Final Chapter: Whose Do You Think It Is?
Some time had passed since the Izu trip where various things were settled. It was late August.
I visited Meru in her room and started the conversation like this.
"Let's break up."
Meru, still sitting in her gaming chair, looked up at my face intently. "After enjoying yourself so much."
"Don't make it sound so bad. ...To be honest, it was fun. Just a little. But this is my way of getting closure."
Originally, the provisional lover contract was supposed to be for two months.
Today is exactly two months.
The promise was that if she could make me understand the merits of having a lover by this day, we would become a real couple.
But things have changed.
"I want to reset. Now that things from seven years ago have been put to rest... I want to reset everything and face you all anew."
That was my way of facing the present.
The way for the me of now to find an answer.
"...I see. Okay."
"I'm sure it won't be easy for you to accept—huh? Okay?"
"It's okay, we can break up."
I was taken aback by her all-too-easy answer. I thought she would have argued with some kind of logic...
Meru tilted her head slightly. "Did you think I'd throw a tantrum and say I don't want to break up? You're a bit full of yourself, aren't you?"
"G-guh..."
Why do I have to be the one to feel embarrassed?
Meru let out a small laugh and got up from her gaming chair. "Well then, since we're officially not provisional lovers anymore."
And with a light step, she walked over to me—
And grabbed my shoulders as if capturing me.
I didn't even have time to feel a sense of danger.
Meru pulled my shoulders towards her and pressed her lips against mine.
"Wha—!"
When I hastily pulled my face away, Meru looked perfectly calm.
"What are you doing all of a sudden!"
"Well, we broke up, which means we can do more than just kiss, right?"
Ah! True, not doing more than kissing was a restriction under the provisional lover contract, so—
"No! If you're not going out, you normally wouldn't do more than kiss!"
"You've been doing it with everyone else."
My throat tightened.
"H-how do you know!?"
"Chinana has been telling everyone. Ran-nee doesn't say anything, but you can just tell from the atmosphere."
"That little brat...!"
The face of Chinana sticking out her tongue artfully floated into my mind. Wouldn't she have been quieter if I hadn't figured out her identity?
"So, get ready. It was your bad luck to come into my room."
"Hey, you idiot...! That's not a joke!"
"From the very beginning—it hasn't been a joke."
And with that, Meru sealed my mouth once more.
That's right.
This pro gamer was serious about everything she did.
A few days later, I was cleaning the living room.
Listening to the sound of the vacuum cleaner felt comforting, like I had returned to my daily life. For a while after that trip ended, Ranka would turn beet red and run away every time she saw me, and Chinana wouldn't stop acting like she was my girlfriend with her arms crossed behind her back. Going to Lover's Point with me was apparently a huge advantage for her.
Meru, of course, has been coming on to me as strongly as ever since the day we broke up—at this rate, there was no point in breaking up. I had recently been wary and avoided entering her room alone.
The only one who's been quiet is Kikuri. She's been cooped up in her room as usual—
"Kimiko-kun."
"Hm?"
I turned around to find a naked Kikuri.
"Wh-!? You, what are you...!"
"I hear you've been kissing."
"Huh?"
"I hear you've been kissing. With everyone but me."
With her hands placed boldly on her hips, Kikuri closed in on me.
"Before you start questioning people, you should be aware of the criminality of your own appearance!"
"Not bad, not bad. I thought you were a cowardly impotent, but I've reevaluated you. However, that aside—"
Quickly setting aside those completely unacceptable words, Kikuri brought her face close to mine. "Do you understand my position right now?"
"Y-your position...?"
"My position, being constantly looked down on by my little sisters, who are experienced kissers, saying things like 'That's no big deal' and 'His lips were a little chapped. I'll have to put some lip balm on him before next time' and 'Tongue kissing is surprisingly difficult...'!"
"...Ah..."
I wanted to sympathize, but being a party involved, it was hard to say anything.
"B-but you said it yourself. That it's best if the five of us get along... that being open is better than doing things behind each other's backs..."
"That's a separate issue! I can't stand being looked down on by little girls who can't even watch porn!"
Is being able to watch porn really that great? —Before I could retort, Kikuri grabbed my shoulders.
I had a sense of déjà vu.
"So, Kimiko-kun—do it with me, too."
Kikuri started pushing my shoulders. My knees quickly caught on the sofa cushion, and I dropped the vacuum cleaner I was holding.
As I was forced to sit on the sofa, a naked Kikuri loomed over me.
She brushed back her dangling hair with an annoyed look and licked her lips. "Don't worry, you're in good hands. I have plenty of knowledge."
"Knowledge from porn!"
"Bust is 82 centimeters, C-cup. No experience yet."
"Don't start with an interview!"
And Kikuri squeezed her eyes shut and brought her face close with a rush.
Our foreheads collided.
"Ow...!"
"~~~~~~~~~~!!"
We both writhed in agony on the sofa.
"If you close your eyes and bring your face close, of course this is going to happen...!"
