I Realized I Was the Cheating Bastard in a Hentai Manga only after I Had Already Stolen the Heroine - 44

Chapter 44: Home, At Last

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Before long, we arrived at my house. Rui-chan was still asleep. I laid Rui-chan down on the bed, asked Kyouko to watch over her, and started preparing dinner. Rui-chan must have been under a lot of stress today, so I decided to make a risotto-style porridge that would be gentle on her stomach. 

Good thing I had asked Kyouko for the recipe before. If I also brought out some of the side dishes I had stocked, it should be enough for the three of us without a problem.

“Um, excuse me, Onii-san.”

Oh? It looked like Rui-chan had woken up.

“Hey, good morning. I’m making food. Do you think you can eat something?”

“N-no! I’ve already caused so much trouble, I can’t possibly eat dinner too!”

Guuuuu.

A cute stomach growl echoed.

“A-ahh…”

I had guessed she hadn’t eaten dinner since she was still in her school uniform, and it looked like I was right.

“Sorry, I made too much food. It’d help me if you’d lend a hand in finishing it… What do you say?”

“Y-yeah… Sorry, I’ll eat.”

“No need to apologize. I’m the one asking you a favor here. By the way, where’s Kyouko?”

“Ah, yeah. She’s on the phone with auntie right now…”

So, to Sumire-san, huh. Probably telling her what happened today and about the plan going forward.

“I see. Then wait in the living room until it’s ready.”

Before long, the food was done.

“Alright, dig in.”

“Thanks for the meal! Munch… Mmm! Delicious! A hundred points!”

“T-thank you for the food… Ah, this… This tastes like Kyou-nee’s cooking…”

“Oh, you noticed? I taught Shuuya the recipe before.”

“If Rui-chan can tell it’s Kyouko’s cooking just by tasting it, then I’ve passed the test. Glad it worked out for the best then.”

“Yeah… It’s delicious. This is what Kyou-nee always made for me whenever I caught a cold… sniff…”

Rui-chan’s eyes welled with tears.

“Always… Always… thank you… It was delicious… I’m sorry… I didn’t notice… I pushed Kyou-nee into a corner… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…!”

“…Yeah. You’re welcome. I’m sorry too, for hiding my feelings all this time. Now! Enough with the tears, or it’ll taste salty! Let’s eat, okay?”

“Sniff… yeah. Thanks for the food.”

The three of us continued eating. The food wasn’t bad, if I could say so myself.

“Onii-san, you’re amazing… I mean, it really tastes just like Kyou-nee’s cooking.”

“Like I said earlier, you don’t need to use polite speech. Just talk however’s easiest for you. Kyouko’s cooking is damn good, so I’ve been desperate to learn so I don’t fall behind.”

“Shuuya had been cooking even before we started dating, so he already had the basics down. He’s a disciple worth teaching. ♡”

“…So that’s what you’re like when you’re with Onii-san, Kyou-nee. Yeah… This is the Kyou-nee I used to see. This is the real Kyou-nee.”

“…Yeah, that’s right. This is me. The real me, not holding anything back.”

“I’m glad… I’m glad you look happy, Kyou-nee.”

The Kyouko from before I knew her, huh. I didn’t intend to cling to the past, but I wouldn’t mind knowing that version of Kyouko too.

“By the way, how did the call with Sumire-san go?”

“Oh, I forgot! Um, so I finished reporting to Mom, then I called Mio-san. I’m supposed to tell her the details after dinner, so I’ll call her back later, okay?”

“…What did Mom say?”

“She said she was glad you were safe, Rui-chan. Let’s let her hear your voice later.”

After finishing dinner and washing the dishes, Kyouko made a call.

“Ah, Mio-san! …Yes. …Yes. It’s okay. Rui-chan is safe. I’ll switch to speaker mode now.”

『Rui! Rui! Are you okay!?』

“Mom! Yes, I’m okay… Onii-san and Kyou-nee saved me…”

『Thank goodness… Your father wants to talk too, so I’ll put this on speaker on our side as well.』

A man’s voice came through the phone.

『…Hiiragi-san, are you there too?』

“Ah, yes. I’m here. It’s been a while.”

The last time I had spoken with Rui-chan’s parents was when they came to apologize to Kyouko.

『Hiiragi-san, Kyouko-chan. Once again, we’ve caused you terrible trouble. We sincerely apologize…』

“No, no, it’s fine, Uncle. I don’t think of Rui-chan as trouble at all.”

“I heard from Kyouko that Rui-chan and she were close. I’m just relieved we were able to help her safely.”

『…This is all the result of me spoiling my son. …Actually, we’ve been considering moving. The reason we weren’t home this time was because we were out scouting the new place.』

“Eh…?”

Rui-chan sounded shocked. So they hadn’t told her about the move.

『We thought we needed to change the environment to re-raise Kouta. …But his distortion turned out to be even worse than that, and it became far beyond our control…』

“…What about Rui-chan’s school? She had already decided to advance to our school, right?”

『Yes, but I’m afraid we were going to have her transfer school.』

…Rui-chan gripped the hem of my shirt. She was anxious because things were moving without her knowledge.

『But given what has happened, we’ll come back tomorrow and talk. …At worst, we may even consult the police.』

…Looks like I had to make up my mind too.

“If he… If that guy ends up getting arrested, then I’ll face it too.”

“Shuuya!?”

“Onii-san!?”

『…May I ask what you mean by that?』

“One of the reasons your son became twisted is because of me. I have no intention of defending him, but if only one side is judged and the other side walks free, that isn’t right either.”

