"Sister?"
A look of astonishment appeared on Yukinoshita Yukino's delicate face, immediately followed by panic. Her eyes subconsciously darted to Mori Shinra beside her.
Yukinoshita Haruno noticed this and followed her gaze to Mori Shinra. After a moment of thought, the corners of her lips curled into a playful smile.
Without waiting for her sister to make an introduction, she spoke up. "I'm Yukino's older sister, Haruno. What's your name?"
Mori Shinra looked at the chic urban woman before him, who bore a slight resemblance to Yukinoshita Yukino, and gave an unprecedentedly sincere smile. "I'm Mori Shinra. Yukinoshita... sorry, may I call you by your first name?"
"Of course," Yukinoshita Haruno didn't mind, and even upped the ante. "Just call me Haruno or Haruno-neechan. You can even call me 'Sister' like Yukino does~"
"So... when did you two start dating?"
"We're just in the same club!" Yukinoshita Yukino replied, frowning with an impatient tone.
"Hmm?" Haruno shifted her gaze to Mori Shinra.
"We're just ordinary friends," Shinra explained as well.
Friends... Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't help but purse her lips when she heard those words, but she didn't refute them.
Seeing this, the smile on Haruno's face grew even wider.
"Ehh friends, how nice~~"
As she spoke, Haruno leaned in close to Mori Shinra, studying him intently as if she wanted to know everything, and it even looked like she was about to touch him.
"Sister!"
Yukino's voice rose slightly, interrupting the process. "Is there something you came here for?"
"Nothing major. I just have plans to have dinner with Shizu-chan and was passing by, so I thought I'd come see how you're doing. Now it seems... I've come at a bad time?"
No, you've come at the perfect time!
In Mori Shinra's field of vision, three exclamation marks of different colors—green, purple, and gold—were hovering above Yukinoshita Haruno's head. It was the first time he had ever seen multiple Wish Requests concentrated on a single person.
"Don't say such strange things to my friend! If you're coming in, hurry up. Otherwise, I'm closing the door," Yukino said, taking out her key and opening her apartment door, speaking to Haruno.
"Thank you for your trouble today," she then said to Mori Shinra.
"Mm, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now," Shinra said, taking his leave.
Although he was very interested in Yukinoshita Haruno, now was clearly not a good time to strike up a conversation.
After 'seeing' the turbulent emotions on Haruno, Shinra felt that there would be no shortage of opportunities to interact with her in the future, so there was no need to rush.
"No need. I just came by to see my little Yukino. Now that I've seen you, I should be off to my appointment," Haruno said with a casual wave of her hand, then added with a smile, "Would Mori Shinra-san be interested in seeing me off? If it's convenient, would you like to have a cup of tea together? Big sister needs to know if you're a suitable boyfriend for Yukino."
Hearing her sister say this, Yukinoshita Yukino's gaze turned completely cold. She said frostily, "Sister, that's enough."
"Ah... I'm sorry, Yukino. It seems your big sister got a little too excited," Haruno laughed easily, apologizing for her bold request. But then, she suddenly leaned close to Shinra's ear.
"Yukino is a very sensitive child, so I'll have to ask you to take good care of her."
With that said, before Yukino could completely lose her temper, Haruno took two steps back, arrived at the elevator, and pressed the button. The elevator happened to be on their floor. As the doors slowly opened, Haruno turned her head and waved at the young man and woman.
"Well, that's that. Bye-bye~"
"Goodbye, Haruno-san. I accept your request."
Inside the elevator, Haruno's face showed a hint of surprise upon hearing his words. Then, a brilliant smile spread across her face, and her voice drifted out just before the elevator doors closed.
"Then I'll be counting on you."
...
Yukinoshita Haruno had come and gone like a breeze, leaving behind only a green Wish Request.
"I'm sorry. My sister is just like that. Please don't take her words to heart," Yukino said apologetically to Shinra.
"I know. I just didn't expect you to have a sister, and she seems quite amazing," Shinra said. He naturally wouldn't take Haruno's words to heart; he usually placed them in his system's request log.
Yukinoshita Yukino nodded slightly, replying with what seemed like a hint of pride, "Everyone who meets her says so."
"Excellent appearance, a first-class mind, skilled in both literary and martial arts, multi-talented, sincere and honest... No one can be as perfect as she is. Everyone always showers her with praise..." Yukino said, as if speaking to Shinra, but also as if speaking to herself.
Shinra looked at her, puzzled. "Are you indirectly praising yourself? You're pretty much the same, aren't you?"
Yukinoshita Yukino looked up in surprise, apparently not expecting him to say that.
"Aside from being a bit quieter, I don't think you're any less impressive than your sister, Yukino. The reason others think she's better is probably because she's a few years older than you. And in terms of age, your sister will only grow to envy you more and more in the future."
"I-is that so?" Yukino seemed to have never had anyone tell her that she was more outstanding than her sister. Usually, she was the one who was considered insignificant.
Perhaps because of this, Yukinoshita Yukino didn't even notice that Mori Shinra had called her by her first name.
"Of course. Besides, in my opinion, your sister isn't that perfect either."
Because of his Emotion Perception, Shinra could clearly sense something abnormal about Yukinoshita Haruno.
Rather than saying she was perfect, it was more like she packaged herself perfectly, like an overly-wrapped gift box. With layer after layer of wrapping, it made people overlook the gift itself inside.
"Sometimes, being too perfect gives off a feeling of imperfection. Hmm... it just feels too illusory, not grounded at all," Shinra gave his assessment.
Yukinoshita Yukino stared at him seriously for a moment and then mumbled under her breath, "You really are perceptive."
"What?" Shinra didn't quite hear her.
"Nothing. It's getting late. Thank you for walking me back," Yukinoshita Yukino said, giving him his dismissal.
Well, considering he was never actually inside her apartment, it was more like a shopkeeper politely turning away a customer at closing time.
"You're welcome. I'll be going then," Shinra said, turning to walk towards the stairs. Halfway there, as if remembering something, he turned his head to Yukinoshita, who hadn't closed her door yet.
"By the way, Yukino, the cookies were delicious. Remember our promise."