My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 149

We returned to the room at the east end and, without prior arrangement, kept our distance from each other.

I sat down on the bed in the east, while I stood by the desk with nothing to do.

Dongtou pressed down on the bed, making a creaking sound. Her eyes darted around noticeably, and she kept fiddling with her bangs. Even though she herself said not to take it seriously, she was acting all flustered and at a loss.

"East end".

"W-what?!"

She trembled slightly when I called her name, and her hands frantically moved in the air.

This looks fun, let's play a trick on her.

"You're not going to do anything to me?"

"Huh?... Ah. Should I... should I take my clothes off?"

"They have so few cards in their hand."

If you really wanted to seduce me, you should have played this card last.

"Ugh~" Dongtou groaned as he fell to the side onto the bed.

"I can't do it... That's why I got dumped..."

"Don't worry about it. Anyone else couldn't do it either."

"Indeed. I personally think that just getting Mizuto into the room was already a huge upset."

That's absolutely right. Even my ex-girlfriend could only do that when she had a cold.

After Dongtou calmed down, I casually glanced at the desk. Although it's not very polite to look around someone else's room without any regard for others, Dongtou has searched every corner of my room every time he comes, so let's call it even.

On the east-facing table, a tablet, several light novels, and dusty headphones were haphazardly piled up. There wasn't a trace of anyone studying diligently. Was this guy even doing his homework?

"……Um?"

Among them, I found a loose-leaf paper tucked inside the pile of books.

Is this a school notebook? But why is there no text at all...?

Seeing me curiously remove the light novel from the shelf, Dongtou exclaimed, "Ah!"

"Wait... Mizuto... that's...!"

Unfortunately, it's too late.

I have already seen what is drawn on the loose-leaf paper.

That's right—it's what's drawn on it.

It was a picture.

The drawing appears to depict the female protagonist of the light novel that was just pressed down on the loose-leaf paper.

"Oh... I see."

"Aaaaaah! Don't look! Don't look! Don't look!"

"No need to rush. I already guessed you might be drawing or writing a novel."

"Huh! You've seen my tablet...?"

"So the novel is stored on the tablet?"

"Oops! I've dug my own grave...!"

Dongtou buried his face in the pillow, feeling utterly miserable.

I took the opportunity to pull out the loose-leaf paper and carefully examine the contents of the drawing.

"This isn't tracing, is it...? If you came up with the composition yourself, then you'd be pretty impressive, right?"

"No way... No matter how many times I redraw it, the arms, legs, and face just look weird..."

"Oh, right. I'm a layman, so I can't really tell."

At least I think that this level of drawing skill is enough to attract the attention of classmates in art class.

Dongtou tossed and turned on the bed, saying:

"This is totally wrong! I can't draw like those god-level illustrators on social media at all!"

"You want to become a god-level illustrator?"

"Of course!"

Dongtou suddenly sat up, then stared at me with his eyes wide open and said:

"Listen up, Mizuto-kun—you need to be good enough to draw H-pictures."

"Yes...yes."

"If it's not drawn well, it won't look erotic at all! Drawing intertwined human bodies requires a lot of skill!"

This underage girl actually dared to openly attempt to break the law and violate discipline.

"Why do I have to want to draw an A-picture so badly...?"

"Because I want to see my favorite heroine's nipples! There's so little fan art for light novels, so I have to draw them myself!"

Girls who are as honest as her about their sexual desires during puberty are not common.

"Okay, its driving force shouldn't be underestimated. I'm an outsider, so I can't give you any advice, but since you've already trained so well, keep up the good work."

"Huh? But if I want to improve my drawing skills, I have to practice sketching and the like."

"After all, we should focus on the basics in everything we do."

"Don't you think drawing apples and stuff is boring? It's tiring to look at."

"No one says you have to draw apples when you practice drawing. Just draw what you like and that you won't get tired of looking at, right?"

"Hmm... that must be Mizuto-kun."

"Yeah... huh?"

She spoke as if it were a matter of course, which caught me off guard for a moment.

