My beautiful sister-in-law who is only attached to me, and my childhood friend who just made her high school debut, barged into my house?

An hour had passed by before I knew it.

I had finished tidying up the shelves and the closet, and unusually, I had even finished applying the floor wipers.

It was just about the time they should arrive.

Just then, the doorbell rang and I heard my mom’s crystal clear voice from downstairs.

“Shota, please.”

Shota answered, “Yes,” and headed for the front door.

As he placed his hand on the door handle, he stopped.

What should he say to greet her?

He used to live in this house with her. Feeling that “Welcome” would be too formal, and “Welcome home” would be a bit weird to say, he hesitated for a while.

“Sorry for the wait”

In the end, Shota opened the door with such innocuous words.

Two distinctive pigtails of red hair danced in the wind.

“Yo, we’re here Shota.”

His father and sister smiled at Shota. Since they sent their luggage in advance, they were each carrying a Boston bag.

They were quite lightly dressed, appearing to be returning from a trip rather than moving in. Or maybe that was how they actually felt.

“…Oh, well for now come in.”

Shota had an ambiguous smile as he turned on his heel, inviting them in and, just in case, offering them each a pair of freshly grated slippers.

Erika looked around curiously and sniffed. She then entered the living room and let out a small voice of admiration.

“How nostalgic, not much has changed.”

“Since back then, I haven’t changed the design even a little.”

“The sofa is a little worn out? Ah, this scratch on the wall is the one that my brother made while brandishing around a toy.”

“How could even you remember that?”

“The toy broke, he was scolded, and he cried a lot.”

“… Please forget about that.”

“Fufu”

Saying that, his little sister gently narrowed her eyes and smiled, making Shota’s chest jump.

Shota immediately looked away while scratching his reddened cheeks to avoid meeting her gaze.

The image in his mind of what he looked like and what he says and does were so mismatched that he couldn’t help but feel out of sorts.

‘Heck, even though we’re going to be living together from now on…’

My father, who was looking around like Erika, let out a voice of admiration.

“What a neat place we have here.”

“Dad, you make a mess so often. Would it kill you to help to always keep it this tidy?”

“Ah, haha. I’m busy with work.”

“Always with the same excuse.”

Her father cowered at Erika’s calm rebuke prompting Shota to chuckle.

“It’s usually more of a mess. So I hurriedly cleaned the place up.”

“I wished that you’d be more like Shota in that aspect, dear.”

Just then, the only black-haired person in the house showed up with a cold look on her face.

“Ugh, I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“Really? You’ve always been all talk.”

“It’s not like that. You’re still as beautiful as ever. As you get older, the beauty that seeps out from within overlaps, and you’ve become more attractive than before.”

“You’re stating the obvious. Now help me with unpacking your luggage.”

Mother gently twisted father’s hand as he tried to hold her by the shoulder, she didn’t seem all that happy as she lead him into the back room.

As a child, it was embarrassing to see such a harmonious appearance of our parents. Now however, Erika and I could only look at each other and smile wryly.

Considering the past and the future, it was something that was welcomed.

“Oh yeah brother, where’s my room?”

“I’ve got it ready for you. It’s on second floor. Come on, I’ll carry your luggage.”

“Ah”

Without waiting for a reply, he forcibly took the Boston bag but it was so heavy that even Shota, who had been training his body with kendo, could not help but exclaim “Heavy!”

For the delicate Erika, it must have been quite the heavy piece of luggage.

“The bag is really heavy so I should carry it.”

“Do siblings usually do this?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you have an ulterior motive?”

“You’re my little sister!”

“There has been many occasions where something like this happened to me.”

“Ah…”

Shota let out an indescribable voice when he looked at Erika.

The slightly fashionable monotone one-piece, just like the other day, not only suits her well, but also made the slender Erika look very mature for her age.

Erika was a beautiful girl even by Shota’s standards. If she walked outside, she may be approached by someone who seemed frivolous.

When he imagined that, he became aware of the feelings of jealousy and envy that had laid dormant within his heart. Before he realised it, he had already opened his mouth.

“Maybe, I do have an ulterior motive.”

“Huh?”

“I want to it to be like how we used to be.”

Shota turned around and spoke over his back. He was aware that he had said something unusual as his cheeks began to redden.

As for Erika, her eyes were blinking happily as if the words he just said resonated with her.

“Me too.”