My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 3 - Chapter 2

Isana Higashira Comes Over

“What are you so wary of?”

In what could only be described as a folly of youth, I had a so-called girlfriend during eighth and ninth grade. How was it that the two of us “eternally single” types ended up getting together? Clearly, there were invisible strings in the form of a shared interest that tied us together.

The shared interest we had was the greatest invention of humanity—the crowning achievement of humans and the very foundation that civilized society was built on. Books. The act of reading is by nature a single-player adventure, but because we shared this hobby, we were drawn to one another. I won’t try to argue about whether that was a good or bad thing. I just want to make clear the simple cause-and-effect of how we ended up dating.

We exchanged our thoughts on books we’d read and asked each other about books we hadn’t read. Then we’d lend each other books from our collections. Truth be told, even though our status changed from being in a relationship to being stepsiblings, this little connection of ours continued to this day.

However, if there was one difference I could point to, it’d be the fact that now we’d argue about books we’d both read and then complain about books we hadn’t read. Then we’d disparage each other whenever one of us borrowed books without asking.

With that in mind, it’s safe to say that our current relationship was that of fellow readers. We had absolutely no reservations about throwing our opinions at each other, which I guess could be considered an improvement for us, but I digress.

Back then, being able to borrow books had been very important to middle schoolers like us who didn’t have any money to buy them. Not only could we read books for free, we’d be reading a book that the other had read, which was a very important factor. It was more enjoyable that way, and it meant that we could have proper conversations regarding our impressions and thoughts on each book. It was really like killing two birds with one stone because to us, books were a better tool of communication than social media.

For example, there was this one conversation we had while walking around a secondhand bookstore when she was still Yume Ayai.

“I actually have the entire collection at my place,” I said during her search for a certain mystery series.

“Really?”

“Yeah, so if you’d like, I could lend them to you...”

“Thanks! I haven’t been able to find them anywhere.”

“All right then, wanna come over?” I asked without even thinking of the implication.

“Huh?” Ayai suddenly froze as stiff as a board. “B-By come over, you mean to your house?”

“Hm? Yeah.”

“U-Uh, um...” She looked at the ground and tugged at her bangs.

Finally, my foolishness dawned on me. I’d just invited a girl over to my house.

“O-Oh, uh...”

“U-Um...”

The narrow aisle of the secondhand bookstore was consequently filled with the trivial sounds of a boy and a girl fumbling to find the right words to say. This uncomfortable situation lasted for over a minute before finally we glanced at each other and exchanged polite smiles.

“H-How about I just bring them to school tomorrow?”

“Y-Yeah. Th-Thanks.”

I’ll be the first to admit that spending time in the same room with Yume Ayai while talking about nothing in particular would have been a fun time. However, there was a reason we were both hesitant to be in the same room at my house. It was because we were dating.

Being alone together in the same room has a different meaning when you’re dating. If we hadn’t been together though, maybe I would’ve had a friend who I could actually talk to about books—my first true friend in middle school. Sometimes I wondered if maybe it would’ve been better if we’d just stayed friends, and I continued to wonder about that until I met Isana Higashira.

◇

“I would like to browse your personal book collection, Mizuto-kun,” my friend Isana Higashira said as we sat in our usual spot in the library. It was totally out of the blue but calm and casual.

“Huh? My personal book collection?”

“Consider this: I have been rejected by you, correct?”

“Wow, you’re bringing that up yourself?”

“Since I have been rejected, the logical assumption is that you have no romantic feelings for me. Therefore, if I—a female—were to enter your—a male’s—room, there should be absolutely no problem. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I...guess?”

The way she phrased it made it difficult for me to disagree. Somehow, her words had a lot of sway to them. She may not have been the best speaker, but she was somehow still able to be very logical.

“Okay, well, wait a minute, Higashira. I’m not seeing where my book collection fits into the equation.”

“My desire to browse your collection is simply what I’d like to do. There is no particular reason; I’d just like to take a look. If I had to say, I would very much like to see what images in the light novels are the most wrinkly. It will give me insight into what heroines awoke your sexual senses in middle or even elementary school. Simple, is it not?”

