Ore Ga Suki Nano Wa Imouto Dakedo Imouto Janai Volume 11 Epilogue

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TL Note: Just in case some of you won’t read the Afterword, I’ll say it here. Thank you all for sticking with this series until the very end (even with that horrible anime). Biggest thanks goes out to my two editors who stayed with me, because they really polished the hell out of my shitty TLs lulw.

Epilogue

After that, a year and a few months went by, and it was a normal day in the middle of March.

“Ehhhh?! Nagamin is going to quit?!”

Esaka-san had been resting her body on the counter like she always did, but she jolted upright after hearing my words, her eyes wide open.

“Yes. I got accepted into the University of Tokyo, so I’ll be studying there starting this spring,” I answered. Esaka-san let out a voice of admiration.

After a long absence, I had come to the Maruneko Bookstore again. I was there simply to greet Esaka-san. I’ve been in her care for a long time, so I thought I’d have a talk with her, for old time’s sake.

“I see. Congratulations on being accepted, Nagamin. But I’ll still be lonely here. You stopped working here a year ago, so I’ve been missing you.”

She spoke as leisurely as always, but I got the feeling she had actually missed me a bit.

Just as Esaka-san had said, I had worked part-time in this very Maruneko Bookstore, but I stopped last year for two reasons. First, since I was supposed to inherit the name of Towano Chikai, I had to focus on my writing the entire time. Second, after becoming a third-year, the entrance exams were around the corner as well.

“…That’s right. Even after I stopped working here, I stopped by fairly often to buy some books, but that won’t work anymore, so I feel a bit sad as well.”

“Ohhh, so Nagamin is sad that he can’t meet this wonderful Onee-san anymore. So cute, so cute, let me give you a huggie~” Esaka-san didn’t even hesitate to hug me.

She was actually a university student who was much older than me, but she looked totally like an elementary school student, so I can’t help but feel that I’m the one spoiling her.

“Haaa, Nagamin is so warm. During the cold winter, I couldn’t move away from the counter because I didn’t have you to warm myself up~”

“How would that glue you to the counter…?”

I’m glad to see that these sorts of exchanges are still a thing from before.

“But you’ve really changed, Nagamin. You have this relaxing atmosphere to you. Maybe because you’re a grown man now.”

“…Is that so? I can’t really tell, myself.”

“No no no, you really do. Really, what a growth spurt you went through. This Onee-san here is saying so, so it’s true.”

“…Well, you sure haven’t changed, Esaka-san… Both on the outside and on the inside.”

“What do you mean by that~?” Esaska-san puffed out her cheeks.

Yeah, she really hasn’t changed… but that oddly enough was rather relieving for me. I’m glad I came to talk with her.

After this, I talked with Esaka-san a bit more. Mainly what had happened during the year after I stopped working there.

“I see. So you have a clear idea of your new series now. I was a bit worried when I heard that your previous series was going to end, but it looks like you found your groove.”

“Yes, though nothing is set in stone yet.”

“Not to mention you managed to pass the entrance exams. You really love to work hard, Nagamin. Good boy, good boy~”

“…You don’t have to try so hard to reach up high enough to rub my head, you know. Anyway, I came here today to tell you this.”

“Understood. Well, if you get to know any famous illustrators, tell them to come draw some hot illustrations for me, okay~?”

“No thank you.”

I gave my regards to the store manager and left the Maruneko Bookstore behind me. In the end, she even told me to stop by the research office used by the university she had attended, but as it turns out, that was actually some rather insanely difficult-to-get-into science-type university, which left me in awe.

…W-Was Esaka-san actually clever enough to attend a university like that?! …Still, knowing that this might be the last time I walk this way for a long time left me a bit lonely.

“…Oh, a call?”

I was thinking that when my phone rang. When I looked at it, I saw that the call was from Mai. Feeling like something was off, I accepted the call.

“Hello?”

Ah, Yuu?! I called because of the celebration for you being accepted to the university!

“…Celebration? The heck is that about? I haven’t heard anything about that.”

Eh…? Ah?! That was still supposed to be a secret!

What are you doing, Mai? We planned to keep this a surprise, desu!

Right right, Enryuu-sensei. Sakura was looking forward to seeing Sensei’s surprised face.

Well, it can’t be helped now that he’s found out. We’ll have to surprise him in a different way.

Onee-chan, you’re not thinking of something weird again, are you?

It wasn’t just Mai. I could hear familiar voices in the background as well… Double Peace-sensei, Minazuki-san, and the Kanzaka sisters…? D-Don’t tell me…

“How come I can hear everyone’s voices?”

