Nothing special today.
Speeding, boxing, drinking.
After spending the whole day going wild with Hiratsuka Shizuka, Akira had to admit that if she were just treated as one of the guys, it would be hard for anyone to dislike her.
She had money, free time, reliable character, and even her hobbies had a pretty boyish edge to them.
With three sentences, you could provoke her into taking a day off and going crazy with you for the entire day.
The only problem was that her drinking habits were a little too painful to look at.
It was not until the night had grown deep that Higashino Akira finally dealt with Hiratsuka Shizuka, who had gone completely limp against him after drunkenly making a scene.
She had been crying, fussing, and whining that he had deceived her feelings.
More importantly, he had to pry apart her merciless iron arm, which had been wrapped around his neck and tightening more and more the longer she talked.
Then he quietly used his Aura Reading authority on her.
[Fortune consumed: 100 points.] [Name: Hiratsuka Shizuka] [Age: 27] [Fortune: Purple] [Conditions met.
Proceed with Imperial Investiture?] “No.” Over the course of the entire day, Akira had not been idle.
He had tried using Imperial Investiture on other women to add them to his harem, but unfortunately, every attempt prompted that the conditions were insufficient.
Either their looks and figure were not enough, their character and talents were mediocre, or their fortune level was too low.
Especially when it came to fortune, Akira had reason to suspect that characters who had appeared in anime generally carried far higher levels of fortune than the overwhelming majority of passersby.
From triggering the new main quest after meeting Yurikawa Hana in the morning, to finally finding one woman at night who met the system’s judgment in every category…
Unfortunately, that woman just had to be Hiratsuka Shizuka.
It was not that Shizuka was bad.
Rather, she was too good, and he knew her too well.
But, Akira did not want to settle down and marry her, nor did he want to deceive the feelings of a woman who only wanted to find a decent man to marry, keep her hanging, and then go entangle himself with other women.
Many things were like that.
The moment feelings got involved, needless worries and all sorts of considerations appeared, bringing one trouble after another.
“Hey, are you still alive?” Akira pinched Shizuka’s cheeks and pulled them to both sides.
“Can you still get home by yourself?” “Damn you, you bastard!
Even if you’ve graduated, show some respect to your former teacher!” Being treated like this by her former student instantly made Shizuka flush red, even though she had been so dazed a moment ago that she could barely tell one, two, and three apart, only knowing how to whimper and mumble.
She countered with a grappling move, slipped behind the bastard, and locked her arm around his neck again.
“Take this!” “Damn it, you only said that after finishing a whole little combo!
No martial ethics!” Akira was so angry that he laughed.
“This is called outsmarting you, baby!” Shizuka felt no shame whatsoever.
“What the hell, which channel did you wander into this time?
Believe it or not, I’ll use you as bridge-camping cannon fodder, you old thing!” “This world is too evil.
Why is there still no one willing to marry me?
All those normies can explode on the spot!” “If you can say something like that, then you’re more evil than the world.” Listening to Shizuka’s incoherent drunken nonsense, Akira sighed.
How had she gotten this drunk after only a few glasses of that cat piss?
Too lazy to pull her away, he called the server over, paid the bill, then simply held Shizuka by the thighs and carried her out of the izakaya on his back.
After fishing the key to her Aston Martin out of the drunkard’s belongings, he went outside, found a driving service, and gave them the address to his house.
… Meanwhile, at the same time, in the living room of the house, Yotsuya Miko had already come home.
She sat alone on the sofa, hugging her knees.
Across from her, the television kept playing, and the entertainers on the variety show let out exaggerated, noisy laughter.
On the low table in front of her were several ten-thousand-yen bills and a sheet of paper torn from a notebook.
The handwriting on the paper was neat and sharp.
[I have something to do outside.
Don’t wait for me.
Lock the doors and windows.
Take care of dinner yourself.
The money is this month’s living expenses and daily allowance.
Tell me if it isn’t enough.] There was no signature.
Miko stared at the note for a long time, then looked at the small stack of bills beside it, an amount clearly exceeding ordinary daily needs.
When she came home that afternoon, the house had been empty.
The house was still the same house, but it had lost much of its warmth and human presence.
Yotsuya Miko did not know where this “brother” had gone.
Even though she had his contact information, she did not dare ask what he was out doing, nor did she dare ask when he would come back.
She was afraid they were not close enough.
She was also afraid that she was being self-important, that he would think she was like a little child who got scared when no adult stayed by her side.
But…
There was none of Mom’s usual care.
None of the helpless drifting from those funeral days, when she had simply followed whatever others arranged.
None of the anxious interactions with her new “brother.” There was nothing.
Even though she had turned the television volume up again and again, Yotsuya Miko realized for the first time that her world could be this quiet.
The overwhelming loneliness of knowing that Mom was truly gone from now on, and that she was really the only one left in the world, wrapped around her like a rising tide.
Yotsuya Miko sat frozen for a very long time.
Only when a tear silently slipped from her eye, and the burning droplet grew cold as it rolled down her cheek, did she belatedly come back to herself and raise a hand to touch the tear tracks on her face.
“Oh my, what’s wrong, Miko?
Did you think of something sad?
Why are you crying all of a sudden?
Don’t be scared.
Mom is here.
Mom will always stay by your side.” Yotsuya Miko stood up, wiped away her tears, turned off the television with a blank expression, then went into the shower to wash up.
Afterward, she changed into her pajamas and lay down beneath the blanket.
Beside her ear, that familiar voice was still speaking.
“Although that child isn’t very good at expressing himself, Mom can tell he’s a good boy.” “He just didn’t know Miko before, so he isn’t familiar with you yet.
He suddenly has a little sister now, and he doesn’t know how to get along with you.” “Miko is a good girl too.” “So as long as Miko is willing to take the initiative and talk to him more, once he understands your personality and knows that Miko is a sensible and adorable child, he will definitely come to like our Miko.” “You’ve always been quiet, Miko.
From now on, you absolutely can’t keep being like this.
The two of you will be family relying on each other from now on.
Family can’t be too distant or unfamiliar with each other, okay?” Yotsuya Miko pulled the blanket higher, covering her head as she tried to block out those voices with a useless gesture.
She did not dare acknowledge this voice.
Nor did she dare tell Higashino Akira that she could see ghosts.
Ever since her mother died, Yotsuya Miko had gained spirit sight.
She could see all kinds of evil spirits, and every day, her vision of them became clearer than the day before.
Each day, she could feel countless evil spirits passing by her side, carrying all kinds of malice, trying to discover whether anyone could see them.
Some evil spirits even disguised themselves as normal people to trick those who could see into revealing themselves.
Yotsuya Miko truly did not dare gamble on whether the gentle-looking face of this “Mom” at home was also a disguise.
She did not dare find out whether exposing herself would lead to tragedy.
And in a world where evil spirits surrounded everything and were almost everywhere, she was even less willing to risk exposing herself by telling Higashino Akira, the only person she could barely call family now, and the one still willing to take care of her.
She did not want to drag him into another dangerous world.
Evil spirits were beings that lingered in the world because of obsession.
No matter how well they disguised themselves, they were no longer among the living, and they were no longer the people they had been before death.
The more you vote, the more chapters I upload weekly.) …
Replace “é” with “e” on your web browser.)