Prologue

Saito was abducted when he was ten years old, during a chill night. He
found himself in a cold abandoned room with no electricity or warmth
running through it, causing his muscles to go numb. Sitting on the floor
covered in a thick layer of dust, Saito simply carried a book in his hands
and looked up at the perpetrator.

“Now this is not something I expected.”

It wasn’t an unfamiliar face by any means. He was the former president of a

fintech company under the Houjou Group, but from the jumper he wore, the
scent of alcohol and other substances was more than palpable. He then let
out a ridiculing laugh.

“Praised as a genius, but you’re still just a brat, huh? You immediately fell
for it and followed along like an innocent little kid! Good thing I kept being
friendly to you, eh?”

“You’re right, I did let down my guard. I sure did not think you would be
such an illogical person to commit a crime like this and destroy your career.
The risks don’t match the merits here.”

“Career? Hah, good one. Your precious gramps already ruined that crap
ages ago!”

His filthy hand strangled Saito’s neck. He couldn’t breathe anymore, his
head congested, and his ears began to ring. His feeling of the world around
him began to grow weaker. All the while the man spit in his face.

“How’s that feel? Frustrating, huh? Being betrayed by the guy who played
the nice uncle!”
Saito wasn’t particularly frustrated, in fact. He was used to this sort of
thing. After all, when his ability became clear, even his own parents
detested him. He knew better than anybody else that love and affection
don’t equal trust in the slightest. The man then threw Saito’s body on the
ground, causing him to cough violently as air entered his lungs again. The
man didn’t care for that, however, and simply threatened him with a cold
voice.

“If you want to get home to Mommy and Daddy, then you better stay down
until we’re done here.”

“I’m fine not going home.”

“…Huh?” The man seemed confused, to say the least.

Ignoring his outburst, Saito picked up the book he happened to drop earlier
and opened it on a certain page.

“More importantly, this book you gave me is really interesting! It talks

about Alpha Centauri and the possibility that an earth-like planet exists at a
perfect distance from their sun! This means that there might be other races
like us living there, and with the right technology, we could even travel
there! Isn’t that fascinating?!”

“Who gives a damn?! Are you even aware of what position you’re in right
now?! Don’t just read the book I gave you as bait! You got abducted, you
brat!”

“Sounds rough,” Saito smiled.

“For you, yeah! I bet you didn’t know, but that Gramps of yours cut me off
like it’s nothing after I offered 30 years of my life to the Houjou Group! Do
you even know how much that messed up my family?! My wife left and
took my child with me, and the home we had just built became unaffordable
all of a sudden! I was ruined! My life was ruined! All because of your shitty
grandpa!”
“That’s odd. Grandpa would never cut off people who prove to have value
for him. The fact that you got fired and lost your family just shows that you
have no talent. You ended up here because you lacked talent, effort, and
strategy. Simple as that.”

“You damn brat…!” The man grit his teeth.

“Keep doing that and you’ll ruin your teeth! They just get weaker the older
you get, so you best be careful now.”

“Shut up! Shut up already! Enough of you! I thought of letting you live, but
you’re still that bastard’s relative! I’ll kill you right here and at least collect
the money for your dead body!”

The man took a knife out of his sleeve. His eyes were bloodshot as he
heaved for air like a wild beast when he pounced at Saito.

“To be honest, I don’t really feel the need to keep living in this garbage pile
of a world, but I can pass on the pain.”

Saito didn’t even attempt to escape and simply ran toward the man. He used
the thumbs on both his hands to stab them into the man’s eyes. His
movement was not hesitant because he knew this was the right way to
protect himself. And once his hands landed on their mark, he pressed them
deeper into the man’s sockets as if he gouged them out.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!”

The man fell to the ground and pressed his eyes on his hands, trying to stop
the blood from gushing out.

“I’m going to kill you…! I’ll kill you and send you back to your
grandfather in pieces!”

Bubbles started forming around the man’s mouth as he cursed and cursed
again. Leaving him like this would only mean that he’d come after Saito
again, so he picked up the knife from the ground and stuffed it away in his
pocket. He looked around and found an old electric wire. He used that to tie
up the man’s legs and kept him connected to a pillar in the room. The man
was still screaming about something, but his rage and fury made it
impossible to decipher a word.

“You’re done pretending to be a human? Fine, have it your way.”

Saito took out a phone from the man’s pocket and called the police. Shortly
after, the man was taken into custody and transported away in an
ambulance. For a moment, the police wondered if Saito was actually the
real criminal, but Tenryuu’s rageful outburst silenced them for good. Sitting
on the limousine with Tenryuu, their driver Rui let out a snickering laugh.

“I thought this would be my turn to shine, but it appears I wasn’t needed. As

expected of the next head of the family, no?”

“Because you kept drilling all those self-defense techniques into me,” Saito
accepted a warm tea from Rui’s bottle.

“Shisei-sama wouldn’t be able to keep going if something were to happen

to you, after all.”

Following that, Tenryuu gave another order.

“And I’d like you to continue training him from now on. As the future head
of the Houjou Family, he needs to be strong enough to protect himself.”

“Understood, Master,” said Rui politely as she bowed her head.

And so, the limousine drove away from the abandoned house with them
inside. A faint sigh escaped Saito’s lips inside the warm car. Since he kept
reading in his book until the police arrived, his fingers were all stiff from
the cold. Next to him, Tenryuu opened his mouth.

“That man couldn’t follow the changing of times. He interfered with the
business plans of the youngsters and his whole company was slowly losing
steam that I had to cut him off. Even if he would resent me for that reason, I
had to do it to protect my company. Do you understand?”
Saito shrugged his shoulders.

“Exchanging unnecessary or broken parts within a company is perfectly

rational. Nothing odd about that.”

“They’re not parts. They’re family.”

“What’s the difference? They all come and go and get exchanged.”

Tenryuu sighed out loud. From the looks of it, Saito’s answer wasn’t all too
satisfying for him. But to Saito, it was more difficult than anything he
learned in school to use positive ways to describe the people around him.

“Hey, Saito? What do you think love is?”

“A worthless hallucination that living beings with a cognitive ability tend to

show.”

“That is just…”

“Did I say anything weird?”

“No, not at all.”

“Then leave me alone. I wanna continue reading some more.”

Saito once again opened the book. The front cover was stained with the
blood of the man who had abducted him, but the pages themselves were
clean, so he could continue reading just fine.

“I swear…You’re far too suited to be my successor,” said Tenryuu as he

placed his hand on Saito’s head.
 The Girl I Love in My Class

In their shared bedroom, Saito sat on their bed and agonized over his
existence. He might not have managed to propose to Akane during the
dinner, but they still managed to confess their feelings to each other. And
that, in itself, was nothing but pure joy for him, of course. However, what
did Akane mean by “I’ll shower you with all the love in the world from now
on”? Granted, her interpretation of love probably wasn’t violent slaughter,
but even without that, what was she planning on doing? The more Saito
thought about it, the greater his fear and terror rose, and his heart continued
to beat loudly with no signs of calming down. This felt like their first night
together all over again. Except nothing happened back then, so it didn’t
even really count as their honeymoon night. As Saito’s thoughts whirled
around like a whirlpool in his head, Akane stormed into the room. The door
swung open with great momentum and Akane stood in the doorframe,
seemingly having just finished her bath.

“I think I finally realized it!”

She wore nothing but a bath towel around her otherwise naked body,
revealing far too much. And not to mention that her bath towel wasn’t
holding very tight around her chest, revealing her cleavage.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Saito frantically tried to avert his eyes, but
he couldn’t.

The sight in front of him kept his eyes glued to Akane. Meanwhile, the girl
moved closer to him with reddened cheeks.

“You were trying to propose to me, right?! And then I ended up confessing
to you first! So that means…I won, right?!”

“Put on some clothes first, okay?!” Saito screamed.

“Ah…”

Thanks to that, Akane seemed to have finally realized what appearance she
was flaunting in front of him. Flustered, she pressed the bath towel against
her chest and pushed her thighs together as she looked up at Saito.

“I…I don’t mind. If it’s you.”

“Gah…!”

Saito coughed up blood because Akane was way too cute.

“S-Saito?! Why are you coughing up blood?! Are you feeling unwell?!”

“It’s just…an old wound opening again…”

“Which one?!”

“Don’t worry…I’ll get better in a jiffy…”

“Is that true, I wonder…” Akane gave Saito a worried look.

“Absolutely! Look, it has already stopped!” He gave her a thumbs-up while

wiping away the blood around his mouth.

“So that means…I won our competition, right?!”

“I don’t remember ever making this a competition…”

Met with his words, Akane put her left hand on her hip and used her right
hand to point her index finger at him while declaring.

“Our relationship has always been nothing but a competition!”

“Is that true?!”

Saito hadn’t heard of such a fact before. Not to mention, because Akane had
let go of the towel with one hand, it was just one small nudge from falling
off completely, but she didn’t realize this at all. At this rate, this situation
would undergo a class change from her being half-naked to fully-naked, and
with no buffs for her to boot.

“Accept your defeat already! If not, I’ll tell all of the students at our school
that we’re in love with each other!”

“Wha…!”

Saito was in shock. Their classmates and other students were already under
the impression that they were some comedic duo roleplaying that they were
married, but if there was a bigger uproar now, Saito would not be able to
stand it.

“Also, aren’t you going to suffer from that as much as I do…?”

Rather, she gets embarrassed way easier, so the pain should be much greater
on her hand.

“If it means defeating you, I can handle any pain like that!”

“You’re that desperate to beat me?!”

“Oh, absolutely! I’m prepared to use the rest of my life just to defeat you!”

“Why don’t you use your time a bit more wisely, yeah?”

“Come on! Out with it! I win, right?! Tell me!”

She slowly climbed onto the bed, still in nothing but a bath towel, as she
slowly closed in on Saito. He could practically see her cleavage already
peeking out from the towel. Two pure-white mounds were waving
themselves at Saito, leaving him unable to move.

“Yeah, yeah, you win!”

As such, Saito had no other choice but to give up.

“That’s not it, right? Do it properly! Hands on the ground, saying ‘I lost.
Please forgive me!’ right?”
“Guh…!”

Saito balled a fist in frustration, but Akane had the upper hand in this
situation. He had to swallow his shame and get through with it. As such, he
placed his hands on the bed and pushed his head on the blanket.

“…I lost.”

“And? ‘I’m so pathetic I couldn’t even propose properly, but I still love
you, Akane’ comes next, right?”

“Grk…! I’m so pathetic I couldn’t even propose properly, but I still love
you, Akane…!”

“Good, good. Good boy.”

Satisfied with a smile on her face, Akane rubbed Saito’s head like she was
praising a dog. His whole face, all the way up to the tip of his nose, turned
crimson-red, all the while Akane’s chest was right in front of his eyes,
paired with a sweet fragrance drifting up to his nose. Despite the severe
humiliation he felt, it wasn’t all that bad. He wanted to be spoiled some
more like that. It felt like he’d awaken to an odd fetish if this continued.

“Um…Well…I should probably…put on some clothes, huh?”

“Please do…”

With this, Akane had regained her senses and immediately turned beet-red
from the shame as she hopped off the bed and dashed out of the room. The
sheets were a bit wet from the droplets of water that had fallen off Akane’s
body, and the shape she created when she crawled on them still remained.
Even after she left, Saito couldn’t find the strength to regain his composure,
until she eventually returned. She had her hair dried, but the heat remained.

“Then…Let’s sleep?”

“…Yes, let’s.”
They exchanged a few awkward words as they slipped under the sheets,
laying down with their backs to each other. Just like their first night
together, Saito could feel his heart racing painfully fast. Even worse is that
they weren’t archenemies like back then. They know about their feelings for
each other. How could he not be conscious of her presence? And when he
forcefully closed his eyes to distract himself, he could feel Akane rolling
around, moving closer toward him.

“H-Hey…!”

His eyes shot open once more and he turned around to face her.

“Wh-What?” She glared back at him.

“You’re…a bit close, no?”

“So what? Our feelings are mutual, right?”

“Sure, but…”

Saito’s heart would not calm down.

“Do you…not like this, Saito?” Akane teared up a bit and looked up at him.

Her long eyelashes were quivering, too. If the girl you liked acted like this
right in front of your eyes, no normal boy could fight against it.

“No…I don’t hate it…”

“Then you could have said so from the start. Don’t act so cheeky all the
time!” Akane said and clung to Saito without hesitation.

He could feel her soft body directly through her thin sleepwear, as well as
the heat that radiated from her body. Her long and slender bare legs rubbed
against his own, as he felt something sweet burning up inside of him.

“But we can’t sleep like this, right?”

“…Mhm…Zzz…”
“Already?! Am I the only one who couldn’t sleep at all?!”

Faint sleeping noises could be heard from Akane as she breathed happily.
She was practically clinging to him, not letting go.

“Mhm, Saito…I wuv you…”

For a moment, you wouldn’t believe that this was Akane uttering these
words. Yet again, Saito’s heart was racing even faster and his eyes were
wide awake.

“Yeah, this’ll be an all-nighter again…” Saito sighed deeply.

The next morning, the kitchen table was stacked with all sorts of dishes that
practically screamed how much effort Akane had put into it. Scotch eggs
covered with cheese, sunny lettuce, and French salad with watercress…It’s
like you found a golden egg hidden away deep within the forest. The beef
stew was packed with neatly cut carrots and potatoes, with thickly sliced
beef boiled in a juicy demi-glace sauce that glittered in a beautiful brown.
The main dish was soup with rice. The soup had all sorts of seafood
swimming in it like shrimp and squid, its scent only stimulating your
appetite. Meanwhile, the surface of the rice was sprinkled with bits and
pieces of sea bream and salmon roe that gave it that extra bit of color.

“This looks delicious. Then let’s dig—”

“Don’t!”

Before Saito could grab a bite, Akane pushed the spoon his way. From the
opposite side of the table, one hand on the wooden plate.

“That’s bad manners, you know?”

“You can’t eat it yet! I first have to feed you!”

“…What?”

Saito first thought he was just mishearing things, but Akane had a bit of the
scotch egg on her spoon, trying to stuff it into Saito’s mouth. He couldn’t
even properly chew on it.

“Here, eat up! It’s your pet food!”

“I’m not your damn pet!”

“So you’re saying you won’t eat the food I cooked for you?! Then I’ll just
have to slice your belly open and put it in there directly!”

“That won’t even count as me eating it anymore!”

“Then I’ll stuff it into your ears!”

“How does that even work?! Are you going to make me go deaf?!”

Saito tried his hardest to evade the constant jabs of the spoon in front of his
eyes. Despite their feelings for each other being clear now, he still felt like
his life was in grave danger. In fact, you might as well say that she’s gotten
much more dangerous and assertive. Frustrated that things weren’t going
her way, Akane began to pout.

“All I want is to feed you…You don’t have to reject me this much, you
know…?”

“I’m not rejecting you by any means…”

He felt flustered, sure, but the fear of having his eye gouged out by the
spoon was far stronger. And of course, Akane wasn’t the type of girl where
feeding Saito normally would be possible.

“If you don’t eat it from my hand, then you’re not getting any food at all!
Have fun eating your chickpeas!” She said and averted her face.

If nothing were to be done, all the delicious food in front of Saito’s eyes
would be taken away from him and he’d eat no better than an average
chicken.

“Okay, okay, I’ll eat some.”

“Great! Then…Open wide!”

“A-Ahhh…”

Saito carefully opened his mouth, and the spoon with the scotch egg slowly
carried it into his mouth. But of course, the food on the spoon wasn’t the
size fit for feeding each other. Saito almost had to dislocate his jaw to make
it fit and swallow it down. At the same time, Akane rested her head on her
palm.

“Is it good?”

“The taste is, yeah.”

“Hee hee, great!” Akane laughed gleefully.

—What kind of lovey-dovey nonsense is this?!

Saito doubted the scenery in front of his eyes. From their first year in high
school, all they’d been doing was fighting with each other…and yet now
that their feelings were mutual, this was the current state of events. Did she
get replaced while Saito wasn’t looking? Maybe the real Akane was already
captured by the Houjou Group? Would she even let that happen?

“Next up is the salad!”

She stabbed her fork into the salad in front of her and carried it closer to
Saito’s mouth. The fork was one wrong move from stabbing into his own
head, so he twisted his neck 90° degrees and evaded it.

“Why are you avoiding me again?!” hissed Akane in anger.

“Because you almost gave me a few extra holes in my nose!”

“I wouldn’t make a mistake like that! I only aim for the eyes!”

“That’s even worse!”

“Ah, my bad. I meant your mouth.”

“I can’t exactly trust you from the moment you misspeak like that! Also,
was it really a mistake?! Not that you just showed your true feelings for a
moment?!”

Akane then crossed her arms and spoke with an arrogant tone.

“Saito…Listen up. A married couple is supposed to have trust in each other.

That’s how you properly live with the other person. So have faith in me…
and let me crush your nose bone!”

“See! So it wasn’t a mistake! I have absolutely no reason to believe you!”

“You do! Who knows, maybe you’ll be just fine?!”

“I’m not betting on the lower chance! Fine, I won’t eat another bite and just
live off chickpeas for the rest of my life!” said Saito as he moved away
from the table.

However, Akane clung to his back and would not let him go.

“Wait! Don’t leave me here! I’ll stop fooling around!”

“So you were just fooling around after all?!”

“I just wanted to tease you a bit! Doing it normally would be way too
embarrassing, no?!”

“So you were embarrassed?” Saito turned around.

In response, Akane’s head turned red.

“Of…Of course…! I mean, who’d expect me to? I’m more like an evil god
who burns the whole world to the ground…”

“I feel like you’re a bit too confident about that, but…Sure, whatever. Can I
just have my breakfast now? We’ll be late if we don’t hurry it up.”

“That’s right! I’ll make sure to feed you efficiently!”

“So you still haven’t learned a thing, huh?!” Saito only grew more worried
again as they sat down on their chairs again.

“I did, I did. Because now I’ll be more careful and make sure there won’t be
any casualties.”

“How could there be casualties for a regular breakfast…And if you focus

on feeding me, you won’t be able to eat yourself, right?”

Akane frowned.

“That…is a problem I just realized, myself.”

“Just now…?”

Akane was the type to lose sight of her surroundings if she was burning
with anger or frustration, but she was even less perceptive now for some
reason.

“Then I know just the thing to do!” Akane’s eyes lit up like she was a
detective who had just solved the case.

Apparently, she was finally back to her usual glory, allowing Saito to sigh
in relief.

“You came up with something, huh?”

“Of course! I’ll just have to feed you while you feed me! That way, neither
of us will be hungry!”

“No?! Get a grip, already! Do you really consider that efficient?!”

“I’m perfectly sane! As always! Just believe me!”

She scooped some soup with rice on her spoon and offered it to Saito. She
apparently wanted to do this no matter what. And needless to say, he
couldn’t decline the plea of his adorable wife.

“Here, Saito. Open wide~”

“Mgh…Mgh…Delicious.”

“And now it’s my turn! Ahhhh!”

She leaned her body over the table toward Saito, closed her eyes, and
opened her small mouth. He scooped up a fitting size of the egg and slowly
carried it to her mouth. He never would have imagined he’d be doing
something so bold…ever.

“O-Open wide…”

“Nom!”

She had her hands on both her cheeks, her body twisting ever so slightly out
of pure joy. Her legs flapped up and down under the table. Whether she was
angry or happy, she was always 100% after all.

“Cu…” A voice escaped Saito’s lips.

“Cu…?” Akane tilted her head in confusion.

—How cute can you be?!

Saito balled a fist to make his nails bite into his palm, and he even gnawed
his own lip to give him the greatest pain he could. If not for that, he feared
he might get swept up in this sickly sweet atmosphere and fall completely
victim to her. He might give in to his desires and just leap at Akane right
then and there. And that was unforgivable.

“Saito?! You’re bleeding like crazy! It’s even worse than last night! What’s
going on with you?!”

“I’m fine. This red liquid is allowing me to maintain my ability to reason,”

he said with a smug on his face.

At least in front of the girl he cherished, he wanted to be the cool guy.

Eventually, they managed to finish their breakfast and headed back to their
own study rooms. They were indeed sleeping together, as per the rules, but
they would use their own rooms to get dressed for school. That is also
where they kept their uniforms. Sait had put on his trousers and buttoned up
his shirt when he felt a wave of hostility wash over him. A gaze was glued
to his back. So hot and burning that he felt his own skin growing scorched.
He slowly turned around, where he spotted a beast stuck in the door…
Except, it wasn’t a beast. It was his wife. She was staring at Saito, who was
in the middle of changing, with sheer embarrassment but equal excitement
in her eyes. And sure, it was cute to look at, but she was also, sort of, doing
a bit of what people would call peeping.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaah?!” Saito let out a shriek like one would anticipate from a
girl. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“Nothing?! Nothing at all!”

She couldn’t be more obvious about it.

“Stop lying! You’re definitely peeking at me!”

“Not at all! I just happened to pass by…and you just so happened to be in

the middle of changing!”

“While you were literally pushing your body through the door?!”

“This is just an accident! The door attacked me! And now I can’t get out!”

“Riiight…”

Saito obviously knew she was lying, but Akane wouldn’t budge. And the
more you argued with her, the more agitated she’d get.

“Okay, okay. I’ll be done in a second, so you can go ahead to school

without me.”

However, Akane wouldn’t leave.

“U-Um…Should I…help you get changed?”

“What…?” Saito doubted his ears. “Why…?”

“Because we…love each other…?”

“And when two people love each other, they…help each other get dressed?”

“They…don’t?”

“I wouldn’t know…But I don’t think so?”

“So I can’t…?” Akane asked with puppy-pleading eyes.

“I mean, I wouldn’t mind, but…As you can see, I’m almost done over
here…”

“Then…I’ll help you put on your socks! You can barely even put them on
yourself, right?!”

“I very much can though?!”

“You…can…?”

Her eyes grew even more watery than before, slowly cornering Saito. She
could win wars with that look.

“I…am a useless human being who can’t even wear his socks properly.”

And so, Saito gave up and sat down on his chair.

“Welp, I knew that already! You really can’t do anything without me!”
Akane grinned from ear to ear and grabbed one of Saito’s legs to put the
sock on.

Feeling her slim and soft fingers on his feet was a rather ticklish sensation,
and he didn’t exactly feel very relaxed being treated like a little kid. Or
rather, this was more like being treated as a baby.

—What is this?! What am I even experiencing right now?!

Saito felt like he would eventually die from the embarrassment.

Saito sat down at his desk in the 3-A classroom when Akane stormed
toward him. It was like a charge from a dragon that laid waste to everything
in its path. And before he was even given a chance to dodge roll out of the
way, she had already arrived in front of his pupils. Would she kill him for
good now? Or would she continue that lovey-dovey play she started this
morning? Either way, Saito could only prepare himself for the worst—or so
he thought.

“You have something stuck to your hair, dummy.”

But to his surprise, she simply reached for a leaf that got caught up in his
hair.

“Wh-What…? You’re not…going to split my head like a watermelon…?”

Saito couldn’t believe it.

“No?! If you lost your head, I wouldn’t be able to feed you anymore!”

“That’s your biggest concern?!”

“Also, why would I even hurt you?! Stop talking nonsense like that or I’ll
kill you!”

“Doesn’t killing usually involve pain?!”

“And your collar’s messed up too, geez…”

She then proceeded to fix his collar rather skillfully, too. All the while
pouting slightly and sending him glances here and there. Saito grew worried
that she might be able to hear his heartbeat.

“Sometimes you can actually act like a wife, huh?”

“Because I am?” Akane shrugged her slender shoulders, her red lips
forming a faint smile.

“That might be true, but…”

He once again came to the belated realization that this cute girl in front of
him…really was his wife. That he was in one hell of a position.

“You two are just burning in passion today, huh?” Himari spoke up near
them, causing Akane and Saito to jump away from each other.

Said Himari was resting her chin on her hand as she looked closely at the
two. Akane began to panic faintly as she waved her hands about, trying
desperately to come up with an excuse.
“N-No, we’re not! We’re as cold as ice! I’m a penguin!”

“You…were?”
Saito hadn’t known about that before.

“I mean, you went out of your way to clean up his hair and fixed his collar,
right?”

“No, not at all! I was just looking for a chance to strangle him!”

“I knew it!” Saito immediately went into a defensive stance.

“What do you mean by that?!” Akane roared at him.

All the while Himari gave those two a close look.

“Something’s changed between the two of you…Did you do it?”

“?!” Saito froze up.

Akane blushed furiously, too, as she awkwardly nodded.

“Y-Yeah…I was the one who did it…”

“You did, Akane?! Wow, you’re a lot more bold than I thought!” Himari’s
eyes shot open.

“I just…couldn’t hold back anymore…”

“I didn’t know you were the type to go wild when you’re hungry for
something like that!”

“Well, it’s not like I was desperate for it…” Akane started fidgeting.

It began to feel like their conversations didn’t quite match up.

“I see…I feel like I got left behind. So you did actually have sex, huh?”

“What?! What are you talking about?!” Akane’s shoulders jumped.

“Hm? Exactly what I said. You and Saito-kun did it right? You climbed the
stairs to adulthood, no?”
“N-Not at all?! I would never do such a thing with Saito! Never ever!”

“Ha ha ha…”

Saito naturally wasn’t hoping just for that from their relationship, but
hearing it be denied fiercely left him with a saddened feeling. He just
started drawing some imaginary living beings on his desk with the fountain
pen that didn’t work anymore. At the same time, Himari put her index
finger on her lips.

“So what did you say you did, Akane?”

“Th-That’s, um…I…co…” Akane fumbled over her words.

“You co…?”

“I…cooked some crazy good stew!”

“Stew can make two people get closer like you two?! What kind of stew did
she feed you, Saito-kun?”

“Good question…” Saito was looking over at the horizon.

But there was nothing there. Just darkness.

“I thought you confessed to Saito-kun or something like that,” said Himari

with a sharp tone.

“N-No way would I ever do that! I don’t even like Saito! I hate him!”

“Really now…?” Himari said with a teasing tone, causing Akane to falter.

“It’s true! Saito’s just a selfish guy who has no friends and can’t even live
properly on his own! Who would fall in love with a guy like him?!”

“Gah…”

That one attack cost Saito 5,600,000 damage. But since it was all true, he
couldn’t clap back at it, either.
“I would never ever love a guy like him, okay?!” said Akane as she dashed
out of the classroom.

While carrying a nearby chair with her, for some reason. Meanwhile, Saito
had fallen on his desk and was one step from dying. The damage he
suffered brought him to his limit and he couldn’t even move anymore.
Meanwhile, Himari poked at his head.

“Saito-kun? You okay?”

“Totally…fine…” He forced out a husky voice.

“You don’t seem fine at all, actually. But it’s fine. As your mistress, I’ll
make sure to give you lots of attention instead of your wife~”

She gently embraced his head, pressing her well-endowed chest onto his
cheek as a sweet and mature fragrance surrounded him. She then whispered
into his ear.

