My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 9 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Soulmate

The Kind of Person Who Can Become the Happiest

Kogure Kawanami

“Family hangouts are surprisingly draining,” Akatsuki said, sitting on my lap and playing a game. “Parents are like living, breathing diaries—and not very good ones, since they easily blab about the things their kids wanna keep secret.”

She’d just gotten out of the bath, and the warmth of her small body seeped into me as she leaned against my chest. It was chilly, so she was like the perfect heating pad. The only problem was looking downwards. One small peek, and I could see her cleavage through the loose collar of her pajamas.

“Yeah...” I nodded along, trying to act normal. “Well, I dunno if I’d say my parents are like diaries, but I do have a walking, talking manifestation of my embarrassing past.”

“Who are you calling your embarrassing past?!”

As an act of rebellion, she began grinding the top of her head against my chin. The smell of her shampoo filled my nose whether I wanted it to or not.

“So what made you think about this all of a sudden?” I asked.

“Hm? Ah, well, one of my friends introduced her boyfriend to her parents.”

“Uh-huh... Rushin’ through things, I’m guessing. She crazy?”

“Hey, you can at least sugarcoat your words a bit! I mean, yeah, that’s what I thought too, but still!”

“So, what? If she breaks up with that guy and gets a new boyfriend, is she gonna introduce him to her parents too?”

“I can totally see them saying something like, ‘He seems much nicer than the last boy you brought home.’”

“Oh god, that’d be the absolute worst...”

Just imagining it gave me chills. How’s the boyfriend even supposed to react to that?

Akatsuki looked at me. “Good thing we never told our parents about us.”

“Yeah, if we did anything right back then, it was not telling them.”

“For real!”

We laughed. But the one downside to not disclosing our relationship was that my parents still asked why we weren’t dating yet.

Akatsuki leaned back against my chest. “But yeah, you never know what’s gonna happen when you date someone. Breaking up’s always a possibility.”

“I mean, would you date someone if you knew you two weren’t gonna last?” I asked.

“Good point... Man, it’d be nice if all the couples in the world could end up getting married.”

“I mean, it’s not like divorce doesn’t exist.”

“Don’t be such a downer!”

Back in the day, finding a relationship to romantically involve yourself in forever was life’s main goal. Now, there were so many options. If you wanted someone you could pour your love into, all you had to do was stan someone. If you wanted attention, you could become a streamer. Marriage was no longer a necessary milestone. Romance had become nothing but a pastime. It was the same as video games—you just played them as a way to pass the time until you died.

“Still, I think the happiest people are the ones who believe in love regardless,” Akatsuki added.

So, someone who knows that relationships don’t last forever and are more than just romantic involvement, but persists in believing in love?

“Y’know...sometimes you actually sound like you know things.”

“Yeah, and more often than not, you act like you don’t know anything.” She grinned teasingly and began wiggling her butt, far up my thigh. Crap. If she keeps moving like that, she’s gonna notice that I— “I knew from the start, you little pervert.”

I had no words. All I could do was look away, but she took this chance to turn towards me and seductively whisper in my ear. “Do you wanna do something we can’t tell our parents?”

I already had my answer. “No...”

“It’s not good to hold it in, Ko-kun,” she said in a sweet voice.

“I’m gonna rub your tits, you little—”

“Whoa! You’re getting big for me? Aw, thanks!”

One thing’s for certain: you should never never date a clingy girl without loads and loads of consideration.

A Shapeless Creator

Mizuto Irido

About a week after I had started tutoring Isana, the two of us decided to visit an art college’s campus.

“I detest studying!” Isana burst out.

The first picture we posted was steadily gaining positive traction. It was honestly going almost too well, especially considering the fact that it’d been her first post. However, this put Isana in a good mood and enabled her to finish her second drawing by her deadline. I’d also been able to slowly but surely get her studies back on track. Unfortunately, it wasn’t smooth sailing from there, because before too long...

“I feel as if I’m being suffocated with how I’m being monitored and managed day after day! I wish to draw! I wish to read light novels! I wish to play video games! I wish to take a nap! I wish to stay up late!”

For a ball of desires like Isana Higashira, asking her to follow a schedule was like asking her to drink poison. So with that in mind, I decided to take her out for a change of pace. It just so happened that there was a college nearby hosting a guest lecture by a game creator, so I took her there.

“I’ve never been to an event like this before. Have you?” Isana asked.

“Nope. Same boat. I’m not even the type to go to autograph signings or anything. But it’s not bad to go to these kinda things every now and then, right?”

“Indeed! I get a strong feeling that this will be infinitely more educational than anything I could glean from a textbook.”

I’d discovered this lecture by pure chance online. Apparently, the lecturer was one of the producers of a game that Isana liked, which is why we’d decided to attend.

Though a producer was completely different from an illustrator, hearing from a real professional in the industry might still serve as some kind of inspiration. If this ended up invigorating Isana, making her more motivated to draw and study, then it’d make things easier for me. After all, she really was a lot to deal with.

We looked over the map of the campus near the entrance and then made our way to the lecture hall. This would be the second time I stepped foot on a college campus, but it still felt so strange to me. I wasn’t sure how to describe it, but it felt much more “lived-in” than a high school campus. College campuses had their own unique characteristics, as compared to high school campuses, which were strictly regulated by adults.

Part of the reason the campus felt so unique might’ve been because this was an art college. There was a lot of art hung up and statues (although I wasn’t sure what they were modeled after) around, which had all most likely been done by the students here. It almost felt like we were walking around a school that was getting ready for their cultural festival.

“Whoa...”

Isana looked around the cluttered campus with wonder. If she wanted to pursue higher education, I was sure art college would suit her best. We were still two years away from making that choice, but I was certain that we’d be walking two different paths. Though I didn’t have anything concrete planned, I intended to go to Kyoto University.

