5 Step Sisters Vol. 1 Chapter 5

Fifth Daughter / Sorane Miyanaga

Five days after the bit of trouble with Fuka.

Before homeroom ended for the day, I took out a plastic bag stored in my locker.

Inside were volumes 7 through 9 of a currently popular shonen manga. It was a series with its latest tenth volume currently on sale to great acclaim. These were borrowed from Aru-kun, and I had brought them to return soon.

A graduate of Eisei High, Aru-kun rents an apartment near the school building and lives alone. Although it would probably be easier to commute from his parents' home, he says he got completely used to living alone during his four years at university.

Hiding my hands with my backpack, I quickly typed a message on my smartphone. It had been strangely muggy since morning today, and my fingers felt like they might stick to the screen if I wasn't careful.

『Can I go to your place today? I want to return the manga.』

Unexpectedly, there was an immediate reply.

『Sure~. I'm working overtime, but the key is in the usual spot. Feel free to take the next volumes too.』

I thought it was careless, but for Aru-kun, this is standard operating procedure.

However, another message arrived in quick succession.

『Sorry, I forgot to leave the key! I'll tell Meme, so could you drop them off at my parents' house? We'll do the next volumes another time!』

...Yep, standard operating procedure.

Sending a stamp of a dog bowing repeatedly, I replied with 『Understood』. Since manga is basically confiscated if found, it's safer to deliver it as soon as possible.

When school ended, I wove through the students and started on my way home. Starting to walk from Kusanagi Station, I deviated from my usual route partway through. This was to stop by Asahina's house, which was within walking distance.

"Putting aside Aru-kun's apartment, it's been a while since I went to his parents' house..."

If I recall correctly, the last time was when I was in the fourth grade of elementary school.

With Aru-kun leaving his parents' home as a turning point, the interaction between Asahina and me also disappeared. I think that was inevitable. It's common for distance to grow between male and female childhood friends as they age.

Even so, it's practically a miracle that Asahina hasn't found out about the relationship between Chinatsu and me...

Although Asahina lives in the same school district, she uses the JR line. If she commuted via the Shizutetsu line like me, it would have been exposed easily. Even if she found out, Asahina isn't the type to go around spreading rumors weirdly, though.

While walking and thinking about such things, I arrived at my destination.

Asahina's house is a cute two-story detached house with an orange tiled roof. The carport is empty, so her father is likely absent. I don't know about her mother, who is a housewife.

"Excuse me~"

Opening the front door, I called out, feeling a little nervous. Intending to retreat immediately after finishing my errand, Asahina poked her head out from the hallway.

"Welcome, Rikkun. I heard from Onii-chan."

"Oh..."

"Want to stay for some tea?"

"Ah. In that case, please."

Since my throat was dry, I was grateful for Asahina's consideration. It was a sudden change of plans, but I walked sluggishly down the hallway and followed Asahina into the living room.

There, I saw Yaku relaxing with her legs stretched out as if it were her own home.

And Chinatsu was there.

—Geh! I want to praise myself for not letting out a strangled scream.

Thinking about it carefully, lately Asahina has often been with Chinatsu even in the classroom. It might be strange for me to say this since my only conversation partners are practically just Hiruoka and Asahina, but Chinatsu hasn't made any other friends. Knowing the caring Asahina, it wouldn't be strange if she had invited Chinatsu to her house.

"Ah, Rikkun. I forgot to mention, but Shinon and Chinatsu-chan are here."

The airheadedness of the Asahina family is terrifying to me. If I were in the reverse position, that would be the very first thing I'd report, but since I can't complain, I silently stood in a corner of the living room and waited for Asahina.

It seemed the three of them had been studying, as each of their study materials was laid out on the living room table. Perhaps because her own room is cramped, they were working on it here. Even though midterms are still a ways off, they're diligent.

"Is the brass band club off today?"

When I spoke to no one in particular, Asahina replied from afar, "That's right~!"

Then Yaku, adjusting the angle of her glasses, suddenly spoke to me.

"Come to think of it, Miyanaga-kun, you have the same surname as Chinatsu-chan, don't you?"

Wait a moment. Her sharpness right from the first word is too much.

"Y-Yeah. It's just a coincidence, though..."

Cut into so directly, I somehow managed to reply with a smile.

