Published at 31st of August 2019 1:29 pm

Volume 12, Chapter 01: The Two in the Photo Album

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

…Apparently the bad feeling I had the other day turned out to be unfounded.

Sure, Kaorun’s stay here made things a bit more noisy at first. But what might have gone threw Kaorun’s head while she witnessed the lively life of the other girls with her own eyes in the past way days?

Sometimes Kaorun clouded her expression, didn’t even pull her usual pranks and I realized that she was sighing a lot.

She was obviously behaving strange. And to my sorrow, I didn’t know the reason for it. But I wanted to cheer her up even a bit, which leads to a certain afternoon. I picked four recommendable novels from my bookshelf, left my room and went to the guest room, where Kaorun was staying at.

If my memory was correct, Kaorun should love reading. I hoped it would help her regain her spirit even a bit. With that in mind, I came to the guest room, but as my timing was bad, Kaorun wasn’t there and I suddenly heard the faint sound of a door closing from the entrance hall.

…Did someone go out? When I headed over there a bit curious, I now could hear Luna and Machina talking to each other in the living room.

Mhm, I should ask them where Kaorun is for starters. I opened the door of the living room and started talking with “Hey, have you seen…”, but I inadvertently stopped my words midway. For the time being, it was like I expected it to be: There were two girls in the living room.

One was a beautiful girl with shining blonde hair, Luna. Opposite to her neat aura, she happened to be a devil, but that didn’t change the fact that she was the reliable older sister of our household.

The other girl was a fascinating beauty with red hair, Machina Liebelei Orangelo. She was Luna little stepsister, a hybrid devil and a resident of our house.

But just what were they doing?

Regardless of being in the living room, Luna was boldly pulling up the top she was wearing and exposing her voluminous breasts clad in a white brassiere. From the side, I could very well catch the volume of her breasts, but my vision naturally wandered over to Machina’s hands.

Whatever she was trying to do from now on, Machina went behind Luna’s back. She put her hands on Luna’s brassiere and on a closer look, I could see that the bra was unhooked.

…I was just looking for Kaorun, yet I had stumbled into this outrageous scene. When I carelessly dropped the novels I was carrying onto the floor, Luna and Machina widened their eyes as soon as they noticed me, and stopped all movements like that.

On the other hand, I dared to make a fuzzy smile and averted my eyes from them with a little joke.

“…Sorry for interrupting. Please go on.”

While saying so, I closed the door halfway and checked upon them with a glance, whereupon the two of them instantly turned red as expected and Luna raised a surprised voice at once.

“Please wait, Shinobu-san! I think you have gotten the wrong idea! Kaoru-san said—”

“H- Hey Sister, if you move so suddenly your bra will— Ah…”

With her bra still unhooked, Luna turned around with attitude to stop me.

She must have been in quite a panic. Machina’s warning was futile and Luna’s ripe fruits bounced stimulating in line with her movements, spilling out of her bra.

There was nothing covering them anymore. Two hills that resembled huge melons. As her round breasts defied gravity, they stood up proudly with lovely pink buds at the pinnacle… wait, this wasn’t the time to forget myself.

This certainly was bad. Machina must have been thinking the same as me. She quickly let go of the bra’s hook and covered Luna’s breasts with a clutch from behind.

However, Luna’s breasts were building themselves with an overwhelming volume. Needless to say, they didn’t fit into Machina’s small palms, still exposing their juicy upper and under parts.

…It was a quite suggestive and bewitching brassiere of hands.

Machina must have been agitated too without doubt. The white bra gentle fell onto the floor when she let go off it, and Luna was trembling her slender shoulders in a shiver due to her breasts being grabbed.

“Yahn… Machina… If you grab me so tight… Uhn…”

“Ah, I’m sorry, Sister. It must have hurt… wait, this is amazing.”

Midway in her apology, Machina widened her eyes a bit and leaked a voice of faint admiration. Apparently she was fascinated by the sensation on both her arms. She rested her chin on Luna’s shoulder and started to shake the breasts with her hands still acting as a brassiere to confirm the elasticity… There was no longer a point in her hands covering the breasts.

The soft breasts bounced surging and sometimes a pink bud temptingly peeked out between the gaps of Machina’s fingers. Luna probably noticed that as well. Even while flushing her cheeks embarrassed, she softly rebuked Machina.

“Mm, Machina, stop playing with my breasts. Shinobu-san is watching.”

“Don’t worry, Sister. It’s Shinobu we’re talking about. I’m sure he’s averting his— wait, he’s totally staring!?”

…Yes, I was watching. Sorry. I had totally forgotten about asking about Kaorun and was fascinated by the bewitching swellings, whereupon Machina shifted her gaze towards me and said with a low voice.

“…This might be weird coming from me, but what’re you doing there in front of the door for a while now, Shinobu?”

“Just what it looks like: Appreciating beauty. Sorry, but please be quiet. You’re disturbing me.”

“Ah, sorry for that. Please go on— as if I would say that! What you mean beauty! You’re just gawking at my sister’s breasts brazenfaced! If you want to come inside, just do so, but quickly close the door and turn the other way!”

…So I was allowed into the room. Quite the lenient treatment. A bit surprised, I lowered my head with “I’m really sorry”, turned around and closed the door of the living room like I was told. Meanwhile I picked up the novels I dropped earlier and asked my initial question to the two of them.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt your usual flirting, but have you seen Kaorun? She wasn’t in her room…”

“Ehm, we are not exactly flirting around here, but you just missed her. She left the house just now.”

That was some bad timing. While I made a sigh in my heart, Luna apparently finished dressing during her speech and called out to me with “Shinobu-san, you can turn around now.”, so I turned around in front of the door for now.

For some reason, Luna and Machina had rather gloomy expressions.

What was up with them? I was doubtful, but first sat down on the sofa in the living room and put the novels I was carrying on the table, whereupon the girls looked at each other, then Luna started talking reserved with “Uhm, Shinobu-san,”.

“I was talking about it already with Machina earlier, but Kaoru-san is a bit strange lately, is she not?”

“Well, yeah. Lately she’s more of a pretty girl in sorrow instead of a perverted maid. She’s not playing her weird pranks either…”, I replied with agreeing words to Luna, whereupon Machina next to her knitted her eyebrows a bit and interjected with “Yeah.”.

“Earlier Kaoru was with us here in the living room, but she certainly looked down. My sister asked her ‘What is the matter? Are you alright?’ and then…”

Temporarily stopping her words, Machina continued with a sigh.

“She cracked a ‘I am Cha-la Head-Cha-la.’ joke for whatever reason and suddenly unhooked my sister’s bra.”

“…She unhooked it over the clothes? That’s an incredible technique, but a lousy way to bluff her way out for Kaorun.”

But now I understood. So Machina was helping to re-hook the bra. I asserted to myself in my heart, whereas Machina dropped her voice with a depressed expression for some reason.

“Even if it was lousy, I didn’t notice at all. I just got angry with ‘What’re you doing!’ like always.”

“Nah, don’t get so depressed. I think it’s alright to reprimand her like that.”

“But after I got angry, she honestly lowered her head without joking around, you know? On top of that, she said ‘I will go shopping for dinner to make amends for it.’ and left without time for us to stop her. Somehow it made me feel sorry for reprimanding her.”

“…Judging by that, Kaorun surely is acting out of character.”

Lightly shrugging my shoulders and giving Machina an agreeable response, I crossed my arms and looked up to the ceiling.

Let’s see, according to Machina, Kaorun went out shopping… She must have gone to the nearby shopping district? Then I should check upon her while I take a stroll. If I meet her, I can carry the bags and if not, I can just drop by the bookstore.

Such thoughts crossed my mind, whereupon Luna dropped her gaze on the novels on the table, so I told her “If you want, take one”, then I quickly left the house and headed for the shopping district…

A somewhat melancholic evening. Under the fleeting orange sky, I walked home all by myself.

I had gone out, but I didn’t run into Kaorun at the supermarket or the shopping district and I didn’t want to call her on her cell phone for no good reason, so I only stopped by the bookstore and was no on my way home, but… where had we passed each other this time?

In my field of vision was Kaorun holding a shopping bag from the supermarket from which she apparently returned now. But for whatever reason, she peeked into our garden from the gate to examine the situation in it.

She appeared really suspicious. When I proceeded with a wry smile, Kaorun seemed to notice me too. Suddenly she shifted her gaze to me and made a small bow.

“Welcome home, Shinobu-sama. I see that you had gone out.”

“Yeah, I was looking for your smile all over.”

“Hah, how hard-working of you…”

Eh? What was up with that reaction? Not giving the usual sharp retort to play along with my joke, Kaorun gave a half-hearted reply and resumed peeking into the garden. Just what she was looking at? A bit curious, I followed her lead and shifted my gaze towards the garden too.

By the way, our garden currently had a flowerbed that was maintained by Luna. As she was in the middle of tending to it, my vision fell on the smiling Luna in front of the flowerbed. Moreover, next to her I could see a brightly smiling girl with silver hair.

Radiant silver hair from the evening sun. It tied up in twintails, this girl was Elni. The fool and mood maker of our house. And also the kind second daughter.

