My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 3 - Chapter 8.1

Childhood Friends No More

Part 1 of 2

This story takes place before either of us had any idea what romantic feelings were. Our families, who were close, were on our first and last trip together. If I remember right, we went somewhere pretty far away to do some sightseeing, but I don’t remember much more than that, probably because this was still back when we were in our early years of elementary school.

During the day, the two of us would play together, run around, and beg our parents to buy us whatever we wanted. Honestly, it was entirely possible that the trip was a sort of apology from them. They couldn’t spend all that much time with us, so instead they spent money on us.

When night came, we went to the Japanese inn that they’d reserved—my first hotel ever. Our parents conked out from exhaustion right away. I, however, couldn’t do the same, as I struggled to settle into this new environment and this different bed. And so, I got really, really bored.

While tossing and turning, I felt something warm enter the sheets.

“Wha—”

“Shhh!”

A head popped out from under the sheets, a wide smile on her face and an index finger to her lips—A-chan.

“Shhh, Ko-kun!” she said like one of our teachers before giggling.

My eyes were glued to her face. “What’re you doin’?” I asked.

“Nothin’. I’m sooo bored.”

“Oh, same. Can’t sleep at all.”

“Me neither.”

It’s not like we could turn on the lights and play since our parents were fast asleep. So our options were extremely limited. That’s when I came up with an incredibly simple idea.

“Wanna go outside?”

“Huh? Outside? W-We can’t.”

“We’ll be back in a jiffy. No one’ll notice.”

Of course, I was an incredibly naive child. A-chan wasn’t as much of a rule breaker as I was, but back then, I often took charge, so I pushed her to follow my lead.

We changed out of our yukata into our normal clothes and left, doing our best not to make a sound. The receptionists were still in the lobby, so we slipped past them, hugging the front desk’s counter, and then made a break for outside.

“Wow!” I voiced my honest reaction to seeing an entirely new world.

Up until now, I’d only ever seen the world at night from my apartment’s window. But seeing the flashing lights made my heart race. Like entering a new area in a video game, I wanted to explore everywhere. It really made me realize that the world was still spinning, even when I was asleep.

I wanted to know about the nightlife. What kind of people were out there? Why couldn’t I see this world up close until now? I was overwhelmed by the new scenery that stretched out in front of me in all directions.

I felt my hand being squeezed as I tried running off. I turned around and saw A-chan, her shoulders shrunken in uncertainty.

“Scared?” I asked.

She didn’t respond.

“Wanna go back?”

If she’d said yes, I would’ve turned around immediately. I may have been a little shit, but I never would have made A-chan do anything she didn’t want. But she shook her head. “I’m okay... You’re here, Ko-kun,” she said with a brave smile.

Seeing her like that made my chest feel weird, but I was still too young to know what that feeling was. But either way, thus began our nighttime adventure into the world. We couldn’t go into any stores, of course, so we kept our adventure to taking in the scenery as we walked around. It might not have been much, but to us, it was loads of fun.

An old guy from a shop gave us some snacks and told us to “hurry on home” after we ate them. We weaved through the crowds of drunk adults stumbling through the streets. We stopped to listen to street musicians. It really felt like we were adventurers exploring an unknown dungeon.

When we got tired from walking, we used the change we had on hand to buy drinks at a vending machine, then sat on the edge of a flower bed while staring at the sky.

“The moon’s so pretty.”

“Yeah.”

I don’t remember if the moon was full or crescent, but I do remember thinking about how beautiful it was for the first time in my life.

So, here’s the punch line.

After that, we were promptly detained by the police, and then thoroughly yelled at by our parents. Now that I think about it, it’s a miracle that nothing bad happened to us. I was able to keep this nice memory, which ended with the following conversation between the two of us—a reckless, thoughtless promise that is still carved into my heart to this day.

“Can I be with you forever, Ko-kun?”

“Yeah, of course!”

And as you know, I broke this promise.

◇

About one week had passed since summer vacation started, meaning that we were nearing the end of July and in the midst of our long break. However, our school had a certain event—a three-day, two-night study camp.

To be clear, this wasn’t a field trip or an outdoor ed kinda situation. The school booked a hotel for us to be stuck in to attend lectures. According to my upperclassmen friends, the only thing we could look forward to was the fact that the hotel was pretty fancy, and the food they served was tasty.

That we had to study during break was ridiculous in the first place. Stupid prep school. But this wasn’t the time to be up in arms. My energy was better spent thinking about the positives. This was a special event that included overnight stays. I could use this to my advantage.

