CH 73

(**Sakihime’s POV**) [TLN: Sorry for being inconsistent, I’m out of my game for a bit and called her Momoi last time, it won’t happen again.]

―God is so mean…

Ever since I met that girl a few days ago, that’s all I’ve been thinking about.

That day when I faced Saijo-san for the first time after the incident― a girl approached me.

She was middle-haired with beautiful cream-colored hair.

Her voice was as beautiful as a bell, and being a woman myself, I even envied her.

She was only a little shorter than me, and her face was more cute than beautiful.

And her name was― Kotori Haruka.

I’ve never felt so bitter about my memory as I did at that moment.

Kotori Haruka… a name that I heard a long time ago.

Yes― it came up in a conversation that Umikai-kun and Saijo-san were having.

I still remember how Umikai-kun’s face changed the moment he heard that name.

Moreover, Kotori-san seemed to have heard the conversation between Kisaragi-sensei and me and came to talk to me.

Because she asked me, “Are you an acquaintance of Momoi Kanzaki?” [TLN: Wait, why is the MC’s name like this, it’s supposed to be Kaito though?]

If it was only one of them, there might have been a possibility that they had the same name, but the possibility that they both had the same name and knew each other was very low.

At that time, I didn’t talk about Umi-kun himself because it would be an invasion of privacy, but she kept asking me about our school.

In response, Kisaragi-sensei would smile and talk about all sorts of things…

Why do you have to be so mean to me… God?

On the day of my birthday, I thought I was going to be very happy and that things were going to work out with Umi-kun…

Even so… Why is that blonde foreigner girl giving him a lap pillow in our house without knowledge… and that Saijo-san and Umi-kun became very close?

I can’t believe that there is a girl out there who might have been on deep terms with that Shanghai-kun… [TLN: Idk what she meant with this.]

God doesn’t like me?

I really don’t care, okay?

If that’s what you want, then I’ve got some ideas.

I knew I couldn’t afford to be cocky anymore― and on this day forward, I made a decision.

Part 2

(**Kaito’s POV**) [TLN: When the “Dad” is speaking and he calls out Momoi, it’s actually Katio btw.]

“I’ve arrived…”

As I stood in front of the large gate, I stopped walking.

Today, we took the bullet train to Okayama Prefecture, where my father’s family lived.

After changing trains and taking a bus, we finally arrived at my grandparents’ house in the mountains.

My grandparents were apparently the landowners of the entire area, and as their grandson, I had always been treated well by the people around here.

By the way, the reason why my father came from such a family is because he wanted to become a doctor and refused to be the heir.

Instead, he gave most of his inheritance to his younger brother, Uncle Kenji, the next head of the family.

That’s why Uncle Kenji, his wife and my cousin― Rin Kanzaki live here.

…I wanna go back home…

I still don’t want to see Rin, so I’m hesitant to enter this house.

Is there any way I could escape…?

No, if I run away, I’ll have a hell to pay later.

I have no choice but to resign myself to it.

“Onii-chan, what’s wrong?”

When I had made up my mind, Sakura-chan looked up at me with a strange look on her face.

Oh, that’s right!

I have to warn Sakura-chan and Sakihime about this!

“Sakura-chan, Sakihime, do you have a minute?”

At my words, Sakura-chan and Sakihime, who had been looking up at me, turned to look at me.

I told them that I had to tell them something.

“From today on, while you’re in this house, don’t ever talk to me. And don’t come near me.”

I made a serious face and told them.

“”Eh…?””

The two sisters got along well and tilted their heads in the same way.

The gesture was so cute that it made my cheeks relax even though I was trying to talk about something serious.

However, both Sakihime and Sakura-chan’s faces immediately became cloudy.

“Why not?”

Sakihime said, coming at me with a sultry expression.

“Because it’s for our own good.”

“That’s still not a good reason. I don’t like it when you say things like that out of the blue, so no.”

Sakihime’s cheeks puffed out as she said this.