Elni was crouching down in front of the flowerbed together with Luna and they apparently were happily chit-chatting with each other. While we watched over them, Luna looked at Elni and animated her voice, still smiling.

“I can barely wait. I am sure that once spring comes, a lot of flowers will bloom.”

“A lot? I really can’t wait for it. By the way, can you… eat these flowers?”

“E- Elni-chan? You must not, even if you want to! What if you upset your stomach? Please do not eat them, okay?”

Luna softly called out to Elni in a little panic.

“They go through all the trouble to bloom, so enjoy looking at them instead of eating them. We will have flowers in our garden, you know? It must be wonderful when it is all vivid and florid. Do you not feel really happy when you think that Shinobu-san and the others will smile upon seeing them?”

“Mhm~ I imagined it for a bit and somehow, I suddenly can’t wait for spring to come now! Well, inside my head it’s always spring, though!”

“How heart-warming.”

“Y- Yeah! A nice breeze blows through it! A flower might even bloom inside my head eventually!”

Luna ignored Elni’s foolery with a gentle smile. She herself must have wanted no harm, but Elni smiled vaguely and awkwardly changed the topic with “Anyway,”.

“You’re often tending to the flowerbed, Luna. I guess you love flowers?”

“Yes. You know how flowers blossom beautiful if you pour your love into them? It is like they are responding to your feelings, which makes me kind of happy.”

“I’ll respond to your feelings too, you know? So pour your love into me too.”

Like competing with the flowers, Elni tightly clung onto Luna.

I got the feeling that ever since Christmas, Elni had started to increase her physical contact like that with us other family members. Seeing Elni change like that, Luna lightly kissed her cheek to respond to the hug. Following she showed a bright smile.

“Elni-chan, actually I love both looking at and raising flowers. You yourself are like a sunflower, so I would like to have you by my side forever.”

“Sounds like Shinobu would get jealous over that… but I see, you love looking at flowers.”

Interjecting a small agreeable response, Elni put her hand onto her chin, then let her voice overflow with warmth.

“I wish I could show it to you then. So far I have travelled to various places on earth, but in a certain place I found a beautiful sunflower field. The bright yellow flowers were in full bloom over the whole place, which gave the impression of a smiling sun. I still remember it now. It was such a big sunflower field.”

Spreading her arms as wide as she could, Elni smiled faintly and looked up the evening sky with “And not just that.”.

“A vivid tulip field. A castle with lots of cats, which Nazuna would love. A country where the evening sun looks really bright red, not bitter orange like here. The world is full of wonderful places. I want all of you to see the precious things I found too. I want to see them together with you next time.”

Gently spinning her words, Elni suddenly closed her mouth, only to stand up with attitude and an “Oh right”, showing a smile to Luna like that.

“Hey Luna, I just thought of it now, but why don’t we take an overseas trip with everyone one day? It can wait until Shinobu and the others have graduated and university has long vacations, right? I think we’ll have enough chances for a happy trip from now on.”

“Fufu, you are right. I would like to see your precious things too.”

“Good! Then I’ll definitely show them to you! A family trip with you, Shinobu, Machina, Nazuna and Tomoe-san! Of course we’ll invite Hijiri and Kaorun too! By the way, no need to worry about travel expenses! I’ll somehow save up the money for it! It’s my present for my beloved ones!”

“Ehm, but all by yourself that will be hard, right? Please let me help you. I somehow want to repay the others as well.”

“Okay! Then we’ll work together! Let’s make a lot of family vacation memories! So, where are we going first? I know so many good places that it’s hard to pick one…”

The mild scarlet sun light bathed the garden. Illuminated by the evening sun, their smiles never broke and Luna and Elni continued their chit-chat in front of the flowerbed. Looking at these two, who appeared like sisters… Kaorun must have thought of something after all.

“…Elni-san has changed a bit.”

Still standing in front of the gate, Kaorun said isolated.

“Not long ago, she called Nazuna-chan with ‘Nazucat’ like a friend, but now she treats her like her little sister, calling her with her name. She also calls Tomoe-san with ‘Mom’ and sometimes clings to her spoiled… Elni-san really became part of this family.”

“It sure took it’s time, though.”

When I interjected with a faint smile, Kaorun shifted her gaze to me and smiled somewhat fleeting.

“You have an amazing person in your family, Shinobu-sama. I am sure that Elni-san is capable of doing various things for her family. Laughing and crying together, supporting each other and when you consider that this bright smile is waiting for you at home, you cannot hurry home fast enough every day.”

“…I don’t think you’re in no way inferior to Elni.”

Just like I was proud to have Luna and the other as my family, Hijiri considered Kaorun as her precious older sister too without doubt. I could say that with confidence. But my words might only have been a burden for Kaorun now.

“It is no good…”

Shaking her head powerless, she tightly squeezed the shopping bag in her hand.

“I cannot see myself… becoming like… Elni-san or Luna-san.”

A quiet cracked voice. A fragile smile. Before I could say anything to her, Kaorun set food into the garden to end the conversation.

There Luna and Elni apparently noticed her.

They both came over to Kaorun and after saying the words “Welcome back”, they each asked about dinner… On a glance, that was a rather harmonious scene. But Kaorun was looking somewhat envious at the two and her expression didn’t brighten up…

…Instead of cheering her up, I made it worse. What was I doing?

Recalling my conversation with Kaorun earlier, I reflected a bit on my actions. I finished my daily training in the garden and renewing my spirits, I wanted to recommend Kaorun a novel this time for sure, so I headed for the guest room.

By the way, on my way, Luna called out to me that she was borrowing one of the four novels that I had left in the living room and that she had apparently taken over the role to prepare dinner from Kaorun, but that aside. The important point was that Kaorun wasn’t in the guest room again.

For the time being I did a small search inside the house, but I couldn’t find her anywhere, so I could only return to my own room with the novels…. There were the lights on for some reason and I even sensed someone’s presence.

…Someone was inside? While tilting my head, I got inside and there she was, the one I had been looking for, Kaorun. She had crawled into my bed, rested her cheek on my pillow and was smiling somewhat cosily. She seemed a wee bit happy.

When I proceeded with an inadvertent wry smile, she wouldn’t get off my bed even after noticing me and opened her mouth somewhat absent-minded while still resting her cheek on the pillow.

“Welcome, Shinobu-sama. It is a bit small, but please make yourself at home.”

“…Now that’s quite the greeting.”

Even small, it’s still my beloved room. Actually, what’re you doing on my bed? Holding back such a retort, I continued my words somewhat softly.

“Anyway, what’s up with you? Relaxing here?”

“Yes, in a sexual way— is what I would like to say, but actually I am heartbroken from all that has happened lately. So I am engulfing myself in your nice smell here for some comfort.”

“Don’t take too long, okay? It would be troublesome if your scent gets carried over and I can’t sleep from excitement.”

“…Shinobu-sama, can you not say anything more tactful?”

That was my attempt of being tactful, but Kaorun puckered her lips a bit.

“I am really hurt, you know? Here you should be emphatically pull me into an embrace while you wildly approach me with ‘Kaoru, if you want my smell, get it directly’, or am I wrong?”

“Ah, but I’m all sweaty from my earlier training…”

“Then please sweetly whisper me a ‘I love you, Kaoru’ and place a gentle kiss on my forehead. On this occasion, you even may place it on my breasts.”

“Sorry, but somehow I’m craving for some ass today.”

“I could not ask for anything better.”

“…I have nothing to return.”

And our conversation died just like that.

Kaorun cracked her jokes like usually, but her tone lacked will-power and due to that, both my foolery and retort remained boring. My wry smile spread and for now I put the novels I was carrying onto my desk. Then I sat down on the corner of the bed and softly reached out my hand for Kaorun.

She herself had said she was heartbroken, but I didn’t know how to comfort her. I could only silently pet her head. Even so, Kaorun faintly flushed her cheeks and didn’t resist in particular while she hid half of face with the blanket. After a while, she quietly spun her words.

“…Shinobu-sama, I may not look like it or rather, as you can see, I am a perfect maid that does about everything flawless, has a sharp mind, got excellent looks and is quite athletic.”

“That’s going a bit too far, but I can’t deny it.”

“I know, right? So I should be able to do anything. However, I cannot seem to become what I want to be. I thought I would learn something by coming here, but… I only learned about the things I lack myself.”

Slightly dropping her voice, Kaorun narrowed her eyes a little bit sadly.

“I do want to change myself a bit, though.”

“…I don’t really see the need to force yourself to change.”

“But Elni-san has changed, right? So did Luna-san and Machina. All of them became the older sisters of this household. I believe you are pleased about that change as well, Shinobu-sama.”

Objecting somewhat powerless, she tightly squeezed the hem of the blanket.

“If I can become like Luna-san and the others, I am sure even Hijiri-chan will be…”

She surely didn’t want me to see her smudgy expression. Kaorun slowly raised up the blanket and covered her whole face. Like that, she kept her mouth shut for a short while, but then she suddenly sighed affected through the blanket to change the atmosphere.

“I felt like crying out of self-hatred from all the things that happened and restlessly came to your room, but before I noticed it, I was looking for your perverted books. I must be truly sick.”

“I don’t know if it’s a sickness or just normal in your case.”

