Chapter 91: Abyss ahead.
[one]
Good Friends World.
Morofushi Sora'aki: "I feel like my brother has been acting a bit strange lately."
Hagiwara Kenji: "Which one is not right?"
Matsuda Jinpei: "...Why are you asking me something like this?"
Furuya Rei: "Shouldn't I be the one asking that question?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "Haha, this seems quite interesting."
Morofushi Sora'aki, propping his chin on his hand, said, "Specifically, he's started picking me up from school now."
Japan does not encourage parents to pick up and drop off their children at school. Even elementary school students go home on their own. So the fact that Morofushi Sora'aki was still being picked up and dropped off at high school speaks volumes.
Matsuda Jinpei objected: "Weren't you with us? I've never seen your brother before?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "Because you cannot see it."
Matsuda Jinpei: "—A demon?!"
Morofushi Sora'aki added, "It wasn't a real pick-up or drop-off; we just happened to be passing by, so we went together."
"But he must be very busy with work and not have time."
Morofushi Hiromitsu asked the most important question: "What do you need right now? Is it that you don't want your brother to pay attention to you anymore, or do you want to understand why your brother is against you?"
Morofushi Sora'aki thought for a moment, then decisively said, "I'll brag to you that my brother likes me a lot."
The others: "..."
[two]
Actually, it wasn't Morofushi Sora'aki himself who noticed this; it was because he ran into Morofushi Hiromitsu or his brother's other friends on several occasions when he was going home, and Nozaki Umetarou happened to be passing by and noticed it.
Nozaki Umetarou immediately picked up a pen: "Morofushi, you're surrounded by main characters!"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "?"
Nozaki Umetarou: "I think I've got a new inspiration. I'll show you the draft when I'm done!"
As for what Nozaki Umetarou drew, Morofushi Sora'aki didn't know, because his editor rejected the draft directly.
According to Sakura Chiyo, who saw the draft, "It's probably because the relationships were too complicated, not pure love enough?"
Incidentally, Morofushi Sora'aki also discovered that many of the serialized plots in the Partial Faction Reversal World were different from what he remembered.
After thinking about Nozaki's source of inspiration, Morofushi Sora'aki could understand it. Then he noticed the name of the comic's editor and realized the difference between Nozaki in his world and Nozaki in other worlds.
In his world, Nozaki didn't encounter a single editor who caused him trouble; instead, he met a reliable editor, Miyamae Ken, on his very first try.
Because his world is made up of wishes.
Morofushi Sora'aki: "Just how much do you hate Editor Maeno?"
Nozaki Umetarou answered without hesitation, "I hate it!"
[three]
Good Friends World.
Perhaps due to the buffer provided by the previous missions, with fewer supporting characters, and the decent reward given to Little Stone in that world, Morofushi Sora'aki no longer needs to do missions for the time being.
On the contrary, having gained experience from those previous worlds, Morofushi Sora'aki began to have some rather unique ideas.
He asked the group of people in front of him, "Haven't you seen my brother before? Would you like to see him?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu was taken aback: "Huh? Is that alright?"
Hagiwara Kenji raised his hand: "Yes—! Absolutely! It's so abnormal that I've known Sora'aki-chan for so many years and never met any of his relatives!"
Matsuda Jinpei: "Isn't it a demon?"
Furuya Rei: "...Matsuda, why do you keep thinking about ghosts and monsters?"
Matsuda Jinpei: "You'll have to ask Hagi."
Hagiwara Kenji looked bewildered: "Huh? Why are you asking me?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "Because you mistook me for a ghost when you were a child."
Hagiwara Kenji's eyes widened: "Really?! I can't remember at all!"
Matsuda Jinpei commented, "Hagi's acting is too exaggerated."
Morofushi Sora'aki: "It's alright, I'll bring my brother to meet you next time. My brother would also like to meet my friends."
[four]
Home World.
The fact that my brother suddenly wanted to meet with his friends is also somewhat related to what happened some time ago.
Perhaps his words at the time frightened his brother, so recently his brother has been paying more attention to him than usual, and when he is not free, his brother's friends will come over.
