Both my stepmother and I knew that Lily's excuse was just her way of taking a break, but neither of us called her out on it. Instead, my stepmother simply played along.
"Alright then. Let your brother help you, but make sure you've taken your shower before eleven."
"Got it!"
Lily wasn't a bad kid. She quickly turned off the TV, grabbed my hand, and dragged me to her room to help with the questions she didn't understand.
My backpack was still slung over my shoulder, but seeing how adorable she looked, I couldn't refuse her.
Lily's room was a space I had visited countless times, thanks to how close we were. It had a soft, feminine vibe neat and clean, decorated with plush toys and cute but ultimately useless trinkets.
The room carried a unique scent that was distinctly hers, light and sweet, like fresh flowers mixed with a hint of vanilla.
Settling down, I started explaining the problems she was stuck on, and Lily listened attentively. She wasn't a fast learner, but she was patient and determined.
Sometimes I had to explain a question two or three times before it clicked, but there was never a case where she failed to understand in the end. Before I knew it, the clock had ticked past ten.
"You can finish the rest using the formulas I just explained," I said, closing her notebook. "I'll head to the shower first, then I need to study a bit too."
Lily glanced at the clock and stood up from her chair.
"Can I shower first?" She asks me, probably asking if I was going to take a shower first or something.
"Huh? What about finishing the rest of your work?"
"Mom said before eleven, but if I don't finish by ten-thirty, she always nags me about it." She sighed, clearly frustrated by the routine.
Now that I thought about it, she was right. Since my stepmother never really nagged me about these things, I hadn't noticed before.
Ever since high school, it felt like I'd been set free. Neither my stepmother nor my dad bothered me about my habits anymore. At first, I thought it was because I'd grown up, and they trusted me to handle things on my own.
But then my thoughts wandered back to the strange realizations I'd been having lately. Could it be that when I told them that I didn't need them to manage and correct me on small things in my life, it somehow became an unspoken rule, a common understanding Between them?
The idea sounded absurd, yet the more I thought about it, the more it unsettled me. And since Lily was right here, I decided to test my theory.
"Actually," I said after a pause, "I don't want to shower too late either. How about we shower together?" The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted it.
My mind flashed back to when we were kids probably around kindergarten age when we used to bathe together.
But now? At our age? The mere suggestion made me cringe, and I braced myself, already imagining the look of disgust Lily would throw my way.
Instead, she just blinked at me with a neutral expression, then said, "Go grab your change of clothes." Her tone was casual, as if I'd just asked her to pass the salt at dinner.
It's hard to say at what age siblings typically stop bathing together. I doubt there's a definitive number but probably when they began to develop their mind, but I'm pretty sure people like me are in the minority.
I entered the bathroom first and began filling the tub with hot water. While waiting, I rinsed off under the shower, letting the warm spray wash away the day's fatigue.
Halfway through my rinse, the door creaked open.
Lily stepped in. Completely bare Naked. Her flawless figure was suddenly right in front of me, her porcelain skin glistening faintly under the bathroom light.
Let me emphasize, Lily was the kind of girl who could easily be the school's beauty queen like those in manga and romance or rom-com novels. Her looks were one thing, but her body? That was another level entirely.
It was hard to judge her proportions when she wore clothes, but now that she stood naked before me, I realized her charm wasn't limited to her face or personality.
Her skin was smooth and unblemished, a pale tone that almost seemed to glow. Her breasts, while not overly large, were perfectly shaped round, firm, and slumping downwards thanks to gravity.
Though her nipples weren't a delicate pink like in those hentai or manga or in those fantasy worlds, the slightly darker hue added a sense of reality like thing without betraying her beautiful figure.
Her waist was slender but not frail, thanks to regular exercise and a disciplined diet. Her toned body maintained a natural softness without appearing thin or unhealthy.
Her thighs, particularly, drew my attention. They had just the right amount of flesh, creating elegant curves that highlighted her feminine charm.
As she stepped closer, the gentle sway of her hips and the graceful arc of her legs almost seemed deliberate, commanding attention without effort.
Even down there, it was clear she took care of herself. Her hair was neatly trimmed minimal but there.
"We haven't done this in, what, nine years?" Lily smiled shyly, her cheeks slightly flushed.
She made a weak attempt to cover herself with her hands, but it did little to hide her figure. Meanwhile, her gaze shifted to me, scanning my body before stopping at my abdomen.
"You've got abs! That's awesome!" She giggled and playfully poked my stomach.
"Studying takes a lot of energy, you know? I've been working out regularly," I replied, brushing off her comment. It was true back when I wasn't exercising, I'd get tired easily whenever I studied at night. Working out had changed that.
"I guess that makes sense," she said, nodding thoughtfully. "But I work out too, and I don't have abs."
Her eyes wandered lower, and she suddenly blurted out, "This is my first time seeing a guy's… you know."