These Dangerous Girls Placed Me Into Jeopardy

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...

Aaargh! So annoying!

So annoying!

What the hell are you ticking about? Keep making noise and I’ll smash {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} you, you stupid clock!

I rolled around in bed hugging my body pillow, completely agitated.

It’s already eleven o’clock! Eleven o’clock, you hear me?! Eleven!

And big brother still isn’t home!

Night study ends at nine, doesn’t it?! Even if he crawled, he should’ve made it back by now!

But he still hasn’t come back...

Why! The! Hell! Isn’t! He! Back! Yet?!

Aaaaahhh I’m worried sick! I wanna call him! I want to know where he is! I want to run straight to him right now and hold him tight!

I already hate that he always comes home late because of stupid night study... and now he’s even later? Unforgivable!

If he comes home this late, I won’t even get to say good night to him! I won’t get to cuddle with him!

I hate this! Hate it! Hate it!

...Serena’s probably still out in the hallway. I should ask how things are going.

I opened my bedroom door and called out to her standing by the hallway railing:

“Big brother still isn’t back yet?”

“Mm.”

“Ugh, which slut lured him away this time...”

I’ll kill that bitch!

Don’t let me find out who it was that seduced my brother... if I do, I swear I’ll ruin her!

But who? I’ve already eliminated all the likely suspects, haven’t I? Don’t tell me... the librarian teacher? No way, not that ugly woman — there’s no way big brother would ever go for someone like her... So what the hell is going on...

“...Ugh, I’m counting on you, Serena! You have to wait for him!”

“Mm. You go to bed. I’ll wait here.”

I closed the door and slumped back into my room, letting out a sigh. Serena’s amazing — she can act natural around big brother. She doesn’t have to worry about how he sees her, she can just be herself.

But I can’t. I want to show him who I really am... but with this twisted personality of mine, he’d never like me.

I curled up on my side, hugging my pillow, pretending it was him... Serena sneaks into his room every night... I’m so jealous! I want to sleep with big brother too!

But I can’t break our deal. Serena and I promised — during the day, big brother is mine. At night, he’s hers.

If either of us breaks that promise, the other will spill everything to him. And someone like big brother — so upright and proper — if he ever finds out the truth, we’re finished. He’d cut us off, no questions asked. That’s why we’ve kept this up for four years.

Honestly, the one most upset by him staying out late must be Serena. Her time with him gets cut short.

At least I can still eat lunch with him at school. But Serena? They act like strangers there.

Still... getting to sleep with him... I’m jealous. Hmph, I guess it’s give and take... sigh...

Tick-tock, tick-tock... That damn clock kept ticking until nearly 1:30 a.m....

“Whoa!”

A startled voice slipped in through my slightly ajar door — I knew that voice. That was him! He’s finally home!

I shot upright in bed and rushed to the door, peeking through the crack to secretly spy on him.

Serena was talking to him... Ugh, they’re too far away. I can’t hear what they’re saying.

I held myself back from bursting out. To big brother, Cora is a sweet, obedient little sister — at this hour, I should be fast asleep.

I can’t ruin that image he has of me.

If he finds out I’ve been pretending this whole time... acting all cute and loving in front of him... he’d definitely shut me out.

But seriously... coming home at 1:30 a.m.? What the hell was he doing?! Just like I thought — it must’ve been some slut who seduced him! I’ll kill her...!

No, wait. Calm down. Realistically speaking, there’s no one who’d like big brother. Anyone who showed interest, I already pushed them toward someone else. Plus Serena’s always keeping an eye on him too.

And big brother isn’t popular. Not even with the guys — let alone the girls. With his personality, there’s no way he’d go hitting on anyone. So this must’ve just been... some accident or something. That’s the only reason he got home late.

...Okay. I feel a little better.

But still, there’s always potential threats. The women with the most contact with him right now are his homeroom teacher... and that girl who sits behind him!

I have to investigate tomorrow. Eliminate all risks. I won’t let anyone take him away from me!

That said, it’s already this late... Serena probably won’t go into his room tonight. So maybe I should—... No, forget it. If I get caught, that’d be a disaster.

