My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 12 - Chapter 2.1

Chapter 2

Adolescent Hell Heretic Address to the Gods

Kogure Kawanami: My World Turned Upside Down

“Kogure, even if it’s summer, you’re gonna catch a cold if you sleep like that.”

I awoke to the sound of my mom’s voice. I slowly sat up, groaning my way through the thick haze of sleep and the remaining feeling from last night of wanting to throw up. I’d fallen asleep without a blanket on. Hmm? I slept? No. Though my memory was faint, I could vaguely remember that I’d fainted after finding out that Makoto had been in my room.

I covered my mouth, feeling like I was going to vomit again, and my arm started to itch from the hives. Though this annoying allergy of mine had mostly subsided recently, it was now resurfacing in full force.

Makoto Koyama was one of the people I had been closest with in middle school. Though she was the only girl in our group of guys, she wasn’t a tomboy. If anything, she was a misfit with the girls and thus hung out with us guys instead. According to her, in elementary school, she had more fun playing video games with guys than dolls with girls.

Girls like her weren’t exactly too uncommon. There were always some of them at any school, in any era. That was why even though she was a girl, I’d never seen her in a romantic way.

Ever since she’d started high school, she’d begun to look more like a girl, to the point that Minami and her gyaru friends complimented how she dressed. But even so, I always saw Makoto as a friend. I didn’t even think about any other possibility, and I thought it was the same for her. But then...why was she in my room? Should I ask her?

Fortunately, today was the reunion, so I’d have tons of chances to ask her then. But if Makoto approached me and acted obviously flirty because she did have a thing for me...could I handle it? Just knowing she was in my room already made me feel like I was gonna faint. My defensive instincts were telling me I should rest at home today and not go to the reunion. Minami would be there too. There was no way I’d be safe, but at the same time...

In the midst of my thoughts, I heard my mom’s voice.

“Kogure? You have that reunion of yours today, right? You’re going to be late if you don’t get ready soon.”

Today of all days, mom was home. I wasn’t sure if this was lucky or not. Either way, hearing her pushed me to go to the reunion as planned, all the while not knowing what sort of hell awaited me there.

Mizuto: You okay?

As I walked over to the reunion meeting place, I saw that I got a message from Irido. I wasn’t sure if he was worried because of the way I had cut off our call last night or if it’d shown in my voice how sick I’d felt. But also, it was possible he was simply worried because he knew that someone had been in my room. Either way, it was surprising how much he’d changed if he was actually worrying about me. I should probably respond.

Irido had already done a lot for me by figuring out that there was someone else besides Minami who’d come into my room. Now that I knew it was Makoto, I could take care of the rest.

The reunion meeting place was in front of our old middle school front gate. In front of the nostalgic gate were some nostalgic faces, and as I got closer they noticed me.

“Oh, hey, it’s Kawanami! How’ve you been?”

“You trying to steer even more into the playboy look?”

After taking a few breaths, I answered my old friends. “Like hell I am. I’m a student at preppy Rakuro.”

“I still can’t believe you got in.”

“Yeah, the guy who waits until the night before to study somehow got into Rakuro. How much did you have to cram?”

I couldn’t blame them for the jabs. I didn’t have the worst grades in middle school, but I wouldn’t say they’d been stellar either. Plus, I wasn’t doin’ too hot in Rakuro anyway. If it weren’t for Irido, I’d probably be failing. My greetings with the other people went pretty much the same way until I saw her.

“Oh, hey, Kogure. Haven’t seen you since yesterday,” Makoto Koyama said, smiling and lightly waving her hand at me.

In middle school, she’d had shorter, kind of curly hair and a much more boyish aura to her, but she’d since grown out her hair and become a lot more girlish, to the point that the gyarus yesterday complimented her. At this point her hair reached just below her shoulders, and the curls turned into waves. She could definitely wear her hair in a ponytail if she had a hair tie.

