My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 68

"Of course I'm here to keep an eye on you, so you don't lay a hand on Dongtou. Because she's my friend."

"Oh, right, my friend."

She's talking so easily now. I seem to remember her being the type who used to make decisions about friendship, just like Dongtou.

Then, Yui sighed wearily.

"...And there's the matter of seeking refuge. Mom and the others are really pressing me too hard..."

"Ah—that really is..."

I'm sorry to have troubled you.

I felt a rare sense of relief and decided to make an exception this time and generously let her take a break.

"...Come in. It's better to be watched than to be suspected."

"I won't be polite."

I let Jie Nu in, and at that moment, Dong Tou, who was busy digging for treasures in my bookshelf, turned around.

"Oh, is Yui-chan here to dig too?"

"What do you mean? Are there fossils in that bookcase?"

"I think bookshelves are like strata. The strata of wisdom, or the intellectual strata."

"...Intelligence layer?"

The woman, who was an avid reader of translated classic detective stories, seemed unable to grasp the nuances of Chinese wordplay. Dongtou looked a little dejected. I understand, I understand how you feel.

"...Anyway, Mizuto's bookshelf is really fun, worth exploring! Yui can come and dig it up anytime she wants, right—how enviable..."

"I guess so."

"Who said you 'are you'? Don't go through my things without permission... Last time you mistook a romantic comedy light novel for pornography and you were blushing over there."

"Ah!...That's...!"

"Oh, there was such an incident?... Ah, could it be this? This is really erotic."

"Oh, no. That one is even more explicit."

"Are there any even more extreme examples?!"

Dongtou started taking out light novels with explicit content, such as those with large-scale illustrations or title pages, from my bookshelf and showing them to Jienu for fun.

"Look, this illustration is super erotic. Look at that expression."

"Waaaaahhhhhh...!"

(Illustration 006)

Two girls in the same grade were reading my collection of light novels with explicit illustrations together. Even I felt extremely uncomfortable in this situation. But putting that aside, this was a great opportunity to mock Yui for being so innocent and naive.

"Hilarious, are you a primary school student?"

"Mind your own business, you repressed pervert!"

"That's true. It's unexpected that Mizuto-kun has some fanservice works. Look, remember this one that has nipples drawn on it?"

"...Huh, you're throwing?"

"Alright, Dongtou, that's enough."

Just as Dongtou was about to pull out a book hidden deep in the bookcase, I grabbed her hand from behind to stop her.

I don't check the contents before buying books; I just pick them based on the cover and my gut feeling. I don't know anything about the contents when I buy them, okay?

"Hmm, I was originally going to check if there were any creases on the title page or other illustration pages."

"Absolutely not."

"I understand. In exchange, please let me see your computer hard drive."

"Absolutely not!"

"I'll let you see my tablet files too!"

"She's so thirsty!"

How could someone be so eager to watch as to harm themselves?

"...Are you all usually so... how should I put it, so straightforward...?"

As the girl slightly distanced herself from us, she looked at us.

"Yeah, you could say that. We usually talk about cute girls that are particularly useful lately, right?"

"practical……?"

"Dongtou, you better tone it down. That guy really knows nothing about that kind of thing."

"Ugh...ugh...ugh..."

I covered her mouth from behind. Dongtou struggled wildly with her hands, but even I could suppress the weak, homebody girl's small resistance.

"…………snort……"

Seeing us like this, Jie Nu just snorted.

The humming had a slightly sulky tone.

"...Pfft! This is a headache. This stepbrother is overprotecting his sister. Restricting freedom of expression will stifle cultural development, you know?"

"I'm not restricting your performance, I'm restricting you as a person."

"Wow—I've become a subject of scrutiny. Oh well... it's all because I was born with such erotic breasts..."

"I told you this kind of feigned ignorance is hard to criticize, so don't say it again."

"This is my only strength, so I'm afraid I can't accept your offer—"

The school uniform sweater, pushed up high, stood upright at the east end. An ordinary person would likely be more prone to feelings of inferiority... perhaps this kind of thinking is a product of fictional works.