I’m curious about what they talked about just now, but because of our agreement, I can’t ask Serena what happened tonight. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

I should just go to sleep... Gotta wake up earlier than him tomorrow.

5:50 a.m. — I woke up before the alarm clock rang and shut it off.

Big brother wakes up at 6:00 to cook breakfast. Then around 6:30, he comes to knock on my door and wake me up. That 30-minute window is prime time!

I pressed my ear to the left-hand wall to listen... A few seconds past 6:00, I heard the sound of running water. As expected, right on schedule.

No matter how late he sleeps, he always gets up in the morning to make breakfast and lunchboxes for us. That’s one of his best traits.

While he was brushing his teeth, I opened my door without a sound, tiptoed up to the third floor, and snuck into his room.

He’ll head straight to the kitchen after washing up, so this window is mine.

I dove onto his bed and buried my face in his blanket, taking in his scent... Aah... so good!

It felt like he was hugging me. My thighs squeezed together without me realizing... Ugh, can’t mess up his sheets.

Whew... Big brother’s bed really is a dangerous place... I almost got lost in it.

Right! While I’m here, I should check his room. Even though I know he doesn’t keep any dirty stuff on his hard drive or under his bed, it never hurts to check. If that kind of stuff ever does show up, it’d mean he has someone he likes. Plus, I could learn more about his tastes. Two birds, one stone.

I poked around and didn’t find anything suspicious.

Then I noticed the trash can.

There were a lot of tissues in there. Don’t tell me he... or maybe he had a wet dream? But this much? So many wads... all soaked with big brother’s...

...Would it be okay to just take one?

No, no! I can’t do something like that... I’m just checking his health status! Yeah! That’s all this is! Definitely not... that...

Even though no one was around, I still felt nervous as hell. I pinched one between my thumb and index finger and brought it up to my nose...

“...Coffee?”

Not the scent I was hoping for — just a strong whiff of coffee.

Disappointed... It’s coffee. Huh? Why coffee? Why throw it out?

Before I could think further, my watch beeped — my backup alarm.

Almost 6:30. He’s gonna come wake me up. Time to bail!

I reset his room exactly as I found it, sprinted back to mine, dove into bed, and pretended to be asleep.

One minute later...

Wait, he didn’t come to wake me?!

What the hell?! That’s not right! Someone like him, who sticks to his routines like a damn robot, forgot to wake me?!

After waiting a few more minutes, I couldn’t stand it anymore and came downstairs.

He was cooking... Hmph. Must be sleep-deprived and forgot.

He actually forgot to wake me... I’m crushed...

I flipped on my obedient-little-sister mode and walked up behind him, speaking softly:

“B-Big brother? Why didn’t you come home last night...? Where were you?”

He turned to me and said:

“Hm? Ah, Cora... I dozed off in the park. Ahahaha... sorry for making you worry... huh?!”

The moment he saw me, he froze.

He was staring at me.

No, not at me — at the top of my head?

He just stood there, dumbfounded, staring at my head. I couldn’t help but ask:

“B-Big brother? Are you okay? Didn’t sleep well? You look really pale...”

His eyes moved from my forehead down to my face... and his whole expression collapsed. He looked like the world was ending — pure despair.

That expression...! Don’t tell me he figured it out...?!

Even I almost broke character from the panic.

“What are you two doing?”

Serena’s voice cut in and broke the tension. She must’ve been watching from upstairs and spoke up because the vibe was getting weird.

Thanks to that, big brother snapped out of it and forced himself to act normal again.

“N-Nothing. Just stayed up too late. Breakfast’s almost ready, so hang tight...”

But I could still see it. The shaken look in his eyes.

“Are you sure you’re okay, big brother? You’re not sick or anything?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

He turned away and resumed cooking — probably trying to hide his expression.

Even as we ate breakfast and left the house, he was spaced out the whole time. No matter what I said, he just gave me “Mm,” “Oh,” “I see” responses — totally out of it.

Something’s definitely wrong. Big brother’s acting really weird.

After he left, Serena and I stared at each other in silence.

We’d promised not to interfere with each other’s times... But today... I couldn’t take it anymore!

“What happened last night, Serena?!”

And just like that, the four-year balance shattered.