“Simple? No. Why would you want that insight at all?”

“Would you not be infatuated by me being jealous?”

“Nope. Also, ‘infatuated’ is a really dated term.”

“Would my jealousy not make you horny?”

“Where did your modesty go, woman?!”

“Hm? What is so immodest about the word ‘horny’? It’s used all the time on the internet. Please explain to me what is so wrong with ‘horny.’” The large-chested dirty-joke lover Isana Higashira fluttered her eyelashes in a flirtatious manner.

“You’re somehow even more annoying than before.”

“Your disheartened face has very high value as masturbation material! I know what I will be thinking of tonight.”

“Seriously, knock it off before I stop being your friend.”

“Apologies! I was merely ribbing. I will no longer look at you indecently!” Tears began welling up in the eyes of the loner known as Isana Higashira.

While she was desperately apologizing, her self-professed “G-cup milkers” squished against my arm, most likely without her realizing. This was infinitely worse than when she had been uncomfortable with flirting.

“Yeah, I’m really not sure if I wanna let you come over. I feel like my chastity is in danger.”

“Please, rest assured. I will switch myself to post-coital clarity mode.”

“You just can’t help saying the wrong things, huh?”

“Simply put, you have the impression of someone that has very old light novels, and I’d like to go to your home and borrow some of them.”

“Old light novels? I’m not sure what’s considered ‘old’ in your world, but you were reading Haruhi not too long ago, right?” From our generation’s point of view, Haruhi would be well within the realm of being considered “old.” I shrugged. “Well, whatever, I’m fine with you coming over, but are you sure you’re okay with it?”

“Hm?”

“You’re not worried about being alone with a guy in his room?”

“Huh?” Higashira tilted her head as if she’d heard something completely out of left field. “You just rejected me the other day. What’s there to worry about?” Her eyes sparkled with undoubting innocence.

With a face like that, I had no retaliation.

“Very intriguing. So, this is the location of your home, Mizuto-kun...as well as the location of my ‘first time.’” Higashira nervously fidgeted.

“Drop the innuendo,” I snapped in response, chopping her on the head to bring her back to her senses. That’ll teach her to talk like that right outside my house. And I could’ve sworn she said something about “switching to post-coital clarity mode” just a bit ago. What happened to that?

“You’ve no one to blame but yourself. You’re the one who has left me as a friend with no benefits.”

“Okay, you’re starting to make me nervous. Don’t make me get physical with you.”

“Oh my. In that case, should we stop by the convenience store? Or maybe a drug store?”

“I’m talking about physically stopping you!”

Ever since her confession, she’d stopped restraining herself in the least bit; it had gotten really hard to not be conscious of her.

“Does my mentor reside here as well?” she asked with a curious tilt of the head.

“Your what now?”

“Oh, my apologies. I’m referring to Yume-san.”

“What have you guys been up to behind my back?”

I’d already figured out that both she and Minami-san had had a hand in Higashira’s confession to me, but I didn’t know what they’d done specifically since they were so tight-lipped about it.

“Anyway,” I continued, “I don’t think she’s back yet. Usually she’s either out hanging with Minami-san, stopping by a bookstore, studying at the library, or something.”

“How unfortunate. I would’ve very much liked to observe stepsiblings in their natural habitat.”

“Don’t treat us like we’re in some kind of nature documentary.”

Yume not being home at this time of day was a blessing in disguise. Who knows how much shit she’d give me for bringing Higashira over.

Since nobody was around, I forwent announcing that I’d come home as I stepped inside.

“P-Pardon the intrusion...” Higashira said in a very soft, reserved voice, hiding behind me.

She’d probably entered shy mode due to her nervousness at visiting someone’s house for the first time. I, on the other hand, was much more worried about someone seeing me bring a girl over than actually having one over.

“All right, Higashira, go on up to my room. I’ll get us something to drink.”

“O-Okay. I’ll have apple juice.”

“First time I’ve had such a picky guest.”

Do we even have apple juice? I wondered as I opened the door to the living room, only to be met with an unexpected face.

“Huh?”

“Hm?” Yume Irido first looked at me before noticing Higashira behind me.

