Published at 31st of August 2019 4:05 am

Volume 1, Chapter 03: Not a slave, but a maid!

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

—-Today, it had been 6 days since Luna cried for the first time.

As promised, I went out shopping with Luna and Nazuna.

“It’s been a while since I went out shopping with Brother~”

When I turned around on her voice, Nazuna was happily grinning while clinging to my arm.

And with her right hand around my arm, her left hand was clutching Luna’s arm. Nazuna walked in a pleased mood. Somehow we looked like parents with a child.

She was humming “Shopping with Brother~”, but I remembered that we’d just gone shopping together a month ago. My memory was so clear, since we went to a large department store two stations away, where she’d said something like “I want to see western clothes, come with me~”.

I really wished she would ask her friends for that.

Unlike me, she had a lot of friends after all. She should just invite them and go look at clothes. To be honest, I had no clue about clothes. And swimsuits are even less of my speciality.

Aww, I was afraid I’d get dragged along for a swimsuit election again this year. What a pain.

“Wah~”

When I shifted my gaze towards the voice, Luna was looking around the area with sparkling eyes. She looked curiously at the general store, electronics store and bookstore. Judging by this, she should be even more surprised when I show her the game centre on the third floor or the movie theatre on the fourth floor.

“Luna-san, let’s go.”

As today’s leader, Nazuna lightly pulled on Luna’s arm and headed for the elevators.

First we were to buy clothes and underwear on the third floor. Apparently Luna only had one brassiere and sometimes just didn’t bother wearing it. My mother had a different size, so it couldn’t be helped, but… it was a perfect combination of and , Sensei.

Geez. Its charm comes from hiding it, not from fully exposing it. Let me announce at this point that underwear is supposed to be worn properly.

So like that, first some underwear. Then clothes. So far, Luna made do with clothes from me or my mother, but the sizes didn’t fit. Let me squeeze in, that my mother is far away from being fat and sadly boasted proportions befitting a model, but Luna was a walking art gallery. Her bust exceeded my mother’s, her waist made my mother envious and her hips made my mother resign.

Taking such a Luna with us, we went into the elevator.

“Wah, wah. Shinobu-san, Shinobu-san. Amazing. It is amazing. We are floating.”

Looking out of the glass elevator, Luna raised her voice in fascination.

She was endlessly excited, pulling lightly on my sleeves. But

“…You’re like a kid, Miss.”

The boy, who was in the elevator with us, said teasingly and Luna turned red. Seeing that, the brat lost all reservation and said “A kid~!” while pointing at Luna.

“Huh? I’m gonna eat ya, wraar.”

With a single glare, I shut the brat up. Then all the other people in the elevator increased their distance from us. And as the elevator reached our destination, I could even hear the teary voice of the brat from behind saying “A monster!”. Luna and Nazuna gave me a bitter smile, but I pretended not to hear it and quickly got off. We reached the underwear section.

“Okay, I’ll take a look at the underwear with Luna-san, so wait here, Brother.”

“No. I won’t wait. Not even a single second. That’s why I’ll go with you.”

When I said that to Nazuna in front of the underwear store,

“Geez, you have no delicacy. You fail as a gentleman.”

Gentleman, failure.

Damn Nazuna. What a heartless thing to say.

Sure, I was interested in what kind of underwear Luna would choose. My curiosity about her brassiere size had no limits. It seemed Nazuna had seen through my plans.

“…I was only joking, Nazuna. I’ll go look at some super-alloy or something. Call me when you’re done.”

I turned around and left the underwear store behind me.

How regretful. I turned around to see Nazuna and Luna happily choosing underwear. If I were there, I would recommend some sexy red or black ones. No, wait. White isn’t to be scorned either… Deep in thought I wandered around with no destination.

“….Mh?”

What suddenly entered my vision was: wildly swinging silver twintails. Red eyes. A fine-featured face. And a sloppy yellow hoodie.

“Oh, it’s Elni.”

I stopped upon seeing the albino girl, Elni standing in front of the ice-cream store. You might have forgotten already, but Elni was the weird girl that stole my hotdog, made me treat her to food at a family restaurant, proclaimed herself a Goddess and gave me a ring as a present a few days ago.

“….What’s she doing?”

Elni was staring at the kids eating ice-cream near the store. With envious eyes, she was giving the ice-cream, the kids were licking a passionate glare.

“Miss, you want an ice?”

A boy eating ice-cream asked that. He must have noticed Elni’s glare.

When I took a closer look, it was the same brat that made fun of Luna in the elevator. When Elni energetically nodded with a “Yeah”, the brat mockingly answered.

“I see, you want it. But, I’m not giving you any.”

What a cruel brat.

For a moment, Elni looked like she was going to cry, but then she faced away with a “H- Hmp”.

“N- Not like I wanted it anyway! I.. I don’t want an ice-cream. Not at all, you hear!”

Elni said while staring at the ice-cream.

With a “Hmm~”, the brat made a mean smile and continued to eat his ice-cream flaunting it in front of her.

Tears started swelling up in Elni’s eyes.

I could no longer watch this. Please stop it! Don’t bully this girl!

Thinking that, I drew closer to Elni.

“Gyaaah!”

The moment the brat saw my face, he screamed.

“Huh? I’m gonna eat ya, wraar.”

When I said the same stuff as in the elevator, the brat screamed “Monster~” again and ran away. I ignored the brat and looked at Elni.

“Uwaaah! A monsterrr!”

Looking at me, Elni was going to run away like the brat.

“Hey, who are you calling a monster. Have you forgotten the generous me already? It’s me, sexy Shinobu-san, loved by everyone!”

“….Who are you?”

Elni looked at me with a puzzled look. She was totally doing that on purpose.

“Man, just when I thought I would treat you to an ice, since you had these longing eyes.”

Shinomun got angry. I wouldn’t treat her to any ice now and turned away. Upon seeing that Elni showed me her palm with a “Wait a moment” and hurriedly went somewhere else.

….What was she up to.

As I waited for Elni in that moment—-suddenly my cell phone rang.

“Who is it?”

It was too early for Nazuna. They must still be choosing underwear…With that in mind I peeked at the display and it showed an unknown 11-digit number.

“Hello?”

Tilting my head while wondering who it could be, I answered the call.

“It’s me.”

I could hear a somewhat bossy girl’s voice.

“I see. And here is me, the great.”

I retorted.

“You’re Nanjou Shinobu.”

“Mh? How do you know my cell phone number? Let me guess, you’re a stalker!”

“Hehehe. Boy, what underwear are you wearing right now?”

“Th- That’s too embarrassing.”

I turned red on that shameful question.

“It’s fine. You won’t lose anything. Tell me.”

“Ehm, you know, actually… I’m not wearing any.”

