"Oh, please don't look at me like that," she said, her voice bright and airy.
Beside me, my sister was sweating profusely, our gazes locked in unison on the girl sitting across the low table.
At first glance, she could have passed for a classic heroine. She wore modest, unassuming clothes, a delicate sunflower hairpin pinned into her pale white hair, and flashed a look of sweet, affectionate innocence from an undeniably cute face. Nothing about her seemed out of place... except for that chilling, razor-thin smile.
"S-sorry. W-what did you say again? I think I misheard you," I stammered, needing to clear my ears.
"I said, the two of you are in love with each other, right?"
"W-we're siblings! That's just completely impossible."
"Y-yeah! And it's disgusting, besides. There's no way I would ever fall for a pathetic brother like him. Haha." My sister chimed in, though her defensive backing came with a rather painful friendly-fire comment.
"...Haha."
I honestly had no clue how to process any of this. Our dad had simply dropped the bombshell that she was our step-sister from another mother, and that she’d be moving in with us starting today due to "unforeseen circumstances."
I didn't even know where to begin unpacking it all. Leaving aside the obvious, towering question of how our dad managed to have a secret affair right under our noses, this girl had decided to kick off day one by interrogating us with a wildly unhinged suspicion about me and my sister's relationship.
"A-anyway, let's get back to proper introductions," Himari said, frantically steering the conversation away from the cliff. "Your name is Aoi... right?"
"Ah, please forgive my manners. My name is Aoi... I suppose it's Aoi Ito now," she replied, tilting her head. "It's so very nice to meet you both. I'm genuinely looking forward to your guidance toward a very interesting daily life from here on out."
That had to be the most sinister-sounding greeting in the history of human language. A quick side-glance at my sister confirmed I wasn't the only one shivering.
"T-then let me introduce us properly. My name is Kai Ito, and she's—"
"—I'm his sister. My name is Himari. Nice to meet you, Aoi-san."
"Oh, you really don't need to be so formal. You can just call me casually, Himari-chan!" Talk about aggressive, she was trying to close the gap with the subtlety of a freight train.
"U-um... sorry, I think I'll stick to 'Aoi-san' for now."
"Aww, fine~ I suppose I can't force you just yet, can I? But no matter, we have all the time in the world to get closer from now on anyway~"
With that, she gracefully rose from the sofa, smoothing out the wrinkles of her skirt.
"Nighttime is approaching, and I still need to unpack and set up my room. Let's continue our chat later, okay?" She flashed us one last glowing smile. We could only offer stiff, awkward grins in response as she finally turned and walked down the hall.
"...Onii-chan," Himari whispered, her eyes still glued to the spot where the girl had vanished.
"Yeah?"
"You're not in love with me, are you?"
"...Are you?" I countered, answering her question with another.
"...No."
"...Same."
And thus, our status quo was fiercely maintained.
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