"Phew... home again without any incidents today, huh. Yeah, a peaceful daily life really is the best."
He nodded and muttered to himself.
For some reason, it felt like the day only started the moment I got home, but I decided to ignore that.
I also couldn’t clearly remember what I’d even done today, but I decided to ignore that too.
That was probably proof nothing had happened.
"I’m home~"
I said it as I closed the front door, but no one answered.
"...Huh? Was no one home?"
Just as I was wondering that, I heard the door open and two girls walking toward the entrance.
"Heh. You’re late, my brother Hii. Where have you been wasting time all this while?"
"At last. Welcome home, Hii. I already made dinner."
They were none other than Kaguya and Yuzuru.
But... "my brother"?
Was I the older brother now?
"My brother...?"
"Hm? What’s wrong, Hii? You don’t look well."
"Agreement. Are you tired, Hii? If you need anything, just tell your big sister Yuzuru."
"Kaguya is the younger sister, and Yuzuru is the older sister...? Ah, right. You’re both my family."
The younger sister Kaguya, who always used that weird chuunibyou way of speaking, and Yuzuru, who also had her own peculiar way of talking.
These two were my family.
So why had I just felt something was off?
Maybe I really was tired, like Yuzuru said.
"Agreement. That’s exactly right, but what of it?"
"Ah, no. It’s nothing. It’s just... I felt a little off, that’s all."
Kaguya, who had looked worried at my words, now stared at me with a pitiful expression.
"Honestly, Hii. You’re far too absentminded. And how long do you intend to keep me waiting in that endless abyss?"
"You mean... you’re hungry?"
"Correct. Kaguya is hungry right now. She’s been making her stomach growl while waiting for Hii."
As always, Kaguya’s way of speaking was hard to understand.
How did "I’m hungry" become "an endless abyss"?
She was my little sister, but I was a little worried about her future.
"N-no! It’s the endless abyss! I simply couldn’t stand by and watch that hot, searing chaos lose its heat!"
"So dinner was hot pot."
Hot, searing chaos = something hot with a bunch of ingredients in it.
And judging by the smell drifting all the way to the entrance, I decided tonight’s dinner was hot pot.
"So it’s hot pot, and you waited for me because of that. Sorry I’m late. Kaguya. Sorry too, Yuzuru. I’m a little late, but I’m home."
"Hmph! I merely wanted my brother to taste the hot, searing offering as well. Be grateful."
"Counterpoint. Hii, welcome home."
When I came in, I’d felt a little out of place, but now it really did feel like this was our home.
"I’ll be quick, so could you both wait in the living room?"
"Acknowledged. We’ll wait."
Yuzuru said that, then paused for a moment before speaking again.
"...Proposal. Hii, let me carry your bag. It’ll get in the way when you take off your shoes."
"Ah! That’s cheating, Yuzuru! You’re planning to follow him to his room too, aren’t you! I’m the one carrying Hii’s bag!"
"Rebuttal. I don’t really understand what Kaguya is saying. This is something Hii’s big sister Yuzuru should do. Kaguya should just wait and tend to the pot fire or something."
"Grrr! That’s! Something! I, the younger sister, should do!"
The two of them started fighting over something as small as carrying my bag.
I didn’t want Kaguya and Yuzuru to fight, so I patted both their heads and said,
"Haha, it’s fine, I can carry it myself. Could you both wait in the living room? Okay?"
"Hmm, if Hii says so..."
"Very well. I’ll return to the living room."
With that, Kaguya and Yuzuru went back to the living room, and I sighed as I took off my shoes.
"Sigh... seriously, they start fighting at the drop of a hat."
Of course, that didn’t mean I disliked them.
They were precious family, after all.
But the problem was that they could be a little difficult at times.
They both fought over anything related to me.
People probably called this kind of thing brocon.
"Hii~! I’m about to die waiting here! Come join the fray like the wind!"
"Ah! Right!"
Oh no, I’d gotten too lost in thought.
*******
After going to my room and changing clothes, I headed to the living room and was eating hot pot with Kaguya and Yuzuru.
"Question. Hii, what happened at school today?"
"Ah, school?"
What happened at school...?
At Yuzuru’s question, I recalled a memory I’d almost forgotten.
So, today at school...
"I just studied and hung out with the others, I guess?"
As usual, I sat through class peacefully, chatted with my friends at lunch, and even dozed off a little here and there.
"Affirmative. I see."
"Well, it was a normal day."
It was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Ah, I just remembered something."
"Question. What is it?"
"I got confessed to today."
Today, I’d been confessed to at school.
At dismissal time, too, behind the school like something out of a manga.
Of course, I turned her down.
"Pffft—!"
"Cough—!"
"Hm? What’s wrong with both of you? Did you choke on something?"
But for some reason, both of their reactions were strange.
They’d both stopped eating hot pot and started coughing.
Worried about them, I poured water and handed it over.
The two of them took the water, downed it in one shot, and looked at me.
"...Phew. Hii, say that again."
"Agreement. What did you just say?"
"Um... I said I got confessed to... right?"
Silence fell over the living room after my words.
Thinking maybe this was my fault, I set the spoon I’d been using to scoop hot pot back into the bowl and waited for either of them to speak.
Eventually, it was Kaguya who broke the silence.
"H-Hii. That confession... you didn’t accept it, did you?"
"Huh? Of course I didn’t."
At the fact that I hadn’t accepted it, their expressions shifted into something that looked strangely relieved.
