When I Told the Most Beautiful Girl in the School That My Confession Had Failed, She Suddenly Started Coming at Me With Unbearably Heavy Feelings - Chapter 42: Prayer and Omen

Chapter 42: Prayer and Omen

“Sen~pai? Let’s sleep together~”

As usual, Amane Shinomiya came to my room. She slipped into my arms with a smile that brooked no argument.

“You have a bed in your own room…”

“From now on, whenever Senpai comes home, we’ll sleep together. That’s what I decided.”

“You sleep with me there too… I’m turning off the lights.”

I dimmed the lights with the remote and got into bed. From my chest came the sound of Amane Shinomiya snorting contentedly.

“Senpai, did something good happen? You look so happy.”

“Who knows. …But today was a good day for me.”

“I’m glad to hear that. …Okay, here’s a question. Between me and Kisaragi-senpai, who do you like more?”

In the darkness, I could not see well, but Amane Shinomiya was surely sending me a sticky, loaded gaze.

Depending on my answer, my life might be in danger. As I struggled for a response, Amane Shinomiya laughed mischievously.

“Hehe, that was a bit of a mean question, wasn’t it? Let me change it. …Do you like me?”

“I love you.”

“You pass.”

With a smooch, a soft sensation pressed against my cheek.

Today and tomorrow, Amane Shinomiya would remain my stepsister. Even if my relationship with Rinne Kisaragi changed, even if the environment around me shifted, this one fact would stay an unchanging constant.

I had realized lately that we were smaller existences than we thought.

Humans reigned at the top of the ecosystem on this planet called Earth. And we were just one among them.

If we worried moderately, made moderate efforts, and found moderate enjoyment, perhaps life could become enjoyable.

But humans were greedy, for better or worse. Once they obtained one thing, they sought the next.

No matter how much they lost or how deeply they hurt, the desire returned. They could not resist that urge.

They might break, get wounded, and become unable to stand again.

Even so, to rise once more, we supported each other.

A gathering of small beings called humans formed something greater. They needed each other to protect their existences. That was how communities formed.

The feelings we held for others sometimes brought destruction. And it was strong feelings that brought regeneration too.

To think of someone, to love, hate, fear, or despise them—it was natural for humans to harbor such emotions, and perhaps none of them should be dismissed outright.

I closed my eyes, praying for peace and tranquility tomorrow.

With prayers for the happiness of those I loved and for my own loathsome self to grow, I hoped for tomorrow as I did today.

Surely, good days would continue from tomorrow onward. So I wished.

▼▽

<<Kisaragi side>>

A few days after Renji Hinate’s birthday, I visited his home.

Today was the day to catch up on the homework we could not finish before, with Amane Shinomiya there too, for what it was worth.

“Senpai, I don’t get this part.”

“Um, that’s…”

“I’ll teach you.”

Ignoring Amane Shinomiya’s blatantly displeased expression, I wedged myself between Renji Hinate and her.

The two of them seemed utterly oblivious to how close they were, but as his future wife, I found their distance dangerous. It would not take much for a moment of folly to occur. I had to nip this hazardous bud in the bud.

“I want Senpai to teach me! I didn’t ask Kisaragi-senpai!”

“It’s fine. We’ll be family eventually anyway.”

“Ugh! This person’s already acting like she won! Who said anything about future family, you?!”

As I taught her the method for solving the equation amid her utterly resentful glare, Amane Shinomiya twisted her mouth in frustration this time.

“It’s so clear, and that makes it even more infuriating…!”

“Call me your sister-in-law.”

“Like hell I will, you vixen!”

“Ah, there, there… I’m getting tired anyway, so how about a break?”

At Renji Hinate’s suggestion, we took a pause.

As we nibbled on the snacks we had brought, the intercom rang. When Renji Hinate checked the monitor, his profile seemed to stiffen slightly.

I followed behind him as he headed to the entrance. Amane Shinomiya followed behind me.

“…You don’t have to come along.”

“What if some outrageous vixen appears from the other side of the door?”

“Would that even happen…?”

“No matter what shows up, I’ll protect Senpai!”

Well, if pressed for a reason, it was just plain curiosity and my base possessiveness. There was no way a vixen waited on the other side of the door.

But in a way that betrayed those thoughts, she appeared.

“Hey, Ren-kun, hiii~!”

Hair as dazzlingly pink as peach blossoms. A graceful and exquisite smile. A beauty that left even me stunned.

I regretted my blunder in forgetting her existence until now.

Nakiri Nao. The idol of Tsukizuki Academy. I foolishly froze under the spell of her bewitching charm.

“Oh? Kisaragi-san, you’re here too. …What, a home date or something~?”

“What the… You show up out of nowhere.”

“It’s fine~! We’re close enough for that, right, Ren-kun~?”

The contact went beyond casual touches. Nakiri Nao’s slender arm wrapped lasciviously around Renji Hinate’s waist. That sequence of gestures filled me with a light anger that I could not forgive.

Yes, Amane Shinomiya should be beside me. She would surely despise any woman who approached her beloved stepbrother carelessly. With that thought, I glanced to my side—only to find her already clinging to Nakiri Nao.

“Nao-senpai! It’s been a while!”

“Ahaha, Amane-chan, long time no see. I’m glad to see you still adore Ren-kun so much.”

…She had tamed that rabid dog with ease.

In an instant, my heart began to stir. Just who was she? What did she possess that I did not know?

People feared the unknown. In my eyes, Nakiri Nao looked no different from an alien.

“Oh, right—we haven’t really talked before, have we? Nice to meet you properly.”

As Nakiri Nao bowed her head slightly, I moved to do the same. But that series of actions halted at her next words.

“I’m Nakiri Nao, Ren-kun’s ex-girlfriend!”

A shock like a lightning strike pierced straight through the top of my head.