She looked back and forth between us over and over again until Higashira spoke up.

“Oh, so you are home, Yume-san. Salutations!”

“Y-Yes, hello— Wait, no!” Yume shut the door behind her in a panic, separating us from the living room. “Explain yourself! Why did you bring her here?! Didn’t you just reject her?!” she quietly hissed at me.

“Yeah,” I whispered back. “You’re not wrong. It all just happened so fast.”

“How are you so easily swayed by her?! Tell her to go home!”

Wait, why are we even whispering?

“Isn’t that kinda rude? I know you’re not a fan of her, but—”

“That’s not what I mean! Our parents—”

But before she could finish, I heard two familiar voices from the other side of the living room door.

“Oh, is that you, Mizuto-kun?” Yuni-san called out.

“Hey, Mizuto,” my dad quickly followed. “You could’ve said that you were home.”

Suddenly, I was sweating bullets. It was one thing for Yume to know that I’d brought Higashira over. At the very least, she knew our situation and that our relationship was purely platonic.

But it was opening a whole other can of worms for our parents, who had absolutely no knowledge of our circumstances, to see her.

“H-Higashira! I’m really sorry, but something just came up.”

“Hm?” Higashira tilted her head in confusion as I tried to push her back out the door.

But then, the living room door opened.

“Mizuto? You could at least say something... Hm?” My dad had poked his head out and got a clear view of Isana Higashira. “Hm? Hmm?! A-A girl?!” He looked at Higashira, me, and then Yume. “Is she your friend, Yume-chan? But it looks like she’s with Mizuto...” I swore I could nearly see question marks floating around him.

Dear father, is it really that hard to believe that I brought a girl home?

“U-Uh, pardon the intrusion...” Higashira said again nervously, bowing her head. “I am Mizuto-kun’s friend, Isana Higashira.”

“O-Oh, I see. You’re his friend, huh? For a second, I thought Mizuto brought home a girlfriend.”

“N-Not at all—he’s already rejected me in that regard!”

“Huh?”

Both Yume and I were frozen during this entire exchange. Before we knew it, it was all over.

“He thoroughly rejected me, so we are merely friends now. You’ve nothing to worry about!”

Thanks to Higashira’s relentless corpse-kicking, time finally started moving again.

“Y-Yuni-san!” dad shouted. “M-Mizuto...! H-He brought his ex over!”

“What?! Details!!!”

I grabbed Higashira by the arm and dragged her up the stairs to my room.

“Um, if I may...” Higashira curiously began after we’d escaped. “Why did your father assume that I’m a former partner of yours?”

“Listen...” I held my head in agony. “If someone asks if you’re seeing a guy and you reply that you’re ‘merely friends now,’ it’s normal to think that there used to be some kind of romantic involvement.”

“Oh... I see?”

“You totally don’t.” I don’t know what I’d expected. She obviously had a different idea of what was common sense.

“If this was going to end in a misunderstanding, I would have preferred for them to think I was your current girlfriend. It would be very helpful to my schemes.” Even though she’d hidden most of her face with the sleeves of her sweater, her eyes made it clear she was smiling.

“Plans? What plans? No, never mind. I don’t want to know.” I sighed and rested my forehead in my hand.

Speaking of the misunderstanding, maybe it was better that they thought Higashira was my ex. It’d throw them off the trail of discovering that Yume was my actual ex. This was what one would call a “false lead.” The only problem with this was that it’d be kinda impossible to ask Higashira to pretend she was my ex.

“Wow, your room is so cluttered with books. I feel very much at peace.” In the midst of my thinking, Higashira had moved to my bookcase while avoiding the towers of books strewn across my floor. “Impressive—you’ve such a variety of genres. They say that a bookcase is a window into the soul of its owner. In your case, yours shows that you are a people pleaser.”

“Don’t accuse me like that. I’m a nobody pleaser.”

“You could be a one-person pleaser and simply be kind to me, and only me. I still have feelings for you, after all.”

I chose not to respond to that.

“P-Please don’t take me seriously! I-I was merely joking.”

How was I supposed to know that was a joke?! In general, I had a real problem with knowing how to interact with her sometimes, and this definitely didn’t help.

