Water Hyacinth ①

August, Second Year of High School

The act of having Takamine-san read my self-written novels has a positive influence on my writing.

Firstly, just hearing someone else’s impressions allows me to see areas for revision and whether my expressions are appropriate or not.

Secondly, the desire for her to enjoy it motivates me to make the content more refined than ever before.

For this reason, I, who didn’t used to write and erase and repeat, have started doing so, and recently, I’ve tried switching from notebooks to manuscript paper, which is more suitable for writing novels.

The point is, I can crumple and throw it into the trash.

In reality, I am currently writing at the coffee shop ‘Poem’, so I can’t crumple it up and toss it into the trash.

I can’t, but I brought a paper bag for discards, and I simply slip them inside.

“Phew.”

“Shiranui-kun. You seem to be struggling.”

Takamine-san looked at me with a slightly worried expression, perhaps noticing my state.

“I guess so. Before, I used to just write as I pleased and be satisfied. But now, there’s someone reading it. So I realized that method wouldn’t work anymore.”

“I think it’s fine, though.”

“I just realized that I can’t tolerate compromise. If I want to make a living in this field, I need the corresponding resolve and effort, a natural realization. I owe it to Takamine-san.”

I now feel like I understand why I couldn’t convince my father.

“Eh, I haven’t done anything.”

“That’s not true. Because Takamine-san is reading my novel, I’ve started writing stories with the consciousness of having them read by others. It’s a matter of course that novels are meant to be read by others, so it’s strange that I hadn’t been conscious of it until now.”

“Hearing you say that makes me happy, like I’m being helpful to Shiranui-kun. Speaking of which, what is your progress on the summer homework, Shiranui-kun? Are you done?”

My pen stopped.

“Ah… that’s the one thing I least wanted to hear right now.”

“I knew it. Shiranui-kun, despite your serious look, you tend to neglect your studies unexpectedly.”

“Unfortunately, it’s a big mistake to think all literary youths are serious.”

“But I know you’re the kind of person who gets things done when it matters, Shiranui-kun. You even worked hard for the term exams.”

“That was… no, that was entirely thanks to Takamine-san, actually. Anyone could do well if you taught them so thoroughly and kindly.”

“If you don’t mind, I can teach you again when the new semester starts.”

“To make sure I greet the new semester, I suppose I should start doing my summer homework soon.”

“Yes, I think that’s a good idea.”

“…Right. There’s one more thing I wanted to talk about, related to what we just discussed.”

“What is it?”

“The truth is, my father is against me becoming a novelist.”

“Eh?”

Her expression turned serious.

“I’ve been trying various ways to persuade him, but he just won’t agree. I’d been worrying about what to do, but recently, I feel like I’m starting to understand why my father won’t approve.”

“What do you mean?”

“This connects to what we were just talking about: until now, I’ve only been immersed in the world of literature by myself. But if I want to make this my profession, doing it alone is obviously not enough, and I was just vaguely gazing at the idea of a novelist as a future dream. I’m a high school student now. It’s fine to have a future dream, but I think it’s time to start thinking about the concrete path to that dream.”

It might have been natural that I couldn’t convince him.

“…That’s admirable, Shiranui-kun.”

She slightly curved the corner of her lips, then sipped her tea.

“There aren’t many high school students who think so admirably, you know? Even I am only vaguely thinking about my future dream.”

“Do you have a future dream, too, Takamine-san?”

“I do.”

She looked straight at me.

A slight blush crept up on me.

“…But it’s a secret~”

I won’t be allowed to hear it?

I was slightly disappointed.

“But… I might end up telling Shiranui-kun soon.”

“What do you mean by telling me soon?”

“That’s a secret, too…”

She smiled quietly and placed her index finger on her lips.

The sheer loveliness of the gesture strongly tugged at my heart strings.

I tried to vent this heartache onto the manuscript paper, but no words would form.

“…Should we head home now?”

“Huh?”

“Shiranui-kun, you still have summer homework, right? It wouldn’t be good if I kept you confined for too long. Besides, you must be extremely curious about my future dream now, right?”

She completely saw through me.

I even felt a sense of shame for making her worry about me.

“You’re right. You can take the parts you haven’t finished reading home, by the way.”

“Thank you, Shiranui-kun.”

We each took our checks, paid our respective bills, and left ‘Poem’.

It was the latter half of August.

The sound of cicadas echoed through the twilight.

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It was in the afternoon of a weekday during the latter half of summer vacation.

“O-ni-i-cha-n!”

As I was struggling with my summer assignment, Ayane, who had long abandoned the concept of knocking, burst into my room and hugged me from behind.

“What’s wrong, Ayane?”

“Say, Onii-chan, are you free the day after tomorrow?”

“The day after tomorrow… that’s Saturday. Hmm, I don’t have any particular plans.”

When I told her I had no plans, Ayane’s eyes shone brightly.

“Then, let’s go to the festival, just the two of us!”

That’s fine—

I almost said that reflexively.

A high school girl who wants to go to a summer festival alone with her older brother is probably not normal.

But even though I want her to become independent, I don’t want to fight with Ayane; on the contrary, I want to be on good terms with her, which is why this is so difficult.

Since I already said I had no plans, I didn’t have the courage to flat-out refuse. I wondered if I could somehow guide her to invite someone else.