Makoto had been on the track and field team in middle school and had worn her hair in a ponytail a lot to keep it out of her face. I could practically see it in a ponytail now, leaving my room.

“Yeah, hey again.”

I did my best to try acting normally while hiding how I felt inside. I didn’t have the courage right now to straight out ask her if she’d been in my room yesterday morning.

“Hm? You’re wearing long sleeves?” Makoto asked, tilting her head. “Won’t you be too hot?”

“Oh...don’t worry about it. I just forgot to shave.”

“Wow, arm hair? What a man you’ve become,” Makoto said teasingly while lightly slapping me on the shoulder.

She’s touching me! Okay, no. Calm down! We’re old friends. Her slapping me on the shoulder isn’t anything new. Friends do this regardless of gender. I took a deep breath without her noticing in order to calm myself down.

In the first place, I didn’t have any evidence that Makoto had been in my room. After all, I’d been half asleep. I could’ve totally thought I saw something that hadn’t actually been there. It might’ve been a mixture of a dream and reality.

Makoto really interacted with me like one of the guys despite being a girl. Though it wasn’t impossible, it was hard to believe that she’d do something straight out of Minami’s playbook. Has she been acting like we’re friends while secretly crushing on me this entire time? I don’t wanna let my imagination go out of control. I left that part of me in middle school. I’ll treat her normally like nothing happened. As long as I do that, I’m sure everything’ll work out.

“Hey, Kogure,” suddenly Makoto lowered her voice and brought her mouth close to my ear. “Did you hear about Maehara and Ozaki-san? Apparently at the graduation ceremony...”

She’s so close! I could feel hives breaking out underneath my sleeves. The blood was leaving my head, and my field of view was narrowing. My body suddenly felt cold, but I couldn’t stop sweating.

“Hmm? You okay, Kogure?” Makoto asked, confused as she took her hand off my shoulder.

“I’m gonna go say hi to the others,” I was somehow able to squeak out.

“Oh, sure.”

I left Makoto and was able to recover a bit. It was definitely a good choice to wear long sleeves today. It would’ve been easy to tell what was happening to me if I’d worn short sleeves.

There’s no doubt about it... The way she was casually touching me and getting close to me... Makoto’s trying to make a move on me. She’s probably been trying to do that since middle school. Despite acting like she just wanted to be friends, she was waiting patiently for her opportunity to strike. It’s been like that the whole time. She’s seen me as a love interest all this time! Dammit! I can’t believe her! She knows I haven’t noticed her feelings for me and now she’s acting all touchy-feely, breathing into my ear, and doing all these flirty things! She’s lust incarnate!

“Hey, you okay?”

As I shook with fear, disappointment, and rage, I heard a voice from right next to me, making me jump. Standing right there was Akatsuki Minami. She looked at me as if she was concerned. Dammit! I forgot that she was going to be here too! I already have my hands full with Makoto, but if she’s gonna act like she did yesterday again...

“Are you okay? You don’t look too good.”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine. Just hungry.”

“Oh, okay then.” Hmm? She’s...behaving herself? After how unhinged she acted yesterday? “See ya.”

In the midst of my confusion, Minami left. What’s going on? It was hard to believe she was the same person from yesterday. Despite looking at me like I was a prime slab of meat yesterday, it was like she wasn’t looking at me at all anymore. It was a complete one-eighty. It was as if the world had turned upside down overnight.

Mizuto Irido: A Restless Outsider

Kogure: Sorry I hung up. My stomach hurt all of a sudden, but I’m good now.

He sounded like he was making it up. I wasn’t going to pry if that was what he was saying, but I wished he could come up with an excuse that was a little more believable. With that kind of crappy excuse, even someone like me who liked staying out of other people’s business couldn’t help but worry.

But based on what he’d said yesterday, it seemed like he’d figured out who the person in his room might have been. If it was someone he didn’t know, I hoped he’d report it to the police, but if it was someone he knew, I had a feeling he’d try to solve it by himself.

