My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 2 - Chapter 6

The Ex-Girlfriend Will Not Get Jealous

“Thank you for being friends with Mizuto.”

What is a “friend”? If this sounds like it’s being asked by someone who has no friends, that’s because it pretty much is. I’m a guy who has virtually no experience making friends. I never had any interest in connecting with others in school; I’d only ever made “acquaintances” with others purely for convenience.

I may have hung out with Kogure Kawanami in high school, but he wasn’t what I would call a friend. More than anything, we were just two members of the same support group for traumatized victims—comrades in misery, sure, but not “friends” as he might have considered us to be. Which brings me back to my initial question: “What is a ‘friend’?” Also, at what point are you friends with someone?

“Oh, you need help defining what a friend is, Mizuto-kun? You’ve come to the right person. Fortunately, this is one of the few topics I am an expert on,” Isana Higashira said, hugging her knees as she sat on top of the air conditioning unit in the school library. “You’re wondering where it is that, on the scale of human relations, ‘friendship’ is located, right? Are you friends if you know their name? If you talk to them? Mutual friends on LINE? What an interesting topic! Let us burrow in and get to the bottom of this!”

“I’ve never seen someone get so fired up by this topic before, Higashira. Also, don’t you mean, ‘dig in’?”

“Well, just think about it! Depending on where you draw the lines of friendship, you could say that the student on morning duty who checked my homework submission status is my friend.”

“All right, let’s not set the bar that low.”

“Or, perhaps, once someone you’re close with starts being bullied, you distance yourself and tell others that they aren’t really your friend. Wow, I may have just stumbled upon the discovery of the century!”

“Somehow, I get the feeling you don’t have any friends in the first place.” I knew I wasn’t really one to talk, but I wasn’t wrong.

“That is what we call a contradiction, Mizuto-kun. Do you know of the Epimenides paradox?” she asked, resting her expressionless face on her knees.

“Yep. For the record, I also know what ‘probatio diabolica’ and ‘Hempel’s paradox’ are.”

“Curses! You pulled out all the logic arguments before I could!”

“Heh, think twice before challenging me with your paltry light novel knowledge. So anyway, how does the Epimenides paradox apply here?”

“If I am incapable of making friends, then what does that make you, the person I’m happily chatting with?” she asked, tilting her head while looking at me next to her.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to get at. I’m wondering how we’d define our relationship.”

“I think of you as a friend. If I saw you getting bullied, I would join you in victimhood.”

“How about you save me instead? You’re completely unreliable.”

“‘Completely’? My, I appreciate that.” Her expression remained the same, but she swayed from side to side.

As I watched her, I couldn’t help but think that if she was willing to stick her neck out for me and share my pain in this hypothetical bullying situation, wouldn’t that give her best friend status?

At any rate, I think it’s time that I introduce the girl that I’ve been chatting with. Her name should at least be obvious by now—Isana Higashira. She’s the first friend I’ve ever felt so connected to in my life. I was sure that no matter how long I lived, I wouldn’t find as good a friend as her, and I had no doubt that she felt the same about me.

Though the school library had been my typical hangout spot since school started, recently it had been my only spot. I’d naturally head to the library after classes were over. It was usually deserted at that time of day, save for the one bespectacled librarian who’d be quietly reading a book at the check-out counter. Thinking back to how packed it’d been during midterm season, I found it hard to believe that this was the same place.

That being said, the library only looked deserted. I headed over to the corner of the library with a bookshelf in front of it—a spot hidden from anybody looking in from the doorway. There, boldly sitting on the shelflike air conditioner attached to the wall, was a girl.

Her school-assigned shoes were on the floor with her socks rolled into a ball and stuffed into them, leaving her barefoot. She sat with her knees in her arms and her feet touching the edge of the air conditioner, idly moving her toes. One might think that because of the way she was sitting, the contents of her skirt would be on full display, but she was clearly used to sitting like this, because everything was perfectly covered up by the hem of her skirt.

She was bent forward and resting her head on her knees while blankly staring at a book, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, published by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko.

“Yo, Higashira. Today’s a Haruhi kinda day, huh?” I asked, lightly sitting next to her.

I had reservations about putting my full weight on the air conditioner since it wasn’t built to be sat on.

“Incorrect, Mizuto-kun. Today is a Nagato ‘kinda’ day,” she said, turning a page. “I am in the mood to be doted on by a small-framed bespectacled girl, and Nagato is at her absolute best in Disappearance, no matter how many times I read it. I want a girlfriend like her.”

“Couldn’t you just wear glasses?”

“Mizuto-kun, I do not think you understand. Would you tell a pining boy to make a 3D model and become a beautiful girl himself?”

“I think there are more people than you think who’d be satisfied with that.”

“How sad. Have you truly never imagined having a small, dignified, glasses-wearing girlfriend? Are you certain that you’re a human?”

“I am. Do you think that anyone who doesn’t subscribe to your worldview is a psychopath?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Really?”

It didn’t seem like she was joking. When thinking about small girls with glasses, the first person that came to mind was Minami-san when she dressed up as one. However, someone else popped up if the word “dignified” came into play.

With that in mind, I couldn’t exactly deny that I wanted a girl like that at some point. Looks like I’m not a psychopath after all.

