My Little Sister Suddenly Confessed to Me, but What Am I Supposed to Do by Dating My Little Sister?

Chapter 27: Little Sister’s Resolve

Night raid, morning dash… Even after a few days, my sister’s behavior hadn’t changed.

However, there were some things I started to understand.

First, she wasn’t being forcefully unreasonable.

For example, yesterday on the way home:
“Onii-chan, sorry, a friend said she wanted to talk to me about something, so go on ahead without me today.”

Or on my end:
“Ah, Shiori, I forgot something. You go ahead.”
“Ehh? Geez, can’t be helped then. Don’t be late, okay?”

There were times like that, so she wasn’t trying to be with me constantly. (For the record, I didn’t want to lie to her too much, so the forgotten item was real.)

And one more thing. It wasn’t just my sister, but the people around us—especially during the morning commute—had changed drastically.

Perhaps out of consideration for my sister, who refused to leave my side or let me leave hers, her friends started greeting us and walking ahead, or greeting us from behind but not approaching. They began to watch over us from a distance. Well, there were some girls who couldn’t read the room, but Shiori didn’t reject them either.

And… even then, she would include me in the conversation. She wouldn’t let me or her friends be isolated.
She showed off communication skills that seemed alien to me.

My sister is amazing…

Then lunch. As usual, she came to my desk to eat her bento, inviting Asami from the next seat.
Since it’s been the same group for several days straight, I’ve actually started getting used to it.

“Hey, hey, Asami-chan, try this hamburger steak! I made it myself!”
Shiori cut a piece of the hamburger steak from her bento and handed it to Asami.

“Mm, it’s delicioooous.”
Asami ate it and gave her thoughts with a smile.

“Really?! Yay!”

“Want to try some of miiiine?”

“Really?! Can I? Yay! Which one can I have?”

“Any of theeeem.”

“Hmmmm… then thiiis one!”
The two of them started a side-dish exchange meet.

“It’s so goooood! Asami-chan, you’re amazing… I’m so frustraaaated!”
Shiori laughed as she praised Asami, shaking her clenched fists in mock frustration.

“Hey, Onii-chan, Asami-chan’s tamagoyaki is really good!”

“Heh… Asami’s is good, huh?”
I said, looking at Asami’s bento.

“W-wanna tryyyy?”
She shyly held out her bento.

“Is it okay?”
The moment I said it, I thought Crap and looked at my sister.
But when I looked, there was no dark aura… “It’s tasty, Onii-chan!”
She was looking at me, smiling happily.

Terrified, I took a piece of tamagoyaki from Asami and ate it.

“Oh… this is good.”
“Right? It’s delicious!”
Asami blushed at the siblings piling on the praise.

It was a nice atmosphere, and probably a good thing for Asami. But at the same time, seeing my sister not getting jealous made me feel a touch of loneliness, anxiety, and impatience.

At home in the living room, during our usual after-school tea time.

Today she was still in her uniform, chatting happily next to me as always.

“Hey, Shiori. Won’t you tell me soon?”

“Hmmmm?”

“Seriously, what happened?”
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand the change in her behavior…
I didn’t think she hated me, but the way she treated me felt different.

Seeing my anxious face, my sister finally started to speak.

“Hmm… I just felt relieved.”

“Relieved?”

“Yep. Relieved.”

I understood even less now.

“Relieved that I’m not your boyfriend anymore?”
I suppressed the prick of pain in my chest as I asked.

“No, that’s not it!”
She sounded a little angry as she turned her body toward me to speak.

“When you said ‘we can’t break up,’ Onii-chan… I felt relieved by those words. Up until then, I was always thinking about what to do if you hated me, or what I had to do to make you like me. I was worried about my friends finding out how I felt, and what would happen if you found out.”

“I hid my feelings of love for you. I created a persona and acted just so you wouldn’t hate me. But… it wasn’t painful. Thinking ‘maybe Onii-chan will like me if I do this’ was actually really fun.”

“I confessed, you became my boyfriend, you liked me… and when I selfishly asked to break up, you told me there is no breakup for us. I was happy.”

“So I decided, this time I’m going to make you look at me properly. I’m going to let you see the usual me. If you hate me for that, it’ll be a shock, but…”

My sister broke into a radiant smile.

“We can’t break up until we die, right?”

“When I thought that, I felt refreshed. I became able to say selfish things to you.”

“Shiori…”

“I just wanted to walk to school with you. I just wanted to eat lunch with you. I just wanted to go home with you.”

