# 030. Famima!

## 01. Volume 1 ( Volume 1 PDF )

### 001. Prologue: Prologo

New series, new

project page

! We have a very short prologue for today, but we have a whole chapter on the way. Look forward to it!

Also, please give a warm welcome to our new editor:

LHI

.

Translator: Junnynam

Editor: LHI

Please enjoy~

____________________

"Hey, where do babies come from?"

Kazuki Ootaki, who was in his second year of primary school, asked his parents while they were on their way back from the sports festival.

“Oh? What’s this Kazuki, you want a younger sibling?”

“Yep, I want a younger sibling.”

“Well, would you prefer a little brother or a little sister?”

“A little sister of course! When I get a little sister, wouldn’t she call me her Onii-chan

[1]

?

”

“That’s true. If she really likes Kazuki, she might call you that.”

“When I get a sister, I’ll be sure to dote on her. I’ll make sure that she calls me her Onii-chan! But, where do little sisters come from?”

Kazuki didn’t know where babies came from. In fact, he didn’t know how babies were made yet because it was too soon for him. When parents are normally asked this question, they usually reply, “babies are delivered by storks” or “they are a proof of daddy and mommy’s love for each other.” They would normally tell them something that would nurture the child’s imagination.

However, his parents were different.

“Babies are sent by god; through the post, in a paper box.”

They threw a curve ball at him.

Kazuki squinted, his eyes becoming small dots.

“Eh!? T-then, I was delivered as well!?”

“Of course~, when you arrived, you were delivered frozen by the Kuroneko Ya●to

[2]

~.”

His mother hit the ball back.

“Ehh!? I was frozen!?”

With his eyes glistening on the verge of tears, Kazuki looked at his parents. After seeing his face, the two of them began laughing like there was no tomorrow.

This may have been the first time ever Kazuki was fooled by his parents.

But for Kazuki, it was a valuable memory.

He never would’ve imagined that his parents’ words would come true one day in the future.

1.

Onii-chan:

Affectionate form of "older brother" in Japanese.

↩

2.

Kuroneko Yamato Transport:

A delivery service in Japan.

↩

### 002. Chapter 1: Sabrina

The first chapter

of Famima

! Let the new imouto legend begin!

Translator: Junnynam

Editor: LHI

Please enjoy~

____________________

1

It was a warm Sunday morning in late April,

and the sunlight was shining down. The quiet neighborhood and scent of the

morning dew were refreshing.

Kazuki’s house was an average residential

house in a corner of the neighborhood.

「

Last night, one of the greatest godfathers of

the largest mafia in Italy passed away. The whole of Italy is in fear,

predicting a fight for power between the mafia gangs. We would like to warn

those who were planning to go to Italy to be very careful.

」

While watching the morning news, Kazuki Ootaki

took a bite of his toast.

"Looks like the world is in turmoil—"

While saying that, he continued to consume

his toast with indifference. Kazuki was just an average second year middle

school student, who looked at the TV monitor thinking It had nothing to do with

him at all.

But that wasn’t all.

「

And now, here is the weather for today.

」

"It’s going to pour today! Lightning

when the sky is this clear? If you think about it logically, that can’t happen.

I just hope that the weather doesn’t change until this evening, I’ve got a ton

of laundry to do."

He was even more worried about the weather.

"Thanks for the food."

Finished with his breakfast, Kazuki gathered

his hands with a ‘

Clap

!’ sound in

thanks.

Because of his parents' jobs, Kazuki had been

living by himself for nearly a year. However, he didn’t really mind because he

has been living like this ever since he was young.

「

It’s time for Today’s Horoscopes Ranking~

」

"Ah, it’s starting."

While Kazuki was washing the plates and mug

he used for breakfast, a cheerful voice rang out from the TV in the lounge.

Patting his hands dry, he rushed towards the

lounge.

「

Today’s Horoscopes Ranking

」

, as its name suggested, was a segment on the

show that

ranked the horoscopes by their

amount of luck for that day.

"Yes, it’s 6

th

place! That’s

the best!"

