"I'm home!" I greeted as I removed my shoes and went to the kitchen.
"Welcome home, Lisa." Nee-chan and Ukyo Nii-chan greeted while they were preparing dinner.
"Where have you been?" Nee-chan asked.
"I went to the zoo with Azusa Nii-chan," I replied.
"Oh, did you have fun?" Ukyo Nii-chan asked.
"I did! I saw many animals and the highlight of my day was when I fell into the dolphin pool," I exclaimed.
"WHAT?!" both of them shrieked. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, don't worry about it. Ulrike saved me and I swam with them for a while," I said as I sat at the barstool.
"Ulrike?"
"The dolphin, its his name."
"Well, I'm glad you weren't hurt. You should have called one of us, we would have picked you up." Ukyo Nii-chan said.
"It's alright, I brought extra clothes with me. I have noticed that I'm an accidental prone," I chuckled.
"Haha, it's a good thing that you have extra clothed or else you would have walked home drenched in water." Nee-chan imparted. "By the way, how is the wound on your arms?"
"It is just a scratch now, the salt water helped heal it." I said as I showed them the wound. "So, what's for dinner?"
"Hungry already?" Nee-chan asked.
"I'm starving,"
"You always are," I pouted. "For dinner, we have Miso soup, grilled fish, Tempura, and Kani salad."
"Wow, that sounds amazing." I chirped. "Where are the others?"
"Incidentally, Wataru is the only one who has finished eating. Iori is attending lectures, Tsubaki is at work.The rest do not appear to have anything going on, but bo one has come home..." Nii-chan said as he looked at the schedule board pinned on the wall. "Did Azusa said anything about coming home after?"
"No, last thing that he said was that he need to answer a call from his manager and that it may take longer than expected." I replied.
"Well, only Louis, Yusuke, and Kaname are here. You should probably call them to join you two for dinner," Nii-chan said.
"What about you Ukyo-san?" Nee-chan asked.
"I have a trail tomorrow and I would like to prepare for it," He said as he removed his apron.
"Alright, would you like a cup of tea brought up to your room later?" I offered.
"If you won't mind,"
"Not at all,"
*Ting*
"Oh?" I reached for my phone and saw that I've received a text message. "It's from Fuuto-kun,"
'The taping for the year-end special is running late, so I'll be staying overnight today. Once I have time, let's watch another movie together. My adorable Nee-san,'
"So, what did Fuuto say?" Nii-chan asked.
"He said that his taping session is running late, so he'll be staying overnight today." I replied and kept my phone in my pocket.
"I see, so we can check Fuuto off the list." He uttered.
*Ring, ring*
I reached for my phone again and answered, "Hello?"
"It's me," said the man behind the phone.
"Oh, Masa Nii-chan."
"So, hey. I have a patient who took a sudden turn for the worse, so I can't come home." He said.
"Eh? But you should also take care of your health too," I murmured.
"I appreciate that," then I heard his pager rang. "Sorry Lisa, I need to go now."
"It seems like Masa Nii-chan will be staying at the hospital today," I said and kept my phone.
"I see, but why are they all calling your cell phone?" Nii-chan asked. "Such call had always used to come to me, so..."
"Erm..."
'Now I feel like I've stolen Ukyo Nii-chan's job,'
"Then, I will leave the rest to you two." then he rushed upstairs.
"I'm home," Subaru Nii-chan greeted after Ukyo Nii-chan pass through him.
"Welcome home," "Welcome home, Nii-chan."
"H-Hey, whe're everybody else?" he asked.
"Masaomi-san and Fuuto-kun will be working late, Kaname-san, Louis-san, and Yusuke-kun are upstairs." Nee-chan replied. "I'll go and call them. Lisa should probably go ahead and get dinner ready,"
"Alrighty, you can wait at the table Nii-chan." I said.
"O-Okay," he went to the dining room while I gathered the food and plates.
"Here you go," I said as I placed the food on the table. "I'm sure they won't mind if we go first,"
"Itadakimas!" "I-itadakimas"
'Wow, Ukyo Nii-chan's cooking sure is the best!'
"Thanks for the food," Subaru Nii-chan said after he finished eating and stood.
'So fast, I wonder if he still feels awkward.'
Before he could reach the stairs, he faced me and said. "Right now, I've been dropped from the line-up and I'm not in any games, but I'll get back in the regular line-up for sure, so... When I do, I want you to come see me play."
Before I could even reply, he hurriedly went up the stairs and left me stunned. 'I am so confused. Was he blaming me because he was dropped from the line-up or did he just want to invite me to watch his game?'
"Hmm, something smells delicious." Kana Nii-chan said as he was walking down the stairs.
Behind him was Louis Nii-chan, Juli, Nee-chan, and Yusuke Nii-chan. Once they have reached the table, they all settled down and ate dinner.
"I heard that you went on a date with Azu-chan," Kana Nii-chan said as he was sitting beside me. "I'm jealous, Imouto-chan. When are we going on a date?"
"I... erm.." I stuttered.
*Squeak, squeak*
I heard Juli hissing, but I can't seem to hear what he was saying.
"Kaname nii-san, what did you do to Chii-chan? Was it something you can't tell us?" Louis Nii-chan asked.
'H-how did he know that?!'
"U-uh..." Nii-chan panicked.
"Huh? Something happened?" Nee-chan confusedly asked.
"Ha?! Kana-Nii, what did you do to Midget!" Yusuke Nii-chan grumbled.
"I am not a Midget!" I whined.
"I-I should probably go. I have a...uh... client that needs help." then Nii-chan flees the room.
