Chapter Four

Good Morning X Consensus

The morning after the most shocking day of my entire life, a scent I couldn’t quite identify beckoned me out of sleep. It turned out to be the smell of miso. I groggily turned my head to the kitchen and found my little sister wearing the same apron as last night. She was busy pouring the miso soup she’d made for dinner last night into a pot.

“Oh, good morning, Big Bro,” she greeted.

“Ugh…”

Her smile was even warmer than the morning sunlight that streamed in through the windows. It reminded me of an expression my girlfriend would make, causing my heart to leap. To prevent them from overlapping again in my mind, I reminded myself of my stepsister’s name.

“Good morning, Shigure.”

“Did you sleep okay? Or did you end up tossing and turning all night with your poor little heart racing? I mean, only a single screen door separated you from your adorable little sister.”

“I slept just fine, thanks,” I retorted dryly.

“Really?” she giggled. “Well, that aside, I’ve finished making breakfast. I’m going to get the table set up, so I’d appreciate it if you put your futon away.”

As instructed, I sluggishly dragged myself out of bed. My body felt like it’d been replaced with a sack of bricks. Sure, I’d claimed to have “slept just fine,” but that had been a complete lie. Could anyone really blame me? I’d spent the night a few feet away from a girl who was the spitting image of my girlfriend, a thin screen door the only barrier between us. That would’ve unsettled anyone.

Even so, I hadn’t been conscious of the fact for very long. Before we’d gone to sleep, I’d learned about Shigure’s true nature. She and Haruka were like night and day in that respect, regardless of how similar they looked. It had been a blessing, in a way—their opposite personalities helped me to view them as different people.

In fact, I could see myself getting along with Shigure as family. At the same time, the idea of this dominatrix learning about Haruka filled me with uneasiness. So, no, I hadn’t lost any sleep over Shigure—I’d been up all night worrying about my girlfriend.

How am I going to explain this situation to Haruka?

It was a doozy of a problem, and one that I couldn’t exactly hide from. What would Haruka think, knowing that I—her boyfriend—lived with her spitting image? To make matters worse, I had no power to do anything about the situation.

Still, I was confident that if I just talked to Haruka, she would understand. I needed to let her know about Shigure as soon as possible—and not via some wimpy text message or anything like that. It needed to be in person. After several agonizing hours of tossing and turning last night, I’d arrived at the conclusion that I’d tell her about it during lunch time today.

I’d finally managed to fall asleep well past 2:00AM. No wonder my body felt so heavy.

Rubbing my tired eyes, I put away the futon and sat myself down at the dining table. For breakfast, we had steaming-hot white rice, leftover miso soup, golden fried eggs, and minced cabbage. I hadn’t enjoyed a warm, freshly made breakfast in years—probably not since my mom had passed away.

“Thanks,” I said. “We’ll need to decide on shifts for chores and stuff.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, what did you do for breakfast while you still lived alone?” she asked.

“I either ate leftover bread or nothing at all.”

“No surprise there. Yeah, you’re not going anywhere near the food. Instead of shifts, I think it’d be better if we divided the housework. I’ll handle the cooking and the laundry. You can take out the garbage and wash the dishes. How does that sound?”

“I’m cool with it if you are,” I replied.

“Well, that settles that!”

As we continued deciding on our specific roles around the house, I helped myself to the breakfast she’d prepared. I’d already gotten a brief taste of it last night, but her cooking was spectacular. Yesterday’s main dish had been salmon grilled with a generous sprinkling of salt. This morning, we were enjoying hearty plates of fried eggs and miso soup. I hadn’t expected there to be much room for innovation in what she’d cooked, but there was still a world of difference between Shigure’s meals and what I’d managed to slap together on occasion.

The salmon last night had been pleasantly moist and had possessed a rich sweetness. Likewise, the eggs had been cooked just enough to still be runny. The miso soup was equally as appetizing. It was fragrant, and each mouthful was a textural delight—finely cut enoki mushrooms added a pliant resistance to the otherwise unassuming dish.

All in all, her culinary abilities were quite impressive. If Shigure had been my little sister during my single days, I would’ve turned out as one hell of a degenerate older brother, no doubt about it.

While I piled heaps of praise on her cooking, Shigure set down her chopsticks and spoke up. “By the way, I have something important to discuss before we go to school.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Starting today, I’ll also be going to Seiun.”

Wait, there was only one place with that name around here! Seiun High was the school I attended. It was a relatively well-known and prestigious private school within the Kanagawa Prefecture.

“Oh,” I responded. “I guess that means we’ll be going to the same school.”

“We should be in the same class, too. You’re also in advanced placement, right?”

“Seriously?” I blurted out.

Seiun only had one AP class. That meant we would be in the same room for our two remaining years.

“Looks like we’ll be seeing each other around the clock, huh?” I joked, trying to make light of the situation.

“Yep. And for that exact reason, I’d like to keep our relationship as siblings a secret.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Where’s your sense of imagination? Just think about it—even if we are siblings because of our parents’ marriage, we just met each other yesterday. If people found out about our living situation, it would make for perfect fap material for the boys!”

“PUH!” I made an odd choking sound as my mouthful of miso was promptly evacuated through my nose. Agh! It burns! It burns! “Girls shouldn’t be talking about things like fapping!” I cried out.

“It’s the truth. I’m not going to mince words,” she stated flatly. “Anyways, I don’t want to deal with those kinds of bad vibes on my first day at a new school.”

