Chapter 12

The next day, Himizuki got up early, but he still couldn't outdo his younger sister. Himizuki concluded that it might be because he had another spring dream last night, which made him feel particularly exhausted.

His sister was already in the kitchen, clattering around as she prepared breakfast. Hearing the footsteps behind her, she turned around and gave her brother a bright smile, then went back to her work.

Himizuki couldn't help much with the cooking, or with any of the household chores for that matter. With nothing to do, Himizuki could only help his sister pack her school bag. The current curriculum was heavy, and the school bag weighed about ten pounds.

Maybe it really was a spring dream last night. Himizuki touched his lips, thinking, but the soft and fragrant feeling was so vivid.

His sister was truly a cooking genius; she could handle three different dishes at once and serve them all together. She gently placed three plates of light dishes on the table, then pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Eat, I added a bit of vinegar and sugar to the cucumber, see how it tastes."

"Mm, it's really good."

...

===================== The Line of Time Passes Quickly ====================

June 26, 2019

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed, and Himizuki and Shinizuki finally completed their final middle school project: the high school entrance exam.

The last subject was English, which posed no problem for the siblings; they had already started reading the foreign books they needed.

The siblings submitted their papers early and came out. They were not in the same examination room, so they agreed to meet under a poplar tree at the entrance of the test school.

Himizuki's exam venue was far from the entrance, so he arrived later. From a distance, he saw a girl with a long ponytail and a white sun hat standing under the poplar tree. The girl didn't wear many accessories like other girls her age, and she didn't even wear makeup, just a simple, natural look that exuded a refined and scholarly aura. Many parents were looking at her, some admiringly and some shaking their heads, clearly thinking it was a waste for such a girl to submit her paper early.

The girl pushed her bangs into her hat, and through the gaps in her fingers, she saw her brother standing not far away, staring at her. The girl looked around, puzzled, but didn't see what he was looking at.

"What are you looking at? It feels weird." His sister hugged his free arm and shook it.

Himizuki finally came to his senses. Looking at his sister's cute big eyes, he had an impulse to kiss her, but he quickly suppressed this unrealistic thought.

"Ah, nothing, I just suddenly thought you look good."

"^_^ Of course, you just noticed?"

"Um, I just noticed."

"～>_<_～ Brother is a fool."

"Um, I know you're beautiful, but who else's sister could be beautiful?"

"Tch, you're so vain. What does my appearance have to do with you?"

"I'm your brother, and if I let my hair grow, we'd look almost identical." Himizuki took off his sister's hat and put it on his own head, then covered his mouth to show her.

"Really, you look so much like me."

"What, I look like you? I'm your brother! You should look like me, my little copy."

"ˋ﹏ˊ, if you keep saying that, I'll bite you." His sister, unable to argue, used her secret weapon: her two little fangs.

"Oo~~(╯﹏╰)b, no more, no more, let's not talk about this." Himizuki wisely changed the topic and started asking his sister about her plans for the summer vacation.

His sister wanted to play for a few days, while Himizuki wanted to work to buy a computer. Combining these ideas, they decided to play for a day or two and then find summer jobs to earn money. Himizuki expected them to earn 1500 yuan each in a month, and after two months, they would add another 1000 yuan, making 4000 yuan, which should be enough for a decent computer.

========================== The Line of Camping ====================

There were forests near the capital, but they were close to the Great Wall at Badaling, which was too far and not very safe at night. So, the siblings decided to camp in the Olympic Park. In recent years, the Olympic Park had added a new project of paid outdoor barbecues. For a certain deposit, you could set up a barbecue grill next to a water fountain and enjoy the fun of grilling your own food. Although tents, flashlights, barbecue grills, and charcoal pots were all specially made and rented, they were not too expensive.

The siblings set up their tent by the Olympic Lake, where they could fish at night, another new entertainment project.

After much effort, Himizuki finally set up the tent, which seemed to have a bent steel wire. The flashlight was placed in a glass container, and the refracted light was gentle yet sufficient to illuminate the entire tent.

Outside, his sister was already fiddling with the charcoal pot. It was her first time handling such things, so she was very curious about the small pot with compressed straw inside.

Himizuki, being an authority in this area, handled various fire tools almost every day, from lighters and alcohol lamps to welding torches and even explosives. Feeling this might be the only area where he could outdo his sister, Himizuki was enthusiastic and quickly got the charcoal pot lit, which his sister had been struggling with for a while.

He placed the barbecue grill on the charcoal pot, completing the simple barbecue stand. Himizuki took out the skewers and sausages his sister had prepared at home and placed them evenly on the grill.

The two of them sat quietly together, watching the charcoal burn and waiting for the food to cook.

Due to the capital's emphasis on greening, the sky was now clear enough to see the stars. His sister pulled him to lie on the grass and, using the knowledge from her books, identified the brightest constellations.

"Big Dipper, right? It looks like a ladle."

"Leo... it doesn't look like it at all."

"Gemini, it's so clear. The one on the left must be the sister, see, her hand is holding the other one."

"Brother, why aren't you talking? Uh, you're asleep! Hey, I'm talking to you."

...

Oh, a lot of interesting things happened that night, such as Himizuki mixing up the spicy sauce and the soy sauce, which made him drink a row of Wahaha, his sister accidentally finding a live carp in a pile of stones, and his sister successfully luring a large white cat from another group of campers with a few pieces of fish meat...