At our school, being the second best in your grade essentially guaranteed that you had a ticket to Kyoto University. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it’d be an instant yes if you applied. That’s how confident I was. Getting in probably wouldn’t be a problem, but I didn’t know what to major in. At the very least, I knew I wanted to do something literature-related, although the only reason was that I liked reading—nothing else.

When Isana decided what path she was gonna walk, I’d need to straighten up and figure out what I wanted to do in my uncertain future.

“This is it,” I said as we reached the lecture hall.

After entering, I noticed that there were a good number of guests spread out across the tiered seats facing the blackboard. Before coming, I’d taken into account the time we would waste trying to navigate this unfamiliar campus. Judging by how many people were already here, it’d been a good call to come here early. Seeing that the back row was still empty, Isana and I found two seats next to each other and sat down.

“Whew...” Isana let out a strange noise as she stared at the ceiling. “Mizuto-kun, there are monitors hanging from the ceiling.”

“Yeah, it’s probably so that people in the back can see the blackboard. Or maybe that’s where they show slides.”

“Oh! That makes sense. After all, this is much more spacious than a high school classroom.”

The capacity for this lecture hall was probably at least a hundred or so. It was in a completely different league than a high school.

After a bit, the lecture hall began to gradually fill up with people. By the time people stopped filtering in, eighty percent of the seats were taken. While the majority of the crowd was around my age, I saw some older guys that were probably over fifty and some kids who were likely in middle school. I’d been worried that we might’ve stood out as high schoolers with college students around, but it seemed that I hadn’t needed to.

When it was time to start, the doors by the stage of the lecture hall opened, and a man in a suit walked in, accompanied by a woman who looked like someone who worked at the college. Though the man was wearing a suit, he wasn’t wearing a tie, and he had a businessman-like aura around him. He was forty or so. He’d probably left some of his chin unshaved for fashion reasons. He looked like the exact kind of person who appeared in written interviews. Though it was my first time seeing him, there was something about him I couldn’t shake.

“Hey, Isana...”

“Yes?”

“Have I seen this person before?”

“Hm? You’ve probably seen him in some kind of interview. He participates in all kinds of talk shows and interviews.”

“I don’t think that’s where I know him from...” If anything, it felt like I’d met him in person before.

When it was time to start, the man picked up the microphone from the table. “Good afternoon, everyone. I’m so honored to be here. I’m Ryosei Keikoin—the real one,” he lightly joked, eliciting a laugh from the crowd. Did someone try to impersonate him? “It’s pretty common that people misread my name as ‘Suzunari,’ but it’s ‘Ryosei.’ Word of advice, if you have a child, give them an easy-to-read name.”

After some light conversation to warm up the crowd, the game creator, Ryosei Keikoin, began his lecture. His professional journey was remarkable. Right after graduating college, he helped make a browser game, which became hugely popular despite coming out during the heyday of the genre. He worked as a game director, a producer, and then a company director, helping to expand his company until he decided to leave it, entrusting the future of the company to the younger generation. Currently, he was working with a few elite friends in the industry to make indie games.

Browser games, huh? Hearing this made me think of what Yume had told me. Her dad had been some kind of creator. She wasn’t sure what exactly he’d helped create, though, since there was no trace of anything he’d worked on in her house. What if he’d worked on a browser game? Then, it would make sense that there were no copies lying around, since they were digital-only.

“I don’t have the talent to make things,” he continued. “That’s why I chose a path where I can help those with talent shine. There are many talented individuals in the world, but many of them are crushed before they can even realize it. My job is to create a space for them to utilize their abilities to their maximum potential and put them out there for the sun—the users—to shine on them.”

I’d only intended on accompanying Isana here, but before I knew it, I was listening intently to his lecture. I was so engrossed that it wasn’t until the lecture ended that I realized there was something about him that I couldn’t get out of my head.

Unease in My Daily Life

Yume Irido

Today was our day off from school, and I was at a café, participating in a study session with Maki-san, Nasuka-san, and Akatsuki-san. Second semester finals were approaching fast, and the range of topics covered was going to be much broader than the midterms, so it was important that we did our best to come up with countermeasures.

Since school wasn’t open today, we’d decided to come here instead to study. Well, there was that, but I also had a personal reason. Something was bothering me, so I couldn’t focus at home. Having someone else around helped.

“How’s it going?” Right as I finished explaining how to solve a math problem to Nasuka-san, Suzuri Kurenai came over in her waitress outfit.

“Yo! It’s going!” Maki-san replied in an energetic voice.

The café we were in was the one that President Kurenai worked part-time at. It was the very same place where we’d had our welcome party for the student council. Pretty much, we’d been looking for a place to hold our study session when President Kurenai came in and happily offered the café where she worked. It was a lot quieter than a family restaurant or a food court, so it was the perfect environment for studying.

“I gotta say, I never expected to see the student council president herself working a part-time job—and in such cute clothes!”

“Heh heh. They are cute, aren’t they?” She smiled proudly. Her uniform fit her so well, it was like it had been made for her small body.

“About that, I’d appreciate it if you keep knowledge of this café to yourselves. It’d place an unnecessary burden on the owner if we got more students who essentially only order water in here.”

“You got it!”

President Kurenai then went to refill our waters. We’d already finished the coffees and black teas that we’d ordered.

“Are you gonna be okay, though?” Nasuka-san asked nonchalantly. “Doesn’t working cut into your study time?”

“I study regularly, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Now that I think about it...I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cramming or stressed before tests,” I mumbled.

President Kurenai giggled teasingly. “I’m the type that plans out their summer homework.”

Then why on earth haven’t you made a plan about Haba-senpai? I decided to keep this firecracker of a question to myself.

Akatsuki-san sprawled out across the table. “Senpai, tell me the questions from last year,” she groaned. “I can’t take this anymore!”