“So you have yet to have your first time, huh? So that means…I can have it
for myself?”

“I’m married to Akane.”

“So what? We can just keep it a secret from your wife. Don’t think about
any complicated stuff, let’s just…feel good, yeah?” She pressed her lips on
Saito’s ear and whispered with a sweet tone.

“…?!”

In response, Saito shot up while pressing his hands on his ear.

“Hee hee, your ears are your weak spot, right?” Himari flashed an impish
smile and ran her finger along her lips.

If he stayed with her for too long, he’d just have his psyche devoured by
her. He grabbed a book and put it under his arm to then run out of the
classroom.
“Ah, Saito-kun? It’s not fair of you to run away!”

“Sorry, but it’s reading time now!”

He walked down the hallway, only to run into Akane who was on her way
back. She didn’t have the chair with her anymore. The person who just lost
their chair would be confused once class starts. Since she said she hated
him, he prepared himself for another attack. He prepared himself to ignore
any insults flung his way and slowly walked toward her. But right as they
passed each other, Akane stood on her toes and whispered into Saito’s ear
that he covered with his hand.

“…I actually like you, okay?”

“Wha…?!”

This inflicted much more damage than just being told the opposite. She then
blushed aggressively and ran away. At the same time, Saito fell down on the
ground from the blood loss after coughing up gallons. She was so cute that
his heart couldn’t keep up. And as he was lying there on the ground like a
dead fish, Himari, Shisei, and Maho arrived.

“Wooow! Saito-kun’s dead!”

“Brother became a star in the night sky.”

Maho pouted and gave out orders.

“I’ll handle the mouth-to-mouth, so you slap his butt a few times, Shii-
chan! Hurry!”

“Roger.”

She then moved both her hands to sap Saito’s behind like a drum.

“Why are you doing that?! Wouldn’t you try to have his heart beating again
with a massage?!”
“Because the butt is way more lewd than the chest! You go help her,
Himari!”

“You think I can do it?! Like this?!”

“Just like that! But speed it up! Like samba!”

As they proceeded with their mysterious first-aid operation, Saito felt like
he was about to pass over to the other world.

Having finished his lunch, he sat on a bench in the courtyard and read a
book. It was about a hard-boiled veteran and retired detective. Since his
brain was about to turn into piles of sugar because Akane was too cute, he
needed something more rugged to keep his thoughts in place. Shortly after,
Shisei placed her head on his lap.

“I can’t read like this, you know?”

“It’s fine. Shise doesn’t mind.”

“I very much do.”

Having the cutest little sister in the world on his lap like this would erase
any effect he stood to gain from the hard-boiled novel. Sometimes, men
needed to be by themselves, too.

“Neither do you, Brother. Shise is going to put on the greatest show you’ve
seen, which is much more entertaining than reading. Singing, dancing…A
great spectacle that’ll bring you to tears.”

“On my lap?!”

“An entire circus would fit on your lap.”

“I’d love to see that.”

Getting rid of Shisei while she’s like this would prove impossible, so Saito
gave up and closed the book. She then rested her head on his chest and
looked up at him.
“Seems like things worked out between you and Akane, yeah?”

“You can tell?”

“Shise knows everything about you. Even down to your smallest cells,” she
spoke with confidence.

“When I didn’t have the guts to go through with it, Rui gave me a stern talk.
She’s a lot more thoughtful than she seems.”

“She is. And she’s kind, too. Kind enough to crush an apple in her hand.”

“I don’t think that particularly expresses kindness…” Saito responded as he

felt a chill.

All he knew was that, if he ever found himself cornered by her, he would do
anything in his power to escape. If not, his head would get crushed like a
watermelon.

“Did you ask her to do that?”

“What might you be talking about?” Shisei shrugged her shoulders.

She may attempt to play it off, but her involvement was clear as day. She
must have done that out of care for him.

“Thank you. I’m always thankful for what you do,” he said and embraced
her from behind.

“Mhm…” She quivered slightly as her white ears turned into a faint pink.
“Shise is happy as long as you are happy, Brother.”

“But I want you to be happy, too.”

Shise turned around and hugged him back. She rubbed the tip of her nose
on his chest and closed her eyes comfortably.
“This is Shise’s happiness. All she wants is that our relationship never
changes.”

“And it’s not gonna change, of course.”

“Will you always and forever let Shise sleep on your lap?”

“Of course,” Saito flashed a faint smile.

“Will you keep Shise closer than anyone, show your true feelings to Shise
before anyone, and rely on her more than anyone?”

“Of course.”

“That’s a promise, okay?”

“You bet.”

They intertwined their pinky fingers for a pinky promise. A gentle breeze
blew past them, causing her long silver hair to flutter in the wind and the
hem of her skirt to move up and down a bit. At the same time, she slid off
Saito’s lap.

“Shise got the pledge that she needed, so she’s satisfied now.”

“The pledge you needed…?”

For a moment, it felt like he saw a smile cross Shisei’s face, with a sharp
and calculating smile. However, this only lasted a moment before she
returned to an innocent smile, so it must have been his imagination.

“What Shise wants is not your body, but your heart.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You don’t have to know. And since Shise charged up on energy, she’s
gonna give up her seat for the next person.”

She then headed over to the school building.

“The next person…?”

Saito tilted his head when he felt a presence next to him. Looking over,
Akane had sat down and grabbed his uniform.

“Akane?! Since when have you been there?!”

“For some time now, actually. You and Shisei-san seemed like you were in
your own world, so I couldn’t quite speak up.”

“We…weren’t really…”

“You absolutely were. You were all over each other like you would be
kissing each other at any moment,” she said while pouting.

“Are you…jealous?”

“Not at all! I mean, I always wonder what’s going on between the two of
you…Plus, both Himari and Shisei-san already got to kiss you, yet I get left
out while being your actual wife…” she muttered with a voice about to
disappear.

She seemed too embarrassed to say this out loud as her eyes ended up
watery. Saito felt flustered and…

“So…you wanna kiss?”

…He asked in the heat of the moment. As expected, her face turned as red
as a tomato.

“N-No way in hell! If I did that, my mouth would explode!”

“That sounds highly impossible in terms of how physics operates!”

“But kisses surpass the laws of physics! The law of conservation of kisses!”

“A law I’ve never heard of before…! They still exist?!”

Of course, he knew about the law of conservation of mass.

“And kissing…That’s not something I can…” She stared at Saito’s lips.

Without either of them realizing it, they gradually gravitated toward the
other. Her lips looked like a glossy strawberry with a certain wetness to it.
Seeing that, Saito gulped. Was it fine to kiss her? He never ever thought
he’d be doing that with Akane, and she might just blow a fuse in response.
But if he could indulge in her sensation now…he wouldn’t mind paying the
price after. They stared at each other as it felt like their hearts were about to
burst. An invisible force pulled them closer as the distance shrunk between
them.

“Ahhhh! Onii-chan and Onee-chan are gonna do something weird at

school!”

A cheerful voice cut through the romantic tension between them as Maho
ran toward them. Akane frantically pulled away from Saito, leaving her
hands on her lap as she looked away.

“W-We weren’t doing anything!”

Maho put her hands together behind her hip and looked at Akane’s face
with a teasing smirk.

“Reallyyy? But I saw it! You were about to exchange your salivas! Making
babies! I know you’re supposed to be newlyweds, but starting with that at
school? Gosh, you perverts~”

“We’re not starting anything! It wouldn’t be romantic at all to do it here!”

“I see, I see…So you would like to do it with Onii-chan in a more romantic

place…?”

“…! …?!”

Akane couldn’t even refute that point and just had her face turning red like
a tomato with steam rising from it. Her ability to think must have been
shortcutted.

“I…I…”
As Akane was trying to find the words, Maho clenched her fists.

“I’m cheering for you, Onee-chan! Show me a kiss with Onii-chan right
here! Fight, fight! You can do it! Kiss, kiss!”

“…!!”

And as Akane reached her limit, she took the only option she knew and—
ran away. Witnessing this, Maho flashed an impish grin.

“Don’t bully her too much, yeah?”

“I’m not bullying her. I’m just showing her my life. Because a flustered
Onee-chan is just the cutest, right?”

“Well, that’s true.”

“Nom!”

Out of nowhere, Maho nibbled at Saito’s ear.

“What are you biting my ear for?!” Saito jumped back and protected his ear.

“I was just a bit annoyed!”

“About what?!”

She pointed at him and hissed in frustration.

“The fact that you’re immediately going around flirting with Onee-chan
first in the morning, just because you finally confessed your feelings to each
other! And you’re showing off, too!”

“I don’t think…we were showing off…?”

That said, they completely forgot the risk of being seen by their classmates
and were one step from kissing, so he couldn’t exactly deny that accusation,
either. At the same time, Maho looked down and mumbled.
“Don’t blame me for being frustrated at that.”

“Maho…?”

The mood in the air had changed, leaving Saito bewildered.

“Just kidding! I’m her little sis, so naturally, it’s my duty to pray for her
happiness!” Maho returned to her usual smile and sat down on the bench.

Saito decided to join her.

“How’s she acting at your place? Everything normal?”

“Well…She’s started to lose it a bit, I feel like.”

After all, she was frantically desperate to feed Saito her cooked food and
help him put on his socks. All of that would be unthinkable from the Akane
he knew up until a short while ago.

“Right? She’s always going full throttle with everything, so her love and
hate are always 120%.”

“That reminds me…I heard she got banned from a cat café at some point.”

Maho showed an exasperated expression and began to explain.

“Yup, that was something! She’d basically use up her whole allowance to
shower one of her favorite cats with love. She went over there on the daily
until even the cat ran out of steam and she got banned. After that, she’d
spend her days looking at pictures of the cat. That lasted for, like, half a
year.”

“That is…some impressive passion she’s got.”

And the exact opposite of Saito, who wouldn’t run after people even if they
left him. After that, Maho moved her face closer to Saito and spoke
uncharacteristically seriously.

“You’d best prepare yourself, Onii-chan.”

“Funny that you mention that, since Akane said the same thing.”

“Who knows, maybe she’ll suck you dry until you’re like one of those
mummies!”

“What exactly is she going to suck out of me?!”

“Do I really have to say it? Geesh, you pervert!” she said and slapped Saito
across the back a few times.

But then, her phone started ringing. She took it out and held it to her ear.

“Yeaaah, this is Maho! Energetic as always, yup! How about you? Hehe,
look after Grandma, yeah? Oh, seriously?”

She seemed to be talking with her grandfather as she periodically

commented with a cheerful tone.

“Yup, yup! Goldfish? Can you even eat them? I’d prefer hamburgers, to be
honest! Oh? And with Onii-chan? Oh, I’m definitely going! Can’t wait,
Gramps Tenryuu!”

“Wait, it’s my grandfather!?” Saito was in utter disbelief.

“Yup? We do talk on the phone here and there.”

“Here and there?! He rarely ever calls me, his own grandson, though?!”

Maho showed him a V-sign with her fingers as she grinned.

“Being blood-related or not doesn’t matter! What matters…is the soul that’s
beatin’ in yer heart, Yo! And for Gramps Tenryuu and I…Well, we’ve
already crossed that! We’re the bestest of buddies, yo!”

“Since when?!”

“We also took pics together! Check it out! With Grandma, no less!”
“Your social skills must be maxed out…” Saito felt almost threatened after
learning this fact.

Later after school had finished, Akane was in a huff. No other students were
around. This was his chance to ask her about buying ingredients later. And
he did approach her desk, but she wouldn’t dare to make eye contact with
him. Whenever she looked away, he would try to slip into her view, but
she’d counter this attempt by turning the opposite way, causing Saito to do
high-speed sidesteps. Eventually, she seemed to have reached her boiling
point and glared at Saito, her shoulders pulled up like a cat on guard.

“What do you want?! Can you stop orbiting around me?! It’s getting on my
nerves!”

“Am I just a fly in your eyes or something?!”

“Not a fly! A scarab beetle! The type who constantly bumps into the light
bulbs!”

“Why are you so angry?”

“Because you…with…” Akane’s words lost all vigor.

“I can’t hear you,” said Saito and moved closer to the blushing Akane.

“Because you were flirting around with Maho!”

The reason for her anger couldn’t be more adorable.

“I don’t think we were flirting or anything…”

“You sure were! I saw her nibbling on your ear! For like ten whole hours!”

“Our lunch break isn’t even that long!”

If that really were the case, his ear would’ve lost all form like a dust cloth.

“But you were talking with Maho!”

“Is talking too much already?!”

“N-No, but…You looked like you were having fun! And I saw you stuffing
your head under her skirt!”

“Now you’re just making up lies! Are your eyes okay?!”

That was one hell of an accusation to make.

“What was I supposed to do? I don’t want to fight with you. I’d like for
things to be peaceful between us.”

“Th-Then…” Akane hid her face behind her student bag and peeked at
Saito from behind it. “If you’ll walk home with me…I think I can forgive
you.”

“…!”

That just wasn’t fair. How could Saito say no to that? Shortly after, they
stepped out of the classroom, left the school separately, and met up again
around two blocks away from the school. They took a school fairly empty
of other people and took the narrow streets through the residential homes.
During that whole time, Akane clung to Saito’s arm.

“We might be seen by the other guys.”

“Don’t care.”

“What if things get chaotic again like last time?”

“Don’t care.”

She was like a broken record at this point. Compared to how she usually
acted, provocative and ready for conflict, she had shown a rather dangerous
gap since their feelings for each other had become clear. For that reason,
Saito tried his best to not die from the cuteness she put on and attempted to
argue with reason.
“Can we just wait until we’re a bit further away? We can’t exactly make
any excuses if people see us like this.”

“It’s fine! I just have to tell them that I’m taking you to the police after you
sexually harassed someone!”

“Nothing’s fine about this!? Nor have I ever done that?!”

“You do it every single day! You…You sneak into people’s beds…and stay
there until morning! You’re a repeat offender!”

“Because that’s also my own bed?!”

“Hmph…” Akane pouted and reluctantly moved away from Saito.

—Was she really that desperate to cling to me?

Saito once again agonized over the act of his wife when they reached a
pedestrian crossing. Because Saito’s mind was preoccupied with Akane, his
focus on his surroundings must have dropped. Before he realized it, there
was a sports car with its engine roaring as it closed in on him on the right.

“Saito!” Akane screamed and pulled him back toward her, causing them
both to fall to the ground.

The car cut a close call as it missed Saito and drove off as its horn roared.
At the same time, Akane screamed at Saito with a pale face.

“What were you thinking?! Be more careful!”

“Sorry…I was just spacing out.”

“You always do that! At least pay attention when you’re outside!”

“Okay, thank you,” Saito said with a smile and stood up.

In response to that, Akane gave him an accusing look.

“What’s got you smiling like that? Do you even understand how close that
was?”

“My bad, I was just happy.”

“You’re happy…that you were getting scolded? Is that what you’re into?!
B-But I can’t do that! Unless…You really want me to! Then I guess I can
try!” Akane began to panic.

“This isn’t my fetish, okay? My parents never really scolded me out of care
for me, so seeing you like that made me happy.”

“Ah…” She covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes shot open.

Up to this point, nobody ever really scolded Saito. Sure, his aunt Reiko
would sometimes give him a stern talk or two, but she still had a certain
level of restraint mixed into it. His teachers and classmates also held back.
She clenched her fist and steeled her resolve.

“Then…I’ll just have to scold you every day from now on! I’ll find
something negative you do every five minutes and insult you for it!”

“That would probably rob me of my desire to keep on living, so just once in

a while, please?” Saito flashed a wry smile.

Saito offered her a hand and helped her get up, but her face immediately
tensed up.

“Ouch…!”

“What’s wrong?! Did you hurt yourself?!”

“I think I twisted my ankle a bit.”

“Just a bit…But you’re bleeding.”

An abrasion was visible on her leg, and her sock was also torn up a bit at
the top.
“This isn’t a big deal, really. As long as you’re safe, it’s a small price to
pay,” Akane smiled gently.

It was like the forgiving smile of a goddess, causing Saito to be at a loss for
words. So far, nobody had ever cared this much for him. Hatred, love,
sadness, all sorts of emotions…There had never been a person who showed
it all toward Saito to such a degree. And it told Saito just one thing—He
could never lose this girl. He wouldn’t be able to take that.

That said, there was also a limit to everything. Ever since they got home,
Akane had completely lost it.

“Saito?! What’s wrong?! Are you not feeling well?! If you’re alive, then
give me a peep!” Akane hammered her fist against the door to the toilet.

Currently on said toilet, Saito responded.

“I’m alive and well! I haven’t even been in here for a minute!”

“And people still die within just one minute! Life is just a moment, after
all!”

“Well I’m darn fine in here, but I can’t focus like this if you keep
screaming, so just give me a few!” Saito begged.

“What would you need to focus on?! What are you doing in there?!”

“Just finishing my business on the toilet! What else?!”

“Hoilet?! What’s that?! Tell me!”

“I’d love to know as well because I’ve never heard of such a thing!”

“Hold on, let me open the door! Do you know if we still have a chainsaw?!”

“Don’t you dare!”

Unable to finish his business, Saito felt even more exhausted than before
and stepped out of the toilet room. Out in the hallway, he was met with
Akane just about to rev up the chainsaw.

“Ah, Saito! Did you finish that hoilet stuff?”

“Yup…Perfectly…”

Of course, Saito had no idea what she was talking about, but just letting it
be buried beneath the mist of Akane’s behavior was probably the right
choice. He’d rather not agitate Akane any further. Instead, his attention was
gripped by an eerie purple-colored steam coming from the kitchen, paired
with an odd stench tickling his nose. Just one whiff made it feel like his
nose would be rotting away.

“This smell is…something…”

“Oh, I’m making dinner.”

“And it smells like this?!”

“Ah, my bad. I meant to say ‘create’ instead! You know, trying to create
something completely new. A full-blown nutritional dish. Like creating a
whole new world.”

“Just cooking a normal dinner is perfectly fine! I prefer your regular

cooking!” Saito stopped breathing for a moment and charged past her to
close the door to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Akane raised a finger and began to lecture him once again.

“But normal isn’t good enough, Saito. Didn’t you fall over earlier? I’m
trying to feed you as many nutrients as possible so that your body heals
faster!”

“I don’t think I suffered much damage just by falling like that…”

Rather, this mid-creation full-blown nutritional dish Akane was working on

would probably cause much more damage. At the same time, Akane’s eyes
lit up as she approached Saito with a cheerful, nuzzling tone.
“Do you wanna know what I put in there?”

“I’d rather not,” Saito responded immediately, but Akane continued

regardless.

“Let’s see…Pork liver, beef liver, and chicken liver! Horse liver and bear
liver…deer liver, and sea lion liver…”

“All the livers, huh?! Just to let you know, but my liver isn’t so weak that I
have to feed off others!”

“It’s not just livers! Chameleon plants, plantains, mugwort…All sorts of

caterpillar fungi…”

None of that sounded like ingredients you should be eating. Was she
cooking a witch’s potion or something? Carefully, Saito headed to the front
door. He was considering escaping from this prison in order to guarantee his
safety.

“Where are you going?” Akane followed after him.

“J-Just gonna take a walk.”

“That’s dangerous! What if you got lost on your way back?!”

“I won’t?! I’m just going to get some fresh air!”

Akane furrowed her brow with a worried expression.

“But what if you picked up something weird and ate it…?”

“I’m not a dog! And you’re the one cooking weird food!”

“But what if you got eaten by something…?”

“Are monsters living in the neighborhood?!”

A crimson era started emitting from Akane’s shoulders.

“Or what if…one of our classmates were to suddenly kiss you before you
get home to me…?”

“That is…um…”

Saito couldn’t come up with an excuse quickly enough.

“Anyway, you’re not allowed to leave by yourself! I’ll take you out with me
later, so let’s just wait until after we eat dinner, yeah?”

Saito was evidently just a pet dog.

After dinner, Saito was spending his time reading a book on the living room
sofa when Akane came over, carrying a reference book. He thought that
she’d just join him and study a bit…only for her to sit on his lap. And all
too natural, too. Like she always belonged there. For a moment, Saito just
let it slide because it didn’t feel weird, but…

“No, no, no! This is odd!”

“Odd? You mean what’s inside your head?” Akane blinked at him in
confusion.

“Why are we talking about?! I’m going on about where you’re sitting right
now!”

“I’m just sitting on my chair. Why?”

“I’m not a chair! I’m a human being!”

“Do you have proof for that?”

“P-Proof?”

“Are you really human? Where’s your proof that you’re not just a chair?
What even differentiates people from chairs? Tell me.”

Saito never even thought about that, so he couldn’t come up with a method
to prove himself at the top of his head. Rather, it felt like he was entering a
philosophical territory instead. At the same time, Akane pouted openly.

“You always let Shisei-san sit on your lap, so why can’t I?”

“Because she’s basically like my little sister.”

“Earlier today during lunch break…I actually wanted to sit on your lap, too.
Not just next to you. It’s not fair that only Shisei-san gets to do that!”

“Oh yeah, I remember Himari saying something similar…”

He remembered a conversation between him and Himari when they were

pretending to be a couple.

“What…was that about Himari…?”

An ice-cold aura surrounded Akane, as Saito realized his mistake. Her voice
was as peaceful as before, but her shoulders were quivering ever so slightly.
The reference book she carried in her arms, thick as it was, was slowly
being crushed under her arm strength. This was clearly a topic he shouldn’t
touch, lest the world would end before his very eyes.

“I am but a chair. Please use me as you see fit.”

And so, Saito backed down like a true gentleman. That said, unlike Shisei
who was just as tall as an elementary school student, Akane was a grown
girl. And whenever she would fidget on his lap, her soft thighs would
stimulate his lower body.

“H-Hey, don’t…move that much.”

“I’m feeling a bit wobbly here. Can you keep me in place a bit more?”

“Like this…?”

“Eeep?!”

Saito wrapped his hands around her body, causing her to let out a shriek.
She then mumbled under her breath, sounding flustered.
“That was…my chest…”

“M-My bad…Like this…?”

“That’s better…”

He now wrapped his hands around her hips, causing her neck to shrink up
like she was being tickled. Her body felt so fragile that he didn’t want to use
too much strength in case he’d hurt her. At the same time, he could feel her
warmth directly from her back, as well as her suggestive breathing, causing
her heart rate to spike. As he was just a normal boy, he fought hard to
suppress his urges…until Akane opened her mouth.

“You know…after that party where we first met? I actually…hoped we’d

see each other again.”

“Wha…” Saito felt his heart almost leap out of his chest.

“Talking with you at the party…was really fun. You were different from the
other boys my age. You were smart…and you could tell me about all sorts
of interesting things. I wished…we could’ve talked some more. I was
hoping you’d let me stay over at the venue, too…”

“Actually, Grandpa did suggest I do that…”

“You’re a bit of a chicken, after all,” Akane said with a teasing tone.

“That…I can’t deny.”

“Oh, I was joking. I didn’t have the courage to contact you, either. I
couldn’t exactly be all pushy just because we were having a fun time at the
party.”

“I…guess so.”

Despite them both being attracted to each other, neither of them could take
a step forward. This led to them drifting apart and wasting so much time.
“I sure was surprised when I saw you taking the entrance exams for our
school. I was so desperate to get into the same school as you, I made sure
I’d absolutely pass the exam. But even after we ended up in the same
class…you didn’t remember me. I was so…hurt and lonely that I came to
hate you for it. No…I told myself that I did.”

Her shoulders were quivering slightly.

“…I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I managed to tell you how I feel. And when I think about the
possibility that we could’ve missed each other, I’m just glad we can be
together now,” said Akane as she embraced his arm, livingly rubbing her
cheek against it.

The boundless love Akane showed Saito was something he had never
experienced before. It was a level of satisfaction alien to him. He could eat
all the delicious food in the world or get first place on every exam, but it
never filled him like this. Just having Akane by his side made it feel like his
heart would melt away.

“Can I…really stay here?” Saito asked with a hoarse voice.

“You have to be here. With me,” Akane responded as she took Saito’s hand.

As Akane was sound asleep, Saito jumped up in his bed. The small night
lamp faintly illuminated the room as Akane rubbed her eyes with a drowsy
motion.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing…”

Saito tried to hide it, but it was much more than nothing. He was gasping
for air like he had been chased by a vile monster, his forehead covered in a
cold sweat.

“Did you have another nightmare?”

“…”

Saito did not respond, but Akane could put 2 and 2 together. From the first
night they had been married, Saito would often be restless and groan in his
sleep. He must be having a nightmare because of his past. Because of his
parents. Shards of their treatment toward him remained in his heart.

“It’s fine, Saito. I’m here with you,” she embraced him and let him lay
down again. “It’s okay. It’s all okay…”

She caressed his head until he eventually fell asleep again. Seeing how he
trusted her enough made her feel elated. Like her body was on fire. She
wanted to love him more and more until he needed nobody else anymore. It
resembled the feeling she had that one time she was banned from the cat
café. Except, it burned even stronger that it put her whole head on fire.

“I love you…Saito,” she whispered as her lips touched his ear.

“Onii-chan and Onee-chan sure are being lovey-dovey today.”

“Yup.”
“Aren’t you a bit bitter about this, Shii-chan?”

“Shise is happy as long as Brother is happy.”

“Really now…”
“But, you know…”
“I want Onee-chan to be happy, too.”

“…What’s that mean?”

“Nothing at all!”
 Blinded by Love

The morning sunlight caused Saito’s eyes to open…only to be greeted by

Akane unbuttoning his shirt.

“…?!”

For a moment, Saito doubted his eyes.

—This must just be a dream. I’ll just close my eyes again and when I wake
up, everything will be fine…

Thus, he closed his eyes again. However, he felt more and more buttons
being opened and Akane’s ragged breath tickled his bare skin. It was all too
vivid to be a dream. So, Saito leaped up to protect himself.

“It wasn’t a dream after all!”

“Eeeeek?!”

This resulted in Akane tumbling down from him. For whatever reason, she
wore a white robe looking like a doctor or nurse.

“Don’t just move out of the blue! Do you want me to get a heart attack?!”

“That’s my line! You really jumped up a few steps here! And I didn’t even
consent!”

“Consent? I don’t need that! You’re mine anyway!” She said as she
arrogantly tilted up her chin.

“I’m…yours…?”
Saito physically recoiled at those words. He wasn’t exactly the sort of
masochist who found joy in being someone else’s property, but belonging to
such an adorable girl who loved him so much did make his heart flutter.

“And if you don’t want me to strip you, then take it off yourself. Can’t start
with that on.”

“What exactly is going to start?! It’s early morning, right?!”

“Hurry it up,” she urged him as she softly poked at his shoulder.

From the moment their feelings became clear, it was like an entirely
different world waited. Saito would have never believed that Akane would
become this assertive as soon as their feelings were mutual.

“O-Okay…”

He had no other option and took off his shirt. With his upper body naked,
Akane had her hands on the bed as she slowly crawled toward him. Each
movement she took made the bed creak, as she reached for his body—

“There!”

