I’d had a dream about long ago, and it was weighing on my mind. I had dreamed of a time I was with Ura and Kana—and with Ryu as well. In the dream, the four of us were laughing together. It was an irreplaceable and dazzling memory from when I was in middle school.
“...” I got out of bed and threw some clothes on.
It’s strange. I haven’t had a dream about those days in a long time. I hardly even remember them very much anymore. I let out a small sigh. Maybe it was because I was still sleepy, or maybe it was because of my dream, but when I left my room, it felt like my head was sort of heavy.
As I walked downstairs while stifling a yawn, I ran into a woman wearing an apron. I was momentarily speechless because I still wasn’t sure what I should call this person. It felt like it would be strange to suddenly change how I address her, so I ended up calling her by what I had before, but...
“Good morning, Kaoru-kun,” she said, greeting me before I could greet her. Her gentle smile greatly resembled the smile of the person that I love.
“Good morning, Kisaki-san,” I said. In the end, I called her “Kisaki-san.” Somehow, it was too embarrassing to call her “mom.”
“Breakfast is ready, so I was just about to go and wake you up. If you don’t hurry up and eat, you’ll be late for school,” she said in a perfectly normal tone. When I didn’t respond, she looked at me strangely. “...What’s wrong? You look out of it.”
“No, it’s just... I’m still not used to you being here.”
She looked puzzled at first, but then she giggled. “Oh, come on. You’re still saying things like that? It’s already been a week since I started living here.”
“That’s true, but...”
“If we’re going to talk about getting used to things, I’m the one who’s still got a long way to go. I don’t know where everything is kept, and I can’t quite master using the washing machine and dryer. Besides...you won’t let me wash your underwear, Kaoru-kun.”
“No, that’s just... I mean...you know?”
“But it’s a bother washing your own underwear afterwards, isn’t it? Not to mention that it’s a waste of money on laundry detergent and the water bill.”
“I-I get that, but...”
“Sigh... Oh dear. It sure is tough being a mother with a son going through puberty,” Kisaki-san said jokingly.
Is it because of puberty? Is that what this is?
In any case, I don’t want Kisaki-san to wash my underwear. It’s partly because it’s embarrassing, but it’s also because she’s not just my new mother, she’s my girlfriend’s older sister. I’m not sure I’m comfortable letting her wash the underwear that even my girlfriend hasn’t washed.
“He he. Well, okay. Hurry up and wash your face,” she said as she returned to the kitchen. For some reason, she was energetic and had a very satisfied look on her face.
Orihara Kisaki was the older sister of my slightly older girlfriend, Orihara Hime. She was thirty-four years old and a divorcée. I’d met her a few times before, but the other day I found out that she was dating my father. What’s more, she was apparently already pregnant with my new little brother or little sister.
My father stubbornly insisted that this wasn’t a shotgun wedding kind of situation and that he didn’t do things out of order, but I’d heard the truth from Kisaki-san. Apparently, when she went all out on my father to avoid letting the opportunity get away from her, my father gave in to her. Additionally, judging from the timing of it all, it seemed like she had gotten pregnant when they first met. Come on, Dad, you’re almost forty...
I had complicated feelings about it, but it was without a doubt a happy occasion. However, because of the unbelievable incident that was my girlfriend’s older sister getting married to my father, Kisaki-san discovered the secret Orihara-san and I had been keeping about our relationship. There was a bit of a commotion as a result, but somehow things had settled down. Kisaki-san hadn’t completely let us off the hook, but things had worked out, with us gaining her silent consent.
After such a turbulent September, it was now the first week of October. My father and Kisaki-san had registered their marriage at the end of last month. Since they’d both been married once before, they were undecided about how to handle the wedding; thus far, they’d only talked about having a family-only wedding after their child was born.
Now that they’d officially gotten married and Kisaki-san had officially become my stepmom, she’d been living in this house since the beginning of October. I knew there must have been a lot of things that were difficult and stressful about living in an unfamiliar environment while she was pregnant, so that was why we as a family had to do everything in our power to support her. That was what we were determined to do, anyway...but she was doing a marvelous job as a housewife, and she was handling the chores and cooking splendidly.
“So, Momota-kun. Will you have rice? Will you have bread? Or maybe...you’ll have soba noodles?” Kisaki-san asked gleefully.
She was acting like a newlywed. Well, I mean, she did just get married.
“By the way, you’ll have to get the bread yourself, and the soba noodles are just the instant ones we have saved up.”
It looked like there had only been one real choice. I mean, she’d already laid out grilled fish on the dining table anyway.
“...I’ll go with rice.”
“Okay, rice it is!” As I sat down at the table, Kisaki-san prepared me some rice and miso soup. I brought my hands together, gave thanks, and started to eat.
“How’s it taste?”
“It’s delicious.”
“Really? You aren’t thinking something like ‘Hime’s cooking tastes better,’ are you?” she said with a playful look.
“I’m not,” I responded with a wry smile.
Jeez... You don’t have to tease me just because no one else is around.