Chapter 6: Bundling up.

Translated and Edited by: ynlucca.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you’re close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it’s cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one’s older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

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Saki’s currently taking a bath, and damn is my location not helping.

In a shabby apartment such as mine, sound insulation is but an unbefitting fantasy. In other words, I could hear the water running clear as day. And the more I tried to ignore it, the more my mind went back to it.

She’s like a sister to me. She’s like a sister to me. She’s like a sister to me! I recited this newly written mantra in hopes to fend off the devil. However, its sweet voice whispered in the back of my mind that she wasn’t related to me any longer.

“Haah…”

I could feel a bit of life slip through my sighs, but I couldn’t stop them. Sure, I shouldn’t be feeling any physical fatigue since I stopped working, but I felt even more mentally exhausted than usual.

Still, I had to wonder. How do I feel about Saki in the first place?

Back in our elementary days, she was a good friend of mine. Even after my father remarried and we ended up a family, and despite growing even closer, I never once saw her as a member of the opposite sex. She was a friend and a stepsister—part of my family. That hadn’t changed even into high school.

“It was supposed to be like that…”

Since she waltzed into my apartment, I found myself eager and anxious at her every gesture. Not once in my life had I felt this kind of emotion.

“Watchu thinking about?” Her voice came out of nowhere.

“Whoa!” I jolted.

“Hey, I’m not a monster…”

“S-sorry.”

Apparently, I had been sinking in my thoughts for a long time. Worst of all, since she was the subject of all my contemplations, seeing her in front of me just weighed on my mind even more.

“So, what’s on your mind?”

“Nah, nothing. Just my studies, is all.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Her eyes locked on mine as a police officer would a suspect. Does she know I’m lying…? I shuddered at the thought, sweat trickling down my forehead.

Though I felt like it, I hadn’t done anything wrong per se. I was just too embarrassed to say I was thinking about her. But seeing me tight-lipped like this, she must’ve thought I wouldn’t throw no matter what.

“Sigh, I’ll let you off the hook this time since you don’t wanna talk about it. You owe me one~”

“I do.”

Once again, I found myself in her debt. Well, it couldn’t be helped this time. Getting out of the firing line was my top priority after all.

“Well then, I’ll take my own bath now,” I tried to stand up.

“Wait,” she tugged my sleeve before I could go.

“Hm?”

“Any impressions on my attire? Ensemble, even?”

Hmm… “Yeah, looks great on you. Well then,” I tried to go once more.

“Throwing around praise like nothing is the same as cursing, isn’t t? Does this face look like an idiot’s?” She pointed at her own.

“Ugh.”

I mean, her nightgown was a one-piece dress usually called a negligee. Not only that, a soft cloud of steam wafted from her body since she’d just left the bath, which gave her a bit of a fairy-like look. As if those two things weren’t enough, she didn’t wear nearly enough cloth to hide the lines of her body. Those, however, were but stepping stones to the biggest issue of them all…

“Hehe, I bought this to sweep the floor under your feet. Looks like I was right on the money,” she giggled. “Your gaze is fixed right here, isn’t it?”

She pressed her bosom closer to me.

“—!” I looked away immediately.

The fact I was even looking at her that hard was enough to shame me sick. Still, that was proof Saki had the drive and strength to drive her “prey” to the brink. Knowing I would lose in any way this would play out, I tried to take the emergency exit and run to the bathroom. But I wasn’t able to.

“I won’t let you leave, ‘kay?”

“Wait, Saki?!”

She wrapped her arms around me from behind, and I could feel two twin—and soft—mountains crushing from behind. Not only that, but the clothes she wore were so thin, the strength of her attack was at least doubled.

However, she didn’t stop there, scooting closer to my ear. “Hey, c’mon. Won’t you take a quick peek and tell me what you think~?” Her whispers seeped honey.

“Please don’t do this to me!”

“Nope~! C’mon, I’ll make you pay back everything you owe me in full.”

The sheer force of her attack was enough to send my mind into pandemonium.

“Hey, Akito~! How do you feel about me?” Her lips almost touched my lobe. “Do you love me? Or do you adore me? Both, maybe? Answer quick!”

“Didn’t the question just change though?!”

“Ugh, I’m so frustrated I’ll just have to reverse r*pe you right here!”

“It’s not reverse if it’s still a crime!” Time was running out. “Okay, I get it! I’ll tell you what you wanna hear!” I desperately tried to fight back.

The moment these words parted my lips, she seemed satisfied and let me go. “Mhm, mhm! I like it when you’re stubborn, but I love it when you’re honest, okay?”

“Is that so…”

I turned to look at her. My eyes wanted to trail downward, but I resolved myself and stared straight into her soul.

“Um, you look neat and dignified in uniform, and it suits you, but… Erm, in those clothes that barely protect a thing, you look er—I mean, you look glossy and sexy.”

Something dangerous almost escaped my mouth, but I managed to cover it up.

“Ehehe, so I’m glossy and sexy! Hahaha!” Her giggles boomed into a laugh.

My spur-of-the-moment expression was enough to cause her shoulders to quake. And to be honest, I felt embarrassed even saying it myself. All I wanted at that moment was to bury my head in my hands, but I knew it would only make things worse, so I held on.

“Fine,” she calmed down. “I’ll feel sorry if I tease you any more than this.”

“My savior. I’ll go now then,” I didn’t want to risk it.

“Have a good time~!”

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Clouds passed and it was around 10 PM. I was fresh out of the bath and ready for bed. Before I hit the hay though, I asked her if I didn’t have to continue studying.

Her response was, “Normally, I’d do more. In your case though, you need to prioritize fixing your rhythm and pseudo-narcolepsy first.”

Come to think of it, when was the last time I went to bed so early? Scouring my memory yielded no results.

“Akito, are you ready for bed?” Her words brought me back to reality.

She told she was going to take care of her skin before bundling up, so she spent some time in front of the bathroom sink. It seemed like I was done as soon as she wrapped things up.

I was up in my loft, laying out the futon for her use. No way in hell would I allow her to sleep on the floor, so I decided to take a towel and use it as a cushion.

“Mhm. I’ll sleep down there, so you can use the futon here on the loft,” I told her as I climbed down the stairs to the little spot I called a bedroom.

However, her reaction was unlike anything I thought it would be.

“What are you talking about? Why would you need to sleep downstairs?”

“Eh? I mean, I don’t want you sleeping on the floor…”

“So, if we sleep together everything’s fine, right?”

“Wha?” Her suggestion was so out of nowhere, I made the biggest stupid face of the century. It was as if I was a pigeon shot with a pea-shooter.

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