“…Normally I would go for your bed first instead of the books, you know? It is just, lately a lot of mails come from Hijiri-chan asking if I am alright…”

“With that dog emoticon added?”

“Yes. I am receiving a lot of these adorable mails. I wanted to reply to it with ‘I am reading aloud the perverted books hidden in Shinobu-sama’s room right now~’ to conceal my depression, but no matter where and how hard I looked, I could not find the treasures in question.”

“That means I’m the only treasure in this room. Sorry, but give up.” I replied with such a joke, whereupon Kaorun raised a dissatisfied voice through the blanket for some reason.

“I am so disappointed! Not only am I unable to send my wonderful mail, I am also unable to tell Hijiri-chan about your preferences! What are you going to do about that!”

“…Let me ask instead, what do you want me to do?”

“I will send Hijiri-chan a mail now saying ‘I am taking a rest in Shinobu-sama’s bed right now~ Shinobu-sama is next to me, petting my head. It does not seem like I will get any sleep tonight <3’, so please tolerate it with a smile.”

“What’re you doing under the blanket? It only gives me stormy premonition, so stop it.”

But well, she could joke around like that. So it should be fine now. At the same time of my retort, I reached out my hand and jerked the blanket. Against my expectations, Kaorun wasn’t holding her cell phone and instead she was holding a single photo album against her chest. She must have hidden it for a while now. When I dropped my gaze onto the album, I could read the random long title

“Prologue issue of Shinobu-kun’s fleeting, heartrending, but beautiful memories ~A few years after his grandiose birth, the memories might turn into a legend~”

that my father gave it. Still holding onto that album, Kaorun straightened up her upper body and opened her mouth reserved.

“I found this when I was looking for the perverted books earlier, but may I drool over it?”

“…I don’t mind if you read it normally.”

Actually, she was looking for the porn as she pleased, but she properly asked for permission to look at the album, huh. It was questionable if she had manners or not, but for now I consented and Kaorun curiously opened the album, whereas I peeked down at her hands with a wry smile. The album showed me in my olden days when I was around five or six years old. My younger self was smiling like an angel, but Kaorun tilted her head wondering for whatever she was thinking about my photos.

“This is your photo album, is it not, Shinobu-sama? It is showing a different person already on the first page. Who might this pretty boy be?” “Face me for a bit. Then you’ll see that pretty boy right away.”

“…Time is a cruel thing. Where did that devilish face come from? It has no shred of cuteness anymore. Well, I like your current self better, though.”

Looking at me, she gave me a wink while ranting. Following, she shifted her gaze back to her hands and slowly flipped through the pages… While looking at the album, she giggled.

“Somehow, there are a lot of pictures together with Nazuna-chan. Be it at home or outside, Nazuna-chan is always by your side, often clinging to you.”

“Ever since I can remember, she has been spouting nonsense like ‘Without Brother it’s no good’ and has always followed me around.”

While I interjected a warm agreeable response, Kaorun, still looking at the album, brightened her smile and filled her tone with warmth.

“I am sure she wanted to stay with her brother as long as possible. In every picture with you, Nazuna-chan is smiling so happily… wait, huh? Only in this picture Nazuna-chan is crying waterfalls. Did something happen there?”

Kaorun suddenly stopped her hands from flipping the pages. When I followed her gaze, Nazuna-chan in the picture had opened her mouth widely and was spilling endless tears from her eyes. And the boy next to her, me in my younger years, petted his little sister’s head with teary eyes for some reason…

Not cool at all. Why had I been about to cry as well? When I looked at the picture a bit shocked, the memories from back then suddenly resurfaced and I inadvertently snorted a bit.

“Now I know, it was when I was stung by a bee. Reminds me, Nazuna was shouting ‘Brother! It’s a bee! It’s looking at me with a dangerous glint in it’s eyes!’ and hastily ran to my side…”

“So Nazuna-chan has always been a funny girl.”

“And a bit stupid, though. That said, I was the stupid one back then, I guess.”

While recalling the old days, I naturally spilled a sigh.

“To be honest, I was scared of the bee too, but I was in front of my little sister after all. While I boasted about trivia with ‘Listen, Nazuna, a bee always gives a warning before stinging someone. If you pay attention to that, you’ll be fine. No problem.’… the bee got me big time.”

“What can I say… How regrettably.”

“Yeah, it was uncool and hurt like hell. I was about to cry for various reasons, whereupon Nazuna broke down crying with ‘Brother’s going to die!’. My father was with us then… and he took the picture with a very loud laughter.”

“You have quite the amusing father…”

Dropping her gaze down on the picture again with a wry smile, Kaorun calmly continued her words.

“It is no wonder Nazuna-chan started to cry. Considering something happened to her beloved brother, she did not know what to do and was full of worry, so she spilled tears like that…”

A sudden change of her soft expression. The picture of me being stung by a bee and Nazuna crying. While looking at it, she changed her expression and now looked through the album without saying anything. I was a bit perplexed by her reaction, so I titled my head and called out to her.

“…What’s up so suddenly? Why the serious face?”

“Ah, no, I was just remembering a bit from the past…”

Even while she replied so, she didn’t raise her head and continued to look at the pictures staring…

Afterwards she showed no real interested in the novels I recommended and looked through the album again and again until it was time for dinner. But what got her so concerned? After looking at the album, Kaorun’s behaviour became even stranger. She was absent-minded the whole time during dinner. Even if the girls called out to her, she only repeated half-hearted replies and she even left most of her food untouched. As she was pondering about something, she even got dizzy in the bath…

It was rather worrisome for me. But whatever I said had little effect, as she apparently was really pondering about something. In the end, still only getting half-hearted replies from her, I went back to my own room by leaving behind the words “You can come to talk to me anytime” and opened the earlier album on my bed.

…What did the album do to her? After looking at it, Kaorun had became weird. It bothered me a lot. In search for the reason of her weirdness, I looked through the album until I fell asleep…

* * *

After a long time, I had a dream about my childhood again, probably due to having looked at the album. About my incredible weak self that had no talent for martial arts compared to my little sister. After being bullied at my grandfather’s dojo and fleeing from there…

I still remained weak. Because of me, Nazuna got into a traffic accident and I even hurt my precious childhood friend that visited her in the hospital. Thinking back on it, I might have considered summoning a devil because I couldn’t forgive myself for that. Of course I had the desire to help Nazuna as well. That was for sure. However, it was a fact that I was fine with the devil taking my soul in exchange for my wish. Nazuna was everyone’s star at my grandfather’s dojo. She was a genius like our father.

My little sister with such talent was lying in a hospital bed without waking up, whereas I, a useless guy without a shred of talent, lived sound and safe…

That was why I thought: I should have been in that accident. I should just disappear…

I told this to the devil, to Luna, who I summoned back then. You can have my soul. If it makes my sister smile again, I don’t mind. Besides, everyone prefers Nazuna’s smile over mine…

I couldn’t forgive my weak self. I seriously believed that it was fine that my sister smiled in my stead. However, Luna did not only save Nazuna, but me as well.

---It is okay. It is all okay now. The hand petting my head was gentle and the warmth of her embrace heated up my chest. I was so happy about her words… so the tears didn’t stop flowing. What I received from her. Her words to me that filled up my chest. These warm words. To my shame, I forgot them once, but I might have always remembered them somewhere in the corner of my heart. I never thought again that I should disappear. The words Luna told me on that day were---

* * *

Mhm~ The words Luna told me back then were…

Mh? Weird. I got the feeling that my body was strangely shaking for a while now. On top of that, someone’s voice was resounded somewhat distant, but oh well. Anyway, the words Luna told me back then were…

“---If you do not get up soon, I will kiss you all over.”

Somehow the Luna in my dream suddenly got really bold--- As if. Being called out by someone, my consciousness awoke from a light slumber. Feeling light on the back of my eyelids, I opened my eyes, whereupon the lights I supposedly turned off were on in my room and my vision fell on Kaorun lightly shaking my shoulders, whenever she had come inside.

…What did she want? I straightened up my upper body on the bed a bit listless and shifted my gaze to the clock on the wall like that. It was in the middle of night past midnight. No wonder that I was still sleepy.

I suppressed a yawn and turned my sleepy eyes at Kaorun.

“What do you want at this time? A night attack?”

“If that had been my intention, you would be stark naked by now, Shinobu-sama.”

“…I would catch a cold like that.”

“Rest assured, Shinobu-sama. I would warm up your mind and body with my pridefully skin then.”

“Haha, I’ll lock my door at night from now on.”

While exchanging such jokes, I suddenly remembered the time before I went to bed and casually continued my words.

“Reminds me, it seemed you were pondering about something, but got anywhere with it?”

“No, the gloomy feeling would not stop no matter what, so I decided to get some productive exercise. Therefore, please accompany me for a bit, Shinobu-sama. We are going outside now.”

“…Can you let me sleep five more minutes?”

“Shinobu-sama, you have time to get changed until I count till ten. Otherwise I will have my way with your sexy body. Are you ready? One, ten--- Here I go.”

“H- Hey, wait! You didn’t even give me three seconds!”

Before she finished her sentence, she put her hands on my clothes, which blew off my sleepiness for sure and I raised a surprised voice.

“Sure, I told you earlier to come to talk to me at any time, but without warning in the middle of the night is--- Hey, Ah, wait. Don’t pull on my clothes! Stop! No! Let go!”