"Right~. It's an amazing coincidence. Even though it's a surname you don't hear much around here."

At that moment, Asahina returned with a tray in hand. Chinatsu, who had been silent until then, finally threw me a lifeline.

"Hey, are Asahina-san and Miyanaga-kun dating?"

...Whether it was a lifeline for me is subtle, and the way she changed the topic felt too forceful, but I could perceive her effort to divert our friends' consciousness somehow.

"Nope~. We're childhood friends."

Handing me a glass filled with cold green tea, Asahina denied it extremely simply. Since we've been teased about it often since long ago, she's used to dealing with it.

Hearing that, Chinatsu made a face that seemed to say, I thought so.

"That makes sense. Just childhood friends, right."

She seemed to want to say that it's impossible for a popular person like Asahina to be dating a shadowy character like me. I have the same opinion, but somehow I'm annoyed.

After draining the tea, I thanked her and quickly left the living room. Going back down the hallway a bit, I directed my steps toward Aru-kun's room on the second floor.

The room with its calm gray interior seemed to have time stopped from his student days.

The bed with just a mattress laid on it. The well-used study desk and the corkboard with many photos pinned to it. On the wall, a faded poster of an indie band.

Having somewhat forgotten my restlessness, I turned my eyes to the bookshelf. On the upper shelves of the large bookshelf were math books and foreign books, and on the lower shelves were manga books lined up. I returned the borrowed manga to the empty space.

When I returned to the entrance, Chinatsu was just putting on her shoes.

"Well then, thank you for today."

"Are you really going home, Chinatsu-chan?"

"Because I have to go pick up my little sister."

I completely mistimed my exit, but there was no reason to stay at Asahina's house either. Saying, "Well then, I'll be going too..." I hurriedly left the entrance following Chinatsu.

I followed the back walking in front of me. Seeming to notice the footsteps, Chinatsu said without stopping.

"Could you not follow me?"

"Unfortunately, we're going in the same direction."

It's been a little over two weeks since our communal life began. I've gradually become able to talk with the other sisters, but my relationship with the eldest daughter, Chinatsu, remains frozen. Or rather, this direct conversation itself is the first in about two weeks.

Probably not because she disliked the awkward silence, Chinatsu spoke to me.

"You really were close, huh? With Asahina-san."

"It's normal."

"In the classroom, I thought she was talking to you out of pity."

I held back the urge to retort, That applies to you, doesn't it? Because looking at Asahina today, it was clear she thought of Chinatsu as a precious friend. I have no right to trample on Asahina's feelings with selfish words.

"Asahina-san was saying it, you know. That she's lonely because you stopped coming over to play a few years ago."

The blinking traffic light stopped our feet.

It was late afternoon in late April; the sky was in twilight. A vague sky, where the blue seemed hazily white, spread overhead, making me feel like night would never come.

On days like this, I feel unreasonably forlorn. The contents of my heart seem to surface, and deep inside my chest aches.

Standing in front, Chinatsu didn't move a muscle, as if she had become a stone statue.

Maybe that's why I opened my mouth.

"...You know. I hated the walk home from Asahina's house."

It was a boring monologue that would likely disperse disappointingly the moment the traffic light changed color.

So when Chinatsu looked back a little late, I was surprised.

"Why?"

Chinatsu simply had a look of pure wonder on her face. The cold anger thrust at me along with the stun gun, and the wary gaze directed at me every time we encountered each other in the house—they weren't there.

Her large eyes were glossy and glittering even under the blurred sky. The wind, which had grown stronger, gently rustled her long hair, and I vaguely recalled mistaking her for a cherry blossom spirit the day I first met her. I felt like I was looking clearly at Chinatsu's face for the first time in a while.

Even when the light turned green, neither of us stepped forward, as if our heels were sewn to the ground. Only the cars flowing occasionally on the road beside us taught us that time hadn't stopped.

After inhaling and exhaling a long breath, I carefully took out my true feelings, which I had never even verbalized before.

"Asahina's family is really close. Aru-kun isn't there right now, but they eat dinner together as a family every day, and they go on a family trip once a year. It feels exactly like an ideal family."

"............"

"Even to me, who just lives in the neighborhood, everyone there is kind. But after all, I'm a guest. Even if they say I'm like family, I can't become the family itself. I have another house to return to, and the person waiting for me there is... no one."

