Chapter 37: Now we can cuddle at home too!

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Translator: Soafp

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“So, who are they?”

“…Ah.”

Just as my shopping trip with my sister was coming to an end, I unexpectedly ran into the three girls.

Mari and the others walked toward us awkwardly after making eye contact with me, but they only gave us polite smiles and said nothing.

Saika, in particular, wore an almost expressionless face, which was a little frightening.

I wondered why the three of them were there and decided to ask.

“Um… what are you three doing here?”

There was no point in standing around in silence.

Mari answered first.

“We were shopping together. Then we saw you with her…”

So they hadn't been following me. They had simply happened to notice us.

They had met my sister before, but apparently had no memory of it—probably because of the hypnosis.

“I see. Oh, and these three are—”

I briefly explained the situation to my sister.

Mari and Saika were my classmates, while Emu was my junior.

My sister seemed surprised that I knew such beautiful girls, then laughed as though impressed.

“Not bad, Kai.”

“Who is she?”

“Yeah. I'm curious.”

Saika and Emu stepped forward and asked at the same time.

There was no reason to keep it a secret, so I was about to introduce my sister.

But before I could, she grabbed my arm.

“So, Kai, what are you doing after this?”

“What are you doing?”

She hugged my arm against her flat chest and leaned closer.

The fact that I felt no romantic excitement when my sister did this only proved that, no matter what, I was still simply her little brother.

“Wait, is she your younger sister?”

“No.”

She wasn't my younger sister, so I denied it.

Mari and Emu both stared at me blankly.

“…Saika?”

“…”

Saika's gaze became even sharper.

It lasted only a moment before her expression returned to normal, but that somehow made her even more intimidating.

“She's my older sister. I was helping her shop today.”

The moment I said that, my sister lightly jabbed me as if she found my answer boring.

At the same time, the cold atmosphere vanished, and Saika's face brightened into a huge smile.

We had met by coincidence, but it should have been time for everyone to go home.

However, my sister naturally wanted to know how I had met the girls, so she invited them out for tea.

(What is this situation? How did this happen?)

She took us to an elegant café that looked almost too fashionable for boys to enter.

My sister sat beside me, while Mari and the others sat across from us.

“Really? Kai did that?”

“Yes. It happened without my knowledge, but Kai-kun helped me.”

My sister learned things about me that she had never known before.

I had ended up helping the three girls because it allowed me to satisfy my own desires, but after hearing the story, my sister looked incredulous.

Then she nodded as though something had clicked.

“Kai, huh…? Well, I suppose it isn't impossible. I don't even know why I felt that way, but I always thought you might be capable of something like this.”

“…”

She reached out and gently stroked my head.

The girls were looking at me warmly too, and I had to endure an unbearable amount of embarrassment.

Even after plenty of time had passed, my sister continued chatting with them.

Eventually, I could no longer take it and went to the restroom, though returning to that atmosphere felt strangely difficult.

“My sister is basically a social-force-of-nature. She seems to get along with Mari, and I'm sure she thinks Saika and Emu are cute too.”

As her brother, I was happy to see her getting along with them.

“Alright, I should go back. I don't want them to think I'm taking another dump.”

When I returned, we talked a little longer before finally leaving.

Afterward, my sister continued chatting happily with Mari and Emu, while Saika and I watched them from a short distance away.

“Tomo is really easy to talk to.”

“Really? I'm glad you think so.”

“She even told me to come visit whenever I want.”

“…Seriously?”

“Yeah. Now I can see Kai-kun whenever I want.♪”

That sounded exactly like something my sister would say.

Still, it meant something important.

I had often visited the girls' homes, but now they had a reason to visit mine.

“…Heh.”

That meant we could do all kinds of things in my room!

The activities themselves would not change much, but doing them in my own familiar home sounded appealing.

“Kai-kun.”

“What is it?”

Because I was feeling so pleased, I had let my guard down.

Saika asked me a question I should have anticipated, and my thoughts came to a complete stop.

“Before we met you and Tomo, what did you do to that man?”

“…What?”

I stopped moving entirely.

Slowly, I looked at Saika's expression. She simply stared back at me, waiting for an answer.

She had probably seen me speaking with Busujima.

She did not seem to know exactly what I had done, but she had witnessed us talking.

“Just kidding. It doesn't really matter to me.”

“Huh?”

Saika gave a small laugh and came to stand beside me.

As we watched my sister and the others together, she continued.

“I didn't see it clearly, and honestly, I don't care about someone like him. Mari and Emu know what happened too, but judging from the commotion, we only understood that he was a criminal who possessed something extremely incriminating.”

“I see.”

That was true.

Could I assume that she had not seen me use the app?

Saika did not seem suspicious, so I was relieved that she did not press the matter further.

“Kai-kun.”

“…!”

She slipped her fingers around mine with almost fluid smoothness.

The girl who had once been called plain had discarded every trace of that image. She now openly displayed her hidden beauty as she continued in a gentle, soothing voice, as though carefully explaining something to me.

“Right and wrong, the line between them… that depends on the individual. I won't condemn anything you do, Kai-kun. That's why I—”

“Hey, what are you two talking about?”

Before I realized it, I had been standing unusually close to Saika.

I had felt it earlier too, but her gentle, persuasive words were almost enough to draw me completely in.

That was why I was relieved when Emu interrupted us.

(I wonder what this is. It isn't frightening, exactly. But Saika makes me feel as though she will never condemn anything I do—as though she will remain on my side no matter what.)

I thought I sensed something similar from Mari and Emu.

After that, I said goodbye to the three girls and went home with my sister.

“…I really wonder what happened to that guy.”

“What guy?”

My sister was probably referring to Busujima.

I would need to hear more from her. I would not know what punishment he had received until the next day or even several days later.

She answered my question.

“People in his department had warned others about him. They said he had a bad reputation and that it was safer to stay away from him.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I probably shouldn't say this, but I was relieved when I heard he had ended up in police custody.”

“I see.”

Seeing how relieved my sister was, I also let out a quiet breath of relief.

Back in my room, I slowly took out my phone and opened the hypnosis app again.

“You really are incredible, partner. I'm not going to call myself a hero or brag about doing the right thing. But I'm glad you were there. Something irreversible might have happened to my sister otherwise.”

I felt stupid for thanking an app.

Even so, without that power, I might not have been able to prevent what happened.

“…?”

But I found myself thinking again about the lines connecting the names I had seen before.

I opened that page.

Several lines connected to my name, and the same three lines continued to glow a vivid pink.

Two more thick lines had appeared as well.

And there were also more black lines that looked as though they had been violently torn apart.

“…Could you at least explain what this means? It's seriously creepy.”

In the end, as usual, I still had no idea what any of it meant.