“No can do. Or rather, there’d be no point. Our school has perfect countermeasures against trying to use previous year’s tests.”

“Aw, man!”

“You should do what you can on your own. You even have my student council’s prized secretary here to assist you. Should make the tests a breeze,” she said in a slightly joking tone before returning to the employee area.

“You hear that?” Maki-san grinned. “‘Prized secretary.’”

“Stop it. I don’t do anything special. All I do is take notes of meetings.” I gave a vague semblance of a smile.

I also updated the home page, created the student council mailer, helped write summaries, and eventually, I would be editing the student council bulletin. My current tasks were nothing compared to what President Kurenai and Aso-senpai did on the front lines, dealing with committees and other club presidents.

“Don’t sell yourself short!” Maki-san insisted. “You’re doing great! Isn’t it so cool how you clack away at the computer?”

“Well, I guess I have gotten faster at typing.”

I’d honestly only ever used computers in classes. Mizuto has his own, though...

“Either way, you’re top of our grade! Help me!” Akatsuki-san had become a zombie from studying and began clinging to me from her seat next to me.

“Okay, okay. Let’s start by picking up our pen, huh?”

“Waaah! My fingers hurt!”

“Don’t worry—they haven’t fallen off, so you can keep going.”

“Ooh! Spartan instructor-trainer Yume is also really good!”

“Uh-huh,” I said, comforting her one more time.

My mind was skipping to the event that was waiting for me after finals. I would be meeting my biological dad with Mizuto, who had surprisingly agreed without putting up any sort of fight. I couldn’t help but wonder what it meant to him. Did he see it as an annoyance, or... Urgh! It would be so nice if mom was coming with us too! I know dad said that just Mizuto and I are good enough because he’d feel bad for Mineaki-ojisan if mom came too, but still...

In the first place, what did dad have in mind, inviting Mizuto? Was it normal to want to meet the son of the guy your ex-wife married? I knew that if I were him, I’d never want to. I wouldn’t know how to act around them.

Despite being the person with connections to both sides, I felt like the odd one out. I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Yume-chan?” Akatsuki-san asked, concerned.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

I drank the water that President Kurenai had poured for me and tried to pretend like there wasn’t anything I was worried about. I inadvertently felt like I wanted to compete against Higashira-san. I really wonder how meeting my dad will go...

Coincidence

Mizuto Irido

Once the talk was over, we exited the lecture hall.

“That was quite interesting! I don’t play indie games too much, so it was all very new to me!”

“Yeah.”

It certainly had been quite interesting. I felt that the talk had more relevance to what I was trying to do with Isana than anything she was working on.

“Hey, do you have any plans for your art?” I asked. “Like, do you wanna draw for light novels, games, or maybe design Vtubers?”

“Hm... I haven’t really given it too much thought. Oh, but I would like to draw a dirty doujin.”

“Should you really keep bringing that up? Maybe when you’re eighteen.”

“Heh heh... I eagerly anticipate two years from now.”

First of all, I knew there was no chance in hell she would actually wait. Not with the way she talked about things. I think it’s best to not talk about that topic anymore.

“Actually, wait. Could you even handle promoting your doujin? You’d have to act as a salesgirl and all.”

“Well, of course not. It goes without saying that I will request the aid of cosplayers.”

“Yeah, and you lack the social skills to do even that.”

Sounds like a job that’ll be pushed off onto me. I can see the future now: I’m gonna be negotiating with cosplayers to help promote my friend’s erotic doujin. What the hell kinda situation is that? To begin with, I would’ve had to have read said friend’s erotic doujin. That situation in and of itself made my head hurt.

“Well in any case, this all depends on you increasing your skills. And don’t forget you gotta get past finals too.”

“Urk... Please do not remind me!”

Regardless of what path Isana decided on, she couldn’t flunk out of high school. Even the lecturer today, Keikoin-san, had a fairly impressive academic history.

“Hm... I really feel like I’ve seen him before,” I mumbled.

“Huh?”

“Are you sure we haven’t seen that Keikoin guy somewhere before?”

“Uh, are you presuming that I’ve seen him before as well?”

Right. Why did I ask Isana? Did I see her at the same place I saw him?

“Hm?” Right as we stepped outside of the building, I saw the very person we’d been talking about, Ryosei Keikoin, checking something on his phone.

He looked up and as soon as he saw us, he muttered, “You two... Oh! I knew it. We met at the Rakuro cultural festival.”

Suddenly, it was like a dam had opened, and the memories came rushing in. Oh, right. When Yume left to go to the bathroom, leaving me with Isana, he asked where our class was.

“What a coincidence. Thanks for your help back then,” Keikoin-san said, gently smiling.

“Huh? Huh?” Isana confusedly looked back and forth between my face and Keikoin-san’s.

“We met him at the cultural festival,” I reminded her in a low voice. “Remember? He asked us for directions and then when he left he called you a ‘wonderful girlfriend.’”

“Oh! He’s that guy! Oh!” She sounded relieved.

It seemed that she’d finally remembered. I couldn’t blame her for taking this long to remember. It wasn’t easy to recall people from such short exchanges.

“You...remember us?” I asked.

Keikoin-san shrugged, smiling cynically. “I’ve gotten good at remembering faces thanks to my job. It was nagging at me during the lecture, but seeing you two up and close like this jogged my memory.”

Wow... I had difficulty remembering people’s names and faces, so to me, his memory might as well have been a superpower.

“The two of you are high schoolers, right? If you’re coming all the way to an art college for a lecture, you must be extremely passionate about all this. Are you looking to become game developers?”

“Not really...we’re just taking a breather from studying for finals.”

“Finals... Oh, right. After not being a student for so long, I completely forgot about how things go.”

“What brought you to our cultural festival?” I asked.