"B-but you're supposed to close your eyes when you kiss..."
"You close them while gauging the distance!"
Damn it, this is so annoying!
I switched positions and pushed Kikuri against the back of the sofa, brought my face close to hers, and when I could feel her breath, I closed my eyes and lightly touched my lips to hers.
"...You do it like this. Got it?"
When I opened my eyelids and whispered up close, Kikuri's ears turned bright red in an instant.
Seeing her reaction, I belatedly realized that I had done something outrageous on impulse.
Come to think of it... isn't this the first time I've initiated a kiss...?
The thought made my face flush, and I moved away from Kikuri. "This is good enough, right...! Get your one-upmanship back to your heart's content!"
Kikuri, her eyes wide with surprise, traced her own lips with her fingertips—
"Again! Again!" she said, reaching both hands out to me and starting to whine like a baby.
"No way! Do it with a pillow or something!"
"Awwwww!"
Kikuri pouted her lips in dissatisfaction.
If you could get a kiss just by being selfish, no one would have any trouble.
Kikuri stood up from the sofa and brushed her hair off her white shoulders. Come to think of it, she was naked. I'm getting used to it now. "Well, as a first kiss, it wasn't bad. Let's use tongue next time."
"We're not."
There are no plans for a next time.
"Speaking of first kisses," Kikuri's face changed to that of a mischievous friend, and she put her arm around my shoulders.
"Who was your first kiss? Was it Meru, timing-wise? Or maybe you did it with Chinana seven years ago?"
"...Do I have to say?"
"I feel like my lips are getting loose~~. I might just let it slip that Kimiko-kun pushed me down and kissed me~~."
This girl...! To find a person's weak point in an instant...! If she bragged about something like that, things would get even more complicated!
"...My first was..."
"Your first was?"
I somehow managed to pry open my throat, which was instinctively trying to close, and forced out the words.
"...M-m............my sister..."
"..................Hmm... I see..." Kikuri replied, her voice suddenly dropping in temperature, and she removed her arm from my shoulders.
"Your sister... I see... hmm..."
"Don't be weirded out! It was an accident when we were horsing around as kids! The only reason I even remember it is because Shinomi still brings it up all the time, otherwise it wouldn't even count!"
"Well, yeah. I guess it's a good thing your only female experience in life didn't end with just your sister..."
"Hey! I don't accept that! A girl who's trying to share a guy with her sisters has no right to be weirded out by something like this!"
Kikuri went up the stairs without even trying to hide her white ass.
Kissing or taking a bath with your stepsister isn't that big a deal, is it!
'What was in this one again?'
'Wasn't it a wiener?'
'I think it was natto.'
'Ugh, seriously, natto in takoyaki~'
From the smartphone propped up next to my open notebook, the voices of the four sisters could be heard.
On the stream screen, the familiar living room table with a takoyaki maker on it, and the three beautiful girls surrounding it were shown. And in the bottom right corner, Kuriki Hisoka, participating virtually.
It was an impromptu Kichijouji family takoyaki party stream.
Of course, I had prepared the ingredients for the takoyaki beforehand. I was now watching over them while studying, to see if they were cooking it properly. Well, I think the only way you can mess up takoyaki is by burning it, but these guys sometimes do the most ridiculous things...
'Who wanted ginger ale~'
'Me.'
Meru held out a plain mug, and Chinana poured ginger ale into it from an expensive-looking bottle. Even a simple juice like this looks expensive in this house.
...Hm?
Wait a minute, that mug...
<Isn't that mug a guy's?>
Just after the doubt crossed my mind, a comment like that passed by in the corner of my vision, and a shiver of dread ran down my spine.
That's... mine.
Even though I'm a housekeeper, I do have opportunities to drink coffee, so Ranka had gone out of her way to get it for me...
Other viewers must have noticed from that comment, as comments about the mug gradually started to increase.
It's supposed to be that only women live in this house... If word gets out that there's a man's mug here...!
Meru's eyes turned towards the bottom of the screen, where the comment section was presumably located.
And there's no doubt, she noticed the comments about the mug.
Ignore it!
I screamed in my mind, but Meru said,
'...Ah, you mean this?'
She lifted the mug she was holding slightly and said nonchalantly,
'This is my boyfriend's.'
...Huh?
My thoughts came to a halt.
I thought the other three would surely be surprised by her sudden bombshell—but Chinana just grinned and followed up.
'That's right, that was his boyfriend's.'
Then, Ranka smirked.
'Yeah, it was her boyfriend's. She must have grabbed it by mistake.'
Finally, Kikuri, with a laugh, said,
'You can't show that on the stream~. It's her boyfriend's, you know~'
What are these guys talking about!?
Naturally, the comment section was now flooded with one question.
<Whose boyfriend!?>
Looking at the rapidly scrolling comment section, the four of them smiled meaningfully—
Looked at the camera—
As if looking at me on the other side—
And said in unison.
"Whose do you think it is?"
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