The Story of How Producing My Timid Older Sister Developed My Sexual Preferences - Chapter 007: This Summer’s Goal

Chapter 007: This Summer’s Goal

Pi pi pi, pi pi pi

The timer informed me that the noodles would be ready in 30 seconds. What do I do now? Since it’s hiyashi chūka, I just need to rinse them in cold water, right?

When the timer beeped, I drained the boiled noodles into a colander and rinsed them with water while thinking.

I’ve never really cooked before. In fact, I don’t do any housework at all. The only things I do are clean my own room and wash the dishes I use. My sister takes care of everything else — cleaning the bath, cleaning the toilet, doing the laundry, all of it. Including what I said to her at dinner yesterday, I started feeling incredibly pathetic.

“If Sis wasn’t here… what would happen to me…?”

Once the noodles were fully cooled, I was wondering what to do next when I heard pata pata footsteps. My sister came back. She was wearing the exact same hoodie, but the color and scent had changed. She probably used sweat wipes or deodorant. She walked past me giving off a refreshing mint scent and added ice to the colander with the noodles.

“Sorry… thanks.”

My sister, who had probably changed because she thought she smelled sweaty, thanked me even though I had only rinsed the noodles. Her hair, which had been wet and sticking to her skin earlier, was now tied back.

It didn’t actually smell bad, though. Feeling a bit awkward, I was relieved of my duties and sat at the table in silence, playing with my phone as usual.

One message from Shiori. Eight messages in the class group chat. Two from my part-time job.

For some reason, I felt too lazy to open any of them and just turned off the screen.

When I glanced at my sister, she was skillfully arranging the toppings. She carefully placed each ingredient in neat cone shapes around the mound of noodles in the center of the plate. We’re just going to mix them all up later anyway… I thought, but for some reason today, the usual sight filled me with a faint sense of “love.” And I found myself strongly wanting to “respond to” that love. …What is this feeling?

While I was spacing out, a colorful plate of hiyashi chūka and chopsticks were placed on the table with a clink. A piece of pork belly sat proudly on top.

My sister brought out two types of sauce and mustard she had probably prepared earlier, then sat in the chair across from me. She gave me a look asking which sauce I wanted.

Sesame sauce or soy sauce. The soy sauce one had a strong aroma of garlic, ginger, and sesame oil. The surface was slightly red, so it probably contained chili oil. I chose the soy sauce without hesitation.

I knew she had made this soy sauce version to suit my taste from the beginning. That fact felt a little ticklish.

I boldly poured a big splash of sauce over my noodles. My sister carefully drizzled the sesame sauce evenly over the small mountain of toppings.

“This looks insanely good! Thanks for the meal!”

“…anks for the meal.”

While thinking Sorry about earlier, I mixed the beautifully arranged toppings with the noodles, grabbed a bunch with my chopsticks, and stuffed them into my mouth. So delicious. I slurped them down enthusiastically, then paused and looked at my sister.

She was eating slowly, alternating between noodles and toppings without breaking the neat arrangement. I couldn’t even hear her slurping. I wondered if it could even taste good eaten that way, but everyone has their own way of eating, so I didn’t say anything.

We really don’t look or act alike at all…

“This sauce is seriously delicious.”

My sister made a small, happy expression that only I would notice.

After that, it was the usual silent meal. By the time I had finished eating ravenously, my sister still had about one-third of her food left and was slowly chewing.

Normally I would immediately clear the dishes and go back to my room, but today my body felt strangely heavy. I opened my phone and sent her the photos I had taken earlier.

Ping! A loud notification sounded from my sister’s phone on the table. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her phone make a sound before. She looked surprised too.

When she saw the photos, she started trembling again, her ears turning red, and began tapping on her phone.

『Delete them』

『No』

『You’ve been so mean today』

『Because』

I deleted the rest of what I was typing.

“Sorry for being mean. But ever since yesterday, you’ve been making faces I’ve never seen before, so it was kind of fun.”

“……”

“I mean… for so many years, your expression has barely changed. The only faces you ever showed were slightly sad ones, right?”

“……”

“Well, even if I asked, you probably wouldn’t know, but… seeing you look embarrassed or emotional made me really happy. Yeah.”

“……”

Shit, what am I saying all by myself? I might have spoken really fast. My head feels like it’s overheating.

“So… I won’t delete the photos, but please forgive me, okay?”

What the hell is with “okay”? I’m done for. I took my dishes to the sink and washed them, thinking Let this embarrassment wash away too. The cold water gradually cooled me down. I said it! I thought, but I was still anxious inside.

“Thanks for the meal. It was really good.”

When I turned around, my sister was still holding her phone and hadn’t touched the rest of her food.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“…Y-yeah.”