“W- Wow! Now that’s serious. Very serious!”

When I lied for no reason, I heard a surprised voice through the phone.

“Okay! I’m coming over now!”

“Don’t”

“Don’t be so cold….I want to eat ice-cream.”

I turned around to the sad voice and Elni, holding a cell phone, who stood behind me.

“Yahoo~”

Elni greeted me with one hand.

Oh, I see. I remembered that I told her my cell phone number before. When I looked at Elni, she proudly showed me her cell phone while grinning.

“What do you think, cool, isn’t it? I just bought it! Now I can call you, Shinobu!”

She bought a cell phone for that, huh.

“…But, if you had money to buy a cell phone, why not just buy an ice-cream?”

I asked what was on my mind.

“That won’t do. Squandering is rad…No, I got it wrong. Squandering is bad! If I were to spend my money on luxury goods, I’d go bankrupt. And I wouldn’t have money for the train home.”

Elni answered with a serious expression.

….Didn’t she spend everything she had to buy the cell phone?

“More importantly, Shinobu. It’s a cell phone! Amazing, isn’t it?”

Since she had sparkling eyes, I nodded.

“Okay, Shinobu, save my number. Look, I already saved yours! The saleswoman showed me how, so I’ve nearly mastered all the functions already!”

Elni busily operated her cell phone.

She seemed to be in a good mood. It’s impressive that she managed to fill out the contract, but I’m better off not saying that aloud.

“Okay, okay. Let’s do that while you eat an ice-cream. Which do you want?”

“Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry!”

“…If you say so.”

I thought about telling her to have a little reservation, but seeing her smile made me lose all the will to complain. Just like she wanted, I bought her three scoops of ice-cream: vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, while I looked at my cell phone.

“Now then…”

“Mh? Shinobu, why are you saving my number under ‘Mad Dog’? A codename isn’t something you use so casually.”

I received a warning from Elni, who took a peek at my hands. I just ignored her and took a bite from the ice-cream in her hand.

“Oh, it’s good.”

which made me think that I should have bought one for myself as well.

“….An indirect kiss. *blush*”

Elni pretended to be shy while putting her hands on her cheeks.

Ignoring her again, I operated her cell phone and brought up the profile menu. I confirmed her mail address and saved it into my own cell phone. Surely, Elni as a beginner with cell phones wouldn’t have understood if I told her about infrared transmission. Giving the cell phone back to her I said,

“I’ll send you a mail, so save my mail address too.”

“Yay~ A mail. It’s my first.”

Elni seemed really pleased.

“Shinobu, what kind of mail will you send? An eloquent greeting? Or could it be a confession of love? Anything is fine, but nothing obscene please. It would just arouse me.”

I was going to send Nietzsche’s statement of “God is dead” to the excited Elni, when suddenly the cell phone in my hand rang. The display said “Nazucat”.

“Yo, jackal here.”

I put the cell phone to my ear and answered collectedly, when

“Pantheress here.”

…..Mh? For some reason, a voice that wasn’t Nazucat’s answered.

“P- Pantheress? Wh- Who are you? And what happened to Nazucat?”

“Nazucat is dead.”

“What the!”

“And you’ll be the next to die.”

“Oh god!”

“If you don’t want to die, bring the funds you got from your mother to the underwear store! If you fail to do that… e- ehm, then we can’t buy Luna-san’s underwear!”

“Th- That’s horrible!”

I replied “I’ll be there soon” and hung up.

“We’ve got trouble on our hands.”

“….What happened?”

Elni tilted her head, puzzled. I dramatically said.

“The trouble didn’t happen here at the ice-cream store. It’s at the scene of the crime! So I’m heading over there now!”

After saying what I’d wanted to say, I felt satisfied and nodded once. Then I said “Until next time” and left Elni, who still had her head tilted.

From behind myself, I could hear Elni’s voice saying “Make sure to mail me later~!”, so I waved my right hand in acknowledgement and hurried to the underwear store, when

“Whoops”

I spotted an acquaintance in the corner of my eye and stopped automatically.

Near the entrance of the game centre, stood a beauty with straight, long black hair—-It was Gogyou-san. Seems like she took a day off from her ambushes, since she wasn’t carrying her bamboo sword with her. In exchange she was holding a handbag now. And she wore a skirt. Casual clothes. Wonderful.

But what a surprise. Gogyou-san stood together with three boys.

The boys all had dyed hair, pierced ears and frivolous looks. I wondered if Gogyou-san liked boys like that.

Thinking of how unexpected this was, I watched her, as Gogyou-san talked to the boys in a nervous state while shaking her hands, somewhat troubled. Her usual sharp eyes were now clouded and kind of worried.

Could it be that she was being hit on?

Now worried, I headed towards Gogyou-san without making any noise.

“Hey, you’re alone, right? Let’s play together. We won’t bore you.”

“We’re three boys, we can surely have some fun.”

“C’mon, let’s go. I know a good spot.”

“Yeah, let’s get going already, damn it. You got some fine tits there, damn it. What are they packed with? Love? Dreams? Or hope?”

The boys continued with vulgar smiles.

“You’re bored by yourself, right? C’mon, let’s get going.”

“We’ll treat you, so don’t let us down, okay?”

“Whatever, just show me these tits. Tits, you hear. Or if you dislike that, let me touch them, fondle and poke them.”

By the way, the one who wouldn’t shut up about “tits, tits” was me. I had just lined up beside the persistent guys and tried to join in naturally….but the boys noticed me and gave me fierce glares.

“Huh? Whatcha looking at?”

“Who are you? You know her?”

Before I could answer their questions,

“N- Nanjou-kun?”

Gogyou-san made a surprised face and called my name.

“…Hey, don’t expose my name so suddenly. I’ll be in trouble now when something happens.”

“Wh- What are you going to do….”

The worst case would be that it ends up in a fight, but using your fist for something like this isn’t worth it. The best solution was if we could resolve this by talking, but—- there was something I had to do before that. I protectively stood before Gogyou-san and shouted with my fists raised towards the guys.

“Guys, stop this at once! Kidnapping a fair lady against her will is just rude! As long as I stand here firmly, I won’t allow such a thing!”

Yeah, I always wanted to do this at least once. Shinomun made his entrance. While acting all cool, I faced Gogyou-san and asked “Are you alright, Miss?”, when

“You’re evil.”

“Be gone.”

“Die.”

With these words from the boys, I got pushed on my chest, shoulder and back in quick succession and inadvertently lost my balance.

As I tried to regain my balance, Gogyou-san stood in front of me.

Just when I thought “not good”, it was already too late.

I bumped into Gogyou-san, who was in front of me.

But instead of the expected pain, I felt a warm and soft sensation over my whole body.

When I raised my head puzzled,

“N- Na- Nan- Nanjou-kun?”