Asahina's house is always warm. If I were to compare it to a color, it's wrapped in a soft yellow.

It's not that the house itself is glowing. The collection of light emitted from within by Aru-kun, Asahina, her parents, and everyone else forms a gentle family.

"That's why I envied the ideal, correct beauty of that house—and I always hated it."

To rephrase, I probably felt miserable about myself.

I had never told anyone a story like this before. To begin with, I don't hate Aru-kun and the others. I don't resent my own circumstances either. That's precisely why I had no choice but to keep burying the ugly true feelings I inevitably harbored, the cracked sentimentality, deep in the bottom of my heart.

And yet, I gave a bitter laugh. Why did I tell Chinatsu something like this? Why did I spit out the words until the very end?

Would she be exasperated, or would she despise me? When I turned my gaze to check which one it was, Chinatsu had her lips pressed together, looking somewhat pained.

That meant she had taken my story seriously. So the words I released didn't roll on the roadside or fall under the drain cover.

Facing me, Chinatsu slowly opened her mouth. She was about to say something. I strained my ears not to miss a single word spun by those lips.

At that moment, a single cold drop fell on the tip of my nose.

Before I could even think Hmm?, the colors and sounds of the world were repainted in an instant.

What fell from overhead was rain. And it was a heavy rain, as if a bucket had been overturned.

"Whoa."

"No way. Rain?"

The somewhat desolate yet intimate atmosphere from ten seconds ago was washed away in the blink of an eye by the rain. Complaining, we took shelter under the eaves of a shop with its shutters down.

"The weather forecast said it would be sunny all day, though..."

The sky we looked up at from the eaves was completely covered in thick clouds.

"Maybe the wind carried a lot of rain clouds?"

"Should we wait out the rain somewhere?"

A girl with her long hair in a half-up style and a black-haired boy ran past in front of us holding hands. They must be lovers. A stark difference from us, standing with two people's worth of distance between us.

As if mocking the panicked residents of the earth, the rain intensified even further. No matter how much science advances, the weather will never go according to human will. Rather, if we knew when the sky would be sunny, cloudy, rainy, or if snow or hail would fall—perhaps people would stop looking up at the sky.

In other words, days swayed by the weather aren't bad either, but even so, this is a terrible downpour. Moreover, there is no sign of it weakening at all. I want to curse myself for not bringing an umbrella.

Even if I wanted to buy a vinyl umbrella, the nearest convenience store is a five-minute walk from here. But it's a ten-minute walk to my house to begin with. Getting wet for five minutes versus ten minutes isn't that different.

When I looked over while breathing in the damp air, Chinatsu beside me was looking at her smartphone. Noticing my gaze, she informed me looking annoyed.

"Sorane says she's getting a ride in a friend's mom's car."

"I see. That's good."

Chinatsu placed a hand on her slender chin, pondering something. Since she made no move to leave, it seemed she didn't have an umbrella either, just like me.

Just as I was wondering what kind of plan she was devising against Mother Nature, Chinatsu slowly began to take off her blazer. While lightly folding it and putting it in her bag, she said in a tone like making small talk.

"Hey. When we get home, you'd want to take a bath first thing, right?"

"Well yeah, since we'll be wet."

To Chinatsu confirming the obvious, I tilted my head.

My reaction must have been terribly dim-witted in this situation. As proof, Chinatsu seemed to raise the corners of her mouth just slightly.

"Then, the one who arrives first wins."

"Eh?"

As soon as she said that, without any starting signal, Chinatsu dashed off at full speed. It took three seconds for me to arrive at the meaning of her words.

"That's cowardly...!"

Even knowing my voice wouldn't reach her, blocked by the sound of rain, complaints burst from my mouth. After belatedly shoving my jacket into my backpack, I rushed out from under the roof with force. Immediately, attacking raindrops bounced coldly on my head, shoulders, and fingertips.

April rain is cold anyway. It's as if winter has returned.

Inside the scenery smoked in gray, I chased Chinatsu. She ran lightly like a deer while splashing through puddles, but I felt like I was struggling underwater. It was painful with water getting in my eyes, so partway through I ran looking down. The sensation of the wet shirt sticking to my skin was unpleasant.

