Kawaikereba Hentai demo Suki ni Natte Kuremasu ka? Volume 13 Chapter 2

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Will you be able to love your little sister as long as she’s a cutie?

Thursday’s lunch break arrived, the day after Keiki had spoken to Mizuha in her room. After finishing his lunch, Keiki flopped his upper body onto the desk like his soul had left his body. This time, he had gotten rejected by Mizuha for good, and yet his lunch tasted as great as ever, full of affection, which was why he still had trouble accepting what the girl had said.

“Why’d she suddenly talk about us going back to being normal siblings?” He muttered in a voice too quiet for anybody to pick up.

No matter how much he thought about it, that response was too surreal to be true. Unbeknownst to our struggling protagonist, a group of people were watching over him and his agony.

“Kiryuu-shi is even more depressed today. Do you know what happened, Akiyama-shi?”

“This is just between us, but he said that he confessed to Mizuha-chan and got rejected.”

“Eh, what the hell!? What kind of development is that?! Why haven’t you told me earlier about this!?” Since Megumi loved any form of love talk, she immediately pressured Shouma for more juicy details.

Ignoring the two of them, Mao talked to Keiki directly.

“Kiryuu, are you okay?”

“…Yeah.”

Keiki was thankful for Mao’s sympathy and concern, but he didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now.

“Sorry… I’ll go grab something to drink.” Keiki stood up from his seat and staggered out of the classroom.

He had planned to get some fresh air for a bit of a change of pace. However, immediately upon leaving the classroom, he regretted this decision. On the way to the vending machine, he saw Mizuha and Rin talking with each other.

“…She’s with Rintarou again.”

That was probably the one sight he’d rather have not seen right about now. The two of them seemed to be deep into a conversation, and despite having disliked him quite a bit only a few weeks ago, Mizuha was clearly enjoying the conversation right now. This change in attitude pointed to a change in their relationship and distance between them, and it made Keiki burn with jealousy.

I really want to get in their way, but Mizuha said we should go back to normal siblings, so…

From his standpoint as an older brother, objecting to his little sister’s human relationships was definitely too meddlesome. He used this as an excuse to force the jealousy inside of him to die down.

“………”

In the end, he just walked away from there, leaving the two of them to their own business.

In the end, Keiki’s mood stayed gloomy even after classes ended, and since he couldn’t even find the motivation to head home after finishing his day duty, he instead made his way to the clubroom building. He went up the stairs to the second floor and opened the door at the far corner. Upon entering inside, he found Mao reading a book.

“Good work on your day duty.”

“Yup.” Keiki gave her a brief greeting and put down his bag, sitting down on the chair facing Mao. “Are you the only one here today?”

“Yuika mentioned she had something minor going on. What about Mizuha?”

“I don’t know.”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“I didn’t ask. We’ve only talked the bare minimum ever since yesterday.”

Their conversations only included the absolute minimum communication necessary, and nothing beyond that. Almost like they were in a constant business meeting. Reminded of that, Keiki was forced to let out a sigh.

“…Kiryuu?”

“Hm?”

“You talked with Mizuha, right?”

“Yeah…”

“What did she say?”

“That her feelings for me weren’t real, and that we should go back to being normal siblings…”

“…I see.” Mao muttered a moment later.

She seemed like she had something to say, but stopped herself before she said it.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“What can I do? My feelings ended up being one-sided, and I can’t change Mizuha’s feelings in a single day…”

At least she hadn’t started hating him or anything. As it was, he could still work hard to try to make her fall in love with him. However, since she was saying that she misunderstood her own feelings, there was nothing he could do.

“Are you fine with that, Kiryuu?”

“I mean…”

“Are you going to just give up on Mizuha?”

“That’s…”

With Mao’s gaze directly glued to him, Keiki was at a loss for words. Unable to bear it, he awkwardly averted his eyes.

“…There’s nothing I can do.”

“…Is that so?” Mao muttered and stood up from her seat.

Keiki raised his head, wondering what she was about to do, watching her as she approached him.

“Nanjou…?”

“If you’re saying that, then I won’t hold back anymore.”

“…Eh?”

Right when Keiki was thinking that these words sounded oddly like a declaration of war, the girl suddenly sat down in Keiki’s lap, clinging to him with her arms around his neck like they were lovers.

“Nanjou-san, what are you doing!?”

“What do you think? Trying to seduce you.”

“Seduce me?!”

“I told you already. I haven’t given up on you yet, Kiryuu. If you don’t plan on going out with Mizuha, then date me instead.”

“Wha…?”

He was suddenly confessed to. Keiki knew that Mao of all people wasn’t the kind of person to joke about her feelings. That was why he was unable to respond, or push away the girl’s hand on his chest.

“Kiryuu…”

“N-Nanjou…?”

Mao blushed ever so slightly and brought her face closer to Keiki’s. At this close of a distance, he could clearly see her long eyelashes. She gently closed her eyes, and was about to press her lips onto Keiki’s—

“…Sorry.” Keiki grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her away. “Sorry, Nanjou…” Keiki felt the urge to apologize as he looked the girl directly in the eyes. “I still love Mizuha.”

“…Yep, I know.” Mao nodded, and smiled gently.

It was almost like she had known the answer from the very beginning.

“The person I like isn’t a wuss who’d give up after being rejected once. You might be clumsy, but you always think of other people first… That stupid and kind guy is the Kiryuu I like.”

“Nanjou…”

“So protect Mizuha for me.”

