The bus stop for the route heading away from the city was in front of a park, just three minutes from my house. It was a park with a large cherry tree, surrounded by flowerbeds full of European violets.
I stood nearby, waiting for the bus carrying the girl I had yet to meet, my new stepsister.
The spring sky, once a pale shade of blue, had gradually begun to deepen into indigo as the afternoon wore on.
Watching the cars pass along the street, I wondered what my future stepsister might be like.
What kind of girl is she, anyway?
Since she was Masataka’s daughter, perhaps she was an intelligent, refined girl who loved literature. If so, I felt we might get along reasonably well. But if she turned out to be the athletic type, or a flashy gal…
Yeah. I’d run away. Without looking back, at full speed.
A little while later, a bus pulled smoothly into the stop.
Several men and women got off.
Among them was a girl wearing a stylish sailor-style school uniform with a light-blue summer cardigan draped over it. An amber-colored schoolbag hung from her back. Her face was hidden in shadow, so I couldn’t get a good look at her.
There were no other students around, so she had to be the one.
She seemed to have a poor sense of direction, or perhaps she’d simply misunderstood where she was, because she started walking the wrong way. I called out to her.
“E-excuse me! Um, are you Kujo Mito-chan?”
The girl stopped.
She might have mistaken me for some kind of suspicious stranger. I hurriedly introduced myself before she could get the wrong idea.
“H-hello! I’m Sako Meno, and starting today, I’ll be your stepsister. I look forward to getting along with you!”
Once I’d finished, I let out a small breath of relief.
The ends of my hair, which barely reached my shoulders, swayed in the breeze. The girl turned around, revealing a face with distinctly youthful features.
It felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck beneath a clear sky.
“That’s not right.”
The girl stared at me, who had frozen in place, then flashed that familiar, goofy grin.
“We’ve already met. This is our second time, remember?”
“N-no way…”
Without realizing it, I took a step backward.
Why?
How could this be happening?
My thoughts tangled into a hopeless mess.
“Fancy seeing you again, big sis. You’re pretty fast on your feet, huh?”
Kujo Mito was…
My stepsister, the girl I’d be sharing a bedroom with from now on, was…
The suspicious middle school girl I’d seen kissing an adult woman in the park that morning.
…
“U-um, this way. Please, come on in.”
“Okaaay!”
She cheerfully followed behind me.
I took another look at the girl who would soon be my stepsister.
She was shorter than I was, though, to be fair, I was a little taller than average. Her legs, visible beneath her skirt, were long and slender. Her features were simply exquisite. Looking at her now, she seemed like nothing more than an innocent middle school girl.
And that was precisely why I couldn’t stop remembering what I’d seen in the park that morning: her standing on the tips of her loafers, lifting her heels as she stretched up to kiss that woman.
Who was that woman? What kind of relationship did they have? Did Masataka know about it? Was Mito in any danger?
Questions kept bubbling up, one after another, until I shook my head vigorously.
I mustn’t take an interest in other people. I mustn’t interfere in their affairs.
Getting involved with people was frightening.
Especially with a suspicious middle school girl like this one.
Oh, right. I was going to be sharing a bedroom with her from today onward.
It’s over for me…
“What’s wrong, big sis? You look like you’re about to die.”
Mito gave me a puzzled look.
“N-no… It’s nothing. Just something on my mind.”
“Hmm.”
“…Um.”
“Yeees?”
She tilted her head ever so slightly. It was unbearably adorable. I could almost imagine invisible stardust sparkling in the air behind her.
It was strange. Every little gesture she made seemed to shine, drawing my eyes toward her. I’d never actually met one in person, but she had the sort of presence that made me think, this is the kind of girl who becomes an idol or an actress.
At the same time, there was something fragile about her clear, bright eyes. Something like a cat that might disappear the moment you looked away, or a delicate glass ornament that could shatter at the slightest touch.
Feeling somewhat overwhelmed by her presence, I somehow managed to speak.
