My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 3 - Chapter 6

The Ex-Childhood Friends Want to Watch Over

“Aaaaaaaaaaagh!!!”

There’s a certain undeniable fact that makes my hair stand on end whenever I recall it. I had a so-called girlfriend during the first semester of middle school.

She was devoted in a housewife sort of way, and while she may have been a shrimp, she was plenty beautiful to me. Out of a hundred people, I was sure that at least seventy of them would be jealous that she was with me. I sure did have a girlfriend like that at one point.

So why am I bragging about my romantic life? Well, I’m not. Just listen to my story till the very end, and I’m sure you won’t think I’m bragging in the slightest. In fact, let me throw out a prediction: your opinion’s gonna turn on its head. My past self’s gonna turn in his grave if it doesn’t.

“Ko-kun? Did you eat the pudding I left in the fridge?”

This daily scene used to be so normal. Even before we started dating—before our lifestyles changed—she’d talk to me like that whenever I was chilling at home.

Apparently, she’d left her pudding in my refrigerator. Furthermore, I vaguely recalled scarfing down said pudding. Keep in mind that this took place when I was still an innocent young buck.

I jumped up to apologize. “Sorry! I’ll buy you a new one!”

“It’s okay. I have another one.”

Oh yeah, I guess there was one more in there.

“Oh, so you bought one for each of us?”

“Yep.” She sat down at the dining table, violently tore off the lid, and began to gobble up the pudding, not once making eye contact with me.

Her cheeks puffed out as if she was pouting, but more than likely it was just because of the pudding.

“So... What’re you pissed about?”

“Nothing.” Her tone was curt; she was obviously angry.

No matter how obvious her poor mood was, I had no clue as to the reason, so I dropped the subject.

Later in the day when we sat down for dinner, she swiped a piece of fried chicken from my plate.

“Yoink!”

“Wh-What the hell?!”

“What’re you pissed about? Are you that much of a glutton? You wanted to eat it that badly?” She shot me a smirk while waving it in front of me with her chopsticks.

Then, a light bulb went off in my head. Was this possibly revenge for the pudding?

“It’s normal to get pissed when someone steals something from you,” I said, a little frustrated as I avoided her gaze.

“All right, then I’ll give it back to you.” She brought her chopsticks towards my mouth. “Say ‘ah.’”

That was when I finally realized the truth behind it all. “So, that pudding...”

“Hm?”

“Did you buy it so you could do this?”

It would explain why she was so mad that I’d eaten it before she’d come over.

“Aha ha, who knows?” Akatsuki—the girl in front of me—laughed as she responded in a mocking tone.

Ugh, just thinking about it gave me goosebumps, made a chill run up my spine, and caused all the hair on my body to stand on end. That had probably been the start of it all. We were still a happy teasing couple, but at a certain point, her feeding me had become a given. Suddenly, it was rare for me to pick up chopsticks on my own, and soon enough, I no longer had any opportunity to use them. Basically, the guy known as Kogure Kawanami died once. Despite that, somehow, this memory survived.

◇

I gasped for air as I awoke, a nasty sweat spreading across my body. That dream again? The morning rays of light flowed in from the gaps between my curtains. I’d hoped that basking in the purity of the sun would be enough to cleanse me of the nightmare, but it was as hard to get out as a curry stain.

I pulled the sleeve of my sweatshirt up and saw a bunch of hives on my arm, like a rock with a crap ton of barnacles. It was an appropriate sight after being woken up by a nightmare.

I headed to the dining room in low spirits and saw that there was a plate with a fried egg on it covered in plastic wrap as well as a reused note: “I will be home late. Eat whatever you want for dinner. Mom.”

I’d gotten used to these kinds of mornings. Thanks to the nightmare, I was firmly awake. I threw a piece of bread in the toaster and went back to my room to change into my uniform. I ate the bread and the cold egg, downed some milk, and then got myself ready in the bathroom.

I grabbed my bag and headed out at 8:40. Just as I left, my neighbor’s door opened, and out came a girl. She was a little less than 150 centimeters tall and wore a uniform from the same high school as mine. She shot me a side-glance upon noticing my presence.

