Starting from Their Seventeen Years Old

That evening, inside Hayase Kinue's home — Tsushima Kagami carried the last dish to the table, and the two of them sat down together.

Once everyone had said their "itadakimasu," the five of them — Tsushima Kagami, Yukinoshita Shizuku, Hayase Kinue, Tsukuyomi Komoe, and Douraku Utage — settled in and began chatting happily over dinner.

"The cultural festival?"

"Brings back memories."

Hayase Kinue listened as Tsushima Kagami and the two teachers discussed the layout and arrangements for the upcoming festival, and couldn't help but let out a nostalgic sigh.

"Oh come on, don't make it sound like we're ancient."

"It hasn't even been that many years since we graduated university, has it?"

Tsukuyomi Komoe took a long swig of cold beer and grumbled.

"Still, a university cultural festival feels different from a high school one."

Hayase Kinue pushed back.

"Honestly, I always preferred the sports festival over the cultural festival anyway," Douraku Utage chimed in, drifting into reminiscence.

"Speaking of which — didn't the sports festival just not happen this year?"

Tsushima Kagami recalled that September and October were when most schools held their sports festivals, yet this year they'd jumped straight to the cultural festival without a word about any sports day.

"Kagami, you really don't pay any attention to school news, do you," Douraku Utage said with a laugh.

"This year, because of the inter-school league tournament, the sports festivals were consolidated together. And since our school has fully organised sports clubs, all the athletic events are being handled entirely by those clubs — so the regular classes and other clubs don't need to participate."

"That's a relief. Just thinking about the long-distance run makes me tired," Tsushima Kagami said, picking up a piece of tempura that Yukinoshita Shizuku had placed in his bowl.

"Good thing we don't have to worry about the sports festival. This month is already packed as it is," Tsukuyomi Komoe said, shaking her head with a sigh.

"Must be nice being students — all you have to do is enjoy your youth."

"We teachers, on the other hand, have so much more to think about."

"Oh please, I have to paint and write novels and rehearse all at the same time."

"And Shizuku has to practice while working her part-time job on top of it."

"We're exhausted too, you know."

"Right, speaking of how busy everyone's been lately —"

"The moon-viewing festival is in a few days. Why don't we all get together that evening, eat some dango, and admire the moon?"

Hayase Kinue pressed her palms together, rested them against her cheek, and tilted her head at everyone with a hopeful smile.

"Moon-viewing festival?"

"That's right — in a few days it'll be the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month."

Hayase Kinue said again, addressing the puzzled Tsushima Kagami.

Oh — the Mid-Autumn Festival, Tsushima Kagami realised.

Ever since the Meiji Restoration and the sweeping Westernisation that followed, Japan had converted all its traditional holidays from the lunar calendar to the solar calendar. The moon-viewing festival — Tsukimi — was the one sole exception that still followed the lunar calendar.

Because if you didn't observe it on the lunar date, you simply wouldn't get a full moon.

Unfortunately, Tsukimi was not a public holiday in Japan.

"Oh! I completely forgot about that!"

Tsukuyomi Komoe suddenly exclaimed, drawing everyone's eyes to her.

She slapped her forehead and looked over at Tsushima Kagami.

"The moon-viewing festival day is when our class has their community service practicum."

"This time the activity is volunteer childcare work at a nearby kindergarten."

"Basically just playing with the kids there."

"Make sure to prepare a few little performances for them, alright?"

"Why are you only telling me this now? If tonight's moon-viewing talk hadn't come up, were you just going to forget entirely, Moe-sensei?"

"Ahh, okay, yes, I've been so busy it slipped my mind to mention it — but I definitely wouldn't have forgotten completely on the actual day itself."

"Ahaha, remind me again when school starts tomorrow so I can let the class know."

"So — Kagami, Shizuku, do you two have plans on the evening of the moon-viewing festival?"

Hayase Kinue looked at the two of them.

Tsushima Kagami and Yukinoshita Shizuku both shook their heads.

"Then it's settled — we'll all watch the moon together that evening. That's final!"

"Oh, and Komoe and Utage, you two come help me make dango."

