Kurasu no Daikirai na Joshi to Kekkon Suru Koto ni Natta Volume 4 Chapter 3

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Happy new year from Germany~

Ensnaring

This happened in the classroom of class 3-A. As Saito was indulging in a bit of tranquility, reading a book, he suddenly felt a gentle breath tickling his ear.

“?!” Saito jolted up from his seat.

Turning around, Maho was looking down at him with a teasing grin.

“Morning, Onii-chan~”

“You…what are you doing…” Saito protected his ear with his palm.

“Just greeting you? Since you’re locked up here in Japan, you might not know, but this is common sense overseas!”

“Not even overseas, this has got to be common sense outside of this galaxy. Go back to the planet you were born on!” Saito glared at Maho in disbelief.

He was enjoying a bit of free time until the morning homeroom would start, and yet the troublemaker had already arrived. Seeing this reaction, Maho covered her mouth with her hand, grinning.

“Ahhh, Onii-chan, you got all sensitive because I blew in your ear~”

“I did not!”

“You clearly did~ Look, you got goosebumps~” Maho’s fingertips ran along Saito’s neck.

He immediately grabbed her hand.

“Could you stop with that blatant sexual harassment while we’re at school…?”

“Kyaaa~! Grabbing my hand so forcefully…you’re so bold, Onii-chan!” Maho fidgeted to show her embarrassment.

She clearly did this on purpose, but it was more than enough to have the deadly gazes of all his male classmates gather on Saito.

“That shitty bastard…”

“Flirting around with that cute junior again…”

“I’ll kill him. I’ll murder him without getting into legal trouble.”

“Putting fresh natto into his juice…”

“Isoflavone! Isoflavone!”

“You’re being awfully unreasonable now, you know?!”

Saito attempted to protest, but nobody bothered to listen. All of the boys were dancing atop the idol-class beauty’s (internally a demon) palm.

“Onii-chan, you really are hated at school, huh! I feel bad for you.”

“Whose fault do you think this is…”

“Don’t blame yourself too much!”

“I’m saying it’s all your fault!”

“Right, it’s because I’m so cute. Sorry about that~” She put her index fingers on both her cheeks, sticking out her tongue.

It was evident that this gesture was a simple calculation, but she still absolutely nailed the pose.

“““So cute!!”””

The boys all screamed in unison and ran out into the hallway. They were driven by overflowing passion. Or they didn’t want to see more of Maho clinging to Saito’s leg.

“You really are good at handling boys, it’s hard to believe that you’re Akane’s sister…” Saito commented with mixed admiration and disbelief.

Maho played with her hair.

“I’m not good at all~ Men are just so stupid and simple, they immediately show ulterior motives, so it’s easy to use that~”

“I feel like I heard something terrifying just now.”

“Ah, just kidding! I love how kind and charming boys are! I totally respect it~”

“Even if you try to correct yourself, it has the absolute opposite effect.”

Saito was slowly building up an inability to trust women. He knew that every human had two sides to them, but even he had limits with how much of a dark side Maho possessed.

“Did you think about marrying me?”

“Like hell I would marry someone who would so openly use men!”

“I wasn’t using them! Just turn them into my servants.”

“I don’t want to become some servant, thank you.”

“I wouldn’t make you one, Onii-chan! If anything, I’d be your servant! P-Please, order me to do whatever you desire, my master…” Maho put her hands together, as she looked up at Saito with a quivering gaze.

This time, Saito received painful glares from all the girls in his class.

“Houjou-kun is treating another junior badly…”

“I heard something about making her his servant?”

“Having a girl younger than him call him master…gross.”

“The enemy of all woman…”

“Don’t make the misunderstanding even worse!” Saito grabbed Maho’s shoulders, trying to stand up, but now she acted scared.

“I-I’m sorry, Master…I’ll do my best to serve you, so…!” She ran her mouth, and shed fake tears.

The sharp glares of the girls turned into a wave of killing intent, about to explode any second. At this rate, Saito’s life was in danger. In the eyes of society, he may have already dug his own grave, but now his physical well-being would be pulled down into the deep abyss.

—Damn it, what is this? How am I supposed to prove my innocence and her guilt?

Saito desperately used his brain, when Himari entered the classroom. She looked at Saito and Maho, her eyes lighting up as she ran over.

“Maho-chan! It’s been a while!”

“Himarin! Yay~!”

“Yaaay~!”

Maho and Himari raised cheers of joy, jumping up and down as they did a high-five. It was evident even as a bystander that they were delighted to see each other like this.

“I heard from Akane that you came home, but you’re already at our school, huh!”

“That’s right~ I just wanted to bury my face in Himarin’s boobs!”

“Then come!”

“Yaaaay!”

Himari opened both her arms, with Maho at her without hesitation. She embraced Himai’s chest with her hands, rubbing her cheeks against those two mounds.

“Haaa, Himarin’s boobs are the best! They’re bigger than Onee-chan’s and comfy like a bed of clouds! Yet they’re also so voluptuous and lewd!”

“Sorry that mine can’t compare…” Akane appeared with a vein popping out from her face.

Maho immediately corrected herself.

“I-I mean, Onee-chan’s boobs are good in their own way! They fit right into my hand, and they always calm me down! Makes me feel that I’ve really come home. You get it, right?”

“I really don’t!” Akane complained with quivering shoulders.

“Wanna bury your face in Himarin’s boobs as well, Onii-chan?”

“What are you even saying!?”

Saito felt like he had an arrow pointed directly at his head.

“It’s something you need to experience at least once! It feels awesome, you know? You’ll be unable to ever let go of Himarin!” Maho closely evaluated her older sister’s friend’s chest.

“I-If you want to cop a feel then…I don’t mind?” Himari blushed aggressively, opening her arms to welcome Saito.

Her chest was overflowing with a divine charm, shaking up and down as if they were inviting Saito.

“No…that’s…” Saito didn’t know how to react.

Normally, he would decline that offer instantaneously. However, he knew of Himari’s feelings for him, and he understood that this offer was made in absolute seriousness. If he rejected this offer too bluntly, he might end up hurting Himari. That being said, simply agreeing was not an option either, as that would leave Akane fuming in anger, and there were still some classmates present in the classroom, showering him with cold gazes. As Saito was looking for the correct choice, Akane glared at him.

“Why are you hesitating?! There’s no way she would let you do that!”

It seemed like Saito ran out of time.

“I’m fine, so…if Saito-kun wants to, I’ll do anything…”

“Phew, Himarin really loves Onii-chan, huh~ How admirable~” Maho nodded to herself.

“I’ve been wondering for a while, but why do you keep calling him ‘Onii-chan’?” Himari seemed a bit dubious.

“Ahh, that’s because Onii-chan is Onee-chan’s—”

“You morooooooooooon!!”

Maho was about to drop the bomb about the marriage, so Saito frantically covered her mouth, confirming that she couldn’t utter another word.

“Mgh! Mghghgh!” Maho tried to break free out of Saito’s hold.

Akane’s face grew pale, and Himari’s eyes opened wide.

“I had no idea that Saito-kun and Maho-chan were this close~”

Maho somehow managed to break free of Saito’s grasp, gasping for air.

“We’re really close! Right, Onii-chan?”

“Hahaha…” Saito let out an empty laugh.

Seeing through that, Maho even put more pressure on him.

“We are, right? Even yesterday, in the bath…”

“Oh yeah, we are! We’re the closest pair of besties in the entire galaxy!”

“Galaxy!”

Saito saw himself forced to line up his shoulders with Maho, who showed her usual peace sign. Turning Maho into an enemy here would make everything crash and burn. However, he found himself praying that she would soon leave and travel again.

“Himarin, Himarin! Let’s hang out somewhere next weekend~ As the five of us!”

Himari counted with her fingers.

“Five of us…Akane, Saito-kun, Maho-chan, and me…Wait, that’s only four people, you know?”

Maho lowered her head, muttering with a quiet voice.

“There is…a phantom fifth person, right behind Onii-chan…”

“What…did you say…?” Saito felt a shiver creeping down his back.

Just as Maho stated, he heard it—faint footsteps behind him. He felt a presence approaching, which stopped right behind Saito. His wrist was grabbed by a small palm. It was snow-white, making you think it had no blood circulating through it, cold as ice.

“Shise wants to join you.”

It turned out to be Shisei. She had melon bread in her mouth like during a bread-eating race, munching on it. There were some days she spent more like a wild animal eating food than an actual human being, and today seemed to be one of these.

“What, just Shise…” Saito’s shoulders relaxed.

“Who did you think it was? Taira no Ason Oda Kazusanosuke Saburou Nobunaga or something?” Shisei casually dropped Oda Nobunaga’s full name.

“I don’t know such a legendary historical person.”

“Even though you were the one who assassinated him, Brother?”

“T-There’s no way Saito-kun would be such an awful person! I believe him!”

