Yukino watched with growing irritation as the unfamiliar girl clung tightly to Kouma.
Her chest tightened uncomfortably at the sight.
Just minutes earlier, this stunningly beautiful girl—wearing star-patterned contact lenses that made her eyes sparkle unnaturally—had burst into the Service Club without knocking.
She’d spouted nonsense about “declaring war” and vowed to “take Kouma back” from the Yukinoshita family in dramatic fashion.
The audacity made Yukino’s blood boil in a way she couldn’t explain.
Had this happened yesterday, she might have simply shoved Kouma at the intruder without a second thought.
But after spending the entire school day with him—holding his small hand during their walk home, watching him diligently complete his elementary school worksheets in the clubroom—she’d begun seeing the unexpected appeal of having such an adorable, well-behaved younger brother.
Something about the way his tiny fingers curled around hers soothed the deep-seated frustrations from her ongoing conflict with their mother—more calming than even petting cats, which had previously been her greatest comfort.
Though she maintained her characteristic cold exterior, internally she’d nearly accepted him as family.
And now this starry-eyed stranger came to steal him away?
“He’s my brother now!” Yukino declared sharply, her voice like winter frost.
“His home is with the Yukinoshitas!”
She snapped her book shut with deliberate force, the crisp sound emphasizing her barely contained anger.
Ai finally met her glare head-on, those artificially enhanced starry eyes locking onto the aloof beauty before her with unsettling intensity.
“Hmph!
If I weren’t underage and could legally adopt him myself, your family would never have gotten Kou-kun in the first place!”
Yukino’s instincts prickled at the ominous implication behind those words.
Her grip on her book tightened imperceptibly.
What exactly does this girl plan to do when she’s older?
What legal methods is she imagining?
“Ai-nee, what brings you to Shuchi’in?” Kouma quickly interjected, sensing the rising tension.
His small hands patted Ai’s arms where they wrapped around him.
“Don’t you have performances scheduled today?”
“I took emergency time off just to see you!” Ai nuzzled her cheek against his, their skin pressing together intimately.
“I couldn’t sleep at all without holding you last night…it was unbearable!”
“I desperately need my Kou-energy recharge right now!”
As the idol rubbed their faces together like affectionate cats, Yukino’s right eye twitched violently.
Every second of this display reinforced her growing suspicion about this girl’s clearly inappropriate intentions toward a child.
Steeling herself, Yukino set aside her book and reached out to pull Kouma back—just as Ai’s phone erupted in the upbeat melody of B-Komachi’s latest single.
Just as Yukino began relaxing her tense shoulders, Ai suddenly pressed a cold metal object into Kouma’s small hand.
“I had Miyako-nee rent an apartment just five minutes from campus!
I’m transferring to Shuchi’in next week!”
“Once I move in, you can come sleep over anytime!
We’ll have pajama parties every night!”
She punctuated this declaration by pecking his cheek loudly, then flounced out in a whirl of sweet perfume, leaving Yukino standing frozen in stunned disbelief.
“She…rented an entire apartment?
And is transferring schools…?”
The realization hit with the force of a physical blow—this wasn’t some casual claim.
The girl was dead serious, willing to rearrange her entire life to “steal” Kouma back.
She couldn’t just stand by and let this happen!
“Kouma-kun,” Yukino said carefully, her voice deliberately even as she eyed the shiny new key in his small palm.
“Who exactly was that girl?”
Kouma examined the address tag attached to the key, his small fingers tracing the engraved numbers.
“Ai-nee is like family—we grew up together at the orphanage.” His voice carried genuine affection.
“She promised to adopt me when she turned twenty.”
Yukino barely suppressed her immediate urge to confiscate the dangerous key.
Though the Service Club returned to its usual quiet atmosphere, her mind remained turbulent as a stormy sea.
Her eyes mechanically skimmed the same book page over and over, her attention constantly drifting to where Kouma sat swinging his short legs.
By the time he spoke up nearly an hour later, she realized with frustration that she hadn’t absorbed a single word from her literature assignment.
“Yukino-nee, I need to use the restroom.”
“Hmm?
Down the hall to the left.” Her distracted reply followed him out automatically.
…
Outside the Service Club.
Around the corner, Miko peered anxiously at the clubroom door while chewing her lower lip raw.
Her fingers twisted nervously in the hem of her uniform skirt.
“Should I go in…?” she whispered to herself, shifting her weight between feet.
“That’s definitely Yukinoshita-san inside…”
“Is that little boy really her brother?”
Having just witnessed the dramatic confrontation through the slightly ajar door, Miko hesitated near the water fountain.
Yukinoshita’s striking beauty and icy demeanor made her the school’s untouchable princess—someone Miko had never dared speak to despite sharing classes. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“Would someone like her even let me borrow her brother for exorcisms…?” The thought made her stomach churn.
As she deliberated, the door suddenly creaked open—revealing Kouma’s small form stepping into the hallway.
Miko ducked back behind a row of lockers, her heart pounding.
In her haste, she failed to notice the gaunt, decaying spirit that had been lurking behind her until she turned and came face-to-face with its hollow, smoke-filled eye sockets.
“Can you see me?”
“Can you see me?”
The spirit’s relentless questioning began the instant their eyes met, its lipless mouth stretching into a grotesque grin.
Pure terror screamed through Miko’s mind even as her face remained carefully, impossibly blank.
Sweat trickled down her back beneath her uniform.
“Ah…really need to pee…”
Her deadpan mutter covered the panic as she scurried after Kouma’s retreating form—unaware the leering spirit floated after her, its tattered kimono whispering against the floor tiles.
Only after entering the men’s room did realization strike like lightning.
Flustered beyond reason, she dashed into the nearest stall and slammed the door—just as the floating spirit head mounted itself on the door like a grotesque trophy, its neck stretching unnaturally long.
“Pee!
Pee!
I love watching pretty girls pee!”
Miko nearly wept at her horrific misfortune.
Of all the disgusting spirits to encounter, why this voyeuristic monstrosity?
Knock knock
“Miss, this is the men’s room.”
Kouma’s voice through the stall door sounded like divine salvation.
“Oh!
S-sorry!”
She burst out in a flurry of limbs—only to slip spectacularly on the slightly damp tiles, her body tumbling forward uncontrollably toward the small boy.
“I knew this would happen…”
Kouma caught her effortlessly despite their size difference, though the momentum sent his face plowing directly into her ample chest, his nose and mouth buried deep in the soft valley between her breasts.
“So big—I mean, so heavy!”
His muffled complaint sent warm breath cascading over her sensitive skin through the thin fabric of her blouse, stirring strange, unfamiliar sensations that made her face burn.
“Ah!
S-sorry!” she squeaked, scrambling upright with her uniform in disarray.