Of course, 6

th

place wasn’t on top

of the ranks, there was a 1

st

place. However, Kazuki had his own

reasons for being happy with 6

th

place.

Actually, Kazuki was just an average second year

middle school student who had a motto of not causing any troubles. In other

words, the 6

th

place that wasn’t great or bad was the best spot for

a guy like him.

"Your lucky item is a ‘

little sister

’? That’s not good, I don’t have a

little sister

. Maybe I should give out candies and use one

of the neighborhood kids as a substitute.… Wait, is a little

sister

even an item?"

Ding dong.

While Kazuki was on the second floor veranda

hanging up the laundry, the doorbell suddenly rang.

"Hmm? Who would it be on a morning like

this? Yes yes

~.

"

Ding dong.

The doorbell rang again while he was headed

downstairs.

"Yesss~."

Ding dong,

ding dong.

"Is it something important? Yes, I’m

coming. Please wait for a bit~."

Ding dong.

Ding dong. Diiiiiing dong.

The doorbell started to ring even more.

Kazuki hurried towards the front door.

"Wait

–

I’m opening the door!"

When Kazuki touched the door handle, the

doorbell stopped ringing. He heard the sound of footsteps and someone running away,

followed by the sound of a car engine as it drove away.

"Huh? No-one’s here, I guess they drove

off?"

Kazuki looked around after opening the door,

but no one was there.

"And I thought that someone was visi

–

hah?"

There was a giant cardboard box laying at his

feet.

Next to it was a Boston bag and a briefcase.

"Ehh? What’s this?"

Thinking that the person who rang the bell

left it behind, Kazuki walked out to the road to check again.

Since no one was there, he crossed his arms

and tilted his head in thought.

"So the person just before left it

behind… I guess."

Even though he didn’t quite get what was

going on, he couldn’t leave the stuff outside. So Kazuki decided to bring the

stuff in first.

The cardboard box was quite heavy.

"Hm

–

mp"

He sighed after carrying all of the stuff

inside. Glancing at the cardboard box, he noticed the postal tag on it.

"Oh, so it was just a delivery. The

senders are Hideki and Marina… dad and mom?"

The receiver was recorded as Kazuki.

"And the content is—‘a doll’."

A doll?

He was puzzled.

Why would they send a doll to their middle

school son, even if they were his parents?

It wasn’t his birthday or anything…

He wasn’t even aware that he was receiving a

parcel from them in the first place. More than that, he hasn’t been in contact

with his parents for a while.

"Well,

I can’t even begin to understand their behavior though."

Kazuki decided to stop thinking about it and

just open the box.

He dug through the packaging in the box.

"This is…"

Kazuki widened his eyes.

In the box was a bubble wrapped doll about

the size of a girl.

"Life sized!? Could this doll be… a doll

for adults!? What do they want me to do with it!?"

– Do your best.

"What the hell!?"

Kazuki imagined his parents and retorted

them. His parents would certainly say that to him and it was quite a bother.

More importantly, the doll had sparkling

blond twin tails and had its eyes closed as if it was asleep. It was hugging

its knees in the box and its almost transparent white shoulders and knees were

blinding when seen through the bubble wrap.

"Uuu... even if it’s a doll, I don’t

know where to look…. They should’ve wrapped it up in some cloth or something."

The doll was wonderfully made.

It could be mistaken for a real girl.

"It looks like it’s actually alive."

Kazuki tried not to stare too much at the

doll and touched one of the twin tails with his hand. It was as smooth as silk

and felt great on his hand. He let the golden hair flow through his fingers.

"Huh?"

For a moment, it felt like the atmosphere

just changed.

He looked towards the doll to check, but

there was no difference.

"… I guess it’s just my imagination."

Slap slap.

Since he couldn’t touch the doll below its

neck, he touched the cheeks this time. They were as soft as marshmallows.

Squish

squish.

"…. Hmm."

–

!?

This time, it looked like the doll just

squinted.

And he heard a voice as well…

"Ha ha, no way."

Kazuki thought that he was seeing things, so

he pinched himself and looked again.