Immediately after, a cold sensation ran across his body. The stethoscope she
held in her hand was pressed on his chest.

“Seriously, what are you doing?!”

Akane was just mumbling to herself.

“Mhm…So this is what your heartbeat sounds like. It goes ‘badump,

badump’ …”

“Akane?! Can you answer my question?!”

“Keep it down for a moment, I can’t hear your heartbeat like this! You don’t
wanna see me angry!”
“Why am I being scolded now?! Shouldn’t I be angry while you’re doing
all of this?!”

“Shut up! Your heartbeat belongs to me!”

“That sounded pretty cool…I guess?! No! No, it doesn’t! I don’t get what’s
going on!”

Despite feeling perfectly healthy, the first thing greeting him after waking
up was Akane giving him a medical checkup. Even if he was the smartest
guy at school, this was too much for his brain to comprehend. Although, he
rarely ever knew what exactly Akane was thinking at any given moment.
However, as these thoughts crossed his mind, Akane lowered the
stethoscope.

“…I just want to know more about you, Saito.”

“Wha…”

“Even though we’re living together, I barely know a thing about you. But I
do want to know more. Even if it’s the sound of your heart. Is that…so
weird?”

Seeing Akane explain her reasoning with such a saddened expression

caused Saito to feel guilty. He shouldn’t have reacted that way. She may act
clumsy a lot, but she’s being genuine despite that.

“My bad. Go ahead. Do as you please.”

“Okay! Then I’ll check out the rest, too!”

“The rest…?”

Saito didn’t like the sound of that, but he was probably just assuming wrong
again. And how could he not believe the girl he had feelings for? That
would make him a failure of a man.

“Now! Listen to my sounds as much as you like!”

Saito opened his arms and accepted Akane fully. She seemed gleeful and
placed the stethoscope all over his body.

“So this is the sound of your windpipe…A bit weak, no? And I can hear
your internal organs…It exudes a certain…lack of class, I guess? Hm…
Huff…huff…”

“Erm, Akane?”

Something began to feel off to Saito. That he should stop her right now
before it was too late.

“I want to know…know even more about you…Down to your last organ…

And just using a stethoscope isn’t good enough…”

“Akane?! Hey, Akane! Come back from wherever you are right now!”

Saito screamed as if his life depended on it, but Akane was already lost in
her excitement. Her cheeks were red like roses and her eyes had lost all
focus. All she did was run the stethoscope along his body. Something
wasn’t right with her, causing Saito to worry that he might just get dissected
like a frog if he let her do as she pleased.

“W-Was that enough for now? I should really go, I have something to take
care of…” Saito tried to escape from his predicament.

“Something you have to take care of? Are you cheating? Are you going to
cheat on me?! I won’t allow that!” She put the cable of the stethoscope
between her hands and snapped it like a whip.

“Who would go around and cheat first thing in the morning?!”

“Then what is it? Are you off fishing for some deep-sea fish?”

“Why deep-sea fish?! And I don’t even have any interest in fishing!”

“Are you so against the idea of letting me hear more of your sounds…?”
Saito’s greatest fear was that she’d rip the organs out of his body to listen to
them directly, but if he didn’t find a proper excuse, Akane most likely
wouldn’t let him escape.

“I have to…brush my teeth! A fresh morning starts with a fresh mouth,

right?!” said Saito as he raised his thumb.

“Then don’t worry, I have that here with me!” Akane said and pushed his
brush onto him.

“Why?!” He was more than bewildered. “You already…figured out my

course of action? Have you already read 14 moves ahead of me…?”

“What are you talking about? I just wanted to brush your teeth for you.”

“I’m not a little kid…I can just do it myself.”

He never even had his parents brush his teeth for him.

“You want to brush your teeth that badly? Then let me help you!”

“Listen! To! Me! For! Once!” Saito couldn’t even form a singular sentence
because he was just so beyond himself.

Yet Akane showed no intention of listening to his valid comment. There

was no room for leniency. She simply stuffed the brush into his mouth
without remorse.

“Guawh?!”

“Don’t move or I might hurt you. But don’t worry, I’ll make them all nice
and clean. And if you agree, then blink once.”

Saito blinked faster than he had ever before. Since there was probably no
available signal for a NO answer, he just blinked as fast as possible.
Meanwhile, Akane proceeded to brush his teeth carefully. One hand on the
bed, she was peeking into his mouth. It felt weird to have her clean his body
like this. He did go to a dentist before to have it cleaned and everything, but
that was just treatment. Having someone brush his teeth was definitely
different. His gums felt itchy and his chest was feeling restless.

“I can’t get it all clean with just a brush…” Akane said and placed the brush
into the cup near her and then put her finger inside Saito’s mouth.

Her slim fingers traced the mucous membrane inside his mouth. This
movement continued between the teeth and gums, as she gently touched his
tongue. She leaned over Saito and pushed him down as her faint and sweet
breath touched his lips. It felt like she was showering his whole body with
love simply through his mouth. With this act that was far more obscene than
a regular kiss, Saito felt his consciousness melting away.

“Hey, Saito…? How’s this feel? It’s good, right?”

Saito could only blink as he was caught under Akane, who flashed an
alluring smile. After the cleaning was done, Akane wiped her fingers on the
microscope glass and left the bedroom shortly after. Meanwhile, after being
violated by Akane’s fingers, Saito was resting on the bed, gasping for air.
This stimulus was too much first thing in the morning, and he struggled to
even maintain his reason. However, Akane swiftly returned to the bedroom
and placed a metal lump on the table next to the bed. It was a full-fledged
microscope, first thing in the morning.

“Why did you bring…a microscope?” Saito voiced his doubt.

“I’m going to take a look at your oral epithelial cells that I just collected!”

“My oral epithelial cells…?”

“Basically, the skin cells within your mouth. They’re often used to do DNA
checks or look for diseases, right? You don’t even know that?”

“I do know that, but why are you going to look at them?!”

“Because I want to know as much about you as possible! Even down to

your cells! And since I just collected them, they’re probably a goldmine of
information!”
She placed the microscope glass from earlier on top of the sample slot,
adjusted the microscope’s settings, and then took a peek at them.

“Wow…So these are the cells inside your mouth? I can see them down to
the smallest detail! And all of these…are a small version of you, huh?”

“Eeek…!” A cold shiver ran down Saito’s spine.

Being loved wasn’t a bad thing at all. Nor was it for her to have an interest
in him. However, the way she showed this interest felt like he was no more
than a research specimen, which caused him to feel nothing more than fear.

“What if I were to drip this liquid onto the cells? What do you think would
happen? Oh dear, they’re all melting away! Without a trace! Isn’t that
interesting, Saito?”

“I’m sorry.”

Saito placed both his hands on the bed and pressed his head against the
sheets. He was accepting his defeat with all his might.

“Why are you apologizing?”

“You’re doing this whole experiment to melt away my whole body, right?”

“No?! I’m just trying to see what sort of reaction all these different
chemicals have on your body!”

“See! You’re absolutely trying to erase me from this world!”

“I’m using your cells instead of your actual body, so it shouldn’t be an

issue, right?”

Technically not, but Saito still didn’t like the sound of it. Like it was just a
step in between. Meanwhile, Akane flipped a switch on the microphone, to
which a nozzle extended from the side, spraying something like a blue
flame onto the sample.
“This microscope seems to be a special version that was just developed and
has all sorts of useful trickery to it. I can heat up the cells to a limit of 1000
degrees and examine how they react, so I’ll be able to tell how you would
react when you’re being burned by a flame of 1000 degrees!”

“There’s not much to tell! I’ll just turn to ash!”

“Well, you’re a bit of a weirdo, so I wouldn’t have been surprised if you’d

be able to withstand a heat of 5772 kelvin.”

“I’m not some superhuman who can handle a trip to the sun and back!”

Not to mention that being called a weirdo by a girl who’d start the day by
testing his oral epithelial cells first thing in the morning didn’t quite sit right
with him. But Akane was already lost. She embraced the microscope like it
was a bouquet of flowers.

“And wouldn’t you know it, this microscope also lets you take pictures! I’m
going to make an album with the cells all over your body. You were happy
about the last one I made for us, right?”

“I’d be happy about a normal album, but not of my damn cells! I don’t need
something like that!”

“Gosh, just be honest for once! You want one, right? I got you figured out!”

“You absolutely do not!”

Saito slowly got off the bed and looked around to look for an escape route.
Since Akane stood next to the door, his only possible way out was the
window.

“I’d love to have a gastroscopy run through you, too. Having a fiber scope
run down your nose and get pictures from your bronchi…Oh, right! I was
also given nanomachines that can travel through the bloodstream and
collect data that way! Isn’t that amazing?!”

More and more eerie machinery appeared from the duralumin case in her
hand.
“Where did you even get all of that?!”

“From Shisei-san! Apparently, it’s all newly-developed equipment by the

Houjou Group! And since Shisei-san wanted to use your DNA, too, she
asked me to collect as much of it as possible!”

“Damn it all…I will not be your test subject! I’ll run away for as long as I
can!”

“Hee hee hee…”

Saito staggered backward as Akane flashed a bewitching smile and closed

in on him.

During math class, Himari hid behind her notebook and yawned. She
wanted to make the best out of Saito teaching her and intended to listen to
the classes properly, but math was still too much for her. Because, unlike
the weird names of people appearing in history, a long line of numbers and
symbols here only confused her head more. Meanwhile, Akane was utterly
focused on writing her notes. Akane had always been a diligent student
since elementary school, and Himari had never seen her slack off.

Akane sure is amazing. I can respect her so much for that.

Himari took a glance at Akane’s notebook and what she was writing, but—

I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I
love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love
him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love
him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love
him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love
him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love
him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love
him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love
him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love
him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love
him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him.
“Eeek?!”

Himari’s scream echoed through the classroom, causing Akane’s shoulders

to jump.

“H-Himari?! What’s wrong?! Is there a bug or something?!”

“That’s what I wanna ask! What in the world are you writing?!”

“I was just writing down stuff from this class, though?”

“You were absolutely not! You’re writing down a damn curse in there!”
Himari snatched up Akane’s notebook and pointed at it.

She flipped over a page, and more blabbering appeared. From the very
beginning of the notebook to the final page, it was a black mess that
repeatedly read ‘I love him’.

“Ishikura! We’re in class, so sit back down and listen properly!”

Their math teacher gave Himari a stern warning, and their classmates began
laughing. At times like these, it was always Himari who was scolded
instead of the honor student Akane, even if it wasn’t Himari’s fault. And so,
she did as she was told, still feeling a bit disheartened as she whispered to
Akane.

“Hey, are you okay? I feel your grades have dropped a bit as of late, too…”

But Akane responded with a cheerful laugh.

“Oh, I’m perfectly fine! I love him, after all.”

“What’s fine about this…? This doesn’t even qualify as an answer!”

“Love is the truth of this world. Even if I can’t solve the questions on those
tests, the answer is right in front of my eyes! The answer to everything is
1
42 !”

“Akane! Get a grip! Please!”

“It’s fine! I love him, after all!”

She started sounding like a broken recorder or a malfunctioning robot.

“Waaaah!”

Himari clung to her best friend with tears in her eyes.

Usually, once the two had finished their dinner and did the dishes, Saito
would get back to reading and Akane would do some light self-studying in
the evening. However, Akane didn’t bring her reference book with her
today. Instead, she sat next to Saito on the sofa while clinging to his arm.
She had her eyes closed and just rubbed her face against his shoulder. That,
in itself, was incredibly cute. It very much was, but even so…

“Are you sure you shouldn’t be studying…? You skipped out on it

yesterday too, right?” Saito asked.

In response, Akane looked up at him, blinking a few times in confusion like

a child who couldn’t comprehend.

“Studying…?”

“That’s right: Studying. As far as I know, you love studying more than your
three meals a day.”

“The only one I love is Saito, though…?”

“Kah…!”

Saito almost blacked out for a moment but managed to keep his mind sane
by biting his lip.

“We’ve got entrance exams coming up, so you should really study some.
Wasn’t it your dream to become a doctor?”

Saito never would have expected that he’d have to be the one to tell her
that. But as before, Akane just gave him a dubious look.
“Doctor…?”

Saito slowly began explaining.

“That’s right, a doctor. Do you remember now? This is Japan, you are
Akane, and I am Saito.”

“Saitooo! Wuv you!” Akane just leaped at Saito.

Her brain started regressing?! Is this what people mean when they call
people blinded by love?!

Saito knew he had to act quickly on this situation, but her cuteness was
slowly swallowing him up, and he ran out of strength.

A bustling noise ran through the 3-A classroom.

“Shii-chan! Shii-chan! These are langue de chats with cheese in them that I
bought from a popular store! Have a taste!”

Maho took out some baked snacks from her lunch box and threw them
Shisei’s way, who munched them down.

“Mgh…Mhm…Delish.”

“Right?! I bought them first thing this morning! All for my beloved Shii-
chan!” Maho jumped at Shisei, who tried to push away the incoming jaw.
“Outta the way. Shisei is busy putting her life on the line to taste the
cheese.”
“C’mon, what’s the big deal? You can just focus on the food and I focus on
embracing your small and adorable body with all my might while enjoying
the scent of your hair! Sniiiff…Haaaaaah…”

“Shise can’t focus like this.”

“So you’re too distracted while feeling my body like this?! Gosh, you
pervert! But go ahead! Feel me up!” Maho then proceeded to rub her nose
against Shisei’s head.

“If you keep that up, then Shise will take you to court.”

“Wooo! A courtroom battle with Shii-chan! Objection, hah!”

“Mgh…Mhm.”

Despite her words, Shisei didn’t attempt to escape Maho’s hug and just
munched on the snack in her hands endlessly. Meanwhile, Saito watched
this unfold while resting his head on his palm at his desk.

“You two sure have gotten close, huh? When did that happen?”

“Weeell! Shii-chan and I aren’t just normal buddies! We’re buddy-buddy

buddies! She’s my soulmate…my friend for life, you could say? Right,
Shii-chan?” Maho said and took a glance at Shisei’s face.

“Not at all. Maho is just a stalker.”

“I’m just trying to show my love! Because I wuv you so much!”

Maho continued to press her cheek against Shisei, who looked rather
bothered by that. The only people Shisei even allows to get this close must
be Saito or Rui. Meanwhile, the fact that she could get closer to both
Tenryuu and Shisei herself just shows how impressive Maho is. She’s
slowly been working her way into the family, which somewhat scared Saito
of the future. At the same time, Himari made her way to Saito’s desk on
wobbly feet.

“This is bad…Really bad…”

Saito reached out his hand in an attempt to help her.

“What’s wrong? Was today’s class too difficult that it caused your brain to
explode? Should I take you to the hospital?”

“If my brain exploded, it would already be too late, right?!”

Shisei started drooling and also offered her hand to Himari.

“Wait, Shise has yet to try human brain.”

“So what?! You’re joking, right?! That’s not what this is, right?!” Himari
embraced her own body in fear and terror.

“Shii-chan, if you want to eat a brain, then have mine! It’s not really gonna
find much use anyway!”

“Appreciated,” Shisei nodded.

“Stop it! Don’t encourage her! And Maho, treasure yourself some more!
Shise is actually gonna do it!”

“Wuh…Onii-chan? You’re worried about me?! Is this…love?! I love you,

too!” Maho then jumped at Saito.

“Can you just stay still for a minute?! You’re really getting on my nerves!”

“That’s right! I am annoying! Because this is what love is!”

“I can’t breathe like this! Get away from me!”

Saito pushed her away and Maho averted her face.

“It’s fine, really…This is all I can do, anyway. Unlike Onee-chan.”

“Maho…?”

The saddened expression crossing Maho’s face caused Saito to feel like
something was off. Except, it looked familiar. The emotion in her gaze was
the same as when he carried her to the hospital when she had a high fever.
Meanwhile, Himari placed her hands on Saito’s desk and sighed deeply.

“I wasn’t talking about myself. I was ono about Akane. During home
economics class, she made a plush toy…that looked like you…”

“So she’s going to use that to drive nails into it and curse me instead of a
straw doll? Same old, same old, no?”

“I mean…You’re not wrong, but still! The real issue is…when I talked to
her while she worked on it, all she’d say was ‘Saito wuv Saito wuv’ like she
had lost her mind…”

“That’s terrifying!”

Saito shuddered in fear just while imagining it.

“Right?! It’s actually so scary! And it’s not just one! She’s made over 50 at
this point…but she keeps saying that it’s not enough! The whole home
economics prep room is looking like a plush toy factory!”

“I’m shocked the teacher is just letting her do that.”

Himari responded as she looked into the distance.

“She’s an honor student, right? Our teacher gave her advice on making the
plush toys and supported her by saying ‘So you finally have someone you
like?! Wonderful! You have my support!’…”

“That’s my Onee-chan for you! She might only have Himarin as a friend,
but she’s popular with the teachers!”

“Isn’t that pretty rude to say about your older sister?”

“Not at all! I don’t have many friends, either!” said Maho with a peace sign.

“You sure…are taking that well, at least.”

“Do you have many friends, Onii-chan?”

“Not really.”

“So we’re the same! You’re a loner too, Onii-chan! Loner! Loner! But don’t
worry, I’ll give you all the attention you want!” Maho put her hand on her
mouth and started to make fun of Saito.

“Why is she trying to one-up me when we’re in the same position…?”

For some reason, Saito just wanted to escape this place and be by himself
for a little while. Be it reading or games, he just naturally found himself
being alone and enjoying his time that way. At the same time, Shisei
finished eating the cheese snacks and licked her fingers with a satisfied
expression.

“It’s clear that something’s going on with Akane. Shise saw it, too. When
Shise was sleeping next to Brother, she saw Akane kissing the ring she got
from him for a good five hours.”

“Can you just sleep, too?!”

That would explain why Akane was awfully sleepy that one day.

“And why can you even act as the witness for that, Shise? You haven’t been
over the past few days…Did you sneak inside again?”

“What could you be talking about? Shise doesn’t need to sneak in with her
clairvoyance.”

“So you set up hidden cameras?” asked Saito as he pulled on Shisei’s cheek
like it was mochi.

“Such torture won’t work on Shise. Her cheeks can stretch out a total of
five meters, after all,” she said as she crossed her arms.

She seems like she has no intention of confessing her crimes. At the same
time, Maho sat on Saito’s desk.

“I’m also tired of having to hear about Onii-chan’s…noises or sounds or

whatever. I can’t take it anymore.”
“My…sounds?”

“That’s right. Like the…noise your stomach makes…? She had me listen to
her recordings of it.”

“Akane…” Himari teared up.

“When did she even record that…?” Saito was feeling worried about
sleeping with her around. “Well…Sorry about Akane causing you trouble.”

“That way of apologizing pisses me off,” said Maho while pointing her
index finger at his nose.

“Huh? Why?”

“You’re talking like a husband apologizing for his wife acting a bit clumsy.
I don’t like it.”

“I mean, we are technically married.”

“I still don’t like it! At least apologize for making me listen to your
disgusting stomach sounds!”

“I’m afraid I can’t control those?!”

“Shise can always make her stomach rumble when she wants to eat.”

And she also showed that off right away as her stomach grumbled.

“See! Shii-chan can do it! Even the inside of her stomach is adorable!
Surely you can copy her, right?!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Saito would not be able to pull off the same thing as an alien like Shisei. At
the same time, the girl tilted her head.

“Is Akane only thinking about Brother and love now?”

“It sure seems like it…” said Himari as she held her head.

“Onee-chan’s always been the type to really lose all brakes when she gets to
this point.”

“We have to do something about this…”

If not, the whole school would find out about their relationship. And Saito
would rather not risk being treated weirdly by the teachers while they have
entrance exams coming up. However, before he could really think about
countermeasures, Himari bent her back a bit and looked up at Saito’s face
with a whisper.

“But, you know…I do think this is also partially your fault.”

“Mine…?”

“It does seem like Akane’s had feelings for you for the longest time. And
now that she can finally show those emotions after putting them on hold for
so long, she’s completely snapped. You know, her sexual drive and all that.”

“I…I don’t think she’s really interested in that…” Saito faltered.

“Of course she is! She’s a normal girl! And I also feel horny when I look at
you, Saito-kun~”

“I…I see…”

Being told straight to his face caused his ears to redden.

“Oh, you’re flustered? That’s sooo cute!”

“Brother. Pervert.”

“Onii-chan’s a perv, tehe.”

The gazes of the two little sisters were rather painful for Saito’s heart. And
so were their fingers as they poked at his cheeks.
“Why am I being blamed for this…?”

“Because it’s your fault. And so, you have to be the one to put a stop to her
rampage.”

“And what am I supposed to do?”

Himari raised her index finger and snickered.

“Well, it’s simple! Akane’s heated up too much right now, so you have to
find a way for her to cool down! And you could try to act cold…or maybe
fight a bit with her?”

“Do you want me to die?”

Saito could only envision a tragedy in the making.

“No, of course not~ She’s still head over heels for you right now.”

Shisei nodded along.

“And if push comes to shove, Shise will protect you. She’d like to use the
new rocket launcher that one of the Houjou Group’s research teams
developed.”

“Before worrying about me, maybe keep the laws of Japan in mind?!”

Saito would rather avoid a future where his little sister and wife are fighting
each other with rocket launchers. Himari then chimed in, leaning toward a
bit.

“What about my idea? When your phone overheats, you can have it cool
down by pouring some water on it, right?”

“Erm, no. That would just break it.”

“Wha…So that’s why it stopped working?!” Himari’s eyes opened wide.

“You tried it before?!”

“Even worse was that I had no guarantee on it!”

“Well…You do bring up a valid point.”

“Right, right? Did I manage to help a little?”

“Surely. Leaving Akane like this won’t do her any good, and she might
really pay the price during the entrance exams. I guess I’ll have to make her
cool down a bit and free her from whatever state she’s in right now!” said
Saito as he balled a fist.

Saito was walking down the school’s hallway when Akane came after him.

“Saito! Hey, Saito!”

“What?” He stopped and turned around.

In her hands, Akane carried a wrapped lunch box.

“You forgot your lunch box again. Left it on the kitchen table! Why do you
keep forgetting it despite your perfect memory?”

In response to Akane’s question, Saito raised the corners of his mouth into a
grin.

“Oh, that? Yeah, I did that on purpose.”

“Wha…” Akane froze up.

“I just felt like eating some chocolate bread today. Couldn’t be bothered
with your lunch, so I left it there.”

“Ch…Chocolate…bread? You’d rather have that than…eat the food I make

for you…?” Akane’s voice was evidently quivering.

Saito immediately became plagued by guilt for acting this way, but it was
necessary to stop Akane from running out of control. He even styled up his
bangs to act like a bad guy and spoke with a disinterested tone.
“C’mon, sometimes you just feel like eating chocolate bread, right?”

“I…I don’t think I do…”

“Well, us guys do. My body seeks out the chocolate bread. Honestly, that’s
more important than some woman’s food right now. That’s all I can think
about.”

“I…see…” Akane dropped her head and bit her lip.

The way her shoulders were shaking made it very evident that she was
building up rage. Or so Saito thought as he prepared himself to be murdered
on the spot without even leaving any trace of his existence. However…

“Um…I’m sorry, okay? I get it. Sometimes you just want to eat chocolate
bread. You must have gotten tired of me cooking for you every day, right?
I’ll try and make some more chocolate bread for you in the future, yeah?”
She said as she looked up at Saito with teary eyes.

“Guh…!”

What was destroyed wasn’t Saito’s body, but his heart. The guilt was
quickly and aggressively eating him up from the inside.

“I’ll just…eat lunch by myself today. I should be able to keep it fresh until
tomorrow if I put it in the fridge later, so…Sorry.”

Akane grasped the lunch box in her arms and attempted to walk away while
biting her lip.

“W-Wait!”

Saito couldn’t bear to see her like that and snatched the lunch box from her
hands, opened the lid, and devoured the food inside.

“Woooooooah! It’s so good! Seriously! This rice dish…So good! The kelp
and mushroom stock taste great! Usually, chicken meat gets hard when it’s
simmered, but this here is so moist and tender! And the rolled eggs are
divine! Plump, juicy, and irresistible!”
Watching this, Akane was understandably bewildered.

“Saito…? I thought you…didn’t want to eat my lunch box…?”

“I changed my mind! Or rather, I don’t know what came over me! The
chocolate bread must have deceived me! Your cooking really is the best!
The best in the whole world!”

“G-Geez, Saito…” Akane grew flustered with reddened cheeks.

“Phew…That was great! It was so good, I ate it all in one go!” Saito
returned the empty lunch box to Akane.

As a result, he ate it even before lunch break even arrived. And with
everything on the line, he couldn’t be bothered to abide by the school
regulations.

“That’s great!”

“Well, if you’d excuse me then…” Saito attempted to use this chance and
escape, but Akane suddenly pushed a whole new lunch box onto him.

“Actually, I made one more! If you liked it that much, you can have it, too!”

“Erm, I’m good…” Saito staggered backward.

“You won’t…eat it?” Akane once again looked up at Saito with tears in her
eyes.

“I shall! I will gladly eat it all! Because I could never get enough from
you!” Saito once again devoured the lunch box.

He could feel the food getting stuck in his throat, but by forcing himself to
create liquid in there, he could wash it down into his stomach. This was just
a battle between him and the limits of his body. But at least Akane watched
him with a smile.

“Hee hee, I’m glad you like it. Eat up as much as you want…because I have
two more back in the classroom.”
“Two more?!” Saito once again prepared himself for an early death.

The following day after Saito finished four lunches in a single day…

“Sorry for the wait. A full course appetizer with seasonal vegetable terrine.”

Akane placed a white plate on the table in front of Saito. On said plate was
an authentic French dish made from colorful vegetables solidified in jelly.

“Why…a full course…?” Saito looked up at Akane in confusion.

“I just want to feed you all sorts of delicious food. Is that such a bad thing?”

“No, but…Why are you making a full course at school?! And how, even?!”

They sat in the classroom of class 3-A. Not even at their own table back
home. And there were plenty of other students in the classroom eating their
lunch. In response to Saito’s question, Akane put her hands on her hips and
declared—

“I made it during recess in the home economics room, duh!”

“You really made it your second home, huh?!”

Even if she was an honor student, Saito wished they’d be a bit stricter on
her.

“Not at all. I wanted to have a BBQ here because you love meat so much,
but I held myself back from it. Praise me!” Akane puffed out her chest.

“That’s not anything praiseworthy and holding a BBQ in the classroom is

just lawless if you ask me.”

“Less talking, more eating! Unless you want me to feed you again…?”

“No, thanks! I can eat on my own!”

Saito immediately suffered a harsh deja vu and placed a napkin on his lap,
working his way through the terrine with a knife and fork. He didn’t know
why exactly Akane had prepared actual cutlery with a napkin like this, but
he shouldn’t be thinking. He simply carried a piece of the terrine to his
mouth, as the consommé-flavored jelly dissolved in his mouth, causing a
crunchy sensation thanks to the asparagus and shrimp. It was absolutely on
the level of a French restaurant, no doubt. Even when Akane had begun to
lose her mind, her cooking was still unrivaled.