“But I don’t want you to actually hate me if I’m too selfish, so I’m holding back. Like wanting to be with you even more.”

“You’re number one, Onii-chan, but my friends are important too.”

My sister finished her coffee as she said that.

Then, she stared at me and smiled sweetly.

“Be prepared, okay? Onii-chan.”

Prepared for what? For her to be more selfish? Or…

Chapter 28: Sibling Date

“You can be a little selfish too, Onii-chan.”
Shiori said this with a face that looked like she was about to cry.

“I… I can handle it now. Even if you talk to Asami-chan, it’s not shocking anymore. I don’t want to tie you down again and keep you from being happy. When you talk to Asami-chan, you’re always checking my reaction… I’m really fine now.”

“You… saying that with such a teary face isn’t very convincing.”

She turned away and pouted. I really want to poke her cheek…

“I’m not cryiiiing.”

She turned back to me and smiled brightly again… I reconfirmed just how cute she is with her ever-changing expressions.

“If Asami-chan or anyone else steals you, I’ll just steal you back, so I’m totally fiiiine.”

“So you don’t have to worry about me or check my mood. If I’m being selfish, you can deny me or even get mad at me.”

“No matter what happens, we can’t break up, after all.”

It was obvious she was putting on a brave face, but her words and gestures made laughter bubble up inside me.

“Haha, Shiori, you might find a guy better than me, you know. There are millions of them out there in the world.”

“Ehhh? There’s no one like that.”

“There are. Even that comedian says there are 3.5 billion men. You’re overestimating me… You really don’t understand me at all, do you?”

When I said that a bit condescendingly, her eyes changed to a sharp, challenging look.

“Then make me understand you, Onii-chan.”

For a moment, I didn’t get what she meant.

“Eh?”

When I asked, she hummed in thought for a moment, then…

“Okay! For Golden Week, take me somewhere you want to go, Onii-chan!”

“Somewhere I want to go?”

“Yup. See, our dates have all been places I wanted to go. So this time, take me where you want to go. Don’t worry about me, just go where you want to have fun. Maybe then I’ll understand a little more about ‘Onii-chan,’ like you said?”

I felt like I was being talked into something, like I’d walked right into a trap, but…

“Ehhh… even if you ask me where I want to go…”
I groaned, thinking.

“I’ll go anywhere! Maid cafe, tsundere cafe, little sister cafe…”

“No, I’ve never been to a maid cafe, and the little sister cafe is right here.”
I feel like we’ve done this bit before.

“Cosplay cafe, butler cafe, A*B cafe…”

“How much do you think do I love cafes?! And Shiori, your image of me is still totally otaku, isn’t it? If it’s a cafe, a normal one is fine.”

“Don’t you have anywhere you want to go?”

“Where I want to go, huh…”

Unlike my sister, I don’t really like the city or crowded places.

“Hmmmm… mountains or the sea?”

“Mountains or the sea?”

“Yeah. Nature, like mountains or the ocean.”
I want to save the beach for a swimsuit episode later, so maybe mountains? I thought, my reasoning making no sense…

“Speaking of nearby mountains… Oh, how about Mt. Takao?”

“Mt. Takao?”

“Yeah. It’s in Tokyo, but we can do a day trip from home, and it’s not a super hard climb.”

“Hehh… I wanna go too!”

“Shall we go then?”

“Yaaaaaay! What should I wear? Ah, I don’t have hiking boots.”

“Sneakers are enough. Have you never been?”

“Nope. But I’ve heard of it. Have you, Onii-chan?”

“I think I went with friends in elementary school… That was Mt. Takao, right?”

“Eh! You had friends in elementary school, Onii-chan?”

“Hey! The response should be ‘So you’ve been to Mt. Takao?’, right?! And what’s with the past tense? I have friends now too!”

“Ehehehe.”

She really has stopped walking on eggshells around me. I don’t dislike it, but… leave the friend topic alone, please.

“Anyway, rain gear, pants, warm clothes, and sneakers, I guess?”

“Okaaaaay!”

“Alright, we’re waking up early! Let’s do this!”
I raised my hand.

“Ohhhhhhh!”
My sister raised her hand in response.

Chapter 29: Sibling Date

And so, the first day of Golden Week arrived.

“Onii-chan, I made bentos!”

I woke up early and went downstairs to find my sister already in the kitchen.
“Thanks. I’ll carry them. Let’s bring some tea too.”