“Um… You already knew who I was that morning, didn’t you?”
When our eyes had met in the park, she’d looked at my face as if she’d recognized me.
Mito burst into laughter.
“Of course I did! They showed me your picture. So when I saw you, I thought, ‘Huh? Wait, could that be her?’ But seriously, big sis, didn’t you recognize me?”
“I’m sorry. I’ve always been bad at remembering people’s faces.”
Now that she mentioned it, Mom must have shown me a picture of Mito at some point. And yet I hadn’t recognized her at all.
What an embarrassing blunder.
“Ohhh, I see. I’m super good at that, though. Once I see someone, I pretty much never forget their face.”
“I see…”
That sounds like something a social butterfly would say, I thought.
“By the way, big sis, what social media do you use?”
“Oh, um… I don’t use any.”
“No way!”
Mito looked at me as if she’d just spotted a ghost in broad daylight.
“Then how do you keep in touch with people?”
“I-I use a messaging app to talk to M-Mom…”
“What about your friends?”
“……”
I didn’t have any.
After a moment, Mito spoke, looking a little awkward.
“…Was that something I shouldn’t have asked?”
“N-no, it’s fine. People can live on their own, even without friends.”
“Ehhh… Poor big sis…”
I’d just been pitied.
By a middle school girl.
My own stepsister, whom I’d only just met.
I wanted to die. To dissolve into nothingness and disappear.
I cleared my throat and desperately tried to change the subject.
“Um, Mito-chan? There’s something about the way you call me ‘big sis’…”
“What about it? You’re a first-year in high school, right? So you’re my big sis.”
“Ugh…”
She looked at me with those big, sparkling eyes, and I could only groan.
She was right, of course. This girl wasn’t a stranger anymore. She was family.
My stepsister.
At least, technically speaking.
“But, um… It just feels a little strange…”
“Oh, really? Then if you’d prefer something else, just tell me what you want. ‘Big Sister,’ ‘Senpai,’ or maybe ‘Mommy’?”
“I see. Mommy, huh… Wait, WHAT?!”
“I usually charge extra for special options, but since you’re really my big sis, I’ll give you that one for free!”
“W-what… Um, what exactly are you talking about?”
What on earth did she mean by extra options?
Ignoring my mounting confusion, Mito continued.
“Hmm. Maybe ‘Mommy’ really would be best? You kind of have a motherly vibe, big sis.”
Something told me that was absolutely not an option.
“P-please just call me big sis. Starting today, I’m your big sis.”
“Okaaay!”
Mito raised her loosely clenched fist.
Huh? Did she want to play rock-paper-scissors or something?
“C’mon, big sis. You too.”
“Um, w-well… Shall we start with rock?”
“What are you talking about? It’s a fist bump! It means, ‘Let’s get along from now on!'”
“A fist… Huh…?”
“C’mon, c’mon!”
Her small, soft fingers, as delicate as a baby’s, took hold of my hand. Starting with my index finger, she gently curled my fingers inward one by one.
“Big sis, are you kind of a hopeless person?”
“W-what…? Well, I suppose I am a bit of a failure as a human being…”
“I don’t mind hopeless people.”
“Yes… Wait, what?”
“Yay! The Hopeless People Alliance!”
“Y-yay…?”
Our fists bumped together.
Mito gave me a floppy, carefree smile. Seeing it from such close range, I couldn’t help staring in admiration.
Cute.
So very cute.
Maybe I could actually manage being sisters with this girl. Maybe we’d get along better than I’d expected.
No, no, no!
Why was I letting myself get won over in a matter of seconds? Even I was surprised by how easily I’d fallen for it.
Was I just that gullible? Or was this girl unnaturally good at worming her way into people’s hearts?
It had to be the latter.
And yet, Mito, smiling so happily, looked pure, innocent, and transparent as crystal from every angle.
For just one brief moment, I found myself thinking that having a little sister like her might not be so bad after all.
And that, whether I liked it or not, was an undeniable fact.