“…It’s delicious.” Saito had to praise her.

“Hee hee, great! Our home economics teacher is just putting the finishing
touches on the shellfish bisque, so just wait a bit!”

“The teacher is helping you?!?!?!”

“I made most of it, you know? But to serve food at a steady pace would be
difficult even for a professional such as moi. After all, the speed at which
the food is delivered also impacts the evaluation of the full course. And I
don’t want you to leave any negative reviews.”

“And where would I even upload reviews like that?”

By the way, Saito was always giving her a full 100/100 score.

“Also, wouldn’t it be better to try and become a chef at this point?”

“My dream is to become a doctor. Grandma is managing her restaurant, so I

just know a thing or two,” Asane commented and nonchalantly sat down on
Saito’s chair—except it wasn’t nonchalant. She pushed away his butt to
make room for herself.

“Can’t you sit on your own chair?”

“But at home, we’re always sitting next to each other on the sofa, right?”

“We’re at school right now!”

“What’s the difference?! Or are you saying…that you want to be apart from
me? Are you tired of me now? Do you hate girls with a nasty personality
like me…?” Akane asked with a saddened tone as her body quivered.
“Guh…Th-That’s not the case, but…”

Saito’s attempt to act cold toward her and halt her rampage had the exact
opposite effect. She had only heated up more. It seemed very likely she had
already forgotten that they were at school the way she clung to his arm and
rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. And naturally, their classmates
started to catch on to that…

“Houjou and Sakuramori are flirting around like crazy…”

“Right? It’s not just me seeing things, right?”

“I thought I was still half asleep…”

“But, so what? Did something happen between them?”

“What about Himari-chan?”

“Are things that heated between them?”

They would watch from afar, commenting amongst themselves. Since they
were all too shocked by this sight, however, nobody dared to make an
approach. Some were even hiding under their desks for some reason.

“Shaaaa!”

All the while Akane held up her hands like a stray cat and shooed them
away.

“Sakuramori-san is trying to intimidate us?!”

“Be careful or you’re gonna be killed!”

“I heard about this before…The legend of the Bloody Sakuramori…”

“Something about Sakuramori-san and Ishikura-san starting a fight in

elementary school that turned into a bloodbath…”

“M-Maybe we should just leave them be!”

“Take your time~”

And so, their classmates escaped out of the classroom. This left only Saito
and Akane in the classroom.

“Can you not scare away our poor classmates?”

“Ouch?!”

Saito landed a clean chop on Akane’s head.

“How could you…attack me like this…”

“Ah, my bad. I thought I was holding back, did it hurt?”

“No, not at all. In fact…That wasn’t so bad. Could you do it again?” asked
Akane as she clung to Saito, her eyes seemingly in a daze without any
focus.

“Eeeeeek…”

A faint shriek escaped his lips.

“Saito? Saito? Where’s Saitooo?”

Akane walked around in the courtyard looking for Saito. It might look cute
at first glance, but she was carrying around a spear-like object while
stabbing the nearby garbage bags and cardboard boxes like she was looking
for fugitives or spies. Saito, Maho, Shisei, and Himari all hid in the thicket
of the courtyard. The silence between them was broken by Himari pouting.

“Saito-kun…You can’t do some half-baked attempt like that. She’s gotten

even crazier now!”

“I know…I just couldn’t bring myself to hurt her.”

Shisei responded by rubbing Saito’s head.

“It’s not your fault, Brother. With Akane’s homemade lunch in front of you,
not even Shise, trained as she is, might be able to withstand the invitation.”

“You would lose in a heartbeat, I bet.”

In fact, she was already drooling like a waterfall. At the same time, Himari
groaned with a pained expression.

“At this rate, she’s gonna turn into one of those Namahage demons…”

“Why would she turn into a demon?”

But Shisei shook her head.

“There is a chance. Great passion and extraordinary energy can have

someone leave the physical realm behind and become an entity in the other
world.”

Meanwhile, Maho was visibly bewildered.

“Huh? What are you talking about? So if I fondle your boobies too much,
I’ll turn into a boobie monster?”

“I don’t think she has much to fon—”

Before Saito could finish his words, Shisei swung a side chop right at
Saito’s throat.

“You underestimate Shise’s growth, Brother. Why don’t you cop a feel
since it’s been a while.”

“Since it’s been a while…? Saito-kun, what exactly does that mean?!”

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Himari! And Shise, can you not say things that
lead to misunderstandings?!”

“Yeah, Shise misspoke. It was supposed to be ‘cop a feel like always’.”

“Saito-kun?!”
“That’s even worse!”

The misunderstanding began to grow fiercer as Shisei grabbed Saito’s hand

and tried to pull it toward her own chest.

“But seriously, what are we supposed to do… Onii-chan is utterly useless,

after all,” Maho was being rather harsh, but what she was saying wasn’t
wrong, so Saito couldn’t argue against it.

At the same time, Shisei offered him a small bottle with a blue liquid inside.

“It’s a newly developed perfume. It can erase Akane’s memories for the past
20 years.”

“She’ll turn back to being an actual baby!”

“By adjusting the amount, it’s possible to just erase the last year.”

“I…would rather not have her forget all of that.”

He didn’t want to lose the days they spent together after getting married.
They may have fought a lot, but they also got closer at the same time. And
erasing all of that wasn’t something Saito was willing to do. As such, Shisei
took out another small bottle from her blouse, this one was filled with a
purple liquid.

“Then you should use this one.”

“And what does this do?” Saito asked carefully.

“It increases memories. By having her drink this, you can make her believe
that you got divorced.”

“But then why would I be staying in the same house as her?! She’d report
me to the police!”

“No, she wouldn’t. She would just think you’re a squatter.”

“And that would be fine?! No, we’re not messing with any memories!”
Saito said and collected the two bottles.

This is not something a normal high school student should possess.

However, Maho had something else to say.

“Right! I just came up with something!”

“Absolutely not,” Saito shut her down immediately.

“I haven’t even said anything yet!”

“Your ideas are just as dangerous. I know that by now.”

After all, Saito had experienced it plenty of times before today.

“I’m being serious right now! This is for Onee-chan’s sake, after all!”

“Fine, I’ll hear you out. But you get three words.”

“Three?! Panties, panties, panties!”

“You’re still as immature as a little brat?!”

“Three words are not enough! Listen, if causing her to cool down isn’t
going to work, why not do the opposite? Be just as lovey-dovey as she is!”

“Wouldn’t that make it worse…?”

“Nope! I think she’ll be taken aback by it all! Haven’t you ever felt like you
could calm down because the other person was way angrier than you? Or
finding it harder to cry when the other person already is?”

Himari nodded along.

“Oh, I kinda get it. It’s a bit off-putting to see someone get so heated. It
makes you feel stupid.”
“And if Onii-chan acts way too heated, then Onee-chan might feel
embarrassed because of all the things she’s done and cool down.”

Saito made a suggestion.

“I see…Learning from someone’s mistakes, yeah? That could work.”

“Right? Isn’t little old me a total genius? I think I deserve a kiss for that!”

“No, you don’t.”

“C’mon, don’t be shy! My lips are ready for you!”

Saito grabbed Maho’s head and pushed her away before her lips could
touch him.

Saito heard the front door opening, so he descended down to the first floor.
Akane stood in the entrance, school bag and shopping bag in hand, in the
middle of taking off her shoes.

“I’m back, Saito. I went shopping on the way home.”

“Welcome home, my beloved honey!”

“?!”

Seeing Saito’s gentle smile caused Akane to stagger backward.

“Wh-What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong at all. I’m just happy that my honey’s finally home.”

Saito had already put his plan in motion. The attacks he planned out with
Maho, he would now execute. And for that, he already cast aside his ability
to even feel shame.

“I…I see…?” Akane looked down and fidgeted.

—How’s that, Akane?! Must be embarrassing, right?! And this is what
you’ve been doing all this time! Are you aware of that now?!

Saito naturally got his hopes up, but they were quickly betrayed by Akane’s
bashful smile.

“I’m back, Darling!”

“Gah…!”

He took a bullet of pure sweetness right to the heart as he almost toppled

over. However, he immediately killed off all emotion and managed to stand
on his legs. He couldn’t allow himself to be pushed back here. That being
the case, he offered Akane a hand.

“Come on, let me escort you within our abode.”

“Escort me within our abode…?”

Akane had a dubious look in her eyes as she took Saito’s hand and followed
him down the hallway. She felt like she was being led across a red carpet
with cameras flashing all around her. Saito then proceeded to open the door
with a graceful gesture, guiding Akane inside the room like a true
gentleman.

“And this would be the kitchen, my honey.”

“I know that…? I live here, remember? Did you hit your head or
something?” Akane grew genuinely worried.

“Then do you also know…my favorite thing in the world?”

“Meat, right?”

“I do like that, but there’s something else I love more.”

“Sushi?”

“Something more than that.”

“Hmmm? What could it be…?”

“The thing I love more than anything in the world is…you! My Akane!”
Saito winked at the girl and placed his index finger on her forehead.

The embarrassment he felt inside, however, was causing his entire body to
burn like a human torch. He himself once again questioned what in the
world he was doing right now, and he’d rather have disappeared from this
world altogether. That said, him acting like this would surely cause even
Akane to back down a bit. Or so he thought, but Akane just smiled happily.

“Then I’ve got a question for you, too! Who do I love the most?”

“Guh…!”

—She’s returning the attack back at me?!

Saito suffered a severe impact. It was too strong. Especially from someone
like Akane, who was always the one getting flustered first.

“I…I wonder…? I can’t think of anybody…”

“Then here’s the hint…Their name starts with S!”

“S…S…Soy sauce?”

“It’s not an item! It’s a person!”

“S-Suffragism…?”

“That has something to do with people, but nope! Then let me give you
another hint! It’s the person I’m clinging to at this very moment!” Akane
said and grabbed Saito’s arm, smiling up at him with an impish smirk.

It caused Saito’s heart to beat like a bomb about to explode.

“C-Could it be…me?”
“Bingo! Well done!” Akane stretched her legs and patted Saito on the head
a few times.

It did partially feel like he was being made fun of, but it also didn’t feel too
bad to him. Like what he had deep inside his chest was itching and he
would lean more into it.

—No! I can’t lose this early!

Saito needed to go for a real explosive attack or he wouldn’t get anywhere.

And so, he lightly pinched Akane’s chin.

“S-Saito…?” Akane was naturally perplexed.

He then moved his lips closer to his ear and whispered with a voice as
attractive as possible.

“But I love you way more, you know?”

“…!”

Her face turned beet red. That attack must have landed. But he wasn’t done
yet.

“Just thinking about you leaves me restless at night. I just want to be

embraced in your arms. I want to enjoy the sensation of your chest as I fall
asleep.”

“M-My chest…?”

“That’s right. Your adorable and alluring chest.”

At every word he uttered, he felt the urge to just throw up his lunch. Surely,
this should cause Akane to break down completely. And if not that, she’d at
least end up disgusted with herself and cool down a bit.

“Okay, I understand. Then come here,” Akane opened her arms with an
inviting smile, leaving Saito bewildered.
“What…do you mean?”

“You want me to pamper you, right? I don’t mind.”

“B-But…”

“Come here.”

Saito couldn’t fight against her gentle and alluring tone. He ended up
placing his head on her chest, embraced by her arms.

“You sure can be a bit of a spoiled kid at times. But I’ll give you all the
hugs you want, so just let me know when. I’m supposed to be your wife,
remember?” She mumbled as she softly caressed his head.

Her two soft mounds enveloped his face, with a relaxing scent tickling his
nose.

“Akane…”

Eventually, he reached his dreamland.

“What is it, Saito?” Akane asked with nothing but affection in her voice.

“I love you…”

“I love you too, Saito. I love you so much.”

Her voice riddled with mellowness assaulted Saito’s ears. Just being in this
space was a sweetness thicker than honey. Her body temperature was too
comfortable to the point it mixed with Saito’s and they became one. Her
heartbeat was sinking deeper into his. At this rate, his mind would melt
away. But he needed to act more gross to really tick Akane off. He used the
last remnants of his functioning brain to come up with a strategy and put it
into action.

“And because I love you…I wanna smell your whole body.”

“?!”
In a flash, Akane moved away from Saito.

“S-Smell my whole body…?”

“That’s right. Animals often smell each other when they pass each other,
right? So please, let me get a whiff of your hair! Please!”

Saito clapped his hands together and bowed to Akane. This was about the
very limit he could go to in terms of acting gross. All he could do now was
pray that it had some sort of effect on her.

“I…I don’t…” A faint voice escaped Akane’s lips.

—Did it work?!

Saito got his hopes up, but…

“I don’t…have anything against it…” said Akane bashfully as she moved

closer to Saito again.

“Y-You don’t?!”

“No…”

“Guh…!”

And since he now asked for it, he couldn’t chicken out. As such, he moved
closer and put his nose closer to her head. He sucked in once and was
immediately greeted by the scent of shampoo. However, since it came from
Akane, it caused Saito to get much more flustered than he normally would.

“Mhm…”

Having Saito press his nose against her hair caused Akane’s body to quiver
slightly. She grabbed his shirt as her shoulders stiffened.

“Wh-What do you think?”

“Erm…Well…It smells good?”

“This is so embarrassing…”

She looked up at Saito with watery eyes, the sight of her too alluring that
Saito just couldn’t look directly at her. Why was she not rejecting Saito’s
abnormal behavior?

“Now that you got to smell my scent…It’s my turn, yeah?”

“Your…turn? So you’re going to boom-kill me?!”

“No way!”

“So you’re going to cover my body with prawns and drop me into a shark
tank…?”

“I would never do something so cruel! I’m just going to smell your scent,
too! It’s not fair if only you get to do it, right?”

“I mean, I don’t mind…”

“Yay!”

Akane didn’t hesitate for a second and pushed her head onto Saito’s chest.
She rubbed her nose against his chest bone, sniffed at it, and then slid up
and down his neck.

“I don’t reek of sweat, right…?”

“You do, actually.”

Being told straight to his face caused even more damage for Saito.

“Then let’s leave it at this…”

“But I don’t hate it. Even if it’s a bit sweaty.”

“…!”
The damage numbers grew. She moved her nose to the back of his neck,
letting out an enchanting sigh. The scent of his arms, of his fingertips, of his
stomach, she sucked it all up. At the same time, Saito tried his best to cope
with the ticklish feeling he felt all over his body. Since she had a strong
hold on him, he wouldn’t be able to break free regardless.

“I think I’ve liked your scent ever since we met at your graduation party. I
found it comfortable. Hoping I could just have you by my side forever. Why
is that, I wonder?”

“Well…There is a theory that, if two people’s genes are compatible, they

also are attracted to each other’s smells.”

“So that means our genes have good compatibility?”

“Maybe, yeah.”

Akane moved her gaze away from Saito and mumbled under her breath.

“Our genes being attracted to each other…sounds a bit lewd.”

“I…I guess…”

There was a girl in front of Saito who he had perfect genetic compatibility
with. She even desired Saito and his smell to boot. That fact alone made his
whole body throb with excitement.

“…Nothing I’m trying is working out,” Saito explained as he was on the

phone with Maho.

He made his call while hiding deep in the house in order to evade Akane’s
watching eyes since she would stop him from trying to go out. The sun had
already begun to set as it plunged the world into darkness, causing the light
from the kitchen to add a bit of light to the garden outside. From said
Kitchen came the sounds of Akane using the hot pot and the scent of a
delicious tomato sauce that only stimulated Saito’s hunger. The warmth he
had always missed in his life was now practically right next to him. But as a
result of that, Akane had begun to lose herself in her feelings for him. This
was already causing her studies to be impacted. And Saito didn’t want to
ruin her dream of becoming a doctor. Meanwhile, Maho responded from
across the phone.

‘It had no effect? Were you actually trying to be lovey-dovey with her?’

“Absolutely. I called her honey, I had her spoil me, and I even got to sniff
her hair.”

‘…Gross,’ said Maho from the bottom of her heart.

Hearing her genuine response after all the teasing and giggling about him
all the time did hurt quite a lot.

“R-Right? I was really trying to be gross, too.”

‘It’s genuinely grossing me out. It makes me want to throw away my phone

rather than be on the call with you any longer.’

“That bad?”

She had even stopped calling him Onii-chan, too.

“And yet, she wasn’t grossed out at all. In fact, she called me darling and
sniffed my whole body…She’s gotten even worse.”

‘All right, you both are too much for me so I’ll hang up. Please don’t call
me again.’

“Wait, wait, wait! Didn’t you come up with this plan?!”

Maho sighed out loud.

‘Onee-chan’s really lost it, huh? This is worse than when she got banned
from the cat café.’

“I didn’t think she’d be going off the steep end like this, either.”
After all, before their feelings became apparent, they had been fighting
every single day since they enrolled.

‘Now that it’s come to this…You might have to rely on your ace in the
hole.’

“My ace in the hole…?” Saito audibly gulped.

Saito sat on his bed when Akane entered the bedroom. She had just finished
taking a bath, so the scent of the shampoo began to drift through the room,
and her facial color was much more radiant than usual. She must have
relaxed since she was at home because she had not fully buttoned up her
shirt. She then approached the bed and smiled at Saito.

“Hey, we don’t have school tomorrow, so why don’t we spend a bit more
time together? It could be any game you like, or we could watch a movie.
Maybe we could take a walk? It’d be a waste to head to bed this soon, no?”

“Good point. But I would prefer if we did this instead.”

“Wha…”

Saito grabbed Akane’s hand and pulled her into the bed. Unable to keep her
posture, she fell right over as the bed creaked. He then grabbed both her
hands and moved on top of her.

“S-Saito…?”

Her eyes were wide open in shock as she stared directly into Saito’s eyes.
Her hair was all ruffled up as it spread across the sheets, her chest moving
up and down.

“How’s this? You must be surprised, right? But I’m a man, you know? I’ve
been having the hardest time holding back my urges after you keep clinging
to me all the time lately.”

Saito didn’t like the thought of scaring her, but it was necessary to put a halt
to her rampage. All he had to do was lock away his own feelings.
“Your…urges?”

“You get what I mean, right? The desire to make you mine.”

Akane swallowed her breath. Her eyes began to water, causing Saito to feel
like he had been stabbed with raw guilt. He realized he probably went too
far.

“Sorry, I was just…” He tried to recover from this, but…

“…That makes me happy.”

“Wha…”

Saito doubted his ears when he heard Akane’s response.

“What are you…talking about?

“I’m happy you desire me this much. It means that I’ve plenty of charm as a
girl, right?”

“Well…I’d say that, yeah.”

Akane is absolutely an alluring girl. She was always upfront in good and
bad times, always showering Saito with overflowing love, and she was
incredibly attractive.

“Seeing you do all these bold things today…I was surprised at first, but it
also made me happy. I mean, all we’ve done these past years is fight, right?
I don’t really know how to do this sort of thing. Not with my lack of
experience. I didn’t know how to close the distance between us.”

She didn’t attempt to escape from beneath Saito. Instead, she took his hand
and looked up at him as she explained with a heartwarming tone.

“Thank you, Saito. If you desire me this much, then I want to make you
happy,” she said and smiled like a goddess.
It was so genuine, but at the same time destructive. She would accept all of
Saito. That’s what her gaze alone conveyed. Her cheeks were turning red,
signifying the passion within. Her cleavage was visible to Saito, a sweet
fragrance drifted up from her white skin. He could feel his heart beating
stronger and faster. It made him want to simply give in. To be sucked up by
Akane’s boundless love and not think about anything. But crossing the line
here and now would be unfair toward Akane. While she did it all out of love
for him, he only did it as a strategy. And so, he let go of her hand.
“I’m sorry. This isn’t right.”
“What do you mean?” She gave him a dubious look as she blinked a few
times, her hand still open after he let go.

“I acted this way today…because I tried to calm you down. It was all just a
strategy. Ever since we became like this, you’ve been losing it to the point
you were neglecting your studies. And so, I needed you to calm down
again. Because I was scared you’d ruin your dream.”

“You did it…for my sake? For my dream?”

“Your dream is everything that matters. Because we agreed to this marriage

to have our dreams granted.”

It is Akane’s dream to become a doctor. And it is Saito’s dream to inherit

the Houjou Group. So, these dreams should be prioritized more than
anything else.

“I thought that running rampant like you would help you realize what you
were doing and tone it down a bit.”

“I was…running rampant?” Akane asked awkwardly.

“Quite so. You were just infatuated with me at any moment to the point you
were an entirely different person.”

“Agh…” Akane blushed and covered her face with her hand. “Now that I
think about it…I feel like I’ve been doing some really bold stuff lately…
Like we were one of those couples who couldn’t live without each other,
right?! I was weird, right?! And everyone saw, didn’t they?! Oh no…I have
to blow up the school now!” Akane was assaulted by the shame of all her
past actions and rolled around on top of the bed in agony.

Saito then placed his hands on her shoulders and made her stop.

“Calm down. The school should live to see another day.”

“But…But…”
“It’s fine. Everyone knows that you’re always going 120%. This time, you
just went a bit off route, nothing more.”

“So that means they always consider me weird, right?!”

“Mhm…Good question…?”

Saito skillfully dodged Akane’s question, not wanting to risk her heating up
again. For now, he wanted her to relax a bit and brought her some water
from downstairs. She sat at the corner of the bed and gulped it all down in
one go. Saito also felt parched from doing all these things he wasn’t used to
and joined her. After a brief silence, Akane mumbled, while she grasped the
cup with both hands.

“I was just…scared.”

“Of what?”

“That you’d leave my side.”

“Huh…?”

“Well…You know what I’m like. I was worried we’d start fighting again,
unable to make up, until you’d run out of love for me. And that…I wouldn’t
be able to fix things anymore,” she said and looked up at him. “And so…I
just wanted to enjoy everything all at once. To leave behind a memory of us
actually being in love with each other.”

Saito felt his chest tightening.

—Worrying about such a thing…About me…What an idiot.

Akane was full of love to give and a charming girl from every angle you
looked at her. And sure, she might be a bit thorny on the surface, but the
deeper you go, the more lovable she becomes. She was the opposite of
Saito, who would just let people go if they wanted to. She was wasted on a
guy like him. And as she was quivering in uncertainty, Saito pulled her
closer.
“S-Saito…?”

Inside Saito’s arms, Akane let out a fragile voice.

“I will never let go of you.”

“Really…?”

“Absolutely. As long as you will let me, of course.”

“Of course. I’ll forgive you always,” Akane returned the hug.

The strength she put into her grip allowed Saito to feel at peace. No matter
how much they might fight, they would never run the risk of losing their
relationship. This is their hideout in this unsafe world.

“You know…I feel so at peace now that…I’m getting a bit sleepy…” Akane
laid down on the bed, seemingly having calmed down from her previous
rampages.

“Weren’t we gonna watch a movie?” Saito asked as he laid down next to

her.

“Not tonight. I just want to fall asleep while holding your hand like this.
That’s all I need.”

Akane reached for Saito’s hand as he gazed into his eyes. At the same time,
she moved her legs closer to him. This was very different from their first
night together where they got into a fight because their hands had touched.
It told Saito that their time spent together up to this point wasn’t just
wasted. And at the same time, Akane gently whispered with all the love in
the world.

“Always stay by my side, okay?”

“Of course.”

“And no going to the toilet, okay?”

“I would like permission for that at least,” Saito pleaded with a wry smile.

“Absolutely not. We’ll be staying like this all day tomorrow. If we’re
sticking together like this, we can’t do anything after all.”

Akane’s eyes were radiating with only Saito in her sight. It was so dazzling
that Saito grew worried it might burn it all down to the ground. From the
looks of it, her rampage had yet to end after all.

The seaside restaurant here offered seats where people could watch the fish
inside the water from their rooms. Maho’s face was stuck to the glass as she
cheered at the sight of the schools of fish swimming through the deep blue
water.

“Wooow! So many fish! It looks so beautiful!”

“Excited like a little kid…It’s a bit embarrassing, really,” Chiyo shrugged

her shoulders, but Tenryuu responded with a laugh.

“Ha ha ha! Let kids be kids! And hey, it was worth bringing her here after
all. If we took Saito here, he’d just look bored all the time.”

“Onii-chan doesn’t know how to have fun, after all!”

“Right?”

Maho and Tenryuu nodded at each other, as Chiyo lifted her nose up.

“You two are just inseparable, I swear…”

“Gramps! Grandma is jealous! Aren’t you loved? You lucky guy!”

“I-I sure am.”

“My word, Maho…”

Both Tenryuu and Chiyo began to blush. Despite being old-timers, they
were as lovey-dovey as a high school couple. At the same time, the waiter
brought over a special squid somen, which was a rather superb dish made of
thin-sliced squid sashimi dipped in a very generous amount of soy sauce
that was made from sea urchin and quail eggs.

“Phew, delish! This is the best!” Maho had her hands on her cheeks as her
body quivered in pleasure.

“Oh, you can tell?”

“Yup! The sea urchin mixed soy sauce goes really well with the squid! Plus
it’s much more detailed and complex than regular sashimi! Makes my
cheeks all happy and excited!”

“Then you should be able to enjoy the taste with some sake alongside it.”

“Please don’t, Tenryuu-san. She’s still a minor,” Chiyo immediately put the
reins on Tenryuu.

“Well, you are more than welcome to join one of the Houjou Family’s
banquets. The old folks would be happy.”

“Oh, that sounds great! I love me a party, after all!” Maho gave him a
thumbs-up.

“But more importantly, I’d like a report now.”

“If you would.”

Tenryuu and Chiyo suddenly turned serious, and Maho’s back straightened,
too.

“They’re finally a genuine couple. Granted, Onee-chan’s still running a bit

amok, but Onii-chan’s willing to let it slide. I think they’re really turning
into a genuine married couple.”

“Hm…So it is almost time.”

“That it is.”

Tenryuu and Chiyo looked at each other with a faint smile.

“Time for what? That they’re gonna kiss soon?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“Really now…?”

To Maho, Chiyo’s way of phrasing it sounded weird. Like she was hiding
something. Like they were plotting something.

“Actually, there’s something I wanna ask you two.”

“What’s up, gal?”

“You said that you had Onii-chan and Onee-chan get married so that they
relive your youth for you, right? But…Back when you were their age, you
didn’t actually like each other, right?”

Tenryuu and Chiyo both reacted slightly, and Maho didn’t miss that. Chiyo
covered her mouth with her hand and let out a giggle.

“Oh dear, what might you be talking about?”

“When I was bedridden because I was sick, Mom told me stories from back
then. And Mom heard that story from Grandma. Apparently, when you were
our age, you both already had partners you loved very much, no?”

“…”

Tenryuu rested his chin on the backs of his folded hands and looked at
Maho.