Finally, it was time to sleep.

It was the first time his sister slept on the grass, and she was so excited that she couldn't fall asleep. She wore her favorite light pink pajamas and rolled around in the tent.

Himizuki looked at his suddenly childish sister with a troubled expression, thankful that the tent was sturdier than the old ones, which would have collapsed long ago...

Helplessly, Himizuki used a bit of parental authority to finally get his sister into her sleeping bag. He turned off the flashlight and crawled into his own large fiber sleeping bag, next to his sister.

The tent was pitch black, but through the one-way film at the top, the stars were still visible, as if they were really sleeping in an open field.

"Brother."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing."

"Uh..."

"Brother~~."

"Stop it, go to sleep."

"No, brother~~O(∩_∩)O."

"...... Hey, what are you doing?" Himizuki suddenly felt his sleeping bag being opened, and a familiar body squeezed in.

"Why do we need two sleeping bags when we're so close?" His sister buried her face in his chest, feeling as if she was being enveloped by him, a feeling she found very pleasant.

Himizuki was already used to his sister's lack of boundaries and didn't push her out. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tighter and patting her gently. "Mm, stop it, go to sleep."

"Mm." His sister whispered, and her breathing gradually became even.

After confirming that his sister was asleep, Himizuki closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.

========================= The Line of Morning ========================

Himizuki woke up much earlier than usual today, not because he was more aware, but because the sister in his arms started to fuss.

Hmm, what is this? Himizuki's hands were warm and soft, and he pinched them again in a daze. Uh, they're both so soft...

His sister's body stiffened slightly, and then a sharp pain followed. Himizuki opened his eyes and looked helplessly at his sister, who was biting his chest, her face as red as a ripe tomato.

"What's wrong, causing trouble so early in the morning?"

"Stupid brother," his sister's voice had a tremor that Himizuki had never heard before, but it sounded quite nice. "Your hands, take them off."

"Hands?" Himizuki looked down from his shoulder. His left hand was already inside his sister's pajamas, tightly holding her developing softness. What about his right hand? Himizuki tried to shake the sleeping bag to see where his right hand was, but his sister held it tightly, refusing to let him move.

"How can I take them off if you don't let me see?" Himizuki said what he later considered the stupidest thing he had ever said.

Shinizuki's face was almost smoking with embarrassment. Her brain probably wasn't working well, and she followed his words without thinking. Yes, if she didn't let him see, how could he take his hand out?

Then, the silly sister lifted the sleeping bag, exposing her disheveled body and, at the same time, revealing the part of Himizuki's arm that was inside her pajama pants.

"......"

Himizuki was probably scared stiff, and his sister was steamed by her own embarrassment, so neither of them spoke for a moment.

Himizuki looked at his sister innocently, and his sister looked back at him innocently. They stared at each other for over a minute.

Himizuki was the first to come to his senses. He stiffly pulled out his hands from his sister's clothes and wiped the moisture on his right hand on the sleeping bag. Seeing the dark stain on the sleeping bag, Himizuki felt like banging his head against the wall.

"This, this, this is an accident, an accident..." Himizuki looked at his sister, who had buried her head in her chest, and his voice became weaker and weaker, finally turning into a nearly silent "I'm sorry."

His sister shook her head lightly and smiled at Himizuki, a smile he had never seen before, with only a slight upward curve of her lips, giving him a heart-stirring feeling. At that moment, his sister looked truly beautiful.

"It's nothing," his sister looked at her panicked brother with soft eyes, tilting her head as if puzzled by his panic. "I don't care, why are you so nervous?"

"Uh... but, I just, this." Himizuki was still flustered, struggling to form coherent sentences. Perhaps he didn't even know what he wanted to say.

Shinizuki moved closer to Himizuki, guiding his guilty hand to hold her. She leaned silently against his chest, looking up at his face, which was very similar to hers. Although Himizuki felt a bit uncomfortable, he eventually lowered his head and looked straight at her.

"What are you feeling guilty about?" His sister also wrapped her arms around him. "We've always been like this since we were little, why are there so many taboos now that we're older?"

"But, Shinizuki has grown up."

"Yes, you've grown up too, but you're still my closest brother. What does it matter if you touched me? I don't care, and you don't need to care either. As for others, why should we care?"

Shinizuki said this with her eyes closed. She gently raised her head and pressed her lips to his.

"I just like you, brother. As long as you still recognize me, I don't care if I'm your sister or something else."

...

"Brother, how did it feel?"

"It felt good... uh, cough, did I say that?"

"You said it felt good."

"You must have heard wrong."

"Stop fooling yourself, brother. Just for a little while, indulge me this once."

"Isn't that enough already?"

"You know it's different. When we get home, we'll still be brother and sister, but for now, be my boyfriend."

"..."

"What, even after I said that, you still have reservations..."

"Not really, I'm just thinking about what I should do as a boyfriend. I guess I can kiss you."

"No, no, not yet. You want to be my boyfriend, but I haven't agreed to be your girlfriend yet, so only I can kiss you, not you."

"That's not fair."

"Of course not, you should indulge me."

"╮(╯▽╰)╭, okay, okay, just this morning, my little girlfriend."

"O(∩_∩)O hehe"

...

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