Chapter 113: Aomiki Tsukasa Is My Brother

“Kyō!” Tsukasa Aoki lay sprawled in front of the door, stubbornly refusing to leave without it being opened, persistently knocking with a brazen insistence. “Open the door!”

“No!” Kyō’s reply was firm and simple, a response that had become all too familiar these past couple of days. Just recently, Tsukasa had managed to persuade Kyō, who seemed to have let go of whatever grudge she harbored and was no longer planning to distance herself. Yet, for some unknown reason, she suddenly erupted in anger and kicked him out again, leaving Tsukasa utterly baffled.

“It’s Friday today, and I’m off tomorrow. How about we go out and have some fun?” Tsukasa tried every trick he knew to coax Kyō into opening the door. He believed that if she was willing to talk face-to-face, any misunderstanding could be cleared up.

He was quite confident in his communication skills.

Well, admittedly, there was a tiny little bit of help from the system. Yes, just a minuscule sliver of assistance.

“No!” Kyō’s voice remained resolute.

Inside the room, Kyō pouted while staring at the computer screen, expertly maneuvering the mouse. Gunfire erupted on the screen, and her enemies fell one after another.

I’m definitely not opening the door. Every time I see you, something about you just feels off.

As Kyō thought this, her mind drifted back to that night before. Just thinking about it made her heart pound anew. Yet, when she recalled Tsukasa’s bewildered expression at the time, her frustration flared, and she bit her lip sharply. We’re not siblings! You idiot!

“Kyō…” Tsukasa’s voice outside dragged the last syllable softly. Kyō snorted, unwilling to respond.

She tucked her troublesome silver hair back behind her ears once more, turned up the volume on her headphones, and focused intently on the game.

“Kyō, come play with me!” Though Tsukasa’s voice wasn’t loud, Kyō somehow always heard it clearly, as if his voice was utterly distinct from all others.

“Bang!” Suddenly, the headphones emitted a loud crack, startling her so much she nearly threw them at the screen. The character before her collapsed to the ground.

“Oh ho ho, pure white holy angel, why are you so weak? Taken down by a single shot? Watch me!” The voice of a teammate came through, and Kyō curled her lips in disdain as she replied coolly, “Had something to do just now.”

“Is that your brother bothering you again?” The girl’s voice in the headset sounded delightfully smug. “Oh ho ho, poor you—can’t even get any peace while training in the demon realm.”

“It’s a game!” Kyō emphasized flatly, not the demon realm.

The teammate she was duo-queuing with was called Black Cat. Ever since Kyō defeated Black Cat two years ago in a MOBA called Tower Blade, Black Cat had dubbed himself with all sorts of dramatic titles: “Chiba’s Holy Angel,” “Pure White Holy Angel,” and other such cringe-worthy nicknames.

He always babbled about how they were arch-enemies, which was just unbearably over-the-top.

If Tsukasa played games with her, that would surely drive her crazy.

Kyō quickly shook her head to dispel thoughts of Tsukasa. Slightly loosening her headset, she listened to Tsukasa outside, still trying to find topics to coax her into opening the door. A faint smile curved her lips.

She casually replied “No” again, hearing Tsukasa’s somewhat deflated sigh. Then, she put her headset back on.

“Hahaha, watch my black magic: eight-second life-saving spell! Black angel seated on the heavens, lend me your infinite power…” The voice in her headphones droned on with his usual dramatic nonsense. Kyō skillfully hit the mute button and waited until her character was revived before unmuting. As expected, Black Cat had just finished his incantation.

That was you who just downed me, right? Kyō narrowed her eyes slightly. Her in-game character glanced to the side, surveying the distance. She snorted coldly, not even bothering to heal first, and peeked out, raising her sniper rifle to her scope.

In the tiny flicker of a black dot in her crosshairs, Kyō swung her mouse sharply to the right. The gunshot rang out, and the enemy at a distance fell instantly.

“Damn it, I was just aiming!” Black Cat’s annoyed voice made Kyō laugh involuntarily.

Maybe her gaming talent wasn’t particularly extraordinary, but she had plenty of time every day! Compared to Black Cat, who juggled part-time jobs and school, Kyō had ample hours to devote to gaming. It was only natural she was good at it!

“Oh, by the way, I ran into a really awful guy a couple of days ago,” Black Cat suddenly changed the subject.

Kyō didn’t respond, knowing Black Cat would continue talking regardless.

“You know how I occasionally guard the Black Demon King’s seal at the bookstore, right? Well, two days ago, as I was finishing my watch and heading back to my palace, a super scary bald demon king appeared.”

Bald demon king? Kyō involuntarily glanced at the door.

“Hmph. How could this fallen angel fear that bald demon king? Though he looked fierce and tried to crush me with terrifying mental black magic, I cleverly used a loud rescue spell to summon the celestial patrol.”

Black Cat sounded quite pleased with herself. “That bald demon king didn’t understand what hit him and was captured without resistance.”

“The funniest part? He even made the morning news, restrained by demon chains with his hands bound, being escorted away. Hahaha! Now he surely knows my power and won’t dare cause trouble again! Hmph, I, Chiba’s fallen angel, am that terrifying and strong!”

Listening to Black Cat’s story, Kyō’s expression slowly turned uneasy.

Wait a minute—two days ago?

Wasn’t that the same day Tsukasa was taken home by the police car?

And wasn’t he pixelated and broadcast on the morning news the next day?

According to the report, it was because he looked intimidating and scared a girl, which caused a misunderstanding among passersby, who then called the police.

Could it be that...

Kyō suddenly asked, “The bald guy you mentioned… did he have a wound on his face?”

Tsukasa’s facial injury was still quite visible a few days ago.

“Huh? How do you know?” Black Cat sounded surprised.

“Was he wearing a black tracksuit?” Kyō pressed on.

“Eh?!” Black Cat let out a long, surprised “Eh.”

Kyō rolled her eyes, released the mouse, and chuckled softly. “That guy...”

“Is my brother.”

For a moment, the voice chat fell silent.

After a long pause, Black Cat cautiously asked, “Is your brother’s name… Aoki...?”

“Tsukasa,” Kyō finished calmly.

“Your friend has disconnected.” Seeing Black Cat abruptly exit the game, Kyō slowly smiled.

Chiba’s fallen angel, huh?

Black magic, huh?

Loves chanting spells, huh?

Lifelong arch-enemy, huh?

Kyō revealed a mischievous grin. That Black Cat must be falling apart right now.

How long would it take before she logged back in to beg me not to reveal the truth?

If someone like her, so caught up in her own delusions, had her real identity exposed, she’d surely lose it.

Ten seconds? No, no, with that idiot’s logic, it’d probably take a whole minute.

Kyō leisurely swung her pale legs, calmly controlling her character while waiting in the game.

At fifty-six seconds, Black Cat’s character finally reconnected.

“Please, please don’t tell anyone that I’m Black Cat! Otherwise, how will I live, how will I juggle my part-time job? It’s so hard to find work like this!”

Oh? That was even sooner than I expected.

Kyō said slowly, smiling brightly, “Watch your punctuation. Slowly now. Chiba, no, fallen angel.”

“Aaaahhh!”

In an ordinary home in Yachiyo City, a girl’s despairing scream echoed.

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P.S.: The weather’s getting cold, everyone, please take care of yourselves. I’ve been staying inside all day and caught a cold, but illness won’t stop me from updating at midnight, noon, and six in the evening as usual!

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