In a World of Reversed Chastity, I’m Surrounded by a Clingy Older Woman, a Walking Red Flag, and an Exhausted Office Lady - 14

Chapter 14: A Visit to My Family Home – Public Side

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“I’m home, Mom. I’d appreciate it if you could unlock the door.”

“Okayyy. Just wait a moment, Aoi-chan.”

Through the intercom, I heard my mother’s voice for the first time in a month. Today was my once-a-month visit back to my family home. In exchange for living alone while attending college, I had promised that I would come home at least once every month. If I didn’t return at least once a month, Mom and my little sister Hina would cry their eyes out, and my LEIN would blow up with messages.

After waiting a few seconds, the large door of the house opened, revealing a familiar face.

“I’m home, Mom. And Hina, I’m home.”

“Welcome back, Aoi-chan.”

“Welcome back, Nii-san. I’ve been waiting this entire month.”

“That’s a bit dramatic.”

As usual, Hina gave me an exaggerated reaction, and I patted her on the head as I stepped inside.

“Nii-san, you’re moving back home starting today and never leaving again, right?”

“As if. I have classes the day after tomorrow, so I’m going back tomorrow.”

“N-No way…”

Apologizing to Hina, who looked utterly devastated, I took off my shoes, stepped inside, and went to my room to put down my luggage. I looked around my room. Nothing had changed, and seeing it just as it always was made me feel at ease… hm?

“…Hina?”

“Yes, Nii-san?”

“You used my bed again, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Of course I did.”

There was one of Hina’s stuffed animals on my bed, so when I asked, it turned out just as I expected. She had been sleeping in here.

“I don’t really mind, but you’re a senior in high school now. It’s about time you started weaning yourself off your brother. Nii-san’s getting worried.”

I didn’t want to say something like that to my angelic Hina, but using my bed because she felt lonely was a bit much for someone her age.

“It’s fine. The terrifying phrase ‘weaning myself off my brother’ does not exist in my dictionary, and I have no intention of ever doing such a thing for the rest of my life.”

“Haah… Only until you start college, okay?”

“Yay!! Thank you very much. I’ll make sure to use it every single day until then.”

It was probably because I spoiled Hina like this that she couldn’t detach from her big brother. And honestly, she was so cute that I probably couldn’t detach from my little sister either.

“Aoi-chaaaan. Will you help me make dinner?”

Before I knew it, Mom had come into my room and was smiling brightly as she asked.

“Got it. Just wait a second.”

“Nii-san, please make sure to set aside time for me later too.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re going to sleep with me anyway, so we can talk a lot then, right?”

Hina always came to my room at bedtime with some excuse or another and ended up sleeping with me. Assuming she would do the same today, I said that—

“…I’m feeling kind of complicated, Nii-san.”

“Why?”

“I’m happy that you understand me, but it also feels a little dismissive. Thinking that Nii-san’s abusive tendencies might be awakening is kind of exci—exciting!!”

“Hey, hey, you didn’t correct that properly, Hina-chan.”

Nii-san is a little worried about your future, you know?

Leaving Hina-chan in my room, where she was breathing heavily in excitement, I headed to the kitchen, where Mom was already waiting with preparations underway.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Mom.”

“It’s fine. Hina-chan loves you so much, Aoi-chan. I understand why she’d want to talk to you a lot.”

“I want to talk with you too, Mom.”

“Oh my!! Our Aoi-chan really has cuteness worthy of a national treasure.”

As usual, Mom activated her overprotective mode and hugged me tightly. I gently patted her back to calm her down.

“…Aoi-chan. Why don’t you just move back home? You can quit university if you want. I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life.”

“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t spoil me. I’ll really turn into a bum, you know. You need to wean yourself off your son, too. If you keep spoiling me like this, I’ll turn into a mama’s boy.”

When I warned her like that, Mom’s eyes sparkled with delight.

“Mama’s boy. What a wonderful sound that is. If Aoi-chan became a mama’s boy, I’d be so happy I’d lock you in your room forever and never let any other girls see you.”

