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Author note: I was surprised that soon after I said ‘I would be happy to receive a comment’ that I suddenly receive a boatload of comments in one go.
Thank you for everyone who has sent their comments!
I am really happy to receive both short comments and also the thought-out comments!
I really appreciate them! The comments that everyone has sent as my bait… no, I mean, as my power! I’m happy to receive food… no, I mean, power from everyone! (Please feed me more!)

“We shall begin the strategy meeting!!”

In the presence of Karen, Shin, and Sakura-chan, I slammed— didn’t slam because it would hurt, so I lightly slap it.

Since the previous event, I had detransformed in a hidden spot, returned home immediately, and called Shin and Sakura-chan. Shin should be fine with it, but I felt a little sorry for Sakura-chan.

“That was quiet.”

“Shin, quiet! Your witty comment is unnecessary!” I warned Shin from making any unnecessary comment.

I mean, slamming a table is painful! It would knock over the tea cups! Who would be cleaning up any broken cup? Me!

“Whatever, we are starting the strategy meeting!”

“What’s the topic?”

“How do I avoid becoming an idol!!” That was the only possible topic for today.

“So you called us here just for that…”

“Not ‘just’! It is important for me!”

I also don’t want to address anything this troublesome! I would rather watch the DVDs that I have rented together with Karen and deepen our sibling bond!¹ However, the situation is forcing me to²!

“Shin, you wouldn’t want me to become an idol either, right? Even though it is Black Rose who’s becoming an idol, it is actually me, you know? You wouldn’t want your childhood friend to be one, right?”

“No, not really. I don’t really mind my best friend becoming one.”

“Idiot, you are supposed to say something cool at a moment like this, you womanize- manizer! Philander! Super pervert!”

“I’m not a super pervert. Calm down Kurona. Right now, the one who is befuddled by the situation the most is you, so calm down.”

Shin gently pat my back and hold me to sit down on a chair. Khuu! He acted like a gentleman without any effort!

Although, he wasn’t wrong that I am the one panicking the most.

Karen and Sakura-chan also looked at me with worried eyes over my strange behavior, rather than taking a step back.

It would hurt if they had taken a step back, but being looked at with genuine worry was uncomfortable either.

“Sorry, I lost my cool…”

“No joke. Well, it is normal to lose your cool in that situation.”

“I think so too! I think it’s normal!” said Sakura.

“I suppose it was hard on Onii-san who was the center of the events, it’s normal to be shaken a little.”

“Uu… everyone, thank you…”

I regained my composure after receiving everyone’s kind words.

“And besides, I didn’t expect that Onii-san… or I should say, Black Rose, would be invited to be an idol. That person is an idol, right?”

“Eh, Karen-chan, you don’t know either? Uwaa, these siblings are resembling each other…” Sakura-chan was astounded.

Looks like Karen doesn’t know about Hoshizora Kaguya either.

“Karen, do you watch drama or such often?” asked Shin.

“I do watch them, but I never saw her.”

“What about popular song program?”

“I only follow artists that I like. Other than that, I don’t turn on the TV much.”

“They really resemble each other. Karen-chan, I think it would be good for you to at least watch the news.” Sakura-chan said with concern.

“Isn’t web news good enough?”

“You two really are siblings!³” Shin facepalmed.

I ignored Shin, “Rather than complaining about that, is she really an idol?”

“Rather than that…? Haa, whatever.” Shin sighed, shoulder slumped. It was as if his worry was unappreciated.

We are probably the only ones who would treat someone as popular as Shin with disrespect like this. Well, I have no intention of being a stranger anyway.

“She, Hoshizora Kaguya is the current trending idol. She has shown up in movies, drama TV, and also variety show. She has always perform solo, so I thought that she thinks that she doesn’t need a partner.” said Shin. He then look at me, “Hey, have you finally have a revelation? She said that she had invited you countless times, you know?”

“Hmm~… a revelation, huh…”

Even though I mull over it, it doesn’t ring any bell. I didn’t have any point of contact with an idol in the first place, and I never met her even once. Even if you ask me to remember, nothing would come out at all.

“Nothing at all, you know? I never met her in the first place…”

“Even if you have never meet Hoshizora Kaguya, haven’t you met Magical Girl: Magical Star, Moon Shining?”

