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chapter 14




“Ritsuki-chan! Look at all those cute stuff in that store! Let’s go and check it out!”
“S-sure! Rinka-chan!”
Rinka took me around to various fancy stores.
Of course, my one arm is still being held hostage.
“Hey, look at this! A cushion shaped like a chubby cat! So cute~.”
“F-for real~ So cute!~”
“Ooh! You can stretch its arms~”
Rinka was so excited that it was honestly tiring for me to keep up with her.
Are all girls this energetic?
Nonetheless, I’ve already resolved myself!
I’m going to go all out with Rinka today and make up for all the trouble I’ve caused her!
“Ritsuki-chan! Next time, let’s go to a clothing store and try on all kinds of clothes! D-don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you! Really, I promise! Okay, maybe a little bit…”
“R-Rinka-chan, your eyes are looking kinda scary..?”
I had a feeling I was going to be turned into a dress-up doll, so obviously, I refused.
She’s fundamentally a good person, but sometimes her eyes look scary.
Also, why is she nuzzling her body against my arm?
Now she’s trying to slowly distance herself off my arm bit by bit, huh?
～～～～～～～～～～
“Hah… I had so much fun today.”
We were on our way back to the train station, the sun was already starting to set.
The empty road was really calming.
“Are you always so excited when you hang out?”
I asked Rinka, unable to hide the fact that I was feeling a bit tired from today’s activities.
“Ahaha, sorry. I made you tired and everything.”
“What are you talking about? Do you think something like this would tire me?”
“Your face has ‘tired’ written all over it. Let me erase it for you!”
“S-stop! Don’t squeeze my cheeks!”
After she played around with my cheeks for a while, she finally heaved a sigh of satisfaction.
An antisocial person like me gets really nervous just by being touched a little, so please don’t do that again.
“This is the first time I’ve been able to act as my ‘true self’, aside from when I’m with my older sister…” Rinka muttered quietly.
“…I see.”
Rinka looked very happy today.
She had only been able to make ‘friends’ by putting on her mask and acting according to the expectations of those around her. Due to that, she couldn’t make any ‘true’ friends or anything similar.
Today must’ve been a great way for her to take a breather and relax.
I patted Rinka’s head.
“…Eh?”
“Wait, no, why are you the one surprised when you’re the one patting my head?”
“I was surprised because my body moved so naturally… I guess this is what happens when you have a little sister.”
I was panicking even though I’m the one who started patting Rinka’s head.
Is this the skill of an older brother?
I say that, but if I did this to my sister, she’d get red not because of embarrassment, but anger.
In fact, she probably wouldn’t even look me in the eyes properly for about a day or two.
The road of a siscon is a thorny path.
Compared to her, Rinka looked a lot happier when I patted her just now.
After a while, we finally arrived at Rinka’s house.
“…We’ve arrived, huh? Since your family is on vacation, it looks like you’re going to be all by yourself tonight. Doesn’t that mean you can stay up late and do whatever you want?”
“Thanks for walking me home. Y-you know, I wouldn’t mind if you entered…? D-do you want to stay at my house and rest for a bit?”
“Nah, I’m on dinner duty. Rather, my sister will end up making dinner instead if I don’t go and head back home quickly.”
“Akane-chan, right? She’s such a good girl. She’s really cute, just like you Ritsuki.”
“Of course, she’s the cutest girl in the world. Saying that she’s like me would be offensive to her.”
“Heeh?”
Rinka had a somewhat stiff smile on her face after seeing my siscon side.
Also, you might be naive since everyone is afraid of you, and the fact that you don’t have any male friends, but you shouldn’t be casually inviting any boy into your house.
“Alright, I’ll let you off for today.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
“It’s gotten a bit dark, should I walk you to your house?”
“The fact that I can’t reject your offer right now is a bit pathetic. My house is close though, so I’ll be fine.”
[TN: This line means that if he was dressed as a man, he wouldn’t get attacked, but since he’s dressed as a woman, people might attempt to assault him, and the fact that he can cross-dress so well makes him feel pathetic as a man]
“So, you’re going to head home now?”
“Yup, let’s hang out again like this again sometime, since it’s hard for us to talk to each other at school.”
For some reason, Rinka started grinning after I faced towards the direction of my house.
What…? Does she want me to go back home as soon as possible?
“Ritsuki! Let’s hang out again sometime soon, okay?!”
“Sure!”
I started walking home while Rinka saw me off, she was smiling and grinning until I couldn’t see her anymore.
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“I’m home~”
Just as I opened the front door of my house, Akane came out into the living room.
She usually comes to the front door to greet me, albeit lazily as she just spits out “Welcome back…” and goes back to the living room.
But, this time, it wasn’t how it usually went.
For some reason, as soon as my sister saw me, she froze in place.
“O-older bro… no, older sister..?”
“…Huh?”
Akane’s face was red as she muttered quietly.
I immediately remembered that I was wearing a wig and women’s clothes.
I’m doomed…
Ahh Rinka… I’d forgotten that I was looking like this, and she definitely knew that, but she sent me home anyways…
I sighed, realizing that I had been completely fooled by Rinka.
Now I know why she was grinning as she sent me off…
Akane was shaking and trembling.
She’s definitely trying to hold in her laughter at my strange appearance.
“B-brother! Y-You’re so… cute! What happened to you?! No, that’s a stupid question! I don’t mind if you’re into that kind of thing at ALL! In fact, I’d even WELCOME it! From now on, I’ll call you Sis! Actually, since you’re a girl, isn’t it fine if we do some things like taking baths together right?! Since we’re both girls, it’s fine right?!”
Looks like my sister is really good at blowing things out of proportion.
I didn’t know she would make fun of me this badly…
Usually she’d just yell “Y-you idiot!” with a red face.
Where did she learn how to do such a thing..?
I sighed as I took off my wig.
◇◇◇
“Ehehe…”
Rinka squealed with delight as she placed Shion’s autograph on her desk.
The autograph was written beautifully.
「To Rinka-san」
“…Hmm? Did I ever mention my name? It was really chaotic, so I don’t really remember… but he did write it, so I probably told him my name at some point, right? Well, whatever! An autograph from Shion~”
Rinka stared at the autograph for what seemed like an eternity.