While borrowing shelter under roofs here and there for a few seconds at a time, I gradually got closer to home. Getting soaked to the bone, I sighed for the umpteenth time. It occurred to me now that killing time at some cafe might have been an option. Well, it's too late for that.

By the time I finally arrived in front of the house, I was exhausted both physically and mentally.

Stepping onto the gravel path with a feeling of good grief, a nasty squelching sound rang out inside my shoes.

Since I hadn't passed her even once, it was natural, but at the entrance, there was the figure of Chinatsu wringing out her skirt with a scowl. She was a drowned rat, no less than me.

Noticing me approaching with heavy steps, Chinatsu furrowed her well-shaped brows.

"...What. You got a problem?"

Glared at, I stopped breathing.

—It's completely see-through. Her underwear.

On her chest, wrinkled from containing plenty of moisture, delicate lace that shouldn't be seen by others' eyes was floating up vividly. The color was yellow...

I hurriedly averted my eyes, pretending I didn't see anything.

Even though she was in front of a guy, Chinatsu didn't realize her clothes were in such a state. She must have been concentrating that much on the match with me, but I didn't think that was the only reason.

Chinatsu thrusting a stun gun at me, and shoulder-throwing Hiruoka, was because we touched upon her sisters, her "reverse scale". This girl with a strong core might be unbelievably defenseless when it comes to herself.

"You're the prior resident, but the right to take a shower first is the one thing I won't yield."

Perhaps she really didn't want the match to be washed away, Chinatsu glared at me with damp eyes.

"...I don't mind that, so just hurry up and get in."

"Really? In that case, don't mind if I do."

Chinatsu seemed somewhat taken aback, but she opened the front door. Taking off her shoes and heading straight for the bathroom, her back was of course—see-through, so I tried my best not to look in that direction.

That sensational appearance is poison to the eyes. If she's willing to go change on her own, I'm actually grateful. Rather, I should make her change immediately.

Leaving just my bag in the entrance and going back outside, I wrung out the hem of my uniform, which held plenty of water. While I was doing that, the door opened from the inside.

"Here."

Thrust out from the gap in the door was an unused towel.

"T-Than-"

"Don't misunderstand. It would just be a nuisance if you caught a cold while waiting."

I stared for a while at the door that was closed powerfully before I even had time to misunderstand.

"Well, even so, I'm grateful for the towel."

Muttering to myself, I resumed the task of wringing out my shirt hem. Taking off my shoes to release the accumulated water, and wiping my wet head and arms with the towel I got from Chinatsu, a single car stopped on the road in front of the house.

"Hmm?"

While I was watching intently, thinking it was an unfamiliar car, the rear door opened. Hopping down from there was Sorane. On her back was a square backpack, and perhaps she had a lot of luggage today, as she was carrying a yellow crossing bag in her left hand.

A crossing bag is a bag with the text "Crossing" and a crossing sign drawn on it, and elementary school students in Shizuoka Prefecture possess this with high probability. I used to use one putting my gym clothes and recorder in it back in the day, and I still have it kept in my room. I've grown attached to it, and I just can't bring myself to throw it away.

Holding a small umbrella, Sorane waved at the car. Turning back to the house, she announced her return energetically while stepping in the puddles.

"I'm hoome!"

"Oh. Welcome back."

Sorane shook her umbrella vigorously up and down to shake off the water droplets. Just as she put it in the umbrella stand, she suddenly thrust her index finger at my face as if she just realized something and said, "Ah!" Hey, don't point at people.

"Umm...?"

Sorane hesitated, tilting her head as if troubled.

It seems she hasn't remembered my name. Come to think of it, I feel like I haven't been called by name by Sorane even once until now. But even I, when I was in elementary school, would quickly forget the names of people I wasn't closely involved with.

With a magnanimous heart, I introduced myself.

"I'm Rikuto."

"Ah, okay!"

Eh, isn't that harsh...?

"Then, Riku-nii it is!"

Just as I was thinking that was another fresh nickname, Sorane said in quick succession.

"Riku-nii, crouch down!"

"Eh? ...Like this?"

Avoiding the puddle I had created myself, I tried crouching down on the spot.

"Whoa!?"

Immediately after, I raised my voice in surprise. Sorane had gone behind my back and clung to my neck as if entrusting her entire body weight to me.

"H-Hey. You're going to get wet too."

"It's fine, just stand up!"