“You were good friends, but you weren’t in love. You only got together
after both of your partners passed away, no?”

Maho placed her hands on the table and leaned toward the two.

“So then…Why did you have those two get married? Saying that you
wanted your love granted through them? That doesn’t make sense, right? It
doesn’t, right? Maybe I should ask Onii-chan what he thinks about that?”
Maho pushed them further into a corner with a cheerful smile.

She didn’t want to be deceived by them, so she had to make them come
clean right here, right now. Met with that, Chiyo let out a faint giggle.

“Maybe you were the one we ought to have been more careful of.”

“I’d love to have your talent in the Houjou Family.”

Tenryuu nodded along. It seemed like Maho managed to break down the
wall, telling her that there would be trouble if she brought this to Saito and
Akane. And with that realization made, Maho asked the critical question.

“Hey…Why wasn’t I the one who was told to marry Onii-chan?”

“Aren’t you a mischievous one?”

“You’re not one to talk, Gramps.”

“That reminds me…You got the goods?”

“Those amber-colored snacks…?”

“Heh, of course I do.”

“The amber-colored snacks!”

“Oh, I’ve been dying to try these!”

1 A reference to “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas

Adams.
 Dream

On a day when Saito was just ten years old, he walked outside alone while
being unfazed by the cold air. He had been treated to a fancy dinner by one
of Tenryuu’s acquaintances, only to be smacked by his father and kicked
out of the house. Of course, he was used to being punched for no reason.
The world had no reason, after all. Pain was something he knew all too
well, too. After all, just being alive is nothing but pain. But walking down
the streets at night in freezing temperatures definitely impacted Saito most.
He wasn’t even given time to grab his coat, nor did he have gloves or a
scarf. The cold wind only caused his swollen cheek to burn up in pain even
more. Even as he tried his best to keep his fingers warm by breathing on
them, not much could be done. And all of that while the lights from the
houses he passed looked so warm and inviting. There was the delicious
noise and scent of boiled food, as the respective families enjoyed a joyful
time together at the dinner table. The shadows he could see through the
curtains, sitting close together, felt like a mirage to Saito. This was a world
he’d never get to experience. He’d never be able to experience something
like that with his own family. It’s like they weren’t even living together.
Their house felt cold and uninviting, and Saito never got to eat any of his
mother’s warm cooking. While everyone was enjoying their time together,
Saito didn’t even have a place to return home to. The light around him
almost felt so bright that his eyes began to hurt and he looked up at the
night sky. Amidst all the darkness, stars were shining bright scattered about.
Some of them should even be the light for other civilizations.

—And maybe I’d have a place there, too…

The young boy was simply anxious about his place in the world.

“Hey, hey, Saito-kun! Can you teach me again?”

Himari jogged over to Saito’s desk.

“I don’t mind, but don’t you have shifts on Tuesdays?”

“You know, hm? Could you be a teensy-weensy bit of a stalker?”

“No? You just happened to be there whenever I would go there on

Tuesdays.”

“So you are a stalker!” Himari put her elbows on Saito’s desk and poked his
cheek with her finger.

“As I keep saying, no.”

Saito was slowly running out of ways to deny her accusations.

“You know, the reason I started working part-time was so that I could get
away from my parents as quickly as possible.”

“Because things were rough between you, right?”

“Yeah. I wanted to save up money and start living on my own as soon as I’d
graduate, trying to find a job to keep me afloat. I’d be happy as long as I
was away from my family.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“You do, right? We’re the same, after all,” she said as she looked directly
into his eyes.

Her passionate gaze was as if she was trying to assure Saito that she would
be the only person ever to understand his pain. But Saito looked away
before he could lose himself in it. Himari then played with her long hair and
continued.

“But you know, things have been less awkward and uncomfortable at home.
I’m still not too happy being with just Rieko-san, but if Dad’s with us, I’m
fine eating dinner together.”

“That’s good,” Saito smiled.

“You’re happy for me?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m happy if you’re happy.”

Himari’s cheeks turned into a faint pink.

“You’re quite the player, huh? Maybe I should send a recording of that to
Akane later?”

“Please don’t. I’m happy for you as a friend, of course.”

“Sure, sure! You say friends, but there are all sorts of types of friends, yeah?
Like us being…’friends,’ right?” She moved her face closer to him and
mumbled in a mellow voice.

“You don’t have to be so suggestive about it,” Saito gently flicked his
fingers at her forehead.

But for some reason, she held her head and danced in joy.

“Yaaay, you flicked me on the forehead! Does this count as cheating?”

“Now listen here…”

It seemed like she went even more on the offense after Saito and Akane got
together. Since she always talked about being fine with being the mistress,
she probably didn’t see much of a change in the situation.

“But since I practically lost my reason to get out of the house quickly, I
figured I should get some proper thoughts about my future in order. I don’t
particularly have a dream I want to accomplish, but having more choices
won’t hurt, right? So I figured I should really give my studies some proper
turnaround.”

“That’s amazing!”

“Eeek?!”

Saito placed both his hands on Himari’s shoulders.

“That’s just impressive, Himari! So you finally understand, right?! That, if
you carry on like this, you’ll end up like a grasshopper who jumps from
work to work for a low salary, getting caught up with a bad man, feeding
him the small amount of money you have, getting divorced, and then
having no savings at all, just living life on the edge!”

“I…I wasn’t thinking that far, to be honest, but…Is that really going to
happen?!” Himari staggered backward.

Meanwhile, Saito balled his fist as he began to tear up.

“I was just so…worried, you know? Life might be all fine and dandy now,
but what if your high school career ends up as your highlight? I don’t want
to see you worse off each time we run into each other in town…!”

“I’m happy to hear you’re worried about me, but you’re starting to sound
like my dad! That’s not the relationship I want with you! I want things to be
steamy and immoral!”

“You’re pretty straightforward, huh?!”

There were still other students in the classroom.

“Because you wouldn’t get it if I don’t come out straight and swinging with
it! And just to really hit it home, I want us to have a sexual relationship with
lots of love!”

“Can we maybe just be friends?!” Saito was feeling saddened.

“You know, just talking to you lately has me feeling like we’re doing
something forbidden…So nice…” Himari narrowed her eyes in pleasure
and spoke with a licentious tone.

She had really gone off the deep end there.

“Anyway, if it’ll help you and your future, I’ll support you with everything
I got. With my help, you’ll make it into Tokyo U for sure!” Saito nodded
confidently.
“Thank you so much! I love you lots, Saito-kun!”

Himari grabbed Saito’s head and pressed it against her chest. The soft
volume her two mounds carried completely blocked Saito’s view and
squished his cheeks into a new shape.

“S-Stop…You’re crushing me…!”

As Saito was slowly suffocating, their classmates were mumbling amongst

themselves.

“Is he doing a study session with Ishikura-san?!”

“Then let us join in!”

“I’m still not sure about a lot of stuff myself.”

“Me too, me too!”

“Please!”

“Houjou-sensei!”

Since entrance exam season was closing in, the other students were starting
to get desperate, too. Of course, they should’ve studied seriously for the
whole year, too, but he wasn’t so cruel to abandon them, either.

“All right, fine. A few more people won’t matter. I’ll guide all of you,”
Saito agreed with a sigh.

After school, Saito was busy teaching the other classmates in their
classroom.

“Himari-chan, you were right! Houjou-kun is such a good teacher!” One of

the girls commented.

“You think so?” Saito scratched his cheek.

“You are! You should just be my private tutor at this point!” said another
Student.

“I get it. I’d much rather go to a Houjou cram school than my current one.”

“I don’t intend to start a cram school though…” Saito flashed a wry smile.

If he did that, he wouldn’t have as much time to read books or play games.
But one of the boys put their arms over his shoulder.

“What’s the big deal? If you start charging money from us, you’ll earn cash
like crazy.”

“The successor of the Houjou Group won’t need any money, you dunce.
Just teach me and I’ll give you lots of service instead, yeah?” A girl took up
Saito’s other side.

The other classmates then laughed along.

“Houjou-kun’s a lot easier to approach these days, don’t you think?”

“Like he’s softened up a bit.”

“Before, it felt like he had an iron guard around him.”

“Like he was rejecting everybody who isn’t Shisei-chan, right?”

“Yeah!”

A group of students formed around Saito as they were happily chatting.

Saito had never experienced something like this since elementary school.
Usually, he was nothing more than an outcast, watching the people from
afar. Standing next to him, Himari let out a giggle.

“You’re having fun, huh?”

“Just normal.”
That was obviously a lie. He did enjoy spending his time by himself, but he
didn’t dislike this situation, either. He felt a strange satisfaction as if he was
being tossed about by warm waves comfortably rocking him left and right.

Standing outside that group was Akane, pouting openly.

“What’s his deal? Being all gleeful and flirting around with her…”

Meanwhile, Maho poked her finger into Akane’s cheek.

“Is someone jealous? Hmm?”

“N-No, not at all! I was just thinking he could just teach me if he’s got the
time to teach all the others!”

“So you are jealous! Or…you envy them! Why not have him teach you,
too?”

Akane dropped her gaze and pushed her index fingers together.

“That…that would be bad. I don’t think I can talk with him normally, and
the others might pick up on something…”

In response, Maho crossed her arms and nodded.

“Good, good. Seems like you are aware of what you were doing. I call that
progress.”

“Why are you acting so arrogantly…?”

To Akane, it felt like their positions were reversed.

“Because you completely lost your marbles before, remember? You were
like a cat in heat each time you just saw Onii-chan in the distance. Your
pupils were shaped like hearts!”

“It…It wasn’t that bad…”

Akane wanted to believe she hadn’t lost herself to such a degree, but most
of her memories of that time were so foggy that she had no confidence in
her statement. But it was clear that she was getting ahead of herself now
that their feelings were mutual. But then, Shisei joined them by sitting on a
desk and gazing at Saito from a distance.

“Shise is happy to see Brother surrounded by everyone. He’s always looked

so lonely before.”

“Saito doesn’t feel like the sort of person who gets lonely easily, though.”

“He does like people, he just can’t be honest with them. He thinks they all
hate him.”

“Is that…”

To Akane, it felt like Shisei was directly speaking about her. She began to
hate him, or rather, she told herself that she did because he happened to
forget her. She wanted to be with him, which only pushed her further away.

“Brother would have never agreed to something like this in the past. Instead
of helping them, he would’ve just continued to read a book.”

“So you’re saying he’s changed?”

“That’s right. And the one who changed him was you, Akane.”

“I don’t remember doing much…”

“Spending time with you in your newly-wed life together must have
changed him a lot. He’s become a lot more human. Did you know, he never
really got angry much before he met you.”

“Really…?”

Since Akane was constantly fighting with Saito, that was really hard to
imagine for her.
“Even when people did something that bothered him, he would just move
on and forget about it. He’d never really bother to clash with other people.
Shise being selfish never ended with him being mad at her, either,” said
Shisei as she dropped her face.

Her eyes were hidden from the shadow forming on her face, making it
unable to see how she really felt.

“But thanks to you, Brother has started to be angry with people and worry
about people. He actually gets flustered now and is smiling more. So…
thank you, Akane,” Shisei smiled as she looked up at her.

It was a somewhat saddened smile but still conveyed all her affection.

“Shisei-san…” Akane put her hands together in front of her chest.

The class’s study session came to an end as the students started heading
home in groups of two or three. Left behind in the classroom was Saito, as
Maho leaped at him.

“Onii-chan! Great work! Let me give you lots of love and relaxation!”

“That would probably only tire me out more, so I’ll pass.”

“You say that, but you’re actually happy, right? Shii-chan said that you get
lonely quickly after all!” said Maho while grinning.

“Shise did…?”

Saito looked over at the girl, but she was pretending not to notice as she
looked after a bat. Why was there a bat in the classroom? Saito was trying
to chase after it, but Maho kept him in a tight hold and wouldn’t let him go,
either.

“I’m tired from all the studying, so let’s eat something!” said Maho.

Akane nodded.

“That sounds good. Let’s go eat some strawberries.”

“Is that all you eat?”

“I live off strawberries, yes.”

There was no hesitation in Akane’s voice. Saito always thought that

Japanese people would have rice as their staple food, but Princess Akane of
the Akane Kingdom preferred her strawberries.

“When you’re tired, you need something sweet…not really. I’d much rather
have some juicy meat.”

“Whose?” asked Shisei while drooling.

“Just regular beef.”

“Sounds good, sounds good! I say yakiniku! And it’s Onii-chan’s treat!”

“When was that decided?”

“Because I don’t eat food unless I get treated to it!”

Maho put her hands together behind her hips and blinked in a cute way as
she looked up at Saito.

“Shise also wants Brother to pay,” Shisei went into full begging mode and
pulled on Saito’s sleeve.

“These two sisters are just absolute actors…”

“I’m sorry…”

For some reason, Akane apologized.

“I’ll pay for Saito-kun’s share! I earned plenty of money during my part-
time job, after all. Anything you want I’ll buy for you, honey!”

“You are clearly the type of girl who ruins a man, huh?”

“You think so? Will you be ruined for me?”

“I’d rather not.”

“C’mon! Just turn into a good-for-nothing guy!” Himari clung to Saito’s

arm and pressed her body onto him.

Akane naturally wouldn’t let that stand and pulled them apart.

“Can you give it a rest already?! We’re all going to pay our own share!
That’s the easiest and moral solution!”

“But I prefer the immoral way.”

“So does lil’ Maho!”

“Shise is going to devour everything in Brother’s wallet.”

They kept bantering back and forth as they left the classroom behind. Even
though the hallway outside was dark and empty, the five of them walking
together felt like it was as bright as during a shopping mall. Laughter all
around filled Saito’s chest. He took out his shoes from the dusty shoe locker
as he heard the rustling of the girls’ skirts. Shisei used Saito as a hold while
she changed her shoes, and Maho also used Saito’s open side.

—I just…hated being alone, I guess.

That was the painful realization he came to. Since he was filling his soul
with books and games, he never caught on to the loneliness he felt from
being locked inside his parents’ home. The urge to slit his own throat was
out of loneliness. Isolated from his own parents and classmates, he just
wished to be gone from this world. But now, he no longer felt that urge. It
might be a bit annoying at times, but the feeling of Maho clinging to him
helped him erase these destructive impulses.

“You like this sort of thing, right?” Maho whispered.

“No, I don’t…” Saito tried to play it off, but…

“I can tell, you know? I was just as lonely, after all. Always hospitalized by
myself. Away from my family, left behind by the world, all alone in my
hospital bed. I was really lonely. And so, to ensure I wouldn’t be left alone,
1
I became a version of ‘Maho’ that everyone would love .”

“I know fully well that the Maho you’re pretending to be isn’t the real one.”

Maho let out a snicker.

“So you knew but still played along? I really like that about you.”

“You…do…?”

The serious atmosphere caused Saito to feel rather restless.

“I do. I always say that, don’t I?” said Maho as she pressed her lips on
Saito’s cheek.

“Wha…”

Saito covered his cheek with his hand. But the sensation of her lips
remained, causing his heart to flutter. As Akane was walking next to him,
she obviously didn’t miss out on this.

“What are you two doing over there?!”

In response, Maho showed a roguish smile.

“That’s a secret. Don’t worry about it, Onee-chan.”

“I will absolutely worry about it! Didn’t you just kiss him?! You sure did,
right?!”

“You’re imagining things. I would never do something so gross to Onii-

chan!”

Maho got dragged ahead by Akane. On the way, she turned around and
threw him a kiss with her lips.

“I swear…” Saito scratched his head.

The way she would switch the flip on and off was too much for Saito. But
he knew she wasn’t a bad person, so he couldn’t blame her. They left the
school district and rode the bus to the nearest business district, looking for a
restaurant fitting their tastes. The streets were filled with people on their
way home from work, as the scent of alcohol and sweat permeated the air.
After a short while, Maho pointed at a flashy electronic billboard.

“Onii-chan! Onii-chan! Let’s check out this place! It’s a hostess bar, but you
can actually touch the boobies!”

“We’re still students, we wouldn’t get in there!”

“Oh, so you’d like to check it out if we weren’t students? You pervert! You
demon!”

“Damn it all…!”

And even though he knew this wasn’t who she really was, being teased was
still frustrating. At the same time, Himari carefully spoke up.

“Saito-kun…You like boobs that much? Then I have just the idea!”

“I don’t even wanna know!”

Akane interrupted them as she pointed at another establishment.

“Look! It’s a new cat café! Let’s check it out!”

“You absolutely should not be checking that out! For everyone’s safety!”
Saito grabbed Akane’s arm.

While the entrance exams were closing in, if she got attached to another cat,
she might get reported. Meanwhile, Shisei crossed her arms and spoke with
a condescending tone.

“Be serious, you guys. We came here to eat delicious yakiniku. Right?”

“R-Right…”
“Shii-chan is serious…”

“Sorry, Shisei-chan.”

The others swallowed their breaths at Shisei’s words. Except Akane, who
was glued to the window of the cat café, drooling all over it. Saito used his
phone to look up a nearby yakiniku restaurant and then took everyone there.
Only one small billboard advertised it on the road, and going down the
stairs, you ended up on a terrace. Opening the heavy door the inside was
filled with hot smoke, and the scent of grilled meat that beckoned them
inside. The crowded store was filled with customers drinking and laughing.
Since Saito was mostly taken to high-society establishments, he wasn’t used
to such a general place. They sat around the table and then began ordering
their drinks and food. The employee arrived shortly after, placing a large
plate on the table, which was stacked with various types of meat, including
loin, ribs, and tongue…all laid out like flower petals. Saito had ordered a
coke, Akane went with orange juice, Himari chose oolong tea, Shisei
ordered a fermented milk drink, and Maho stayed classy with a melon soda.
They all lifted up their drinks and said in unison—

“““Cheers!”””

The sound of the glasses bumping into each other echoed in the near
vicinity of their table. At the same time, Akane awkwardly looked around.

“Actually ordering something at a dodgy restaurant like this…We’re not

going to get reported, right?”

“Nothing’s dodgy about this. Plus, we’re not drinking any alcohol.”

“That’s right! The only one who’ll get reported is Onii-chan for indulging in
a group of cuties with food and alcohol!”

“I’m not indulging in anything!”

“But Akane would be happy, right?” said Maho as she rubbed the tongs into
Saito’s cheek.
“Tongs aren’t supposed to be used like that,” Saito said and grabbed the
tongs for himself, placing the meat on the grill.

With plenty of firepower, it didn’t take long before the meat was sizzling
with a pleasant tone.

“Time to dig in.”

Saito clapped his hands together, but then it happened. He felt a light breeze
tickle his nose. Immediately when he opened his eyes…the meat was gone.
Not a single slice was left on the grill. Only the coal was glowing beneath
it. And however, Shisei’s mouth was moving suspiciously.

“You ate all of the meat?! In that one instant?!”

“Shise hasn’t eaten anything…Mhm, delicious.”

“Then what’s so delicious?! Can you at least hold back a little?!”

Shisei’s eyes lit up.

“Hold back? You won’t survive in Savannah if you do that.”

“Good thing we’re not living there, huh?!”

Himari then tried to soothe Saito.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. We can eat as much as we want, and if we’re running
low, there’s always the option of ordering more.”

“Plus it’s not just all yakiniku! Look, I also grilled this one! Have a taste!”
Maho picked up something between her chopsticks and stuffed it into
Saito’s mouth.

It felt a pit spongy to chew on, and it was extremely bitter.

“What is this…? This is some horrible meat…Or is it entrails…?”

“It’s my eraser from school!”

Saito spit it out immediately.

“Waaah, Onii-chan! That’s so nasty! It got stuck on my face!” Maho

laughed as she gleefully wiped her face.

“Nasty, yeah?! Then don’t put your eraser on the grill!”

“Oh, are you saying you’re the type who can eat them raw? That sounds
lewd!”

“Raw or not doesn’t matter! Don’t feed me your damn eraser!”

“It’s your fault for being a picky eater. Right, Onee-chan?”

Akane nodded deeply.

“You shouldn’t be picking and choosing your food. That’s rude to the
farmers who went through the hard work of growing it.”

“What field is growing erasers out there?! It’s not food?!”

As Saito emphasized this, Shisei stuffed the eraser into her filled cheeks.

“Mhm, delish.”

“See! Shii-chan is eating it! It’s edible!”

“Don’t eat it?!” Saito pulled the eraser out of Shisei’s mouth.

“Grrrr!”

However, she howled at him like he was trying to steal her food and bit his
hand.

“Don’t bite me! I’m not your food!”

Meanwhile, Maho grew pale and covered her mouth with her hand.
“So you want to have the eraser that is drenched in Shii-chan’s saliva that
bad…? You’re a real pervert…”

“You are really worth less than a human being.”

“I’m not doing anything wrong! I’m acting with reason here! …Right?”
Saito looked at Himari, the only person who could still be his ally.

She balled up her fist and smiled.

“Yup! You’re always right! Even if you try to destroy the whole world, I’ll
be on your side!”

“I think you’d be in your right to correct me then…”

Saito was grateful to have an ally like her, but this was a bit much for him.
To save time before Shisei ate them all, Saito started grilling more meat.
Maho once again tried to grill her own school supplies, but he did his best
to put a stop to her. As for Akane trying to grill her strawberries for dessert,
Himari was the one who put a stop to her. It was a noisy time, but fun
regardless. It reminded him of his days back home where he ate cup
noodles alone. Comparing that to now, it was almost unthinkable he made it
this far. Akane seemed very fixated on her strawberry ice cream and forgot
about the meat.

“And you were studying a lot today, right, Himari? That’s amazing.”

Himari responded with a happy smile.

“Hee hee, yeah. But you’re even more amazing than me.”

“Oh, why is that?”

“Unlike me, you’ve always had a dream you were working toward, right? I
always thought you were really cool giving it your all to become a doctor.”

“I…I don’t think it’s that cool or anything.”

As Akane grew flustered, Himari followed it up by clinging to her.

“I think you’re really cool! You were always my hero!”

“I’m not some hero…”

“Then you’re a prince!”

“Geez, you just love to exaggerate…”

Himari rubbed her cheeks on Akane, who pulled up her shoulders out of
embarrassment. They were holding hands, even while interlocking fingers.
They may be close, but this much contact left Saito unsure of where he
should look.

“S-So…Maho, do you have a dream?”

“My dream is to be Onii-chan’s bride!” She said and gave Saito a wink.

“Right, sure.”

“But I’m serious. I really do like you, Onii-chan.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” he said and placed his hand on her head.

“You just think I’m joking, right?” She said and pushed his hand away.

She averted her face from him and mumbled to herself.

“Seriously…Why couldn’t it have been me…?”

She sounded somewhat dejected during that time, too. Her fingers holding
the glass seemed oddly tense and filled with strength. Akane picked up on
those words and asked her.

“What do you mean why couldn’t it have been you?”

“Oh, it’s fine! Don’t worry about it!” Maho immediately forced a smile.

But something was off, evidently.

“What’s up? Are you not feeling well?”

Saito was genuinely worried. Despite her fooling around like always, she
didn’t seem to have much of an appetite and she rarely reached for the
meat. The food from her small plate also hasn’t really made its way into her
mouth.

“I’m perfectly fine! I could run a marathon through Japan right now!”

“That is fine, but don’t overdo it, yeah?”

“…I won’t, thanks,” Maho said with reddened ears.

“That reminds me, what was your dream anyway, Saito? I know we got
married to accomplish our dreams, but you never once told me.”

Akane’s question left Saito stuck for words.

“My dream is…Well…to conquer the world!”

Himari’s eyes lit up.

“Really?! Where are you going to start?!”

“Why are you so excited about the world ending? Do you need someone to
talk to?”

“Nope! It’s all just love for you, Saito-kun!”

“Don’t take him seriously. He’s obviously just lying.”

“Really?! Is that true?! Then what is it really?!”

“Good question. I’d like to know, too.”

Both Hiari and Akane closed in on him, causing him to lean backward.

“Well…It’s not really anything worth mentioning…”

Telling everybody was too embarrassing. Only Shisei knew about his
dream. That very Shisei actually was slurping down cold noodles like she
didn’t care about anything. And so, he opted to change the topic.

“A-Anyway, with how much you know about fashion, couldn’t you be
looking for a job related to that?” he asked as he turned toward Himari.

In response, her eyes opened wide.

“Oh, you could tell? I actually always admired jobs like beauticians! I don’t
know if I could do it, though, so I’m confused if I should even consider that
a dream.”

Maho then raised her index finger.

“If you don’t know if you’re cut out for it, why not test it? With Onii-chan!”

“With me…?”

Saito was immediately assaulted with a horrible premonition.

Inside a dark room completely blocked off from the rest of the world, Saito
sat on a chair and got tied to it. His arms were wrapped up to the armrests
with what looked like cloth strings, his ankles handcuffed, and his legs
wrapped together with duct tape. No other person was present in the empty
room, and nobody would come running over even after screaming. The cold
night air hit his skin, hurting his bare legs on the floor. Eventually, the door
opened and someone entered the room. The lights turned on and blinded
Saito’s eyes, as he wasn’t used to the darkness. Footsteps approached, as
well as the scent of perfume. That very person who entered was smiling
while holding a hot iron.

“Stop! Don’t…do this!”

Saito’s pleas ended up in vain as the hot weapon mercilessly attacked. He

could feel his hair burning hot as heat surrounded his head. And soon
enough…his hair was turned into…curls…!

“Oooh, you’re so cute, Saito-kun! The cutest!”

Himari was excitedly swinging around the iron that looked like it came
from a blast furnace right next to Saito’s face, making him fear for his life.

“If you really want to be a beautician, maybe you should swing around a
dangerous weapon like that so carelessly. And I don’t understand the point
of styling my hair like this. Am I just wearing drills on my head?”

“Of course! Because you look cute! Guys, come join me!”

“““Of course!”””

Three more girls barged into the room. They all carried their own weapons
and makeup goods, their motivation at an all-time high.

“I think a cool-toned foundation would really fit your skin type, Onii-
chan!” Maho said as she put the foundation on his face using a sponge.

As a result, he inhaled a bit of the strange-smelling powder and began

coughing.

“Free me already!”

“No can do, Saito-kun. And don’t move too much, or you’ll get burned!”

She used the iron and increased the curls all over Saito’s head. At the same
time, Akane fidgeted as he held her lipstick tightly.

“With this…I’ll be like an indirect kiss, right? And I don’t have any other
lipsticks…”

“It’s fine. We can use Shise’s,” said Shisei as she hopped on Saito’s lap.

“W-Wait! I’ll do it! I’ll do it with mine.”

Even as she pulled on Shisei, she would not get off Saito’s lap. She brought
her beautiful face closer to him and eagerly applied her lipstick.

“You haven’t even kissed Brother yet, so don’t force yourself.”

“Wh-Why is that some sort of winning condition?! And we did kiss before!
Like 500 billion times!”

“I feel like my lips will be long gone before we reach that number.”

Shisei then flashed a provocative smile.

