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

Chapter 33: The Past Between Me and the Beautiful Silver-Haired Girl

Michiru drank some orange juice, grabbed a single french fry, and pointed the tip of it at me.

“Do you remember?”

Michiru looked at me with a triumphant, smug face… Honestly, well, I didn’t remember the details of our meeting all that well.

“Hmm, I don’t remember much…”

“You are kind, so you probably think you just did what was natural, but to me, you looked like a hero.”

Saying that, she began to speak again.

I rode my bicycle to the park every day just to see you.

We played soccer together for a while. I practiced every day, so I must have been pretty good.

At one point, the kids who had left me out said:

“You’re good. Sorry about the other day. Want to play with us?”

I thought, now you ask? But seeing that, you said:

“Playing together with everyone is what real soccer is about. Everyone’s acknowledged you, so let’s play together.”

“Yeah, let’s play.”

When you said that, I felt like I had made my first best friend.

But, you thought I was a boy. I was lying. I wanted to tell you, but…

If I said it, my relationship with you might break. I was afraid of losing that precious time, so I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

One time, after everyone had gone home and it was just the two of us, you spoke up.

“You’re really good at soccer. Better than me, better than everyone else. Aren’t you going to join a team somewhere?”

“Playing soccer with you guys, playing with you, is more fun than anything. So I’d rather play with you than join a team.”

When I said that, you flashed a huge smile.

“Then I’ve gotta practice so I can get as good as you.”

“Then I’ll teach you. We’re partners!”

“Ohh, sounds good. Partners. Just like on TV.”

Best friends and soccer partners. I was so happy.

But it’s strange that you never realized I was a girl. Your sister was always hiding and watching us; you found her a few times, and we walked home together, but…

I met your sister in the restroom once. I couldn’t exactly go into the men’s room, so I was sneaking in, but…

Your sister glared at me and said, “So you were a girl after all.”

I just answered, “Yeah.”

She asked, “Why?”

When I honestly told her, “I wanted to play soccer,” she only said, “I see.”

I thought she would definitely expose me, that it was over, that my precious time was gone. But your attitude never changed.

Your sister must not have told anyone.

Then one day, Papa’s transfer was suddenly decided.

I thought, I have to tell Yuu I’m moving. I have to tell him I’m a girl. But I just couldn’t say it.

I should have at least told you about the move, but I intended to say both things at once.

I made up my mind that I had to tell you and say a proper goodbye, but then it rained for days, and we couldn’t meet.

And then, on the day before the move, even though the weather had cleared, no one came to the park…

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Michiru straightened her posture again and turned toward me.

“I thought I should have at least told one of the others… I’m sorry for disappearing on my own. And I’m sorry for deceiving you. Please forgive me.”

Saying that, she bowed her head deeply.

“No, it’s fine. You don’t have to do that. raise your head.”

While recalling the past, I spoke honestly to Michiru.

“It’s true, I was shocked when you stopped coming. You just disappeared so suddenly. I was worried, so I asked around and searched, but since we weren’t in the same school, I couldn’t find you at all. My partner was gone, my best friend was gone… and just like that, I stopped playing soccer too. Well, I wasn’t that good anyway.”

“But I’m glad we could meet again like this. Have you been doing well, Partner?”

“Yeah. I’m glad you’re doing well too.”

I was able to meet my partner again after several years.

“So, you aren’t playing soccer over there?”

“Yeah. It’s tough for girls to play, and partially due to the shock of parting with you, I quit.”

“Is that so? What a waste. If it was you, couldn’t you have made it to a pretty high level?”

That was how amazing her ball control was, even for an elementary schooler.

“I wonder? There’s always someone better.”

“So, did you come back because of a job transfer or something?”

“No. I came back because I wanted to see you.”

“Huh?”

“My parents are currently posted overseas. When I was in my third year of middle school, they asked me to come with them, but I was selfish and said Japan was better.

My older sister was living in this area, so I asked her to let me live with her. I went to a middle school near the house and took the entrance exam for this high school. It was possible because of open enrollment.

Well, if I couldn’t get in via open enrollment, I would have begged her to move house.”

Michiru laughed lightly. Kera kera.

“I thought if I used this school, which is near the park we used to play in, as a base, I might eventually be able to meet you. I never thought we’d be in the same high school, though.”

“What would you have done if I had moved?”

“Well, I did consider that, but I still believed that we would meet eventually.”

“Is that so? Thank you for believing in me.”

“And thank you. Thank you for being here.”

We stared at each other, our faces turning red.

Chapter 34: The Past Between Me and the Beautiful Silver-Haired Girl

After that, we chatted lightly about each other.

“I never did fix this way of speaking. I got laughed at plenty in middle school for it, though.”

“A bokukko, huh?”

“That’s what they call it, apparently. But maybe because of the speech patterns, people stopped teasing me about my appearance, so perhaps it was for the best.

Aside from the speech, though, I wanted to surprise you if we ever met again, so I did my best to be more feminine. How is it? I’m being quite the girl, aren’t I?”