“May I browse your collection?” she said with pleading eyes.

“Just make sure you put everything back where you found it.”

“Browsing a bookcase is almost like excavating fossils. Just as there are different layers in the Earth, there are different layers to a bookcase that provide insight into the levels of knowledge of its owner. Similar to sifting through sediment, when going through a bookcase, you sift through sentiment.”

“You really wanted to say that last part, huh?”

While Higashira continued her “excavation” of my bookshelf, I heard a knock at the door. Initially, I was worried that it was dad, but felt immediate relief when the knocking grew violent. The only person in this household capable of that kind of violence was...her.

“Is knocking with your feet normal on your planet?” I asked, opening the door.

“I’m just here to stop you from doing anything indecent to Higashira-san.” Yume Irido glared at me with a surly expression.

“You really think I would do anything like that with everyone home?”

“Good point... You’d only try something when nobody’s around.” My shitty little stepsister shot me a smug smirk.

She must’ve been referring to when we’d been home alone during the typhoon.

I looked away, embarrassed. “Why are you here, anyway?”

“Obviously to chaperone you and make sure you don’t lay your hands on Higashira-san. You know, as her friend.”

“Uh-huh. ‘As her friend.’”

I was surprised she could call Higashira a friend so easily when she used to be just like her—struggling to determine what a friend really was and wasn’t.

“Also, I’m hiding. Our parents have a million questions, and I don’t want to answer them.” Yume let out a long, exasperated sigh.

“Ah...” Makes sense. That’s rough. “All right, come in. I’d rather you see how things are for yourself instead of making your own assumptions.”

Ultimately, I decided that since she’d been so refreshingly honest with me, I should try to be generous here and extend an olive branch.

“I’ll do just that.” She accepted my invitation and strode inside.

As she did, her eyes landed on Higashira, who was currently happy at work, digging through my bookshelf.

“Oh, well if it isn’t Yume-san. Have you come to excavate as well?”

“‘Excavate’? Are there fossils in his bookshelf?”

“Browsing a bookcase is almost like excavating fossils,” Higashira repeated. “Just as there are different layers in the Earth, there are different layers to a bookcase that provide insight into the levels of knowledge that its owner has. Similar to sifting through sediment, when going through a bookcase, you sift through sentiment.”

“You...what?”

Yume read translations of classic mysteries, so she wasn’t really well versed in wordplay. Higashira must’ve realized that what she’d said had flown over Yume’s head because her expression was filled with disappointment. I totally get that.

“At any rate,” Higashira continued, “Mizuto-kun has quite an enjoyable bookcase, making it a very worthwhile browsing experience! I’m so envious that you’re able to peruse this selection whenever you’d like.”

“I-I guess that’s true.”

“No, it’s not,” I interrupted. “Don’t just pop in here whenever you want. Remember when you got all red in the face because you thought a rom-com light novel was a porno?”

“Th-That was—”

“Interesting. I hadn’t realized you had such an experience. Was it possibly...this one?” Higashira pointed to one on the shelf. “Indeed, it is fairly lascivious.”

“No, not that one,” I responded. “It was much more titillating.”

“More titillating than that?!”

Thus began Higashira’s fun game of pulling light novels from my bookcase and showing their pictures to Yume.

“Feast your eyes on this! Is this illustration not just the pinnacle of eroticism?”

“Wh-Wh-Wha—”

I felt a little awkward as I watched two high school girls look at erotic pictures in my books, but it was also an excellent chance to mock Yume for being innocent.

I laughed. “Pfft. What are you, a grade schooler?”

“Sh-Shut up, you closet perv!”

“True,” Higashira agreed, “it is quite surprising how many erotic books are in Mizuto-kun’s possession. He even has ones where the nipples are drawn.”

“What? Nipples?” Yume leaned closer, curious.

“Okay, Higashira. Let’s leave it at that.” I grabbed Higashira’s wrist as she tried to pull out another book from the back of my bookcase.

I never look at the contents of a book before buying it. I only need to look at the cover to know if I’ll vibe with it. I honestly had no idea what was in that book.

