After I Started Living Alone, My Place Turned Into a Hangout Spot for Beautiful Girls - Chapter 32: Two People Who Are Not Truly Siblings

Chapter 32: Two People Who Are Not Truly Siblings

It was after the study session had ended.

Shizuru Mizutani and Chieri Sato had gone home.

Even I had to think about various things, so I consulted with Sakuya, who was still at my house for some errand.

“Two girls are showing interest in me, but… could you tell me what I should do?”

Sakuya looked at me with an indescribable expression and muttered softly.

“Teruaki, don’t you basically have no intention of dating a girl right now anyway?”

“…Well, yeah. In the end, the school we’re attending is about to enter full-on exam mode, right? When that happens, even if we become boyfriend and girlfriend, can we really enjoy all that couple stuff? That thought just crosses my mind…”

“You’re overthinking it too seriously. It’s not like we can’t just grow a little distant if things get busy.”

“The thing is, if you asked me right now if I really want to date Shizuru Mizutani clearly, I’m not that enthusiastic about it…”

At most, I was just starting to feel drawn to her.

To put it harshly, I probably didn’t like Shizuru Mizutani that much yet.

“What about Chieri?”

“I don’t have even the slightest thought of dating her. I still don’t know Chieri Sato that well.”

“Well, that’s probably it. Or rather, if you’re going to date someone, it would be Shizuru Mizutani, right?”

“Of course. But still, if you asked me if I want to date Shizuru Mizutani… it’s like, hmm.”

“If there’s a chance to have such a cute girl as your girlfriend, normally you’d try hard for it. Are you a high school boy without any sexual desire or something…?”

Sakuya’s mouth, as if saying oh dear, let the word “sexual desire” slip out.

Hearing that, I couldn’t help but reply with a wry smile.

“Isn’t it rude to think you want to date her because of that?”

“It’s totally normal to want to become lovers because you want to do naughty things with a cute girl. It’s just that no one says it out loud.”

“…Is that how it is?”

“That’s how it is. For a normal high school boy, just getting close to Shizuru Mizutani would be enough to get super excited. Or rather, the fact that you really don’t look at Shizuru Mizutani with lecherous eyes is so wholesome that it’s actually kind of scary…”

“Ah, that’s it. Back when I was hitting puberty and getting interested in all sorts of things, I was totally fascinated by Sakuya, who was also going through puberty and getting cuter by the day. But if she found out I was looking at her that way, it’d be creepy and embarrassing. So, as a result of trying not to look at her like that…”

Perhaps because Sakuya had been talking about sexual desire and naughty things earlier, I spoke lightly about it.

Then, Sakuya asked me with a surprised face.

“Y-You were looking at me with erotic eyes?”

It wouldn’t be good to dodge it strangely, and there’s no need to dodge it anyway.

While scratching my cheek, I told Sakuya.

“Even though we’re like family, we’re not real family. Of course I’d get excited about a cute girl with an amazing figure. But, well, you know. If I looked at you that way, it might hurt Sakuya, who takes care of me like a little brother. Or something like that, so I tried not to look at you that way. You’d be troubled too, right? If I looked at you like that.”

For some reason, it felt embarrassing, and I ended up explaining it at length.

After hearing my words, Sakuya asked me with an indescribable expression.

“…Don’t you think of me like a sister?”

“It’s just ‘like,’ but I don’t think of you as a real sister.”

I laughed at Sakuya, saying I definitely didn’t think of her as a real sister.

Sakuya nodded at me with a somewhat awkward air.

“That’s true. By the way, do you still look at me that way sometimes…?”

“It’s awkward, so no comment.”

“That’s cowardly now of all times.”

“…Well, sometimes I feel like I might look at you that way. Really, just sometimes.”

I had no idea what I was being made to say.

When I looked at Sakuya, wondering if she was satisfied now, she muttered softly to me.

“…Getting aroused by someone like a sister to you makes you a pervert.”

See, there it was.

That’s why I didn’t want to say it, because she’d tease me like this.

“Sakuya, have you ever looked at me not as a little brother, but as a guy?”

“W-What do you want to do with that?”

“I don’t want to do anything. I was just curious.”

“…I’ve never looked at you that way. At you as a guy.”

I laughed, figuring as much.

Sakuya treated me just like a real little brother.

That said, it was still embarrassing to be the only one seeing the other person as the opposite sex.

I decided to tease Sakuya in a joking way.

Yeah… maybe I should say something exaggerated here to make it clear it’s a joke.

“You’re lying. I know you stole my underwear.”

I teased her by saying something Sakuya would absolutely never do.

Would this get me a punch to the stomach like, “Can you not say silly things?”

I was looking forward to Sakuya’s reaction with excitement and smiling when it happened.

“H-How would I know what it smells like? I didn’t s-steal your underwear!?”

S-Sakuya?

Um, that reaction makes it seem like you really did steal my underwear…

Actually, I think there was a time in my second year of middle school when Mom said, “Hey, where’s your underwear? It’s gone.”

N-No way, right?

Before I knew it, I was looking at Sakuya suspiciously.

Then, Sakuya confessed to me with slightly teary eyes.

“I-It can’t be helped, can it? I was at that age and got curious…”

It seemed Sakuya really did have experience stealing my underwear.

My face heated up with frustration.

Because I hadn’t known Sakuya was the type to secretly steal my underwear, and I hadn’t even slightly thought that Sakuya, who called me something like a little brother, saw me as a “boy” too.