Ayane was a girl who laughed a lot.
With her cuteness and kindness, she was undeniably my pride and joy as a little sister.
Of course, she’s still my pride and joy as a little sister, but… she used to be an even brighter and cuter child back then… that’s the kind of nuance I’m talking about.
When I was in first grade.
There was a summer homework assignment to grow morning glories and keep a diary about them.
When the leaves grew large and the flowers bloomed, it wasn’t me who jumped for joy, but her.
It’s not that I wasn’t happy.
I had put some effort into growing them, and the blooming flowers were beautiful, so I was naturally pleased.
But more than that…
I felt much happier seeing my little sister’s smiling face as she danced with joy.
Soon after, Ayane started elementary school.
She had always been smart, but she chose to attend the same school as me because she wanted to be with me.
She could have easily gotten into a prestigious school that leads straight to a famous university.
But I was happy.
She was cute.
My cute little sister who always followed behind me.
I loved it when adults said, “Your little sister is so cute”.
When summer vacation came, Ayane brought home a planter too.
I immediately knew it was for the morning glory assignment, so I looked forward to seeing my sister jump with joy again every day.
Ayane woke up early every day and diligently took care of her plants.
And then the leaves grew large, and finally, the flowers bloomed.
『You did it, Ayane! Even more beautiful flowers than mine have bloomed!』
『Yeah. I’m glad they bloomed.』
She was unexpectedly calm.
Her cheeks relaxed and her eyes narrowed, so I could tell she was happy… but she didn’t jump for joy.
『What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy?』
I deliberately asked.
She slowly shook her head from side to side.
『No, I’m happy. But…』
『But?』
『I was much, much happier when Onee-chan’s flowers bloomed. …Hmm, I wonder why?』
『…! Geez~, Ayane! I love you, I love you so much!』
『W-Wait, Onee-chan! You’re messing up my hair!』
I got goosebumps.
Ahh, this child isn’t just cute…
She’s fundamentally kind from the core.
She’s a kind girl who can be happier about the success of someone close to her than her own success, I understood even as a child.
It’s not just her appearance.
Her heart is purely beautiful too.
I thought, just a little, that she was on a different level.
Because I couldn’t jump for joy like that.
Then I entered middle school.
The next three years would drastically change my life.
Ayane entered fourth grade, and her beauty was no longer just from her youth.
A well-shaped nose bridge, large eyes, long eyelashes. Her chest was already beginning to swell, and there was an aura that she would become an incredibly beautiful girl by the time she entered high school… or even middle school.
Among all, the most beautiful was undoubtedly her black hair.
Semi-short, just above the shoulders.
Perhaps close to a bob cut.
The color was jet black.
Very clear and beautiful.
But above all, the overwhelming beauty came from the highest level of hair quality achieved through daily careful brushing and care.
There’s some talk about genetics, sure.
Our mother had been a magazine model in high school and college, so we were born with pretty good hair quality.
But if that’s the case, I should have the same.
I should have hair like Ayane’s, thin, fluffy, soft… yet not weak at all.
The fact that I didn’t turn out the same means there was a significant difference in how carefully we treated our hair after we were born.
In fact, I had never seen a day when she neglected her hair care.
However…
Even if I say so myself, I was pretty cute too, as I took some care of my appearance.
By the time I graduated from elementary school, I had received more confessions than I could count on one hand, and by the time I entered middle school, I was considered a high-class flower by the first summer vacation.
One day, Ayane and I went to Tokyo with our parents for a trip.
But Ayane couldn’t handle the crowds.
She quickly retreated and went to a café with our father, who also disliked crowds. It was essentially just me and my mother.
『Are you interested in becoming an idol?』
『…Eh?』
It happened suddenly.
As we were walking down the street, a stranger suddenly handed me a business card.
My mother stepped in, and it quickly became clear that it was a scout from a famous agency.
My mother showed a moment of hesitation, but since I was already in middle school, the decision was left to me.
『…What did you like about me?』
Idols fight with their cuteness.
And I can’t possibly compete with Ayane in terms of cuteness.
After briefly touching his chin, the scout said to me.
