Parents remarried. Now my lover starts referring to me as "Onii~chan" - Chapter 2 Part 5

Seeing me so serious, stepgrandmother perhaps got shocked to her core.

She probably never expected that I would have gotten so angry.

No, rather, even I didn’t know that I would get so angry…

Saying whatever I wanted to, and then taking a long deep breath, I looked at stepgrandmother all over again. She was stunned to the ground.

I was getting worried about stepgrandmother who just stood there, speechless and with her mouth hanging half-open. I was starting to panic a little.

Oh God. Perhaps, I might have said a bit too much.

Feeling regretful, I called out to her in a fearful voice.

“Umm… I’m sorry for suddenly raising my voice out so loudly… Maybe I said a bit too much… Are you okay…?”

I didn’t see my grandparents that often, so I didn’t know how to treat and talk with elderly people.

And since I didn’t know why, I became worried thinking about what would happen if due to my negligence, her heart was strained and thus felt sick.

And, at that time… stepgrandmother muttered.

“A… nii?”

“Yes?”

“… It has only been three days since you became brother and sister, but to think that your brotherly instinct had already sprouted…?”

“Hmm? Huh!?”

I couldn’t understand the meaning behind those words muttered by stepgrandmother dumbfoundedly, so I tilted my head to one side.

Then she, who had been dazed for a while, bowed down towards me.

“I’m sorry…”

“Eh?”

“The way you got angry at me was exactly the way an elder brother would have done while trying to protect his little sister.”

“Someone like that… No, you said your name was Daiki, right? There’s no way Daiki-kun would hurt Neneka in any way…”

stepgrandmother took out a handkerchief and wiped off her eyes.

“That was marvelously done, Daiki-kun. For me to doubt someone with such strong rationality and pride, characterizing an elder brother such as you, I feel pathetic. If it’s Daiki-kun, I know it’ll be fine. I will believe in you, Daiki-kun.”

For the first time, I received a kind look from stepgrandmother.

Her gentle smiling face looked just like Neneka’s.

“Th-Thank you very much!”

My face remained half-smirked where a part was relieved to learn that I had finally been understood, while the other part, had mixed feelings remembering that I had to resort to lash out at her to make her understand.

However, unlike me, Neneka seemed genuinely happy.

“Grandmother, thank you for understanding!”

Neneka, who had been holding back her tears until just now, smiled, and the shock of having her skirt flipped seemed to have already been blown away.

Anyway, I guess all’s well that ends well.

Now, I would be able to live in peace with Neneka since her grandmother no longer saw me as a threat…

When I was thinking about this… stepgrandmother suddenly said something scary while still smiling.

“But we never know how Daiki-kun will change over time… Daiki-kun, if you dare do anything to my precious granddaughter then be prepared to lose your important thing.”

My lower abdomen cringed in panic.

stepgrandmother was indeed smiling, but her falcon-like sharp eyes were keeping my bad son in complete check.

–Why were they all trying to steal my most important thing away from me!? First my mother, now stepgrandmother. Whatever happened, they would just start aiming for my manhood.

At this rate, let alone trying to lay my hands on Neneka, if they even found out that Neneka and I were dating, I couldn’t think of all the hell that might happen to me.

–I had to carefully hide the fact that Neneka and I were dating so that no one ever found out…

I was relieved that I was approved to live with Neneka, but I just couldn’t stay relaxed and unconcerned yet.

The next morning.

Our family saw stepgrandmother off as she returned home.

Neneka’s father said.

“Mom, have a safe trip home… I’m sorry I can’t properly send you off because of work.”

“It’s fine. It’s not a big deal to begin with,” she curtly replied.

“Neneka, I’m glad I got to see your face. Next time, come visit grandmother’s house too.”

Neneka’s grandmother did look really kind… although only when she looked at Neneka.

Then, Neneka answered back with a gentle smile.

“Yeah. Someday we’ll all go on a trip to your house together!”

And stepgrandmother bowed to my mother.

“Sana-san, please take care of Ryosuke and Neneka.”

“Yes, of course.”

My mother came home late from work yesterday, but she seemed to have been talking to stepgrandmother ever since she came back.

stepgrandmother had a very friendly atmosphere as she said goodbye at the entrance…

It seemed like the woman who cried calling me a “beast” yesterday was just a lie.

The stepgrandmother, who was like a demon at that time, seemed to be a different person.

“Okay, I’ll get going.”

When stepgrandmother was just about to leave through the front door with a smile, she suddenly turned and looked back at me.

“Daiki-kun too, I will ask you to be very careful ok?”

Nope, she was the same stepgrandmother as that time.

It felt like the aura of a demon was still floating behind her and she could pierce me any moment.

She still had a smile on her face so, how could she be so skilled…?

“Yes… I understand.”

When I said that with my most serious face, stepgrandmother nodded in satisfaction and left.

After the figure of stepgrandmother disappeared from sight, Neneka and her father walked inside while talking about stepgrandmother.

At that time, I secretly asked my mother.

“Was this the first time you and Neneka’s grandmother met each other?”

Hearing this question, my mother twisted her neck a little.

“I guess this was the first time I’ve actually met her face-to-face… She was a resident of Okinawa, so I couldn’t go and see her unless I took time off from work.”

“Didn’t you talk about me to her?”

“I did mention her about you, although it seems that she couldn’t hear me well due to poor connection. She eventually found out about you for the first time when Ryosuke-san called her on the move-in day. I believe that was why she flew all the way here in a rush.”

“Please tell her properly… because of that, I was treated really badly.”

I looked at my mother with scornful eyes but, she simply laughed and said.

“Isn’t that fine. Because of that now you’ve been properly acknowledged. Also, if you don’t prepare for school now, you’ll be late.”

“Oh, that’s right!”

I hurried to the washroom to brush my teeth.

When I passed by, the washroom door was open and Neneka stood there gargling water.

“Ah, sorry…!”

“It’s okay! I just finished brushing my teeth.”

Neneka smiled while wiping her mouth with a towel.

“Then I guess I can brush my teeth now as well.”

Four toothbrushes were lined up by the sink.

Until recently, there were only me and my mother’s toothbrushes here and, it felt somehow strange.

And to top it off, one of them was my girlfriend’s toothbrush…

I gently took my toothbrush and wet it with water.

Then, suddenly Neneka raised her voice.

“Ah!”

“So, Daiki is on the side that wets his toothbrush before using it too, huh?”

“Hmm? Yeah somewhat… I just wash it before using it.”

“Ah, so that’s why”

“I heard that it’s wrong to wet your toothbrush before brushing your teeth, but I tend to get it wet unconsciously, so I’m relieved that Daiki and I are on the same page together.

“Huh? Eh? Wait, so we shouldn’t wet our toothbrush wet first!?”

“A wet toothbrush makes it easier to foam up while brushing so it seems to take less time. That’s why you’re supposed to put toothpaste on the brush without wetting it. At least, that’s the information I seemed to receive one day while watching TV. Ever since then, whenever I wet my toothbrush, my dad would nag me continuously, telling me it was wrong…”

“Oh so that’s how it is. Well, in my case, I guess I’m fine with how I’m doing it now… Well, in short I just need to brush till it’s clean right?”