After Being Betrayed by My Girlfriend, I Kiss Her Little Sister - Chapter 41

Together (4)

Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve eaten Miki-san’s cooking.

She even made stuffed bell peppers, my favourite…I never thought she’d remember that. It feels really nostalgic…Hina is sitting right next to me, and Miki-san across from us. We used to eat together like this all the time.

It really brings back memories.

“That’s right. Hina, your phone is broken, right?”

“Eh? Ah, it’s just the screen that’s broken, I still can use it.”

“Here, use this instead.”

Saying so, Miki-san takes out a brand-new smartphone out of a shopping bag.

It’s the iPhone 15 Pro which was released last October…that’s right, that guy smashed Hina’s phone onto the floor…if the screen is broken, Hina can get cut if she keeps using it, it’s dangerous.

Good for you, Hina.

“I-It’s fine…! I don’t need a new phone! I like the one I have now!”

“What are you talking about, Hina? The screen is broken, you can’t use that anymore.”

“But…”

“Then, let’s ask Kanata.”

“Yes? W-What is it…?”

“How long have you had the smartphone you’re using now?”

“Eh? Umm…around seven years, I think.”

“That’s good. Hina has used hers about that long too…”

Miki-san suddenly asked about my phone. What’s going on?

Then, Miki-san hands me the same smartphone as Hina’s.

Did she buy two of them…?

“Here. Will you accept this?”

“Eh? T-This? No, no, I can’t possibly! It’s a bit much! Umm, I can still use mine! It’s fine!”

“You’ll accept it, right, Kanata?”

“……”

“You’ll accept it, right?”

This is a really expensive model, right…?

However, I think I have no choice but to say ‘Yes’. Miki-san’s gaze is scary.

Is it really okay for me to accept such an expensive smartphone?

I feel kind of bad about accepting it. But still, it doesn’t seem like a situation where I can refuse, so I decided just to accept it…if that’s what Miki-san wants—

Just touching the box makes me nervous.

“Y-Yes…t-t-thank you…v-very much. I-I’ll take good care of it! R-Really! Thank you so much…!”

“Now then, what will you do, Hina? I bought two phones of the same colour. You can either keep using the one with the broken screen or use the same one as Kanata. You choose, Hina.”

“I-I want it! I want that one!”

“Fufu, here you go.”

“T-Thank you…but, are you sure…? This is really expensive, right…?”

“It’s fine. I’m not the same mom I was back then, you know?”

“Thank you…”

“Fufufu. But I forgot to buy the phone cases. You two can take your time and pick them out together.”

“Y-Yeah…! Thank you!”

Somehow, I end up using the same smartphone as Hina all of a sudden…

It’s an insanely expensive phone too.

Mom…I’m sorry. I couldn’t say no…

“Also, Kanata, can you help me out for a moment?”

“Yes?”

“I left something in the car. Can you help me out? It’s a bit heavy, so I can’t carry it alone.”

“Y-Yes! Understood!”

“I-I’ll go too!”

“Hina, you should just rest for a bit. We’ll be right back.”

“Okay…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“U-Umm…!”

“Yeah?”

“About the smartphone…”

When Miki-san and I go to her car, I tell her that I can’t accept the smartphone.

I can’t accept something that expensive from someone else…especially when that person is Miki-san. It bothers me.

I can’t accept something that expensive from Hina’s mom.

“It’s fine. If anything, I’ll be sad if you don’t accept it.”

“Eh? I-Is that so?”

“Yeah. So, about the stuff in the car, that was a lie. The truth is…there is something I want to talk to you about, Kanata.”

“Something you want to talk about…”

“Yeah. Ever since Hina was a little girl, she has always hated relying on anyone other than you, Kanata. So even when her phone broke, she wouldn’t ask me something like, ‘Can you buy me a new one?’ Also, stuff most high school girls would naturally say to their parents like ‘I don’t have enough allowance’, or ‘I want new clothes’, Hina has never once said that to me.”

“…I-I see.”

“I’m her mother. I want Hina to take more interest in cute clothes and things like that. But she would always say, ‘It’s fine, I don’t need that’. Even though I gave her more allowance each month, she would just save it all and never use it for herself.”

“I-Is that so? But…the other day, she did buy some really expensive loungewear—”

“That’s only because she wanted to wear the same loungewear as you, Kanata. I told you before, right? Hina doesn’t spend money on herself. But when she’s with you, she’s willing to spend money to be happy together. Back then, and even now, Kanata is someone incredibly important to Hina. You’re capable of doing things for her that I can’t…”

“…I-I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be, that’s not the point of this conversation.”

“Yes…”

I see…

I don’t really understand, but it sounds like there are some complicated circumstances.

But why is Hina willing to do all that for me—

“But…I think Hina brought a lot of clothes when she moved here.”

“Most of the clothes and makeup that Hina owns are things I bought for her. What kind of high school girl doesn’t buy her own clothes? You’ll never get back to your high school days, you know?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s why, Kanata, can I ask you to make Hina happy? She still has a year of high school left. I want her to spend it as the best year of her life. Can I ask that from you?”

“Y-Yes! I’ll absolutely do it…! Please believe in me!”

“Yeah. It’s a little embarrassing for an adult like me to say this, but…let’s seal it with a pinky promise.”

“Y-Yes…!”

Miki-san…it seems that she has been worried about Hina for a long time.

But even if she hasn’t done all this, I was already planning to make Hina happy.

Absolutely—

“That’s right. Here, take this.”

“Yes?”

Miki-san opens the car door and hands me a brown box.

“It might be a bit early, but it’s Valentine’s chocolate. There’s some for Hina too, so enjoy it together.”

“T-Thank you very much!”

What is this…? This chocolate looks like the kind you can only buy from some super famous store in Europe. Also…there are letters written on it, but I can’t read them at all…!

“Well, I’m going back to work now. I just came to see how Hina is doing.”

“Y-Yes…”

“Kanata.”

“Yes!”

“Take good care of my Hina, okay?”

“Y-Yes…!”

After saying that, Miki-san immediately heads off to work…

But isn’t 8,000 yen for one box of chocolate a bit much?

“……”