Episode 54 – I Shouldn’t Be Questioned by My Parents….

The sound of the soup bowl falling from my step sister echoed through the room.

“Ah.”

If you follow the path of the bowl with your eyes, you can see it stop when it hits the sink.

I picked up the bowl that had stopped moving and looked at my step sister’s  face.

“What’s wrong?”

When I asked my step sister, she just stared at me and said nothing.

The water is the only sound in the living room, which remains silent for a while, and it’s  somehow uncomfortable.

“Oi…….”

Just as I was about to call out to my step sister, I heard the front door open.

At the same time, [We’re home〜! !] my mother’s wild voice echoed through the house.

I heard two footsteps approaching the living room, and it seemed that my step father had returned with her.

Along with the clattering sound, the figures of my parents came into my view.

“I’m home~ Riku, Sora ! !”

My mother, perhaps a little drunk, was in a good mood as she approached my step sister and hugged her tightly.

My step sister, who had remained silent until a few minutes ago, caught my mother who jumped into her arms with a surprised look on her face.

“Sora chan, I’m home ! ! You look so cute today!”

Unable to let go of my mother who hugged her  with force and  rubbed her cheeks, I can only smile bitterly.

……Are you a pet cat ! ! I mean, if you don’t like it, you can just let go.

I was amazed by the exchange between my mother and step sister, but I thought that this reaction itself was the way they treated each other as a “family”, so I didn’t say anything rude.

“I’m home, Riku.”

I was so surprised to see my step father talking to me.

“Ah, step father, welcome back……,” 

“H-how rare to see you two……spending time in the living room like this.”

My step father was surprised by me and my step sister’s behavior.

That’s certainly true. Even I was surprised…

It’s been less than two months since I started living with my step sister.

During that time, I never spent time with my step sister at home.

Even me myself was surprised, so there was no way my parents, who had nothing to do with it, would not be surprised.

“Well, Sora san cooked dinner for us, so we ate together.”

My step father smiled happily at my words.

“Well ……, it was delicious, wasn’t it? Sora’s cooking.” 

My step father said proudly.

“Yes, it was delicious. Definitely better than my mother’s cooking. …….”

“Huh? aren’t you awful?”

My step father laughed hysterically at my mother, who couldn’t hide her shock at my words. Seeing the two of them, I wondered if this is what a family is like? I recall the happy past that I had forgotten so long ago.

In the midst of all this, there was one person who didn’t seem to be having a good time. It was my step sister

No, it would be a misleading statement to say that she didn’t look happy.

If anything, she looked slightly red and had a complicated expression on her face.

“Ah~, Sora chan. What’s wrong?”

My mother, who saw my step sister’s expression, asked in a stupid voice.

“…….It’s nothing.”

My mother became increasingly worried that something had happened to my step sister, who didn’t seem to clear things up by saying it was nothing.

And then she turned her concern to me.

“You, did you do something to her?

“N-no didn’t. I didn’t ! !”

I panicked when I saw my mother glaring at me with a red face and a drunken look in her eyes.

“Really? Sora chan, if something happens, tell me right away…”

“No, it’s nothing. …….”

My step sister said nothing at my mother’s words, but when her face changed to look like she was about to cry, she gradually started crying.

Surprised by this, my mother moved away from my step sister, grabbed me by my clothes and said [You ! ! You really didn’t do anything, did you ! !] She started yelling at me.

I shook my head and said [I didn’t, I didn’t do it ! !] and she pulled her hands away in frustration.

Of course I was innocent. She started crying even though I didn’t do anything.

What I told my step sister was…..

“I just said I wanted to live alone.”

My parents said [Eh?] and looked at me.

And my step sister bit her lip.

“What are you talking about ……?”

My mother, who could not hide her confusion, grabbed my clothes again.

“I said I wanted to live alone. My stepfather has been good to me, and I am not dissatisfied with my current life. But ……..”

“Just tell them it was my fault ! !”

As if to interrupt my words, my step sister opened her mouth and yelled. Her eyes were filled with tears.

My mother looked at my step sister, unable to hide her surprise at her voice.

“Just tell them it was my fault ! ! I kept saying horrible things to you, and you got sick of being at home, didn’t you?”

I couldn’t stop agitating. but when I dug through my mother, my step sister came in front of me and hit my chest with both hands. I let her do what she wanted because it didn’t hurt much, and her strength gradually disappeared.

“Just say that you don’t like me…..”

When I thought that my step sister’s hand had stopped, she turned around and ran away to her room.

When my mother saw my step sister running away, she said, [Sora chan ! !] and chased after my step sister.

My step father, who had been silently watching the situation, called out to me, who was just staring at the open living room door.

“Riku kun….. Can you tell me what happened?”

“Yes……..”

For the first time, I decided to have a discussion with my step father alone.