Chapter 163: Brother x Sister
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
The first things to enter Seiji’s line of sight were Shika’s planned titles for her books.
There was Haru-Kagu Story , Disqualified from Being Siblings , I am the Younger Sister , Story of a Brother , and so on…
Seiji was rendered speechless by these titles!
He detected an overpowering aura of bro-con just from the titles!
Haru-Kagu Story was just a combination of their last names, Haruta and Kagura!
Disqualified from Being Siblings was basically the same as Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human , which could literally be translated as "Disqualified from Being Human!" Or was this going to be this world’s version of Disqualified from ___? Perhaps it was plagiarized… no, an imitation.
Was I am the Younger Sister supposed to be an imitation of I am a Cat , or something similar?
Story of a Brother was such a direct title that it was difficult to comment on it.
As for the brother x sister shipping atmosphere contained within these names… it was so obvious that Seiji felt rather helpless.
Okay, if he forced himself to be spirited and concentrated, Haru-Kagu Story , I am the Younger Sister , and Story of a Brother , still had normal-sounding names. However, Disqualified from Being Siblings ... this name… What the hell was with the word "disqualified!?"
‘It sounds so ominous! Maybe I haven’t read enough books to know the exact 100% definition of the word disqualified, but it doesn’t seem right to use that word here! Just what exactly are the planned contents of this book!?’
Seiji’s right cheek began to twitch uncontrollably.
Upon looking over the notes in more detail, there were also character settings and story outlines included in each note.
Haru-Kagu Story : A love story between a young master from a great and powerful family and a lonely, blind female musician.
Disqualified from Being Siblings : A forbidden star-crossed lovers story between an older brother and younger sister that are related by blood, ending in tragedy.
I am the Younger Sister : A teenage romance story, written from an adopted younger sister’s angle about how cool and strong her adopted older brother is.
Story of a Brother : A comedy-romance story written from an adopted brother’s viewpoint; it is a joyous and comical slice-of-life story.
Seiji truly wanted to cover his face right now.
‘Shika-chan, there’s something wrong with your way of thinking! Out of your four stories, three of them are love stories between siblings! Just how much do you like this topic!?’
‘Perhaps Shika-chan in her heart… no, stop! Don’t think about reality; stories are stories! But stories aren’t that easy to write, especially ones like Disqualified from Being Siblings ; that’s a forbidden dangerous taboo subject to write about!‘
‘It’s already bad for normal stories to mention such topics, so it’d be even worse for light novels. It’s almost 100% that she’ll get rejected right away!!’
Perhaps some dating sims for niche audiences would be able to accept such a scenario, as there were precedents in Seiji’s previous world as well, such as Yosuga no Sora … No, no, stop thinking about it!
'Stop considering this story and erase it from your mind.'
As for the other three, they were still worthy of consideration.
Seiji looked over the finer details.
Haru-Kagu Story … The young master and the blind lonely girl were actually cousins without knowing it… Er, this was rather difficult to judge, plus this topic was a little…
It would probably be better to remove this one from consideration as well.
As for I am a Younger Sister and Story of a Brother … Actually, the only difference was in who the main character was. The settings and story outlines were almost identical.
Seiji felt that the content of these two stories were much better and discovered many interesting story subplots within them.
After he finished reading, he turned to look at Shika again and saw that she was currently fidgeting anxiously while waiting for him to finish.
Seeing how she was acting, Seiji was unable to use any of his typical forceful comments. All he could do was smile at her.
"Your stories… are still a little rough around the edges, but they're unpolished diamonds," he said honestly.
Shika relaxed visibly after hearing his praise and revealed a faint smile.
"You can choose from one of I am a Younger Sister or Story of a Brother to focus on and use all your interesting ideas in it. For example, the mystical and mysterious elements in I am a Younger Sister combined with the romance and comedy in Story of a Brother …" Seiji continued explaining.
Fantasy + mystical + romantic comedy elements caused Seiji to recall the famous anime, Bakemonogatari , by Nisio Isin, from his previous life.
Although Seiji felt that Isin was a rather difficult author in some ways, Seiji still admitted that Isin’s style was rather unique. Plus, Bakemonogatari’s anime director Akiyuki Shinbo just happened to match Isin’s wavelength, which help to sculpt this anime into another unique product that became vastly popular.
While Shika’s ideas in her notebook were still rather unpolished, Seiji saw numerous possibilities within them.
He would have her consider them over again with him taking charge of what made the final cut. If it was good enough, perhaps they’d be able to create a Monogatari series together in this world!
"Let me share my ideas. Let’s temporarily say that the ‘adopted sister’ is the main character from I am a Younger Sister , and let’s begin with a ‘mysterious’ angle and create a rather unique adopted older brother…"
He continued on and on with his description.
Shika listened to him attentively.
The more she listened, the brighter the light in her eyes grew.
Seiji’s words helped her own creative ideas flow and gave her a clear direction to go in when she had writer’s block.
"…After such a huge battle, the adopted brother’s mystery and strength are both at their highest levels."
"After this, unleash Chekhov’s guns by revealing how the ‘adopted sister’ character, the narrator, is actually the truly mysterious person of this novel, even more so than her ‘adopted brother!’ This will instill the readers with shock and confusion."
"Then you should end the first volume of the book on this note, to leave enough of a mystery to attract readers into reading the second volume."
"That’s my main idea: to use a fantastical background together with romantic comedy in order to create a mystical story. So… what do you think?"
Seiji looked at Shika.
Shika blinked as she smiled lightly. "Brother Seiji… is so amazing!"
Seiji scratched his face awkwardly upon hearing this type of praise again.
"It’s not really all that special; I was just giving you one possibility. Whether or not you take the story in this direction is up to you. And whatever you do, the specific details, character settings, background, and so on are all up to you to imagine."
"Yep!" Shika nodded her head energetically.
She was already envisioning many scenarios that she wanted to write down immediately.
This was the urge to create her own work… and she felt that it was a wonderful one.
Seiji could almost see the passion radiating from Shika’s face.
'Nice, this is what a teenaged girl is supposed to be like.'
"It’s getting late, so I’m going to return to my room… If you decide to continue writing, make sure not to stay up too late."
"Yep… Good night, Brother Seiji."
"Good night, Shika-chan."
After Seiji left her room, Shika instantly sat down again at her desk and crouched over the table, writing at a furious pace.
This was something that she was going to create together with her brother! Just thinking about it filled her with an endless amount of passion and motivation.
…
The next morning.
Seiji followed Natsuya to the hidden basement after eating breakfast.
Natsuya opened up the third wooden door, which led to a different room. In the room was a passage to a narrow space.
Was this an elevator?
Seiji followed Natsuya inside and watched her press a button with a down arrow on it. The door then closed automatically, and he felt his center of gravity shifting slightly.
As he had surmised, it was indeed an elevator .
Moments later, the elevator stopped and the door opened.
Seiji's surroundings were pitch-black.
Natsuya stepped out first, and overhead, a light instantly turned on.
Seiji followed after her. As they walked down the area, the lights overhead continued to light up, and the entire space was now blindingly bright.
"This," Natsuya said, "is the practice field."