Chapter 67: Prologue
Asamura Yuuta
It was night in the living room. To counteract the bristling cold filling the room, we had the heat turned up to the point that the A/C unit was giving off healthy rattling sounds. Along with that sound, I let out a faint groan as I worked through my physics textbook. I looked around the table and spotted a cup. I picked it up to take a sip and—Hm? I realized there was no fluid inside the cup. It turns out my cup of coffee was empty, which imdiately ruined all my focus. I turned the cup upside down to get the last bit of coffee out, but after a single drop touched my lips, no more sweet joy ca.
It had gotten quite late at night. If I drink another cup now, I probably won't be able to sleep. I, Asamura Yuuta, was pondering what liquid to make my next partner for my late-night studying session, considering my focus had already run out, when I suddenly heard a bewildered "Huh?" from behind . I turned around. Standing there was the girl who had beco my younger step-sister roughly half a year ago—Ayase-san.
"Ah, sorry. Was the A/C too loud?"
"Not at all. I had my door closed. I just didn't think you'd be here this late," she said and raised her head to look at the clock, which said it was already 11 pm. Normally, I'd be sitting in my room studying by this ti.
"Want so hot chocolate?" She asked, pointing at my empty cup.
"Honestly, that sounds pretty good right now."
"Then I'll make so. I'm gonna drink so myself, anyway."
"Thanks."
She turned on our electric kettle, took out the hot chocolate mix from the drawer, and picked out a cup for herself and a larger mug. With all that prepared, she sat down on a chair. In the anti, I took out the milk from the fridge, washing the cup I had just used for the coffee. I accepted the larger mug from Ayase-san, poured milk in there, and put it into the microwave. To finish it off, I pressed the button on it that said "Milk."
anwhile, Ayase-san was busy mixing the cocoa powder and sugar in her cup. She poured a bit of the hot water from the kettle into her cup and continued mixing. Normally she looked like a cool beauty, but now she was just twirling her spoon around in her cup, which gave her a much more immature and youthful image. The microwave beeped.
"It's warm."
"Thanks."
Ayase-san put half of the chocolate powder mix into my cup, pouring the warm milk on top.
"It'd taste even better if we added a secret ingredient, like butter."
"We don't have to go all out for so late-night hot chocolate, you know."
"Well that's true. But I have to say, it's pretty rare for you to study in the living room this late," Ayase-san said, still mixing her hot chocolate.
"I was actually doing just fine in my own room, but I started losing focus, so I decided to change location. I thought a different environnt might give different results, or sothing like that."
"I see," Ayase-san nodded. "I think I get what you an." She finished mixing the hot chocolate and placed the cup in front of . "Here you go."
"Thanks."
Then she began working on her own portion. It might seem ordinary, but she always begins everything by preparing the share for other people first. It's very much like her. She probably didn't want mine to get cold while she prioritized herself. I think that living with Ayase-san has allowed to beco more sensitive to the actions of other people around .
"Okay, done." Ayase-san made a satisfied nod and put the cup to her mouth, taking a sip.
I could see her throat move, her eyes closing slightly like she was relaxing. I joined her.
"Mhm, delicious," I said.
"You could've started without ."
"But I would have felt bad for spoiling the taste."
"You're weird," Ayase-san said with a wry smile.
The scent of the hot chocolate tickled the tip of my nose. Ti was passing in a leisurely and comfortable manner. We both took another sip.
"It sure has gotten cold lately."
"It's December, after all." She spoke in a calm way, and my attention unintentionally drifted towards her moving lips.
Her rose-colored lips—They reminded of that Halloween evening, which caused my cheeks to turn hot. We both desire to touch each other like lovers. Through that kiss, we've confird that. Back in Fall, I was perfectly fine and happy to simply feel her warmth next to . And yet, only one season after that, I can't be satisfied with just staying next to each other. I guess humans can take for granted any fortune they have been given.
That being said, our end-of-term exam period was right after that, so we haven't even kissed since then. We both care about our grades a lot, so we decided to talk things through and ca to the conclusion that we should separate our private and public lives. Plus, we'd have to do that sort of thing when nobody else is around. And since we're also siblings studying at a high school, we share our living space with our parents.
