47 Sweet - My Little Sister Is Only Ever Cold to Me, Yet Recently She’s Been Strangely Clingy

Chapter 47: Sweet "Kiss me." "...Eh?" "If I asked, Onee-chan, would you do it?" Ren posed the question with the same casual demeanor as always, almost causing me to instinctively nod as I usually would when she gets affectionate. Just before my sisterly instincts to never refuse her request could fully take over, my rationality barely caught up. I tried to mask my agitation as I inquired further. "When you say a kiss, you mean like on the cheek, right...?" "I already got one from you on the cheek the other day." With that, Ren retrieved her phone from the pocket of her loungewear and showed me the screen. Displayed as the wallpaper, along with the current time, was a picture from our date the other day—me giving Renna a kiss on the cheek in the photo booth. "Ren!?" "I don’t use my phone in front of others, so no one has seen it. It's fine." "That's not the point..." Renna's nonchalant response left me clutching my head. The thought of that picture remaining as her wallpaper made me so embarrassed, I could die. My face flushed with heat. Ren only added to that heat by asking further. "So, where will you do it this time?" She leaned in, peering into my eyes as if challenging me. Her gaze caught mine, and I found myself unintentionally fixating on her lips before hurriedly averting my eyes. But Renna wasn’t about to let me escape that easily. "Do you not want to kiss me, Onee-chan...?" Her usual flat tone seemed to tremble slightly, and that little tremor sent ripples through my own heart. The truth was, I didn’t dislike the idea at all, and that was the problem. "It's not that I don't want to. But, you know, kisses are something only shared between people who love each other..." "Then it's okay. Because Onee-chan said it yesterday. That you love me." "I did say that, but it was..." As a sister, as family, that’s the love I was referring to. Those words came to mind. Yet, inexplicably, something stopped me from voicing them to Ren. Moreover, I realized that those words alone couldn’t fully encompass the feelings I had towards Ren. Afraid to define them, I’ve been constantly running away. Even now, trying to evade my own emotions, I turned the conversation back on Ren. "What about you, Ren? You told me yesterday that you love me too." Ren's eyes widened in surprise at my question. It was as if the usually calm surface of water had been stirred. She stood in contemplative silence for a moment before lifting her gaze again with determined resolve. As her eyes, shimmering with intensity, locked with mine, her words poured out. "I love you. I've always, always loved you, Onee-chan. So much that I want you to kiss me. It can't be anyone other than you, Onee-chan." Ren's cheeks were a deep red, her usual even voice trembled like a lie, and those adorable kitten-like eyes remained steadfastly fixed on me, just as always. I couldn’t look away from the trembling light in Ren’s eyes, clinging to me as if pleading. Her words from a moment ago kept replaying in my head, over and over again—echoing. Ren’s words resonated with the contours of my own heart. As they melted together—words and feelings blending into one—the emotion I had avoided naming slowly began to take on the same name as hers. "Yesterday, you promised to give me a reward, remember? So, will you kiss me?" Her shaking voice, her eyes—they remained unchanged from long ago. Sealing off any route of escape, Ren wrapped her arms around my neck. I couldn't escape anymore. All I could see was Ren's beauty. Long eyelashes, cat-like eyes. Smooth, flawless skin. Flushed cheeks. Thin lips. Oh, it’s hopeless. I can’t bring myself to refuse Ren when she’s being affectionate. This undeniable truth hit me hard. Ren closed her eyes, her lips slightly parted. As if drawn inexorably, I brought my own lips closer to hers. Just before our lips meet, seeking refuge from the guilt of what I was about to do, I tightly shut my eyes. In the darkness, I felt something cool, sweet, and soft against my lips. A fleeting touch. In that moment, an eternity of silence expanded. I slowly opened my eyes. There was Ren, her face flushed crimson, with a dazed expression. Her eyes were glassy, unlike her usual self. She muttered quietly. “It really is sweet.”