My Beautiful Step-Sister, Who Is Too Much My Type, Keeps Pressuring Me to 'Get Married' Every Day and I'm Really Troubled ~She Takes Advantage of Being My Step-Sister to Tempt Me However She Wants!?~ - 16 - StepSister Hugs
StepSister Hugs
While still holding hands with Yumi, at her request, I and Yumi were heading to the aquarium.
However, on the way there, Yumi, wanting to hold hands like lovers, had been trying to switch to a different hand-holding style than usual.
As a result, we ended up repeatedly holding hands and then letting go, making the situation a bit awkward.
“Yumi, can’t you just give up already?”
“What about onii-chan! Do you hate holding hands with me like lovers!?”
“You should be able to tell from my actions so far!”
“If we’re saying we’re siblings, then it shouldn’t matter what kind of hand-holding we do!”
“If any kind of hand-holding is fine, then isn’t it fine the way it is now?”
“Ugh! I hate you, onii-chan!”
With that, Yumi turned her face away from me… But then, in a soft voice that I could still hear, she said, “It’s a lie, I love you.”
“Sigh…”
She’s still cute when she acts like this as my little sister, which is a bit of a problem.
I stopped, petting Yumi’s head with the hand that wasn’t holding hers.
“O-Onii-chan! You’re definitely just petting me as your little sister, right? I hate that! If that’s what you’re doing, I don’t want it!”
“If you think so, then you can let go of my hand.”
“I can’t just reject you when you’re petting my head, onii-chan!”
“Is that something you can say so confidently?”
As we continued this conversation, Yumi and I quickly arrived at the entrance of the aquarium.
I stopped petting Yumi’s head and we entered the aquarium together…
Though I stopped petting her head, since Yumi was holding my hand firmly, we entered the aquarium while still holding hands.
“Wow, it’s beautiful!”
Yumi looked very excited as she watched the fish swimming in groups, shining in the darkness of the tank.
We continued to stroll around, observing various fish and chatting lightly as we walked through the underwater tunnel.
“Aquariums are nice, aren’t they? It’s dark, but there are spots with beautiful blue and aquamarine tanks. It feels romantic and peaceful.”
“Yeah…”
Exiting the underwater tunnel, we entered a completely dark area.
It seemed that there were tanks just around the corner, and the only light here was dim, akin to the darkness of a movie theater during a screening.
As I was contemplating this, Yumi, who was holding my hand, stopped walking, prompting me to do the same.
“Yumi? Is something wrong?”
“Onii-chan, since no one’s around here, it’s okay for us to do anything, right?”
“Huh? ‘Anything’s okay’? What do you mean––”
Before I could understand the meaning behind Yumi’s words, she let go of my hand and hugged me tightly.
“Y-Yumi!?”
“I’m hugging you right now… I mean, it’s something we can do at home, but when we’re outside, it makes me feel like you’re my onii-chan, whether we’re indoors or outdoors. And, simply put, being able to hug you feels really nice…”
While being hugged by Yumi at home might just be a brother-sister thing, being hugged by her for the first time outside made it feel like it couldn’t be so easily categorized.
In fact, this needed to stop.
“Yumi, we shouldn’t be doing this kind of thing…”
As I was about to tell Yumi to stop hugging me, I was lightly bumped from behind.
Sensing this, Yumi let go of me, and we heard a woman’s apologetic voice from behind.
“…Sorry, it was dark and I couldn’t see.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it… We’re the ones who should apologize for stopping in the middle like that.”
After this brief exchange, the woman quickly walked away.
…Her face wasn’t visible in the darkness, but her voice seemed somewhat familiar.
However, it was difficult to discern the details in the dimly lit aquarium. That being said…
“Yumi, even if we’re indoors, incidents like this can happen if we stand still in places like this and inconvenience others. Let’s refrain from doing this kind of thing outside altogether.”
“…Fine, but I didn’t want you to get bumped into by someone. Doing it indoors wasn’t a good idea either, so next time, let’s do it outside.”
“Doing it outside isn’t any better, so please stop.”
(TL: so indoors: inside aquarium, so she suggested to do it outside, like in public)
After that, Yumi and I held hands again and enjoyed the aquarium before heading home… And when we got back, Yumi tried to hug me again.
However, even at home, being hugged by Yumi today felt like it would carry a different meaning, so I managed to avoid being hugged by her and ended the day like that.
Thinking that the matter was settled, I returned to school on Monday, only to find Mishizuku, who seemed clearly displeased, sitting in front of me.