Not to be outdone, I returned her glare, and we stared at each other in silence, not even waving. The looks we gave each other made our relationship status clear: enemies.

After a bit, she looked away, her ponytail swinging with her head.

I followed suit and broke eye contact with her.

We walked side by side through the plain halls until we reached the elevators. Ding! One of the two elevators opened its doors, as if to greet us. I entered, but the shrimp didn’t.

Instead, she waited a few seconds for the other elevator and got in that one instead. After my elevator’s doors closed, I finally felt like I could relax. It was as if I’d received my own private room. I looked up at the blinding white lights fixed on the low ceiling and let out a heavy sigh.

Hear me, ye boys who yearn for a rom-com situation: never ever date the girl next door.

In my case, the girl next door, Akatsuki Minami, was like my sibling. We both had absent parents; family circumstances like ours weren’t necessarily rare by Japan’s standards. They were out the door first thing in the morning and back home late at night. Because of that, we had to learn to be self-sufficient from a young age in order to properly house-sit.

And since our lives were so similar, it was hard for us to not grow close. When our parents weren’t around, we’d secretly go to each other’s places to play and talk, do laundry, cook, clean, or even just chill. This lifestyle of ours continued uninterrupted over the years.

Then, middle school came, and with it, hormones. It was really hard for us to not start developing feelings for each other. So, in our third year, we changed our relationship from childhood friends to boyfriend and girlfriend.

It had been fun at first. She was my first girlfriend—the same childhood friend that I’d been with forever and had been crushing on. Our default setting was to be as close to each other as possible, and we were pretty much flirting day in and day out. Whenever we were home, we’d be stuck to each other. If I had to use the bathroom, I’d say something like “Is it okay if I leave you for a little?” and then she’d say “Nooo, I’ll come with you!” We were chock-full of these barf-worthy lines.

But that kind of relationship can only last for so long. Being attached at the hip was fun for...maybe the first month or so? Rationally thinking, not even being able to go to the bathroom by yourself is incredibly annoying, isn’t it? After enough time had passed, I came to the conclusion that we should try to give each other more space and draw a line for the sake of privacy. After all, wasn’t it better for people in a relationship to have boundaries?

However, the word “boundaries” did not exist in Akatsuki Minami’s vocabulary. One month, two months, half a year later—it didn’t matter! She clung to me every possible second. If I wanted to go for a walk, she’d cling to my arm. When we came back, she’d sit on my lap.

On top of that, she started to do all the cleaning by herself and prepared all my meals to the point that every last calorie I consumed had been carefully planned by her. She decided what I’d wear, how long my hair could get—she went as far as washing not just my back, but my entire body, front included!

My day started with a “good morning” from her and ended with a “good night.” Does this sound like the perfect relationship? Hell. No. I was her goddamn pet! In her eyes, I may have been her boyfriend, but I’d also stopped being human.

As a result of everything, I got sick and was admitted to the hospital for a stress ulcer. When she came to visit me, I ended up yelling at her with every fiber of my being, resulting in her breaking down in tears. With that, the two of us stopped being in a relationship and stopped being childhood friends. We became two people who happened to live next to each other.

Did you know that there’s an exact term for this situation? “Living hell.”

“Ah, Kawanami, mornin’!” A classmate, Nishimura, called out to me as I entered the classroom.

I was a pretty worldly guy and had a good number of acquaintances, mainly girls, here at Rakuro Private High School, but Nishimura here was the girl I spoke with the most.

“Yo, Nishimura. Wait... Did you change shampoos?”

“Ew! How’d you know?!”

“’Cause I’m always smellin’ you.”

“Aha ha! Gross!” Nishimura laughed while slapping my shoulders.

I returned her smile with one of my own, and when I did, she tenderly pinched the ends of her hair.

“Actually, I may be a little happy to hear that,” she said, shifting her eyes away from me.

Her lips trembled in embarrassment, her face fully flushed.

A chill ran up my spine. “S-Sorry. Bathroom.”

“You should do that before you come to school!” She lightly laughed, making the chill I felt even colder.

Fortunately, I was able to hide my discomfort as I flew out of the classroom to the boy’s bathroom. It was early in the morning, so nobody was around. I stood in front of the mirror and fearfully looked at my arm. Just as I expected, there were hives. Shit.