“Eh…?”

Protect her?

“Wait a second. What do you mean…?”

Keiki failed to grasp why Mao had said that, and tried to ask for clarification. However, a loud sound interrupted their conversation. The two of them looked towards the source of the noise and found an open door with a student bag dropped to the floor. A single female student stood there, staring at them in disbelief.

“Nii-san…”

“Mizuha!?”

Keiki had let down his guard. His blood froze when confronted by the arrival of the one person he hadn’t expected to meet here. The girl must have been similarly shocked to witness this scene, as she didn’t even try to pick up her bag.

“What are you two doing…?”

“Ah, well, this is…” Keiki tried his best to come up with an excuse, but it was a futile effort.

Mao was still sitting on his lap, with his hands on her shoulders. No matter how you looked at it, this wasn’t a normal situation for friends to be in. This looked more like a couple flirting around, with them being mere moments from sharing a kiss… Basically, being seen like this was something that Keiki would have wanted to avoid at all costs.

“Ah… sorry. I didn’t think you two were going at it like that.”

“No no no no, you weren’t interrupting anything, okay!”

“It’s fine, I don’t need to hear your excuses.” Mizuha smiled gently and picked up her student bag. “I’ll be taking my leave, so you can have as much fun as you want.” She waved her hand at the two of them, and briskly walked away.

“Mizuha…!?”

“Kiryuu, chase after her!”

“Y-Yeah…!”

Mao jumped off Keiki’s lap and pushed him out of the room. He spotted Mizuha running down the hallway and hurried to try to catch up with her.

“What is going on…?!”

Why did things turn out like this? Why was nothing working out for him? All he did was fall in love with a girl, and all he wanted was to be with her. Even though there should have been so many new interesting things for him to discover at this point in life, his love was rejected, and everything turned into a confusing mess. However, in this very moment, he simply didn’t want Mizuha to have the wrong idea about what she had seen. That was plenty enough of a reason for him to try to catch her.

“I can’t let her get away…!”

He decided to think about all the problems that could arise if he didn’t, and forced himself to run down the hallway as fast as he could. After running down the stairs and through the passageway, he finally caught up with his target as she ran inside the classroom building.

“Mizuha…!!”

“!?”

“Wait, please!”

In order to keep Mizuha from escaping any further, he grabbed the girl’s arm and forced her to a stop.

“Please, listen to me! You’ve got the wrong idea!”

“…Wrong idea about what?” The girl answered without even turning around. “I’m not angry or anything, you know. It’s none of your little sister’s business who you go around kissing.”

“Why did you phrase it like that…?”

She sounded as calm and practical as ever. Even though she had no idea how Keiki felt at that moment when he asked Mao for advice.

“Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say.”

“Wait, I’m not done yet!”

Mizuha attempted to escape again, and Keiki pulled on her arm even more forcefully.

“!? No!”

“…Mizuha?”

The anger overwhelmed Keiki, and he pulled on her arm firmly enough to turn the girl around, only to immediately regret this decision seconds later after he saw her face.

“Why… are you crying…?”

“………”

Indeed, Mizuha was crying. Tears of sadness, but also anger, ran down her cheeks.

“You were the one who said we should go back to being normal siblings, so why are you making that kind of face now…?”

Mizuha was the one who rejected Keiki’s confession. And she even said that she never felt anything like love for him. So why was she crying now?

It’s almost like… she’s jealous…

Just when Keiki thought their feelings were mutual, he had been rejected. Then Mizuha told him that her feelings were wrong the entire time, and yet here she was once again, having a misunderstanding about his relationship with Mao, bursting out in tears. Her words and actions didn’t make any sense.

I really don’t get it, but…

Even so, he couldn’t leave the crying girl alone. At the very least, he wanted her to stop crying.

“Mizuha—”

“Eh? …Mm!?”

Before he even realized what he was doing, he had already pressed his lips onto hers. He put his hands on her slender shoulders, crouching down ever so slightly to make up for the height difference between them, and stole her lips. Keiki didn’t know why he did such a thing. Even though he should be angry with her, he found himself unable to blame the girl when she made such a face, and only came up with the decision to kiss her.

“……”

“……”

A brief moment passed, and after the two of them separated from each other, Mizuha raised her head in a daze…

“Mizuha…?”

“Eh? Why am I…?”

Yet again, tears were born from her eyes, falling down…

“!?”

“Ah, Mizuha!?”

Mizuha wiped away her tears and ran away again. This time, she ran clearly because of what Keiki had just done. When he realized this, he found himself unable to chase after her. He simply ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“What am I doing…?”

Even though he didn’t want her to cry, his actions caused her to shed tears yet again. So many things were going on that his head wasn’t functioning properly anymore. In the end, he yet again couldn’t talk things out with Mizuha. He had hurt the girl he cared for. What else could he do?

“…? What’s going on?”

Filled with regret and frustration about his own inability to make up with her, Keiki raised his head as he heard voices around him. Several female students had been watching him from another classroom down the hallway. Since classes had just ended, it made sense that a few students would still be around, and they had noticed the ruckus Keiki and Mizuha were causing.

“…Did you see that just now? He kissed her!”

“…I totally did. Maybe that rumor was true after all…”

…rumor?

“What are they talking about?” Keiki was confused, but their conversation didn’t sound like anything good would come of it.

“Kei-kunsenpai…”

“Eh? …Rintarou?”

