Tsuki Tsuki Vol 12 Chapter 1

Chapter 01: The Two in the Photo Album

…Apparently the bad feeling I had the other day turned out to be unfounded.

Sometimes Kaorun clouded her expression, didn’t even pull her usual pranks and I realized that she was sighing a lot.

If my memory was correct, Kaorun should love reading. I hoped it would help her regain her spirit even a bit. With that in mind, I came to the guest room, but as my timing was bad, Kaorun wasn’t there and I suddenly heard the faint sound of a door closing from the entrance hall.

Mhm, I should ask them where Kaorun is for starters. I opened the door of the living room and started talking with “Hey, have you seen…”, but I inadvertently stopped my words midway. For the time being, it was like I expected it to be: There were two girls in the living room.

The other girl was a fascinating beauty with red hair, Machina Liebelei Orangelo. She was Luna little stepsister, a hybrid devil and a resident of our house.

Regardless of being in the living room, Luna was boldly pulling up the top she was wearing and exposing her voluminous breasts clad in a white brassiere. From the side, I could very well catch the volume of her breasts, but my vision naturally wandered over to Machina’s hands.

…I was just looking for Kaorun, yet I had stumbled into this outrageous scene. When I carelessly dropped the novels I was carrying onto the floor, Luna and Machina widened their eyes as soon as they noticed me, and stopped all movements like that.

“…Sorry for interrupting. Please go on.”

“Please wait, Shinobu-san! I think you have gotten the wrong idea! Kaoru-san said—”

With her bra still unhooked, Luna turned around with attitude to stop me.

There was nothing covering them anymore. Two hills that resembled huge melons. As her round breasts defied gravity, they stood up proudly with lovely pink buds at the pinnacle… wait, this wasn’t the time to forget myself.

However, Luna’s breasts were building themselves with an overwhelming volume. Needless to say, they didn’t fit into Machina’s small palms, still exposing their juicy upper and under parts.

Machina must have been agitated too without doubt. The white bra gentle fell onto the floor when she let go off it, and Luna was trembling her slender shoulders in a shiver due to her breasts being grabbed.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Sister. It must have hurt… wait, this is amazing.”

The soft breasts bounced surging and sometimes a pink bud temptingly peeked out between the gaps of Machina’s fingers. Luna probably noticed that as well. Even while flushing her cheeks embarrassed, she softly rebuked Machina.

“Don’t worry, Sister. It’s Shinobu we’re talking about. I’m sure he’s averting his— wait, he’s totally staring!?”

“…This might be weird coming from me, but what’re you doing there in front of the door for a while now, Shinobu?”

“Ah, sorry for that. Please go on— as if I would say that! What you mean beauty! You’re just gawking at my sister’s breasts brazenfaced! If you want to come inside, just do so, but quickly close the door and turn the other way!”

“Hey, sorry to interrupt your usual flirting, but have you seen Kaorun? She wasn’t in her room…”

That was some bad timing. While I made a sigh in my heart, Luna apparently finished dressing during her speech and called out to me with “Shinobu-san, you can turn around now.”, so I turned around in front of the door for now.

What was up with them? I was doubtful, but first sat down on the sofa in the living room and put the novels I was carrying on the table, whereupon the girls looked at each other, then Luna started talking reserved with “Uhm, Shinobu-san,”.

“Well, yeah. Lately she’s more of a pretty girl in sorrow instead of a perverted maid. She’s not playing her weird pranks either…”, I replied with agreeing words to Luna, whereupon Machina next to her knitted her eyebrows a bit and interjected with “Yeah.”.

Temporarily stopping her words, Machina continued with a sigh.

“…She unhooked it over the clothes? That’s an incredible technique, but a lousy way to bluff her way out for Kaorun.”

“Even if it was lousy, I didn’t notice at all. I just got angry with ‘What’re you doing!’ like always.”

“But after I got angry, she honestly lowered her head without joking around, you know? On top of that, she said ‘I will go shopping for dinner to make amends for it.’ and left without time for us to stop her. Somehow it made me feel sorry for reprimanding her.”

Lightly shrugging my shoulders and giving Machina an agreeable response, I crossed my arms and looked up to the ceiling.

Such thoughts crossed my mind, whereupon Luna dropped her gaze on the novels on the table, so I told her “If you want, take one”, then I quickly left the house and headed for the shopping district…

A somewhat melancholic evening. Under the fleeting orange sky, I walked home all by myself.

