My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 78

"Huh...!"

Dongtou looked at me with pleading eyes, so I decided to respond to her expectations.

"This woman is so annoying."

"Ooh!...I'm so sorry~..."

Oh dear, the effect is a bit too strong. I gently patted the back of Dongtou, who was holding me tightly, to comfort her.

"And I want to pat your head..."

"Okay, okay."

"And you have to help me blow my nose..."

"Okay, okay."

"Buy me Häagen-Dazs..."

"Okay, okay."

"Rather than being overprotected, they've simply become mere errand boys."

The stepsister cast a disdainful glance, but as long as Dongtou's fragile spirit remained calm, this little thing was nothing.

"...Girls who are overly dependent on their friends are annoying, right?"

Unintentionally, Kawabata curled his lips sourly and glanced at Nan.

Nan, with her eyes half-open, returned a cold gaze.

"...So? Do you have something to say?"

"No, it seems like I don't need to say it out loud."

"...Ugh, so annoying."

Nan turned her head away from Kawabata, letting her ponytail sway like an animal's tail.

"And then... it was finally Irito's turn."

Nan squatted down, placing her hands on her knees, and looked down at me, who was sitting.

"Just answer one question for me, okay?"

“…What’s the problem?”

Are you excited?

Her way of speaking was so direct that I couldn't help but let out a strange low gasp.

"I asked you if you felt excited when Yui licked your fingers. Can't answer? So you're too excited to answer? Tell me, tell me! Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"No, please stop, Xiaoyue! You're hurting me too!"

As Minami was dragged away by Yui, she kept yelling, "Irito-san, you repressed pervert—! I know perfectly well—! Why is it that Irito-san gets all the benefits—!"

"Mizuto-kun is surprisingly lecherous—"

"Don't tell lies without evidence, Dongtou."

"Hmm."

The incident happened unexpectedly.

The man sitting next to me, Dongtou, took my hand and put his fingertips in his mouth.

Everyone present was stunned, except for Dong, who pointed at his fingers and mumbled indistinctly:

"Will this jar of water cause resentment?"

"...No, it feels like being petted by a large dog."

"How rude!"

Dongtou spat my finger out and patted my shoulder hard several times. I still couldn't shake the feeling of playing with a pet.

"...I see."

I heard Kawanami, who was still lying prone on the ground, whisper this.

"Hey." Kawanami got up. He wondered if his spine, which had just cracked, was alright.

I looked up at his face and said:

"Are you going back?"

"These people can't study together. I'll take that yandere girl with me too, don't worry."

"Who are you calling a yandere! You're the one who's sick, you pervert—!"

"Yes, yes, yes."

Kawanami reached out and scooped up Minami, who was being held by Yui, in a princess carry. "Wow!" "Oh-oh—" Yui and Higashito couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Minami continued to struggle, but Kawanami seemed unconcerned and walked out of the living room. Ironically, as she crossed the threshold, Minami's wildly waving hand hit the wall, where she was in so much pain she couldn't even cry out.

As I politely went to see the guest off, I saw Kawanami looking back at me from the entrance hall—or rather, looking towards the east side where he had come with me.

"Your surname is Dongtou, right? -- I'll let you off the hook for now."

"What are you trying to show off for!"

Despite being relentlessly punched by Minami, Kawanami walked out the door.

Dongtou hid behind me and stuck his tongue out at the closed front door.

"Don't steal my lines. There won't be a second time."

"At least say it when you can hear it."

Dongtou turned his head away and ignored everyone... It seems that everyone has someone with whom they clash according to their birth chart.

The woman crossed her arms slightly and sighed.

"So, after all this talk, what exactly is Kawanami-kun arguing about...?"

"...If I told you, would you change?"

"what?"

It wasn't until Jie Nu gave me a surprised look that I realized I had let something slip.

"No... nothing."

I looked away and nudged the back of the person on the east side.

"Then let's continue preparing for the exam."

"Hey! Wasn't the meeting over?"