When he turned around, he saw Mitani Rin standing there, wearing his male uniform. Normally he was the impersonation of energy, but now he making a grim face at Keiki.

“That’s just cruel, Kei-kunsenpai… Deceiving me this entire time…”

“Huh? Deceiving you? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb! I saw you kissing Mizuha-senpai just now!”

“So you saw it too, I guess…”

“It’s not just that. There’s already a rumor going around that Kei-kunsenpai and Mizuha-senpai are dating, despite the fact that you’re siblings…”

“…Eh?”

Now it made sense. The fact that this rumor existed explained Mizuha’s odd behaviour, as well as the odd stares he felt at the library room. It only clicked for Keiki when it was already too late, and he made everything worse with that kiss. With the worst possible timing, someone else’s voice reached Keiki’s ears.

“—It’s weird, right? Siblings dating.”

*

Upon returning to the clubroom, Keiki explained what happened after he left. About the fact that he chased after Mizuha, kissed her, the whispers from the female students, and the rumor going around school.

“So you knew about the rumor, Nanjou?”

“Well yeah, the girls in our class were talking about it here and there.” Mao, who was sitting on the same seat as before, nodded calmly.

That’s why she told Keiki to protect Mizuha.

“Then again, I only heard about it today, and since you were so depressed from being rejected, I don’t blame you for not catching on.”

“So, what stories are going around right now?”

“Hmmm…That you two were sharing a passionate hug at the amusement park?”

“So they saw that, too, huh?”

The reason these rumors started going around was a group of second-years who happened to see Keiki embracing his little sister at the amusement park. In reality, this was all to hide Mizuha’s panties from being visible to the public, but bystanders who didn’t know about these circumstances would probably think they looked like a lovey-dovey couple. That’s what caused the rumor that Kiryuu Keiki was dating his little sister.

“I was wondering why I was feeling some weird gazes. So that’s what it was…”

“Even if you like her, hugging her in public like that was probably going too far.”

“There were extenuating circumstances that led to the whole thing, okay?”

If not for that hug, the situation below Mizuha’s skirt would have been revealed to the world.

“I bet Mizuha knows about the rumor. That’s probably why she rejected your confession.”

“But why is Mizuha getting so close to Rintarou then?”

“You rang?”

“Hm?”

A sudden voice interrupted their conversation, and when Keiki turned towards it, he saw Rintarou taking off his shoes and walking onto the tatami mats. Rin had been wearing his male uniform most of the time as of late.

“Rintarou? Were you listening?”

“I sure was! The entire time! Didn’t I come here with you, Senpai?” Young Mitani complained with a pout on his face.

He embraced his knees with a melancholic attitude as they talked about the ongoing Kiryuu siblings scandal.

“Since you’re here, that makes things a lot easier. You were talking with Mizuha in that cafe near the train station the other day, right?”

“I was, but… how do you know about that, Kei-kun-senpai?”

“I just happened to see you there.”

Keiki decided not to reveal the fact that he had simply been stalking them.

“So, why did you two meet there?”

“Mizuha-senpai invited me. She asked if we should have some tea at a cafe.”

“Did she not say anything else?”

“Well… Something about getting along with me and how it was beneficial to her…”

“So that’s what it was…”

When Keiki looked over at Mao, she seemed to agree with his line of thought. She nodded.

“Basically, Mizuha was using you, Mitani.”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“She wanted everyone to think that she was close with a boy besides Kiryuu, to get rid of that rumor that they were going out.”

“So Mizuha-senpai was playing with my purity?”

“That’s a pretty cruel way of putting it, but essentially yes.”

“No way!? I really thought Mizuha-senpai had finally accepted my feelings…” Rintarou grew pale, unable to deal with the shock. “…Huh? Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure Mizuha-senpai asked me to help get rid of that rumor…”

“See? She actually didn’t even deceive you.”

“You just weren’t listening to her, Mitani.”

“I mean, I was so happy about being able to drink tea with Mizuha-senpai, and I was so focused on her breasts that I wasn’t listening at all.”

“Kiryuu, this guy’s actually the worst.”

“I know.”

However, that confirmed that Mizuha was aware of the rumor that was going around.

“Also, Kei-kun-senpai, you’re so cruel.”

“Me?”

“I was wondering why you were always getting in my way, and it was because you were dating Mizuha-senpai! Not to mention that you’re not related by blood, so it’s perfectly legal! I bet you’re fondling her breasts every single night! I’m so jealous!”

“No I’m not, and we’re not going out, either.”

“Eh, really?”

“Well, I did confess to her.”

“So you did! I declare guilty!”

“Guilty, huh…?”

“Well, you’re pretty much a criminal the instant you fall in love with your little sister.”

“Even Nanjou agrees…”

The two of them were in sync.

“Personally speaking, it’s not funny at all, and I want you to explode in eternal pain, but as step-siblings, you are technically allowed to get married. If the laws allow it, I won’t get in your way.”

“So you say, but you never had any chance with Mizuha, Rintarou. Acting closer than you really are is just troublesome, so could you just not?”

“Should you really be saying that to my face!?”

Rintarou was the type of person who never understood if you didn’t tell him directly.

“But you completely messed up by kissing Mizuha-senpai there.”

“I do regret that, but…”

“Instead of helping that rumor subside, you added more fuel to the fire.”

Just as Mao said, Keiki had only made the rumors worse. The story about the kiss would undoubtedly spread like wildfire.

“Since I know the circumstances, I can support you, but I think it’ll be difficult for everyone to accept your relationship.”