And he saw

–

No changes.

"A doll is just a doll after all. Think

about it, a doll won’t be able to move

–

"

But that wasn’t the case.

Blink.

The doll opened its eyes.

It opened them.

Those eyes were a beautiful blue that matched

the doll's blond hair and pale skin perfectly.

"….

(Stare)

."

It was looking at him.

"….

(Stare)

."

It’s looking, it’s looking. It was almost

drilling a hole just by staring.

Kazuki who nearly lost his mind for a moment

came back to his senses and jumped back in surprise.

"W-

wha, what the hell…!?"

Really!?

I- I’m glad that I didn’t touch its breasts….

Wait, that’s not it!

It’s probably… a doll… right?

Kazuki was in a state of panic during the

unexpected event, but the doll looked very calm. It looked at Kazuki in a

curious manner and tilted her head.

Ah, it was pretty.

No no! That’s not it!

"…. Onii… chan?"

At that moment, the doll talked with a bell

like cute voice.

"Onii-chan!"

"Wai

–

."

The doll

,

still wrapped in bubble wrap, leapt out from the box and put its arms

around Kazuki’s head in a hug.

Kazuki, who was still slow because of what

was happening to him, couldn’t resist her and fell backwards.

"Ouch."

His head slammed into the floor. A wave of

pain hit him and hurt so much that he thought he had broken his skull.

The small, but existent breasts were pressed

onto Kazuki’s body.

Her back was an elegant arc, her butt was

like a ripened white peach, her slim and slender thighs, and from there… well,

let’s just say that there was a lot to look at.

The pain from his head would’ve been enough

to send him flying to the other side of the universe.

Wwaaiit! Hold on!

What is this, what the hell’s going on!?

Cccaalm down! Calm down! This is just a

dream! It’s only a fantasy!

One of the common symptoms of puberty is wild

delusions. What am I thinking so early in the morning?

Disappear wild delusions! You are banished

from my head!

"I wanted to meet you,

Onii-chan

."

Squeeze.

"Gyaa!"

The doll pressed on to his arm and because of

that, the body parts that he was seeing were twisting and turning before his

eyes.

It was certainly reality.

"Eh?

Huh? Onii-chan!? Before that, you’re not a doll!? You're a real person!?"

"Si

[1]

."

The girl nodded her head.

"You’re

a person!? But why were you inside a box!

?

"

The girl looked away to try to think of

something and gathered her hands with a ‘Pon’ sound.

"Si, I am a real

boxed girl

[2]

!"

"No,

no. Don’t joke around like that!"

2

They were now in the kitchen.

「

The number that you’ve tried to call is

currently turned off or un–

」

"

Oh, man!

"

Kazuki hung up the phone grumbling. He has

tried to call his parents’ mobile a few times, but the call wouldn’t connect.

Really, just what where they doing, those

parents of mine.

He has been ticked off about his parents’

absence before, but it was never as bad as it was today.

Kazuki’s parents called themselves treasure

hunters and made a living out of travelling around the world to dig up hidden

treasures. But whenever they came back, they would bring back enormous troubles

and irritate Kazuki all the time.

Last year, they brought back a beautiful

sapphire as a present but it turned out to be a cursed star sapphire that was

hidden deep inside the jungles that would kill its owners. Moreover, Kazuki

came down with a mysterious flu that actually killed him (his fever went down

afterwards, but the sapphire was nowhere to be found).

That wasn’t the only time his parents brought

back trouble into the house. It was just the tip of the iceberg.

Anyway, it was impossible to know what his

parents would do next.

Kazuki’s parents had a large influence over

Kazuki’s life and inspired his motto of living a ‘normal’ life was inspired by them.

Putting that aside, just who was this girl?

Even so, his father and mother wouldn’t just

say 'We found a cute girl while travelling so we’ve packed her into a box and

sent it to you!' ...probably.

…

……

……. Right?

I don’t think they did… but it’s no good. His

parents may have actually done that.

Anyway, should I listen to her story first?

If my parents did kidnap her, then I should

tell them how harsh the consequences will be.