Covered by her, I stood up while confused. Urgh, I'm being choked.

Since my posture wasn't stable, I hesitated but wrapped my hands around Sorane's thighs. Somehow, her skin felt incredibly soft and doughy. Touching them, I could tell she had dense, muscular legs.

"Yay! High up, high up!"

Sorane let out a burst of laughter right by my ear. Her small hands wrapped around my neck were warm, seeming to return body heat even to me, who was cold and wet from the rain. Come to think of it, did I have a higher body temperature when I was in elementary school than I do now?

"Actually, Sorane... you're surprisingly heavy, aren't you!"

It seems to be true that muscle is heavier than fat.

However, I panicked afterward, thinking that saying "heavy" to a girl, even a little girl, might have been bad... Sorane didn't seem to mind and kicked her legs flailing happily.

"I play soccer, you know! Should I kick Riku-nii too?"

"P-Please don't, that would be helpful..."

"Mm! I shall refrain!"

Sorane, seeming to be in a good mood, showed no signs of getting off my back. Not used to handling children, I changed the subject while wondering what the correct response would be.

"By the way, was that car from earlier your friend's?"

"Yup! Sana-chan's mom drove me home! I borrowed an umbrella too, so I have to return it properly!"

"Ooh, that's good."

"Did no one drive you home, Riku-nii? Don't you have friends?"

Her merciless observation stabbed into my chest.

"Well... I don't have many friends, but..."

"Ehh! Poor thing!"

I was pitied by an elementary schooler. I kind of want to cry.

While we were talking like that, Sorane looked around restlessly.

"What's wrong?"

"Hey, where's Natsu-nee?"

Come to think of it, Chinatsu seemed to go pick up Sorane almost every day after school. Since that figure of her sister was nowhere to be found, she probably thought it was suspicious.

"Chinatsu is in the bath. She got wet in the rain, so she's taking a shower first."

"The bath?"

As soon as I explained that, Sorane's eyes sparkled.

"Then Sorane will get in together too!"

"I-I suppose that's fine..."

Before, they had mentioned taking a bath together. If sisters get along well, I guess that happens. Do as you please.

However, Sorane fired off an outrageous demand in quick succession.

"Then take me to the bathroom and open the door!"

Huh? Is this kid telling me to die?

"No, that's a bit much."

"...Eh?"

"Look, you just have to walk straight down the hallway. You can go by yourself, right? Right?"

Laughing frivolously, I pressed Sorane, who was still on my back, for confirmation that she would be okay.

For some reason, Sorane, who had been so noisy, suddenly became quiet. The proverb the calm before the storm floated into my mind. As I felt an indescribable terror, water droplets ran down my cheek like sweat.

It was at that moment.

"Noooooooo!"

—A scream piercing high into the heavens.

Taking a blow like an asteroid explosion at close range, I hallucinated that my eardrums had ruptured. Sorane had started crying with that much volume.

"S-Sorane, calm do-"

"Noooooo! Take me theeeere!!"

Turning a deaf ear to the persuasion of a flustered me, Sorane threw a massive tantrum while spilling large teardrops.

Since she was flailing her arms and legs around violently, I almost dropped her from my back and hurriedly put strength into both my hands. It wasn't a great height, but it would be bad if I let her get injured.

Even during that time, Sorane insisted on nothing but "no no no no." Crying her eyes out. I panicked, wondering if I had made a mistake in my response, but I realized the prerequisite itself was impossible.

Looking back, even inside the house, Sorane was always clinging to Chinatsu and wouldn't leave her side. When she spoke to me in the washroom, Mio and Fuka were with her, and even that time in the living room, Chinatsu was there. That's why I had literally underestimated Sorane's spoiled nature.

I was at my wit's end. How do I make her stop crying at a time like this? Even glancing repeatedly toward the road, there was no sign of Mio and the others returning.

"A-Alright then, I'll take you near the bathroom! Okay!"

Opening the front door while trying to soothe her. Even while I fumbled to take off her shoes, Sorane was crying and screaming in a manner that deviated from normalcy. It felt like dozens of security buzzers had been attached to my back.

Someone save me—while praying that earnestly and stepping up into the hallway, the sound of the bathroom door opening with force rang out.

"Sorane, what's wrong!?"

There was no time to stop her, nor time to explain anything.