“Believe me or not…That happened 400 years ago, and I wasn’t alive back then!”

Even if they tried their hardest to explain this theory, the age gap was far too great.

“R-Right, I’m relieved…”

“I’m worried about you, Himari…Maybe I should help you study again sometime…”

“I’d be really happy about that, but…why?” Himari showed genuine confusion.

It was clearly dangerous to leave such an airhead alone. There’s a big chance she might not even graduate.

“If we’re going to have fun, maybe we should just leave Saito out, no?”

“You really have no remorse whatsoever, huh.” Saito glared at Akane, who fired off these words.

“Hm? Do you want to be surrounded by girls that badly? Plotting to take those two home and have your way with them?”

“I never mentioned anything of that sort.”

“That has to be it! I can perfectly see through everything you’re thinking! It even says ‘Horny’ in your eyes!”

“Having words carved into my eyeballs would be hella dope.” Saito felt his manliness stimulated at the sheer idea.

“But you’re right, I bet it’d be more fun as the four girls of you, so I’ll stay behind this time.”

“We’ll take you with us even if we have to make a horse pull you along.”

“What is this, torture from a Western film?!”

Maho continued with an energetic tone.

“We’ll tie your arms and legs to for respective horses, and then~”

“I’ll die for good that time! They’ll split me into pieces!”

Saito felt terrified of the evil deeds done in Europe during the Middle Ages.

“I…would be happy if Saito-kun joined us…” Himari commented, awfully bashful.

“Onee-chan, is it really no good…?”

“Akane…please…”

“Urk…”

Being pressured by her beloved younger sister and best friend, Akane started to falter.

“F-Fine, it can’t be helped then! If you’ll pull him along with a horse, I don’t mind!”

Receiving permission from Akane, Maho and Himari jumped in joy.

“We did it~! Thanks, Onee-chan!”

“Why are you so happy?!” Saito screamed in terror.

“Akane is so kind!”

“There’s no glimmer of kindness to be found here!” Saito looked at Himari in shock.

“As a practice, maybe we really should have Saito be split into pieces through horse pulling?”

“That practice will turn into the real deal real soon!”

Saito was assaulted by the strong desire to rush home and lock himself up in the locker. Use anything that could be used as a weapon and defensive item, and create a blockade so that they couldn’t pull him out.

“And, where should we go then?” Himari looked around in the group.

“Maybe the library?” Akane commented.

“You just want to study, right?” Saito threw in a rebuttal.

“So? Do you have any better ideas?”

“The bookstore.”

“You’re the same as me!”

Sparks flew between Saito and Akane. Maho observed this and shrugged her shoulders.

“You two really are a crammer power couple~”

““Crammer power couple?!””

With this inexplicable term they were categorized as, both Saito and Akane were shocked. They may be married, but they most certainly were not a couple, and Saito never saw himself as the excessive crammer. At the same time, Shisei raised her arm.

“Shise wants to go to the fish market.”

“Social sciences? You want to study even during our break, Shii-chan?”

“No. Eat lots of fish from the fish market.” She was dead serious, but in her eyes and drool.

“Shii-chan loves eating, huh?”

“Love it. Shise also wants to eat Maho.”

“Ehhh~? Of course, go ahead~ Eat up all of me~”

“How about tonight?”

“Kyaaaa! Shii-chan is so bold~!”

Maho seemingly interpreted Shisei’s desire as something other than hunger, which most likely created a deep rift in the conversation between the two. When Shisei said tonight, she probably meant breakfast. Saito grabbed Maho’s shoulder, shaking his head.

“Even if it’s as a joke, you definitely can’t let Shise say something like that. Never.”

“O-Onii-chan…? Your face is scaring me.” Maho’s facial color changed in shock.

She was indeed a cheeky girl at times, but even so, Saito didn’t wish for her to suddenly disappear in Shisei’s stomach.

“Still…if a bookstore, library, and fish market are no good, then where should we go…”

“Not like these places really offered much fun for a group, right?” Himari brought up a valid point.

Saito would have probably bought a book and then immediately went home to read it, turning it into a simple shopping trip. Maho energetically waved her hand.

“Yes yes! I’d prefer the amusement park!”

“A-Amusement park…?” A cracking sound could be heard from Akane, not sound like something a human could produce.

“Talking about a date, you can’t forget the amusement park, right? The Ferris Wheel, the merry-go-round inside the coffee cups!”

“A date?! This is a date with Saito-kun?!” Himari’s eyes lit up with excitement.

Maho saw her chance and continued.

“That’s right. It’ll be a group date! Enjoy a romantic ride with the merry-go-round, and then play around with your butt!”

“It’d ruin the romantic mood, so I’ll put up with that during the ride, but…An amusement park sounds nice! I’d love to go there!” Himari joined in.

“What about Shii-chan?” Maho turned towards Shisei.

“Churros, crispy ice cream, popcorn, hot dogs, soft cream…” Shisei counted all the food, looking like a maiden in love.

“Sounds like an OK!”

“If Shise gets to eat, she’d be fine in a wheat storehouse,” Saito commented.

“What about actually cooking food?!”

“Shise doesn’t mind.”

“Shii-chan, you’re a lot more wild than you look~!” Maho showed admiration. “What about you, Onee-chan? Is the amusement park fine for you?”

“Yes…it’s fine…I’ll make sure to have my final words with Mom and Dad…” Akane had the face of a soldier about to head into battle, ready to die.

Her face was pale, and she was shaking slightly.

“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

“I’m totally fine…this is just bad luck…Ever since I was born…” She looked like she had completely resigned herself.

This clearly wasn’t the kind of expression a high school girl would have when talking about an amusement park.

They agreed to meet up at an avenue a bit further away from the train station. It was a popular street with tourists walking up and down, or simply exercising. After walking for a bit, he met Akane, Himari, and Maho, already waiting for the car, which was organized by Shisei and her family. As they went to an amusement park, spending the day beneath the sun, the girls’ clothes were flashy and showy. Standing amidst them filled Saito with a severe sense of discomfort.

Akane wore a passionate-red one-piece, together with black sandals to create a contrast, still looking anxious. She gave off another atmosphere from the last time they headed out, but because of her flashy personality and outer appearance, it fit her very well.

“…Could you stop staring at me?” Akane glared at Saito, clearly in a sour mood.

“I wasn’t looking at you. You’re just too self-conscious.”

“Huh?! Are you picking a fight with me already?! Fine then! I’ll turn the entire world into a sea of flames!”

“What kind of fight would lead to that?”

“One that’ll leave earth split in two!”

“Why are you exaggerating like that…”

He couldn’t exactly tell her that her clothes looked great on her, especially not in front of everyone. They are mortal enemies, and that relationship could not be allowed to be misunderstood.

“Now now, you two, we’re going to the amusement park, so try to get along.”

The goddess who saved Saito—turned out to be Himari, who separated the two. She usually looked stylish no matter what she wore, but her casual clothes were a sight to behold. Her cut and sew clothes used a drape with thin fabric, with her shoulders revealed to see. She wore very short pants that revealed her thighs. Adding to that, her long boots reaching up to her knees created a refined look.

“Onii-chan, how does Maho look today? Cute? It’s perfect, right?” Maho emphasized her own look, showing off her coordination with absolute confidence. With a shoulder strap, it was a top that revealed her navel. The way her appearance was made to seduce a man, was hard on the eyes in a different way. Between her short pants and high knee-socks shone the absolute territory that was her thighs.

“Rather than Akane’s younger sister, you feel more like Himari’s.”

“Since Onee-chan and I aren’t blood-related, that means we can get married, right?! Yay~ Onee-chan, let’s get married! I want at least 50 children!”

“Huh? What? What is happening?” Akane couldn’t follow the conversation, evidently being confused.

—Managing to confuse this man-eating fiend…nice work, Saito thought to himself, but he also had trouble following along, so he couldn’t exactly talk big.

“I’m saying that your type of clothes matches with Himari.”

“Ah, that! That’s ‘cause Himarin is my teacher!”

“Huh?! When did I turn into your teacher?!” Himari seemed to struggle with following the conversation.

“You know, when I was still a fragile and secluded beauty, you often came to visit me at home, right, Himarin?”

Being able to proudly declare herself as a beauty most certainly was part of Maho’s charm. Himari must have been used to that, as she bluntly returned.

“Really?”

“Yeah! I never really had many chances to talk with someone outside my family, so you were the only person connected to me from the outside world. How stylish you were, how cheerful you could be, I really admired that! I was dreaming of one day being a lady like you!”

“Ahaha…you’re making me feel embarrassed.” Himari bashfully scratched her cheek.

“I see…so Maho’s sexual harassment tendencies she learned from Himari…”

“Correct!” Maho raised her thumb.

“No no no?! Don’t misunderstand, okay, Saito-kun?!”