I turned the faucet on to wash my face and gargle a little. The water only provided a little peace of mind, but it was still very important. The cool sensation slowly helped to wash away both the chills and the hives.

My experience in middle school had left deep emotional scars, leading me to develop an allergy to romance that I was still afflicted with to this day. Similar to how soldiers coming home from war can be triggered by a loud noise, whenever I sensed any romantic feelings from a girl, I’d start feeling sick.

It was doubtful that I could ever fall in love again, but that didn’t bother me. If anything, I felt grateful. Thanks to that experience and my condition, I’d reached the truth despite only being a high schooler: love is something not to experience, but to watch.

“Here.”

At lunchtime, a new situation was beginning to unfold. My classmate and friend, Mizuto Irido, had apparently brought his stepsister, Yume Irido, a carton of black tea.

“This good enough?” he asked in a provoking voice.

“Why do you look so annoyed? Is there something you want to say?” Irido-san glared back at him.

“Fine. Don’t want it? I’ll drink it.” Mizuto Irido extended his hand to retrieve the black tea, but before he could, Irido-san frantically grabbed it.

“Did I say I didn’t want it? I was just pointing out that you forgot something.”

“What? My sincerity? I’m showing you that, aren’t I?”

“Show it with your words!”

“There’s nothing wrong with what I said. You’re the only one who’s unhappy.”

Irido rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out three coins and put them out on Irido-san’s desk. There was a fifty-yen coin and two ten-yen coins, totaling seventy yen.

“Here. Interest.”

“Huh?! Wai—” Irido-san exclaimed, but Irido ignored her, returned to his seat, and unwrapped his lunch.

He’d deployed his patented social interaction barrier. Not even Irido-san could penetrate it.

“Let’s go!” She hastily stood up and whipped around, her long black hair flying through the air, and left the classroom with her friends.

“What happened?”

“Dunno...”

Her friends whispered in confusion as they followed her out.

The relationship between the Irido siblings had caused a little bit of a commotion in the beginning, and now they had an aura of being untouchable—especially Mizuto, who was a super loner. Adding the fact that they both had insanely good grades, it had gotten really hard to approach them, even if you wanted to. I was partially responsible for that atmosphere, though.

Those who didn’t know them would struggle to understand their bickering. But I totally got it.

“You ever think about pickin’ your words more carefully?” I asked, approaching Irido as he ate.

“What’s this about?” he asked, sulking.

From the words he’d used with her—“Fine, I’ll drink it” and “Interest”—I could guess that he’d most likely accidentally drunk Irido-san’s tea. This wasn’t exactly a unique situation, especially when you’re living with someone. Also, the fact that he mentioned “interest” meant...

“Seventy yen, huh?”

“What do you want, Kawanami? You’re being annoying.”

I covered my mouth to hold back a laugh. His change was seventy yen. The black tea you can buy from the school store was a hundred thirty yen, so if you paid two hundred yen, your change would be seventy yen.

This twig boy had run to the school store just as lunch break began to buy black tea before it sold out in order to apologize to Irido-san.

The tea could be bought at any convenience store, but instead of buying it on the way to school, he’d gotten it here. That meant he’d been internally struggling over whether or not he should apologize. And then when it came to actually apologizing, he’d acted like a jerk. Ha ha ha!

I cheerfully ate the bread I’d bought while my chest filled with the happy feelings of my realization.

I’m a ROM expert: a person who lives to observe the budding romances of others. I haven’t been in one for long, but I’ve observed a lot of different pairs, from real life friends to streamers. Out of all of them, these two—Mizuto and Yume Irido—were the ones who tugged on my heartstrings the most.

I would die to protect these two. I’d spend all the money I made from my part-time job on them. It was much better spent on dressing up Irido so I could see Irido-san’s reaction than anything else.

Food always tastes so much better after watching these two!

“Hm?” Irido closed his lunch box and stood up. Something must’ve caught his eye.

What’s going on? Usually he’s reading by now. I looked towards the door as Irido walked over there and my eyes widened. “What?!”

Gone were the happy feelings inside of me, and in their place was a pit of fury. Before I knew it, I was standing too.