"Phew..."
Even Yuzuru let out a sigh of relief.
Did they really hate the idea of me dating that much?
Well, I was a high school student.
"Still, as a high school student, this is the time to focus on studying rather than romance."
Some people might say high school is when you should try dating, but honestly, with this face, could I even do it?
The confession today was probably just a punishment game from losing something or other.
Well, I didn’t bother saying that out loud.
I’d said something like that before and got scolded for thinking that way.
"Hm? Why do both of you look like that?"
Thinking the mood had lightened, I resumed eating, but both of their expressions had grown a little gloomy.
What was this, some kind of magical day?
"Ah, never mind. Let’s hurry up and eat."
"Agreement. It’ll get cold."
Something felt off.
Anyway, that was how we finished dinner.
*******
The next day, the morning sunlight slammed into my eyes and urged me to get up, so they opened automatically.
And then I felt a bizarre sensation.
It felt like something was pressing down on me.
"Zzz... zzz..."
And there was that weird sound, even though I was awake.
"Weird? I just heard something. There’s no way my ears are getting weird—"
I stopped trying to escape reality and decided to check the cause.
My body couldn’t move because of the pressure, so I turned my head to look on both sides, and sure enough, Kaguya and Yuzuru were sleeping soundly, each clinging to my left and right arm.
"...Seriously, what am I supposed to do about this?"
"Mmm... Hii..."
"Haa... breathe... snore..."
Once again, I thought these two really had way too much brocon energy.
If they slept this defenselessly—no, that wasn’t it. Even if I locked the door before sleeping, I had no idea how they got in, but whenever I woke up, I was always in this two-blooming-flowers state.
The problem was that those flowers were my blood relatives.
"Damn it... yesterday they were surprisingly quiet."
I’d figured they wouldn’t come in since they hadn’t said anything about it.
Was the confession I mentioned yesterday the trigger?
I’d tried persuading them with all sorts of examples, telling them not to come in, that we were all grown up now and shouldn’t be doing this, that I wasn’t their boyfriend, and so on, but it was useless.
So now I was half giving up and trying to figure out how to escape this situation.
"If these two wake up, I’m definitely going to be dragged around from the morning. So I’ve got to get out somehow."
As I made that resolve, the two of them squeezed my arms even tighter.
"Hii, come a little closer to me..."
"Ple...ase... a little closer to Yuzuru..."
"I’m... going crazy."
The soft feeling against my arms made it a little embarrassing to move.
Ah, seriously, what am I, a stuffed doll or something?
"Yuzuru’s side is a little less suffocating, so..."
I carefully started inching my arm out from the one Yuzuru was hugging.
Then she pressed her chest against my arm, making it even harder to pull free.
"Hold... still... Hii, a little more..."
"What the hell is this sister dreaming about?!"
I was a little startled by Yuzuru’s strange sleep talk, but I kept moving my arm to relieve the pressure.
But the more I did, the tighter the contact became.
"Hehe... Confirmation. Is this okay now?"
"What, both of you?"
"No way, were you both awake?"
The worst-case scenario I’d feared.
They were both awake.
"Wake-up. Good morning, Hii."
"A radiant dawn, a refreshing awakening."
"I’m so screwed!"
I kept repeating one word in my head as I opened my mouth.
"Ah, haha. Did you both sleep well? But why are you in my bed?"
"Heh. Now that I know Hii was outrageously confessed to yesterday, I’ve decided to collect the debt."
"Collusion. We snuck in during the night. Hii belongs to Yuzuru’s shared property."
"No! Why am I shared property! And let go of me already! I have to eat breakfast!"
At that ridiculous nonsense, I strained with all my strength to pull my arms free, but failed.
"Heh... I won’t let you escape. My grudge against my brother has not yet been settled!"
"Indirect. Give up and stay still until Yuzuru is satisfied. That’s your big sister’s order."
"Please!!!"
With my desperate cry, the world blinked out.
*******
"Aaaah!"
The moment I woke up, I felt my body was free.
Yeah, people really shouldn’t be restrained like that!
"Hmm. How strange. Why was Yuzuru the older sister, I wonder!"
"Mockery. Heh. Maybe that’s because Kaguya is mini."
The two of them immediately started fighting again the moment they woke up.
"Tch! That’s just a lump of fat!"
"Denial. Even a lump of fat is better than being tiny like Micro Kaguya."
"Hmm. Higakieta Hii. Do you prefer big breasts?"
"What the hell are you talking about, Arus!"
Arus lowered her gaze and asked that weird question.
What did that have to do with anything?
"I’m more mature, that’s all!"
"Question. In what way are you mature?"
"Higakieta Hii. Are those two always fighting like this?"
"Sigh..."
One pair was fighting up front, and another person kept asking questions from the side.
I sighed and cleaned up the situation.
"For now, could you both calm down a little? What does it matter who’s the younger sister and who’s the older sister? In reality, you’re basically sworn enemies anyway."
There can’t be any siblings bound by blood who actually get along.
If there were, the odds would be lower than being struck by lightning from a clear sky.
"And both of you are pretty and cute, so stop fighting."
"Hmm, hmm! If Hieta says so..."
"Acknowledged. Understood."
After ending the fight, I turned to Arus and asked,
"When is the next one?"
"It’s already late. We’ll do the next one tomorrow."
At Arus’s words, I looked up and saw the evening glow already spreading across the sky.
We agreed to her suggestion and decided to gather with the others.
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