“I wonder…You have these tendencies after all…”

“You have the wrong idea~!” Himari clung to Saito’s arm, pleading for him to understand, but the way she pressed her chest against him left her entire argument awfully weak.

As they were talking back and forth, a car came driving down the avenue. It was a limousine that could easily fit ten people. Its white body looked polished to create a strong shine. The smoked glass slowly lowered, with Shisei poking her head out.

“Good morning, sorry for the wait.”

“Huh…?! This was the car you told us about?!” Himari’s eyes opened wide.

“This.” Shisei nodded.

Maho ran towards the car with her usual high tension.

“Woah! Woah! It’s a limousine! First time I’ve ever seen one! Shii-chan really is like a rich lady!”

“Shise’s place is a residence looks like it could come straight out of a gothic horror movie, after all.”

It wouldn’t be weird for there to be a vampire leaping at him as soon as he turned the corner. Rather, with all of the dolls everywhere, nobody would doubt the fact that an actual vampire lived there. The maid driver from before opened the door, so Saito and the others hopped inside. Seeing the large sofa, Maho didn’t hesitate to leap at it with open arms.

“Amazing! Amazing! So fluffy! It smells so movie! And so much space like it’s a bus! I’ll just live in here now!”

“You probably shouldn’t, you will die.” Saito commented, knowing the maid driver’s driving tendencies.

Saito regretted not using public transport.

“What an energetic fiend you have. I would be thankful if you came over to play with Shisei from time to time.”

Shisei’s mother Reiko sat at the front of the limousine, greeting the group with crossed legs. She wore a suit from head to toe, being in business mode.

“Are you Shii-chan’s mother? Such a beauty~”

“Thank you, but you’re plenty cute yourself.”

“Hehe, I hear that a lot.” Maho laughed, sounding genuinely happy.

“Doesn’t seem like you’ll be much of a risk.”

“Risk? What do you mean? I’m a dangerous woman, you know?”

“That you probably won’t get in the way—is what I’m saying.”

“…?” Maho was confused at Reiko’s comment.

Himari felt tense as she introduced herself.

“N-Nice to meet you! My name is Ishikura Himari! I’ll be in your care!”

“Hello. I heard about you from Shisei. You seem to be skilled at seizing the hearts of your classmates.”

“That’s not…”

“But, you have yet to fully grasp Saito-kun’s heart, am I wrong.”

“Wha…”

“Auntie?!” Saito was baffled.

“I simply said what I felt, but maybe I was too blunt?”

“No…” Himari seemed dejected.

“Are you joining us at the amusement park, Auntie?” Saito asked, to which Reika shrugged her shoulders.

“I would if I had the time, but I have an important business meeting, so I have to get off mid-way. I simply wanted to meet your friends, Saito-kun.”

“Mine? Not Shise’s?”

“Yes, yours.” Reiko looked around the car.

When her gaze reached Akane, she twitched in shock.

“Nice to meet you, Sakuramori Akane-san.”

“Y-Yes, nice to meet you…”

“You’re on quite bad terms with Saito-kun, no? Yet you tagged along today on a school-free day, where did that wind blow from?”

“That’s…because everybody wanted to go together…”

“Hmmm…so you’ll put up with having Saito-kun, is that what this is?”

“Yes…”

It might have just been his imagination, but Saito heard a sharp tone in Reiko’s voice. Usually, she was treating Saito with much love and affection, but something was off about her today. It’s like she stopped being the private Reiko, and changed into a demonic company president.

At the same time, Akane was oddly docile ever since she hopped inside the car. Was this really their first meeting? Maybe something happened without Saito knowing. Amidst this awkward atmosphere, the girls all seemed weirdly nervous and meek. You wouldn’t expect they were heading to a popular amusement park. Saito sat down next to Reiko, whispering.

“Auntie, please don’t bully the others too much.”

“I’m not bullying anybody. As your guardian, I am simply judging your friends. I can’t have my precious you hang around dangerous people, don’t you agree?”

Now that she mentioned it, Saito felt like she had always been oddly protective. Especially in regards to his friendships, where she often looked into those people. Maybe she felt the duty to protect Saito in her brother’s stead.

“I’m happy you are trying to care for me, but…keep it to a minimum, okay?”

“Can’t help it then, I’ll let them off the hook today.”

“Today…” Saito felt scared of the future.

The limousine arrived at the amusement park—with reckless driving as always. Saito and Akane felt like they had already ridden an attraction. Yet, the other girls were brimming with energy.

“We’re here! It’s the amusement park! Let’s play lots!”

“Ohhhh!”

Standing at the entrance gate, Maho and Himari let out voices of excitement. Looking like gals, they seemed very experienced with amusement parks. Immediately after, Maho clung to Saito’s arm.

“Let’s go, Onii-chan! It’s the start of our lovey-dovey date! Our goal for today is a hundred kisses!”

“What is so fun about doing that as a goal…”

“Basically, you want to kiss even without it being a goal?! Passionate kisses that we’ll end up losing count?! Leave it to me! Mmmnn!”

“Don’t get too close to me, suction cup of a woman!”

Maho pursed her lips like an octopus’ tentacle as she approached him, stopped by Saito’s iron claw. Himari watched this exchange, evidently confused.

“Um…Saito-kun and Maho-chan, what kind of relationship are you two in?”

“I confessed, and he said yes! Basically, we’re a couple!”

“S-Saito-kun…? Should I just say congrats…?” Himari’s body started shaking.

“I didn’t say yes, alright! Don’t fabricate a fake reality!”

“Weird…in my memories, you said yes…We finished our golden wedding, and had lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren…”

“The only thing weird here is your memories.” Saito felt like he traveled to the future of a hundred years.

“But, she confessed to you, yeah?” Himari attempted to confirm.

“…Yeah.”

“That means I’m Himarin’s rival in love! I’ll be taking Onii-chan at this rate, you know?” Maho clung to Saito’s arm, pulling him towards her.

“I-I won’t lose!” Himari snagged Saito’s other arm.

“Oh, Himarin, you’re finally motivated, huh! I won’t hold back just because you’re my teacher, okay?”

“That’s exactly what I was hoping for! Saito-kun, which of us do you prefer?”

“Has to be me, right~?”

“No, me.”

Maho and Himari both simultaneously tightened their grip on Saito’s arms, closing in on him. Since they both wore relatively revealing clothes, the stimulus was awfully strong. The sound of accessories rubbing against each other was heard, as Himari’s mature scent from her perfume and Maho’s sweet scent from her skin mixed, stimulating Saito’s nose.

“Get off me already, you’re suffocating me!”

“Ahaha~ Onii-chan’s all embarrassed~” Maho poked her finger at Saito’s cheek.

“You’re actually happy right, Saito-kun?” Himari whispered into his ear.

“I’m not embarrassed nor happy!”

Or so he declared, but he certainly didn’t feel bad receiving this much affection from two girls. Especially so since both Himari and Maho were charming girls. That must have shown on his face someway or the other, because—

“…Gross.” He received a cold stare with harsh words from Akane.

This was a hundred times worse than her usual and daily verbal abuse, making Saito feel like he was nothing short of rubbish in human shape. He felt so isolated, reminded that he had no ally. But then, from the ticket window came Shisei, holding the tickets.

“Brother, I bought a free pass for everyone.”

“…Great job.”

“Mgh.”

Feeling emotional, Saito tightly squeezed Shisei. She let out a sound like she was being crushed, but he didn’t bother much with that. Amidst everyone doing whatever they wanted to then blame Saito in the end, she was the only one who actually thought about him. He once again realized that his only ally in the world was Shisei.

“Let’s go, Shise! We’ll enjoy the amusement park to our fullest!”

“Indeed, eat everything until they run out of food.”

Saito grabbed the hand of his faithful Shisei and walked through the entrance gate. They had the scanner read their tickets and entered the park in order. Right after entering, they were greeted with an open plaza, a large monument standing in the middle which was illuminated by the sun, with water fountains around it in all directions. In front of the monument stood what looked to be the mascot of this amusement park, welcoming visitors and taking pictures. It was designed as a cat with a somewhat nasty look in its eyes. However, Akane’s face lit up in joy.

“What a cute cat! Let’s ask them for a commemorative picture!”

“…Cute?” Saito was filled with doubts.

“It is cute! It’s wide-open eyes that’ll probably end up dry, and it’s grin like it’s plotting something evil!”

“That’s supposed to be cute?”

“It makes it look cute, yeah!”

“Even if you think so, the one wearing that costume is most likely an old man.”

“Why do you have to crush my hopes and dreams like that?!” Akane started tearing up.

Maho showed a cheeky grin, shaking her index finger.

“Tsk tsk tsk, you can’t say that, Onii-chan. There’s no person inside that costume, you know?”

“Then what’s inside there, huh?”

“Organs, of course!”

“That sure sounds grotesque!”

