Aaron Cyrus March 10th,20XX

Eva looked uncomfortable as she was pulled and trapped into a hug by an overenthusiastic eighteen-year-old, and Archer just narrowly dodged having the same done to him. He had been on edge ever since he had entered the room and had managed to stay just out of her reach, despite her numerous casual attempts to communicate with him.

Their encounters were like a three-year-old playing with an old cat for the first time. While Cherry wasn’t in any danger, I quickly tried to dissuade her from pushing the poor teenager any further than she already had.

“You two are so, so, SO adorable, what should I do? Oh my goodness, the presents! Joyce isn’t your only older sister, you know? Just wait a little bit and you’ll be able to say you have a super famous superstar as your sister, instead of always pulling out the king-“

She coughed as she nearly referenced her parents’ company, and held out a hand for me to grab her bags and hand them over to her. Joyce harshly pinched her ear, not even having to move since she’d been close by to monitor her younger sister and make sure she didn’t accidentally traumatize the two shy kids.

“Pulling out the Squire card whenever people get too annoying. Anyway, open your presents! I got a couple of things for the others as well!”

The gifts were basic things, like hair products, candies and some fan merch for her group. I could tell she was nervous about handing them out, but thankfully, the kids all showed appropriate reactions and beamed bright smiles at her.

I knew that the amount of allowance she got from the company was pitifully small, and I knew I didn’t send her that much money either, so I wondered if she could have afforded all of it. I made a mental note to put in extra in how much I sent her this month.

My expenditures had declined by a lot ever since I’d moved into the dorms with the kids, and a couple of my ads were still actively running, which was always good money. Of course, it paled drastically when compared to how much my girlfriend made and could spend, but I could at least stand on my own.

“Hey, why don’t you try calling me older sister? Or sis Cherry? Or just Cherry?”

Her requests quickly downsized in level until she was just begging them to call her by her name.

Joyce finally intervened and pulled loose the death grip Cherry had around Eva. It hadn’t been tight enough to hurt the kid, but it had been enough of an obstacle that she couldn’t escape.

Eva ran loose and hid behind Destia’s legs, having identified Archer as the next potential target and me as useless against my young future sister-in-law. I was a little hurt, but she was right; even if Cherry came after her, I wouldn’t be able to do much to stop her.

Although she didn’t want to be held by Cherry, she still kept an active eye on the older girl and looked more excited than I’d ever seen her.

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“Calm down Cherry. Not everyone is a ball of hyperactivity like you are, and even you were super hostile when I first introduced Aaron to you. Just give it some time for them to get to know you.”

She grew petulant and shot me a death glare I hadn’t seen in a while. It was probably because Joyce had brought up my name while scolding her, but then again, who knew what went on in that mind of hers.

I was reminded of the many times she had looped the song today and was violently reminded that the little girl I only saw as my little sister-in-law was well on her way to becoming a superstar.

“This and that were different, though! They’re getting an elder sister, not having one stolen away!”

Well, the words still had some bite to them, but they weren’t as vicious as they’d once been.

She was just as vibrant and loud as she’d always been, but I could somehow tell that she was pushing herself. Her skin was dull from exhaustion and the poor sleeping conditions she’d had to suffer through, and her shrieks of excitement just didn’t seem as genuine as before.

Cherry was probably pushing herself to make sure Joyce didn’t get worried, but what sort of an elder sister would she be if she didn’t notice.

We let the kids retreat into their rooms and finally got the chance to have a good talk.

“What’s wrong Cherry? And try lying to me and see how quickly I bankrupt your agency and forcibly bring you back home.”

It took some adjusting to how harshly Joyce spoke to her younger sister. But I’d been around then for a long time and knew that this was what Cherry responded to the best. There was a period when Joyce had tried to be much nicer to Cherry, and the poor teenager had nearly had a nervous breakdown.

Somehow, speaking harshly to each other was the way their family showed that they loved each other.

While I didn’t particularly understand it, I knew Joyce also struggled to understand my family’s hands-off policy with each other. It wasn’t like we didn’t like each other, but we all understood that we were all better off maintaining minimal contact and only knowing the bare minimum about each other.

This policy was one of many reasons I had never even considered letting my parents know about my abilities. I didn’t doubt that they would keep it a secret for me if I needed them to, but knowing would only stress them out and they would eventually grow to resent me for telling them such a big secret.

Cherry looked at me to see if I could get Joyce off her back, but I was too worried to serve as a reflector shield this time around.

“Cherry, we’re here to help but you’ll need to tell us what’s going on.”

She gave a cautious look at her older sister, who had sworn up and down that she wouldn’t spend a single dime on Cherry if she pursued her dreams as a singer. It had been as great a motivator as any for the rebellious teenager at the time, but now I could see it holding her back.

One of the many drawbacks of their unique love language was how they tended to misunderstand each other—a lot.

Joyce ran a rough hand through the front of her hair as she noticed her younger sister’s desperate expression.

“I’m still your older sister, aren’t I? Of course, that includes me too.”

Tears suddenly streamed down her bright face and washed off the makeup she’d slathered onto her skin. The makeup already hadn’t done much to hide the exhaustion on her face, but as she finished her long and heartbreaking tear session, she excused herself to the bathroom and came back looking like almost a completely different person.

“Oh, sweetheart.”

Joyce habitually slipped into the pet’s name I’d only heard her use once or twice and wrapped up her younger sister like a baby in her arms.

I just continually supplied tissues to the teary pair of sisters and waited for them to get to the speaking part. Actually, I wished I could excuse myself from the situation, but I feared it would devolve to them throwing barbed words at each other again.

Cherry finally calmed down enough to form a few words and choked out a sentence in the most depressing voice I’d ever heard from her. Her eyes fell to the floor, and her voice crawled out of her strained throat in a whisper.

“Its all ruined Joyce. What do I do?”