“I got an invitation from a friend. When you get to my age, schools become somewhat of a holy land. It was a golden opportunity for me to understand youngsters. Also...I happen to have somewhat of a connection to Rakuro.”

A connection? I don’t think he said anything in his lecture about the high school he went to being Rakuro.

“My turn to ask a question.” When did this become a turn-based game? “You say this is your way of taking a breather, but this is a very peculiar way of accomplishing that. There must be plenty of other places for you to have a date. From my perspective, one of you—most likely your girlfriend—suggested this.”

“Wha—?” Isana strongly trembled from her position of half hiding behind me as she listened to our conversation.

“She seems like she would be interested in creation. Am I right?”

I felt a little hesitant. I wasn’t really trying to hide what Isana was into, but was it okay for me to speak for her like this? I would’ve deferred to her, but Isana practically retreated into her shell when meeting someone for the first time. But my hesitation only lasted for a moment. There were two reasons. The first being that even if I didn’t spill the beans, it seemed that he already could tell. The other...

“Yes, you’re right. She draws. I thought that this might give her some inspiration, so I brought her to the lecture.”

My instincts were telling me that this was a golden opportunity. Based on his work history and the contents of his lecture, I knew that Ryosei Keikoin was a pro at discerning talent in others. This was a chance for him to assess Isana’s talent. No ordinary high schooler would find themselves in a situation like this.

Needless to say, there was a risk, but I got the feeling that he wasn’t the type of person who would stamp out the dreams of young talent. In conclusion, this wasn’t a bad bet to take.

“Oh?” Keikoin-san shifted his eyes to Isana who reactively hid farther behind me. “I see. An illustrator, huh? I’ve always unconditionally respected those who can draw.”

“I think she’s pretty good, especially for a first-year in high school.”

“Wai— Mizuto-kun?!” Isana’s face turned a bright red and she tugged on the hem of my clothes.

It’s clear as day that you’re talented. Why are you being so bashful?

Keikoin-san smiled, bemused. “If it’s okay with you, could I see some of her art? I love seeing the work of younger talent.”

He saw right through me, but that’s perfectly okay. “Can I, Isana?”

“U-Uhhh.”

“You already posted it so anyone on the internet can see it. Adding one more person to the pile isn’t a big deal, right?”

“Having someone view your artwork right in front of you, however, is a big deal...”

“No need to be afraid!” He chuckled. “I’m not an editor or anything, and this isn’t an interview. I’m not such a twisted person that I’d derive joy from disparaging a high school girl who I’m now only meeting for a second time.”

He really understood what artists were so scared of. I felt like my initial read of him had been accurate.

“You said you posted it, right? Is it okay if I ask for your handle?” he asked.

“Isana?”

“U-Urk... Okay...”

I told Keikoin-san her handle and he quickly looked it up on his phone. “This account, huh? Hm...” His eyes slightly narrowed as he looked at it.

There were only two pictures uploaded to her account so far. It was very insufficient for a portfolio, but this was just an extension of our introduction. Even so, his eyes were filled with seriousness.

“Can I...ask just one thing?” he said, finally looking away from the screen towards me. “I have a question about the first picture—the one about the girl with the broken heart. Were you the one who suggested posting it?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I see... Hm. Yeah. You have a good eye.”

Hm? Why am I the one getting complimented?

“This is a really exciting piece of art! It’s still rough around the edges, but that’s just a testament to how much more room there is for you to grow! This really shows your good instincts on how to depict emotion. Then there’s this second picture. You really hit it with the full range of your libido. I don’t see any hesitation at all. That’s really valuable for artists.”

Isana let out a strange-sounding moan so soft that only I heard it. She’s embarrassed, huh? Look, you’re getting praised. You should enjoy it.

Keikoin-san suddenly reached into his suit’s pocket, dug around, and then brought out his business card. “Ah, there it is. Let’s start over. I’m Ryosei Keikoin,” he said, presenting me with a stylishly designed business card. “Sorry I’m only now formally introducing myself. Would you mind telling me your names?”

“Mizuto Irido,” I said, accepting his card.

I nudged Isana with my elbow. “I-Isana Higashira!”

Regardless, it seemed like he’d been able to hear her without any issues. “Mizuto Irido-kun and Isana Higashira-san... Okay, got it,” he said, giving his temple a few light taps. “Hm?” He knit his eyebrows.

“Mizuto...Irido...”

“Yes?”

“Oh, nothing,” he said, grinning like a kid on a new game’s release day. “Wow, coincidence upon coincidence. This is why humans are so interesting.” Uh...what? “If you have any questions, feel free to contact me with the information on my card. You especially, Mizuto-kun. I get the feeling we’ll be meeting again in the not-so-far future.” He cynically smiled after saying that strangely shady line. “I have no clue why, but I’m often called ‘shady.’ I thought this was a great opportunity to play the prophet, so I did. Well, I’ll be seeing you around,” Keikoin-san said before quickly walking away.

All we could do was watch him as he disappeared into the distance.

“Don’t people call him shady because he says things like that?”

“I wholeheartedly agree.” Isana nodded.

I tilted my head as I looked at the business card I’d gotten from him. I’m not sure if it’s okay to trust him or not...

Reunion

Yume Irido

“Mm... Good enough, I guess,” I said after looking over the outfit that I’d put together for Mizuto.

I’d made him wear a white dress shirt and a simple jacket. It was casual, but not too casual. He didn’t look like he was tryharding or anything either. Not to toot my own horn, but I’d come up with a perfectly balanced outfit.

“Why are you acting all high-and-mighty when you’re the one making me play dress-up?” he groaned.

“I only picked out an outfit because you weren’t even trying to think of one.”

“It’s just dinner, right? What’s there to think about?”

“He got a reservation at a nice restaurant. There’s no way you can show up in one of your worn-out fleeces.”