I’m in trouble…

There’s no way I could just say, “My cousin is a yandere, and if I talk to other girls, she’ll get jealous and I don’t know what she’ll do.”

If I say that, it’s like I’m saying to both of them that my cousin likes me too much and has problematic behavior.

Of course, I’m not a self-conscious character, so I wouldn’t say such a thing.

But how else can I explain it?

Sakihime is already in her selfish mode, so she won’t listen to me, and Sakura-chan is looking at me with tears in her eyes.

When I look into her eyes, I feel so guilty.

“―Will you please do what Momoi says this time, the both of you?” [TLN: WHY IS THE FATHER CALLING THE MC AS “MOMOI”!?!? DID I MISS ANYTHING SOMEWHERE?]

When I was in trouble, my dad came to my rescue.

Knowing what we were going through, he supported what I was saying.

“You’re quite tolerant to some peculiar matters, aren’t you, honey?”

Kanae tilted her head and questioned dad.

“You’ll find out when you come in… In the meantime, Momoi, you should be the first to enter.”

Dad said and pushed me back.

It’s another old rule.

The reason is easy to understand.

I took a deep breath and opened the gate with determination.

―But it’s still a garden.

We have to walk a bit from here.

So why did I take a deep breath?

…That’s how scared I am to meet her…

Finally, we reached the front door.

I took another deep breath and opened the door fearfully.

And then―

“Welcome home, Onii-sama.”

―There was a girl in a maid’s uniform with pink dyed hair, bowing deeply with the tips of the index fingers of both hands on the floor in what is called a “Goushi yurei”.

This is my cousin Rin.

Rin greets me like this every time I come over.

If it had been my father who had come in first, Rin would have started complaining to him.

That’s why I have to be the first to enter.

“Rin… how long have you been here?”

I asked, and Rin looked up with a happy expression on her face.

“About two hours ago, I guess. I was so happy to see you that I couldn’t wait to see you again, Onii-sama.”

“Two hours…!”

Sakihime, who was listening to the conversation between me and Rin, muttered in surprise.

Well, I’m surprised too, of course.

Normally, you should have waited at least five minutes before the arrival time, but it’s been two hours.

It’s impossible, normally…

But Rin is the one who doesn’t mind doing that.

“So― Who are the two of you?”

Rin squinted both her brown right eye and her light blue-white left eye and looked at Sakihime and Sakura-chan who were behind me.

Rin’s eyes are not colored contacts.

Rin’s grandmother on her mother’s side is Russian, so Rin is a quarter-Japanese and was born with odd eyes.

When Rin was still young, she was often bullied by other people because of her eyes.

When I found out about this, I beat them mercilessly, even if they were younger than me, and told them not to abuse Rin.

I told Rin, “Don’t worry about what other people think, Rin is very cute. You’re so cute, and you’ve got those anime-like eyes, so why don’t you try pink hair?”.

Yeah― I was such an idiot at that time!

And when Rin, who had been feeling depressed, cheered up and said she wanted to dye her hair pink, Uncle Kenji, who is a doting father, let her do as she said.

The pink hair looked much better on Rin than I expected and I praised it very much.

That’s why Rin hasn’t stopped wearing her hair pink since then.

Even if she’s warned by her teacher.

The worst thing about Rin is that she’s very good at studying, and like Sakihime, she’s always at the top of the national examinations.

Well, she’s not so good at sports, but she’s still a high-spec character.

And because she’s so smart, the teachers seem to always lose the argument.

…Of course, I said that, too.

I asked if she could have her hair color back.

And then―

“Don’t I look good with my hair…?”

―She looked up at me with her eyes bugging out.

I couldn’t say anything strongly if she looked at me like that.

And as I said before, Rin’s pink hair looked so good on her that there was no way I could say it didn’t look good on her.

And Rin cosplaying in a maid’s uniform was a hobby of Rin’s as an otaku.

Rin has been cosplaying a lot ever since she became an otaku.

…Yeah, of course I was all praise, okay?

I wasn’t an otaku at the time, so I didn’t know what the character was, but she was cute, so I praised her a lot.

