I Confessed to the Three Beautiful Sisters at School and Got Rejected, but After I Became their Stepsister, They Started Doting On Me (GL) - Chapter 40

“Haa, haa, haa… W-well… we’ve done enough. That should be fine, right?”

Our three-legged race practice had been taken seriously—thoroughly, in fact.

Perhaps influenced by Chiya-san’s earlier words, Satsuki Saezuki didn’t slack off at all. She earnestly did her best to keep pace with me the entire time.

Thanks to that, I was able to push myself to the limit, and our speed has improved dramatically compared to when we first started.

“Gah— cough— ugh— pfft…”

“…What kind of gasping is that? You sound absolutely not cute.”

Since I have no athletic talent and zero exercise routine, the training felt brutal.

I was drenched in sweat, my heart pounding like crazy, and I could barely breathe.

I honestly couldn’t believe Saezuki-san was only slightly winded.

I plopped down on the grass, trying to catch my breath.

“My, my~ Aka-chan, are you alright~?”

Out of nowhere, Hiyori-san called out to me in her usual dreamy tone.

“Aka-chan…?”

“You’re sweating so much. Here, you need to wipe it off before it starts dripping everywhere~”

“Wah— th-thank you!”

Ignoring Saezuki-san’s raised eyebrow, Hiyori-san gently wiped my sweat with a soft towel she’d brought along.

Thankfully, since we were off in a corner of the field, no one else seemed to notice…

“Uh, wait, what? What is happening here?”

Next to me, Saezuki-san sat completely dumbfounded, eyes wide with disbelief.

I mean, yeah… it is a bit embarrassing to be pampered like this.

“I just couldn’t help wanting to support you after watching how hard you were trying~”

Leaving the towel in my hands, Hiyori-san gave her usual airy reply in response to Saezuki-san’s unspoken question.

“Uh-huh… Are you her guardian or something?”

“Ufufu, wouldn’t that be cute~?”

With a serene, harmless smile that never hurt anyone, Hiyori-san floated away from the scene.

“…What the heck was that.”

Of course, her roundabout way of speaking only left someone as blunt as Saezuki-san with more confusion than answers.

“Hey, have the Tsukimori sisters always acted like that toward you?”

Naturally, her curiosity turned toward me.

“…Well, I wonder.”

“No way. They used to be way more distant, remember?”

So even to outsiders, it’s that obvious, huh…

I’m well aware myself that I’ve gotten much closer to the Tsukimori sisters lately.

“Just to confirm—you got rejected, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, well…”

(That’s your fault, by the way…)—but I let that one go for now. No use digging that back up again.

“How does that even turn into this kind of relationship?”

Saezuki-san shrugged, clearly baffled by the situation.

And honestly, telling her that things changed after I became their stepsister would open a whole can of worms about my family situation…

Kind of hard to explain, really.

“But it’s not like you’re just ‘friends’ either, right?”

“U-uhh…”

Oof. Sharp.

There’s no way she’d guess I became their sister, but still…

“Tsukimori never used to treat anyone that specially.”

“Huh? You think so?”

“Definitely. Those girls are super popular, so they always made an effort not to play favorites. They were careful about that—because if they singled someone out, it’d cause drama.”

“I see…”

As someone who’s never been good at managing relationships, I hadn’t even considered that perspective.

“So why the sudden change in attitude? You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

“N-no, no way! I’m not hiding anything!”

She’s sharp—way too sharp.

Saezuki-san’s instincts are scarily on point.

“So then… is this, like, a one-sided crush from Tsukimori? Some kind of romantic thing?”

…Huh?

“W-wait, no way. That’s definitely not happening.”

W-whoa, that was sudden. Don’t just drop romantic feelings on me out of nowhere!

Well… I suppose, if it’s not just friendship, the next logical guess would be romance.

No one would immediately think it’s a family thing.

“Hmph… Well, if you wanna keep it a secret, that’s your choice.”

Saezuki-san gave me a look of suspicion—flat eyes, narrowed just enough to feel like a laser. It kinda hurts.

Why do I feel like I’ve done something wrong?

“…Also, Saezuki-san, aren’t you a little too interested in what’s going on with me lately?”

Now that I think about it—my feelings about the Tsukimori sisters, their changing attitude toward me…

She’s picked up on every little nuance, even though she’s not exactly close to any of us. Isn’t that kinda strange?

“Wha—what? What are you even talking about!? You’re being totally full of yourself!”

Suddenly flustered, Saezuki-san’s voice cracked. Her face flushed red.

Huh? That reaction…

“Could it be that you’re the one hiding something, Saezuki-san?”

“I—I’m not hiding anything! I don’t think about you at all, okay!?”

…Right. Of course not.

I mean, why would anyone be thinking about me?

Unless…

Gasp.

I’ve got it!

“Wait a minute… Don’t tell me—you actually have a thing for the Tsukimori sisters?!”

She thought I liked the Tsukimori sisters.

She thought they liked me.

She jumped straight to the idea of romantic feelings between girls without hesitation.

Doesn’t that mean—she’s the one projecting?!

That’s one massive boomerang she just threw.

“That is NOT it! You idiot!!”

“…Idiot?!”

With her face now a shade of crimson, Saezuki-san suddenly exploded in fury, hurling the word like a grenade.

“…So it is just embarrassment, huh?”

Yup, that must be it.

It all started with her own feelings for the Tsukimori sisters. Then she saw me interacting with them and got irrationally annoyed.

Makes perfect sense—every little inconsistency in her behavior finally fits the puzzle.

The Tsukimori sisters are school idols, after all, and they’re just as popular with the girls as they are with the boys.

“I’m not embarrassed! I’m just mad at your stupid, clueless conclusions!”

“And yet, that still looks like obvious embarrassment to me…”

“Alright, alright! I finally understand what the Tsukimori sisters have to deal with dealing with you all the time!”

“…That’s harsh.”

Oof. That one stung a little.

With a final snort, Saezuki-san turned on her heel and stormed back toward her usual sunshine-and-chaos friend group, leaving me behind.