My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 298

"Hey."

Then place the two cups and the whole pot of roasted tea on the table.

I sat across the table from Mizuto and poured the roasted tea into a cup. After setting down the teapot, Mizuto also poured himself a cup of tea.

I drank half a cup in one go, without touching the sink.

It could take a long time to talk.

Even if we don't drink now, the glass will probably be empty by the time the conversation ends.

"........."

"........."

Tick, tick.

For a time, only the ticking of the clock spoke for itself.

This is about timing. Finding the right moment to start the conversation, when your breathing becomes even.

I already knew who should speak first.

I put down the cup on the table and gripped the skirt on my knees tightly.

Then—I stared straight at the water bucket's face and said:

"I'm so sorry about last time."

After saying that, I bowed my head and apologized.

"That was incredibly ill-considered. They didn't even consider how seriously you take this issue—"

Acting rashly—that's the only way I can judge our actions back then now.

Four months ago, my cousin Yuanxiang suggested that I first clarify my own feelings, but I think I may have misunderstood her meaning.

When she told me not to worry about family or friends right now, I actually started only thinking about my own feelings. As a result, I became oblivious to all other issues and acted rashly.

Even if I succeeded that time, what do I plan to do next?

Neither I nor Mizuto want to see a relationship based solely on desire.

"...I'm the one who should apologize."

Seeing that my forehead was almost touching the table, Shuidou said awkwardly.

"I think my ambiguous attitude pushed you too far. I should have told you my thoughts sooner."

"...Well, is it your fault for not listening to you?"

I raised my head and leaned my upper body over the table.

"Your attitude was already very clear, but I said I wouldn't accept it! I ignored everything you said...!"

"But I still have a chance to advise you, if I can calm down. I know perfectly well that you are prone to losing control when you are pushed to the brink—"

"I was just saying I shouldn't have lost control of my behavior!"

"A person's personality isn't so easily changed!"

"Of course it can be changed! Just keep trying!"

"That's called self-destruction, you idiot!"

"........."

"........."

We suddenly fell silent, staring at each other's faces.

Mizuto's expression was as if he had suddenly run out of words.

My expression was probably similar.

"...What's going on? I thought the atmosphere was going to get more serious."

"That's exactly what I was going to ask. It's just like any other day."

But then Mizuto added "No," and suddenly a small smile appeared on his face.

"I feel a bit nostalgic about it."

……yes.

I also feel like it's been a long time since we've bickered like this.

For the past month, I've only been focused on getting to Shuidou and putting on a show—I may have been neglecting to face Shuidou with my true self.

I pulled my protruding upper body back in and sighed softly.

"...Then let's start over and have a proper talk."

Don't try to cover it up.

Don't be timid or hesitant.

"If we decide to date, what do you think will happen?"

Mizuto Irito◆Siblings' Meeting: About After Getting to Know Each Other

"Nothing will change."

I said that.

The girl sat up straight and listened attentively to what I was saying.

"The frequency of our meetings remains the same, as do the way we address each other and the manner of speaking. At least on the surface, nothing seems different. I guess it will be."

"Then why do you think this is a bad thing?"

"Things don't change when you start dating, they only change when you break up. Think back to how we were. Those two lovesick fools have turned into this barbed relationship."

"Why does it have to be based on breaking up?"

"We can't deny that possibility exists. After all, we have a history of such behavior."

"You mean if it happens once, it will happen again?"

"I don't know. I mean, although I don't know, the stakes are too high."

"After all, if our relationship deteriorates, it will put my mother and the others in a difficult position."

The girl gently tilted her head to one side, her long hair swaying smoothly.

"But I did try to think about it."

"What are you thinking about?"

"We've argued in front of Mom and the others, haven't we?"

"...I'd say yes. I think it was during the midterm exams last semester?"

"Yes. But back then, Mom and the others didn't mention anything about getting a divorce."

"That's because it was just a short-term disagreement between siblings."

"Thinking back on it now, that incident also revealed your shortcomings. You presumptuously assumed my thoughts and then tried to solve the problem on your own. If others were watching, they wouldn't know what you were doing at all, would they?"

"You're so annoying. Or do you want me to just tell you straight up? Tell you, 'Even if you don't get the top score, your friends won't leave you, so I'm staying up all night studying to prove it to you'?"

"That would be incredibly lame."

"That's exactly right."

"But in the end, it was just you showing off all by yourself, wasn't it?"

"........."

"Me too. The commotion shortly after I enrolled was also my doing. And when we went back to the countryside to watch the fireworks, I was the one who went to find you without permission."

"...We...seem to both be too fond of showing off."

"Um."

"This approach cannot last long."

"Um."

"...Okay. It was my fault for not explaining things clearly. So?"

"Getting back to the point, what I mean is that even if my siblings and I are not getting along right now, Mom and the others consider it part of family life, don't they?"

"That kind of emotionally charged argument can't be compared to the awkward atmosphere of a breakup. It's like having someone put all those blacked-out breakup profile pictures on your face every time you search social media.

"What is this? A black icon for a breakup account?"

I typed "we broke up" into the Twitter search bar and showed my girlfriend a long list of ex-couple accounts that appeared in the search suggestions.

"...Waaaah..."

"Aren't you afraid? You'll make Aunt Yu-Jin see this kind of emptiness every day."

"...But...but wasn't this how it was when we first started living together?"

"Back then... we could still pretend that it had nothing to do with our family and stay silent."

"You mean, it won't work next time...?"

"Regardless of the timing, you'll have to come out eventually. What if you're secretly dating and get caught in a situation where you're completely unable to explain yourself? That would be the real end of you."

"...What kind of situation left him speechless and unable to defend himself?"

"Of course it is..."

I can't directly say "what you almost did on Christmas Eve".

The girl herself liked to ask questions, yet shyly averted her gaze. But since we were going to talk about this, we couldn't ignore that other aspect.

"Or are you planning to date, but do nothing?"

"I!...I just..."

The girl hugged herself tightly, looking awkward.

I stared at her with a serious expression.

"...I didn't think that way."

The woman's gaze darted around, and she forced out a sound as she spoke.

"I can do...I can do...some things."

"...You top student, your head is full of lust."

"You're so annoying! You're good at pretending to be serious, and then you go around criticizing me!"

"Could you please stop making baseless accusations?"

"You think you can fool me now? The time I barged in while you were showering... your reaction was obvious."

"Well……"

...That time, one wrong step led to eternal regret...

"If we get back together, you'll be the first one to lose control. Xiaoyue also said, 'It's harder than climbing to heaven for a guy to resist being lewd.'"

"She really knows how to instill all sorts of misconceptions in you..."

"Well, thinking about it this way... it might be very difficult to keep it a secret for a lifetime."

"Everything is like that. Having secrets from family isn't easy."

"So you think you should be honest and ask for their permission?"

"We need to observe the situation for a while, and then talk about it after the relationship stabilizes... It's just a hypothetical situation, you know? I'm just saying it's a hypothetical situation."

"I know... Will they agree?"

"I don't know. I've never encountered a situation where my child and my remarried partner's child became a couple."

"Yeah... I wonder how I'll feel..."

"Completely beyond my imagination. It can only be described as an unknown realm."

"Alright then, let's assume we've already received approval."

"Using assumptions as assumptions..."