When My Younger Brother Stole My Girlfriend, I Began Living Together with My Beautiful Childhood Friend Almost As If We Were Married - Chapter 28

Episode 28: Argument Over the Phone

While Reina was taking a bath, I washed the dishes.

Listening to my favorite playlist I put together, I hummed along while scrubbing off the stubborn grease. Surprisingly, when I matched the rhythm, it made scrubbing off the dirt easier.

After washing all the dishes and putting them in the drying rack, I moved to the sink to wash the rice cooker pot.

Just as I was about to cool down the still slightly hot pot with water, the music stopped, and instead, the ringing tone indicating an incoming call began to sound.

“Ugh.”

The displayed name was my brother’s.

I had completely forgotten about blocking his calls. He’s probably going to bring up yesterday’s grudges now.

I quickly tapped the reject button and was about to change the settings immediately—

“Ah.”

“Finally picked up, huh?”

As I tried to reject the call, it rang again immediately, and I accidentally pressed the call button instead.

I sighed and decided that if he’s going to call anyway, I might as well let out some of my pent-up frustrations too.

“What is it? If you have something to say, say it quickly. I’m busy too.”

“Yesterday, after that, Yuki and I ended things! After ruining our relationship, how can you say that with such ease?!”

“I’ll throw those words right back at you. You thought you could ruin my relationship with Anna and still think you’re being protected?”

What kind of thought process leads to such conclusions?

Sure, I’m a bit grateful now that I can date Reina, but I was hurt for even a moment by the betrayal. I have no intention of forgiving him.

“You’ve always been like this. You thought you could get away with anything with me because that damn parent of ours would protect you, but it’s not like that anymore.”

“Shut up! You’re my brother, so stop whining over such trivial things and endure it. Dad and Mom want to see their grandchild’s face, and they’d be happier with a child from someone better and cooler like me!”

“You’re going to end up with a rotten personality like yours. Japan’s future is doomed.”

“Shut up!”

You can tell from his voice that he’s turning red and trembling on the other end of the phone.

It feels refreshing to see him like that.

“Now it’s perfect for you two. You broke up with that girl, right? Then why don’t you date Anna and show her your grandchild’s face? You’re a shameless jerk whose suited for each other.”

“Hah! I only hooked up with her a few times because I liked her body type. I don’t need her anymore, so I’ll return her.”

Just hearing this makes me feel nauseous.

What kind of upbringing leads to this? He’s bound to cause trouble soon, and I don’t want to get involved.

Or rather, he’s probably already causing trouble as we speak. Eventually, Sanehara-san will spread the word about my brother’s scumminess, and when that happens, he’ll definitely earn the resentment of the girls he’s messed with at school.

Your countdown to hell has already begun.

“I don’t need that bitch anymore. Since you got involved with her, why don’t you take responsibility till the end?”

“Tch! …Fine. I didn’t call to say stuff like this.”

His prelude was too long. Maybe I should hang up now.

I’ve said everything I wanted to, and there’s no need to get irritated by listening to the main point. I’m about to press the end call button—

“I’ll forgive you for ruining our relationship and getting carried away. In exchange, give me Reina-chan, right?”

Huh?

I almost made a weird sound unintentionally.

What is he talking about? You should sleep on things like that.

“That girl is right up my alley. I’ll train her to be a submissive pet and have lots of healthy children with her. Dad and Mom want that too, don’t they?”

“I’ll say this once. Listen carefully with your rotten ears.”

I was so angry that my hand was shaking and I could hear a creaking noise from my phone.

I tried my best to suppress the magma-like hot fury, but I couldn’t endure it and all my emotions were conveyed through my voice.

“Try laying a finger on Reina! I’ll make sure you suffer enough to traumatize you for life!”

“Ugh! I said I’ll forgive you! Shut u—”

A hand reached over and grabbed the phone.

The end call button was pressed with swift movement, and at the same time, my brother’s phone number and messaging app account were blocked.

“That’s it.”

“Reina…”

“Sorry. I heard Hayato’s angry voice when I got out of the bath…”

Seeing Reina, her hair wet and wearing only a bath towel draped over her shoulders, I could tell that she hadn’t properly dried herself off in the changing room and had come straight here.

“It was your brother, right? His voice was loud, so I heard.”

“Ah… uh…”

“I’m happy. I realized that you really care about me.”

“That’s obvious! Reina is—”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s okay. Hayato is precious to me, and I’ll never betray or leave him. Even if you say you don’t like it, we’ll always be together, so be prepared, okay?”

Whether she saw the anxiety on my face or not, Reina kissed me and calmed my restless heart.

She peeked into the sink, checked the cooled pot, and smiled.

“I’ll wash the pot and rice later. Can you dry my hair, Hayato?”

“Got it. Shall we go to the sofa then?”

“Yeah!”

“Oh, but before that. Can you at least put on your underwear?”

Saying that, Reina blushed slightly and picked up the shorts nearby.