With finals safely behind us, it was finally time for us to meet with my dad. According to what mom had told me, after we met up with him in front of the station, he was going to take us to an expensive restaurant where adults would normally go for dates. With that in mind, I determined the kind of outfit that would be suitable for the occasion and picked out a more mature, light, winter dress.

I hadn’t asked too many questions about him up until now, but I was starting to wonder if my biological father was rich. Mom said she would often bill dad for expenses, so he must’ve been making a lot of money.

“Be careful you two, okay?” mom said as we stood at the doorway, ready to leave. “I really should go with you two...”

“He said that he’d feel bad for Mineaki-ojisan, right?” I reminded her.

“Yeah. He has a point, so I can’t really say anything, but he...” Mom awkwardly smiled as she trailed off.

I couldn’t imagine paying this much consideration for someone’s new partner after being married to them for how many years. If Mizuto got a new girlfriend, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to be nice to her. Too many complicated emotions would come up. I didn’t get the feeling I’d be able to keep a calm head.

“Well, we’ll be back later,” I said.

“Okay. This must be awkward for you, Mizuto-kun, but you should at least enjoy the food. It’s supposed to be really good!”

“All right.”

Then the two of us left. It was just about nighttime. The sky was basically dark now. I could feel the biting winter cold of December nipping at my cheeks. I tugged on the coat I was wearing and looked at Mizuto. As usual, his face made it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

“Are you nervous?” I asked.

He glanced at me before responding. “Are you?”

He didn’t sound nervous. He seemed the same as usual, in fact. On the other hand, I...

“Yeah... I might be a little nervous.”

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d met my dad. In novels and dramas, there were a lot of dads who’d periodically check in on their daughter after separating from their wives, but I’d never had that kind of reunion. I couldn’t help but think he was uninterested in my life.

And maybe I was the same. We’d lived in the same house, sure, but it was so many years ago that I could hardly remember a thing. Sometimes, mom would talk about him, but she might as well have been talking about a stranger.

Back in elementary school, we would sometimes have assignments for which we’d have to ask our dads about something. I always struggled with that. I had no emotional attachment to the mere idea of a father.

So what was the purpose of today? What could he have possibly wanted with Mizuto and me at this point in time? I couldn’t come up with any theories at all, and that made me strangely tense and nervous. I’d blurted out my invitation as a way to compete with Higashira-san and close the distance between him and me, but any calculations I’d made had been blown away.

We finally reached the meeting place, without having a single proper conversation. We’d come here before. Kyoto Tower Sando had been the place I’d waited in front of for my date with Mizuto. The city had been completely enveloped in a Christmas aura. Christmas songs were coming from practically every conceivable angle. Beyond the restless crowd, there were plenty of people just looking at their phones while killing time.

We were supposed to let him know when we got there, but before that, someone caught my eye. There was a guy wearing a spiffy coat standing in front of the thick silver pillar. Seeing him brought back my memories.

“Dad—”

“Keikoin-san?”

Right as I called out to him, Mizuto had suddenly called out a name too. Huh? The man looked up from his phone at us. Then he smiled teasingly.

“See? What’d I tell you, Mizuto-kun?” my dad, Ryosei Keikoin, said.

The Gaze’s Direction

Yume Irido

Dad led the way to the restaurant at the top floor of a nearby building. Up here, we got a full view of the city and Kyoto tower. It was totally ’grammable, but my mind was too jumbled to care.

Why do dad and Mizuto know each other? I got my answer after we got to the table and dad took off his coat.

“I met Mizuto by complete coincidence the other day when he came to a lecture I was giving at a college. It really shocked me when he told me his name. After all, he had the same exact name as your stepbrother.”

“A college lecture?”

“Oh, right. Now that I think about it, I’ve never told you what I do for work. I’m a producer at a game company. Every now and then, I get requests to give lectures at art colleges and the like.”

Video games? I’d always more or less assumed that his work had something to do with the entertainment industry, but still... I glanced at Mizuto, who was wearing a blank expression.

“You’re...interested in games?” I asked him.

“I just went with Isana to take a breather from studying,” Mizuto reluctantly explained.

Hm? Wait a second. Doesn’t that mean Higashira-san’s met my dad too? So not only does her mom see them as a couple, but now my dad’s seen them together too?! Does that mean he thinks she’s Mizuto’s...? I instantly grew flustered. Wait, no. Calm down. It doesn’t matter what my dad thinks Higashira-san is to Mizuto; I barely know him. It’s too soon for me to think of this as a setback!

“Oh, right. Mizuto-kun,” he called out as he wiped his hands with the wet wipe provided. “I saw she posted a third picture. I can tell she’s getting better and better. I’m really impressed that she was able to put out something that good, especially during finals season. Could I chalk that up to your great management skills?”

“No, it’s all her talent. I’m just the one pestering her to get it done.”

Uh...huh? What’s this about management? “Wh-What’re you doing with Higashira-san?”

“Well...”

“He’s supporting his friend’s activities as an artist.” During Mizuto’s hesitation, dad answered in his stead. “If my eye for talent is right, then she’s gonna develop into an amazing artist. It’s hard to believe she’s only a first-year in high school.”

I shot Mizuto a glare. “Weren’t you her tutor?”

Mizuto averted his eyes, seemingly feeling uncomfortable. “Natora-san only asked me to tutor her. Managing her was my idea.”

“I...see.”

I knew that Higashira-san drew, but I didn’t know she was so serious about it. It was true that if Higashira-san wanted to get more into drawing, she’d need someone’s support. And of course, naturally, that someone had ended up being Mizuto.

But still, judging by his tone of voice and attitude, I could tell he felt guilty about it. Does he not want me to know that he’s working with Higashira-san like that? But why?

“Well anyway, go ahead and order whatever you like. Don’t worry about the price. After all, I’m the one who invited you both out here on my own whim.”

