Ch. 70.1 - You’re Finally Awake? Pt1
“Mr. Kikuchi said that as long as his wife can recover, no amount of money will be spared... That concludes tonight’s news. Next up… ”
The newscaster’s clear, polished tone echoed faintly from the TV behind Harutaki, filling the otherwise silent living room.
“Um…”
He looked ahead, where three pairs of eyes glared down at him from the sofa. Center: Ayaka. Left: Chiaki. Right: Fuyuno. All three sisters sat side by side, arms crossed, expressions equally severe.
“Did… did I do something wrong?”
Sitting on his knees with his hands on his thighs, Harutaki faced his sisters like a criminal awaiting judgment. Between them, on the low table, lay Chouko, fast asleep, breathing softly.
The atmosphere was so strange it made his back prickle. It didn’t feel like a simple misunderstanding; it felt like he’d been caught cheating and was now being tried by three furious girlfriends.
Actually… no. This looked more like some cult’s sacrificial ceremony, and Chouko was the offering laid out on the altar.
“We never said you did anything wrong, Harutaki-nii~”
Fuyuno half-covered her lips and gave him a teasing wink.
“Ayaka-nee just said to sit properly, and yet onii-chan immediately assumed the posture of a man confessing his sins.”
So that glare and tone earlier weren’t part of a trial?!
Then again, when Harutaki tried to stand up to stretch,
“Sit.”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
He straightened his back at once.
“This girl… who is she?”
“My classmate.”
“And you brought an unconscious classmate home?”
Ayaka raised an eyebrow, her blue eyes narrowing slightly.
“Then what about that other girl, the senior you had dinner with last time?”
“Also my classmate.”
“Your classmate that you had dinner with and shared a room with?”
He wanted to say: More like a classmate close enough to share the same bed.
“Harutaki, be honest!”
“…Fine. She’s… the spare, and the one I’m actually trying to date.”
“HUH!?”
Ayaka froze, staring in disbelief before erupting, pointing right at him.
“So you’re just a scumbag then!?”
“Yeah, sounds like a scumbag to me,” Fuyuno nodded cheerfully.
“Even though you already have us…” Chiaki muttered under her breath, frowning.
Even though she and Fuyuno wouldn’t refuse him, even though even Ayaka had once said she could “help out,” her brother still went out flirting with other girls?
It hadn’t even been a week, and he’d already brought two stunning classmates home.
Looks aside, though she and Fuyuno were confident enough there, what about those figures…
E? F? Or was it G!? How were all of them as absurdly well-endowed as Ayaka?
Was that even normal for high school girls!?
And wait, did her brother like that type…?
Chiaki glanced down at her own chest, then over at Fuyuno.
“…Whew.”
She let out a small sigh of relief.
“Hey! Chiaki-nee, you just compared my body to hers, didn’t you!? You totally did!”
“Shut it, Fuyuno!”
“Oh…”
Even their parents couldn’t keep Fuyuno in check anymore, but before Ayaka she still folded instantly.
“Whether it was that Nogami girl or this Shihou girl, I had my reasons for bringing them home.”
The tension had eased thanks to Fuyuno’s antics, so Harutaki seized the chance to explain.
“I sent you a Line message this afternoon, saying I might not come home for dinner. That’s because I’d already promised to accompany Shihou-san to a mixer hosted by her old middle school friends…”
“…And that’s everything that happened.”
He spread his hands with mock indignation. “I couldn’t just leave her on the street, could I? So I carried her home.”
“That damn bastard…” Ayaka hissed, still furious at the thought of the senior who’d attacked those girls. Then she shot her brother a look filled with mixed anger and exasperation.
“Baka Aniki, you could’ve just said so earlier!”
Well excuse me for not getting a chance to explain when you were glaring daggers at me.
He thought it, but he wasn’t suicidal enough to say it out loud.
“Sorry, I should’ve clarified sooner…”
When dealing with sisters, or girlfriends, reason rarely worked.
For minor things, just apologize; for major ones, fight your ground. That was the rule.
But just as he stood up, everything suddenly went dark.
No, it wasn’t low blood pressure.
It was soft. Enveloping. Like he’d fallen into a cloud, or a giant ball of cotton candy.
He couldn’t breathe properly, but the sweet, milky scent of body wash filled his nose, and he thought:
Heaven…
This must be what heaven feels like.
Moments later, his shoulders were shoved hard. Freed from paradise, Harutaki looked up to see Ayaka’s flushed face, her expression a mix of guilt and defiance.
“W-What are you staring at, idiot! Th-this is your reward, okay?!”
She stammered her way through the explanation, then, flustered beyond control, punched him in the chest.
Thud.
“M-Mom said… when you do something good, you deserve a reward!”
A reward, huh?
Then why the punch!?
His gaze flicked, entirely by accident of course, toward her F-cup chest. Internally, he sighed.
Thanks for the treat.
But Fuyuno, who’d been watching the whole thing, practically vibrated with excitement.
“Me too, me too! I want to give a reward too!” she cried, leaping onto his back like a kitten climbing a tree, pressing her chest against his head.
“Heehee, feels nice, right Harutaki-nii?”
“If you keep going, I’ll be bald in five minutes, ow ow ow! Okay, I get it!”
“Alright, enough, Fuyuno. Let him breathe,” Ayaka laughed, tugging her mischievous little sister off him.
But as the two wrestled playfully, Chiaki crept up silently from behind.
Before Harutaki realized, her arms slipped around him, hugging tight.
“Chiaki…?”
“This is your hero’s reward,” she whispered sweetly.
Her voice was soft, like caramel cheesecake drizzled with maple syrup.
A featherlight kiss brushed his cheek, fleeting and dreamlike, just like that night.
“But… I’d rather you be our hero, mine, Ayaka’s, and Fuyuno’s. Only ours.”
“That’s cheating, Chiaki!” Fuyuno shrieked, kicking off her slippers as she bolted over. “You snuck in a hug while we were fighting!”
Why was it always Chiaki who moved first whenever she and Ayaka started arguing!?
All that “quiet and introverted” talk was a lie, she was a schemer through and through!
Fuyuno pouted, convinced: her second sister was totally the type who looked shy but was secretly bold.
…
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