Gimai Seikatsu Volume 11 Prologue (2024)

Prologue – Yuuta Asamura

TL: NaCl

ED & Accuracy Checking: Fungus

PR: Kei, existence is pain, rsa16

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September 1st, Wednesday. Morning.

Yesterday marked the end of summer vacation, with today marking the return to my daily school routine.

Even so, the scenery at home remained unchanged. Neither my old man nor Akiko-san had any long vacations to begin with, and neither Ayase-san nor I had a habit of staying up late just because it was summer vacation.

At the breakfast table were the three of us—me, my old man, and Ayase-san. As usual, Akiko-san, who had just finished her night shift, was sleeping in her bedroom. The breakfast table was set with sunny-side-up eggs, seaweed, and Ayase-san’s miso soup. This was also as usual.

“Your miso soup is as delicious as ever, Saki-chan.”

My old man narrowed his eyes in pleasure as he tilted his bowl and sipped from it, sighing in delight. I understood how he felt… and even though he was my own old man, I felt somewhat exasperated by his exaggerated motions. Even though it had been a year and three months since we started living together after he remarried Akiko-san, he still couldn’t help but be moved by his stepdaughter’s miso soup every morning. But this time something different happened.

“That said,you’ve gotten better at cooking too, Yuuta,” he said, taking a bite of the sunny-side-up egg I had made.

“It’s just sunny-side-up eggs, though.”

“I think so too. Nii-san, you don’t burn them anymore, and they hold their shape,” Ayase-san commented, leaving me feeling a bit embarrassed.

“The rolled omelet I made the other day was a failure, though.”

“The one that looked more like scrambled eggs?”

My breath caught in my throat. Just thinking about it was embarrassing.

Ayase-san’s rolled omelets were delicious, so recently, I challenged myself to make one for the first time. Although I had prepped the ingredients according to the recipe, it ended up a hot mess. When I poked it with chopsticks, the egg crumbled, and when I tried to roll it, the egg stuck to the bottom of the pan and wouldn’t come off. So, instead of rolled omelet, I ended up with a mess of slightly burnt chunks of egg that barely held together.

“You’ll probably get the knack of it if you make it a few more times,”Ayase-san consoled me.

“I hope so.”

“No use in rushing things.”

“That’s… true. Yeah, I think so too.”

Ayase-san had so much feeling in her voice, so maybe she wasn’t just talking about cooking.

I recalled this summer’s study camp.

Surrounded by brainiacs, I grew anxious, couldn’t get enough sleep, and my study efficiency ended up tanking. I also felt super pathetic when I realized that the reason I wanted to go to the university I had been aiming for wasn’t for myself.

My thought process so far has been to aim for the best possible university within my reach. But was that really the right way to go? To be honest, it had been a question that had been troubling me lately. Should I truly set my sights on Keiryou University as my top choice? Which department do I genuinely want to join? It was September, a point in the year too late to be uncertain… but since I hadn’t made up my mind yet, there was no helping it.

Fujinami-san pointed out to me that I should reconsider my plans, not for anyone else, but for myself. Going to university, securing a good job—should be reasons because I want to go there. Of course, I also want to maintain a good relationship with Ayase-san and cherish our high school life together.

“By the way, Yuuta, Saki-chan. Akiko-san was worried about when the parent-teacher meeting is. It should be just right around the corner. Last year, it was at the end of September, wasn’t it?”

“Ah—”

“They haven’t told us yet, but I think it will be around the same time,” Ayase-san cut in.

Nodding beside her, I added, “I think Saki’s right. And after that, it’ll just be one-on-one meetings.”

It’s not just us students who worry about University entrance exams. Even just taking the entrance exam costs money, and if we pass, we’re required to pay for tuition. Attending a university far from home would also mean paying rent. Even if we cover tuition with scholarships and manage living expenses with part-time jobs, we’re still minors and under our parents’ responsibility, so we weren’t free to do whatever we wanted. The purpose of the upcoming parent-teacher meeting is to address these matters.

“I’ll help as much as I can no matter where you decide to go, ” my old man said with a smile, while Ayase-san bowed her head sincerely.

“Thanks. I’ll do my best to get accepted.”

“Your first choice is still the same?”

“Yes.”

Ayase-san’s top choice was Tsukinomiya Women’s University. She first heard about that university at last year’s parent-teacher meeting when her homeroom teacher recommended it. Akiko-san, who was present at the time, also knew about it. Afterward, Ayase-san’s visit to Tsukinomiya’s open campus only fueled her determination.