“Hey now. Don’t casually declare your intent to imprison me.”

Just like Hina, Mom kept trying to stop me from leaving the house and from working. If I listened to the two of them, I’d be well on my way to becoming a completely useless person.

“Come on, let’s finish making dinner and then talk more, okay?”

“Okaaaay.”

I brought Mom back from her slightly spaced-out state, and we made curry for dinner. Since Mom and I had cooked together many times before, we worked smoothly and efficiently, finishing in no time. I called Hina, who had been lying on my bed, and the three of us gathered around the table.

“Alright then, let’s eat.”

“Let’s eaaat.”

I took a bite of the curry we made. Since it was made from store-bought roux, there was no way it would taste bad. It was the usual delicious curry.

“Aoi-chan. How’s school been lately?”

“Nothing special. I just go to university and work my part-time job. That’s about it. What about you, Hina?”

There wasn’t anything particularly inconvenient about my school life. The only recent changes were becoming closer with my neighbor and with Kaoruko-san from my part-time job.

“As for me… oh, that reminds me. I talked to your former classmate, Saiin-san, recently.”

“Oh? You talked to Shizuku?”

Saiin Shizuku.

One of the two friends I had in high school. On graduation day, she had clung to me in tears and said:

『Aoi-sama. Let us repeat the year together for another year—no, let us repeat it forever. Yes, let’s do that.』

…Come to think of it, had I ever told Shizuku I had a little sister?

“Saiin-san told me to let her know immediately if you came back to town, Nii-san. But if I did that, it would reduce the time you and I get to spend together, so I didn’t tell her.”

I stared at Hina in exasperation as she puffed out her chest proudly. It had been around summer break when I last hung out with Shizuku, so quite some time had passed. If I didn’t see her soon, there was no telling what she might do using her family’s influence. I had heard later that Shizuku had actually pressured the school just to end up in the same class as me.

If she found out I was back in town and relaxing at home without even contacting her, I would undoubtedly end up spending all of tomorrow at her house and then there would be no way I’d make it to university the following day.

So why hadn’t I contacted her? At first, after starting university, I had kept in touch with her. But Shizuku prioritized me so much and kept hanging out with me constantly, never spending time with her own university friends, that I decided to put a little distance between us. Shizuku had her own friends. I thought it wouldn’t be good for me to interfere too much. Even without me, she was surely doing just fine.

Thinking that, I continued chatting with Hina and Mom while eating curry, took a bath, and, perhaps because I was tired, went to bed earlier than usual. Of course, Hina climbed into my bed as if it were the most natural thing in the world. When I let her in, she smiled with an angelic grin.

I hope I can leave around noon tomorrow and arrive back there by evening.

With that thought, I drifted off to sleep.

“Alright, I’m heading back.”

The next day.

After waking up properly in the morning, eating breakfast, and finishing my preparations to leave, I said that to Mom and Hina.

“Don’t you think you could stay home for about another week?”

“Yeah, Nii-san. Stay another month.”

I patted Hina’s head as she casually extended the deadline and slipped on my shoes. Perhaps because they understood from past experience that I wouldn’t be persuaded, neither of them tried to stop me any further.

“Okay, I’m off. I’ll be back in a month.”

“It doesn’t have to be a month. It’s okay if you return in just a week, you know?”

“I’ll always welcome you.”

With a wry smile at the two of them, who looked slightly teary-eyed, I opened the front door and stepped outside. My house wasn’t that far from the station, so there was no need to drive. Since I wasn’t in a hurry, I strolled leisurely to the station. Just as I was about to go through the ticket gate, someone suddenly grabbed my wrist and yanked me back.

Who on earth—

I quickly turned around, and the cause stood there, staring at me with a dark smile.

“Long time no see, Aoi-sama♪”

“I-It’s been a while, Shizuku.”

“You understand what I want to say, don’t you?”

I gave up and raised both hands in surrender.

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