No, I should gladly report them to the

police!

Clic

k.

As Kazuki was thinking that, the door to the

lounge opened. In the doorway was the doll, no, the girl from just now.

This time, she wasn’t naked. She was wearing

a black one piece with a cardigan that was laced around the edges. The clothes

were probably in that Boston bag that came with the box.

In her hands, she was holding the brief case.

It didn’t suit a cute girl like her.

Since the girl looked emotionless, she really

looked like a well made doll.

"

I’m sorry about before… I forgot that I was

naked… I was just happy…

"

It didn’t show on her face, but she must’ve

been embarrassed because her voice trailed off.

"

Because I met you, Onii-chan.

"

Onii-chan? Are you talking about me? I’m not

too sure about it though.

"

Si. Now then.

"

Heh, I see. Well then let’s get an explana—

"

Squeeze.

The girl hugged him again.

"

No no, that’s not it! Why are you hugging

me!?

"

Kazuki pushed the girl away. When he did, she

looked at him with an expression that said that she didn’t understand.

"

Who are you? And why are you calling me your

Onii-chan?

"

Si.

"

The girl stood up straight.

"

Buon

g

iorno

[3]

, Onii-chan. My name is Sabrina. I’m

your

little

sister

starting today.

"

And she bowed her head.

Kazuki wasn’t able to understand what the

girl, who identified herself as Sabrina, just said.

Sabrina spoke in Japanese, so it wasn’t that

he didn’t understand the language.

Kazuki tried to slowly gather his thoughts.

Little sister

… Onii-chan …

The girl whose name was Sabrina, a

little sister

.

Me, an Onii-chan.

A younger sister

: a female younger sibling born from the same

parents, little

brother

’s wife’s

sister

, or a

younger sister

of the husband or the wife (defined from the

Fujita Japanese Dictionary).

This girl called me an Onii-chan.

But if my memory serves me correctly, I’m

an only child

.

But a

little sister

and me, an Onii-chan?

So that means…

"

Well?

"

He didn’t understand at all.

"

Well then.

"

Squeeze.

Sabrina hugged him as if she’s done what she

needed to do. She probably wanted to hug Kazuki to death.

"

Please wait for a moment, Sabrina-san.

"

No

[4]

, it’s Sabrina. Since Onii-chan is my Onii-chan,

please call me ‘Sabrina’.

"

She looked up while she said that. Kazuki

thought, 'what kind of a situation was this?' But if he gave up now, then he

wouldn’t be able to hear the full story. He decided to call

her 'Sabrina,' like she wanted him to.

"

Uh, so… Sabrina.

"

Si.

"

Sabrina must’ve been happy because she buried

her head into Kazuki’s chest. It looked like ‘Si’ was yes and ‘No’ meant no.

"

Hey Sabrina, I haven’t got a clue as to

what’s going on. Have you heard anything from my parents?

"

No. Haven’t you seen them Onii-chan? It was

Hideki and Marina who dropped me off here.

"

No, I haven’t seen them… Ah.

"

The doorbell that continued to ring. The

sound of the car engine as they drove off. The box that had the girl inside.

And the parents that couldn’t be contacted.

From that, Kazuki was able to come to the

only logical conclusion.

"

The two of them… they ran off after dumping

it all on me.

"

That was right, Kazuki’s parents had come

back, and after leaving Sabrina behind in a box, they decided to flee.

After inspecting the sticker on the box, he

noticed that the address wasn’t written on it. If it was the shipping service,

they wouldn’t have been able to deliver it.

"

Without any explanations…. This is something

that shouldn’t occur in real life. What should I do.

"

Actually, there was something that they

wanted me to give to you, Onii-chan.

"

Huh? There was!? Thank god.

"

It would’ve been better if his parents gave

it to him in person. No, it would’ve been better if they actually sat down and

talked to him. But Kazuki hasn’t realized yet, that was why he was always

fooled by his parents.

"

This must be a Blu-ray disk. Now that I

mention it, I think there's a Blu-ray player here…

"

Kazuki sat down and played the disk

immediately. Meanwhile, Sabrina was using Kazuki’s shoulder as a pillow and was

resting there with her eyes closed.