It wasn't that Morofushi Hiromitsu asked him to do it; it was probably because Morofushi Hiromitsu's emotions were somewhat outward, which aroused the curiosity of his mischievous friends.
In particular, Morofushi Hiromitsu's gaze towards them has been quite subtle lately, with Furuya Rei being the one most seriously injured.
Because Morofushi Hiromitsu stared at him for a long time before saying, "If Zero were a girl, she might be quite interesting."
But those things aside, on one occasion, which was most likely just a coincidence, when he ran into Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei on their way home from get off work, Morofushi Hiromitsu, observing the atmosphere between the three, suddenly remembered his younger brother's past behavior. Upon returning home, he asked his brother, "Did Sora'aki know Hagiwara and the others for a long time?"
Morofushi Sora'aki honestly replied, "Half a childhood friend."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "I see, no wonder."
"Sometimes I felt that you really like them, Sora'aki. It turns out it wasn't just my imagination."
Morofushi Hiromitsu smiled and said, "If I have the chance, I'd really like to say hello to your friend."
[five]
Good Friends World.
In short, that's how it's decided.
"This is my older brother." Morofushi Sora'aki stepped aside and introduced him to his two good friends.
However, both Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei wore blank and strange expressions.
Matsuda Jinpei hesitated before asking, "Are you sure?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "...Um, bro-san? Hello..."
Even Hagiwara Kenji was forced to use honorifics.
Morofushi Sora'aki nodded seriously: "He is indeed my brother. What's wrong?"
Matsuda Jinpei couldn't hold back any longer: "But you've never said your brother is a woman?!"
The 25-year-old Ms. Morofushi Hiroko revealed a gentle smile, and apart from Morofushi Sora'aki, probably no one could see the embarrassment and confusion on her face.
Morofushi Sora'aki repeated, "Yes, she is indeed my brother."
Morofushi Hiroko: ...Sora'aki, you didn't tell me that I need to undergo gender reassignment surgery to meet your friend, did you?
Morofushi Sora'aki: Because if one does not become Morofushi Hiroko, some people will not be able to distinguish between the two Morofushi Hiromitsu.
[six]
Morofushi Hiroko exhaled, looking at the two children whose expressions were clearly frozen, looking at their childhood friends from the past... no, to be precise, from a parallel world.
He had never seen Matsuda and Hagiwara at this age before, looking so young and innocent...
Well, this method is actually quite interesting?
Morofushi Hiroko accepted the reality even faster than Morofushi Sora'aki. She smiled and said in a gentle voice, "I am indeed Sora'aki's older brother. Thank you all for taking care of my younger brother all this time."
Hagiwara Kenji immediately tensed up: "No trouble at all! Sora'aki-chan is a very well-behaved child, he has never troubled us!"
Matsuda Jinpei: "...Do you even believe what you're saying?"
Ignoring Matsuda Jinpei's words, Morofushi Sora'aki said, "Yeah, I'm super well-behaved."
Morofushi Hiroko smiled and patted her younger brother's hair: "Yes, yes—Sora'aki is the best."
Matsuda Jinpei looked at Hagiwara Kenji and asked in a low voice, "Is this considered a brother complex or a sister complex?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "I don't know about brother complex or sister complex, but this... older brother? He's definitely a brother complex."
Hagiwara Kenji blinked: "It seems my previous guesses were all wrong."
I've never met Sora'aki-chan's family, probably because it's not convenient for them to be introduced to others!
Is this gender identity disorder, cross-dressing with voice alteration, or something more unusual like transgenderism?
Hagiwara Kenji thought for a moment, then decided that the idea was a bit impolite, and went along with Morofushi Sora'aki's suggestion, saying, "Hey, big brother-san, we performed in a really funny stage play recently, I brought the videotape, how about we watch it together!"
After Morofushi Hiroko agreed, Hagiwara Kenji took out his phone: "Hiromitsu-chan and the others should be free today, let's invite them to come along!"
"Brother-san hasn't met Sora'aki-chan's other two friends yet, has he? It'll be more fun when everyone's together!"
Unaware of the abyss that lay before her, Morofushi Hiroko gently replied, "Alright."