In my field of vision was Kaorun holding a shopping bag from the supermarket from which she apparently returned now. But for whatever reason, she peeked into our garden from the gate to examine the situation in it.

“Welcome home, Shinobu-sama. I see that you had gone out.”

“Hah, how hard-working of you…”

By the way, our garden currently had a flowerbed that was maintained by Luna. As she was in the middle of tending to it, my vision fell on the smiling Luna in front of the flowerbed. Moreover, next to her I could see a brightly smiling girl with silver hair.

Elni was crouching down in front of the flowerbed together with Luna and they apparently were happily chit-chatting with each other. While we watched over them, Luna looked at Elni and animated her voice, still smiling.

“A lot? I really can’t wait for it. By the way, can you… eat these flowers?”

Luna softly called out to Elni in a little panic.

“Mhm~ I imagined it for a bit and somehow, I suddenly can’t wait for spring to come now! Well, inside my head it’s always spring, though!”

“Y- Yeah! A nice breeze blows through it! A flower might even bloom inside my head eventually!”

“You’re often tending to the flowerbed, Luna. I guess you love flowers?”

“I’ll respond to your feelings too, you know? So pour your love into me too.”

I got the feeling that ever since Christmas, Elni had started to increase her physical contact like that with us other family members. Seeing Elni change like that, Luna lightly kissed her cheek to respond to the hug. Following she showed a bright smile.

“Sounds like Shinobu would get jealous over that… but I see, you love looking at flowers.”

“I wish I could show it to you then. So far I have travelled to various places on earth, but in a certain place I found a beautiful sunflower field. The bright yellow flowers were in full bloom over the whole place, which gave the impression of a smiling sun. I still remember it now. It was such a big sunflower field.”

“A vivid tulip field. A castle with lots of cats, which Nazuna would love. A country where the evening sun looks really bright red, not bitter orange like here. The world is full of wonderful places. I want all of you to see the precious things I found too. I want to see them together with you next time.”

“Hey Luna, I just thought of it now, but why don’t we take an overseas trip with everyone one day? It can wait until Shinobu and the others have graduated and university has long vacations, right? I think we’ll have enough chances for a happy trip from now on.”

“Good! Then I’ll definitely show them to you! A family trip with you, Shinobu, Machina, Nazuna and Tomoe-san! Of course we’ll invite Hijiri and Kaorun too! By the way, no need to worry about travel expenses! I’ll somehow save up the money for it! It’s my present for my beloved ones!”

“Okay! Then we’ll work together! Let’s make a lot of family vacation memories! So, where are we going first? I know so many good places that it’s hard to pick one…”

“…Elni-san has changed a bit.”

“Not long ago, she called Nazuna-chan with ‘Nazucat’ like a friend, but now she treats her like her little sister, calling her with her name. She also calls Tomoe-san with ‘Mom’ and sometimes clings to her spoiled… Elni-san really became part of this family.”

When I interjected with a faint smile, Kaorun shifted her gaze to me and smiled somewhat fleeting.

“…I don’t think you’re in no way inferior to Elni.”

“It is no good…”

“I cannot see myself… becoming like… Elni-san or Luna-san.”

There Luna and Elni apparently noticed her.
They both came over to Kaorun and after saying the words “Welcome back”, they each asked about dinner… On a glance, that was a rather harmonious scene. But Kaorun was looking somewhat envious at the two and her expression didn’t brighten up…

…Instead of cheering her up, I made it worse. What was I doing?

By the way, on my way, Luna called out to me that she was borrowing one of the four novels that I had left in the living room and that she had apparently taken over the role to prepare dinner from Kaorun, but that aside. The important point was that Kaorun wasn’t in the guest room again.

…Someone was inside? While tilting my head, I got inside and there she was, the one I had been looking for, Kaorun. She had crawled into my bed, rested her cheek on my pillow and was smiling somewhat cosily. She seemed a wee bit happy.

“Welcome, Shinobu-sama. It is a bit small, but please make yourself at home.”

Even small, it’s still my beloved room. Actually, what’re you doing on my bed? Holding back such a retort, I continued my words somewhat softly.

“Yes, in a sexual way— is what I would like to say, but actually I am heartbroken from all that has happened lately. So I am engulfing myself in your nice smell here for some comfort.”

“…Shinobu-sama, can you not say anything more tactful?”

“I am really hurt, you know? Here you should be emphatically pull me into an embrace while you wildly approach me with ‘Kaoru, if you want my smell, get it directly’, or am I wrong?”

