After I Comforted My Younger Stepsister Who Had Her Boyfriend Taken From Her, She Started Becoming Obsessively Sweet - 30

Chapter 30: Wanting a Sturdy Rope

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We were supposed to leave school early, around the time the second period ended. At that time, I couldn’t care less about Megumi Orihara, Ryouta Sugisaki or anything at all. I wanted to throw all those troublesome things away from my mind and just spend my time with Shikino. That was my plan. But by the time I realized it, the clock had pointed at 20:00. Era… Sugai… All those unnecessary relationships with unnecessary humans started piling up one after another. I should’ve ignored Yuzuki Era from the start, even when Era mentioned Takumu. Had I ignored her, I wouldn’t need to be worried about my future with Shikino. I wouldn’t need to live my life plagued by the shadow of threat from Orihara-san. I only ended up pushing myself further into a corner.

Takumu was just being a busybody and Yuzuhi Era was just a poison apple. She couldn’t be trusted. I would need to send Takumu a message on LIME later. He had to be careful of Yuzuhi Era too. 

“…Shikino, since we haven’t eaten dinner yet, how about if we stop by a convenience store first?”

“…”

Shikino was walking with her head lowered while holding onto my arm. She only gave me a small nod in response. 

“Let’s get some onigiri or something. How about if we have a little party in my room? We can buy some sweets too if you want?”

I asked and Shikino nodded again. I thought Shikino would stay silent again, just like usual, but it turned out I was wrong.

“Onii-chan.”

Shikino called for me softly.

“How about… If we go to my room instead?”

“Hm? Your room? Yeah, sure. I’m okay with that. Let’s go to your room then.”

“And also… We’re out of condoms. We’ve used them all the last time we did it.”

My heart skipped a beat at that. I hesitated for a moment at Shikino’s quiet report, but then, I nodded. 

“Alright.”

“And then… Can we stop by the hardware store for a bit? There’s one on our way home, right?”

“Huh? The hardware store?”

“Yeah. There’s something I want to buy…”

A question mark lingered in the air. Shikino wanted to go to the hardware store this late in the night? I couldn’t even guess what she wanted to buy. I wondered what it was she wanted to buy?

“Sure, but are you sure the store is still open? Doesn’t the hardware store close kind of early?”

“It’s still open. I think it closes at nine.”

So it closes at nine. Well, I don’t see why we can’t stop by the hardware store.

I nodded at Shikino.

“But, what do you need from the hardware store? It’s kind of rare for you to want to go there, Shikino.”

“…Just… A little bit of something. You’ll see when we get there.”

“Hm?”

While I didn’t quite understand what she wanted to buy, I still headed to the hardware store first before stopping by the convenience store with her.

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We visited the hardware store before stopping by the convenience store. It turned out Shikino wanted to buy a sturdy-looking rope. The rope was of decent length and seemed strong enough to tie something. However, I didn’t have the slightest clue what she was going to use it for. All I could do was tilting my head to the side in confusion. Even when I asked Shikino, she only evaded the question. She never gave me a straight answer.

“…It’s a secret…”

She seemed a bit happy though, so I decided to just let it slide. 

“…Well then. Onii-chan, I’ve purchased the stuff I wanted to buy. Shall we go to the convenience store now?”

“..O-Okay.”

“…I want to  buy snacks. Something sweet… And something salty too.”

“Sure. As long as it’s within our budget, we can get you whatever you want… Just be reasonable, okay?”

“Fufu~ Don’t worry. I will chip in too. Let’s pick out the snacks together, okay?”

“Really? Thank you, Shikino. You’re really a great help. I’m sorry for being such a pathetic big brother…”

“Onii-chan, you’re not pathetic at all. I really don’t mind it… In fact, I’d like to see Onii-chan’s helpless side even more…”

“…What?”

“Nothing. Let’s go?”

With that, Shikono hugged my arm even tighter. Something felt off. I couldn’t see Shikino’s face clearly due to the darkness of the night, but I could feel a chill running down my spine. I knew this wasn’t the right time to be having a bad hunch, but somehow…. Well, it must be just my imagination. Yeah. 

I shook my head lightly as I walked to the convenience store together with Shikino, who was still clinging to my arm.

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After buying what we wanted at the convenience store, we headed straight home. We opened the front door and stepped into the living room to let Dad and Mom know we were back. From there on, I grabbed the bags filled with food and other items and went up the stairs. However, it seemed Shikino had something she wanted to bring with her. I went up to the second floor alone and entered Shikino’s room. Just like always, this room was filled with the familiar scent of Shikino. There was her bed, her desk, a closet and other basic furniture arranged neatly according to her tastes. The room wasn’t particularly big, but it wasn’t cramped either. 

I sat down in the middle of the room and took a deep breath. Just as I was about to open my phone and send a message to Takumu…

“-!!”

The lights in the room suddenly went out. Thinking it might be a power outage, I quickly glanced around, but—

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Onii-chan.”

I could hear Shikino’s voice coming from the doorway. She sounded calm, completely unfazed. I see. So she was the culprit. It seemed she had turned off the lights just to surprise me. 

“You startled me, Shikino… Good grief. Could you turn the lights back on? I can’t do anything when—”

I can’t see anything like this. 

But before I could finish my sentence, something was pressed over my eyes from behind. Shikino then forcefully covered my mouth with something.

“…Fufufu. Onii-chan is mine and mine alone… Mine alone… Fufufu…”

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T/N: Shikino succumbing to the dark side?! Σ(°ロ°)