"Honestly, Kotori has been getting more and more unreasonable lately."
A few days had passed since the last Spirit appearance. On the streets of Amamiya City, a short-haired 'The Boy' was walking towards the supermarket.
As the household's househusband (?), going to the supermarket daily to buy groceries, especially discounted vegetables and meat, had become a routine.
Itsuka Shido, that was the The Boy's name. This delicate-looking The Boy walked along, complaining.
He was just an ordinary person (or so he thought), with a cute younger sister at home. His parents were often away for work, so he took on the responsibility of caring for his sister.
He doted on his sister and would fulfill any request she made. For his angelic sister, the The Boy always tried his best to protect her.
However, recently, his sister had changed from an angel to a demon, a transformation he found hard to accept, even wondering if he was dreaming.
But there was nothing he could do; as a doting brother, he couldn't refuse his sister's requests, and at her insistence, he was forced into training.
But this training was to make him conquer the protagonists of a GALGAME? And an otome game at that, which was a headache.
He had never played an otome game before! And he was supposed to achieve a full CG collection in a few days; how was that even possible?!
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, as Shido passed an alley, he noticed a very cute Little Loli being pestered by a group of delinquents.
The Little Loli looked about the same age as his cute sister, with adorable silver twin-tails, wearing a miko outfit that exposed her armpits, reminding him of a cute little bunny.
However, this scene was just like a plot he'd seen while playing a galgame last night; he never expected to encounter such a scenario in the real world.
"So, how about we big brothers take you to some fun places? You're just idling around anyway, so how about we big brothers take you to places you've never been?"
"Yeah, yeah. Big brother can show you many things you've never seen before. What do you say? Interested in finding out? Opportunities like this aren't common, you know."
There were three delinquents in total, with hair dyed green, purple, and yellow respectively, giving off an unconventional vibe.
The yellow-haired delinquent had a classic pompadour; who knows how much hair gel he used to maintain that hairstyle, and the money spent on hair gel each month must be considerable.
The purple-haired and green-haired delinquents weren't particularly noteworthy; they simply wore rings on their ears and noses to make themselves look like delinquents.
Facing the delinquents' attire, Shido fearfully took a few steps back; he dreaded dealing with such situations.
Normally, when he saw these people, he would definitely walk around them, trying to avoid any contact.
But this time, they were pestering a Little Loli who seemed utterly defenseless (?). This made Shido hesitate to leave. After struggling for a moment, he bit the bullet and walked out.
The Little Loli in the miko outfit, who was being pestered, was about to speak when she noticed someone else walking towards her and grabbing her hand.
"Honestly, where did you run off to earlier? I've been looking for you."
Well, it was the clichéd hero saving the damsel in distress scenario. This made the Little Loli pause, allowing Shido to grab her hand and lead her towards the street.
The delinquents saw the Little Loli being taken away and wanted to follow, but other people were already walking on the street, and even patrolling police officers appeared.
They could only lightly curse and walk deeper into the alley; they didn't want to cause trouble.
Shido kept running with the Little Loli's hand for a long time, only stopping when he was too exhausted to continue, holding his knee with his left hand and panting heavily.
"It's safe here. Are you okay?"
There were many people here; those delinquents shouldn't cause trouble in such a place.
After confirming the situation was safe, Shido turned and asked.
The Little Loli didn't answer Shido's question. Although her eyes weren't open, Shido understood from the direction of her gaze that she was looking at their clasped hands.
"Ah~ Um, I'm sorry. This is my first time dealing with something like this, so I didn't know what to do."
Releasing the Little Loli's hand somewhat flustered, Shido awkwardly scratched his head.
Holding an unfamiliar girl's hand for so long for no reason—if it were any other girl, he'd surely be considered a pervert.
If he revealed his true identity, there wouldn't be much of a problem, but the key was that the other party didn't know his true identity, so it was a bit awkward.
"Hehe~ I was just surprised. I never thought plotlines from anime and novels would happen to me. This must be what they call a hero saving the damsel."
The Little Loli showed a cute smile, tilted her head, and asked.
The Little Loli's voice was very pleasant, which reminded Shido of his sister's angelic state.
However, the act of a hero saving a beauty made Shido scratch his head shyly. He hadn't thought about being a hero saving a beauty at all, making it seem like he had other intentions.
"According to light novel plots, shouldn't I respond with, 'I cannot repay your great kindness, so I shall offer myself to you and stay by your side forever'?"
"No, no, no, what kind of light novel plot is that? Things haven't reached that point yet, don't say such strange things."