“Then please sweetly whisper me a ‘I love you, Kaoru’ and place a gentle kiss on my forehead. On this occasion, you even may place it on my breasts.”

“I could not ask for anything better.”

And our conversation died just like that.

She herself had said she was heartbroken, but I didn’t know how to comfort her. I could only silently pet her head. Even so, Kaorun faintly flushed her cheeks and didn’t resist in particular while she hid half of face with the blanket. After a while, she quietly spun her words.

“That’s going a bit too far, but I can’t deny it.”

Slightly dropping her voice, Kaorun narrowed her eyes a little bit sadly.

“…I don’t really see the need to force yourself to change.”

Objecting somewhat powerless, she tightly squeezed the hem of the blanket.

She surely didn’t want me to see her smudgy expression. Kaorun slowly raised up the blanket and covered her whole face. Like that, she kept her mouth shut for a short while, but then she suddenly sighed affected through the blanket to change the atmosphere.

“I don’t know if it’s a sickness or just normal in your case.”

“With that dog emoticon added?”

“That means I’m the only treasure in this room. Sorry, but give up.” I replied with such a joke, whereupon Kaorun raised a dissatisfied voice through the blanket for some reason.

“…Let me ask instead, what do you want me to do?”

“What’re you doing under the blanket? It only gives me stormy premonition, so stop it.”

She must have hidden it for a while now. When I dropped my gaze onto the album, I could read the random long title “Prologue issue of Shinobu-kun’s fleeting, heartrending, but beautiful memories ~A few years after his grandiose birth, the memories might turn into a legend~” that my father gave it.

“I found this when I was looking for the perverted books earlier, but may I drool over it?”

Actually, she was looking for the porn as she pleased, but she properly asked for permission to look at the album, huh. It was questionable if she had manners or not, but for now I consented and Kaorun curiously opened the album, whereas I peeked down at her hands with a wry smile.

“This is your photo album, is it not, Shinobu-sama? It is showing a different person already on the first page. Who might this pretty boy be?”

“…Time is a cruel thing. Where did that devilish face come from? It has no shred of cuteness anymore. Well, I like your current self better, though.”

“Somehow, there are a lot of pictures together with Nazuna-chan. Be it at home or outside, Nazuna-chan is always by your side, often clinging to you.”

While I interjected a warm agreeable response, Kaorun, still looking at the album, brightened her smile and filled her tone with warmth.

Kaorun suddenly stopped her hands from flipping the pages. When I followed her gaze, Nazuna-chan in the picture had opened her mouth widely and was spilling endless tears from her eyes. And the boy next to her, me in my younger years, petted his little sister’s head with teary eyes for some reason… Not cool at all.

“Now I know, it was when I was stung by a bee. Reminds me, Nazuna was shouting ‘Brother! It’s a bee! It’s looking at me with a dangerous glint in it’s eyes!’ and hastily ran to my side…”

“And a bit stupid, though. That said, I was the stupid one back then, I guess.”

“To be honest, I was scared of the bee too, but I was in front of my little sister after all. While I boasted about trivia with ‘Listen, Nazuna, a bee always gives a warning before stinging someone. If you pay attention to that, you’ll be fine. No problem.’… the bee got me big time.”

“Yeah, it was uncool and hurt like hell. I was about to cry for various reasons, whereupon Nazuna broke down crying with ‘Brother’s going to die!’. My father was with us then… and he took the picture with a very loud laughter.”

Dropping her gaze down on the picture again with a wry smile, Kaorun calmly continued her words.

A sudden change of her soft expression. The picture of me being stung by a bee and Nazuna crying. While looking at it, she changed her expression and now looked through the album without saying anything. I was a bit perplexed by her reaction, so I titled my head and called out to her.

“Ah, no, I was just remembering a bit from the past…”

After looking at the album, Kaorun’s behaviour became even stranger.

But whatever I said had little effect, as she apparently was really pondering about something. In the end, still only getting half-hearted replies from her, I went back to my own room by leaving behind the words “You can come to talk to me anytime” and opened the earlier album on my bed.
…What did the album do to her? After looking at it, Kaorun had became weird. It bothered me a lot. In search for the reason of her weirdness, I looked through the album until I fell asleep…

After a long time, I had a dream about my childhood again, probably due to having looked at the album.

Because of me, Nazuna got into a traffic accident and I even hurt my precious childhood friend that visited her in the hospital. Thinking back on it, I might have considered summoning a devil because I couldn’t forgive myself for that.

