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 43

“Oh, welcome home, Akari-chan.”

When I returned home, Hiyori—who had arrived before me—greeted me warmly.

“I’m back.”

“You seemed to be working hard during P.E. today. Are your legs okay? No soreness or injuries?”

“They feel a little heavy and tired, but nothing serious.”

The fact that she immediately worried about my condition as soon as I got home… her kindness alone could probably heal me completely.

“But you’re still feeling a bit worn out, right? I just brewed some tea—would you like a cup?”

“Wah, really? I can have some?”

“Of course. Please help yourself.”

Drawn in by her gentle smile, I made my way to the living room.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you so much!”

She placed a teacup in front of me as I took my seat at the table.

The soft amber hue of the tea and its subtly sweet aroma drifted into the air.

“Would you like some chocolate too?”

“W-Wow… you’ve really thought of everything…”

The sweetness of the chocolate melted on my tongue, and the tea’s mild bitterness balanced it out perfectly.

“It’s delicious.”

“You worked hard today, Akari-chan. This is your reward.”

“A reward…? I feel kind of bad accepting something so nice just for myself.”

Hiyori was being even kinder than usual today. And now she was calling this a reward? I didn’t know how to react to that.

“You and Satsuki-san’s practice looked pretty intense. Just make sure you don’t push yourself too hard, okay?”

“…So I really did look like I was struggling, huh?”

Considering how much I was sweating—and how Hiyori even helped wipe it off—it was probably inevitable she’d notice.

“I suppose so. I’m not sure what Satsuki-san was being so stubborn about, but she seemed really determined to push you. I was a little worried she might drag you along too much.”

“Ahh… that probably looked that way because I’m slow. She actually started adjusting to my pace later on.”

Even Satsuki tried to match her movements to mine partway through.

From the outside, it must’ve looked like I was the one getting pulled along.

“I’m not so sure. From what I saw, she looked like she was putting in a lot of effort—specifically toward you, Akari-chan.”

“Hmm. I think it’s just that someone like Satsuki, a total extrovert, wants to show off how different she is from a background character like me.”

After all, this whole situation happened because she got dragged into it thanks to me.

It’s not far-fetched to think she was just trying to make me regret it.

“Oh my, a ‘background character’? You, Akari-chan?”

“Huh? Y-Yes, of course…”

I mean, isn’t that how anyone would see me?

Why was she looking at me like that was surprising?

“You don’t have to belittle yourself like that. I think you’re a very charming person, Akari-chan.”

“A-Ahaha… I appreciate that, but… I think you might be a little biased…”

Maybe it’s just her seeing me through the lens of a kind older sister, but the truth is, I’m clearly just another unremarkable student in class.

Compared to Satsuki, who’s always shining—and the Tsukimori sisters, who practically are the light—I’m on a completely different level.

“At the very least, I don’t see you that way.”

“But that’s… kind of a minority opinion, don’t you think?”

“And are other people’s opinions really that important to you?”

“…Um.”

For once, Hiyori’s usual soft expression faded, replaced with a serious gaze.

Her eyes, quietly intense, seemed to pierce right through me.

“Other people’s opinions are just theirs. They don’t have anything to do with me, do they?”

“Well… I mean, that’s true…”

“That’s why I don’t think of you as gloomy or dull at all, Akari-chan. And I don’t want you to keep looking down on yourself like that.”

Hiyori took a small sip of her tea after speaking those words.

“You know, some people describe this tea as bitter, while others might say it tastes sweet like fruit. In the same way, everyone experiences things differently. There’s no need for a single, uniform judgment.”

Then, as always, she smiled gently.

A smile that never rejected me—one that sought to gently challenge how I saw myself.

“Then… how do I appear to you, Hiyori-san?”

Satsuki said it too—that I didn’t truly understand myself.

And if what Hiyori’s saying is right… that my view of myself is overly harsh and one-dimensional…

Then what does she see when she looks at me?

“…Huh?”

“Huh?”

Just as she raised her teacup again, Hiyori froze mid-motion.

After all that thoughtful explanation—why stop here of all places?

“Um, well… I think your smile is really cute?”

“C-Cute…? Me?”

That wasn’t just embarrassing—it was confusing.

In a house full of literal goddesses like the Tsukimori sisters, there’s no world where the word cute applies to me.

Unless we’re talking about so-ugly-it’s-cute, or something like that.

“Y-Yes… really very cute.”

“Could you… maybe be more specific?”

Come on now, be honest.

Just admit that some odd imperfection in my features ended up being oddly charming.

“U-Uhh… Even if you ask for specifics, it’s… um… everything?”

“Everything…? Hiyori-san, I asked for something specific, and you replied with the vaguest thing possible.”

It’s clear—she’s just being polite.

If I were actually cute, she could’ve easily pointed out one or two charming features.

“Everything” is the classic vague cover-all when you don’t know what to say.

“I-I really mean it though…”

—Clatter.

“Hiyori-san, your hand’s shaking while holding the teacup.”

“O-Oh dear, so it is!”

“You’re visibly flustered.”

“W-Well, it’s because you keep pressing me for every last detail, Akari-chan!”

She must’ve reached the point where her kindness got the better of her, and now she didn’t know how to back out.

I truly appreciated how much she cared about my feelings.

But pushing too hard to be considerate ends up putting strain on her too. That’s not good for anyone.

Although, I guess it’s mostly my fault for pushing the issue…

“I understand how you feel, Hiyori-san.”

“Huh? You do?”

“Yes. Even without saying everything outright, your reactions said enough.”

“W-What do you mean by that…?”

Her cheeks turned bright red. She probably realized she’d gone too far in trying to be nice.

“So basically, even if someone’s ugly from head to toe, there’s still a way to see them as cute, depending on perspective, right?”

“…That is completely not what I meant…”

Of course, she can’t agree with that while I’m sitting right in front of her.

But still, it was a valuable lesson—That even a negative, depending on how you look at it, can become a positive!