“Then just do it here. Show us a passionate lovey-dovey scene.”

“A…A passionate lovey-dovey scene…?” Akane started shaking from the

sheer embarrassment.

Maho seemed excited at the idea and pulled on Akane’s sleeve.

“Onee-chan, put the eye shadow on him! I’ll handle the left eye!”

“Leave the right to me!”

“Isn’t it a bad idea to divide that work?!”

Obviously, nobody listened to Saito. The sisters were just applying eye
shadow like there was no tomorrow. Meanwhile, Himari finished her work
and wiped her brow.

“Phew, that should be most of the drills done. And with a heart symbol at
the back of your head, too. It’s so cute.”

“Hey, Himarin! What do we do, eyelash extensions or curlers?”

“Oh, good point! If we want to do it for real, maybe curlers would be

good!”

Himari brought out the tools that looked like a mini version of the iron and
carried it close to Saito’s eyes. He tried with all his might to escape from his
confinement.
“S-Stop it! Don’t do this! You can’t possibly do this to my eyes…!”

“I know it’s scary, but all the girls are doing it, you know?”
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The hot curler was then brought to his eyelashes. Meanwhile, Maho took a
glance at his face and groaned a bit.

“Mh…This blank space here looks a bit lonely…Maybe I’ll draw a rabbit
here!”

“Then I’ll draw a strawberry!”

“And Shise will draw yakisoba.”

“Blank space…?”

Saito started to feel like a canvas that was just being doodled on. He had no
longer any honor left as a human being. He had become their toy, as the
night progressed. Eventually, he was freed from the torture and the girls
allowed him to breathe. Except, he was still tied up.

“Oooh. Brother, you’re pretty cute.”

“Saito-kun! Look at you cute little thing!” Himari showed Saito a reflection
of himself in the mirror.

Shown on there was the horrendous sight of Saito with curls in his hair,
decorated with a large number if ribbons, a star mark under his left eye and
a moon mark under his right eye, his skin covered in a thick layer of
foundation power, and his lips were perked up like a circus clown’s.

“I look like a horror clown!”

“Not at all! You’re the cutest! I almost want to marry you!” Maho gave him
a thumbs-up.

“This could be a great graduation project, no?” Akane nodded.

“You should really fix that warped sense of beauty you idiots got!” Saito
protested.
He felt like bringing this to a court of law. But Himari just stretched in a
satisfied way.

“That was fun…But, why did we even do this in the first place?”

“Good question,” said Maho as she tilted her head.

“Delish~” Shisei munched on her dried sardines.

“…Hey.”

As their plaything, Saito felt a vein popping on his head. But thankfully,
Akane jumped in to help.

“You already forgot? We were trying to see if you had any capabilities as a
beautician, Himari.”

“Ah, right! Thanks, Saito-kun! I think I can try going for it!” Himari
answered and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Glad to hear it…”

The girls might be satisfied with this result, but Saito was still sitting on the
chair like a cursed object. Specifically, Akane, Himari, and Shisei left the
room cheerfully with their makeup tools. Left behind in the room, like the
calm after a storm, were just Saito himself and Maho. She shrugged once
and flashed a smile.

“Must have been rough, huh?”

“Because you came up with that stupid idea,” Saito clapped back at her.

“Sowwy, sowwy~ I’ll make up for it. Where do you want me to start
licking?” She said and licked her lips.

“I just want to go back to being a human again,” Saito responded with no

emotion in his voice.

“Whaaat? But it’s so cute!”

“I don’t want to look cute. I want to be human.”

“Geez, fine!” Maho pouted ever so slightly as she started to wash off Saito’s
face.

Slowly but surely, the makeup was peeled off his face.

“Just get it over with. Or rather, can you just untie me first?”

“Mhm…Should you really be so demanding? Do you even know what

position you’re in right now?” Maho smiled right up close to his face.

“My position…?” Saito got a bad feeling.

“Yup! Right now, it’s just the two of us, and you can’t move your body. No
matter what I do to you, you can’t even resist it,” she said and slowly
opened up the buttons of Saito’s shirt with suggestive hand movement.

“H-Hey, stop it…!”

“I’m not stopping! Tickle, tickle, tickle!” She pressed her hands under his
arms and tickled him.

“S-Stop it! Stop tickling me! Stop it!”

“Mhm, cute! Then how about this?”

She ran her tongue along his neck and behind his ears, over his ears, and
along them.

“Guh…!”

“Does it feel good? It does, right? I’ll make you feel even better.”

She rolled up her tongue and rammed the tip of her tongue inside Saito’s
ear. Her soft breath was tickling his ear as she herself clung to him,
unwilling to let him escape. The sensation of her fingertips on his skin made
his body stiffen.
“How’s this…Sa-kun?” She whispered next to his ear.

“Where did that…nickname come from?”

Saito was assaulted by a sense of discomfort, but Maho continued

regardless.

“And Sa-kun…Who’s more important? Your dream or Onee-chan?”

“What…?”

That question came practically out of nowhere. She sat on his knees, placed
her hands on his shoulders, and looked deep into his eyes.

“Tell me. Would you be able to give up your dream for Onee-chan’s sake?”

“That’s…” Saito struggled to find the words.

He never once considered that. After all, he got married to Akane to

accomplish his dream, and that dream is something he should prioritize
more than anything…and yet.

“All right, you’re out of time. Since you didn’t answer immediately, you get
a punishment.”

“A punishment…?”

As Saito frowned, Maho brought her face closer. And then, a soft feeling
was pressed on his lips. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was
being kissed. Her long eyelashes were quivering. With a serious expression
like never before, and a matching gaze rarely seen on her face, she stared
into his eyes.

“H-Hey, Maho…!”

Not given any room to argue, Maho’s tongue broke between Saito’s lips and
entered his mouth. Like an animal with a mind of its own did her
mischievous tongue playfully wrap itself around Saito’s, as it licked his
gums all over. Despite the bold act, she seemed rather fragile and weak, like
she was begging him to share some of his own vigor. She latched onto
Saito’s lips and let out a sweet moan. But eventually, she must have run out
of breath as their lips parted with a thread of saliva connecting them.

“Huff…Huff…” Maho leaned against Saito as she pressed her hand on her
chest, gasping for air.

“You okay…?”

“You really are…kind, Sa-kun. You don’t get angry even when I do this.”

“I mean, I was surprised, but…I’m worried more than anything.”

“That’s the kindness of yours…Sorry about that,” Maho painted a saddened

smile.

With a bit of hard work, she freed Saito from his confinement, but she
struggled to peel off the tape, as her face was beet red from exhaustion.
Finally free again, Saito stood up as Maho collapsed into his arms. She
must be exhausted from all the playing around during the day, especially
since it was late at night.

“Why would you do this?”

“Because I wanted to.”

“Now listen here…”

Just doing as her instinct told her was something very much like Maho.

“Are you happy that you got my first kiss?”

“It’s wasted on me. Should’ve kept it for someone better.”

“It wasn’t wasted. Don’t you remember? When we first met, I said I was
interested in you.”

“But that doesn’t mean…” Saito sighed.

“Hey, Sa-kun? The others aren’t coming back, it seems. Do you think…we
could continue a bit longer?” She wrapped her arms around his neck and
brought his lips closer again.

A group of girls ran up to Saito’s desk in the 3-A classroom.

“Morning, Houjou-kun!”

“Huh? Ah, morning,” Saito responded, albeit a bit bewildered.

“Hey, Houjou-kun! Let’s change IDs!”

“Right! I wanna ask you some stuff when I’m lost!”

“And we can just check even when it’s not about studying!”

“I don’t mind, I guess…”

“““Yay!”””

The girls took out their phones and changed their IDs with Saito as they
chattered happily. Watching this from afar was Akane, clearly not a fan.

“…Curious, huh?”

Next to her appeared Maho, causing Akane to let out a shriek.

“Maho?! Since when?!”

“I’ve been hiding behind you for a while now, Onee-chan.”

“Why were you hiding…? You’re basically treating this like your own class
now, huh?”

“Wherever I am, it shall be my classroom!” Maho exclaimed with a peace

sign, but none of that made any sense.

But it was brazen. She had no remorse sneaking into places she originally
shouldn’t be.
“Brother’s really popular all of a sudden,” Shisei’s head poked out from
between Akane’s legs, making her scream out loud for a second time.

“Shisei-san?! Why are you down there?!”

“Being between your legs feels pretty relaxing. Right after being between
his legs. Shame you couldn’t be number one, huh?”

“I’m fine not being the number one, thank you very much?!”

“It’s fine, Shise gets it,” she said and tapped Akane on the shoulder,
showing that she did, in fact, not get it.

“But you’re right, Onii-chan’s really gotten popular these days.”

“Clearly. According to Shise’s calculations, there must be at least ten

females in this classroom who are now aiming for him,” Shisei struck a
fighting pose as she looked around the classroom.

The way she balled up her fists was adorable like she was picking a fight
with a badger.

“I don’t think he’s really gotten popular or anything. People are just using
him as a free-of-charge private tutor right before the entrance exams,” said
Akane with a valid point, but Maho raised her index finger and shook her
head.

“You don’t get it, Onee-chan. Onii-chan is pretty handsome, so he’s actually
fairly popular with the girls from the first year. A lot of them asked me to
connect them to him. Even though they all don’t like me! How selfish!”

“No way?!” Akane’s eyes opened wide in shock.

“It’s true. Well, it’d all be over if I did introduce them, right? First I have to
make all of those cute girls mine, so I’m keeping them on hold.”

“You are like the devil.”

“Huh? You love me, you say? Yaaay! I love you too, Shii-chan!” Maho said
as she jumped Shisei.

Taken by surprise, Shisei was trying to break free. At the same time, Akane
placed her hand over her open mouth.

“That reminds me…Saito’s been acting a bit restless lately. Whenever I’d
enter the living room, he’d suddenly stuff away his phone in his pocket.”

“He’s clearly cheating!” Maho made an instantaneous declaration.

“I…I don’t think so? He seemed to be gleefully packing his things for
something, and he did mention something about going out alone and
coming back in the morning on our next day off…And he wouldn’t tell me
where he’d go, either.”

Shisei crossed her arms and nodded deeply.

“Coming home in the morning? Yup, he’s gonna do it.”

“Waaaah! Do what? Do what?!” Maho placed both her hands in front of her
mouth and pretended to be flustered.

That’s when Himari joined the group.

“What are you guys chatting about? Let me join in!”

“Himari…”

If Saito was planning to go on a one-night trip somewhere…then his partner

being Himari would be rather likely. He wouldn’t have any need to hide it if
he just went to Shsei’s place, and she didn’t think he would end up in such a
relationship with Maho. And so, Akane asked carefully.

“Do you…have any plans on our next day off?”

“Hm? I don’t know. But if you’re going somewhere, then let me join in!”

“That’s good…” Akane sighed in relief, which left Himari confused.

“Good? Why’s that good?”

“Onii-chan’s planning to stay over somewhere the next day off and Onee-
chan was worried you two would be going on a trip to Atami.”

“That would be wonderful, but sadly not the case. I wonder who he’s
meeting…? I didn’t think he’d be jumping between wives like this,” said
Himari with a dark aura burning around her body.

“I…I don’t think he’s meeting up with a woman…” said Akane who still
had some hope left.

However, Maho placed one hand on Akane’s shoulder and told her.

“You shouldn’t look at this realistically. If it was a guy, he’d tell you, right?
And since he isn’t, he’s heading to a hotel.”

“Ugh…” Akane gripped her fist.

Now that their feelings finally became clear and they formed this
relationship, this was happening. Akane knew that her personality could
very well lead to Saito coming to hate her, but this was just too much and
too soon.

“You can have this, Akane,” Shisei handed her a small capsule.

“What is this…?”

“A hidden transmitter that can be placed inside the target’s body. Just have
him swallow it and you can tail him.”

“…Okay, got it. I’ll catch him in the act and make him experience
something more terrifying than death itself!”

On the following Saturday afternoon, Saito was gleefully proceeding with

his preparations to head out. Normally, he’d rarely prepare anything, but
this time he went all out. Spraying almost an entire spray can of deodorant
on him, even adding an appealing fragrance.
—He’s definitely going to cheat!

Akane was certain. It did feel a bit too quick for him to cheat now that they
had just become a couple, but the rage boiling inside her and the desire to
deal him his deserved punishment was far greater than any sadness. She
prepared her tailing kit (which was rations like bean-jam buns) and
punishment items (which included a magical stick-shaped stun gun) into her
bag and then left the front door shortly after Saito. To ensure he wouldn’t
catch on to being tailed, she almost made sure to keep a safe distance
between them. And in case everything failed, she also had a balaclava on.
Granted, the other people she passed seemed more suspicious of her than
anything, but she was solely focused on Saito.

He stepped out onto the main street and took a bus at the nearest stop.
Akane hesitated for a moment but eventually slipped into the same bus right
after him. However, the moment she entered, the driver spoke up over the
speaker.

“Excuse me, lady, but could you please take off that mask? You’re scaring
the other passengers.”

“A-Ah, sorry…”

She took off the balaclava and hid her face with her hands as she sat down
far in the back. Saito sat at the front, so he shouldn’t have realized that she
was tailing him. While her heart was racing, she curled up in her seat to stay
hidden as much as possible. Saito then would change buses several times,
almost leaving Akane behind every time and forcing her to dash inside at
the last second. She thought they had already come to a fair distance,
causing her to wonder just where exactly Saito would be going. And if
possible, she wished that he’d take a proper route that made it easier to tail
him.

—He’s not even realizing that I’m following him…He must only be thinking
about the person he’s meeting! Or maybe I’m just that good of a stalker?!

For some reason, Akane was in a good mood as she stared at Saito from
behind him. He was either reading his book or eating some dangos with
protein. He actually made these himself. Since Akane protested and said
that he shouldn’t just drink protein all the time, he figured it’d be fine if he
ate it, too, and that is how they were brought into existence. And seeing
how far they were going, Akane felt a bit of regret, wishing they could’ve
gotten on this journey together.

—No, he’s a cheating bastard! I would never want to go on a trip with him!

Akane aggressively shook her head and started to think about how she
should kill him. Soon enough, the sun had begun to set and the bus stopped
far outside in the countryside. It was only Saito and Akane left on the bus,
so she got off in hopes of Saito not catching on to her. The old bus station
had a tin roof and rotten wooden benches standing under it. No houses were
visible in the near vicinity, their view filled with just fields and farmland
stretching far into the distance. Saito then proceeded to walk up a hill. The
path wasn’t particularly clear or tended to, making it evident that it wasn’t
frequently used, with branches and leaves burying it underneath. Using the
sounds created by stepping on the leaves, Akane slowly followed after
Saito. Suddenly, the sound of a nearby animal’s howl could be heard as the
rich smell of vegetation and earth floated along the faint mist filling the
greenery. The trees all around them were intertwining, creating a thick
forest.

—Just who is he going to meet up here? Or…Could he be cheating on me

with a gorilla?! It must be, right?!

Akane was certain of it now. So as long as she’d be able to catch it and send
it to the nearest zoo, she could prevent any further cheating. Much easier
than if the other person were a human.

—But can I even beat a gorilla? Especially if they teamed up together?

Maybe I should’ve brought some bananas with me…

As she was considering her options, she realized that Saito had disappeared,
causing her to panic.

—No way! I can’t believe he slipped past me…!

However, this is what she had the tracking device for. She booted up the
app on her phone that was paired to it and checked his location thanks to the
logo of Saito but as a dog. Once it calibrated, she started walking again,
surrounded by mountain trails with no streetlights and no option to
illuminate the world around her. She felt like there was something hiding in
the thicket near her, so she averted her eyes and started walking faster. She
then heard something behind her but was too afraid to turn around in case
she got attacked, so she kept walking and walking. It was all too scary. She
was terrified. Why was she even doing this? Why did she have to suffer
through this? Through this danger? Thinking about the possibility that she
might just get lost without Saito made her tears rise. She then checked her
phone again, seeing his icon stopping by fairly close. She was gasping for
air as she rushed past the trees and jumped out onto an open space.

“Saito! I finally caught up with you!”

She had long forgotten about her original goal of tailing him. Rather than
worrying about the person he would be cheating on her with, she was
relieved to finally have reached their goal and declared this with a loud
voice. However, let alone the other person, Saito was nowhere to be seen.
On a carpet of fallen levees was a large rock, with the transmitter capsule
on top of it.

“Huh? What’s going on…?”

As she was bewildered, someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey.”

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!”

In an instant, Akane took out her magical stick-type stun gun and swung it
around, as the sparks illuminated the darkness.

“Wait, wait, wait! It’s me! It’s me!”

“I don’t care who you are! I’m going to slaughter you!”

“Don’t do that?! Just relax! It’s me, Houjou Saito!”

“Saito…?”

Through the sparks from the stun gun, Akane could see Saito standing in
front of her. She turned it off again and clung to him.

“You dummy! Don’t scare me like this! And don’t just vanish into thin air! I
thought you got lost!” She hit his chest a few times.

“S-Sorry, I just knew that you were tailing me, and…”

“S-Since when did you realize?” Akane glared at him with tears in her eyes.

“You tried to feed me with that weird capsule during dinner before, right? I
thought it was something like a remote bomb, but it was a tracking device,
huh? Why did you tail me?”

“Because you were going to cheat on me!”

“I wasn’t, though?!”

“You’re lying! You didn’t tell me where you were going, only that you’d be
back in the morning!”

“Oh…” Saito scratched his head. “I really wasn’t cheating or anything like
that. I just wanted to watch the meteor shower somewhere without the city
lights in the way.”

“The meteor shower…?”

“Didn’t you know? This happens only once in a century.”

“Now that you mention it…I think I saw it on the news…Didn’t expect
you’d be into that…Bit of a romantic, huh?”

As payback for leaving her alone and scared, Akane gave Saito a cold look.
“See! I knew you’d have a reaction like that! And since it was a pretty steep
walk over here, I just thought I’d watch it by myself.”

“Then I’m going with you!”

“But…” Saito hesitated.

“What? You want to leave me here all by myself?! Are you even human?!
I’m absolutely coming with you, no buts! Especially if I’m going to check
if you are actually faithful or not!” said Akane and clung to his arm.

And so, the two of them ascended the mountain. The trail was even more
unsafe than before, the wet leaves on the ground making a slippery climb,
and without the penlight, they wouldn’t even be able to see their feet. One
thick root of a tree was in their way that Akane eventually tripped over.

“Eeek?!”

“Akane!”

Akane toppled over, only to be saved by Saito pulling her close.

“You okay?”

“I’m…fine…”

She dropped her gaze in his arms. In the darkness, her small body quivered
slightly.

—She’s obviously scared, but she’s still trying to play tough…

His heart fluttered at the sight of Akane being so adorable. And knowing
that she went after him out of jealousy made him jealous, too. Of course, he
couldn’t say so out loud because she’d just blow a fuse again.

“Wanna hold hands?”

“I could walk by myself just fine, but I don’t want you to get lost again, so
just this once!”
Even her attempt at playing tough sounded more cute than anything to Saito
now that he knew the truth. After all, despite playing tough, she desperately
held onto the hand Saito offered to her. As the incline on the steep road
grew, Akane was slowly running out of breath.

“Want me to carry your stuff? It must be heavy, right?”

“D-Don’t underestimate me! I can at least carry my own luggage!”

“Just let me help you.”

“Ugh…Fine, thanks.”

Frustrated, Akane handed him her bag. Marching deeper into the forest,
their GPS was slowly beginning to run out of connection. They must have
taken a few bad turns here and there because they reached the summit only
when it was the dead of night. They passed by a torii shrine arch that looked
rather dated to reach a concrete building that still roared even this late at
night, which they passed by to finally arrive at the observation deck. No
cars were around and no other people, presumably because this was more of
a resting space than anything. Up the stairs covered with fallen leaves and
moss, the two finally made it to their goal.

“We finally made it…” Akane sank down on the cobblestone.

“Want a sip?” Saito took out a bottle from his own knapsack and poured
some of it into a cup that he handed to Akane.

She practically snatched it out of his hand and gulped it down in one go.

“Phew…What is this…? Pineapple juice…?”

“BCAA. Essential amino acids for muscle repair, but dissolved in ice water.
Great for relieving fatigue, too. No?”

“I don’t know if it’ll really work or not, but…it was delicious. And it helped
me cool down a bit.”

“Glad to hear it.”

He poured some more of the juice into the cup to have a sip himself…but
realized that Akane was staring at him.

“Ah, it’d be an indirect kiss, huh? I’ll just drink from the bottle.”

“I…don’t mind, really.”

After being told these words, he stared at her for a good few seconds until
he felt his heart rate accelerate. He drank from the juice but he couldn’t
really focus on the taste. Akane then took out a wrapped something from
her bag.

“I actually brought a wrapped box with me. Just so that I could smack it in
the face of the person you were cheating on me with.”

“Why would you use a lunch box for that…?”

“To demand a duel!”

“Is that how you do it in your hometown…?”

“Nope, that’s my own personal style!”

Packed into the boxed lunch were rice balls, rolled egg, fried chicken,
wieners, and other dishes perfectly fit for a picnic like this. And of course,
you couldn’t forget about the strawberries for dessert. Saito immediately
reached for the rice balls and stuffed one into his cheeks. The saltiness from
it really worked wonders, with salted seaweed inside, restoring his salt
levels after the long hike. It was so simple compared to all the meals
Tenryuu would treat Saito to, but it filled him up more than anything else. It
must be because it was Akane’s own cooking. They were enjoying their
meal together when a single light zoomed across the night sky.

“Huh? Was that…” Akane was bewildered, but…

“It’s a shooting star!” Saito stood up.

One by one, specks of light like drops of water streamed down the deep
blue sky above their heads. It illuminated the darkness around them, making
it look like a rain shower far in the distance. And because there were so
many, you didn’t even know where to look. Akane opened her arms and
turned around her body as she looked up at the night sky.

“Wow…So many shooting stars! I’ve never seen this many at once!”

“Yeah…”

It was a sort of primordial brilliance that you wouldn’t be able to fully enjoy
in the developed city streets. They held their breaths as they watched the
spectacle as if they could directly hear the sounds of the universe.

“We talked about my dream, right?”

“Huh?”

Urged by the shooting stars, Saito squeezed these words out of his throat.

“I want to live in space.”

“Like in a space station?” Akane tilted her head.

“Even further than that. I want to find a planet where humans can live, far
away from Earth. I’ve always admired that since I was a young kid.
Because even if I had no place on this planet, I might find one somewhere
in the universe, right?” Saito reached out his hand toward the sky.

The shooting stars would zoom past his fingertips, but he didn’t feel any
warmth from them. He couldn’t reach them from all the way down here as
they freely danced through the sky.

“Saito…” Akane grasped her hand in front of her chest.

“Of course, that dream is too great that I don’t know if I’ll be able to
accomplish it in this life. This kind of plan would need insane amounts of
money, people, and technology. And that is why I have to inherit the Houjou
Group.”
Saito was aware that he was letting his dream slip out because of the
atmosphere. He never spoke of it with such honesty back when he met
Akane at the party. The embarrassment suddenly built up in his body and he
flashed a wry smile.

“I feared that I would just get laughed at for being childish, so I never really
wanted to bring it up.”

“No, no, no! I support you with everything I have!” said Akane as she
leaned toward him.

“You’re not going to laugh at me?” Saito was surprised at that.

Knowing Akane, she would probably don the mask of a demon and make
fun of him for a whole 30 minutes afterward.

“How could I do that?! You finally told me about your dream! Something
that you want to do no matter what! I think it’s a wonderful dream!”
Akane’s eyes lit up as she took Saito’s hands.

“…!”

He could feel the inside of his head going numb from the heat building
inside it. Having his dream be supported by Akane was like he accepted his
most important part. His chest tightened and his view started to become
blurry.

“And I wouldn’t mind ignoring my own dream if we could make yours a

reality! I’ll support you with everything I have!”

“You don’t have to go that far!” Saito’s eyes opened in shock.

“What…? After I promised to help you? Can’t even accept it and be

thankful for once? You really are a headache.”

“You’re one to talk?”

Akane must be at the top spot of the “Most Annoying Girl” ranking.
“Anyway, I want your dream to come true! I want you to be happy! And
I’m swallowing my embarrassment to tell you this, so you better be
thankful!”

“…Thanks.”

Akane really was always going at 100%. Whenever she was fighting,
whenever she was loving, even going to the point of sacrificing her own
dream. To the point that Saito felt it a bit dangerous.

“Oh, another shooting star! Look! Look up!”

“…Yeah.”

They were sitting next to each other as they watched the shower of shooting
stars. It was far more beautiful than when he’d watched it by himself. But
for some reason, he just found himself staring at Akane instead. The
radiance in her eyes was much more beautiful than any shooting star. And
surely, he would never forget about today. This memory would shine
brighter than any of the memories in his mind. Even after he would be an
old man and his memory would turn hazy. That is one thing Saito was sure
of.
“That meteor shower was beautiful, right?”
“But how do we get home? Another bus ride?”
“Actually, there are no more buses running tonight. We’ll have to walk.”

“Are you stupid?!”

(“How many hours is that going to take us?!”)

“I do have a sleeping bag with me, but…”

“It might be a bit too cold for you.”

“If…”
“If we stick together like this, it won’t be as cold!”

“It’s…pretty warm…”

“Yeah…”

1 I swear if the characters in this novel actually acted as smart as they

proclaim themselves to be, you would be hated by everyone. What are you
smoking and where do I get it.
 Choice

Saito was all prepared to head to school and walked down the hallway when
Akane ran after him.

“Wait, Saito!”

“What is it? I made sure to pack my boxed lunch,” he said and proved his
words by showing Akane the wrapped box in his bag.

“Not that!”

“I made sure to properly tie my necktie, too.”

“Not that, either!”

“Then what is it?”

Saito didn’t comprehend what the issue was, as Akane suddenly jumped at
him. She wrapped her arms around Saito’s back and rubbed herself against
him. Taken by surprise, Saito almost toppled over as he caught her.

“Wh-What happened? What’s wrong?”

“I’m just charging up. Can’t exactly touch you a lot at school, so I want to
enjoy it now while I can,” she said and buried her face in his chest,
breathing comfortably.

You could almost think you heard her purring hidden in his chest. Met with
so much affection first thing in the morning made Saito dizzy almost.

“You’re too cute I don’t know what to do…”

“I think it’d be fine if you just hug me back, you know?”

Answering her request, he embraced her tightly. She smiled happily and
returned the grip. Despite her slender body, the feeling he got was so
reassuring and put him at peace.

“I love you, Saito. Today again, and forever.”

“I love you too, Akane.”

He never would have imagined himself to be exchanging such words with

the girl he considered his normal enemy. But now that their feelings for
each other were clear, it felt much more odd to not do this.

“Hey, do you think we could still do this at school as long as we do it away

from everyone’s eyes?”

“For example?”

“In an empty classroom or on the rooftop?”

“But what if they find out?”

