My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 272

"Ouch! Wait... Rinri, you're hurting me! Don't kick my leg! My leg!"

Hmm, I got completely carried away.

Ever since her trip to Kobe officially ended her single life, Senior Sister Ya Shuang has been acting like a madwoman. Considering that her long-standing unrequited love has finally come to fruition, I originally intended to indulge her for a while, but it seems that this decision was a mistake.

Asahi-no-Yuan coldly watched as Asahi-senpai was kicked back by the student council president and said:

"I understand you're happy, senior, but please don't forget that we, your juniors, are the ones patching up your holes."

"Waaah... Yeah, it's my fault! But I'm definitely not the only one like this, it's an inevitable stage! Getting a boyfriend means you'll start to go astray! I'm not the only one who's particularly useless!"

"I'm going to get the documents," said senior student Yuba as he quickly left his seat.

I think he probably sensed that the conversation was about to start talking about girls. At times like these, Haba-senpai would often disappear with almost precognitive speed.

Once it was clear that senior student Yuba had entered the adjacent archives, President Kurenai rested her chin on her hand and said:

"It's wonderful that you're so happy, but shouldn't you be preparing to face reality?"

"You're so long-winded! I'll just focus on doing my job!"

"The work must be done, of course, but..."

President Hong silently pointed to there—Senior Sister Ya Shuang's seemingly full and proud breasts.

"Now that you've started dating, I'm afraid you can't hide it any longer, right?"

"...Ugh..."

Seeing Senior Sister Ya Shuang speechless, I blinked repeatedly.

"Huh?... Senior, haven't you told him yet!"

"She's incredibly bold, still clinging to her senior like that."

Asahi-no-in-class student also gave a cold look that seemed to have become second nature.

Senior Sister Ya Shuang's breasts were built on vanity, about three cup sizes larger than normal. In the past, she always used her superb skills to make them look real, but once they become a couple, sooner or later... well, there will probably be a chance to show them to each other... so I thought she had already confessed.

Seeing Senior Sister Ya Shuang huddled up in a ball, President Hong's gaze suddenly drifted into the distance and she said:

"Senior Hoshibe is actually quite a gentleman, but he's still a guy. He'd be really disappointed if he knew that the treasure he finally got was just a pile of junk..."

"I...I'm not trash! At least I'm older than Yueyue!"

Xiaoyue was not there when she was suddenly shot.

"Besides, I just thought a bigger size would better match the clothes I like, I didn't mean to lie to anyone...!"

"Then you should tell your senior quickly. Otherwise, you might give yourself away and make him lose his temper."

"It won't go soft! It'll stay rock hard!"

Upon hearing such a blatant statement, Asahi Yeyuan's gaze drifted silently away.

It's not just us; conversations with single women often tend to vehemently contain explicit sexual innuendo. Although I've had boyfriends, I've never had any experience in that area, so I usually just smile and brush it off when these topics come up. It's important to remain silent about things that shouldn't be discussed.

"It's already December."

President Hong looked dumbfounded.

"Christmas is less than a month away. You're not planning to get through our first Christmas together by lying, are you?"

"...But...we've only just started dating...it can't be that fast..."

"The problem is that you had a long run-up before you started dating. Besides, once Xingbian makes up his mind, his style is actually quite carnivorous—I don't think he'd be gentle enough to let go of a piece of meat that's been delivered to his mouth."

"Ouch..."

Senior Sister Ya Shuang blushed and shrank even smaller.

Christmas—okay, right. It's true that you often hear about couples doing *that* on Christmas.

"But I don't know what to do... How do I tell him? At what point can I say, 'I'm sorry, I actually have water in my breasts'...?"

"Okay, yes, a little..."

Even someone like Chairman Hong couldn't give a straight answer. This is truly a problem of the century.

"—Perhaps we can shrink it little by little?"

To address this problem, Asahihain offered a suggestion.

"Maybe I don't need to be honest and ask directly. If I just gradually remove the bra pads one by one and shrink the size in stages, the other person might not notice."

"Ah...! Great idea!"

The previously huddled-up senior, Ya Shuang, immediately regained her energy.

"Lanlan, you're a genius! How did you come up with such a clever plan!"

"I tried it in middle school. But it was too painful, so I gave up..."

"I don't need to worry about that! No, it's none of your business!"

Although Senior Sister Ya Shuang said that, her smile was very cheerful.

Although the person involved seemed relieved, I said with concern:

"I always feel like I'm covering up one lie with another..."

"Okay, even if she gets caught, Senior Xingbian probably won't hold it against her..."

"Next, we can only pray that the senior isn't a big-breasted type," said President Hong.

Irito Yume ◆ For some reason

Senior Sister Ya Shuang naturally has her troubles, but in my eyes now, even these are part of happiness, which makes me quite envious.

I will conquer the water battle this year.

It's good that I've made this decision, but before that, I have one more task to complete.

...The task is to invite Mizuto to meet my biological father.

Although I could have asked my mother to convey my message, I decided to speak up myself. It wouldn't be accurate to say I started by trying to win over people around me, but I felt that this would convey a part of my determination.

