My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

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"...Okay, okay, I'll tell you. We're going to take the same route home anyway."

Living in the same house as someone you like is just too inconvenient.

But living in the same house as someone you love is truly blissful.

Because that way, we don't have to say goodbye.

No need to say "see you tomorrow," and then we each went our separate ways.

Even though they are in different places during the day, they can still come back to the same place at night and share what happened that day.

Like those parts of you that I want to know.

Or perhaps it's a part of me that you don't know.

I can explain the incredible connection between you and me one by one.

"Today, Izana and I went to try out the two-person private room at the manga cafe, and the result was—"

No, what are you doing going to a place like that?

...Being able to feel this kind of jealousy is a luxury privilege reserved for those living in the same house. In any case, in terms of social status, living in the same house is definitely superior to having a private double room in a comic book cafe!

Volume 7: I wish this moment could pause, I want to make you blush.

Yui Irito ◆ Ex-girlfriend wants to be a little devil

I, Irido Yui, love Irido Mizuto.

In itself, the situation is not much different from when I first met him two years ago—the difference is that I am now a mature woman, and I have dated Mizuto once and broken up with him... and since we became step-siblings, I have said too many hurtful and sarcastic things to him.

I'll be frank.

Now that things have come to this, it's really hard to say that I like him.

...No, did I say anything wrong?! We've already been deliberately being mean to each other for so long, and now suddenly I'm radiating an aura of liking him to death, isn't that disgusting?! Besides, I'm just shy, you can understand that, right?!

If possible, I hope to win Mizuto's heart without making my feelings too obvious.

I hope to surpass our relationship during middle school! I want him to like me even more than he did back then, and ideally, he'd confess his feelings to me first.

I'm not afraid of anything; I just think this is what fairness is all about. Because, last time, I was the one who confessed to him.

Therefore, I have only one goal.

I'm a little devil who makes it hard for him to tell whether I have feelings for him or not. He seems to understand it but also doesn't, making him feel all anxious and confused!

Fortunately, I have nothing else to offer but an abundance of opportunities, so I seize every chance I get and take on challenges, but...

"Water—water bucket!"

Seeing Shuidou sitting on the sofa in the living room, I made up my mind and threw myself onto his shoulder.

Relaxed and natural physical contact!

This is the ultimate technique to arouse that kind of consciousness in boys... That's what Xiaoyue said.

I peered further into the water bucket's face from the side and said:

"What...what are you doing?"

Invading personal space!

Boys always fall for girls who are very close to them at lightning speed... That's what Xiaoyue said.

After glancing at my face, Mizuto immediately turned his gaze back to his thighs.

"Read the book. You'll understand once you read it."

"Oh... what book are you reading?"

"A work that deciphers a code by personifying a female protagonist with English words."

What's going on? He really likes weird novels...

However, seizing the opportunity and daring to attack is what makes a true little devil!

"Oh, that sounds interesting. Can I borrow it next time?"

Understanding and interest!

Based on their nature, when a girl shows understanding and interest when they are close, boys can't help but think, "Could this girl be interested in me?"... That's what Xiaoyue said.

Okay, go ahead and feel all anxious. Engage your ego! Be upset for my sake!

"I borrowed this from Isana, so I can't lend it to you."

The water bucket turned another page.

........................

“Is…I see?”

Now it's time for reflection.

Why did the whole process just now end in failure?

...Thinking about it carefully, it's probably because it's not much different from a normal conversation, right?

Not only could I not make Shuidou have an excessive sense of self, but I was the only one being vain, thinking I was launching an offensive, when in fact my actions were no different from usual. Isn't that right?

Alright, you over there! Please don't be so unforgiving.

"........."

This trick sometimes works, I mean it! There's a 10% chance your potential will awaken!

However, nine out of ten are like this.

They thought they had achieved something, but in reality, they had accomplished nothing.

Oh, this is so hard... How can I become a little devil?

Yui Irido ◆ The person you like isn't necessarily your type.

The student council room is not always fully attended. Due to each person's own public or private matters, one or two people are often absent, and very rarely, only one person is present.

After joining the student council for a while, I gradually discovered that the attendance rates mentioned above actually followed some fixed rules. For example, there were very few things that would make Asuhain students absent. For example, whenever President Kurenai was present, Hanaba-senpai was usually present as well, and when he wasn't, they were usually absent together. For example, Asou-senpai would sometimes be absent on a whim, but Hoshibe-senpai would usually come when he was present—and so on.

This was a day when only President Kurenai and Senior Hata were absent.

While Xingbian lay on the sofa in the meeting room scrolling on his phone, I, Asuhayuan, and Yashuang worked on our laptops at the conference table.

My job is to create public relations materials for the upcoming sports festival. All this kind of paperwork falls to the student council secretary, which is why I gradually learned to type after joining the student council.

"Hey, let me ask you something—what kind of guy do you like?"

Senior Sister Ya Shuang was typing away on her keyboard just like me, but she started talking to me about completely unrelated topics.