I looked at the time on my phone and saw that it was ten in the morning. It was early for someone like me who was on vacation, but dad had already gotten up and left the room despite drinking until late last night. I slowly got up and pulled out a change of clothes from my bag. After changing, I used my hands to fix my hair and then went to the living room.

“Morning,” Yume said.

She was sitting on a cushion and playing on her phone.

“Morning...” I said, my voice a bit hoarse from just waking up.

“Breakfast’s on the dining table.”

I nodded and went to the dining room. There, I found a bowl of rice, a plate of grilled fish, and a bowl of miso soup, all covered in plastic wrap. Usually I ate a piece of bread for breakfast, but as usual, there were real meals at the Tanesato household. Three dishes is a little heavy for me, but oh well. I’m sure I’ll work up an appetite while eating. I put the cold miso soup into the microwave and took the rice and fish back to the living room where Yume was.

As I entered, she looked up. “You’re eating here?”

“May as well.”

By the time I put the rice and fish down, the microwave was finished, so I went back to get my miso soup. When I came back and put it down next to the rest of the food, I realized I’d forgotten chopsticks, so I went back again and decided to get some tea while I was at it.

When I got back, I finally dug in. As I did, Yume put her phone down and watched me eat.

“Today’s the festival, right?” Yume asked.

“Yeah,” I said, sipping my miso soup.

“Well... What do you wanna do this year?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, are you gonna go off on your own again?”

“Oh...”

Last year, I’d gone off on my own when the fireworks started and watched them from a deserted shrine, but Yume had come, and...

“What would you prefer?” I asked, smiling softly.

Yume pouted, making a conflicted expression.

“Well, I mean, that place is like a secret spot, but wouldn’t it be kinda suspicious if the two of us disappear again this year?”

“Yeah, it’ll be totally suspicious.”

“So, I guess we should stay with everyone, then...” Yume said, a somewhat disappointed look on her face.

“If you wanna have a date at the summer festival, you should just say that,” I said as I began picking the fish apart with my chopsticks.

“But we’re supposed to be family while we’re here.”

We’d already abandoned the rule that we had to act like siblings all the time—now we had a new rule that we’d act like siblings when the situation called for it. That was why even when our parents weren’t home, we’d never done things that we couldn’t tell anyone else about in the living room. Since we were on a family trip, we couldn’t exactly have a date under our current rule. That being said, what we’d done last night had been kinda risky.

“So I guess this year we’ll play it safe.”

“Yeah...”

“There are a ton of summer festivals back home anyway.”

“Yeah...”

“But...I guess I always go off on my own every year.”

Up until now she’d seemed really disappointed, but hearing this, her expression brightened. “Maybe you can ask Madoka-san to be your alibi. That way we may be able to have some alone time.”

It was obvious how happy this made her and then she looked away, embarrassed. “We’re going to pick out yukatas today, so...I’ll ask her then.”

“Okay.”

Madoka-san wasn’t exactly good at discretion, though... Was this gonna work out? But just as I was starting to get worried, I heard a voice.

“Did someone call me?”

“Whoa!”

Yume jumped as Madoka-san suddenly appeared, wrapping her arms around Yume. Oh yeah, she really likes to grab people from behind like that. Up until now, she’s always done that to me, but this year she’s only done it to Yume. Or maybe she’s being considerate to Yume and only doing it to her.

“You two having a secret discussion? Do tell. What’ve you two been talkin’ about?”

“W-Well, uh... You know, about how we’re going yukata shopping today.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, y’know, I thought it’d be good since you’re a lot more adult this year, so it’d be better if you got a new yukata.” She snickered while groping the air in front of Yume’s chest.

Yume’s face turned a bright red. A yukata’s not like a bra or a swimsuit, though. The size shouldn’t matter, right?

