My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

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Nan stared blankly at him, then Kawanami rushed up from behind her.

"Hey! Why did you answer the door without permission?!"

"I answered the door for you when you were in the bathroom, isn't that what I usually do?"

"Didn't I tell you Irito was coming and told you to go home first?"

"Where I want to spend my vacation is my own business."

"It's your problem, not your home!"

The two people, dressed in their pajamas and bickering, looked just like a couple living together.

No, rather than saying it looks like—it is exactly like—it is.

Although I had sensed for a while that their relationship was slowly and quietly improving, I never expected that it would develop to this point after I hadn't paid attention to them for a short time...

"Alright, alright, anyway, Irito-san, please come in and sit down. It's just that we've run out of snacks, so we don't have anything to offer you."

"It's all because you eat all the time. Be careful you don't get fat!"

"Unfortunately! My basal metabolic rate is very high!"

"...Anyway, sorry to bother you."

This might be the most sincere "sorry to bother you" I've ever said in my life.

After moving from the front door to the living room, Nan picked up the game console from the table and dumped it onto the sofa. She was completely acting like she was lazing around in her own home. Even Yui, who is actually at home, wouldn't be this lazy.

"...Does that mean Nan is coming to your house every few days?"

"He comes over whenever he's on vacation and doesn't go out. This guy's too lazy to cook for himself, so he always comes to me for food."

"I've cooked for you too, though only occasionally—"

"It's so outrageous that they'd say they're too lazy to go home and will just stay here overnight. What kind of trick is this—staying overnight at a neighbor's house?"

It's more than just semi-cohabitation; after all this time, it's practically cohabitation.

They also said that their parents were often away from home, so it was essentially a two-person household.

I lowered my voice slightly and said to Kawabata:

"(Won't this leave no room to breathe?)"

"(...that would be impossible.)"

While they were secretly whispering to each other, Nan said while playing video games:

"Kawaba~ Aren't you going to offer your guests tea? There's some in the fridge~"

"I don't need you to remind me... Irito, you go to my room first."

After leaving those words, Kawanami walked towards the kitchen. I replied, "Okay," and headed to Kawanami's room, which I had visited countless times before.

Just as I slammed the door shut...

I heard sounds coming from the living room after I left:

"...There's no room to breathe?"

"Huh? You... heard that—"

"Like what? Like there's no room to breathe? Like this?"

"Hey, you idiot! The tea's going to spill—!"

Driven by curiosity, I opened the door a crack and saw Minami hugging Kawanami in the kitchen, hanging on his neck.

...I apologize for disturbing you both.

I once again think this from the bottom of my heart.

Mizuto Irito ◆ Boys' Ways of Repressing Their Intent

"I've found myself feeling safer hanging out with guys lately."

Kawanami finished the tea in his cup and said that.

"Others will probably say I don't know how lucky I am, but being constantly bothered by girls can be mentally exhausting. You probably feel the same way, right?"

"Didn't you prefer to see me entangled with the Kyoukai?"

No, I meant the east end.

"Oh, her... she was tired at first, but she's almost used to it."

"You're amazing... Did you practice Buddhism at a temple?"

If I had gone, I wouldn't be in such a predicament now.

"Actually, your situation is more special than mine. My daughter and I have parents watching over us, so we follow basic rules, and we only meet at school or on the street."

Don't tell him about his recent frequent visits to Dongtou's house.

"In that respect, you're at home, and without your parents watching over you, right? As far as I understand it, it would be incredible if you could live a normal life under these circumstances."

If they were dating, this relationship could actually be considered healthy. However, judging from their words, it seems they are not dating.

This means suppressing the instinct to be easily provoked—

"...The secret is to never take the initiative."

Kawaba honestly told the truth.

"If you indulge yourself just once, you'll start to let yourself go, and wouldn't that just be playing into the other person's hands?"

"...Shall I share my experience?"

I lowered my voice slightly and asked, but Kawabata scratched his nose and pretended not to understand.

It seems he went through a period of self-indulgence.

I looked at the door leading to the living room and said:

"But given your situation, I don't think there's anything wrong with getting back together. Hasn't Nan been reflecting on what she did in the past?"

"That's true. But it's not that easy."

Kawanami said with difficulty, looking at me seriously.

"Irito, you know what? There seems to be a type of man in the world who suddenly contacts his ex-girlfriend whom he broke up with months ago. Can you guess why?"

"Maybe he broke up with his current girlfriend?"

