"Hm? Ah! That's right!"
In the bedroom early morning, hearing her sister's sudden question, Shinobu immediately nodded vigorously and said excitedly:
"Neechan, you don't know, Mitsuba is really super charming~ You might think she normally acts like a gentle older sister who cares about others.
But sometimes she shows a bit of a mischievous personality and jokes with people—really contrasting~ really cute~
Oh right oh right! Mitsuba bought me an outfit yesterday, said it really suited me. Neechan, help me look… ugh! That hurts!"
A slight sharp pain suddenly came from her ankle. Hearing this, Kanae hurriedly came back to her senses, released her hand, and apologized to Shinobu:
"Sorry Shinobu, neechan was a bit distracted just now and didn't pay attention to my strength… Did I hurt you?"
"It's fine, just a little bit… Speaking of which, neechan, what kind of medicinal paste is that in your hand?"
Shaking her head, Shinobu suddenly noticed that the medicinal paste her sister was holding seemed different from what she had been using before?
"Ah, this…"
Carefully applying the paste in her hand to Shinobu's injured ankle, Kanae explained with a smile:
"Neechan has been busy with Demon Slayer Corps matters recently and hasn't been able to properly care about Shinobu's foot injury, so I feel quite apologetic.
So as soon as I came back last night, I stayed up all night mixing this medicinal paste for Shinobu.
From today onward, don't use those medicinal pastes you casually bought on the street anymore—just use this one that neechan prepared for you.
Don't worry, it's especially effective for repairing soft tissue damage. It will definitely help Shinobu's foot injury heal faster."
"I see, thank you neechan."
[Sigh…]
Thanking her verbally, watching her sister carefully apply the medicinal paste for her, Shinobu instead let out a light sigh in her heart.
[Looks like the number of times I'll have Mitsuba carry me out to play will have to decrease…]
"Did you have fun playing yesterday?"
Supporting Shinobu to get up and bringing her to sit on the living room sofa, Kanae suddenly opened her mouth to ask.
"Mm! Very happy!"
The experiences of yesterday's outing resurfaced in her mind. Shinobu nodded with a face full of smiles.
"Especially at the clothing store yesterday, neechan you don't know—Mitsuba actually acted spoiled toward me! At that time…"
Shing!
Before Shinobu could finish her sentence, strange sounds suddenly came from the kitchen nearby.
She turned to look—it turned out her sister was sharpening a knife in the kitchen.
"Neechan, why are you suddenly sharpening a knife?"
"Nothing…"
Grinding the kitchen knife in her hand on the whetstone stroke by stroke, Kanae said in a flat tone:
"I was just thinking that neechan hasn't personally cooked for Shinobu in a long time. Today I happen to have time, so I wanted to personally go to the kitchen and make something for Shinobu…"
"I see…"
Hearing this, Shinobu nodded and didn't pay it any mind, only continuing:
"Oh right neechan! And when we went to the izakaya for late-night snacks last night! I seemed to have gotten drunk midway, and then kept leaning against Mitsuba's shoulder…"
Clatter clatter!
Just as she started speaking two sentences, Shinobu heard another strange sound coming from the kitchen.
Turning to look—it turned out her sister had poured out a pile of bottles and jars from the bag at her waist.
"Neechan, what are those?"
"They're medicine."
With her back to Shinobu, Kanae's voice was full of smiles.
"Neechan today plans to make some medicinal cuisine for Shinobu, to properly help you recuperate your body…"
"Eh? No need to make such a fuss~ Neechan, just make anything casually~"
Kanae didn't respond to Shinobu's words.
As if she hadn't heard, she only faced away from Shinobu, fiddling with that pile of bottles and jars, and calmly asked:
"Speaking of which, Shinobu, do you have any dietary restrictions recently, or anything you want to eat?
If so, feel free to mention them. Neechan will satisfy all of them…"
"Uh, let me think about that…"
[Strange, no, this feeling is very strange…]
Finally vaguely realizing something was off, watching her sister quietly busy herself in the kitchen, Shinobu suddenly felt somewhat… sweating profusely.
What was going on?
Why did clearly normal words always feel somewhat off…
Why did clearly warm atmosphere always feel like having thorns in one's back…
Could neechan… be angry?
[Angry? Angry at whom? Surely not me, right?]
Strange, could I have done something bad?
Hearing the rhythmic chopping sounds coming from the kitchen, Shinobu's brain operated at maximum capacity at this moment.
Reviewing her experiences these past few days, she quickly grasped the point that might have caused her sister's abnormality.
[Could it be… Mitsuba?!]
As if finally realizing something, Shinobu turned to look at Kanae's back in the kitchen, her body leaning back slightly, her pupils constricting.
[Neechan… is jealous?!]
[Because I always went out to play with Mitsuba whenever she wasn't around! So she got jealous and angry?!]
[Eh? Wait, so neechan and Mitsuba… are actually that kind of relationship?]
[Eh?]
The shocked Shinobu decided to test her theory.
"Um, neechan…"
"Hm? What is it, Shinobu? Have you decided what you want to eat?"
"No, I just suddenly wanted to say—next time, let's go out and play with Mitsuba together?"
As Shinobu's words fell, the chopping sounds in the kitchen suddenly stopped.
She saw her sister slowly put down the kitchen knife in her hand, then turn around and quickly rush toward her, tightly hugging her with both arms, happily saying:
"Shinobu! Neechan really loves you the most!"
[Eh?! It really was like this!!]
Being tightly hugged by her sister who had suddenly become incredibly happy, Shinobu felt her entire person was in chaos.
[Done for, done for done for done for… I actually fell for the same person as neechan?!]
[What to do what to do? What should I do now? Should I just withdraw, or should I fight with neechan to the end?]
"Sit here nicely, neechan will go make food for Shinobu right away."
"Okay…"
Her brain a complete mess, under these thousands of thoughts, Shinobu simply chose… to stop thinking.
As the saying goes, the boat will straighten when it reaches the bridge.
Since matters have come to this, in any case, let's eat first. Other matters can be discussed later.
Yes, that's right, that's how it is.
Instantly throwing all her worries to the back of her mind, Shinobu—who had returned to normal—suddenly remembered something and said to Kanae who was walking toward the kitchen again:
"Oh right neechan, Mitsuba mentioned a riddle to me before…"
____________________
This story has ended in chapter 315, you can read on patreon.com/dzeref887 for faster access or wait until August to read on WebNovel until the story ends.