“’No, let go‘? That is to say, ‘No let’s go’ as an anagram. I understand. A trick often used by females. While saying ‘Ahn, stop’, it actually means to go on.”

Learned something new…

With no time for me to make such a foolery, Kaorun stripped me in no time and even got my change of clothes. After a matter of a few minutes then, I was walking down the road at night next to her under the wintry sky in my coat. By the way, Kaorun shouldered a small backpack before leaving the house, but that aside for now. For my part, I was half-forcefully dragged out here. I inadvertently shrugged my shoulders a bit and called out to Kaorun jokingly.

“But aren’t you a bit mean? You suddenly wake me up in the middle of the night, only to drag me outside into this freezing cold without telling me anything.”

“A valuable experience that you cannot buy with money.”

“Yeah, just to tell you, if it hadn’t been you, I would have resorted to violence.”

“For argument’s sake, what would you have done if it was Luna-san?”

“Tagged along with a smile right away.”

That said, it wasn’t all that different for Kaorun. When I showed a refreshing smile along with my words, Kaorun grinned too, but declared somewhat indifferent.

“Please follow me with that smile, Shinobu-sama. We are heading to my house now.”

“…This late at night? Don’t tell me you’re homesick?”

“N- No, I am not. I am going back precisely because it is this late at night.”

Even while being a bit unsettled, she finally seemed to tell me the reason for this excursion. While proceeding on, Kaorun raised her index finger and lowered her tone a little bit.

“Truth be told, I will return to the Gogyou Mansion now and secretly infiltrate Papa Sougo’s home office. I plan to get my hands on a certain thing there.”

“It’s your own house, isn’t it? Why can’t you do it during the day?”

“Shinobu-sama, I came to your house this time by consulting with Hijiri-chan and Shuu-kun, pretending to be in a fight with him. If I were to shamelessly return without results, that would be, well how can I put it, it would be unsightly.”

She must mean her dignity as an older sister. Well, it wasn’t like I couldn’t relate to that. However, I doubtfully tilted my head on hearing her story and interjected.

“Hey, let me ask one thing. Couldn’t you have sneaked into the house by yourself? There’s no point of me coming along…”

“That is not true. According to Hijiri-chan’s frequent mails, Papa Sougo is fortunately out of the house for work at present. But the problem is Mama Misaki… Ah, by Mama Misaki I mean the mistress.”

While adding that explanation, Kaorun knitted her eyebrows a bit and continued.

“At this time of the day, Hijiri-chan is most likely sleeping sweetly while dreaming about you, Shinobu-sama, but Shuu-kun is surely enjoying the winter vacation by doing something stupid again around now without a doubt. Besides, Mama Misaki will be awake horny until morning anyway.”

“…Somehow I’m getting more and more worried, but just what is my role?”

“Please stand-by in the living room while I sneak into the home office. If you hear any footsteps, comer over to me at once. You only have to keep watch, so that I do not run into any family members. Incidentally, I myself will not make any noises, so do not worry about that.”

“No, I’m worried to no end. Shuu-kun and I know each other, so that aside, but Hijiri’s mother might be awake, right? What should I do if I run into her in the hallway or so?”

Just imagining that scene made me restless. However, Kaorun only gave me a thumps-up to say that it was no problem, indifferent to my worry.

“I believe you can deal with Mama Misaki easily, because I showed her various pictures of you. If you happen to run into her, just tell her ’I came to pay Hijiri a night visit, Babe’ and Mama Misaki will surely consent by giving you a thumps-up.”

“…I never met her before, but is she really like that?”

“To compare them with us, she has the ‘natural erotic’ characteristic from Luna-san, the ‘sullen pervert’ characteristic from Hijiri-chan and my ‘coquettish’ characteristic combined in herself.”

“Doesn’t that just make her a lewd woman?”

“Shinobu-sama, that is not correct. She is not something so half-baked. Mama Misaki is super lewd. After all, Papa Sougo made a wry smile with ‘Hijiri comes after me, but you seem to be influenced by Misaki’ upon looking me the other day, but I would like to emphasize that it is really regrettable.”

Even while saying so, Kaorun smiled faintly and talking with her like that, we reached the huge Gogyou Mansion at some point. There Kaorun used her key and quietly sneaked inside. Next she left me behind in the broad living room and quickly headed for the home office.

…It had been a while since I felt so disheartened by myself. At worst, I might get reported to the police. There was no end to my various worries.

But I wasn’t going to do anything bad and sneaking around would make me suspicious, so I should just act openly and there would be no problem.

Telling myself so once more, I turned the lights on in the living room, slowly sat down and leisurely turned on the TV while resting my chin on my hands with the elbows on the table. Mhm, late-night anime were getting rather bold these days. It was a bit perverted.

However, if anyone were to see me like this, it would be over for sure. Sure, I needed to play the decoy for Kaorun, but this certainly wasn’t good. Therefore I quickly tried to switch the TV channel, but on a spiteful timing, I could hear footsteps behind me as someone had apparently entered the room.

…Wasn’t I found a bit too early? I might have been tense due to the situation. I failed to sense the person’s presence. Moreover, there was no longer a way out. Be it Shuu-kun or Hijiri’s mother, I could only play it cool.

When I turned around determined, my vision fell onto a girl with dignified features. To my surprise, it was Hijiri. According to Kaorun’s conjecture, she should be asleep. She wore a Yukata as a pyjama and her long legs that fleetingly peeked out under the hem of her clothes, were quite bewitching. However, Hijiri blinked puzzled upon noticing me and tilted her head.

“Eh? Huh? Shinobu-kun? What are you doing here?”

“…Ah, well, you see, a little night visit.”

“Oh, I see. A night visit--- wait, a night visit!?”

In my agitation, I ended up speaking out the remark suggested by Kaorun, whereupon Hijiri raised a hysteric voice and turned bright red at once, shaking both her hands.

“Sh- Shinobu-kun! Are you serious!? Or is this a continuation of yesterday‘s drea---Mmh!?”

It would be troublesome if she caused a scene here. I stood up with attitude and closed the distance to her in a flash. While I covered her mouth to stop her words, I put up my index finger with “Ssh”.

Upon that, Hijiri nodded short, but she might have gotten a strange misunderstanding. When I slowly removed my hands from her mouth, she damped her eyes while her cheeks were still flushed, and mumbled fragile just like that.

“…Shinobu-kun, it’s my first time… So I want it to be on the bed…”

“Ehm, well, I’m really sorry. The night visit was just a joke. I’m not going to start anything here either, so rest assured.”

“I, I see. It was a joke. Sorry, Shinobu-kun, for taking you serious…”

After turning even redder and lowering her head, Hijiri unfortunately got back on topic with “So”.

“Why are you at my house?”

A legit question. But I tried to somehow deceive her for Kaorun’s sake.

“T- Today I, well, how can I put it… I came over to hang out.” “In the middle of the night? But how did you get inside?”

“It’s not like I trespassed. I openly came in through the front door. I broke the door, though.”

“Th- That sounds like trespassing alright… Could it be, you came together with Kaoru-san? Since she has a key…”

“Sh- She sure has. So I borrowed it from her and came over. I know it’s late, but I just wanted to see your smile right away. Now please smile for me, Hijiri.”

When I urged her like that, Hijiri smiled a bit embarrassed. Yeah, I was glad to have come here. Even while I felt like that for a bit upon seeing her smile, it didn’t change the fact that I was on edge. What would happened if Hijiri saw Kaorun here? When I was about to break out a cold sweat, Hijiri called out to me, still smiling.

“Shinobu-kun, thanks for coming. Please wait for a bit. I’ll go get some tea.”

“No, no, that’s fine. Don’t mind me. A- Anyway, I’m here now, so, well, ehm--- I want to go to your room.”

That was what I spontaneous came up with. I certainly lost my head. Even Hijiri widened her eyes with “At this time?”, but didn’t retort in particular and replied with a small nod.

“…Yeah, okay. Come with me.”

Flushing her cheeks, Hijiri shyly took my hand. Guided by that soft and warm hand, I feared running into Kaorun in the hallway, but I safely intruded in her room on the second floor…

Though she might have gotten the wrong idea again. Somehow she urged me to sit down on her bed and I took her up on her offer, but she sat down next to me at a rather close distance. A faint fragrance of flowers hung in the air next to me and I felt her sweet warmth from her shoulder that lightly touched mine. Now my heart was racing for a different reason. Moreover, Hijiri was fidgeting her knees together and turned red, so I awkwardly cracked a joke in an attempt to change the atmosphere for now. “Ehm, why are you up so late at night, Hijiri? Doing perverted stuff by yourself?”

“P- Perverted stuff!? I, I was just doing my winter vacation homework, but tonight it might come tot that?”

…That was my bad. Hijiri sneaked a peek at me with red cheeks. While I kept my mouth shut in search for words to solve the misunderstanding and apologize about it, Hijiri looked down with “Auh…” as it had gotten awkward and after a short while, she suddenly raised her head with attitude.

“Uhm, I… will get some tea after all.”

“No! I’m not really thirsty! Don’t go, Hijiri!”

“But I’m kinda nervous, which made my throat dry.”

