Originally, it should have been a lovely, heartwarming scene of family affection.
Yet it was abruptly cut short by Miyuki's startled cry.
The two of them realized what had happened.
After one brief moment of shy, awkward eye contact, they simultaneously looked away.
While they stood there, feeling awkward and at a loss...
Shiba Tatsuya suddenly sat bolt upright from the ground.
He had woken from unconsciousness.
But in the very next moment:
His eyes rolled back, and he fell into unconsciousness once again.
Yotsuba Maya looked questioningly at Shiba Miya.
It turned out Shiba Miya had used her own magic to attack Tatsuya's mind.
"Hmph, don't think I don't know. This is just one of those stunts the old folks in the Yotsuba Family pulled. They brought him here on purpose to get close to Miyuki and eventually have a child with her."
Shiba Miya's gentleness vanished, replaced by a sharp gaze.
Yotsuba Maya could not deny it.
Those old, stubborn elders of the Yotsuba Family, holding considerable authority, had set their sights on Miyuki's prodigious talent. They wanted to tie Miyuki firmly to the Yotsuba Family, have her bear children who would inherit her gifts—
That was their imagined "bright future" for the Yotsuba Family.
But Shiba Miya had now returned in full force.
She said coldly, "Sis, after coming back from the brink of death, I can feel I've gained even greater power."
She had no idea what power Rei Ao used to heal her, but even just that trace amount of energy had benefited her tremendously, granting her new strength.
Now that she had acknowledged her younger sister's identity, Shiba Miya—free of any lingering emotional burdens—wanted to use her power to protect her family.
"So, Sis, it's time we settle things with that rotten Yotsuba Family."
She glanced at the closed bedroom door behind her.
"Let's give Miyuki a warmer home."
Kawasaki Saki wiped the sweat from her forehead, feeling a wave of satisfaction as she looked at the clothes she had just hung up.
However, seeing how some of those clothes were clearly not everyday wear, but rather intimate, she couldn't help but blush. While hand washing them, she had noticed and felt certain residual... evidence... that let her know those garments had indeed been used. She felt torn between embarrassment and a bit of disgust.
Still, she gritted her teeth and kept scrubbing—she wanted to be sure she got paid—so she even hand washed Rei Ao's underwear.
Fortunately, once she got used to it, it wasn't so bad; now she was finally done.
Just then, Mai appeared behind her, surprised at how composed Kawasaki Saki was.
If it had been the old me, I probably couldn't have stayed this calm, Mai thought.
"Ahem, I just finished."
Kawasaki Saki cleared her throat, trying to cover her embarrassment, then changed the topic. "Did they already leave?"
There was no noise coming from the living room anymore.
"Their tutoring session ended quite a while ago," Mai explained.
"It's getting late. Tohru is making dinner now—why don't you stay and eat before you head home?"
Mai was genuinely inviting her; she wasn't about to let someone who had worked so hard go home hungry.
"This..." Saki's stomach growled softly—she really was hungry.
And it's hard to decline such hospitality.
So, a bit embarrassed, Kawasaki Saki said, "Thank you so much—sorry for imposing!"
Even though it was only a single encounter—just over an hour long—Rei Ao had stayed in the bedroom all the way until dusk.
It was simply because Miyuki was different from anyone else he had been with: after they finished, she held onto his hand, refusing to let go, as if she were a fragile little bird. And she really was still too weak to handle too much.
Rei Ao, however, didn't mind providing her that sense of security. He held her and spoke with her about many things she normally wouldn't dare mention.
Shiba Miyuki let out a long yawn.
Seeing this, Rei Ao pinched her delicate nose in a playful gesture. "If you're sleepy, just sleep. We've talked about so much that you've basically told me every detail from your childhood."
Her face flushed scarlet.
Now that the barrier between them was gone, it felt as though their hearts were pressed right up against each other. She had confessed so many things that, as a Yotsuba family member, she would never normally share with
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