Parents remarried. Now my lover starts referring to me as "Onii~chan" - Chapter 1 Part 9

I dragged my exhausted body as I walked towards my room.

And about thirty minutes after I escaped from the bath, I put on my clothes and was in my room lying on my bed on my back.

Exhausted from being in the bath for so long and from all those stimulations. Even though I took a last dip in the cold water, I still had some leftover feelings of being burned up.

I continuously felt dull, sleepy and groggy, then there was a knock at my room door.

“Onii-chan… Is it okay if I come in…?”

“Ah, yeah…”

When I answered, Neneka came into the room.

I rolled over my bed and turned my face towards Neneka.

She was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and above-the-knee shorts. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Neneka wearing a girly patterned pajama that seemed to be a top and bottom set.

–I’ve only been dating her for two months, but it was okay for me to see her like this!

Every cell in my body was squirming in agony, saying, “Oh no, I can’t do it, my girlfriend is just too cute.” I was shaking on a cellular level at the sight of something so precious.

Neneka not knowing I was in such a state, approached the bed and held out a towel towards me.

“I thought you might have gotten a little hot water poisoning, so I brought you some coolant.”

“Oh, thank you…”

The cold towel felt nice and cool when pressed against my face.

Neneka’s kindness made me so happy that my face naturally broke into a grin.

“Why do you look so happy, Onii-chan?” She got down near my bedside and placed her chin ever so slightly on my bed. Her face was close.

“I’m not sure why, but whenever I hear you call me “Onii-chan,” I get really embarrassed.”

I said and Neneka groaned, “Hmm.”

“I’ve thought about it a lot and I think I’ll continue to treat Daiki like an older brother.”

“What!? Why? Are you planning on never “coming out” clean in front of our parents about our relationship!?”

“Yes, because first of all, even if we do “come out” clean I don’t think there is any merit for us in any way.”

“There will be no merit for us?”

“I figured if they knew we were dating, we wouldn’t be able to spend time in the house together as lovers.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if they knew we were dating so we could be together in the house with impunity?”

“No, I think it’s counterproductive. Don’t you think they would tell us to keep our relationship moderate and restrict. Like… not to go to each other’s rooms. Also, if our grades were to drop, they would blame us for dating…”

“Is Neneka’s father likely to say something like that?”

“Umm, I suppose he would say that. When I was watching a drama with him once where a teenage boy and girl were living together, he would constantly complain about how could their parents allow such a thing to happen. I don’t think we would live separately since they just got remarried, but don’t you think that they would set some rules.”

“I see…”

“Besides, there are some advantages for not “coming  out” on them that we’re dating.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Our parents have just remarried. I think they are worried about whether or not the whole family will be able to live together well. In such a situation, how do you think they would feel if Onii-chan and I lived together as brother and sister on good terms?”

The children did not even know each other existed until they remarried. If these children were to get along without showing any discontent…

“Wouldn’t that make them happy…?”

“Yes, yes! That’s what I mean!”

Hearing my answer, Neneka said excitedly.

“If a couple from class were to shut themselves in a room together, people would get suspicious and wonder what they were doing, right? But if a brother and sister were to do the exact same thing, wouldn’t they think that they were trying to deepen their relationship… and people wouldn’t want to disturb them, right?”

I didn’t know if everything would go according to what Neneka was imagining, but I did understand that the sibling stance would make it harder for our parents be on their guard.

“Neneka, have you been thinking about that ever since you got out of the bath?”

Neneka giggled confidently “fufu…”

“Because it’s important… We have to make a proper plan and proceed with it. It’s so exciting isn’t it… like a game, going out with each other behind our parents’ back.”

I unknowingly laughed when I heard Neneka having such positive thoughts.

There were many things I liked about Neneka, but first, I loved her constant positive outlook.

Also, I liked the fact the she thought hard about everything. Sometimes she even worried about unnecessary things, but I admired her imagination to be able to envision various patterns.

I loved Neneka, including the fact that she sometimes acted like a goofball.

I was glad that she was my girlfriend and… I was glad that my new sibling-in-law was her.

“Let’s keep it a secret and quietly spend more time together in the future. It’s not often you get a chance to live with the person you love, and don’t you feel lucky? I thought it would be difficult to spend time together outside of school since we have exams to take, but… now we don’t have to worry about that anymore too right…”

Neneka laughed “ehehe.”

Her mischievous smile made my heart pound.

–I thought Neneka was a serious honor student type, so I didn’t expect her to have the qualities of a prankster.

Seeing this unexpected side of her made me pleasantly uneasy.

I got up and sat on top of my bed.

“Even so, I was caught off guard as I didn’t know that my dad’s marriage partner had a child. If I had known that I was going to live with Daiki then I would have bought prettier sleepwear.”

As Neneka said that, she started playing with the upper hem of her sleepwear with her fingers. This caused the hem of the sleepwear to roll up, giving me a glimpse of Neneka’s unguarded cleavage.

I quickly looked away, trying not look there.

“I’m sure that my dad didn’t talk about the existence of a child of his marriage partner because he thought that I wouldn’t listen to him seriously. It’s not that I wasn’t interested in the re-marriage, it’s just that I thought that if it was the person that my dad chose, then there was no doubt about it.”

I laughed when I heard it.

Neneka’s lips pouted in frustration.

“I heard a bit about that in the bath earlier too, but since you’re so just like me in just about everything, I couldn’t help but laugh.”

“Eh? Ah, is that so?”

“Yes, but if we did know that, we wouldn’t have had the miracle of not knowing until the day we moved in together, that the child of my parent’s re-marriage partner was someone I was presently dating.”

“Wah… you are right…”

Neneka, while still fiddling with the hem of her sleepwear, lowered her eyebrows and laughed.

I wondered if it bothered her that much. She looked so cute.

“I think this sleepwear is also very, very cute too…”

When I said that, Neneka looked happy and responded, “Really?”

“But, when I save up my allowance, I’ll definitely buy a new set! Hey, what kind of sleepwear do you like?”

“Eh? I-I don’t know anything about girls’ clothes though.”

“Eh… does nothing come to your mind? Even though I wanted to buy something which would make Daiki say “You’re the cutest in the world,” if I get no hints, how am I going to choose…”

Neneka leaned forward with her hands on the bed.

“Do you want me to wear something cute? Or something mature?”