My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 42

An article written in a simple and unadorned style caught my eye.

"October 13

By the time someone reads this diary, I'll probably be no longer alive.

"........."

This is the first time in real life I've seen someone use this sentence as the beginning of a diary.

But I'm still in the living room next door, yelling and screaming with boundless energy, clearly still alive.

Curiosity surged within me, and I continued watching.

"October 14

I had a nightmare; I dreamt that Xiaoyue was helping me take a bath. I won't lose.

"October 15

My stomach isn't feeling well; I had diarrhea again today. My stomach keeps rumbling.

"October 16

I have alopecia areata, which I've managed to cover up somewhat with my hairstyle.

"October 17

This was the first time in my life I'd ever vomited blood. I wanted to go to the hospital, but Xiaoyue found me.

"October 18

I feel unwell all over; my body feels heavy, and my head hurts.

"October 19

I can't do anything. She won't let me.

"October 20

I can't take it anymore, please help me!

I closed the file.

Let's just pretend we didn't see it.

Then, I decided to be even nicer to Kawanami Kogure.

Before we knew it, it was evening.

Kawanami's parents really didn't come back. We left the apartment to have dinner, saying there was a family restaurant nearby that he often went to.

"There's nothing I can do; the fridge only has frozen food. That's what I usually eat, but wouldn't it be too cruel to serve guests that kind of thing?"

The city at night has an almost otherworldly feel. The familiar street scenes seem to be layered with different textures. Perhaps this feeling is particularly strong because I don't go out at night.

As I walked under the lights of the izakaya sign, I said to Kawanami:

"Your parents come home really late."

"This is Japan, a country known overseas for its 100 million people working themselves to the bone. It's normal."

Kawanami shrugged as he stepped through the interplay of light and shadow on the street.

"When you told me you wanted to arrange some time for your parents to be alone and asked me to let you stay overnight at your house, I really admired you. I never thought there would still be such commendable young people these days."

How old are you?

"I stopped counting after I turned ten."

Just how bad at counting are they?

Kawaba shook his shoulders and chuckled.

If that home without family was Kawanami's daily life since childhood, then I can understand. In that environment, how could a child of similar age next door not become good friends?

It's what they call being as close as brothers.

...Compared to me and Yui, this guy and Minami are more like step-siblings.

"Two people—?"

"Yes."

"There are two empty seats available, this way please—"

Although it was a bit late for dinner, the family-run restaurant was packed with families; business was booming. Luckily, there was a two-person table available. We headed to the window seat the staff led us to…

""""ah.""""

The four voices overlapped.

Jie and Nan were sitting face-to-face next to the seats the clerk was showing them to.

"Ugh!" Nan looked regretful.

"Oh no...! I forgot Kawanami would be here too...! My precious elegant dinner time with Yui is ruined...!"

"It's clearly a cheap family-run restaurant, who's going to give you an elegant dinner time? You're probably going to order the Italian meat sauce and cheese baked rice again anyway."

"It won't cause any problems. Italian meat sauce and cheese baked rice is great! It's cheap and delicious! I think you're the one who orders pizzas that seem unhealthy!"

"What's wrong with pizza? It's cheap, delicious, and you can share it with everyone."

I glanced back and forth between Kawanami and Minami, who had started chatting as soon as they met, and frankly expressed my thoughts:

"This clearly gives off the feeling that 'they usually come together'... No wonder they're childhood sweethearts."

"Childhood sweethearts? Who's in that kind of relationship with this guy?!"

"You guys weren't doing this on purpose, were you?"

Also, you usually only react like this when someone mistakes you for your boyfriend or girlfriend, okay? Why are you so excited when someone mistakes you for your childhood friend?

Since Kawanami reluctantly sat down on the chair by the aisle, I reluctantly sat down in a seat against the wall. Separately, next to me was Yui, and next to Kawanami was Minami. I figured since neither of them wanted to, they could just switch; Kawanami was probably overthinking things for us again.

I have to be careful of attacks from very close range—that's what I thought to myself. I glanced at the girl who had been silent since earlier and saw her looking around inexplicably, swaying restlessly.

"...The restroom is next to the drinks bar, right?"

"No, no, it's just... this is my first time coming to a family restaurant with friends in the evening..."

"Ha! No wonder he debuted in high school."