“Now that I think about it, you never really talk about your beloved characters. No need to be embarrassed, Mizuto-kun. Your secret is safe with me. Tell me all about how your first love was Asuna.”

“I’m not embarrassed, and I’ve never been in love with Asuna.”

“Huh? So Mikoto Misaka then? I see now...”

“Why are you so convinced that my first love was a light novel character?” My first love was a real person!

I suppose it’s obvious by now, but Isana Higashira was a light novel reader. I wasn’t exactly sure whether or not this was rare for a girl, but at the very least, I’d never met any girl who was such an avid fan of light novels.

She boasted that she’d read about ten of the hundred light novels that are released each month, which is about as many as she could buy with her allowance. Either way, her reading habits were a perfect match for a variety reader like myself.

Light novels covered all kinds of genres, from action, to rom-com, to sci-fi, to mystery. Because of that, she had a surface-level understanding of all sorts of things, making it possible for her to keep up with whatever I talked about to a certain extent. For example, if I started talking about Lovecraft, she’d bring up Nyaruko-san. If I mentioned Osamu Dazai, she’d bring up OreGairu. She was the complete opposite of a certain someone who could only talk about mysteries.

It’d only been a few days since I met Higashira here, but since neither of us had other friends to discuss books with, we’d become close enough that we would hang out here every day after school, reading books and sharing stupid things on our phones.

At first, I’d found it strange how formally she spoke despite our budding friendship, but in her words: “My policy is to speak to everyone the same way. I struggle to know when to be casual and when not to be, so this way is easiest.” In my head, I wondered when she’d be given the luxury of talking to so many people that this would be a problem, but ultimately, I just accepted it as logical.

Also, though we may have talked a bit when we met, we usually just sat in silence and read our respective books. In general, talking wasn’t allowed in the library, and we needed to respect that rule even if we were hidden away in the corner.

She’d sometimes make audible gasps when she found illustrations she wanted to share with me, but for the most part, we just sat together as two readers—or otakus, I guess. As we sat there, the clock crept ever closer to the school’s closing time.

“My, already this late?” Higashira observed before attempting to reach for her shoes and socks on the floor without getting up. “Hm, I cannot seem to reach them. How troubling. If only my breasts didn’t protrude so much...”

“Stop trying to show off.”

Her chest squished against her bent knees as she leaned into them. That sight was enough to make even self-proclaimed feminists complain. Apparently, since she had nothing else to be proud of, she made an effort to be proud of her chest.

“Mizuto-kun, could you put my socks and shoes on for me, please?”

“Again?”

“I mind not.”

“You should! Let’s not make this a habit.”

As she requested, I helped pull her socks over her bare feet and then inserted them into her shoes. It was almost like helping a child, but she seemed to enjoy being pampered like this. Then, for the first time in a few hours, Higashira’s feet touched solid ground.

“Shall we?”

“Yeah.”

We left the library together, continuing our chat in the hall while heading towards the stairs. It turned out that our routes home were the same up to a certain point, so we’d made a habit of walking together up until then.

“Why are we all so drawn to beautiful, big-breasted girls who have one eye covered? Is that not a huge security flaw in our DNA?”

“What do you mean ‘we’? I don’t get off to those kinds of girls.”

“There you go with your humor again,” she said, sliding her bangs over one of her eyes.

“Knock it off. Don’t cover your eye, titty monster.” More accurately, according to her, she was a G-cup and had no problem showing it off.

As we reached the stairs, we were met with a familiar pair of people. One was a faux honor student with long, black hair, and the other was a faux innocent critter with a ponytail. In other words, it was Yume Irido and Akatsuki Minami.

“Oh heya, Irido-kun! Headin’ home?” Minami-san said in a bright voice, skipping towards me. “Were you chillin’ in the library till now? And...who’s she?” As soon as Minami-san’s gaze landed on Higashira, she hid behind me.

“A-A socialite! A real-life socialite, Mizuto-kun!” She cowered behind me as if she were a squirrel that’d encountered a predator.

The way Higashira was acting now made it seem as if Minami-san was bigger than her, when in fact, she was taller than her at about five foot three. That being said, I was sympathetic to her feelings since I, too, was a social recluse. For the time being, I ignored her and replied to Minami-san as Higashira tightly squeezed the back of my uniform.

“This is Isana Higashira. I just met her recently and it turns out we’ve got a lot in common. She’s in...class 1-3, I think?”

“I-Indeed, I am in class 1-3.”

“As you can see, she’s shy, so just be sure to mind your distance, okay?”

“Hm, you two met recently and have a lot in common? Interesting...” Minami-san peeked around my back. Higashira tried to avoid her gaze by moving to the other side of me.

Isn’t that a little rude, Higashira?

“It’s not every day that you talk so fondly of someone, Irido-kun. You two must be close.”

“I guess.”

“Has Yume-chan met her yet?”

“I don’t think—” I looked over at Yume, who was observing us from a distance, but just as I did, her eyes closed into slits and she let out a “hmph.” She turned her back to me, her black hair spinning with her.

“Let’s go, Akatsuki-san. We don’t want to be here when the school gates close.”

“Oh, right! Well, see ya tomorrow, Irido-kun!” she said as she skipped back to Yume. They walked away together.

