My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 151

How many times does this guy have to cross the line today before he's satisfied?

"I'm off then. See you another day."

"It's okay if you stay overnight—that's what Mom said too."

"I'm not so thick-skinned as to stay overnight on my first visit."

Dongtou escorted me to the entrance lobby of the apartment building, and that's what I said to her.

As a result, Aunt Nagira practically forced me to stay for dinner. Not only that, she even told me to take a shower. I thought that if this continued, I might never be able to go home, so I just managed to escape.

Dongtou was only wearing pajamas and a cardigan. She rubbed her upper arms slightly and said:

"Come again next time!"

"Okay... If possible, next time try to choose a time when no one is home."

"Ugh~ How annoying~ You're so lewd~"

"The ways to be shy are so unimaginative."

Dongtou covered his mouth with the long sleeves of his cardigan and let out a loud, guttural laugh.

"Let's play video games next time, Mom has scary games. I want to see Mizuto get really scared."

"I'm quite immune to that kind of thing."

"That's hard to say. Let's see if you'll still be saying the same thing when you get your arm chopped off while playing VR."

"Really? You even have VR at home... To be honest, I'm a little interested."

"At home, we rely on our parents who love playing video games. After all, we can't afford such expensive things with our allowance."

Seeing Dongtou swaying slightly, expressing his excitement and joy, I smiled slightly.

As long as I continue to be myself, Dongtou will definitely continue to be Dongtou.

Nothing will change. Whether it's confessing or being confessed to, dumping or being dumped, liking or disliking.

We will not be misled by temporary confusion.

"I'll message you on LINE when I see you're almost home."

"Okay. I'll get back to you if I feel like it."

"Come on, the response rate is clearly 100%!"

"Isn't it because if I read your message and don't reply, you send me a bunch of crying face stickers?"

"Hehehe." Dongtou laughed.

This is our ideal relationship.

◆ Irito Yume ◆

It wasn't until after 8 p.m. that I heard the front door of my house open.

I had been restless in the living room since dinner, so I hurried out into the hallway.

I saw Shuidou taking off his shoes in the entryway.

"I'm talking to you!"

"...Hmm? Oh, I'm back."

"You're back... No, wait!"

"What is it?"

"Where have you been so late? You said you'd be back after dinner, but Mom kept chuckling and wouldn't tell me!"

This is the first time something like this has happened.

At first, I thought he was hanging out with Kawanami or someone else, and they were having dinner together, but I had a bad feeling about it.

Because Mom kept secretly laughing. She seemed to be secretly laughing with a hidden meaning in her expression.

Mizuta ignored my anxiety and strode quickly down the corridor...

"I went to the east end of the house."

He told me this without taking it seriously.

……what?

"Because Dongtou often hangs out at our house, her parents said they wanted to say hello to me. They just didn't expect me to stay for dinner—oh, right."

As I froze in place, the water bucket nimbly passed by me and opened the living room door.

"Aunt Yu-ren, or Daddy is fine too."

"Ah, Mizuto, you're back—what's up—?"

"Dongtou's mother said she'd like to visit us. Could you please tell her when she'll be free?"

"Oh! That's true. Wait for me a minute. Let me see when I'm free—"

Seeing my mother start using her smartphone to confirm the itinerary, a surge of anxiety welled up inside me.

"Wait, wait, wait a minute...!"

"Um?"

I grabbed Shuidou's shoulder from behind, and he turned to look at me in surprise.

"What are you thinking...! Have you forgotten who Mom and the others think Dongtou is to you now...!"

The mother and her family mistook Dongtou's classmate for Shuidou's girlfriend.

If this misunderstanding were to spread to Dongtou's classmate's family...!

"...Ah──"

Shui Dou dodged his gaze, seemingly trying to avoid the issue.

"Regarding this matter..."

"Huh? What? What? I don't want to hear it!"

"It's probably too late."

Mizuto's tone was filled with resignation.

What does that mean? He knows without even asking.

This means that Dongtou's family has already concluded that they are in that kind of relationship...!

--What on earth is going on?!

Why is it that Dongtou is more able to win over the hearts of everyone around him than I am, the one who lives with him?

Volume 5: The One and Only You in the World - Two Former Couples' Homecoming - "—I'm a man too, okay?"

