Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon - Volume 8C, 63

Volume 8C, Chapter 63: Late Night Stalker in the Late Night Kitchen

Y’know

I think about

These things too

Point Allocation (The Nerve of This Boy)

As the night wore on, Fukushima was hit by an urge she couldn’t explain. Something she had been mentally suppressing felt like it was pushing up from the back of her head and bottom of her chest.

“Kh.”

Feeling like she had strings pasted to the undersides of her muscles, she sat up and then pressed her back against a protruding rock below her mat.

…What is this?

She wondered if it was exhaustion. When she took a break from exercising, she would feel a tingling in her relaxing muscles just before falling asleep because they wanted to be used more.

But this was different. She wasn’t sure how to describe it, but she knew this wasn’t exhaustion or insufficient exercise.

It was anger.

The thoughts she had suppressed for the past two days were trying to flood back out into her mind.

Oh, no, she thought. I must not let them out. Because…

“Suppressing this is why I am out here.”

She tossed and turned a few times and opened her eyes yet again to look up.

Of course, she was in her tent. The green tent only looked like a dark shadow at night.

She couldn’t even see herself clearly in the dark, indistinct space.

She tried to convince herself she was tossing and turning because it was hot and she couldn’t get to sleep because she had slept during the day.

“——”

The urge crawled along her back.

Back then…back when? No, her mind was refusing to look back. But she couldn’t help it because she could tell looking back and remembering would end poorly.

But she did know she had seriously screwed up back then. That was why she had hit her head hard and scolded herself.

But that scolding was meaningless. Not when it had all already happened back then.

So what was she supposed to do?

“I…”

She thought about it and felt the crawling sensation rise from her back to her neck.

She couldn’t bear it and rolled onto her stomach, but she still felt a ticklish tremor below her back muscles.

So she inhaled.

She pulled her knees to her chest, sat up, and placed her arms below her knees. She tensed her back to stretch the muscles and eliminate that crawling sensation.

It would not stop.

But instead of feeling like thick strings were wriggling along her back, she felt a strange heat around the tendons connecting the muscles and an itch like some fingers were lightly rubbing from within her back.

“Kh.”

The sensation was ticklish, but it felt disgusting coming from inside her like that.

She wasn’t doing enough.

She had to tense her back more to stretch the muscles more. So she released her legs and pulled over the sleeping bag. She rolled that up and held it tight between her arms.

“—–”

She shut her eyes, hoping this would pass soon.

…Something is starting here.

Mitotsudaira hung her head while seated at a table.

She was in the Main Blue Thunder after business hours. They had just finished preparing for their visit to her mother’s house tomorrow.

The clock struck 12 at night and Horizon spoke from the head of the table.

“Tomorrow we pay Mitotsudaira-sama’s mother’s house a visit, but first we must hold the official Main Blue Thunder Girls Expenses Competition.”

“Must it be a competition?” asked Mitotsudaira.

“It must.”

Kimi nodded in agreement, standing next to Horizon. She snapped her fingers.

“Read it off, foolish brother.”

Behind the counter, the king stopped cleaning to open a sign frame.

“Let’s see, should I start with food?”

“Y-yes, please…do.”

Asama hung her head to show she had already resigned herself to her fate, but then she looked up.

“Oh, d-do the things I bring from the shrine get deducted from my number?”

“S-stop trying to weasel out of this, Tomo!”

“Hm, I think we’re going to keep it simple this time,” said the king.

“Judge.” Horizon nodded. “Then take it away, Toori-sama. Oh, but you do not need to mention 4th place. We all know which one of us…” She brushed a hand through her hair. “Heh, has zero food expenses.”

“Heh heh. Impressive, Horizon! That shrine maiden and wolf could learn a thing or two from you!”

…All I’m learning here is how much regret one person can feel!

Thinking back, Mitotsudaira realized she had eaten a lot over the past several days. She blamed the Ariake manga festival. They had stayed up all night and they had packed lunches or eaten out for the lunches, so that had increased how much she ate.

No, it was her king she blamed the most. Because…

…Whenever I’m eating, he just serves me more and more for his own amusement.

And no knight could refuse food served her by her king, so she always ate it. She had eaten a lot. She had eaten so much she had been worried about the following morning, but it had all worked out thanks to her Loup-Garou blood. It isn’t often I want to thank my mother…and on second thought I am not doing that here either

She could tell the type and quality of the meat just bey eating it. All of the meat had been of high quality and it had generally been a mixture of cuts, but always served so the tougher and softer cuts were separated.