Conducting ourselves as lovers that bypass the line of brother and sister in this situation is probably much harder than for the standard couples. I poured so more hot chocolate down my throat and started thinking. Can't we increase the tis we're allowed to seek each other's touch? And that's when I rembered sothing: My birthday is in December. And so is Ayase-san's birthday. We talked about the exact dates just last week, and I found out that Ayase-san's is on the 20th. Mine on the other hand is on the 13th. And as expected, we pretty quickly decided to just celebrate both of them on the 24th. Both Ayase-san and I smiled at each other, realizing that it'd be the sa as ever.
"What's up? Did you rember sothing funny?" Ayase-san gave a confused look.
"Ah, well, sothing like that."
"Oh, really?" She didn't even ask what I had been thinking about as she got up from her seat.
She wrapped her hands around the cup, presumably to warm them up, and headed back towards her room. Midway there, she seed to have rembered sothing and turned around. Quietly, she trotted back to the table where I sat.
"About our birthdays."
"Huh?"
I could feel my heart rate spike. Realizing that the person you like is thinking about the sa thing at the sa ti as you are sure gives you an adrenaline boost.
"How about we actually celebrate each other's birthdays properly?"
"You an on the 13th and 20th?"
"Yep. We've never had anybody celebrate them with us on the actual day, right?"
"I… guess you're right."
"I figured. And I… well… want to spend it… not just as siblings, you know."
I understood what she ant. I felt the sa way.
"I get you."
"And there was sothing I wanted to discuss with you."
She said that she only wanted to tell after exams were over, but she changed her mind. She told about a conversation she had with my old man around the ti of Halloween.
Even if you break the law, and you're dealt severe punishnt with no room for you to claim innocence, I won't ever deny that you're part of my family. No matter what it may be.
Hearing what my old man said about us really made think. How cool can you be, dangit?
"I feel like Akiko-san would say the sa thing. Though definitely not in front of you, Ayase-san."
"Probably."
Her words sounded indifferent, but I could see how her cheeks relaxed a bit. She's really happy, I imagine.
"But that statent made start thinking." Ayase-san took a deep breath, making an expression like she wasn't sure if she should say what she wanted to say or not.
However, her mouth did open eventually.
"If it's our family, they might accept the relationship we are in, no?"
I started thinking. She might be right.
"Dad would definitely be honest about how he felt. If he hated the idea, he'd say that, and he'd forbid us, too. He can be pretty stubborn despite the way he looks…"
Even with all the previous drama with my mother, he never complained in front of . All he did was apologize.
"However, I'm not sure if Akiko-san could truly be honest with us if she didn't feel comfortable."
"So you think your father would accept us, but you're not sure about my mother. Could I ask why you think that?"
"What I'm afraid of is that Akiko-san might regret getting married again."
"But, Asamura-kun, knowing them…"
"I know full well that Akiko-san isn't that sort of person. However, my actual mother never showed her discontent openly. So I'm worried Akiko-san might just clam up all her genuine feelings… and I just can't cast aside that possibility."
"That's…"
"Not gonna happen," is probably what she wanted to say, but she held back. Her self-restraint just made feel apologetic. A painful mory of mine has crossed the line of being just a mory and is now bringing to the point of thinking sothing rude about Akiko-san. However, there's just a thread of worry clinging to my mind that both Dad and Akiko-san are only getting along well now that there's still love between them. And since I can't read minds, I can't discard the possibility that she's just acting happy on the surface. And I know what happens if you carry this feeling deep inside you for too long without letting it out. All too well… Because the only ti they didn't fight in front of was when we celebrated my birthday.
Ayase-san took a short breath and spoke up.
"I was the sa."
I gasped. I forgot. Ayase-san would also grieve the possibility of my father regretting the marriage with Akiko-san.
"Before I talked with your father, I was just as worried as you are right now."
"I… see…"
"Yeah. But I won't tell you to talk with Mom, either. Even if she tells the sa thing, you and I are still different. There's no guarantee you'll feel the sa way I do."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
"So… I think it's okay if we don't co clean just yet," Ayase-san said and smiled.
Her expression made it seem like she was reassuring , and it made my heart feel lighter.
"We can discuss the plans for our birthdays later. I'm going back to studying now."
"Yeah, I'll continue here for a bit longer."
"Don't stay up too late, okay?"
"Right back at you."
Her back, covered with a white cardigan, moved towards the door and eventually disappeared. I let out a sigh and grabbed my cup. The faint remains of chocolate powder stuck to my throat, not allowing to comfortably swallow it all down.
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