Maybe if I hadn’t stolen Kyouko, Rui-chan wouldn’t have been attacked. Maybe there had been another way. I didn’t care much about Kouta Yamada, but when it came to Rui-chan, the guilt weighed on me.

“If that’s the case, then I’m an accomplice too! No—that was something Shuuya did for me! If someone has to be punished, it should be me!”

“…Kyouko.”

『Both of you, calm down. I don’t think either of you bear responsibility. Yes, your methods were extreme, but they were only a trigger. Kouta’s distortion had been there all along, it merely came to the surface. The ones who must bear responsibility are us—his parents who raised him that way.』

I wanted to argue with a “But” or a “That’s not true,” but I knew we would just go in circles.

『Then how about Rui decides?』

“M-me…?”

Right. She was the victim this time. It was best if she decided.

“Rui-chan, you’ve probably heard the talk. The reason your brother turned out like that lies with me.”

“With me too!”

“…With us. You are just the victim. Take your time, think it over, and tell us what you want.”

Rui-chan’s eyes darted for a while before she looked at Kyouko. Kyouko smiled gently at her.

“…No, I wasn’t just a victim. I was also part of the problem. So there doesn’t need to be any arrests. But I don’t want to live with that person anymore…”

Up until now, she had called him “Kou-nii,” but now it was “that person.” That showed just how big the shock had been.

『…Understood. When we return, we’ll discuss things in that direction. Hiiragi-san, may I ask you to take care of Rui for tonight?』

“If I’m good enough, and if this house is fine for you, then yes. I’ll look after her.”

『That’s a relief. We need to prepare for our return, then.』

『Hiiragi-san, Kyouko-chan. Please take care of Rui…』

The call ended.

“Fuuu… With this, we can at least relax for now, right?”

“Yeah. Anyway, how about a bath? Rui-chan, do you want to go first or after?”

“Eh… Uum, I don’t mind either way…”

She was still holding back. Understandable.

“Come on, don’t you usually have things like, ‘I don’t wanna go after Dad!’?”

I deliberately avoided mentioning her brother.

“Hmm… I haven’t really worried about that kind of thing…”

“Really? Then you get along with your dad, huh?”

“Papa~♡ I want a designer bag♡”

“Alright, Papa will buy you anything you want~ …Not! Don’t make me act that out. You don’t need to get along with that kind of ‘Papa’, okay?”

Great, I went way off track.

“Pfft!! O-Onii-san, you’re surprisingly funny! Fufufu!”

Oh, it worked. She finally laughed. As expected, Kyouko, nice assist. I should give her a head pat later.

“If you don’t care about the order, I’ll go first. You take your time, you’ve been through a lot.”

“Ah, then Rui-chan, do you want to bathe together with me?”

“Y-yeah! I wonder how many years it’s been since I last bathed with you, Kyou-nee! …Ah, but my clothes and underwear…”

Crap. I hadn’t thought about underwear.

“I’ll lend you clothes and underwear. Hehe, would you believe it, I’ve got four pairs of pajamas here!”

“Eh… Isn’t that too many?”

Well, sometimes Kyouko and I got the urge and suddenly… So backups were necessary.

“Underwear’s fine, but bras won’t fit. My size is too big.”

“Because you’re too big, Kyou-nee… Even though I’m an E-cup, it’s still not enough…”

…Wait, Rui-chan was an E-cup? Damn, so big. I’d gotten used to Kyouko and the others skewing my sense of size, but E was seriously big. Of course, I didn’t let my eyes drift toward her chest. Tonight, anything sexual was off limits.

“Alright, I’ll go ahead and take a bath. Sorry, but wait a bit.”

“Okay~ Rui-chan, let’s talk a lot while Shuuya’s in the bath~♪”

“Yeah!”

After all three of us finished bathing, I lay down on the living room sofa.

“Alright~ Rui-chan, you’ll sleep with me in the bed.”

“Eh, but Onii-san…”

“I’ll sleep here, so don’t worry.”

“N-no, that’s not okay! I’ll sleep on the sofa! I’ve already caused so much trouble, at least let me do that much…”

She really was a good kid. …So why the hell did her brother turn out like that?

“Nufufu, Rui-chan. Shuuya’s just that kind of person~ ♡ No matter what you say, he’ll always convince you to sleep in the bed instead~ You’re fighting a losing game here~ ♡”

“Ahh… Yeah, that does sound like him…”

Wow, she gave up fast. Well, I would have convinced her anyway.

“T-then, Onii-san should sleep in the bed too…?”

Her words made both me and Kyouko widen our eyes.

“…No, you just went through that horrible experience today, right? Won’t you feel uncomfortable being with a man?”

“That’s right, Rui-chan. You don’t need to force yourself…”

“…No, I’m not forcing myself. Onii-san isn’t the same as that person. And besides, he’s the man Kyou-nee chose. I can tell he’s a good person.”

“Rui-chan…You’re so sweet! Huuuuug♡♡♡”

“Wahp!”

Kyouko really had a hugging habit. Not that I minded—it was always nice to see.

“Alright then, I’ll join. But don’t push yourself, okay? If you feel uncomfortable, don’t hold back—say so.”

“Yeah, I promise I’ll say it properly.”

The three of us got into bed. At Rui-chan’s request, the order was me, Rui-chan, then Kyouko.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah… Actually, it makes me feel safe… Aahhh… fwaaah…”

“You’ve had a hard day. Get some rest.”

“Mm… Good night… Onii-san, Kyou-nee…”

“Yeah, good night.”

“Good night.”

Rui-chan’s sleeping face looked peaceful.

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