Book 6: Prologue: Asamura Yuuta
It was night in the living room. To counteract the bristling cold filling the room, we had the heat turned up to the point that the A/C unit was giving off healthy rattling sounds. Along with that sound, I let out a faint groan as I worked through my physics textbook. I looked around the table and spotted a cup. I picked it up to take a sip and—Hm? I realized there was no fluid inside the cup. It turns out my cup of coffee was empty, which immediately ruined all my focus. I turned the cup upside down to get the last bit of coffee out, but after a single drop touched my lips, no more sweet joy came.
It had gotten quite late at night. If I drink another cup now, I probably won’t be able to sleep. I, Asamura Yuuta, was pondering what liquid to make my next partner for my late-night studying session, considering my focus had already run out, when I suddenly heard a bewildered “Huh?” from behind me. I turned around. Standing there was the girl who had become my younger step-sister roughly half a year ago—Ayase-san.
“Ah, sorry. Was the A/C too loud?”
“Not at all. I had my door closed. I just didn’t think you’d be here this late,” she said and raised her head to look at the clock, which said it was already 11 pm. Normally, I’d be sitting in my room studying by this time.
“Want some hot chocolate?” She asked, pointing at my empty cup.
“Honestly, that sounds pretty good right now.”
“Then I’ll make some. I’m gonna drink some myself, anyway.”
“Thanks.”
She turned on our electric kettle, took out the hot chocolate mix from the drawer, and picked out a cup for herself and a larger mug. With all that prepared, she sat down on a chair. In the meantime, I took out the milk from the fridge, washing the cup I had just used for the coffee. I accepted the larger mug from Ayase-san, poured milk in there, and put it into the microwave. To finish it off, I pressed the button on it that said “Milk.”