“I can’t hold myself back anymore…Just seeing you in the classroom

makes me want to hug you like this,” she said with a pleading tone as she
looked up at Saito.

Her gaze, now completely devoid of any hostility, was all-enveloping, kind,
and sickly sweet.

“…Okay. Just for a bit.”

“Yup! Just for a bit!” Akane responded with an elated voice.

“So…How long are we going to stay like this?”

“Another hour, I’d say.”

“That’s not a bit, though. We’ll be late.”

“It’s fine. We’ll just take the day off,” said Akane with no intention of
moving away.

At the same time, Saito himself didn’t have the strength to push her away,
so they stayed in this moment that was sweeter than honey. This happiness
was something they finally achieved after all the hardships, and he could
only hope it could continue forever—But then, Saito’s smartphone rang.
While he held Akane in his arms, he took it out and answered the call.
Speaking up on the other end was Tenryuu.

‘Morning, Saito! Being lovey-dovey with your wife this morning?!’

“I wouldn’t exactly say so, no…” Saito denied it initially, but if someone
saw them like this, they were undeniably flirting.

And of course, Tenryuu laughed like he had seen through all of it.

‘That so, yeah? Well, it’s fine! I got something to discuss, so I’ll be sending
over a car once your school ends. And do bring your wife with you.’

“Where to?”

‘The same restaurant where you had your first marriage meeting. No better
place considering what we’ll have to discuss, after all.’

And after Tenryuu finished telling Saito, he swiftly hung up again. As

always, he had his own speed he followed and didn’t care about the others.
Even if Saito and Akane declined, he’d probably send his servants to their
home and forcefully bring them over.

“Did you hear that?” Saito asked Akane.

“Yes, it was loud enough after all. But I wonder what this is about?”

“I have no idea…”

They looked at each other and cocked their heads in unison.

They were taken to a restaurant deep in the mountains in the limousine that
picked them up after school. It was surrounded by a beautiful Japanese
garden, the entrance decorated with a bench covered in a red cloth and a
Japanese umbrella hanging over it. When it was decided that they were to
get married, they sat exactly there as they had another argument. Saito
almost felt nostalgic about it. Back then, he came here by himself in a
limousine, but now it was the two of them. It hasn’t even been a year, yet it
felt much longer than that. That just shows how much has happened since
they got married. They were guided inside by an employee wearing a
kimono and walked down the hallway. Eventually, they entered a room
further in, greeted by Tenryuu and Chiyo. Sitting between them was Maho.
She wore an elegant kimono colored in a pale pink, her hair tied back with a
flower petal hairpin.

“You’re finally here,” she smiled like a blooming flower.

It couldn’t be any different from her usual cheerful and teasing attitude. She
was nothing less of a young maiden.
“Maho…?”

“Why are you here?”

Saito and Akane asked at the same time.

“For now, have a seat,” Tenryuu urged them, so they sat next to each other
near the entrance.

Chiyo was calmly watching over them. An odd atmosphere drifted in the
air. The fact that Maho was present seemed odd more than anything, but to
choose this exact place…and if it wasn’t anything major, he could’ve just
told them on the phone. Tenryuu then looked between Saito and Akane.

“It’s been quite some time since we had you married, but how has time
treated you? Have you managed to nurture a love between the two of you?”

“Are you and Saito-san properly loving each other? You’re at the age where
it wouldn’t be weird to have children, no?” asked Chiyo.

In response, Akane blushed furiously.

“N-No, of course not! I don’t even like him that much! I actually just hate
him! Right, Saito?!”

“Y-Yeah! We’re just enemies! All we do is fight!”

Saito felt his whole body burning up. He remembered what happened this
morning and almost felt pathetic for lying with a straight face like that, but
he was way too embarrassed to accept it in front of his grandparents.

“Really? That’s good to hear.”

“That it is.”

Tenryuu and Chiyo smiled.

“Why is that good…?” Akane thought it was weird and asked.

Tenryuu delivered the response.

“You did great holding out all this time if you truly hate each other. But rest
assured, as of today your marriage will be annulled and Saito will marry
Maho instead.”

Silence filled the room.

“Huh…? Wh-What are you talking about?” Akane asked as all color
drained from her face.

“What sort of sudden joke is this…?” Saito glared at Tenryuu.

“Rest assured, we are not joking. We’re being very serious, in fact.”

“You force us to get married only to forcefully separate us again…How

selfish can you be? We’re not your damn tools.”

“And I don’t consider you tools, either. As this marriage was for the next
head of the Houjou Family, we simply have to exercise caution.”

“You just wanted to make your first love come true through us, right?”

In response to Saito’s remark, Tenryuu laughed loudly.

“If you really thought that was the only reason, then you are a bunch of
clueless brats. People who can’t read beyond what lies behind can’t succeed
in this world.”

“Through your married life, Tenryuu-san and I had a close look at how you
spent your time together, and if you were holding up as a married couple,”
Chiyo continued.

“We obviously had to see if you two could bring value to the Houjou
Family. And although it pains me to say this…you’re not worthy of being
Saito’s wife, Akane-san.”

“Wha…” Akane froze up.

“I’m not saying this about you as a person, mind you. Rather, you are too
honest. Too genuine. Contrary to that, Maho has a natural talent for
controlling the demons lurking within the Houjou Family, as well as the
politicians, financial officials, and government officials related to it. And
rather than someone as benevolent as you, the family needs a strategist. Or
a villain, perhaps.”

“That’s a bit mean, don’t you think?” Maho giggled.

“And Maho is rather talented, see. She could manage the house without
constantly fighting with you, controlling the family from within. And she’s
a healthy young girl who is willing to offer her everything to you, Saito-san.
Isn’t that right, Maho?” Chiyo looked at Maho, who nodded along.

“That’s right. Unlike Onee-chan, I won’t start any fights at home. I’m
confident I can always keep smiling no matter what.”

“And as compensation for putting you through this, we will provide Akane-
san with a place to study abroad at a medical school of her choice. You
don’t need to pass your entrance exams, and we will provide a place to stay
and plenty of money for your needs. After you graduate, you will be taken
into the Houjou Group and offered the best career path at one of the
hospitals we manage.”

“That’s…not what I wanted…” Akane bit her lip.

Meanwhile, Saito stood up as he was fueled by rage.

“It’s way too late for that! I’m not gonna put up with your nonsense
anymore!”

“What’s wrong? Did you start feeling sympathy for her after living together
for so long?” asked Tenryuu with a teasing tone.

“Not really, but…” Saito felt his ears burning.

“Weren’t you the one who kept blabbering about how much family is just as
replaceable as a broken part? So what if the person you are supposed to
love changes, right?”

“Guh…”

He did say that. And back then, he stood by it. He wouldn’t have minded if
his parents died. Or rather, he wished for it.

“And if you wish to go against this decision, then you will not be
succeeding me as the head of the family. Instead, a distant relative will be
the next head.”

“That’s just…!” Akane’s eyes shot open.

Meanwhile, Tenryuu made his judgment mercilessly as he did when they

first talked about the marriage.

“You have the right to choose. But so do I when it comes to my successor.

This is an equal trade, and you can choose the future you wish for.”

Chiyo then moved over to Maho, slightly shaking her shoulder.

“Come on, properly greet Saito-san, won’t you?”

In response, Maho elegantly folded her hands together and bowed to Saito
gracefully, as her flower hairpin swayed in her hair, her gaze focused
unwaveringly on Saito.

“Saito-san…I am confident that I could make you truly happy. I will do my

utmost that, when it is time for us to depart from this world, you will be
glad to have chosen me as your wife.”

“Maho! Wait a second, Maho!”

In the garden of the restaurant, Akane chased after Maho. She was just
walking along the stepping stones in the stream, fully accustomed to
walking in her kimono. She did waver a bit when she turned around, but the
geta under her feet allowed her to maintain her composure.

“What’s wrong, Onee-chan?”

“Why are you doing this? This is not the time to be fooling around!”

“Fooling around…?” Maho shrugged. “I’m not fooling around. I’m

absolutely serious about marrying Onii—About Sa-kun.”

“Why…?”

“I’ve been telling you all this time that I like him, too.”

“But I thought…that was a joke…”

“You really don’t look at the people around you, huh? Hee hee,” she said
with her usual cheerful smile, but there was clearly a dagger mixed in her
words.

“Wha…”

Fazed with genuine hostility for the first time over from her own little sister,
Akane faltered.

“I might like all the cute girls I see and cling to them a bit much, but I
wouldn’t ever do that with a guy other than Sa-kun. And I wouldn’t suggest
that I’d marry him in your instead if I really disliked him.”

“You really…like him? So much that you’d want to marry him…?”

“I do. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be clinging to him all day, sneaking into his
baths, or kissing him while you’re not looking.”

“H-His baths…? Kissing…?”

All this came as a shock for Akane that her head couldn’t keep up. When
had they gotten so close…?

“Of course, I did all of it. Sa-kun’s actually a serious guy, so he would
never cheat. And that’s what I like about him,” said Maho as she glanced
over at the tatami room where Saito remained.
The way her cheeks were flushed as she did so only made it much clearer
that she was serious about her feelings. Akane was in shock that she had not
seen through it all this time. However, she couldn’t back down, either.

“After all this time…? That’s not fair…!”

“Not fair?” Maho blinked a few times.

“You pushed all of this forward behind my back.”

“And you didn’t realize because you’re so dense, right?”

“But…Without telling me, you already decided this with the other two…”
Akane desperately tried to reason.

“Laying groundwork like this is the most basic of basics in politics, Onee-
chan. You have to see through the power balance and gain influence where
it matters, as well as make the people with the deciding rights to be your
allies. You don’t even understand that?” Maho snickered like a witch who
had caught her prey.

The nape of her neck extending from the collar of her kimono was snow-
white, almost creating a lustrous pale color that, paired with the slenderness
of her sickly body, gave her an odd air of seductiveness.

“Who…are you…?” Akane staggered backward.

This is not the Maho she knew. She lacked the innocence of a friendly fox
cub and the cuteness that made you want to embrace her. As Akane showed
a bewildered reaction, Maho moved closer to her face. And with the
expression of not a little sister, but a woman after her goal, she declared
gleefully.

“This is who I am—Sakuramori Maho. And your little sister. We’ve always
been together, yet you never knew my true self? You really aren’t worthy of
being the wife of the next head of the Houjou Family.”

“…!” Akane grit her teeth.

On the ride home, Akane was practically a lifeless corpse as she leaned
against her seat in the limousine. The scenery outside the window passed
her by, but none of it really registered. A sense of powerlessness and
exhaustion governed her body and even breathing itself felt tiresome. Fate,
and this whole world itself, were simply far too unreasonable. Too unfair at
best. Their grandparents, blessed with fortune and influence, forced them to
get married, and she tried her best to make them all happy. Through fighting
with Saito and hurting each other, they understood each other, and walked
this path together, until they became a genuine married couple. It was quite
ironic. The people who forced her to do this also are the ones who stole her
happiness and crushed it. All the effort was wasted, all their memories
crushed under the boot of destiny. She glanced to her side and saw Saito
gazing at a picture on his phone. There were shards of white on the
otherwise dark scenery.

“Isn’t that…”

“A photo I took during the meteor shower a while back.”

“It was so beautiful and yet…a picture can’t do it any justice…”

“Must be the limit of the camera. Well, I still remember it vividly, of

course,” Saito smiled weakly and stuffed away his phone in his pocket.

To space…That was his dream. With no home to return to, it was his one
place that might welcome him. And he couldn’t possibly give up on this
dream he followed since he was young.

“What are you…going to do now?” Akane asked with hesitation.

“What do you mean?”

“Breaking up with me and marrying Maho.”

“Ah, that…I mean, that’s too sudden. I don’t know what to do.”

“That makes sense…”

Saito took her hand.

“But I love you, Akane. That fact will not change.”

“…Thank you…”

Despite being stuck between his dream and love, he still looked out for her.
This kindness made her so happy…but also inflicted her with pain. It was
clear that this also hit him with surprise the way his hand felt weak and
uncertain, so she returned the grip. Was it a mistake that she fell in love
with him? Should she not have hoped that he would fall in love with her?
Maybe they should never have met in the first place.

“I’m sorry, Saito…”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“If not for me, none of this would have happened.”

“But I…don’t want to do this without you.”

“I need you by my side, too…But…”

She had tasted the pain of carrying one-sided feelings all this time. Yet even
now that they were finally united, there was still more suffering waiting.
Was loving someone really just pain and nothing else? What was she
supposed to do? Not knowing what to do, Akane simply leaned against
Saito’s shoulder, her chest tightening in agony.

Saito was lying on the bed in Shisei’s room. He had been invited over to her
residence to have dinner, but he had no energy to play with his little sister
or talk with his aunt in the hallway. He simply laid in his bed and looked up
at the ceiling, thinking about what his grandfather said.

“You seem down, Brother,” Shisei poked her finger at Saito’s shoulder.

“I guess so.”

“What happened? Just confess your sins to Shise. Let it all out. Shise will
swallow it.”
“That sounds scary and nasty.”

“It’s not at all. Shise is just accepting of all of you, Brother,” Shisei said and
climbed on top of Saito’s stomach.

She was like a cat who used their owner as a pillow to sleep on.

“Gramps told me to get divorced from Akane and marry Maho instead. If I
don’t do that, I won’t inherit the Houjou Group.”

“Gramps is way too selfish, seriously.”

“I’m used to it at this point, but…I really didn’t think she’d be asking for
that.”

Houjou Tenryuu is an arrogant yet also consistent man. It was Saito’s fault
for not fully understanding and seeing through him at this point. Shisei then
continued.

“Maho didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know that.”
1
After all, Maho cared more about Akane than anybody else .

“In terms of personality, she feels much closer to you than Akane.”

“I’m aware…”

“Then why are you brooding over this order so much?”

“Just a little while ago…I probably wouldn’t have thought much about it.”

If this happened before they got married…when they were just fighting all
the time at school…when he wasn’t paying much attention to her…and
before she saved his heart and their feelings became one…then…

“Your dream has burned inside you for far longer than your relationship
with Akane. You wanted to love beyond the stars ever since you were little,
right?”

“That…may be true, but…” Saito raised his body from the bed.

“Your married life with Akane hasn’t even lasted a year. And this one year
is going to make you give up your dream? Was your dream really that
inconsequential?”

“No! But I just…don’t know what to do.”

Shisei moved on Saito’s lap as he tried to explain himself. She grasped his
cheeks and stared deep into his eyes.

“You know…Did I really swallow my own feelings so that you can waver
now?”

“Shise…?”

Contrary to what Saito was used to from her, Shisei’s blue eyes were
burning with rage. Her doll-like white face was red in anger as she tightly
pursed her lips. Something was clearly off about her.

“I am going to support you, no matter which path you choose. As long as

you are happy, nothing else matters. But I won’t allow you to throw away
your own happiness. I will never, ever forgive you if you do that. You’ve
suffered all this time…so you have to be happy now!”

She rammed her forehead into him. Every gesture she took was basked in
anger and frustration, unlike what she would usually show. Saito tried to
push her back as they both fell onto the bed. Her long silver hair fluttered in
the air and covered him as her beautiful eyes, cold as ice like she was a
Goddess, looked down on him.

“Akane taught you how to love. That is true. But you can love even without
her now. Be it Maho or anybody else, you’d be able to treasure her. And so,
if you really are just feeling sympathy for her right now, then return to your
cold, cruel self just this once.”

“I don’t think I was that cold or cruel.”

Shisei pressed her index finger on his lips, silencing him as she continued.

“No, you were. Like there was no emotion to be found in your heart. And I
still loved you. But I couldn’t keep watching you suffer like that, so I let
Akane have you. Because I wanted you to be happy,” she said and clung to
him, pleading as she was close to breaking out in tears.

“My beloved Saito. My precious Saito…Don’t make the wrong choice.

Only think about yourself and make the choice that makes you happiest.
Don’t…make yourself suffer any longer. Please…I beg you…”

“My happiness…is…” He muttered as he gently caressed Shisei’s head.

After their dinner was over, Saito sat on the sofa and opened his book,
while Akane sipped her tea. This time was the same as always…but it was
different. A tense and stuffy atmosphere reigned in the living room. Saito
felt his hand turning the page stiff and he could not read a sentence without
spacing out. Unable to bear the uncomfortable atmosphere Saito turned on
the TV and a show about space started playing. It spoke in detail about
interstellar spacecraft and planetary environment construction. The timing
couldn’t have been worse, really. He immediately turned the TV off again.
At the same time, Akane stared directly at him.

“Saito, we need to talk.”

“…What is it?”

Needless to say, he knew exactly what Aane was talking about. As well as
that he couldn’t escape it.

“You have to make a decision soon, right? Your grandfather said you need
an answer the day after tomorrow.”

“…I know.”

Akane pulled closer to him and took his hand.

“A lot has happened since we met, right? Constantly fighting with you at
school was definitely annoying, but it was fun at the same time. Our days
together as a married couple didn’t stop us from doing the same thing, but I
was always feeling a bit excited, too,” Akane smiled awkwardly. “You
know, there was a time soon after we moved in together when I had a lewd
dream about you and fell off my bed when I woke up.”

“Why…are you telling me that now…?”

Saito didn’t like the tone she had. Like she had given up on everything.

“Living together with you was really fun. I’ll never ever forget it…How
about you?”

“I couldn’t forget it even if I wanted to.”

Akane put one hand on her chest and closed her eyes.

“You’re right. Neither of us will be able to forget. The time we spent

together will be with us forever. And…that’s why I can accept it.”

“Accept…what?”

His chest began to hurt.

“Before, you couldn’t do anything on your own and needed help with
everything, but it’s different now. You’ll be fine…Even without me, you’ll
live a happy life. Because there are so many people surrounding you that
genuinely care.”

Saito never would have imagined that Akane would grace him with such
honest words. But that is exactly why he felt a sharp pain stabbing his heart.
He grit his teeth and tried to push the words out of his throat.

“I can’t just let this end so easily. I’m not gonna let Grandpa order us
around like that and act like nothing between us happened. Or do I really
matter that little to you?”

“Nothing is easy about this!”

“…!”
Akane’s scream overwhelmed Saito.

“I thought about it so much…Worried about a lot…and then realized that

this was the only option! Because I don’t want to be a burden to you!”

“You’re not a burden!”

“I am! We live in different worlds! You’re the successor of the Houjou

Family, and I’m just a regular girl! I can try as much as I want to keep up
with my studies, but I can’t win against the talent you were given at birth. I
should have known…that I’ll never be able to compare to you…”

Tears started dripping out of her eyes, falling on the hands they still held.

“Akane, listen. I know about my feelings, and—”

“No, I won’t. I’m not going to listen to anything. Because I don’t want to
ruin the determination I finally managed to make up.”

“Stop being so stubborn!”

“That’s right…I am stubborn. I am selfish. And I wish for your happiness…

more than anybody else.”

Her hair fluttered as her lips moved closer to Saito as she pressed them on
his. A soft sensation ran through his lips and reached his brain, causing his
whole body to go numb. At the same time, he could clearly see Akane’s
reddened cheeks, and even her earlobes were a faint pink. Her long
eyelashes, bewitching as they were, quivered slightly and her cheeks shone
brightly from the tears and the light reflecting down on it. A fierce heat
came from her slender body. Her pulse felt so fast it worried Saito she
might pass out any moment.
Out of sheer instinct, Saito wrapped his arms around Akane. A surprised
gasp escaped her lips, but she did the same and embraced him. Their bodies
overlapped, making Saito feel as if he had been born for this moment. Just
by being enveloped in her scent, he would have been fine with staying like
this forever simply. And yet…Akane moved away. She moved her lips
away, and let go of him. She wiped her tears away and smiled faintly like a
divine mother.

“I love you, Saito. And that is why I’ll support your dream with everything
I have.”

But Saito didn’t want to hear such a saddening confession.

After these words from Akane, Saito didn’t know what to say anymore and
felt crushed under the weight of the situation, so he left his home. Walking
down the street at night all alone was cold and depressing. The lights of the
houses around him, of which he thought he had finally become a part, now
felt so distant again. All the cheerful voices around him acted like daggers
stabbing his chest. The only sound accompanying him was his footsteps
hitting the cold asphalt. A draft entered his empty heart, causing more
throbbing pain. But of course, his head was just as empty. He might have
always had perfect grades, but he was basically just solving the questions
like a machine. Nothing was fulfilling about that. Urged by the cold around
him, he reached his hand up toward the stars. But no matter how much he
would try, they were out of his reach. The lights in the night sky simply
looked down on him. The distant stars that looked so dazzling and
appealing before…now seemed dull to him. They were barely even visible
to him despite it not being foggy at all. All he could remember was the
meteor shower he saw with Akane. Rather than the sky in front of his eyes,
the starry scene from back then was far more dazzling to him.

“Why…? Even though they were so beautiful to me…” Saito mumbled.

Akane should surely know the answer. However, she was no longer by his
side.

A great number of guests gathered at the private villa where Saito and
Akane had first met. Several expensive cars had stopped at the front
entrance, with all sorts of company presidents and high executives getting
off the cars. Tonight’s goal was to show the next head of the family and his
wife to the other executives. The marriage ceremony was still a ways off,
but they first wanted to announce it to the whole family. The blood of the
Houjou Group ran all over Japan, so countless influential individuals
arrived from all over the country. It wasn’t just CEOs, but Shisei and
Himari were also invited. Tenryuu did call Akane over, but Saito hadn’t
seen her around. Saito sat in the changing room in the back of the villa and
waited for the party to start. He already didn’t want to bother with a
gathering like this, and especially not if he had to deal with all the CEOs.

“I’m here, Sa-kun.”

A set of confident footsteps approached the room as Maho entered. She

wore a pure and pretty dress that was decorated with floral laces. Around
her neck hung a pearl necklace. Her hair was tied up in two braids behind
her back. The dress looked familiar in Saito’s eyes.

“Could this be…”

“Ah, you could tell? It’s the same dress Onee-chan wore during your
graduation party. I asked Grandma to prepare the same one for me. Now I
look just like her, right?” She raised her arms and twirled around on the
spot, as the hem of the dress rotated gracefully like a floral circus.

“You…do look like her, yeah.”

They looked like twins. If the first love that he had in mind all these years
was grown up, she would probably look like her.

“Hee hee, I didn’t think you’d be happy about this, Sa-kun. And since I look
like her and we have a better affinity, there’s no reason to choose Onee-
chan, right? Just think of me as her and love me as much as you want.”

She sat on Saito’s lap, pushed up his chin with her finger, and smiled
bewitchingly. A seductive scent drifted up from her white skin.

“Akane wouldn’t smile like that.”

“Really? Then I guess I’ll have to practice more to be like her,” Maho said
and touched her own cheek to create a new expression.
Her seductive smile vanished and a confident one brimming with reason
appeared. But he grabbed her hands to stop her.

“You don’t have to become anybody else. You’re just fine as Maho.”

“But you’d be happy, right?”

“No, not at all.”

“You don’t have to put yourself second, okay?” Maho pouted.

“Is this…really the right thing to do?”

Saito knew he shouldn’t be asking Maho, but he needed to ask someone

regardless. In the end, love is just a silly illusion created by secretions of the
brain such as dopamine and oxytocin. The person may change, but as long
as you can create the same result, it doesn’t matter. And so, you can even
replace your family like second-hand parts. You can just recreate love.
However, the position of the successor of the Houjou Family exists only
once. You couldn’t obtain this much influence and fortune any other way.
And so, giving up on Akane to become the next family head…Why, that
was just a perfectly reasonable and logical decision. The brain that
everybody praised, or loathed, told him so. And yet…his heart felt restless.

“You don’t have to hesitate like this. I’ll just make you forget about Onee-
chan,” Maho said and pressed her lips onto Saito’s.

“…!” His eyes opened wide.

Her eyes, despite being younger than him, shone with a mysterious light as
she peered into Saito’s deepest parts. She playfully bit his lips and then
2
whispered sweet words into his ear .

“And? That feels good, right? Can you forget her now?”

“I can’t forget anything.”

“That’s right. Then I’ll just have to paint all over those memories. It’s just a
bit of a detour, nothing more. In a few years, you’ll be able to laugh about
it.”

“I…don’t think I will.”

His life with Akane was so vibrant and radiant that it wouldn’t disappear no
matter how much he’d try to overwrite it. It was carved into his chest.

“Oh, I’m so jealous…But, that’s what I love about you,” Maho laughed as
she crossed her arms behind her back and moved away from Saito.

“Jealous…? About what?”

“Since you’re just the best, I’ll tell you something nice! In fact, Onee-
chan’s been peeking at us for a hot minute now, the little pervert!”

“?!”

Saito turned around and spotted Akane standing right outside the changing
room. She looked like she was about to break out in tears at any moment,
her eyes wandering all over the place. She carried a flower bouquet in her
hands, probably aimed to be a present…but since she hugged it so close,
there were already wrinkles on the wrapping. As soon as she realized that
Saito caught on to her presence, she ran away. The flower bouquet fell to
the ground, scattering flower petals and tears. Her small, fragile back…
grew ever so distant. Far away where Saito’s hand wouldn’t be able to reach
her. That radiance brighter than any of the stars…was distancing itself from
him. That passionate flame…was no longer within his grasp, and it would
never return. All emotion left his chest. His legs were sucked into the carpet
he stood on.

“Oh…I get it.”

He covered one eye with his hand and muttered. What he really wanted
wasn’t some dream. What he was dreaming about weren’t the distant stars.
What he wished for more than anything else…
“…Sorry,” Saito said to Maho.

She must have guessed what he was trying to say and shrugged her
shoulders.

“It’s fine. Go.”

“I promise I’ll make up for this.”

“It’s okay. As you know, my body’s still pretty weak. Even if I made you
fall mad in love with me and I’d pass on before you, you’d be crying for
me, right?” Maho said with a bewitching smile.

She must be trying to stay considerate even during a time like this, as she
ended it with a joke.

“You’re a great woman.”

“Of course I am. I’m Onee-chan’s little sis after all!”

She used her stylish shoes to kick Saito in the back. He almost toppled over
from that, but he used the momentum to dash out of the room. He rushed
through the rows of CEOs and into the great hall. He looked around, but
Akane was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Himari jogged over toward him.

“Are you and Akane playing hide and seek?”

“Hide and seek…More like catch, actually. Did you see her?”

“Depends on what you’re gonna do. I’m not gonna forgive you if you make
her cry, okay?”

“I won’t. I love her smile more than anything else, after all.”

That he could say without mistake.

“Great, I’ll leave her to you, then! By the way, she’s hiding over there.”

“Eeek?! Y-You traitor!”

Akane appeared from underneath a nearby tablecloth.

“Wait!” Saito called out to her in hopes of stopping her, but she didn’t.

She hushed through the guests and escaped to the front entrance like a stray
cat.

“Hey, Saito! Why are you in such a rush?!” Tenryuu roared in anger.

