Chapter 118Taboo
Those words "cleaning my ears" made me somewhat nostalgic. The last time I had someone do that to me was when I was in elementary school with my mom. I knew that it felt satisfying. Without realizing it, I fell asleep, Mom said, "Okay! It's done!", and then, I woke up with a new beginning. There must have been some serious service-like times back then....
I wonder what would have happened if that had been done by Big Sis instead of Mom, I wonder if she would have poured Brazilian wax into my ears and she would have pulled it out. I mean, Big Sis must be good at this.
"Hmm. She hasn't."
"Eh...!? She hasn't done it to you once!? Your ears have never been cleaned by your Big Sis at all...!?"
"Eh, hmm... ...Right, she hasn't."
"Oh, no..."
Eh... ...Eh? What do you mean? Did I disappoint you...? I don't know how you feel. Don't you feel sorry for me or something...?
I haven't cleaned my ears this time, because I just wiped them with a cotton swab when I got out of the bathtub. This has nothing to do with ear cleaning. It also already feels comfortable, as I sometimes forget to dry my hair as well, before I realize it. Because I can make myself fall asleep if I want to.
"Oh, but when I was in middle school—"
"Eh...!?"
"..."
I suddenly remembered a scene from the past, and when I wanted to talk about it, I got a lot of attention from her. I could tell from her posture that she was saying, "I want to listen to it".
It's not an unreasonable story, is it...? Her reaction was very responsive. What, are you interested in what I'm going to tell you? If I tell you about me being bullied by Big Sis, we could talk about this for about five hours, right? And that's not even very interesting.
"When I was in middle school, Big Sis suddenly gave me an ear picking in the living room and forced me to clean her ears."
Big Sis was very like that. She likes to do unusual things out of the blue. Sometimes she would suddenly give me a meat bun when she had some left over. That's just rare, though.
I remember, at that time, I was sitting and relaxing on the sofa watching television, and Big Sis, who was still a gyaru, suddenly handed me an ear picking, and before I could answer, she put her head on my lap and said, "Please help me!" just like that. That was the scariest moment of my life, and I remember it very clearly because I was so scared that my heart almost jumped out.
"Y-You've done it to your Big Sis...?"
"Hey, that's right, she likes asking me to do it."
"Oh...!? H-Hmm! N-Nothing special, huh..."
"...Just so you know, there's nothing strange about it, you know?"
"I-I already knew that even if you didn't tell me once."
But considering that, didn't she close her eyes while fantasizing about something...? I don't know, I think she was imagining an impossible scene between me and Big Sis... ...I think Natsukawa was convinced that we were close siblings. No, it's not that we weren't close, but our relationship was more or less flat.
"...Th-Then...?"
"Yeah...?"
"Wh-What else?"
"No, I don't know what else to tell you..."
No, hmm... ...If you were interested, I would have told you. After all, what we're talking about, the scene between me and Big Sis... ...I realize that compared to other siblings in this world, we might be a bit rough, and there's no such thing as a story of a sibling relationship that gets along.
"Big Sis is..."
"Th-That's why... ...I'm not talking about your Big Sis..."
"Eh?"
"I-I'm talking about you as her little bro...!"
"N-Natsukawa...?"
I know that you're talking about me, anyway..., ...Hey, isn't this a bit unusual? She's very interested, no, I mean, she's very excited. I can't believe Natsukawa talked so much about something other than Airi-chan. Eh? Our faces were so close. She's breathing heavily, it's erotic. Wow, it smells so good...!
"T-Time! Wait a minute! You're too close!"
"What—Oh...!"
When I said this immediately, Natsukawa seemed to realize how close she was to me, and her face changed. She immediately returned to her original position and turned away with an awkward expression while playing with her loose hair.
"..."
"..."
Badump badump... Badump badump...
Th-That's crazy! What was that?! How can one's personality change?! The way she got carried away and blushed was so cute! Whoa, whoa! I can't stay calm! I can't stay calm! I feel like it's okay if I die right now! Oh, how happy I am...!
"..."
"..."
No, but, eh, what kind of vibe is this? What should I do? It's not like we were talking about love or anything, so I just realized this one-sidedly... ...I don't think Natsukawa would look at me like that, so that's probably it. It was the thing where she was like, "I've carelessly gotten too close to a boy, oh, no! That's bad!". I'm sure the reason she turned her face away was because she was trying to reprimand herself like that.
