My Horny Stepmom Turns Me into Her Vampire Slave

Chapter 136: B - The hidden pain behind the perfect girl facade (1)

"T-Thank you for agreeing to talk to me despite everything that happened between us," Jiro murmurs, taking a sip from his cup of tea.

He and Aoshi are seated across from one another inside a completely soundproof private karaoke room.

"Now we’re alone and nobody can hear us. Tell me everything."

"Y-Yeah... well... first of all, I want to apologize for what happened that night. I know you lost your job because of me, and as if that wasn’t enough, I threw a bunch of horrible insults at you even though you were only trying to protect my sister.

"The truth is, the punch you gave me was nothing compared to what I actually deserved. It was disgraceful of me to take a nude photo of my own sister just to impress my friends. That’s not something a brother should even think about doing. I-If I... if I hadn’t done that..."

Jiro suddenly breaks into violent sobs. His already reddened eyes fill with even more tears.

"...maybe Miori would still be alive..."

"T-Don’t tell me... Miori killed herself out of shame because of what you did?!" Aoshi bursts out, slamming his fists onto the table.

"N-No, that’s not it. You see, some of my friends are older students from Ueda University, and whenever they talked about my sister, it was like they were talking about a celebrity. I imagine Miori gave you the same impression — perfect in every way, beautiful, intelligent, strong, confident... but also kind of a bitch. Cold. The sort of person who never let others get too close and who had a dark side she tried desperately to hide from the public... even if it slipped out sometimes..."

Aoshi nods silently.

"But Miori wasn’t a bad person. I swear it on my life. She was the sweetest and most caring sister I could’ve ever asked for. She was always incredibly protective of me. When I was little, after arguing with Mom, I’d lock myself in Miori’s room and cry until I fell asleep from exhaustion in her arms..."

Tears stream down Jiro’s face as he relives those memories.

"...and when I got older, she even started taking the blame for me over the stupidest things. Leaving something out of place, forgetting to wash a plate, leaving the bathroom floor wet... she’d take responsibility for it all just so Mom wouldn’t get angry at me..."

"It’s really hard for me to believe everything you’re telling me. It honestly feels like we’re talking about two completely different people. I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but... it’s difficult for me to accept that Miori was really like that."

"W-Why is it so hard for you to believe...?"

"I don’t know who told you Miori and I were close friends, but... that was a pretty big lie. The truth is, I don’t think there was anyone in the world I considered less of a friend than her. You see, Miori and I... were together, if you can even call it that. It only lasted a month, but during that short time, I loved her with all my heart. And she crushed those feelings as if they meant nothing — just for fun, just to watch me suffer, just to destroy me at the exact moment I was happiest with her. And as if that wasn’t enough, she tried to do it a second time, and I was one step away from falling for it all over again. Maybe because I was naive... or maybe because she was a master at twisting reality. Probably both. And I’m sure she did the same thing to Renji and who knows how many others before us."

"Y-Yeah, I understand. I guess it was her way of venting all the anger she kept bottled up inside. I don’t blame you — I’d probably feel the same way if I were in your shoes..."

"A-Anger? What anger? She was beautiful, intelligent, wealthy, admired by everyone... why would someone like her have so much bottled-up rage...?"

Jiro suddenly falls silent and lowers his gaze.

"Mom would lose her mind if she knew I was talking about this... but considering what my sister did to you and the way you see her, maybe telling you will help — at least a little — with the resentment and guilt you’re carrying because of her. But promise me that what I’m about to tell you stays between us, okay?"

Aoshi nods silently.

"G-Good... Then you should know that my sister was nothing like the perfect girl everyone thought she was. From what she told me... and from conversations I’ve overheard between my parents... Miori was only three years old when her pediatrician started noticing unusual behavior. A worrying delay in learning to walk, and later to speak. An emotional detachment from everything around her that was unnatural for a child her age. But the most alarming symptom was her sudden and uncontrollable outbursts of anger. Violent meltdowns that seemed to erupt for no apparent reason. According to the pediatrician, there could only be one explanation... but my parents categorically refused to accept it. To them, the idea that the eldest daughter of the prestigious Yukinaga family could have such a condition was simply unthinkable."

Jiro pauses, taking a deep breath and another sip of tea.

"My parents kept consulting countless pediatricians until they finally found one — probably incompetent, or maybe just willing to tell them what they wanted to hear in exchange for their money — who claimed it was nothing more than a phase of repressed anger that some children go through. He told them it could easily be resolved through sports and physical activity. And of course, my parents took his words as absolute truth. They immediately enrolled Miori in martial arts classes, but as you might expect, nothing changed. If anything, her anger only grew worse with time, along with all her other symptoms. She showed no affection or interest toward anyone, and the only emotion she seemed capable of expressing was anger, which she unleashed on anything within reach whenever one of her episodes struck. Not even the mountain of medication that doctor prescribed could stop them completely. But from what I’ve been told, something inside her changed the moment I was born."

Jiro pauses again while Aoshi listens in silence.

"For some reason, from the very beginning, she became almost obsessively attached to me. And what gave my parents hope again was seeing her smile at me, play with me, hug me, and hold me in her arms. Things she’d never done before — not even with all the dolls they’d bought for her. And in that moment, in their eyes, I probably became the cure for the shame they believed Miori had brought upon the Yukinaga family... but unfortunately, it turned out to be nothing more than a fragile illusion..."

Jiro chokes back a sob, staring into the surface of his tea as it ripples from the trembling of his hands.

"Miori’s cold and hostile attitude toward the rest of the world didn’t change one bit. If anything, it became even worse over time. And yet, there was at least one positive aspect to the whole situation: her beauty and intelligence, both far beyond the norm. Thanks to those qualities, her natural emotional detachment and indifference toward the world could be mistaken for the typical attitude of an arrogant snob — the kind of girl who considered herself so superior to everyone else that she didn’t even see a reason to acknowledge them. But the truth was completely different... a truth my parents initially refused to accept. And once the evidence became impossible to ignore, they did everything they could to hide it and began taking all their frustration out on her. The frustration of watching their expectations crumble. The shame of knowing that the eldest daughter of the Yukinaga family was autistic."