「

Ahh, can you hear this?

」

「

Hi Kazuki~

」

Even though his parents recorded this on Blu-ray,

there were no visuals. Only their voices came out from the pitch black TV. Those

laid back voices were his parents for sure.

「

You mentioned that you wanted to have a

younger sister

before didn’t you? It looks like god

made a mistake and took his time. It’s quite

late, but he sent it via the post.

」

The contents were a headache straight from

the start.

Kazuki did remember that he wanted a

little sister

when he was younger. He also remembered his

parents lying to him, saying that babies were delivered via the post. He was

slightly traumatized because he was made fun of in his morals class when he told

them about it.

「

How is it~? Wasn’t that funny~. We name it

the ‘Boxed Girl’. Also, your father worked very hard~.

」

「

Kazuki, you can look up to me!

」

"

As if I would!

"

He shouted at the TV, even though he knew

that it was useless to do so.

It really felt like the 'Boxed Girl' thing

was planned by his parents. He was worried about what they were going to say

next, but he couldn’t stop it because they haven’t mentioned Sabrina.

「

So anyway, she’s your

little sister

from now on.

」

Said his father.

「

She’s your

little sister

from now on~.

」

Followed by his mother. The two of them

continue in unison,

「「

That’s all!

」」

He was clearly trolled.

"That's

it!?

"

Kazuki yelled again. There were no

explanations.

「

Well, you don’t need to treat her like a

little sister

. You could always take her as your wife. Regardless,

she’s a girl so it doesn’t really matter.

」

「

No~, really now Kazuki’s dad~. However,

they’re by themselves~. Kazuki, we’ll be expecting a grandchild soon~.

」

"

… Wife.

"

Sabrina

abruptly

stood up.

"

Don’t react to that! No, no! Don’t take it

seriously!

"

Sabrina didn’t even blink but was blushing

and Kazuki tried to justify himself furiously. From the TV, the devilish

laughter from his parents continued to pour out.

"

Kuh, those people…

"

Veins popped out from his temple and his

eyebrows twitched.

Kazuki was reaching the heights of his

patience. He was trying with all his strength not to snap the disk in half.

「

We should get to the point since Kazuki might

be reaching his limits~. Our son is probably trying his best not to snap the

disk in half with his veins popping out from his temples.

」

「

Yes, I suppose we should. I wanted to tease

him a bit more, but I guess it can’t be helped…. To tell the truth, Kazuki.

」

His father changed his speech so quickly he

was almost able to hear a skidding sound.

He wished his father spoke that way from the

beginning.

「

Actually, someone who we've been indebted to for

a long time has passed away.

」

"

Ehh?

"

Kazuki was taken aback by the unexpected

seriousness.

「

Sabrina is that person’s daughter.

」

「

That person wrote in his will, 'If something should

happen to me, please adopt Sabrina as your child~.'

」

「

Sabrina’s mother is no longer here, so we

thought that it would be best if we take her into our household.

」

「

We’re sorry we just dumped it all on you

Kazuki~. But we didn’t have enough time to explain~.

」

"

That’s…

"

As Kazuki put on a troubled face, there was

an explosion noise from the TV speakers. The noise continued to ring out.

"

Eh–.

"

As he reacted to the noise, Kazuki’s view

suddenly flipped to face the ceiling.

It was Sabrina who had pushed him down.

"

Uu—pp

"

Her small breasts pressed down on Kazuki’s

face.

Without him noticing, Sabrina took an object

out and aimed it at the TV.

Bang bang

bang.

A similar noise was heard ringing out from

the TV.

This time, from the top of Kazuki’s head.

"

W-What!? What’s going on!?

"

No

Onii-chan,

it’s ticklish.

"

Kazuki crawled out from Sabrina’s protection

and looked around him.

He felt a sense of danger.

And it was crystal clear where the feeling

came from.

"

The TV…

"

There were mysterious smoking holes in the TV

monitor. Enough to match the number of times he heard the noise above his head.