That was further reason to blame her king. Because…

…Even when he served me something that looked the same, it would be subtly different once I ate it.

She recalled what he had done when she got back late at night the other day: “Here’s some Musashi-style boiled pork. It should have a nice refreshing flavor.”

He had made a stock of dark beer and soy sauce mixed at a 2:1 ratio, added some onion and salt, and lightly marinated the pork before roughly boiling it. The mixture of the beer’s bitterness and the soy sauce’s saltiness had given it a somewhat adult flavor. Adding mustard had given it a Western flavor, but it had indeed been a refreshing flavor all around. She had found it helped invigorate her in the summer heat. The seasoning was simple, it could be chilled, and…

…He clearly used good meat.

There was also that one night he served some smoked meat, but that went well with sake, which should add a lot to Asama’s score. Two birds with one stone, really.

…Wait, no!

At any rate, she had given into her desires and eaten all sorts of food, so she was worried.

And…

“Okay, I’ll start with 3rd place.”

Mitotsudaira listened intently.

“Nate. Your food expenses for a week are estimated at just over 10 thousand yen.”

Asama nearly fell to her knees while sitting in a chair.

She felt like every joint in her spine collapsed by about 5mm as her head crashed down onto the table.

…Oh, no. I lost to Mito? Then I must be in 1st place!

My drinking is a problem. A big problem.

But why did a café like this stock Far Eastern sake? And the good stuff too.

…Probably because Toori-kun’s mom drinks.

In fact, his mom had mentioned it before: “Those are mine, but if you just can’t resist, Tomo-chan, you can drink them and replace them. You can use them for cooking too.”

That’s right. I mostly used them for cooking. I had a bottle there on the countertop and a measuring cup next to it for some taste testing- oh, dear. There’s the problem. The big problem. I emptied five bottles like that.

The grilled chicken and fish was a problem too. She wasn’t used to doing the cooking, so when it was her turn, she had bought too much and had ingredients left over, so she had ended up making large lunches for everyone at Summer ImMoral Manga.

…I’m still making excuses, aren’t I!?

She knew she was doing it, but she couldn’t stop. I need to cut back after our visit to Mito’s family home and after the Honnouji Incident. Yes. I need Honnouji to happen soon so I can vindicate myself.

“2nd place is Asama. Sake was your biggest expense. About 30 thousand a week?”

“Eh?” Asama looked up in surprise. “It was only that bad?”

“Drinking mom’s sake hurt you a lot, but you’re pretty frugal otherwise. Without the sake, you’d be sitting at around 4 thousand.”

Everyone looked up at the ceiling and counted something on their fingers. After a bit, Mitotsudaira looked down.

“How did you only spend that much cooking?”

“Yes, that was an awful lot of food for such a low price, Asama-sama!”

“Heh heh heh. Your drinking ruined it, though.”

“Y-you just had to say it, didn’t you, Kimi!? Didn’t you!?”

She knew she had her mother’s teachings to thank here. She didn’t want to think of herself as cheap and her cooking had been well-liked, so…

“I might be able to save a lot of money if I’m the one cooking. Mito did some cooking too, but I did it more during the Ariake manga festival and I get the feeling it will work out that way more often in the future too.”

Oh, and…

“Far Eastern cooking uses lighter seasonings, it mostly just uses salt or dashi, and you rarely cook things in fat, so I think those little things add up in the long run.”

“I see,” said the others before turning toward Kimi.

“Kimi.”

“Heh heh. Yes?”

“You must be in 1st place.”

Come to think of it, Kimi had accompanied Asama, Mitotsudaira, and Horizon in the cooking and the eating. So she would naturally have the largest expenses based on what she had eaten.

So…

“Are you ready?”

“I am! Go, foolish brother! I can take it!”

“Sure,” he said before reading the sign frame.

“1st place is…” He couldn’t look them in the eye. “Horizon.”

Horizon raised her arms and struck a pose.

“Victory is miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!”

“Um, Horizon?” said the king. “This says you eat 70 thousand a week. Care to explain how that happened?”

“70 thousand?” muttered Mitotsudaira, impressed. Horizon slapped her stomach before answering.

“It’s called burning 10 thousand worth of fuel every single day! Because it’s all so good.”

“What were you eating that cost so much?”

“That is a simple matter,” said Horizon. “I helped Toori-sama cook, helped Asama-sama cook, helped Mitotsudaira-sama cook, helped Kimi-sama cook, ate the finished products, and then gave into the summer break mood while working at the Blue Thunder too. Oh, and I would eat more when I was too hungry to keep going at night.”

