mortevatem:

     _{”Oh.“ He should have expected that answer, really. ”You’re welcome…?”}

                           _{In the books he read, older siblings were always people to look up to, albeit annoying. I don’t want to be annoying, though…
                                        He wasn’t much to aspire to, either.}

                                       _{”W-well, you should… let me know.”
                         I’m no good at this, am I?}

         _{Ace really was acting more odd than usual—she wondered if she should feel somewhat concerned for him. But it wasn’t odd in a bad way, he was just offering to help her after all… there was no harm in that.}

                _{Perhaps it had something to do with that thing that had happened earlier…}

                         _{Sometimes she thought that if she had an older brother it would be Ace, anyways.}

                                  _{”Don’t worry Ace, I’m okay, really.}

                                        _{If anything comes up I'll tell you, promise.”}