Serina, a second-year high school student, has a bit of a weird problem. And that problem is her stepbrother, Kenta. At school, Kenta's a popular and cool art teacher everyone looks up to. But at home? That mask comes right off. He's still super kind most of the time... but sometimes, he gives Serina this really mean look and teases her like crazy. Sometimes in a way that's a little naughty.
At first, it was just heart-pounding fun. But it's been getting more and more intense, and now her heart
Milf cute Mother Obsessed with her step son Alot - My voice trembled in the prep room.
Monday, the second week of the practicum. Late October was approaching, and the morning air in Minase was cold and clear. On the slope leading from Tsukimidai to Uminosaki High School, Serina felt the pedals of her bicycle heavy beneath her feet.
(Another week begins.)
The events of last Friday night still remained lodged in her chest. That awkward dinner. Serina could still remember the taste of the curry they ate in silence. Kenta, who would normally complain about it being "gross" or "a weird color," had said nothing at all.
That alone told her something had broken.
They had barely spoken over the weekend, either. Kenta had left the house both Saturday and Sunday, saying he had to go to school, while Serina had holed up in her room, pretending to do homework. Her mother and father were busy as always, oblivious to the change between them.
That fact only deepened Serina's loneliness.
* * *
She passed through the school gate and changed into her indoor shoes at the entrance.
The Monday morning atmosphere was somehow restless, the hallway filled with the voices of students talking about their weekend exploits. Serina walked through it all with her head slightly bowed.
It was when she passed by the third-year shoe lockers.
"Anyway, isn't Minakami still hanging around even though he's just a part-timer?"
Her feet stopped.
The voices belonged to a group of three third-year boys. They were clustered at the edge of the hallway, chatting lazily with juice packs in hand.
"For real? He failed the teacher exam again, right? How many times is that now?"
"Dunno, but he should just give up already. Being a forever-freelance lecturer is so lame."
"I mean, how many art classes are there a week anyway? Must be a cushy job."
Snickering laughter.
Serina's body felt as if it had been stitched to the spot.
(They laughed at him.)
Deep in her chest, something rapidly grew hot. Her clenched fists trembled. From her fingertips to her shoulders, a tingling sensation shot through her, like an electric current.
(I have to say something back.)
She tried to take a step forward. But her feet wouldn't move.
They were third-years. Students who were still taking Kenta's classes. If she said something here—it would mean "Minakami-sensei's little sister" had lashed out at "students." It might make Kenta's position even worse.
(I can't do anything.)
Her mind was nearly blank with rage, yet her body wouldn't budge an inch. All she could do was bite her lip and stand there, rooted to the spot.
The boys continued talking as they disappeared down the hallway. Serina watched their retreating backs, desperately fighting back the tears that threatened to well up.
* * *
Even when the chime for first period rang, Serina couldn't bring herself to return to the classroom.
At the sink in the first-floor girls' bathroom, she turned the faucet on full blast. The rushing sound of the water masked the turmoil in her head, just a little.
She looked in the mirror.
The face staring back at her was a mess. The rims of her large, drooping eyes were red, looking ready to burst into tears at any moment. Her plump lips trembled faintly. Even the small beauty mark under her left eye somehow looked forlorn.
"...It's so frustrating."
The moment she said it aloud, tears nearly spilled over.
It was frustrating, yet she couldn't say anything. When they badmouthed her brother, she had wanted nothing more than to scream at them with all her might. But "because she was his sister," she had no choice but to stay silent.
(Not because I'm a classmate, or a friend.)
(Because I'm his sister.)
That was unbearably frustrating.
She turned off the water and pressed her handkerchief to the rims of her eyes. Two deep breaths. The day had only just begun—and yet, she was already so exhausted.
* * *
Lunch break.
The sky was a cloudless blue, and the cherry blossom leaves in the courtyard were tinged with red and yellow. Several groups had spread out their lunches on the hexagonal benches, and cheerful laughter could be heard.
Serina sat on a bench at the edge, opening her lunchbox. But her chopsticks barely moved.
Beside her, Rina was rustling open a bag of snacks. The ends of her bob, shorter than shoulder-length, were flipped outwards today as well, her bright brown pudding-colored hair sparkling in the autumn sunlight. The freckles around her nose shifted slightly every time she laughed.
"Listen to this, Seri-chan! Yesterday, I went to the amusement park with my boyfriend! That new Ferris wheel is, like, super huge—"
Rina flashed her double tooth as she laughed, launching into her lovestruck rambling. Normally, Serina would have retorted with "This story again?" but today, she couldn't even manage a proper response.
Because that figure had entered the edge of her vision.
Kenta and Mio were walking out of the faculty office wing together.
Kenta wore his usual sullen expression, his narrow, single-lidded eyes looking sleepy. But Mio, walking beside him—she looked somehow worried.
Mio's brown, soft, wavy hair swayed gently in the breeze. The side braids were neatly arranged, as always. Behind her large round glasses, her brown eyes were looking up at Kenta with a serious expression.
(What are they talking about?)
Mio said something. Kenta answered briefly. A small nod.
She felt like she could see the accumulated time between them. Yesterday, the day before, and surely long before that—Mio had always been by Kenta's side like this.
"—and then, my boyfriend said, 'That's what I love about you, Rina'! I was, like, so embarrassed!"
"...Yeah."
Serina closed the lid of her lunchbox.
The small click echoed with a coldness that surprised even herself.
Rina peered at Serina with a questioning look. Her large, round eyes grew even wider.
