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Chapter 67: Prologue

Asamura Yuuta

It was night in the living room. To counteract the bristling cold filling the room, we had the heat turned up to the point that the A/C unit was giving off healthy rattling sounds. Along with that sound, I let out a faint groan as I worked through my physics textbook. I looked around the table and spotted a cup. I picked it up to take a sip and—Hm? I realized there was no fluid inside the cup. It turns out my cup of coffee was empty, which immediately ruined all my focus. I turned the cup upside down to get the last bit of coffee out, but after a single drop touched my lips, no more sweet joy came.

It had gotten quite late at night. If I drink another cup now, I probably won't be able to sleep. I, Asamura Yuuta, was pondering what liquid to make my next partner for my late-night studying session, considering my focus had already run out, when I suddenly heard a bewildered "Huh?" from behind me. I turned around. Standing there was the girl who had become my younger step-sister roughly half a year ago—Ayase-san.

"Ah, sorry. Was the A/C too loud?"

"Not at all. I had my door closed. I just didn't think you'd be here this late," she said and raised her head to look at the clock, which said it was already 11 pm. Normally, I'd be sitting in my room studying by this time.

"Want some hot chocolate?" She asked, pointing at my empty cup.

"Honestly, that sounds pretty good right now."

"Then I'll make some. I'm gonna drink some myself, anyway."

"Thanks."

She turned on our electric kettle, took out the hot chocolate mix from the drawer, and picked out a cup for herself and a larger mug. With all that prepared, she sat down on a chair. In the meantime, I took out the milk from the fridge, washing the cup I had just used for the coffee. I accepted the larger mug from Ayase-san, poured milk in there, and put it into the microwave. To finish it off, I pressed the button on it that said "Milk."

Meanwhile, Ayase-san was busy mixing the cocoa powder and sugar in her cup. She poured a bit of the hot water from the kettle into her cup and continued mixing. Normally she looked like a cool beauty, but now she was just twirling her spoon around in her cup, which gave her a much more immature and youthful image. The microwave beeped.

"It's warm."

"Thanks."

Ayase-san put half of the chocolate powder mix into my cup, pouring the warm milk on top.

"It'd taste even better if we added a secret ingredient, like butter."

"We don't have to go all out for some late-night hot chocolate, you know."

"Well that's true. But I have to say, it's pretty rare for you to study in the living room this late," Ayase-san said, still mixing her hot chocolate.

"I was actually doing just fine in my own room, but I started losing focus, so I decided to change location. I thought a different environment might give me different results, or something like that."

"I see," Ayase-san nodded. "I think I get what you mean." She finished mixing the hot chocolate and placed the cup in front of me. "Here you go."

"Thanks."

Then she began working on her own portion. It might seem ordinary, but she always begins everything by preparing the share for other people first. It's very much like her. She probably didn't want mine to get cold while she prioritized herself. I think that living with Ayase-san has allowed me to become more sensitive to the actions of other people around me.

"Okay, done." Ayase-san made a satisfied nod and put the cup to her mouth, taking a sip.

I could see her throat move, her eyes closing slightly like she was relaxing. I joined her.

"Mhm, delicious," I said.

"You could've started without me."

"But I would have felt bad for spoiling the taste."

"You're weird," Ayase-san said with a wry smile.

The scent of the hot chocolate tickled the tip of my nose. Time was passing in a leisurely and comfortable manner. We both took another sip.

"It sure has gotten cold lately."

"It's December, after all." She spoke in a calm way, and my attention unintentionally drifted towards her moving lips.

Her rose-colored lips—They reminded me of that Halloween evening, which caused my cheeks to turn hot. We both desire to touch each other like lovers. Through that kiss, we've confirmed that. Back in Fall, I was perfectly fine and happy to simply feel her warmth next to me. And yet, only one season after that, I can't be satisfied with just staying next to each other. I guess humans can take for granted any fortune they have been given.

That being said, our end-of-term exam period was right after that, so we haven't even kissed since then. We both care about our grades a lot, so we decided to talk things through and came to the conclusion that we should separate our private and public lives. Plus, we'd have to do that sort of thing when nobody else is around. And since we're also siblings studying at a high school, we share our living space with our parents.

