Chapter 2

It was summer. Late August. The second semester was about to start soon.

Although Yuina and I were in different classes, we attended the same school. Since our parents remarried while we were still in high school, Yuina decided to keep using her maiden name, Izumi, at school. That meant we didn’t have to go around telling everyone we were now step-siblings. Thankfully, we barely interacted at school anyway, so I figured we were in the clear.

“Um, Hotaka-kun, do you have a minute?”

While I was eating breakfast in the living room, Yuina poked her head in. She called me “Hotaka-kun” in front of her mom, which felt oddly fresh coming from her. I asked what she wanted.

“Since we go to the same school… I was wondering if you could help me with my homework?”

Apparently, Yuina was the type who put off her summer homework until the very last day. I couldn’t really say no in front of Yuni-san, so I agreed. Once I finished breakfast, I headed to Yuina’s room.

In just one night, she’d transformed it into a super girly space. Pink curtains hung from the window, and the bedsheets were pink too. It reminded me a bit too much of the love hotels we used to go to. I cleared my throat and sat across from her.

“You were pretty smart, right Hotaka? I suck at school, so I’m counting on you.”

“Try putting in some effort. I’m not exactly free all the time either.”

“Okay, okay. But honestly, having you as a stepbrother is kind of reassuring. I always wanted an older brother.”

She said that while narrowing her eyes at me. Even if we were siblings now, we were the same age. I had no plans to play the “big brother” role.

“Anyway, let’s just get your homework done.”

She opened her Japanese notebook — it was completely blank. Her workbook was untouched too. I sighed and started guiding her through the exercises. While she worked, I opened a paperback I brought to kill time until she had questions. It didn’t take long.

“It says to write the author’s intent, but I have no idea what that means.”

“If you actually read the text properly, it’s usually right there.”

I leaned over to explain. Reading from the opposite side was awkward, so I moved next to her and gave her a few hints. After thinking for a bit, she seemed to get it and began writing.

Back when we were sex-friends, we never really talked about ourselves. It was a no-strings thing. We even split the cost of love hotels. Well, we mostly did it at Yuina’s house, but when her mom was around, we went to love hotels instead. I’d heard high schoolers could get kicked out of those places, but we never had a problem. We wore casual clothes and never got ID’d.

Honestly, I don’t know much about Yuina. Aside from the fact that she once had a crush and got rejected.

But now that we’re family, maybe it’s worth getting to know each other a little better.

“Hey, are you actually bad at studying?”

“Yup. I suck. I always fail a few subjects.”

“How’d you even get into our high school then?”

Our school isn’t exactly easy to get into.

“I used to be a model student until middle school. But I started hating studying, and then I just stopped doing it.”

If that’s true, then she’s not bad at studying — she just hates it. There’s probably a reason for that, but it felt rude to pry.

“Now that I think about it, we never really talked about personal stuff. All I know about you is that you were a virgin and that you’re nice.”

“I’m not a virgin anymore.”

“Because you lost it to me, right?”

“And you were a virgin too, remember?”

“Yeah, but it’s not like being a virgin is embarrassing or anything.”

Still didn’t feel fair. Virginity’s the same thing regardless of gender, isn’t it?

[TL: In raw, Hotaku says doutei (male) and Yuina says Shoujo (female)]

“Okay, say there’s a general who’s never conquered a castle, and a castle that’s never been taken. Which one do you think is more valuable?”

“The castle, obviously.”

“That’s the difference between a male and female virgin. Got it?”

“…You know, when you put it like that, it actually makes sense.”

She came up with that analogy so fast. Guess she’s not as dumb as she lets on.

“Oh yeah, and I know one more thing about you — you’re a boob guy.”

I choked. Okay, yes, I am into boobs — especially big ones — but I didn’t know it was that obvious.

“How do you even know that?”

“Please, the way you go after mine? Super obvious.”

Yuina had huge breasts. H-cup, according to her. And yet, she wasn’t chubby at all — probably every girl’s dream figure.

“Still, it’s hard to believe you ever got rejected.”

“Why?”

“Well, no offense, but you’ve got the kind of body guys go nuts over. I figured any guy would say yes for the body alone.”