"Ah, we're all thumbs in the kitchen — can't Kagami and Shizuku help you with that instead?"

"What kind of grown adults fob off a task like that onto children?"

And with that cheerful decision made, everyone finished eating, tidied up together, and returned to their respective rooms.

Back in his room, Tsushima Kagami was putting things away when he finally remembered the system upgrade and system rewards from earlier in the day.

He opened his status panel, and the system immediately popped up a notification.

[Your Pure Love Points have been detected as meeting the upgrade conditions.]

[Consume 1,000,000 Pure Love Points to level up?]

"Yes."

[Congratulations — level up successful!]

[Pure Love Level: LV.2] → [Pure Love Level: LV.3]

[Congratulations — Shop Exchange Service unlocked!]

[Congratulations — System Inventory function unlocked!]

Tsushima Kagami gave it a quick scan. The Shop Exchange Service meant he could spend Pure Love Points to redeem items from the shop — probably a step up from the gacha lottery, maybe.

The System Inventory function was similar to a system-space pocket dimension, except only items produced by the system could be stored inside it.

Fine. A modest improvement, at least.

Tsushima Kagami quickly located the next notification in the system.

[Congratulations — you have received a Traditional Martial Arts Random Gift Package!]

[One corresponding package set will be randomly drawn from traditional martial arts disciplines across various nations.]

[Open?]

Hm?

This one's random too?

Tsushima Kagami was reminded of that terror of being at the mercy of the RNG back when he was a content creator.

Well — people who record life tend to have decent luck.

"Yes."

Tsushima Kagami silently agreed in his heart.

[Opening now.]

The system prompt faded, replaced by a big spinning wheel covered in the names of various countries' traditional martial arts.

They really went all out on the presentation. Would be even better if there were a skip button.

What a waste of my time.

Tsushima Kagami studied the uneven distribution of segments on the wheel.

The probability for each country's martial art was different.

A gacha within a gacha.

And another thing — you haven't published the individual drop rates anywhere, have you?

Even a certain gaming company at least publishes their gacha probabilities — questionable as those numbers may be in practice.

You won't even post the rates. You make that gaming company look generous by comparison.

This damn system.

He watched the wheel begin to slowly spin, then pick up speed.

Tsushima Kagami reflexively swallowed.

Come on — give me some proper traditional martial arts. Maybe something like Bright Force, Hidden Force, Transforming Force — and then Qi cultivation grandmaster flying through the air.

I wanna fly, I wanna fly, I wanna fly, I wanna fly~

Off to cruise through the cosmos, drift through the galaxy, play among the planets~

He watched the wheel slow as the pointer began to settle.

And then it stopped.

[Congratulations — you have received the American Traditional Martial Arts Gift Package!]

[Congratulations — you have received Riding Mastery!]

[Congratulations — you have received Lasso Mastery!]

[Congratulations — you have received Cattle Roping Mastery!]

[Congratulations — you have received Marksmanship Mastery!]

[Congratulations — you have received Gunfighting Technique!]

[Congratulations — you have received Cowboy Outfit!]

[Congratulations — you have received a Magnum Colt Python Revolver!]

[Congratulations — you have received a Legal Firearm Possession Licence!]

...What the heck is this?

Tsushima Kagami stared at the Magnum Colt Python revolver he had just retrieved from his system inventory.

That's right — the very same gun carried by Ryo Saeba, the protagonist of City Hunter.

This one chambered in .357 Magnum, so the barrel was neither too long nor too short — just right.

He held the revolver and had to admit it genuinely looked cool. But it felt like a toy.

Japan was a gun-ban country, after all — there was nowhere he'd ever actually use it.

And even in the States, aside from the unhinged few who wanted to take their grievances out on society, it wasn't like everyone walked around having gunfights every day.

Besides... Tsushima Kagami looked again at the firearm licence that had come with it.

For ordinary civilians in Japan, a firearms licence seemed to only cover air guns and hunting rifles.

Whether the wealthy elite and powerful conglomerates had other legal avenues to possess automatic handguns and rifles was another question.