"ah."

Dongtou's eyes stopped on a spot on the bookshelf, and he reached out.

She picked up a paperback with a color cover but no illustrations inside, which is generally known as light literature.

"I remember this author debuted with light novels, right?"

"Hmm... I remember it like this."

"I only follow new light novel releases, so I missed it. Can I borrow it to read?"

"sure."

"Hehehe—"

Dongtou spoke in a flat tone, his voice only sounding happy on the surface, as he hugged the book to his chest.

Then, she looked around.

"Um...can I lie in bed?"

"Huh? Oh."

……oh?

Before I could even think about what I had promised, Dongtou had already walked over quickly.

I walked toward my usual bed.

"Then I'll be bothering you a little bit—"

She first plopped down on the soft bed, and then, just like she always did in the library, took off her socks, went barefoot, and lay down on the bed.

A fleshy thigh, clearly lacking muscle mass, peeked out from under the uniform skirt, while bare feet swung up and down as the person placed a book on the pillow and opened the cover.

It felt so relaxing, just like being in my own room.

For a moment I almost forgot that she was lying in my bed.

"Wait, wait... what are you doing, Dongtou!"

"Eh?"

Seeing Dongtou acting as if she were in her own home, Jienu hurriedly ran towards her.

"You...you're lying there...is that this guy's bed?"

"I know, that's why I asked him—"

"No, I mean... how should I put it, um... don't you feel anything at all!"

"Huh? Well, this... um..."

Dongtou's face remained expressionless, and suddenly he buried his face in my pillow.

"Having Mizuto's scent makes my heart flutter a little."

"I really can feel it!"

I thought you didn't think it was a big deal at all!

"Oh well, never mind that for now. This is the only place in the room where I can read, so there's nothing I can do about it."

"What do you mean there's nothing I can do... You...aren't you wary at all?"

"Warning?"

Dongtou looked at Jienu with innocent eyes, just like the look he gave me at school.

"I've already been dumped, so it'll be fine—"

Hearing the "Oh my god, what are you saying?" tone in her words, Yui was speechless.

I gently placed my hand on her shoulder from behind.

"Now you understand, right?"

"Huh...this...is...strange?"

Jie Nu took turns looking at my face and at Dong Tou, who was happily reading a book on my bed, with a confused expression on her face.

Dongtou believes that no matter what she does now, he will not treat her as a woman.

Therefore, even things that would normally be considered problematic due to gender barriers, she believes are fine to do based on a purely platonic friendship.

In fact, this idea is not wrong.

This is what I think, and I hope she won't let gender differences limit our friendship. We're friends, and there shouldn't be any problem with going to a friend's house and reading on their bed.

But... once she started doing it, I found it a little hard to follow.

In the recent confession, Dongtou, who should have been the most hurt, was actually more open-minded than me, which is really pathetic—but there is still a place in my heart where I can't erase the feeling of seeing her as a girl.

If I continue to hold this mindset, it will definitely be offensive to her.

I dumped her for selfish reasons. So now, I have no right to treat her as a woman anymore.

...I think I should make some effort.

Learn from her—treat that confession as if it were all in the past.

I tried my best to remain just friends with her.

This is the sincerity I should show...

"Waaaaah... My brain can't keep up... Why...? How come this girl is more relaxed and comfortable in this room than I used to be..."

"Taking it seriously is a losing proposition. I've already decided to treat this guy as a male friend. Just read a book to calm your nerves."

"...I will..."

Jie obediently took the book I gave her, sat down on the floor by the wall, and opened the book.

I took out a book that I was halfway through reading from my bag and leaned against the side of the bed where I was lying on the east side.

For a while, all that could be heard was the quiet sound of pages turning.

"Mmm~!"

Dongtou stretched lazily on the bed behind me, so I looked up at the clock.

It's already past six o'clock. Almost two hours have passed without us realizing it.