“It’s not grotesque at all! We all have organs stuffed together inside of us!”

“Lever…tasty…” Shisei started drooling.

“Don’t get hungry now…” Saito protected his stomach.

This innocent-looking sister of his actually could not draw the line between what she could—or rather, should and should not eat. At the same time, Himari put one finger on her lips, thinking.

“Hmm, there’s no guarantee that there’s an old man inside, you know? When I was working part-time before, I had to wear one myself.”

“You really work everywhere, huh.”

“Yup! Anything that could earn me money, I’ll check it out!”

Despite looking like a gal on the outside, she was a very strong-willed girl. It made sense that someone who focussed a lot on saving money like Akane would choose her as a friend. At the same time, Akane frantically declared.

“What’s inside doesn’t matter! It’s a cat! And there’s a cat inside as well! And inside of that cat are more cats! Cat purity 100%!”

“What is this, a matryoshka doll?” Saito imagined a box of cats with more cats inside those cats.

“Anyway! I want a picture! If I don’t take a picture of that cat, I’ll fail as a combat cameraman!”

“When did you ever turn into a combat cameraman…”

Akane must have been in a trance already, as she didn’t even respond, simply running towards that cat costume. She talked to the nearby staff, handed over her phone, and asked for a group picture to be taken. With the cat costume in the middle, Saito stood to the left, and Akane to the right. Saito had Maho and Himari cling to both his arms, Shisei leaning against his chest with the back of his head, creating an oddly high population in his close vicinity. The female staff who held the phone showed a snicker.

“You’re quite popular, Mister~”

“Not in the slightest.” Saito immediately denied that.

Leaving aside Himari, Shisei was his little sister, Akane his wife, and Maho his wife’s little sister, so this felt more like a family trip than anything. However, Maho naturally has to give her own two scents.

“He’s such a womanizer! Two out of the girls here already confessed to him, and two are always sleeping together with him!”

“Youuuuuu?!”

Saito tried to shut up Maho, but she just kept on laughing, running around as she evaded Saito. What an evident pleasure crime once again.

“Saito-kun?! Who are those two people you slept together with?!” Himari screamed, her facial color-changing drastically.

“It’s Shise…when we were younger.” Saito reluctantly answered.

“And who’s the other person?!”

“Nobody…Who would I be sleeping with out of this group…”

“Would you mind telling me all the details, hmm?!”

Saito felt direct pressure in his arm, held tightly by Himari. Saito was worried that Akane might panic and blurt out something stupid, but the person in question was just staring at the cat costume with drowsy eyes, not catching on to the battle happening. Despite them all screaming, the cat was much more important, huh. At the same time, a deep male voice reached Saito’s ears.

“…Rot in hell.”

“?!” Saito was baffled and looked around for the source of that voice.

Without a doubt, this curse came from the person inside the costume. A dark aura emitted to the outside of the costume even. It couldn’t be further from a cute cat, resembling a lump of pent-up anger and resentment. Yet, none of the girls showed any reaction towards that curse.

—Did he say that on a frequency only I could understand?! Is this amusement park actually the ground of an experimenting facility?!

Saito felt like he touched upon a conspiracy theory. As chaos ensued like this, the female staff readied the smartphone to prepare the picture.

“Alright everyone, are you ready? I’m taking the picture~!”

“I’ve been ready for a billion years now!”

“You would have turned into a fossil at this point!”

Akane was evidently excited. It sounded like her life was on the line at this single photoshoot, her hand on her shoulder bag, slightly tilting her head, flashing the perfect smile. At that exact moment, Saito witnessed it with his own eyes. The cat costume emitting the evil frequency wrapped its hand around Akane’s waist, slowly moving it down towards her butt.

“Get away from him!” Saito pulled on Akane’s hand, away from the costume.

At the same time, the female staff took the picture, creating a clicking sound.

“Hey?! Why are you obstructing the picture?!” Akane leashed out on Saito.

“Because that cat bastard was about to grope you!”

“Huh?! A cat would never do such a thing!”

“It’s not a cat!”

“It is!”

As the two were having a verbal argument, the cat costume in question raised its paws high, letting out a loud meow.

“See, it’s a cat!” Amane emphasized.

—This moron!

The urge to slap the ever-living hell out of the cat costume filled Saito, but since Akane acted as a shield between the two, that was impossible. Behind her however stood the cat costume, evidently raising his middle finger towards Saito. He wasn’t even trying to hide his ill-will and grudges.

“Please check the picture~” The female staff approached them with the smartphone in hand.

Shown on the screen were Saito and Akane, holding hands in a perfect position right after the picture was taken.

“I-I’d like to redo the picture!” Akane pleaded with a beet-red face, but the staff was forced to lower her head.

“My sincerest apologies, but we’re a bit tight on time…”

“Ah…”

A long line had formed around the monument, all waiting visitors looking forward to taking pictures. Their gazes hurt quite a lot, and they seemed ready to throw stones at the group at any moment. Especially at Saito.

“Okay…this is fine…” Akane sighed and walked away from the monument.

Seeing her so dejected, Saito felt oddly guilty.

“You know…sorry. If you don’t like it, then you’re free to delete it.”

“I won’t do that…I’ll have to keep living with this memory that I won’t ever be able to erase…” Akane showed a dignified but equally fragile smile.

—Maybe I should have had that old man touch my butt instead?!

Saito doubted the choice he made. Not to mention that he really shouldn’t care even if that old man did something to Akane. Yet, he intervened like that for some reason.

“Jeez…Can’t help it.” Akane looked at the picture, shrugging as she put the smartphone in her shoulder bag.

Her not showing much anger beyond that was genuinely a rare sight.

“Hey hey, let’s hurry up and ride something!” Maho pulled on Saito’s arm, with Himari looked at the map of the park.

“Over there’s a jungle water ride. It’s the river rafting type as well. Should we check that out?”

“What if we get wet?!” Akane asked with a deadly serious expression.

“We’ll be inside a large boat, so it’ll be fine.”

“We might crash into an iceberg…”

“This isn’t Titanic, alright.”

“A crocodile from the jungle might attack us…”

“Don’t worry, they won’t have any crocodiles in a theme park jungle.”

“Come on, come on, don’t be so scared, Onee-chan!”

“I-I-I’m not scared at all!” Akane said, clearly scared, but Maho relentlessly pushed her back.

With perfect timing, a boat able to fit five people arrived in front of the group at the platform. The group before them left the boat while saying stuff like ‘That was crazy!’ or ‘I thought I was going to die!’. The splashing of the water seemed to be quite extreme this time because they were wet on hair and trousers.

“Am I…going to die…?” Akane seemed fearful for her life.

“You’re not gonna die. It’s a perfectly safe and controlled thrill.”

“Wait a second, I’ll look up past accidents online.”

“I feel like you’ll only get more scared if you read that…?” Himari commented.

“Dear visitors, the boat will leave without you at this rate~!”

Urged by the staff, Saito’s group of five hopped on the boat. Swaying along with the flow of the water, the boat moved away from the platform, down the artificially created river. To create a strong feeling of authenticity, they added statues of animals like tigers or jaguars on both sides of the river. Several crocodiles were poking their heads out of the river, spraying water into the air.

“Brother, fish. So many fish.” Shisei was drooling from her mouth, pushing her body outside the boat.

“…Don’t fall off, all right?” Saito put Shisei on his lap, restraining her.

“Good stuff Shise brought a fishnet with her.”

“Don’t start fishing at an amusement park attraction, okay.”

“Shise managed to grab one with her hand, would you like a bite?” Shisei pushed the (still alive) squish and struggling creature, that did not look like a fish towards Saito’s mouth.

“Don’t get that thing too close to me!”

“Ahhhhh.”

Saito stole that living thing from Shisei, throwing it far into the distance. He wanted to keep any possible danger away from his family and friends. At the same time, Maho pulled on Saito’s arm.

“Onii-chan, Onii-chan! There are elephants over there doing group gymnastics while dancing!”

“There’s no way that…”

Saito assumed it was just Maho making up nonsense again as he glanced over there, but it turned out to the true. A group of elephants was doing group gymnastics while dancing. First, it was a three-headed elephant, then a two-headed one, and on the final step below the two was an elephant with a crown, standing with open legs and crossed arms, violently shaking their hips. The elephant at the top of the group used its trunk as a water sprinkler, spraying it everywhere.

“Who even designed this place?!”

As an aspiring proprietor and manager, he felt the strong urge to question some of the decision-making behind this attraction. Either make the jungle seem realistic, or go for a more fantastic feeling, but make it one of these two.

“We’ll end up going down, right?! We’ll get drenched for sure!”

“That reminds me, they were selling raincoats at the entrance…should we buy some?” Himari brought up an idea.

“It’s too late for that!”

“We have to get off this boat!”

“Then you’ll get wet for sure!” Saito grabbed Akane by the clothes, stopping her dive.