Ahh, because everyone is currently here at my flat. We were planning on talking about the surprise party, and they were helping me with my moving procedures.

“Ah, I see…Wait, moving?”

Ahh, I didn’t mean the flat back at your place. I’m talking about the flat I moved to in Tokyo.

“Eh?! T-Tokyo?! Why?!”

Isn’t that obvious? We’ve graduated already, so I’m going to focus on my author activities… A-And you’re staying in Tokyo, too, right? So of course I’d move there as well!

“‘Of course’ my ass!”

She said it like it was something obvious, but I couldn’t agree to it.

Anyway, since that’s how it is, we all gathered in Mai’s new flat, desu. And now we’re in full planning mode for the party!

Yup. We thought that we could hold the party here, but we decided that it might be funnier to do it at Sensei’s place.

Exactly. But then we realized that none of us knew where your new apartment is.

So we thought we’d ask you over the phone… But now that you found out, it can’t be helped, so tell us where you live.

“W-Why are you asking me like you’re my boss…?!”

They were all just saying whatever they wanted, leaving me no room to object. My head was starting to hurt, but that was the same as always. I just forgot thanks to how considerate they were during my preparation for the entrance exams…

“…This is what happens right after I get through it… Well, it’s fine, I guess. You all seem as close as ever, huh?”

Well yeah, this is the connection you built between us.

“The Towano Chikai from the past, that is.”

It’s been about a year since Towano Chikai’s previous series came to an abrupt ending. Of course, Mai and the authors gave me an earful because of it… but thinking back to it, it feels nostalgic more than anything.

Hmpf. But, you’re going to recover right away, aren’t you?

Right right. Sensei can’t end like this, desu. And once your next series is decided, please ask me to be your illustrator again, desu!

Sakura is also looking forward to Sensei’s new series! If it turns into an anime again, she’ll definitely get the role of the heroine! As the little sister character, of course!

We don’t plan on splitting up now. We’re used to this now. Naturally, my passion as your pupil is the strongest.

Yeah yeah, as always, Onee-chan… Well, everyone already knows that you’re working on a new series, so don’t disappoint us. That’s my warming as a friend.

They were as selfish as always, but I could tell that they still cared about Towano Chikai. It’s been a year since the previous series ended, and no new series has come out yet, and yet they still treat me the same way. That alone gives me strength.

Anyway, just hurry and tell us where you’re going to live! I have to plot out the shortest route there so I can meet you every day, and depending on it, I might have to move again!

Same here, I might as well just live at Sensei’s place, desu!

Ah, that’s a great idea! Let’s all move into a shared house! That sounds like fun!

…Heh, I can support Sensei’s university student life.

Onee-chan, you really didn’t change at all from your high school days…

“Give me back my gratitude!”

It didn’t take long for them to ruin it all. Then again, I felt relieved at the fact that some things don’t change. Even after their confessions, even after the novel broke apart, even after graduations and everyone eventually moving apart, they’ve all still stayed the same. Though I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, I was enjoying it at least… And it must be the same for them.

As I walked the rest of my way home, I had an enjoyable conversation with everyone. Besides them blurting out nonsense like always, they told me about their current situation.

I already knew about Mai, since she was my former classmate and all. Instead of pursuing a college degree, she instead wanted to focus on her career as a light novel author after her graduation. Her new passion is warfare romcom series, and her current series was very popular, just like her previous series, if not even more so.

Double Peace-sensei is still working as an illustrator in her eroge maker company. After Towano Chikai’s novel series came to an end, she stopped being an illustrator in the light novel industry, but she’s already offered to come back in for my new series. Considering her quality, I’m more than glad to have her at my back.

Minazuki-san grew even more popular as a voice actress, reaching the top of the charts. She had always been a big hit, but after this one year of training, she became even better.

Akino-san was working hard as a light novel author at Ryuusei Publishing. She was getting her name out there, and a light novel of hers was even adapted to an anime. On top of that, she was working on a new side series.

The younger Kanzaka sister’s main expertise was doing the illustrations for light novels, but she was also working towards her own mangaka debut. Just like her sister, she’s going to attend a women’s university.

Every one of them is changing ever so slightly and moving forward. I have to work hard and show some results of my own. With these feelings in mind, I gave my regards to everyone and hung up the call.

In what seemed like an incredibly short time, I arrived back at home.

“I’m back~”

“Welcome home, Onii-chan.”

