Ayase daintily put a hand to her mouth and giggled.
Dad and Akiko, watching us nervously, smiled in relief.
My first meeting with my stepsister went relatively smoothly.
It was pretty different from what I'd rehearsed in my mind beforehand,
but I thought I did a good job adapting. By the looks of things, I thought
we could manage a nice, neutral relationship.
That first gathering of the Asamuras and the Ayases continued amicably,
and we decided to call it a night a little after ten, since we all had to start
early the next day.
Dad and Akiko said they would use the restroom and pay the check, so
Ayase and I went outside to wait for them.
The Dogenzaka area of Shibuya was lively even late at night. After
taking in the scenery—loud, drunk men, women in gaudy clothes, and
workers calling customers into their shops—I glanced at my stepsister
beside me.
She was clad in an eye-catching outfit, no different from those passing
by. Exactly the kind of girl I thought I'd never be involved with.
But our conversation inside the restaurant had given me a sense of her
deep intellect.
You couldn't judge a book by its cover. Appearance had nothing to do
with a person's personality or manners, though it'd be kind of nice if it
was that simple.
Still, I sensed something more behind her friendly attitude, an
uneasiness that I found hard to describe.
And it wasn't long before I found out what it was.
"Hey, Asamura," she said. "I want to talk before our parents come
out."
"Is there something you can't tell them?"
"Yeah. To be specific, it's something I can only tell you."
"I won your trust with just that brief conversation? Wow, I must be
amazing."
"I can tell from the way you talk and joke around and your expression
that you're pretty chill. That's why I think you'll totally understand what
I'm about to say."
"Oh…"
That made sense. Basically, she was like me. That would explain the
uneasiness I'd been feeling.
And that's when she said it. Looking back, her words must have set the
tone for our relationship as siblings.
"I won't expect anything from you, and I don't want you to expect
anything from me."
"You understand exactly what I mean by that, right?" she asked.
I saw my face steadily reflected in her eyes as she waited for my
response.
Of course, my answer was clear.
Her words might have sounded like a cold "stay away from me" to
some people, but to me, it was the most honest proposal I could imagine.
"I'm relieved to hear you say that," I replied. "I can finally relax."
"Yeah. Me too."
"We'll stick to that rule, then, Ayase."
"Thanks, Asamura."
And that's how I, Yuuta Asamura, and my stepsister, Saki Ayase,
began our relationship as stepsiblings.
"'Welcome to our home!' …That's not quite right… 'We'll be living
under the same roof now, huh?!' …No, that sounds a little creepy. Hmm."
Eyeing the piles of boxes on the floor and the brand-new furniture that
had arrived the day before, I stared into the mirror and practiced my lines
like some kind of one-man show.
It was five in the evening.
I was sitting in one of the rooms in our third-floor apartment, located in
Japan's most upscale neighborhood (okay, that might be a bit of an
exaggeration).
Our place had three bedrooms, a living area, dining room, and kitchen.
It had felt too big for just my dad and me, but starting today, it would be a
little cramped. How would I greet the new members of our family, arriving
any moment? That was what I'd been contemplating for the last five
minutes.
Things had already started off on the wrong foot.
It made sense that Dad would prepare the room he and Akiko would
use.
But to have me, a teenage guy, help set up a room for a girl I'd just met
the day before? Even if she was going to be my little sister, wasn't that
kind of insensitive?
"Oh, crap," said my dad. "Where did that thing go?"
"What's the matter?"
Dad was walking back and forth in the hallway, mumbling and looking
troubled.
"Oh, there you are. Do you know where the Febreze is?"
"I think it's in the living room. I left it there after using it on the drapes
yesterday."
"Oh, the living room! Thanks!"
Dad slapped his slippers noisily against the floor and hurried to the living room.
"What's with the last-minute rush?"
"I left the bedroom for last, but once I started, I got worried about the
smell… I'd be devastated if Akiko thought I stank…"
"Are you that sensitive?"
"It's a critical issue at my age! You're still young, but give it twenty
years, and you'll be just like me."
"I feel like you're cursing me."
I watched Dad run into his and Akiko's future bedroom, clutching a
bottle of Febreze, and sighed.
If you're that worried, I thought, then clean every day; don't wait until
the last minute. But I supposed that was a bit much to ask of a busy office
worker.
"My room's okay…right?"
I was starting to get a little worried.
I'd promised Ayase that we wouldn't expect anything from each other,
but I wasn't so short on common sense that I'd ask her to come into a
room that smelled like a male high schooler on her first day in the house.
But on the other hand, I'd cleaned it, washed the sheets, and sprayed
everything with Febreze, so unless my nose was broken, it should be okay.
I was sitting there, happy with the results of the past few days, when
the doorbell rang.
…They were finally here.
"Yuuta! Will you get that?"
"Coming!"
I half ran to the door in place of my dad. It seemed he didn't know
when to give up and was still holding the Febreze, spraying away.
"Hello ther— Huh?"
I had intended to be friendly and cheerful.
But the perfect smile on my face froze the moment I opened the door.
Akiko stood there, holding several department-store shopping bags in
both hands.
The bags were so stuffed, things were spilling out of them, including a
huge leg of prosciutto. Everything seemed to have a big, exaggerated
presence.
"Uh, Akiko. What is all that…?"
"I bought these to thank you for taking us in!"
"So much? You didn't have to."