Covering her eyelids with the back of her hand, the girl resting with her eyes closed vaguely heard hurried footsteps.
It seems Kotori has finished her bath and come back…
When the sound of the door being pushed open brushed past her ears, Kyoumi instinctively rolled over and lunged toward Kotori in a flying pounce—only to face-plant into the bed, missing entirely.
Fortunately, the mattress wasn’t a hard board but one with excellent elasticity; otherwise, the impact would have been enough to leave the girl with a red nose for half the day.
Moving her arm away, she half-opened her eyes.
The rose-red pupils, still faintly misty, shifted focus, taking in the sight of Kotori flopping down with a thud and then going completely silent.
Ah, she’s started playing dead…
As her focus gradually sharpened, the slightly blurred image cleared.
Bright red long hair spread out around the girl’s body.
Kyoumi unconsciously reached out and touched it.
She couldn’t feel any unusual warmth from it earlier, but the dryness was telling.
Combined with the dry scent in the air, Kotori had probably used a hairdryer to dry her hair before returning to the room.
…In the bathroom? Or did she go to Shidou’s room? That didn’t matter to Kyoumi.
Because she was firmly in the no-hairdryer camp.
Her gaze shifted sideways.
Wrapped in a long bath towel, Kotori’s posture ruled out the possibility of having visited Shidou’s room.
Rounded shoulders peeked out intermittently from between strands of hair, and below that were fair, slender legs.
“Kyoumi, you set me up…”
It was less an admission of defeat and more a complaint.
The girl was face-down, so her expression couldn’t be confirmed, but judging from the tone, this cute wail still belonged to little-sister-mode Kotori… assuming she didn’t have a fourth form.
White ribbons for little sister type, black ribbons for commander type, black-and-white ribbons for scheming little sister type—to the point that Kyoumi couldn’t immediately categorize a ribbonless Kotori.
But if it were a new form, Kyoumi would definitely try tying Kotori’s hair into sky-high pigtails with bandages in the middle of the night, just to see what the girl would turn into the next day.
“What’s wrong with a nice hot bath~”
“It—burned—me—to—death~”
Mimicking the girl’s drawn-out tone, Kotori Itsuka slowly rolled over, revealing eyes that looked utterly lifeless.
“The moment I jumped in, I thought I was going to be cooked.”
“Hmm, but aren’t you perfectly fine now?”
Propping herself up on her elbow, Kyoumi reached out and poked the girl’s cheek, though her gaze probed back and forth over Kotori’s chest.
If it had been earlier, the girl would surely have swatted her finger away, but now Kotori lay there like a burned-out dead fish, seemingly too lazy even to raise her hand.
Keep pretending.
Weren’t you full of energy when you came upstairs and during that flying pounce just now?
Since Kotori wasn’t reacting, Kyoumi didn’t hold back and tugged at the girl’s bath towel.
“Ya?!”
The pulling force finally broke Kotori’s act.
She shot upright like a carp flipping itself, clutching her chest with both hands and puffing up like an angry cat.
“What are you doing!”
“Ah, nothing,” Catching sight of the black fabric strip revealed at Kotori’s waist as the towel slipped down, Kyoumi tilted her head.
“Helping you put on your pajamas.”
“I’ll—do—it—my—self!”
Jumping off the bed, the girl puffed out her cheeks in mild anger and opened her wardrobe.
…As expected, she still has the ribbons on her… When I took them away earlier, she looked like she was about to cry.
Rather than a personality switch, they seem more like extremely precious treasures.
The delicate trinkets in this room don’t look like things Shidou alone could have given her entirely, and when Kyoumi hugged the stuffed toy by Kotori’s bed earlier, the girl hadn’t shown much tension on her face…
In other words, if the room was decorated by their adoptive parents, then the ribbons Kotori treasures so much shouldn’t simply be birthday gifts from her brother…
“Those ribbons—are they related to the process of your sealing?”
If it could be confirmed, there was no need to ponder alone.
Kyoumi was confident she could read the answer from the girl’s face.
“Eh…”
The girl who was buttoning her cream-yellow pajamas turned back in shock, her round eyes showing surprise, but her knuckles tightened around the buttons.
What are you talking about?
Though she didn’t say it out loud, that was exactly what Kotori’s expression conveyed.
Playing dumb, huh…
“For now, let’s consider this the pre-date meeting for tomorrow. Little Kotori can play commander again, okay?”
Interpreting it as the girl resisting to avoid appearing weak in the conversation, Kyoumi took a small step back.
“…Hmph…”
Taking out the ribbons she had just tucked into her pajama pocket, she skillfully tied her long hair into twin tails. Kotori folded her arms, regaining the confidence befitting a commander.
“You’ve got it wrong. These ribbons have nothing to do with the sealing.”
“I see…”
It was the expected answer.
Though she had only been testing the waters, the feeling of a lead being cut off was still somewhat frustrating.
“But… Bro—Shidou has no memory of giving me these ribbons.”
Kotori Itsuka frowned as she added.
“Happy… birthday, Kotori…”
“So… can you make a promise with Onii-chan? At first… just while wearing the ribbons is fine. As long as you wear the ribbons, Kotori will be… a strong girl.”
He was the one who proposed the promise! Why would he forget it?
No—perhaps Kotori simply remembered this one promise more than Shidou did.
Everything further back, that 【crucial】 something, remained chaotic and unclear.
“Asking Yu about memory issues would be pointless, you know?”
Shrugging, without revealing her speculation that the seal might connect to memories, Kyoumi interrupted the girl’s reminiscence.
“After all, Yu herself is a spirit with unclear memories. Being able to have a bit more common sense than Tohka is already worth celebrating~”
“…Haa?”
She was the one who asked first, yet now acted like she had no interest in the answer.
That frivolous, casual attitude made Kotori momentarily feel like her serious response had been foolish.
“Yu is more concerned about Kotori’s performance tomorrow—I’m even so excited I might not be able to sleep.”
“I never agreed to hand over command to you.”
“Not even to prevent Yu from causing trouble?”
“N-No way!”
Kotori knew the atmosphere in Fraxinus’s bridge all too well.
That galgame-like feeling, plus the absolutely unreliable Kannazuki—if Kyoumi’s current expression was anything like “whatever’s most fun,” and some chemical reaction occurred between them…
Even if just being with Shidou was enough, no one would want a date with an utterly terrible experience if better options were available.
“Isn’t the goal to train Shidou’s on-the-spot responsiveness? Then just let him decide for himself whether to follow the command suggestions~”
“Though that’s true… Do you want some water?”
“No thanks. Anyway, Yu was just thinking of going to check on Tohka’s quality of life.”
“Mmm, then I’ll turn off the light?”
Switching off the light, the girl pulled the blanket over herself and lay down. “In that case… it’s not impossible…”
“Turning off the light so early?”
“If it’s any later, I might not be able to fall asleep.”
“Hmm~ Doesn’t that mean you’re really looking forward to it?”
“Kyoumi.”
“Hmm?”
Hearing the serious tone in the girl’s voice, the girl responded softly. “If you want some secret tips from Yu on making hearts race~ I can share~”
“Could you please close your eyes? They’re too bright.” Kotori Itsuka made a slightly disgusted expression.
“Ehh~”
The eyes glowing dark red in the darkness obediently closed.