Saturday night.
When I got home, Akari and my stepsister, Midori Koike, were waiting for me.
Through a chain of unexpected events, my younger sister found out that I had four girlfriends.
And then…… she confessed that she liked me.
Not in the familial sense, but as a lover, expressing her feelings for me as a man……
The revelation was so sudden it was like water on sleeping ears; I was honestly at a loss.
To me, Midori Koike had always been my cute little sister.
The shock hitting me was even greater than when Akari had confessed her love for me.
……After that, I endured Akari’s grilling for about three hours.
She interrogated me relentlessly—when it started, how long it lasted, the number of times, and all sorts of other details.
Eventually, she released me, but with a cryptic parting shot: “I’ll make you pay tenfold ♡”
Akari had made that suggestive remark before leaving.
What the hell is it about getting ten times your money back… Alright.
I made my way to Midoriko’s room.
She’d run off in the middle of our conversation earlier. Knock, knock… “Midoriko? You there?” Silence. “Huh? Midoriko?” I reached out and opened the door. The room was empty. “Where the hell did she go…”
I turned on my smartphone and dialed her number. Beep beep beep beep♪ Ding ding ding ding…
“Did she leave her phone behind…”
Her phone was sitting on the bed. I ended the call and thought for a moment.
Maybe she went back to her parents’ house… or maybe she just left the apartment. ”…”
If she did go home, my mom would probably contact me.
She cares about Midoriko, so if her daughter showed up out of the blue, she’d definitely ask me what was going on. “I guess I’ll go look for her.”
I grabbed Midoriko’s phone and stepped out of the room.
“Wha— Teacher? What’s wrong?”
I ran into Nako just as we crossed paths in the hallway. “Hm. Well… it’s nothing.”
If I told her that Midoriko had run away, she would be thrown into a state of extreme agitation.
“I’m stepping out for a bit. Akari, you watch the house.” “Ah! Sensei…!”
I shook off her attempt to stop me and went outside.
It had been about three hours since she left the room.
Had she gone quite far…? No… that’s not it.
I know well what kind of girl Midoriko is. ”…!”
Using my smartphone, I performed a [search], pinpointed her location, and headed that way. ★ “Found you…”
What I arrived at was a park about a ten-minute walk from here.
There was a large, dome-shaped slide here. You could enter the inside from the side.
In that tunnel-like structure… Midoriko was curled up in a ball. ”…Big bro” Midoriko raised her face.
Her eyes were completely red and bloodshot.
Meeting my gaze, she allowed the corners of her mouth to lift into a faint smile.
Tears welled up slowly in her eyes, but she shook her head and lowered her face.
She sat cross-legged, burying her face between her knees. ”…Why are you here?” “For you to…” He hesitated on how to say it.
He tried to recall what he had said when she last ran away from home… ”…I came to talk to you.” ”…Hm.” He sat down beside the Green Lake.
She flinched, her body stiffening for a moment as I sat close to my retreating little sister.
He quietly settled his rear onto the ground.
”…How did you know where I was?”
“When you get in a bad mood, you always run straight out the house. And usually, you end up in the park.” When Midori leaves home…
It’s because she wants me to pay attention to her.
She runs off frequently and is constantly brought back by me.
In other words, she runs away because she wants to be found. So, what does that mean?
It means she doesn’t go very far.
I searched for parks in the neighborhood, narrowed down places with playground equipment where one could hide… and that’s how I ended up here.
”……Bullshit. Big bro, are you a detective or what?”
“Oh, yes. We’re professional sister-finders, after all.”
Midoriko has been running away from home with alarming frequency ever since I started dating Misae. That’s why I know exactly where to look.
I know roughly the kinds of places she likes to hide.
”……I see. Big bro, you actually came to find me, didn’t you?”
Midoriko narrowed her eyes and rested her head against my shoulder.
Her cheeks softened into a smile as she snuggled in, nuzzling against my cheek.
I stroked Midoriko’s slightly dry hair.
It felt like touching a kitten—slightly prickly under my fingers.
She trembled with each touch, twitching lightly. She really was like a little kitten.
“Hey…… Midoriko. About what you said earlier…” ”……Which part?”
The fact that I have four girlfriends, and the fact that she likes me as a man. “Both of them… okay?”
I started by explaining the circumstances that led to my breakup with Misae and my trip to Lightwell.
”…See, I told you. That girl Misae is nothing but a piece of shit.”
Midori said this to me, her tone laced with accusation.
“I told you so. Over and over. That being with that woman would bring nothing but misery.” “Ah, yeah… I guess so…”
I’d started dating Misae when we were in high school. Something must have gone wrong from the very beginning.
So Midori had been warning me about it all along… huh.
“You never said a thing like that, though. If anything, you just kept telling me to kill myself.”
Or things like, “Why do you even date someone like her?”
”…W-well, um… that was meant as a warning…” “Oh, I see…” My sister was no one’s fool. I stroked my little sister’s head, who was getting loud and defensive.
She calmed down immediately.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she slumped against me.
“So you were giving me advice after all. Thanks… And, I’m sorry. You were trying to help out of kindness, and I ignored it.”
”…That’s fine. I seem to be happy right now. So, that’s how it is.” “Happiness, huh?” ”…Yeah.” Lake Miroi spoke quietly.
”…It seems you don’t realize, Onii-chan. But when you were dating Grandma Misae, your face was always grim. You looked so miserable all the time… except when you were with your handsome friends and that Niece-kawa-san.” They must have been referring to Prince and Ichika.