The prices of the menu items were frightening, but Mizuto and I eventually placed our orders, while dad ordered wine for himself. After the waiter left, I nervously began to ask a question.

“Um... Would it be okay if I asked...what today’s meeting might be in regards to?”

It was weird for a child to address their dad so formally, but I didn’t feel like we were close enough that I could speak to him casually. This whole ordeal had me at a loss.

He didn’t seem to pay any mind and softly smiled. “Sure. Let me explain.” He loosely put his hands together on the table. There was absolutely no trace of a ring on any of his fingers. “Back in April, I heard from Yuni—I mean, Irido-san—about your new life. She was telling me how she no longer needed child support from me, but...she also told me that you now had a sibling the same age as you. She told me that despite the two of you supposedly being at a difficult age, it seemed like you were getting along a lot better than she’d ever imagined. But...” He slightly tilted his head. “I’ll be honest. The two of you are smart. There’s no point in trying to be roundabout because you’ll see right through me. When she told me how well you two were getting along, I couldn’t help but think that it was strange for a guy and a girl the same age to be all buddy-buddy after suddenly being thrust into a situation where they’re forced to live together. That is, unless they were already friendly prior to living together.”

My heart skipped a beat and I stopped breathing for an instant. Mizuto also stopped blinking and pursed his lips.

“It wouldn’t have been unnatural for the two of you to get along down the road, but right out of the gate? It’s a little suspicious. No matter what, the start of a relationship like yours should have been awkward, filled with the two of you trying to feel each other out. But Irido-san didn’t mention even one instance of the sort. Due to my work, I’m prone to automatically latching on to these kinds of inconsistencies. If Irido-san was telling the truth, then what could the reasons be? Ultimately, I came up with three possibilities,” he said, holding up three fingers. “One: the two of you already knew each other.” Then he folded his ring finger. “Two: your stepbrother is a very strange guy.” He folded his middle finger. “Three: both of the above.” He folded his index finger.

He was acting like a detective straight out of a mystery novel. Regardless of his clichéd movements, he was right on the mark. We had known each other before we started living together, and Mizuto was a very strange guy. That’s why the two of us had been able to act like siblings on great terms from the get-go.

Both Mineaki-ojisan and mom had probably been so relieved that they’d overlooked it. But as an outsider, dad had been able to remain clearheaded and analyze the situation, helping him realize that Mizuto and I weren’t just stepsiblings.

Right around this point, the waiter came back with our drinks. He placed an iced tea in front of me, an oolong tea in front of Mizuto, and a wine glass in front of dad. He picked up his glass and lightly swirled the maroon liquid around.

“In any case, I just thought it was very intriguing.” He tilted the glass towards his lips, wetting them. “I’m not looking to act like your father after all this time, but I am genuinely curious what kind of strange guy my daughter is living with. I invited him here out of pure curiosity,” he explained. “To be honest, at first, I was content just checking on the two of you at the cultural festival, but unfortunately, neither of you were there when I stopped by your classroom.”

“Huh? You came to the cultural festival?”

“Yeah, I got an invitation from a friend. Oh, but I did happen to run into Mizuto-kun and Higashira-san while I was there. I had no clue that the very guy I was looking for was standing right in front of me.”

I looked at Mizuto next to me with surprise.

“I never would’ve guessed that you were her dad either,” he said.

If he was with Higashira-san, then this happened when the three of us were walking around the festival together, right? Could they have run into him right when I left to use the bathroom?

“So anyway, that’s why I wanted to meet the two of you. It ended up taking two months for me to do so, though, because it was hard to find time.”

I...see. I think I get it now. Dad took another sip of wine before glancing at Mizuto, who was quietly drinking his oolong tea, and then he smiled at me.

“He’s very interesting, Yume. He has the levelheadedness of an adult yet also a fiery passion that contradicts that calmness. He’s both a realist and a romantic. I don’t want to sing my own praises, but I feel like he’s really similar to me.”

While I felt that his description of Mizuto was spot-on, it also felt that he’d only really scratched the surface of Mizuto’s character. At the very least, when he silently cried while we watched the fireworks—when I made up my mind about dating him again—I didn’t see him that way.

“I can see why Irido-san doesn’t feel anxious about having him around. You should be thankful that he’s the guy who became your brother.”

“Yeah...”

“Do you have any plans for the future, Yume? I hear your grades are pretty good,” dad asked.

“No...nothing in particular. Right now, I’m just enjoying being on the student council.”

“Oh, that’s good. It’s the privilege of students to have a myriad of options available to them. You should enjoy your time as much as you can.”

Nothing about the tone of his voice or mannerisms made it obvious, but I could more or less tell he wasn’t all that interested in me. To be fair, I felt the same about him. Knowing that he didn’t really care didn’t stir anything inside me. I knew that he was more interested in Mizuto. Right now, the most important thing to me was my relationship with Mizuto. It was really strange. Though he should’ve been the biggest outsider at this table, for some reason all eyes were on Mizuto Irido.

The Main Story of Life

Mizuto Irido

“I’m going to use the restroom,” Yume said, standing up from her chair.

We’d finished dinner and had been chatting for a bit. Now that she’d left, it was just Keikoin-san and me at the table. In typical circumstances, the two of us would be in an awkward position, but there was no trace of any discomfort in Keikoin-san’s face. He looked right at me with his usual all-knowing smile.

And then, he spoke. “It seems like you have feelings for Yume,” he said almost matter-of-factly.

The hand holding my fork froze. I focused my eyes towards the middle of the table before responding. “What...makes you think that?”

“I wasn’t planning on prying, but I can’t help myself since you’re involved.” A troubled expression crossed his face before he continued. “This is more conjecture than deduction, but my thought process is as such: It’s strange for high schoolers who are emotionally volatile to be so friendly with each other immediately after meeting. So, maybe their whole treatment of one another is an act. If so, then if they so desperately feel the need for others to believe that they’re friendly, to the point that they have to put on an act, does that mean that they’re actually not on good terms? Nevertheless, if they’re able to speak to each other behind-the-scenes to the extent that they can communicate this in secret, then what is their exact relationship? You see where I’m going with this?”