For the sake of her sisters, she charges forward without looking ahead. There was no way such a woman could leave her sister, crying as if her world had ended, alone.

"Hey, Sorane! What happe—"

Chinatsu, running down the hallway, stood right before our eyes.

However, she was stark naked without a single thread on her body.

"──────,"

Facing each other, we opened our mouths dumbfoundedly.

I learned for the first time. Humans faced with an impossible situation stop all bodily movement first. As proof, Chinatsu didn't even try to hide her body, and I couldn't cover my eyes and turn around either.

A girl as beautiful as a work of art filled my entire field of vision.

Wet hair stuck to her thin shoulders and waist. Moist eyes and slightly flushed skin. Water droplets running down the tip of her slender chin.

Her soft-looking swelling chest, the line of her tightly constricted waist, her well-shaped navel, and the base of her supple legs—only after carving all of Chinatsu, who had rushed over shaking off the steam, into my brain did my body finally move as if a paralysis spell had been broken.

With my mouth half-open, I slowly turned around.

Chinatsu behind me called out in a terrifyingly quiet voice.

"...Sorane, let's take a bath."

"Okaaay!"

Sorane, who had stopped crying before I knew it, hopped lightly off my back.

The two of them headed to the bathroom as if nothing had happened.

A little less than an hour passed since then.

The washroom door, from which the sound of a hairdryer had been echoing for a while, rattled open.

The one who came out first was Chinatsu. She was lightly dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. I thought she would walk past me, but she spoke to me.

"What are you doing in a place like that?"

Still damp all over, I was sitting in seiza (kneeling) right inside the entrance, waiting for Chinatsu to come out.

"I'm prepared to be hit."

My mindset was one of say no more.

No matter how defenseless Chinatsu is regarding herself, the earlier event likely exceeded the acceptable range. All I can do is wait for judgment like a samurai ordered to commit seppuku.

Staring intently at me in that state, Chinatsu let out a small sigh.

"...I see. Surprisingly, it seems you have some backbone."

Instructed by Chinatsu to "Stand up," I stood up silently.

Narrowing her eyes, Chinatsu launched a fist from point-blank range.

It was a good strike, swung through without mercy. However, that fist never captured my face.

Swish. Whiff.

Swish swish. Whiff, whiff...

It wasn't just the first blow. All of Chinatsu's fists swung through air. Why? Because I was dodging the successively launched fists with minimal movement.

"—Hey! You said you were prepared, didn't you! Why are you dodging!"

"No, well, because it was a closed fist..."

"You saw a person naked and you think you can get off with a slap? At minimum, it's ten hits with a closed fist!"

Perhaps thinking this wasn't getting anywhere. Next, not only fists, but kicks came flying at a speed invisible to the eye.

"—Tsk!"

Twisting my body by a hair's breadth, I dodged the godspeed kick.

Beautifully shaped toes pierced through the space where my side hair had been just a moment ago. I got goosebumps thinking about what would have happened if my evasion had been late.

"You seriously intended to kill me just now, didn't you!"

"That's right!"

She admitted to murderous intent, this girl.

After that, the offense and defense in the entrance continued—and a few minutes later, both of us were gasping for breath heavily. For Chinatsu, who achieved triple digits in the shuttle run, to be out of breath, it must have been quite intense.

"Wait... a minute. You have some training, don't you? Otherwise, there's no way you could have dodged all that."

She must have had considerable confidence in her own skills. Glared at sharply, I let my eyes swim while immediately parrying a thrust aimed at my shoulder with one hand. No letting my guard down, not even a gap.

"I don't have anything like that. I don't, but..."

"But?"

"During the self-introductions, Dad mentioned it, right? That person really learns all kinds of martial arts from all over the place. Karate, Judo, Aikido, Kendo, Naginata, Sumo, Shorinji Kempo, Capoeira, Taekwondo, Muay Thai..."

Urged by her eyes to continue, I caught my breath before speaking.

"So, whenever Dad comes home, he always tests the sharpness of his techniques on me. But if I took them obediently, it would hurt normally, right? So dodging or parrying attacks became a habit, or something."

Because he is rarely home, it was a form of communication with his son—I don't know if Dad perceives it that way, but for me, it was a huge nuisance. I just wanted to play catch normally.

How did she interpret my explanation just now? Chinatsu, with a face half-exasperated and half-angry, fell silent with her fist still clenched.