Had I really looked that miserable? No, I had.
She was the one who had watched him from closest up, after all.
”…But now, Onii-chan has a bright face. You seem to be enjoying yourself right now.”
Lake Miroi said this with a somewhat sorrowful nuance.
”…Is it thanks to that JK duo?” “Yeah, I suppose so…” It wasn’t just Akari and the others.
The people around me had encouraged me, and that’s what allowed me to regain my spirit.
”…Hey, Onii-chan. To you, Akari and the others are important, right?”
Her sister asked not as a question, but with the connotation of seeking confirmation.
She had been smiling with a resigned expression. “Yeah. They are important.” ”…I see.”
Akari and Nanako were no longer just important former students to me.
Just as my sister said initially, I can’t kick them out of the house.
”…Alright. Fine, I’m going home to live with my parents.”
Lake Midori got onto her hands and knees, trying to crawl out through the tunnel. “Wait!” I grabbed Lake Midori’s arm.
She flinched, her body tensing up violently, but she simply dropped into a seat on the spot.
“There’s still one more thing we haven’t talked about.”
”…Ah, that… no, I’m good, really.”
Tears were welling up in Lake Midori’s eyes.
”…It’s okay now. You get it, right? There’s no place for me…”
“You… do you actually like me?”
Lake Midori looked pained as she smiled, a smile that carried a certain air of loneliness.
”…Yeah, I do. Sorry, I’m weird, aren’t I… sorry… I know it’s gross. Loving your own brother is just icky…” I… I spoke first. “I’m sorry.” ”…Huh?”
At my words, my sister’s eyes went wide.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize your feelings for me for so long. I’ve been hurting your heart.”
Through the incident with Akari and the others, I learned something.
Treating them as just children and not looking into their hearts… that’s an act of disrespect.
Children grow up faster than adults think.
Especially girls. They were far, far more mature than I ever imagined.
To be shown such affection by them, to pretend not to notice, or to dismiss it because they’re just kids…
It comes down to nothing less than hurting them.
I broke up with Misae, moved in with Akari and the others, and received confessions from four of them… Finally, I realized it.
So, even if I don’t know when it started, if Midoriko had liked me as a romantic interest…
Not noticing that and treating her like my little sister all this time… that meant I was the one hurting her. That’s why I apologized.
“N-No! You don’t have to apologize, Onii-chan! It’s just that… it’s only because I happened to fall for you…” Midoriko shook her head frantically.
After saying she liked him, her face had turned bright red all the way up to the tips of her ears.
“…Hey, Onii-san. You don’t hate me? I’m saying that I like you… from a little sister like this…”
I hesitated for a moment, and in my heart, apologized to Akari and the others… “…!”
I tightly embraced Midoriko.
“…No, no… Onii-san has… a girlfriend. You can’t just be like this toward your little sister… like this… fall in love with me…”
Although she said no, Midoriko didn’t try to escape from my arms.
Instead, she pressed her body closer to me.
“Thank you, Midoriko. But… as I told you before, I’m in a situation where I can’t say no”
“…The thing about dating four people?”
“Yes. Honestly, I think it’s ethically wrong. But… I just can’t turn them down. Everyone is important to me, and I want to know more about all of you…” I am still in the middle of the road.
I am currently searching for a partner to be with and walk through life together.
“And that includes… Midoriko. You’re included too…” “Eh? Th-then…!” Midoriko’s face brightened up.
“Just wait until I get Akari and the others’ permission. But if you don’t mind… shall we start as lovers?”
Maybe I’m being influenced by Akari.
Me, of all people, inviting someone into this fake lover relationship I was in. And on top of that, my little sister… “Big bro… big bro!”
Midori Lake, tears welling up in her eyes, lunged at me.
Before I knew it, I was pushed down, and she was hovering over me.
My sister crawled on all fours, looking down at me.
Her long hair fell in accordance with gravity.
The expression glimpsed through her strands of hair was a smile.
With tears dripping down… she leaned closer and gave me a passionate kiss. Chuu♡ ”…I like you…” Chuu, chuu♡ ”…Like you, love you so much…”
Chuu, chuu, chuu, chuu…
As if spilling out seventeen years’ worth of thoughts, Midori Lake showered me with kisses.
I found my sister, who closed her eyes and nibbled at my lips affectionately, to be dear to me, and I hugged her.
After satisfying herself with a good amount of kissing, she curled up into a ball in my arms.
Narrowing her eyes, she nuzzled against his cheek…
”…Onii-chan♡ I love you so much…♡ I like it…♡ I love you♡ I looove you soooo much…♡”
…I knew this was wrong.
But seeing her, usually so cool and composed, cling to me with such passionate tenderness…
The thrill of sin sent a shiver down my spine. “Oh, Akarin♡”… No, wait, that’s not right.
It wasn’t just a sense of guilt.
I turned my face toward the exit of the tunnel. “Ah, ah, ahhhh…”
Nanako had her face blushing red as crimson, covering her own face with her hands.
As for Akari, she was… wearing a smile more beautiful than anything I had ever seen before.
“Let’s have a second round once we get home, okay?♡”
So the Oka Family Tribunal was going to be held again. “Ah, no… Akari…” ”…Don’t you dare run away.” “Ah, yes ma’am…”
…It seemed the night would be a long one. This concludes Chapter 5! Continuing in Chapter 6!
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