Hijiri started to get up. It would be bad if she ran into Kaorun while making tea. I softly took her arm to stop her, but it was useless as Hijiri replied with the words “I’ll be back real quick”. In regards, my panic made me… rest my cheek on Hijiri’s lap. Now Hijiri should be unable to move. I finally had freaked out.

Moreover, I was getting fascinated by the sensation of her juicy thighs. But I pulled myself together and wanted to apologize quickly, but “…I’m not dreaming, am I?” apparently there was no need to. When I turned my head on her thighs to check upon her just in case…

I could only see her voluminous breasts. Moreover, Hijiri didn’t resist and even softly touched my hair, leaking a somewhat spellbound sigh.

“If it’s a dream, I don’t want to wake up. I want it to continue on forever…”

I also would like to escape reality by resting on her lap forever. Her thighs had a comfortable flexibility like a high-grade pillow. On top, they were warm and even gave off a sweet fragrance. Inadvertently I was about to forget the situation I was in, but then Hijiri started to pet not just my head, but also my cheeks, which let my embarrassment gradually prevail over me.

Amidst that, Hijiri seemed to calm down by petting me and rested her hand softly on my cheek, softly opening her mouth.

“Shinobu-kun, can I ask you something?”

“I came here to see you.”

“Yeah, I know that already. I’m really happy that you’re acting so spoiled. But I want to ask about… Kaoru-san.”

Why not ask herself? She’s downstairs. How easy would it be if I could say that. Personally, I wasn’t that eager to touch this topic, but…. for Hijiri, it must be something that had always bothered her. She stopped her hand from petting me and filled her tone with warmth.

“Judging from her mails, it seems she’s having a good time at your house, but how’s it? She isn’t causing troubles to the other by playing weird pranks”

“No one of us considers her troublesome. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“…I see. They think the same as me. I’m glad.” Contrary to these relieved words, Hijiri dropped her voice a bit and asked timidly.

“But is Kaoru-san feeling a bit lonely? Though I doubt it in her case.”

“…You for one look a bit lonely.”

When I replied peacefully, Hijiri leaked a small sigh in the meaning of affirmation.

“It’s a bit weird lately. Normally when I stay up late like today, Kaoru-san would properly give me a fair warning by cracking a joke with ‘Were you doing perverted things by yourself while thinking about Shinobu-sama again? Staying up late is not good for your body, you know?’…”

Now filling her tone with sadness, Hijiri placed her hand on my cheek somewhat coquetting.

“And you know, then she would say ‘Stupid Shuu-kun is awake too anyway, so I will reluctantly made a night snack’ with a smile and prepare Shuu-kun’s favourite soba noodles. Then we three would eat together and…”

Suddenly stopping midway in her sentence, Hijiri sighed again after a little pause.

“It’s weird without Kaoru-san after all. She consulted with me before leaving, but she never told me any details…”

“Of course that gets you worried. But still, she didn’t even tell you anything?”

“Yeah, she only told me she would rely on you if anything comes up. But I don’t mind. I’m just glad that she consulted with me. I’m sure she has a plan and giving her best for it, but…”

Temporarily stopping her words, Hijiri continued somewhat dull.

“If she doesn’t come back soon… I might stay up late every night.”

“I see. After all, to you Kaorun is—” I tried to convey what I had been thinking for a while now, but suddenly a loud noise resounded from downstairs and I closed my opened mouth.

…Something might have happened to Kaorun. I got an incredible bad feeling. On top of that, Hijiri knitted her eyebrows doubtfully and ended my lap-pillow by standing up.

“Shinobu-kun, I’m going to take a look, so—”

“W- Wait! Don’t be hasty, Hijiri! What if it’s a robber! I wouldn’t be able to face Kaorun if anything were to happen to you! Should I let you go alone, I might get punished by Kaorun for various reasons! Leave this to me and wait here!”

“Ehm, aren’t you exaggerating a bit? It’s probably just Shuu— wait, Shinobu-kun!?”

I could hear Hijiri’s flustered voice behind me, but unfortunately I was even more flustered. Leaving Hijiri’s room behind me and heading down the long hallway, I swiftly headed downstairs where the noise had come from.

…Please don’t let Kaorun have created a strange ruckus.

That prayer proved useless and what I saw when I came down the stairs was Kaorun, wearing the same backpack like before, and a boy with neutral features, Gogyou Shuugo aka Shuu-kun.

However, in the faint light, Shuu-kun had closed his eyes somewhat blissful and showed an expression like in a peaceful death. And Kaorun was holding him from behind, dragging him along. Inadvertently I dumbfounded gaped my mouth open and raised a slow-witted voice like that.

“Eh? What? You killed him?”

“Kukuku, now that you have seen it, you leave me no other choice. I will have you embark on a trip to heaven along with Shuu-kun. Kill once and you can kill again! But if you killed a hundred, you will be a hero!”

“…Seems like you lost it.” with that I interjected after becoming a bit calmer, whereupon Kaorun gave an agreeable response with “Seems so” and quickly explained.

“Actually I achieved my object without problems, but you were not in the living room, so I thought that you might have really gone to pay Hijiri-chan a night visit, and was heading up the stairs to the second floor, but on my way I suddenly sensed someone’s presence, so I turned around and— there stood Peanut.”

“Don’t give your little brother strange nicknames.”

“Well, Peanut aka Shuu-kun probably wanted to enjoy a perverted DVD on the big TV in the living room, but when our eyes met at the stairs, I thought my heart would stop.”

“…Shuu-kun’s heart is still beating, isn’t it? On a closer look, he looks rather limp.”

“Shuu-kun will not kick the bucket from something like this. But I am afraid that I ended up giving him jump kick in my agitation. Shuu-kun screamed ’White!’ and was knocked out without the count of ten. That is how we got to this situation.”

“By they way, what colour has your underwear today?”

“Sexual harassment out of nowhere?— Is what I would like to say, but as you guessed right, it is pure white. Anyway, please help me carry Shuu-kun to his room. I am sure that if you put him into the bed now, he will undoubtedly have a sweet maid drea—”

While saying so, Kaorun suddenly stopped her movements and words. I painfully could relate to it.

Unluckily, in the middle of our conversation, we could hear faint footsteps from the first and second floor at the same time, which gradually approached in our direction. The BGM of the shark movie “J*ws” played in my head and Kaorun also looked around with widened eyes, clearly acting suspicious for a bit.

“It, It probably are Mama Misaki and Hijiri-chan. Th- This is troublesome. What do we do…”

“…I’ll do something about it. You get out of here quickly.”

“No, but, I cannot leave you alone in this situation…”

She must have felt bad about it. Kaorun looked down on the still limp Shuu-kun. I rested my hand on her shoulder and declared smiling with an affected tone.

“Kaoru, you brought me here for such a time, right? I would like to live up to your expectations. Don’t worry, I’ll ensnare them with my usual jokes. You wait for me outside.”

“Shinobu-sama… I… I will wait for you as long as it takes!”

Maybe she picked up on my mood? Nevertheless, she flushed her cheeks and went away by leaving these dramatic words behind.

Right afterwards Hijiri showed up on the second floor, as she came to check on me. She spotted Shuu-kun at the bottom of the stairs, widened her eyes with “Sh- Shuu-kun!?” and came rushing down the stairs.

On the other hand, a beautiful woman came around the corner of the hallway on the first floor, as she had heard the ruckus. If Kaorun’s guess was right, she must be Mama Misaki aka Hijiri’s mother. Her features certainly resembled Hijiri’s, but she was as young as my mother. Hijiri might age while remaining as beautiful as she too.

When such reality-avoiding thoughts crossed my mind, Hijiri looked after her brother with “Shuu-kun! Hang in there!”, whereas the woman, who seemed to be Hijiri’s mother, blinked her eyes a bit upon seeing me, but surprisingly, she clapped her hands and smile beautifully without making a fuss.

“I get it. You came to pay Hijiri a night visit.”

“That’s the first thing you have to say— no, wait. It’s not a night visit. I just came over to hang out. Ehm, you’re Misaki-san, right?”

“Yes, I am. And you’re Shinobu-kun, right? I saw you numerous times in Kaoru or Hijiri’s pictures and heard a lot from them about you too. You’re a mischievous, yet kind guy that’s wild and cute, correct? From what I can see, you’re cool and fantastic.”

“Well, I’m often told that wherever I go. Also, nice to meet you.”

Hiding my agitation, I lowered my head a bit, whereupon she— Misaki-san curiously came over while treading on Shuu-kun who was treated by Hijiri, and charmingly touched my cheek.

“Now then, Shinobu-kun. You said you came over to hang out? In other words, you want to play, right? What kind of play will you do with Hijiri tonight?”

“M- Mother! It’s embarrassing, so please don’t say anything weird! Besides! You stepped on Shuu-kun!”

“Oh my? What’s the Peanut doing here? He should just split open in his room and die.”

Calling Shuu-kun by the same nickname as Kaorun and giving an even harsher abuse than Kaorun, Misaki-san kicked her own son without listening to Hijiri’s warning. Suddenly she faced Hijiri, then returned her gaze to me, only to give me a sexy wink now.

“Since you’re here, Shinobu-kun— want to have both mother and daughter tonight?”