“Hmph, and here I was planning to check and see if any of the illustrations were wrinkled.”

“That’s a definite no.”

“Understood.” Higashira nodded. “As a trade-off, allow me to investigate the contents of your laptop instead.”

“That’s even more of a no!”

“I give you permission to look through my tablet in exchange.”

“How desperate are you?!” She’d really shoot herself in the foot like that?!

“Are you two always like this? How do I put it... So open with each other?” Yume backed away from us a little bit, her gaze unwavering.

“Hmm... Yes, I’d say so. It is even normal for us to share information regarding which beauties we’d like to rub one out to.”

“‘Rub one out’...?” Yume tilted her head in confusion.

“Seriously, stop, Higashira. She doesn’t get that kinda stuff,” I said, covering her mouth from behind.

“Mmmffmm!” Higashira protested, wildly swinging both of her arms around, but it wasn’t too hard to keep her in check because of her weak otaku constitution.

“Hm...” Yume let out a very speculative sound that made it clear she was pouting.

“Dear me, you are quite the overprotective older brother.” Higashira exhaled deeply now that her mouth was free. “Are you aware that censorship of expression is the death of culture?”

“I was censoring you specifically.”

“Goodness, I was the target of your censorship? I suppose I am at fault. It was wrong of me to be born with this seductive chest of mine.”

“Please, stop! It’s seriously hard to reply when you say things like that!”

“Alas, I am unable to avoid utilizing my single redeeming point,” Higashira said, pressing her arms into her school-assigned sweater to emphasize her chest.

I was under the impression that most girls would have a complex about the size of their breasts, but maybe Higashira had just been poisoned by fiction.

“Oh.” Higashira suddenly extended her hand towards my bookshelf and pulled out a book that had an illustration on the cover, but none inside. It was a book in what’s called the “light literature” genre. “If I remember correctly, this author debuted with a light novel series.”

“Yeah... I think so.”

“I typically only check for light novel releases, so I was completely unaware of this. May I read it?”

“Go for it.”

Higashira gripped the book happily against her chest and made a sound of excitement, albeit in a monotone voice. Then, her eyes nervously darted around.

“U-Uh, may I use your bed?”

“Hm? Sure.”

Wait, what did I just agree to? Before I could think back on what I’d just said, Higashira moved to the bed that I regularly slept in.

“All right, then. Don’t mind if I do.”

I had expected her to just sit normally on the bed. Instead, she took off her socks like she often did at the library, and then laid down, stretching out her plump thighs and whimsically tapping her legs. Her arms reached towards the head of the bed as she opened up a book atop my pillow. This was the kind of relaxedness that one would have if they were in their own home. She made it seem so natural that I almost forgot that this was my room.

“Wait! Wh-What are you doing, Higashira-san?” Yume frantically ran over to her after seeing her actions bereft of restraint.

“Hm?”

“Y-You’re on his bed. You know that, right?!”

“Yes, of course I’m aware of that. Otherwise I’d have no need to ask for his permission.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Yume shifted uncomfortably. “D-Doesn’t it bother you at all?!”

“Hm? Well...” Higashira’s facial expression barely changed before she buried her face into my pillow. “I suppose my heart is racing from Mizuto-kun’s smell.”

“It is?!” I totally thought she didn’t care!

“However, that aside, I am not left with much of a choice. This is the only place I am able to read.”

“What do you mean? Aren’t you...worried at all?!”

“‘Worried’?” Higashira parroted, giving Yume the same sincere look she’d shown me at the school library. “What is there to worry about? I’ve already been rejected.”

I could tell that Yume was at a loss for words in the face of Higashira’s surprising statement.

“You get it now?” I asked, placing my hand on Yume’s shoulder.

“Huh? B-But... Um... What?” Yume was visibly confused and repeatedly looked between Higashira, who was happily reading on my bed, and me.

Higashira firmly believed that I’d never see her as a girl no matter what she did. Therefore, there was nothing holding her back in this situation since she couldn’t progress any further than the status of “friend” with me.

Honestly, she wasn’t wrong in thinking that, especially since that’s how I tried to interact with her. I just wanted us to be friends. I didn’t want any of the gender labels to affect our relationship. So right now, all I saw was my friend I’d brought over, reading a book on my bed.