Nazuna was everyone’s star at my grandfather’s dojo. She was a genius like our father.

I told this to the devil, to Luna, who I summoned back then.

I couldn’t forgive my weak self. I seriously believed that it was fine that my sister smiled in my stead. However, Luna did not only save Nazuna, but me as well.

The hand petting my head was gentle and the warmth of her embrace heated up my chest. I was so happy about her words… so the tears didn’t stop flowing.

I never thought again that I should disappear.
The words Luna told me on that day were---

Mhm~ The words Luna told me back then were… Mh? Weird. I got the feeling that my body was strangely shaking for a while now. On top of that, someone’s voice was resounded somewhat distant, but oh well. Anyway, the words Luna told me back then were…

Somehow the Luna in my dream suddenly got really bold--- As if.

…What did she want? I straightened up my upper body on the bed a bit listless and shifted my gaze to the clock on the wall like that. It was in the middle of night past midnight. No wonder that I was still sleepy. I suppressed a yawn and turned my sleepy eyes at Kaorun.

“If that had been my intention, you would be stark naked by now, Shinobu-sama.”

“Rest assured, Shinobu-sama. I would warm up your mind and body with my pridefully skin then.”

While exchanging such jokes, I suddenly remembered the time before I went to bed and casually continued my words.

“No, the gloomy feeling would not stop no matter what, so I decided to get some productive exercise. Therefore, please accompany me for a bit, Shinobu-sama. We are going outside now.”

“Shinobu-sama, you have time to get changed until I count till ten. Otherwise I will have my way with your sexy body. Are you ready? One, ten--- Here I go.”

Before she finished her sentence, she put her hands on my clothes, which blew off my sleepiness for sure and I raised a surprised voice.

“’No, let go‘? That is to say, ‘No let’s go’ as an anagram. I understand. A trick often used by females. While saying ‘Ahn, stop’, it actually means to go on.”

By the way, Kaorun shouldered a small backpack before leaving the house, but that aside for now. For my part, I was half-forcefully dragged out here. I inadvertently shrugged my shoulders a bit and called out to Kaorun jokingly.

“A valuable experience that you cannot buy with money.”

“For argument’s sake, what would you have done if it was Luna-san?”

That said, it wasn’t all that different for Kaorun. When I showed a refreshing smile along with my words, Kaorun grinned too, but declared somewhat indifferent.

“…This late at night? Don’t tell me you’re homesick?”

Even while being a bit unsettled, she finally seemed to tell me the reason for this excursion. While proceeding on, Kaorun raised her index finger and lowered her tone a little bit.

“It’s your own house, isn’t it? Why can’t you do it during the day?”

She must mean her dignity as an older sister. Well, it wasn’t like I couldn’t relate to that. However, I doubtfully tilted my head on hearing her story and interjected.

“That is not true. According to Hijiri-chan’s frequent mails, Papa Sougo is fortunately out of the house for work at present. But the problem is Mama Misaki… Ah, by Mama Misaki I mean the mistress.”

“At this time of the day, Hijiri-chan is most likely sleeping sweetly while dreaming about you, Shinobu-sama, but Shuu-kun is surely enjoying the winter vacation by doing something stupid again around now without a doubt. Besides, Mama Misaki will be awake horny until morning anyway.”

“Please stand-by in the living room while I sneak into the home office. If you hear any footsteps, comer over to me at once. You only have to keep watch, so that I do not run into any family members. Incidentally, I myself will not make any noises, so do not worry about that.”

Just imagining that scene made me restless. However, Kaorun only gave me a thumps-up to say that it was no problem, indifferent to my worry.

“…I never met her before, but is she really like that?”

“Doesn’t that just make her a lewd woman?”

Even while saying so, Kaorun smiled faintly and talking with her like that, we reached the huge Gogyou Mansion at some point. There Kaorun used her key and quietly sneaked inside. Next she left me behind in the broad living room and quickly headed for the home office.

Telling myself so once more, I turned the lights on in the living room, slowly sat down and leisurely turned on the TV while resting my chin on my hands with the elbows on the table.

Therefore I quickly tried to switch the TV channel, but on a spiteful timing, I could hear footsteps behind me as someone had apparently entered the room.

I might have been tense due to the situation. I failed to sense the person’s presence. Moreover, there was no longer a way out. Be it Shuu-kun or Hijiri’s mother, I could only play it cool. When I turned around determined, my vision fell onto a girl with dignified features.