“Not that it really matters, though,” she snickered again. Uh...I’m starting to doubt that we can really rely on her. “Oh, right. That reminds me. I don’t think I’ve ever asked, but what cup size are you? I wanna hear every last detail.”

“Why do you like sexually harassing me like an old man?!”

I finished eating while sympathizing with what Yume had to deal with. As I did, I realized that I’d received a new message. Kawanami? Or so I thought, but it was actually Isana.

Izanami: Mizuto-kun, might I borrow you for a little?

What’s this about? It’s rare for her to be up this early, especially on break. After bringing my dishes to the sink, I replied and gave her the okay.

“I-I’m so terribly sorry to bother you while you’re visiting relatives...”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ve got nothing but time,” I said as I sat on the veranda.

I would’ve preferred to sit in a room with air conditioning, but I was worried about other people hearing our conversation.

“Did you review the DM our account received?” she asked.

“Yeah, I did. It’s about time.”

The illustration account the two of us managed currently was set so that only mutual followers could send messages to us. So that was why, just in case, I made sure to follow all sorts of accounts that could become clients of ours—everything from publishers, other illustrators, and even VTubers. Now, we’d finally gotten lucky.

A fairly famous VTuber had contacted us and made a request with the deadline, compensation, and details all perfectly laid out. They wanted Isana to make an illustration for a cover video they were doing. That’s right: we had work.

Though it was a personal commission, it was still something we’d get paid for, so it counted as work. Up until now we hadn’t made anything off of her work. She’d pretty much just been drawing for fun this entire time, but now she was finally going to make her debut as a professional illustrator.

“Wh-Wh-What should I do? I don’t know what I should do!”

“Calm down. I already looked into what to do from here.”

Isana might never have imagined this happening, but I had expected this to happen sooner or later. She’d been gaining followers like crazy and the quality of her art was at the point that it was hard to believe she’d only started drawing a year ago. Of course there were still places she could improve, but she was skilled enough now to have her art used professionally. This was inevitable.

“That being said, since we’re being contacted by a single person, I’m going to use my connections to see if there’re any problems.”

“Like what kind of problems?”

“Like them not paying or being ridiculous about the corrections, or if they’re a catfish.”

“Oh, I see!”

Well, at least as far as I can tell, this VTuber is a bona fide girl, so I’m pretty sure that there’s no need to worry about the catfishing problem, but then again she could also be in love with Isana like Yoshino. Or she might think that Isana’s a guy since it’s hard to tell Isana’s gender from her username.

“They’ve been in the industry for a while, so I’m sure I’ll get a handle on what they’re like after asking around a bit.”

“Who exactly are you asking? Do you know other illustrators?”

“I’m using my connections through Keikoin-san. I told you that I started doing some part-time work for him recently, didn’t I?”

Keikoin-san was Yume’s biological father, an indie game director and founder of a social game company. Because of that, he knew a lot of people. I was sure that he’d have some information about this live streamer.

“So you can either leave me to decide what to do with this request or...you can make the decision yourself.”

“Myself...?”

“Well, take a few days to think it over. I’m sure she doesn’t expect a response during the Obon holiday anyway.”

“Okay...”

After this, I hung up the phone. I should’ve asked her a little bit more seriously about what she wants to do and what she thinks about making money off her work. If she did well on this request, I could predict what would happen next, and if what I predicted happened, then I wasn’t sure how Isana would react.

“How is it that I’m out here in the countryside and I’m busier than ever?”

Between Kawanami’s SOS and Isana’s first commission, I had a lot on my plate. The wind blew as I was bathed in the sunlight. I was surrounded by nature, but my mind was as busy as Tokyo. In both situations, I didn’t need to make any decisions, but... Sheesh, when did I start caring about others so much?

I got up and began walking down the outdoor hallway. As time passed, morning turned to noon, and we had lunch. Well, I guess I’ll just spend today living the slow, countryside life. I’ll wait for them to make their decisions. I’ll spend time thinking about them once they’ve done that. Or at least that was the original plan, but as I was reading over some somen for lunch, I got a call from Kawanami that felt like déjà vu.

