Second floor. Shiraha's room.
Elysia was holding a damp towel, meticulously wiping Shiraha's left hand. Then she flipped the towel and moved on to his right.
Shiraha... Shiraha actually didn't dislike this sort of thing. In fact, for some inexplicable reason, he felt the urge to laugh.
"Sigh. Shiraha, in a few more years, all the girls around you will have grown up."
Elysia sighed, wiping and muttering at the same time, her voice carrying the weight of someone who'd been through it all.
"Kiana. Mei. And Yuna."
She named them one by one, then raised Shiraha's little hands with satisfaction, flipping them left and right. Mm. Good. Perfectly clean!
She spoke in a tone that was anything but casual. "When the time comes, Shiraha, you'll really be living the life. Surrounded by beautiful women everywhere."
Shiraha spoke softly. "I'm already surrounded by older girls right now. The delinquent senpai. Himeko-nee. Two older sisters."
If he really had to count, he was already encircled by beauties as things stood.
If he added Mobius, Eden, and Sakura from the Realm, there was even less need to say anything.
Though with Eden-nee, it was mostly routine by now, no more than ten minutes each visit. Still, she was a beautiful older sister.
Elysia hummed lightly. "That's not the same."
Himeko might have no sense of boundaries, but she genuinely treated Shiraha as a child. As for Natasha... Natasha was still enjoying the relaxed life of school to this very day.
Shiraha pressed his cool little hands against his cheeks, sandwiching Nee-chan's hand in between, and steered the topic back. "I went to see Sakura today."
Elysia paused. Why would you go see her?
She can't give you any help.
For that strike that transcends time?
That truly wasn't pure technique. That was technique fused with Sakura's Yasha, the interweaving of technique and Authority, the product of breaking past one's limits.
If she'd left behind a child, that transformation could even have been passed down through the bloodline. The children of MANTIS soldiers were that unique. Though not as natural as Stigmata, in terms of sheer strangeness, they never lacked for anything.
Elysia sighed in her heart, but outwardly she only tilted her face slightly to the side, her voice drifting and wistful.
"Looks like... Mr. World's Number One Killer also had someone he could never forget in the past."
Thinking about it, that made sense. They were both from the Manticores. To say Shiraha and Sakura weren't familiar with each other would be rather unconvincing.
Shiraha didn't joke around this time. He looked at Nee-chan with a rare calmness.
That made Elysia's heart tighten for a moment. When it comes to Sakura, you can't even crack a joke anymore? Shiraha.
A moment later, Shiraha's expression turned subtle. "What does Nee-chan do during the day? Even a kid like me overheard my classmates chatting about urban legends and tales of gods and spirits."
"Nee-chan heard me mention Sakura, and still didn't think of Rin?"
Elysia tilted her little head. "Eh?"
Shiraha didn't keep her in suspense. With a perfectly natural tone, he spun the tale on the spot. "Five hundred years ago, in Shinano Province, a demon fox appeared in Yae Village. It could alter people's emotions. Its favorite method was to demand rain, then force others to sacrifice their loved ones, making them kill each other."
"In the end, it was a shrine maiden of Yae Village who sealed that demon fox at the cost of her own life."
"And that shrine maiden was called Yae Sakura. Her younger sister was called Yae Rin."
"Though the only connection to Rin is the single thread of 'manipulating emotions', Sakura and Rin... the names are just too similar. You could call it coincidence, or you could call it something else. But we at least ought to pay attention, shouldn't we, Nee-chan?"
Elysia's mind went completely blank. Had that happened?
She didn't know. She really didn't know!
Had people really been talking about this during the day?
They probably had. After all, Mr. World's Number One Killer was with her from morning till night. Elysia had never seen him read any miscellaneous books or novels.
In other words, while she'd been teasing the child during the day, the child had still been able to spare attention to eavesdrop on the chatter around him?
That produced, for a moment, a faint sense of guilt in her. And a sense of defeat.
Shiraha's smile was helpless. Both of his small hands gripped Nee-chan's hand, wrapping it tightly.
"It's fine. After all, you've got the World's Number One Killer here. Nee-chan only needs to keep her eyes on me."
He glanced one last time at the mirror. As always, only his own reflection stared back—very handsome. But Shiraha slightly disliked looking in mirrors. The image in the glass felt a bit like someone else's perspective.
He looked like a lunatic.
"Let's go. Hands are washed anyway. Time to really check some records and verify whether it's true or false."
Shiraha had just dashed out of the bathroom when a knock came at the door. He paused.
"Who is it?"
Kiana stood in the doorway, glancing left and right. Her expression was thoroughly sneaky.
No sign of Mei-nee for now.
Kiana confirmed the hallway was empty, then pushed Shiraha straight into the room, her movements crisp and decisive, and shut the door behind her.
Shiraha stood stunned for a long moment. What was this?
Elysia's expression, which had just been tinged with a faint sense of guilt and a small sense of defeat, also turned somewhat helpless.
This girl really wasn't a remnant of the same kind as Shiraha?
"Shiraha. Do you want a room of your own?"
Kiana got straight to the point, though Kiana probably had no idea what "getting straight to the point" even meant.
Shiraha looked utterly bewildered. "Isn't this my room right here?"
Kiana shook her head seriously. "I mean, a room that belongs only to you. One that no one can take back."
Shiraha: ....
Oh. Right. Almost forgot you're still just a little girl. In truth, Shiraha was not only thinking about living in the Raiden house, eating the Raiden family's food, using the Raiden family's things, in the future, he was even planning to inherit the Raiden family itself.
But he stayed quiet for a moment, then nodded forcefully.
"Yes!"
Elysia looked surprised. "Eh?"
Shiraha continued, "I've always been thinking about it. I want a little house of my own. Somewhere I can do anything without worrying about being discovered. Without having to care about outsiders' eyes."
"But Uncle Ryoma is a very good person. I think, in the future, I'll probably buy a small house. But most of the time, I'll still live here."
Elysia: ....
A house here is so huge. How many years would you have to work just to buy one the same?
And what exactly is so inconvenient to do here? Taking girls out?
But Elysia didn't ask this time. Because she vaguely remembered, Shiraha had said something like this to her not long ago. That the two of them should have a little house that belonged to them. One where they wouldn't be watched by others.
Her starry eyes stirred.
So did Kiana's.
Kiana's big, sky-blue eyes were exceptionally lively. "Uncle Ryoma is a really good person. Just a little that slips through his fingers can completely transform Dad's whole image."
"But relying entirely on someone else's goodwill like that... it's a little unsettling. Shiraha, you really do feel the same way, don't you!"
In over a year of drifting and hardship, Kiana had long since understood, she could only rely on herself for everything. At the very least, in the basics of daily life, she had to leave herself a margin of safety...
As for friends? Those could of course be trusted. At least, that was what Kiana, who currently only had one friend, believed.
Shiraha blinked. So... Kiana, who probably wasn't yet a single-celled organism... what exactly was your idea?
His face full of anticipation, he asked, "So?"
Kiana was full of dreams. "Let's create a club. Then, later, kick out anyone who isn't a real friend. That way, we'll have our own little room."
School was truly wonderful. With such simple conditions, you could actually get assigned a room.
Shiraha fell silent.
Sorry. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up.