My beautiful sister-in-law who is only attached to me, and my childhood friend who just made her high school debut, barged into my house?

For lunch, courtesy of Mio, we had fried rice containing lots of different ingredients.

“Thanks for the food.”

“It was delicious.”

“Oh, thank you.”

As Mio was making some after dinner tea, she suddenly cupped her hands together as if she just remembered something.

“Oh yeah, we are out of rice. We’re almost out of soy sauce and mirin, too.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll buy some later.”

“It’s nice that you respond so quickly. Is there anything else to buy while you’re at it? Eri-chan you just moved here, you must be missing some things right?”

Erika, who was forced to talk, looked down for a moment, grunted, and then opened her mouth.

“Cotton”

“Kotton? Is it a mascot character or something?”

“…Cosmetics.”

“Kosume? Ah, cotton!…cotton?”

Erika widened her eyes, blinking from how Mio reacted to the unfamiliar word.

Mio puffs out her cheeks as Shota bursts into tears.

“I can’t help it, I’m not very good in that area yet.”

“Mi-chan, are you sure you’re not doing any skin care..?”

“Ah, haha…um, let’s stop by the pharmacy on the way home from the supermarket.”

Mio, who was about to be questioned again, forcefully broke off the conversation and got up from her seat.

Shota followed suit with a wry smile, grabbed his wallet, and headed for the front door with her.

Erika saw Mio, or more precisely, Mio with her hair pulled up in a bun and still in her jersey, raised her voice.

“M-Mi-chan?”

“W-what’s wrong, Eri-chan?”

“Are you going outside dressed in that outfit…?”

“Huh? Is something wrong-eh Eri-chan!?”

Erika, who was blindsided as if she had just seen something unbelievable, quickly grabbed Mio’s hand and took her to her room. Shota looked on in stunned disbelief. From her room came a slamming noise and the sound of something being knocked over.

“No, no, I’m just going to the neighbourhood for a little while! I’m just going to the neighbourhood!”

“Isn’t this a little too short⁉”

“Oh, even my hair⁉”

I could hear Mio’s voice, protesting against whatever was going on in there.

Shota half-heartedly watched the room where she was taken with half-open eyes, feeling sorry for her.

Erika, who had a slightly satisfied expression, dragged a shy Mio out of her room, taking Shota’s breath away.

“This is-”

“This is perfect.”

“Ugh…”

Wearing a clean cut and sew design with a short, fluffy, fluttering skirt decorated with flowers, she is the spitting image of a cute girl in modern and fashionable clothes. Even her hair is well set, and even though I know it’s Mio, I can’t help but visibly exhale and be mesmerized. As was the case when I met her yesterday, the transformed appearance of my familiar childhood friend makes my heart flutter in my chest.

As I watched her with a mixed feeling of admiration, half of which was that I thought she was pretty cute, and the other half of which was frustration at myself for being swayed just by her physical appearance, I was suddenly approached by Erika.

“Nii-san, how does Mii-chan look?”

“Ah, she’s unbelievably cute.”

“Sho-chan!?”

My true thoughts naturally rolled out of my tongue almost instantly in response to Erika’s question.

By the time I got a hold of myself, it was already too late.

As I hurriedly tried to find the words to explain myself, Mio, who thought she was being ridiculed, face as red as a tomato, kicked me in the shin.

“Ow! It hurts!”

“I’m heading out!”

As I looked at my childhood friend’s back as she left through the front door, her shoulders drooping in sullenness, I exchanged glances with Erika who smiled wryly as we chased after Mio.

We then walk in the direction of the supermarket with Mio, who was waiting for us at the entrance with her hands on her hips.

“Is there anything in particular you want to eat for tomorrow?”

“Not really.”

“It’s annoying if you don’t give me any suggestions to work with.”

“Even so, it never goes wrong with what Mio decides to make.”

“Oh, well that’s something I’m happy to hear. Then, I’ll look at the special sales and price reduction stickers at the store and make a decision.”

I was still raising my eyebrows and thinking that I would never get used to this side of my childhood friend, acting like an ideal housewife, when suddenly my left hand was wrapped in something cool.

“Huh!?”

“Hmm?”

When I turned around, I saw Erika holding my hand with a nonchalant look on her face.

She did this as naturally as breathing, blinking her eyes as if to ask why I’m so surprised.

It’s not that I don’t like it. Yesterday we were holding hands too.

But today, Mio is here too.

When Erika was a little girl, I used to hold her hand all the time, but now she’s all grown up.

I don’t even remember holding hands with Mio either.

I wondered if siblings at this age are supposed to hold hands in the first place.

But Erika took my hand because she wanted to hold it, right?

As I was thinking about this, I heard Mio sigh loudly in discontent.

“Sho-chan, is this a show of dominance? To show off that she’s all yours? Well, Eri-chan’s cute, so I don’t blame you for feeling that way.”

“No, no, this is…”

Mio shrugs her shoulders, shaking her head with her hand on her face.

As Shota tried to correct her misunderstanding, Erika raised her free hand towards Mio.

Seeing that, Mio smiled as if all her negative energy had been drained, taking up Erika’s other hand.

And just like in the old days, we headed out shopping together, holding hands.