After they were gone, Higashira finally came out from behind my back.

“The other girl... She seems so far out of our league. Are you friends with her, Mizuto-kun?”

“That’s my little sister.”

“Your little sister?”

“My little stepsister.”

“Your stepsister?!”

For some reason, the “step” part surprised her a lot more than the “little sister” part.

“Oh my god... A protagonist... A light novel protagonist is right in front of me...”

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think that myself, so I can’t even say you’re wrong...” I wonder how she’d react if she knew that she was my ex too.

“Might I inquire about a few things regarding you and your stepsister?” she asked, but continued on anyway. “So she’s your stepsister... Pray tell, is it safe to assume that she is a lover of brothers?”

“Don’t try to apply your warped world views to our situation. She’s my little sister, yeah, but that doesn’t mean she’s a brother lover.”

“Is that so?”

“Brother lovers only exist in myths. It even says so on Wikipedia,” I added, walking away from her to change into my outdoor shoes.

“Truly?!” Higashira pulled out her phone to look it up. “No, it certainly does not!”

“That’s because it was deleted after being tagged with ‘citation needed,’ ‘personal research?’, ‘from where?’, and ‘from whom?’”

“So it was all just the editor’s delusions!”

Yume

My little stepbrother had befriended a girl. This may not have been that big of a deal to anyone else, but to me, it was like heaven and earth had been switched. I mean seriously, that guy? He’s gloomy, sarcastic, uncommunicative, overly logical, and closed off to the world. You’re telling me that guy made friends with a girl?!

Plus...she was calling him by his first name. Seriously, they’re on a first-name basis?! What the hell? It took me about a week until I could kind of call Akatsuki-san by her first name, and she’s calling him by his first name within a few days of meeting him?! I don’t even call him by his first name in private!

I truly never thought this day would come. It didn’t even cross my mind that there would be a girl out there who could actually get along with him. Somewhere in my head, I’d convinced myself that he’d never get close to anyone—that he’d never fall in love again.

“Urrrgh!” I began punching my pillow for some reason.

Why was I so upset? What was annoying me so much? The way I was acting almost made it seem as if I were...jealous. It was almost like that time when I’d said all those unnecessary things that led to us fighting—the catalyst to our breakup.

After remembering that, I buried my face in my pillow. I... I don’t want to feel like that ever again, but at this rate, history’s going to repeat, and I’m going to do something I shouldn’t. I won’t have grown as a person at all. I won’t have learned my lesson. I couldn’t let that happen. I wasn’t the same person I’d been in middle school.

I couldn’t let myself get hung up on small things, be really stubborn even though I’m weak willed, or say something unnecessary and throw everything out of the window. The girl who used to do that is gone. I’m Yume Irido now, not Yume Ayai.

I lifted my head, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. I pushed out my past self whose feelings were all over the place and returned to my new self—the one that I’d carefully sculpted. I was calm now. My mind was clear, operating as smoothly as an HDD that had its memory cleared. It was like all the muddled feelings inside me had been solved as easily as a math problem.

I refuse to be jealous. How could I get jealous when I wasn’t dating him? I was just his stepsibling. QED. Case closed.

“Okay.” After going through a logical process that would have made Ellery Queen proud, I got up from my bed and changed out of my school uniform into my at-home clothes.

I fixed my mussed-up hair and shifted my gaze to the top of my desk. There lay the books I wanted to read that had piled up while I had been studying. I pulled a book out from the pile. It was a translation of a mystery written by S.S. Van Dine.

As stated in Van Dine’s Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories, “To introduce amour is to clutter up a purely intellectual experience with irrelevant sentiment.”

Mizuto

“Going to the library?”

“Yeah, what’s it to you?”

“Hm, have fun,” Yume said before leaving the classroom with Minami-san.

I watched her walk away, squinting slightly because I felt like something was off with her—like some kind of burden had been lifted from her, or she’d become indifferent. Why wasn’t I getting annoyed? I usually did whenever I talked with her.

“What’s the matter, Irido? Why’re you gazing off in Irido-san’s direction? Wait, you’re glaring.” Kawanami approached me with a wide grin, but after seeing my face, he recoiled in fear.

What a good question, Kawanami. I’d love to redirect that question to her, but whatever. Two months had passed since we’d begun living together. It made sense that we’d fallen into our own routines by now.

“Later, Kawanami. I’m going to the library.”

“Got it. You’ve been goin’ there every day recently. Is the library that much fun?”

“Yeah, it’s about as fun as your room.”

“Don’t make it sound like my room’s some kind of theme park!”

If you count all the embarrassing history in it as attractions, I think it is.

I parted with Kawanami and walked down the hall to the library. When I arrived, I went straight to the corner of the library, and just as I expected, sitting in front of the light novel section on top of the air conditioner by the window was Isana Higashira.

“You always get here so fast, Higashira.”

“Of course. I leave class immediately since I have no friends there.”

“You poor soul. I guess I’ll hang out with you today as well.”

“Heh heh.” Higashira rocked her body side to side happily.

Even if her expression didn’t change, it didn’t mean that she was bad at expressing herself. According to her, she just didn’t really have the muscle strength to change her facial expression.

