Chastity Reversed: Part-Time Life by the All-Girls High School - Chapter 58: The One I Love

Something inside me—a hollowed emptiness in my heart.

I stayed in a house without Sora-nii.  

He had apparently finished moving out.  

Both Dad and Mom were shockingly kind to me.  

Even ‘after the incident’, even after staying together at the hotel…  

They stayed by my side, comforting me as I cried over and over.  

[—So, Akari assaulted him, huh? It’s okay, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I understand.]

Those were Dad’s words.  

[Sora said that he was the one who assaulted you. But that’s not true, is it?]

…Why?  

Why did Sora-nii say such a thing?  

When it was all my fault.  

[—This is our fault as parents. We’re so sorry.]  

Dad bowed his head.  

My chest tightened painfully.  

Everything—all of it—was my fault.  

Driven by a fleeting impulse of lust.  

Jealousy of how others looked at Sora-nii. Possessiveness. A desire to feel superior.  

All of those emotions must have swirled together horribly—  

And as a result, I did the worst thing a woman could ever do.  

It was as if I wasn’t myself.  

When Sora-nii woke up, my madness seemed to melt away along with my delusion.  

“…Sora-nii…”  

I had to apologize.  

Even though an apology wouldn’t undo the damage, I still…  

I stole something precious from him.  

His “first time” as a man.  

I took it from him unilaterally, without consent.  

I might’ve even scarred him for life.  

All the time we had spent together, everything we had built—  

I’d destroyed it with one night’s mistake.  

[—Akari, you really love Sora, don’t you?]

While we were staying at the hotel, Dad asked me that.  

I nodded in response.  

If it were possible…  

I wanted to stay by Sora-nii’s side forever.  

Not as his little sister.  

As a man and a woman.  

But…  

After what I did, how could I expect him to ever look at me again?  

It would be natural for him to never want to speak to me again.  

Still… even if it was just one word—  

I wanted to say, [I’m sorry.]

“…I… I hate this…”  

No.  

If I told him that, ‘he’ would just say, “It’s okay.”  

Even though I took something so important from him as a man, even though I hurt him…  

He would swallow it all and say it was fine.  

Because that was who he was.  

That was the reason why I wanted to apologize. But deep down, that was just my selfishness talking.  

“…”

What I should do was remain silent and keep my distance from him.  

I knew that.  

I understood.  

But…  

But—  

“I want to see him…!” 

From now on…  

The thought of never seeing Sora-nii ever again—  

—Ring… Ring… Ring!

“!?”  

Suddenly, my phone started ringing.  

The caller ID read: [Sora Sato] 

“…Ah… W-what do I do…?”  

My heart raced.  

But I didn’t know if picking up was the right thing to do.  

I didn’t know—  

“Just answer it.”  

I showed the screen to Dad in the living room.  

His response was simple.  

“He told me beforehand that he might call. It’s okay to at least say goodbye, don’t you think?”  

“…!”  

“It’s fine. I won’t eavesdrop or anything. Actually, I’ll go outside for a bit. Take your time and talk.”  

“…Okay.”  

“Make sure you don’t leave any regrets.”  

With his kind words at my back, I rushed to my room.  

I threw myself under the covers, muffling the sound as much as I could.  

The ringtone continued to echo.  

If I pressed that button—  

“—Yo, Akari. How’s it going?”  

His voice.  

The voice of the person I loved so much.  

So warm, so casual—like nothing had ever happened.  

It was lighthearted, just like always.  

It felt so familiar, like when we were still in the same room.  

Like the same old him.

“Sora-nii…!”  

Just hearing his voice brought tears to my eyes.  

Something I had been holding back broke loose.  

I couldn’t stop it.  

All the resolve I thought I had crumbled in an instant.  

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for what I did that night,” I sobbed.  

“I’ve always loved you. But ever since that day at the pool, something was wrong with me. And before I knew it, I… I’d done that to you.”  

“Even though it was your ‘first time’. Sora-nii’s—”  

I hadn’t planned on apologizing. But once I opened my mouth, the words just poured out.  

“Didn’t I already tell you?” he said, cutting me off.

“That it’s my fault things turned out this way.”  

“I knew it, Akari. I knew you were the one unbuttoning my pajamas while I was asleep.”  

His tone was light—just like always.  

I couldn’t see his expression, but his voice carried no trace of anger.  

“And I chose to ignore it. I knew you weren’t acting like yourself, but I turned a blind eye anyway.”  

“B-but…!”  

“Oh, and next time? Make sure to use protection, okay? I’m serious about this. Even if a boyfriend tells you it’s fine—don’t let it slide.”  

“Wha—”  

“You know what’s to blame for this? Erotic manga. They make everything seem so easy. Don’t let yourself get swept up in the moment.”  

He laughed.  

So carefree, like none of this had hurt him at all.  

“In the end, it’s all worked out, hasn’t it? Now you can, uh, take care of yourself on your own, right?”  

“Our room was cramped anyway. I’ve got my own space now, and you’ve got your own room. We can both finally do whatever we want freely.”  

“After all that happened, ‘we’re done’. Thanks for everything up until now… wait, is this the second time I’ve said that?”  

As he said those words, I couldn’t hold back any longer.  

“I don’t want to be apart from you, Sora-nii!” I yelled.  

“I’ll take responsibility! I’ll make up for it—for taking your ‘first time’.”  

“From now on, I want it to be just the two of us—”  

I blurted out the most reckless, horrible thing I could’ve said.  

But before I could finish—  

“—Hey.”  

A cold voice cut through my words.  

“Do you really think a ‘first time’ means that much?”  

“…What? Of course it does!”  

“Oh. Then it’s fine. It wasn’t my ‘first time’, so you don’t have to take any responsibility.”  

“…Huh?”  

“Yeah. I’m really not the kind of guy you think I am.”  

“No way… You don’t mean—”  

“Yup. Never had a girlfriend.”  

“…What?”  

“Never did, not even once.”  

“Wha—what?”  

“Age equals zero girlfriends. That’s me—your ‘Sora-nii’.”  

I couldn’t process what he was saying.  

What was he trying to tell me?  

The Sora-nii I loved so much—  

The one whose ‘first time’ I thought I had taken—  

“—Yeah. I’m basically a slut.”