“Eh, of course, I have met her a few times…”

I and Moon Shining often fought together. But when I said that, I meant that every time we fought together, I only supported her so she could penetrate through, we didn’t exactly fought with close cooperation.

So, why are we talking about Moon Shining in the first place? When I look at Shin dubiously, he notice what I am thinking and sigh.

“W, what…”

“I have said, haven’t I? She is an idol, and also a magical girl.”

“You did, but… Ah, no way!?” I inevitably understood.

“As you suspected. She, Hoshizora Sakura, is Magical Girl: Magical Star, Moon Shining.”

“E, ehh!?” I yelled.

I see! I thought I saw that face somewhere before. So she is Magical Girl: Magical Star, Moon Shining!

“On the other hand, I’m astonished that you never noticed at all.”

“I, I mean, she never told me even once!”

“She wasn’t so obscure that she had to spell it out. Imagine if she actually did tell you, wouldn’t that be tooting her own horn? She wasn’t a dumb girl that would do that, you should be able to figure it out after you have fought and chat with her.”

“U, un. I get it…”

She is an energetic, gentle, and kind girl. She kept an eye on me during battle, and even after battle, we had friendly conversation. Eh, ah…

“She had often invited me to be an idol after battle…”

“And you still didn’t notice…”

“I, I mean! I thought she was joking!”

Anyone would think so too, right? I mean, I’m an ordinary person, and moreover, I’m a male inside too!

“Speaking of that, did you even explicitly refuse back then?”

“I, I did! I said that it’s impossible for me to be an idol!”

“That’s not what I mean. You said that you think she is joking, right?”

“Un.”

“Did you reply to that joke seriously?”

“Ah…” I realized when he mentioned it.

As I said, I thought that she was joking. So, I only give her a light ‘it’s impossible’ reply. There was no weight to it, I simply smiled and refused, thinking of it as a joke.

“If she had understood that you were serious, do you think she would have done this?”

“You have, a point…”

She has said that the partner position is empty. She perhaps was flustered because she thought Cherry Blossom has taken the spot, which was why she did such an conspicuous thing without hesitation.

“So I was partially responsible for this…”

“Well, you played a part for not clearly refusing, but it was also her fault for jumping into conclusion and act upon that conclusion. This event was caused by mutual recklessness.” Shin sipped his tea after finished talking.

“Now, I have said my piece. Now, you know what to do, even without holding a strategy meeting, right?” Shin said gently, as if admonishing me.

“Un, I know. I will talk to her properly.”

“Do that. It is better to act fast rather than dawdling around.”

“Un.”

‘With this, my job is complete,’ said Shin before he sipped on his tea and relax with the cake provided.⁴ The serious atmosphere from earlier disappeared in an instant. The usual indifferent Shin was back.

My worries also disappeared together with it, and I enjoyed my tea and cake leisurely. Karen, who has been listening to the serious Shin attentively, also began sipping on her tea right after it’s over.

“How to say this, both of you are terribly close…” commented Sakura-chan bluntly.

“Well, we are childhood friends after all.”

“No, it isn’t what I mean. How to say this… Both of you trust each other without reservation, and both of you regarded this level of closeness to be normal…” Sakura-chan tilted her head slightly, grunting, as if she’s still trying to figure out what it was she wanted to say.

“…How to say it, it feels like Shin-san is the big brother, and Kurona-san is the little sister.”

“It’s true that Shin is older than me, but I won’t agree that I’m playing the little sister role, you know?” I mean, I’m a guy.

After understanding my implication, Sakura-chan flusteredly apologize, “I’m sorry. Somehow, it just came out naturally.”

“It’s fine, it wasn’t like it was deliberate.”

“It probably was laced with manipulation all over though.” Karen closed one of her eyes and suggestively glance at Sakura-chan.

“Manipulation?”

“Since witnessing Black Rose’s little girl form, Sakura kept saying that she would like to see it again. ‘she’s so cute, like a little sister’ she said.”

“How is that manipulative though?”

“Her words showed her desire. ‘I want to see your little girl form again.'”