“Yo. You look dead, Irido.”

“Yeah...” he responded in a low grumble.

Mizuto Irido and I had met up in front of the school.

“My sleep schedule’s been thrown off by summer break...”

“I know you aren’t a morning person. Surprised you were able to even get up.”

“I didn’t wake up. I was smacked awake.”

“By your mom?”

“No...” He turned his sleepy eyes towards a group of girls not too far away from us where a certain girl with lustrous, long black hair that shone in the morning sun stood. A girl the complete opposite of Irido, completely awake and sharp despite the early hour—Yume Irido.

“Wait...” I quickly looked around before whispering to Irido. “Does Irido-san wake you up every day?”

“Not every day,” he said, partially denying my question with an annoyed look on his face.

So you’re saying she wakes you up sometimes?! Really?! I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to contain my laughter from this hilarious situation I’d unexpectedly come across first thing in the morning. You guys are basically married!

“Attention, students. Please board the bus by class number.”

I was able to somehow calm my laughing fit while the teacher yelled out instructions. Hotels in Kyoto were always packed, so our school had to take us out of the prefecture to Lake Biwa in Shiga. It was a popular destination for elementary school field trips, second only to Mount Hiei.

Soon, we’d be on our way to our study camp. Who knew what kind of fun times awaited us there? Filled with these thoughts, I boarded the bus with Irido and swore that I’d make an opportunity for the two siblings to be alone together. And not only that. I’d make sure that the atmosphere of that situation wouldn’t be strained as it usually was...but sexy.

I’d assumed that this study camp would be really serious and strict, but actually, they weren’t too hard on us first-years. We had lax restrictions and a lot of free time. Apparently, second- and third-years had a test at the end of the day, but we didn’t. Their strategy was probably for us to get accustomed to the study camp first before cracking down.

That being said, I was a little annoyed that they took our phones away. They definitely would’ve preferred to ban them altogether, but they knew that people would’ve snuck them in anyway. Plus, it was better if we had them in case of an emergency.

We arrived at the hotel around noon and were immediately directed to our respective rooms so that we could put our stuff down. From our room, we had a view of the horizon of the huge Lake Biwa. I made a mental note that the lakeshore at night would be a good location.

“What do we do now?” my roommate, Irido, asked while taking a book out of his bag. He looked a lot better after his nap on the bus.

Luckily for Irido, he liked reading books. The rest of us would definitely struggle to pass the time without our phones.

“We have lunch and then orientation after that. No time for books right now.”

“Okay...”

If I left him to his own devices, he’d definitely spend his entire free time reading. I knew I’d have to proactively bring him outside so he could get some alone time with Irido-san.

I swiped the book he’d taken out, put it back in his bag, and then left the room with the less-than-pleased Irido. The restaurant should be on the first floor. I looked down at the carpet and then at the bright ceiling.

“This is what we pay the school the big bucks for, huh? How much money does our school have?”

“I’m a scholarship student, so I haven’t paid a single yen.”

“Ouch, don’t flex on me like that. It hurts.”

We got in the elevator and descended to the first floor, and right when the doors opened, we were greeted by the pathetic wails of a certain someone as she darted over to us.

“Mi-Mizuto-kun! I’ve located you!!!” she cried, flinging herself onto Irido.

“Whoa.” He gently caught her. “What’s the matter, Higashira? You look like you’re about to cry.”

“I was surrounded by unfamiliar people, whether it was on the bus or in my room. I feel very alone.”

“You’re with the same people in your class, aren’t you?”

“Do you remember the names of everyone in your class, Mizuto-kun?”

“Uh...”

“See?!”

I glared at my enemy, Isana Higashira, who was sticking to Irido like glue, and clicked my tongue in annoyance.

“Th-The delinquent is looking at me with a piercing gaze. S-Save me, Mizuto-kun!” Higashira sputtered, hiding behind Irido’s back.

This girl was definitely still high off of her previous success! I’m gonna tear you off of him one day!

She brushed off my glare and moved onto a different topic while looking up at Irido with sparkling eyes.

“Mizuto-kun, by the way, did you see? This hotel has an arcade in the basement. We should go tonight!”

“I’m not much of a gamer, though...”

“Please? Being in my room is quite painful...”

“You sound like a dad who’s not getting along with his family.”

I already knew about the arcade from my research earlier, which was surprisingly well stocked despite being in a hotel. It had all sorts of arcade specialties: crane games, racing games, rhythm games, dancing games, and even games in most other major genres.

“Not bad...”

“Pardon, but I was not attempting to converse with you.”

