Book 2: Prologue
A step-sister is nothing more than a stranger. The experience I have amassed speaks to the certainty of that fact.
Our parents suddenly decided to get married. As a result, we’ve been practically forced into a relationship as siblings, with no affinity that should be born from our genes, and no overlapping birthdates. Being strangers as a result is quite possibly the most natural thing that could happen.
However, now that a month has passed since my old man and Akiko-san decided to remarry and the four of us started living together, I’m starting to realize that this odd position of having a step-sister who is basically a stranger is quite incorrect. I can’t exactly treat her like a stranger, since we live in the same house. That being said, if you asked me what kind of relationship she and I have, I’d be stuck trying to think of an answer.
School ended for the day, and I arrived at my house and turned the doorknob the same as I always would.
“Welcome back, Asamura-kun.”
“I’m home, Ayase-san.”
Right after opening the door, my step-sister greeted me with the same words she had been using for the past month. Because of a mere one-week difference in age, I was the older brother, and she was my little sister. Naturally, that hierarchy had practically no bearing on our interactions, as we are practically strangers to each other who had dropped the normal honorifics.
There’s no adorable ‘Welcome back, Onii-chan~’ welcoming me here, nor any verbal abuse like ‘Can you not make such a disgusting face, you lame big bro!?’ either. Luckily, you could say. However, as of late, at the end of our greeting, we’ve been adding a few more words. For example, something like…
“Your part-time work starts again today, right?”