Her smile was different from when we were kids. It wasn’t a toothy grin, but a gentle, very lovely smile.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have recognized you. You really surprised me. You’ve become beautiful.”

“Fufu, thank you.”

She finished her orange juice, making a loud slurping sound at the end. Zuzuzuu.

“What have you been doing since then?”

When she asked that, my heart twinged just a little.

“Nothing in particular for me. It’s been normal. Just a normal, slightly loner life.”

“I see.”

“Disappointed?”

I asked in a pathetic, unmanly way, wondering if she was disappointed to have come all this way just to meet such an ordinary guy.

“Not at all. You are still my hero, my best friend, and my partner!”

“Is that so? Thanks.”

Even if it was just social flattery, it was a comment that made me happy.

I parted ways with Michiru and returned home.

At home, my sister was sitting on the sofa, hugging her knees. She looked at me and spoke in a terrifiiiiiiically dark voice.

“Welcome baaaaaack… Oniii-chaaaaaaan…”

Scary! If you’re going to be like that, you shouldn’t have told me it was okay to go with Michiru, I thought. But she must have been trying her absolute best to be considerate.

“I’m home. Thanks, Shiori.”

“Thaaaaanks foooor whaaaat…?”

I told you, that’s scary.

“It was good to talk to Michiru.”

“Thaaaaat… is… goooooood… for… yooooou…”

I decided to ignore the tone for now and continue the conversation.

“You kept quiet about Michiru being a girl, didn’t you?”

“Yeah…”

“Why? It seems Michiru didn’t specifically ask you to keep it a secret.”

“I don’t remember it too well, but at first I thought you knew, Onii-chan. But then I thought, maybe not? The reason I didn’t say anything on purpose was probably… I was afraid the way you looked at things would change?”

“The way I looked at things?”

“Yeah. Partly because Michiru-chan looked like she didn’t want it mentioned, but also… if you found out Michiru-chan was a girl, I thought you might stop being friends with her.”

Finally lifting her face, she began to speak directly to me.

“I didn’t have many friends, so you were looking out for me, huh?”

So she’s been looking out for me since elementary school? After the incident with Michiru, I stopped playing with the soccer kids outside of that park, too.

“No, that’s not it. I hated the idea of you falling in love with Michiru-chan as a girl, Onii-chan. That’s why I couldn’t say it. It was my jealousy, I guess. I’m sorry.”

“I see. Well, it’s fine. Michiru was grateful for it too. But I see… I was searching for a boy. No wonder I couldn’t find her if she was a girl. Her name was different, too.”

No matter her unique appearance, if the name and gender are different, it’s difficult for an elementary schooler to track someone down.

“Come to think of it, I heard you used to come to the park to watch sometimes, Shiori.”

“Yeah, I watched you play soccer, Onii-chan. You were so cool.”

My sister looked entranced.

“I spotted you a few times and we walked home together, but you were actually coming to watch sometimes, huh?”

“Yeah… sometimes?”

My sister steered the conversation back, trying to gloss over it. (In reality, it wasn’t “sometimes”—it was almost every single time.)

“So, how was it meeting Michiru-chan, Onii-chan?”

Don’t ask me with a face that looks like it’s about to cry…

“Hmm, well, she’s become beautiful. I was surprised.”

“Uuuuuuh…”

I patted my sister’s head as she fought back tears.

“But Michiru was my best friend. Both in the past, and now.”

Looking slightly relieved, my sister turned to the side and pouted her lips.

“But they say friendship between men and women is impossible, you know…”

“If you’re going to say that, romance between siblings is even more impossible.”

“Ehhhhhh?! That and this are totally different!”

She whipped back around to protest that it was completely different.

“Well, look. Right now, Michiru is a friend.”

“Then what am I?”

My sister asked with eyes full of fear but also expectation. I tilted my head and spoke as if I were thinking about it.

“Hmmmmmm… Ex-girlfriend?”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

My sister covered her face theatrically and cried.

Well, for now, anyway…

Chapter 35: Love Letter

With midterms fast approaching, crowds of people gather around my sister the moment class ends. Even during lunch breaks, they wait for us to finish our bentos before coming over to ask her questions about the test material.

Since my sister has the academic ability to pass the entrance exams for top-tier prep schools, everyone flocks to her for help. I’ve wanted to ask her to tutor me at home since middle school, too, but I hold back out of what little pride I have as an older brother.

Speaking of lunch breaks, lately, I’ve sensed an atmosphere where people seem to avoid disturbing the time I spend with my sister. While people still greet us on the way to and from school, most of them just pass by without pushing me aside to talk to her like they used to.

The same goes for lunch; invitations for my sister to eat with others have almost disappeared. Instead, for some reason, I see scattered groups of girls inviting Asami to lunch rather than my sister.

Asami, good for you for making friends. You traitor…

By the way, despite the high female-to-male ratio at this school, there are technically other guys here. They exist, but sadly, including Higashide, they have all been turned into complete mobs by some mysterious force (and because the author doesn’t really like writing guys).