Gogyou-san’s bright red face was extremely close.

It appeared that I had dived headlong into Gogyou-san’s chest.

A warm body temperature, two soft and big bulges and the scent of shampoo.

It was a really wonderful situation, but I wouldn’t have the time to enjoy it.

“…W- Well, there are days like this, you know? Just to be clear, it wasn’t on purpose.”

I slowly got off Gogyou-san and tried to smile with a cold sweat.

“N- Nanjou-kun, you….”

Still bright red, Gogyou-san’s eyes welled up with tears and she started to shake.

“idioooot!”

Raising a loud voice that I’d never heard before at school, she pushed me away with both hands. No, she wasn’t simply pushing me away. It felt more like a blow.

A twin palm strike. Coming one step forward, bending her knees to lower her centre of gravity she drew strength from her entire body. I took the blow—and flew through the air.

I jumped backwards to mitigate the damage, but it was still quite powerful. Gogyou-san must’ve performed her twin palm strike by reflex. It was quite impressive how she could bring out her warrior side automatically. Actually, a twin palm strike when she’s in the kendo club? Maybe she learned more martial arts than just kendo?

Not bad. The moment before I hit the floor, I employed a falling technique; rolling in mid-air and landed perfectly, raising my head.

I could see the three guys from earlier, running away with pale faces. You don’t see people flying through the air all that often. They must have noticed that the girl they’d tried to hit on wasn’t a cat, but a tigress.

Gogyou-san doesn’t go “Meow”, but “Gwar”. She’s strong.

When she saw me standing up, she quickly turned around and went away.

Yeah, of course she would be angry. She was bright red up to her ears.

Aww, now I had done it. Even if it was by accident, I did something unforgivable. I had to take responsibility. But I wouldn’t apologise.

As for the reason why, that blow really hurt. Not enough to cause a bruise, but it was still quite painful. If one of the guys from earlier had taken that hit, he might have broken a rib. Then my cell phone rang. When I looked on the display it said “Nazucat”. She was probably calling to urge me to hurry to the underwear store already.

I ended up dawdling without planning to.

“Sorry, Nazuna. I was flying for a bit. Ehm, CAN YOU FLY?”

I made an excuse over the phone that I wouldn’t even believe myself and mixed in some English into it.

“A cat who can’t fly is just a cat.”

An unexpectedly grumpy answer.

That’s why I unconsciously mimicked a scene from a certain crimson character and shouted “Idiot!”, then hung up. I thought Nazuna might get the references…. but I hurried anyway. I got the feeling that someone was shouting “Ah, h- hey, wait, Nanjou-kun” behind me, but I ignored it. I had to hurry.

* * *

“Here, this is for you, Luna-san.”

Having no clue what she was thinking, Nazuna suddenly said that.

After buying underwear and clothes for Luna, we were looking around in a general store, but Nazuna claimed “Wait a moment” and when she got back she said that sentence. The mug Nazuna handed over to Luna had a dog design printed on it. It was a mug from an animal print series that Nazuna liked.

Everyone in the Nanjou household had one of these mugs.

“Thank you.”

Luna made a bright smile while accepting the mug from Nazuna. Nazuna was smiling back at Luna.

And I, with a stupid face and a running nose, watched over these two— It was just too pathetic. This little girl, who was younger than me and was in her mandatory education that allowed no part-time jobs, gave a present, yet I, who was called the gentleman in the neighbourhood, didn’t do anything. I couldn’t ignore this.

“Okay. I’m going to buy something too.”

“Really? Brother, I want that.”

Nazuna pointed at the crane game at the game centre. She must have wanted that premium plush toy, but I wasn’t listening. I completely ignored her.

“Luna, I’ll buy you something too. What about a super-alloy? It’s cool.”

Hearing my words, Luna tilted her head and asked “What is a superalloy?”, when she noticed that Nazuna was staring passionately at the crane game.

“I… I want that plush toy.”

She was being considerate to Nazuna. Probably because it was written all over Nazuna’s face.

“By the way, which plush toy do you want?”

“That wolf one—-No, not that. The cat one. Yes, the cat.”

Luna changed her target after observing Nazuna’s expression.

Oh boy.

I shrugged my shoulders and went to the game centre. The place where Gogyou-san was being hit on moments ago. Reminds me, what was Gogyou-san doing at the game centre?

Since it was in front of the crane game, she may have wanted to get a plush toy, just like me now. I took out my wallet, picked a coin and challenged the crane game.

“Here I go!”

On the right timing I pressed the button and got a plush toy on my first try. It was a dog plush toy with small round eyes. White fur and a red hat. Quite fancy.

“Yes!”

I rejoiced, but Nazuna gave me a scornful look. Luna was clapping her hands with an “Amazing!”, but after looking at Nazuna she stopped quickly.

“I got it. Once more.”

I put the dog plush toy on my head and shouted “Dog power!”.

For some reason, the image of the mad dog Elni floated into my head. The Elni in my head was holding an ice-cream in her left hand and had her right hand lifted over her head while shouting “Gwar”.

“Gwaaaaaar!”

I copied that and shouted. To my surprise, I got another plush toy. A cool look. Blue fur. And the cigarette in his hands turned out to be a chocolate cigarette on closer inspection.

I caught a fantastic wolf.

“Yes!”

“You did it.”

That’s the one Luna wanted. When I handed the wolf to her, she made a happy smile. It was a really cool wolf. It was just like me.

“It looks like Shinobu-san.”

Luna said while hugging the wolf against her big breasts. Ohh, how insightful.

“M’kay, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Side by side, Luna and I were about to leave the place, when

“Meeow!”

When I turned around on her voice, Nazuna made a face like the world had ended and cried “meow, meow” in front of the crane game.

Left with no other choice, I continued to play the crane game to get the cat that Nazuna wanted. But halfway through I got sick of it, so I let Luna take over. Maybe it was beginner’s luck, but Luna got the cat with sunglasses that Nazuna wanted on her first try.

For a while, I watched the two of them happily hugging each other.

“So, what should I buy you, Luna?”

I said with the dog plush toy still on my head.

“E- Ehm, I already got the Mr. Wolf….”

“What? You dare to reject my goodwill? That’s quite cheeky of you. I’ll pinch your cheeks! If you don’t want that, then just honestly tell me what you want!”

I threatened Luna by lightly pinching her soft cheeks, that were like marshmallows.

“….Shinobu-san, is it really alright?”

Luna shyly asked and with the plush toy still on my head, I nodded firmly. Doing so made the plush toy fall from my head, diving into Luna’s breasts and headbutting the wolf plush toy.

“Uh, that hurt.”