What tore through the stagnant air with the pattering sound of footsteps was Sorane, fresh out of the bath. Sorane, in very elementary-school-like pajamas, pointed at us facing each other as soon as she saw us.

"Ah—! Getting along!"

"We are not getting along!"

We retorted simultaneously, but Sorane jumped up and down on the spot happily.

"See, you are getting along!"

Perhaps having the poison taken out of her by her sister, Chinatsu sighed and lowered her stance.

"Fine already. I just got out of the bath, and I'm going to sweat."

Looking at Chinatsu again at those words, the lines of her body were about to show through her shirt, which was sticking to her with sweat.

"What?"

"...It's nothing."

This would be a repeat of earlier. Glared at with hatred, I vigorously averted my gaze.

◇◇◇

Late that night.

Having tossed and turned countless times, I muttered resentfully.

"I... I can't sleep."

There was one cause for my wakefulness. Every time I tried to sleep, Chinatsu's naked body flickered behind my eyelids. Counting sheep, counting prime numbers, I exhausted every means trying to push it away from my consciousness, but the memory only revived more vividly. It was pathetic, but the shock was simply too strong.

Getting thirsty while fidgeting in bed, I left my room for a moment. The curtain of night had fallen outside the window, but a light was on downstairs.

Thinking Oh?, I opened the living room door. Under the dim indirect lighting, there was a figure of a person leaning against the sofa.

I called out in a hushed voice.

"Natsuki-san."

"Oh my, Rikuto-kun. Good late evening."

Jokingly laughing, Natsuki-san was still in her suit, but her jacket was hung on a hanger. Since a sake bottle and a ceramic glass were out on the table, it seemed she was enjoying a nightcap.

After bowing slightly, I was drinking water in the kitchen when she beckoned me over. When I approached, she patted the seat next to herself. It seemed she meant for me to sit next to her.

When I did as told, something soft hit the tips of my feet.

"Huh? This is..."

"Ah!"

Perhaps due to the alcohol, Natsuki-san, with flushed cheeks, hurriedly cleared it away. Wondering what it was, it was a rolled-up stocking that Natsuki-san seemed to have taken off and left there.

"...Pretend you didn't see that just now."

As I gave a wry smile, Natsuki-san, having hidden the stocking, cleared her throat.

"By the way, Rikuto-kun. How are things with Chinatsu and the others?"

"We're not... doing well, really."

Retracting my smile, I answered honestly.

"I suppose so," Natsuki-san exhaled a shallow breath. Even if her time at home is short, she must have sensed the awkwardness between the step-siblings all along.

"I'm sorry. Ever since that happened in the past, Chinatsu is..."

Natsuki-san started to say something, but when our eyes met, she floated a smile as if to smooth it over.

"At first, you know, I was even considering living separately."

"Eh?"

"I just got spoiled by Mukai-san as he told me to... but this is the home of you, Mukai-san, and Sayuki-san, the three of you. It's not a place for us to trample in with muddy shoes."

—Sayuki Miyanaga.

The name Natsuki-san spoke was the name of my mother, who passed away when I was five.

As time passes, the memory of Mom fades more and more from within me. Even though I want to remember every single bit, it's terribly difficult. Because human memory is not built to stay in one place.

"I don't think of it like that."

Natsuki-san looked at me as if gauging my true intentions. Those eyes resembled Chinatsu's after all.

"It's not that things are going well. But..."

I sent my gaze from the living room. To the small Japanese-style room next to the living room.

"Chinatsu puts her hands together in prayer almost every day. At Mom's Buddhist altar."

It was only a few days ago that I noticed.

By chance, there was a day when the sliding door was open just a little. When I casually looked inside the room, there was the figure of Chinatsu putting her hands together and bowing her head.

What I learned from that was that every morning, Chinatsu stops by the Japanese-style room. Occasionally, she stares solemnly at the photo of a smiling Mom.

On the day of the move, everyone including Natsuki-san put their hands together for Mom. Even though that was enough, that dutiful girl prays almost every day, on behalf of the family too.

...The more I think about it, the weirder she is, Chinatsu. Despite using a stun gun on me and wall-slamming me at our first meeting, she hasn't said anything to me since then. The only thing she cared about was the single point of whether I would hurt her sisters or not. I don't know much about Karin, but I can nod in agreement as to why the younger sisters adore Chinatsu from the bottom of their hearts.