The last time I spoke to my father face-to-face was years ago… I've never been particularly afraid to talk to him or had a particularly good conversation with him, but now that I've changed my surname, speaking to him feels like a special ritual. And with Mizuto also present, it feels even more different—

To be honest, why did Dad want to see Mizutani?

Perhaps he was curious about what kind of person the boy living under the same roof as his daughter was—but I didn't think my father cared much about me.

Regardless, I really want to personally invite Mizuto to this meeting, which has a bit of a pre-wedding meeting with the parents feel to it. That way, he might become aware of my presence, and on the other hand, it's simply because I'm the one going to meet him, and it's more polite for me to be the one to ask.

But—I still feel that this really is like meeting the parents before marriage.

This made me hesitate, and I couldn't help but procrastinate and delay again and again...

—No, no, I've fallen into my bad habit again.

There's less than a month left in the year. I have absolutely no time to be afraid of anything!

I'm going to speak up. I'll speak up today. I'll speak up as soon as I get home.

So I finished my student council activities and went home, only to find that Shuidou had already changed into his pajamas and was waiting in the living room.

"Sigh—"

I called out to Shuidou, who was sitting on the sofa looking at his phone. He turned around and said:

"You've come at just the right time."

"what?"

"Tomorrow—Saturday—I need to go to Isana's house at noon, is that alright?"

He asked me this out of the blue.

I was stunned. Go to Dongtou's house? How could this be so sudden—only after he said that did I realize that Dongtou hadn't been coming to our house much lately.

For some reason, my heart pounded, and I felt like it was about to jump out of my mouth.

"Why... are you asking me?"

Then, for some reason, I asked him in a somewhat aggressive tone.

Shuidou looked away, tilted his head, and said, seemingly a little embarrassed:

"...No...and there's no reason why."

He muttered something and stood up from the sofa.

Watching his retreating figure, it suddenly dawned on me. I had to bring it up, to tell him about Dad. I had to call him back immediately—

The living room door was closed.

I couldn't make a sound, so I lowered my hand that was halfway raised.

"...I missed my chance to speak..."

The commonalities between Higashito Isana, the illustrator, and the woman with the hidden account.

"Ugh~"

I tilted my head, looking at the sketch whose lines had become a jumbled mess.

I turned on my tablet in my room and picked up the stylus for over ten minutes. I racked my brains but couldn't come up with a good composition. Even when I did, I couldn't draw it, especially the folds in the clothing—I had no idea how they worked. My brain was about to shut down. Couldn't I just draw a completely nude figure?

I really don't know how I managed to draw so smoothly when I was traveling in Kobe... Ever since that trip, I've always felt like my drawings are a complete mess...

Thinking about it won't help in situations like this. I put down the stylus, picked up my phone, and left my desk to stand in front of the full-length mirror.

This full-length mirror, a basic necessity for girls, is usually placed securely on the wall, but lately I've been using it for selfies. I strike all sorts of poses and snap away endlessly, looking like a prostitute to onlookers. I have to be careful my parents don't see me.

"Hmm──..."

I want to draw a butt, and I also want to draw breasts. But if I want to draw both, I'd have to twist my spine to its human limit. That's a real problem...

I tried posing with my back to the mirror, sticking out my butt, or squatting down to show my cleavage, but I was completely baffled.

How about we go for something bolder, a composition overflowing with eroticism? For example… sitting on the floor with legs wide open, making it look like you're clasping your breasts with your upper arms—

"Hey, East End, your door's unlocked. How careless of you!"

With a click, the door to the room opened.

Shuidou looked at me and froze on the spot.

"……ah."

I was also stunned, my mouth agape.

Maintaining an M-shaped leg-open posture, point your phone's camera lens at the dressing mirror.

Time stood still for a full ten seconds...

"…………Feel sorry."

Mizuto said this with an embarrassed expression, and slowly closed the door.

"Wait...please wait a minute! It's a misunderstanding! You've got it wrong! I'm just collecting data!"

(Illustration 005)

Irito Mizuto ◆ The Road to the Future

It wasn't Higashi-tou Izana who called me to the Higashi-tou house; it was her mother, Aunt Nagira. She said, "I need to talk to you, so come on over." However, she herself seemed to be temporarily out of the house.

"I'm so sorry to have been caught up in such a shocking scene."

"I'm the one who wanted to complain!"

Izana screamed, her face flushed. She was only wearing a loose-fitting long-sleeved shirt. Although the hem of the shirt covered her thighs like a dress, underneath...

"...I'm telling you, even if you're in your own room, you should at least wear something on your lower body..."

"I...I was wearing...I was wearing underwear..."

"Wearing underwear doesn't count as wearing anything."

I remember now, she was the kind of person who would go shirtless from the waist down if she couldn't see during a video call.

I could see it all clearly... No matter how good my relationship with this guy is, there are still some awkward situations, okay?

"It's been a long time since we met on a holiday."

I roused myself and changed the subject.