“What grade are you in now, Kouma-kun?”
“First grade elementary school!”
Hearing the little boy’s still-childish voice with its lingering baby tones, Mrs.
Yotsuya fell into deeper silence.
Her slender fingers twisted together on her plump thighs, her brows furrowed with worry.
While Kouma’s appearance was indeed exceptional enough to make this young married woman want to hug him at first sight…
But!
First grade elementary school…
Even if she approved, the law certainly wouldn’t!
“Stay strong, Touko!”
“Take responsibility as a mother!”
“You must correct Miko’s behavior!”
Mrs.
Yotsuya silently cheered herself on.
She prepared a fruit platter for them while subtly probing about the relationship between Kouma and Yotsuya Miko.
The fragmented answers she received only deepened her concern:
Classmate’s younger brother…
First met in the bathroom…
Only known each other for a day…
With each piece of information, Mrs.
Yotsuya’s heart sank further.
She began questioning whether she’d neglected her daughter for too long.
How had Miko…
seemingly turned into a sh[otacon-obsessed pervert?
Her pretty face clouded with worry as she watched Miko lead Kouma into her bedroom under suspicious circumstances.
“Mom’s been acting weird today for some reason,” Miko apologized to Kouma.
“I think she’s nice,” Kouma smiled.
From what he’d gathered, the Yotsuya family situation differed from the original story.
In this world, Miko’s younger brother had died years ago in a disaster—not surprising in this mixed supernatural world filled with monsters.
“Kouma, there are two evil spirits in my room—one in the drawer, one under the covers.”
Nodding without ceremony (since exorcising spirits was today’s purpose), Kouma swiftly dispatched both spirits before they could grow violent.
Watching Kouma lift her covers, Miko felt strangely flustered.
Though she knew he was just exorcising, this marked the first time any boy had entered her bedroom…
Her cheeks flushed pink as she hurriedly pulled the covers back.
“Now just the bathroom one!” She quickly led Kouma out, completely missing her mother’s stunned expression in the living room.
“When did Miko become so bold?” Mrs.
Yotsuya wondered aloud, her delicate hands clenching.
“She’s not even trying to hide it from me anymore…”
Her expression shifted through shades of dismay as she crept to the bathroom door.
Pressing her ear against it, she caught snippets of conversation:
“…too high like that…”
“…then you ride me instead…”
“…mmph…”
“Wow…
you’re amazing, Kouma-kun…”
The increasingly inappropriate dialogue made Mrs.
Yotsuya instinctively squeeze her thighs together, even as her expression turned pained.
“Miko would actually…?”
No longer able to wait, Mrs.
Yotsuya took a deep breath and burst in.
“Miko!
I’m so disappointed in—”
Her stern rebuke died mid-sentence as she froze in the doorway.
The sight of the little boy riding piggyback on her daughter’s shoulders short-circuited her brain.
Since when did kids play this way?
Was this position even possible?
Wait…
this wasn’t what she’d imagined?
“Mom!
You scared me!
What’s wrong with you today?” Miko complained, nearly losing balance with her passenger.
“Maybe she’s possessed?” The thought made Miko slip, sending both tumbling toward the floor.
“Watch out!” Mrs.
Yotsuya lunged forward, cushioning their fall with her own body.
Thud!
When he tried pushing himself up, twin moans of very different tones filled the air.
Several minutes later…
Kouma dried his hands with tissue—perfectly normal when bathroom floors get wet, especially after knocking over a water basin that left him half-soaked.
Mrs.
Yotsuya apologetically dug out some old clothes belonging to Miko’s late brother, inviting him to shower at their place.
In the living room, mother and daughter sat facing each other.
Nearly identical faces—one youthful, one mature—both bore lingering blushes as awkward silence thickened.
Finally, Mrs.
Yotsuya broke the tension, “Let’s have Kouma-kun stay for dinner.”
“Okay, Mom.”
Both carefully avoided mentioning recent events.
“I’m done showering.”
When Kouma emerged, both women turned to look, momentarily stunned.
The same thought flashed through their minds simultaneously:
“Like a lotus rising from water.”
Miko realized this phrase describing feminine beauty fit the little boy perfectly without seeming odd.
She felt her heartbeat quicken again.
“He’s still just a little boy…” she thought wistfully, suddenly struck by the melancholy of “I was born too soon, while you were born too late.”
“I’m going to shower too!” Flustered, Miko fled to the bathroom while Mrs.
Yotsuya started dinner preparations.
When Miko returned to her room after bathing, she found Kouma studying her thoughtfully.
“Is…
is there something on my face?” she asked, blushing and avoiding eye contact.
“No.
I wanted to tell you, Miko-nee, with your constitution, you’ll keep attracting more spirits.”
Miko’s face fell.
She’d already realized this, but what could she do?
She had no exorcism abilities!
“Miko-nee, do you know about succubi?” Kouma suddenly changed topics.
“I think I saw something online while researching spirits…
Aren’t they nearly extinct?”
Kouma’s eyes gleamed as he locked gazes with her.
“Succubi have a special ability—through dual cultivation with humans, they can grant special powers…”
…