But he was a minor with no particularly powerful backing — even if he produced this licence, would the Metropolitan Police Department actually believe it?

Or did the licence come with some kind of hypnotic effect that could rewrite people's perception of reality?

Tsushima Kagami spent a good while in his room posing with the revolver in front of the mirror, then eventually lost interest and stored it back in the system inventory.

Then he looked at [Riding Technique], [Cattle Roping Technique], and [Lasso Technique].

Maybe I should find time to go play on a farm someday.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Yukinoshita Shizuku's voice called out to him from the living room.

Tsushima Kagami walked out of his room and into the living room.

"What is it?"

He looked at Yukinoshita Shizuku, who had already bathed and changed into her pyjamas.

She was crouched with her back to him, rummaging through a storage box beneath the table.

Eventually she seemed to find what she was looking for, stood up, and turned to face him.

"Here."

Yukinoshita Shizuku held out a measuring tape to Tsushima Kagami.

He took it, glanced at the tape in his hand, then looked back at her.

"What's this for?"

"To take my measurements, obviously."

"How else are we supposed to order custom stage outfits?"

It was only then that Tsushima Kagami remembered — Kosaka Akane had mentioned that afternoon that everyone should get their measurements done and give them to her by tomorrow.

"Can't you just measure yourself in front of the mirror?"

Tsushima Kagami said.

Yukinoshita Shizuku gave him a look that said: you idiot.

"Self-measurements aren't accurate."

"You're right here, so help me."

"...Alright."

With Tsushima Kagami's agreement, Yukinoshita Shizuku turned around, spread her arms, and stood in position.

Tsushima Kagami took the measuring tape and walked over to her side.

"Right — which measurements do we need, again?"

"Bust, waist, hips, length, and sleeve length."

"Feels like a lot."

"Just hurry up."

"Which one first?"

"Bust."

"Okay."

Tsushima Kagami took the tape and was just about to loop it around Yukinoshita Shizuku's chest from front to back when she stopped him.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?"

Tsushima Kagami answered with a look of total innocence.

"Taking the bust measurement."

"Isn't that what you asked me to do?"

Yukinoshita Shizuku turned her head to look at him standing behind her with that guileless expression.

"For an accurate bust measurement, you have to take off your bra first."

"Ah — that's... not great."

"You should just do it yourself then."

Tsushima Kagami moved to hand the measuring tape back to her.

Yukinoshita Shizuku shot him another flat look.

"I already told you — self-measurements are inaccurate. That's why I'm asking you to help."

"But..."

"But what?"

"This just doesn't feel right."

"Oh, you're such a pain. Isn't it completely normal for siblings to take each other's measurements?"

"N-normal?"

"Or are you saying you have impure thoughts — that you're afraid you won't be able to hold back those secret desires you've been suppressing all this time, and you'll end up doing something to your big sister?"

Yukinoshita Shizuku asked him with a little smile.

Tsushima Kagami froze — then fixed her with a grave, serious look.

"You can insult my character all you like, but you cannot insult my loyalty to my 2D waifus!"

"Then prove it to me — prove your loyalty to your 2D waifus!"

"Don't tell me you're just plain shy and scared?"

"My dear little brother Tsushima Kagami?"

Yukinoshita Shizuku leaned closer to him, poking a finger against his chest.

"Besides, I'm only asking you to measure from behind. It's not like you'll be seeing anything directly."

"Or are you saying your mind has already gone to the gutter?"

Tsushima Kagami had been noticing something off about Yukinoshita Shizuku lately. Remarks like "this is perfectly normal sibling behaviour" were coming up more and more often.

Could normal siblings really be this physically intimate with each other?

A question mark formed in the back of his mind.

But what if he really was overthinking it, and this was just how normal siblings were?

Then wouldn't backing away be exactly the kind of embarrassing "she must like me" delusion that would make him look ridiculous?

So rationally speaking, he should be avoiding this sort of contact.

But practically speaking, if he retreated now, wouldn't that prove he was the one with the guilty conscience — that his thoughts were impure, that his mind had already gone to the gutter?

After all, Shizuku was the girl in this situation — the one who should logically be more embarrassed — and she was calmly choosing to trust him.