“Toori-kun, um, hold on a second.”

Asama took the king over to a corner of the room. She raised a finger and said things like “the thing is” and “if you ask me” and “Horizon is a free spirit, so you need to rein her in” while he repeated “okay” and “got it”. It was a scene they had witnessed countless times.

Then the king returned.

“Okay, you need to cut back.”

“Judge. Now you have seen a small glimpse of what I am truly capable of. Scared yet?”

Mitotsudaira and Asama could only answer yes. But in that case…

“How did Kimi end up in 4th place?”

“That is a simple matter,” said Horizon, so Asama beckoned Kimi over.

Just like with the king, she took her to a corner of the room and said things like “listen, Kimi” and “you can’t just give her food whenever she wants it” and “if you must give her something, make it something lighter” while Kimi reacted with mock distress. It was a scene as nonsensical as they had come to expect with Kimi.

Then Kimi returned.

“Heh heh heh. Am I perfect, or what!?” She pointed at Asama, Mitotsudaira, and Horizon in turn. “Sake! Meat! Everything! Living with this kind of debauchery is going to be exiting indeed, foolish brother!”

“I thought this was a lot of fun because of how it reflected your personalities so well,” he said.

“Just out of curiosity, what were your expenses, my king?”

“Like this.” He showed them the sign frame. “I was between Nate and Sis. About 5 thousand, I think? Like Asama said, I bet we could keep our expenses down a lot depending on how many days a week we cook and if we use leftover ingredients. Not to mention baking our own bread instead of buying it, or just using rice instead.”

Mitotsudaira could understand that since she used to ask her maid automaton to buy bread for her so she could live her life as a knight. She did know how to bake bread, but it was so time consuming.

…So cooking rice is always an alternative.

She only now considered bringing some rice to her mother’s house. There would be a Mito store open at the market near the port next morning, so she could buy some there.

“Oh, I’ll be bringing rice with my luggage. Auge-chan says she’ll be sending supplies periodically by transport ship, so we could order some through there as well.” He turned toward Asama. “Which reminds me, has Seijun contacted you?”

“Eh? Oh, she has. She says they finished paying back their debt.”

Horizon opened a sign frame.

Horizey: “Congratulations, Heidi-sama! Your acquittal means the Udon Kingdom has lost their living gods, so perhaps you would consider leveling up to producing dried noodles.”

Circle Be: “As much as I would love to be a living god, I would prefer something easier to pass next time! Anyway, we hope to meet up with you after making some money in Kantou, but we should probably arrange all that with Masazumi. Oh, and Asama-chi?”

Asama: “Yes?”

Circle Be: “Thank you for arranging this. We did repay the debt ourselves, but we still needed your help to get started.”

Silver Wolf: “You’ve learned your lesson, I hope?”

Horizey: “Do not worry, Mitotsudaira-sama. I am sure they will give the people what they want by doing it again.”

Mitotsudaira wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that.

Circle Be: “I also have something to give you, Asama-chi.”

Everyone looked to Asama curiously, but then the king looked up.

“Oh, it must be the rights to my God Mosaic.”

“Huh?”

Asama wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

The God Mosaic was an Amaterasu optical spell and it could be bought at most any shrine, not just the Asama Shrine.

So she knew he had been buying it from Heidi because she had arranged a really good deal, but…

“I want you in charge now, Asama. You’re the Asama Shrine Representative, so I had worried it would be too much of a bother for you and the shrine every time I wanted to strip, but I think it’s about time. Auge-chan was trying to thank you in a really indirect way so you didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“No, it’s not a problem at all – for me or the shrine. Although I’m not sure if I should really thank you for something like this.”

“Heh heh. So now Asama is the master of my foolish brother’s crotch.”

“O-officially speaking only!”

“So now I would require Asama-sama’s permission get the uncensored version of Toori-sama when we combine?”

“No, no, no. Heidi’s authority here is only over managing the spell inventory. The usage rights are based on how Toori-kun has it set up.”

So…

“Um…does anyone else want that authority?”

Horizon looked at the others. Kimi placed a hand on her chin and said “it wouldn’t be all that funny to use it on myself”, and Mitotsudaira suddenly grew very interested in the kitchen so she didn’t have to look anyone in the eye.

“What does that authority give you?” inquired Horizon.

“It lets you manage the spell inventory, so you really just make sure he doesn’t run out.”

Horizon fell silent and gradually began sweating more and more.