Nazuna added a weird voice for the wolf, then hugged onto both the wolf and the dog saying “I’ll hold onto them”. Seeing that, Luna giggled and with a “Okay then” she walked out, pullingme by my hand. There wasn’t really any reason to hold my hand, but since Luna looked so happy, I let it slide. But really, Luna’s hand was so small. And so soft. What’s more, so warm.— Shit, I was somehow getting excited. My heart raced. While pretending to be calm, inside I was all flustered with “Shinomun is so embarrassed”. But when we reached our destination and Luna said “I want this”, the shock was just too great, to the point that my mind went all blank.

How should I describe this?

To put it harshly: It’s a dog collar. One designed for humans with certain ‘interests’.

No, that’s not quite accurate. Before your imagination runs wild, let me clarify. It was just a simple choker. It had a tartan checker pattern made of cowhide and cloth. For some reason it even had a metallic lock attached to it, but it was just a simple choker.

Still, quite the punk fashion. Too different from my image of her.

I imagined her in the service department, wearing maid clothes and saying “Welcome home, Master”, but to think she was actually a Queen that swings around a whip savagely, while shouting “Fuck, fucking, fuck off”. Scary. I’m scared. Shinobu is scared.

While shuddering, I bought the punk choker that the Queen desired.

“H- Here, my Quee—Ehem, Luna-sama.”

“Luna-sama?”

Luna-sama tilted her head in confusion, looked at me and then graced me with her words.

“U- Uhm, then I have a favour to ask, Shinobu-san.”

“Please order me to do anything.”

I answered lightly shaking and averting my gaze, then Luna-sama turned red and issued me her order.

“…Can you put the collar on me?”

“Please do something like that on your own, Luna-sama.”

Respectfully lowering my head, I rejected her, then proposed an alternative.

“Please acquire the help of the idiotic Nazuna for this task.”

“But Nazuna-chan is looking at hats over there right now?”

I looked at the direction Luna was pointing at. Totally unaware of the pinch her brother was in, my idiotic sister was trying out some silk hats while still hugging the plush toys.

“Shinobu-san.”

When I shifted my gaze back, Luna was giving me a passionate stare.

“Please.”

Luna said, affectionately, while looking at me with upturned eyes.

Aww, I didn’t expect that. I totally thought Luna would put that on someone, so I had not considered this possibility at all.

But when I thought about it, instead of putting it on someone, this was way better. If Luna were to tell me “Put it on me!” with a serious expression, I would shudder! Nazuna would shudder. And so would you.

Wait, who’s “you”? I scratched my head, then nodded. Luna made a bright smile. She pulled up her hair on her back with both her hands and my jaw dropped.

Ohh, what a sexy pose.

It wasn’t perverted in any way, but it looked so sexy. So erotic. So seductive.

I was agitated. Thanks to Nazuna’s spoiled nature, I thought I had developed a decent resistance to girls. I believed it to be on the same level as drying Nazuna’s hair when she’d just come out of the bath…. but it was completely different.

When I reached out my hands to put the choker on Luna’s neck, my hands lightly trembled. What’s more, when my hands touched Luna’s neck,

“Mmh…”

Luna let out an alluring voice from her mouth, so I quickly pulled back my hands.

“D- Don’t make any weird noises. Or else I’m also going to join in.”

“I am sorry, Shinobu-san. But it tickled.”

“Meh, endure this little bit of tickling, will ya.”

What’s with the “will ya”? I sighed in my mind and once again extended my hands that I had withdrawn before. Because I was so nervous, I couldn’t really put the choker on Luna.

Every time my hands touched her neck or ears,

“Mm…. Uhn…Mh…Hah….”

Luna was trying to hold back her voice like I told her, but that was even more erotic for some reason. Every time that alluring voice escaped through her light pink lips, my heart couldn’t help but skip a beat. Her flushed cheeks and cloudy eyes made her even more sexy. Erotic Luna.

Without a doubt I was agitated. I was just putting the choker on her neck, but it took me several minutes. I was speechless, as it would have certainly gone faster if Luna had put in on herself. But Luna was really happy and dearly stroked the choker when she said.

“Thank you, Shinobu-san.”

Luna smiled with red cheeks. It was all good since she was pleased…. but there was something on my mind. Why did Luna want a choker? If she puts on a collar-like choker (moreover a strap one), it makes her look just like a slave.

Mh? Slave?

“…Hey, say. You said something about being my ‘slave’ before, but what was that about?”

“That is, uhm… for someone like me to stay by your side… that would be the only option… or so I thought….”

Luna’s eyes were trembling in a lack of self-esteem.

Mh, somehow I got really angry. Wordlessly, I chopped Luna’s head.

“O- Ouch! It hurts! Sh- Shinobu-san, you chopped me!”

No, it wasn’t all that strong. Why was she close to tears?

“….I am shocked.”

Luna’s shoulders drooped in sadness . Seems like she received a shock. But it was Luna’s fault. I sighed and this time patted her head when I said.

“You don’t really need to be slave to stay with me.”

Luna looked up at me, so I averted my gaze and went on.

“Not all relationships involve a slave. So stop calling yourself a slave. …A- At least say you’re a maid. A maid. Yes, a housemaid. A long, dark blue skirt and a white hair ribbon. Also black garter belt stockings. That’s the best. It will also be on the test.”

I believe it’s one of my flaws, that I can’t be serious when embarrassed. To hide my embarrassment, I just babbled something about the appeal of maids, when I felt a warmth on my left arm. Followed by a softness.

When I turned around in surprise, Luna was hugging my left arm. And not saying anything, she looked up at me and just smiled.

I was glad. It seemed I could properly convey my feelings to her.

Yeah, I was glad. Really glad, but this situation was a bit exciting for Shinomun.

Luna’s two voluptuous breasts were pressed against my left arm, it was outrageous. Breasts were pressed againstmy arm, left and right. As Luna hugged me tightly, my arm was swallowed by her big breasts.

I forgot myself for a while due to the feeling of her breasts.

I still hadn’t recovered yet, when Nazuna noticed us, came rushing back with a “meow” and hugged my right arm. Yeah, Nazuna was still growing. She’ll be fine. No, it was wrong to compare them to begin with. The freedom of my right arm was taken away by Nazuna and I gave Luna the honour of holding my left arm. I was dragged around by them like that, as we went around the department store.

With the two of them still hugging my arms, we looked at a pet store, music store and so on, when guys around me, who I didn’t know, accused me of “two-timing”, but I paid it no mind.

Luna was smiling. She was happily smiling while holding my arm. While calling my name, “Shinobu-san”…she was smiling.

That’s why I thought that such a day off wasn’t too bad.

* * *

Why was I so sluggish on Monday, the end of the weekend?

Repressing a yawn, I walked to school like always.

“Meow~”

Guess Nazuna wasn’t on top of her game either, as she let out a weird yawn while exposing her teeth and rubbing her eyes. Mhm, it was quite rare for Nazuna to yawn.