“As if, idiot! You’re even worse than Kaorun— Just kidding. Okay. Sorry for staying till so late. Seems I’ll only give rash remarks in form of retorts from now on, so I’ll excuse myself now. Also, it seems Shuu-kun ended up like that by tripping on the stairs.”

Adding a follow-up for Kaorun at the end, I carried Shuu-kun to his bed for now, then quickly left the Gogyou Mansion behind me…

Now then, just what did she get from the house?

I regrouped with Kaorun right outside the Gogyou Mansion. Next we I thought that we would come straight home, but when we passed by a park on our way home, Kaorun said that she would like to drop by there and since I had come this far already, I decided to tag along, entering the park together with her.

After that we both sat down on a bench under the faint illumination of the park and right now Kaorun was rummaging in the small backpack that she had put on before leaving the house.

She had sneaked into the Gogyou Mansion because she wanted to get her hands on a thing from Sougo-san’s home office. But what was it? Even while I was rather curious, I softly called out to Kaorun.

“…Did you find what you were after?”

“Yes. It is all thanks to you, Shinobu-sama. I could not have done it by myself. In my gratitude, I will let you see it as well. Please look. This is the object in question!”

Along with her words, Kaorun pulled something out of the backpack with attitude… It was a single DVD.

On the cover, a woman in bondage fashion ala S&M was stepping scornfully on a guy, but despite that, the guy showed an ecstatic expression… Kind of the type of person I could never become friends with.

However, that wasn’t the problem. Twitching my cheeks, I leaked a low voice from my mouth.

“…Hey, what’s with the smug face? Even my patience is reaching it’s limit. You went through all the trouble of sneaking into the house just to get this?”

“Ah, no, it was a lame joke. Forgive me.”

After honestly lowering her head, Kaorun lightly shrugged her shoulders and explained.

“This is the DVD that Shuu-kun was preciously holding earlier. He indeed must have intended to watch it in the living room, but I believed that it would be the end for him if someone found him passed out with that DVD in the arms, so I ended up taking it with me.”

“So it was true that he’s a light masochist. That’s full-fledged S&M.”

“…I will present you this DVD as your reward for accompanying me.”

“I’m treated rather cheap. I wouldn’t know where to put that, so I don’t want it. I’m fine with just your smile as my reward. Come on, show me the objection in question with a smile.”

“…It is not fair how you smile like that while supposedly joking around…”

Did she notice that I was being serious just now? Kaorun flushed her cheeks pinkish and averting her eyes from me. What she slowly pulled out of the backpack after the DVD was a thick photo album.

On the cover was written the rather simple title “Kaoru”, but apparently this was the object in question and Kaorun smiled faintly with “Papa Sougo and Mama Misaki made this for me”, opening the album so that I could see.

But why did she suddenly want to look at an album? Did looking at my album before dinner have anything to do with it? Even feel I felt a bit doubtful, I dropped my gaze onto her album for now, where I could see not only Kaorun in her childhood days, but also a young Hijiri.

Except that the expression of the young Kaorun was even more lacking than now. But even so, the young Kaorun wore a maid uniform on her small body. Seeing that appearance soothed my heart, but to not let her find out, I shifted my gaze to the small Hijiri, who fascinated me just as much, in the picture.

“Ohh, Hijiri has been pretty and cute from childhood.”

“Shinobu-sama, what about me, the topic of this album? Am I cute?”

“You have a brazen look from childhood.”

While giving my honest impression, I made a rather serious request with “By the way,”.

“Can I have one picture with both of you in it?”

“Fufu, then let us make it an exchange for a picture with Nazuna-chan and you.”

“Sure, but aren’t your pictures a bit weird? On a closer look, you’re not taking any poses, nor are you even looking at the camera. It’s rather natural.”

“Because I hate being photographed. Most of them surely are taken secretly by Mama Misaki.”

“…I met her just now and you seriously were influenced by her.”

While exchanging like that, I continued to look at the album, whereupon I suddenly noticed a certain thing and naturally formed a small smile.

“Somehow, this resembles my own album a bit. It’s full of pictures of your little sister too.”

“…Quite strange, indeed. Before her friends in elementary school found out about the exorcist business, Hijiri-chan was as popular as today.”

Still looking at the album, Kaorun continued with “Even so,” and a bittersweet smile.

“She often followed me around, even on my job, despite having lots of friends to play with. Afterwards she even helped me out and thus mastered the house chores… but I wonder why she always hovered over me.”

“Don’t you know that reason by now?”

Softly interjecting, I shifted my gaze to the album.

“I’m sure Hijiri was just like Nazuna. Even I can tell by just looking at the pictures. Whenever Hijiri was with you, she smiled so happily and enjoyable… Mh? In this one, Hijiri’s crying. Actually, this picture is…”

It somewhat resembled the scene from the picture in my album. Was this a secret shot by Misaki-san too? The young Hijiri was spilling big tears in the garden. The young Kaorun petted her younger sister’s head. Her expression still showed no emotions, but her hands, petting her younger sister’s head, had no hesitation and the look in her eyes… was the same that Kaorun showed right now. A really gentle one.

“…This is a picture from when I was stung by a bee.”

“You were stung too!?”

“Yes. If I remember correctly, Hijiri-chan was being chased by the bee and I wanted to help her, but I messed around by saying ‘It is no big deal unless it gets you’ and swinging around a broom… Then the bee stung me with all it’s might.”

“Haha, quite the rare mistake from you.”

“Well, it happened in my childhood.”

She probably remembered the old days.

“Even when I was stung back then, it was nothing to me. I am a hybrid devil after all. There was no way a bee sting would do anything to me. Just…”

Softly narrowing her eyes, Kaorun dearly stroke over the picture in the album.

“It was troublesome how Hijiri-chan started crying on a rare occasion. I was just alright, yet she was really worried with ‘Does it hurt? Sorry’ and exaggeratingly cried a lot in my stead, who was not allowed to cry as a tool…”

Slightly rocking her eyes, she trembled her voice a bit.

“From an early age, Hijiri-chan always considered me as her older sister…” with that she stared at the album and stopped her words. After a short pause, Kaorun faced me and slowly started talking.

“Shinobu-sama, a while ago, I prepared for the arrival of the new maid and then finally met her for the first time… Truth is, I have been worried since that time.”

As she was finally going to talk about the reason as to why she came over to our house, she peacefully continued her words.

“When we previously held the meeting at our house for Machina’s student council election, I warned you in the form of a joke, right? I said: The new maid is a really adorable girl. Please do not lay your hands on her—”

“And I responded: I can’t promise that— But I was joking too, you know?”

“…You are a natural gigolo, so I am worried.”

Cracking a little joke, Kaorun calmly got back on topic.

“This new maid— Hisame-chan is really adorable, but she is a hybrid devil like myself. I am sure a lot has happened to her as well. She is only fourteen years old, yet she rarely shows any emotions and seems just like a machine.”

While saying so, she clouded her expression.

“She might resemble my old self in that regard. But when she spoke with me, which was only once, she smiled a bit at me. When I saw that little smile, I mysteriously got the urge to make her smile more… And then it suddenly came to my mind.”

Slowly closing her eyes, Kaorun filled her tone with warmth.

“ That Hijiri-chan maybe had the same feeling when she first met me. That reminded of what Hijiri-chan had done for me.”

Still keeping her eyes shut like reminiscing in the past, she softly spun her words.

“Living together with someone that is nothing but a stranger and accept that someone as a precious family member. That is what Hijiri-chan did for me. Seeing Hisame-chan’s smile made me want to do the same for her.”

Slowly opening her eyes during her speech, Kaorun showed a wry smile with “But,”.

“When I recalled various things, I had only relied on Hijiri-chan, even though I am the older sister. I have not done anything befitting an older sister, so to do something for Hijiri-chan or Shuu-kun and even for Hisame-chan, who will become my little sister, I wanted to become a better older sister…”

“That’s why you came to us?”

“I… wanted to change myself.”

Even while nodding to my question, she lightly clenched her fists.

“All of you in the Nanjou family are not connected by blood to Luna-san and the others, but you appeared like a natural family. When I saw them like that, I believed that if I were to become an older sister like Luna-san or the others, then Hisame-chan would gladly become a part of our family as well. However…”

Trembling her clenched fists, Kaorun sighed sadly.

“I made no progress and cannot seem to become like Luna-san and the others.”

“…I already told you before, but you don’t have to force yourself to change.”

“Why do you say that? I want to do so many things for Hijiri-chan and even want to be nicer to Shuu-kun, instead of teasing him all the time. Likewise for Papa Sougo and Mami Misaki, who made this photo album for me…”

Kaorun objected weakly to my interjection. While looking at her, I once more interjected with warm words.

“Seems you don’t like yourself.”

“…Staying at your house only made me realize what I lack.”

“What you lack, huh. You’re worrying about the same stuff as me not long ago.”

“But you… always seem so self-confident?”

“Just like you, I’m just playing that part. Actually I have no confidence in myself and fear that everyone’ll leave me once they know of my weak self…”

While speaking, I recalled the past as well.

“It was even worse in my childhood. I couldn’t forgive my weak self and hated myself, thinking that I should just disappear. But you know,”

Continuing my words, I now remembered the dream I had the other day.

