My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 7 - Chapter 3.17

The Responsibility of the Rejecter

Mizuto Irido

“First the manga café and now this... We certainly do seem to frequently find ourselves in compromising situations, don’t we?” Isana let out a listless giggle as she sat down on the worn-out bench.

I followed suit and sat next to her. “I wouldn’t say we fell into that situation at the manga café. It was more like...people in the world are too horny.”

“What’s wrong with that? Procreation is pivotal in these dire times.”

“Tossing away civility and devolving to wild animals is not the solution.”

Seriously. Animals. Sure, I might not have been able to talk, given my behavior in middle school, but as someone who’d moved past that phase of my life, my disdain for that kind of stuff had only been amplified. Is that how people viewed us back then?

“It’s as if the blinders have been removed. I see the truth now.” Isana giggled again, touching the tips of her fingers together in front of her mouth.

“What truth?”

“The things that occur in dirty manga and videos also exist in real life... It’s so obvious if you think about it, but it never crossed my mind...”

“Oh...”

I understand where she’s coming from. It must’ve felt unreal to see people your age—classmates—doing that kinda stuff in real life. You’d never believe it until you saw it. Then you’d learn that it was very real. Actually, this was even more real than that time I had bought contraceptives.

“I... I can do those kinds of things too...right?” Isana mumbled, looking away from me.

I considered pretending I didn’t hear her, but ultimately, instead I responded with some very carefully chosen words. “Well, yeah... Functionally, of course you can.”

“It’s...difficult to picture. Do you think that I’d perhaps have a clearer image if...I were in a relationship?”

This was usually the part where I’d quip about why she was asking me, but I couldn’t bring myself to. She hadn’t specified who this hypothetical relationship would’ve been with, but honestly, I didn’t have to ask. It’s probably not hubris to think that the only person in her mind is the first person she fell in love with, aka me.

She was the type of person who could only fall in love once in life and she’d wasted it on me. For someone like her who found love to be a pain in the ass, there was little to no chance that she was capable—no, that it was necessary for her to fall in love multiple times. I was the same, so I completely understood. As her friend, I wished I could help her achieve true love. But I couldn’t change who I was or who I was in love with. I had already fallen in love, and it wasn’t with her. That’s why we could only be friends.

“Hard to say,” I responded. “After all, knowing you, if it ever got to that point, you’d get really excited, but then you’d freak out when things got real.”

“Rude! But...you’re not wrong.” She stuck out her lower lip and clutched her knees on the bench, just as she often did in the library. Next, she buried her mouth in between her knees and began muttering. “It’s not my fault. Even if I work up the resolve...I can’t turn off my anxiety about what’s going to happen.” This wasn’t exactly something I could comment on. “Hypothetically...” she started, remaining in the same position and peering up at me. “If I were to still be aiming for my one shot...would you be upset with me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Perhaps when we’re older, we’ll be drinking together and then...you know.”

“Okay, things are getting too real, and it’s bothering me,” I joked, looking away from her. “Whatever hopes or desires are floating around your head don’t bother me at all. You can think about whatever you want.”

“Really?”

“You’re not doing anything wrong. So...as the person who rejected you, I’ll take the responsibility.”

I wasn’t going to try and skirt the issue. Just as I said, this was one of my responsibilities as the person who rejected her. You don’t have to worry about anything. The reason we stayed friends was all because of my own selfishness.

Isana let out a deep exhale all of a sudden and buried her entire face into her legs. “I want to do dirty things! I want you to ravage me, Mizuto-kuuun!”

“Lower your voice!”

“I’m free to think about whatever I want, am I not?”

“Yeah, think being the operative word! Not yell! Where’s your common sense?”

Isana chuckled and raised her head before sheepishly shifting closer to me. “I’m slightly relieved.”

“About what?”

“You’re going to take responsibility for my rejection, right? In that case, I don’t have to force myself to walk on eggshells. It means that you will make sure that we don’t cross any lines we’re not supposed to.”

“Well... Yeah, I guess.” I’m getting a bad feeling.

Isana’s laughter suddenly turned vulgar as she moved yet closer to me. “Essentially...you won’t stop me from doing any kind of dirty things to you...right?”

“How did you get that from what I sa—”

Isana quickly extended her arms and wrapped them around my neck. It was like she was hugging a stuffed animal. All at once, I felt the two swellings on her chest press against me, and my body was enveloped by an unimaginable softness and warmth from her skin.

“Come on, Mizuto-kun! You have to be responsible! Ensure we don’t cross any lines, or else we really won’t be just friends any longer.”

“What do you mean by that? Get off me!”

“You really want me, a girl, to say it? Of course I’m talking about—”

“Fine! Stop! You don’t have to say it—just get off of me!”

“Nope! I won’t hold back!”

She gets so full of herself so easily! Regardless of my responsibility or whatever, I need to teach her a—

“Higashira-san.”

Both Isana and I froze at this unexpected voice. We couldn’t even separate from each other. All we could do was stiffly turn our heads towards the source of the voice, like rusted robots. It was Yume. She was out of breath, but she was approaching us one step after another.

The expression on her face was a mix of focus and anger. She stopped in front of us, and Isana slowly moved away from me as if she were trying to make distance between herself and a fierce beast.

“Y-Y-Yume-san! Th-This is merely a...a joke between friends!”

“Higashira-san.”

Isana froze, losing any words she was about to say as Yume called her name again. Looking closer, I realized that there was sweat dripping down her temples, and she was exhaling in an effort to steady her breathing.

Yume opened her mouth again. “I’m in the middle of a treasure hunt.”

“Huh?” Isana looked completely confused.

Yume extended her hand and grabbed me by the wrist. “What I’m saying is...” Her grip tightened as she glared Isana down. “Would you mind returning Mizuto to me for a while?” Yume asked—or rather, declared.

Isana blinked at the obvious strangeness in the words she’d chosen. “Huh? If it’s a treasure hunt, shouldn’t you be borrowing—”

“No, you’re returning him,” Yume repeated, this time with a smile. “Okay?”

“Y-Yes! O-Of course! Go ahead!”

And like a pitiful underling, Isana moved even farther away from me.

Yume nodded as if to say “good” and then pulled me up by my wrist. Then, she finally looked at me. “So, that’s how it is. Thanks for your assistance.”

“Shouldn’t you be asking me for permission first? I don’t remember agreeing to go...”

“I already know that you’re not going to say yes, so I’m taking you by force.”

This is tyranny! As I was dragged away, I saw Isana, spacing out, staring at the sky like an underling who’d been knocked to their butt.

“Wow, that warning was... Wow... Heh heh...” she muttered to herself.

“Why does she seem so happy?”

“Beats me...”

There’s a limit to how many of her actions I can take responsibility for.