Finding the Shape of Love - Chapter 13

I’m being pursued by two cute girls named Yoko and Koume. Ugh, being this popular is exhausting! Not that I’m in that kind of mood at all.

I’m naturally the type who finds things bothersome, and I’m not like that anyway, but probably anyone would feel this way if one of them was their four-years-younger biological sister. Sigh, what a pain.

Just moments ago, my sister was masturbating in my room. What an unbelievable sister. Yesterday she still seemed somewhat embarrassed about it, but today she was heated up from the start – to the point where I had to cover her mouth to tell her to at least keep quiet.

But honestly, even my slight irritation got transformed into excitement because I was watching Yoko’s face up close. She even licked my palm. Really, what am I supposed to do?

How did she grow up to be such a pervert? Was my upbringing bad? No, that can’t be right. While her becoming a spoiled daughter who loves me might be my fault, her turning into this sex monster is definitely something else.

Even manufacturers have limits to their responsibility. If food goes bad after leaving their hands and causes food poisoning, they can’t be held responsible. Yoko cultivated her own sexual desires and preferences herself. It’s not my fault.

While justifying things to myself like that, I finished washing my hands and returned to my room, sighing as I collapsed onto my bed and picked up my phone. That’s when I finally noticed Koume had messaged me over an hour ago.

“Ah, that’s right.”

I remembered before my bath, but got so flustered I completely forgot.

‘Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m free now if you are, but have you gone to sleep?’

I replied immediately. It was past 10 PM. She’s probably awake, but it wouldn’t be strange if she’d already gone to bed. I sometimes sleep around this time too.

Come to think of it, what time does Koume usually go to sleep? I still know so little about Koume. As I was thinking about such obvious things, I got an immediate reply – or rather, a reaction.

She called me. I hadn’t expected her to respond so quickly, so I was just spacing out without looking at my screen and got a bit flustered.

“Senpai! Good evening, it’s totally fine!”

“Woah, Koume, you sound energetic.”

I was a bit surprised by Koume’s cheerful, happy voice that came through as soon as the call connected.

“Yes, hehe. When I thought I could talk with senpai, it made me feel energetic.”

“I-I see. That makes me happy.”

Judging by her reaction, she must have been waiting for me all this time. Meanwhile, I was doing stupid things with my sister. The guilt is overwhelming.

“Senpai, do you usually take baths this late?”

“Ah, no, I’d already taken my bath a while ago, but uh, my sister was… Ah, no, of course I didn’t touch her in any weird way.”

If I seriously explained the earlier situation, it would make me seem like part of the perversion too, so I dodged the question while still offering an explanation. Really, I had no ulterior motives.

“Haha, what’s that about? I wouldn’t say anything that harsh. Even if she’s my rival in love, she’s Asahi-senpai’s family after all.”

“R-really? Thanks. Well, I’m also having trouble figuring out the right distance with her. Yeah.”

Koume… that’s not it. If you let your guard down because she’s family, she’ll try to devour you. That’s the kind of monster she is. I wanted to say that, but given the current situation, that joke wouldn’t be taken as a joke, and in many ways it’s no joking matter, so I stopped myself.

I decided to just accept Koume’s kindness in considering that she’s my family. Though there was that abnormality where she tried to GPS track me without permission, but that must be because of Yoko’s existence.

“More importantly, I want to know more about you, senpai. What time do you usually go to sleep?”

Continuing this conversation wouldn’t make anyone happy. I obediently went along with Koume’s topic change.

“Let’s see… I don’t have a set time, but I try to sleep before midnight. I usually wake up a bit before 7 AM.”

“So, you’re the seven-hour sleep type.”

“I guess so. What about you, Koume?”

“I wake up at 6 AM, so around 11 PM. Our sleep times are about the same.”

“Hehe, yeah.”

That’s something to be happy about. It’s kind of cute.

Koume and I talked about our daily habits and things we like, exchanging such trivial information as if introducing ourselves. Even though we’ve known each other for about half a year, it feels strange to say this formally now. But it’s not a bad feeling.

The fact that she wants to know about me is reasonable affection. Honestly, I’m not confident I’ll even remember that Koume always sleeps at 11 PM – it’s that trivial to me – but somehow I felt like I wanted to know now, so I asked whatever came to mind.

