On the other side—Yukinoshita Yukino, who had fallen into a brief daze, shifted her gaze back and forth between Tanaka Masao and Jahy.
First, her beautifully shaped brows knit together, and then she couldn't help but speak up.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, you just said the two of them are family… do you mean it in the sense that I'm thinking of?"
Seeing the usually cool and composed Yukinoshita Yukino show such an expression, Hiratsuka Shizuka found it a little amusing.
She shrugged, indicating that she herself wasn't entirely sure either.
The two of them simultaneously turned their eyes toward Tanaka Masao.
Feeling their stares, Tanaka Masao naturally knew what they were thinking and asked in a displeased tone, "Hey, hey, hey—what kind of look is that? Do Jahy and I really look that much like we couldn't be family?"
Yukinoshita Yukino and Hiratsuka Shizuka exchanged a glance, then looked at Jahy, and nodded at Tanaka Masao in perfect sync.
The meaning was obvious.
[You, of all people, how could you possibly have such a cute little sister? There's no way she's biologically related.]
Tanaka Masao was deeply wounded by those looks.
"Y-You… how can you be like that?!"
Seeing Tanaka Masao looking genuinely hurt, both Yukinoshita Yukino and Hiratsuka Shizuka felt a bit guilty.
Indeed, judging someone by appearances wasn't right.
Even if the gap in looks between Tanaka Masao and Jahy was enormous—
But what if, just what if Tanaka Masao actually had good features underneath, and he only looked like this because he was overweight? Maybe if he slimmed down, he'd be handsome.
However, before the two could reflect for long, Tanaka Masao spoke up.
"Fine, your guess is right. We're not real siblings. Jahy… I picked her up."
"Yahari ka." ("As expected.")
Yukinoshita Yukino and Hiratsuka Shizuka both nodded.
That's what they thought—there was no way the two of them were family.
"Wait."
Yukinoshita Yukino suddenly realized something was off.
"You said you picked her up. Are you sure you're not using the wrong word? You mean you adopted her, right?"
"I'm not using the wrong word. I really did pick her up."
Seeing Tanaka Masao's serious expression, Yukinoshita Yukino looked at him suspiciously.
"Where did you pick her up?"
"A couple of days ago—under the bridge on the way home, in the river."
Yukinoshita Yukino remembered that bridge.
Lately, the two of them often passed by it together on their way home.
In the evening, the scenery there was quite nice; she liked it a lot.
Every time they reached that spot, she'd unconsciously slow her pace.
But… did that place randomly spawn cute little girls?
Why hadn't she picked one up?
To be honest, from the very first moment she saw Jahy, Yukinoshita Yukino had been deeply drawn to her.
For no other reason than the pair of cat ears on her head.
Wasn't this basically a textbook catgirl? She couldn't help wondering what they'd feel like to the touch.
Tanaka Masao pulled Jahy closer and introduced her to the two of them.
"Let me introduce her—this is Tanaka Jahy."
Hearing Tanaka Masao introduce her that way, Jahy immediately protested.
"'Tanaka' is unnecessary. Just call me Jahy."
In the Demon Realm, being given someone else's surname usually symbolized being a servant or subordinate.
Even though, in the human world, surnames meant family, Jahy still wasn't very willing to acknowledge it.
At that moment, Hiratsuka Shizuka—who had been silent for quite a while—suddenly spoke up.
"Um… can you really pick one up by the river?"
Having been single all this time, Hiratsuka Shizuka thought that picking up a cute daughter to raise didn't sound half bad.
That way, her family probably wouldn't keep pressuring her to go on blind dates.
Tanaka Masao nodded. "If your luck is bad, you can pick one up."
Jahy nodded along.
"That's right, that's right—if your luck is good, you can—"
Suddenly, she realized something.
"Hey! What do you mean 'bad luck'? Explain that properly! Being able to meet me should be considered your honor, got it?!"
Faced with Jahy baring her teeth in outrage, Tanaka Masao chose to ignore her completely and lowered his head to continue eating his lunch.
"Damn it!"
Jahy stomped her foot. Before she could step forward to argue with him, her stomach let out a growl.
"Uh… it's time for me to eat."
Tanaka Masao still had his head down, eating, as he replied,
"I'm not sharing my lunch with you."
Jahy glanced at Tanaka Masao's lunch and said with clear disdain,
"Hmph. Something as bland and tasteless as that, I wouldn't want it anyway."
While the two of them were bickering, Yukinoshita Yukino spoke up.
"If you don't mind, you can eat a little from my bento first."
Hearing this, Jahy stood on her tiptoes and peeked into Yukinoshita Yukino's bento box.
About half of it was still left.
Feeling hungry, Jahy was particularly interested in the remaining tamagoyaki inside.
Hiratsuka Shizuka, meanwhile, opened the door to the Service Club room and said, "That won't be enough anyway. I haven't had lunch yet either—I'll go buy something at the convenience store. You all wait here."
"Oh—then we'll be counting on you, Shizuka."
Tanaka Masao clearly noticed that when Jahy called out [Shizuka], Hiratsuka Shizuka's steps visibly faltered for a moment.
[She can just call her 'Shizuka' directly… is this some kind of child-only privilege?]
After Hiratsuka Shizuka left, Yukinoshita Yukino called out to Jahy.
"Until Hiratsuka-sensei comes back, have a little of my bento."
Jahy, who never knew the meaning of restraint or politeness, naturally didn't refuse.
"Then I'll give it a try."
Yukinoshita Yukino brought over a chair and placed it beside her, letting Jahy sit down.
Then she picked up a piece of tamagoyaki with her chopsticks and brought it to Jahy's mouth.
"Here—say ah~"
"Ah."
Jahy very naturally opened her mouth and ate it. The wonderful taste made her eyes immediately narrow, her face filled with bliss.
"Delicious."
Seeing Jahy like that, a smile also appeared at the corner of Yukinoshita Yukino's lips.
Tanaka Masao stopped eating and stared blankly at the scene before him.
A gentle Yukinoshita Yukino was so beautiful.
If he were to marry Yukinoshita Yukino in the future and have children, she'd probably look just like this.
No—more than being gentle toward children, Tanaka Masao wanted Yukinoshita Yukino to be this gentle with him, feeding him with her own hands.
At that moment, Tanaka Masao's envy toward Jahy rose to a whole new level.
[Damn it. Just because she's a little cuter, she gets this popular and enjoys all these perks.
If only I could turn into a cute little gi—cough cough, forget it. I don't think I'd like that anyway. I'm fine the way I am now.]
Tanaka Masao's fixed, burning gaze made Yukinoshita Yukino—who had been immersed in Jahy's cuteness—snap back to her senses.
She coughed lightly in slight embarrassment, returned to her usual cool tone, and asked, "Tanaka-kun, may I ask why you've been staring at me so intently?"
"Uh, it's just that earlier…"
Tanaka Masao hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Yukinoshita-san's expression just now looked very gentle—almost like a kind, loving mother."
As he said that, Tanaka Masao showed a simple, goofy smile.
That smile did not earn Yukinoshita Yukino's approval; her expression instead grew even more serious.
"Tanaka-kun, setting that aside—didn't you eat a bit too much meat for lunch today? That won't help with your weight loss goals. How about starting tomorrow, you eat only vegetables?"