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“W-wait, Ibuki… your face is scary.”
“Shut up.”

Ibuki’s expression, still holding my shoulders and glaring at me, was way more intense than I’d ever seen before.

“Hey, Ibuki… ow… what are you doing?”
“…I’m just really annoyed.”

I tried to call out again, but she shoved me down onto the hard floor. Then she climbed on top of me, pushed her hair back, and spoke in a frustrated tone.

“Just the thought of you working at a place like that, with some stranger… it pisses me off.”
“Ibuki…”
“Ugh… enough already!”

As I looked up at her, a tear dropped onto my cheek. It wasn’t just one, either—more kept falling, and they made my heart ache.

“I don’t get it… why does it hurt so much just imagining it?”

Her face twisted in pain as the tears kept falling, and even though it was sad to see, every time I heard her voice tremble, a part of me felt a strange sense of happiness.

Because that meant… just the thought of me with someone else was making her this upset. She must care about me so much, maybe even enough to feel jealous of someone who doesn’t even exist.

I never imagined Ibuki could feel that way about me. But looking at the tears on her cheeks, I could tell I meant to her much more than I imagined.

And knowing she cared for me like that made my heart feel full. Even if it was just the kind of affection you feel for family, if the person I loved cared for me this much, I realized that might actually be enough for me at this point.

“I’m sorry, Ibuki. No matter what happens, I’ll work hard at my current job. So, please don’t cry.”
“…I’m not crying.”

It was hard to believe she wasn’t crying when she was acting like a little kid. But I didn’t say anything about it. Instead, I pulled her closer and rested her small head on my chest.

“Thanks. For getting mad at me.”
“Who gets happy about being yelled at? Are you a m̲a̲s̲o̲c̲h̲i̲s̲t̲?”
“It’s not like that… I should’ve thought more before I spoke.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry.”
“…I’ll forgive you this time.”

We’d been together since we were born, and now we were basically like family. To Ibuki, I was probably like an older sister who looked after her. So when I suddenly said I was going to sell myself, of course she’d cry and get angry. It’s because she was so kind-hearted that her emotions got all tangled after imagining all kinds of things.

I tightened my arms around her, feeling her warmth, and hugged her until we both calmed down.

“———So that’s basically the kind of work I do. I thought it’d be bad if you called me by my real name, so I kicked you out.”
“Ohh. It was a bit hard to follow, but I kinda get it now.”

After we both calmed down, we sat side by side on the sofa, watching videos on Ibuki’s phone. Instead of just explaining, Ibuki showed me what kind of work she did.

I only ever skimmed videos to kill time, so I didn’t understand everything, but I got the gist of Ibuki’s work. And that made me realize that what I did was really, really bad.

“It’s fine. I’ve talked about you to my fans before, so they’ll accept you. Want to try coming on a stream?”
“That’s impossible!”

I wanted to apologize for causing trouble, but the video she showed me had an insane amount of views. I wasn’t sure how many people were watching at once, but I could tell there were a lot. There was no way I could talk in front of so many people, especially with how shy I was.

“If you came on, everyone would be so happy.”
“Not happening. You know I’m bad at talking in front of people, Ibuki.”
“I know, but it’d be fun to watch.”
“Huh? Did you suddenly become a s̲a̲d̲i̲s̲t̲ or something?”

Ibuki’s known for a long time that I was bad at socializing, so I couldn’t believe she was finding my awkwardness amusing. She was really a piece of work sometimes.

“I don’t know. But since you’re a m̲a̲s̲o̲c̲h̲i̲s̲t̲, I guess it works better if I’m the s̲a̲d̲i̲s̲t̲.”
“Ugh… I’m not a m̲a̲s̲o̲c̲h̲i̲s̲t̲!”
“Come on, you were happy when I yelled at you earlier.”
“That was… ahh. I really can’t with you, Ibuki.”

Thinking back on everything, it seemed like all my worries were for nothing. All the bad things I thought were going to happen didn’t, and now, with that weight off my shoulders, I felt a little like I was regressing. Maybe it’s because I was tired from work too. It wasn’t strange for me to act a little more spoiled, right? It didn’t feel weird at all to lean on Ibuki a bit.

“You say you hate me, but you won’t get off my shoulder.”
“Shut up. If you want me to use something else, I’ll just use your lap instead.”
“Wow, it’s like you turned into a baby.”
“Fine, I’ll be a baby. If I’m a baby, I don’t have to work. Ugh, I wish I could quit my job.”

Although the issue with Ibuki was resolved, I still had the huge stress of work weighing on me. Thinking about that, it made sense that I wanted to be a baby.

“Just quit then.”
“It’s not that simple. If I quit, how am I supposed to live?”
“But work’s hard, right?”
“Yeah, it is. I just wanna be a stay-at-home wife…”

Fortunately, I liked doing housework. Cooking and cleaning didn’t bother me at all, and thanks to Ibuki, I’d learned to feel happy when the person I cared about was happy with something I did. I’ve always thought that if I could find someone with a good income, I could become a stay-at-home wife in the future.

“Hm. then just become one.”
“Become what?”
“Become a stay-at-home wife. If you marry me, I’ll take care of you.”
“Ehh…”

Not too long ago, I used to think that marriage without love was pointless, even empty. But after everything that’s happened, I started to see where I stood in Ibuki’s life. If she cared about me that much, maybe getting married wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

“But I still want a marriage based on love…”

I’d be okay marrying Ibuki now, but I still couldn’t shake the desire to go through the normal dating process first. My fairy tale side was still holding on to that dream.

“…I want a lover.”

I closed my eyes, my head on Ibuki’s lap, and the wish I had for a partner slipped out. I wanted a lover who was Ibuki.

“Then let’s go out. With marriage in mind.”
“Look… There’s a proper way to do this. Getting confessed to while lying on the sofa is just… no.”
“Come on. So if I did it properly, you’d say yes?”
“Well, it depends on the situation.”
“Hmm.”

The conversation drifted as I kept my eyes closed. Normally, Ibuki would be lying on my lap, but today it was the other way around. I hadn’t had the chance to enjoy the softness of Ibuki’s legs in a while, so I decided to relax and let the sleepiness take over.

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