“Probably…”

Keiki remembered what he had overheard the students say earlier. They were probably spreading this rumor all over the place right about now, without even knowing how Mizuha and Keiki’s love came into existence.

So that’s why Mizuha said we should go back to being siblings…

She knew about the rumors, and had distanced herself from her older brother in order to protect him.

What should I do about this?

If he wanted to honor Mizuha’s decision, there was only one choice for him to make. He had to stand down and keep his distance from her until the rumors died down.

Can we really go back to being normal siblings now?

Could they revert their relationship back to how it was before they became conscious of each other? Back to being average siblings who enjoyed each other’s company?

…Of course not.

If it was that easy, then Keiki wouldn’t be suffering like this. He had become aware of her as a girl, and not simply a member of his family. His attraction to his gentle step-sister was too deep to be undone so easily. He never had any option of giving up on her.

“It might be difficult, but I love Mizuha, so I’ll try my best to make sure we can date publically.”

“Well, that’s about what I expected. I mean, look at those honkers.”

“This was never about her breasts.”

“Yuck, Kiryuu.”

“Why are you blaming me!?”

Either way, Keiki had started to make progress.

I need to talk with Mizuha when I get home.

For starters, Keiki had to confirm how he thought Mizuha felt. What came after that he had no control over, so there was no use worrying about it.

*

It was past 5pm, and Mizuha sat in a nearby park, still wearing her uniform. The setting sun was dazzling as Mizuha rested on the bench that her and her older brother often sat on to eat ice cream. Countless regrets filled her mind.

“Why did I say that…?”

Saying that it didn’t have anything to do with him or her was just a cruel choice of words. She was shaken by the fact that Keiki and Mao had suddenly gotten closer right when she distanced herself from him, and had gotten emotional.

“I started crying just because I saw him hugging Mao-chan…”

Since this was her older brother she was talking about, Mizuha figured it was just another accident, but that didn’t mean she could suppress her feelings.

“I’m sure that Nii-san must have realized it by now…”

Realized the fact that she still had feelings for him.

“That’s probably why he kissed me…” She subconsciously touched her lips.

She was shocked to be kissed like that, and couldn’t hold back her tears. There was no way people didn’t see them, considering they did that in a public place. Even though she was terrified of being seen at that moment, her heart wouldn’t stop racing with excitement at the same time. She was a mess. She had decided to keep her distance from Keiki, but she couldn’t hide her affection in the slightest.

“What should I do…?”

Mizuha broke down before she could do anything about the rumor. She got angry all on her own, and started crying. She probably had caused trouble for Keiki yet again.

“What should I say when I see Nii-san again…?”

She was used to hiding her feelings. She had hidden her love for her older brother ever since they were small children. But she didn’t have the confidence to stay calm after what had happened.

“I don’t want to go home…”

She was wearing a coat, but it would soon start getting chilly outside. Mizuha’s best bet would be to head home as soon as possible if she wanted to avoid catching a cold, but that would mean she’d run into Keiki. Being able to live together with the person she loved was wonderful, but at times like these it also had its fair share of drawbacks. She needed some more time to think about all of this.

“…Mizuha-san?”

“Eh?” When a cute voice called out to her, Mizuha raised her head. “Ah…”

Standing there was—

*

“Mizuha still hasn’t come home…”

After parting ways with Mao and the others, Keiki arrived home as the sun was setting and coloring the streets orange, but the door was still locked. He took out the key from his bag and opened the door. The entryway was dark. He took off his shoes, made his way directly to the living room, and turned on the lights.

“It’s getting dark outside. Where is she?”

There was no sign that Mizuha had returned before Keiki. Normally, Keiki would just assume she was taking a detour shopping at the nearby supermarket, but after what had happened today, that was unlikely.

“I should probably contact her…”

Keiki tossed his bag aside and took his smartphone out of his pants pocket. Right at that moment, he received a phone call. He was hoping for it to be from his little sister, but the name on the screen didn’t say ‘Mizuha’. Instead, it read ‘Koharu-senpai.’

“Koharu-senpai…?”

Why her? Keiki wondered to himself and pressed the accept button.

“Hello?”

‘Ah, Kiryuu-kun? It’s Koharu.’

“What’s up?”

‘I happened to run into Mizuha-san at the park.’

“Wait, Mizuha was at the park?”

‘There seemed to be something going on, so I invited her over. I was thinking of letting her stay over for the day.’

“I see…”

She must have heard something from Mizuha. After what happened, it should be hard for Mizuha to see Keiki right now. So Koharu must have guessed that and offered a helping hand.

“Can I talk with Mizuha?”

‘Um… I’m sorry, it seems like she doesn’t want to talk right now.’

“I see…”

Keiki expected as much, but as long as she was safe, Keiki wasn’t hurt too much.

“Then could you tell her to call me once she’s calmed down? I’ll be waiting all night.”

‘I understand. I’ll let her know.’

“I’m sorry to cause you trouble like this.”

‘This is no big deal at all. Just leave Mizuha-san to me.’

“Thank you very much. Please do.” Keiki gave his thanks and ended the call.

At least Mizuha wasn’t in danger. Now that he knew that Mizuha was in safe hands, Keiki could talk with her later. Since his little sister wouldn’t be home, Keiki now realized another problem.

“I guess I’ll make omurice tonight.”

After all, nobody was there to cook for him. Keiki took off his coat and made his way to the kitchen he oddly enough rarely visited. It was time to challenge his non-existent cooking skills.