"What's wrong? You suddenly lost your appetite? Did something happen?"
"...Just a little hot. I'm fine."
Serina forced a smile. But even she knew it was awkward.
Rina tilted her head, then clapped her hands together as if struck by a realization.
"You ate too much last night, didn't you! Me too, I ended up eating a large bowl of ramen yesterday—"
"N-No, that's not it!"
"Or did you break up with your boyfriend? Oh wait, you never had one!"
"Jeez, how did you even get there?!"
Rina cackled. This girl never pried too deeply when Serina was truly troubled. She just offered snacks and kept the conversation bright.
That kindness stung, just a little, today.
(I'm sorry, Rina.)
(I can't tell you the truth yet.)
Serina accepted a potato chip from Rina and put just one in her mouth. It had no taste.
* * *
After school.
Having finished her cleaning duty half-heartedly, Serina walked down the second-floor hallway of the school building.
The voices of club activities and the footsteps of students heading home echoed in the distance. Perhaps because dusk was approaching, the light streaming through the windows was tinged slightly orange.
Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the art preparation room.
A faint light leaked through the gap in the door. Not a single sound came from inside. Today, there was no laughter, no bright voice of Mio.
Just the presence of someone alone, doing something.
Serina stopped in front of the door.
(I haven't been able to talk properly with my brother all week.)
Since that Friday night, a thin wall had formed between them, both at home and at school. In the mornings, it was just "I'm off" and "Yeah." At dinner, the sound of the TV replaced conversation.
(I don't want it to stay like this.)
The words she had heard in the hallway today came back to her.
'Even though he's just a part-timer.'
'He failed again, right?'
How did Kenta feel, hearing things like that? He seemed so cheerful when he teased her at home, yet he bore the pressure of repeatedly failing the teacher exams all alone, without telling anyone.
Did Mio know?
About that weakness of Kenta's.
(He won't—tell me.)
Her right hand moved on its own.
She grasped the doorknob. A cold sensation. With a click, the door opened.
* * *
The art preparation room was filled with the smell of oil paints and wood.
The old sofa against the wall, the art supplies stacked to the ceiling—everything was the same as always. Only the lamp on the desk was lit, leaving the corners of the room dim.
Kenta was sitting alone, facing the desk.
"...Serina?"
Kenta's face as he turned around looked slightly tired. His long, mushroom-cut bangs hung over his eyes, and even the gesture of brushing them aside annoyedly seemed—somehow weaker than usual.
"Onii-chan."
Her voice trembled.
That alone changed Kenta's expression.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Serina looked straight at Kenta as he started to stand up.
The rims of her large, drooping eyes were already hot. Yet she couldn't hide it anymore. Everything she had been holding in all week was welling up from deep in her chest.
"Am I... not good enough?"
Kenta's eyes widened slightly.
"When you're hurting, Mio-san can be by your side, but I—can't I be any help to you?!"
Tears overflowed all at once.
Her vision blurred. Kenta's face became hazy and indistinct. Still, the words wouldn't stop.
"I... today, I heard people laughing at you, and I was so frustrated. And I was even more frustrated that I couldn't say anything..."
She couldn't breathe properly.
"Even at home lately, we haven't been able to talk. I don't know what to do anymore—"
With a face messy with tears, Serina looked up at Kenta.
"Am I... not good enough...?"
She squeezed the words out once more.
In that voice, emotions that overflowed the bounds of being a little sister were clearly seeping through. She knew it herself. This wasn't just "a sister's worry."
It was something different.
Kenta was—frozen.
His narrow eyes were wide open, at a loss for words. Usually, he was so quick to tease her, but now he couldn't say anything. The old scar on the index finger of his left hand trembled faintly on the desk.
"Serina, that's—"
Just as Kenta was about to speak—
Clatter.
The door opened without a knock.
"Senpai, about that printout from earlier—"
Mio, who had entered, stopped dead in her tracks.
Behind her large round glasses, her brown eyes darted back and forth between Serina and Kenta. Serina, a mess of tears. Kenta, still frozen.
Mio's smile vanished instantly.
"Ah... I'm sorry. I'll come back later."
Saying that in a small voice, Mio immediately closed the door.
The thud echoed unusually loud.
A heavy silence fell over the preparation room.
Serina—understood everything.
She had been seen.
In the middle of crying and shouting at her brother. What that meant—Mio might have figured it out.
(There's no taking it back now.)
Kenta opened his mouth, trying to say something.
But she couldn't bear to look at his face.
"...I'm sorry."
Leaving only those words behind, Serina fled from the preparation room.
She ran down the hallway. Rushed down the stairs. Changed into her outdoor shoes at the shoe lockers and dashed out the school gate. She thought she heard someone calling from behind, but she couldn't turn back.
The tears wouldn't stop.
She felt like everything had shattered.
* * *
She pedaled her bicycle up the slope of Tsukimidai. The cold sea wind stung her cheeks, messy with tears, like needles.
When she tried to unlock the front door, her hands trembled so much she couldn't get the key in properly.
Her parents weren't home yet. The living room was dark and deathly silent.
Serina ran straight up to the second floor and threw herself into her room.
A six-tatami mat Western-style room. A bed, a study desk, and a small bookshelf. Nothing had changed; it was her usual room.
But—a single watercolor painting hanging on the wall caught the edge of her vision.
The moment a wave crashed against the rocks. A pale purple sky and an orange horizon.
The painting Kenta had given her for her thirteenth birthday.
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.