Gimai Seikatsu's
Vol 2: Prologue
A half-brother is no different than a stranger. The experience I have experienced has proven that fact.
Our parents suddenly decided to remarry. As a result, we were forced into a relationship as brothers, without the affection between brothers, nor the closeness between siblings. It is only natural that a half-brother is considered a stranger.
However, a month has passed since my father and Akiko-san decided to remarry and the four of us started living together, she said, I began to realize that the statement that stepbrothers are not much different from strangers is a misguided perception. I can't treat her like a stranger, because we live in the same house. Therefore, if anyone asks me what kind of relationship I have with him, I myself am confused as to what kind of answer.
I arrived at my apartment and turned the doorknob as usual.
“Welcome back, Asamura-kun.”
“I'm home, Ayase-san.”
Right after opening the door, my stepbrother greeted me with the same words he had been using for the past month. Since our age difference was only one week, I was her brother, and she was my younger sister. Of course, such a hierarchy has nothing to do with our interactions, as we are clearly strangers who get rid of normal formalities.
There was no welcome 'Welcome back, Onii-chan ~' in an adorable tone, nor verbal abuse like 'Can't you, don't show such a disgusting face, you lousy brother!?' . Well, you could say, I'm pretty lucky. But lately, at the end of our greeting, we started adding a few more words. For example, something like…
“Your part-time work starts again today, ‘kan?”
“You are also the same, Ayase-san?”
“Yup,” he gave a short reply.
Of course, the conversation sounds vague and quite attentive no matter how you look at it, but it shows that there is a change between the two of us, even if only a small change.
A week before the UAS exam, I took a temporary leave of absence from my odd job. As for Ayase-san, my father and Akiko-san told him to delay making food for a while, or rather, they urged him. Today, the exam at the school was over, and had just confirmed this fact with a small chat earlier.
It made me realize that I now have a half-sister, who is both a stranger and a member of my family. The time we spend may feel short, but a month is still a long time depending on the circumstances.
For example, if the two of us were lovers who had lived together for a month, we would start to see all the negative aspects of each other, and our relationship would probably start to get awkward, that when reversed will get us to know each other better, and we're closer than ever. That's the rate of change I expect to happen in the span of a month.
Of course, I never lived with my own boyfriend. This is just a parable I made from the knowledge I gathered from reading books.
So, what would happen if he was my younger brother? Indeed, nothing bad will change in just a month. That's the right answer. If we end up spending decades together, a month's time is just a fraction of the time already spent over several years. That is, there should be no drastic change in our behavior in such a short span of time.
I started heading to my room to change clothes when Ayase-san called out to me.
“I got discounted chicken meat today, so I will make Yurinchi chicken*.” (TN: Chinese fried chicken with a sprinkling of chunks of chives and sweet vinegar and soy sauce)
The name of such a dish could only come from Chinese cuisine, so I found myself poking out of the room before I could take my uniform off.
“You can make a dish so at home?”
“Of course.” Ayase-san smiled wryly. “Cooking it doesn't even take long.”
“Masa?”
Since my father and I didn't really like the delivery service from the restaurant, we just lived off the bento boxes from the convenience store, so I wasn't used to such delicious dishes. As a result, my cooking knowledge did not improve much from mandatory cooking at the school's bahasa pengajara.
“Yes, this is just Yurinchi chicken, so don't worry. I wouldn't be too crazy with that.”
He was basically trying to say that the cooking would not be too much of a burden for him.
“Good. If you have said so.”
Every time Ayase-san gets stuck in a situation, she tends to go beyond what is asked of her. Even though we've just been living together for a month, there's a lot you can learn about a person's nature in that period of time. It reminded me of that night, about a month ago, when she appeared half-naked and suggested doing odd jobs in a high-paying family (with me paying her). To be honest, it was a scary thing.
“Are you not leaving for work now?”
“A-Ah, yes. Then I'll go first. Oh, yes. ” Just as I opened the door to leave, I turned around one last time. “Can you teach me how to make that dish? I want to try it myself.”
“... No need to force yourself, okay?”
This time, I was the one who gave a bitter expression. He must have guessed my intentions. Today's society is based on a contract system. Unfortunately, even though Ayase-san has been preparing food a lot, I have not been able to introduce her to the high-paying part-time job. Ayase-san said that she would always give more than receive, but I also need to show some results.
Pondering what I could do for her, I started going to Shibuya town on another summer day with the still hot sunshine. Crickets also seem to be reminded of their duties, and rattling in order to create a scene that suits the season. Through the gaps between the buildings, I could see cumulonimbus clouds dyed orange red.
