Yandere and Menhera - Suddenly Having a Yandere Older Stepsister and a Menhera Younger Stepsister Makes Every Day Difficult - Chapter 1 - 31/32

After sitting in meditation for an hour, I realized it was almost time to go to school. As I went to the changing room to take a shower and was undressing, Ririka appeared.

“Ah, Ririka-chan?”

“Onii-chan, I’m sorry about earlier.”

“For what?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to apologize. Don’t worry about it.”

“Uh, okay.”

Seeing Ririka looking clearly downcast made me curious about what had happened, but I decided to quickly take a shower. That’s when I found out that Matsuri-nee-san was in the bath, perhaps she had filled the tub with hot water while I was meditating.

For a few seconds, Matsuri-nee-san and I stared at each other in silence, and then, realizing the situation, I apologized and quickly left the bathroom.

“I’m sorry!”

I was dreading the worst-case scenario, becoming not just a lucky pervert but a completely discredited weirdo.

After getting dressed, I went back to my room to calm my mind by meditating again. I performed a kind of shuttle run breathing method, inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth for ten counts. When I opened my eyes, it was already 7 AM.

I put on my uniform and, with 20 minutes left until I had to leave for school, checked my room for anything I might have forgotten or any homework I might have missed. As I was about to leave the house without running into Matsuri-nee-san, Ririka came up behind me.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yeah, I guess I’ll head out.”

“Take care.”

“Yeah, I will.”

After exchanging goodbyes with Ririka, I left the house and was immediately struck by the bright sunlight.

“Wow, it’s bright…”

Muttering to myself, I slowly made my way to school, where I met up with Sakagami a few minutes later.

“Good morning!”

“Hey, Ryusuke~!”

“Sakagami, you’re always so lively~”

“I’m always full of energy!”

Sakagami’s cheerful smile lifted my spirits. I’ve always felt saved by his smile since we were kids. It felt like something I had to cherish for life, as if a deity had told me so.

Lost in thought, I accidentally walked past the school gates.

“Hey, Ryusuke~?”

“Hm?”

“Where are you going?”

“Ah, I got lost in thought~”

I quickly turned back toward the gate and entered the school with Sakagami. A few meters in, I spotted Saeka from behind. Considering what had happened, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing her today, but being in the same class, it was inevitable. Disappointed, I parted ways with Sakagami and headed to the classroom, where I found Saeka arguing with someone.

To stop the argument, I shouted, “Good morning, Saeka-chan!” The boy she was arguing with ran out of the classroom as he passed me. I recognized him as Nakazato.

I approached Saeka, who turned away from me, tears in her eyes.

“What’s wrong, Saeka-chan?”

“Nothing.”

“Hmm, okay.”

It didn’t seem like the right moment to press further, so I hoped Saeka would start talking on her own as I slowly prepared for class. Then, she tapped me on the back to get my attention.

“Hm?”

“Nakazato told me he wouldn’t care what happened to Ryusuke unless I dated him, but I didn’t want to.”

“That’s an unusual thing for a middle schooler to say. Going to the teachers doesn’t seem reliable, and if I confronted him, it might backfire on you, Saeka. What should we do?”

“What do you think…?”

“Let’s say you’re dating Sakagami. He’s strong, and I remember his brother is a police officer.”

“…Ryusuke-kun?”

“Hm?”

Saeka looked at me with tearful eyes as she spoke.

◆　◇　◆

Saeka looked at me, her eyes welling up to the point where tears were about to spill over, and said,

“Ryusuke-kun, please go out with me…”

I took a breath, unsure of how to respond. Saeka was more beautiful than cute, with those rare sweet smiles she showed just to me, and now these tearful eyes.

I thought to myself that any guy would fall for this, but I found my answer while looking at her.

“I can’t date you. Even if I did, what do you think Nakazato would do?”

“…”

“I think he’d resort to more drastic measures. I don’t mind putting myself in danger, but I can’t bear the thought of you getting hurt.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll talk to Sakagami’s brother about Nakazato’s threat.”

“Thank you.”

It was the first time I had been confessed to and the first time I had to reject someone. I realized that rejecting a confession is painful, both for the person being rejected and for the one doing the rejecting. However, resolving Nakazato’s issue felt more urgent.

“Then, Saeka-chan,”

“Hm?”

“Leave Nakazato to me. You can relax.”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

Saeka returned to her usual cool demeanor, which kept most people at bay, and went back into the classroom.

To solve the problem, I sought out Nakazato in his classroom. He was reading a popular light novel, adjusting his glasses in a way that screamed “otaku.”

“Hey, Nakazato-kun.”

“Oh? If it isn’t Kanazawa Ryusuke.”

“Can you come here for a moment?”

“Fine.”

Despite his irritatingly superior attitude, I held back my annoyance and led him to an unused classroom. In the dim room, I confronted him.

“Stop threatening Saeka.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about~”

His obvious attempt to feign ignorance irritated me, and I grabbed him by the collar, but Nakazato retorted,

“Violence isn’t the answer. What if I said you attacked me? Your chance at the nationals could vanish.”

“…”

I let go of his collar, trying to calm down and reason with him as he smirked.

“You like Saeka-dono, don’t you?”

“No?”

“Eh?”

“It’s Sakagami who likes Saeka.”

“Huh?”

“I’m just a friend who talks to Saeka a lot. I’m not interested in her romantically.”

“Then why are you interfering?”

“It’s rich for someone who’s been threatening people to say that. We’re both middle schoolers, so it’s not like we’d get arrested.”

Nakazato’s smirk vanished, replaced by a serious look as he grabbed my collar and said,

“Don’t underestimate me. My sister is the leader of a local biker gang.”

“Did you know? Sakagami’s brother is a cop.”

“Huh?”

“I’m saying your threats won’t work.”

Nakazato, now pale, begged for forgiveness on his knees.

“Please forgive me for this!”

“Yeah, sure.”

I agreed immediately, suspecting he wasn’t truly remorseful. I thought the next time he approached Saeka would be the time to involve Sakagami, so for now, I pretended to make peace with him.

With Matsuri-nee-san, Ririka, the hospitalized Miyuki, my running buddy Yuka, and now Saeka’s situation, my life was suddenly full of women. I was overwhelmed by the rapid changes in my environment and filled with worries.