I sat down next to her, and we began talking as we usually did while looking at the various titles on the bookcase in front of us. Our conversation shifted from books to recent events, which naturally reminded me of how Yume was acting weird.

“There’s something off about my little stepsister.”

“The person from yesterday? I require further explanation.”

“She’s...nicer? No, that’s not it. She’s just acting nicer than usual, I guess. I’m not annoyed when I talk to her. She doesn’t interrupt me when I talk either, so conversations with her have been smooth and easy, no matter what we talk about.”

“I’m not sure I understand the issue.”

“You have a point...”

Now that I thought about it, this was probably the first time since I went to Kawanami for help with Minami-san that I’d asked anyone for advice. What I needed help with now was nowhere near as dire, though.

“Hm. Allow me to be honest for a moment. I don’t believe I’m the right person to ask if you want advice on how to deal with people.”

“Sorry for thinking that you were. That was really rude of me to assume.”

“My, that’s awfully rude of you!” Higashira bumped her shoulder into mine out of playful anger.

I pushed back on her in retaliation, which just led her to putting her entire body weight on me. Hey, take it easy.

“Anyway, would it not be faster to ask her instead of me?”

“You have a point...”

“You are ever-unchanging, Mizuto-kun. I’m a little worried you might be an imbecile.”

“What’d you call me?! Remind me, what was your score on the midterms?”

“W-Well, my best subject is not something evaluated by midterms, so... Ouch!”

In response, I drilled my thumbs into the temples of this below-average student while falling into deep thought. She has a point. All I have to do is ask. I wasn’t exactly short of opportunities to do so since, as regrettable as it was, we lived together. Why hadn’t I thought of this in the first place? Because I didn’t want to talk to her? Because we weren’t on good terms? If that was the case, then why did I have to bother with her at all? If anything, wasn’t the way she was acting now better? She was much easier to deal with. Yes, logically, I just need to let sleeping dogs lie.

“I think you need to follow your heart,” Higashira unwittingly said through teary eyes.

“My heart...?”

“A-Ah, forget what I said. You need not follow advice from the likes of me. My apolo—”

“No, keep talking. I’ll be the one to decide whether or not I follow your advice.” I took my thumbs off her temples and looked into her eyes.

Higashira let out a groan of embarrassment, and her eyes darted back and forth. But after a while, she opened her mouth and continued talking.

“Well, what I meant was that everyone has their own set of rules, right? If all those rules were followed, they would have their ideal world—does that make sense?”

“Uh-huh.”

“When I find that my rules are being threatened, I get very defensive, not dissimilar from a chained-up feral animal. Allegedly, when that happens, I am unable to read the room—”

“‘Read the room’...” It sounded like Higashira was losing her train of thought and straying away from her original point, but hearing her say that made something click for me. “I get it now. I was reading her.”

“Mizuto-kun?”

“Thanks, Higashira, that was really helpful,” I said, looking into her eyes before continuing. “Being able to read the room is important, but not when it comes to me.”

“Huh?”

“It’s all about having the right person with the right tools for the job. That’s why it’s faster if I just read the room first.”

There are proper rules to being close with someone. If you’re friends, there might have been some need to read the room, but with family—with her—there was no need to do that. It wasn’t like me at all.

“Th-Thank you...” Higashira said, confusedly, in a soft voice.

Yume

It was currently our lunch break, and we were eating on a bench in the courtyard on this strangely bright June day.

“Did your little bro find himself a filly?” Nasuka-san asked in her usual sleepy and oblivious tone.

Surprisingly, the one who froze at this question wasn’t me, but Maki-san. “Wait, what? Huh?! He has a girlfriend? Gimme the deets!” she demanded, sitting up straight and looking right at Nasuka.

“Hm, I dunno much, but I saw him walkin’ home yesterday with some girl. She was a quiet-looking thing—totes a good match for him—so I just kinda figured that the two of them’re goin’ steady.”

“Oh, Higashira-san, right? I’ve met her!” Akatsuki-san said before sipping the milk out of the carton she’d bought from the school store. “They said they’re just friends, but who knows? It’s kinda weird that they’re meeting up every day even though they’re in different classes.”

“What’s she like?! Cute?” Maki-san asked, her eyes gleaming.

“She’s not really much to look at, but I guess a diamond in the rough? Oh, and her boobs are stupid big.”

“This is a good opportunity to tell you that you look at other peoples’ boobs way too much, Minami-chan.”

“Can you blame me? I’m so jealous! I want stiff shoulders too! Look at how not-stiff my shoulders are!” Akatsuki-san effortlessly rolled her shoulders over and over, much to the amusement of Maki-san, who laughed and clapped her hands together.

“So what’s the dealio? Are they an item?” Nasuka-san asked, temporarily taking her mouth away from the jelly drink she was holding.

“Maybe? I’m not sure,” I said, still not freezing up.

“Hmm...” Nasuka-san seemed no longer interested and went back to sipping her jelly drink.

Personally, I think I did great. If this were past me, I would have been all over the place, but now, I could calmly answer these kinds of questions without losing my head. I think I deserved full marks for this performance as someone who’d only recently met their new stepsibling.