I couldn’t blame her for wanting to avoid the, well, “fap material” of our living situation. As a healthy, growing boy with the typical hyper-active libido of a teenager, I was well aware of what my peers were capable of. Shigure’s worries were perfectly justified.

“In other words, you want us to lie and act like complete strangers?” I asked.

“No, there’s no need to lie,” she explained. “It’s usually more trouble than it’s worth—people can sniff out the truth pretty easily, and it’s a hassle to get both of our stories straight. Just don’t go around gossiping about us, okay? I imagine our teachers will keep quiet about it if we ask them to. And thankfully, since our last name—Satou—is so common, no one will suspect a thing if we don’t draw attention to it.”

“Well, I don’t mind any of that,” I replied.

I had no reason to object. After all, I was just as reluctant as she was to be the topic of our classmates’ obscene conversations. Even if their discussions had no basis in reality, I really didn’t want Haruka to overhear them. No, I had no reason to shoot down Shigure’s proposal.

Wait, hold on a second there. That wasn’t quite right. There were a few people I had to tell—Haruka, for starters, as well as a few of my guy friends who visited the apartment on a regular basis.

“I’ll promise to keep our relationship on the down low, but there’s one person in particular I need to discuss this with,” I mentioned. “Also, a couple of my guy friends come over pretty frequently. Since they’d end up finding out sooner or later, I need to talk to them, as well. It goes without saying that I’ll warn them to keep their mouths shut about it.”

I purposefully hadn’t mentioned Haruka’s name. If Shigure found out that I had a girlfriend who was identical to her, I had no doubt that her malicious smile would quickly resurface. Like Shigure had suggested earlier, I wasn’t exactly lying, but I wasn’t rushing to let her know about Haruka, either.

“Can your friends keep a secret?” asked Shigure.

“Yeah. In that respect, they’re way more trustworthy than me,” I reassured her.

“If you say so. I won’t stop you, but only if—as an apology—you give me a good morning kiss on the cheek,” she replied, the devilish smile once again creeping across her face.

This girl won’t give me a break!

“I told you to cut that out!” I yelled.

“Aha. What’s with the red face? Kissing a family member on the cheek is just a run-of-the-mill greeting, right? It’s a pretty normal thing to do overseas.”

“So just because it’s done overseas, it should be normal in Japan, too? That’s some pretty stupid reasoning!”

“Big words for someone who doesn’t have the balls to plant a smacker on my cheek. If you don’t indulge your cute little sister with her selfish request, I won’t give you permission to tell your friends about us. So what will you do, my spineless beta brother?”

“Don’t underestimate me! I’ve planted dozens of ‘smackers’ on dozens of cheeks!” I boldly exclaimed.

Okay, that was as blatant a lie as any. Given how I’d practically creamed my pants just from holding a girl’s hand, I’d obviously never kissed anyone on the cheek. Still, I’d become certain of one thing: now that Shigure had developed a taste for tormenting me, she wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon.

One look at her face gave everything away. That teasing grin, which was brimming with malice and contempt, was pointed completely in my direction. No, she didn’t actually want a good morning kiss from me—she just enjoyed seeing me squirm under her bold demands.

This isn’t good. I knew I needed to do something to nip this nasty little habit of hers in the bud. Otherwise, there would be a long chain of manipulation and humiliation in my future. I needed to show her that I wouldn’t back down—even if I was cornered, I’d still come out swinging.

Feigning courage, I placed my hands on the table and leaned forward. As I approached Shigure, she turned her cheek toward me as if to say, “C’mon! Gimme a big, wet smooch!”

“Ergh,” I mumbled as I faltered. How is her skin so flawless? Is she even human?

No, I couldn’t hesitate! She mocked me because I freaked out and lost my nerve over every little thing. I needed to stop thinking and just bite the bullet. I psyched myself up and leaned closer, my trembling lips honing in on her cheek.

At that moment, the invigorating fragrance of shampoo tickled my nostrils, and I froze. That scent was identical to Haruka’s.

Shit! You’re telling me they don’t just look the same; they also smell the same?!

With that realization, a bitter sense of guilt stabbed my chest. She might have been my stepsister, and it might have been on the cheek, but I was about to kiss a girl I’d literally just met! I hadn’t even shared that experience with Haruka yet. Wouldn’t that be a betrayal of her trust? If I followed through with this, would I be able to look my girlfriend in the eyes during our lunch break?

“Okay, stop right there!” Shigure cried.

“Ahwah?!” I blurted out, stopping in my tracks. Shigure took the opportunity to push me back.

“Oh, for God’s sake! Why’re you taking this so seriously?” she asked, looking somewhat abashed. “That was clearly a joke. Kiss the girl you like, not me.”

“Y-You’re the one who told me to do it,” I retorted.

“And I never thought you actually would! You’ve got one hell of a dirty mind, Big Bro!”

“For the first time in my life, I’m getting the urge to hit a woman.”

“Eek! Let’s keep this a domestic-violence-free zone! It’s true that I did take things too far, though—sorry about that,” Shigure acknowledged with an apologetic bow of her head. “You’re free to tell your friends about us. If you think it’s necessary, go ahead. As long as you don’t go around spilling the beans to everyone and their dog, we shouldn’t have a problem.”

And with that, she stood up and began clearing away her dishes and utensils.

Where did all this kindness come from?

I was genuinely at a loss. Unlike me, she hadn’t appeared embarrassed by what had taken place. The inner workings of the female heart were far too complicated for a guy like me.