Peeking into our classroom was a girl. There was no doubt about it. That pointlessly huge chest could only belong to one person—Isana Higashira!

She’d cozied up to Irido last month and has been an annoying obstacle ever since. What the hell was she doing here?! You’re supposed to meet up with Irido in the library after school, not during!

I was firmly in the camp of Yume x Mizuto, which was maybe something I shouldn’t have been so proud of, but Irido had made a habit of hanging out with Higashira after school. I wasn’t able to mess with this, and if I tried, I knew I’d get chewed out by him. So I decided to let this after-school custom of theirs slide. After all, what was a little bit of time after school in the grand scheme of things? Whether it was in the classroom or at home, most of his time was spent with Irido-san. So why was Higashira here during lunch?!

“What’s wrong, Higashira?” he asked in a much gentler voice than he’d used with Irido-san.

The tone he used with her wasn’t one that you’d expect for a girlfriend or a friend, but for a little sister or a cousin. But maybe that was just wishful thinking.

“Huh, is that Irido’s girlfriend?”

“Her boobs are huge!”

“He lives with Irido-san and has a girlfriend to boot?!”

“They make a nice couple.”

“Big ass titties.”

Shut up, outsiders! That is not his girlfriend! Fuck off with your assumptions!!!

Fortunately, the two of them didn’t seem to hear the shit these people were spewing.

“Well, um, it has been conveyed to me that you are in low spirits,” she said, glancing at his face while nervously rubbing her hands together.

“Me? Who’d you hear that from?”

“I’ve been told not to say.”

“There’s only one person who’d say something like that out of the people you hang around.”

He’s got that right. I already had a mental image of that girl.

“I’m not down or anything.” He paused. “Hm, I just finished eating. Want to go to the library?”

“Certainly!”

Just like that the two of them headed for the library, all smiles. I walked out into the hallway and watched them disappear into the distance, astounded. What just happened? The black tea scene was more than enough. Who needed a useless scene like this?!

Chills ran up my spine, prompting me to turn around. Standing there was Akatsuki Minami with a proud smile on her face, as if she’d won.

“You... Why did you do that?!”

Akatsuki Minami had brought me to the back of the school, and I was cornering her small body against the wall. Normal girls would be intimidated, but Akatsuki just furrowed her brow and pinched her nose.

“Get away from me. Your breath stinks.”

“Huh?!”

“Ugh! It reeks!”

I didn’t slack on my oral care routine, so there was no way my breath stunk. Akatsuki pushed against my chest, but I wasn’t going anywhere.

“Did you change your plans? Weren’t you going to marry Irido and become Irido-san’s stepsister?”

“I haven’t completely given up on that, but don’t you think he and Higashira-san have a chance? He rejected her, yeah, but it finally got him to really be conscious of her for the first time. Plus, you already found out about them.”

“Screw you! Just because I found out about them doesn’t mean that you can openly use her to piss me off! Stop using people like they’re your pawns!” I shot her a cold gaze.

“That’s rich, coming from the guy who plays with people as if they’re dolls,” she said through a devilish smile. “You’re really gross, you know that? You smirk when watching other people. What’s so fun about other people’s romances?”

“Everything.”

“Romance is meant to be experienced, not observed.”

“Ironic that you’re the one saying that.”

“Whatever. Get off of me. I need to go help Higashira-san.”

“Why would I let you do that?”

“You leave me no choice.”

Just as I was about to ask her what she meant by that, she took off the hair tie that held up her ponytail and retied her hair into two low pigtails. Next, she pulled out a pair of glasses from her pocket and put them on. Her vibe was completely different now. It was like she’d transformed into a librarian.

I had a very bad feeling about this, and just as I was thinking that, her lips curled into a sneer.

“Sorry!” she yelled in a loud voice, bowing her head.

Why’s she apologizing? But it didn’t take me long to figure out what was going on. I began hearing the unsettling buzzing of people.

“R.I.P.”

“Poor guy.”

“Who’s that? I’ve never seen her before.”

I looked up and saw a few students poking their heads out and looking down at us. That’s when I realized that she’d pulled me into her trap. Before I could say anything else, she quickly slipped away and ran. As she did, I saw a phone in her hand.

