Doll-like Girl.

"Well, if you'll excuse me now."

With that, I left my seat, not wanting to be here for even a moment.

Then Koji-san called Airi in an abhorrent voice.

"Oi… Hurry up and go with Minato-kun."

"Yes."

Airi responded to the voice and got up from her seat.

"Wait, it starts today?"

"Yeah, you gave your permission."

He replied as if to say, 'What are you talking about? Isn't it obvious?'

I never heard anything about her living together with me from today, but I decided to take her in.

To be honest, I was honestly quite pissed off that he said all that without a hint of remorse, but I tried my best to control my temper and waited for Airi to get ready.

She pulled over a large carry-on bag that I had been wondering about from the beginning. Apparently, that bag and the student bag were all she had.

"... I see, then."

"….. Excuse me."

After confirming that everything was ready, I bid farewell to Koji-san and my stepmother together and walked out of the restaurant.

I wondered if it was proper for a customer to enter a family restaurant and not order anything, but I decided not to worry about it.

I didn't think it was possible for the four of us to have a friendly meal together, so this was probably the right thing to do.

I went outside and calmed myself down.

"I'm sorry, this all happened so suddenly, are you okay?"

"No problem."

The expression on her face and the tone of her voice hadn't changed since we first met, and she was still expressionless.

For now, it would be better to go home than to stand here and talk.

"I'll take you to my house."

"Please take care of me."

She replied with an impersonal expression, but I didn't care and started walking in front of her.

It took about 20 minutes to get there. I arrived at my house without any particular conversation, unlocked the door and went inside.

There was a short passage from the front door to the living room, which had a bathroom, a kitchen, a toilet, a washing machine, and other necessities.

In the living room, there was no room for more furniture, as I had already placed the furniture I needed for daily life, a game console for my leisure, and a bookshelf.

For now, I let her sit on the cushion and faced her.

Today should be rather warm since it was early spring, but the air in the room was quite cold.

"Once again, I'm Kujo Minato. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Ninomiya Airi. Nice to meet you."

Her face had not changed a bit, and she still had the same poker face.

I asked her again, checking Airi's face carefully. I hadn't thought of what I would do if she refused to answer, but that didn't stop me from asking.

"I know it's already been decided, but I'm going to ask you one more time, are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure you want to move in with a guy you just met?"

"I'm fine with it."

Her reply was the same as before, and her expression was also the same.

It could be that she had no objection because it had already been decided, or that Koji-san forced her to do it in the first place, or – perhaps – everything was no longer important and she was desperate.

I couldn't read any emotion from her expressionless face. If that was the case, I wouldn't rehash it any further.

"Okay, then I'll give you this for now."

I made a conscious effort to sound cheerful. I took the key out of the accessory case on the table and handed it to her.

When I put it on Airi's palm, she turned from expressionless to troubled for the first time.

"Well, um…"

"That key is a spare key, so don't lose it. I'll be careful but if we both lose them at the same time, we'll be in trouble."

"That's not what I meant… Are you sure? You seem very easy going about this."

"Ninomiya said it was fine, so I don't care anymore."

"... You're not going to ask me anything?"

"It's natural for people to have one or two things they don't want other people to know. If you want to talk about it, I'll listen, but I'm not going to force you."

I said in a voice that sounded apologetic. Although I was curious, I didn't mean to pry, so I made that very clear.

Especially in Airi's case, the situation seemed to be complicated. I didn't want to force myself to find out more about her and make things awkward with the person I would be living with.

I would wait for her to talk to me.

"Thank you very much."

She suddenly bowed her head deeply. I didn't think it was something she should thank me for.

I didn't step into things that I didn't want to be asked about. I thought it was quite a natural thing to do.

"Is it something you should be grateful about?"

I wondered, so I asked her, and Airi's expression turned into a wry smile.

"I just want to thank you for accepting such an outrageous situation. People wouldn't normally allow their daughter to move away when they remarry."

"I just thought that if you're okay with this, then it's fine. It's not me who's going through a tough time in the first place, it's Ninomiya."

She thanked me with a bitter smile, so I responded with a bitter laugh, and we both looked at each other indescribably.

The air in the room finally felt warm.

"Really, thank you so much."

The expression on Airi's face for the first time turned into a smile. It was only a slight smile, though.

She asked me with the same expression on her face.

"By the way. Our parents are getting married and we're going to be a family, what should I call you?"

"Whatever you want to call me."

I was not particular about what people called me, so I answered plainly.

As long as it was not too weird, I was fine.

That was what I meant when I said anything was fine.

"Then… Stepbrother."

She said this to me in a slightly joyful voice. I think my smile deepened.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I didn't expect to be called that. In fact, I was sure I couldn't see Airi as my stepsister.

"No, please don't do that."

I replied with mixed feelings, but her expression had already returned to her usual blank stare.

I wondered if it was just my imagination that I felt brilliantly teased.

"Then can I call you Kujo-senpai, or simply Senpai?"

"Please do. So, what do you want me to call you?"

"Anything's fine."

"I see… Then…"

She still had the same unfriendly expression on her face, so I decided to return the teasing.

I tried to keep a smile on my face to avoid showing any evil thoughts of getting even.

"Airi."

"..."

When I called her by name, Airi's eyes wandered from place to place as if she was uncomfortable. Her face was also slightly red.

I was expecting her to reject me with all her might, but the look on her face was a foul one.

I felt embarrassed when I saw her expression.

"Sorry, is Ninomiya okay?"

When I couldn't resist calling her by her first name, Airi turned her head down once and then looked up at me again.

She seemed to be trying to pretend that she hadn't heard what I had just said.

"... Yes. Once again, please take care of me from now on, Kujo-senpai."

She smiled at me and her face was so beautiful, it didn't look like a doll anymore.