Asou-senpai's position is vice president, and her job is naturally to assist the president. However, President Kurenai herself is practically a superhuman, capable of handling everything on her own. Even if she needs help, Hanaba-senpai is always by her side. Therefore, Asou-senpai's main job becomes leading and assisting me and Asuha-in.

I heard that Senior Sister Ya Shuang was the secretary of the student council in the previous year. She taught me a lot of things, and by the time I found out, she had already started calling me "Little Jiezi" as a nickname. So when Senior Sister Ya Shuang came to help, things were always done very quickly—so quickly that we often ended up chatting while doing things.

"Senior, it's work time now."

My serious classmate, Asuhain, scolded her senior. She said that when Asuhain was working on paperwork, she kept twisting her shoulders and neck, which made me realize how uncomfortable it must be for someone with a large bust. Lately, I've also often felt that my bust size is a burden; maybe I should consider starting to work out.

In this respect, Senior Sister Ya Shuang's breasts are clearly so large that they are visible even when she's wearing clothes, yet she doesn't seem to experience any shoulder pain at all. Her lower abdomen and other areas are also very flat, so she might have some unique exercise methods of hers.

After being scolded by Asuhain, Senior Asou continued talking without stopping, saying:

"It's nothing serious~ Building friendships with the younger female students is part of the job. By the way, Lanlan, what about you?"

"What's wrong with me?"

"I asked you what type of guy you like?"

"I like the type of person who will never come into my view in my entire life."

She's truly as cold as ice. Asahi-in's anti-romance stance is unwavering.

Senior Sister Ya Shuang, I don't know when she started giving Asuka-in the nickname "Lan Lan," and for some reason, she had a sly smile on her face as she said:

"Wow—that's reassuring. Actually, my sister doesn't seem to like boys either."

"You have a younger sister?"

This is the first time I've heard of this. Senior Sister Ya Shuang's expression brightened even more, and she said:

"Yeah! She's in first year of junior high! So cute! ... And then, my sister is just like Lanlan, she has a really bad attitude towards boys, but I guess she's not as extreme as Lanlan... So seeing Lanlan makes me feel at ease, and I think maybe one day my sister will become just as stubborn, and refuse to let any boy get close to her."

"...Um—was there anything about this that reassured you, senior?"

"That way, no bad boys will get close to my cute little sister!"

I think this person is the most unsettling underlying cause... I'm already worried about Senior Sister Ya Shuang's sister even before I've met her.

"So? What type of guy does Yuuko like?"

"...Is it absolutely necessary to tell me?"

"You can't escape—confess now!"

If you ask me about my type, only one specific person's face comes to mind right now. But making things up or hiding anything would be more suspicious... so let's put it a little more abstractly...

"But... I might prefer the intellectual type."

"Oh. Anything else? Like, in terms of appearance."

"Her appearance... is a bit delicate..."

"The cool and stylish type—but what about personality?"

"...He's usually quiet and doesn't like to talk to people, but he can be very gentle sometimes, is that right?"

What is this?! It's so embarrassing! It's like listing all the parts of the water bucket that touched my heartstrings...!

Senior Sister Ya Shuang said with a smile:

"I see, I see, that's great! It's like a girl's dream! I wish there were guys like this in real life."

"That's...that's right!"

I wish it really existed!

"……boring."

The two words that Mingri Yeyuan muttered to himself pierced my heart.

No, no. I'm just embellishing what I said and highlighting the key points! That guy also walks around shirtless after showering, or swears after bumping his little toe on the sharp corner of a sliding door, and he does a lot of lame things too! It's not like he's what I'm describing! He's not a middle school student!

"Then, what about you, Senior Ya Shuang?"

"Hmm? Me? --?"

To cover my embarrassment, I steered the conversation towards Senior Sister Ya Shuang, who happily replied:

"I've already made up my mind—if I'm going to have a boyfriend, it has to be this type!"

"What type?"

"People who are at least 20 centimeters taller than me!"

She said... 20 centimeters?

But Senior Sister Ya Shuang is quite tall... she's comparable to a boy. She's probably not quite 170cm... but maybe a little over 160cm...

"...In that case, you'd have to be very tall, right?"

"Now you've got to the point~ I really didn't want to grow this tall..."

Senior Sister Ya Shuang sighed from the bottom of her heart. I think being tall makes you look like a supermodel, but maybe everyone has their own inferiority complex...

"More than 20 centimeters taller than my senior... that's over 180 centimeters—"

—Hey, isn't that what they're talking about...?

My eyes turned to the third-year senior who was lying on the sofa with nothing to do.

The senior student is nearly 190 centimeters tall, much taller than the average high school student.

The only one who could meet Senior Sister Ya Shuang's requirements for a boyfriend is... well, that senior...

As soon as I paused in my speech, Senior Sister Ya Shuang smiled eerily like a cat demon, and her fingers stopped typing.

Then she turned around, facing behind her—looking back at the sofa set—and said loudly:

"Senior—! Speaking of which, I forgot how tall you are—"