Episode 35: Those Who Have Younger Brothers
Mikado Kazuki believed he was blessed.
Born into a wealthy family, receiving ample education from his parents, and with a capable younger brother, he was expected to have a bright future by those around him.
Influenced by his father, a doctor, he too aspired to walk the path of medicine.
The expectations placed upon him were sometimes a burden, but they also served as a reason to strive.
His days were fulfilling. They were enriching.
He was happy.
But that all ended in a single day.
◇
On that day, he went to a bookstore with his younger brother to look for reference books for the high school entrance exams.
It was a bit early for his middle school brother, but the older brother thought it would be good for him to be exposed to the information.
While his brother casually browsed, he picked out a suitable reference book.
He thought they would just go home and study.
Until they left the store.
Immediately after exiting, the anti-shoplifting gate alarm sounded.
He thought there was a problem with the reference book he had purchased when it was scanned at the register.
But he was wrong.
He was taken to the security room prepared by the store staff.
His bag was searched.
A brand-new manga, which he had no recollection of, was found inside.
He was accused of shoplifting.
He couldn’t understand.
He hadn’t done such a thing.
But the item was in his bag.
He protested that someone must have put it there.
He was yelled at, demanding to know who had done it.
He thought that was a fair question.
But he hadn’t shoplifted.
Besides, he hadn’t let go of his bag.
Except when he asked his brother to hold it while he went to the restroom.
His brother had put the manga in his bag.
“There’s no way I would do that! Why would you say such a thing, Onii-san!”
No one believed him.
Not the store staff, not the school, not his friends, not his family.
No one believed in Mikado Kazuki.
Looking back now, his brother had always been hiding in his shadow.
Even if he got good grades on tests, it was because “he’s the brother of that older brother.”
If he made a mistake, it was “even though he’s the brother of that older brother.”
“Your brother is more—”
“Your brother would have—”
If someone kept hearing such things, would they end up with such a twisted smile?
◇
He had a dream that was both nostalgic and utterly detestable.
He must have dozed off while working on his computer.
He was searching for relevant material from the massive amount of photo data his brother had forced on him, and editing it if necessary.
On SNS, high school girls were creating so-called “ura-aka” accounts hinting at compensated dating, and increasing their followers.
Publishing the photos and addresses of those girls would be a significant bomb.
Enough to ruin a single girl’s life.
Even for my brother, I think it’s in bad taste.
However, I’m complicit in it, and so are the sex-crazed adolescents or sleazy middle-aged men, I don’t know, who send direct messages after being baited by the tweets. I think they’re all equally scum.
But this is just a little more patience.
Since that incident at the bookstore, Mikado Kazuki’s reputation had plummeted both at home and outside.
His father had even told him that he would disown him after he graduated from high school.
That’s fine.
A father who only cared about appearances and results, arbitrarily placed expectations, and then became disappointed.
A mother who could only lament why and how.
And a house with a brother who framed his older brother just to be evaluated better—screw that.
He had no friends at school anymore, but it was enough as long as he could graduate.
He didn’t care about or have any interest in what happened to anyone else.
Keeping his brother in a good mood so he wouldn’t say unnecessary things to their parents was the quickest way to freedom.
“Huh.”
He glanced out the window. His brother was going out with a boy who seemed to be a classmate.
Even though he lamented that “all the people in my generation are idiots and it’s troubling,” he still socialized with friends.
His brother’s way of living, only caring about “the evaluation of those around him,” seemed pathetic even to him now.
He snorted softly and continued his work.
After a while,
“Kazuki-kun. It’s me, it’s been a while.”
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door of his room.
He recognized the voice of the woman, who wasn’t a family member.
“Kamijo…?”
◇
“Well then, call me right away if anything happens.”
Kamijo Yuna’s mother told her with a dubious look, as if touching something fragile, and went down to the living room on the first floor.
After confirming that the sound of her footsteps was fading away, she twisted her mouth.
“You’re still not trusted, huh?”
“…What do you want?”
“If your ex-girlfriend came to visit… well, that’s a bit of a stretch. It didn’t even last a month, and it was in middle school, wasn’t it? Still, it’s hilarious that you confessed to me and then dumped me because you ‘wanted to concentrate on studying.'”
Kazuki frowned at Yuna, who was grinning.
“Are you here to blame me for that now…”
“I wouldn’t bring that up now. I thought you were too serious and we didn’t get along. I’m here to threaten you about something else.”
His expression sharpened, and she said,
“You’re starting to make good faces.”
She smiled fearlessly,
“You know that your brother is messing with my younger brother and that girl, right? Stop it right now.”
So that’s what it is, Kazuki scoffed.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think he’s serious either. If he finds out you met me, who knows what he’ll do. If your brother is important to you, why don’t you and your brother get along?”
“…That might be kind of nice? I thought, shudder.”
Immediately after Yuna operated her smartphone, a call arrived on Kazuki’s smartphone.
“—”
Yuna urged him with her eyes as he frowned suspiciously.
Kazuki was speechless at the image sent to the messaging app.
A woman’s underwear figure, somewhere between a child and an adult.
The reflection in the full-length mirror hid her face with her hand, but anyone who knew her would know who it was.
“Hyu~, I have a sexy body~. Are you horny?”
She said teasingly, but she wasn’t smiling.
Even though she was exposing her own nakedness, her expression was cold.
And then, the message “Please forgive me” was sent.
“You…”
Mikado Kazuki understood.
He’d been had.
“For example, ‘A high school girl who had her weakness grasped by her ex-boyfriend was forced to take “embarrassing photos”‘ sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Proof? I’ve already taken a screenshot~.”
If she went to her mother and cried about it as it was.
Normally, coming to the room of a man who is threatening her, sending photos, and protesting to her parents on the spot… would be unnatural as the actions of a victim, but just hinting that “Mikado Kazuki is threatening Kamijo Yuna” would be more than enough to worsen his position.
If it was a sexual issue, the maliciousness it would give to those around him would be increased.
Mikado Kazuki, who was originally hanging on by a thread, had no more room to maneuver.
“You don’t have the right to refuse, right? If you don’t take your hands off my brothers, I’ll expose you to my parents, the school, and the police. I’ll completely kill you socially.”
Yuna twisted her mouth.
“Besides, this is a chance for you, isn’t it?”
“What is…”
She said to him, his face turning pale,
“The shoplifting incident before. You were framed by your brother, right? Then, get back at him. If your brother ruined your life, then you ruin his life this time.”
She whispered like a devil.
Right now, Mikado Kazuki has poison for Ichinose Ayano, but he also has deadly poison for his brother.
Depending on where you spill either one, your position will change greatly.
A moment of silence.
“…To stop my brother, Kouki’s, rampage.”
“I don’t care what your brother says~. As long as you don’t get in the way of those kids, the Mikado family’s problems are yours to do with as you please.”
A large sigh escaped from Kazuki.
“…Why are you going this far? Even using your own body…”
“It’s just a photo, you know? If I can crush your ridiculous plan with that, it’s cheap, isn’t it? If your brother was this crazy and you were running away to protect yourself, I would have resorted to this kind of terrible method.”
Kazuki dropped his shoulders, unable to beat her, who was laughing again.
“Besides, an older sister can do anything for her cute younger brother.”