With no reason left to stay, I felt awkward. My brain was still in a trance, or rather, wanted to tease her more. Various emotions swirled inside me about what she thought of my earlier monologue. Honestly, I felt that if I let this chance slip, we would go back to being the silent siblings we used to be… and I really hated that idea.

“I’ll go fill the bath.”

“!? …Please do.”

My sister looked a little confused by my unusual behavior, but I was confused too. My body felt like it was being controlled by a horsehair worm commanding me to stay here as long as possible and talk to your sister! I went to the bathroom and turned on the hot water. However, what little rationality (shame) I had left guided me to the living room instead of staying in the dining room where my sister was.

I sat on the sofa and turned on the TV. I don’t watch TV much and rarely come to the living room. I only watch when there’s a show my school friends are talking about.

The regular residents of this sofa are basically my sister and Mom, who eats my sister’s homemade meals while watching TV and then falls asleep.

Maybe that’s why, unlike my room, there’s no boyish smell here — just a clean, floral scent. I realized again that it’s thanks to my sister cleaning every day.

The TV was showing cute animals and shocking footage.

I opened the messages I had ignored earlier and replied only to Shiori and my part-time job.

While thinking how annoying work tomorrow would be, my sister walked into the living room holding her phone, looking a bit shy with a puri puri gait.

What the hell is “puri puri”? I can’t explain it. She just came in with a puri puri walk. She wasn’t angry.

Without saying anything, she sat on the short side of the L-shaped sofa to my left, sitting in a triangle position.

We both watched TV in silence, but I kept sneaking glances at her reactions from the side.

When there was footage of a tire flying off and hitting a pedestrian or a manhole exploding, she tightly shut her eyes.

But when animal footage came on, her eyes sparkled. Especially when a wombat appeared — she leaned forward intensely to stare at it.

“You like them? Wombats.”

“!”

She nodded firmly, then showed me her phone. It was full of wombat photos and videos. They really are cute.

“You really love them, huh?”

She nodded excitedly with little fun fun sounds. Curious, I searched them up. They’re from Australia and can be found in Japanese zoos too. Huh, they’re friendly with people. So the mysterious animal on the oven mitts my sister always uses was a wombat. One mystery solved.

“If you like them that much, you should go to Australia. You’re a university student — you can travel whenever you want.”

“……”

She shook her head.

“Why? Are you scared? Traveling alone would be nerve-wracking, I guess.”

“……Yeah.”

“Now that I think about it, I don’t really know what you like… do I?”

When I said that, she shrank into herself. She gave no reply. I looked back at the TV, but feeling a bit chilly, I picked up the AC remote. The temperature was set to 22°C. That’s a bit cold, I thought, and asked her:

“Aren’t you a little cold? Can I raise the temperature?”

“……Yeah.”

After getting permission, I raised it by about 4 degrees. While we watched TV in silence again, my sister started fidgeting. She pulled at the loose collar of her sweatshirt and fanned herself.

“Are you hot? Also, I’ve been meaning to say this for a while — isn’t it weird to dress like that even in summer?”

“…” Shake shake

“You should wear something comfortable when you’re relaxing at home. It seriously looks stuffy.”

“…Sorry.”

“…Is it because you’re embarrassed?”

“…Because I look weird.”

“To be honest, I used to think you were chubby. But you’re not weird at all. If anything, it’s very feminine and nice…”

“〜〜っ!”

“Mom always says it too, right? ‘You look so hot and stuffy.’ She’s right! Just looking at you makes me feel hot, and it’s a waste of electricity.”

“…I am chubby.”

“You’re not.”

“…I am chubby.”

“I only thought you were. You’re actually not.”

“I am chubby——”

『The bath is ready.』

While we were having a chubby debate, the bath finished filling. Let’s call it a temporary truce.

“Want to go first?”

“…” Shake shake

“Alright, I’ll go first then.”

It’s already the beginning of summer. I thought I could just take a shower, but I wanted to soak my brain, so I got into the tub.

Today we talked a lot for the first time in a while. After dinner, she even came to the living room. She probably wasn’t angry about me taking photos without permission either.

Her embarrassed face. Her surprised face. Her slightly angry face. Her sulking face. I might have seen all of them for the first time — no, that’s not right.

A long time ago, when everything was fresh, fun, dazzling, and something to look forward to — the warm feeling of a hand. The hand that always pulled timid me along. Scenes from those memories.

When viewed from far away, even though they’re blurry, I can tell they were something very beautiful and precious. But the more I try to focus and get closer to confirm what it is, the more it feels like a jigsaw puzzle with most pieces missing — I can’t tell what it’s supposed to be.

Right now, most of the pieces are still gone. But today alone, I feel like a lot of pieces clicked into place. So what I should do is——