“Irido... Help me...”

Again? Just like yesterday, Kawanami began telling me about something that happened after waking up.

Kogure Kawanami: Kogure Kawanami’s Report of Crimes

Now that everyone was here, we headed to the bowling alley that we’d reserved, and then our group of twenty split into four lanes. Truth be told, I was pretty average when it came to bowling—I was neither amazing nor horrible at it. I was just happy if I could get a strike every now and then.

It might have come as a surprise to other people, but out of our small group of friends, Makoto was the best bowler. Then again, that was how it was for not just bowling, but most other sports too. But even so, she’d never really stood out because our class had Akatsuki Minami, who had a level of athleticism that bordered on superhuman.

“Yes!” Makoto triumphantly clenched her fist after knocking down all the pins.

The other guys from our mini reunion mellowly cheered, unsurprised at how good she was. We were used to it by now. There was something that caught my attention, though. Every time she got a strike, Makoto would look at me as if she were checking to make sure I was watching, as if she were waiting for me to praise her.

Every time I felt her look at me, I remembered how Minami had acted with me yesterday, and I felt like I was gonna barf. It was like hearts were shooting out of her eyes at me. Though Minami was behaving herself now, Makoto had begun to step up her game. Dammit. How did things come to this? Does the universe hate me or something? I don’t need a girlfriend. I’m okay watching other people’s romances...

“Looks like I’m gonna win again,” Makoto said, sitting next to me as I drank my oolong tea.

Though she always won against us when it came to sports, it seemed that she was still proud.

I forced a smile to hide how sick I was feeling. “Don’t you get tired of winning? You were pretty much unbeatable in middle school.”

“Nope, not at all. I’ve got no chance against you guys in Smash, but I can win as much as I want in sports.”

While we talked, Shoma headed to the lane for his turn.

“Sheesh, don’t take out your frustration over losing in a video game in real sports.”

We’d hung out at each other’s houses to play games often enough, and Makoto was about as good as an average player. She hated to lose, though, and while she had gotten better over time, she still trailed behind the rest of us. I could easily win against her, but also, there were girls like Isana Higashira in this world, who dumpstered me without breaking a sweat.

“I wanna play video games again some time. Ever since I started high school, whenever I do something with friends, it’s suddenly more grown-up now. Makes me miss middle school.”

“Yeah, I get that. All the money you get from your part-time jobs opens up your world to what you can do.”

Even Irido had started working a part-time job. I thought he said that he was doing some odd jobs at a company and working as a tutor or something. Though he started earning his own money, he never really used it for himself, but...I wondered if he used it for Irido-san. I had to hold myself back from smiling at the thought of him having a lavish date, and as I did, I felt Makoto tug on my arm. I looked at her, startled, and saw that Makoto’s lips, sparkling with lip gloss, had curled into a bright smile as she began to say something.

“Would it be okay if...I went over to your place again sometime?”

Shi— Before I could run away, Makoto pulled harder on my arm, pressing her chest against my elbow.

“We finally met again after all this time... It’d be sad if we just went back to how things were before, right?”

She has a sound argument... But also, when did you become capable of making this kind of flirty expression?!

“W-Well, yeah...” I finally said as I felt hives on my arm. “The other guys too...right?”

“Hmm? Yeah, of course. Oh, wait, did you think...” A mischievous smile spread across Makoto’s face and she looked right into my eyes. “Were you thinking of doing something...dirty with me?”

My vision blurred and it shrunk to the size of a pinhole. I shot to my feet, unable to bear this any longer.

“Bathroom...” I squeaked out before scurrying away.

After we finished bowling, we went to the karaoke place in the same building. Of course, there weren’t rooms big enough for twenty people, so we split into two groups. In our room, we had the same five members from our mini reunion and the five from Minami’s group. This was also where we planned to have lunch, so we ordered some karaage, takoyaki, french fries, and some other things, filling our table with the classic go-tos. As we ate, Sota and some others used the tablet to pick out songs.

