After the water was ready, I headed to the bathroom to start my shower.
Outside, Guiyue was tidying up the ingredients she had brought today.
Halfway through my shower, I heard a noise by the door, then the door slid open a little.
Guiyue’s mischievous voice came through.
“Sis, it looks like you didn’t lock the door~”
“Eh eh eh? Wh-what are you… what are you trying to do?!”
I watched the door pushed open slightly and hurriedly covered my chest, fearing it would be opened fully any second.
“Hehehe~ Sis, what do you think I’m going to do?” Guiyue’s voice was as playful as ever, which made me feel uneasy.
“Behave, don’t mess around, I’m still showering!”
I tried to use the tone I’d used before as her older brother scolding her for mischief, but with that soft, cute little sister voice backing her up, my usually authoritative warning came out sounding more like a cute scolding.
“Hehe, Sis, you’re really adorable. I was just joking at first, but now I kind of want to see you all exposed in front of me.”
As expected, I couldn’t intimidate Guiyue.
Seeing that, I had to try another threat.
“N-no! If you push the door open, I won’t let you come over next time!”
“Ugh! O-okay…”
That seemed to work; Guiyue immediately dropped the teasing tone.
“Since Sis won’t let me open the door, then after you finish showering, can you hold my hand and take me out to play?”
Hearing her compromise, I rejected it without a second thought.
“No, holding hands like that between us feels really weird.”
“Eh?! But I’m not even going to watch you shower…”
“Don’t talk like you’re supposed to watch me shower or something, idiot!”
“Hehe~”
Guiyue giggled mischievously. When that didn’t work, she switched tactics and whined.
“But I really want to hold hands with Sis and go out to play~ I even made yummy food for you. Isn’t this request fair?”
“Going out is fine, but no holding hands. That’s just too strange.”
“Nooo, come on, just hold hands~ Holding hands when going out is a sign that sisters get along well, right? After I’ve made so much food for you, can’t you at least fulfill this simple wish?”
Guiyue crooned in that pitiful, coaxing voice, making my head spin and my bones practically melt.
“Tch, don’t think that whining will work on me, I…”
“Sis…”
“Alright, alright, I promise, okay?!”
Ahhh! Damn it, I still couldn’t bring myself to say no! Who could resist a little sister’s pitiful plea like that?
I had already decided to refuse, but the moment the words left my mouth, I ended up agreeing.
“Yay yay yay, that’s awesome! Sis is the best!”
Outside the door, Guiyue cheered happily. I could even hear her bouncing around through the door.
Sigh, well, little sisters are just little sisters—no matter when, they’re always like kids who never quite grow up.
But come to think of it, I once saw two girls who looked a lot alike holding hands in public—they were probably sisters.
Maybe Guiyue was right; holding hands between sisters is normal, a symbol of a good relationship.
“But just this once, and don’t make a habit of it. No more whining for it later!”
I puffed out my cheeks and said firmly to Guiyue outside.
Guiyue, too happy to argue, just casually replied, “Okay, okay~”
Tch, I feel like she didn’t hear a word I said.
Well, whether she listened or not, I said it was just this once, and that’s absolutely all there will ever be! No repeats!
Yeah, only this once!
As for now, I better finish showering.
After what just happened, I didn’t have to worry about Guiyue suddenly pushing the door open again.
If she dared to push it any further, I’d have a perfect excuse not to take her out.
Speaking of which, Guiyue has gotten really clingy since her rebirth.
Before rebirth, after I took the initiative to fix our sibling relationship post-work, she often avoided me and acted annoyed.
But now that she’s reborn, not only does she come looking for me first, she even asks to hold hands when we go out.
Honestly, even though I’m certain she’s the reborn one,
seeing such a huge change often makes me wonder— is this really the same Guiyue from before her rebirth?
Still, thanks to her actively closing the distance between us, I don’t have to put in as much time and effort as I did before to fix things.
It just feels like she might be a bit too clingy now, but I guess that’s a good thing?
Because Guiyue was waiting outside, I didn’t wash my hair this time. I just dried off, changed clothes, and came out.
Guiyue had been waiting for a while and smiled sweetly when she saw me.
“Hehehe, Sis, so can we hold hands and go out to play now~”
“Sigh, yes, but let me put on my shoes first.”
Seeing how proactive she was, I could only smile helplessly.
Next time, I’ll have to be careful about her whining—can’t agree so easily out of impulse.
If I keep giving in to her whining, her demands will only get more outrageous.
“Hehe, then let’s hold hands first, then put on shoes.”
Before I could react, Guiyue grabbed my hand, the soft touch sending a gentle warmth through me.
Her hand was a bit bigger than mine, making me feel like mine was wrapped inside hers.
“Eh, if you hold my hand, I can’t put on my shoes properly.”
“Then I’ll help you put them on~”
“Tch, forget it. I’d rather do it myself.”
Sigh, this kid…
I really don’t know what to say about her.
Putting on shoes with one hand was much harder, so it took me quite a while to finish.
When I finally looked up, Guiyue was staring at me with a silly smile.
I held out my hand, waving it gently in front of her.
“Stop daydreaming, dummy. It’s time to go.”
Guiyue snapped out of it immediately and gave me that goofy smile again.
“Hehe, Sis, I’m ready now, let’s go~”
“Hm, you can space out like that and I wonder what you’re thinking about.”
“Nothing much, just some happy thoughts~”
“Happy thoughts? Tell me about them.”
“That’s a secret, Sis~”
After all, since Sis agreed to hold hands so easily, I’m already thinking about how to slowly, slowly lower her boundaries, like boiling a frog in warm water~
But for now, that’s something I can’t tell Sis just yet~