It was now the end of the school day. I hadn’t ended up joining a club, so I walked home with Akatsuki-san instead. In contrast, Maki-san was in the basketball club and Nasuka-san was in the competitive karuta club, so it wasn’t often that all four of us would go home together.

I wasn’t too surprised about Maki-san being in a club; it felt on-brand for someone with as much energy as her. Nasuka-san, on the other hand, seemed to live life on battery saver mode, so I was shocked when I learned she was in a club. Apparently, she’d joined the Karuta club to search for a way to get cards with the least amount of movement possible.

If anything, I was more surprised by the fact that Akatsuki-san hadn’t joined any clubs. All the athletic clubs had tried to coax her into joining, but she’d flat-out refused every last one of them. She’d said that going home with me was more important than anything else.

She politely played down any claim that she was athletic, when in reality, she was—to an incredible extent. She just didn’t like exercising.

“Yume-chan, you’ve been pretty calm lately,” Akatsuki-san said, hopping in front of me and turning around. “I feel like you used to be a little jumpier before, but now it’s like you have everything under control.”

“You think so? It might be because I’ve settled into my new lifestyle. As you know, it was a big change.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Akatsuki-san skipped in front of me while looking up at the slightly cloudy sky. “I like you the way you are now, Yume-chan.”

“Huh?”

“You have an older sister vibe to you. I’m an only child, so I’ve always wanted an older sister.”

Me? An older sister? My mouth curved into a smile. Oh, so that’s how she sees me. Me! I felt so happy. It felt like I really had grown.

“Thank you, Akatsuki-san. Feel free to rely on me if you ever need any help. Don’t hold back,” I said, acting like I was actually her big sister.

“Yay! I love you, big sis!” A bright smile spread across her face.

I let out a small yelp of surprise as she jumped onto me. She rubbed her face against mine affectionately, latching onto me tighter.

“Heh heh, you smell so nice, sis.”

“H-Hey, hold back a little!”

She hit the gas a lot harder than I’d expected her to. I peeled Akatsuki-san off of me, and as I did, she burst out laughing, making me laugh too. Oh, this is such a delight. This is such a nice change of pace from all the time I’ve spent worrying about that guy, getting pissed off by him, and being embarrassed by him!

It felt like I had finally been freed from the trap that I’d fallen for two years ago. I was free. I could brush off anything that guy threw at me. Suck on that!

After parting with Akatsuki-san, I elatedly walked to the entrance of the house, light as a feather. Just yesterday, I’d had to mentally prepare myself to even cross the threshold, but I didn’t need to today. I had nothing to be bothered by. I had no reason to lose my cool over something as trivial as living in the same house as him. We were nothing more than stepsiblings. You’re supposed to feel at ease around family members, not tense.

It had taken me two months, but I’d finally had a revelation: all I had to do was ask him about Higashira-san as his family member. If they really were dating, then as his older sister, albeit stepsister, it made sense for me to stick my nose into their business—

“Welcome home.”

But before I could finish my thought, I froze, because waiting for me in the entranceway was the manifestation of my ideal guy.

“H-Huh?”

Neatly styled hair, perfectly coordinated outfit, and a tall, slender body to go with it. Then, to finish it all off, intellectual-style glasses. This was the exact fashionable outfit that Mizuto Irido had worn on our date.

“Huh?!”

My mind couldn’t keep up with this pleasant but extremely surprising sight, but the hot guy—Mizuto, that is—paid no heed to my blubbering. He jammed his feet into his shoes and walked towards me. Uh, no. Nonono. Don’t come near me in that outfit! I can’t— My heart!

He grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me in. I staggered forward, inching closer to his face. Huh? What’s happening? What’s going on? What’s he going to do to me? What’s he thinking?! This is the front door!

Just as I was thinking that, he pressed his fingers to my wrist as if he was trying to take my pulse. No, he wasn’t trying to, he was taking my pulse.

“Most people have a pulse of one beat per second. Your heart’s obviously beating twice as fast.” A faint smile appeared on Mizuto’s face as he stated this practically in my ear. “So tell me, my dear little stepsister, is it normal for your heart to be racing this much just from seeing your stepsibling wearing different clothes?”

“Ah...”

He was doing the same thing I had done to him on Mother’s Day! H-How careless of me! This had to be karma for saying that involuntary spasms counted. I tried thinking as hard as I could to get myself out of this hole that I’d dug for myself. I can totally do this!

“I-I was just a little surprised, that’s all! People’s hearts beat faster when they’re surprised!”

“Oh, so you’re just surprised?” Mizuto fixed his eyes on me through his glasses.

For some reason, I couldn’t look away. Agh, this just highlights his long eyelashes, thin lips, and perfect nose!

“This...”

“‘This’?”

“This isn’t fair!!!”

I totally couldn’t do it. All I could do was cover my face and hang my head. It’s not my fault! It’s a really hot look! It has nothing to do with him being my stepbrother! I can’t ignore the things I love!

“Hey, how about we amend the rules?” I suggested.

“Oh yeah? How?”

“Involuntary spasms don’t count.”

“Sure. Starting after this,” he said, shooting me a very skeptical look before letting go. “Now that I have your attention... Listen here, little sis. If you’re wondering why I went through all this trouble, it’s because I have something to say to you.”

“What...?” I tried my best to avert his gaze.

