The person who likes me is a yandere.

I thought we were getting to know each other better, but then things suddenly fell apart. Living together is so difficult.

Chapter Thirty-One: What an Idiot

I peeked out through the gap in the living room curtains and saw Asuna deftly setting up a tent in the dim light of eight o'clock in the evening.

The September nights were warm, and although the temperature was nearly 20 degrees Celsius, I still couldn't let my ex-girlfriend pitch a tent in the yard to spend the night. Even if she weren't my ex-girlfriend, it still wouldn't be allowed.

I wanted to take Sora out of the room, so I climbed up to the second floor.

—Knock knock.

I knocked on Qiong's door.

The space was silent for three seconds.

A listless voice came from inside the room.

"what's up."

I spoke to her through the door.

"Qiong, come out. I'm sorry about what happened earlier."

"...I'm sorry. What are you apologizing for?"

That's a real problem.

To get Asuna out of the tent, I first need to win over Sora's favor.

I originally thought that simply saying "sorry" would resolve the matter satisfactorily. But it seems that saying sorry without knowing the reason for the apology is meaningless; in fact, it only has the opposite effect.

I don't know if it was because I was stammering, but Qiong's voice came through the door.

"Enough! Brother, go away!"

Hearing my sister, who is so close to me, speak so rudely, I impulsively retorted.

This is how siblings start arguing.

"Give me some leeway! If Ruoqiong doesn't come out of the room and make up with me, Asuna won't leave the tent!"

The courtyard can be seen from the windows of the second-floor corridor.

I saw Asuna's tent. The tent looked like a giant paper lantern, radiating light from within. Was it the light of a lantern?

"What does that mean! Is it because brother is worried about Xiaoming that he wants to make up with Qiong?"

"Isn't Sora worried about Asuna? Even if it's September, we can't let her spend one night in the tent."

Sora is a considerate girl, and I originally thought that as long as I said that, she would be willing to make up, but Hinata's reply only added to her anger.

"If you're so worried about Xiaoming, you should just marry him!"

"Getting married? No, should I say that's still a long way off? Should I get to know Asuna better, think about the past, or should I focus on becoming independent first? In any case, I have to get back together with her, but I don't know how..."

"Why are you answering so seriously! How disgusting! Are you an idiot! I don't want to hear my brother's voice anymore, go away!"

I came here to make up, so why did it turn out like this?

I left Qiong's room.

My sibling and I have argued a few times so far, so I know this can't be resolved immediately. No matter how fiercely Qiong and I argue, as long as we sleep it off, we'll be fine the next morning. We don't carry the emotions from the previous day's argument into the next. So normally, I would want to leave her alone to sleep, but not today.

Because this would mean Asuna would have to spend another night outdoors.

I was at a loss, so I decided to go back to the living room first.

After 8:30 p.m., I was watching TV alone in the living room, wondering what I was doing.

Now is not the time to leisurely watch TV, but unfortunately, that's all we can do now.

The first day my ex-girlfriend, a classmate, joined my life with my sister. I was wondering what would happen, but instead, my sister locked herself in her room, and my ex-girlfriend was waging a cage battle in a tent in the courtyard—a completely unromantic turn of events.

A few minutes earlier, I had spoken to Asuna in the tent.

I told her to leave the tent, and Asuna, like a villager in an RPG, kept repeating, "Have you and Sora made up?" I couldn't tell a lie that would be immediately exposed. Things probably wouldn't progress until I answered "Yes."

Therefore, I can only be someone who stares at the TV.

The TV is showing "30 Performances That Shock the World." Someone swallowed a sword longer than a baseball bat, and someone juggled a flaming bottle. The Chinese are truly terrifying.

I changed into my loungewear.

Normally, I would change into casual clothes as soon as I got home from school. But today, because Asuna was there, I didn't have much time to change.

In addition, my casual clothes are Japanese work clothes (author's note: work clothes were originally worn by Zen monks when doing chores, and later evolved into a traditional Japanese work uniform), made of cotton fabric, which makes me feel a bit lazy. But on the other hand, although work clothes are very comfortable to wear, they give people an atmosphere that is hard to describe as either straightening the back or being energetic, so I like them very much.

