My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 12 - Chapter 3.3

Mizuto Irido: The Identity of What Was Bugging Me

Each time a flower of fire bloomed in the sky, the sound echoed inside me, followed by silence and darkness. Yume and I were currently watching the fireworks show from the stairs of an abandoned shrine.

“It’s kinda nostalgic, isn’t it?” Yume said through a sigh as she watched the vibrant colors. “A year has passed since we watched fireworks here last year.”

“Yeah...”

Thinking back over that year made it feel like just a small moment in my life, but it was probably the longest year in my life. The more I thought about it, the more I realized since then, something had decisively changed. Ever since she’d kissed me here last year, it was like the world that’d been frozen for me had begun moving again.

“Hey, Mizuto?”

I felt Yume tugging on my sleeve, so I turned to look at her and I saw the expectant look in her eyes.

“Yeah.”

She closed her eyes and turned her head toward me. Oh, I see. While the fireworks thundered above us, I lay my lips over hers. After a few seconds, I moved back and she blinked a little, looking at me as if she were a little unsatisfied.

“You’re kinda unfocused.”

“Am I?”

“It’s like you’re lacking gentleness or love or something.” As she tried to explain her vague impressions, she let out a heavy sigh. “This is such an important place for us, and that’s the kind of kiss you give, huh?”

“S-Sorry... At the very least, I didn’t think I wasn’t focusing on you...”

“You’re still thinking about Kawanami, aren’t you?”

I clammed up. She was right. It was true that somewhere inside me, I was still hung up on something about how he’d cut off all communications, how weird he’d been acting, how he’d told me about an experience that only sounded like he was bragging. It was really bad timing. I realized something though about what had been bugging me about Kawanami’s story while I was going around the festival with Yume.

“He doesn’t matter, not when you’re the one in front of me.”

That’s right. He may be the one on my mind, but Yume’s the one right in front of me. So I need to try harder to focus on her. For some reason, Yume gently smiled.

“I’m happy that you want to prioritize me, but...” Then she began to talk to me like a mother would to her child. “A boyfriend who cares a lot about his friends just might make his girlfriend love him more, you know?”

I... I... After the fireworks ended, I began talking about the thing that’d been bugging me.

“So when eating takoyaki...” I started.

“Hm?”

“If someone’s feeding you one, isn’t it normal to react to how hot it is?”

“Yeah... Hm?” Yume tilted her head.

“But when Makoto Koyama fed him, Kawanami ate it without any problems.”