*

A little bit before Keiki began his cooking attempt, Koharu had just finished her call, and she now looked towards Mizuha as they both sat in Koharu’s room.

“I contacted Kiryuu-kun.”

“Thank you very much.” Mizuha said from her seat on a floor cushion.

She knew that her older brother would be worried if she didn’t at least contact him in some way, but she felt hesitant to call him herself, which was why she had requested Koharu’s aid. Koharu put her phone down on the table and gave Mizuha a gentle smile.

“Fufu. This is the first time I’ve picked up a girl like this.”

“Same here. This is the first time I’ve been picked up by a girl.”

Koharu just happened to pass by the park where she spotted Mizuha. After hearing her out about her current circumstances, and hearing how complicated it must be to go home right now, she invited Mizuha to her house.

“Are you hungry, Mizuha-san?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t really have any appetite right now.”

“Then let’s take a bath first. I don’t have any clothes your size, so I’ll be preparing some roomwear for visitors.”

“I am eternally grateful…”

Does she get that many visitors? The world of the rich was still unimaginable for Mizuha. And she once again realized this after taking off her clothes in the changing room and stepping into the Ootori family’s bath. It was about twice as big as the one at her house. Since it was just Koharu and her, it almost felt too big. Not to mention that Koharu had been waiting for Mizuha with a sponge in hand.

“I’ll be washing Mizuha-san today.”

“Wha? You don’t have to go that far…”

“There’s no need to be shy. You’re a guest here, Mizuha-san.”

“Alright…”

Mizuha was worried that she would seem rude if she turned Koharu down too much, so she reluctantly agreed. While Koharu washed her, Mizuha felt oddly nostalgic, thinking back to the days when her mother would wash her body. After they both cleaned themselves fully, they sat in the bathtub, facing each other.

“Ahh, this feels great…”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“Koharu-senpai, your skin is so beautiful.”

“Fufu, I might not have as great of a body as everyone else, but I at least won’t lose when it comes to my infinite youth.”

“You’re right. Your skin is so smooth and clean.”

“You’re not too far behind either, Mizuha-san. Your calm and collected attitude really makes you seem very mature.”

“I wonder…” Mizuha didn’t think that she was mature. “I’m still a child.”

Even though her body was adultlike in some aspects, her heart was nowhere near mature. She was terrified to think that someone was talking badly about her and her older brother. If she were a bit stronger of a girl, she might have been able to hold her head high with the two of them sharing mutual feelings.

“…Nii-san confessed to me.” Mizuha spoke softly while dropping her gaze downwards towards the water. “But I rejected him. I said that we couldn’t go out.”

“Why did you say that?”

“There’s a rumor going around at school… That we’re dating despite being siblings, and that it’s gross…” Mizuha told Koharu the words she happened to overhear by chance.

All those happy feelings inside of her had cooled down immediately upon hearing that.

“I absolutely hated the idea that Nii-san might suffer because of me, which is why I kept my distance from him.”

“Is that so…?”

Keiki told Mizuha the words she had always wanted to hear, and as long as she had agreed to his confession, they finally could have started dating. And yet, Mizuha herself had denied herself that possibility.

“Even today, I said something horrible to Nii-san… Because I thought he finally started hating me after I rejected him…”

Mizuha’s chest tightened again just from remembering it. More tears appeared from her eyes.

“It’s fine.”

“…Eh?”

Mizuha raised her head, only to see Koharu wiping away her tears.

“I don’t think Kiryuu-kun is angry.”

“But…”

“He really loves you. As proof of that, he told me to relay a message.”

“What?”

“He’ll be waiting all night, so you can call him once you’ve calmed down.”

“Nii-san…”

That’s not fair. If he phrased it that way, there was no way Mizuha couldn’t contact him.

“…Sheesh, he’s so stubborn at times.”

Even though he didn’t have the guts to come peek at her when she was taking a bath, there were times when he was like a real man. Mizuha found herself wanting to hear his voice this moment, and the instant she became aware of that, she subconsciously started pouting. Koharu watched this cute action with a warm smile.

*

Around midnight, Keiki’s smartphone vibrated. Keiki jumped up from his bed and pressed the accept button as he sat on the sheets. He put the phone to his ear, and finally heard the voice of the girl he had been longing to hear.

‘…Hello? Nii-san?’

“Thanks for calling me, Mizuha.”

‘How can I not call you when you say you’re waiting?’

“Heh, I knew that’d work.”

‘That means I can hang up now, right?’

“Now now, don’t rush things. Can’t you listen just a bit longer? I’ve been waiting all this time.”

‘Sure…’ The voice on the other end of the call sounded stiff.

She was still acting wary of Keiki. Realizing this, Keiki decided against getting to the main topic, and instead brought up something random.

“You’re at Koharu-senpai’s place right now, correct?”

‘Yup, I’m standing on the veranda right now.’

“Wait, outside? Aren’t you cold?”

‘Senpai lent me a cardigan.’

“Ahh, alright.”

‘What about you, Nii-san? Did you eat a proper dinner?’

“Yeah, I tried making omurice. But it wasn’t nearly as good as the ones you make, Mizuha.”

‘I’d actually love to try it.’

When they talked about food, the girl’s voice grew a bit more gentle. Keiki could tell that Mizuha was starting to relax a bit more. Now should probably be fine.

“I heard from Rintarou today. You knew about the rumor of me going around at school, right?”