He couldn't betray that pure, innocent sibling trust!

Therefore, he ought to stand tall, with a clear conscience and a still mind, and help her measure every inch as required!

After a fierce internal debate between the left and right hemispheres of his brain, Tsushima Kagami arrived at his conclusion. He silently recited the names of his one hundred and eight cyber-waifus in his heart, then looked at Yukinoshita Shizuku with eyes as clear and unclouded as a mountain spring.

"I understand."

"Then undo your bra."

Yukinoshita Shizuku looked at him with that same you-idiot expression, then leaned in and said quietly into his ear.

"Remember last time — I promised you that if you composed music for everyone, I'd let you help me unclasp it and see again?"

Only now did Tsushima Kagami recall that private... arrangement — yes, arrangement — the two of them had made.

Afterwards, since Yukinoshita Shizuku had never brought it up again, Tsushima Kagami had assumed she'd thought better of it out of embarrassment and quietly cancelled it — so he hadn't mentioned it either, treating it as if it had never existed. Then life got hectic with one thing after another, and eventually he'd genuinely forgotten all about it.

He felt a little awkward now. He truly hadn't expected that brief glimpse back then to become the very breakthrough that unlocked his drawing technique.

She must have thought he was a complete pervert ever since, right?

"Well? Aren't you going to undo it?"

Yukinoshita Shizuku, who had been waiting patiently, looked at the still-dazed Tsushima Kagami and prompted him again.

"Then... then I'm going to undo it."

Tsushima Kagami snapped back to the present and was just about to lift up the hem of her pyjama top — when Yukinoshita Shizuku simply undid the top herself and slid it halfway off her shoulders.

Standing behind her, Tsushima Kagami's height advantage meant he inadvertently caught a view of her collarbone from the front — elegant, smooth, and impossibly attractive.

And below that... two full, round, flawlessly white moon-viewing dango, and the deep, shadowed valley between them that seemed capable of pulling a man's very soul inside.

"What are you staring at?"

Yukinoshita Shizuku's voice snapped Tsushima Kagami back again.

He steadied himself, then prepared to reach for the clasp at the back.

But the moment he stretched out his hand, he froze again.

"Shizuku, about that..."

"What?"

"Why is your bra a front clasp today?"

Yukinoshita Shizuku looked down at herself, then turned her head to face him with an expression of absolute innocence.

"Oh, so it is. I forgot."

"But does it make a difference if it's front-clasp?"

"Just come around to the front and unclasp it."

This is not the Yukinoshita Shizuku I know!

Where did this absolute menace come from?!

How dare you corrupt a fine upstanding young member of society!

The damage this kind of behaviour inflicts on the youth is immeasurable!

Tsushima Kagami calmed the storm inside him, took a deep breath, and was just about to say something —

Yukinoshita Shizuku quickly cut in.

"Okay, okay."

"I'll go change into one with a back clasp. Happy?"

"Such a hassle!"

Yukinoshita Shizuku rolled her eyes at him — she could see that whatever he'd been about to say had been swallowed back down — and then she smiled and retreated to her room.

The moment she closed her door and leaned back against it, the composed expression she'd worn all evening vanished completely, replaced by barely-contained nerves.

Her eyes held a mixture of relief and something else entirely — a faint, complicated loss.

She looked down at the front-clasp bra she was wearing.

So it really is still too soon for Kagami, isn't it?

No — no, no. If she was being honest, it was too soon for her too.

Thank goodness Kagami said no.

But what if he hadn't...?

Yukinoshita Shizuku pressed both palms against her cheeks — already flushed red all the way to her neck and ears.

She'd... she'd push him away. Probably.

But then wouldn't that be terribly unfair to him?

Or would she throw herself at him instead?

Thank goodness — Kagami really wasn't the type of scumbag who'd take whatever any girl threw at him without a second thought.

Yukinoshita Shizuku pictured the expression on Tsushima Kagami's face just now — that look of someone bracing to say no and give a lecture — and felt something unexpectedly sweet bloom in her chest.

Does this count as Kagami cherishing me?

