Episode 17: I Think Big Sis Is Different from the Others
Morning. When I woke, a sweet smell was drifting softly into the bedroom.
As if drawn by it, I made my way to the living room.
“Morning, big sis.”
“Mm, morning.”
“Today it’s pancakes. Come on, sit down, sit down.”
Yuno smiled that loose, easy smile and rested a hand lightly on my shoulder, guiding me toward my chair.
I glanced at her face. The skin around her eyes was swollen and red. But her voice, her expression — bright and unchanged, the same as always.
And because of that, when the memory of last night’s tearful face crossed my mind, something ached, slow and deep, in the back of my chest.
A plate of pancakes and a coffee were set down on the table with a quiet clink.
“Itadakimasu.”
I pressed my fork gently in, and they were startlingly, impossibly soft. When I brought a piece to my mouth, the sweetness of butter and syrup spread warmly through me, and then the gentle bitterness of the coffee came after.
“…They’re good.”
It slipped out before I could stop it.
“Right, right? If you mix sparkling water into the batter, the pancakes come out all fluffy like that.”
Yuno’s face lit up, bright and smug. I laughed before I could stop myself.
Making something like this in the morning, from scratch, and eating it — that had almost never happened to me once I’d started working.
Right now, I genuinely felt something like happiness. Frustrating as it was, I had to admit it.
I became aware of Yuno’s gaze on me, steady and intent.
When I looked up, our eyes met. Yuno ducked her head and gave a small, soft laugh.
“What now, laughing at someone’s face again.”
“It’s just, big sis — your face goes completely transparent when you eat something good.”
“Quiet. Is that a problem?”
“No. I just think it’s cute.”
Yuno grinned, a teasing edge to it.
And then she cut her own pancake into a small, tidy piece and popped it into her mouth. Chewing in small movements, eyes narrowing with satisfaction.
Like a small animal, I thought.
Something ticklish stirred unexpectedly in my chest, and my heart gave a quiet, single beat.
“You too are——”
“Mm?”
Yuno looked up at me with those round, glistening eyes, still chewing, curious.
That guileless expression, and the words I’d been about to say dissolved somewhere in my throat.
“Never mind. It’s nothing.”
What had I been about to say?
It was really throwing me off. I took a sip of coffee and brought myself back.
When the pancakes were nearly finished.
Yuno’s tearful face from last night came floating up again. Before I knew it, the words were out.
“Yuno.”
“Hm?”
Yuno’s eyes went wide and she looked at me, surprised.
“Stay. Here.”
“Eh?”
“As long as you want to. …Not that I’m saying you have to.”
A little embarrassed, I looked away.
A small silence, and then:
“Yeah…” Yuno gave a quiet nod — small, but certain.
“You know,” Yuno said, after taking one more bite of pancake.
“Just now, big sis suddenly calling my name — my heart went all ticklish. Does that mean I like you?”
I nearly spat out my coffee.
“It doesn’t. If you’d actually come to like someone, I think it would probably be something you couldn’t say so lightly.”
“Ah, yeah. I guess you’re right.”
She nodded once, then lowered her eyes and brought another piece of pancake to her mouth. Her expression was calm — much softer than last night.
After a breath, Yuno continued.
“I don’t know about liking or anything like that.”
“Mm.”
“But I think big sis is different from the others.”
“In what way?”
“I thought it was normal — that in exchange for letting me stay, I’d have to do things like that. So when you said ‘that’s wrong’ last night, it kind of surprised me.”
Not normal.
Absolutely, clearly, not normal.
What kind of adults had Yuno been surrounded by all this time?
Driven out of her home by grown-up circumstances when she was barely more than a child — how much had she swallowed alone, all by herself?
Thinking about it, a sharp pain went through my chest.
“I see…” was all I could manage.
＊＊＊
I cleared away the breakfast dishes, finished my makeup and hair, and swung my bag onto my shoulder.
“Well then, I’m heading out.”
I was putting on my shoes at the door when something soft and slight settled against my back.
Yuno had clung to me, close and tight.
Slender white arms slipped quietly around my waist.
“Big sis.”
“…What.”
“Thank you.”
A sweet, small voice, reaching me from behind.
My heart hammered, almost painfully, thud after thud.
My face was hot. Not a single word came.
A feeling clearly different from anything I’d had when Yuno first arrived — something unmistakably new was going round and round in my head right now.
But surely it was just my imagination. It had to be.
Desperately pushing down the feeling that had taken hold, I stepped outside.
The walk to the office felt, strangely, lighter than usual.
Me, who never wants to fall in love again.
And Yuno, who doesn’t know what loving someone feels like.
This slightly lopsided life we share — it looks like it will go on a little longer.
— End of Chapter Two —