‘……’

“And because of that, you said that we can’t date, since we’re siblings.”

‘…That’s right.’

She probably realized that hiding it was impossible at this point, so she confessed that was the reason.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

‘Even if I did, what would change?’

“I mean…”

‘It’s true that we’re siblings, right?’

“You’re not wrong, but…”

Even so, Keiki wanted her to rely on him. It was probably just his pride.

‘I figured that you would just suffer if I was with you.’

“I don’t care what anybody else says, you know.”

‘Even if you don’t, I sure do. I don’t want people pointing at you because of me.’

“Mizuha…”

‘I’m sorry, Nii-san…’

“It’s fine, you’re not the one who’s at fault.”

Keiki had zero intentions of blaming Mizuha for anything. If anything, Keiki was the one who embraced her at the amusement park, and held hands with her on the way home.

‘So I decided to take the day off school tomorrow. Senpai said I could stay over for a while as well… But I’ll be back starting next week.’

“…Alright.”

That is probably the best choice right now. The whole kiss incident would probably start blowing up at school starting tomorrow. Until they both cleared up their own feelings, keeping a safe distance was probably the safest bet.

“There’s just one thing I want to ask.”

‘What is it?’

“Mizuha, you didn’t suddenly start hating me, right?”

‘…No.’ The girl on the other side of the call said. ‘In fact, I was really happy to hear your confession, Nii-san. I was happy to hear you liked me. Those were words I had always wanted to hear.’

“Mizuha…”

Her voice sounded delighted. Even though they were so far apart, Keiki felt like he could see the girl’s beautiful smile in front of him.

‘But I still think we should go back to being normal siblings. Even if we start dating in this situation, both of us will end up getting hurt, and neither of us will be happy.’

“…I see.”

That’s the end of it. With that thought, Keiki closed his mouth. Since it was already so late at night, that was probably as long as they would be able to talk.

‘Then I’ll see you soon?’

“Yeah. Keep yourself warm, okay?”

‘You too, Nii-san.’

Mizuha gave a brief ‘Good night’, and ended the call. Keiki gazed at his phone for a few more moments and pondered what Mizuha had said at the end.

“Go back to being normal siblings, huh…?”

Now Keiki understood what Mizuha was going through. Even Keiki wasn’t dense enough to not understand the heavy meaning behind the rumors and how they made Mizuha feel afraid of dating publicly.

“I know that we share the same feelings, but what should I do about this…?”

The scope of the problem was too large. Keiki didn’t know where to even start. Even so, thanks to this single phone call, Keiki felt much more relieved. It was all he needed to sleep somewhat peacefully.

*

During lunch break the next day, Keiki sat alone in the calligraphy room, stuffing his cheeks with sweet bread. He wasn’t good enough of a cook to make a lunch box for himself, so he had to make do with the food from the convenience store on the way to school. While eating the sweet bread, Keiki mentally organized the information he had gathered from his conversation with Mizuha.

“There’s always the option of us dating in secret, but…”

They could act like normal siblings at school and date when they were behind closed doors. However, that would basically equate to them accepting that their relationship was wrong, and Mizuha probably wouldn’t accept that either. Since it came down to it—

“It seems like we need to do something about those rumors.”

The question was… how? Although they weren’t related by blood, they were generally seen as siblings. With that title looming over them, they couldn’t use the same media they had relied on for the student council election.

“How can I make everyone accept us…?”

“Sounds complicated.”

“Eh!? …Ah, Fujimoto-san?”

“Hello there, Kiryuu-kun.”

Keiki hadn’t even noticed Fujimoto Ayano had walked up behind him. One eye of hers was hidden by her bangs, as usual. She raised one hand with a friendly “Hey.”

“Fujimoto-san, how long have you been there?”

“Ever since you started talking about being unable to go back to normal siblings.”

“So from the very beginning…” Keiki felt embarrassed knowing that Ayano heard all of that.

“You seemed to be lost in thought, so I would have felt bad interrupting you.”

“Thanks for your kindness… So what brings you here, Fujimoto-san?”

“I wanted to see how you were doing. The rumor about you is going around quite a bit, you know.”

“Ahhh…”

So even she had heard of the rumor. Thanks to the kiss throwing fuel on the fire, there was no way the student council president wouldn’t have heard about it. The reason Keiki wasn’t eating in his classroom was simply to avoid endless questions from his male classmates.

“I heard about it from Mitani-kun. That you fell in love with Kiryuu-san’s breasts.”

“I didn’t fall in love with Mizuha’s breasts, okay?”

“But you like her breasts, right?”

“I mean, of course I do, but… Wait, what kind of question is that?!”

What was Keiki being forced to confess to anyway?

“Fujimoto-san, are you trying to get between us?”

“Not at all, but… I just wanted to hear what you were planning on doing. I imagine that getting everyone else to accept your relationship will be difficult.”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out right now.”

Keiki and Mizuha were brother and sister. Just when he thought that they had managed to bridge that gap between them, another obstacle had appeared.

“I considered dating in secret, but I really want to flirt around with Mizuha in the open. Instead of hiding everything, I want to brag openly about how cute my girlfriend is.”

“Kiryuu-kun…”

“I want to do something about those rumors …”

Now that the rumors have spread this far, it was going to be pretty much impossible to make them go away in a hurry. And there was an even bigger problem than that.

