How I, a Hated Person, Ended Up Staying With Three Beautiful Sisters
It was when I was in my second year of junior high school.
It was Friday evening. The location was a large shopping mall a short distance from my run-down apartment.
I stopped by the bookstore next to the escalator on the second floor to check out the new releases, and then planned to finish my dinner shopping and head home.
I had been browsing for about an hour.
That was where I first encountered romance comedy. There, I discovered the appeal of romance comedy-themed games and novels, mainly light novels, and that day I was engrossed in staring at the books.
Then it happened. I left the bookstore to go to the restroom and followed the signs, walking deeper and deeper into the store.
That was a mistake.
I had noticed that the hallway was unusually empty, and the fact that I couldn’t seem to reach my destination no matter how far I walked made me feel uneasy.
But since I had followed the signs properly, I didn’t turn back.
After walking for a few minutes, I arrived at a completely dark room.
I could tell at a glance that it wasn’t the restroom, but driven by curiosity, I cautiously entered. There was no electricity, and it was an unusually quiet, narrow space.
“…Maybe it’s a storage room.”
There were piles of cardboard boxes, and it was a bit dusty. It seemed like a place that hadn’t been used in years.
As a middle school student, I was curious about the unknown. So I ventured further into the room that looked like a warehouse and started rummaging around.
In that instant, the entrance to the warehouse, which let in a faint light, slammed shut.
“…Eh?”
I let out a dazed voice and immediately started running.
At the same time, I heard the sound of a lock being closed from the outside.
I was locked in.
The sound of the lock closing was all that remained in my ears.
No matter how much I pounded on the door, there was no response.
From such a remote storage room, the sound wouldn’t reach the busy area outside.
Realizing my situation, I was overcome with a sense of helplessness and slowly leaned my back against the wall and sat down.
It was dark. Almost complete darkness.
The only light came from the emergency lights shining through the crack in the door.
“…I guess I’ll just have to wait.”
I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness and scanned the storage room.
There were no windows, of course. There was no place where light could properly enter. It was clear that there was nothing I could do.
“Haa…”
I exhaled and slowly stood up.
Then, glancing toward the back of the storage room, I saw a small figure sitting alone, hugging their knees.
“Are you okay?”
When I cautiously spoke, the figure flinched, then after a moment, replied in a faint voice.
“…I’m not okay…”
Saying that, I heard the sound of sobbing.
She was probably around my age. From her clothes, I could tell she was wearing the uniform of the neighboring middle school.
I couldn’t see her face at all, but her trembling voice and sobs were unusually clear.
I didn’t know what to do.
I couldn’t say anything that might scare her.
So I quietly sat down a little away from her.
After a while of silence, she seemed to calm down a bit and took a deep breath.
Then she started talking slowly.
“…Today, I was supposed to go see a movie with my friends.”
“I see.”
“But when we were deciding which movie to see, we had a little argument…”
“So you came here.”
“Yeah. Tonight…I was supposed to go out to dinner with my mom and dad.”
I just nodded.
In other words, she had gotten into a fight with her friends and ended up hiding in this storage room by chance. Or maybe she had mistaken it for a bathroom like me and had been locked in while crying.
I didn’t know what to say, and to be honest, it was difficult to comfort her.
I just listened.
Perhaps it worked, or maybe she relaxed her guard toward me because I didn’t say much, but she started talking about various things on her own.
“I have an important older sister and younger sister. We don’t get many chances to gather as a family…so I’m looking forward to tonight.”
I continued to listen in silence.
She has close and important sisters.
Her parents are busy and don’t have much time, but tonight they’re all going out to eat together.
She also talked endlessly about middle school studies, complaints about teachers, and other things that seemed like a reversal of her anxiety.
But eventually, the conversation came to a halt.
Silence returned.
And then again—
“I’m scared…”
Her sobs faded into the darkness.
I had no idea what to do. There were limits to how much I could listen, and more than anything, it was something I was bad at.
There was only so much I could do.
Then it hit me.
A scene from a romantic comedy I’d been into lately flashed through my mind.
Maybe I should do something.
I timidly reached out and gently touched her head.
Fortunately, she didn’t push my hand away. In fact, her head seemed to be turned slightly toward me.
“It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”
I spoke gently.
I just wanted her to feel a little more at ease.
I repeated it over and over again.
“It’s okay. Someone will be here soon, so it’s okay…”
She flinched at first, but then relaxed her shoulders a little.
“It’s warm…”
I thought I saw her smile as she said that. Her expression was still unclear.
But the silence was no longer painful. Instead, it felt heartwarming, and I felt like I had connected with her.
Had she calmed down…or was she just tired?
About fifteen minutes later, she spoke again.
“Ah…um, by the way, my name…”
As she finished speaking—creak…—the door suddenly opened.
“——!”
A blinding light sliced through the darkness.
She was startled by the sudden bright light and tried to stand up. However, at that moment, she slipped and fell toward me.
“Kyaa !”
“Whoa…!”
I instinctively caught her, but my body lost its balance. Before I knew it, I was in a position where I was pinning her down.
“…!”
On the other side of the door were two security guards, three or four middle school girls, and a few boys.
Everyone was staring at me in shock.
My harsh gaze had brought misfortune. I realized that my eyes looked even sharper because I had been squinting in the light.
I immediately understood that it was too late for everything.
“We’ll contact the school and your parents ! Come with us !”
The security guard approached me with a desperate expression.
“No, this is….!”
I couldn’t say anything, just held my breath and felt a chill run down my spine.
And then I ran away.
Ignoring the security guard’s calls, I ran as fast as I could.
In the end, I couldn’t see the girl’s face.
Maigetsu