“Yeah...”

He really had seen through everything. He’d been able to discern the truth in such a short amount of time. Despite living under the same roof as us, neither dad nor Yuni-san had managed to pick up on anything like Keikoin-san had.

“Judging by how the two of you are now, I can surmise that your relationship’s been repaired to some extent, or maybe you’re even back to dating again.”

I quietly put the silverware I was holding down on my plate. Most likely, this was what he’d actually wanted to talk about today.

“Didn’t you assume that Isana was my girlfriend?” I asked.

“I did when I met you the first time. But I changed my mind after meeting the two of you again the other day. The way you look at her isn’t like someone in love—it’s someone looking at talent. Put another way, you were looking at the person controlling your destiny.” I stayed silent. “Mizuto-kun, you and I are very similar. You can pretty much say we’re birds of a feather. People like us don’t want to be the main character. We want to seek out those who could become the main character and make as amazing a story with them as possible—that’s what’s most important to us. To that end, you’re okay putting your own life on the back burner. But you wouldn’t be sacrificing yourself or leeching off someone else. In a sense, it’s the ultimate form of egotism.” I still had no words. “You understand, don’t you, Mizuto-kun? Now that you’re trying to help Higashira-san’s talent blossom, everything else—even your own emotions—seems so unimportant, doesn’t it?”

I want to be by Yume’s side. I want Yume to be by my side. I’ll accept nothing less than that. I don’t want anyone else besides her. Though I was very sure about my feelings, there was something else inside me that’d changed. No, that’s not it. Nothing changed; I just came to realize the truth.

It wasn’t until I saw that picture Isana drew that I understood what kind of person I was—a person who didn’t look at himself at all. Right now, I was still wavering. I hadn’t gotten any results from managing Isana just yet, so I didn’t know the taste of victory. If or when I did...there’d be no turning back. Everything else would go down in priority. I could instinctually tell that’s what would happen.

“What I’m going to say now is just me talking,” Keikoin-san began in an almost bitter tone. It felt like he was telling me my future. “I vividly remember what happened when Yume was born. I couldn’t get away from work, so it was a few days before I actually saw her.”

This matches with what dad told me. Yuni-san had been uneasy because her husband hadn’t come to see his own child.

“I had a lot of friends who got married before I did,” he continued. “Every last one of them told me that the minute they saw their child’s face, they felt as if they were ready to devote the rest of their lives to them. I agree that, as a species, that’s the correct response, and I’d hoped that I’d feel the same. Despite being a guy who couldn’t even be there for the birth of my own child, I hoped that I’d be able to be a normal husband and father.”

I know the rest. If things had gone that way, Yume and I never would’ve dated nor would we have become stepsiblings.

“When I saw her, it was as if I were looking at someone else’s child—I felt nothing.” He narrowed his eyes as if he was trying to endure some kind of pain. “Back then, I hated myself so much that I could’ve thrown up.”

This was the first time I was seeing raw emotion from him. His usual all-knowing smile was nowhere to be seen.

“I was forced to think about my own despicable personality,” he said. “Believe me, Mizuto-kun, every human has a moment when they feel a calling. It’s when you feel certain about what shape your happiness takes. I’m sure that for most people, it’s the moment their child is born.”

“Calling.” “Shape of happiness.” These are such simple words, but they give structure to the murky instincts in my head. 

He continued on as I remained silent. “But I missed that moment. In game terms, it was as if it’d been decided that her birth wasn’t a part of the main story of my life. Because of that, having a child ended up being more like a side story.”

I’m sure it’d all been out of his hands. Whether he’d tried his best or not didn’t matter—he was simply that kind of person. He was destined to lead this sort of life. The emotions that came up based off of that couldn’t be controlled by his own will.

I was certain that everyone wanted to be a good parent when their child was born. Of course they did. There’s no way that they wouldn’t. Even if, in reality, they weren’t a good parent, they still hoped that they could be. It didn’t come off as some kind of pathetic excuse. It was simply the unfortunate reality of things.

“As soon as I realized what kind of guy I was, I decided to do my best to put the least burden on my family. I hired someone who specialized in childcare, and I tried not to burden my wife to even make me a single meal. But...that all ended up being completely different from the kind of family she envisioned.” The lonely smile on his face made it look as if he was laughing at himself. “Our happiness each took completely different shapes.”

Keikoin-san’s ideal future most likely lay with his work. But Yuni-san’s lay with her family. This was obvious from how she acted at home. Yuni-san might’ve been busy with work, but she still made lunches for both Yume and me. I could tell that doing typical mom things brought her so much happiness. It was also obvious from how touched she’d been when we gave her a present for Mother’s Day. Yuni-san most likely held the idea of a family close to her heart. But Keikoin-san couldn’t match that desire of hers.

“I didn’t want to waste her life anymore, so I, fairly quickly, made up my mind to separate, but she beat me to the punch. I immediately agreed to the divorce, but when I did, she was the saddest I’ve ever seen her. Even now, I can’t wipe away that guilt I feel.”

I suddenly remembered the moment I broke up with Yume. We’d both looked relieved, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from our shoulders. But somewhere inside, I was thinking that if I’d just had it together a little more, things wouldn’t have ended that way.

“I have no right to call myself her father. That’s why I gave up my parental rights and had Yume take Yuni’s last name. Then, I agreed to quietly pay child support. That was the least I could do to atone for them getting involved in the mess that was me. It’s horrible and uncouth to think that money can solve anything, but I didn’t know how else to take responsibility...”

Keikoin-san closed his eyes for a bit before giving me a serious look. These were the eyes of an adult. It was the look that someone gave when they were earnestly looking at the person in front of them.

