Chapter 106

"It's been so long...! How have you been?"

"Same as always. Sorry for coming empty-handed."

"Don't be sorry... You never need to go out of your way to buy a gift. Hurry on in."

Welcomed so warmly by Midori, I took off my shoes with a bright smile.

I slipped on some slippers and stepped inside, just as Miyuki spoke to Midori.

"Mom, I'm going to be studying with Matsuda-kun, so don't interrupt us."

"Studying? Are you two preparing for midterms?"

"Yeah."

"Aren't you going to have some fruit?"

"Fruit? Give it to me now. I'll take it upstairs."

"Come on, you could rest a little and take your time... It would be so nice to chat over a cup of coffee. What do you think, Matsuda-kun?"

She looked at me with a bright face. The more I looked at her, the less I understood.

Not Midori, but Wataru.

How had a guy like him managed to marry someone like her? No matter how I thought about it, Midori was way out of his league...

"I'd love some coffee."

Did my answer satisfy her?

Midori shot Miyuki a look that clearly said, 'See?'

Miyuki simply shook her head.

"Who would say no when you ask like that...? We need to study right now, so we have to go upstairs. We'll have coffee later... maybe when Matsuda-kun heads home."

Miyuki grabbed my wrist and tugged.

She wanted to drag me up to the second floor, but her meager strength couldn't budge me at all.

Annoyed that I wasn't budging, she pinched my butt where Midori couldn't see.

Come to think of it, was this the first time she had touched me like this in front of her family?

It was such a trivial touch you could barely call it physical intimacy, but it was still a huge step forward.

Grinning at her exasperation, I turned to Midori.

"Mind if I just go drop my bag off first?"

"Of course. Go right ahead. But..."

Midori trailed off and crossed her arms.

She wore a meaningful expression. She seemed convinced something was going on between Miyuki and me.

Then again, she was a mother who knew her daughter well. She wouldn't miss the subtle shifts in Miyuki's expression whenever she looked at me.

Miyuki throwing a rather uncharacteristic tantrum just now had probably tipped her off, too.

Considering how often Miyuki must have mentioned me to her family, Midori was actually catching on a bit late.

Was Midori on the dense side, too?

"W-why are you looking at us like that...?"

Startled by her mother's stare, Miyuki blurted out the question. Midori simply shook her head.

"It's nothing. Hurry up and drop your bag off, then come back down."

Her tone was light. Almost mischievous.

Did she think the idea of her daughter dating me wasn't so bad?

Suddenly, I was curious about Midori's mindset.

Was she conservative about sex, or open-minded?

Miyuki always claimed she was conservative, but judging by that reaction just now, she actually seemed pretty open-minded.

Wearing a dismayed expression at her mother's reaction, Miyuki led me up to her room.

The moment she shut the door behind us, she scolded me.

"This is why you should have just come up when I told you to...! Now Mom definitely suspects something..."

"Is it really so bad if she knows? Are you ashamed of me?"

"It's not that... It's just that from now on, whenever I stay out overnight, she's going to suspect I'm at your place..."

"Doesn't she probably already know? She's your mom, after all."

"...I don't know. You ruined everything. I'm never staying out overnight again."

She was being extra whiny today.

Letting out a soft chuckle, I bent my knees to meet Miyuki's eyes.

"I was just happy to see your mom again after so long... Besides, I showed up unannounced. The least I could do was greet her properly."

"....."

"Plus, you were the one who invited me over. So why are you getting annoyed?"

"I-I know... I just wanted to be alone with you sooner... I'm sorry..."

She apologized so meekly.

Carefully pulling the now-honest Miyuki into an embrace, I gently stroked her back.

"Are you really never coming over to my place again?"

Did my gentle tone make her feel better?

Miyuki let out that soft little hum of hers, then wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her face in my chest.

"I'll go..."

I gave her rear a light pat and inhaled deeply.

The scent of plums rushed into my nose and flooded my mind, sparking a rush of dopamine that made me feel incredible.

Some things never changed around here.

Miyuki must have made up her mind to really drill me today, because she taught me with absolute fervor.

She looked as if she genuinely wanted nothing more than for me to do well on my midterms.

Thanks to that, I couldn't even think about getting distracted. All I could do was focus on keeping up with her tutoring.

But after being tutored for such a long stretch, my body grew stiff and achy.

Stretching my arms wide, I excused myself to use the restroom and opened the door.

The second-floor hallway was pitch-black.

I could have turned on the lights, but the faint glow drifting up from the bottom of the stairs created a nice atmosphere, so I just strolled down the dark corridor toward the bathroom.