However, as I lay on the sofa, completely lacking any motivation, watching the man—a middle-aged American man—manipulating the excavator at will, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

I thought that Qiong's mood had improved—

"I'm going to take a shower."

After she finished speaking coldly, she walked through the living room and left.

The sound of the changing room door closing echoed.

Want to take a shower?

When should I take a shower?

You must ask Asuna not to be shy and to use it freely.

I was watching TV with little interest, but now a surprising scene is being broadcast.

On TV, a skilled excavator operator is demonstrating how to remove several pieces of women's clothing using the excavator.

The woman standing in front of the excavator was wearing a uniform similar to that of an office lady. There was a bracelet-sized ring on the garment, and it seemed that as long as the excavator's bucket was used to hook the ring, the garment could be pulled down.

The challenge for expert drivers has begun.

A female idol, suspected of using her large breasts as a selling point, had her vest removed, her top torn off, and her skirt pulled down. Regardless of why she wasn't wearing underwear under her OL uniform but a bikini swimsuit, the knot holding the swimsuit up had a pull ring larger than any garment ever made.

A piece of cake.

For a skilled operator of a junk, this is a piece of cake.

Just as my enthusiasm for cheering on the expert operator of the excavator reached its peak, the program went into commercial break.

It really piqued people's interest.

But I don't blame the advertisement for airing at this time; on the contrary, I'm grateful. Because this gives me free time to record the program.

I quickly turned on the video recorder, ready to record the program.

Just then, the commercials ended, and the TV screen showed a close-up of the expert excavator operator's serious expression. Although I cheered for the expert operator, I didn't need his face. I was thinking about quickly getting out of my bikini, and the excavator's bucket hooked onto the loop of my swimsuit.

All you need to do next is pull the bucket back!

Just as my palms were sweating, the world went dark.

—Wow!

The television screen disappeared.

The power to the video recorder that was recording also stopped.

The living room lights were also turned off.

Weekly Picks

The power is out!

Chapter Thirty-Two: A Little Gentlemanly

The power is out!

Is this also caused by my bad luck? The power only goes out when I'm glued to the TV screen, not daring to blink. It's still around eight o'clock—the time for family gatherings and snacking on sunflower seeds—it should be like this. Even if the excavator bucket pulled down to reveal its bikini top, I don't think I'd see any exposed breasts. But I still want to see it. I want to see the expert excavator driver reach the final moment. Ugh, what bad luck.

"Aaaaaah!" A mournful cry came from the bathroom, accompanied by the sound of approaching footsteps.

A mournful cry came from the bathroom, and hurried footsteps rushed toward me.

I remembered that Qiong was afraid of the dark. Forgetting that we were arguing, I got up from the sofa and shouted:

"Hey, Sora, I'm here!"

"...Brother, where are you?"

Her voice, trembling with tears, came through the air.

Suddenly, I was plunged from a bright place into darkness, and with my eyes still not adjusted to the environment, I stared at the blurry white shadow across the living room.

I leaned against the shadow.

"Ah, brother."

The shadow stretched out its hand, and I grabbed the shadow's outstretched hand.

Qiong pressed the top of the bath towel against her collarbone. It was unclear whether the towel was too big, or Qiong was too petite, or both. The towel drooped to the ground.

"It seems there's a power outage. I'll go check the power supply box; Qiong will wait here."

"No! You idiot brother! I'm so scared, don't leave!"

Although I was called an idiot, I didn't feel the urge to talk back like I did before. My sister's fear of the dark is so childish; I almost couldn't help but laugh.

I held tightly to the hand that was holding Qiong's.

"Okay, let's go to the power supply box together."

In the darkness, I felt Qiong nod.

My eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness. As I discerned the direction of the entryway where the power supply box was located and took my first step—

"Ah ah!"

A brief, mournful cry came from behind.

Then, Qiong bumped into my back—I turned around to see what had happened, and stumbled and fell to the ground.

"It hurts so much! Qiong, why did you hit me?"

As I lay on my back, bearing the weight of my sister lying face down on me, I asked a question.