My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 107

"No, that's right. But what I mean is, what?... You can accept your first kiss like this?"

"Hmm...indeed, it would be even better if the scene were a bit more romantic. Besides, Mizuto is asleep, so his tongue can't go in..."

"What kind of first kiss are you trying to get?"

"I can't just let him take my clothes off..."

That's incredibly intense lust!

"...I really admire how you can maintain that distance despite having such a way of thinking..."

"I tried pretty hard, you know? Like every time Mizuto-kun ruffled my hair, to be honest, I was burning with desire. Now I finally understand how the heroine's cheeks turn red when her head is touched."

"I don't think the female lead blushed because she was burning with desire."

This is blatant slander against shoujo manga.

"To be honest, part of the reason I confessed that time was because I was attracted to Mizuto's body..."

"is that so!"

"Because you see, if not only do you have a great relationship, but you can also do lewd things, wouldn't that be amazing?"

"...Mmm, mmm mmm......"

Okay, to put it bluntly, that's correct.

"Even though the general audience version is already a lot of fun, if I'm going to play it, I want to play the original 18+ version. That's probably the feeling I have."

"No, I don't really understand."

"What I mean is... if we're just ordinary friends, I can't do everything that Mizuto-kun would normally do."

Dongtou stared at Shuidou for a long time with an inscrutable expression.

"If I had the chance, I'd love to see that perverted Mizuto-kun too."

To onlookers, he appeared expressionless, but it made my heart ache.

What I see before me is a version of myself that may have existed in the past.

I know perfectly well that I was not the same person as Dongtou in the past, but I can't help but compare the two of us.

Because at the end of summer vacation two years ago—if this guy had rejected my confession back then, he probably would have maintained our relationship like this now.

And perhaps doing so would actually prolong our good relationship—just like Dongtou did.

"Although if you just change the first character of 'friend,' you can still be friends with him and enjoy watching his lewd parts to your heart's content."

"Wait a minute. I absolutely will not support you moving towards that kind of relationship."

"I know. Mizuto's views on having casual sex don't align with mine."

"You were just being quite tactful!"

...We disagree. We disagree, right?

I think these "otaku" men and women have really invented a good term.

This is precisely the root of all evil that turns many declarations of love and successes into the prelude to collapse.

"Mmm-hmm..."

Dongtou stared intently at Shuidou's sleeping face, while fidgeting and swaying his back restlessly.

Then, she suddenly stood up and said:

"...Could you please use the restroom?"

“Eh…?”

What does this girl want to do in someone else's house?

"what?"

When Dongtou saw my reaction, he tilted his head and exclaimed, "Ah!" His face then turned slightly red.

"No, no! I just went to pee!"

"Ah...oh, I see..."

The topics we talked about earlier were a bit risqué, which made me think she was going to...

"...I should say..."

Hmm. Dongtou's face showed an unsettling smile.

"I heard from Mizuto that Yui doesn't know anything about that... but she clearly does."

"...After all, they're in high school now. They have health education classes too."

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh. It's so exciting to hear the top-ranked, beautiful, and honorable girl in the class talk about this kind of thing."

"How disgusting!"

I gave my two-word reply to my classmate from the east end: "Eek!" she exclaimed, and then ran away.

It's not that I don't know, it's just that I don't really like it.

In addition, I always act like a good girl in front of this guy.

...because I'm afraid my views won't align with his.

The only sounds in the living room were the ticking of the clock and the breathing sounds of the water bottle sleeping.

As I felt the weight on my thighs, I looked down at his slender face.

Her long eyelashes gently closed, with a few strands of her slightly long bangs falling on them. I gently brushed them aside with my fingers, a delicate touch remaining on my fingertips.

Thin lips, exhaling steadily.

I know what this lip feels like.

It's soft, but it can get a little dry sometimes. Sometimes I'll borrow his lip balm, apply it, and then start over... or just for fun, of course, but sometimes I'll apply it directly to his lips with my own.

At first, it was clumsy; we could only barely get the very tips of our noses to touch. We'd tilt our faces to avoid our noses colliding, but it looked like we were faking it, and we'd both laugh, ruining the atmosphere. Even after tilting to the right became a tacit understanding, we still felt embarrassed by the heavy breathing from our noses and couldn't maintain it for long…

—Take a short break to breathe every three seconds.

—During this time, they first gazed at each other, and then touched each other again.

—The game ends when one person pats the other on the back and the other pats them back.

That was a rule that only I—only he and I knew, a rule that belonged only to us.

This is probably something Dongtou wanted to know after becoming Dongtou's girlfriend.

Even now, he must still remember.

"........."

I leaned down, my hair falling down beside my right cheek.

I hung it behind my ear, just like I would when reading a book.

He fooled me last time, but this time he's asleep, and I'm at a loss.

With just one thought, that feeling will return to my heart.

That feeling was like a mix of light, restless restlessness and boiling, a sensation of alternating sweet rain and thirst.

I don't know when I last felt this way. It was not long before our relationship soured, probably around June of last year. Feelings that had been dormant for a year and two months have resurfaced from the depths of my heart, about to overflow from my body.

--If I had the chance, I'd also like to see the perverted Mizuto-kun.

I really want to watch it too. I could watch it countless times and never get tired of it.

But I haven't seen that in so long. Your eyes, gazing at my face, holding my thin arms so tightly, as if determined not to give them to anyone else. It felt like our bodies were one.

Once I think back on it, I really want to watch it again.

Even knowing it's wrong, I can't control myself.

Ah──

This is nothing but lust.

It gradually got cold.

It gradually got cold.

Something boiling hot deep inside my chest cooled rapidly.

I see.

I know why you rejected my kiss last time.

There will be countless moments in these four months when you look back on the past, hope to be as fulfilled as you were then, and want to do the same things as before.

But... this is just a kind of longing.

The satisfaction I once had is gone. These thoughts are nothing more than an attempt to fill that void of desire.

How superficial.

what a shame.

It looks terrible.

How could we possibly accept that Dongtou's once-in-a-lifetime confession ended in failure because of such a mundane desire?

They disagreed.

In this case, we can only say that we have different viewpoints.

I sighed deeply, slowly moved the water bucket's head off my lap so as not to wake him, and then stood up.

I've already stopped Dongtou, how can it be that I'm having wild thoughts?

Go and calm your head down...

I tiptoed out of the living room and headed to the bathroom.

Looking in the mirror, all I saw was a face as expressionless as if it had been trampled flat.

"So, how are things between Mizuto and Higashi-kun?"

That evening, my mother came running over with great interest and asked me about it, so I honestly reported the results of my investigation.

Their relationship is incredibly close.

"Mmm! And then what?"

"that's all."

"How could this happen?!"

My mother seemed very dissatisfied, but I had nothing else to say.

"Shouldn't there be some more specific details? What are they all doing?"

"...Well, Mizuto-kun did let Higashi-san lie on his lap..."

"oh oh!"

"The student from the east end said he was hot, and then suddenly took off his clothes..."

"Ah—!"

"She said she was very itchy, and suddenly put her hand inside her bra to scratch it..."

"……Uh-huh?"

Excitement turned into surprise. This reaction is quite normal.

"One thing I can't forget is that all of this was done so naturally in front of me."

"...Hmm...?"

Mom tilted her head, looking confused, and said:

"A couple who have been living together for three years...?"

They truly are mother and daughter.

"But, but, don't you think they're a perfect match? Look, Mizuto has a unique charm; maybe a free-spirited girl like him would suit him better, right?"

"Okay, it's a difference in interpretation, I guess."