Chapter 34
Facing My Younger Sister
“If it’s a request from you, big brother, I’d want to grant any request… but I can’t grant that one… because I’m not your little sister. In the future, I want to be your wife.”
“…!”
Hearing that, I felt as if I was about to be shocked, but now wasn’t the time for shock.
It was time for me, as her brother, to speak in a way that might even slightly change Yumi’s way of thinking.
“…Could you reconsider? You might have plenty of chances to find someone you like, a lover, or a person you want to marry throughout your long life, but the relationship between brother and sister… that might almost never happen again.”
“…You might have plenty of chances to find someone you like or someone you want to marry…?”
Yumi leaned closer to me, straddling over me, and pressed her face near mine.
“Big brother, you really don’t understand me at all… The person I will like, the person I want to marry in my life… it will always be you. No matter what kind of life I live from now on, I can say that with absolute certainty.”
“That’s the perspective of high school Yumi. When you get to university, or enter society, you might find someone you like even more—”
“You seem to place importance on our bond as siblings, big brother, but if that’s the case, why can’t you understand that there’s no one else who can take your place?”
…Those words left me speechless.
She was right… To me, Yumi was extremely important as a sister, but to Yumi, I was just as important—but in a romantic sense. The bond I felt was that of siblings, but the bond Yumi felt was love… I see now.
“The words I just said—no, not just now… I was wrong all along. I assumed, selfishly, that the most important thing for you was the closeness of being siblings, and I believed that to be absolutely true. Until now, I couldn’t properly face your true feelings.”
When I said that, Yumi gently embraced me and spoke in a soft voice.
“I know, big brother… I know better than anyone that you’re kind… but now, finally, you really understand my feelings.”
“Ah… I understand. I promise I will properly face you from now on.”
Yumi lifted her face, her eyes sparkling with joy, as she took off her long-sleeved shirt, revealing her upper body in just her underwear, her cheeks flushing red.
“Big brother… then you’ll do it with me now, right?”
She reached around her back to remove her underwear as well, but—
“No.”
“…Huh?”
Hearing my words, she instinctively stopped her hands and said, panicked:
“W-why!? Isn’t this exactly how it’s supposed to happen!?”
“You’re mistaken, Yumi. What I did with Kanashizuku wasn’t what you think. I didn’t do what you’re imagining—I just let her feed me, held her hand… that’s all.”
“…! I see… so that’s how it was.”
Yumi seemed somewhat relieved.
“At the very least, I don’t think I should see you only as my little sister anymore… but that doesn’t mean it makes sense to suddenly do that, right?”
“…You really didn’t do anything with Kanashizuku, right? That’s not a lie?”
“Yes, I didn’t.”
When I clearly said that, Yumi slowly got off me, put her long-sleeved shirt back on, and said:
“If you and Kanashizuku didn’t do anything, then I have no reason to force myself to do it with you today… but—”
“But?”
Yumi took my arm as we walked, saying:
“If you let Kanashizuku feed you, and held hands with her, then I’ll do the same with you! I’ll make you a meal now and feed it to you, and later we’ll go somewhere together and hold hands too!”
After that, she really did feed me, and we went shopping together, holding hands properly. I felt like today marked a significant first step in changing my relationship with Yumi—but I knew that the challenges ahead weren’t over.
Even thinking about the stress that would come, I found myself enjoying this kind of daily life in some way.
