How I, a Hated Person, Ended Up Staying With Three Beautiful Sisters
Looking back, something inside me started changing little by little after I began living in this house.
Akane senpai scolded me earnestly. She genuinely shed tears for me. She promised to support me.
At first, I thought she was just meddling and a nuisance, but I don’t feel that way anymore.
Maho showed me her vulnerability. Even though she hated me so much at first, we’ve now exchanged contact information.
That day she was afraid of the dark, trembling, sick in bed with a cold—instead of hiding her weakness, I think I became able to accept people’s kindness.
Miyu was finally able to reveal the abilities she’d been hiding and her true feelings. That day, she took the initiative to reach out, realizing she couldn’t stay timid forever.
She relied on me.
And I myself…maybe it’s okay to value myself just a little bit. I was starting to think that.
May 31st.
The day of the school mock exam had finally arrived.
The study sessions had gone smoothly, so the probability of the three sisters failing was extremely low.
Yet, I found myself strangely tense, waking up much earlier than even that Akane senpai.
“…I was planning to get out of this apartment right away, but a whole month has flown by already?”
I plopped down on the sofa, staring at the ceiling and sighing.
Looking back now, it started with getting slapped unconscious right after moving in, then being tied up and forced to meet impossible demands, and after all sorts of twists and turns, I ended up here.
I’ve grown reasonably close with Akane senpai, Maho, and Miyu, and now we even hold study sessions together.
If I told my self from a month ago, he’d never believe me. It was that absurd.
After all, it’s only been a month. No one would think relationships could change in such a short time.
Especially for someone like me, a disliked guy, a shunned lodger, to even have contact with girls—and the Segawa sisters, no less—was bizarre in itself.
“…I can’t believe it.”
It was definitely strange no matter how you looked at it, but it was real, not a dream.
Akane senpai acting all big sisterly yet full of flaws, actually being quite innocent; Maho with her feisty personality yet afraid of the dark and having a cute room; Miyu seeming spacey but actually caring about everyone the most, never failing to show small kindnesses even without saying them aloud.
I learned all of this in just this past month.
Well, I do feel a little reluctant to leave, but today I bid farewell to this house.
Dad hasn’t reported any progress on finding a place, but surely by May 31st he must have found something. He mentioned it was a special place, so I’ll expect it to be reasonably luxurious, if not a run-down apartment.
As I sat lost in thought, Akane senpai woke up.
“—Huh? You’re up pretty early today, aren’t you? This is usually when you’re still sleeping with your stomach exposed. Did you wake up because you wanted to talk to your big sister?”
“Maybe.”
She was grinning and teasing me, so I reflexively shot back like that.
As for Akane senpai herself, whether it was because she’d just woken up or was taken aback, I couldn’t tell, but she froze, her eyes wide.
“…Huh?”
“You’re the one who’s always up early, Akane senpai. Couldn’t you have slept in a bit today?”
I asked the frozen Akane senpai.
“Eh, ah…yeah. I just can’t relax unless I stick to my usual routine. I mean, I have to get up early in the morning and make breakfast for everyone!”
“That’s your routine, huh. What about Maho and Miyu?”
“They’re probably still asleep for another thirty minutes or so.”
Senpai answered while washing her hands in the dining area.
She seemed completely normal. I felt silly for having worried for a moment.
“Haa…”
Disappointed, I couldn’t help but sigh.
Then,
“…Good morning~”
Maho came down the stairs.
Ever since that thunderstorm night, Maho had become strangely unguarded.
Not like she was walking around naked or anything indecent like that. She just seemed to be acting more naturally.
“Good morning, Maho chan. You’re up early today.”
“I just…woke up feeling nervous. I couldn’t fall asleep last night either. It’s my first time studying for an exam, you know?”
“Ah, true. You’re different than usual.”
Akane senpai, already awake and wearing an apron, and Maho, her eyes still sleepy and bedhead sticking up behind her. The two exchanged that conversation while glancing briefly at me.
“What?”
“Well…today’s the last day, you know. Thinking about it being Kojiro kun’s final morning here, big sis feels a little sad.”
“…..I, on the other hand…I’ll be relieved when you’re gone.”
“Oh, that so?”
“Maho chan, you’re still not honest. The reason you couldn’t sleep last night was really because Kojiro kun—”
“—S-stupid! What are you talking about!? And why would Akane even know that?!”
It was noisy. I lay sprawled on the sofa, half-listening to their conversation.
“Huh? I don’t know anything! I just thought maybe you were worried that if Kojiro kun left, you wouldn’t be able to get him to tutor you anymore…was I wrong? Oh my, oh my oh my? Don’t tell me!”
