After letting go of Aimi's little nose, Kotomi Izumi hurriedly changed into her pajamas so Aimi would not notice that she was no longer wearing tights.
She moved so quickly because she was afraid that if she delayed even a little, Aimi might notice something was off and ask, "Onee-chan, why aren't you wearing tights when you wore them out today?"
If Aimi really asked that, Kotomi Izumi would have no idea how to answer. In any case, she certainly could not tell the truth: 'I was wearing them when I left this morning, but after school this afternoon, I went to Megumi's house, and Megumi accidentally tore them while we were getting intimate.'
However, Kotomi Izumi's current worries were purely the result of a guilty conscience. She had completely forgotten that when she got dressed and went downstairs that morning, Aimi had still been sleeping soundly under the covers. Aimi had no idea that Kotomi had worn white pantyhose today.
When Aimi Izumi saw Kotomi immediately start changing clothes without another word, she was a little curious about why Kotomi was changing so quickly today. But most of her attention was still devoted to admiring Kotomi as she changed.
Little Aimi's eyes were practically glued to her.
After Kotomi Izumi hung her high school uniform on a clothes hanger, she happened to glance out of the corner of her eye at Aimi, whose eyes had long since gone completely fixed. Kotomi did not feel particularly embarrassed. She merely sighed helplessly, stretched out a small hand, waved it in front of Aimi's face, and teased:
"Hey, hey, hey. Come back to reality. If I don't snap you out of it, I feel like your eyes are going to stick to me. Seriously, what's so interesting to look at? Haven't you seen enough after all these years?"
Kotomi Izumi said that aloud, but deep down, she was actually a little pleased.
Coming back to her senses, Aimi Izumi hurriedly turned away with a blush and whispered:
"I-I was only looking at the figure display cabinet beside you."
"Hmph. Brave enough to look, but not brave enough to admit it~"
Kotomi Izumi chided her playfully while thinking to herself, Where did all that courage you usually have when you sneak into my bed every night go?
Hearing Kotomi Izumi say that made Aimi's cheeks turn even redder. She lowered her little head without saying anything, pretending to be a mushroom.
After changing into her pajamas, Kotomi Izumi took the Switch console and the game cards for Pokémon Sword and Shield out of the cabinet and placed them on the computer desk. She planned to play for a while after dinner.
"Aimi, when it's time to eat, are you coming downstairs with me, or should I bring your dinner up first?"
"Onee-chan, if you bring it up, can you feed me?" Aimi asked expectantly.
"Of course—" Kotomi Izumi deliberately dragged out her voice as though keeping Aimi in suspense, then answered decisively, "Not!"
"Eh—why?" Aimi Izumi asked in disappointment.
"Do you even need to ask?"
Kotomi Izumi replied as though it were obvious:
"Because you've already recovered. How could I possibly feed you now? You're not a little kid anymore. Besides, I want to play Pokémon Sword after dinner. I've only got a little bit left before I finish Sword. Once I'm done with Sword, I'm going to start Shield."
Hearing that reason, Aimi Izumi gave the Switch and the two Pokémon Sword and Shield game cards on the computer desk a faintly resentful look before muttering:
"Onee-chan, getting addicted to games isn't good. You should put down the console and spend more time with your adorable little sister~"
"Oh, give me a break. You have the nerve to say that to me?! How come I've never heard you say people shouldn't get addicted to games when you're usually obsessed with galgames?"
Kotomi Izumi mercilessly countered as she casually picked up the laptop from the bedside table:
"But since you just said getting addicted to games is bad, I guess there's no need for you to keep using this laptop either.
"I think I'll clean everything off it and give it to Yuyu instead. Hehehe. Her goal might be a desktop with a 3090 Ti, but if I suddenly gave her a laptop for free, I imagine she'd still be pretty happy.
"As for all those physical editions of galgames you've bought, whether they're limited editions or special bonus editions, I'll give them all to Iroha."
As Kotomi Izumi spoke, she let out a wicked chuckle.
Little Aimi immediately panicked and hurriedly said:
"No! You absolutely can't give that laptop to Yuyu. She's about to take her high school entrance exams. If you give her a laptop now, it'll definitely interfere with her studies!"