That being said, stepping back and looking at the situation kinda made me realize how absurd it was. Higashira, the person who should have been hurting the most from her confession the other day, was doing fine, but I still couldn’t fully take her femininity out of the equation. I was still lagging behind her in terms of my consciousness of our relationship.

I knew that having these feelings was rude to her, especially since I’d rejected her for a really selfish reason. I knew I had no obligation to treat her like a girl. I need to put in a little more effort. I should learn from her example and put that entire confession affair behind me. What I needed to do was put more effort into being her friend and nothing else. In doing so, I would be able to show my sincerity.

“I-I can’t follow this at all,” Yume whispered to me. “How is she enjoying herself in your room more than my past self did?”

“Just let it be. I’ve decided to recognize her as a gender-neutral friend of mine. You should calm yourself down by reading.”

“Okay...” Yume said, accepting a book from me before moving to the wall and sitting down.

I reached into my school bag, pulled out the book I’d been reading, and sat against my bed. For a while after that, the only sound in the room was that of pages turning.

I heard Higashira stretching on the bed behind me, prompting me to look up at the clock. It was already past six, meaning that approximately two hours had come and gone in the blink of an eye.

“That was quick. Done already?” I asked, turning around to look at Higashira, who was now flaunting her big breasts.

“Yes, and it was quite interesting! It does lose points though for its lack of illustrations depicting the naked bodies of its beautiful female characters.”

“That pretty much never happens.”

If I remembered right, she’d read an emotional romance novel, but I didn’t see any sign of her having shed even a single tear. Higashira may have had trouble expressing her emotions, but it didn’t mean she didn’t express them at all. That being said, one time I had caught her staring intently at an erotic illustration of a heroine in the book she was reading, completely expressionless.

In that regard, she was the complete opposite of Yume, who’d sometimes spoil things with her facial expressions. She’d also gasp and squeal whenever there was an unexpected twist.

“Phew, my shoulders are stiff. Please rub them, Mizuto-kun.”

“No. Why?”

“It is easy to get stiff shoulders when you have large breasts. Were you unaware of that?”

“That’s not what I meant by ‘why.’”

I wasn’t asking why she had stiff shoulders, but why I had any obligation to rub them.

“Oh, dear. I can no longer move... I may need to stay here on your bed until I am a mere skeleton. Oh, deary me!” She then began to roll around on my bed.

“Okay already! Stop rubbing your scent all over my bed!” I sat Higashira on her knees, kneeled behind her, and placed my hands on her shoulders.

Higashira looked up at me, her eyes glistening. “Please...be gentle.” As soon as I put pressure on her shoulders with my fingers, Higashira jumped and let out a gasp. “Hngh! Y-Yes, please continue... Ahn!”

“Okay, seriously, what are you playing at?”

“I’m reenacting the very popular light novel trope of doing something perfectly innocent while acting as though it is dirty.”

“That trope doesn’t exist in real life!”

“Ow! Ow, ow, owie! Y-You’re gripping me too hard! Ow, ow, ow!” Higashira cried out as I dug my fingers into the fleshy parts of her stiff shoulders.

“Why are you two so close?!” Yume interjected from the other side of the room.

I thought she’d chilled out a little while reading, but from the tone of her voice, it seemed like she’d returned to freak-out mode.

“You two have gotta be pulling a fast one on me! Are you sure you’re not actually dating?!” Yume’s face was flushed as she shakily pointed her finger at us.

“Whatever do you mean? We’ve been like this from the beginning, right, Mizuto-kun?”

“Yeah, sounds about right. We’re friends, so...”

“Wait, I got it!” Yume exclaimed after looking at us. “I got it! I got it! Since neither of you have ever had friends before, you don’t have personal space bubbles! Case closed!”

“How rude. I have at least...one friend...”

“Yeah, exactly. I have a friend...or two...”

Higashira and I both shifted our eyes away from Yume.

“Well...” I started. “Everyone’s personal space bubble is different, right?”

“You know what they say,” Higashira agreed, “to each their own, right?”

