After quickly finishing my duties as the class monitor, I managed to return home in time for my part-time job without being late.

Perhaps because I’d taken on the class duties many times before, it took less time than expected, which was a relief. But for some reason, I didn’t feel happy about it at all.

“…I’m home.”

Recognizing that my mood was sinking due to the unwanted improvement in this particular skill, I opened the front door.

“You’re late!”

As soon as I opened the door, my step-sister, Minazuki Rei, was standing there, waiting for me.

Her long black hair swayed as she glared at me with her usually adorable eyes narrowed in clear displeasure.

If possible, I wanted to leave this place immediately.

I had no idea why Rei was in such a bad mood in the first place.

“Rei? Um, what’s wrong?”

So, I decided to ask her the reason.

“What’s wrong…? Don’t tell me you didn’t buy it?”

“Huh?”

“I sent you a message!”

Her words were completely foreign to me. Confused, I didn’t understand what she meant.

“Wait, hold on!”

At Rei’s words, I hurriedly checked my phone.

[Hey, buy the usual ice cream at the usual convenience store on your way home. The usual ice cream.]

Indeed, just as Rei said, there was a message from her in my phone’s messaging app.

The message had arrived just when I was busy with my class duty. The only conclusion I could come to was that I was too engrossed in my work to notice it.

――Incidentally, for some reason, I also had a message from Hinamori-san, but I blocked it without reading it since I had no intention of getting involved with her anymore.

“S-sorry! I didn’t notice!”

I felt that this was my fault, so I apologized honestly.

“Huh? What’s that? How could someone like you, an outsider, refuse my request?”

“Ugh…”

Her words pierced my chest. A sharp pain ran through my body.

Normally, as an older brother, I might have responded more forcefully, thinking “You shouldn’t say things like that” to correct her, but my relationship with Rei was complicated, and I felt a responsibility to accept her words.

Because, as Rei said, I was an outsider taken in by the Minazuki family, and I was living there while causing trouble for them. Especially since I was taken in, Sakura-san had been working even harder than before. As a result, family time had clearly decreased, and I could understand why Rei might think that my presence had taken Sakura-san away from her.

I agreed with her, and it would be counterproductive if I, who was already causing trouble, made things worse for them.

Acting in a way that allowed Rei and Sakura-san to live comfortably, to the extent possible, was the least I could do to repay their kindness for taking me in. I’d do everything I could for them—that’s what I decided on the day I was taken in.

Of course, I took care of the housework and even went shopping, and I continued to respond to Rei’s unreasonable demands, thinking they were a reflection of her loneliness.

The result was… well, as you can see.

“I have to prepare dinner and I have work later, so could you forgive me if I buy it on my way back?”

“On your way back? Sigh… You’re really useless, aren’t you?”

Rei looked at me with a gaze full of contempt as she let out a sigh of exasperation.

“…Why do I have to have someone like you as my brother?”

I understood what Rei meant.

Rei was exceptionally popular among the first-year students, to the point where even upperclassmen knew her name. With her glossy black hair and ruby-like red eyes, she was, unlike me, someone who got along well with others, displaying a dignified demeanor with her peers and showing a cute, younger-sister side to her seniors, a modern girl who knew how to present herself.

From Rei’s perspective, someone like me, an introvert with no redeeming qualities, must have been nothing but a thorn in her side.

When we used to play together before I was taken in, she used to call me “Onii-chan!” affectionately, but now “You” had become my proper noun.

When did Rei change?… I felt like she was a bit better before high school, when I was first taken in.

Perhaps it was just unacceptable for a teenage girl to suddenly have a strange man become her brother.

“++Sigh…++ Fine. I’ll let you off this time if you promise to buy it on your way back.”

With a sigh of exasperation, Rei accepted my proposal.

I was relieved that she had accepted it, at least.

“Since the ice cream issue is resolved, just hurry up and prepare dinner, okay?”

“Ah, yeah. Got it… Sorry about the ice cream.”

I tried to escape from Rei and head to the living room.

“Wait a minute.”

“…What?”

“You were later than usual today, what were you doing?”

++Could it be that she was worried about me? …No, probably not.++

She was probably just complaining that she couldn’t eat ice cream because I was late.

“Well, I don’t think I was that late.”

“Huh? I’m not mistaken, am I? Just answer me.”

++Why are all the girls around me so selfish and never listen to what I have to say? And why is it clear that something happened?++

It was true that something happened, but it still really made me sick.

++Why do I have to explain the unreasonable way I was dumped again?++

But if I didn’t talk about it, knowing Rei, she’d definitely stay in a bad mood. I’d learned from experience that once Rei was in a bad mood, it lasted for several days.

Having to spend my days off in such a state would be hell.

“…Okay, I’ll tell you.”

I gave in. Or rather, it felt like I had no choice but to give in.

“…I was dumped by Hinamori-san.”

“Hinamori-san? Wait, huh? You got dumped?”

“Yeah. She said she fell for someone else. So she told me she wanted to break up.”

“Hmm.”

Why did she react so disinterestedly after asking me about it herself? Her lack of interest made me feel sad in a different way, as if the whole thing was a boring and insignificant event.

“Well, isn’t that a good thing? After all, you and Asuka-san weren’t a good match. You would have broken up eventually anyway.”

That was true, but did my stepsister realize that stating the facts so bluntly was tearing my heart apart?

++…Well, I guess it was better than being awkwardly comforted.++

“And then, I was asked to do class duties…”

“Okay, that’s enough.”

“Eh…”

++You asked me, at least listen to the end. If you’re going to ask, at least listen to the end.++

“But, I see… Hmm.”

Rei made a gesture as if she was thinking about something. She placed her hand over her mouth as if to suppress something… Was she trying not to laugh?

“What is it? Do you have something else to say?”

“N-no. I’ll be in my room, so make sure you prepare dinner properly!”

++…Was it just my imagination?++

“I know.”

“Oh, and! I won’t forgive you if you don’t buy the ice cream!”

Rei said what she wanted to say and then ran up the stairs to her room on the second floor.

“Sigh… I’ll forget about Rei for now and get dinner ready quickly.”

After confirming that Rei’s back was completely out of sight, I let out a big sigh, took off my shoes, and headed towards the living room.

!next

**SIDE: Minazuki Rei**

“…Hehehe. Onii-chan finally broke up with that girl.”

I picked up a photo frame placed on my desk.

In the photo frame was a picture of me and my beloved Haruto Onii-chan, and I gently stroked the picture of him.

“I was so shocked when I heard that he started dating that thief cat.”

I even considered getting rid of her, but apparently their relationship was innocent (sources were my friends and their upperclassmen contacts). I was relieved that Onii-chan broke up with her before anything physical happened between them.

“…Well, I did a lot of things to make sure Onii-chan couldn’t spend time with that woman.”

It was painful, but it couldn’t be helped, right? Just seeing them together made me feel like I was going crazy, and I was desperately trying to control myself…

“But…”

From now on I didn’t have to worry about that anymore.

From now on, I could interact with Onii-chan however I wanted. I could finally close the distance that had opened up over the past few years.

“But there was still a problem.”

The unchangeable relationship between Onii-chan and me.

——Siblings.

It was both a bond and a curse for me.

Because I’d realized it.

——That day, I became aware of the burning passion within me.

“Why did we have to become siblings?”

The words that spilled out from the depths of my heart were a fragment of the true feelings I’d been unable to confess and had been holding back.

!next

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