“Troublemaker…”
Chewing on that word, Shidou Itsuka scratched his cheek with slight surprise.
“That… about the AST, Vice-Commander Kannazuki has already finished negotiations with them. As long as no spacequake is triggered, there shouldn’t be any accidents…”
In the boy’s opinion, although that Kusakabe lady seemed a little irritable when facing Kannazuki, she really didn’t look like the type to suddenly go back on her word.
And Origami Tobiichi… although you couldn’t tell what she was thinking from her face, her behavior at school today also didn’t seem like she would abruptly pull out a sniper rifle and ambush someone later… right?
At the very least, with everyone on Fraxinus helping, that kind of situation shouldn’t happen.
“Mmm~”
Seeing that the boy hadn’t understood what she meant, Kyoumi didn’t explain further.
Instead, she grew interested in one particular name.
“Vice-Commander Kannazuki?”
“Ah, Vice-Commander Kannazuki is the deputy commander of Fraxinus. How should I describe him… He seems unreliable, yet somehow reliable at certain moments…?”
No, was that really reliable?
During the date with Tohka, he basically only ever chose the worst options…
And his personality is just a little bit peculiar…
Shidou Itsuka wasn’t good at badmouthing people behind their backs.
When it came to that beautiful yet perverted man, he suddenly couldn’t find the right words.
“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”
The completely incomprehensible explanation sounded rather perfunctory, but the boy’s expression didn’t look like he was deliberately hiding anything; he genuinely thought that person was just too strange.
Yet it matched perfectly with Kyoumi’s first impression.
After the battle with Kotori, while climbing back to the surface, Kyoumi had overheard fragments of that magnetic voice.
Whether it was seizing the other party’s age to mock them, trampling on old comrades with nostalgic words, or loudly proclaiming his adoration for the unripe beauty of young girls after finally finding the master he sought—every single one hit Kyoumi’s funny bone.
She and that man should have quite a lot of common topics.
She might even learn more about Kotori’s usual habits and preferences from him.
But before that, there was one prerequisite…
“Is he handsome?”
Kyoumi asked.
“Huh? Uh… he looks like it, I guess…”
Kannazuki’s personality easily made people who interacted with him forget about his looks, but on the surface, when Kannazuki Kyouhei kept quiet and didn’t move around, he was indeed a very aristocratic, beautiful man.
“Mhm, I see. Is his hair blonde?”
“How did you know?”
Surprised by the girl’s guess, Shidou blurted out in shock.
“Because his voice gives that impression.
Since he’s also blonde… does he ever go wryyy?”
“Hah? He does occasionally scream (when the crew ties him up for private punishment, but it’s definitely not that kind of scream…”
“I see, that’s a shame.”
“What’s such a shame—!”
“If he screamed like that, had red eyes, obvious muscle lines, and liked wearing tight clothes, we wouldn’t even need to guess who the culprit is.”
“That makes no sense at all!!!”
“Ma, ma, just treat it as my common sense being a little messed up~”
She waved her hand, telling the boy not to pursue it, then stepped out of the kitchen first.
At the corner, she suddenly stopped as if remembering something.
“Right, Shidou.”
“What is it?”
“Let me see your wardrobe.”
“Eh? Why so suddenly?!”
“What do you mean suddenly? Since I’m staying the night, I’ll need pajamas, don’t I?”
“For pajamas… Kotori should have spares, right?”
“Are you serious?”
For some reason, Kyoumi stared at Shidou with a very strange look, making him feel uncomfortable.
“W-What’s wrong?”
His little sister’s pajamas had been bought by their foster parents.
Shidou himself had never bought any for Kotori, but pajamas were generally very loose.
Although Kotori’s figure was a bit unfortunate, no matter how you looked at it, Kyoumi should still be able to wear them…
Shidou’s gaze unconsciously fell on Kyoumi’s chest, faintly outlined by her Divine Raiment.
He instinctively compared it to Kotori’s size and instantly fell silent.
“…Sorry…”
He averted his eyes and apologized on reflex, scratching his cheek before suggesting another plan.
“Um, I can go look in their room…”
After all, their foster parents were only on an overseas business trip, not running away from home.
Finding a set of pajamas in their room would be easy.
The girl continued staring at Shidou with that strange, almost pitying gaze, as if she hadn’t heard his suggestion at all.
“…I-I got it… I’ll find something from my clothes for you!”
“I’ll look through your wardrobe myself.”
“Then at least let me tidy up the room first!!!”
The boy shouted and hurriedly ran upstairs.
“A little suspicious…”
Walking around the dining table that separated the kitchen, Kyoumi murmured to herself.
She tucked the strands of hair that had fallen beside her face behind her ear and headed toward the living room.
On the television was some low-age magical girl anime.
For the thirteen-year-old, cute-type little sister Kotori, this program should be something she looked forward to very much.
The girl was lying on the sofa, chin resting on a hug pillow, her small legs wrapped in knee-high socks swinging up and down, thump-thump hitting the backrest.
The whole scene radiated the lazy satisfaction of someone who had eaten and drunk their fill.
“Did you say something to Onii-chan~?
He seemed to be in a great hurry.”
“Just borrowing pajamas.
Little Kotori’s ones probably won’t fit me.”
The girl’s slender waist couldn’t even occupy the whole sofa, so Kyoumi casually grabbed another cushion to hug and sat down beside Kotori, looking at the screen.
“Hm?”
Hearing that, Itsuka Kotori propped herself up, pouting as she looked at Kyoumi’s body.
The older girl knowingly raised one arm, showing off her beautiful curves in Kotori’s line of sight.
“…In two more years I’ll definitely surpass this level.”
Kotori grumbled unhappily, full of confidence in her future growth; the source of that confidence being her rather well-endowed mother, Itsuka Haruko.
“Yes, yes, little Kotori has a lot of growing room, but right now you can’t wear them, and if my chest feels stuffy at night, I won’t be able to sleep well.”
“…Guh…”
As if choked, the girl hugged the cushion and flopped back onto the sofa, rolling half a circle and using her stomach to push Kyoumi half a seat away.
“Kotori, so petty.”
“Hmph~”
Shidou Itsuka hurriedly returned to his room, intending to clean up properly.
Well, even saying that, it wasn’t actually because there was anything shameful.
Shidou wasn’t the type to let his room become so messy it needed tidying; at a glance, the only thing that really needed fixing was the bedding.
The reason he asked for time to clean…
Once again confirming that neither Kotori nor Kyoumi had followed him, Shidou slowly locked the door, opened his wardrobe, and pulled out a notebook from the very bottom compartment.
Well, it wasn’t some shameful erotic material, but if anyone saw it, Shidou would suffer an enormous mental blow.
The pages were loosely falling apart.
The boy carefully gathered the scattered sheets, lifted the bed board, and stuffed the notebook inside.
This was the poetry collection he had written in his youthful, chuunibyou days under the heavy influence of manga—【Practice Etude Dedicated to the Corroding World】.
Kotori had once used it to threaten him during “practice communicating with spirits,” saying that if he chose wrong she would announce it to passers-by or even broadcast it.
Not only that, the notebook also contained crudely drawn character illustrations, densely written settings, random notes he thought were cool at the time, and even fragments of half-written hero stories.
These were the spoils of war he had desperately earned back by completing the training; painful history that needed to be sealed forever in imaginary space.
“This way no one should notice…”
Sighing in relief, he closed the bed board, spread another sheet over the bed, and finally relaxed.