"Aren't you about to take your entrance exams too? And your first-choice school is Sengetsu Girls' Academy. With such an ambitious goal, surely that means you can't play games anymore starting now, right? You need to study hard."
"Having Sengetsu Girls' Academy as my first choice doesn't stop me from playing games, does it? My actual goal isn't Sengetsu Girls' Academy anyway. It's Sobu High School.
"Yuyu's grades aren't as good as mine. With my current grades, I might not be able to get into Sengetsu Girls' Academy, but getting into Sobu High School should still be pretty easy.
"Besides, I only wrote Sengetsu Girls' Academy as my first choice because I listened to your advice, Onee-chan. You said to put a school that's really hard to get into as my first choice so I could either look impressive or try my luck, then put the school I actually want to attend as my second choice."
Seeing how seriously Aimi Izumi analyzed the situation, Kotomi Izumi could not help laughing. She put the laptop back on the bedside table and said with a grin:
"Hehe, teasing Aimi really is the most fun thing in the world. Silly girl, Onee-chan was only messing with you. How could I possibly give this laptop to Yuyu? It's not just because you like using it. I also used this laptop for a really long time, so I've gotten somewhat attached to it. Even if I ended up putting it in a cabinet as decoration, I still wouldn't give it away to someone else.
"Still, even though this laptop had top-of-the-line performance back then, after so many years, its specs are starting to feel dated. That's just how fast electronics get replaced by newer generations."
At that point, Kotomi swept one small hand through the air and declared with great authority:
"How about this? Once you get into high school, I'll buy you two high-spec computers, both a desktop and a laptop. Alienware, ROG, whatever you like, we'll buy it all."
Ever since her income from manuscript royalties had begun steadily rising, Kotomi Izumi was not wasteful with money, but whenever she genuinely wanted to spend it, she would never deprive herself.
"N-No, that's really not necessary. I'd feel a little embarrassed spending your manuscript royalties, Onee-chan. After all, you earned that money through your own creative work, and I haven't even been able to help you with your writing. How could I spend the money you earned?"
Aimi Izumi spoke a little awkwardly. Truthfully, Aimi did not have particularly high demands when it came to computer specifications. As long as a computer could run the galgames she liked smoothly in high definition, she was satisfied.
Her only real requirement was probably having plenty of storage space.
The laptop Kotomi Izumi had previously used just happened to satisfy most of Aimi's requirements. After all, Aimi was not good at playing demanding AAA games anyway.
"Eh~ Silly little sister, don't be so quick to refuse. I know you don't really play demanding games and only like galgames. If I actually gave you a sum of money and told you to buy a computer yourself, you'd probably be reluctant to buy a new one and end up spending it on physical editions of your favorite galgames instead. And sure, most galgames don't exactly demand powerful hardware.
"But think about it. Wouldn't playing galgames on a desktop with a huge monitor feel way better? Put it in fullscreen mode, lean back in your chair with a Bluetooth mouse in your hand... it'd almost feel like watching anime.
"Then I'll get you a laptop with a bigger screen too. The screen on the laptop you're using now is too small. A larger laptop still won't compare with a desktop, but when you're lying in bed playing galgames, it'll give you a much better experience.
"Now that I've put it that way, don't you suddenly want both the desktop and the laptop?"
"Buying two computers just to play galgames... isn't that a little too extravagant?"
Aimi Izumi asked cautiously. From her tone alone, it was obvious that she was already feeling somewhat tempted.
"How is that extravagant? Two computers, one laptop and one desktop. Even if we choose Alienware or ROG for both, how expensive could they possibly be? You're seriously underestimating how much your Onee-chan earns every month. And don't start saying you feel bad about spending my royalties. Isn't the whole point of earning money so I can spend it on myself and my family?
"It's decided. Once your high school entrance exams are over, you'll receive two brand-new high-spec computers."
Sometimes, once Kotomi Izumi decided on something in her heart, she became this domineering and decisive.
In that regard, she was very much like Kaneyoshi Izumi.
Seeing how firm her Onee-chan was, Aimi Izumi excitedly nodded hard:
"Thank you, Onee-chan!"
"Add '-sama' after Onee-chan and say it again." Kotomi Izumi was getting carried away with herself as she smugly gave the order.
"Thank you, Onee-sama!" Aimi obediently did as she was told.
