" she whispered resentfully.
On the discarded envelope, faint black handwriting could be seen:
"To my dearest son, Kamiyā Yuu—please open."
…
The next day, everything seemed normal—except for the faint redness and swelling around Sora's eyes.
Her attitude toward Kamiyā Yuu had returned to how it used to be: cold and willful.
Their way of interacting hadn't changed. Even when he treated her affectionately, she showed no obvious emotional reaction.
Their relationship had entered a subtle cold war.