Well, our class has a lot of girls, and thanks to my sister, their solidarity is incredibly strong, so the boys’ presence has become completely diluted.

After school, I was heading home with my sister as usual. Just as I looked down to take my shoes out of the shoe locker and change into them, a single envelope fluttered down right in front of my eyes.

Hmm? A letter of challenge?

I was thinking it was too nice of an envelope for that when my sister spoke from above my head.

“Whoa—haven’t seen one of those in a while.”

In a while?

My sister, who was taking her shoes out of the locker diagonally above mine, was staring at the letter.

“What is this?”

I picked up the letter and asked as I handed it to her.

“Maybe a love letter?”

“Heeeh.”

A love letter in this day and age…

“Maybe?”

My sister looked at the letter with a slightly troubled expression.

Since we don’t get interrupted on our way home lately, we continued the conversation as we walked.

My sister spoke while tucking the object that appeared to be a love letter into her bag beside me.

“Is it really that rare to see a love letter? Usually, these things happen over email or LINE.”

“Email? Do you… give people your contact info?”

“Yeah. If they ask, I give it to them.”

“Even to guys?”

“Yup. Ah—are you jealous, Onii-chan?”

My sister looked up at me happily.

“A little?”

I honestly showed her a small gap between my thumb and index finger.

“Ehehehe. I turn down all confessions anyway, so by the time I was in my third year of middle school, people mostly stopped asking. But confessing via email is no good, right? You just can’t feel the sincerity.”

“Then what about love letters?”

“Hmm… barely a ‘no’, I guess?”

Barely a no, huh… I’ve written one before…

“If you’re going to confess, look the person in the eye and convey your feelings seriously, and it will definitely get through! Source: Me. Right, Onii-chan?”

My sister took a step ahead, turned back toward me, and flashed a beaming smile.

We arrived home and segued into our usual “IHTT”—In-House Tea Time—in the living room, continuing the chat.

“Come to think of it, Onii-chan, have you ever written a love letter or anything?”

“Eh? W-w-why do you ask?”

“Because when I said love letters were ‘barely a no’ earlier, you made a weird face.”

“Ah—you caught me. I’ve written one once.”

“Eh! Really…”

My sister slumped over in despair (zooooon). What the hell, didn’t you ask because you already knew?

“It was in elementary school. So long ago I barely remember it.”

“Hmmmmmmm.”

My sister looked at me with suspicious eyes.

“It’s true, really.”

“You don’t remember it at all?”

She’s still asking? Guess I have no choice, I thought, trying to recall.

“Umm… was it when I was in third grade? My memory is really fuzzy, but I think I hurt my leg while playing in the park near our house and was crying. Yeah, I think that was it.”

I dug through my vague memories.

“Then a girl in a uniform—maybe a middle schooler or high schooler—helped me really kindly. When I told Mom, she said I had to thank her. So I tried to write a thank-you letter, but it ended up looking like a love letter. But since I wrote it, I wanted to show it to her. You know, like how if you write a novel, you want to post it on Narou.”

“No, Onii-chan, I don’t get that reference.”

“So, well, I went up to her, but I got embarrassed and ran away.”

“Ehhhh—that’s cuuute.”

“Hahaha, well, it’s a story from elementary school, after all.”

“What kind of letter did you write?”

“Eh—you’re asking for details? Hmm, if I recall… ‘Thank you for the other day. I love you, kind Big Sister. Please become my bride when I grow up.’ Something like that? Ugh, thinking about it now is embarrassing.”

“Ehhhh—so nice. Onii-chan’s bride… bride… ehehehehehehe.”

“Heeeeeey, come back to Earth, Shiori.”

I drank my coffee while watching my sister for a while. Well, this is usual for her, so I’m getting used to it. She returned to reality after about five minutes and continued the conversation.

“So, what about that person? Did you meet her after that?”

She glared at me with sharp eyes.

“Even if you look at me like that… No, she probably graduated. I never saw her again after that.”

“Heeeh. But if she was a high schooler around here, wouldn’t she be a graduate of our school?”

“Ah—maybe.”

“She might be in an old yearbook.”

“No, she might have been a middle schooler. And just remembering she wore a uniform makes her face blurry. I think she had pigtails… or what you’d call twin-tails nowadays.”

I felt like I was on the verge of remembering something, but my sister kept talking, so the memory slipped away.

“If it’s a love letter from Onii-chan, I want it. What did you do with that letter?”

“Ah, right, right. I think I lost it. I put it in my pocket and when I got home, it was gone.”

“I wrote my address and name and everything on it, so thinking back, that was pretty dangerous.”

“Heeeh. So that was Onii-chan’s first love.”

“I wonder?”

“What about Shiori’s first love?”

“Onii-chan!”

…An immediate answer.

“So, Shiori, what are you going to do with the love letter you got today?”

“Ah, that? I glanced at it when I was changing earlier, and it was from a girl.”

“Heeeh. What did it say?”