At the school gate, Natasha pressed her slender fingers to the corner of her lips, facing me with a bright smile. She finished her goodbye, then waved her arms, excited and bubbly. She stepped back like she was dancing, cheerful and a little unwilling to part. Only after several steps did the girl turn smoothly away, leaving the Bluehaired Loli staring blankly at her flying golden hair and graceful figure, watching the lively, youthful back of that blonde gal.

“B—bye~”

The farewell slipped out on its own. A strange warmth rose in my chest. Ah, so good. Beautiful girls really are the best thing in this world. And a girl that cute is actually my bestie. Ah~ awesome!

【Natasha-chan’s goodbye feels just like Nijika’s.】

【Shimokitazawa Archangel, Isekai branch office!】

【Brimming with youth and energy. Totally eye-candy~】

【No need to be jealous, streamer. You’re already a beautiful girl too!】

【Your girl power is still lacking. Learn more from Natasha.】

“Shut up, you guys… This stream chat is so annoying. And I’m not a streamer… Hey, how do you even turn this thing off?!”

With no one beside me anymore, Olivia stood alone at the gate and finally muttered at the air in a small voice. Of course, the gremlin viewers in the livestream never fear bickering with the “streamer,” so…

【Sadly, this stream can’t be turned off~】

【Think your girl power’s strong? Put on a maid outfit first~】

【You keep a poker face like a jaded middle-aged dude. Your girl power gets no approval from me!】

【Keep backtalking and wait for next vote, you know what’s coming~】

【Hehe, I want to watch your social death!】

“I—what the—how can you threaten people like that? Mm… foul play!”

Seeing the last few lines, Olivia panicked a little. Her pupils did dizzy little spirals. She stammered the words out. The chat found that cute and instantly got lively again.

【Okay okay, Olivia is cute, noted~】

【Big girl power boost. Going full girly soon~】

【Nah, still far off. But yeah, super cute, hehe. Loli senpai, my loli senpai~】

【I love watching the streamer get bullied and not be able to do anything about us~】

【Why does the chat feel like a bunch of elementary boys who only bully the girls they like? Sad~】

Mm… honestly, that last line felt pretty spot-on. Ahem…

Forget it. Don’t look. Olivia figured it’s hard to duel this chat barrage. Better keep doing her own thing. Otherwise, she felt she’d get mentally polluted sooner or later.

…

As the sun slipped west, dusk arrived, and it was dismissal time at Imperial Capital Magic Academy. No night study—nice. The academy has dorm students, but Olivia and Natasha mostly commute.

After all, anyone who gets into the Imperial Capital’s biggest elite school is usually rich or noble by birth.

Even Olivia, whose family background is at the school’s bottom tier, comes from small-time business folk. Low social status, no political power. But at least they can pay the hefty tuition.

Natasha’s a proper feudal noble. Her dad’s a real duke, a local despot on their own land… intimidating as hell.

Anyway—Olivia thought all that just to confirm one thing: School’s out. Am I supposed to go home? And… do I have a home?

The Bluehaired Loli pinched her chin. Uh…

So here’s the question—

Where’s my house?

When my bestie said goodbye, she cheerfully told me to be careful on the way home. But Natasha-chan, you forgot to tell me which way my way home is, hey!

Uu… this is bad, so bad. From that tone, is my house in some far-off, lonely, dangerous mountain hollow?

Could be. Land in the Imperial Capital costs a fortune. My family just does business. We might live out in the suburbs because we can’t afford downtown, uu~

Crap, crap. How did my memory scan just happen to skip the part about where my home is? Is my sense of direction that bad? Aaah~

Olivia hugged her head, squatted, and shivered, trying to scan her memories to see which mountain path led home. Behind her, suddenly, a small, soft hand poked the Bluehaired Loli’s waist.

She felt the poke and whipped around. A shota brat with a sour face was staring at her. Small body, big attitude. A few brown wisps on top. Hands on his hips, eyes not friendly, locked on Olivia.

The Bluehaired Loli thought for a moment, then blurted:

“George?”

Right. In her memory, this brat who made her feel instant dislike was her younger cousin, George Lolos. Her uncle’s son, and the Lolos family’s only male heir.

Not surprising he’s here. The academy’s split into many divisions. Olivia’s in middle division, second year. George is in the prep class, basically pre-Awakening training. This is also their dismissal time.

“Hey, rotten sis, what are you spacing out for? If you don’t hurry home and work, my mom’s gonna scold you~”

George nagged, and Olivia instantly recalled his mom—her aunt—a middle-aged fatty with a brown afro, Venos. In her heart she cursed, damn!

It all came back. All of it. Ah… my household’s a mess too. Damn!

Olivia slowly stood. Her gaze went cool as she swept it over George. She reached out, grabbed the shota’s head, and pushed it down, snarling:

“Brat! Who taught you to talk to your cousin like that?! Move. Lead the way. ‘Have me go home and work,’ huh? Watch me teach you when we get back!”

“Y—you!” George was forced into a squat, staring up at Olivia in disbelief, tone full of defiance. He stuck out a finger at the Bluehaired Loli’s face and grumbled:

“You—you dare bully me? Waaah—just wait till I tell my mom at home. You’re done for, aoo~ quit yanking my hair, you villainess! Just wait till my mom teaches you, aoo~ stop it~”

“Less nonsense. Lead the way!”

Olivia held onto those few strands on her cousin’s head and shoved him forward.

Ding-dong. Route navigation, Bratty Cousin Edition, now online~