“Whatever! Get off both the bed and each other before you start making excuses!”

Higashira let out a heavy sigh and leaned her head against my chest. “It must be quite challenging for you to have a brother-loving little stepsister, Mizuto-kun.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

“I’m neither a brother lover nor his little stepsister!”

“Please assist me with putting on my socks.” Higashira stuck out her bare leg to me, completely ignoring Yume’s words of protest.

I was used to this by now, so I picked up the socks she’d dropped on the floor and pulled her toes and then her foot through the sock while supporting her heel with my hand.

“I’ve wondered about this for a while, but why don’t you try putting your socks on by yourself?” Yume asked.

“Well, you see, it is very difficult to bend over with my chest being this large.”

“You’re blaming your chest?! Be thankful Minami-san isn’t here!” Yume shook her head.

“Heh heh, well if I’m being honest, I’ve become accustomed to Mizuto-kun tending to me like this.”

“Sometimes I put them on backwards though,” I chimed in.

“Huh? Really?”

“Yep.”

“How disloyal of you!”

“Ow. Don’t kick me!”

I blocked her incoming kicks while finishing putting her socks on. And then Higashira finally got off my bed.

“May I borrow your restroom?”

“I thought you were going home. Are you gonna stay here longer?”

“I’m planning on looking for a few books to borrow before I depart.”

“All right. The bathroom’s down the stairs—first door on the left.”

“Thank you very much.” Higashira swiftly exited the room, leaving Yume and me behind.

For some reason, Yume was firmly glaring at me as if she was holding a grudge, but I couldn’t recall doing anything deserving of her scorn. I decided that it was best to not engage and thus went back to reading, pretending not to notice.

“Hey,” her sharp voice rang out, prompting me to glance at her.

As I did, I saw her taking off her black thigh-high socks. Huh? What’s she doing? Her long, bare, porcelain legs were in full view. I hadn’t seen them since the time I had run into her when she was coming out of the bath, but just like then, there wasn’t any excess flab on them whatsoever. Between Higashira and her, she seemed to have the more slender legs.

She took her socks, approached me on the bed, and then plopped down right next to me...just like Higashira had done.

“Put them on for me.” She thrust her socks at me.

I had no clue what was going on, or what she was trying to do. It was so confusing that I didn’t know if I should laugh or what.

“I don’t get what you’re trying to compete against. Are you really that possessive?”

“Shut it. I just thought that using you like a servant would be amusing. Now put them on me.”

She really was a difficult person to deal with. If I kept trying to ask questions, that’d give more time for Higashira to come back and see this situation, and in that case, I figured I should just get it over with. I took the black thigh-highs from her and gently supported her heel with my left hand, just as I had done with Higashira.

A pale blue vein had surfaced on the back of her foot. Her toenails were meticulously and evenly cut, unlike Higashira’s, since she had the tendency to let them grow out. I took the sock and pulled her toes through the opening as if I was trying to conceal them. When her toes reached the end of the sock, I began pulling up the rest of it past her ankle.

I continued pulling the sock over her smooth, gorgeous shin and lean calf. As soon as I realized that I’d already pulled the sock up to her kneecap, I had a self-revelation. Higashira only wore socks that went up to her calves, but the socks that Yume was wearing went up past the knee, meaning that my hands would inevitably go much higher than they’d ever gone with Higashira.

I glanced at Yume’s face and saw that her face was flushed red, making me quickly look back at my hands. Oh, now you realize?! What she’d asked me to do was a bigger invasion of personal space than anything she’d ever asked before. If she’d asked me to stop, I would have done so immediately. With that said, I stopped my hands for a few seconds.

However, she showed no sign of halting me. She stayed completely silent. So, I followed suit and kept my mouth shut, pretending not to notice anything, and continued moving the sock up her leg until her knee was wrapped in the black cloth.

Next, I slowly and carefully pushed the sock up with my hand. From the corner of my eye, I could see that Yume was tightly gripping the sheets with her hands. I began to focus on my fingers with the intensity of a heart surgeon as I moved them, desperately avoiding touching her hands. Before long, the sock was fully on without any wrinkles. The black cloth now perfectly embraced her leg from her toes to her thigh.