“Mizuha said that she wanted to go back to being siblings. If I do something unnecessary, it’ll be like trampling all over her feelings…”

Mizuha had basically said that she wanted to keep some distance between the two of them. She didn’t want Keiki to be treated maliciously, which was why she wanted to go back to how things were before their confessions. What Keiki was thinking of doing was going to completely go against this decision that she had made.

“I think you can be a bit more selfish, Kiryuu-kun.”

“Selfish in what way?”

“Like how you told me during the election, Kiryuu-kun.”

“Ahh, right…”

When Ayano and Megumi were fighting for the position of the student council president, Keiki said something similar to Ayano when she tried to carry all the weight on her own.

“Love is war, so nothing will work out if you only think of the other person.”

“That sounds oddly convincing…”

“You know, I actually had my heart broken not too long ago.”

“Really!?”

And despite that, she was here to care for Keiki. What a truly wonderful person Ayano was.

“It’s important to be considerate of the other person, but I think you should choose to do whatever you believe in, Kiryuu-kun.”

“Whatever I believe in…”

That basically meant to prioritize his own feelings over other people’s. If Mizuha disagreed with Keiki, then he just had to convince her.

“…That might not be half bad, yeah.”

Either way, things were at a standstill right now. Keiki had the option of ignoring Mizuha’s wish, troubling her in the process, but still believing in his own feelings and their correctness.

“Fujimoto-san, can I ask you to do something for me?”

“Of course.” Ayano nodded with a smile to her former temporary student council member. “In return, I’d like one pair of used Kiryuu-kun underwear.”

“I shall take it into consideration.”

Naturally Keiki wouldn’t be fully on board with such stipulations, but in this situation he had to take every bit of help he could get. He was about to make the entire student body his enemy in order to be with the girl he loved. A pair of underwear in return for the help of the overpowered student council president was a small price to pay.

*

The morning of the new week arrived, and Mizuha was wearing a coat over her uniform, taking a different route to school than usual. However, her feet felt unbearably heavy.

I really don’t want to go to school…

Mizuha was melancholic about the prospect of going to the school that was probably filled with weird rumors about herself and her older brother. That being said, she already had taken one day off school. If she skipped classes any more, she would probably cause trouble for her parents, so that wasn’t an option. With that determination in mind, Mizuha had made her way out of the Ootori Residence.

Although she had left quite early, by the time she made it to the school gate, it was absolutely swarming with students, and she could feel their gazes gathering on her.

“………”

Trying to escape them, she rushed to the school gate and through that. At the front entrance, she changed into her slippers and headed to her classroom. But just as she walked up the stairs into the otherwise empty hallway…

“Ah…”

At the landing between the stairs, Mizuha couldn’t move forward any more when she spotted a familiar group of faces.

“It’s those girls again…”

It was a large girl with long hair and another girl with short hair and pierced ears. They were Keiki’s classmates from class 2B, and they were talking about the rumor concerning him and Mizuha the day he confessed.

Are they talking about us again…?

Mizuha’s chest tightened as she remembered what had happened last week. They had called the idea of siblings dating gross, talking badly behind them.

“—Hey, did you hear? There’s some new information about Kiryuu and his little sister.”

“I sure did! I never thought they were fiancees who were accepted by their parents!”

“…Eh?”

Upon hearing the words exchanged by the two girls, Mizuha let out a dumbfounded voice. As expected, they were talking about Keiki and Mizuha, but the contents of said conversation were absolutely not what she had expected. While Mizuha froze in shock, their conversation continued.

“The little sister actually didn’t have any relatives, so she was was adopted by Kiryuu’s family, right?”

“Yup! Then the little sister confessed to him, and Kiryuu slowly got attracted to her!”

“They even convinced their parents to let them start dating! That’s almost like a story out of a drama! I thought Kiryuu was a plain and boring guy, but he has guts when he puts his mind to it, huh?”

“Right~”

“…Eh? Wha? Excuse me?”

This flood of information made Mizuha’s head spin. There were some familiar parts to the story, but other parts of it were things that she heard for the first time, which left Mizuha baffled. The number one word she could not ignore…

Fiancee? Are they talking… about that kind of fiancee?

A fiancee was supposed to be someone of the opposite sex who shared a promise to get married. And these girls were referring to Keiki and Mizuha as fiancees. Mizuha was completely and utterly lost. The part about them being accepted by their parents or something along those lines didn’t even register with her.

What is going on…?

The first rumor had been about Mizuha and Keiki dating. Now it had progressed even further, and it was about them being engaged.

“And we went around talking about them without knowing the circumstances…”

“Right… I kinda feel bad now…”

Even though they had been so excited not a few seconds ago, now the tension between them had calmed down. It appeared as if they were reflecting on their actions, or were even feeling guilty about it. However, more importantly—

“Hey, what are you two talking about!?”

“Eh? Wait, isn’t that the rumored little sister!?”

“Wait, she’s here!?”

Before Mizuha even realized what she was doing, she ran up the stairs and closed in on the two girls.

“Tell me more about what you said just now!” Mizuha almost frantically pleaded for details.

In response, the long-haired girl hesitated a bit, but eventually explained.

“We don’t know the details ourselves, but last week on Friday, they released an extra school newspaper article.”

“Right, right. It was an article on the student council’s website… Wait, why don’t you know about it?”

“A newspaper article from the student council…”

It appeared that someone else was spreading different information this time. Of course, there was only one person who would benefit from this. Mizuha took out her smartphone and sent a message to Keiki, asking ‘Where are you right now?’.

