After Being Betrayed by My Girlfriend, I Kiss Her Little Sister - Chapter 9

Hikikomori (1)

For the next seven days…I don’t leave the house.

I’ve broken up with Umi, I have no friends, and I have no reason to leave the house except for my part time job. So, I just stay holed up in my room.

As soon as my shift is over, I immediately turn off my phone.

I continue living like that, cutting off contact with everyone.

I’ve spent my whole life just for Umi…and in the end, she cheated on me. How pathetic.

Well, I certainly can’t complain about it…when I was in love with Umi, I only have eyes for her. More than anything else, I wanted to cherish her, and I’ve been working really hard just for her sake.

And now, it’s all over…

It hadn’t snowed for the past two days, but now it’s snowing again. I really hate this winter, it makes me feeling hungry.

If there are eggs in the fridge, I can just cook up something simple, but the fridge is completely empty—spotless, as if it has never been used.

Pure white…it’s amazing how it can be so clean without any cleaning.

“How stupid…”

I should go buy some groceries…

“……”

I change into a jersey and put on a hat.

I don’t really need to bring my phone, right? After all, there’s no one who’d contact me, and even if someone does, it won’t be anything important. If it makes no difference whether I bring it or not, I’d rather carry less.

Then, as I open the door, a fierce gust of wind hits me.

Ughh…it’s really cold.

Hmm…? Why is there a snowman in front of my house?

“Who built a snowman here—hmm? A plastic bag…? And there’s something inside?”

“Ah-choo!”

A sneeze…?

Wait…could it be that the thing in front of me isn’t a snowman, but a person…?

Eh, this is kind of creepy…

“U-Umm…what are you doing out here? You’ll catch a cold…”

“Hah…Kanata…?”

“That voice…could it be…? Hina? Hina!? What are you doing out here!?”

Has she been sitting here all this time, hugging her knees? Why…?

It started snowing heavily this morning. Staying outside in this weather…she’ll definitely catch a cold…why is she here?

Her face and ears are bright red, her breath is visible in the freezing air. Her hands which are also red from the cold, are clutching a plastic bag.

Forget about getting groceries—right now, I have to do something about Hina first.

Seriously…why is she sitting outside my house like this?

“Hina…come inside. You’ll catch a cold.”

“…okay.”

“Why are you sitting out there like that? You’ll catch a cold.”

“Because, Kanata…no matter how many times I sent messages or called you, you never responded…”

“Ah…let me hang your jacket…”

“Okay.”

That’s certainly true. I can’t argue with that. Without another word, I quickly make some cocoa for Hina.

But still…is it really necessary to wait outside like that just to see me? She could’ve just knocked or rang the doorbell, right? Seeing Hina sneeze makes me feel guilty.

“Here. Cocoa.”

“T-Thanks…”

“…are you okay? How are you feeling? Does your head feel heavy…do you have a fever…?”

“I don’t know…my body just feels so cold.”

“Wait here…”

Come to think of it…I don’t have a thermometer at home, do I?

Realizing that now is pointless…I’m such an idiot.

“H-Hey…Hina.”

“Yeah?”

“Can you close your eyes for a moment?”

“Okay.”

I gently place my hand on Hina’s forehead, but she doesn’t seem to have a fever.

That’s a relief. If she catches a cold in this weather…it would’ve been really bad.

“You don’t seem to have a fever, but don’t push yourself too hard…when you live alone, staying healthy is really important, you know, Hina?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Then, just warm yourself up first.”

“Kanata…”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“I-I’m cold…”

“Ah, the heater…hold on a sec—”

For some reason, Hina grabs onto my jersey.

“I’m cold…Kanata…”

“……”

Wait…does she want me to hug her? Hina…

But…aren’t we a little too old for that?

“Alright…”

“……”

At that exact moment, my stomach lets out an embarrassingly loud growl.

I’ve been holding it in this whole time, so why…why now?

Come on, read the room…

“Kanata, don’t tell me…you haven’t eaten yet?”

“Yeah, I was just about to go shopping when I found Hina turned into a snowman…”

“I bought a lot of ingredients…should I cook something for you?”

“Eh? It’s fine, I can just go buy some groceries now. You should get some rest, Hina.”

“Then just throw all of this away.”

“Eh?”

“I bought a bunch of useless stuff, so just throw it all away…”

Hina looks at me with a sad expression on her face. I can’t say anything back to her.

I can just go and buy the groceries myself…but she went out of her way to come all the way here.

Besides…this whole situation is probably my fault. So, for now, I should just go along with what Hina wants.

“I understand. Sorry…then, after you warm up, why don’t we cook something together, Hina?”

“Okay…”

“Also…Hina, next time you come over to my house…just knock, or you can ring the doorbell too.”

“Yeah…but I feel like you’re avoiding me, Kanata. I keep trying to reach out to you because I want to know what happened between you and Umi, but you never replied to my messages…so I started to wonder if maybe…Kanata hates me?”

“……”

So that’s the reason why she didn’t knock…?

I don’t understand why she thought that, and as for what happened between me and Umi, it has nothing to do with Hina…so I didn’t think there was any need to tell Hina about it. At least, that’s what I thought.

“I’m completely fine…I just wanted some time alone. That’s all.”

“Really…? So I don’t need to worry about you, Kanata?”

“Yeah. Sorry for making you worry, Hina.”

“It’s okay…as long as you’re okay, then it’s fine. I was really worried about you…”

“Yeah…”

The two of us just stay there on the bed in silence.

More importantly…Hina’s body is freezing.