『Your smile. I felt that your smile has the power to make those around you sparkle.』
『Haa…』
──Light Novels──
──Read Here──
I frowned.
But my mother, pleased with the compliment to her child, started saying things like “That’s right, exactly!” and “You have a good eye”, and I lost to the pressure of the two adults.
I reported this to my father and Ayane.
My father happily said, “Do your best without overdoing it”, and Ayane, as if she hadn’t been affected by the crowd at all, jumped for joy.
After completing various procedures, I became an idol.
Though it was just a title.
Days of lessons began.
To be honest, it was hell.
I thought I was somewhat athletic, but the stamina required of an idol was on a different level.
Still, the agency was good, and I naturally liked talking to people and singing, so I didn’t want to quit.
I came home exhausted, ate dinner, took a bath, and went straight to bed.
As soon as I woke up, I went to school, then to lessons after school, and then home, repeating the cycle.
After a while, I started getting some work.
And little by little, my family began to drift away from my daily life.
This continued for about two years.
Before I knew it, Ayane’s elementary school graduation was approaching.
At the same time, my middle school graduation and high school entrance.
Then, one day.
In the middle of winter, an incident occurred where Ayane didn’t come home from school.
That day, I was unusually home early with no lessons or work, but it was my mother who returned from work who first noticed something was wrong.
Looking back, it’s a silly thought, but at the time I assumed Ayane had joined a club. That school had committees and clubs starting from fifth grade, so I thought it was that.
That’s how distant my relationship with Ayane had become.
Realizing it was an emergency, I rushed outside.
My mother stayed home.
To prevent us from missing each other, but mainly because she was so worried that she might have run through a red light.
Ayane had never caused any trouble for the family before.
Let alone “not coming home”, which would obviously make the family anxious, that smart girl should have understood that naturally.
…But my anxiety was short-lived.
I found Ayane surprisingly quickly.
Inside a dome-shaped playground equipment in the nearest park.
In that dark, cold place, she was hugging her knees and crying.
『Ah…』
Words failed me.
But as I let out a small sound, Ayane flinched violently.
She looked up, trying hard to open her swollen eyes, and recognized me.
『O-Onee-chan… I-I…』
After muttering, Ayane coughed heavily.
It seemed like she hadn’t breathed in a while.
I lent her my jacket, hugged her, and tried to warm her up while listening to her.
『Ah… ah… um, …e-em…』
Her voice sounded terribly frightened.
Had someone assaulted her?
Considering my sister’s cuteness, that seemed the most likely, but when I asked, she shook her head no.
After a while, as Ayane’s trembling subsided, she slowly began to tell me what happened.
She had been confessed to by a boy in her class, and when she rejected him, he said the worst possible things to her.
No, to be precise, it’s a bit different.
Ayane’s way of saying it was softer, more considerate of the other person.
This probably is my emotion talking.
But the fact is, that’s what happened.
Some brat had the nerve to say to my sister, “It was a waste being kind to you”, betraying her trust in the worst way possible.
『…Who is he?』
『…Eh?』
『What’s his name!? I’m going to his house right now and beat him up! I won’t forgive him… I’ll make him regret for the rest of his life what he said to my sister! …Ah, no, that’s not.』
『U-Uwa, ah, ahh…』
By the time I realized it, it was too late.
Ayane burst into tears.
It was the greatest anger of my life.
But the first person who should have expressed that emotion was Ayane herself, no one else.
And yet, I… I did it.
Ayane had always used gentle words.
Her heart can’t bear to hurt others.
I don’t know how much that affected her, but after that, Ayane stopped smiling brightly.
Even in response to our mother’s worries, she just kept saying “It’s nothing”, so I had to explain.
『It seems a boy in her class said some mean things to her.』
That’s how I respected my sister’s wishes this time.
The night of Ayane’s graduation ceremony.
I heard the same kind of crying from her room as that day.
Later, with a bad feeling, I checked her album and found the same words I had heard from my sister that day written in marker on the last blank page.
『It was a waste being kind to you.』
I felt dizzy.
It was the worst.
But when my sister hadn’t done so, I had no right to go on a rampage.
What matters is that she starts smiling brightly again.
Revenge is not what she wants.
Holding back, I put the album back on the shelf.