“B-but! You can set it to refill automatically if you want!”

“Heh. I already have you handle my divine transmission settings and everything else. It might be romantic or cute to keep this one thing under my control, but perhaps I should keep in mind who the best person for the job is.”

“Horizon, you have blood dripping from your mouth… And we all fail to keep that in mind from time to time.”

Horizon mimed moving a piece of luggage from left to right and then nodded toward Asama.

“To be blunt, my body protests when I attempt annoying tasks.”

“Um, yes, I’ve noticed.”

“I am sure there are some things you need that authority to accomplish, so if I am ever annoyed with the God Mosaic, I will shout ‘Asama-samaaaa!’ and you can provide a lightning bolt or something. In fact, leaving you in charge has its perks because I could not add that kind of option myself.”

Asama checked out of curiosity and found the Takemikazuchi lightning bolt option had a discount since Takemikazuchi served Amaterasu. On the other hand…

“The vertical solar beam from high heaven would be cheaper.”

“The atmosphere would weaken it, so wouldn’t the discount be canceled out by the extra cost to strengthen it?” pointed out Mitotsudaira.

“And isn’t the lightning bolt more convenient since it can be used at night and indoors?”

“Wh-what are you people planning to do to my crotch!?” protested Toori.

“Heh heh.” Kimi laughed quietly. “I would recommend just letting them do what they want to you. But is there anything you want to do to them?”

“Eh?” His head dropped forward. “Sleeping buried beneath you all would be like heaven on earth.”

That reminded Asama of their camping trip to Sanada. She had used his arm as a pillow in that cramped tent. Thinking back, that trial period had been even more intense than now.

“Okay.” Kimi pointed at her brother. “Let’s cut straight to the good part! Act out what you want to do, foolish brother! And make yourself look good!”

You’re a genius, sis! shouted Toori on the inside.

I’ve actually given this a lot of thought, but it’s great to have a chance to try it out.

“Let’s see,” he said, thinking of this as a test. “If I wanted to look cool with Horizon, I would…”

“Peh.”

“I haven’t even started yet!!”

He was at the counter, so he mimed grabbing Horizon’s shoulders to make sure her imagined arms didn’t come off, moved in close to make sure her imagined elbow didn’t uppercut him, made sure her imagined knee did not shoot up to hit him, made sure her imagined head didn’t headbutt him, and…

“My king! My king! Why are you moving so stiffly!?”

“Heh. Do you see how high difficulty I am now?” boasted Horizon.

“Fix that, foolish brother! Fix it! Yes, fix it and continue!”

“Okay,” he said before starting on his next line. First, he looked the imagined Horizon in the eye. “Horizon,” he said. “I swear I’ll treat you right.”

So…

“If you would respond more peacefully than usual, it would be a win-win for both of us. Or at least, I won’t end up sobbing after we’re done or have to quit partway through due to accumulated damage. So how about it? No? Yeah, didn’t think so…”

“Toori-kun! You’re kind of rambling now!”

“I believe I got the gist of it,” said Horizon.

“Eh? You did!?”

“Judge.” She nodded. “He is challenging me to a quick duel.”

Mitotsudaira sensed her king crouching behind the counter.

“U-um, my king?”

“Sh, Mitotsudaira-sama. Spoiling him is Asama-sama’s job. And no sign frames have appeared near her, so I doubt he is about to die of sadness or anything like that.”

“Y-you sure are strict, Horizon!” snapped back her king.

He is a real entertainer if he can stand back up after that.

As for Kimi…

“Foolish brother, figure out what you did wrong and rework it! Now do Mitotsudaira!”

…Eh!?

Mitotsudaira felt her face go pale but then it bounced back to extremely flushed.

…Ehhh!?

She looked around in a fluster to see Asama giving her the smile of a girl who had yet to consider her own upcoming turn. Horizon was clapping and Kimi was performing a weirdly understandable pantomime that meant: “Hold out your hand → Ask her to shake → Pat her if she does it” I am not a dog, you know?

“Leave it to me,” said her king with a thumbs up. “Nate.”

He gave a casual smile and mimed beckoning her over.

“Come here. Cooome here. Yes, yes, yes, yes. There’s a good girl. Did you know you can pat a wolf here to keep her docile? See, you’re narrowing your eyes already. It tricks you into thinking I’m part of your pack, so I can hold my arm out and you won’t bite it. ‘Chomp!’ Ow ow ow ow ow!”

“My king! Isn’t that joke from the Age of the Gods!?”

