Suzune stared at her brother in complete disbelief, almost as if she couldn't believe what she just heard.
Now, one might think that Suzune was completely dense when it came to things like romance and love, but the truth is that she wasn't.
In fact, she had gotten several confessions during her time in middle school from several boys who found her cute and beautiful. Of course, she turned all of them down... in a harsh way, that is. This led to her developing a reputation as the 'Ice Queen' of her school from way back.
So yes, Suzune knew what her brother was trying to say with those words and needless to say, the outcome was catatonic.
"I-Impossible," she stuttered, her blush becoming deeper that her whole face had turned red. "T-There is no way that I'll ever like someone like him...!"
Manabu continued to smirk, finding his sister's reactions amusing.
"I never said you were harboring romantic feelings, Suzune. What I had in mind is that you look up to him the same way as you do for me," he pointed out. "I'm interested in how you immediately thought that I implied romantic feelings. Could you perhaps be interested in Ayanokōji-kun in a romantic way, little sister?"
"That's preposterous. I don't look up to him like that," Suzune frowned, trying to regain her composure by shifting the focus of the conversation slightly.
Manabu knew what she was trying to do but for now, he went along with the flow of the conversation. "Of course you don't. You see him as someone different from me. But considering everything you said about him, it is clear that you see Ayanokōji-kun as someone better than me."
Suzune blanched. That wasn't what she was trying to say!
"N-No, I don't! I don't believe he compares to you at all!" she defended her stance, almost looking desperate to show that she had no such interest in her classmate.
"Hoh? Then why is it that you think about Ayanokōji-kun all the time these past few days? Are you saying that you should have been thinking about me instead?"
"Nii-san, I—" she tried to argue once again, but Manabu raised his hand to stop her.
"I don't want to hear any of it, Suzune. I wanted to wait until you find out the answers yourself before I intervene, but there's no point in doing that now," the president of the student council told her seriously. "Unless you were lying about everything that you told me just now, then you see Ayanokōji-kun as someone fascinating. Someone who has caught your interest. It's because of those reasons that you can't take your mind off him. It is natural for you to be attracted to him."
Suzune paused for a moment to let her brother's words sink into her mind. She considered all of it and found herself agreeing with him somewhat, but there's one thing that she couldn't get on board with.
"...but I don't think he's better than you, Nii-san."
"And yet you complain to me about being unable to get him off your mind."
That got the girl to stop and think about this whole thing deeply.
Suzune believed that her brother was still the better individual if she compared him with Kiyotaka but then again, it is the latter whom she had been thinking of for a week now. He occupied her thoughts even when she tried to block him out and it reached the point that she would wake from up her sleep thinking about him.
When it came to Manabu, of course she had admired him because he was her brother. However, it's not like she had him on her mind for an extended period of time.
Contrary to what she may look and act like on the outside, Suzune didn't have her brother in mind all the time. She was more focused on pushing herself to become someone that her brother will acknowledge.
