My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 51

Until this very moment, I had never even considered it.

I never imagined that a girl would become good friends with that guy.

A corner of my heart secretly believed that that guy would never develop a deep relationship with anyone again in his life—never fall in love again...

"That's enough!"

My mind was in turmoil, and I slammed my fist on my pillow in my room.

What am I feeling down about? What am I unhappy about?

This makes it seem like I'm jealous.

Just like when I said something I shouldn't have and we argued—which directly led to our breakup.

When unpleasant memories came to mind, I buried my face in the pillow.

I never... never want to experience that feeling again.

If this continues, I'm sure I'll do something I shouldn't again. I haven't learned my lesson and I won't change.

I am no longer the person I was in junior high school.

The girl who agonized over trivial matters for ages, who was timid yet inexplicably stubborn, and who ruined everything by doing things she shouldn't have, Ayai Yui, is no longer here.

and so……

"--Hoo~!...Haa--"

I lifted my face and took a deep breath.

Let go of the past self that has been filling my heart so naturally lately, and replace it with the carefully crafted self I am now.

My mind calmed down and became much clearer. Just like a smartphone freeing up storage space, it functioned smoothly, and I found the solution to my previous gloomy and chaotic feelings, much like solving a math problem.

I am not jealous.

Because I am no longer that man's girlfriend, but merely his stepsister.

Q·E·D——Proof complete.

"……good."

Having completed a theory comparable to that of Ellery Queen, I got out of bed.

I took off my uniform and changed into my loungewear, ran my fingers through my messy hair, and looked down at the table. Several novels, now unsealed after the exams, were piled up there.

I picked up one of them.

This is a translation of an overseas mystery novel, authored by S.S. Van Dine.

The third of Van Dine's Twenty Rules is: "Stories should not be burdened with unnecessary romantic elements that would disrupt the purely intellectual development of the story."

◆ Water Fighter ◆

"Going to the library again today?"

"……yes."

"Oh, take care."

As soon as school was over, Jie suddenly came to talk to me, but I only replied with this one sentence before walking out of the classroom with Nan and the others.

As I watched her leave, I narrowed my eyes slightly.

What's causing this...sense of disharmony?

Is it that his speech has become less barbed, or that he has become more indifferent in his dealings with others?

I just had a conversation with that woman—why wasn't she angry at all?

"Huh? What's wrong, Irito? You've been staring at Irito-san—or rather, glaring at her."

Kawabata flashed a sly grin for a moment, then quickly withdrew his gaze after peeking at my face.

Instead of asking me what's wrong, why don't you ask that woman?

...Okay, whatever. After all, we've been siblings for two months now—I guess the girl and I have just gotten used to it.

"Then I'll be going, Kawanami. I need to go to the library."

"Okay. You seem to be going to the library every day lately. Is it that fun?"

"It's just as fun as your room."

"Don't make it sound like my room is a theme park!"

If you consider it as an amusement park themed around dark history, then it's not entirely wrong.

I casually brushed off Kawabata and then walked down the familiar corridor.

Arriving at the light novel shelf in the corner of the library, Izana Higashito was already sitting by the window on the air conditioner.

"You always arrive very early, East."

"Of course. After all, I can't stand staying in the classroom."

"What a pathetic guy. Oh well, I'll keep you company a little longer today."

Hehe~♪

Dongtou swayed her body gently from side to side happily. It seemed that her expression remained unchanged, not because she was indifferent to emotions, but simply because her facial muscles were not used to exercise.

After sitting down next to each other at the east end, we looked at the spines of the books on the bookshelf in front of us and started chatting as usual.

Just as the conversation smoothly transitioned from the topic of books to the current situation report, I naturally thought of the sense of unease I felt towards Jie Nu.

"...My stepsister seems a bit strange."

"You mean that female classmate you saw yesterday? What was so strange about her?"

"She's become very cold—or rather, that's not quite right. She's actually much gentler towards me than usual... I don't know why, but I no longer get angry when I talk to her. She doesn't interrupt me, and everything we talk about goes smoothly."

"I don't understand what's wrong with this at all."

"……you're right."

I should say I suddenly realized that I seemed to be confiding my troubles to her... I actually confided my troubles to someone, something I haven't done since I consulted Kawanami about Minami's matter? But I don't think this matter is as important as that incident.

"Okay, to be honest, if someone comes to me with their interpersonal relationship problems, I can only go along with it."

"I'm so sorry, I was so cruel..."

