My Ex-Girlfriend’s Sister Ran Away to My Room, and We Can’t Stop Making Mistakes. - Chapter 3: How Indecent.

How Indecent.

The coffee shop where I worked was tucked away a short distance from Shinjuku Station’s East Exit. The neighborhood was a revolving door of red-light establishments and love hotels.

Because it was so inconspicuous, it was frequently used as a meeting spot for “compensated dates” or by people looking to recruit for various religious cults.

My head was still throbbing as I prepped sandwiches in the kitchen.

“Morning, Saki-kun.”

When I stepped out the back door before my break to haul some trash into the alley, I found a blonde woman in a coat thrown over a maid outfit. She was puffing away on a cigarette.

“Vanilla-san, slacking off again?”

“Just a little. I’m on break.”

She exhaled a long cloud of smoke as she spoke.

“You can’t smoke anywhere around here anymore,” she grumbled. She was the first person I’d actually gotten to know since moving to Tokyo.

That said, I didn’t even know her real name.

All I knew was that she was the sub-manager at a nearby cosplay cafe, her nickname was Vanilla, she was two or three years older than me, and she had a preference for Marlboro 12s.

“I tell you this every time, but you don’t have to smoke in a dark corner like this. You could just come into our shop.”

“No thanks. I’m not paying money for coffee that tastes like ditchwater.”

“Ditchwater?”

“If it’s not that, then you guys are definitely using cat piss. I know your secrets.”

Vanilla glanced at a stray cat that was slinking past us as she spoke.

“Besides, the waiter making the sandwiches reeks of booze.”

She leaned in close, giving me a pointed sniff before wrinkling her nose in distaste.

“You really tied one on, didn’t you?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“I smell a woman on you, too.”

She looked up at me, a teasing smirk playing on her lips.

“You finally got a girlfriend. Good for you, Saki-kun.”

“How did you even—”

“I just know. You’ve got that flighty look on your face. Feels like you got wasted and spent the night going at it like rabbits. So, who is she?”

“She’s nobody.”

“Then it was a pro.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Hmm.”

She took another drag of her cigarette. The tip crackled faintly, and a clump of ash tumbled to the pavement.

“Not a pro, but someone you feel guilty about.”

“Why are you trying so hard to guess?”

“An old acquaintance? An ex?”

“I told you—”

“Not quite, but getting warmer.”

She chuckled with a look of pure satisfaction and finally stood up from her perch on the air conditioning unit. Brushing the ash off her coat, she let out a long stretch, her joints popping. “Ugh, my shoulders are so stiff.”

“If it wasn’t someone ‘wrong,’ you wouldn’t be standing there with the face of a Pepper robot whose batteries just died.”

“This is just my face.”

“It’s a face that’s had the life drained out of it. A face full of guilt. Am I right?”

“Spot on. Maybe you should quit and become a fortune teller, Vanilla-san.”

“Oh, I get that a lot.”

She pressed her hands together, looking quite pleased with herself.

Guilt. She was right—absolutely spot on.

I felt guilty about what I’d done with Mii. The fact that she had been a virgin only made the weight in my chest heavier.

Was someone like me really the right choice for her first time?

“Come on, tell me. What’s the connection?”

She continued to pry, twirling a strand of her shoulder-length hair around her finger.

I let out a heavy sigh and finally gave in.

“She’s a childhood friend. Or rather… she’s my ex-girlfriend’s younger sister.”

When she heard that, Vanilla pressed a hand to her mouth.

“Whoa,” she giggled, her eyes dancing with mischief. “That’s pretty indecent.”