Chapter 12
My Stepsister Wants to Create a Fact
“Welcome home, big brother!”
“Thanks, Yuduka.”
After returning home from school in the afternoon, I started dinner in the living room with Yuduka, who today properly greeted me instead of pretending to be asleep.
I suddenly remembered something that Kanzaki had told me before, something I hadn’t acted on yet. So, I decided to bring it up with Yuduka.
“Yuduka, who do you like right now?”
“Huh? What’s with the sudden question? Of course, it’s you, big brother!”
“Alright, then let’s change the question a bit. How many men are there in this world?”
“I’m not sure of the exact number, but… probably about half the population, right?”
“That’s right. In other words, there are lots of men in this world besides me.”
—Yes, this was what Kanzaki had told me before: to slowly close the outer moat of Yuduka’s thinking.
Right now, Yuduka can only see me, the closest male to her… so I needed to teach her that there are many men in the world besides me.
As Kanzaki had said, even if it’s something obvious, Yuduka probably needs to hear it, and it’s my role as her brother to tell her.
…Even so, Yuduka looked blank for a moment before speaking.
“I know that already. What exactly are you trying to say, big brother?”
“…In short, Yuduka, you might want to marry me just because I’m the closest male to you. But if you look at the world more broadly, your options aren’t limited to just me. There are many more men out there.”
“…You mean, if I see other men, there’s a possibility I might like someone besides you?”
“That’s right.”
When I said that, Yuduka lowered her face for a moment.
…I felt as if she might have stepped on something she shouldn’t have—but when she lifted her face, her expression was calm and showed nothing of the sort.
Then, she spoke.
“…Big brother, this is something that affects our future, so why don’t we leave dinner for now and talk on the sofa?”
“…Yeah.”
It seemed she was willing to actually listen to me.
This might be the first time she’s truly paid attention to a conversation like this. Thanks, Kanzaki… from here on, it’s just my job as her brother.
I stood up from the chair at the dining table, and Yuduka and I sat side by side on the sofa.
“Yuduka, I think it’s hard to suddenly change all your thoughts, so let’s start talking slowly from now and gradually change—”
Just as I was about to start helping her rethink things, Yuduka suddenly stood up, leaving an empty space on the sofa, and pushed me down, straddling me.
“…Huh? What?”
I had planned to calmly talk to Yuduka, so I didn’t know what was happening, but I could at least confirm that she was straddling me.
“Y-Yuduka? What are you doing?”
“I’m the one who wants to know—big brother, what are you thinking?”
“I’m just… as your brother—”
“What you just did is trampling on my feelings for you… I love you so much, but you dismiss it by saying it’s just because I’m the closest male? You mean I should go like someone else instead?”
“N-No, that’s not what I meant—”
“Don’t worry. I know better than anyone that you’re actually a kind person who would never really say that… You just don’t know how much I like you yet, right? So… now I’ll show you.”
With that, Yuduka quickly undid the buttons of her school blazer.
“Yuduka? What are you trying to do?”
“I’m going to show you in practice that I love you… Creating a fact like this makes things easier for me too. It’s a good opportunity, isn’t it?”
Saying this, Yuduka’s cheeks flushed red as she gave me a mischievous smile.