"Ah—so satisfying! I'll also buy you a high-end set of peripherals while we're at it. A desktop needs an external keyboard and mouse, after all. A laptop needs at least a mouse too. I can't stand using laptop touchpads myself. And if you don't like the laptop's built-in keyboard, we'll just buy another keyboard."
Being called "Onee-sama" had practically sent Kotomi Izumi's imaginary little tail straight into the air. She swept her hand out again as she spoke.
And just like that, the matter of buying Aimi new computers was settled.
After thinking for a moment, Aimi spoke again:
"Onee-sama, can you bring dinner upstairs and feed me?"
"Dream on. If you're mostly recovered, come downstairs and eat properly. If you're still feeling tired, I'll bring your dinner up first."
"Ugh... Fine. Then I'll come downstairs to eat."
After dinner, Kotomi Izumi took a shower, returned to the bedroom, picked up the Switch, and started playing Pokémon Sword.
"I feel like I'm still nowhere near as enthusiastic about games as I used to be. Back then, whenever I got a new game, I'd immerse myself in it for hours, and I'd be completely obsessed every single day. It's already been almost half a year since I bought Pokémon Sword and Shield, yet I still haven't even finished Sword. At this rate, I feel like I might still not have finished Shield by this time next year."
"I feel like you barely played that Switch at all after you bought it, Onee-chan. Most of the time, it just sits in the cabinet or on the computer desk."
"Well... think about it. These days, there aren't even many PC games I can really get into, much less games on a console. It's not that the games are bad. Sometimes I just don't have the energy to even turn the console on," Kotomi Izumi said.
"Why don't I ever feel that way when I'm playing galgames?"
"That's because you only got into galgames recently. Once you've been playing them for a while longer, you'll discover that you still keep buying games and downloading them like usual, but after they're downloaded, you almost never open them. You know perfectly well that a certain galgame is really good, yet you can never find the time to actually play through it. Before you know it, more than half a year has passed, and your progress is still stuck at the opening prologue."
"S-So gaming really has a phase like that?"
"Mm. That's pretty much the final stage of being a gamer. You're still interested in games and still like them, but compared with actually playing them yourself, you discover that you'd rather watch gameplay videos, especially for games with good stories that also demand a lot of mechanical skill."
Kotomi Izumi spoke while continuing to play Pokémon Sword.
After playing for an hour, Kotomi Izumi turned off the Switch. There was still plenty of time before bed, but she would rather spend the rest of the evening on her phone.
Lying on the bed, Kotomi Izumi glanced at Aimi, who was sitting beside her playing a galgame on the laptop, and asked:
"Are you sleeping with me again tonight?"
"Am I not allowed to?" Aimi Izumi raised her head and asked cautiously.
Kotomi Izumi had known all along that Aimi would answer like that. She smiled gently and said with indulgence:
"You can sleep with me for as long as you want."
Perhaps encouraged by Kotomi's words, Aimi suddenly shouted excitedly:
"Then I want to sleep with you for the rest of my life!"
This time, it was Kotomi who blushed.
Kotomi's face remained red for quite a while before she finally whispered:
"That's fine..."
But her voice was so quiet that Aimi failed to hear her clearly.
"Huh? Onee-chan, what did you just say? I couldn't hear you. Can you say it again?"
Kotomi Izumi was already embarrassed. How could she possibly repeat herself?
Kotomi Izumi lifted the blanket, burrowed underneath it, covered her face, and shouted:
"No way!"
"Ugh, Onee-chan, you cheapskate." Aimi Izumi puffed out her little cheeks.
After finishing one story segment, Aimi clicked the save button, exited the galgame, and shut down the laptop.
"Going to sleep?"
Kotomi Izumi, who was holding her phone and watching a story-explanation video for Twilight Syndrome, glanced at Aimi and asked.
"Hehe, sleep time, sleep time."
As Aimi spoke, she scooted her little head over onto Kotomi Izumi's pillow and joined Kotomi in watching the Twilight Syndrome story-explanation video.
Halfway through, Aimi could not help asking:
"Onee-chan, are you really okay watching a horror game's story-explanation video right before bed?"
"You don't understand. Horror games wake you up, but horror-game story explanations help you fall asleep."
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