◆ Nan Xiaoyue ◆

It has been half an hour since I sat down at the family restaurant with my daughter.

"That's how it is..."

"Uh-huh."

"...I'm afraid you'll have a hard time accepting it if I tell you..."

"No way! Don't be shy, tell me!"

"It's just—..."

"Yes, yes!"

"...Ugh! I still feel so embarrassed..."

"Yume, do your best!"

"Do you...do you really want to hear this...?"

"I want to hear it! I want to hear it!"

I, Nan Xiaoyue, am absolutely obsessed with Jie Nu.

I wish I could be with her 24/7. I want to keep her slender figure, which all girls envy, within my sight at all times. I want to download her voice into my brain and replay it endlessly.

Given this premise—now, I must confess.

That's quite troublesome.

Jie contacted me this morning, saying she wanted to discuss something with me. Thinking about how long it had been since we'd last met, I couldn't wait and got ready, leaving the house an hour ago. Then, half an hour ago, I met her at a family-run restaurant, greeting her with a smile and asking, "So, what do you want to discuss with me?"

"Should I tell them...?"

For the next half hour, the animation dragged on like when it tries to catch up with the original story.

I was only able to maintain a friendly smile for a full half hour because Yui is cute. If it weren't for Yui, I would have punched the person in front of me at least three times already. What do you mean by "Should I say it or not~"? You're the one who called me out here. Don't you know you're taking up someone else's time~?

Well, I can understand why Yui is so hesitant.

Actually, I've already guessed almost 90% of what Yui wants to discuss—so in a way, it's because I don't want to hear her say it outright that I'm accepting this stalling situation. Thinking about it this way, it's quite natural that Yui can't easily bring herself to say what's on her mind.

So you just want to confide your relationship troubles to me, right, Yui?

I understand. After all, you've suddenly started calling Irito-san by her name.

When Yui sent me a LINE message a few days ago after returning to the countryside, I discovered it—and from that moment on, I slowly began to mentally prepare for the worst.

I knew things would turn out this way sooner or later. I failed to seduce Irito, couldn't become Yui's girlfriend, and Higashi was perfectly content with just being friends. Thinking about it this way, it's fair to say it's dragged on for far too long.

But...but...oh, I see, that's how my role is defined. So that's how it is...

I worried I wouldn't be able to listen calmly as Jie poured out her troubles. I'd rather she just backed down and never dared to speak up again—

"—I'm telling you."

However, the determined look on Yui's face shattered that notion.

"That's how it is—"

The moment has finally arrived.

To be honest, I'm so jealous I'm about to throw up, but I won't show it on my face. Although I feel lonely and devastated that my girlfriend was taken away, it's not like we can't be friends, and besides, I can't bear to see her cry.

I will do everything I can to help her.

I made up my mind and prepared to listen to the girl's confession—

"--Higashi-kun, you've become Mizuto's girlfriend."

"........."

Ok?

Uh-huh? ? ?

My mind went blank, and I blinked several times. Jie Nu stared at me, puzzled.

"Huh?...Ah! Sorry, I didn't explain clearly."

She made a cute waving gesture in a flustered manner and told me again:

"That's right, all our relatives, including Dongtou's mother, now think that Dongtou is Shuidou's girlfriend."

Ah—what—it turns out it was a misunderstanding. All the relatives, and Dongtou's classmate's mother? Oh, I see—

...No, why?

"That's so cliché."

The account of Izana's resounding victory in the east was so boring that all I could do after listening to it was chuckle.

"What's wrong with that girl? Why is things going even better for her than when we were helping her? Did she have a mind-reading chip implanted?"

"This is also our fault for not clearing up Mom's misunderstanding... We thought that mistaking her for his girlfriend wouldn't do any harm, and we were too lazy to explain... But we never expected that he would go to our classmate's house in that state...!"

"What do you mean? I think Irito-kun is actually interested in her, right? If someone thinks they're dating a girl they don't have feelings for, wouldn't they usually immediately deny it?"

"...You think so too...?"

"Ah! I-I mean, it's just average! I don't know anything about Irito-san!"

Seeing that Jie was visibly frustrated, I quickly tried to smooth things over. "You're making yourself seem so easy to understand, so please just talk to me straight!"