“I really hate who you’ve become,” he declared.

“Huh?” I inadvertently looked at him again, and saw that he’d angrily folded his arms.

“You’re weirdly calm. Plus, you’re acting like you’re really perceptive. I don’t get even the slightest bit angry when talking to you. You don’t shoot me any sarcastic or biting comments anymore either, and you don’t try to fight me on anything. I hate absolutely everything about you right now.”

“Wha— Huh?!” Where in that long-winded tirade was there anything bad?!

“If there’s something on your mind that’s caused this change, you can tell me. I’ll listen.” Mizuto thrust his index finger at me in my confused state, making my heart skip a beat yet again. “After all, I recently read in a book that little sisters always rely on their big brothers.”

I couldn’t help but laugh after being so taken aback by the angry tone he took with me. “Where’d you read that? A light novel? Brother lovers are a dime a dozen in those.”

“Yeah, and they’re just like you.”

Oh, I see. I’m the little sister right now...and one of those “dime a dozen” brother lovers. “I suppose...I don’t have a choice.”

Oddly enough, I didn’t fight back. For some reason, I started to think that it’d be best if I just came clean about the feelings I’d been carrying.

“But before that,” I added, “I have one condition.”

“A condition? You’re being kinda cheeky for a little sister.”

“Change.” I turned away from him, removing him from my field of view. “I can’t stay calm when you’re dressed like that.”

“Are you done?”

“Yeah, come in.”

I stepped into Mizuto’s room after he’d finished changing. His shelves were overflowing with books, and what books didn’t fit on them were scattered across the floor in messy piles. His room was a very good representation of his life—knee-deep in books for sixteen straight years.

But among all the standard novels were some with flashy covers and fancy illustrations inside of them. I wasn’t familiar with these series, but I knew that Higashira-san was. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I couldn’t ignore these thorny feelings that were piercing my heart.

Mizuto sat on the edge of his bed. Of course, even now, I didn’t feel like sitting next to him. So, instead, I pulled out the chair at his desk, and sat there facing away from him, staring at the mess on his desk. Maybe I should clean this later...

“So...” I started before pausing for a second and adding, “Onii-chan.”

“Speak your mind, little sis.”

I’m the little sister right now, and he’s the older brother. It was only natural that I could selfishly consult with him like this. “I’m jealous of Higashira-san,” I blurted out clearly and succinctly.

Mizuto just sat there in silence listening to me.

“I kept thinking about how the entire time we were dating, I couldn’t call you by your first name, but then this girl could do it almost immediately without batting an eye. It didn’t sit right with me. But then I started thinking about how I didn’t have any right to be jealous...” Which is why I stopped being jealous. It felt like a weight had been lifted from me—I felt so free. But that was most likely because... “Can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“I’m not getting on your nerves, nor am I shooting you any biting or sarcastic remarks right now, right? What, exactly, is it that you don’t like about that?”

“No clue. Although, if I had to guess...” Then, in a low voice that I could barely hear, he said, “I don’t like how you’re acting like everything we went through together never happened...or something.”

Oh... I get it. You’re the exact opposite of me. You can actually put into words the intangible feelings you’re experiencing. The freedom I’d felt was the same as if I’d discarded all my worldly belongings to live a minimalist life. I’d thrown away everything important to me just to feel a moment’s relief. More than likely, the relief would have turned to regret not too far down the road...and he’d realized this before it came to that.

“Hey, Onii-chan?” I asked in a joking tone, attempting to mask my embarrassment. “Hypothetically, even if they aren’t dating, siblings can... They can get jealous, right?”

“No. A little sister that gets jealous of her older brother for having a female friend is gross.”

“Hey!” I shouted in a panic after having the metaphorical rug pulled out from under me.

“Don’t worry. I’ve known how gross you are for two whole years,” he said through a gentle grimace.

I opened my mouth to say something, but shut it again after realizing I had no words. I turned my head away from him and focused my gaze back on the top of his desk.

Then, I finally squeezed out what I’d wanted to say in a whisper. “You’re the gross one, Onii-chan.”

“Spoken like a true little sister.”

Mizuto

It was now one day after I’d endured all sorts of abusive language from my little stepsister who’d incorrectly learned that a little sister is supposed to verbally abuse her older brother. I sat in the school library with Higashira, letting her know the results of the advice she had kinda sorta given me the day before.

My past relationship with Yume though was, of course, not one of the things I talked about, but after quietly nodding along to my verbal report, Higashira said, “So, what prize will you be submitting this story for?”

“This isn’t a book I wrote!”

“I-It cannot be!” she said, covering her mouth in shock.

For as facially expressionless as she is, she’s good at being expressive with the rest of her body.

“The little stepsister who is a lover of brothers is not just a myth, it seems.”

“Well, they aren’t on Wikipedia.”

“Your story has truly touched my heart. I wish for your eternal happiness.”

“Thanks...” Not exactly a good feeling, being wished well after everything that happened...

“Although, I must say... She was jealous of me? Life is certainly rife with mysteries, is it not?”

“Don’t say it like it’s some kind of unexplainable science phenomenon. She’s looking down on me. In her mind, the only person who’d ever want to possibly hang out with me was her, so she was surprised when she saw you pop up out of nowhere. Pretty rude, don’t you think?”