“Whatever! Let’s just all get wet! Ahoy!”

“Ahoy.”

Maho and Shisei raised their fists, as the boat rammed right into the area of effect by the sprinklers. A splash of water stronger than anticipated hit the boat, making it less of a sprinkler, and more of a tornado.

“Brother…let us meet again somewhere…”

“Don’t die on me!”

Shisei was about to get carried away by the stream of water, so Saito did the best he could in holding her close. Maho and Himari raised cheers, and Akane was screaming in terror. It was absolute chaos no matter where you looked.

“Who just touched my butt?! Saito?!”

“It wasn’t me! I wasn’t touching anybody!”

“Ah, that was me!” Maho raised her hand.

“You again!” “You again!”

Amidst all the chaos, with the boat shaking violently, nobody had any time to protect themselves against any possible sexual harassment. Before the eyes of pleasure and excitement, humanity was powerless, and so was the law. In the end, they went off the boat as wet rats at the end of the ride. Maho’s shirt clung to her skin, revealing her underwear beneath. The drops of water on her shoulders and thighs created an odd charm. Yet, she showed no remorse whatsoever, simply pulling on her pants as she laughed.

“Ahaha! That was fun! Even my panties are drenched!”

“Maho! Careful of your language!”

“I mean, it’s the truth, right? Even your panties are wet, right Onee-chan?”

“Stop that!” Akane tried to capture Maho, but she kept on running away while giggling.

Saito tried his best to not look at the drenched girls, which is why he directed his gaze far into the distance. Yet, Akane did not gratify any of these efforts, glaring at him nonetheless.

“Don’t look over here! Until all our clothes are dry, you’re not allowed to look!”

“How am I supposed to walk, then?!”

“You can use ultrasound, no?!”

“Hell I can!”

Shisei raised her hand.

“Shise can.”

“Seriously?!”

Most crazy of all is that Shisei might actually be able to pull it off.

“I’m…fine even if Saito-kun is looking, you know…?” Himari muttered bashfully, pulling on her clothes to make them glued to her skin more, emphasizing her large chest to the point they were unable to be ignored. The way her wet hair clung to her cheek was also quite alluring.

Maho heard this and put her fingers on her chin.

“Ohhh? So Himarin would like to appear in Onii-chan’s dream as sexual relief?!”

“Huh?! That’s…I would be happy if that was the case.”

“Lewd Himari!”

“Jeez! I’m not lewd at all!”

Maho and Himari put their hands together, jumping up. It was nice to see that the two gals were having so much fun, but as the topic of said conversation, all Saito felt was an embarrassment. Not to mention that Akane sent him sharp glared of killing intent.

“…Pervert.”

“I didn’t do anything, though?!” Saito pleaded innocence with all his might.

“You probably have lewd dreams about me, right?!”

“That’s not…the…case?”

It happened before. However, that was outside of Saito’s control, so he wished for a bit of understanding on Akane’s side.

“Why are you fumbling over your own words like that?! As I thought…you probably made me wear a bunny suit in your dream, right?!” Akane took a step backward.

Her fantasies were, as before, absolute grade school level.

“That much should be fine, right?!”

“Not at all! I’m forbidding you from sleeping starting today!!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Saito wasn’t some metahuman who could live without any sleep. If Akane were to rob him of his sleep, it would surely influence his life at school.

“Everyone, let’s try that one out next!” Maho pointed at a nearby building.

It was a compact building with a dome-shaped roof. The walls were covered with drawings of polar bears and penguins, it saying ‘House of Ice’.

“We’ll…go inside there? It says that it’s a world of minus 30°C.”

“We’re all still drenched from the jungle ride, so we might just freeze to death at this point, you know…?”

Both Saito and Himari hesitated.

“You two really don’t get it! It’s fun because we’re freezing!”

“What’s so fun about that?!”

“Whatever, whatever~ Let’s freeze, everyone!” Maho pulled everyone along.

She most likely loved going to amusement parks, as she was even more excited than usual, unable to be held back. They walked through a translucent plastic door when they were hit with a wave of cold air. Their wet clothes immediately hardened. The inside of the building was made out of walls of ice blocks, and the path was like a labyrinth almost. Several ice statues were showing Santa Claus, reindeers, or ice bears. Maho ran her palm along the wall of ice.

“Look, look, Onee-chan! My hand is glued to the wall!”

“Stop that! You won’t be able to pull it off!”

“I can pull off my skin then!”

“Are you sure you would want that?!” Akane carefully moved away Maho’s from the ice.

She put her hands together with Maho’s, like she was holding glass, and rubbed them as best as she could.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you? Do you feel any pain?”

“I’m fine~! You just worry too much!” Maho laughed with all her heart, and walked ahead.

“Jeez…” Akane sighed.

Saito watched this from the side, emphasizing admiration.

“You’re a proper older sister, huh.”

“What? Are you attacking my personality?”

“I was not! Why would you think that?!”

Akane narrowed her eyes, looking at Saito.

“We shall meet in court.”

“That sounds pretty awesome, but please no lawsuit.”

“Then I will give you judgment right here, right now.”

“I feel like it’ll be a death penalty.”

“Correct.”

“Please no.”

Once again, from the bottom of his heart, Saito was glad that Japan is a country with a constitutional government. If reigns had been left to some demon like Akane, he would have been dead ten times over by now.

“Hey…Where did Shisei-chan go…?”

Hearing Himari’s words, Saito and Akane both stopped dead in their tracks.

“Now that you mention it…I haven’t seen her for a while…”

“Maybe she just went ahead?” Saito looked at Akane.

“I was walking up ahead this entire time!” Maho turned around.

“We all entered this place together, right?”

“Yeah, I think she was right next to Saito-kun.”

Akane crossed her arms, showing the face of a detective as she began to deduce.

“There’s also a good chance she was eaten by a polar bear…”

“No, that’s impossible.”

“There’s always a chance, right?! Polar bears eat meat, remember?!”

“No chance. They don’t have any actual polar bears here.” Saito immediately ruined Akane’s detective mood.

If there existed a petting area for polar bears, there would be constant casualties with the visitors.

“Shise! Where are you?! Shise!” Saito screamed, but only silence came back as a response.

Himari grew pale.

“Don’t tell me…did she end up lost…?”

“In this narrow space?!” Saito took out his smartphone, about to call Shisei.

“Ah! Over there! It’s Shii-chan!”

Maho pointed in a direction, revealing Shisei to have collapsed in front of an exhibition corner’s rope. Like a doll, she didn’t even blink, her limbs stretched out, frozen stiff. Her long hair had already begun to freeze on the floor, making her look like an ice spirit. Behind her stood an ice statue of Santa Claus, his mouth open as he was laughing.

“Pull yourself together!”

Saito pulled up Shisei from the floor of ice, which created the sound of splitting ice. With pale lips, Shisei muttered.

“The murderer…is Santa Claus…”

“I’ll unfreeze you right away!” Saito carried Shisei out of the ice labyrinth, leaving the building.

He put her down on a bench met with lots of sunlight, as the ice on Shisei’s body melted. Shisei was finally able to move again, stretching every part of her body.

“You really helped out Shise there. She wanted to eat some ice, and lay down when she was frozen to the ground.”

“I figured you’d do that…”

“I ate the ice before freezing completely.”

“You sure are strong.”

Even after becoming a high school student, Shisei still was too dangerous of an individual to leave alone. Saito fully understood how Akane must feel looking after Maho. After the House of Ice, they went to the rollercoaster next. Saito wasn’t exactly comfortable with it, but it was at least better than the driving Shisei’s maid would do. Unlike this perfectly secure thrill attraction, sitting in that car could actually be life-threatening.

“It’s been so long since Onee-chan and I rode the rollercoaster last! I’m looking forward to it!”

“Yes…I can’t wait…” Akane was dragged along by Maho, showing no glimmer of excitement in her expression.

Her legs were shaking, about to be put onto the guillotine.

“Woohoo! The first row is open! Let’s sit here! We sure are lucky!”

“I am the luckiest person in the world…” Akane looked like she was about to die any minute, with Himari behind her, and one row behind them Saito and Shisei.

Saito was far too worried about Shisei to leave her alone, so he had to watch over her.

“Brother, hungry…”

“Once we’re done, I’ll buy some churros for you.”

“Already bought those. Just have to eat them later.”

“Let’s eat that after we’re off this thing, alright!” Saito stuffed the churros back into Shisei’s pockets after she tried to take them out.

“Being able to enjoy a beautiful scenery while eating is one of the pleasures in life.”

“You won’t have the time to enjoy the scenery. No eating during the ride.”

“Shise will just stuff it into her cheek, and swallow them after getting off.”

“Are you some kind of hamster?”

