My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

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Dongtou, who let go of everything the day after his breakup, may have cried like this on that day as well.

I find it difficult to sympathize with her as a friend, like the student council president does. Because Dongtou got dumped, and I was the culprit…

"...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have irresponsibly promoted you."

"It's okay, it's all in the past. Besides, after hearing you say that, I'm the one who still believes in hope... I just want to say that in the end, nothing is guaranteed. You have to try to know. That's why it's so scary..."

I tried it and succeeded.

Dongtou and Yashuang failed.

What determines success or failure? Who can guarantee I'll succeed next time?

I don't know. It's precisely because I don't know that I'm afraid...

The fear becomes so intense that you can't help but think, "Instead of worrying and living in fear like this, I'd rather never try it at all..."

"Waaah... Waaah. I can't do it, senpai... Even if you tell me that... I still can't stop liking you...!"

Knowing there's no hope, yet unable to stop liking the other person. How long can a person endure this almost cursed state?

Not to mention, if you live under the same roof.

Will I... start to hate him again? — Just like when we first became siblings.

...Sigh, really.

This is clearly just imagination; this is clearly just a hypothesis.

But I've already started to envy Dongtou. I envy her ability to return to the relationship before the confession as if nothing happened, to the point that it inexplicably frightens me.

For Senior Sister Ya Shuang, who kept crying, all we could offer were the same old words of comfort.

Only Xiaoyue looked at all of this with a pained expression.

Kawanami Kogure ◆ Relationships between men and women

When I saw the LINE message from Xiaoyue, I thought I was seeing things.

She got dumped? Senior Sister Ya Shuang? ...Dumped by Brother Xing?

I typed "Really?" to confirm, and the response was "Really. Everyone is comforting her now." It seems to be true. Xiaoyue may be missing a few screws in her head, but she wouldn't tell such a pointless lie.

I looked away from my phone and glanced around the room.

"Wow! Hey, Haba, you've got a knack for this!"

"I've practiced online."

"Ugh! Hey, hey, hey, stop! Stop! Don't chase us off the cliff!"

Xing-ge is playing against Haba-senpai with the game I brought. He seems no different from usual. If Xiaoyue hadn't told me, I wouldn't have even noticed that he just dumped a girl. Haba-senpai, who's playing against him, and Irito, who's reading by the wall, both seem completely oblivious.

Isn't this a big deal for Xing Ge? No, no, this isn't just a girl he's never met confessing to him; it's a junior from the student council he's known for over a year! I really don't think he'd be so cold-blooded as to dump a girl like that and remain unmoved...

Could you come out for a moment?

Just as I was thinking this, Xiaoyue sent me another message.

Is it to cater to my interests? No, I don't think so. I only enjoy watching happy couples; finding amusement in other people's heartbreak doesn't suit my taste. Anyway, although I don't think Xiaoyue will specifically explain things to me, it's better than continuing to stay in the room pretending not to know.

"I'm going to buy a drink."

"oh."

After hearing Xing Ge's brief response, I left the boys' room.

Walking down the corridor to the stairs leading downstairs, I saw Xiaoyue waiting for me at the top. As soon as Xiaoyue saw my face, she said, "Let's go downstairs," and walked down the stairs. I followed her without saying a word.

Far from the lobby and meeting rooms where guests gathered, Xiaoyue leaned against the wall in a deserted corridor. Her gaze fell upon a Japanese-style garden shrouded in darkness. But perhaps she wasn't really looking at the garden.

I also leaned against the wall next to Xiaoyue, sharing the same view with her.

After a brief silence, Xiaoyue said softly:

"Senior Sister Ya Shuang, you're crying so hard."

"……Right."

"It's unbelievable that someone who's usually so cheerful would cry like that... but the way he cried was kind of funny."

Xiaoyue chuckled twice, but it sounded weak and listless.

"...Aren't you going to ask me why she got dumped?"

"What good would it do to ask? I only met her for the first time yesterday."

"That's true... Well, actually I don't know why either. Seriously, like Irito-san, all the guys I know are so weird... I cheer these girls on, but they all get dumped."

I was ostracized at the time, so I didn't know. I heard that Higashi had confessed to Irito before. This guy was involved too. But Irito was indeed clever; she thwarted his scheme and dumped Higashi… Did she feel she was also responsible for that?

"Am I a jinx? All the girls around me have been dumped, and now I can't even date. I feel so frustrated..."

"Don't talk about these supernatural and bizarre things. These things have nothing to do with you."

"Yeah, I know... But when I see you crying, I can't help but think... that girls who like you in the future will probably cry like this too..."

"........."

As long as this condition of mine isn't cured, I won't be able to accept anyone's confession of love.

That's not all; they might even vomit on the spot. I can't imagine a worse way to refuse someone.

And you—originally thought…

Is this your responsibility?