“A certain person told me that it’s okay to be weak. That some things can only be understood through weakness. She also told me:”

When I suddenly looked up to the moon in the night sky, I vividly recalled Luna’s words from seven years ago.

“Precisely because you are weak, you can understand other people’s pain very well and cannot leave someone alone, who is hurt and crying. I mean, you are this desperate for your little sister and do not even fear me…”

…I slowly put into words what Luna had given me back then.

“You might hate yourself, but a weak, yet kind person like you— I love very much.”

I never wanted to forget about that time again. Speaking about a precious memory, I slowly turned my gaze back.

“…It’s hard to notice your strong points. It’s also hard to overcome your self-loathing. But you know, if someone finds my strong point and tells me that she loves me like that, then I think I’ll be able to accept my hated self for a bit.”

While looking at Kaorun, I softly told her.

“Hijiri found a lot of your strong points too, right? She told you she loves you, right? Actually I ran into Hijiri in the house earlier, but she was feeling lonely, you know? She said she end up staying up late every night without you.”

“Hijiri-chan said that?”

“Just like in the past, she must want to stay with her older sister. So just stay as you are as Hijiri’s beloved sister. You don’t have to force yourself to be like Luna or the others. After looking at your album, I’m even more convinced about that.”

“…I also noticed something important by looking at the album.”

With a slightly cracked voice, Kaorun trembled her shoulders a bit.

“I thought I had only relied on her, but Hijiri-chan had relied on me as well. It seems I have always been… her older sister.”

“Yeah, it does. There’s no need to force yourself to change. I’m sure you can become an older sister for the new maid too, with just the way you are.”

“I wonder.”

“If you’re not confident, I’ll list your good points in place of Hijiri.”

Without the usual jokes, I properly conveyed my sentiment.

“You often play weird pranks, but you’re shy and cute. You’re a beauty with good style, you’re considerate and kind, your cooking is flawless and joking around with you is really fun. I… don’t hate you.”

“…If you do not hate me, then what is it?”

“You should know, even without me spelling it out.”

“Please spell it out for me… I am never sure with you, Shinobu-sama.”

With her beautiful voice still cracked, Kaorun faced her somewhat blurred eyes at me. I would like to avoid saying stuff like this, but I told her my feelings while scratching my head.

“I have been envious of Hijiri numerous times. I too want to live together with a maid like you, so I was really happy when you came over. Therefore, I really… don’t hate you.”

“…I also… really… really… love you…”

Terribly trembling her voice, Kaorun spilled tears from her blurred eyes. I softly reached out my hand for her and while gently petting her head… I remembered that time again.

Seven years ago, Luna told me that she loved me. She accepted my weakness with a smile and I got the feeling that I forgave my hateful self a little bit. Unable to bear it any longer, I started crying like Kaorun…

I was really happy back then, so I wanted to do the same as Luna, so I pulled the crying Kaorun into an embrace and kept petting her until until she stopped crying…

On the way back from the park. The moonlight softly illuminated the street. While walking down the road, Kaorun tightly squeezed my hand spoiled on a rare occasion and we proceeded silently for a while, but suddenly she stopped and said isolated just like that.

“…Shinobu-sama, I am thinking of returning home tomorrow.”

“Well, you resolved your worries by noticing something important after all.”

Still, she was leaving already, huh. A bit of a shame. I swallowed down these words, whereupon Kaorun squeezed my hand a bit stronger and started talking with lightly flushed cheeks.

“I will only tell this to you, Shinobu-sama. Actually, the comfortable feeling in the Nanjou Household gradually made me want to go back to my own home, you know?”

“You certainly looked down, but I guess even you get homesick.”

“As embarrassing as it is. I became more and more lonely, so I fantasized about taking you back home with me or more preferably, everything would work out if the Nanjou & Gogyou Family were to live together. But that is not impossible in the future, is it?”

When I nodded rather serious, Kaorun giggled.

“While I imagined fun things like that, I was suddenly thinking only about my family. Like if Hijiri-chan was troubled with her winter vacation homework, since she is not good with English. Or if Shuu-kun was lazing around since it is winter vacation. Or if Papa Sougo was overdoing it with work again. Or if Mama Misaki caused troubles by sexual harassing anyone—.”

Her words were full of affection.

“Due to that, I noticed once again. That I apparently hopelessly love my own family, as you love yours, Shinobu-sama. Only thinking about my family and wanting to do something for them… I realized that this feeling is more precious than anything.”

She let a bright and open smile blossom in her expression.

“With that feeling, I should be a good enough older sister, even if I do not become like Luna-san or the others, like you have told me earlier. So I will have more confidence in myself as an older sister and welcome Hisame-chan— a new family member.”

“…You got a nice conclusion.”

“All thanks to you, Shinobu-sama. No matter how much troubles I caused or jokes I told, you accompanied me again tonight without complaining. And you even told me that you really do not hate me, so…”

Stopping her words, she clung to me arm and declared by whispering into my ear.

“I want to thank you before going home, so please wait for me in your room tonight.”

“…Sorry if I’m already asleep.”

Even while I replied with a joke like that, I thought that I would properly wait for her…

She had mentioned to thank me, but what was she going to do?

After the long walk in the middle of the night, we got back to in front of the house, where the lights in Luna’s room were on despite the late time, but… that aside.

For now we got into the house, whereupon Kaorun reminded me with “I will come over soon, so please do not fall asleep.” and returned to the guest room. After watching her leave, I returned to my room too and made myself comfortable on my bed, but… somehow I was a bit excited.

This was Kaorun, so she surely would crack a joke about having come for a night visit as a thanks. But the good part would come afterwards. Personally, I didn’t need any thanks, but it was a fact that I was looking forward to it a bit.

I would be happy if she gave me a book coupon or so. Even happier if she lent me her favourite book. I didn’t want the S&M DVD from Shuu-kun by all means. When such thoughts crossed my mind, it seemed she already came to thank me. The door was knocked quietly and Kaorun entered the room.

However, her slender body was only clad in a single bath towel and even though I had anticipated a prank, I could clearly tell her perfect body line, which was just like a piece of art, so I inadvertently was about to be captivated by it, whereupon Kaorun averted her eyes from me and mumbled by flushing her cheeks.

“…I took a shower.”

“Okay, better put on some clothes quick or you’ll catch a cold.”

“Y- You just have to warm me up.”

Before she finished saying that, Kaorun stepped forward while fleetingly showing her white thighs from under the hem of the towel. Just what was she thinking? She sat down on my lap. The sensation of her bouncy bottom was irresistible. But I clad myself in composure and called out to Kaorun.

“Uhm, it’s already late, so please stop jokes like this.”

“…Stupid Shinobu-sama.”

I had meant no harm, but she replied sulky and put both her hands on her own knees, lowering her upper body by bending forward for some reason. Then she started to widely bobbed up and down her well-formed hips clad in a towel on my lap and I hastily called her to a stop.

“I, I said, stop these jokes. Give me a book or coupon as thanks already.”

…For some reason my words had the opposite effect.

Not listening to my words at all, she seductively bended her waist back and forth and shook her bottom. The bath towel started to roll up and exposed her round buttocks, gradually showing more of her beautiful snow-white hips.

Every time Kaorun moved her hips, that white bottom wobbled like a superb pudding. Moreover, she rubbed her sweet hips against my thighs circling.

An incredible elasticity. At times, Kaorun leaked charming moan. It was only a matter of time until my reasoning would break down. Robbed of my composure, I leaked an agitated voice.

“Wh- What? Why’re you keeping quiet? Are you angry? I don’t get it, but please stop it, seriously.”

When I eagerly called her to a stop this time, Kaorun finally stopped her movements, but as soon as she sat down next to me, she entwined her arms around the back of my hand and slowly laid down face-up on the bed like that.

…What was up with this posture? It totally looked like I had pushed her down onto the bed. Just what did she want to do? When I faced her a bit doubtful, she surprisingly flushed her cheeks bright red and dampened her eyes a bit… It was extremely sexy.

The agitation in my chest grew stronger, but I mustered all of my reasoning and called out to her.

“Hey, I’m still a guy, you know? You might be joking around, but stop it now. What if I do anything to do?”

“…I came here because I want you to.”

She mumbled with a fragile voice on the bed.

“Is it not natural to want your beloved person to do it to you? The gratitude was just a pretext. Actually I was really happy about your earlier words in the park and could not forget the warmth from your embrace or hand on my head, so I came here by mustering all of my courage, you know?”

Her damp almond eyes. She looked up straight at me with them.

“I admit that I normally mess around. But it is different for tonight at least. If you brush it off as a joke now… I will certainly be a bit sad.”

“…Are you serious?”

To be honest, I was greatly bewildered. I felt my pulse accelerating, whereupon Kaorun quietly loosened the bath towel, exposing her smooth white skin on the bed.

Her round well-formed breasts. Her fascinating slender waist. Her shiny and juicy thighs. While baring her everything, Kaorun softly took my hand. With a little trembling, she guided my palm to her breasts and said with an embarrassed expression.

“Can you feel it, Shinobu-sama? It is beating so fast, right? I love Shuu-kun and Papa Sougo, but my heart is only racing like this for you, you know?” with that she flushed her smooth cheeks even more and dearly called out to me with “Shinobu-sama”, then she continued whispering.