“Speaking of which, Koume, since when have you liked me?”

During a break in the conversation, it suddenly occurred to me to ask.

When she confessed, she said it had been “since long ago,” but we only started interacting after sitting next to each other at a committee gathering in April, and even then we just exchanged greetings and small talk, so it could have been anytime. I wonder when and where she found a reason to like me.

“Eh, um… since the first time we met.”

“Eh, since our first meeting?”

“Yes, it was love at first sight.”

Seriously? I had no idea. We just normally greeted each other, introduced ourselves, and said “nice to meet you,” right? And her reaction just seemed like a nervous first-year student?

That’s either being too prone to falling in love, or maybe my appearance is just perfectly Koume’s type?

Since it’s a call, I can’t see her face, which is frustrating. Just from her voice, it doesn’t feel like she’s lying to get by, but do I really have that good of an appearance?

“Koume, what do you like about me?”

“Eh, th-that is…”

“Sorry for asking so many questions. But you know, since it was love at first sight, I thought maybe you liked my appearance?”

“N-no, that’s not it!”

Eh, she denied it with full force. Well, it’s not like I’m conceited enough to think I’m some extraordinary beauty? But you know, everyone has their preferences, and I just thought maybe I scored high within Koume’s very narrow preference range. Really!

“Ah, sorry. I couldn’t help it. But it’s absolutely not just your appearance that I like. Of course, I like your appearance too, but I like your inner self even more. It would hurt me if you thought I only cared about appearances.”

“Ah, I see what you mean.”

Perhaps thinking I was surprised by her intensity, Koume apologized but continued in that firm voice.

She seemed to interpret “do you like my appearance” as asking if that’s all she liked. If that’s the case, I understand. That’s good.

I thought she was saying “I fell for you because of your inner self, don’t get conceited thinking I like your appearance.” That couldn’t be it, but I was feeling a bit happy and my mood was up, so her sharp tone startled me.

First of all, if it was love at first sight, she couldn’t have gotten to know my inner self enough to override not liking my appearance… Wait, is my inner self that visible at a glance? I thought I was the type who keeps things inside, so this is a bit shocking. No no, it’s in a good way, right?

“Sorry for asking something weird. Thank you for answering even though it’s embarrassing.”

“No. I want you to understand just how much I like you, senpai.”

“Koume…”

I wish I could see Koume’s face – her voice is so soft, and it feels like she’ll gently accept whatever I say, making me genuinely think she’s such a good girl.

At the same time, I’m glad I can’t see her face because this is so embarrassing. That she thinks of me so sincerely…

“Hehe. Senpai, I’d be happy if you think of me at least a little more favorably than when I confessed.”

“Hmm, mmm, well, I like you more than last week.”

“Yay! Hehe. I’m happy. I’ll try even harder.”

She’s cute. This girl is cute. I might end up liking her. Just kidding. Basically, even if not in a romantic sense, I like girls who are kind to me and like me.

In that sense, of course I like Yoko too. She’s a bit too spoiled and I’m exasperated by her, but she’s still my cute little sister.

For now, regarding both Yoko and Koume, I don’t have clear romantic feelings for either of them, and they’re both working hard with the goal of making me develop romantic feelings for them.

…Well, Yoko declared that, but she doesn’t seem to be trying very hard. Anyway.

So that means I’m on track to fall for one of these two. Or rather, if I ended up liking someone else in this situation, I’d probably get seriously scolded.

In that case, the safe choice is obviously Koume. Of course. What would I do if I fell for Yoko? That’s a thorny path. Even if I seriously fell for her, it would be the type of love where it’s better to keep those feelings hidden in my heart. After all, she’s my biological sister. Though Yoko’s the one who would say something.

As her older sister, I can’t let my sister go down that path. That thought exists even before whether I could like her or not. Sorry Yoko, but before even considering the possibility, I don’t want to like you. Plus she’s a pervert, so purely dating her would probably be tough.

“Thank you. Hey, Koume. Because it’s you saying that, I’ll endure the embarrassment and ask one more question – is that okay?”

“Eh? Wh-what is it? If it’s something I can answer, anything.”

My serious voice seemed to make Koume hesitate for a moment, but she immediately responded in a clear voice. She’s reliable.