“This might be the first time in my life that I’ve said the unvarnished truth about all of this. Do you understand why I’m telling you all this, Mizuto-kun?” I do. I understand all too well. “If you plan to stay by Yume’s side, you’ll have a responsibility. Normal high schoolers don’t need to think about that kind of responsibility...but you two are in a unique environment where failure is not an option. Both your romantic relationship and your family life hangs in the balance. That’s why for Yuni’s sake as well, I decided to put my foot down a bit and see your determination for myself.” I don’t want to understand. I want to stay ignorant to all this. “You might have Yume meet the same fate as Yuni.” Everything was decided the moment I laid eyes on Isana Higashira’s picture. “Mizuto-kun, you know what the shape of your happiness is, don’t you?”

We Aren’t Looking at the Same Future

Yume Irido

I’d listened to their entire conversation and was left speechless. When I came back from the bathroom, it looked like the two of them were talking, so I impulsively hid and...eavesdropped, hearing every last word.

Suddenly, Akatsuki-san’s words from when Higashira-san asked Mizuto out over half a year ago came to mind. He really wasn’t particular about the “relationship” label. If he were to date someone, it’d just be someone he wanted to be with. But that’s how he felt about the person I used to be. That’s how the person he used to be had felt. It was possible that he no longer had interest in being with anyone at all.

Dad had said that we should enjoy the vast number of choices afforded to us—as if he didn’t have those options, as if he’d already made his decision, and as if there was another person just like him.

I stayed silent. I’ve already proved that. I made the choice to change while he continued to take the loner route. Remember? Because of that, we fought and broke up. The shapes of our happiness—our ideal futures—were obviously completely different. I’d known that for a while...

My Soulmate

Mizuto Irido

“Say ‘hi’ to Irido-san for me. Be careful getting home, okay?” Keikoin-san said before disappearing into the night city.

After seeing him off, Yume spoke up. “Let’s go home.”

“Yeah...”

We walked through the Christmassy city, heading back to the same home. The two of us were stepsiblings. Above all else, we were two family members living under the same roof. That’s why I couldn’t be thoughtless with my actions. I couldn’t stay a child who could backpedal on things. I had to think about my family and my future, and then take action. I’d thought about this for a long time. I just hadn’t come up with an answer until now.

“Hey...” Yume suddenly called out from a little behind me. “Have you already thought about what you’re going to do when you grow up?”

I glanced back behind me and saw that she was looking up at me expectantly. “Where’s this coming from, all of a sudden?”

“Dad asked me that, remember? So I wanted to ask you too.”

I looked away from her and gazed up at the night sky. I exhaled, releasing a light cloud of white. “I don’t know,” I said, watching my breath melt into the night sky. “Honestly, what I’m doing right now is so fun, I really couldn’t care less about the future.”

“What are you doing right now?”

“Trying to foster Isana’s talent.” I said this so casually that it was hard to imagine I’d been so hesitant to say anything up until now. “Her talent’s the real deal. It’s only been two weeks since we seriously started, but she’s gotten better. She’s getting more praise online too. That makes me so happy, and it’s so fun that I can’t help myself.”

She was getting more active followers on the art site where we posted her work and had also opened a Twitter account. She didn’t have many followers just yet, but they were slowly but surely increasing day by day. She’d already gotten over a hundred likes on her first picture. Seeing these results appear before me made her progress seem real, and I couldn’t help but feel excited.

“This might be the first time that I’ve felt like I’ve wanted to do something,” I said.

It was as though I’d been reading books all this time to try and find myself. No matter how much I absorbed other people’s lives, I couldn’t find anything that excited me in real life. This was the first time that I’d desired anything. My heart was screaming that it wanted to know how far Isana Higashira could go.

“That’s why, though I’m not a hundred percent sure yet, if there’s a path where I can be useful to that end, I might not end up going to Kyoto University,” I said as lightly as I could. “You’re planning on going there, right? Being at the top of your class and a student council member at Rakuro means that your acceptance is pretty much guaranteed. We might end up at different schools. Finally, right?” I smiled at the irony.

I’d applied to Rakuro for the express purpose of going to a different school from Yume. She ended up thinking the same thing, which led to us going to the same school anyway. And now, we finally weren’t thinking the same way. We were going to end up at different colleges. Although, this was still a whole two long years in the future. She had so many options open to her, whereas I only had one. There was no way our paths would overlap.

Yeah... It all makes sense, whether I want it to or not. I’ve accepted it. I’m sure of it. I understand how inevitable it is. The fact that I could understand this so clearly proved that what Keikoin-san had said had been right. The shape of my happiness had been decided. Though I might’ve had feelings for Yume, I had no motivation to build and successfully maintain a family with her. I understood why I’d hoped that things would stay the same between us for a little longer. It was because, if we went any further, I’d end up realizing that I’m incapable of making Yume happy.

My frozen breath melted, and with it, so did my childish dreams. The two of us had been strung along by the trap that a higher power had set up. But now, it had all finally become clear that we weren’t each other’s soulmate.

“No.” I felt someone grab my right hand. I felt cold, almost frozen, slender fingers firmly wrap around my hand. “No. I don’t want that.” It almost sounded like the cries of a child, but her words were so clear. She looked at me, desperation on her face. “I don’t want to be without you.”

“You...”

There was no room for interpretation with her words. She wasn’t trying to coat her words with a joking tone, nor was she trying to pretend I’d misunderstood her. Every last word of hers had been meant to convey a clear message.

Even so, she shook her head. “I won’t say it. I won’t do that for you. This time...you have to be the one to say it.” That’s right. You were the one to say it back then. “That’s why,” she whispered, gripping my arm with all her strength and moving her face so close to mine that her cold breath could flow into me. “I...definitely won’t let you run away.”