"There's no need to say it like that!"

Dongtou shoved me hard with her shoulder to express her anger. I pushed her away, and Dongtou leaned against me. "Hey, stop acting like a wimp."

"You mean you don't need to ask my opinion, why don't you just ask her directly? Why don't you do that?"

"…………you're right."

"You keep saying that. Does that mean Mizuto is actually surprisingly stupid?"

"What did you say? Tell me your midterm exam ranking."

"...I...I'm good at things that the school doesn't grade...Awooo—!"

As I dug my thumb into the temple of the underachiever from the elite high school, I pondered for a moment.

...That's true. Dongtou is right, we can just ask her directly. It's not like we can't find an opportunity. What disgusts me is that I live under the same roof as that woman.

How could I not have thought of doing that?

Because you don't want to talk to her? Or is your relationship not good?

In that case, I could simply ignore her. Besides, that woman is much smarter in her interactions with me now than before.

Logically speaking, that's how it should be. Logically speaking, this sense of disharmony can simply be ignored—

"...I think you should just follow your own heart."

Dongtou, his eyes brimming with tears, suddenly said softly:

"My true feelings?"

"Oh, no, well, I think if you take my advice, you'll only make things more complicated! Sorry, please forget about it—"

"No, go on. I'll decide for myself whether or not to listen to you, and I'll bear the consequences."

I removed my fingers from Dongtou's temple and stared intently at her face. Dongtou groaned softly, her gaze shifting for a moment before she spoke, stealing glances at me frequently:

"...Doesn't everyone have a standard in their heart? Like the standard of hoping the world can be this way, or that doing it this way is right."

"yes."

"When this standard is threatened, how should I put it, I go into a state of readiness. Like an animal whose territory has been invaded...that's why people often say I'm tactless—"

"Knowing what's good for you..."

Dongtou's speech was a bit off-topic, but the moment I heard that word, it all clicked.

"Be sensible...yes, be sensible. I always try to be sensible when dealing with that woman."

"Mizuto-kun?"

"Thank you, Dongtou—this is very helpful."

"And..." I continued, looking into the eyes of the person on the east side.

"It's important to be sensible, but Dongtou, you don't need to think so much when you're with me."

"Huh?"

"That's called using the right tool for the right job. I was the one who knew what was good for me and I was quicker to act."

Even in the closest relationships, it's important to maintain boundaries.

It might be necessary to be perceptive between friends, but to tell my family—especially that woman—to be sensible is really unlike me.

"...Th-thank you..."

Dongtou looked around in confusion for a while, then said softly.

◆ The Maiden ◆

"Your brother hasn't gotten a girlfriend yet, has he?"

It was lunch break. It was a rare sunny day in June, so a few of us sat on the bench in the courtyard eating our lunches. At that moment, Nasu Hana, who always looked sleepy, casually asked me something.

In an instant, I didn't do anything, but Maki's chopsticks stopped. Maki forced her tall, slender figure next to Nasu Hana.

"Huh? What?! Irito's younger brother has a girlfriend! Tell me everything!"

"Don't keep rubbing against me... No, it's just that I saw him walking home with a girl after school yesterday. The girl seemed like a good girl, and she and her brother seemed to get along really well, so I was wondering if she was his girlfriend."

"Oh, you mean Dongtou? I've seen her before?"

Xiaoyue joined the conversation while sipping the milk she bought from the welfare store through a straw.

"He claims to be a friend, but I don't actually know anything about them. They're not in the same class, yet they see each other every day; it's very suspicious."

"What kind of girl is she? What kind of girl is she? Is she cute?"

"She doesn't seem particularly striking, but I think she has a lot of potential. And her breasts are enormous."

"Little sister, I have to say, Nanmei, you love looking at other people's breasts too much."

"Because I'm so envious! I want to experience what it's like to have sore shoulders! Look how light these shoulders are!"

Xiaoyue spun her shoulders around several times, and Ma Xi clapped and laughed heartily.

Nasu Hana, who was standing next to me, stopped sucking on the nutritional jelly and looked at me.

"So, what's the actual situation? Is she your girlfriend?"

But I kept eating.

"Who knows? Probably? I'm not sure."

"Oh~"

Nasu Hana seemed uninterested and started sucking on the jelly noisily again.

I believe I performed very well.

If it were not long ago, I would have reacted suspiciously—but now I am able to calmly give a neutral response.

You could get full marks. Considering the stepsiblings you just met.