"Yes, to put it bluntly, it's about having a 100% sex drive. I'd rather die than become that kind of man."

"...I completely agree."

When you first start dating, you're very naive; whether you like someone or not is the only important thing.

However, getting back together after a breakup is complicated. You have to think about how to deal with the decision you both made to break up.

Otherwise, you'll become like a restless monkey that gets anxious when it doesn't have a mate.

Kawanami suddenly grinned, revealing a lewd smile.

"Hey, if you have this kind of desire, you need to find a healthy way to release it, right?"

"...Don't talk to me about this kind of thing."

"I knew you wouldn't like this kind of topic."

"It would be strange to say something like that out loud."

Kawaba rested his chin on his hand and said:

"Practically speaking, wouldn't having a woman in your family who isn't your romantic partner present a lot of difficult problems?"

"Yui won't get involved in those things. But I think Minami is pretty good at digging."

"They've been digging really hard...the computer password has been cracked countless times..."

Where did this hacker come from? Just who is Nan?

"If we're really going to talk about it, how come you have those kinds of pictures when you're under eighteen?"

"I didn't lie about my age. It's just that some helpful people are enthusiastic about preaching on LINE or Discord."

"That's just how high school boys are," Kawanami said smugly. "I guess that's just how it is. Logically, I'm part of the same group, but for some reason, that world feels so far away. Maybe it's because, in my opinion, it's girls who are really enthusiastic about missionary work..."

"By the way, I don't think I've ever talked to you about this kind of topic before."

Kawanami said "Okay" and grinned again.

"I'll take this opportunity to try my hand at preaching!"

Before I could stop him, Kawanami stood up and walked to the computer desk. He took a dictionary from the shelf on the desk and pulled out small pieces of paper from the pages.

"What's this?"

"Photographs cut out from magazines."

He took the folded paper and spread it out on the coffee table. On the paper was a close-up of a hot swimsuit photo idol.

"The strategy is to get the other person's attention to their phone or computer, but actually, it's specially preserved on paper. Although everyone says that A-books are outdated, whether it's playing video games or anything else, the mainstream tactics are always changing."

"What a pointless attack and defense..."

"These are cut from regular comic magazines, which are already considered healthy. The really intense ones are hidden in harder-to-find places."

Kawanami gave a bold smile and said, "I can't tell you that." He thought he was very handsome.

"So? What type do you like? I'm guessing this kind of girl?"

As Kawanami spoke, he showed me a picture of a gravure idol with long black hair. The idol was wearing a white swimsuit and posing with her chest exposed.

"Like Irito-san, you're the innocent type, right?"

Kawanami said with a malicious smile, but I wasn't interested at all.

The girl is much cuter than this.

There's no need to even compare.

"Such a poor reaction... But then again, compared to any random gravure idol, that guy from the East Head has a much better physique. This little bit of stimulation wouldn't even make you flinch, right?"

"I don't look at Izana that way either."

"I admire your gentlemanly spirit, but sexual desire needs to be tamed and cannot be suppressed at will. I think that forcing yourself to ignore it will have unimaginable consequences."

...I don't think I'm forcing myself.

"Okay... then, how about anime/manga? Like, erotic isekai manga—"

Perhaps he was very happy to talk to me about erotic topics, because Kawanami happily took out his collection of books to show off.

He kept recommending pornographic content that cleverly avoided age restrictions, trying to gauge my reaction. I consistently ignored all of these recommendations. Perhaps because of this, Kawabata became increasingly enthusiastic in his recommendations, gradually escalating from R15 to R18.

"Look! This is the woman in this account! She has the most stunningly beautiful and large breasts of all the accounts I've found—"

Wow—their breasts are huge!

He was probably too excited.

I'm being too stubborn in ignoring it.

So neither of us noticed that someone had been quietly approaching us from behind.

Upon seeing Minami silently intrude into the room, Kawanami's face immediately turned ashen.

"Nan...Nan you..."

"Want some big breasts today?"

After Nan finished speaking with a beaming smile, she quickly snuggled up to Kawanami without anyone stopping her.

"I don't care. But where did the picture I gave you last time go?"

"...The picture I gave you...?"

Could it be Nan's... selfie...?

"No, it's not the kind of obscene thing you're thinking of! No, it is indeed obscene, but it's not her! It's not her! Hey, don't talk like that and cause misunderstandings!"

"Hehehe." Nan laughed happily. What? You startled me...

"Irito-san, I suggest you stop wasting your energy looking for something to replace Yui."