The worst part was how it was partially accurate. But he gave another thumbs up.

“Nate.”

She heard him speaking to an imagined version of her.

“Can you prove to me that you’re really my knight?”

And…

“Eh? How? Well, uh, you just have to…you know. No, no, I’m serious. Just a little bit, okay? Yeah, I won’t do anything weird. No, no, no. I swear I’m serious. I won’t do anything that would hurt you. And you can tell me to stop at any time. Yeah, just a little bit.”

“What in the world are you imagining!?”

“Okay!” Kimi smiled and dropped her raised hand. “You need to rework that one too, foolish brother! In fact, start over from scratch! Got that!?”

Asama saw blushing Mitotsudaira take a breath.

…Wow.

Kimi had put an end to it, but she had seen the wolf tremble for a moment before that.

When he put it like that, Mitotsudaira had no choice but to respond. It had caught her by surprise here, so she hadn’t had a choice even if she did have a countermeasure in mind.

So she must have imagined it and now she was taking a breath to calm herself.

“Mito, you have some work to do too.”

“I do. I can’t let myself fall silent and fail to respond to my king.”

“But,” said Horizon, raising her right hand. “With Toori-sama and Mitotsudaira-sama, I was honestly imagining something more like ‘Nate, how would you like to eat my “meat” tonight?’ ‘I would love that. I was really craving an extra-large serving of “meat” tonight!’ ”

“We aren’t my mother and father.”

“Your parents are like that, aren’t they?” said Asama. “But the way you ordered them makes it sound like your mother is the one in control.”

“Because she is. But as absurd as all of this has been, it has been very ‘educational’. Because I had never even considered how I would respond to these things,” she said. “I also need to consider the possibility of him turning it into a joke.”

That reminded Asama of something: Horizon.

He and she had made jokes, but what if the things they said before the jokes were how they actually felt?

…Oh.

Horizon had not said “I believe I got the gist of it” in response to his joke.

So if you isolated just their initial responses, it came out to:

“I swear I’ll treat you right.”

“I believe I got the gist of it.”

That was why he had responded with “You did!?”

…Wow.

It sort of reminded her of the way those two had canceled out each other’s arguments back at Mikawa. She knew she could be a pain to deal with too, but with those two, it was less about being a pain and just how they were made.

They formed a single whole together. People referred to couples that way from time to time, but it really seemed true here. Although with Horizon, there was a serious chance she really would challenge him to a duel. If that happened, how were the rest of them supposed to respond? Asama suspected she could find a similar situation recorded in the Asama Shrine’s library, but there was a beauty to figuring things out on your own, so maybe a beginner shouldn’t worry too much about that. Oh, but I already know more or less what he likes based on the porn games he plays.

“Now do Asama, foolish brother!”

Now it was her turn.

Mitotsudaira saw Asama exhaling.

…She’s keeping a natural stance!

Would that let her react to and accept whatever might be coming her way?

“You look like a true master, Asama-sama!”

“No, it’s just that I more or less know what’s coming.”

“Okay, foolish brother! Begin!”

“Uh, sure,” said the king, posing behind the counter.

He faced an imaginary Asama and scratched his head.

“Asama,” he said. “Can we do it?”

…Really!? That’s all!?

Confused, Mitotsudaira looked over at Asama. The shrine maiden had her lips pressed together and looked a bit angry and a bit troubled. But then she raised her right index finger and wagged it back and forth.

“W-well, if you insist.”

“Nope! That’s a foul!!” Kimi pulled a whistle from her cleavage, blew it, and waved at Asama. “That response is against he rules! You’re out!”

Oops, thought Asama.

He had said pretty much what she had imagined, so she had accidentally responded.

…But that’s generally how it is between us.

Their relationship was like a lazy kind of happiness. They didn’t try to show off or go to too much effort with each other. That was more Horizon and Mitotsudaira’s territory. With her…

“If I did have a complaint, maybe it would be better if you made it feel like I was doing you a favor more than granting a request? It would feel less like there was an obligation.”

“Yeah, after I said it, I thought I could’ve made it sound more special.”

“Heh heh. That happens a lot with you.”

It also felt like her ordinary self was being judged here. It was difficult to only be that way when it was convenient. So…

“You had better keep doing my foolish brother lots of favors. Heh heh heh.”

“Based on that laugh, I’m guessing you just think it will be funny!”

“How can you and my king act so normal about this?”

“Yes, I feel like Asama-sama could stand to play a little harder to get there.”

“No, no. That isn’t like me.”