“What’s with you. You went to bed late last night?”

Speaking of that, out of the ordinary she woke up at the same time as me today.

“You know, I was studying very hard until 1am last night.”

Nazuna answered while puffing out her chest.

“Eh? Y- You studied!? And until 1am!?”

“Yeah. I worked hard so that I could watch the late night anime.”

So her aim was the anime. Well, that was more like her.

“I got Luna-san to help me with my homework, so I could watch all of my anime. I didn’t really get it, but Mii-chan said it was interesting.”

I see. She watched the anime so she could talk about it with her friend Mii-chan. She should have just recorded it and watched it in the morning instead of forcing herself to stay awake.

“Well, I get that you’re a good girl that treasures her friends.”

“Then pat my head~”

Nazuna pointed her head at me and I continued with a “But,”.

“When I helped you with your homework on Saturday, you said ‘I’m too tired from the department store, so I’ll do the rest myself tomorrow.’ right? And then you just got Luna to help you with it? You were studying deep into the night on Sunday? What’s going on here, Nazuna-kun?”

While holding up the edge of my hand I added “Depending on your answer, a rain of chops might come down on your head.”.

“O- Oh noes! Nazucat was so sleepy she made a mistake!”

Nazuna quickly protected her head with both her hands.

Geez, what a troubling Nazucat. But it seemed she finished all of her homework, so I will forgive her.

But she got Luna to help her, huh. Guess Luna was quite smart. Actually it was a bit late to worry about it, but how old was Luna? By her looks or rather by her appearance, I would say she’s one or two years older than me, but I couldn’t be too sure. After all she was a foreigner.

“—-Okay, Nazuna-kun. Your judgement is….”

I shifted my gaze back at Nazuna and said “innocent”, but the defendant Nazuna must have been really sleepy. With her eyes only half open and not listening to me, she was walking unsteadily. Swaying to the right, swaying to the left, she was trying to cross the cross-walk of a busy street.

“Hey!”

I quickly grabbed Nazuna’s collar and pulled her back.

“Wawah!”

Seemed like I’d exerted more strength than I had intended to. Nazuna’s feet had left the ground and her throat must have been constricted. Nazuna was coughing painfully.

“Sorry. Are you okay?”

“No, not okay at all. I’m done for. Nazucat’s strength was just reduced to zero. So carry me, Brother.”

She clearly just wanted to sleep on my back. Nazuna extended both her arms, all spoiled.

“Don’t be so spoiled!”

Geez, there was a limit to how spoiled she could act. Half jokingly, I hit Nazuna’s head lightly. Then Nazuna looked at me surprised and suddenly started to tear up.

“F- Fuah~ B- Brother hit me…. You… hit me~”

“N- No, why are you suddenly starting to cry? It wasn’t that painful, was it?”

“It hurts~ My feelings are hurt~”

It appeared that I hurt her feelings. Nazucat really was a handful.

“Yeah, sorry, Nazuna. But you’re at fault too, you know? Walking that unsteadily is dangerous. What if you’re run over by a car?”

“That’s no problem once I get serious.”

“If you seriously think that, then your head is in quite the danger as well.”

“It’s not.”

Somehow she was pouting.

“It IS dangerous. Cars are lethal weapons that move around. You’re being targeted, you know?”

“Bring it on!”

“…You were once hit by a car, weren’t you?”

“And I’m alive as you can see!”

“Give it a rest already.”

My tone wasn’t really harsh. But Nazuna froze up on the spot and was on the verge of tears again. Maybe I did a scary face just now?

I let out a sigh and extended my hand towards Nazuna’s head.

“….Nazuna. Have you ever considered how I felt when you were taken to the hospital after being hit by a car? Dad, mum, everyone was really worried about you. So… Be more careful from now on. Okay?”

Unconscious and in mortal danger.

She didn’t know how much I cried at that time.

When I patted her head a bit stronger, she mumbled.

“…I’m sorry, Brother.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry for being stupid.”

Aww, I got a headache.

“Geez, ask the world’s forgiveness for your stupidity, dumb-cat.”

“Being dumb is no flaw. It’s a peculiarity.”

Peculiarity, what a convenient word.

I sighed when Nazuna mumbled again.

“…I’ll be more careful now.”

Man, if she got it, she should just say so from the beginning.

I once again patted her head, then Nazuna smiled happily and took my hand.

“Like this it won’t be dangerous.”

“You don’t ever grow up, huh.”

“I’m fine with that.”

Nazuna hummed as she walked while swinging my hand.

If we had held hands like this back then too, Nazuna wouldn’t have gotten into an accident. Pondering about that, I looked at Nazuna’s small hand, when

“Brother, your hand is so big.”

Suddenly Nazuna said that.

“Rough and thick skin. Lots of scars too. Just like dad’s or gramps’.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You have gotten strong. You were training really hard at gramps’ doujo.”

“…Because I’m weak.”

Unlike my father, I had no talent for martial arts.

Even my gramps, who was always fooling around, told me “You want to take over the doujo like that? Give it up.” with a serious expression.

Give up. Not suited. No talent. I was told off clearly.

No goal. No fighting spirit. No ambition. Martial arts won’t be mastered like that. Just stop at a level sufficient for self-defence. When my gramps told me that, I was in shock. That’s why I had once before stopped training at my gramps’ doujo.

In the end, I had no will to become strong. I was just playing around. I was admiring my dad and gramps, who were strong. That was my only stupid reason.

One won’t really become strong like that.

But. Looking at my own hands, I wondered: Why did I want to get stronger? Why didn’t I give up?

Spitting blood, broken bones, countless defeats. I trained and trained and trained. I blindly went on. Stimulated by an unregulated agitation, I went on.

At some point I forgot the reason why I wanted to become stronger.

“You have gotten strong.”

“I hate being powerless.”

I still remembered quite clearly how I hated my weak self for not being able to do anything when Nazuna was hit by a car. I also remember that I vowed to protect Nazuna the next time after she recovered.

But somehow that didn’t seem to be the only reason.

Was it really just for Nazuna?

I didn’t think so. That pain, the agitation, the sadness, the feelings when I clenched my fists, I had the feelings these all were for someone else. When I wondered about it— My head started to hurt again.

Maybe I had forgotten something important?

I was suddenly befallen by such a hunch.

“…Brother, what’s up?”

I must have had an unexpectedly harsh expression. Nazuna was looking at me, all worried.

Whoops. Not good. Being so gloomy early in the morning wasn’t good.

I put my hand into my bag and pulled out the dog plush toy. The one with white fur and a red hat that I got at the crane game two days ago. I put the plush toy on my head and shouted.

“Combine – Shinomundog!”

