“Fufufu. Oh? Didn’t you give your virginity to your husband when you were a second-year high schooler? That’s quite a thing to say.”
I don’t remember sharing my first-time story with my sister, but it seems Satoshi told her.
After rejecting his confessions, I often updated him on my relationship to help him move on.
From elementary school through high school, Satoshi confessed to me many times. Worried he might become overly attached or even stalk me, I decided to share details about my love life as a desperate measure.
“I finally became one with my beloved boyfriend! Now I’m a woman ahead of you,” I once reported.
After hearing this, Satoshi turned pale and, from then on, showed no signs of clinging to me.
“Besides, Satoshi and I only got together on my 20th birthday. So he didn’t lay a hand on me while I was in high school. He’s a responsible adult.”
“Can you not talk about this while I’m here?”
“Oh, don’t be shy. It’s just for today, so bear with it.”
“True. We may never get together like this again.”
“Yeah.”
Now that we both have our own families, casual reunions will probably become rarer.
Especially once children enter the picture.
I thought I had built my own happy family first—
—but that belief came from knowing nothing at all.
After greeting their parents, Satoshi and Ranko returned to the Ichijo household. Later, Ranko came back to her family home alone.
“Are you really grateful to our sister?”
“What’s this all of a sudden?”
“Thank you for rejecting Satoshi.”
Her sudden gratitude left me bewildered. I couldn’t quite understand what she was getting at.
“You always said you’d marry ‘the hero who saved my drowning sister.’ So I’d already half-given up on Satoshi. I knew he only ever saw me as the little sister.”
“Stop saying strange things. My hero is Kazuki. I’ve heard it from his own mouth—he’s the one who saved me when I was drowning.”
“Right. You’ve heard it directly from him. But did you ever investigate or ask others objectively?”
“...What?”
A chill ran down my spine at her words. The details of the rescue Kazuki had described matched my own memories perfectly. There was no doubt in my mind that he was my hero.
More than anything, the trust and deep affection between him and me couldn’t possibly be a lie.
“Mom and Dad didn’t say anything to you, did they? They’re such cold-hearted people, aren’t they?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I could’ve kept quiet, but I came here today to sever ties with our parents and you. And as a parting gift, I’ll tell you the truth. Isn’t that kind of me?”
Ranko smiled brightly. Since entering high school, all I remembered of her was her rebellious phase and anger.
“I absolutely despised watching my sister treat Satoshi like dirt.”
Instinctively, I understood I shouldn’t listen to this. I wanted to block my ears.
* * *
Ranko’s Perspective
I’ve always hated my sister, Sayuri.
She’s probably not a bad person at heart, but she was oblivious to how much Satoshi cared for her, treating his feelings as if they were nothing, hurting him without a second thought. Her indifference infuriated me.
Since I was little, it had always been the three of us—Sayuri, Satoshi, and me. Watching them so close, I thought they were destined to be together. Even as a child, I believed they’d marry someday.
The moment I realized I had feelings for Satoshi was also the moment I knew I’d already lost. There was no space for me in his heart.
When my sister and Satoshi started elementary school, there was an incident at the pond. The three of us had gone to the woods behind our houses, as usual. Sayuri leaned over the edge to pick a flower near the water and accidentally fell in.
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