As the two were talking, the coaster started moving. It moved up to the summit and came to a complete halt with a metallic sound. Right after, the rollercoaster zoomed downwards. Shortly after they felt his legs floating, and the odd feeling of discomfort at having your organs moving around. Himari and Maho let out screams. Shisei showed no reaction whatsoever, simply talking to Saito.

“They apparently are selling some original taiyaki¹ here. The inside is made of okonomiyaki², using sauce that tastes like seafood.”

“Don’t try to casually continue the conversation!”

“Why? Shise wants to talk lots with Brother.”

“Think about a TPO before that!”

Unlike Shisei, who was used to being driven around by that insane maid driver, it ook Saito everything to deal with this rollercoaster experience. As Saito preferred peace over war, tranquility over fighting, he most certainly did not prefer this kind of attraction. If possible, he preferred reading books in the forest, taking some protein. Even Akane, who looked terrified before riding the coaster, didn’t raise a single scream. She simply sat up straight in her seat, always being the first one to soar downwards.

—Maybe she’s actually good with this stuff?

Saito thought of this as unexpected, as he prepared for the next downslope. Continuing for a few loops, the coaster reached the finish line. After a bigger impact, it came to a complete halt.

“Ahhh, that felt great~”

“The best when you want to relieve some stress~”

Maho and Himari seemingly were regulars when it came to rollercoasters, heading for the exit with bright smiles. Shisei was as indifferent as before, taking out the churros and munching on them. At the same time, Akane did not move an inch.

“Wait, is she going for a second round right after…?” Saito approached Akane, looking at her face.

There, he spotted her with her eyes closed, showing a peaceful expression.

“She passed out?!” Saito screamed, to which Akane slowly opened her eyes, looking at her surroundings with a confused gaze.

“Oh, we haven’t even st off yet?”

“Not to mention that she’s lost her memories!?”

“Don’t stand around like that, hop on in, Saito. Something like this isn’t scary at all. A roller coaster is as easy as making breakfast.” Akane played tough, as Saito fought hard to hold back the tears.

“Akana…the battle has already ended…”

“Battle? What are you talking about? Riding a rollercoaster is easy as riding a tricycle. I’m the type of woman who has no problems with a rollercoaster!”

“I get it…I get it already, so let’s go…” Saito dragged the woman who could ride the rollercoaster towards the exit.

Even the staff who watched this exchange happen wiped their eyes, saying ‘Um, it might be best for her to not ride rollercoasters that frequently…” and Saito nodded in silence, making up his mind that he wouldn’t make her force herself like this anymore.

“Let’s try this next!”

“You’re still not done?!” Akane’s honest feeling spilled right as Maho started walking.

The attraction she pointed at this time was a lot more docile than a rollercoaster. It was a Ferris Wheel with gondolas attached, slowly drawing circles.

“Says we can ride as four people, but how should we split things up?” Himari asked, to which Akane raised her hand.

“A, then I’ll just wait for you here. You can go without me—”

“No, Oneechan! You’re coming with us! I don’t want to leave out Onee-chan.” Maho said with a serious expression, forming a fist.

“Urk…Thank you…Maho…”

“Jeez, don’t cry because of this, Onee-chan! This is to be expected from your little sister!” Maho bashfully shrugged her shoulders.

However, Saito blindly guessed these tears didn’t come out of joy and emotion, but rather out of simple fear and sadness.

“Alright, let’s split up in groups then!”

They played a quick game of rock, paper, scissors with Maho, Himari, and Shisei ended up in one group, and Saito plus Akane in the other, making it a group of three and two. After entering the gondola, Akane put the tips of her sandals together, not moving a millimeter from the place she had sat down. Although they hadn’t moved up much from the ground, she probably thought she would lose if she looked at the ground, because Akane kept her gaze up towards the sky.

“You…really are bad with this sort of stuff, huh?” Saito started to feel bad for real.

“I-I’m totally fine! I just can’t focus on it! Going from point A to point B and using electricity, it’s bad for the environment.”

“You suddenly turned into an environmentalist, huh.”

“It’s us humans’ fault for making such a thing! The root of all evil is humans…If only humans didn’t exist…” Akane started sounding like the last boss of an eco group.

She had no intentions of becoming honest, so Saito had to use forceful methods.

“As the presentative of these evil humans, let me tell you the story of when the Ferris Wheel stopped mid-air. It was back when Shisei and I were six years old, as the gondola reached the top, and—”

“Stop that!!” Akane covered her ears.

She put her back against the wall, embracing her knees, as she went into defense mode, confessing everything.

“That’s right! Be it the rollercoaster, the Ferris Wheel, I can’t deal with many of the attractions! Just kill me already! Finish it!”

“I’m not going to kill you…”

“So you want me to let down my guard and then push me off the Ferris Wheel, I see! Save meee! Somebodyyyy!”

First, she wants to be killed, now she’s begging to be saved, she really was torn between two choices. Then again, Akane was probably just as confused herself.

“Calm down, nobody will come even if you scream, and we’ll be back on the ground soon enough.”

“It’s not that conveniently built like that!”

“It sure is. If you’re that bad with amusement parks in general, why did you agree to join?” Saito was confused.

Akane showed a bothered expression, averting her face.

“I wanted…to make Maho happy.”

“Absolute siscon.”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

“I most certainly am not.”

Tagging along with a rollercoaster that makes you pass out just because you want to make the other person happy, it’s actually something very admirable. Considering that it’s Akane, who gets scared about everything, even more so.

“That girl loves stuff like amusement parks or festivals, anything that’ll offer her a lot of fun. And, she much rather prefers going in a group of people. It’s probably because she was always alone, bedridden.”

“Recoil from the past, huh…”

“She’s been through a lot, which is why I want to make her happy as best as I can.” Akane bit her lip like she was reliving painful memories herself.

To her, her little sister’s pain must be equal to her own. That’s how much she cared for Maho, making Saito feel jealous for some reason.

“But, I don’t think you need to force yourself this much. You can just leave her to us, and—”

“She’s been so far all this time, and now she’s finally back to Japan. It was her dream to travel outside of Japan, so I wanted her to be free, but…I was lonely. At least while she’s home, I want to be together with her as much as possible.” Akane shrugged with a smile.

Usually, Akane stood out because of her strong points, but today she was oddly sister-like. However, her face was pale, and her knees shaking. Even as the two were talking, she tried her hardest to not look down. Saito watched the girl, unable to hold back a wry smile.

“Should we hold hands?”

“Huh?! W-Where did that come from?! Don’t try to do weird stuff just because it’s the two of us!”

“I figured that you’d be less scared if we held hands.”

“M-Mind your own business…” Akane pouted, but still reluctantly accepted Saito’s hand.

When he tightly held her hand, he could feel her shaking less than before.

—You’re always working way too hard.

While feeling Akane’s soft palm inside of his own, Saito looked outside the window. The gondola they sat in reached the summit, making it seems like it stood still. The people down on the ground looked like small ants, filling the earth beneath them. He heard Akane’s faint breathing. She closed her eyes, giving in to Saito.

—Even though she’s so cute when she just stays calm…

Seeing his mortal enemy so defenseless, Saito couldn’t help but be entranced. This brief time of peace between them felt so fulfilling, he found himself wishing for time to stop completely. Before even realizing it, the gondola had already returned to the ground. With the sound of the door opening, Akane’s eyes shot open. She frantically pulled her hand away from Saito, storming out of the gondola to the point she almost fell. To that, Himari tilted her head.

“Huh? Akane, were you holding hands with Saito-kun just now?”

“I-I wasn’t! There’s no way I would do that with Saito!”

“Okay…You know, it sure looked that way.”

“No way! My hand would rot!” Akane screamed, her face tomato-red.

Saito wanted to protest about that last part, but eventually just kept it to himself. He only thought of her as cute for a brief moment, deep down they were still mortal enemies. He was simply deceived temporarily because of her good looks. At the same time, Maho clung to Akane’s arm.

“Onee-chan, Onee-chan, let’s check out the haunted house next! It’s famous for being the world’s scariest haunted house!”

“In the entire world?!”

“That’s right! They hired professionals, so when you enter, there’s a warning you might pass out and not wake up for the next two weeks! I’m looking forward to it!”

“…………” Akane’s mouth opened and closed like she was hyperventilating, as she glanced over at Saito.

Her gaze practically screamed ‘Save me’. Even if they are mortal enemies, Saito could not abandon her like this.

“Akane mentioned she had something to take care of, so I’ll be checking out the haunted house with you.”

“Something to take care of? What is it?”

“Um…that’s…you know, studying.”

“I think she can pass up on that right now! We’re at an amusement park, you know?!”

“As the crammer that she is, Akane has withdrawal symptoms if she doesn’t study enough in a day. She’ll just attack random people.”

“Onee-chan, when did you…” Maho looked at her in sadness and pity.

“A-Alright, then let’s go. See you later, Akane.”

“Try not to commit any manslaughter.”