“Won’t you go with your friends, Ayane? Like Kumi-chan or Maria-chan from the other day?”

“I invited both Kumi-chan and Maria, but they both said they had plans and turned me down.”

“Are there any other friends you’d like to invite?”

“Hmm, I don’t think so. …I don’t want to introduce ordinary girls to Onii-chan…”

My stepsister’s face twisted for a moment.

“Eh, what did you just say?”

Her usual smile immediately returned.

“Nothing, nothing. Hey, come on, let’s go to the festival~”

“Hmm, but…”

“…Why are you so reluctant?”

“It’s not that I’m reluctant…”

“...Then what is it? Or do you not want to go with me, Onii-chan?“

A bone-chilling voice I’d never heard before.

The feeling that something other than my sister was there.

A cold sweat dripped down my back.

“W-what’s wrong? I don’t think for a moment that I don’t want to go with you, Ayane.”

“Liar. The usual Onii-chan would accept immediately.”

It was true that I was about to accept immediately.

Ah, I couldn’t think of a reason to refuse.

Faced with Ayane’s strange aura, I was left with no option but to accept the invitation.

“…haa, alright. The day after tomorrow, then.”

“Yay! I love you, Onii-chan!”

As soon as I consented, she hugged me tightly again.

“By the way, Onii-chan, are you doing your summer homework?”

“Summer vacation is running short, so I figured I should start. How are you progressing, Ayane?”

“Ugh, you know the answer to that… Meanie.”

“Well, I know the feeling, since I used to do it all at the end of summer vacation every year, too.”

“Aww, if only I had been born one year earlier, I could have done the same homework as Onii-chan.”

“In that case, chronologically, you’d be my older sister, Ayane.”

“Eh? Oh, right. I’d be the older sister, huh?”

“Hahaha, I can’t imagine that.”

“Why are you laughing, Onii-chan! If that were the case, I’d properly fulfill my duties as an older sister!”

“I’d rely on you then. But in this life, Ayane is my little sister. That won’t change.”

I placed my hand on Ayane’s head.

“Ah…”

That’s right, it won’t change.

I want to continue doing everything I can for Ayane, but in parallel, I must also make her independent of me.

When will I be able to achieve this contradictory goal?

“…Right! Since Onii-chan is doing his homework, I’ll have Onii-chan teach me my homework, too!”

“I don’t mind teaching you the parts you genuinely don’t understand, but I’m not good at studying, and I have my own homework, so I can’t teach you everything.”

“I know~ I’m going to go grab my homework!”

Ayane returned to her room like a startled rabbit.

“She didn’t have to rush so much…”

A summer festival, huh?

I couldn’t help but feel a hope that was unlikely to be fulfilled.

I knew I was deluding myself.

I glanced sideways at my un-vibrating phone with a kind of expectation.

Waiting for an invitation that wouldn’t come.

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“Oh my, Amane-kun, that jinbei suits you.”

It was the evening of the promised Saturday.

My stepmother spoke to me as I changed into a jinbei for the summer festival.

“I thought it might be nice to start with the outfit for the summer festival.”

“Who are you going with? …Could it be the girl you mentioned before?”

She peered at me with a curious look.

“N-no. I’m going with Ayane, as usual.”

The moment I mentioned the name Ayane, my stepmother’s face hardened.

“I see… that girl again.”

“W-well, it’s a good thing for siblings to get along, right?”

“That’s true, but… in your case, you’re too close, which makes me anxious. And I don’t really want to say this, but since you two aren’t blood-related… It’s fine because Amane-kun doesn’t have ‘those kinds of feelings,’ but I’m not so sure about Ayane-chan…”

Those kinds of feelings?

Was she worried about a romantic relationship developing?

Ayane having those feelings?

“That’s… impossible.”

The thought was so far-fetched that my honest reaction slipped out.

“I think so too, but because you aren’t blood-related, I can’t say it’s absolutely impossible. If that were to happen, you’d be siblings, even if by marriage, so there would be a lot of obstacles. That’s my little selfish wish: I don’t want you to head down that path.”

“…Don’t worry, Kaa-san. I don’t have those kinds of feelings, and Ayane definitely doesn’t either.”

“You think so…”

“You’re overthinking it, or worrying too much. We may be related by marriage, but we’ve been a family for ten years now. Even without a blood connection, Ayane is genuinely my little sister.”

“She became a part of the family when she was five, so she was barely aware of things then, so perhaps, compared to you, the possibility is indeed unlikely for her.”

“…I’m also trying my best to help her become independent little by little, so please don’t worry so much, Kaa-san. I’m sure things like this will be resolved by time.”

“…You’re right. If she falls in love, even once or twice, she’ll naturally become independent from her brother.”

“Yeah.”

“Huh? Onii-chan and Okaa-san, what are you talking about in the hallway?”

Speak of the devil.

Ayane, who had changed into a yukata, appeared from behind.

“N-nothing much. Just talking about being careful in the crowds and things like that.”

Did she hear?

“Oh, I see. Then it’s fine. Sorry to keep you waiting, Onii-chan! Let’s go!”

Her smile didn’t falter as she came up to me and immediately took my hand.

“Have a good time. Be careful, both of you.”

“We’re going now.”

I was the only one who greeted my worried stepmother.

As we passed through the entrance, Ayane tugged on the hem of my jinbei with a force that felt like it might tear.