"That's... strange," I muttered. "Anyway, Louis Nii-chan. It seems to me that you are the only person Juli didn't hissed at. Care to explain?" I drifted the conversation away from the topic of Kana Nii-chan and I because it would be embarrassing if they ever found out what happened that night.
"Yeah, Juli explained to me that the others are just like beasts lurking in a savanna, eyeing Chii-chan and you as their prey." He said as he gently brushes Juli's fur. "I realized that s it must be tough for you and Chii-chan since you two suddenly had to live with us. So we've come to an agreement to start the birth of 'Protect Chii-chan and Lii-chan Club' together."
"C-Can I join too?" Yusuke Nii-chan asked with a blush on his face. "I also wanted to protect them both,"
"You're just the same as that perverted monk! You might take advantage of this club and sink your jaw on Chii and Lii!" Juli hissed with Louis Nii-chan holding him down to avoid him attacking Yusuke Nii-chan.
"I guess I'll take that as a 'no'." Yusuke Nii-chan sighed and we laguhed. After eating dinner, Nee-chan and Yusuke Nii-chan collected the plates and washed the dishes.
*Ring, ring*
"Hello?" I answered my phone.
"Hello, Imouto-chan?"
"Oh, Kana Nii-chan."
"That depraved monk!" Juli hissed and went up to my shoulders.
"I'm sorry for running off like that. I was just stunned and didn't know what to answer, I was afraid that they would find out our secret night together." I heard him sigh.
"I see, I understand." I responded.
"That's cold, don't you think?" He whined. "What I'd really like is for you to say, 'Aww!-"
Juli couldn't handle Kana Nii-chan anymore and hijacks the phone and screams at Kana Nii-chan. "You damn degenerate monk! Stay in your temple and don't come out!"
"Juli!" I then grabbed the phone from him and saw that Kana Nii-chan already hang up. "Oh, he hung up already. By the way, how did you know that he was with me that night?"
"I was awoken by the sound of the door closing and I saw that it was you and followed you out on the beach because I was worried about you. When I reached the beach I saw you two kissing!" He grumbled.
"Juli!" I covered his mouth to avoid Nee-chan and Louis Nii-chan to hear. "Please don't tell Nee-chan. I'm sure that the kiss meant nothing,"
"Lisa, would you like to join me up in my room?" Nee-chan asked as soon as she has finished washing the dishes.
"Sure, what for?" I asked.
"Natsume-san sent me a disc of the game in development and I was hoping to play it with you," She replied.
"Sure!" then we went up to her room and set the game up.
"Panzer of the Dead." as soon as the game started, we can hear Tsubaki Nii-chan and Azusa Nii-chan's voice.
"Ohh..."
"So this game is about switching from tank to tank, to survive a battlefield crawling with zombies." Nee-chan stated.
"This game is in poor taste," Juli grunted.
"Follow me, Michael! We'll break through the enemy line!" Tsubaki Nii-chan's character said.
"Alright, Walter! Lead the way!" replied Azusa Nii-chan's character.
Even though it was just their voices, Juli couldn't stand them and went up to attack the television.
"Juli, you're bothering us." Nee-chan said and shooed Juli away.
"Hey!"
"Juli, you know how Nee-chan can be so serious when it comes to playing games." I said and continued to play the game.
"Looks like I've screwed up... Don't worry about it."
"An injury like that... It's just a scratch, I'll go get help right away."
"You... suck at lying..."
"I don't really know, but... I can't believe I'm feeling so moved by a zombie game..." Nee-chan blabbered. "Tsubaki-san and Azusa-san really are both amazing,"
"I know right, I'm getting shivers when I hear Nii-chan's voices." I said.
"So this is the power of professional voice acting," Juli concluded.
Time has passed and Nee-chan and I didn't seem to notice that it was already morning. At the moment, Nee-chan and I are currently stuck and couldn't seem to get out of the desert zone to the next level.
"We get wiped out in this some no matter how many time we try!" Nee-chan grumbled.
"I know right! I've come up with every strategy that comes up to my mind, but this is so difficult and frustrating!" I growled and was tempted to throw the controller because of the frustration I was feeling.
"I should probably go ask Natsume-san for advice," Nee-chan stood and reached for Natsume Nii-chan's contact card that was placed on her table. "This is the first time that I saw you so immersed on a game, Lisa."
"The story was quite interesting," I pouted. "I was also curious on how it well end,"
"I am too, Natsume-san must be busy right now. He might probably reply tomorrow," Nee-chan said.
"Eh?! But I want to finish the game now!" I whined and lied on the floor.
"Now look who's addicted to the game," Nee-chan teased.
"Shut up!" I then throwed a pillow towards her.
- - - - - THE NEXT DAY - - - - -
"Oh, Natsume-san responded." Nee-chan said as she looked at her phone.
"Really?! What did he say?!" I jumped on her and looked at the message.
'It is probably better if we talk personally. We should probably meet at the cafe after your school,'
"Yey! This day just keeps better and better!" I chirped and went back to my seat.
"But, I have to attend a lecture later after school." Nee-chan sighed. "Maybe you could go meet him,"
"I guess, so far I don't have anything planned this afternoon." I replied.
"Then it is settled. I'll inform Natsume-san that he'll be meeting you this afternoon and I will also send him your number so that you could contact each other," Nee-chan said as she went and sent a mail to Natsume Nii-chan.
"Then you should write down all the questions that you would like to ask Nii-chan, I know that you have a LOT to ask." I said.
"Yeah, you're right." then Nee-chan started writing down all her questions.
'Well, I guess Natsume Nii-chan and I will have a long conversation later. I just hope that it isn't that LONG. Kami-sama, please don't let Nee-chan write too many questions!'
- - - - -
Hope you guys like it! Please vote and comment all your suggestions for this book. I'll be happy to take it into consideration.