A few men in black suits ran toward him. All of them were skilled
bodyguards, some of them holding a special baton. Going against Tenryuu,
with all his influence and fortune, would be illogical and irrational. Being
on his bad side would make it hard to build a business and get it off the
ground. However…

“Logic can eat shit!” Saito screamed and rammed into the bodyguards.

He brushed off their hands that reached for him and slipped through the
group. He was fully aware that he was being an idiot. He chose the path that
allowed no return. But for the girl he loved, acting like a moron once in his
life would be much better. Because life’s more fun that way. He dashed out
of the villa and ran down the rows of trees, but he had lost sight of Akane
again. With all the thicket around, it was hard to see. Maybe she was hiding
somewhere around here. And then, he realized he got a phone call. It was
from Shisei, so Saito answered while running.

“What is it?! I’m super busy right now!”

‘If you don’t know where Akane is, then Shise will tell you.’

“How do you know?!”

‘The sniper squad from the Houjou Group is pursuing her. And Shise has
control over them, so she’ll send you the location.’

Not even a few seconds later, a GPS map was installed on Saito’s phone
and it showed a red dot where Akane supposedly was. When did Shisei get
remote access to his phone anyway?
“I fully realize now that I absolutely cannot make you my enemy.”

‘As long as you understand. Shise owns you, too, Brother.’

“Please let me live in peace.”

‘Fight on. You finally found the thing you want, right?’

“You’re right!”

With his smartphone in one hand, Saito rushed down the slope. Through the
forest, he stepped out onto the highway within the mountains. He should be
running as fast as his legs carried him, and yet he didn’t see the distance
between himself and Akane shrinking. At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to
catch up. He won’t be able to tell Akane about how he felt.

“As you’d expect from the rampaging dragon!” He grit his teeth as a
limousine zoomed past him and stopped a few meters ahead with the roar of
the engine.

The window opened and Rui showed her face from the driver’s seat.

“If it isn’t the virgin himself. I happen to have business in that direction, so
would you like me to take you halfway?”

“That’d be great!” He jumped into the car, and Rui didn’t waste a second to
step on the gas, causing him to roll around inside. “Maybe next time wait a
second before I can sit down!”

“You sure have a lot of demands, Saito-sama. This is why your wife is
running away from you. What a pitiful man you are.”

She was technically cursing him out, but her face reflected in the mirror
showed a faint smile. Saito could tell that she was still supporting him.
Everyone was wishing for his and Akane’s happiness, lending their
strength. Before, Saito never would have imagined this back then when he
was just eating his cup noodles by himself. He checked the GPS again.
They were closing in, but they had to take twists and turns because of the
mountain road, while Akane could take the straight path down the hill. At
the same time, Rui drifted around the corner with her dangerous driving
skill, not losing any speed. Despite the size of the car, she pulled it off
flawlessly and never touched any of the trees.

“We won’t be catching up at this rate…It appears a shortcut is necessary.”

“Wai—” Saito wasn’t given a chance to stop her.

The limousine shot off the cliff and lightly floated in the air as the mirror on
the door got smacked off. Even Rui’s hair danced through the air. Then
followed a roaring impact as the limousine landed on the ground. Right
before them stood Akane in utter disbelief. Her cheeks were reddened and
she was gasping for air, probably having run at full speed this whole time.

“Akane!” Saito jumped out of the car.

“Stay away from me! If not, I’ll jump off this cliff here!” she said as she
staggered backward and stepped on the greenery of the cliff behind her.

Saito grew worried that she might actually do it if he didn’t stop her.

“So you hate me that much, huh?” he asked, seeing her face distorted in
pain.

More tears ran down her cheeks. She balled up her fists and screamed like
she just wanted to let it all out.

“I love you! But that’s why I can only give up on you! Your happiness is
more important! I can’t bear to see you hurt! So even if I have to drop down
into hell, I want you to be able to smile!”

“You really…are just…”

A love that was like a storm ate away at Akane and destroyed her from
within. It was like a deadly poison under everybody’s eyes. Unlike Saito,
who neglected his own beliefs, Akane did not waver even once. Because
her love is so strong, it carries the risk of burning her life with all of it. Saito
gave her a sharp look in return.
“I don’t want a messed up love like that.”

“Wha…” Akane showed genuine fear in her eyes, while Saito took a step
toward her.

“I always…always wanted to disappear from this garbage world. I hated all

the trash in this world. But dying would have felt like I’d accept my defeat,
so I wished to get away from this planet altogether. I thought I’d be able to
live a happy life by myself on a planet far away.”

“And that’s your dream, right?! Your happiness! That is what I want to
grant! So I can’t get in your wa—?!” Akane lost her balance and was close
to falling off the cliff.

Saito’s body reacted before he could think. He ran toward her and pulled
her close. Her eyes shot open as Saito continued.

“But now, I have you! You taught me the fun of being alive! The fun of
learning more about others! The joy of being with others!”

“I never taught you. You’re a smart guy, right? You would’ve learned the
same thing even if it wasn’t me.”

“No, it has to be you.”

He let all his feelings roam free. He couldn’t let her escape. He couldn’t let
go of her. He really wasn’t good at putting his genuine emotions into words,
but this was a battle that went beyond just that.

“Why…”

“Because of the craziness you put to the table, I had to approach you
myself. The fact that you kept picking fights with me allowed me to realize
the joy of truly being attached to someone. Your feelings that are always
going full throttle let me understand how people felt. And it helped me
realize that I also had these feelings inside of me. You taught me that,
nobody else.”

Akane’s gaze wavered.

“E-Even so…That’s already done, right? Just forget about me and grant
your dream. Aren’t you that sort of rationalist?”

“And what’s the point of having my dream granted if I don’t have you by
my side? I’ll just be as lonely as before. My dream may not be granted, but
I want to be with you. The place I belong…isn’t on some faraway planet.
It’s right next to you. That’s what…my happiness is,” he spoke with
confidence overflowing from his voice.

“G-Geez…To hear you say that…I’m not going to lose, okay…!”

She pushed him away once more and slipped away from his arms, but she
wasn’t even trying anymore, as she just looked up at Saito with her fragile
and quivering body.

“Let’s get married once more. And this time, I want us to be a genuine
married couple.”

Saito kneeled on the ground and offered one hand to Akane. Before, he
couldn’t do a proper proposal like this because he was too much of a
coward, and although he was still afraid of being rejected…Nothing was
more terrifying than the thought of losing Akane forever.
“A genuine…married couple…”
Tears began to fall from Akane’s eyes, running down her adorable cheeks.
They reflected the sun cutting through the trees. Was there anything more
lovable than this sight in this world? Rather than the bland radiance of the
faraway stars, the glowing color of her soul was much more appealing. The
girl then carefully spoke up with a quivering voice.

“I…I get angry all the time, I lose my temper quickly, and I hate losing to
you even now…I feel lonely the moment you’re not around, and I get
jealous immediately when I see you talking with another girl…But…will
you still be with me despite that…?”

“It has to be you for all of those reasons, Akane,” Saito smiled and took her
hand.

Back at the residence of the Houjou main family, Saito and Akane were
facing Tenryuu. Sitting next to him were Chiyo and Maho. Bodyguards
stood at the door of the room, fully blocking off any escape. Tenryuu, who
was known for his intimidating face, was evidently furious as he frowned
with his arms crossed. The pressure coming from him was nothing to scoff
at. The average CEO would probably collapse from it the moment they laid
eyes on him.

“You had the gall to run away right before the party started…I expect you
to explain yourself and make up for the humiliation I experienced, yeah?”
The anger in his deep voice and the way he asked the question was
reminiscent of the demon said to be the ancestor of the Houjou Family.

Saito felt the pressure crackling in the air as he glared back at his
grandfather.

“Sorry, but I don’t intend to listen to any more of your orders. I’ll elope
with Akane until the very end.”

“E-Elope…?” Akane asked as she blushed.

“So you’re willingly throwing away all that the Houjou Family has to offer?
If you go against me, then as long as my family has any reach, you will not
find a place you call home.”
“I’ll just grant my dream myself. I’ll build a company from scratch and
crush you and the Houjou Group,” Saito declared his intention to wage war.

In response, Tenryuu scoffed.

“You young ones think you can beat me? And once you become old and
decrepit without achieving anything, you will regret the choice you made
this day.”

“As long as I can be with Akane, any life waiting for me will be fun.
Dreams are basically just selfishness anyway, and only I will be satisfied if
I accomplish them…But I found something that’s more important to me
now.”

Tenryuu’s frown deepened.

“So you are prepared to make the whole Houjou Group your enemy…?”

“Of course. It’s an all-out war, old fart,” Saito balled his fist.

Not too long ago, Saito would have never done something so ludicrous and
unreasonable. He would not bother if people stayed or left. He used to look
down on hard work and the effort people put into it. But the one who
changed that all for him was Akane.

“If you’re that adamant on it, then so shall it be. I won’t be choosing my
methods any longer. Men!” Tenryuu clapped his hands.

In response, the militant servants surrounded Saito and Akane, reaching for
the tools they had hidden behind their waists.

“Saito!” Akane shrieked.

“Damn it, using force now?!” Saito pulled Akane closer and protected her
in his arms.

Even if it may cost him his life, he could not lose Akane. He never would
have imagined he’d get this serious over someone else. A series of
horrifying explosions rang out as Saito closed his eyes and embraced the
small slender girl in his arms. However, no other attacks or pain followed.
Rather, he felt something soft landing on his head. He slowly opened his
eyes again, seeing the servants surrounding them with party crackers in
their hands that had already exploded. Then Tenryuu, Chiyo, and Maho also
shot their crackers with bright smiles.

“““Congratulations!”””

Colorful confetti fell from the sky as one servant struck a bronze gong.
Others were playing the flute, some more took pictures with their
cameras…it was a festival atmosphere biting what happened before.

“Huh…?”

“What…?”

Both Saito and Akane froze up. They could not comprehend the meaning
behind any of this. At the same time, Tenryuu clapped.

“Wonderful, Saito! You passed the final trial!”

“T-Trial…? What are you talking about…?” Saito didn’t drop his caution as
he looked around.

The bodyguards, a group of bulky men, were shedding tears of joy as they
hugged each other. Saito couldn’t follow at all. It felt like he got wrapped
up in something outside his scope of expectation. At the same time, Maho
showed a relieved smile as she wiped her tears away.

“Sorry, Onee-chan. It was for the sake of our operation, but I was still pretty
mean, right?”

“Operation…? What are you talking about…?” Akane was visibly

bewildered.

Tenryuu answered this question with a laugh.

“The thing is, Chiyo-san and I actually weren’t in love during our younger
days! Having you two get married so we could live our romance through
you was nothing but a lie.”

“What did you say?!”

“Nor did we do it to find a wife who could support the next head of the
family!”

“Then why did you have us get married?!”

Both Saito and Akane were in utter disbelief.

“It was all a plan to raise Saito into becoming a fitting person to lead the
Houjou Family! Basically, it was a trial to decide my successor!” Tenryuu
said and sat down on the floor cushion.

He opened his fan that had a dragon drawn on it in a typical Japanese art
style and let out a sigh.

“In the ancient days, there were cases of murder in relation to the
succession of the Houjou Family. To destroy this bloody tradition, I teamed
up with Shizu to neutralize the other successors, but I did not kill them, of
course. Because I believed that the family ought to be reborn,” Tenryuu
pointed the fan at Saito. “However, Saito! You possessed unprecedented
talent…yet embodied the values of old. Your heart was cold and like that of
a demon. You didn’t love others and you saw them as easily replaceable.
And that was my guilt to carry as I let that useless father of yours raise you
like that.”

There, Akane protested.

“But Saito isn’t some demon. He always looked after me and cared for me.”

In response, Tenryuu shrugged with a laugh.

“Because you raised him to be like that, Akane-san. Before he got involved
with you…He was as good as dead.”

Chiyo nodded along.

“He has told me a lot about Saito-san, in fact. I recommended that we team
him up with Akane, who’s always brimming with emotions at any turn.
Because Saito-san needed a family who would actually shower him with
love.”

“The Houjous are demons who are the enemy of society as we know it. The
people who don’t know love in this family can easily turn into these sorts of
monsters. And I could not let this demon rule the family any longer. So in
the final trial, I wanted to see if Saito would choose love over his own
benefit.”

“And what if Akane and I decided to break up…?”

“Then you would have lost. And me alongside. To prevent the Houjou
demons from corroding society any further, I was prepared to disband the
group altogether.”

“That was…one hell of a wager…” Saito was utterly exhausted.

The thousand-year-long history of the Houjou Family rested on his

shoulders with this one decision.

“But that’s not the only reason we had you two get married,” Chiyo smiled.
“Both Tenryuu-san and I witnessed how attracted to each other you were at
the graduation party. To ensure that you wouldn’t walk past each other until
it was too late, we thought about what we could do. Not to mention that
Tenryuu-san had always been worried about his grandson. Isn’t that right?”

“…Indeed,” Tenryuu said with a reddened face.

“Gramps was…?”

Saito never considered it. So the stone-fazed grandfather of his wasn’t some
absolute ruler? He was just as much of a bashful person as Saito and
Akane? And he wasn’t dragging Saito around to restaurants and
establishments because of simple selfishness?
“You managed to pass my final trial with flying colors, Saito. And so, I
hereby declare you the successor of the Houjou Family.”

“…!” Saito’s eyes opened wide.

Tenryuu then turned toward Akane.

“And I’m sorry for causing you this much grief. But with you by his side, I
can leave the Houjou Family in his hands.”

“N-No, please…! I’m just…a normal high school girl! Nothing more…!”
Akane panicked slightly.

Tenryuu walked toward Saito and placed one hand on his shoulder. His
hand riddled with wrinkles felt warm and reassuring as Saito realized this
for the first time. And then, Tenryuu declared with a soft expression never
seen on him before.

“Saito…This world isn’t your enemy. Countless people care for you. So use
this power you have for their sake.”
“You really got us good, Gramps.”
“If you want someone to resent, let it be me.”
“I’m used to playing that role.”

“Oh, I don’t resent you.”

“After all, I would actually bother to bump heads with you.”

“Thank you.”

(“Oh dear me…”)

“Are you crying?”

“…Don’t be ridiculous.”

1 Deadass the Maho glazing for no reason though.

2 Akane is now tied third place with Shise in terms of kisses she’s had with
Saito. Himari and Maho are way ahead. Noice
And that should be it, folks. Thanks for sticking around. I hope you enjoyed
this series despite its many…many…flaws. And if you want to read
something else (with a better romance), feel free to check out some of our
other series.
 Epilogue

With the next head of the family and his wife officially declared, it was time
to hold the grand wedding ceremony. The ceremony venue, hosted by the
Houjou Group, attracted visitors from all over the world. On top of the
influential CEOs under the family, you had business leaders, cabinet
ministers, high-ranking bureaucrats, royalty and aristocrats from various
countries, as well as celebrities such as actors, film directors, and even
popular singers. As this was Saito’s first official public appearance, the
successor of the Houjou family that dominates the economic world, TV and
newspaper reporters all flocked to the venue with news helicopters flying
above the scene. To ensure that nothing could happen, the police even
blocked off any entrances to the venue. On the note of the police, the higher
divisions were also present as guests.

Meanwhile, Saito was standing in the groom’s waiting room, wearing a

tuxedo as he looked at his smartphone. His phone gallery had photos of all
sorts that Akane had taken lately. Influenced by her, even Saito began to
take pictures more regularly. Their married life together may feel long, but
it happened in a flash. They fought a lot and laughed a lot. Living with
Akane was both stimulating and also confusing, but even more fun. And
they will make even more memories from now on. And as he was dwelling
on memories, the door slammed open, with Maho, Himari, and Shisei
storming inside.

“Sa-kun! Let’s get married!”

“Phew, you look dashing in that tuxedo!”

“Shise’s hungry. She can’t wait until the buffet.”

In the blink of an eye, he was surrounded by people. Maho and Himari

leaped at his neck, with Shisei climbing up his leg like a hungry cat. All of
them wore flashy dresses that could rival a wedding dress, their hair and
makeup done with absolute perfection, and they exuded the scent of a
captivating perfume.

“Maho…I thought you wanted to support Akane after all…?”

“I do! She would’ve hated me if we got married, but now that she has the
spot of the first wife, I can just join in like a sister bowl, right? You get two
for one!”

“What in the world is a sister bowl?!”

“It means that you can have both Onee-chan and me at the same time!” She
said and rubbed her face against Saito’s neck, smearing him with the scent
of her perfume. At this rate, Akane would accuse him of cheating before the
ceremony even started.

“I’m going to get married today, so I’ll have to ask you to refrain from
doing this stuff…” Saito urged her, to which Himari shrugged.

“Huh? What’s that matter? You’ve always been married, so a ceremony or

not doesn’t matter, right?”

“That’s right! Your great-grandfather had like five wives! That’s what
Gramps Tenryuu told me!”

“For real?!”

Himari’s eyes lit up and Shisei nodded deeply.

“Up until the Edo period, some of the heads of our family had more than
500 wives so you still got a quota to fill, Brother.”

“What do you mean by quota?!”

“Yaaay! So having two or three more will be a negligible difference,

right?!”

“It’s negligible, Sa-kun!”

This time, Himari pressed her lips on Saito’s cheek as Maho also showered
him with kisses. At this rate, he’d show up to the altar with kiss marks all
over his body.

“We’re living in modern-day Japan! This is different from before!”

Saito pleaded so, but Maho wouldn’t listen.

“I say…We must learn from the past with the use of historiography!”

“That’s right! Study the past to improve the future!” Himari chimed in, too.

“Do you even know what that word means?!”

“To relearn something that has been lost, right? By studying past traditions,
it could help solve issues we have in today’s society…So that means that
Sa-kun can just marry all of us!”

“Why do you have to be so smart when it matters?!”

That’s why Maho was so difficult to deal with. At the same time, Himari
showed the smile of a bad woman.

“Well, I’m fine being your mistress, you know? You’d eventually get tired
of just doing it with Akane, right?”

“Doing what exactly?!”

“Why don’t we just all be his mistresses?!”

“Sounds good!”

“Shise agrees,” said Shisei as she munched on some cake.

It was a strawberry shortcake filled with cream.

“Even Shise?! Also, isn’t that the wedding cake?! You shouldn’t be eating
that yet!”
“Shise can’t suppress her appetite. She can’t swallow her hunger.” Shisei
said and nibbled at Saito’s ear.

“Maybe try to suppress it a little?!”

Saito tried to escape, but Shisei’s vacuum lungs were too much. His ears
became wet with her saliva and the cream.

“And Onee-chan is really nice, so if we ask to share Sa-kun, she’ll surely

agree!”

“Shise agrees. She can’t say no if we ask her.”

“If we let Akane have half of Saito-kun and split the other half in three, we
each get one-sixth, right?”

The girls whispered amongst themselves.

“What exactly are you planning on doing with me?!” Saito immediately
opted to escape.

After Akane put on the wedding dress and make-up with the help of the
attendant, she was simply waiting in the bride’s changing room, feeling
overly anxious. She was never really interested in love and romance, so the
fact that she wore a dress like this was too much for her to handle. She felt
like a princess straight out of a fairytale. Since she was beginning to feel
overwhelmed by the situation, she considered heading to the groom’s
dressing room, when Reiko suddenly entered. She wore a dress that
emphasized her flawless physique, resembling a witch of sorts.

“Hello there. You look just charming, honey.”

“H-Hello…” Akane immediately tensed up further.

She had always known that Reiko did not agree to this marriage, so she
couldn’t help but worry if she was up to something.

“You don’t have to be so on edge. I don’t plan on doing anything today.”

“Today…?”

So she might have if it was any other day? Akane couldn’t quite look past
those words. In response to that, Reiko shrugged.

“I still haven’t fully accepted you. However, it’s clear that, thanks to your
influence, Saito-kun has started to smile more. So…at least today, I’ll
congratulate you.”

“Thank you so much!” Akane got up from the chair and bowed once.

Being accepted by her made Akane feel incredibly happy. After all, she was
like a mother figure to Saito. In response, Reiko smiled faintly.

“Take care of him, okay? It’s your responsibility now to make him happy.”

“I will!” Akane nodded.

Then, Akane stepped into the groom’s changing room. Her translucent and
white skin was visible through her wedding dress, covered in laces. She
looked like an angel clad in a feather robe. But the crimson-red lipstick on
her lips also made her look incredibly mature, as her shoulders were in
plain sight to reveal how bright her collarbone was. Met with that sight,
Saito narrowed his eyes.

“H-How do I look?” She grabbed her dress on both sides and asked while
looking up at him.

“…You’re beautiful.”

Her beauty overshadowed everything and Saito could only be honest with
her.

“R-Really…? Hee hee…” She responded with a bashful smile as she

fidgeted a bit awkwardly.

Even this faint movement caused the wedding dress to shake and the sound
of rustling clothes to echo through the room.
—How is my wife this cute?!

Saito felt the strong urge to embrace his wife right then and there, but he
didn’t want to ruin the dress or the makeup. There wasn’t much time left
until the ceremony, too. However, Akane showed a grave expression as she
balled her fists.

“Saito…There’s a big problem.”

“Wh-What is it…?”

“I don’t think we can do the ceremony. And so, I need your input on
something.”

“Tell me,” Saito audibly gulped.

Were there still more trials left for them? It did shake him up a bit, but he
had to overcome whatever wall was in his way. She then moved her lips
close to his ear and whispered while covering her mouth.

“It’s just…Doing it is a bit too…embarrassing?”

“What is?”

“Kissing…in front of everyone during the ceremony…!”

“…!”

A flame spread across Saito’s whole body.

“The…The kiss, huh…”

“Yes, the kiss. We’ve only done it once…and I don’t know if that was the
proper way or not…Plus, thinking about the fact that everyone will be
watching…makes me want to run away immediately,” she said as she ran
her fingers across her lips, her long eyelashes quivering.

“Then let’s practice right now.”

“Wha…”

Saito took her hand and pulled her closer, pressing his lips on hers. At first,
Akane was bewildered and her eyes shot open, but she quickly gave in as a
pleasant sigh escaped her lips. Unlike their first kiss, this was one out of
nothing but happiness. It wasn’t a goodbye, but a sign that something new
would start. This fulfilling sensation made the warmth deep within Saito
burn brighter. After a long silence, Saito pulled his lips away.

“And? Was that enough practice?”

“No, I need more,” she begged with a meltingly-sweet voice.

“Come on, that should be good enough. The ceremony is going to start soon
—”

“More. I want more!” She pressed her lips on his again.

Her watery eyes gazed at him with a hint of ecstasy as she devoured his lips
like she had been possessed. Her arms wrapped around him as he felt the
softness of her body and the wedding dress, causing him to almost blank
out. As they were solely focusing on their kiss, the three girls stormed into
the room again. Maho had her phone camera ready to snap picture after
picture.

“Hot and steamy, you two! But no lewd stuff before the ceremony!”

“Eeeek?!” Akane leaped away from Saito.

“You’re surprisingly strict, Akane…” said Himari with a glint of admiration

in her voice.

“Akane is a demon of lust. If we let her be, she’s going to suck Brother dry
like a raisin,” Shisei clung to Saito’s arm and moved him away from Akane.

“We didn’t do anything lewd, I’m not strict, and I’m not a demon of lust
either!” Akane retorted to all of the three, as Maho pulled her arm toward
her.
“Come on, come on, let’s just get this ceremony over with so we can go on
our honeymoon.”

“This is going to be Shise’s first honeymoon, too. Sounds fun.”

“Right?” Himari agreed with Maho and Shisei.

“When was it decided that you’d all come along?!” Akane screamed in
disapproval.

Meanwhile, Maho clung to her arm and begged with a cutesy voice.

“C’mon, Onee-chan…I wanna go on a fun trip with Sa-kun, too…”

“But…A honeymoon is supposed to be for the groom and the bride…”

“I’ll be lonely without you…I wanna have fun with all of you, you
know…?”

Met with her little sister’s cute begging, Akane gave up.

“Ugh…Fine, okay.”

“You’re fine with that?!” retorted Saito.

“See, I knew she’d share him with us!” Maho showed a wink to the other
two, who gave her a thumbs-up for a job well done.

“Share him?! What is this about?!” Akane couldn’t ignore that comment,
either.

“You’re so kind, Onee-chan! And if possible, I want to sleep in the same

bed as you too…”

“W-Well, if you insist…”

“Akane, get a grip! She’s asking for something outrageous right now!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll just sleep in the same bed, nothing more.”
“Do you only see the good in people?!”

Himari let out a snicker.

“Come on now, nothing is going to happen even if we sleep together…

right…?”

“Shise won’t do anything,” commented Shisei as she was eating more of the
wedding cake.

This was slowly turning into pure chaos, intrigue swirling at every corner of
the waiting room. A dark aura was emitting from the girls. And he could tell
that Akane was slowly being swallowed by their demands.

“I can’t let us stay here any longer! Akane, we’re running away!” Saito
grabbed her hand as they ran out of the room.

“And I’ll follow you wherever you may go,” Akane smiled and returned the
grip on his hand.

I married my classmate…
…who was supposed to be my arch-enemy and the girl I couldn’t stand at
all.
 Afterword

Congratulations on the marriage to these two! Saito and Akane may have
been married since the start, but now they are finally together in the most
accurate sense. In this story, we’ve seen them passionately clash,
understand each other, and finally become a true couple. There will surely
be more problems on their path from here on out, but they should be fine.
As long as they respect and love each other, they can overcome anything.

For a writer, a story is like a prayer for the times and the period. And what I
wished for…is harmony. Ever since my debut work, I have been thinking
about how often values really conflict with each other. Why do people deny
the other person’s values and ideals? Why fight when it only brings more
pain? Why does one consider themselves morally correct and condemn the
other? If only people got along better. To not hurt each other. To help people
who are weaker and in need. That is my wish. And if reading this story
helped my readers feel like showing a bit of kindness to someone else, then
there is no greater joy for me. I only hope that the people of this world can
be happy.

With this, we have reached the conclusion of Saito’s and Akane’s story, but
who knows, there might be a side story or any other extra volume coming
out in the future. I at least wouldn’t mind writing one. So to all my readers,
thank you very much for reading up to this point. It is thanks to all of you
that they managed to become truly married like this.

To the editorial department from the MF Bunko J publisher, my editor K-

sama, N-sama, my illustrator Narumi Nanami-sensei, the mangaka
Mosskonbu-sensei, all the staff of the anime adaptation, everyone aiding in
the distribution of this…It is thanks to all of you that this book has reached
so many people.
I do tend to incorporate my real-life experiences into the fiction I write, and
this story was in large part inspired by my time spent with my wife, so I
hope you can at least forgive me for this closing statement.

To my beloved wife N, on our wedding anniversary, I offer you this—

December 14th, 2024, Amano Seiju

 Credits

EPUB/PDF:

https://animestuff.me/

Translation:

https://cclawtranslations.home.blog/

Telegram:

https://t.me/animestuff2023