I opened the front door, and Suzuka greeted me. Compared to one year ago, she had grown a bit, and her hair had grown as well.

“Ehehe, Onii-chan.”

“What happened? You seem awfully happy.”

As I took off my shoes, Suzuka looked up at me with a smile. Suzuka being like this always tells me that something good happened.

“The thing is, Shinozaki-san just sent me an email.”

“Eh?! A-And what did she say?!”

“She gave the OK for the new manuscript.”

When I heard this, rather than jumping for joy, I felt all the strength draining from my body. I had been confident enough, but now it had finally happened! It’s been so long…

“…We did it, Suzuka!”

“Yes. Congratulations, Onii-chan.”

“It’s thanks to the two of us, right?”

“…Yes. Ehehe~”

While we smiled at each other, I reminisced about what had happened this past year. Although we got permission from Shinozaki-san, it was still a thorny path.

Anything not nearly good enough was thrown out. Every detail was scrutinized and compared to Suzuka’s novel. Only perfection was accepted. Writing a manuscript only to see it being put in the trash bin… forced to rewrite countless things… my heart was broken countless times.

Every time this happened, Suzuka was the one who cheered me up, collecting data on the most ridiculous things. I had to worry about my entrance exams at the same time. This was a little bit more than just being busy.

“Seriously… that was a hard third year…” I said, trying my hardest to hold back the tears.

If I didn’t have Suzuka with me, I’m sure I wouldn’t have made it this far. She even helped me study for the entrance exam. And before you say anything, my little sister is just that kind of person. I’m sure she’ll pass her entrance exams without even studying.

“…Well, either way, all of our hard work was finally rewarded,” I sighed, feeling something heavy fall off my shoulders.

“Onii-chan, it’s still too early to relax like that,” Suzuka spoke up with a serious face, warning me. “You did get the OK from Shinozaki-san, but there’s still more work to be done. Like grammatical errors and typos. Besides that, your prose and depictions of things as well. There are many things that can be done to raise the quality,” Suzuka started explaining, taking my manuscript out of nowhere.

I could see countless red lines on every single page.

“…Do you always walk around with that? And from the looks of it, you’ve been going through it over and over…”

“O-Of course. This is the novel that will inherit the will of Towano Chikai, after all. The novel with all of Onii-chan’s feelings for me. S-So of course I’d always have this with me!” Suzuka pouted, her cheeks red as always.

When I saw her like this, I had the desire to apologize.

“Sorry. And, thank you, Suzuka.”

“…Onii-chan… Ehe, ehehe~”

I rubbed Suzuka on the head, and her mood improved immediately as she clung to me. Feeling her warmth, the cold that still lingered on my skin was washed away immediately.

After that, Suzuka and I moved to my room, and we continued the conversation. Aside from the novel, there was also the fact that I was moving soon.

“…I’ll only be able to talk with Onii-chan in your room a few times…”

“I’ll be using this room whenever I come back, though.”

“Well, I’ll just come visit you on a daily basis then, and I might as well stay over when I have holidays… But I still feel lonely.” Suzuka lowered her head.

But, that didn’t last long. She gazed up at me, her eyes sparkling.

“That being said, I will follow you next year so we’ll be able to live together. Let’s look for a place where we can room together then!”

Suzuka sure is strong-willed.

“…Yeah. Well, either way, we have to focus on our current series. Entrance exams are over, and we got the OK from Shinozaki-san, so now we’ll start again as light novel authors.”

“Yes. You’ve finally achieved your dream, Onii-chan,” Suzuka returned a kind smile.

But she quickly opened her eyes wide as if she remembered something.

“That reminds me, Shinozaki-san mentioned something else in her email.”

“Besides the details about the manuscript?”

“That you should think about the title for your novel. This is very important, Onii-chan. It has to be a short expression that shows how much you love your little sister. Let’s think about it right away!” Suzuka said with her index finger in the air, but—

“Ah, I already have an idea of my own.”

“Eh? Really?” Suzuka looked slightly surprised when she said that. Only for her to quickly pester me to tell her my idea.

…As for the title, I always had an idea what I would use.

Thinking back to my time together with Suzuka, how I turned my eyes away from my true feelings, and how we still managed to face each other in the end, the title just naturally floated into my mind.

“Onii-chan, what title did you think of?” Suzuka couldn’t wait anymore, and she grabbed my hands.

Watching Suzuka—the world’s cutest, and most precious little sister—I gave in, and opened my mouth.

“The title will be——”