“Gettin’ kinda nervous... Feels like my coolness is being judged.”

“You worry too much! Anime songs, VTuber songs—anything’s good! Put in whatever you want!”

Amid the excitement, I strongly gripped my cold cup. Makoto was sitting next to me. She’d done so as if it were the most natural thing in the world, all before I’d even realized she’d sat down. There was nowhere for me to run.

Normally I wouldn’t even give this a second thought, especially since we’d usually sat like this whenever the five of us went to karaoke in the past. But now I couldn’t help but think that she had an ulterior motive for sitting next to me.

One way to escape was by grabbing the microphone and singing, but I really wasn’t in the mood. My body was tense and my head wasn’t working. I couldn’t remember any of the songs that I could sing. Resigned to my fate, I began eating karaage silently, like someone who’d come to a karaoke party but wasn’t friends with anyone there.

“Are you hungry?” Makoto asked, smiling slightly, making me nearly choke on the piece I was eating. She giggled as I gulped down some orange juice to wash it down. “What’re you panicking for? The food’s not going anywhere.”

One of the girls from Minami’s group picked up the mike. “First victim! Wish me luck!”

Everyone cheered for her as she began. She sang confidently and well for about a minute or so, but...

“Gwah!”

As a joke, the other girls began stuffing karaage into her mouth. She tried to keep singing with her mouth full, and her friends kept feeding her. It was really a childish way for them to play around with each other. But honestly, it was kinda heartwarming to watch.

“I like the way they think,” Makoto said as she watched. She moved toward the takoyaki near her and grabbed one and put it in front of me, steam still coming off of it. “Say ‘ahh.’”

“Wh-Why?”

“You’re hungry, aren’t you? I’ll feed you.”

“I can eat by myself!”

“You really know how to embarrass a girl, don’t you? Come on, open wide!”

I felt like being stubborn here would have the opposite effect, so I relented and opened my mouth, accepting the takoyaki in my mouth. Makoto giggled as she watched me chew.

“Taste good?”

The way she looked at me was like a girlfriend looking at her boyfriend. It was almost like how A-chan had looked at me when we dated in middle school. I felt like I was gonna hurl, but I swallowed that down with the takoyaki.

“There’s plenty more where that came from. Here, say ‘ahh’!”

“Blehhh.” I bent over the toilet and vomited out the contents of my stomach.

I had goose bumps all over my body. It was as if a dam had burst and all the reactions to girls’ advances came flooding out. It wasn’t as if this was the first time that a girl had flirted with me like this, but usually that only resulted in hives at worst. I hadn’t gotten this sick ever. But ever since yesterday when I’d found out that Makoto had been the one in my room, whatever had been holding back these reactions had broken and they spilled out with the food.

After I flushed the toilet, I shut the lid and sat on top of it. What do I do...? Seriously... Should I run? Should I say that I came down with something? I held on long enough today, right? But if I do that, I’ll have to see Makoto again. Every time I see her, I feel like I’m gonna barf. Should I say something like my head hurts—or no, my stomach hurts, and run home? Should I never meet up with her again? Should I stop being friends with her entirely?

How many friends would I lose like this in the future? Who would be left at the end if I kept cutting people off because of how my body reacted? What would be left for a person who couldn’t fall in love or be friends with others?

No, I can’t let myself think this negatively. This isn’t good. It’s seriously bad. I know that, but I can’t stop. But I’m so scared of taking a step out of this bathroom stall, it feels like what’s waiting for me is a dragon’s lair. Please, someone...do something. I prayed weakly. As I did, I remembered a friend of mine who was able to calm me down, even if it had only been for a little bit yesterday. Desperate and unable to think straight, I took out my phone. Then I called him and said the same thing as yesterday.

“Irido... Help me...”