The music clubroom was steeped in an uncharacteristic, heavy silence.
Rei sat idle at the electronic keyboard, his fingers mindlessly tracing the edges of a sheet music book. Across the room, Miyu slouched in her chair, a bass guitar resting diagonally across her lap, while Reina stood by the window. Her arms were crossed, her sharp gaze drifting repeatedly toward the sliding door.
"…Isn't Yuna late?" Miyu asked, her voice finally breaking the quiet.
Rei glanced up from his sheet music. "She isn't coming today. With the sports festival coming up, she's drowning in student council work. Apparently, her workload doubled the moment she took her new position."
Miyu let out a long, dramatic sigh and propped her chin on her hand. "Well, that sucks. The room feels completely dead without her."
Reina offered a faint, acknowledging nod. "It does. She brings a certain… brightness with her."
"She's just ridiculously cute, that's why,"
Miyu said, flashing a sudden grin.
After a brief lull, Reina turned her attention away from the window. Her gaze settled on
Rei, her expression sharpening with a sudden, perceptive edge. "Speaking of the student council… you're technically on it too, aren't you?"
Rei blinked, his expression perfectly composed. "I am."
Reina narrowed her eyes. "Are you actually doing your job, Hayakawa? Or are you just slacking off and hiding out in here?"
Miyu snickered under her breath, strumming a muted, teasing chord on her guitar.
Rei straightened his posture, his voice smooth and entirely unbothered. "I'm handling my responsibilities properly. You don't need to worry about my focus."
It was a flawless lie. In the back of his mind, a very different reality surfaced.
…Shiori is doing almost all of my paperwork.
A quiet, almost guilty smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Ireally owe her. I'll be in debt to my beautiful sister for the rest of my life at this rate.
Miyu suddenly clapped her hands together, the sharp sound echoing off the acoustic foam of the walls. "Alright, enough interrogations! Let's actually play something. Sitting around moping is boring."
"Agreed," Reina said, stepping away from the window.
Miyu stood up, casually slinging her guitar strap over her shoulder. "Since Yuna's out, Rei—you're on the keys."
Rei let out a quiet breath of resignation but shifted his chair closer to the instrument. "Got it."
"And I'll handle the guitar and vocals," Miyu declared with a confident, effortless grin.
Slowly, the room filled with the vibrant pulse of music once more, even if the absence of their fourth member still lingered faintly in the air.
-
Thwack.
The sharp, rhythmic impact of a tennis ball echoed across the sprawling expanse of the Hayakawa mansion.
Shiori stood poised on the opposite side of the pristine private court. Dressed in a flawless, stark-white tennis skirt and polo, her posture was a study in absolute composure. She tracked the incoming ball with terrifying precision, returning Rei's shot with a fluid, effortless swing that sent it rocketing back over the net.
Rei narrowed his eyes, pivoting his weight to adjust his stance before driving the ball back.
To an outside observer, it might have looked like a casual sibling rally. But beneath the surface, the match carried a quiet, suffocating intensity. Their mother's sudden decree—that they must fight for the right to be the family's sole heir—hung over them like an invisible shadow. Yet, despite the weight of it, neither of them broke their calm facades. Their banter flowed seamlessly between the harsh snaps of the racket strings.
"You're moving slower today," Shiori noted, her voice perfectly level as she delivered a punishing backhand.
Rei rushing the baseline to return it. "Or maybe you're just trying harder."
The rally accelerated, each strike sharper, faster, and more calculated than the last. The air between them grew thin with focus.
Until, finally—
The ball clipped the very edge of the white line, slipping entirely past Rei's reach and bouncing harshly out of bounds.
Silence settled over the court, save for their synchronized, heavy breathing.
Shiori lowered her racket, her chest rising and falling softly. "I win."
Rei exhaled, running a hand through his sweat-dampened hair. "Well, obviously. You've been playing since we were kids." He shot her a sidelong glance as he walked toward the net. "You won the prefectural championship in middle school, didn't you?"
She gave a small, modest nod.
"I barely even play," he added, his tone laced with mild exasperation. "I only ever picked up a racket to keep you company during practice. Everything I know, I learned from watching you."