Conducting ourselves as lovers that bypass the line of brother and sister in this situation is probably much harder than for the standard couples. I poured some more hot chocolate down my throat and started thinking. Can't we increase the times we're allowed to seek each other's touch? And that's when I remembered something: My birthday is in December. And so is Ayase-san's birthday. We talked about the exact dates just last week, and I found out that Ayase-san's is on the 20th. Mine on the other hand is on the 13th. And as expected, we pretty quickly decided to just celebrate both of them on the 24th. Both Ayase-san and I smiled at each other, realizing that it'd be the same as ever.

"What's up? Did you remember something funny?" Ayase-san gave me a confused look.

"Ah, well, something like that."

"Oh, really?" She didn't even ask what I had been thinking about as she got up from her seat.

She wrapped her hands around the cup, presumably to warm them up, and headed back towards her room. Midway there, she seemed to have remembered something and turned around. Quietly, she trotted back to the table where I sat.

"About our birthdays."

"Huh?"

I could feel my heart rate spike. Realizing that the person you like is thinking about the same thing at the same time as you are sure gives you an adrenaline boost.

"How about we actually celebrate each other's birthdays properly?"

"You mean on the 13th and 20th?"

"Yep. We've never had anybody celebrate them with us on the actual day, right?"

"I… guess you're right."

"I figured. And I… well… want to spend it… not just as siblings, you know."

I understood what she meant. I felt the same way.

"I get you."

"And there was something I wanted to discuss with you."

She said that she only wanted to tell me after exams were over, but she changed her mind. She told me about a conversation she had with my old man around the time of Halloween.

Even if you break the law, and you're dealt severe punishment with no room for you to claim innocence, I won't ever deny that you're part of my family. No matter what it may be.

Hearing what my old man said about us really made me think. How cool can you be, dangit?

"I feel like Akiko-san would say the same thing. Though definitely not in front of you, Ayase-san."

"Probably."

Her words sounded indifferent, but I could see how her cheeks relaxed a bit. She's really happy, I imagine.

"But that statement made me start thinking." Ayase-san took a deep breath, making an expression like she wasn't sure if she should say what she wanted to say or not.

However, her mouth did open eventually.

"If it's our family, they might accept the relationship we are in, no?"

I started thinking. She might be right.

"Dad would definitely be honest about how he felt. If he hated the idea, he'd say that, and he'd forbid us, too. He can be pretty stubborn despite the way he looks…"

Even with all the previous drama with my mother, he never complained in front of me. All he did was apologize.

"However, I'm not sure if Akiko-san could truly be honest with us if she didn't feel comfortable."

"So you think your father would accept us, but you're not sure about my mother. Could I ask why you think that?"

"What I'm afraid of is that Akiko-san might regret getting married again."

"But, Asamura-kun, knowing them…"

"I know full well that Akiko-san isn't that sort of person. However, my actual mother never showed her discontent openly. So I'm worried Akiko-san might just clam up all her genuine feelings… and I just can't cast aside that possibility."

"That's…"

"Not gonna happen," is probably what she wanted to say, but she held back. Her self-restraint just made me feel apologetic. A painful memory of mine has crossed the line of being just a memory and is now bringing me to the point of thinking something rude about Akiko-san. However, there's just a thread of worry clinging to my mind that both Dad and Akiko-san are only getting along well now that there's still love between them. And since I can't read minds, I can't discard the possibility that she's just acting happy on the surface. And I know what happens if you carry this feeling deep inside you for too long without letting it out. All too well… Because the only time they didn't fight in front of me was when we celebrated my birthday.

Ayase-san took a short breath and spoke up.

"I was the same."

I gasped. I forgot. Ayase-san would also grieve the possibility of my father regretting the marriage with Akiko-san.

"Before I talked with your father, I was just as worried as you are right now."

"I… see…"

"Yeah. But I won't tell you to talk with Mom, either. Even if she tells the same thing, you and I are still different. There's no guarantee you'll feel the same way I do."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"So… I think it's okay if we don't come clean just yet," Ayase-san said and smiled.

Her expression made it seem like she was reassuring me, and it made my heart feel lighter.

"We can discuss the plans for our birthdays later. I'm going back to studying now."

"Yeah, I'll continue here for a bit longer."

"Don't stay up too late, okay?"

"Right back at you."

Her back, covered with a white cardigan, moved towards the door and eventually disappeared. I let out a sigh and grabbed my cup. The faint remains of chocolate powder stuck to my throat, not allowing me to comfortably swallow it all down.