My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 130

So it turns out that Cousin Yuanxiang also found it very strange...

Beside me, Mizuto silently chewed on his tandoori chicken. His expression revealed nothing of his thoughts.

"Is it tasty?"

"……fine."

"Please speak more clearly."

"........."

He fell silent. Does he really hate doing what I say that much?

"Whoa! Takema, look at you, your mouth is all over your mouth. Don't move, let me wipe it for you."

"I... myself... umm!"

Cousin Yuanxiang used a tissue to wipe Zhuzhen's mouth. Zhuzhen was probably embarrassed and struggled to move around. I remember wiping his mouth for him at the barbecue party.

As I stared blankly, my cousin Yuanxiang quickly gave me a wink.

……ah!

I turned my head abruptly and saw that there was curry on the corner of Shuidou's mouth.

"Water Fighter"

"........."

As soon as I took out a tissue, Shuidou wiped the curry off my cheek with his finger.

Oops, I was too late! I definitely succeeded by the river!

"What game are you playing?"

"Because if I do the same things as my cousin Yuanxiang, then I'll be the older sister."

"That's a lie."

"that is!"

As an only child, I'm actually figuring out how to be a brother or sister.

But things are different now. With my cousin Yuanxiang as a role model, I can easily do what an older sister should do!

That way, others will naturally assume I'm the older sister. You can't do that without learning from a model water bucket, hehehe...

"...Eek. Oh, I see......"

Leaving behind the mysterious Indian vendors, we continued along the approach to the temple.

The crowds were so dense that it was impossible to move freely, and they stretched far into the distance. The front of the line was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Takema, look! There's target practice! Want to play?"

When asked this by his cousin Yuanxiang, Zhuzhen looked at the target practice stall. He saw the prizes displayed on the back shelf and exclaimed softly, "Ah."

On the very top row, where the jackpot should be, was a piece of game software.

...However, those kinds of things are all designed to be so difficult to hit.

"I...I want to play..."

"Great! Let's aim for the jackpot together with my sister!"

After paying for and receiving the gun, Takema stretched his upper body forward and pointed the gun at the game software.

But the gun was swaying erratically. It seemed to be due to a lack of muscle strength in the arm.

Just when I thought that I definitely wouldn't hit it like that...

"Ah—really. Come on, you need to hold it more firmly now—"

Cousin Yuanxiang chuckled and hugged Zhuzhen from behind, lifting his arm.

"Sister, sister... I can manage on my own..."

"Don't be shy! Come on, all set, got your aim ready?"

...Are the relationships between sisters and brothers always so close?

Like that, their chests were pressed together, so close that their breaths were on each other's ears—ah, but then again, since they were siblings, it was impossible for them to mind—

*Pop!* A bullet was fired from the gun in Takema's hand.

Unfortunately, the bullet flew lightly to the side and fell to the ground without hitting any prize.

"Ah—what a pity—"

"...Waaah..."

"Hmm—it wouldn't be fun to go home empty-handed like this... so it's your turn, cousin Mizuto!"

Mizuto was suddenly called upon, and his eyebrows shot up.

"Please help Takema get revenge! Yui should go help too, because she's my older sister♪"

Seeing my cousin Yuanxiang's giggling expression, I knew I had fallen for her trap.

My cousin Yuanxiang... she only did it on purpose because I said I was using her as a role model...!

"...Okay, just once."

Mizuto, perhaps unaware of what was happening, glanced at Takema's resentful expression and then paid the shooting range owner with change.

Shuidou, holding a gun, leaned forward from the stall.

As I stood frozen behind him, my cousin Yuanxiang quickly leaned in and whispered in my ear:

"(Hey sister, what's wrong? You need to hurry and help your little brother!)"

"(No, but that's...!)"

"(Huh? That's weird. It was just... hugging my brother from behind. What's bothering you, Yui?)"

Cousin Yuanxiang... has such a terrible personality!

Having no way out, I reluctantly approached the back of the water tank.

If he seemed fine, he could make an excuse to say he didn't need help, but unfortunately, he was just a skinny monkey who didn't exercise, and the way he swayed the gun was comparable to that of Takema.

It's no wonder he can't avenge Takema if things continue like this.

No, that's right... I did it for Takema...

I made up my mind, reached out from behind the sink, and took his arm.

"Hey... what are you doing!"

"Okay, okay, stop looking at me! Aim properly!"

I forced the water bucket, which was trying to turn its head away, to look forward.

At the same time, I gently placed my hand on the wrist of the yukata that was protruding from the sleeve of my yukata.

...Although she was very thin, her veins were prominent...She was definitely different from a girl.

Could this man be thinking the same thing?

When you meet me... you'll feel that I'm just different from boys.

"Isn't it a bit too far to the right?"

No, I don't think so.

"It's clearly off-center!"

"You're so long-winded. Is this alright now?"

"Too far to the left!"

We argued like that—and finally got our aim down.

Then all you have to do is pull the trigger.

...That's how it was originally...

But I found that my arm, which was supporting me on the vendor's counter, started to tremble.

I tried my best to keep my body—especially my chest—from touching the back of the water bucket, so I stretched out my arms to support myself... but because I had spent too much time aiming, I ran out of strength...

"good……"

Shui Dou held his breath and began to exert force with his fingers.

At that very moment, my arm strength finally reached its limit.

"what!"

Let me make myself clear first.

It's true that during our junior high school years, we were like monkeys in heat, constantly looking for opportunities to kiss.

But I swear, we have never, ever done anything beyond kissing—in other words, that kind of thing, like touching him or being touched by him!

I couldn't help but bend my elbow and fall backward—

—Gently, my chest touched Shuidou's shoulder blade.

"!"

In an instant, Shuidou's body trembled.

Immediately afterwards, the bullet flew out of the muzzle with a pop.

A bullet that flies too high above its original aiming position—whoosh—draws a gentle, hill-shaped parabola.

“Ah—”

Cousin Yuanxiang called out regretfully from behind.

I missed... It's my fault...

But, I had only been thinking this for a short while...

There was a loud thud.

The bullet, flying in a parabolic trajectory, hit a white rabbit cartoon character doll that was positioned one level below the target game software.

With a thud, the doll fell off the shelf.

"Oh! I won the lottery!"

The owner of the shooting range picked up the plush toy and said, "Take it!" in exchange for Shui Dou's gun.

We stared at this rabbit plush toy with the air of a sporty teenager for a long time.

"...That last move, you did it on purpose?"

"It's water," Mizuto said softly.

"W-How could I have done it on purpose...! It's because my hand was sore..."

"Oh, right. Luckily, my stepsister isn't a female pervert, so I'm relieved."

"You...! You, you're the one who's reacting, okay?! This is such a small thing... you should be used to it by now, right...!"

"...You're not like that guy."

"Eh?"

"Dongtou came up to me without thinking, but I can sense your nervousness. Please calm down!"

"What...! You...you're making it sound like I'm not as used to interacting with boys as my classmates from the east end! I think you're just being too sensitive, you repressed pervert!"

"Alright, alright, you two. Don't stand like that in front of the vendors, you're blocking other people's way!"

My cousin Yuanxiang pushed us away from the approach path for a while. A dark area formed there, where several people were squatting on the ground eating takoyaki or yakisoba.

I took a closer look at Shuidou, who was holding a rabbit anime character plush toy.

"It doesn't match at all..."

"It's okay if you don't say it out loud. Can't you just keep it to yourself?"

"Pfft! Not bad either? Maybe it will make you more approachable."

"I'm not going to carry it around everywhere! I'm not some little girl with a dark side!"