I Confessed to the Three Beautiful Sisters at School and Got Rejected, but After I Became their Stepsister, They Started Doting On Me - Chapter 61

“W-Wait… y-you mean that kind of love…?”

Karin’s mouth opened and closed like a fish as she pointed at Hiyori, unable to hide her shock at her sister’s straightforward confession.

“Yes, the L-O-V-E kind,” Hiyori replied cheerfully.

She even giggled as she recalled saying something similar back at the sports festival. Since she had always intended to tell Akari, there was no need to hide it now.

“And what do you plan to do if you tell her?”
Chiya’s tone was heavy with caution.

She needed to understand—what exactly did Hiyori hope to gain from revealing her feelings?

“If Akari feels the same… then I’d like to be with her—as partners.”

Hiyori gently placed both hands over her chest, as if to calm the emotions rising within her.

“But I don’t think the feelings Akari has for us are that kind of love.”

Chiya’s voice dropped slightly as she voiced her concern.

After living together and spending time with Akari, she too had developed a special kind of attachment.

But the more her emotions deepened, the more she began to sense a difference between their affections and Akari’s.

Yes, Akari had confessed before. But even so…

There was something about her feelings that didn’t seem to match—something that felt fundamentally off.

“Y-Yeah… I get what you mean. It’s like… she does like us, but when we get serious, she kind of… pulls away.”

Karin felt it too. The more sincere and direct she tried to be, the more Akari’s reactions seemed to miss the mark, like they weren’t on the same wavelength.

But Hiyori swiftly cut through their doubt.

“And does speculating about that actually get you anywhere?”

“…Huh?”

“What are you trying to say?”

Karin could only blink, and Chiya was left with no choice but to ask.

“You say her confession felt off. That maybe her feelings weren’t genuine. But what are you afraid of by thinking that?”

Hiyori’s calm voice sliced clean through their insecurities.

“I-It’s not like I’m scared or anything…”

“Exactly. If there’s such a disconnect between your feelings and hers, then there’s no point in confessing… is that it?”

It was like someone had reached into their hearts and touched something they’d both tried to ignore.

A vague, formless fear—Hiyori had just named it.

“If you never say it… if you never put your feelings into words… then they’ll never reach her.”

Her tone never rose, never faltered. It stayed soft, almost soothing.

“Love and affection—those aren’t things you can see with your eyes.”

“I-I know that already!” Karin snapped defensively.

“You don’t have to state the obvious,” Chiya added with quiet irritation.

But Hiyori didn’t see their rebuttals as genuine resistance.

“In that case, what have the two of you been doing this whole time? Talking as if you understand what kind of ‘love’ Akari feels—when the truth is, you don’t.”

“…That’s… um…”

“You’re not trying to understand her. You’re just calling it ‘unclear’ so you can avoid dealing with it.”

She shook her head slowly.

“You’re not reading her feelings—you’re avoiding them. You’re afraid to ask, so you just pretend it’s something you already know.”

“…”

Both Chiya and Karin were finally silenced.

Because deep down… they knew she was right.

“If something is vague and unclear, that’s exactly why you need to speak up and be honest about your own feelings.”

You can’t measure something formless unless you put your own emotions next to it—overlap them, compare them.

That’s why people confess. That’s what love is.

At least, that’s what Hiyori Tsukimori had come to believe after getting to know Akari Hanano.

“I could’ve said it sooner. But I guess… that’s just who I am.”

Even Hiyori had hesitated—because her bond with her sisters was just as important to her.

She had been waiting. Holding back.

She didn’t want to step forward alone. She wanted to share her joy with them, like they always had.

That had always been Hiyori’s quiet happiness.

But now… it was time to move.

And the reason for that—was Akari Hanano herself.

“So, I’m going to do what I feel is right. And if I get rejected, feel free to laugh at me.”

Still, she knew one thing for sure—no matter the outcome, she wouldn’t regret it.

With that resolve in her heart, Hiyori turned on her heel and took a single step toward the door.

Just beyond this room… Akari was waiting.

All that remained was to resume the moment that had been paused.

“W-Wait…!”

The voice that called out to stop Hiyori was none other than Karin.

“I-I like Akari too…! I—I love her, okay?! That’s why I’m not letting Hiyori-nee go ahead without me!”

Her voice trembled as she finally spoke the truth she’d been hiding.

The second the words left her mouth, sweat poured from her palms—but there was no taking them back now.

There was no turning back.

Karin Tsukimori, too, was a girl in love with Akari Hanano.

“I see. And what do you plan to do then?”
Hiyori touched her finger to her cheek, tilting her head as she asked, like this was all very casual.

“I—I’ll tell her! I’ll confess too! I mean, yeah… I’m not the type to just let stuff like this sit unresolved!”

Even as she said it, Karin felt like she might explode from the embarrassment. But deep down, her soul knew—this was what she had to do.

“Well then, it seems we’ll be confessing at the same time, won’t we?”

“Yeah, that’s fine! Even if we both do, she might choose one of us, or… maybe she won’t choose either.”

It was a simple truth, but one Karin found oddly comforting to say aloud.

There was no more room to back out.

“Then, let’s go,” Hiyori said, turning toward the door.

“…Wait, but I just got rejected. Maybe I should go after you?”

While Hiyori calmly moved forward, Karin’s thoughts were already spiraling in all directions.

Watching her younger sisters so full of conviction, Chiya felt something rising from deep within her.

“W-Wait!”

Her voice rang out, stopping both of them mid-step.

“…I… I…”

What was she trying to say in front of her sisters?

Just days ago, she hadn’t been able to express anything about herself.

And now, here she was—on the verge of pouring out the most delicate, overwhelming feelings she’d ever held.

It was a whirlwind even Chiya Tsukimori herself could barely process.

But something inside her insisted: if she didn’t say it now, she’d regret it forever.

“…I still don’t fully understand it. But I know for certain—I feel something for her. It’s not as a stepsister. It’s not as a friend. It’s something different. Something special.”

And that’s why… she needed to know the truth.

She might’ve taken the longest path of the three, but even Chiya was beginning to realize that this feeling—this complicated, aching warmth—was most likely love.

And as she looked at her sisters now, that doubt had begun to harden into certainty.

“Then… I suppose you need to tell her too, don’t you?”
Hiyori smiled, unsurprised.

“So it’s possessiveness, huh? That sounds just like you, Chiya-nee.”

Karin nodded, as if everything finally made sense.

They were sisters—so they could recognize and understand even those vague feelings in one another.

“I… I guess that’s what it is…”

Chiya had always led as the eldest, the one who held it all together.

But here, in this moment… that role didn’t matter anymore.

“Maybe it’s true,” Hiyori mused with a smile. “Us three sisters… we really do like the same things, don’t we?”

“Really? I mean, our hobbies are totally different,” Karin said with a shrug.

“Still… being too similar might cause problems,” Chiya muttered.

They were rivals in love, each carrying their own feelings for the same girl.

But even so… they were sisters who could share that love.

And somehow, that strange and beautiful unity brought their hearts closer.

Together, the three sisters began walking down to the living room.

Each one of them carried a different version of love in her heart.

Each one ready… to tell Akari.

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