I boiled water and filled a thermos with tea.

“Shall we go?”
“Let’s gooooo!”

I stood up, wearing a beige fleece over a blackish shirt, chinos, and a small backpack.

My sister wore a red knit cap, a gray hoodie with pink lines, a red plaid wrap skirt, black leggings, colorful striped leg warmers, and a green waist pouch.

“Yama girl style?”
“Yep! I looked it up and coordinated with what we had at home. How is it?”
She pinched the edge of her wrap skirt and spread it out.

“You make a cute yama girl.”
“Yay!”

We left the house together and headed for the station. Since it was early morning, we avoided the usual “Shiori’s Friends Attack.” My parents were also fast asleep—I told them yesterday we were going out. Thanks for everything, Mom and Dad.

After rocking on the train for an hour and a half, we arrived while chatting as usual. Having so many friends really gives her a rich variety of topics, which helps.

When we got off at Takaosanguchi Station, there were quite a few people.

“I came to the mountains to avoid crowds, but there are a ton of people here.”
“Yeah, it’s probably because it’s Golden Week?”

We followed the flow of people until the path to the shrine came into view.
“Ah, souvenir shops! Those dumplings look good… Is that a flying squirrel?”

“Isn’t it a musasabi (giant flying squirrel)?”

“Hehh… are they here? I wanna see one!”

“I’m pretty sure they’re nocturnal.”

“So we can’t see them? Okay! Let’s stay until night, Onii-chan!”

“No, we’re not staying. And we wouldn’t see them at night anyway.”

We chatted back and forth until Kiyotaki Station came into view.

“A station? Do we take a train from here?”
“No, I think there’s a cable car… Whoa, it’s super crowded.”
There was already a huge line, and buying tickets would take forever.

“Should we wait?”
“What to do… Should we just hike up?”

Next to the cable car station, I saw a sign for a chair lift.
“The lift looks less crowded. Wanna take the lift?”
“I wanna ride!”

After waiting in line for a few tens of minutes, we boarded the roofed two-seater lift.

“Kyahaaa! Ei!”
My sister hopped on, practically clinging to me. She grabbed my arm and looked around.

“Waaaaah, amazing! It’s pretty high! Ah, the flowers are beautiful. I wonder what they are?”
I watched her frolicking and felt a warm fuzzy feeling, glad we came, as the lift rocked us along.

“Ahhhhhhhhh! Look, look, Onii-chan! A monkey!”
“Oh, there really are monkeys.”
“Amazing! This is Tokyo, right?”

She was overjoyed by the monkey, and we enjoyed our ten-minute-ish aerial stroll.

We arrived at the Sanjo Station. From here, we walk.

“Alright! Let’s go.”
Start of the Mt. Takao climb.

Although I say climb, it’s a course closer to a hike. After climbing for a while, a path lined with red lanterns came into view.

“Wow, amazing! Okay, Onii-chan, let’s take a picture!”
We stood side-by-side for a selfie, and she pressed her cheek against mine.
Stop it, my reason is slipping…

We climbed further until another souvenir shop appeared.

“Onii-chan, let’s eat dumplings!”
She ran to the dumpling shop. She had been holding back down below.
I waited, laughing, as she stuffed her cheeks with dumplings.

“What is it? I’m not giving you any.”
“Ehh? If you eat that much, you’ll get f—mph!”
She shoved a dumpling into my mouth.

“Are you trying to kill me?!”
I nearly choked on the dumpling, coughing as I protested.
“Because you have no delicacy, Onii-chan!”

“You’re too skinny, so a little—Ah, okay, I won’t say it anymore.”
I apologized as she edged closer, threatening me with a dumpling.
I definitely didn’t say anything about her chest… sorry, I won’t even think it.
I skillfully ignored her sharp gaze that seemed to see right through me, and we continued toward the summit while eating dumplings.

Then, we arrived at the Takao-san Yakuo-in Temple.

“Hehh, amazing. A temple?”
“A shrine, right?”
There are Tengu statues, after all.

“Shall we pray?”
We lined up and did a vaguely-remembered “two bows, two claps, one bow.”

“Shiori, what did you wish for?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Ehhhh.”

“If you tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.”

“Then I’ll keep mine secret too.”

“Ehhh! Tell meeeee!”

Ignoring the “explode, normies” stares directed at the flirting couple in the crowd, I told my sister we should head to the summit.

“Eh! This isn’t the summit?”

“Nope. Still a ways to go.”