Despite what she said, she had honestly been kind of cautious. Maybe she had been partially expecting the opposite from him, but…

…It would be very bad if he used some cool line with me.

Based on Horizon and Mitotsudaira’s reactions, they had also expected him to use a line like that on her.

But how would she have reacted if he had used one?

She might have laughed it off because it didn’t suit them. On the other hand, she might have felt she didn’t deserve it. But what if he did like he with Mitotsudaira and took something from their everyday life and gave it a different meaning? Like “Can you prove to me that you’re really my shrine maiden?” That one was designed for Mitotsudaira, so it felt off just changing the one word, but…

…Hmm.

She couldn’t even imagine what he could have said for her because he had never said anything like it. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but she felt a tingle in her spine at how solidified their relationship had become. However…

…What would I do if he said something like that?

“Oh.”

Her imagination ran wild for a moment.

This is bad, thought Asama.

She had trouble reacting when he did something she didn’t expect. That was a lesson she had learned the hard way. They knew each other really well, which brought a certain sense of comfort, and they knew they could rely on each other, so even if something unexpected happened, she felt like she could handle it based on her past experience.

That was why she knew how hopeless he was.

But what if he showed her another way of looking at that same relationship?

What if she had to accept it right then and there instead acclimating to it over time?

She would have no idea what she was doing, but still accept it. In other words…

…L-letting him have his way with me!?

Nothing like that had ever happened before.

Her job and role as a shrine maiden meant she primarily did things for other people. She could generally look after herself, so she wasn’t used to having other people do something for her.

What would she do if that happened?

No, what would be done to her?

And what would she do afterwards?

These thoughts were racing through her head when he turned toward her.

“Asama.”

“Y-yes?”

“I’ll rework that.”

“P-please do.”

She wasn’t sure what she was even saying. Frankly, she was overwhelmed.

…Wow.

Even her own imagination had trouble reacting when he did something she didn’t expect.

…The master of the natural stance just self-destructed.

A question occurred to Mitotsudaira as she watched Asama blush and stare motionlessly off into space.

“My king? Purely hypothetically, how would you go about it with Kimi?”

“I wouldn’t stand a chance against her.”

She wasn’t quite sure what he meant, yet it made a lot of sense to her.

But in that case…

“What about you Kimi? What would you tell my king in a situation like that?”

“Hm? That would be easy.”

Kimi brushed back her hair and then placed the hand below her chest where she knocked on her skin a few times.

“Foolish brother?” She smiled. “Come to me.”

Horizey: “Kimi-sama, show some restraint!”

Silver Wolf: “Wh-why do you make it sound like he belongs with you or like you’re a great ocean he calls home!?”

Asama: “Also, Kimi? You really shouldn’t joke about this.”

Wise Sister: “Silly girls. Where do you think he goes when he’s run into some trouble with you and things are too awkward to be with you? I’m his safehouse for times like that. He comes to me to goof off for an evening, vent his frustrations, and eat some delicious treats. Then I send him back out ready to face you the next morning. It would be weird for you to do that and send him off to another one of you, wouldn’t it?”

Horizey: “Um, Kimi-sama, I feel like that is the opposite of showing restraint.”

Mitotsudaira listened to the idiot sister.

“Anyway, I’ll help out where I can and my foolish brother will come up with some improved ideas, so I hope we can all enjoy living together. I’ll be sitting on the sidelines laughing at your troubles.”

“You’re the worst!” shouted Mitotsudaira. “Just the worst!”

“Heh heh. That concludes tonight’s sex talk! Your homework is to agonize over everything we talked about here!”

“Um, Sis? What about me?”

“You got carried away and bought a silver hair book, a knight book, and a shrine maiden book, didn’t you? Then go get studying.”

Kimi then turned to Horizon. She struck the same pose as before, brushing her hair back and knocking below her chest.

“Go like this, Horizon! You can learn to be just as unrestrained as me!”

“Judge!”

Horizon stood up and brushed her hair back.

“Ohh,” gasped an impressed Asama, but then Horizon slapped herself on the belly.

“Bring it oooooooooooooon!”

Did everything have to devolve into a joke in this house?

Later that night, Mitotsudaira heard her king collapsing in the washroom, but she decided not to investigate when Asama got up but stayed put and when she noticed Horizon’s arms were missing.

They would be leaving the next morning.

They needed to visit her mother’s house and see if Kasuya’s Argent Clou could be found there. They also needed to confirm some information and do some strategizing, so they would be holding several meetings while there.