Tsushima Kagami, meanwhile, stood in place, thoroughly at a loss, and waited a long while before Yukinoshita Shizuku finally emerged from her room.

"You took forever."

"I was deciding which one to change into."

"Fair enough — come on, let's hurry up."

Yukinoshita Shizuku stepped back beside him and, just as before, slid her pyjama top halfway off her shoulders.

This time, Tsushima Kagami saw that the previous pale lavender front-clasp bra had been swapped for a deep sapphire-blue one with a back clasp.

"Let's start."

Hearing that, Tsushima Kagami nodded.

He reached out and naturally undid the three-row clasp at the back.

The bra came loose.

Tsushima Kagami's brow furrowed slightly.

Yukinoshita Shizuku noticed his expression and looked back at him, puzzled.

"Something wrong?"

Tsushima Kagami thought it over before answering.

"It just feels... off."

Yukinoshita Shizuku gave him a light smile in return.

"Want to try again?"

"Can I?"

"Of course."

"After all, what was promised was helping you break through in your art."

"You're not doing this to take advantage of me — you're doing it for your artistic breakthrough."

"That's the case, isn't it?"

Tsushima Kagami paused.

Right — Shizuku was only making this sacrifice to help me break through artistically.

And here I was, just now, letting my thoughts run wild. I really am the worst.

He felt boundless guilt at having just suspected that Yukinoshita Shizuku might have some not-entirely-wholesome feelings and intentions toward him.

Clearly he was the one whose mind had been in the gutter all along.

"Right!"

The fog in Tsushima Kagami's mind cleared completely.

"Then let's continue."

By this point Yukinoshita Shizuku had already done the clasp back up.

Tsushima Kagami reached out and undid it again.

"Still off." "Keep going."

"Still off." "Keep going."

"Still off."

"Then keep going."

...

"Maybe the inspiration flew away with the moment."

"Should we just go ahead and take your measurements?"

After several more attempts without recapturing that feeling, and not wanting to keep troubling Yukinoshita Shizuku, he made the suggestion.

Yukinoshita Shizuku didn't reply. She simply stood there, pyjama top half-slipped from her shoulders with the air of someone entirely unbothered, back and one shoulder exposed, bra hanging loosely at the front, one hand supporting herself from below and the other propped beneath her chin in thought.

"How exactly did you do it that night?"

She turned the question over and asked him.

"That night, I was thinking about doing it one-handed."

"That's it — one-handed!"

Only now did Tsushima Kagami realise that every attempt just now had been with both hands.

"Should we try one-handed then?"

"Yes!"

Yukinoshita Shizuku turned her head away to hide it, but she let a small, sweet smile slip through.

Seeing Tsushima Kagami go from deflated to brimming with confidence again in an instant.

Once she had positioned herself again, Tsushima Kagami reached back with a single hand and undid the clasp.

With only one hand working, the clasp snapped apart with a clean "click," just as it had last time, the two sides springing open.

The bra went slack.

The two moon-viewing dango, freed at last, dropped in unison — then rolled outward to either side.

Tsushima Kagami stared fixedly at the scene, and somewhere deep in his mind, a faint glimmer of realisation began to take shape.

"Almost there — just a little more!"

"There's still something missing — I can almost feel it!"

This time, without waiting for Yukinoshita Shizuku to ask, Tsushima Kagami spoke up on his own.

"So it's probably related to the scene from that night."

"Think carefully — what details might you have missed?"

Since Yukinoshita Shizuku had been half-asleep at the time, she had no memory of the specifics, so she could only leave it to Tsushima Kagami to piece together.

Tsushima Kagami thought it through seriously.

"At the time, you were kneeling on the bed."

"Your clothes were the kind you gather up from the hem and lift overhead."

"And your hair — you had swept your hair up at the time."

The words were barely out of his mouth when Yukinoshita Shizuku took him by the hand and led him into her room.

Without a word, she climbed onto the edge of the bed, then turned her back to him and settled into a seiza-style sit — hips resting atop her heels.

Before Tsushima Kagami could say anything, she reached up with both hands and smoothed the bra upward. When she reached her armpits, she pinned one side in place under her left arm, then brought her left hand around the front to hold the gathered right side up with it.