After finishing my business, I felt somewhat wronged at the thought of immediately opening the door to Miyuki's room again.

I had been studying for nearly three hours without a single break. I figured it wouldn't hurt to give myself a little downtime.

Doing a quick stretch, I leaned my arms against the hallway railing and let out a deep breath.

If this were a balcony, it would have been incredibly refreshing, but unfortunately, it wasn't.

Peering down the stairs toward the faint sound of the TV below, I found myself lost in thought when—

Creak...

"Huh...? Matsuda-kun. What are you doing out here?"

Hearing Miyuki's... no, Kanna's quiet voice as the door opened, I inwardly scoffed.

She tried to prank me every single time we met.

I wasn't falling for it anymore. There was no love in her altered tone.

I was about to turn around and chat with Kanna about her ridiculous prank, but then a brilliant idea struck me, and I kept my mouth shut.

At my silence, Kanna poked my back with her finger and asked again.

"I asked what you're doing out here."

"Just looking around."

Did she think she had completely fooled me since I answered casually without even bothering to look back?

Emboldened, Kanna stepped right up beside me and poked her head over the railing.

"What is there to look at? Did a stray cat get in or something?"

"No. The design of the staircase is just really nice."

"The staircase design...? Can you even see it properly in the dark?"

"I can see it just fine. Take a look. The wood grain is beautiful, isn't it?"

"Really? I can't really tell— Eek...?"

A flustered gasp suddenly burst from Kanna's lips.

It was because I had slyly slid my hand onto the small of her back and pressed down gently on her waist.

Stifling a scream, she recoiled in shock and jerked away.

"W-what are you doing...? What's wrong with you...?"

"What do you mean?"

Acting as though this kind of physical touch was completely natural between us, I finally turned around and looked Kanna head-on.

Then, I spoke in an utterly bewildered tone.

"Wait, Kanna?"

Kanna blinked her large eyes a couple of times, gulped heavily, and stammered.

"Y-yeah...! It's me...! What did you just do...?"

"I touched your waist."

"I know that...! I mean, why would you touch me there...!"

She always teased Miyuki so much I figured she'd be wild, but she was pretty much the same as her sister.

Don't pull this kind of prank in the future. Next time, it won't stop at your waist.

"I thought you were Miyuki. I apologize."

"I-I knew it...! You two...! I knew it!"

Kanna's face was completely red.

Red enough to be clearly visible even in the dark hallway.

Her teeth were even chattering. She must have been genuinely startled.

Chuckling inwardly as I watched her reaction, I scratched the back of my head, feigning awkwardness.

"Are you okay?"

"....."

She just stood there dumbfounded, staring up at me.

She had been the one to trick me first, so she couldn't exactly get mad even if she wanted to.

Anyway, the feel of her slender waist was exactly the same as Miyuki's.

That reaction just now, too... They really were sisters, weren't they? It suddenly turned me on.

"If I offended you, I sincerely apologize."

As I apologized again in an earnest tone, the color in Kanna's face settled down a bit.

Sweeping a hand over her chest to calm herself, she spoke.

"I wasn't offended... It was my fault too, so don't worry about it..."

"Alright. Thank you."

"W-why are your hands so big...? Never mind, never mind... I'm going back to my room..."

Babbling incoherently, Kanna slipped back into her room without even waiting for my reply.

The door shut with a click, followed by the sound of the lock turning.

Smirking at the tightly shut door, I headed back to Miyuki's room.

"I heard voices out in the hall... Were you talking to my sister?"

"Yeah. She popped out of nowhere and tried to prank me. She even changed her voice to sound like you."

"Sigh... Why does she always pull the exact same pranks...? She's not in grade school anymore... I swear, I don't know when she'll finally grow up..."

Miyuki turned her head toward Kanna's room, clicked her tongue, and continued.

"Hurry up and sit down. We have to study."

"I'm seriously exhausted. Can't we stop? We've been at it for three whole hours."

"We've only been at it for three hours. Let's finish up math, and then we'll stop for today."

Miyuki patted the empty chair beside her.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I obediently took my seat, and she patted me encouragingly.

"You might find it annoying right now, but you'll thank me later."

"Who said I was annoyed? Just start already."

"Yeah."

Giggling, she soon straightened her expression and opened her notebook.

I did the same. Summoning every ounce of concentration I had, I followed along with her tutoring.

Putting in this much effort, I absolutely had to ace this exam.

Miyuki's tutoring sessions didn't stop with just today.

Every other day during the week, and every single day on the weekend.

I studied with Miyuki so intensely my brain ached, and as time flowed by, the day of midterms finally arrived.