I exhaled and let go. As I did, my fingers slightly dug into her inner thigh, prompting her to tremble and let out a strange squeal. My head snapped up, and I saw that her face was flushed. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand to hide her embarrassment.

“I-It’s nothing...”

Of course. It’d be bad if it were actually “something.” I returned my gaze to my hand which held the remaining sock. It was obvious, but socks came in pairs, meaning that there was still one sock left.

“So...what about this one?” I asked hesitantly in a low voice.

Then, in a voice even lower than mine, she made a sound before extending her other bare leg in my direction.

Of course that was her response! Because this is “nothing”! I cleared my mind to be serene and tranquil as I readied myself to put the remaining sock on for Yume, but before I could, my phone began vibrating, making both of us jump. Someone’s texting me?

“Mind if I look?” I asked, glancing at Yume.

“G-Go ahead,” Yume said, looking away from me.

I internally let out a sigh of relief. Why do I have to feel like this around someone like her? I got off the bed and walked to my desk where I saw that I’d received a LINE message from Higashira.

Izanami: need aid

“I greatly appreciate your assistance. I haven’t the faintest idea how to converse with adults that I’m unacquainted with.”

“Yeah, because you’ve never had a conversation that extends outside of light novels and your boobs.”

“Oh, certainly!”

It seemed that on the way to the bathroom, she had the bad luck of being spotted by dad and Yuni-san. Given that both of them were extremely interested in their son’s love life, she’d been subjected to their questioning.

Luckily, she’d been able to send us an SOS, and we made it in time to rescue her. When we did, both Yume and I decided that it’d be best for her to go home at that point; every second she spent at our house had the potential to make things worse.

I decided that it’d be better if I walked her home just in case, even though the sun was still out.

“Your parents seem to be under the impression that I am your former partner. I wonder what brought them to that conclusion.”

“Really. You have no idea? That’s rich.”

“But I must say, it is a nice feeling—the feeling of being seen as someone’s girlfriend. I was so inundated with the pleasure of it that I couldn’t help but act as such.”

“You just made things worse!”

Do any of the girls I know have good characters?!

“But, hm, how do I put this?” Higashira said as she stepped on the shadows cast in front of her one by one. “Even for me, it was difficult to plainly say that I confessed to you, got rejected, and have never once been your girlfriend.”

“...”

“So, it’s fine to leave things as they are, wouldn’t you say? At the very least, it will allow me to have been your girlfriend within the realm of their misunderstandings, albeit your former one.” Higashira skipped over the shadow cast by a telephone pole ahead of us while half whispering the last part. “To be honest, I am still a little hurt, Mizuto-kun,” she said, looking at me with her usual emotionless face.

“I see...”

“So please, properly comfort me as a friend.”

“Sure thing.”

We were walking side by side, but we weren’t holding hands. We were just walking shoulder to shoulder, which was exactly what she wanted right now.

“I am truly glad to have met you, Mizuto-kun.”

“Yeah, same.”

“Heh heh, it would seem that we have mutual feelings for each other.”

“Yeah.”

“Since we have mutual feelings, how about we begin dating as well?”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Oh dear, it seems I’ve been rejected once again.” Higashira began snickering uncontrollably.

For whatever reason, it seemed as if the shadows being cast were avoiding her. We were walking side by side, but we weren’t holding hands. Maybe that was the biggest difference. What if we hadn’t dated? This was nothing but a pointless hypothetical, especially now that all was said and done. There was no way either of us could be like Isana Higashira.

“Is something the matter, Mizuto-kun?” Higashira said, looking right into my eyes.

She looked right at me without blushing, without shifting her eyes, without trying to play it off—she looked right at me. I felt dizzy, but that had to have been because of the sunset.

“Sorry.”

“Hm? Where did that come from? How about you buy me a book for the time being as an apology for whatever you’re apologizing for?”

“Don’t ask for compensation without even knowing what’s going on.”

I’m sorry, Higashira. I’m seriously sorry that the two of us aren’t like you. We continued walking next to each other as night continued to fall, our shadows growing longer and longer.