It made him seem like he was approaching Inaba Tsukiyo with an ulterior motive, and what novel was this plot from? This trope was far too common.
Shido's reaction made the Little Loli let out a sweet laugh. After laughing for a while, the Little Loli finally stopped.
"You're a truly interesting person. You're clearly nervous yourself, yet you still meddle. Aren't you worried about getting into danger? Or can you beat those people?"
"Uh! Of course I can't beat them. With my physique, no matter how many there are, I couldn't beat them."
Given his physical fitness, he would just be asking for trouble. Even with good luck, he couldn't beat those people; at most, he'd get slightly injured.
"However, seeing you surrounded by them, I didn't think much; I just wanted to get you away."
"..."
Shido's answer made the Little Loli look at him with some surprise.
From Shido's reaction, there seemed to be no sign of him lying. He hadn't expected there to be such a good-natured person in this world.
However, this also improved the Little Loli's mood considerably.
Patting her clothes and clearing her throat a few times, the Little Loli bowed to Shido and said,
"Thank you very much for your help this time, unknown Mr. My name is Inaba Tsukiyo. I will repay your kindness."
Although Inaba Tsukiyo could have easily dealt with those troublemakers even without Shido's help, basic courtesy was still necessary.
"Uh, I'm Itsuka Shido. It's nice to meet you, Inaba. And I didn't do this to get anything in return."
Shido waved his hands in a panic. He certainly hadn't meddled to get anything in return from Inaba Tsukiyo.
Shido's reaction made the smile on Inaba Tsukiyo's face grow wider. He was the most interesting human she had met in days.
After learning that Inaba Tsukiyo also needed to go to the supermarket to buy things, Shido invited Inaba Tsukiyo to go together.
On the way to the supermarket, the two talked about many things, and Shido even mentioned his sister.
"Oh? Has your sister entered her rebellious phase, Mr. Itsuka? A sister in her rebellious phase can be very troublesome."
"Mm-hmm~ I don't know what's going on. Although it's a bit hard to adapt, I'm getting used to my sister's current state. As long as she doesn't go astray, that's all I ask. I have no other demands."
"Used to it... Is Mr. Itsuka an M?"
"Of course not! Where did you get that idea? I'm not an M!"
"But, being able to get used to violence, doesn't that mean you've adapted to such treatment? When your sister physically and verbally attacks you, do you not feel bad, but rather happy?"
This was a precursor to being an M. The most extreme M Inaba Tsukiyo had ever seen was so happy even when treated like an Animal.
They were the type of people who would be very satisfied when someone rode on them, shouted something, and had a chain around their neck.
Oh, and inside their clothes, they seemed to have tied themselves in a very strange way with ropes, and they would constantly perform various actions to make the ropes tighter, thereby gaining greater pleasure.
Shido would never admit to having M tendencies. He loved his sister, which was why he allowed her somewhat excessive behavior. He was not a pervert.
However, after he said that, he felt Inaba Tsukiyo suddenly step back a few paces, looking at him warily.
"Lo... loli complex?"
"I told you, why do you always misunderstand people? I'm not a loli complex! If anything, I'm a sister complex!"
"...German bone surgery. It seems your parents will break your legs later, young man."
Although the conversation veered in a strange direction, the atmosphere between the two was harmonious, and their smiles were evident.
After understanding Shido's situation, Inaba Tsukiyo also spoke about her own, mainly that she had a shy younger sister.
Because her sister was shy, as her older sister who took care of her, she would always go grocery shopping alone. She just hadn't expected to encounter such a situation this time.
The previous topics were fine, but Shido was shocked when he learned that Inaba Tsukiyo couldn't see.
"You can't see!"
Shido was genuinely shocked. He couldn't believe that the girl he had been talking to just now was actually blind.
Her behavior showed no characteristics of a blind person; she didn't have a white cane, nor was there a guide dog.
This... this was too incredible.
"I'm not lying, Mr. Itsuka. Because I've been in this state since I was little, I've gotten used to seeing the world from a different perspective. This is also why I can go out alone."
She opened her eyes, and lifeless pupils were revealed before Shido. They were a pair of crimson pupils.
Coincidentally, his sister's eyes were also crimson, and the similar age combined with the same eyes made Shido look at Inaba Tsukiyo with a touch of pity.
He wanted to reach out and touch her, but feared such an action would be very rude, so he pulled his hand back.
He had initially thought Inaba Tsukiyo was just an ordinary girl, but after learning this, his perception began to change.
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