“Ah, I see…”

In other words, she wanted to see Alice Rose so much that she said that I was like a little sister. I see, that is a form of manipulation.

“Ehehe… to be honest, that’s true~. I have never seen that form before, so I would like to see it again. This time, I want to look at it properly.”

Rather than ‘ehehe’, it looks more like ‘hehehe’ from her sloppy smile.

So, it was a request that the cute Sakura-chan made with uncute smile. There can only be one answer.

”ＮＯ,” I shook my head in refusal.

“Eeh!? Why!?”

“Right back at you, do I need to explain!?” She should be able to guess what I’m feeling, right!? On the contrary, I don’t understand why Sakura-chan is surprised at all!?

“Please! Be a little girl!”

“Stop phrasing it like that! Say “Alice Rose” properly!”

“Please be my cute Alice-chan!”

“No one will be your thing, okay!?”

“Eh, but Alice-chan has called me Onee-chan!? Oh, wait, that’s not right. That was my imaginary Alice-chan. The real Alice-chan hasn’t say that to me.⁵”

“I’m not saying it!? Wait, imaginary Alice!? Sakura-chan, are you okay!?”

The fact that she is going to somewhere dangerous over her overabundant love for Black Rose is worrying me!

“I’m fine! If the real Alice-chan said ‘Onee-chan’ cutely, then my imaginary Alice will become a reality!”

“Isn’t that encroaching bad territory!? Come back Sakura-chan! Don’t go deeper into your delusion, come back to reality!”

She has gone too deep, hasn’t she!? She is already shoulder deep!!

I was having a hard time coping with Sakura-chan, who was breathing roughly and excitedly at me.

At that moment, an unexpected support from an unexpected source came.

“Onii-san, how about letting her see her once?”

“Karen!?”

Showing it to Sakura-chan, was what she meant.

I didn’t expect Karen to say something that would put me at a disadvantage, and I was taken aback.

Karen continued with eyes as calm as usual, “Onii-san has called Sakura here to strategize together a way to not be an idol, right? Yet, you won’t even return the favor, poor Sakura, right?”

“Eh, I didn’t get any favor either, you know?”

“Shin-san, you said you have said your piece, so please keep your words.”

“How cruel…”

Karen shot down Shin’s attempt to get involved in one stroke. Shin commented ‘how cruel’ as he carefreely continued sipping and eating his cake.

“Well, I suppose I should return her favor…”

Anything other than becoming a little girl… Alice Rose…

“I, I can’t accept that! I didn’t come here to get something in return, don’t bother repaying me! However… if possible, if it is agreeable, I would like to take twoshots with Black Rose, Gunslinger Rose, and Alice Rose, something like that.”

“That’s too greedy! Reflect upon yourself instead!”

That’s basically all forms of Black Rose that you know about, isn’t it!

“Moreover, aren’t Onii-san the cause of the uproar this time that Sakura was dragged into it? It would be fine to grant her request, wouldn’t it?”

“Uuuu…” I moaned weakly.

As she said, Sakura-chan was dragged into this because of me. If I had properly declined from the very start, Sakura-chan wouldn’t have been dragged in. In the end, I’m responsible for this.

In that case, there’s no need to think about it. I have a duty to fulfill Sakura-chan’s wish to the extend of my ability.

“Haa… I understand. Twoshots of that three form, right?”

“Yay! Thank you very much, Kurona-san! Thanks, Karen-chan!”

“Don’t mention it-”

Karen carefreely answered, Shin laughed wickedly, and as of me, I can’t do anything else other than sighing again.

1. Kakuyomu version just replaced the “DVD I have rented with my sister” into “watching film together”. Probably because physical DVD rental is pretty dead at this point. This is the only content revision the author made for this chapter.
2. TN: I thought that he is just acting like a panicking girl, but don’t forget that he still uses “ore”.
3. TN: Well yeah, I guess if the feeling of closeness is mutual, the sister would follow the brother’s lead, and the brother well, just do his own thing.
4. We are talking about Japanese cake that is served with tea, rather than western cake.
5. TN: No NTR, if you already have an imaginary little girl in your head, then stick to her, don’t get someone to perform it in real life. Oh wait, you can just pay a voice actor to do it for you, so pay him

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