How I, a Hated Person, Ended Up Staying With Three Beautiful Sisters
As we sat reading together for a while,
“Come to think of it…”
Maho spoke up quietly from beside me.
“Hm?”
“Reading is tiring, so tell me about your middle school days. It’ll help pass the time, won’t it?”
It was her usual arrogant tone, but I felt her voice was a little softer than usual.
I guess I could grant a request like that.
“I’ve told you before, but it’s not a very interesting story.”
“That’s fine. I’m not expecting much from you anyway.”
“…I see. Well, then, let’s start with the story of my most glorious days as an elementary school student, before I entered middle school. It was during the sixth-grade sports festival…”
“…I’m not interested in hearing about your sparkling days. Besides, isn’t it sad that your most glorious days were in elementary school? And sixth grade is too late to start.”
She cut me off and denied it. Well, it was just a joke.
“Then, let me start over and give you the short version.”
I nodded with a sigh and briefly recounted the story from my middle school days.
One Friday in my second year of middle school, I ended up locked in a storage room at a shopping mall by chance, spent time with an unknown girl from another school, and eventually had to flee in tears after being met with cold, judgmental stares. It’s a boring story.
“….That’s it. How about it? Not very interesting, is it?”
I clapped my hands lightly to wrap up the story. The dull sound echoed through the living room.
“It was around that time that I started to stand out, thanks to that look in my eyes. Well, it was a fitting debut, I guess. The girl who was locked in the storage room with me probably spread the story around with her friends.”
I said it with a hint of pride and a touch of humor. I expected Maho to laugh or widen her eyes or give some kind of reaction.
But my expectations were dashed.
“……”
The answer was silence. Maho said nothing.
She shrugged her shoulders and stared intently at me. Her expression was painful, as if she were holding back something she wanted to say.
“…Hey, what’s wrong?”
When I furrowed my brow and asked her that, Maho suddenly bit her lip and looked down. And in that instant, she squeezed my hand tightly.
“I’m sorry…”
“Huh?”
It was so unexpected that I let out a foolish sound.
“I said I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? I’m the one who should apologize for making you listen to such a boring story.”
I said that with a laugh.
However, Maho’s expression was not smiling. With a serious gaze and a trembling voice, she was desperately trying to convey something.
“No…it’s not that. Don’t you understand…? You, I…I…”
Maho’s face turned bright red as she tried to say something…but before she could finish her sentence, she lost her strength and collapsed into my chest.
“Hey, Maho?”
I instinctively caught her and hurriedly placed my hand on her forehead.
She was hot. Her breathing was labored, and her whole body was limp.
“You really did have a fever…”
I had suspected as much, but looking at her closely, her complexion was quite poor. Her trembling fingertips were still cold.
I had to get her to rest as soon as possible.
“…Damn it, don’t be so stubborn now.”
I couldn’t care less about the conditions anymore.
I picked up Maho’s body and carried her to her room.
It was my first time entering a girl’s room, and I never thought I’d break that rule. But I couldn’t worry about that now.
Maho’s room was unlike her feisty personality—though that might be rude to say—it was a soft, cute space decorated in pastel colors.
It was uniformly decorated in bright pink and mint green, with small stuffed animals and dried flowers in glass jars lined up by the window.
“Let’s hope Maho loses her memory of today.”
I said that as I gently laid Maho down. I covered her with a thin towel blanket, but it felt inadequate. I’d have to find a blanket later.
Before that, I headed straight to the kitchen to make some porridge.
Perhaps because Akane senpai is meticulous, or because Maho manages the ingredients perfectly, most of the materials were already prepared.
Instead, the arrangement of the seasonings was unusually complicated and took time, but I managed to make a bowl that seemed gentle on the stomach.
By the way, I won’t wake her up immediately to make her eat it—that would be cruel.
I’ll transfer it to a serving dish and divide it into portions so she can eat it anytime. If I warm it over low heat, the taste won’t deteriorate much.
It was the first time my cooking skills, honed from living alone, had come in handy.
“Alright, I should probably let Akane senpai know.”
[Maho has a fever and collapsed. I’m taking care of her for now. I went into Maho’s room and the kitchen. I know it’s against the rules, but please don’t be angry. Please let Miyu know too.]
I sent the message…and within five seconds, it was marked as read, and ten seconds later, I received a reply.
[Is Maho chan okay? If she’s in pain, there’s an ice pack and a fever-reducing sheet on the shelf above the changing room, so please use them. There’s a medicine cabinet in the back of the kitchen. Blankets and quilts are stored in the closet on the right side of the entrance, so feel free to use them. They’ve just been cleaned, so they’re clean ! I’ll leave Maho chan’s care to you !]
Everything I wanted to know was neatly summarized in a single message.
Thank you, Akane senpai. To be honest, I had no idea where anything was, so it was a huge help to have you tell me.
But one thing that concerns me is that you don’t seem worried about leaving your important second daughter alone with that suspicious man who’s staying with you.
“Is Akane senpai surprisingly lenient about such things?”
Just as I thought that, my smartphone rang again.
[By the way, if you do anything weird to Maho chan while she’s sleeping, I’ll kick you out, and I’ll ask Father to socially destroy you, so be prepared ! Even if Kojiro kun dies, I won’t forgive you, so be prepared ! I’m counting on you ! P.S. I believe in Kojiro kun !]
My body shivered. I didn’t have a cold, and I shouldn’t have a fever…
The three scattered hearts looked like my remaining lives.
“…If I don’t take care of her carefully, my life might end today.”
Having made up my mind, I stuck a fever-reducing patch on Maho’s forehead, covered her body with a blanket and quilt I took out of the closet, and kept medicine and sports drink by her pillow.
After doing everything I could, I lay down on the sofa but made sure to check on Maho regularly.
By midnight, her labored breathing had calmed down. Her fever slowly subsided, and her expression grew peaceful.
I stayed awake, occasionally checking on her, reapplying the fever-reducing patch, wiping the sweat from her face with a towel, and spending a restless night.
And before I knew it, dawn broke.
The wind and rain had completely stopped, and as the sky outside the window began to lighten—click—the sound of the ceiling light coming back on.
At the same time, the sound of the door opening echoed, and Maho peeked her head through the crack in the door.
It seemed both had returned to normal safely.
It was a bit disappointing that the cooled porridge hadn’t been needed.
Maigetsu