She was the one who’d gathered this crowd, all for this fait accompli! She wanted me to wear the stigma of being rejected! If I ran after her, it’d change to the stigma of a guy who forcefully chased after the girl who rejected him, spelling the end of my life as a high schooler.

It’d make it harder for me to create situations for those two siblings and impossible to preemptively stop that tramp who was trying to get in between the two of them!

I frantically racked my brain, trying to think of a way out of this. Was running away really my only option? I could feel my head overheating while it exceeded its processing power, but during that, a divine intervention descended upon me.

“Hey!” I called out to Akatsuki.

All eyes focused back on me, but at least I was successful at stopping her. This is supposed to be my last resort, but...if I’m going down, I’m taking you with me, even if that means hurting myself even further! I pulled out my phone and showed it to Akatsuki, my lips curling into a smile.

“I should delete this then, right?” I said, pushing the Play button.

“Morning, Ko-kuuun!” A sickeningly sweet voice rang out. “It’s time for schooool! If you don’t wake up, I’m gonna play a prank on youuu!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaagh!!!” Akatsuki screamed as if to drown out the sweeter-than-sugar voice coming out of my phone.

Now there was a new commotion because people were getting confused by our relationship. At first, it had been as simple as me confessing and being rejected, but with this voice recording that she’d made for me when we’d dated in the mix, doubt was cast on that. Why would I have a homemade alarm recording from her if we weren’t dating?

“Jeeeez, Ko-kun, you’re sooo spoiled! You want me to prank you thaaat muuuch? Aw, okay. Smooooch!”

Our embarrassing past rang out across the school yard. Akatsuki’s face was flushed with embarrassment. Now, the puzzled looks were focused on Akatsuki instead of me. The pipsqueak quickly walked towards me.

I smirked at her and she returned it with a death glare. She grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me away.

“No way, no way, no waaay!!! You haven’t deleted that?!”

“Yeah, it’s my insurance policy!”

“Kill yourself!!!”

I felt like I’d won after hearing her paltry insult. We were currently in a first year classroom in a different part of the school. Fortunately, the commotion hadn’t reached over here, so we could be alone.

“You’re not as many steps ahead of me as you think! I will gladly chip away at my very being if it means protecting that contentious relationship of theirs!”

“You’re such a creep, you obsessive shipper.”

“I prefer the term ‘ROM expert.’”

“Also, what do you mean chipping away at your very being?! You’re only chipping away at mine!”

“Not true.” I thrust my arm in front of her, putting on full display the hives that had sprung out across it.

“That’s...”

“It’s from hearing your ‘sweet’ voice. I still feel like I’m about to hurl.”

“Ew, you look sick.”

“Geh.” Something was about to come out.

“Ah!!! Stop! Swallow it!” Akatsuki covered my mouth with her small hands, but the cold sensation spread across my mouth and made me feel like barfing even more.

Fortunately, I was able to stop it before it reached my mouth. Phew.

Akatsuki let out a long sigh as if she’d given up and moved next to me. “Fine. Jeez. Grab my shoulder. I’ll take you to the nurse’s office.”

Suddenly I felt like I was about to barf again.

“Don’t start gagging again! There’s absolutely no romantic intent behind this!”

“Oh, okay. That’s good.”

“SMH, you’re supposed to be an energetic person, not a sickly one.”

“And whose fault do you think that is?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m so sorry.”

Using Akatsuki as a cane that was thirty centimeters shorter than I wasn’t too bad. I gripped her slender shoulder while she wrapped her arm around my waist and walked like that to the nurse’s office. My hives gave no sign of receding.

“So, hey,” I said.

“What? Don’t talk too much with your barf-mouth.”

“I’m gonna barf all over your head. Anyway, if Higashira and Irido get together, what are you gonna do?”

“What am I gonna do?”

“I know you’re crazy, but you’re not crazy enough to actually think Irido-san would marry you. How are you going to find your happiness with her free like that?”

Akatsuki-san let out a dry laugh and glanced at me. “What? You’re worried about me?”

