Hayakawa Kashi chose a quiet cafe as the practice location. Unlike the Maid Cafe where Shirakawa Sawahei had a part-time job, this place was tranquil and elegant, with a hint of bourgeois charm. The only flaw was that there wasn’t a single customer inside.
Upon noticing the Black Hearted Lolita hiding behind Shirakawa Sawahei, Hayakawa Kashi curled her lips and was the first to provoke: "Hmm? Isn’t this my adorable sister who ran away from home? Out of money already?"
"Hayakawa Kashi! Don’t get cocky!" The Black Hearted Lolita couldn’t handle the jab, and stomped angrily: "Who ran away from home! I was just staying over at a friend’s house for a night!"
"Shirakawa Sawahei! Speak up!"
With a helpless look from the Black Hearted Lolita, he could only say, "Yes, yes, I did invite you to my house to play."
"Oh? So running away from the party was something you two planned?"
"Ah, so it was Shirakawa who was the real culprit in ruining the party. I understand now."
"Wait, I don’t agree with that." Shirakawa Sawahei clearly didn’t want to take the blame, "She ran away from the scene on her own; I just invited her later."
The Black Hearted Lolita was so infuriated by their banter that she almost ground her teeth: "You two really are in cahoots, partners in crime!"
Hayakawa Kashi watched her sister with great interest: "Well then, tell me who’s the wolf and who’s the jackal?"
"That’s obvious! The wolf rides on the jackal! Of course, you’re the wolf, and the pretty boy is the jackal."
Shirakawa Sawahei: "..."
He was too lazy to engage the little Lolita, and directly said, "Just stay put, we’re about to start practicing piano."
"Hmph! Who wants to watch you two practice piano!"
Having resolved the little Lolita’s issue, Shirakawa Sawahei put down his bag and walked over to the Little Arrogant Study Girl’s side. He looked around, puzzled: "Why is there no one here?"
It was their first time practicing outside of campus. Judging by the decor, it was clearly a well-designed, high-end, luxurious place.
"I bought it. Not open right now." Hayakawa Kashi’s tone was so nonchalant it was as if she was talking about buying a loaf of fried bread. This offhanded attitude even made Shirakawa Sawahei wonder if the store owner’s wife ran off with her sister-in-law.
Perhaps this was what it meant to be truly obscenely rich.
"Tch! Just has a little more pocket money than me, such a show-off!" Asano Nazuki couldn’t help but say with a sour tone from the side.
Hayakawa Kashi leisurely replied, "That’s true, I don’t have as much money as my sister, who spent money on a super big bathroom with a hot spring."
What’s with the bathroom? Why would a little Lolita buy a bathroom for no reason?
Shirakawa Sawahei couldn’t quite understand the siblings’ teasing and looked at the little Lolita strangely, not pursuing the bathroom topic, and urged, "Let’s get started, shall we, Hayakawa?"
The Little Arrogant Study Girl softly acknowledged and walked to the piano with Shirakawa Sawahei.
As if remembering something, she glanced at her sister nearby with a strange smile, and said, "The first song?"
"Canon in D?" Shirakawa Sawahei had no objection and responded, "Sure, I think that song sounds quite nice."
"Canon!? No! You can’t play that song!"
The Black Hearted Lolita suddenly panicked: "Doing such things in front of me! You’re not taking me seriously at all!"
"Pretty boy! Didn’t you promise not to side with the black-hearted woman! You’ve betrayed me!"
"How did I side with anyone?"
"Don’t say you didn’t! Playing a four-hands Canon together! And you act all innocent!"
Shirakawa Sawahei looked at Hayakawa Kashi with suspicion: "What did you do?"
"I didn’t do anything."
"Then why is she reacting so strongly?"
"But she didn’t call me sister."
Seeing the sisters acting dumb and the little Lolita jumping in rage, as if betrayed by Shirakawa Sawahei, he grew a little annoyed and decided, "Alright, we won’t play Canon then."
After teasing her silly sister, Miss Kashi seemed satisfied with her mischievousness and didn’t dwell on that particular song. The two of them casually flipped through the score and found a suitable piece to start their routine practice.
After finishing a song, Hayakawa Kashi seemed to frown slightly, then gently said, "Continue."
The little Lolita couldn’t help but snort coldly.
The black-hearted woman was still hiding her strength. Hmph, she’d rather let me see that she’s inferior to the pretty boy than expose herself.
What deep plotting indeed!
After the second song, the Little Arrogant Study Girl seemed to frown even more tightly. Without any expression, she said, "Again."
Seeing the apparent effect, Shirakawa Sawahei silently continued to provide the girl with experience points.
The effect of the level 9 max skill allowed him to use experience to nurture a Study Girl. The level 5 piano was already sufficient for him at the moment, so he chose to use the experience from practice to raise Miss Kashi, his ultimate treasure.
For ordinary people, upgrading to a high-level skill requires endless practice and that flash of inspiration. Just like George Slater, who almost devoted his life to practicing piano. If he had the experience system, he would have been at level 7, regardless of his lack of talent.
But he was stuck at level 6 for nearly his entire life.
With this experience point system, Shirakawa Sawahei could help his Little Arrogant partner break through the bottleneck of inspiration, leveling up to level 5 over time!
Just not sure how much favor Miss Kashi has for him to feed her this much experience.
Hayakawa Kashi obviously noticed her peculiar state, making Shirakawa Sawahei accompany her repeatedly, trying to find out the reason behind it.
To help the Little Arrogant level up faster, Shirakawa Sawahei even equipped her with the title: ’The Queen’s Composure’.
Level up speed up! up!
However, once the title was equipped, never mind Miss Kashi, even Asano Nazuki beside them seemed to react first.
Under the gaze of the Black Hearted Lolita, her black-hearted sister’s presence suddenly became much more imposing, like the usual oppressive feeling had inexplicably intensified, making her want to bow her head involuntarily.
It was just like how ancient royal concubines would be almost afraid to speak loudly in front of the Empress.
The little Lolita was genuinely bewildered. She once dared to be a little cheeky in front of Hayakawa Kashi, but now she didn’t dare at all.
What was going on, had she been cursed or something?!
It wasn’t only Asano Nazuki who found it strange. Even the titular older sister was frowning now, unable to understand why she had suddenly entered such an odd state.
To solve her confusion, she brought the practice session to a halt and said, "Let’s stop here for today. I have something to take care of later."
Shirakawa Sawahei was feeding experience points enthusiastically, seeing his ultimate treasure about to leave, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
"Yeah, let’s continue the day after tomorrow, you have a part-time job tomorrow."
With that said, Shirakawa Sawahei had no choice but to agree and started packing his things.
As for the title ’The Queen’s’, he’d just let Miss Kashi borrow it since he couldn’t use it anyway, not to mention it was an item that dropped from her.
"Hey! Pretty boy, wait for me!"
The little Lolita avoided her sister’s terrifying gaze and clung to Shirakawa Sawahei’s hand bravely. She wanted nothing to do with facing Hayakawa Kashi—who knew why her aura had suddenly turned so menacing, stripping her of any courage to challenge her sister.
Could it be... this was the legendary... bloodline suppression that often appeared in Huaxia web novels?