Oh... ...That's good, I've started to calm down little by little. That's right, Natsukawa doesn't see me as a member of the opposite gender. She sees me as a good friend of hers from the same group. Calm down, don't show any strange desires, me... ...I already told her how I feel about her, isn't that enough...?
"...N-No, I don't think I look like I've become a little bro or something... ...So I don't know..."
"..."
"Oh— ...Yeah. Look, I'll ask Big Sis next time instead. My "little bro" side."
I don't know why she wanted to listen to the story about me so badly in the first place. Does Natsukawa have an interest in little brothers and little sisters? I guess she's too old to look at me and Big Sis like that.
"Th-Then, hmm..."
"Eh?"
"I-If she has never... ...done that kind of thing to you before, then..."
While keeping her distance, Natsukawa looked at me with a gloomy look on her face and was still somewhat blushing. Eh... ...So that's what her profile looks like, maybe I've never seen it from this angle before. I would probably be completely speechless if she looked at me with that cute face of hers. I should be more wary of that! (Angry)
Eh, I was so mesmerized by her figure that I didn't remember what was going on...! Wh-What did I say just now...?
"I-I.—"
"Eh!? Sajou!?"
"Hmm...?"
Just as Natsukawa was about to say something, a voice called out to me from the front. When I turned my head towards the source of the voice, I found a flirty-looking girl waving her hand happily at me. Eh, I think I've met her somewhere before...
"...Oh? Haru?"
"Oh! Long time no see! What's with that weird brown hair of yours?"
"Weird!? Your hair has gotten longer too... ...What kind of golden mesh thing are you wearing?"
"I'm in a band now."
"Hmm!"
The girl who approached me was my schoolmate from elementary and middle schools. We didn't hang out all the time, but we were in the same class every two years. I'm sure our friendship wasn't a bad one. The guitar case covering her back was like a tortoiseshell, and she had an amazing appearance. If we had not known each other, I probably never would have approached her.
Natsukawa and I went to different elementary schools, and we (Haru and I) were in different classes in middle school, so I wasn't sure if Natsukawa knew her or not.
"As I recall... ...if I'm not mistaken, you went to the same high school as Hiro, right?"
"It's true, that boy still plays baseball. He also still has a shaved head."
"Hmm."
"Just hmm!? I don't think you're so interested in him, —though!?"
"...?"
Haru is so funny. I think her high school life must be going well, judging by her good mood and the way she patted my back while laughing. While I was thinking about this, Haru's laughter suddenly diminished. When I looked over, she was quietly standing beside me, staring at Natsukawa.
"Wait!? Sajou...!"
"Hmm...!? Wh-What's going on, huh!?"
Swoosh, I felt both arms reach out and grab both my shoulders, shaking my body roughly. The sharp and unusual scent of her perfume made my nose itch. Wait a moment! Sajou won't be responsible if we kiss suddenly because of this scent...!
"Y-Y-Y-You...! I heard you chased after Natsukawa-san and got into Kouetsu High School, but you two finally got together, huh!?"
"Bah...!?"
A bomb. I mean, it's a bomb. It's a fiery red bomb and it's so powerful, given to me as it's about to explode, that it could kill me in its path. What the heck is she talking about...? She must not have thought of what would happen if we turned out not to be together, right?
"Well done, Sajou! You've been in love with her for a long time! For some reason, I'm rather happy too!"
"Wait! Hey...!"
"What kind of boy do you think he is, Natsukawa-san? He doesn't tie you up, does he!? Wow, he's really cute up close, Natsukawa-san!"
"Eh...!? I-I..."
"What do you do to take care of your skin?! Oh, but I heard that it gets smoother when you have a boyfriend.—"
"Hey!! Stop it, Haru!"
"Heh...?"
My very loud scream came out. I probably felt that my voice was very loud. The surprised Haru didn't expect that she would be shouted at, or maybe she just fell silent with a blank expression on her face. A few seconds later, she turned her awkward gaze towards me, as if she was afraid.
"...Um, could it be..."
"..."
"Um, I'm sorry..."
She did something unbelievable. Something she shouldn't touch. That's taboo. I felt like everything I had slowly built up was being destroyed by her words.
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TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
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