That evening, I came home from work, still vaguely annoyed by the encounter.
"The weirdest thing happened today," I said to Rina as I dropped my keys in the bowl by the door. "That Hime-Hime cosplayer, the one who's always a jerk to Ectiqa online, came into the store. She was acting really weird and asked me out."
Rina, who was setting the table for dinner, froze. Every plate in her hand clattered as she slowly set them down. Her head snapped towards me, her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "She what?"
"Yeah, asked me to get coffee," I said with a shrug. "So random. I told her I was busy."
Rina's brain connected the dots with the speed of a supercomputer. Haruka saw Rui backstage. She's been obsessed with finding him. And now she knows where he works. Her greatest rival for the cosplay crown was now her greatest rival for her brother's affection. This was an act of war.
The next day, Rina put a plan into action. She knew Haruka. Haruka was persistent. She would be back. So, around the time my shift was ending, Rina showed up at the bookstore, carrying a cute, homemade bento box.
"I brought you your dinner, Onii-chan!" she announced cheerfully, loud enough for my coworkers to hear. "Since you've been working so hard!"
I was completely bewildered. "What are you doing here? I was just about to leave."
"Just being a good sister!" she said, handing me the bento.
And then, right on cue, the bell on the shop door jingled. In walked Haruka Ito, dressed not in her school uniform but in a stylish, casual outfit clearly designed to impress. She saw me, and a predatory smile lit up her face. She started to walk over.
Her smile faltered when she saw Rina standing next to me, beaming with possessive sweetness. Haruka stopped dead, her eyes widening as she processed the scene. She looked at me, then at the plain, boring Rina Hinamata from her school. Rina gave a little wave.
"Hi, Ito-san!"
Haruka stared, the gears in her cunning mind turning at a furious pace. Rina had called him 'Onii-chan.' Brother. That plain girl was the sister of Ectiqa's handsome handler? The handler who was so fiercely protective? The implications hit her like a ton of bricks. The family connection. The protectiveness. The secrecy.
A slow, truly malicious smile spread across Haruka's face. It wasn't a smile of romantic interest anymore. It was a smile of pure, unadulterated victory. She looked from my clueless face to Rina's suddenly guarded one.
She hadn't just found Ectiqa's handsome protector. She had just found Ectiqa's greatest weakness. And she knew, with absolute certainty, that she had just been handed the perfect weapon to destroy them both.