Dongtou tilted his head slightly, looking blank, and said:

"Didn't we say we'd draw what we like? Well, I want to draw Mizuto-kun. Please help me—"

"Uh... okay, that's fine too."

Is she genuinely carefree, or just decisive? ...Well, it doesn't matter. Making a fuss about Dongtou's personality would exhaust me.

Dongtou got out of bed and picked up the tablet computer on the table. It seemed he was going to do digital drawing rather than hand drawing.

"This chair is for you to sit on."

She pulled a chair out from the table for me to sit on, and then went back to bed.

After I sat down in the chair, I adopted a triangular sitting posture and placed the tablet on my lap.

"Can I draw like this?"

"Okay. Don't move around too much—"

Dongtou picked up the stylus, glancing over frequently to confirm my posture, and began to write.

"This is the first time I've had someone else model for me, and I'm a little nervous."

"You usually draw based on your imagination? That's quite impressive."

"No, I often copy things, otherwise I gradually lose sight of what I'm drawing when I'm drawing the human figure."

"Oh, so you find pictures online as templates?"

"Why bother looking for pictures? Just look at your own body."

"what?"

"I can pose myself, take my own photos, and then draw from them... Want to see?"

"……don't want."

"That's good. Because they're all unedited."

What is she trying to draw? In other words, if that's the case, then don't ask.

"That full-length mirror over there was almost always used for taking selfies and photos for reference—but ever since Nan and the others taught me how to use it, I sometimes use it for its original purpose as well."

I couldn't help but imagine... what kind of pose Dongtou had struck in front of the full-length mirror on the wall.

She was alone in the room, dressed in an indecent outfit, posing in an indecent manner, holding her phone up to the full-length mirror—

That's enough, stop, stop, stop thinking about it.

Imagining such a thing makes me feel a strong sense of guilt—perhaps because if I had that intention, it could actually come true, so it feels like I'm denying myself for not making that choice.

If I were to retract my response to that confession now, Dongtou would certainly be happy to accept it.

Suppose, I mean even if that moment ever comes—I shouldn't do it with a lewd mindset.

"Hoohoo. Mizuto's body..."

...However, the other party's mentality seems to be extremely vulgar.

"Your figure is so slender and beautiful—your fingers are so thin, like something out of a shoujo manga."

"He just lacks muscle. He's just a paper doll without clothes."

"Oh... then I'll help you get some water."

"...Hey, wait a minute. I'm dressed, aren't I?"

"The clothes are too difficult to draw."

"Hello!"

"It's okay, it's okay! I can't draw anything that needs to be censored! ... But if you're willing to let me see the information, that's a different story."

"Who wants to show you!"

"Tch—"

Dongtou pouted, looking deeply regretful. This guy was actually serious…

While chatting, Dongtou continued to draw smoothly. Jienu did the same when she took pictures of me like a doll; I really don't understand what's so appealing about my appearance.

"...They're all guys with weird tastes..."

Hearing me mutter to myself, Dongtou raised his face and said:

"This is my first love, so I don't know what's wrong with it."

"I just wish you wouldn't say it so calmly. It's giving me a fright."

"So, Mizuto-kun, haven't you ever had a crush on anyone?"

Dongtou asked me in a tone completely like a casual chat between friends. Her face was already back on the tablet screen, and her pen hadn't stopped.

I wouldn't be foolish enough to ask her if she would mind. I know that Higashito Isana isn't the kind of person who's petty.

"...No. I don't like anyone."

"Huh? Why did you lie to me? I remember—when I confessed to you, didn't you say that you had a place in your heart, and that someone else had taken it?"

"........."

"At the time, I thought this way of putting it was weird, but later I understood. Simply put, it means you have a girl you like, right?"

To this day, I have never been able to ask clearly how much of the correct meaning of that reply Dongtou understood.

I also held a faint hope, thinking that perhaps Dongtou wouldn't care about such small details.

But thinking about it... that's impossible.

"...No, really not. I don't like anyone...at the moment."

"at present?"

"...You really want to know?"

"Yes, I've been secretly thinking about it all along!"

"Why hide it? Just be open about it. I mean, why not just ask directly?"