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Waking up, I open my eyes and see the usual sight from my memories. I intuitively know that it’s my own bedroom, but it strangely feels like my first time seeing it somehow.

“First off, I want to smack Ani and Ane.¹”

Judging by my first choice of words, it’s easy to understand just how discontent I was with my situation. Why the hell is being a singer part of my future career? Can’t I just be a cafe employee? Moreover, it’s unavoidable. What do I even do about this?

‘A new day has come~ A day of hope~’
“What are you even doing, Ane~!”

I couldn’t help but retort about the radio calisthenics song playing from my smartphone. The memory of happily singing this surfaced in my mind. Singing it with a big damn smile. Where the hell did your shyness go?

“Damn them, they intentionally made the memories of the traps vague. Why are they even capable of this?”

I have memories of setting up traps. However, I can’t remember the exact traps they left behind. This was probably done so that I don’t know what to expect, but what the hell are they thinking, setting up traps for themselves?

“Oi, why the hell did they install a confetti ball in the room?”

Looking around to see if there was anything in the room, I discovered something that’s clearly out of place. It’s absolutely impossible to miss. And it’s impossible for me to ignore as well. I was really curious about what’s inside, so I pulled the hanging rope.

“It probably has something like ‘Congratulations on being born!’ or something.”
‘Don’t give up, fight on! There’s hope to be found in the future!’
“Sure.”

I couldn’t help but answer in monotone. The two of them should know just how many problems my future holds. There’s already the issue of my future occupation, but there are still other, more troublesome problems left unresolved. Why do I have to resolve these in their place?

“Rather, isn’t Ane having too much fun with this?”

Everything up until now were things Ane left behind. The fact that I still haven’t seen anything by Ani planted a little fear in my heart. Even she was high on energy; who knows what Ani’s condition was like when he prepared everything? In these sorts of situations, Ani is the one I need to be most vigilant against.

“No, if it’s my calm Ani, then he might still have the decency to hold back.”

I’m not entertaining the possibility that he didn’t set any traps. After all, I do have the memory of setting up something. There was only this message card in this room, and there doesn’t seem to be anything else.

“Well, I guess I’ll go outside.”

BOOOOM! The moment I opened the door, I heard an explosion, and my heart nearly stopped.

“That stupid Ani!”

This is too damn much for a prank against someone just born. My knees gave in from the shock, and I collapsed to the floor. Looking at the source of the explosion, there was a bazooka used for prank shows set up in the corridor.

“What? Did he intend to spawn-kill his younger sister or something?”

As for why it was activated at the perfect time, it’s because there’s an infrared sensor installed on the door. If the door is opened, the infrared interacts with a switch to activate it. This is well beyond a little contraption.

“Going to the living room is so scary now.”

The living room is only a short corridor away from the bedroom. It may look like there’s nothing out of place, but since it’s my Ani behind the traps, I’m absolutely sure that he’s tampered with it.

“Anyway, I need to push onward.”

I mustered my dispersed strength and stood on my feet. I’m sure they didn’t set up stuff that’d be disabled after time passes, so all I can do is press onward. I move forward while keeping alert every step of the way.

‘Always keep caution.’
“The presentation!!!”

On my third step, the wallpaper peeled off, showing a horrific bloodstain message on the wall. Just how many sensors did that stupid Ani install? Moreover, it’s not even a message of encouragement; it’s all-in on shock value.

Seconds later, the sound of exploding firecrackers echoed from behind me in the corridor, pushing me, who’s already nervous and stressed, to the edge.

“……”

At this point, I didn’t even have the energy left to scream. The dim early morning corridor only served to fan my fears. I’m sure this was Ani’s intention as well. I naturally became teary-eyed, but I can’t help it.

“Alone, scary.”

I felt fear in being alone, and I felt even more fear towards my Ani’s rampage. In these times, it would be extremely comforting to have someone to talk to, but there’s no other person here.

“Did they even care to think about the clean-up?”

Anyhow, I need to calm down and look at reality. With the use of multiple firecrackers, the corridor is currently a mess. Why did I miss the firecrackers? That’s my fault for not checking behind me. Who would dare turn around in this situation?

“It’s really scary to open the living room door right now.”

It’s too early to be giving your little sister a challenge; I’d really prefer a bit more consideration towards me. There’s no way I can stand against the two of them in full force immediately after being born. Sure, I am a hybrid of them, so I should be superior ability-wise, but I don’t feel like I have a winning chance at all.

‘No traps beyond here.’
“Like that’s believable!”

After everything that has happened so far, there’s no way I could trust the note stuck on the living room door. I tore it, crumpled it, and threw it on the ground. And as I faced the door again, I saw that there was another small note hidden underneath it. They completely predicted this, huh.

‘It’s the truth.’
“That makes it more suspicious.”

Assuming that the first one was from Ani, the second was probably from Ane. They have the same handwriting, making it all the more confusing. Being one of the culprits this time, I can’t trust her words. She’s completely decent most of the time, though. Who was it? Who changed her to be like this?

“Door’s surroundings: all clear.”

Leaving the door ajar, I examine the living room from the small gap. After confirming that it was safe, I slowly opened the door. Why do I have to act like I’m doing some stealth mission in my own room?

“Nothing suspicious looking in sight.”

Still, I can’t relax yet. Considering his personality, it wouldn’t be strange if he had some cleverly hidden traps. However, even after looking behind the curtains, there really weren’t any suspicious objects remaining. Except for this one thing, that is.

“Why a short cake?”

On the living room table was a cake. It’s covered in cling wrap, so it must’ve been set there yesterday. Next to it was a message card, which had on it written:

‘Congrats on birth!’
“If you’re congratulating, then stop with the traps! Also, make it a whole cake at least!”

I immediately lost tension. Come to think about it, since Akane comes here, I guess installing a trap in the living room is a no go. Since it’ll be a hassle to clean after. They’re being considerate in such a weird way, but I suppose this should be all of their setups.

“I’m already tired this early in the morning.”

What am I going to do? Should I pretend to be Ani or Ane? While I probably should be worrying about that stuff, thanks to their traps, I wasn’t given the time to brood around. And now I feel like it’d be stupid to worry about that.

“Was that their actual aim? Still, their way of showing care is fundamentally unhinged.”

I can still understand Ane. But Ani’s traps were clearly beyond the level of regular pranks. Why was it necessary to scare the living s̲h̲i̲t̲ out of your newborn little sister? I can understand why Ane immediately answered with ‘Angry’.

“Let me make some coffee.”

Since there’s cake, I’ll eat it. I do plan on doing my usual morning run, but I want some time to calm down. I don’t want to go outside with my mind still in disarray. First, I need to relax.

“F̲u̲c̲k̲. It’s normally delicious.”

Why I have to eat cake so early in the morning, aside from the taste, I can tell that this was made by Saori. Ane can’t cook, and Ani doesn’t really know much about baking sweets.

“I wasn’t wrong with my first choice of words.”

They’re already gone, but I want to at least smack them once. Either that, or take revenge in some other way. With that at heart, my first morning began.

1. Lyly: New Kotone refers to Souji-Kotone as ani and Kotone-Prime as ane, considering if Big Bro and Big Sis will do