“The more the merrier, right? Let’s invite Irido-san too. I doubt she’s much of a gamer herself, so you might actually be able to win at something.”

“How rude! However...you do have a point,” she grumbled.

Too easy.

“Now that I think about it... Is Yume-san not busy with her other friends?” Higashira asked.

“You never know ’til you ask. Just throw out the invitation.” Surprisingly, Irido was the one to say this. “She’s pretty soft when it comes to you.”

“Are you really one to talk about being soft on her?”

“Hm?” Irido tilted his head in confusion.

You’re literally the softest one on her! Haven’t you realized?!

After classes were over, we ate dinner and returned to our rooms. I took a shower, but when I got out, Irido was gone. Where are you? We’re supposed to go to the arcade.

I changed into my tracksuit and walked out of the room. The rooms on this floor were supposed to be for guys only, but I heard excited female voices nearby. There was no chance, I figured, that Irido was among them.

I scanned the hallways, but I didn’t see any trace of him, which must’ve meant that he’d gone down to the basement already. Or... I had a hunch about where he might have gone, so I hopped on the elevator and went up to the girls’ floor.

I peeked out of the elevator to make sure there weren’t any teachers and then silently slipped out. Fortunately, there was no need for me to do anything that’d label me as a creep like placing my ear against each of the rooms to try and listen inside, because I heard Irido’s voice from the end of the hallway.

Looks like my hunch’s right. But I couldn’t let my guard down. Who knew what was in store? I slowly and quietly made my way towards his voice. The question was, who was he talking to? The possible candidates on this floor were Irido-san and Isana Higashira. But if he’d purposely waited until I was in the shower to sneak out, that meant that he must be meeting with...

“You sure?”

I gasped as this clear voice echoed out. I knew who that was. I tried to calm my beating heart as I inched closer to the corner of the hallway to peek around it. As I did, I saw that there was a small meeting space with two chairs. Sitting in them were Mizuto and Yume Irido. Seeing this, I couldn’t help but clench my fist in victory. Good job reading the room, Higashira!

“I got this.”

“Okay.”

They were speaking in low voices so it was hard to make out what they were saying, but that just invited my mind to try and fill in the blanks. Even if they were meeting in a deserted area of the hotel to avoid being seen, they couldn’t hide the smoke that came from the fire between them. Could they have been planning a date? They had to do it secretly in person like this because our phones were confiscated.

When they finished talking, the two of them got up and went their separate ways, meaning Irido was headed towards me. I darted away and rushed back to our room. By the time Irido came back I was able to catch my breath.

“Yo. Where were you?” Even I was surprised by how naturally I asked that. I’m so good at acting!

“I was thirsty.”

Irido wasn’t too bad either. His poker face was in full force as he lightly shook the coffee can he was holding in front of me.

Where’d you get that from? On the way back here so you could hide the fact that you met up with Irido-san? Ha ha ha! Of course, I knew better than to say anything. Plus, it was more fun to keep my knowledge hidden.

“Aren’t you supposed to be meetin’ up with Higashira soon? You’re not gonna take a shower?” I asked while looking at the clock by my pillow.

“Nah, I’ll take one later. I’ll probably want to anyway.”

“Hm?” What does that mean?

“Let’s go. I bet Higashira’s already there. You’re coming too, aren’t you?”

When we arrived at the student-filled arcade, I was taken aback by how put together it was.

“Ah, Mizuto-kun!” A girl in a red tracksuit shuffled over to us as soon as we came down the stairs.

Isana Higashira immediately tried to cling to Irido, but there was no way I was gonna let that happen. I moved in front of him, making her stop in her tracks and glare at me.

“You seem to be blocking my path.”

“I am blocking your path.”

Higashira let out a weird growl as she tried looking for ways past me. I spread my arms to further block her. Defense! Defense!

“Stop, you dolt!”

“Gaaah!”

Suddenly I felt a kick to the side of my ass that sent me flying. The foot that’d kicked me was small; it was unmistakably hers. I rubbed the place she’d kicked and glared at her.

“What the hell, Minami?! What was that for?!”

“Stop bullying Higashira-san!” Akatsuki Minami stood there in her baggy tracksuit and shook her head at me, making her trademark ponytail sway as well. Pathetically enough, the reason for the baggy aspect was that she was hoping she’d grow into it.

I was seriously considering exposing that to everyone here, but before I could, a black-haired girl in a sweatshirt arrived: Yume Irido.

“You shouldn’t kick people out of the blue, Akatsuki-san.”