However, Hijiri blinked puzzled upon noticing me and tilted her head.

“…Ah, well, you see, a little night visit.”

In my agitation, I ended up speaking out the remark suggested by Kaorun, whereupon Hijiri raised a hysteric voice and turned bright red at once, shaking both her hands.

It would be troublesome if she caused a scene here. I stood up with attitude and closed the distance to her in a flash. While I covered her mouth to stop her words, I put up my index finger with “Ssh”.

“…Shinobu-kun, it’s my first time… So I want it to be on the bed…”

“I, I see. It was a joke. Sorry, Shinobu-kun, for taking you serious…”

“Why are you at my house?”

“T- Today I, well, how can I put it… I came over to hang out.”

“It’s not like I trespassed. I openly came in through the front door. I broke the door, though.”

“Sh- She sure has. So I borrowed it from her and came over. I know it’s late, but I just wanted to see your smile right away. Now please smile for me, Hijiri.”

Yeah, I was glad to have come here. Even while I felt like that for a bit upon seeing her smile, it didn’t change the fact that I was on edge. What would happened if Hijiri saw Kaorun here? When I was about to break out a cold sweat, Hijiri called out to me, still smiling.

“No, no, that’s fine. Don’t mind me. A- Anyway, I’m here now, so, well, ehm--- I want to go to your room.”

“…Yeah, okay. Come with me.”

Somehow she urged me to sit down on her bed and I took her up on her offer, but she sat down next to me at a rather close distance.

“Ehm, why are you up so late at night, Hijiri? Doing perverted stuff by yourself?”

…That was my bad. Hijiri sneaked a peek at me with red cheeks.

“Uhm, I… will get some tea after all.”

“But I’m kinda nervous, which made my throat dry.”

Now Hijiri should be unable to move. I finally had freaked out. Moreover, I was getting fascinated by the sensation of her juicy thighs. But I pulled myself together and wanted to apologize quickly, but

apparently there was no need to. When I turned my head on her thighs to check upon her just in case… I could only see her voluminous breasts. Moreover, Hijiri didn’t resist and even softly touched my hair, leaking a somewhat spellbound sigh.

“If it’s a dream, I don’t want to wake up. I want it to continue on forever…”

Amidst that, Hijiri seemed to calm down by petting me and rested her hand softly on my cheek, softly opening her mouth.

“I came here to see you.”

Why not ask herself? She’s downstairs. How easy would it be if I could say that. Personally, I wasn’t that eager to touch this topic, but…. for Hijiri, it must be something that had always bothered her. She stopped her hand from petting me and filled her tone with warmth.

“No one of us considers her troublesome. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“But is Kaoru-san feeling a bit lonely? Though I doubt it in her case.”

When I replied peacefully, Hijiri leaked a small sigh in the meaning of affirmation.

Now filling her tone with sadness, Hijiri placed her hand on my cheek somewhat coquetting.

Suddenly stopping midway in her sentence, Hijiri sighed again after a little pause.

“Of course that gets you worried. But still, she didn’t even tell you anything?”

Temporarily stopping her words, Hijiri continued somewhat dull.

“I see. After all, to you Kaorun is—” I tried to convey what I had been thinking for a while now, but suddenly a loud noise resounded from downstairs and I closed my opened mouth.

“Shinobu-kun, I’m going to take a look, so—”

“Ehm, aren’t you exaggerating a bit? It’s probably just Shuu— wait, Shinobu-kun!?”

…Please don’t let Kaorun have created a strange ruckus.

However, in the faint light, Shuu-kun had closed his eyes somewhat blissful and showed an expression like in a peaceful death. And Kaorun was holding him from behind, dragging him along. Inadvertently I dumbfounded gaped my mouth open and raised a slow-witted voice like that.

“Kukuku, now that you have seen it, you leave me no other choice. I will have you embark on a trip to heaven along with Shuu-kun. Kill once and you can kill again! But if you killed a hundred, you will be a hero!”

“Actually I achieved my object without problems, but you were not in the living room, so I thought that you might have really gone to pay Hijiri-chan a night visit, and was heading up the stairs to the second floor, but on my way I suddenly sensed someone’s presence, so I turned around and— there stood Peanut.”

“Well, Peanut aka Shuu-kun probably wanted to enjoy a perverted DVD on the big TV in the living room, but when our eyes met at the stairs, I thought my heart would stop.”