"Kawabata's gone back, so no one's bothering you anymore, right?"

"No~ no~!"

I sensed Jie Nu watching me from behind, but I pretended not to notice and let Dong Tou sit in front of the textbook and notebook.

◆

That evening, Kawanami contacted me by phone.

"I'm so sorry about today, I caused such a scene at your house."

"Exactly. Don't do that again next time."

"I can't guarantee that. That girl named Dongtou is my mortal enemy, that's my gut feeling."

This is really difficult. Especially since these two difficult guys seem to be fighting over me, it's even more difficult.

"...Hey, don't worry, I won't do anything to her. After all, I'm a ROM fan, so I'm happy just to watch from the sidelines."

"I really don't understand, are we having that much fun?"

"Whether it's fun or not... well, I can't really say. You'll probably see people clapping and laughing out loud."

Nan's expression flashed through my mind.

When she looked at and talked to Kawanami, a bitter expression would sometimes flash across her face, as if she was swallowing her grievances.

In situations like this, Kawanami would always wear a slightly sarcastic smile.

"I don't think it's that bad..."

I was halfway through my sentence when I thought I should stop, but I ended up finishing it anyway:

"—But you wouldn't be trying to use us to make up for your own lingering attachment, would you?"

"no."

He denied it immediately, without hesitation.

I couldn't see his expression through the phone. But his words carried the most sincere tone I'd ever heard from him since I'd known him.

"That's not true. Don't... underestimate me, Irito."

"...Um, sorry."

After apologizing for my impolite behavior, I hung up the phone.

There's a term for this: the observer effect.

This means that the act of "observation" will have an impact on the observed object.

Of course, this is scientific terminology, not a universal truth—but yes, many people are inevitably influenced by how others perceive them. Just as a child becomes more taciturn when told they "don't like to talk"—just as the more someone is perceived as a romantic partner, the more likely they are to develop feelings for that kind of relationship.

The gaze of others is truly unbearable, like a shackle. How wonderful it would be if life were free from such constraints…

"........."

I picked up my phone and sent a LINE message to Dongtou.

Are you studying hard?

I just learned that Oda Nobunaga was actually a woman.

There are too many works to tell you which one you're looking for, and you're just being lazy.

Seeing the mysterious, arrogant face sticker coming from the east end for some reason, I smiled slightly.

Volume 3: Childhood Sweethearts, Forget It! Nan Xiaoyue Refuses to Let Go: "Jie Nu, let's go to the toilet together—!"

Looking back, it can only be attributed to the mistakes of youth. However, between my second and third years of junior high school, I had what is commonly known as a boyfriend.

The end of that relationship must have involved many reasons, but if you asked me to name a single direct factor, I could answer immediately.

friend.

Yes, I started making friends, which became the starting point for destroying relationships.

For six months, from the summer break after my second year of junior high until March, that guy and I lived entirely in our own world. A comfortable, unconditionally happy, and closed-off world where no one else was allowed to intrude. I ruined that world.

Allow me to reiterate.

I don't think I made the wrong choice.

If I hadn't made friends, we could have continued as a couple—flirting in a disgustingly intimate world where there was no one else but the two of us. But unfortunately, I learned about the world outside of romance, and this kind of relationship seemed utterly unhealthy to me.

If only that world could be even a little bit more complete...

If I, or that man, could live in a wider world—if we could be more tolerant.

—If it weren't for us, why would I be jealous?—

It's no use saying anything now.

There's only one thing I'm sure of: I've experienced it all—whether it's the feeling of jealousy or the feeling of jealousy in your partner.

At least for now, I can make good use of this experience.

This way, one can comfort oneself by thinking that the dark history still has its significance—even if it's just a form of solace.

◆

"—Dongtou, there's a mistake in your calculation."

"Huh?... Ah! It really is."

"Don't be lazy; you must check your calculations. The same applies to the actual exam; don't just lie down and go to sleep as soon as you finish writing."