“Wow. Rude. But the guy I liked wasn’t like that.”

Honestly, I couldn’t imagine any guy being able to resist her. Just sitting next to her was enough to make me aware of her body. Any guy would’ve taken the bait — and yet someone didn’t. That was hard to believe.

“Also, you’ve been staring at my boobs this whole time. Wanna do it?”

“No.”

“Why not? We could go to a love hotel. No one’ll find out.”

“We can’t. Even if the odds are low, there’s still a risk. We’re family now. We shouldn’t be doing stuff like that. Seriously, why do you keep tempting me?”

“Because I want to do it with you, duh.”

Yuina said it like it was nothing. I held my head in my hands. Clearly, I was the only one worried about our parents finding out — Yuina didn’t want to stop at all.

And now that I noticed, she was barely dressed. Her cleavage was on full display. No wonder I kept glancing. She definitely noticed, which made it even harder to tell her off.

“Anyway, just focus on your homework.”

I gave her a light chop on the head, and when she pouted in pain, I handed her a mechanical pencil. She turned back to her workbook, then looked at me out of the corner of her eye.

“Hey, can I get a reward?”

“A reward?”

“Yeah. If I finish my homework, will you go on a date with me?”

A date. We’d never done that before. It had always been a no-strings thing — no romantic stuff. I’d never even been on a date with a girl. Losing my virginity before going on a proper date was not something I planned for. But maybe now’s a good chance to try it out.

“Fine.”

“Yay!”

Yuina lit up and got to work. And wow — once she got started, she was on fire. Every time she got stuck, she’d ask me questions and breeze through the answers. I guess the “reward” really worked, because she knocked out all her homework in just three hours.

“Done!”

She closed her workbook and let out a sigh. I couldn’t help but smile.

“You sure you’re not actually good at studying?”

“Nope. Still hate it.”

At least her homework was finished. Now I owed her that date.

“Tomorrow’s fine, right? It’s the last day of break. Where do you want to go?”

“A love hotel, obviously!”

“Denied.”

“Aww, come on!”

What is with this girl and her raging libido? I swear, she’s hornier than most guys.

I scratched my head and suggested:

“How about something safe, like a movie?”

“As long as it’s not a love hotel, I don’t care.”

“You sound like a horndog.”

She didn’t even deny it. So yeah, movies it was. Tickets were probably still available for tomorrow. But maybe I should reserve just in case. I pulled up the theater’s website and showed my phone to Yuina.

“What do you want to see?”

“Something Western.”

“Really? I didn’t think you were into foreign films.”

“They have more adult scenes, right? I wanna see something sexy.”

“Your entire brain is just sex, isn’t it?”

Sure, there are spicy scenes in some movies. But they’re usually awkward to watch with someone. I never thought I’d find someone I could watch them with without dying of embarrassment.

“Alright, how about this one? …Got the tickets.”

“Thanks!”

A date, huh? Yuina acted like a perverted old man, but on the outside she was a total beauty. Going on a date with a girl like that was kind of nerve-wracking.

Wait. I don’t have anything decent to wear.

Might as well buy some clothes while I’m at it. I grabbed my wallet and started heading downstairs.

“Where are you going?”

Of course she noticed.

“Just out to buy clothes.”

“Sounds fun. I’m coming too!”

She ran back to her room. Fifteen minutes later, she finally came out. She’d done her makeup — suddenly looking way more polished and mature. Her outfit was light and summery, her bare legs peeking out from her shorts, drawing my eyes despite myself.

“Oh? Where are you two headed?”

Yuni-san caught sight of Yuina all dressed up and asked.

“Hotaka-kun wants help picking clothes.”

I never said that. But honestly, she probably did have better fashion sense than me. Might as well let her take the lead.

“I see. Hotaka-kun, take good care of her, okay?”

“Got it.”

I thought getting caught going out with her might be bad, but Yuni-san didn’t seem concerned. If anything, she looked relieved.

“Alright, let’s go, Hotaka-kun.”

“Yeah.”

We left the house together. Wait… isn’t this already a date?

Going out to buy clothes for a date on a date. Kind of backwards. But seeing how happy she looked, I figured it was fine.

I smiled wryly as I walked beside her.