How I, a Hated Person, Ended Up Staying With Three Beautiful Sisters
Maho’s complexion was still poor, but it was much better than last night.
When I called out to Maho, who was slowly coming down the stairs,
“Hey, you look well,”
she replied, “What, don’t look at me” but sat down at the table obediently.
I waited for the right moment, then reheated the cold porridge over low heat.
“Sorry about that. I made it last night, but you didn’t wake up, so…porridge for breakfast.”
“It’s fine. I don’t feel like eating anything heavy anyway.”
“I see. At least it was worth making.”
“…Did you make it just for me?”
“What else would it be for?”
It would be strange to do nothing for someone who had such a high fever and was in such a bad state.
“Uh, yeah, you’re right.”
Maho looked around nervously as she picked up the spoon.
“So, can you eat it?”
“…A little.”
Saying that, Maho blew on it to cool it down and slowly put the porridge in her mouth.
It was probably just my imagination, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.
After that, we ate silently without talking much.
After we both finished eating and took a breath, Maho suddenly muttered.
“…I might have had a strange dream. I think someone I like appeared and stroked my head…”
I snorted.
“You were just talking in your sleep with a silly grin on your face, that’s all.”
“Huh !? I don’t talk in my sleep !”
“You were saying, ‘Please stroke my head…’.”
“…That’s a lie.”
She looked like she hoped it was a lie because she was embarrassed. Well, it was a lie, but…
“It’s a lie.”
“Yeah, right, I’m relieved…but what kind of lie is that !”
“But then again, if you got to meet someone you like, that’s good. You said it was a complete stranger, so maybe you met them in your dream and remembered something?”
“Well, yeah. They were warm and kind.”
Mafu said that with a carefree smile. I’ve never seen her look like that before. She can make that kind of face too. I think I understand what Akane senpai was saying. Maho is a girl too.
As we were having this casual conversation, Mafu suddenly confessed.
“Actually, I’m really afraid of dark places. …Since I was little, I’ve had something like nyctophobia.”
“Nyctophobia. That’s why you were so honest yesterday. I get it now.”
“…Well, what can I do? You were the only one I could rely on.”
It was rare to see Maho fidgeting with her fingertips, and it felt somehow fresh and strange.
Even though I was just listening, the way she suddenly continued talking about herself reminded me of someone from the past.
A moment of peaceful time passed, and then—
The sound of the front door unlocking echoed through the house.
Immediately, light footsteps ran down the hallway toward the living room.
“Maho chan, are you okay?”
It was Akane senpai who had come running. She approached with a worried look on her face. Maho was a little surprised, but she straightened her back and replied, “I’m fine.”
Next, Miyu quietly came over.
Before she knew it, the living room had become a space for the three sisters.
“Onee chan, I was really worried about you !”
“Maho hates dark places, so she must have been crying and scared.”
“I’m fine, so both of you leave me alone !”
Maho said that, but she looked happy as she looked at Akane senpai and Miyu on either side of her.
“But Maho chan is acting different than usual. Did Kojiro kun do something to you?”
“What do you mean, ‘something’?”
“Really? Did Kojiro kun really do something? Did he break his promise to his older sister?”
Don’t bring up the topic so suddenly. There’s no way I’d break that promise. I don’t want to be socially dead.
“Don’t look at me with that scary smile. You know that if I did something, Maho would slap me right away. At worst, I’d be turned into porridge and already gone from this world.”
“Just kidding ! Anyway, I bought some sweets at the convenience store, so let’s play rock-paper-scissors…”
As the rock-paper-scissors game began, I read the room, cleared away the empty porridge bowls, and quietly left the dining room to sit on the living room sofa.
Fatigue washed over me all at once. My whole body felt heavy, and I felt like closing my eyes.
“I’m tired.”
It was 7:30 in the morning. I had school today, so I didn’t have time to sleep.
Besides, there was no way I could sleep in all this noise.
“He y! Don’t take my pudding without asking !”
“That’s mine. I’m not giving it to you. No way.”
Akane senpai and Miyu were sparring over a giant dessert called a bucket pudding.
Meanwhile, Maho, who wasn’t involved in the confrontation, had come over to me alone and sat down next to me, looking somewhat apologetic.
“…Um…”
“What’s wrong?”
Maho sat cross-legged, looking subdued, her usual assertive attitude gone.
“I’m sorry for everything.”
“Everything?”
“Um, yeah…I said a lot of mean things to you, and even though it’s too late now, I wanted to apologize.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I said that without hesitation, and Maho lowered her eyes and bit her lower lip.
“…I do worry about it. Because even though I did a lot of mean things to you, you helped me. You could have abandoned me…”
“You’re an idiot.”
“H-huh !?”
Maho is an idiot. She overthinks things.
“You’ve always been an idiot. Let me clarify one thing: I don’t hate you. In fact, I empathized with your sisterly attitude.”
“…You empathized with me?”
“Yeah. It’s only natural to dislike an outsider like me. Even though Akane senpai and Miyu didn’t show it openly with their words or actions, their true feelings were probably different. But you were the only one who was clear about it. That’s only natural. Besides, I’m an outcast called an executioner or a rapist.”
I suddenly stood up and looked down at Maho. Maho was sitting in a triangle position on the sofa, clenching her fists on her knees, and looking up at me with teary eyes.
That image overlapped with the girl in the storage room.
For some reason, my hand reached out toward Maho’s head.
“I don’t mind.”
“Don’t touch me !”
My hand was slapped away in less than a second. She glared at me with a bright red face.
“Sorry, I just…”
“Just what ! You must do that to all kinds of women ! You seemed so used to it ! Is that why you read books like yesterday’s all the time?!”
Maho stood up abruptly and approached me. She was furious, but seeing her like this, her handsome features made her seem less intimidating.
“It was just a slip of the tongue.”
“Ugh…looking at you makes me lose my temper.”
Maho didn’t seem convinced, but she sighed in resignation and walked past me toward the two of them. As she did, I heard her mutter softly.
“Thank you for doing that for me.”
It was an incomplete sentence, but it was enough.
It had reached me clearly.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Maigetsu