Himari and Shisei also gave their farewell to Akane.

“Thanks…”

Or so Akane said, but her gaze was screaming ‘I’ll kill you 3000 times over later!’. Saito wanted to gain a few bonus points with her, but because he couldn’t come up with a convenient excuse, that seemingly only backfired.

“Can’t help it then, I’ll have Onii-chan take over~ I am tolerant after all!”

“You sure sound arrogant.”

“Just kidding, just kidding! Let’s flirt around lots!”

“I’m not too sure we have the time to do that if we’ll pass out…”

Maho and Saito entered the haunted house together. The inside was wrapped up in darkness, only allowing you to see a few meters ahead. Several white hands grew from the walls, shaking as if they were real. There were even some faint groans able to be heard. Only a small light could be seen ahead in the path. Bloodstains shone in the light, coloring both sides of the path. From the depths came a shadow approaching, open arms to attack the two. A foul stench and strong pressure blew towards them.

“Something’s coming! This is bad! Do something about it!”

“What am I supposed to do about this?!”

“You become the bait and let me escape!”

“You become the bait instead!”

“Do you know what kind of loss it would be for the world if a cute girl like me died?!”

“It’d be an even bigger shame if the world lost my brains!”

“You can still grow brains from the ground, so it’s fine!”

“Like hell you can! That’s way too terrifying.”

Saito and Maho discussed their value to the world despite the dire situation. Despite them wanting to run away, they used their chance and stood still. Eventually, that shadow grew closer, attacking them.

“Kishaaaaaaaaaaa!”

““………””

The two looked at the black shadow. Its both eyeballs were about to fall from its eye sockets, the body rotten all over, resembling a common zombie.

“Kishaaaaaaaaaaa!”

““………””

“Guhaaaaaaaaaaaa!” The zombie swung around one eyeball, spitting purple liquid.

“Woah, it’s so well-made!” Maho raised cheers, leaving the zombie confused. “Hey, hey, Onii-chan, I’ve never seen such a realistic zombie!”

“It’s like the real deal…To think it could spit out like that…” Saito closely inspected the zombie.

It was a common enemy in games, but seeing it up this close felt fresh to him. Maho imitated the zombie, raising both her hands.

“Kishaaaa! That’s such good acting!”

“Perfectly done. That’s what I love to see from the management.” Saito argued from the management side of things.

“Please give me your autograph! And let me take a picture!” Maho approached the zombie, flashing a peace sign.

The three stood together, taking a selfie. With the flash of the camera, the blood-red walls lit up.

“Waaaaaaah…” The zombie cried to himself and ran back to where it came from.

“Not even forgetting the acting on his way back…such a professional.”

“Though it also sounded like he was crying for real…”

Saito regretted not acting more scared than that, but it was a familiar enemy from games he regularly played, so he could only send it off with a casual “See you again!”. Shortly after, Saito and Maho continued their trip through the haunted house.

“Onii-chan! A severed head! It’s flying towards us! So adorable!”

“I don’t see any piano strings, so I wonder how they did that…I’m interested in the set-up of that.”

“Woah! I stepped on something! It’s a dead body!”

“Hmm…judging from the state it’s in, it probably died around two days ago…”

“Oh! Look at all those puppets walking around!”

“Why are there both Western and Japanese dolls mixed in there? At least make the concept clear from the start.”

While discussing this and that from the haunted house, it felt less like an attempt of escaping, and more like a stroll. Even though this was supposed to be the world’s scariest haunted house, neither of them felt any tension.

“…Are you sure you should be walking through a haunted house with that attitude?”

Without being scared, a haunted house was just a simple residence.

“Ehhh? Why? I love haunted houses, and I love seeing the scared reactions of the people I walk around with!”

“What kind of twisted bullying is this!”

Maho raised her chin, twirling around her index finger.

“It’s not bullying at all, it’s pure love! Having a scared girl cling to you in fear is the best, don’t you think?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Alright, alright, you’re a virgin all right~”

“You wench…”

Saito was teased with an improvised song, now pulling on Maho’s cheeks. He was perfectly fine with being a virgin, but being called out for it over and over annoyed him.

—Maybe I should leave her alone in this haunted house to teach her a lesson? No, she probably won’t receive much damage from that…

As Saito was thinking, Maho suddenly crouched down, putting her hand on the floor, as her shoulders went up and down, gasping for air.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mm…I’m suddenly not feeling too well…Maybe I was having too much fun that the exhaustion caught up with me…”

“You gonna be fine?”

“I don’t think I can walk on my own…Carry me…” Maho muttered with a voice about to vanish.

Just a few seconds ago, she was brimming with energy, so the sudden 180 left Saito bewildered.

“Can’t help it. Up you go.” He crouched down in front of Maho, his back turned towards her.

Maho wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him with barely any strength. He put his hands on her thighs, pushing up her body. The soft sensation of her bare thighs was directly conveyed on his hands, as they bit into them. A sweet scent drifted up from her, covering all of Saito.

Carrying her on his back, Saito ran towards the exit. Before, Saito had to carry a sickly Akane through the rain to the hospital. Compared to that, Maho felt even lighter. Her arms and legs felt worryingly slim, and her breathing grew weaker which had Saito genuinely worried. After leaving the haunted house, the strong sun made him feel dizzy for a moment.

“There should be a resting space nearby…take me there.” Maho pointed at a building in the distance.

Below the cream-colored roof of the building was a billboard, stating ‘Resting space’. Moving through the entrance door, several sofas were waiting, with a solid carpet on the floor. As this was located in the corner of the park, nobody but Saito and Maho was present. Saito carefully lowered Maho on the sofa. She covered her eyes with her slim arms, breathing heavily. Her legs fell on the sofa, lifting the fabric of her short pants. Saito called out to Maho.

“Do you need some medicine? I’ll call Akane, so—”

“Haha, just kidding! I just wanted Onii-chan to carry me~!” Maho jumped up, leaping at Saito.

“Wha…? Kidding…?”

“Falling even for a simple lie like this, that’s why you’re still a virgin~!” Maho laughed.

It seemingly was so funny that she started tearing up, poking her fingers at Saito’s cheek. He however didn’t feel the same way, as anger started to rise from deep down his stomach.

“Don’t fake being sick! I was worried about you!”

“…Huh? Worried…? About me?” Maho seemed confused.

“Of course! Even if it’s a joke, there are things you should and should not do! What if I won’t believe you if you actually end up sick? What if the ambulance comes in late? Then it’s all over because of one stupid joke!”

“Y-You don’t have to get so angry…”

“I will. And I’ll keep being angry until you understand it.”

“Urk…Look, look! I’m totally fine!” Maho twirled around in front of Maho.

Because she suddenly got up like that, her legs were still wobbly, as she fell towards Saito, who let out a deep sigh.

“Anyway, no more jokes like these, okay?”

“…Yup, I’m sorry.” Maho cast her face down.

Her earlobes were colored in a bright red.

After walking around the amusement park some more, when they returned home, it was already pitch black outside. Akane just fell onto the sofa with an unstable foothold.

“I’m exhausted…I’d love to just stay at home for the next ten years…”

“Bet.”

Akane did her best to fulfill all of Maho’s desires after all, although Saito didn’t say that out loud. After the event at the haunted house, they were dragged around a biking space, 360° swings, a theater, and other stimulating, as well as exhausting, attractions, which led Akane to scream about every single time.

“I still haven’t played around enough! I found an interesting game, so let’s play it together!” Maho raised a package with zombies drawn on the front.

“Maybe…another time…” Akane faltered, looking like she had been woken up by a child first thing Sunday morning.

She didn’t even have the time to shut down the idea entirely because she was so exhausted.

“I’ll prepare dinner tonight.”

“Are you trying to kill me?!”

Saito simply wanted to show some of his rare benevolence, but Akane’s eyes shot wide open in shock.

“What do you mean?”

“You were probably thinking of making some rice porridge with lots of protein, no?”

“Is something wrong with that?”

“Don’t give me that confused look! Any average human being wouldn’t take in this much protein at night!”

“Sounds pretty subjective to me. According to my calculations, at least half of all people take in protein during their dinner.”

“No more rice porridge…” Maho started shaking.

“No protein…” Akane groaned.

“That bad?”

Being rejected by both sisters, Saito was forced to take a new approach after all. He believed that any nourishment was good nourishment, but it would also be a waste to leave over perfectly edible food.

“Doesn’t really sit right with me, but…I can make some curry with corn, carrots, green peppers, and some minced meat. With no protein, of course. Are you okay with that?”

“Utterly satisfied! You could have just made that from the beginning!”

“It’s not exactly a well-balanced dish.”

“At least better than protein rice porridge!”

“…Guess so.”

Even if they fought based on their opinion again, it would just tire them both out more. Maybe not on the level of Akane, who was forced through all the attractions at the amusement park, but Saito was exhausted himself.