Akane senpai covered her mouth with her hand and said “Oh!” in a deliberately exaggerated way. Maho, facing her, gritted her teeth and muttered “…Damn you!”
Calling this a sisterly quarrel would be a stretch—it was far too nonsensical for that. Besides, it wasn’t my place as an outsider to intervene.
More importantly, their argument seemed to have woken up the last person.
“Shut it, both of you.”
Miyu descended the stairs and glared at Senpai and Maho. Not seriously, of course.
“Oh, sorry, Miyu chan. Did I wake you?”
“Miyu! Listen! Akane’s picking on me! You’re my sister too, right? You get it?”
“…Whatever. But hurry up and eat breakfast or you’ll be late.”
Miyu held up her phone to them with an exasperated look.
“Huh…oh, wow, it’s that late already? We still have time, but better safe than sorry. Let’s start getting ready!”
“I’m putting extra effort into my makeup today!”
Akane senpai dashed back to the kitchen, and Maho hurried off to the changing room. Left behind, I sat on the sofa with Miyu.
“Good morning, Onii chan.”
“Yeah.”
“…Today’s the last day, huh.”
Miyu turned her body toward me and stared up intently.
Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a slight glisten in her eyes.
“It is the last day.”
“Finally, I’ll be able to use this sofa.”
“So I was in the way, huh?”
“Just kidding. But the living room might feel so much bigger now. Like when Grandma passed away…the room that used to feel cramped suddenly seemed huge…”
“I’m not actually dying or anything.”
Miyu’s voice was so flat sometimes I couldn’t tell if she was joking or dead serious.
“But it’s a similar feeling. We’ve been in the same space for a whole month, and then tomorrow you’re just gone? Doesn’t that feel weird?”
A whole month…yeah. It had been a month that felt both long and short, short and long.
I think I understand a little of the loneliness when Grandma’s room became empty.
Just as I was getting uncharacteristically sentimental, Senpai Akane called us.
“——It’s ready!”
Her voice was loud enough for Maho in the changing room to hear.
Miyu and I quietly stood up and sat down at the dining table. A little later, Maho came running over, flustered.
And so began our final breakfast, not quite a last supper.
Akane senpai chatted away as usual, Maho occasionally exchanged messages with someone on LINE, and Miyu looked at her compact notebook instead of a light novel today…manners aside, each of them carried on as they always did.
As for me, I ate in silence, saying only “Delicious” without thinking much, though deep down, I was savoring these last moments with the three sisters.
After breakfast, the three sisters would start their morning routines first, and once they were done, it would be my turn. Usually, we were cutting it pretty close, but today everyone had woken up early, so there was some leeway.
I waited until the three of them had finished getting ready, then called out to them in a slightly louder voice.
“All three of you—”
“Hmm? What is it all of a sudden, Kojiro kun?”
“No, I just wanted to talk. Is it okay if I have a little of your time?”
“I don’t mind…”
“It’s fine for a bit. We’ve got time today anyway.”
“Permission granted.”
Having received their three separate approvals, I spoke again.
“First, thank you for letting me use this house for a month. Well…it’s true a lot happened, but I think it was pretty fun overall.”
It came out awkwardly, probably because I felt a bit embarrassed deep down.
Even so, the three of them smiled. Only Maho pouted and turned her face away, but that was just her default expression.
Watching their reactions, I continued.
“Starting tomorrow, I don’t think we’ll have any more chances to talk. At school, after school, on holidays—we won’t have any contact. The moment we step outside this apartment building, we’ll go back to being complete strangers.”
“…You don’t have to put it like that.”
Akane senpai said it in a tone that sounded like she was pushing back, but I shook my head.
“Let’s settle this relationship. Otherwise, it’ll drag on awkwardly and cause trouble for all three of you. No matter how well Akane senpai supports me, no matter how much Maho tries to manage the class atmosphere, no matter how much Miyu worries and talks to me—nothing can change my bad reputation.”
I knew full well I was saying something creepy. Don’t get cocky…I told myself. But I believed this was the right choice. I shouldn’t be involved with the three of them. Since this relationship had run its course, I judged that stepping further into it wouldn’t be good for any of us.
“So, today is the end. Truly—thank you for everything.”
I bowed deeply to the three of them, placed the card key I’d taken from my pocket on the table, and left the room without looking back.
Glancing sideways one last time, I saw the three of them frozen in place, as if stunned.
And so, after leaving the room, I hurriedly boarded the elevator and stepped outside the building, feeling a lingering hesitation.
I would never cross this threshold again.
“…Haa…why do I feel so reluctant to leave?”
I thought I’d sorted it out last night, yet my heart was unsettled. At the very least, it was far from calm.
Maigetsu