“Just for tonight is fine. Please… do me a lot…”

—Maybe the smell of shampoo? A sweet fragrance tickled my nasal cavities and I got the feeling that my reasoning was about to be blown away. When I inadvertently ended up moving my hand to confirm the sensation of her white breast, Kaorun leaked a “Mm” moan and twisted her body bewitching.

“I am happy, Shinobu-sama. I see that you are up for it. Please do more.”

“Ah, no, well, what can I say…”

“Could it be, it is your first time and you do not know what to do? Then you do not have to panic. Let this older girl lead you, okay?

Not good. My reasoning had perfectly stopped working. I knew I shouldn’t, yet I couldn’t remove my hand from her breast.

Moreover, it seemed like Kaorun was serious about offering her body to me. And I didn’t hate her either. So it should be fine— wait no, this was bad in various ways after all. Besides, I would be doomed if Luna were to see us here. Someone stop me please.

As such, I mentally panicked, whereupon there was a quiet knock on the door and the door opened without waiting for my reply.

“Shinobu-san, I have read the novel I borrowed and it was really good, so I would like the continua—”

The person I absolutely didn’t want to have here now. Luna held the novel she borrowed from me before dinner against her chest.

She had skipped her usual “I am coming in” and raised an excited voice first, but as soon as she noticed our situation, she turned pale and dropped the book onto the floor, trembling her voice while tears dwelled up in her eyes.

“Uh- Uhm, I could hear your voices in the hallway, so I thought you were still awake, but to think… you were in such a relationship with Kaoru-san instead of Hijiri-san…”

“W- Wait, Luna. That’s not it, ehm… It’s just some friendly physical contact.”

“Fueeh~! Shinobu-san told a complete lie! Saying that while you are groping Kaoru-san’s breast is not convincing at all!”

Now she started to cry, only to turn on her heels then and rushed out of the room with “Fueah~ Elni-chan~”, as she was going to cry on the shoulder of our family’s reliable second daughter.

On the other hand, I had dumbfounded frozen up with my gaze towards the door, whereas Kaorun sat up in the corner of my vision, pressed the towel against her body and rested her hand on my shoulder.

“Shinobu-sama, you do not have to worry. I will go now to properly explain it to Luna-san.”

“…What are you going to tell her?”

“That I live as your and Hijiri-chan’s maid. I will let either Hijiri-chan or Luna-san have the position of your legal wife. But in exchange, I will take your first time.”

“Actually, it’s not my first time.”

“Please do not be ridiculous, Virgin-sama— I mean, Shinobu-sama. I will be right back, so please wait a moment, because I will make sure to take your first time.”

Her earlier embarrassed expression had vanished. Kaorun showed her usual prankish smile and left the room in high spirits to go after Luna.

However, what would they talk about now?

Kaorun came back to the room around dawn. She jolted the sleeping me awake and started to complain half-crying with “Please listen to this, Shinobu-sama! Elni-san will not forgive me! She is only taking Luna-san’s side”, whereas I couldn’t tell if she was serious or just joking. Kaorun would leave tomorrow— No, today, so I decided to hear out her grumbling for now even while I wasn’t fully awake yet…

* * *

…When would she return home? The evening sun shone into our living room. Packed for her return to the Gogyou Mansion, Kaorun’s travel bag, which she had brought with her, was left in the room. However, the Kaorun in question had bid everyone farewell before lunch, yet she didn’t return at all even while saying stuff like “Just now I sent Hijiri-chan a mail saying that I will return.” “I want to play with Nazuna-chan again, so I will be back.” “I had fun talking with Machina, so I will take on your time again.” “I just love Shinobu-sama so much that I do not want to return home— Just partly kidding. I will properly go home.”. Even now, she was sitting on the sofa in the living room together with me and smiled happily while leaning her cheek on my shoulder.

Not only was she beautiful, but cute as well. So much that I hesitated to send her home. But Kaorun sent a mail before lunch saying that she will return, so it was about time she went home or Hijiri would worry.

When such thoughts crossed my mind, the interphone suddenly resounded in the living room, as we got a guest, and Kaorun giggled as soon as she heard it.

“Hijiri-chan might have come to pick me up, since she could no longer wait for my return.”

“…Hijiri has an unexpected sister complex after all.”

Kaorun herself had been joking, but I couldn’t deny the possibility of it.

When I went into the hallway to get to the guest, Kaorun tagged along too, full of anticipation with “If it is Hijiri-chan, I will embrace and kiss her. If it is Shuu-kun, I will pet his head”. With her in tow, I opened the door with a wry smile.

Like Kaorun had hoped, there stood Hijiri. But next to her stood an unexpected additional person.

* * *

…I never expected Sougo-san to come to pick her up as well.

The head of the Gogyou Family, Sougo-san. Apparently he had talked with the new maid— with Hisame-chan over the phone while Kaorun was away and had went out yesterday to fulfil the small wish from her that he had heard on that occasion.

By the way, seemingly Sougo-san had noticed right from the beginning that Kaorun and Shuu-kun were only pretending to have a fight, but that aside.

The Gogyou Family’s new maid, Hisame-chan. Her wish apparently was to meet Kaorun once more. While talking about Hisame-chan, Sougo-san looked gently at Kaorun.

“Hisame seems rather attached to you. She was only talking about you on the phone. I’m sure she wants to see you, so I arranged it that she’ll be living with us from today on, though it’s earlier than planned. I returned with her before lunch. She’s waiting for your return too. Needless to say, we others are as well. Kaoru, come home already.”

He said that, whereas Kaorun replied.

“This is a good occasion to introduce Shinobu-sama to Hisame-chan.”

Before she even finished the sentence, she took my arm and half-forcefully bundled me into the Gogyou car that was park in front of our house. Both Hijiri and Sougo-san tolerated it with a wry smile. Thus I was now sitting in the back of the car while Sougo-san drove.

Most likely Sougo-san was being considerate to Kaorun and took over the driving on a rare occasion. Also, Kaorun seemed to have no seconds thoughts about meeting Hisame-chan and was talking relaxed with Hijiri and me. While we three continued our chit-chat, the huge Gogyou Mansion came into vision.

From the window of the car, I could confirm a girl with maid clothes standing in front of the gate.

Long silver hair straight down to her waist. Still a bit childish features. And an expression void of any warmth, like all emotions had been omitted.

“Shinobu-sama, that is Hisame-chan.”

Hearing Kaorun’s word, I looked at the girl— at Hisame-chan again, whereupon Hisame-chan, who stood there for who knows how long, frequently looked around a bit restless. Standing still in the dusk there, she appeared just like a lost child.

However, when Kaorun quickly got off the car and went over to her, there was still no change in her expression, but Hisame-chan relaxed the area around her eyes for a bit, giving the impression that she was somewhat relieved.

Neither Hijiri or Sougo-san tried to get off the car. Just like me, they watched peacefully over Kaorun and Hisame-chan. During that, Kaorun put on a smile and called out to Hisame-chan with a soft tone, restraining herself from a joke.

“We meet again, Hisame-chan.”

“…Yes. I will be in your care from today on. Please treat me well, Kaoru-sama.”

“You do not have to add -sama for me.”

Warm and gently, Kaorun brightened her smile and continued.

“Because from today on I will be your older sister.”

“…Older sister… you say?”

“Indeed. And not just me, Hijiri-chan will be your older sister too and Shuu-kun will be your older brother. Likewise, Papa Sougo will be your father and Mama Misaki your mother.”

“I am not sure… what you mean.”

When Hisame-chan rocked her eyes perplexed, Kaorun slowly reached out her hand.

“It might not happened right away. It did not for me either. But let us slowly become a family from now on.”

Along with her soft words, Kaorun petted her head, whereupon there was a definite change in Hisame-chan’s so far unchanged expression. She wasn’t smiling. Her eyes just gradually started to dampen.

“…I am a devil… abandoned by everyone… thought never again… Besides, a family for a tool is…”

Trembling her voice greatly, Hisame-chan might have tried to force herself to refuse, but her words discontinued and Kaorun pulled her into an embrace, declaring warmly.

“You do not need to say anything now. When you feel like telling us your feelings, please do so. Just remember this, I will say it as often as it takes for you to accept it. You are no longer a tool. One day, Hijiri-chan, Shinobu-sama and myself will change the exorcist organisation. You are not a tool. You are our family.”

—Not a tool. These words and the warmth from the embrace might be the blissful something that Kaorun received from Hijiri in the past.

Hisame-chan still wasn’t smiling. Neither did she cry. Just trembling her lips, she kept her inexpressiveness.

Even so, I somewhat thought by watching them… It sure might be difficult to become a family right away, but once Hisame-chan’s heart was filled with shared memories and recollections of conversations… they would be able to become a family.

That premonition gradually changed into something definite. Hisame-chan didn’t say anything. Nevertheless, she hesitantly started to reach out her hands to return Kaorun’s embrace.

“—It is okay. It is alright now.”

Suddenly I felt nostalgic. Just like I had embraced her and petted her head in the park yesterday, Kaorun was embracing Hisame-chan and gently petting her head. Her heart-warming appearance was similar to the person, who gave my younger self something really precious seven years ago—

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