Open campus, huh…

For students at Suisei High, a prestigious school, visiting an open campus in the fall of their third year was considered quite late. Some might see it as a sign of poor planning, but I felt it was better late than never.

“Still undecided, Yuuta?”

“Well, I plan to narrow my choices down a bit more by the parent-teacher meeting. Also—” I glanced at Ayase-san. She nodded silently.

“—I’ll ask if we can schedule it on the same day as Saki’s again this year.”

“That would help both me and Akiko-san, but are you sure?”

“We’re not particularly worried. There’s nothing to hide, is there?”

It’s a fact that we are step-siblings. And while it’s also true that suddenly having a same-age sister at the same school due to a remarriage might invite some curious looks, we’ve stopped pretending to be strangers in public.

“Akiko-san will be happy about that too.”

As if on cue, the bedroom door opened, and Akiko-san walked towards the bathroom. She was still in her nightwear. My old man quickly stood up, poured some barley tea from the fridge into a glass, and handed it to Akiko-san as she returned from the bathroom.

They exchanged a few words briefly before my old man returned to us.

“I told her about the meeting. She asked to let her know once the exact date is set.”

“It’s rare for Mom to be up this early,” Ayase-san remarked.

Since she comes home at dawn and goes straight to bed, she’s usually in her deepest sleep by the time breakfast rolls around. My old man nodded.

“It’s still hot if you have the air conditioning off. She probably woke up because of the heat. I told her that she should keep it on.”

I see, so the barley tea was to prevent dehydration.

“Mom doesn’t really like aircon…”

Even so, it’s important to stay hydrated, since dehydration can still be a problem during the day, even in September. As my old man suggested, it was important to stay cool and remember to regularly drink water.

“I’m always quick to turn on the aircon because I can’t stand the heat, but Akiko-san gets cold easily. But I mean, I don’t like having heating on in winter either.”

“So, do you leave the heater off?”

“Nah, I wouldn’t go that far, I’m just not that bothered by it,” he said with a smile.

Maybe he was bragging?

“Akiko-san’s lifestyle practically has day and night reversed, so I think she should take care of her health even more than I do.”

“Mom said that, considering you’re busy with work too, she wants you to take better care of yourself, Stepdad” Ayase-san chimed in.

“She did? Well, I’ll certainly be careful.”

Seeing my old man scratching his head awkwardly with his chopsticks in hand was something I could never have imagined a year ago.

Yes, yes. You guys get along so well, as always.

Given my old man’s trauma from his divorce with my biological mother, seeing him and Akiko-san so close makes me happy too. But, witnessing him eagerly fetching barley tea for Akiko-san and having her meticulously adjust his tie while thanking him in the morning makes it hard to believe they are parents of a son and daughter in their third year of high school. It felt more like they were young themselves.

Feeling somewhat self-conscious, I fiddled with my own school uniform tie.

Tap tap tap.

Just then, I felt a light tap on my shin under the table. It was Ayase-san, signaling me. Tap tap tap. I tapped back lightly as well, acknowledging her signal.

“Thanks for the meal. It was delicious,” my old man said as he stood up, holding his dirty dishes.

“You can leave them in the sink, we’ll wash them,” Ayase-san offered.

“You sure? Sorry about that.”

“No worries. You’re still busy, aren’t you, Stepdad?”

“Yes, just a bit. Okay then, I’m off.”

Despite finishing breakfast five minutes earlier than usual, he hurriedly grabbed his bag and rushed out of the house, clearly dealing with a tight work schedule.

Ayase-san and I called out to him, wishing him a good day as he left. Then, we resumed our own meal.

After finishing and washing the dishes, we prepared to leave the house. Just before stepping out the door, we wrapped our arms around each other’s backs and held each other close. A new rule had been added to our relationship since the summer festival. Whenever one of us felt the need for the other’s warmth, we would signal for mutual consent to avoid any awkwardness. It was somewhat childish, like a spy game, yet here we were; high schoolers relished in secret signals like that.

We closed our eyes as we held each other. I felt that Ayase-san, seeing how my old man cared for Akiko-san, had yearned for something like that herself. After a few seconds of feeling each other’s warmth, we pulled away.

If Akiko-san woke up while we were hugging, or if my father returned home for something he forgot, we might be seen. However, those few seconds were important to us. Maybe, deep down, there was a part of us that didn’t mind being found out; or rather, we wanted to be discovered.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Wait,” she said, reaching up to adjust my tie.

“It’s crooked.”

“Oh, right. Thanks.”

We walked to school together, side by side.

The second autumn with my stepsister and girlfriend had begun.

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