When I went downstairs, Mom and Masataka-san were discussing something in the living room.
Mom noticed me and our eyes met.
“Oh? Is something wrong?”
“Yeah. Just a little…”
I glanced at Masataka-san.
The man who had become my father today briefly exchanged a look with Mom before quietly rising from the sofa.
“Misuzu-san, I’ll take my bath first.”
Misuzu was my mother’s name. Once I’d confirmed that Masataka-san had disappeared in the direction of the bathroom, Mom patted the sofa cushion twice. I sat down as she’d invited me to.
“I’m sorry about the bed. Maybe we should just order another futon online?”
“It’s fine. It’s not your fault, and we’d just be wasting money.”
“Honestly, you…”
Mom gently stroked my head.
“You don’t need to worry about things like that. Meno, you’re such a good girl that sometimes it worries me.”
“…Mm.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to get along with Mito-chan?”
“Well, that’s…”
I struggled to find the words. Seeing this, Mom’s eyes softened.
“If you think you can’t manage, you have to tell me. I’ll figure something out when that happens.”
“Figure something out how?”
“I’ll figure it out somehow.”
Mom smiled as she said it.
She had never let me see her looking sad. In the five years since Dad died, at least as far as I could remember, she hadn’t shown me a sad expression even once.
Not even when I’d reached the point where I couldn’t take a single step outside my own room.
I loved my mother. I’d caused her plenty of trouble, too. That was precisely why I wanted her to be happy.
I stood up from the sofa and spoke to her.
“It’ll be fine. Mito-chan is a really nice girl, and you don’t need to worry about anything, Mom.”
I’d already given her more than enough reasons to worry about me, what with my being a shut-in and all. I didn’t want to do anything else that would add to her burden.
For Mom’s sake, and for the peace of our household, I’d get along with Mito well enough that she wouldn’t have to worry about us.
Even if it was only an act. Even if it was all fake.
I would still play the part of her big sister properly.
I returned to my room and opened the door.
At that very moment, the night breeze brushed against my cheek.
“Huh?”
The curtains billowed in the wind. The window was open.
There was no one in the room.
I looked around. On the bed lay the clothes Mito-chan had been wearing a little while ago, neatly folded. Her sailor uniform, on the other hand, was gone.
A scrap of notebook paper sat on the study desk. I picked it up and read the hurried message written in blue ink.
I’m staying at Nazuna-chan’s house tonight.
She lives nearby, so don’t worry. And don’t tell the two of them, okay?
In a daze, I looked down at the ground beneath the window.
The roof jutted out at an angle, extending over the entrance. If you had decent enough athletic ability, you might be able to make your way along the roof and land on the ground.
I’d never even considered doing such a thing before.
Ah. No way.
That was what I thought.
The worlds she and I saw were fatally out of sync. Our values were simply too different.
The Mito-chan before my eyes was like an alien who had come from an entirely different planet.
I couldn’t bring myself to jump out of a second-story window. Staying out overnight without permission was out of the question, too. And I didn’t even want to think about what kind of relationship she had with this “Nazuna-chan,” or what the two of them were doing together.
I was scared.
People were frightening creatures.
Getting involved with other people was terrifying. Especially when the other person was an alien.
I closed the window and fastened the crescent lock.
“You don’t have to tell me. I won’t say anything.”
I didn’t want to burden Mom, who had already been through so much, with any more unnecessary worries. I’d have to find some way to cover this up.
Today really had been the worst day.
I folded the piece of paper in half. That was when I noticed something written on the back, too.
I unfolded it again.
Big Sis, you can have the bed.
I’ll try not to get in your way too much, so let’s get along, okay?
I looked out the window. The seaside town lay beneath the still, silent curtain of night.
No way.
Could it be… for my sake?
Because I’d insisted on sleeping on the floor? Because I’d said I liked being alone?
When I’m all alone, I get anxious.
That was what Mito-chan had told me.
She was cute and precocious, yet childish. She kissed adult women, and yet, deep down, she was probably just a lonely girl.
She was my stepsister.
“Oh, come on!”
I tossed the note into the bedside cabinet and slipped on my indoor slippers. I threw a cardigan over my shoulders and shoved the spare key into my pocket.
The front door was out of the question. Someone would surely stop me, and if they asked why I was going out, I wouldn’t be able to answer.
Which meant there was only one way out.
I flipped up the crescent lock and opened the window.
Looking down, I swallowed hard.
It was much higher than I’d imagined. Honestly, I was scared.
Terrified, in fact.
But still.
Flinching at the cold night breeze blowing into the room, I cautiously placed one foot on the window frame.
And then, in the most literal sense of the word, I leaped out of my room.