“Onii-chan, is your head…?”

“That’s right, his head…”

He ignored the rude sisters whispering behind his back, and went to work. He added rice and water to the rice cooker, turning on the quick-cooking switch. He didn’t bother washing the rice, as the number of nutrients would drop during that act. He had never seen corn or green peppers added in a curry, but he read in a book that the more colors it had, the more well-balanced the dish was.

Of course, no tasting, as that was illogical. Even if you adjusted the taste, the nourishment level wouldn’t change, and Saito wouldn’t know how to do it either way. He put full faith in the power of the Japanese curry powder. After around thirty minutes, the efficiently top-level curry was done, served on the table.

“It…tastes like curry rice…!”

“That’s ‘cause it is.”

“There’s no lingering taste of protein and supplements! This…is a normal dish! Saito, you finally managed to cook something normal!” Akane was genuinely tearing up.

“I always knew how to cook, alright. Back in grade school, I always cooked instant cup ramen.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right…you’re right.”

Receiving such a gentle gaze from Akane, Saito felt as if he was being treated like a child.

“It doesn’t even hope to compare with Onee-chan’s cooking, but I guess…I can give it a pass? You can be proud of yourself, Onii-chan.”

“Why are you looking down on me?”

“I’d be happy to take you as my wife!” Maho closed one eye, showing Saito a thumbs-up.

Saito was a man, and already married, so of course, he could manage this much of a menu. However, it was the first time he actually made curry. When he was living alone, he wouldn’t bother cooking something. Even though he was being ridiculed as always by those two sisters, seeing them eat it with a smile didn’t feel that bad. And with these thoughts, Saito joined them for dinner.

Having finished cleaning up after dinner, Saito took a quick shower and headed to his bedroom. Because they were out and about all day, he got no reading done whatsoever. He was curious about the reveal of the killer in the mystery he was reading, but he didn’t have any more energy to focus on that.

On the bed, covered by the blanket, he spotted a single person, breathing in a faint rhythm as the blanket moved up and down. Must have been Akane who had already fallen asleep. So that he wouldn’t wake her up, he carefully slipped under the blanket into bed. Inside, he could feel the warmth of the girl, who had just finished her bath. He gave in to his warmth, which he had slowly gotten used to after all this time of living together with Akane, and closed his eyes.

Immediately after, he felt a slim body rubbing against his back. He assumed that it was just Akane turning around in her sleep, but it didn’t feel that way. The girl pushed up the blanket, and sat down on Saito’s waist, looking down at him.

“You—”

“Shhh…”

A finger was placed on Saito’s lips. Eyes shone in the darkness, like a vampire’s looking for its prey—belonging to Maho.

“Don’t scream. If Onee-chan sees this, you’ll be in trouble, right?” She let out a snicker, like she was spoiling a young child.

“What are you doing here…?”

“That should be obvious~ I’m here to attack you~”

Just as her words suggested, she was wearing nothing but lascivious underwear. It was a babydoll with laces everywhere. The chest area was pretty much see-through, greatly revealing their shape. From her chest to the bottom part, the babydoll was split in two, revealing her waist even slimmer than a mannequin’s. The lower part was covered with fabric, but it looked like she wasn’t wearing anything beneath that. That sight of hers resembled a butterfly who had descended during a moon-lit night. Her impeccable collarbone, her shoulders drawing charming hills, her soft-looking arms, and even her erotic scent was a sight to behold. And, the way she had untied her hair, as it simply hung down her body, massively resembled that girl.

Indeed, she looked like the girl Saito had met during his graduation party, flaming up his passionate feelings that would not disappear no matter how much time has passed. If not for Saito’s extremely strong memory, he might have already forgotten about her.

“…There’s something I want to ask you.”

“Yes?” The girl slightly tilted her head—and showed the same smile as the girl in Saito’s memories.

At that party, Saito’s grandfather Tenryuu called over a lot of people. Since he and Chiyo had known each other for ages, it would have made sense for Maho to be there as well. With tension filling his body, Saito moved his mouth.

“Did…we meet before? At my grandpa’s party?”

“When?”

“When I graduated from grade school, they held a party at a residence of his. You resemble the girl I met back then. She was a beautiful girl with long hair, and even though we talked a lot, she never told me her name, or how to contact her again. Even if I looked for her now, I’m worried it would make me sound seem gross…”

Maho let out a snicker.

“Sounds like you’re talking about your first love.”

“That’s not…” Saito felt embarrassed.

Even though he had no interest in love and all that, he was so oddly desperate at a time like this. However, when he thought that the girl he was looking for might be in reach, he was getting restless.

“That girl, is it possibly…” Maho stared into the void, but eventually shook her head.

Maho moved closer towards Saito, whispering into his ear.

“Should I tell you?”

“Huh…?”

“That girl—was me.”

“…!”

It felt like a shock ran through Saito’s body, accelerating his heart rate. Something deep inside of his head made his pulse beating.

“We finally met. So you were still thinking about me this passionately?”

“Why did you keep quiet about it?” He had trouble forming these words, his breathing out of control.

“Because I was embarrassed. After all, it means that we have mutual feelings.”

Maho gently pushed her nose against Saito’s neck. A sweet scent drifted up to Saito’s own nose, as Maho pushed her hips onto him even stronger. Even though Saito knew he had to stop this, but he couldn’t push her away. He was so moved and bewildered at this unexpected reunion, his thoughts didn’t work properly. He had never known that his feelings from back then still burned strong to this day. At the same time, Maho put her hands on Saito’s sleepwear, opening up the buttons.

“H-Hey…”

“It’s fine, right? You’ll get to marry your beloved Maho. So, doing something like this is totally normal, right?”

“That might be true, but…shouldn’t we get to know each other more?”

Saito had longed to talk to the girl. He never even imagined anything beyond that, and his memories of the girl were so pure, he didn’t want to ruin them with something like this.

“Getting to know each other with our bodies would be the fastest, right? Or, do you not like being touched by your first love, Onii-chan?”

Saito was unable to respond immediately. He wasn’t feeling unpleasant when being touched by Maho like that. The facial features of back then, her scent, all greeted Saito with a comfortable sensation. She put her hands on both of Saito’s cheeks, bringing her lips close as she whispered.

“I love you, Onii-chan. Let’s have lots of fun~”

Those words were as sweet as honey and syrup. It was sweet enough to melt away Saito’s brain. And yet, Saito felt a sense of discomfort. Something was off. He felt a sharpness behind her sweet voice that shouldn’t be there. Saito wasn’t even reflected in Maho’s eyes.

“You…actually hate me, right?”

Maho’s shoulders twitched.

“What are you talking about? I even confessed to you, Onii-chan…”

“No matter how carefully you play your act, it’s painfully obvious that it’s all superficial. Your words lack the strength and force Akane’s words have.”

Every single word spoken by Akane was filled with passion and honesty. Used to receiving such fierce energy every single time, Saito could only see Maho’s actions as mere acting.

“…That’s right, I hate you.”

For the first time, she showed her genuine expression. It was a strong wave of hatred, somewhat resembling Akane to a certain degree.

“But, that doesn’t matter!” Maho tried to push her lips onto Saito’s.

He grabbed her head to keep it away, as they ended up wrestling on the bed, entangled with each other. The more they fought, the more their clothes ended up disarranged and revealed skin. While pushing Saito down on the bed, Maho was gasping for air.

“What’s a little kiss gonna be? It’s my first kiss, you know? Isn’t that something all boys would want?”

“What’s the meaning in kissing someone you hate, huh? For starters, go explain yourself!”

“Shut up! I’ll explain it all after we’re done!”

“Now I can finally see you as Akane’s sister! You’re so unreasonable!”

Growing rampant simply by following one’s emotions, it perfectly resembled Akane. The only difference was Maho’s long hair, but in the dark like this, it felt like Saito was dealing with Akane herself. And with that timing, the door to the bedroom opened.

“Wha…what…what is…” Akane stood in the doorframe, her shoulders shaking in fury.

She had witnessed Saito and Maho on the bed, practically embracing each other with half their bodies naked.

—She’ll kill me!

Saito froze up in fear and terror. Akane was always the innocent type, so there was no telling what she would do mistaking Saito having laid his hands on her younger sister. This situation was already dangerous enough, and yet Maho made things even worse.

“I went ahead and enjoyed Onii-chan myself. Thanks for the treat~”

“W-Wait a second! Calm down, Akane! Let me explain things…” Saito tried to defuse the situation, but reason didn’t work with Akane anymore.

She formed a fist, and opened her mouth with a quivering voice.

“Saito…and Maho as well…I hate both of you!”

Without giving the two any chance to gather their things, they were kicked out of the house.

---

1 Fish-shaped pancake filled with bean jam

2 Savoury pancake fried on an iron griddle with vegetables, meat and/or seafood and topped with various sauces and condiments​