With these thoughts in mind, Yuga said to Windy, "You take James to your room. I'll go see Yasushi."
Windy nodded in response, "Alright."
Windy's room had already been moved to the new store, and he currently lived with Yasushi and the others there. So, when they arrived at the new store, Windy took James to the second floor to his room, while Yuga went to the guest room.
At the door of the guest room, Yuga knocked and asked, "I heard there's a guest. May I come in?"
"It's the boss. Please come in," replied Yasushi from inside.
Yuga entered the guest room and was surprised to see an unexpected person inside.
"Mr. Shimizu, we meet again!"
Miyuki stood up from her chair and greeted Yuga politely. Her voice was soft and gentle, and if Yuga hadn't witnessed her slapping her own sister, he might have believed that she was a gentle girl.
"So, Yasushi's little sister is Miss Miyuki?" Yuga asked Yasushi, surprised.
Yasushi looked at Yuga and nodded slowly, but his expression was somewhat grim.
"Yes, I didn't expect such a coincidence in the world. My brother is working at Mr. Shimizu's store. It's just that my brother has been away for so long without contacting home, and both Grandfather and my sister were very worried about him."
Miyuki spoke in a slightly teasing tone as if she were doting on her brother, giving the impression that they had a very close sibling relationship.
However, as Yuga listened to Miyuki's words, he noticed that Yasushi's expression became increasingly unpleasant. He didn't say a word.
No wonder Yasushi was so skilled in making incense; he had a family background in it, Yuga finally understood.
"Is Miss Miyuki here to persuade Yasushi to go back home?" Yuga looked at Miyuki and then at Yasushi, feeling that the relationship between these two wasn't as simple as it appeared.
Miyuki chuckled, "Why would I? My brother has his own ideas, and he can go wherever he wants. But he should occasionally contact home, or we'll worry."
After speaking, she cast a "blameful" look at Yasushi.
But Yasushi's face grew darker and darker.
Sensing the increasingly awkward atmosphere, Yuga was about to speak when Miyuki said, "Now that I've seen my brother safe and sound, I can rest easy. I'll take my leave today. Goodbye, Mr. Shimizu."
With that, Miyuki turned and bowed politely to Yuga before heading outside.
Watching Miyuki's retreating figure, Yuga found this girl was weird.
After Miyuki left, Yasushi, who had been tense, seemed to relax all at once. He slumped into a chair.
"What's wrong? Your sister came to visit you, but you don't seem too happy about it," Yuga asked.
In fact, Yuga could guess the reason to some extent. If she wasn't a good sister, she probably wasn't a good sibling either.
Yasushi, catching his breath, sat up straight in the chair and took a deep breath. Then he said to Yuga, "Boss, I'm thinking of leaving this place."
"Because of your sister?" Yuga inquired.
"Tell me the reasons."
Actually, Yasushi was quite important to YoYo Day Care at the moment. Without him, they couldn't handle the incense business alone, especially since it was thriving. So, unless there was a compelling reason, Yuga didn't want Yasushi to leave.
With this sudden need, it wasn't feasible to hire or train an incense maker quickly. Besides, whether a hired or trained incense maker would meet Yasushi's standards was uncertain.
"I was injured because of her," Yasushi said, and as he spoke, he seemed to recall some unpleasant memories, causing his face to pale considerably.
Hearing this, Yuga was surprised. He remembered that Yasushi had been injured by a Pokémon's attack in the past.
So, if Yasushi's injury was connected to this Miyuki, she must not only be a skilled incense maker but also a formidable Pokémon trainer.
"Are you saying that you sought my protection initially because of her?" Yuga asked, puzzled.
Yasushi silently nodded.
"Well, now that I've agreed to provide you with protection, what are you worried about?" Yuga didn't quite understand.
"She's very skilled, and if I stay here, she'll likely come after me again. If that happens, it could affect the business here, and if anyone gets hurt, it would be troublesome. She doesn't care about hurting others when she gets involved."
Yasushi spoke with urgency, expressing his gratitude for Yuga's long-term hospitality. He didn't want YoYo Day Care to suffer because of his troubles.
"She seems quite ruthless!" Yuga thought. Still, he didn't believe that this Miyuki could cause much trouble at YoYo Day Care, especially with the presence of Dragonite's mother and Gardevoir.
"Alright, alright, just stay here and work diligently for me. I promise no one can harm you!" Yuga waved it off, not concerned about Miyuki causing any issues here.
"But..." Yasushi wanted to say more, but Yuga interrupted him.
"I said it's fine. Instead, why don't you tell me more about what's going on between you two?"
With a slightly bitter expression, Yasushi began to recount the complex relationship between him and Miyuki.
In their family, there were three children: Yasushi, the eldest; Miyuki, the middle child; and the youngest, Yukino. However, they didn't share the same mother.
Yasushi was the child of their father's first wife, while Miyuki and Yukino were born to Yasushi's stepmother.
Yasushi's biological mother had passed away when he was very young, and his father remarried shortly afterward, subsequently having Miyuki and Yukino with his new wife.
However, Yasushi's grandfather favored him the most and didn't pay much attention to Miyuki and Yukino.
The root cause of this situation was their family's tradition of prioritizing males over females, a tradition that had been ingrained in their family for generations.
Their family had a long lineage of incense makers, excellent incense makers have appeared from generation to generation. His grandfather is also a famous incense maker today.
But there is a rule in their family, and that is the true art of incense-making was traditionally only passed down to males. Females were at most allowed to learn the basics and sometimes were prohibited from even touching incense materials.
Yasushi's grandfather, in particular, was very strict and traditional in this regard.
The reason behind this rule was simple.
The art of incense-making was a closely guarded family secret, and any family that possessed this knowledge was unlikely to share it outside. If females were allowed to learn and later married into other families, it could potentially lead to the secret being revealed to outsiders.
Yasushi's family was not alone in having this rule; most long-standing incense maker families had similar customs. However, Yasushi's grandfather was especially stringent.q