CH 35

Chapter 35: Kotomi’s Runaway

(Kazemiya’s POV)

Since I started being taken care of by the Narumi family (or Tsujikawa family to be exact) this summer vacation, I had made up my mind to help with the housework. Narumi told me to just take it easy, but I would mind if I kept on being taken care of. So I was getting up early even if it was the middle of summer vacation.

“Good morning, Kazemiya-senpai.”

“Good morning, Kotomi-chan.”

By the time I was downstairs, Kotomi had already started preparing breakfast.

“Can I help you prepare breakfast today?”

“Of course. It would be a great help.”

But to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was really helping her or not. Kotomi-chan was so good at what she was doing that I found myself tilting my head inwardly. But now that things had happened like this, I had no choice but to sit back and watch without helping.

“What are we making today?”

“Katsudon (pork cutlet served on top of a bowl of rice).”

“Okay. Katsudon…..Katsudon?”

“Yes. Katsudon. What’s wrong with that?”

“Ah, no…it’s just that is a very hearty meal for breakfast. Could it be Narumi….wait, no. Was Tsujikawa family’s breakfast usually like this?”

“No way. I can eat it without any problem, but my dad and mom don’t eat that much.”

She could eat it…No, it was not strange for Kotomi-chan to eat that.

What surprised me the most since I started staying at this house was how much Kotomi-chan ate. She really ate a lot. I guess you could call her a glutton. The other night at dinner, she ate at least three large bowls of rice. Before the summer vacation, she had to cut back on her eating because of the atmosphere at home, but now that the problem was somewhat resolved, she started to eat as much as she used to.

“I’m fine with this much food every morning, but I can’t force my preferences on everyone, and……above all, there’s the matter of nutritional balance.”

“Then……why katsudon today?”

“It’s a good luck charm.”

I wonder if she was talking about something like winning a battle. As I was thinking about what she was trying to win, Kotomi-chan said as she took out the necessary ingredients from the refrigerator.

“Kazemiya-senpai, you are going to the swimming pool today with my brother and the president and the others, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but……eh? Does that have something to do with it? But why katsudon?”

“The pool is all about swimsuits. This is the perfect chance to make my brother fall in love with your swimsuit senpai. It’s a battle. So I thought I’d have a katsudon to get your good luck.”

“M-make him fall in love…”

Kotomi-chan knew that I like Narumi. I myself became aware of my feelings for Narumi because of Kotomi-chan. That was probably why she was trying to help me in this way.

“I’ve only been living with my brother for a few months, but I can at least tell you that he’s dull.”

“Well……that’s for sure.”

“Despite the fact that such a beautiful person is under the same roof, he hasn’t become a wild beast who gives in to the impulses of youth and devours the fruits of his instincts….”

“Wait.”

Un. Let’s stop. Let’s stop for a second. I must have heard her wrong.

“Sorry. I guess I’m still half asleep. I didn’t hear you very well, so can you say it again?”

“Even though Kazemiya-senpai is under the same roof, he and you are not melting into each other and becoming one on the moonlit bed, devouring each other’s bodies….”

“Kotomi-chan, calm down a bit.”

“….ha. I’m sorry. I got a little heated.”

“A little…a little, huh…”

A few definitions seemed to waver in my mind.

“I’m sorry. This is what happens when I try to remember the contents of a reference book I got from a friend.”

“A reference book?”

“Yes. I am not familiar with this kind of love affair, so I asked my friend for advice. Then I asked my friend for help and she lent me some reference books. I was wondering if I could help you, Kazemiya-senpai. Would you like to read it too?”

“… thanks. I’ll just take the feelings.”

“I see. It was very……very very interesting and informative…”

Kotomi-chan’s words were so very, very heartfelt. ……Maybe I just found out that the head of the first place in first grade was about to be dyed peachy…..let’s not touch it. I think a snake was about to come out of the bushes.

“….Thanks. For your support.”

“…No, don’t worry about it. It’s not only to atone for my sins against Kazemiya-senpai and my brother, but it’s also for my own benefit.”

“Your own benefit?”

“The lover of my brother is also my sister-in-law. If that person is a villainous woman who leads the kingdom to ruin or a villainous daughter of a ducal family who uses all kinds of tricks to ensnare a commoner hero to make the prince her own, then that’s a problem.”

“………I see?”

There was so much extraneous information that it took me a while to process it in my head, but I got the gist of it.

I guess the bottom line was that she didn’t want her brother’s girlfriend to be a bad person.

I also learned a little about the contents of some of the “reference books” that Kotomi-chan had borrowed was about.

“On that point, I can trust Kazemiya to take care of my brother with ease. Also being able to live with him during this summer vacation was also a big benefit. I think it was a good simulation of living together.”

“L-living together…”

“I thought that if you become lovers, eventually it will happen.”

While I was preoccupied with what was in front of me, Kotomi-chan seemed to be thinking far into the future. As one would expect from the top student in the first year. She had a broad perspective.

“A love nest for just the two of you, undisturbed…where you mingle like beasts every night in one bed without stopping until morning…”

Correction. It was just out of control, this one.

“Kotomi-chan. Come back.”

What should I do, should I tell Narumi? Her stepsister’s brain was turning pink. And it was too late to do anything about it.

“….Cough. I’m sorry. I seem to have become overzealous in my thinking. Perhaps because I recently started writing with a friend, I seem to have gotten into the habit of piling on the thoughts.”

“Writing?”

Yes. A friend in the literature club recommended me to write a novel for……Dojinshi? Usuihon? I think it was called……but whatever the name, we decided to collaborate on a thin reference book. I’m not familiar with these things, but I heard from …… that ‘we’re not ready for summer now, so let’s hit the winter b*g sight,’ and that there are academic festivals in summer and winter where a lot of homemade reference books are exhibited.” (+) 

“I-I see.”

Unfortunately, I was not an expert on literature either. I’d never even heard of the academic festivals held in the summer and winter. …But when I thought about Kotomi-chan’s “reference book”……un. I’d rather stop thinking about it.

“Regardless, today’s pool is a very big opportunity. Please appeal to my brother in your swimsuit. I’ll be rooting for you.”

Appeal……un. I know. I honestly didn’t think that far ahead, but I should have.

Next year we would be third-year students. We wouldn’t have many chances to play, so I have to work hard during this summer vacation.

“Thanks. I’ll do my best.”

“I will expect a good report from you.”

Let’s do our best. To live up to the expectations of Kotomi-chan, who supported me. And above all, for me.

“My brother brings Kazemiya into the shadows to hide her from a classmate who happens to run into them. ……Unable to control his possessive desire, my brother’s hands untie her swimsuit, exposing the white skin hidden by the enchanting fabric….”

“I’m sorry Kotomi-chan. I wonder if that much is expected of me…..”