"I told you, this isn't your debut!"

"It's not convincing for someone who's just starting out at a family restaurant to say something like that."

"So what? You've never had this kind of opportunity either, haven't you? Because you have no friends."

"Because I don't find anything touching about coming to a family restaurant with Kawanami."

"Hey, hey—that's a really bold assessment of the landlord we're staying with tonight."

I randomly picked a cheap pasta dish from the menu I first saw, and also ordered a drink.

Although the people at the beverage bar talked about it as if it were the most real thing, I only knew that this thing existed; it was my first time ordering it. Honestly, it's amazing that you can drink all you want for 200 yuan.

"Hey, Irito, go get the drinks."

"How did I suddenly become your errand boy? Can't you go yourself, you damned servant?"

"How did I suddenly become your servant? No, I mean I'll watch your things for you, and you go get the drinks."

"Oh, I understand."

"With Irito-san."

"Uh no, why?"

"Look, you've probably never drunk a beverage by yourself before, right? You can ask her to teach you, to teach you gently and carefully."

Kawanami grinned wickedly. Minami, standing nearby, gave him a disgusted look.

"Then why don't you, someone with experience, go?" Just as I was about to retort, a voice beside me said:

"Oh—? Is that so? You've never had a drink before—? You're in high school already? Oh…"

"...Hey, stepsister, why are you looking at me like that, making me want to punch you?"

"You're in high school now, and you've never had a drink at a family-run restaurant before? That's strange! You've never been here with friends either? Oh well, how about I teach you?"

This woman is ridiculous. Just because she knows how to use a drink bar doesn't mean she can act so arrogantly!

I couldn't swallow this insult, so I resolutely stood up from my seat and announced:

"...Watch closely, I'll show you what a real drink is."

"Let me see just how capable you are."

"What's going on now? Is it time for a cooking showdown?"

Ignoring Nan, who was slightly tilting her head, Jie and I strode confidently into the beverage bar.

Cola, orange juice, sparkling water, black tea, iced coffee—the beverage machine with its various buttons awaits us. Anything is fine; no matter which button I press, my duty remains the same—a simple and resolute demeanor. Just what I want.

"Then... I'll have an iced coffee..."

"Really? Have you really decided on this one?"

Just as I placed the cup on the iced coffee stand, ready to press the button, the woman began speaking to distract me.

And he even deliberately sighed for me to see, shrugging his shoulders as if he couldn't stand me.

"Really...it seems you don't know this. That's how laymen are..."

"What did you say? Isn't it just pressing a button to pour your favorite drink into a cup?"

"Let me demonstrate for you. This is the standard etiquette for a beverage bar!"

After saying that, Jie Nu picked up a glass and placed it in the cantaloupe soda section. Once the green liquid was about one-third full, she added orange juice to fill it to two-thirds full. Finally, she added sparkling water to blend the green and yellow liquid, creating a bubbling liquid that resembled a river of hell, its color reminiscent of viscera.

"The proper way to use a beverage bar is to personally create your own original mixed drinks!"

"……What did you say……"

I stared at the liquid, which resembled a random item mixing system in a video game that ultimately failed, and felt a chill run down my spine.

Do high school students in the world drink this stuff all the time? Are those people monsters who grew up ingesting industrial waste?

"Come on, you try it too. Just let your fingers mix it freely."

"Mmm..."

I frowned and stared at the drink.

I don't like sparkling drinks, so I'll exclude them. As for the others...

"...First, pour some black tea."

"Um."

"Then add some grape juice."

"Uh-huh?"

"Finally, add orange juice and it's done."

"Are you crazy?!"

How rude of them to question my mental state!

"It's similar to Russian black tea. Have you heard of Russian black tea? It's the kind of black tea with jam."

"Of course I've heard of it, okay? How rude of me! But honestly, now that you mention it, it does sound pretty good..."

It was clearly you who told me to do it; you're so suspicious.

We took our homemade mixed drinks back to our seats.

As soon as Nan saw the colorful neon juice we brought out, she burst out laughing.

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm sorry, Yui...!"

Nan clutched her stomach, her whole body trembling. "?" Jie tilted her head, puzzled.

"Just now, I said, 'Making your own drinks at a beverage bar is proper etiquette'... That was, I was joking...!"

"...Huh!"