"If I get yelled at, I can let it go. But the girl you rejected will never know that I'm the one who got dumped. I think you'll be very popular with women, and lots of girls will confess to you in the future. And then you'll make so many girls sad and cry. I—I'm telling you…"

Xiaoyue spoke in a pleading tone.

"I don't want you to become that kind of bad boy."

So, you absolutely have to cure me?

Why do you insist on curing my constitution for the sake of strangers who may never even appear in the future?

"...Me—"

"Just stay with me for a moment."

Without saying a word, Xiaoyue grabbed my arm.

"I want to go to a place... You know what? I heard there's a semi-mixed open-air hot spring here."

Judging from the situation in the changing room, it seemed that there were only the two of us guests.

This hot spring has a strange design; the bathing pool extends forward, forming a long, narrow passage.

Walking through the hot spring with a splashing sound, the pool gradually deepens as you go. When the murky, brownish water becomes deep enough to almost cover your entire body, the narrow passage comes to an end, revealing the view outside.

It's called an open-air hot spring, but it's actually a semi-open-air type where you can only look out through the horizontal windows. What interests me more than that is that next to the bath I walked over, there's another bath. It's as if a stone wall almost as high as the surface of the pool has divided a large bath in two.

"Ah, you've finally arrived."

Xiaoyue is right there.

She rested her arms on the stone wall and leaned closer to look at me with an air of nonchalance. The tea-brown spring water was completely opaque, and her body was submerged entirely in the hot water.

Opposite to her, there's a passageway leading from the women's bath to this side, allowing men and women to meet here. However, their bodies are completely invisible while soaking in the murky spring water. So that's how semi-mixed bathing is designed.

"Hehe... It feels so weird to be completely naked but not be able to see anything."

"...That's right."

Just like the men's bath, there was no one else in the women's bath area. I don't know if it was too early or too late, but it seems like we've stumbled upon a secret time.

"Hey, you're not allowed to look around and try to see other girls."

Xiaoyue said with her eyes half-open.

"Even if other girls come, you won't see anything anyway."

"You're so annoying. That's what I say, but I still can't help but want to watch."

"You're actually still lustful towards girls. But the moment someone likes you, you feel like throwing up. It's really illogical."

"Who do you think caused this?"—I didn't say those words out loud.

Who is responsible for my current state? This guy knows better than anyone.

Xiaoyue rested her elbows on the stone wall, propped her cheeks up, and said with a teasing laugh:

"I don't know how long it's been since we took a bath together... Ah, it seems like we just took a bath together last time? At home."

"You insisted on coming in, didn't you? Showering together with mutual consent is already—"

—This happened when we were still dating.

I stopped thinking before my brain could trace back the memories. If I continued, I wouldn't be able to maintain inner peace.

"...Back when we were in elementary school, it was perfectly normal for us to take baths together."

"Kids are all like that. Back then, I thought everyone was like that."

"I forget what grade it was, but you suddenly came up to me and asked, 'Where do girls pee?'"

"Stop talking! Don't deliberately dig up other people's dirty history!"

"Haha! You scared me so much I cried back then, and then you got scolded by your parents!"

At that time, I was completely ignorant of everything. I didn't understand the differences between boys and girls, I didn't know what love was, and I had no idea what we would become in the future—

"Why did we stop showering together? Was it because you touched my breasts?"

"Stop talking nonsense, you silly girl. There's no reason why, it's just that we've grown up and, for some reason, we don't shower together anymore—"

I don't know why. Everything just happened naturally.

I don't know why we stopped showering together, I don't know why we stopped going to school together, I don't know why we stopped talking in the classroom, and I don't know why we became lovers.

Lacking determination and a sense of responsibility, they have nothing. Which middle school kid isn't like that? The moment a girl confesses her feelings, they instantly lose their composure, their IQ drops to below that of a monkey, and they seize the opportunity without thinking it through. But once they find out afterwards that things aren't as they imagined, they immediately start throwing a tantrum.

I am still suffering the consequences of that time.

"—Hey, aren't you excited?"

Xiaoyue smiled mischievously and spoke.

"Sharing a bath with me after I've turned into a high school girl... Tell me what you think, Kawanami."

"...Are you an idiot?"

I scoffed at it.

"Didn't we just reminisce about the past? It's no wonder I'm not excited about taking a bath with you now—"

I'm not as ignorant as I was back then.

I learned about relationships between men and women, love, determination, regret, and discernment...

I learned my lesson the hard way, and that's how I became who I am today.

Love isn't something to talk about; it's something to look at.

The answer remains unchanged.

"……Yeah?"

Xiaoyue's response seemed to have a deeper meaning.

Just as I began to have doubts, Xiaoyue left the stone wall separating the men's and women's baths, making a splashing sound, and walked towards the large horizontal window that offered a view outside.

Then, place your hand on the edge of the stone bathtub in front of the window.

"Hey."

With a whoosh—

Water splashed everywhere.

From the murky, brownish-red spring water, a fair back, waist, and buttocks appeared—

Xiaoyue turned to face me, leaving me speechless.

Naked.