How can I say I hate such a clumsy and straightforward "Big Sister"?

"By the way, Rikuto-kun. I also put my hands together at Sayuki-san's altar every night, you know."

For some reason, Natsuki-san started competing with her biological daughter. I don't really mind if she does as she pleases there, but...

"Even though she's an incredibly beautiful person, I'm not jealous or anything, okay?"

"You are beautiful too, Natsuki-san."

"Second to Sayuki-san?"

"...As a high school boy in the prime of puberty, that's difficult to answer."

Ahaha, Natsuki-san raised her voice and laughed. Perhaps it hit her funny bone, as she said while wiping the wet corners of her eyes.

"Come to think of it, I haven't told you, Rikuto-kun. The reason my husband and I divorced."

"Ah, yes."

I didn't intend to force it out of her, but if she's willing to tell me, I'm not reluctant to listen.

"I was cheated on."

Without giving me time to brace myself, Natsuki-san revealed it simply.

"The divorce itself was about a year ago, though. It's nonsense for it to be a one-sided claim, but after my ex-husband was laid off, he didn't get a steady job... he hardly came home, and when I wondered where he was going, he was being supported by his affair partner."

Could the cause of Chinatsu's hatred of men lie there?

As I was thinking, Natsuki-san clenched her fist powerfully.

"I properly won custody of all five children from that man. And alimony too, while I was at it."

"Ooh..."

"But, you know. The one who worked hard to raise the four younger sisters in place of a mother was Chinatsu. I think you already understand, Rikuto-kun, but I haven't been able to be by those children's side at all."

A tranquil silence, like the bottom of the night, fell. There was nothing but the sound of our breathing and the rustle of clothes. It was as if the world had been cut out into the shape of this house.

In such a quiet place, I thought about Chinatsu.

Chinatsu, who didn't deny me when I said I hated Asahina's house. The meaning of her painfully shadowed expression—wasn't that empathy for me, learned by Chinatsu who had no adults to rely on?

Whether she knew I was lost in thought or not, Natsuki-san tilted the glass to her lips and shifted the topic slightly.

"Did you hear the details about our meeting from Mukai-san?"

"No. I think it was that you met at a bar, right?"

"Right, right. Six months ago. Mukai-san sat in the seat next to me, and we started sharing our life stories bit by bit... and then, Mukai-san asked me. 'What is it like to have five daughters?'"

"...How did you answer?"

Leaning her back deeply into the sofa, Natsuki-san looked up at the ceiling. While tucking fallen hair behind her ear, she softened her eyes.

"'It's fun, you know. It's fun, lively, and there's no time to get depressed.'"

Surely, Natsuki-san is tracing the atmosphere of that night with her lips right now.

Work is busy, the relationship with her husband isn't going well, she can't take care of her daughters; there must have been days when she felt down. Even so, the reason she didn't lose her smile must have been because of her daughters' existence after all.

I said jokingly to such a Natsuki-san.

"'That sounds nice,' is what Dad said, isn't it?"

Natsuki-san widened her eyes, revealing her surprise.

"...Wow, correct."

I knew it, I floated a wry smile.

The ideal Dad aimed for. A fun home where laughter never ceases. A home exactly like the Asahina family. Hearing Natsuki-san's story, Dad must have remembered that dream from a distant day.

"Also, you know. Mukai-san said this too. 'I haven't been able to give Rikuto any of the things he wanted until now...'"

Even though I thought that.

Taking words like a surprise attack, I couldn't utter a follow-up.

Glancing at my silent face, Natsuki-san tilted her glass.

"Rikuto-kun is too kind... no, it seems you're too soft."

"............"

"You're very similar to Chinatsu. That child is family-exclusive, but... despite being tolerant of others, she's strict with herself. Mukai-san and I are pathetic, useless adults who keep relying on you two like that."

"That's not..."

"Hey, Rikuto-kun. Family is difficult, isn't it."

Interrupting my words, Natsuki-san gulped down the alcohol.

After that, she muttered some unintelligible things, and perhaps the alcohol hit her, as she began to breathe rhythmically in sleep. Bringing a throw blanket, I gently covered Natsuki-san's body with it and left the living room.

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