“I see. I am quite sure that I’d get jealous if you suddenly had another friend, myself.”

Huh? Oh wait, now that I think about it, she doesn’t know about Kawanami, does she? Well, he’s just a self-proclaimed friend in the first place. I don’t really care. But it got me thinking. When I became acquainted with Kawanami, Yume kicked my chair, and her anger kinda ended with that. In Higashira’s case, though, the reaction was a lot more extreme.

I understood her feelings about Higashira calling me by my first name, but what about Minami-san? She’s been calling Yume by her first name, hasn’t she? Where’s her logic?! I don’t understand at all! What was the difference between Higashira and Kawanami in her mind?

After I reported the results to Higashira, we went back to reading, and later left the school together after the last bell had rung. On our way out, we were ambushed by an unexpected duo.

“Oh, there they are! Yume-chan, they’re here!”

Right at the school gates waiting for us were two girls—Akatsuki Minami and Yume Irido. Higashira immediately vanished behind me, hiding like a squirrel from a predator.

“Heya Irido-kun and...Higashira-san, right? We’ve been waiting!” Minami-san called out while waving at us.

“Waiting? For us? Why?” I asked, tilting my head in confusion as we approached them.

“Hm, I dunno. We were just hangin’ out nearby when Yume-chan said she wanted to catch you two on your way home.”

Yume, who was leaning on the pillar by the gate, made quick eye contact with me and then walked towards us, her long black hair swaying with every step she took.

Then, she smiled and spoke, not to me, but to the person hiding behind me, Higashira. “Hello, Higashira-san.” Her tone was very firm as she peered around me to look right at Higashira. “Thank you for being friends with Mizuto. I’m his older stepsister, Yume Irido. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The atmosphere suddenly tensed up. Behind her wide smile was an obvious animosity that didn’t show with her usual people-pleasing self. Is she really that angry about Higashira calling me by my first name?! It’s like having to walk on eggshells around her, but the eggshells are actually landmines! I need to find a way to jump back two years and change history!

While I was frozen stiff with fear, Minami-san covertly pulled out her phone and showed me its screen. A memo app was open, and written was: “What’d you do, you bastard?”

I slid my finger across the screen and wrote back: “Secret.” The next moment, there was a thud, which came from Minami-san thrusting her phone into my stomach. D-Do you seriously want to marry me, you crazy girl?!

While Minami-san and I had our own little back and forth, Yume extended her hand to Higashira, looking for a handshake. But who in their right mind would give her their hand? She looked like she was completely prepared to squeeze it to a pulp! A sense of nervousness ran between Minami-san and me.

Higashira blinked at Yume, cautiously looking from her outstretched hand to her face. As someone who had little experience with other people, it was only natural that in the face of this animosity, she said... “Oh, I see. It is a pleasure to meet you as well,” and shook her hand like nothing was wrong.

My eyes, Minami-san’s eyes, and Yume’s eyes all widened with surprise. Sensing that we were acting weird, Higashira nervously looked at us, confused.

“U-Um, d-did I do something peculiar? I-I apologize! I-I have always been told that I am incapable of reading the room!”

“Um, Higashira-san? Mind if I ask you somethin’?” Seeing Higashira tense up, Minami-san chose her words carefully. “What is Irido-kun to you?”

“Huh? A friend who shares in my hobbies and interests,” she answered without hesitation.

“Oh, huh... Hm, I see... Interesting...” Yume reacted the most to Higashira’s answer. Her eyes darted around like she was trying to find allies, before looking down at the hand she’d used to shake with. Her face turned red. “S-Sorry! L-Let’s start over. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

“Huh? O-Oh, all right.” Higashira tilted her head in confusion as Yume firmly gripped her hand with both of hers.

Ah, now I get why she reacted so strongly to Higashira. Just as I came to this understanding, Minami-san shot me a really annoying sneer and whispered, “No romantic feelings at all. Luh-mao!”

I had no idea what was so funny to her. Do you see me as your enemy or as a love interest? Can you clear things up already?! She made it sound like I was trying to woo Higashira or something.

“U-Um, Mizuto-kun? Would you kindly explain to me what is going on here? I-I am not nearly socially equipped enough to decipher this situation.”

“All right, fine.”

“H-Huh?! You’re gonna explain everything?! W-Wai—” My little stepsister’s face went pale.

“This girl here was convinced that you were into me,” I said, pointing at Yume.

“Noo! Stooo—”

Oh, shut up. I shoved my bag in her face.

“Yeah, even though I explained to her that we’re just friends, she didn’t believe me one bit, and that’s what led to this stunt. She wanted to impress on you that you have no claim to me. That’s why she called me by my first name, like you do.”

“You’re so evil, Irido-kun.” Minami-san had a very disapproving expression on her face, but she didn’t know Higashira like I did. If I didn’t explain things like this, she wouldn’t understand.

Her face bright red, Yume started cowering. Hmph. This is your just deserts for trying something so cowardly, which ultimately backfired on you.

Higashira tilted her head side to side trying to digest what I’d said. “She thought... I was ‘into’ you...? Huh?”

“I-I’m not at fault here! You two walk home together every single day! I’m not weird for thinking that!”

