The next day, instead of going to the studio, Soyo chose to go directly to his home.
And just as she expected, Tetsuya wasn't awake yet, so it was Anon who opened the door for her—
"Sorry, Soyo. My brother isn't good at waking up early."
Anon said, serving Soyo a drink.
"He only has two modes: staying up all night, or sleeping in."
"...Does this time really count as 'early'?"
Soyo looked up at the clock. It was already eleven in the morning.
She knew Tetsuya wasn't the type to wake up in the morning, but she never thought it would be this late.
"What time did he go to sleep last night?"
"Eh? Um... I don't know..."
Anon scratched her head with a forced smile.
"He's been going to his room much earlier than before recently, but he still wakes up just as late as usual."
"And you call yourself his sister..."
Hearing this, Soyo shook her head, speechless.
"It seems I really do need to 'work' by his side from now on."
"...Eh?"
Hearing that word, Anon let out a sound of great surprise.
"Work? What do you mean?"
"It's nothing."
Soyo shook her head.
"I'll decide on the specifics after I talk to him—"
Creek—
Just as Soyo was mid-sentence, the door to Tetsuya's room suddenly opened. The next moment, a sleepy-eyed Tetsuya appeared in the living room.
"Morning, Anon. Can you make me a cup of coff... ee... Eh?"
When he saw the figure sitting primly on the sofa, he froze subconsciously, then quickly rubbed his eyes.
"So-Soyo-san!?"
"!?"
Just like the startled Tetsuya, Soyo's eyes also widened when she heard him call her that.
"So-Soyo..."
Tetsuya had always called her by her last name before. Why did he suddenly start using her first name?!
At the same time, the now-awake Tetsuya also sensed her shock from her expression. It was only then that he belatedly realized that her mother wasn't present, so he no longer needed to use her first name to differentiate between them.
"Sorry, Nagasaki-san! I got used to calling you that while talking to your mother yesterday, I didn't switch back in time!"
Tetsuya quickly explained.
"I just woke up, my head's still a bit fuzzy. Let me go wash my face first!"
With that, he immediately turned and fled into the washroom in embarrassment.
On the other side, Soyo watched his retreating back and muttered in a dissatisfied tone.
"What's there to apologize for? It's not like I was blaming you..."
"Well, that's just how my brother is. No matter what happens, he always apologizes first."
Anon shrugged.
"Well then, Soyo, you can wait here for a bit. I'll go make him his coffee—"
"Wait."
Soyo suddenly stopped Anon, who was about to turn and leave, and stood up from the sofa with her.
"I want to see what kind of beans he usually drinks."
"...Beans? Ahahaha, you're giving my brother way too much credit."
Anon couldn't help but laugh and wave her hands.
"He's not diligent enough to buy his own beans. It's just ordinary instant coffee."
"..."
Hearing this, Soyo first froze, then once again shot Anon a speechless look.
"You really are a completely unreliable little sister..."
"Huh?"
"It's fine. I'll talk to him about it later."
Soyo said, sitting back down on the sofa.
"If it's instant, you don't need my help. I'll leave it to you, Anon."
"Huh... why is Soyo saying such considerate things to me..."
Completely unable to keep up with Soyo's rhythm, Anon could only scratch her head in confusion before turning towards the kitchen...
....
"Sorry for the wait, Nagasaki-san."
Tetsuya, having taken a moment to wash up, hurried back to the living room.
"You must be here to deliver the contract, right? Thank you for your trouble."
"..."
Perhaps because he was in too much of a hurry, the tips of Tetsuya's freshly washed hair were still damp.
Not only that, but a droplet of water was even slowly trickling down his neck, past his collar, and landing on his clearly visible collarbone—
"Nagasaki-san?"
"Eh? Ah? Ahem, just a moment."
Soyo hurriedly tore her gaze away and opened the bag she had brought with her.
"This is the contract my mother drew up. Please read it carefully before signing."
"Mhm, thank you."
Tetsuya took the contract and began to read it carefully.
...
...
"It's just as we discussed yesterday... The number of collaborative projects and the types of services are all incredibly generous. The only thing is this one condition, which is a bit baffling."
Tetsuya looked at the ridiculously arbitrary clause with a perplexed expression.
"This has no logical connection to the rest of the contract at all..."
"Ah, about that!"
Soyo instantly remembered the restrictive clause she had noticed when she saw the contract. To prevent Tetsuya from misunderstanding her, she hurriedly said:
"A-although it is a bit of an overbearing clause, my mother didn't include any traps for breach of contract. It's just a simple termination of our partnership. And, and... as long as you don't fire me, I will absolutely never resign!"
Towards the end, her tone became inexplicably flustered, and her speech quickened subconsciously.
She was worried that the unreasonable contract her mother had written would displease Tetsuya and create a rift between them.
"...Eh? Ah, no, that's not what I meant."
However, faced with Soyo's panicked explanation, Tetsuya was first taken aback, then waved his hands.
"The essence of this contract is basically me unilaterally receiving your mother's help anyway. It's her prerogative to stop whenever she wants. I just don't get... why she has to send you here to be my employee."
"That..."
Soyo thought for a long while. Then, when she saw Anon who had just finished making the coffee and was walking towards the living room, a sudden flash of inspiration hit her.
"It's because I told her before that your living habits are absolutely terrible! If you're allowed to go on like this, your health will be ruined!"
Then, under the stunned gazes of the Chihaya siblings, Soyo declared:
"So, for the sake of your well-being, someone has to properly manage your health, and that task... will be my responsibility starting today!"
"...Eh?" x2