“Not at all. You can die on the side of the road for all I care. But...” I was careful with my words in order to make sure I expressed my feelings accurately. I didn’t want her to misunderstand. “I don’t think you can really woo Irido, and that becomes even more impossible with Higashira all over him. I just got to thinking that what you’re doing is meaningless.”

I wasn’t worried about her, nor did I feel bad for her. But seeing her like this did leave a bad taste in my mouth. She may have been the instigator of our relationship, but I was the one who had ended things. Maybe I felt a bit responsible.

“You’re shit at talking,” she snapped. “Don’t try to bring up difficult topics.”

“Since when have I been shit at talking?!”

“You can flap your gums, but nothing of substance comes out. But I guess I’m the same.”

I fell silent. It felt empty thinking about it that way. I guess even she had her moments of brilliance.

“Hey...” she started again.

“Hm?”

“Your hives are gone.” She pointed to my arm.

I directed my eyes towards it, and as she said, the red bumps had disappeared. I hadn’t realized it, but I didn’t feel sick anymore either.

“Oh. I guess I ended up feeling better while we had that pointless conversation. You can let me off here.”

“You’re the one who started the conversation.”

“Either way, do as you will, failed heroine. Irido’s not gonna fall for Higashira, and she doesn’t plan on getting with him either.”

“Who are you calling a loser?!”

Akatsuki tried to hit me, but I quickly let go of her and dodged. She puffed out her cheek, pouting and glaring at me. You think you’re cute by making that face? Well you’re not! Not anymore!

Suddenly, the small-framed girl closed in on me. “Ko-kun...”

It was the name she’d called me when we still considered each other childhood friends. This girl who was thirty or so centimeters shorter than I stood on her tippy toes and got as close as she could to my lips. Then, in a soft voice that was barely a whisper, Akatsuki said, “If I fail, will you make me happy?”

My heart skipped a beat. What does she mean by— But before I could fully process my confused thought, I felt a chill run across my entire body.

“Urp.”

“Later.” Akatsuki happily skipped away, leaving me to deal with the agony of having to keep myself from throwing up.

I held my hand against my mouth and didn’t take my eyes off of her fading figure. Since I was her ex-childhood friend, I knew what expression she was wearing even though I couldn’t see her. She’s mad. Apparently, I’d incurred her wrath without even realizing it...not that it really mattered.

◇

I skipped fifth period to rest in the nurse’s office, but I made it back for sixth. As I entered the room, I immediately shot that shrimp a look, as if to say that there was a limit to the shit she could pull, but she completely ignored me.

When classes ended for the day, Irido immediately stood up with his bag. Guess he’s going to the library to meet with Isana Higashira. As hard as it was for me to allow, I didn’t want to risk Irido blowing up at me if I confronted him about it.

God, today’s such a shitty day. Just as I exhaled, I noticed Irido whisper something to Irido-san as he passed her. I didn’t hear what he said, but I did hear Irido-san’s response.

“You could’ve just said that from the start.”

I had begun to stand up, but as soon as I heard that, I sat right back down and fell onto my desk. The emotions surged through me, and it took everything I had to keep them in check. You apologized even though she’d probably forgotten about it by now?! Good for you!!!

“You’re so gross.”

And then I felt as if I’d been splashed with cold water. I looked up and saw Akatsuki Minami staring at me with an icy glare.

Buzz off! Don’t interrupt me! You’re not wanted here!

As much as I wanted to say that out loud, Akatsuki looked away and touched the end of her ponytail.

“Well...” she began, covering her mouth with her ponytail. “I do feel kinda bad that you had to skip fifth period. I guess I might’ve gone a little too far.” Her whisper was so low that I could barely hear her.

I was usually fast on my feet, but this left me completely speechless. Before I could say anything, she quickly shuffled away from me. All I could do was watch her leave.

Our relationship was not one that could be fixed. Even if one of us ate the other’s pudding, we wouldn’t get into a fight—we probably wouldn’t even feel bad. That was just how we were now. We’d lost our flirty dynamic, but the Irido siblings still had that between them.

Ah, I see. I guess it wasn’t meaningless, even if she wasn’t happy in the end. It wasn’t meaningless at all. Besides...

“I should be the one apologizing, you dolt.”

We’d learned to reflect on our actions.