“Brother, you like that doggy?”

“I do”

While thinking I would give it as a present to the Mad Dog Elni next time we met, I walked to school like always with a dog plush toy on my head and holding Nazuna’s hand.

* * *

4th period ended and it was lunch break now. A happy lunch time, but… I was troubled.

“….What did you do?”

Sitting oppositely to me, Asada asked me, all worried.

“Gogyou-san has been glaring at you all morning.”

Yeah. I had been feeling her gaze all morning.

I feared that the reason was me diving into her breast at the department store two days ago.

“Maybe I can be of help?”

Mere Asada dared to speak words of reliance.

“Can’t be helped. If you insist so much, then I will have to take you up on your offer. Listen.”

“Not that I care, but you always get so cocky immediately. It’s somewhat cool how you’re going so far.”

“Don’t fall for me.”

“S- Stop it. Don’t hold the carrot like a cigarette. If you do that, I… I’ll… I’ll fall for you!”

Asada said something disgusting.

I thought about not consulting him after all, but— why not try it.

“Asada, listen. Actually, there was an accident….I ended up putting my head into Gogyou-san’s breasts.”

When I honestly described the happening,

“Say that again, bastard!”

Suddenly Asada stood up shouting angrily.

“Are you bragging? You’re bragging to me? Say that’s it!”

“That’s it.”

Like he requested, I nodded arrogantly, which caused Asada to get even more agitated.

“Unforgivable. I won’t forgive you! I’m really angry now! My anger is at it’s max!”

“Shut up. I’ll give you my spinach, so let me off the hook.”

“Yay~”

Asada’s mood was fixed with spinach.

“So, Asada. Tell me a thing that Gogyou-san likes.”

“….What? You want to make up with a present? That’s just cowardly.”

Asada said, attempting to pry, while eating the spinach.

“Asada, I’ll give you my fried egg that you like so much. What do you say?”

I flapped the fried egg in front of his eyes.

“You know, despite her looks, Gogyou-san really likes animals. I heard she loves dogs.”

Asada immediately answered. The man you could buy with fried eggs, Asada Kouta.

“Mhm. Dogs, huh. Well, no other choice. I’ll hand you over to her next time.”

“Hey, but I’m a Shiba dog.”

A Shiba dog was also a dog. I had no idea what kind of complex Asada had, but Gogyou-san surely would’ve rejected such a stupid dog anyway.

“But to be serious, it’s better if you go apologise.”

“I don’t need a small fry like you to tell me.”

“Again so arrogant! But that makes you fascinating and admirable~”

When I replied “Disgusting!” at the meandering Asada, I also thought that.

I had to properly apologise to Gogyou-san.

So I was waiting for a chance to apologise to her during lunch break. But the popular Gogyou-san was always accompanied by someone, so there wasn’t really a chance to.

Even I was reluctant to just go over and interrupt Gogyou-san chatting, to apologise with a “Sorry for stuffing my head into your breasts!”.

I was worrying over what to do, when it was suddenly after school already.

“Yeah, I’m not in form today. I’ll try again tomorrow. After all, the timing is important for this.”

I mumbled some excuses and stood up from my chair, when

“Nanjou-kun, can we talk?”

Suddenly I was called from behind. I was so surprised that I nearly jumped up.

That voice belonged without a doubt to Gogyou-san.

Wh- What now. I wasn’t prepared for this at all.

I was sure that when I turned around, I would get beaten to tears with “You pervert! Breast Monster! Breast Gentleman! Breast Maestro!” and be avoided by everyone in class on the next day. Not that I really cared about being avoided, but I had to apologise to Gogyou-san properly.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, then turned around.

“Nanjou-kun, do you have time now?”

Gogyou-san didn’t appear angry at all, but just talked to me with her dignified eyes, like usual.

That was a surprise. But a surprise I gladly accept.

Even though I thought that she wasn’t really angry, I didn’t let down my guard. I behaved humbly.

“You need something? If it’s for you, I’ll make the time. What’s up?”

I asked her with a smile, while having a cold sweat on the inside. Gogyou-san stared at me, then said.

“Nanjou-kun. You said you did a devil summoning in your childhood, but are you still practicing it?”

Gogyou-san had a quite serious expression.

Aw, did I really look like such a wicked man?

Or was that her own way of insulting me? I guess she was angry after all? You already look like a criminal, so I guess you’re running around night after night committing crimes. I was sure that was what Gogyou-san wanted to say….I was quite hurt.

“….Gogyou-san, it was my fault. I’ll apologise, so don’t insult me so cruelly.”

“Ehh? W- Wait, no. I wasn’t insulting you. It’s not like that. I told you before, didn’t I? That I could feel a bad presence from you.”

“You were already insulting me back then?”

“No. I said no!”

While I received a shock, Gogyou-san denied it while frantically waving her hands.

“What I want to say is that the bad presence coming from you has gotten even stronger. So I was worried….”

When Gogyou-san said that, our classmate Minami came over with her short skirt fluttering. Minami, who often ate lunch with Gogyou-san, made a creepy “Nishishi” smile.

“Nanjou-kun. Are you sure you didn’t do anything bad? Gogyou-san’s got a strong spiritual sense. What she says is usually right. Just recently Yanase-san from class 3, who had a series of bad luck, consulted Gogyou-san, when she said ‘You’re possessed by an evil spirit”—”

“So what? She made her buy an expensive pot?”

“No! She properly exorcised it! Because she knows how to! So, listen to her properly!”

For some reason, Minami stuck her chest out with pride as if she was talking about herself.

The moment she did that, her big breasts swayed, but compared to Luna’s melon breasts, these were two cute things. In my mind I dryly commented “She still has a long way to go”.

“….Mhm, exorcism, huh.”

I took my eyes off Minami and nodded half believing, half doubting.

“Ah, you’re not believing it. You don’t believe it at all, Nanjou-kun. I’m sure divine punishment will befall you for that! Okay, apologise to me right now. Treat me to juice. If it’s now, I’ll forgive you.”

“…Who do you think you are? Give it a rest or I’ll spank your butt.”

I threatened the cocky Minami, when

“St- Stop that! If you do that, I’ll fall for you~”

Minami pressed both her hands on her bottom and ran away.

What a weird girl. I shifted my gaze back to Gogyou-san.

“So, about that bad presence, is it dangerous? Though I don’t really believe in this stuff.”

“…To tell you the truth, it’s quite bad. That’s why I was worried. Nanjou-kun, did something strange happen to you lately?”

Strange, huh….

“If I had to name something, it would be that I can also become Shinomundog now.”

I hadn’t answered her seriously, so I could understand her reason for glaring at me.

“Sh- Shinomundog?”

Gogyou-san tilted her head and made a wry look. I pulled out the crane game prize, the dog plush toy from my bag and put it on my head.