“Just to back up Yume-chan here, she’s right. Anybody would think that! Even I thought that!” Minami-san said, covering for Yume.

In response, Higashira just contorted her face in confusion. “Mizuto-kun, I believe this is the second time in my life that I wish I had been born male. For your information, the first time was when I began menstruating. I want to be reincarnated into a body that does not leak blood from its nether regions.”

“Hear that, you two? Would a girl say that to a guy she likes?”

Both Yume and Minami-san fell into silence, looked at each other, and after some deep thought, they both bowed their heads to Higashira and said, “Sorry for assuming the wrong things about you!”

“Huh? Why do I feel like you two are distancing yourselves while you apologize? M-Mizuto-kun, are they creeped out by me? Did I say something upsetting?!”

“Yeah, they’re creeped out, and they’re not alone,” I said, moving away from her too.

“S-Sorry!!! Please do not cast me aside!”

As tears started to form in Higashira’s eyes, I patted her head to comfort her. Since I was her only friend, I felt very responsible for her. It was kinda like having a big dog that had grown fond of you. As I patted her head, Yume and Minami-san just looked on in confusion.

“Yume-chan, relationships are hard, huh?”

“Yes, this might be a little too difficult.”

Yume

“Mizuto-kun, tell me, who do you prefer between Nera and Bianca?”

“They’re from Dragon Quest 5, right? First of all, I’ve never played it.”

“Allow me to provide a quick explanation. If Nera does not marry the Hero, she marries her childhood friend. On the other hand, if Bianca does not marry the Hero, she lives out the rest of her years alone, in a remote mountain village.”

“Okay, then I pick Nera.”

“Pardon?! Why would you not choose Bianca? She has so much to offer!”

“Yeah, a lot of emotional baggage!”

I watched as Mizuto and Higashira-san walked in front of me, intimately talking to each other. The comment she’d blurted out to Mizuto back at the school gate was certainly not something she’d say to someone she liked. To a friend of the same sex, maybe. I’d never say anything vulgar like that to any of my friends unprompted, though. Only in a situation where someone else said it first and I was just parroting them.

If this was how they normally acted with each other, then I could accept that neither of them held any kind of romantic feelings towards the other. Higashira-san had a little bit of a similar vibe to mine in middle school, so I had jumped to conclusions, but I didn’t know the half of what she truly was like. But seriously, aren’t they...?

“They’re really chummy. It’s hard to believe they just met a few days ago,” Akatsuki-san said from beside me as if she’d read my mind. “It’d be crazy to just take their word that they’re not dating. Right, Yume-chan?”

“Seriously...”

Other people would’ve thought the exact same thing as I had. I hadn’t thought they were dating because I’m possessive of the guy I’d broken up with and still have some kind of feelings for—no, anyone would have thought that!

I looked back at the two of them walking in front of me. They were so close to each other that their shoulders were practically touching, and their fun conversation didn’t seem to be running out of gas any time soon, especially with the way they were giggling. Was there a time when we looked that intimate with each other?

“I’m so disappointed. If Higashira-san had feelings for him, I was thinking of helping her out.”

“Huh? Helping her?”

“Well, look at her. She’s not exactly the assertive type. She’d need a little push, otherwise they’d just stay friends forever. Also, it’d be pretty convenient for me if they got together.” Minami shot me a strangely malicious smile. “Plus, if you joined in, she’d be invincible! You might be siblings, but you could find out all sorts of information that’d help her win his heart.”

“I guess...” I doubt there’s anyone in this world more knowledgeable about how to steal his heart than me. “But this is all assuming that she’s actually interested in him, right?”

“Yeah. So disappointing! I totally thought they were a good match.”

A good match? I looked up at them again. Seeing them made me really think from the bottom of my heart that it’d be so wonderful if they started dating.

“Oh, this is my destination.” Higashira-san came to a stop at the crosswalk.

“Right. See you tomorrow.”

“A-Also...” Higashira-san glanced at me, but instead of continuing what she was going to say, she started to fidget.

Just as we tilted our heads in confusion, Mizuto gently tapped her on the back.

“U-Uh,” Higashira-san deeply bowed her head at us and then, in a hoarse voice, she said, “G-Goodbye!” Then she let out a breath of relief as she raised her head. “I-I said it.”

“Good job,” Mizuto said, smiling.

“Heh heh.” Higashira-san smiled back at him, slightly embarrassed.

This was the same Higashira-san whose face barely moved to make expressions. But she now wore a smile, her face tinged red by the setting sun.

“Hm?”

“Hmmm?!”

Wait. Wait what just happened?

“Okay, goodbye to you too, Mizuto-kun! Please, contact me on LINE when you’ve finished reading the book I recommended!”

“Yeah, as long as you’re still awake around two.”

“Roger that!”

At that very second, the crosswalk sign lit up, and Higashira-san elatedly skipped to the other side of the street. As we watched her disappear behind the cars, Akatsuki-san said in an even lower voice than usual, “Do you remember what you said, Yume-chan?”

“Huh?”

“You said you’d help if she’s interested in him, right?”

“Wha— I-I didn’t promise or anything!”

“Irido-kun, gimme Higashira-san’s LINE ID.”

“I told you I didn’t promise anything!”