Her right hand gathered her long hair into a loose ponytail and swept it aside.

Yukinoshita Shizuku was wearing a pyjama top that resembled a dress shirt. Her full, rounded hips rested atop her thighs on the bed, clad in a pair of sapphire-blue briefs that matched her bra.

Like a perfectly shaped white peach resting on a fine porcelain dish — waiting for some salivating admirer to come taste it.

Above that, the graceful arc of her slender waist flowed upward, and where her right hand held her hair aloft, the smooth, bare, impossibly tempting line of her underarm was exposed.

Every inch of it laid bare before Tsushima Kagami's eyes.

Yukinoshita Shizuku then turned her head to look at him.

"Is this right?"

"That's the feeling!"

"Then let's begin."

The light.

Tsushima Kagami felt it in an instant — yes, this was exactly like last time.

He moved to stand behind Yukinoshita Shizuku and slowly extended his right hand.

Yukinoshita Shizuku, already taut with anticipation, sensed his right hand drawing close to her back. Slowly, almost involuntarily, her legs pressed together; her toes curled, almost imperceptibly, into a tight little curl.

Tsushima Kagami placed his thumb and forefinger on either side of the clasp and gave a gentle pinch — and the snap rang out cleaner and crisper than any time before.

The clasp sprang apart. Because her right hand had pulled her hair back in a chest-opening posture, the bra had been pressed against the moon-viewing dango even more tightly than before.

With the back clasp released, both moon-viewing dango burst free from the loosened fabric in an instant.

Just as Tsushima Kagami had witnessed last time, they bounced with joyful abandon downward under the pull of gravity, then rebounded upward, and finally — as the bra came entirely free — spread outward in every direction.

Tsushima Kagami watched from behind as both moon-viewing dango broke free from their confinement, breathing and bouncing with what could only be described as elation.

In his mind, he finally caught hold of that elusive thread he'd been missing — at last, he understood what it was.

After sitting with the epiphany for a moment and feeling the improvement in his artistry take root, Tsushima Kagami looked at Yukinoshita Shizuku — still holding her pose — and smiled.

"Thank you, Shizuku."

"That's all I needed. Let's take your measurements now."

Yukinoshita Shizuku did not turn around this time. Her shoulders trembled very slightly as she asked.

"Don't you need to consolidate a few more times?"

"No need. Once you've got it, you've got it. If you don't, you don't."

"A-alright."

Yukinoshita Shizuku finally got herself dressed again and moved to stand — only for her legs to give way beneath her, and she nearly toppled over.

Tsushima Kagami was there in an instant to catch her.

"What happened to you?"

"You suddenly seem kind of... unsteady."

He looked at Yukinoshita Shizuku's flushed cheeks.

"I... I think it's from kneeling so long. My legs have gone numb."

Tsushima Kagami nodded, understanding completely.

"That was tough on you."

"Let's go to the living room and get this done so we can rest."

"W-wait."

"I need to use the bathroom first."

"You go to the living room."

"You're just going to the bathroom — why do I need to leave first?"

"Just go already!"

"All right, all right."

With that, Tsushima Kagami walked out of the room.

Watching him go, Yukinoshita Shizuku hurried to the door and pushed it shut, locking it behind her.

Then she went to her wardrobe, pulled out another pair of matching underwear, clutched it in her palm, opened the door, and — ignoring Tsushima Kagami's glance — hurried to the bathroom.

Once inside, she finally let out a breath.

She set the fresh pair to one side.

Then, cheeks burning crimson, she reached her hand down toward her underwear.

She looked at her fingers.

They glistened. Unmistakably, completely soaked through.

She had just been about to change when her right hand pressed back against the very same spot, unable to stop itself.

Her fingers gradually increased their pressure.

Yukinoshita Shizuku leaned back against the bathroom door, left hand pressed over her mouth, desperately holding back any sound from escaping, mind replaying every moment of what had just happened. Her eyes went hazy and heavy-lidded as she breathed out a soft, barely-there murmur.

"You idiot~"

____

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