I Confessed to the Three Beautiful Sisters at School and Got Rejected, but After I Became their Stepsister, They Started Doting On Me - Chapter 51
“Um… Hiyori Tsukimori. I know this might sound terribly rude, but… do you really understand what you’re saying?”
“Yes, of course I do.”
Hiyori answered with her usual gentle smile, calm and unshaken.
But this wasn’t something I could just smile and nod at. Not this time.
“But if you say it like that, then it really does sound like you’re okay with people interpreting it as… love. Just like Satsuki Saezuki said.”
Even someone as kind and open as Hiyori shouldn’t be okay with that.
No matter how big your heart is, love is meant to be shared between two people. One person to one person.
At least… that’s how it should be, morally speaking.
You can’t just offer your heart to anyone and everyone.
“So, if you, Akari, want to take it that way… I don’t mind at all.”
“…What?”
What… what is she saying?
There’s such a clear, unbridgeable gap between Hiyori and me.
She’s my stepsister. And I’m hers.
We’re both girls.
And yet she’s saying it’s fine if I take her words as a confession?
“Hiyori… what are you really thinking?”
She’s always been a little hard to read, but never—never—have I felt this lost trying to understand her.
What kind of feelings lead someone to say something like that?
“I’m not thinking anything that complicated,” she said softly. “You helped me, Akari. I just wanted to return the favor.”
Helped her?
Was she talking about that time in the supermarket when a man harassed her?
Or maybe when she was struggling to keep peace between the sisters, and I told her I wanted her to be free—to do what she truly wanted?
I honestly can’t think of anything else.
And even if it was one of those times, I never expected anything in return.
I did it because I wanted to. Because I cared.
“Still… it’s too much. That kind of ‘thank you’ is way too big.”
“Oh? Then maybe that’s just how grateful I am.”
That’s what I mean. It’s too much.
There’s no way I could ever accept something that might mean I’m monopolizing Hiyori’s heart.
That’s not what I want.
“If you just keep doing what makes you happy, Hiyori… that’s enough for me. I don’t want you to feel tied down because of someone like me.”
“…I see.”
With a quiet chuckle, Hiyori tilted her head back and looked up at the blue sky beyond the courtyard.
For just a moment, it seemed like the smile on her lips faded.
Maybe it was just the sunlight playing tricks on my eyes.
“Then… let’s leave it at that for now.”
She nodded softly and turned her gaze back to me.
It was the same familiar Hiyori again.
“Oh my, Akari. You’ve barely touched your lunch.”
“Ah—well, Saezuki kept interrupting, so I didn’t have the chance!”
“I’ve already finished most of mine, though.”
“Wait, when!?”
Now that I think about it, Hiyori had been unusually quiet during my talk with Saezuki… Was she just silently eating the whole time!?
“Also, lunch break is almost over, you know?”
“What!?”
“Ufufu. You worked so hard making that lunch, and now you’re going to leave it unfinished?”
…Wait a second.
She’s smiling like always. And yet… why did a chill just run down my spine?
“O-Of course I’m going to eat it! I’ll finish it right now!”
There’s no way I’d leave behind a lunch that Hiyori made for me.
With a bento box full of heart-shaped food, I started eating as quickly as I could.
“My, my~.”
Hiyori watched me with a smile, clearly amused and pleased.
And maybe… maybe that was enough. Maybe this was okay.
◇◇◇
“Thank you for the meal.”
I made sure to finish every last bite.
“You’re very welcome,” she replied.
We had both finished our lunches, and the end of our break was drawing near.
“Well then, shall we head back to the field?”
“Yes, let’s.”
I followed a few steps behind as Hiyori walked ahead.
…And maybe, just maybe, I finally understood.
Back when I confessed to her—when I told her I liked her—I think that moment was when she truly began to see me in a different light.
And maybe, just maybe, she thought the best way to thank me was to respond to those feelings.
That’s probably when she started seeing me… not just as a younger sister.
That was her way of being kind.
Her way of saying “thank you.”
But even so—that’s not what I really wanted.
The feelings in that confession—back then, in that moment—weren’t truly real.
That’s why there was never any need for her to respond to them.
And yet… knowing that Hiyori had thought about it so deeply—that she cared that much—it made me happy. That part was undeniably true.
But if I tried to deny that, it felt like it might change the relationship between us. And that thought… scared me.
…So then, what should I have done back then?
No matter how many times I turn the question over in my head, the answer never comes.
“Akari?”
“Ah—yes?”
“If you keep making that serious face, you’ll get wrinkles, you know?”
“Wha—was I really frowning that much?”
“Very much so. That kind of expression doesn’t suit you at all, Akari.”
As she said that, Hiyori smiled—more brightly and effortlessly than I ever could.
“There’s only a little time left, but it’s still our time, isn’t it? So no looking away. Keep your eyes on the present.”
“…R-Right!”
She was right.
Not just the past—I should look at the present, too.
Because right now, Hiyori and I… we’re walking together like this.
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Finally she is starting to get it