“Nii-san…”

Even after sending the message, Mizuha’s gaze was glued to the screen. Oddly enough, the two girls next to her joined in as well. Finally, a response came.

“!”

When she saw the response, Mizuha ran up the stairs.

*

Keiki was waiting in front of the fence on the rooftop of the classroom building when Mizuha came storming through the door.

“Nii-san…!”

“Oh, that was fast.”

Since Mizuha was still carrying her coat and her student bag, she had probably rushed here before even going to her classroom. She dropped all of it on the ground and approached Keiki.

“What’s this about us being fiancees?”

“Ah, so you’ve already heard.”

“Some girls from your class were talking about it.”

“I see. I thought it would take a bit longer, but I guess rumors do spread faster than I thought.”

“So you were the one who started this…”

Mizuha had expected as much when the message came in, but it appeared as if her older brother was indeed the mastermind behind this. When she realized this, Mizuha grew a bit agitated.

“Why did you spread the lie about us being engaged?”

“It’s not a lie.”

“Eh?”

“I talked to Mom and Dad and got official permission for the marriage.”

“You asked them…? You told them about us?”

“Yeah. Of course I only told them what I could, but I explained our feelings and the rumor going around at school. They were both surprised, but they agreed fairly quickly.”

“They did…?”

“Of course, their condition was that we had to become proper members of society first. But Dad said that he’d rather his own son take his adorable daughter instead of giving her away to some run-of-the-mill good-for-nothing guy.”

“…That sounds like something he would say.” Mizuha was well aware of her parents’ personalities and how odd they could be.

“Now that our parents gave us their permission, nobody can complain anymore. I’m sure that the rumors will change for the better soon enough.”

“Did you also come up with that?”

“If siblings dating is a bad idea, then you just have to overwrite the problematic part. If I made us not siblings but fiancees, then living under the same roof is no problem, right?”

“That… is true, but…”

The problem was centered on a forbidden love between siblings. If there was any ethical problem with that, the only solution was to change their relationship entirely. That was why Keiki had spread the news that Kiryuu Mizuha was Kiryuu Keiki’s fiancee. With that decided, all that was left was to act. He contacted their parents to get permission, and with the help of several people, contacted the newspaper club to write that article, telling them that Mizuha was simply his step-sister, that she was adopted, and that she had confessed to him. And finally that Keiki eventually came to fall in love with her as well.

“In order to change the rumor for the better, I had to ask for the help of the student council, the people at the newspaper club, and a lot more. It would have been impossible if I had been working alone.”

The game had been set afoot, and all that was left to do was to wait. Although there were no classes over the weekend, people still came to school for clubs, so the news spread naturally. The new rumor had already started circulating on Saturday. Even Rintarou helped out by being the middleman with the newspaper club, despite sharing tears of frustration concerning his failed love for Mizuha.

The atmosphere inside the school changed shortly afterwards, the students blessing their relationship instead of shunning them. They were yet again a topic on everyone’s minds, but not in the negative sense like before. That was what Mizuha herself had felt already.

“I apologize for doing this in secret. I thought that you wouldn’t go out with me if I didn’t do this.”

“But becoming engaged? That’s just crazy.”

“Probably.”

Even so, there was certain merit to doing so. After all, nobody would obstruct their love anymore. This was a fitting conclusion.

“Anyway, the obstacles are all gone, so as long as you give your okay now, you’ll be my wife in the near future…” Keiki tried his best to hide his tension, and faced Mizuha like he did during his first confession. “Please go out with me!”

“…No.”

“Huh!?”

Shocking even their makers up in heaven, Mizuha’s answer was another no. Not to mention that she averted her gaze.

“Um, Mizuha-san? Isn’t this the part where you should say ‘yes’ instead? Are you angry because I decided all of this without your consent, by any chance?”

“Not really, but…”

“But?”

“It’s marriage, you know. We’ll always be together. Is it really fine to decide something important this nonchalantly?”

“Ahh, that?”

“That…”

“When I decided to confess, I made up my mind to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“………” Mizuha’s eyes opened wide.

Keiki wasn’t just saying things without thinking about it. Shouma previously asked Keiki about his thoughts on marriage, and Keiki had said yes. He was determined to take responsibility for making his little sister his lover.

“I mean, you actually don’t have a choice anymore, Mizuha.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not letting you forget. You stole my first kiss at the pool, remember?”

“A-Ahh… That might have happened?” Mizuha awkwardly averted her gaze.

The guilt of stealing her older brother’s first kiss would not vanish that easily.

“You know, I always admired love. I wanted to fall in love with a girl, start dating her, and share a kiss I would never forget for the rest of my life.”

“O-Okay…?” Mizuha wasn’t quite sure where this conversation was heading.

“You stole my precious first kiss, the one I had planned to offer to the lover I was destined to be with. And I’ll have you take responsibility for that!”

“………”

That was the first time Mizuha had confessed her feelings for her older brother. For a moment, Mizuha spaced out, but… eventually, a faint laugh escaped her lips.

“I guess I’ll have to take responsibility for that.”

“So then…”

“…Yeah.” Mizuha nodded, her cheeks glowing red. “I was really happy. About what you did for me, and how hard you worked for me. I felt like crying out of pure joy…”

She must have been holding back all this time, because she seemed close to breaking out in tears as she said this. She approached Keiki, took his hand, and raised her head with tears in her eyes.

“Mutual love is such a wonderful thing.”