When all is said and done, children starved of love are the easiest to exploit — the most fun to play with.
This one, that one — no matter how different their personalities or appearances, children who grew up without enough love always share certain things in common.
As a former love-starved child herself, Yoshiiro Chiose could identify those traits with perfect clarity, and prescribe exactly the right remedy for each.
Like the little Ichinose sitting right in front of her, whose head she was currently ruffling.
[I remember this one — her name is Soyo, but isn't her surname supposed to be Nagasaki? Or did something happen later and she took a different name?]
Her identity at the start of this simulation was Miss Nagasaki's colleague, which had at least given Chiose some prior knowledge of the family.
Ichinose was the surname of Soyo's father. Her mother was the one with the Nagasaki name.
"May I come in, little Soyo?"
Yoshiiro Chiose bent down, making herself as close and level with this adorable little creature as she could.
Little Soyo didn't resist physical contact at all — or was she working very hard to stop herself from resisting? Either way, it made no difference. Both possibilities fit perfectly with the profile of a love-starved, emotionally sensitive child.
"Okay…"
"My name is Yoshiiro Chiose. You can call me Auntie Yoshiiro or Auntie Chiose, Soyo — I really don't mind what people call me."
Chiose's real age in this simulation was twenty-six. As a newcomer personally mentored by Miss Nagasaki, she'd never paid much attention to age in simulations anyway.
"Then… Big Sis Yoshiiro?"
Ichinose Soyo was completely transfixed by Yoshiiro Chiose's eyes — that deep, vivid crimson shot through with gold. She couldn't tear her gaze away for even a moment.
Those eyes… were too beautiful. Like black holes — mysterious, magnetic, impossible to escape.
"Call me whatever you like. Though little Soyo certainly has a sweet tongue — I like that."
Chiose reached out with both hands and lifted Soyo up from under her arms.
She was a fifth-grader, but picking her up was still easy enough.
What was strange, though, was that this child hadn't resisted in the slightest. Not even a little.
She didn't dare move. Didn't dare move at all.
Ichinose Soyo felt her brain trembling.
The strange older girl who had appeared out of nowhere — she was nothing like Mom, and yet somehow similar in all the ways that mattered.
She was so warm. So gentle.
Beneath her uninhibited boldness, Soyo found herself utterly unable to resist, utterly unable to struggle.
She was completely enveloped — caged inside a prison built from the scent radiating off the other person's body. The rich, heady fragrance that clung to Big Sis Yoshiiro Chiose made it impossible for Ichinose Soyo to think straight.
So this was the aura of a grown woman. It was so… overwhelming.
"Are you alright? Why are you so flushed? Do you have a fever?"
Those red pupils seemed to carry some kind of magic. Soyo stared into Chiose's eyes and shook her head rapidly.
[This child.]
Yoshiiro Chiose slipped off her trench coat and draped it over the dining chair — there was nowhere else to put it.
She took a careful look around and quickly assessed the financial situation of Ichinose Soyo's household — the simulation's target.
No wonder Miss Nagasaki was always working overtime, attending business dinners, running around chasing clients. She was pushing herself to the limit trying to build a better life for her daughter.
Chiose drew a slow, deep breath and set Soyo down gently into a chair.
"Big Sis Chiose… is my mom okay right now?" A white headband pushed Soyo's overgrown bangs back from her forehead, leaving it smooth and bare.
Yoshiiro Chiose looked at Soyo's forehead and held her smile steady.
"She's perfectly fine. Your mother is safe — she just drank a little too much and couldn't walk straight. Nothing to worry about."
"Ah… I see."
Soyo lowered her head and looked at her homework notebook. The last problem was still blank — the one she'd left for her mother to come home and work through together.
But it seemed… today wasn't going to be the day after all.
"Doing homework? Why is the last problem left empty — is it one you don't understand?"
Yoshiiro Chiose, dressed in a neat white blouse and black trousers beneath her discarded coat, flicked her braid over her shoulder and stepped around to stand behind Soyo.
[As expected — compared to the bodies of children or teenagers, an adult body is always the most satisfying.]
Especially in front of her right now — her chest was even fuller than her sixteen-year-old self had been. Truly something.
"B-Big Sis…?"
Soyo felt an enormous pressure bearing down on her.
The dim light already made her vision hazy, and when Yoshiiro Chiose — a towering presence from Soyo's perspective — stepped up behind her, the shadow and sheer force of her presence swallowed Soyo whole in an instant.
The tip of her nose caught the older girl's scent. She could even feel the warmth radiating from Big Sis's body just above the crown of her head. Soyo had reasonable grounds to suspect she had been thoroughly marinated in Yoshiiro Chiose's fragrance.
She sniffed her own sleeve, trying to look casual about it.
[!!!]
Just as she'd feared!
Nothing but that rich, heady warmth of Yoshiiro Chiose's scent.
"What's the matter, little one — are you still worried about your mother?"
Chiose held out her phone to show Soyo a photo of Miss Nagasaki sleeping soundly in her bed, and paired it with the softest, most reassuring tone she had.
Gentle words. A casual, unbothered attitude. Chiose displayed what the other person cared about as if she were tossing aside something trivial and unremarkable — every bit of it calculated to lower the other person's guard.
And sure enough, the moment Soyo saw the photo of her mother, her attention shifted completely.
She wasn't as tense anymore. She still trembled a little from time to time, like a small startled animal, but the worst of it had passed.
"Is Soyo-Soyo still not feeling reassured? Tomorrow's the weekend — I'll take you to see your mom in the morning, okay?"
"Really?! That would be… wouldn't that be too much trouble?"
This older girl really was a good person. She spoke so warmly and kindly, and never stopped paying attention to how Soyo was feeling.
But would she really be imposing too much?
Soyo lifted her head and looked up into Chiose's eyes.
What a pair of eyes they were — mature, powerful, gentle. Inside them you could find everything you'd ever wanted to see.
She said nothing, and yet it felt as though she had said everything to Soyo.
"Not at all. I'll take care of everything for Soyo — after all, your mother entrusted you to me. And that's not the only reason."
"Ah? What else is there?"
"Soyo is just like I was when I was little. I can see my own shadow in you, Soyo-Soyo."
Yoshiiro Chiose gave a brief, brilliant smile — quick as a flash — then turned and walked toward the bathroom.
"You haven't had a bath yet, have you, Soyo-Soyo? I'll go turn the water heater on for you."
"Thank you! Sorry for the trouble…"
"It's nothing at all. Don't give it a second thought." Chiose paused. "It's six forty-nine right now — perfect for you to go in at seven on the dot. Starting things at a round number is one of my greatest pleasures."
Watching Yoshiiro Chiose's retreating back, Ichinose Soyo felt something she couldn't quite name stir inside her.
Mom's friend really was… even more like a mother than Mom herself.
Every fantasy Soyo had ever had about the perfect all-capable mother — it seemed like she could find every single piece of it in Yoshiiro Chiose.
Was she imagining things?
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