“Combine- Shinomundog! I’m a dog! I’m strong! I’m cool! Wuff!”

“Wuff.”

I didn’t know why, but Gogyou-san suddenly replied with a “Wuff”. And she smiled nicely. A face of an innocent child. I grabbed the dog on my head and moved it to the right, whereupon Gogyou-san also followed it to the right. Then when I moved it to the left, she also moved left. When I moved it upwards, she stretched her back. And when I moved it down, Gogyou-san bent down.

Funny. As a test, I threw away the dog, Gogyou-san kicked off the ground and perfectly caught the dog. Then she said to me while hugging the dog to her chest.

“How mean of you to throw it. Poor dog. What if it were to get hurt!”

I… I made her angry.

“Then, you keep it, Gogyou-san.”

“Can I?”

Gogyou-san’s eyes were sparkling. I had intended to give it to Elni, but I’ll give it to Gogyou-san as an apology. She seemed to like it.

“Be sure to give it a name, you hear?”

“Of course. I’ll think of one.”

Gogyou-san was full of motivation.

“Thank you, really. I couldn’t get it last time, so I had given up on it.”

….Mh? Couldn’t get it last time?

“Could it be, that was the reason you were at the crane game two days ago?”

“Yeah. I found it while I was shopping—”

For some reason she turned red and looked down.

“What’s up?”

“…U- Uhm, I’m sorry. I thought it would be okay not to bring it up and when you talked to me like usual, I ended up taking advantage of you…. I’m really sorry for back then.”

Gogyou-san suddenly raised her head.

For some reason, the victim, who had her breasts dived into, was apologising.

“I knew it was an accident. I knew you were just trying to help me. Yet, I ran away out of shame. I’m so pathetic.”

I was also pathetic for being somewhat happy in my heart when I had my head in her breasts.

“No, Gogyou-san. That was my fault. Mine alone. So don’t worry about it. Actually, you can even upbraid me.”

“I can’t do that. I mean, you were trying to help me.”

“Though I couldn’t do anything. I just flew through the air. Then the boys just left by themselves.”

“Uhh, sorry. Did it hurt?”

Maybe out of self-hate, Gogyou-san became even more apologetic in her expression. I quickly shook my head from side to side.

“No, I was fine. Don’t worry.”

“….Really? You weren’t hurt?”

“Of course not. Who do you take me for? Don’t look down on the great me just because you went to the national kendo tournament, Missy.”

I said jokingly to the sad-looking Gogyou-san. Then she made a somewhat surprised expression.

“…Say, can I ask something?”

She asked shyly.

“So you knew that I’m doing kendo?”

“Yeah. And that you’re strong. I heard all kind of heroic tales from Asada.”

When I nodded, Gogyou-san made a bashful expression.

“….If you knew all that… why were you trying to help me?”

“Mh? I mean, it was scary, right?”

When I answered like that, Gogyou-san was taken aback for awhile and then nodded a “…Yeah” with an embarrassed smile.

I knew she was scared. I heard from Asada about Gogyou-san’s heroic tale of rescuing girls from persistent flirts, but rescuing a girl from getting hit on and getting hit on yourself are two completely different things. To be extreme, the mental pressure is as different as seeing a sex-offender and getting attacked by a sex-offender.

I, who was molested by a man in the train as a kid, knew that better than anyone. I was really scared back then. The man’s wild snorting was….No, let’s not go so far.

With my back to Gogyou-san, who was patting the dog plush toy on the head, I said.

“Okay, treasure that dog.”

“Ah, yeah. Thanks. You’re really kind, Nanjou-kun.”

When I turned around, Gogyou-san went on with a surprised expression.

“Everyone says you’re a scary person, a devil or an ogre, but I’m not scared, since you’re kind.”

“…I don’t know if you’re praising or insulting me, but that surprised look of yours sure is rude.”

Actually, I was being called an devil and ogre by my classmates?

How cruel. Why do I, the gentleman, have to be called that?

“Man, I’m leaving. You go to your kendo club or whatever. Also, you can attack the students in the hallway while shouting ‘Gotcha!’.”

“G- Gotcha!? I won’t do such a thing.”

“So you say, but you’re always running around with a real sword, ain’t you?”

I jokingly said and I pointed to the bamboo blade in Gogyou-san’s hand.

“Ehh? Y- You even know that I have a sword in there?”

For a change, Gogyou-san was extremely surprised.

Actually, there was really a real sword in there!? I hoped she was joking, but thinking that she has her own circumstances, I decided not to ask about it.

I took my bag, said “See you” and turned my back to Gogyou-san, whereupon

“Ah, wait, Nanjou-kun. Let’s go part of the way together.”

So she said and we walked down the hallway together.

“What name should I give it?”

She consulted me with a smile.

Seemed she was really pleased about it. Gogyou-san had a happy expression.

I stopped, crossed my arms and thought of a name with a serious expression.

Maybe mimicking me, Gogyou-san also stopped and stared closely at the dog plush toy. We both stood in the hallway and were trying to think of a name with all our might. When we decided on “Hayato”, I parted from Gogyou-san.

On my way home, I wondered.

The bad presence Gogyou-san mentioned, what was it?

Apparently, Gogyou-san was so obsessed over the dog plush toy that she had forgot about it… but Minami said something about divine punishment. Was that really possible?

As I lowered my head, Elni’s ring came into view.

Mhm. Reminds me, I was sure it was after I put on this ring that Gogyou-san told me that I stink….

Don’t tell me this ring was cursed?

That’s scary.

I better ask Elni when I meet her next time.

* * *

“I’m home”

Opening the front door, I went into the house. When I looked at the clock in the foyer, it displayed half past seven. It had gotten really late. I got home three hours later than usual.

On my way back, I had stopped by a bookstore and bought a novel, but that wasn’t all.

For some unknown reason, I was attacked by a swarm of bats on the street.

Don’t tell me the bats were somehow related to the “bad presences” Gogyou-san was speaking of— Fighting them with that in mind, I won over them and went home, but it’d gotten really late.

I regretted not chasing and finishing off the fleeing bats.

“Shinobu-san, welcome home.”

As usual, Luna came scurrying to the front door with a smile.

“I will take your bag.”

“No. It’s got a porn book inside it today, so lay off.”

I was showing off with broken Japanese.

But Luna just said “No problem. I will not throw it away” with a smile.

With futile resistance, my bag was taken away by Luna.

“Give it back later, okay? Swear it! I won’t know what I’ll do to you if you lied to me!”

When I made suspicious moves with my hands,

“Out of the way.”

Suddenly I received an attack to my stomach. I was kicked. I bumped into the wall.

I didn’t even need to ask who would do such a terrible thing. The only one in our family that resorted to such meaningless violence was my mother.