As a result, Rin began to cosplay even more.

…That’s right!

It’s almost my fault that Rin turned out like this!

I just don’t know how she came to have otaku hobbies!

It just happened before I knew it!

In fact, I’m the one who got involved!

Or rather, that’s not the most important thing right now.

It’s not good when Rin has this look in her eyes.

It’s a sign that Rin is about to do something.

“These two are my precious family. If you do anything to hurt them, I won’t forgive you, okay?”

I said, and threatened Rin.

Not all of the time, but most of the time, Rin listens to me quite obediently.

“Which is more important… me or them?”

Rin said, and looked up at me.

Her eyes have lost their light.

I was sweating, but I threw the right words at her.

“Of course, Rin is the most important.”

“Then I don’t mind.”

When I said that Rin was the most important thing to me, Rin nodded with a smile.

She then wrapped her arms around me.

I didn’t resist and let her do whatever she wanted.

If I refused Rin here, I would feel scared later.

And if I hadn’t said that Rin was the most important to me when she asked me the question earlier, she would have done something horrible again.

Really, I’m afraid of Rin…

But now I’m just as scared of Sakihime as I am of Rin.

Why is she emitting cold air like absolute zero right now?

Dad and Kanae are surprised…?

Sakura-chan is―

“Black…”

“Eh?”

When I looked at Sakura-chan, she muttered something to me.

Then, for some reason, Sakura-chan hugged me with great force, not on my right hand side where Rin had her arm, but on my left.

“S-Sakura-chan!?”

I was surprised by Sakura-chan’s sudden behavior.

No, she used to hug me too, but I thought I had told her not to get involved while she was in this house.

Moreover, her cheeks are puffed up like a balloon…

“Onii-chan is only Sakura’s Onii-chan! You can’t take him away!”

Sakura-chan said to Rin, her cheeks still puffed up.

“What’s with the little one?”

Rin looked at Sakura-chan again with eyes that had lost their light.

Sakura-chan was frightened by Rin for a moment, but then she squeezed my arm and shouted loudly.

“Onii-chan is for Sakura!”

“Fufu, can you please stop this nonsense? You’ve just joined Onii-sama’s family since you weren’t here at New Year’s, right? You’ve got some nerves to act like a little sister.”

“Mou―!”

Sakura-chan’s cheeks puffed up again in frustration as she pointed out that she had just become a little sister to me recently.

“I used to bathe with Onii-sama when we were young, and we used to sleep together. I’m not as old as you, you know?”

Rin said with a triumphant look on her face.

Oh― that’s not a good topic!

By the time I thought of it, it was too late.

“Sakura has slept with Onii-chan before! And not when she was little, but a few days ago!”

Sakura-chan loudly revealed that she had been with me on the day of the thunderstorm.

“””Ha!?”””

Sakura-chan’s words caught Rin, Sakihime and Dad by surprise.

Only Kanae-san smiled as she put her right hand on her cheek and said, “Oh my.”

“What does this mean, Onii-sama?”

Rin turned her light-deprived eyes from Sakura-chan to me and dug her nails into my right arm as hard as she could.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch ,ouch, ouch! Stop it Rin! It hurts too much!”

I told Rin, but she just stared at me and didn’t stop digging her nails in.

And then―

“Umi-kun… You slept with Sakura while I was gone…?”

―I heard Sakihime’s low voice, which I rarely hear, and she looked into my face with cold eyes.

“Hiiii―!”

I could feel the danger of death in her eyes.

This is not the kind of eyes a beautiful girl like Sakihime should have.

It’s like they’re hunting prey.

“Okay, Momoi, let’s have a little talk with Dad.”

My dad spoke to me in a jovial voice― but he had a terrifying facial expression.

I wondered where that kind father from earlier had gone.

And why is it that I’m the only one who has to go through this!?

It’s just too much, God!

“―I don’t want to live like this anymoreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!”

As I was dragged along by the three executioners , I was disgusted with my life―