“Yeah, but it’s okay to kick this guy, Yume-chan! He’ll be okay no matter how many times you kick him.”

“You should just step on him.”

“He’s already used to that!”

Am not! Also, Irido-san, why are you still advocating for violence? I’d prefer it if you asked for peace.

“Serves you right! The world is on my side.” Higashira stuck her tongue out at me while hiding behind Irido.

“Even if the world rejects me, I will never accept you.”

“Please stop starting a big battle with me in the middle,” Irido said.

In the end, five of us had gathered here. Though I didn’t want Akatsuki here, there was no way that she’d voluntarily separate herself from Irido-san. Even so, her being here was well within my plans.

As we entered the arcade, Akatsuki and I exchanged glances. That one look was enough to tell me that she had a plan of her own. I pretended not to notice anything and instead focused my efforts on trying to get information out of the Irido siblings.

“Have you been to this kinda arcade before, Irido?”

“No, not really.”

“What about you, Irido-san?”

“Not really either.”

They were trying their best to not say that this was their first time. God, they’re so bad at hiding things! How are you still hiding your past relationship from your parents?!

“Hey, what should we play? I bet you’re really good at games, Higashira-san!” Akatsuki said, skipping into the arcade.

“Are you trying to imply that I am well versed in games because I’m an otaku?”

“No, I’m saying that.”

“I’m not very strong when it comes to competitive games, so I’m more interested in trying the rhythm games.”

“Oooh. That sounds fun! What about that one?” Akatsuki asked, pointing to a dancing game.

It was the type where you had to step on the buttons at the right time. I knew what Akatsuki was going for. With rhythm games that used your fingers to play, gamers had a little bit of an advantage since they were used to using controllers. But if it was a game where you had to use your feet, that leveled the playing field a little. Even non-gamers who weren’t too athletic or tone deaf could be good at rhythm games, so this might have been the perfect choice.

“How about this, then?” I immediately proposed my idea. “Let’s each take a turn, and the loser has to play a penalty game.”

“Penalty game?” My ex-childhood-friend senses told me that Akatsuki was obviously very unhappy with my idea.

Really, she barely even sounded like she hated the idea, but I knew that internally she wanted to yell at me. But this was going to cater to both of our advantages.

“It won’t be anything dirty. Lemme see...” What would be good? It has to be something simple enough that they won’t be against it but also something that’ll bring the two of them together.

“How about pet names?” Irido-san surprisingly suggested, prompting everyone to look at her, making her panic a little. “W-Well, I just thought that despite us all spending time together rather frequently, we don’t call each other by any nicknames.”

She has a point. We all call each other by our last names. Even Akatsuki and I do—out loud, at least. 

Irido scowled. “Where’d you get that idea from? A mixer?”

“Wh-What?! I’ve never been to a m-mixer!” Yume stammered.

“I quite like the idea,” Higashira said, slightly tilting her head. “Though I call Mizuto-kun by his first name, he always calls me by my last name. It certainly is something that is on my mind, so I would like to take this opportunity to have him call me Icchan!”

“That sounds more like a reward than a penalty... Anyway, changing what we call each other indefinitely goes beyond the scope of this penalty game.”

“How about we enforce a time limit?” Akatsuki asked, butting in. “The two losers have to call each other by a nickname for the entire duration of the study camp! How’s that sound? Sounds good, right? That way, nobody gets hurt.”

Irido went silent and looked between all of us. “Okay, that works.”

“All right!”

Akatsuki licked her lips, and at the same time, I internally clenched my fist in victory. Things were going in a very fun direction. All that was left was to make sure that the two of them lost. Truth be told, this wasn’t my first time playing this game...nor was it Akatsuki’s. This meant that we were guaranteed to be the top two in this group, leaving the Irido siblings with a high chance of getting the penalty game. The only thing left to worry about was what Akatsuki would do.

“You first, Higashira-san.”

“Wait, just me? There are two machines, though.”

As she said, there were two of these games next to each other, and nobody else was waiting to play. It was obviously designed for two people to play at once.

“You can show us how it’s done. You’re the most experienced out of all of us. We’ll go after seeing how everything works,” Akatsuki explained.

“When you put it that way...”

After being swayed by her words, Akatsuki led Higashira to the machine. What are you doing? Are you trying to get in my way? But before I could be confused any further, the music started.

Higashira began jumping on the arrows indicated on the screen. Her movements were so slow and clunky, but surprisingly, she barely missed any notes. I guess when it came to games, she was just built differently. If she was at this level, it’d be easy for her to place above the Irido siblings.