They retreated to the shaded bench at the edge of the court. Rei sat down first, leaning forward to catch his breath.
Without a word, Shiori sat directly beside him. Closing the distance between them, she leaned in and unceremoniously pressed her face against the sleeve of Rei's shirt, using the soft fabric to dab the sweat from her forehead and cheeks.
Rei froze, his arm going rigid at the sudden, intimate contact.
"…You could at least ask first," he muttered, looking down at her.
"I don't like the feeling of sweat," she replied plainly, her face still buried against his arm.
Rei sighed. He reached for a fresh, iced towel from the cooler beside the bench and dropped it directly over her head. "Use this."
Shiori pulled the towel off slowly, giving him a flat, thoroughly unimpressed look.
A comfortable, familiar silence settled between them, broken only by the rustling of the wind through the estate's manicured trees.
"The sports festival is coming up," Rei said quietly, staring out at the empty court.
"I know."
He glanced over at her. "Are you planning to compete with me there, too?"
Shiori looked back at him, her dark eyes entirely unreadable. "Isn't that natural?" Her tone was soft, yet possessed a quiet, unshakable firmness. "We're bound to compete now, Rei. In everything. Until one of us loses completely."
Rei let out a slow breath, leaning back against the bench. "You're starting to sound more like an enemy to me every day."
Shiori paused. The faintest flicker of surprise crossed her features before vanishing back into her usual calm. "…I suppose I never thought of it like that," she murmured.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The rivalry their mother had forced upon them felt both incredibly real and entirely absurd.
Then, Shiori shifted on the bench. She turned fully toward him, her expression turning strangely intense.
"If I win," she said, her voice dropping a fraction, "will you promise to do anything I ask?"
Rei didn't answer right away. He turned his head, meeting his sister's gaze. Her eyes were steady—unwavering and deep. There was no hostility in them, but rather a quiet, magnetic pull. It was the kind of look that made glancing away feel like a surrender.
He exhaled a quiet breath, giving in. "…Fine."
Her expression didn't change, but her attention seemed to sharpen, zeroing in on him.
"If you win," Rei continued, his voice matching her quiet tone, "I'll grant you one wish. Whatever you ask for, I'll do it."
A beat of silence followed the promise.
Then, without any warning, Shiori leaned into him, gently resting the side of her head against his shoulder.
Rei stiffened. The scent of her shampoo and sweat and the lingering warmth of the match clouded his senses.
"You're too kind," she murmured, her breath brushing against his collarbone. Her voice was absent-minded, yet distinctly deliberate. "…That's exactly why I like you."
Rei swallowed hard, offering no response.
He simply sat there, paralyzed between the urge to pull away and the instinct to let her stay. He kept his gaze fixed straight ahead, but his mind raced, tangled in the quiet gravity of her words.
Before the silence could stretch any further—
"Rei-sama. Shiori-sama."
The calm, polished voice of a professional severed the tension like a blade.
Both siblings looked up to see Nazuna, their personal maid, standing a respectful distance away. Her posture was impeccable, her uniform crisp.
"You have been exerting yourselves for quite some time," Nazuna said gently, her hands folded neatly in front of her. "It is time for a recess. I have prepared refreshments inside." She offered a flawless, shallow bow.
"Please wash up and join me in the dining room."
Shiori slowly lifted her head from Rei's shoulder. She stood up, casually smoothing out the pleats of her tennis skirt as if the deeply intimate moment from seconds ago had never happened.
Rei watched her, still trying to catch up to her sudden shift in demeanor.
As she turned to walk toward the manor, Shiori glanced back over her shoulder. Her expression was perfectly serene, but there was a distinct, mischievous glint in her eye.
"By the way," she said, "as punishment for losing today… you have to wash my face for me."
Rei blinked, dumbfounded. "…That isn't a punishment. That's just you being lazy."
Shiori didn't deny it. She just offered a faint, almost imperceptible smile and continued walking.
"Come on," she commanded softly, sounding as though demanding her brother wash her face was the most natural thing in the world.
Rei let out a long, heavy sigh, finally pushing himself up from the bench.
"…You're completely unbelievable."