“Shuu-kun will not kick the bucket from something like this. But I am afraid that I ended up giving him jump kick in my agitation. Shuu-kun screamed ’White!’ and was knocked out without the count of ten. That is how we got to this situation.”

“Sexual harassment out of nowhere?— Is what I would like to say, but as you guessed right, it is pure white. Anyway, please help me carry Shuu-kun to his room. I am sure that if you put him into the bed now, he will undoubtedly have a sweet maid drea—”

Unluckily, in the middle of our conversation, we could hear faint footsteps from the first and second floor at the same time, which gradually approached in our direction. The BGM of the shark movie “J*ws” played in my head and Kaorun also looked around with widened eyes, clearly acting suspicious for a bit.

“…I’ll do something about it. You get out of here quickly.”

She must have felt bad about it. Kaorun looked down on the still limp Shuu-kun. I rested my hand on her shoulder and declared smiling with an affected tone.

“Shinobu-sama… I… I will wait for you as long as it takes!”

Right afterwards Hijiri showed up on the second floor, as she came to check on me. She spotted Shuu-kun at the bottom of the stairs, widened her eyes with “Sh- Shuu-kun!?” and came rushing down the stairs.

When such reality-avoiding thoughts crossed my mind, Hijiri looked after her brother with “Shuu-kun! Hang in there!”, whereas the woman, who seemed to be Hijiri’s mother, blinked her eyes a bit upon seeing me, but surprisingly, she clapped her hands and smile beautifully without making a fuss.

“That’s the first thing you have to say— no, wait. It’s not a night visit. I just came over to hang out. Ehm, you’re Misaki-san, right?”

“Well, I’m often told that wherever I go. Also, nice to meet you.”

“Now then, Shinobu-kun. You said you came over to hang out? In other words, you want to play, right? What kind of play will you do with Hijiri tonight?”

“Oh my? What’s the Peanut doing here? He should just split open in his room and die.”

“Since you’re here, Shinobu-kun— want to have both mother and daughter tonight?”

Adding a follow-up for Kaorun at the end, I carried Shuu-kun to his bed for now, then quickly left the Gogyou Mansion behind me…

Now then, just what did she get from the house?

After that we both sat down on a bench under the faint illumination of the park and right now Kaorun was rummaging in the small backpack that she had put on before leaving the house.

“…Did you find what you were after?”

Along with her words, Kaorun pulled something out of the backpack with attitude… It was a single DVD.

However, that wasn’t the problem. Twitching my cheeks, I leaked a low voice from my mouth.

“Ah, no, it was a lame joke. Forgive me.”

“This is the DVD that Shuu-kun was preciously holding earlier. He indeed must have intended to watch it in the living room, but I believed that it would be the end for him if someone found him passed out with that DVD in the arms, so I ended up taking it with me.”

“…I will present you this DVD as your reward for accompanying me.”

“…It is not fair how you smile like that while supposedly joking around…”

On the cover was written the rather simple title “Kaoru”, but apparently this was the object in question and Kaorun smiled faintly with “Papa Sougo and Mama Misaki made this for me”, opening the album so that I could see.

Except that the expression of the young Kaorun was even more lacking than now. But even so, the young Kaorun wore a maid uniform on her small body. Seeing that appearance soothed my heart, but to not let her find out, I shifted my gaze to the small Hijiri, who fascinated me just as much, in the picture.

“Shinobu-sama, what about me, the topic of this album? Am I cute?”

While giving my honest impression, I made a rather serious request with “By the way,”.

“Fufu, then let us make it an exchange for a picture with Nazuna-chan and you.”

“Because I hate being photographed. Most of them surely are taken secretly by Mama Misaki.”

While exchanging like that, I continued to look at the album, whereupon I suddenly noticed a certain thing and naturally formed a small smile.

“…Quite strange, indeed. Before her friends in elementary school found out about the exorcist business, Hijiri-chan was as popular as today.”

“She often followed me around, even on my job, despite having lots of friends to play with. Afterwards she even helped me out and thus mastered the house chores… but I wonder why she always hovered over me.”

Softly interjecting, I shifted my gaze to the album.

It somewhat resembled the scene from the picture in my album. Was this a secret shot by Misaki-san too? The young Hijiri was spilling big tears in the garden. The young Kaorun petted her younger sister’s head. Her expression still showed no emotions, but her hands, petting her younger sister’s head, had no hesitation and the look in her eyes… was the same that Kaorun showed right now. A really gentle one.

“You were stung too!?”
“Yes. If I remember correctly, Hijiri-chan was being cha

Chapter end