“Higashira-san,” Akatsuki suddenly appeared in front of Higashira. “Your tits are really shakin’!”

“Hyah?!”

“Wha?!”

I immediately ran over to Irido and covered his eyes with my hand. I hadn’t noticed her trap’s setup because I was standing behind Higashira. I needed to protect Irido’s eyes! But just as I was putting my hand over his left eye, I felt someone else’s hand. It was Irido-san’s.

“Um...I can’t see.”

“You don’t have to!”

“Deal with it!”

Irido-san and I had yelled out at the same time.

You’re so cute, Irido-san. You don’t want him to look at any other girl. Looked like I wasn’t needed here. I took my hand off his eye and Irido-san frantically moved in to cover it. It was like she was playing that game where you go behind someone, cover their eyes, and ask them to guess who it is. Yeah, they’re good without me.

“Whew, swing low, sweet chariots! Boing, boing! Swish, swish!”

“Please stop adding sound effects!!!”

While I’d been distracted with Irido, Akatsuki had been verbally attacking Higashira, making her miss notes over and over. Crap, this was her plan? She wants to have Irido and Higashira lose! Dammit, this isn’t the time to ogle the two of them!

Higashira had somehow managed to finish the song without failing. She squeezed her boobs with both arms, her face completely red, and stepped off of the platform.

“I cannot play this game any further.”

“That’s a bad attitude. You won’t be able to exercise at all like that! Oh, I know! How about we destroy those boobs of yours?!”

“Please don’t say something so frightening with such a joyful expression!” Higashira ran to hide behind Irido, who promptly began patting her head to console her.

“Give her a break, Minami-san,” said Irido. “You’d take away her one redeeming factor.”

“Do you think that I’m nothing but breasts, Mizuto-kun?”

“You’re the one that always says that.”

“Oh, right.”

Really? Then she can’t complain if someone destroys them.

Akatsuki laughed it off as a joke while Irido-san stared at her.

“Okay, then you two go next.” Irido-san gestured to me and Akatsuki.

“Huh? Why?”

“I don’t want you making weird sound effects when it’s my turn, so I’d prefer if you were too tired to do that.”

“You make it sound like I’m some kind of gremlin that makes sound effects for all types of boobs!”

Higashira made the sound of wind whistling across a prairie, which prompted Akatsuki to snap back at her. It looked like Akatsuki was about to attack Higashira like the feral, flat-chested, shrimpy animal she was, so I swooped her up and brought her to the platform.

With the way Higashira had scored, it wouldn’t be too hard for us to beat her. The only thing was whether or not the two siblings could get a higher score. It wasn’t a bad feeling to be the deciding factor in the outcome.

“Don’t you dare miss any notes.”

“Same goes for you.”

The two of us whispered to each other, but really, we had nothing to worry about. Beating Higashira’s pitiful score was a given—an act of god. The song began and we began stepping in perfect rhythm to the notes that appeared on the screen.

“Wow,” Higashira cooed. “You two are skilled.”

Of course we’re good at this. We used to play this kind of game all the time back in the day. Suddenly, I realized that I didn’t hear any comments from the Irido siblings. I glanced behind me and saw that they weren’t there. Where’d they go?! But I got my answer soon enough. In front of me, past the game screen, Irido was pulling Irido-san’s arm to stand in front of us.

“Wait! What are you—”

“I told you to leave it to me, didn’t I?”

Both Akatsuki and I looked at the two of them, and then...

“M-Meow!”

“What?!”

“Pfft!”

In this exact order, that went Irido-san, Akatsuki, and me.

H-He’s... Her shoulder... He’s holding her shoulder! Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What?! Wait... What was I doing? By the time I regained my sanity, the game kindly informed me that I’d failed. The two siblings were now over a meter apart from each other, but Irido-san was still red in the face. It was as if time had skipped forward. I was so impressed that I spaced out.

“Ah...” A soft voice sounded from beside me.

Both Akatsuki and I had failed, which meant we’d both scored lower than Higashira.

“Heh heh heh...” Suddenly, there was a creepy laugh from behind us.

“Heh...”

“Heh heh heh!”

Then there were two other laughs that came from the Irido siblings. What’s happening?

“So, remind me. What was the penalty for the losers?”

“It was to call each other by a nickname, right?”

The two of them confirmed this with each other and stood on the platform. Though they weren’t good at the game, they at least passed the song, meaning that the two lowest scorers and recipients of the penalty game were decided.

Irido-san grinned at the two of us. “This was your idea. I’m sure you have no complaints, right?”