Damn. Like always, she had approached me without making any noise.

But I sure let my guard down. I was still green for not being able to dodge that. This wouldn’t have happened if I had spread out my ‘ki’ over my whole body. I dropped my guard since I was at home. Luna’s cute smile made me drop my guard. It was all Luna’s fault.

“How are you going to take responsibility, Luna!”

“Ehh? B- But I have not done anything? I just wanted to take your bag and talk with you a bit in front of your room…. that is all….”

Luna got uneasy.

“You’re the worst.”

“I don’t want to be told that by you. Don’t you find it cruel to kick your dear son that just came home? What part of you is a mother, damn it.”

When I called my mother, who appeared right beside me, an “idiot”, I was punished by the iron claw.

If Luna hadn’t come to my rescue, I’d would’ve screamed loudly due to the great pain.

“Tomoe-san, please do not bully Shinobu-san. He is scared. He is in pain and shaking.”

“That’s just an act. An act, you hear. Actually, you can be angry, Luna-chan. The idiot said ‘Today I’ll come home early, yay~ I’ll pay with Luna, yay~’, but he didn’t come home at all. You were waiting for him all the time.”

“Shinobu-san was busy. He must have had something to do at school.”

“Y- Yeah, Shinobu-san was busy. On the way home he was attacked by bats and fought a fight to the death. It’s true.”

I claimed “It’s really true” to my angry mother, but she wouldn’t believe me at all.

“You believe me, right Luna?”

I looked pleadingly at Luna.

“….Bats.”

For some reason Luna became serious and frowned.

“…Eh? You don’t believe me either?”

“Eh? N- No. Not at all. I believe you. I do! There was just something bothering me—-Ah, please do not make such a face.”

“…Shinomun is going to his room.”

“Aww, he got all depressed. What now. What should I do?”

“Just leave him be. Actually, he can drop dead.”

“T- Tomoe-san, that’s so mean! Please be kinder to Shinobu-san!”

“Luna-chan, you look cute even when you’re angry.”

“…Eh? —Eh, kyaa. T- Tomoe-san, s- stop it please. Where are you touching mee~ S- Stop…. Yahn…”

I could hear Luna’s and my pleased mother’s voice from behind, as I headed to my room.

From behind me stuff like “Such big breasts” and “Yahn…” could be heard, but Shinomun ignored it. Shinomun was depressed. Shinomun wasn’t really envious or anything.

When I got back to my room, I took out the novel I bought earlier from the bag that I had snatched back from Luna. I was going to soothe my broken heart by reading. I looked down at the book.

Just to be clear, it wasn’t an erotic novel.

It was the newest release of my favourite series. The previous volume came out six month ago and now a new volume had finally came out. I was full of anticipation.

“…Huh? Where is it?”

It had been six month since I read it.

I had completely forgotten where I put the previous volume.

You might want to keep your favourite novels in once place. That was my thought too. But since I had so many books it was a pain to order them.

“Where did I put it?”

I pulled books out of my bookshelf and looked for the book in question…When I found a pure black book in the back of the shelf. Wondering what it was, I pulled it out, but it had no title.

What was this.

It was omitting an ominous aura and was really standing out from the other books.

“…When did I buy such a book?”

I picked it up and skimmed through it. On a page written in English, there were illustrations of magic formations and grotesque pictures of humans and animals used for sacrifices.

This was a black magic book without doubt. Impressive that I had the guts to buy this back in elementary school. Just because I found it in an old bookstore, didn’t mean I had to buy it.

What’s more, I remembered how I deciphered the English with a dictionary, so that I could call forth a devil. But why had I wanted to call a devil to begin with?

I stared at the black magic book—-THROB. Suddenly I felt a strong pain running through my head as it never had before. A pain that seemed to break my skull apart and made my eyes tear up. My vision became distorted and a fragmented images appeared in my head.

Red blood. A younger me crying. A smile. An extended hand. A head being patted. Warmth. A crying girl. A younger me crying. A cat plush toy—The image fragments were flashing in my head and the pain got worse.

Unchecked, I got on my knees and started to groan….But when I shook my head and stood up, the pain was gone completely and I forgot everything I saw just now.

Probably because I’d let go of the book.

Without saying anything, I stared at the book.

“…Better put it back.”

I carefully touched the black magic book and quickly put it back into the shelf.

Wondering what that all was about, my pulse rose a few beats, whereupon

—KNOCK, KNOCK

Suddenly a knock on my door. I winced in surprise.

“Wh- Who’s there! A thief?”

“Eh? E- Ehm, it is me.”

I could hear Luna’s voice from beyond the door. “Uhm, are you angry about earlier? I was not doubting you. I believe you.” Luna went on, but what was that about earlier?

Suspicious. Was it really Luna? The person on the other side of the door only said “It is me”.

“I won’t understand with just ‘me’. Name yourself. And then pluck. Pluck like crazy.”

“P- Pluck what?”

“…A guitar?”

“I am sorry, I cannot play it.”

“Then learn it and report to me afterwards. Rather, name yourself already.”

“I am Luna, Shinobu-san.”

“Really? Are you really Luna?”

“Yes, I am Luna.”

A soft tone. I’m sure Luna was smiling beyond the door. But I still had no intention of opening the door.

“If you’re really Luna, you should be able to answer the following question. Answer the question and prove that you’re Luna.””

“I will do my best!”

Somehow Luna was all fired up. Why?, normally one would get sick of it…Could it be, she was happy I paid attention to her? Then she was just like a dog.

Okay, let’s make it an easy question.

“Here comes the question. What cup are Luna’s breasts? Choose from the three following choices: 1) D-Cup. 2) E-Cup and 3) F-Cup. Okay, which is it?”

“E- Ehm… The right answer is not included…”

“Holy! Then what size are they?”

“W- Well, one size bigger.”

Luna answered shyly.

Oh my god. Luna’s fighting power had exceed my expectations by far. Bigger than the third choice, was that even allowed? Even if God were to forgive it, I wouldn’t! Yeah.

“You just made a lot of women your enemy.”

“N- No way. You told me to answer, so I suppressed my shame and answered!”

“Yeah, you did well. You can come inside.”

“Ah, yes. Excuse me.”

Along with her voice the doorknob was rotated and the door opened. Luna appeared with a red face.

“So, what do you need? My shoulders are stiff, massage them.”

“Yes.”

Luna drew closer to me somehow happy, but then stopped halfway and shook her head lightly to the side as she remembered something.

“Shinobu-san, dinner is ready. I will massage your shoulders after it, okay?”

If Luna had worn maid clothes, she would have been a maid without doubt.

While I considered persuading my mother into letting Luna wear maid clothes, I headed to the living room together with Luna.

I had completely forgotten about the black magic book…

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