And there was Sabrina, shivering. Kazuki

pointed at the object she was holding in her hands.

"

S-Sabrina, that’s…

"

Although he's never seen one in real life, he

recognized it from movies and animes.

It was shiny and black in color, its body

shaped like

an L

and had a

small hole at the tip.

"

So, it’s an average pistol.

"

From that point on, understood the situation.

With that, all color drained from Kazuki’s face.

"

Ah!

"

Sabrina let out a short gasp.

"

I shot back by reflex. I’m sorry, Onii-chan.

"

Shot back!? Moreover, what’s that!

"

This is a Beretta Px4, a pistol.

"

No, I didn’t ask for the gun name! I’m

asking why you have something like that.

"

Kazuki’s sight fell on the brief case that

Sabrina had and saw that it was opened. Inside, there was a

gun magazine and a silencer in its slots.

"

Si, this is the portable 'toolbox'.

"

Toolbox!? W-What the hell are you!?

"

As he yelled out, the TV sounded broken.

「

... anyway… didn’t expect them to find us…

」

「

They attacked us so suddenly… got sweaty…

right~.

」

It sounded like they were fine. Well they dropped

Sabrina off, so his parents had to be fine.

When Kazuki’s mother mentioned that there was

no time, she was probably referring to this. As the disk’s content was about to

finish, his mother spoke with a voice that sounded like she just remembered to

say something.

Her voice sounded like it was about to cut

off, but Kazuki was able to hear it quite clearly.

「

Ah, that’s right. Sabrina is the estranged

daughter of a mafia boss, so she’s an amateur assassin you see~. That~ is~

why~, you need to treat her well, got it?

」

Boom.

With a large puff of smoke, the TV turned

off.

The lounge became dead silent.

Kazuki stiffly turned his head to the broken

TV and then to Sabrina.

"

You’re the hidden child of a mafia boss?

"

Si.

"

An

d an

amateur

assassin?

"

Si.

"

Squeeze.

Sabrina clung to him.

"

And I'm your

little sister

.

"

Kazuki was too surprised to talk. He could

only open and close his mouth like a fish.

The lucky item today was a '

little sister

.'

Kazuki would never believe that horoscope

show again.

3

While Kazuki was

cleaning a room out for Sabrina, it was already getting dark outside.

–Those parents of

mine.

Kazuki thought to

himself as he was doing the dishes after having dinner.

What do they mean

little sister?

We’re around the same

age and moreover, she’s a girl. There’s no way I would be able to accept that

so quickly.

I don’t know if they

were lying or not, but a mafia boss’s hidden child and an amateur assassin…

Well, accepting her

as my little sister isn’t the problem right now. It would be cruel of me to

throw her out, so I guess I'll have to judge the situation for a few days.

"What should I

do…"

Kazuki sighed quite

loudly.

When he finished the

dishes and walked into the lounge, Sabrina walked in the front door.

"Oh, did you go

outside?"

"Si. I wondered

what I could do to help, so I finished it since you didn’t seem to have it set

up."

"Finish what up?"

"The traps for

intruders."

"Eh?"

At Sabrina’s words,

he froze.

"When you say

traps for intruders, you mean like traps to prevent break-ins…?"

"Si. Even a rat

needs to be eliminated if it sneaks in."

"T-that’s not

good!"

Kazuki reached out to

the front door.

"No. You can’t."

"Eh–."

Sabrina tried to stop

him. But it was too late and Kazuki touched the front door.

At that moment, a

strong current of electricity ran through his body.

"Wwwoooaaahhh!

Why did you set it up inside as wellll!"

Kazuki who just got

electrified opened the door as he fell down.

Stumbling through the

door, he took a step outside when his leg was caught by a piano string and he

was pulled upwards.

"Woahahahahah–ah!"

The force threw him

straight into the yard in an arc and he slammed down on his back.

"It hurts. Ugh…

how did I get caught up in this…!?"

"Onii-chan, it’s

dangerous to stay there."

"Huh?"

He turned his face

upwards.

Whoosh!

An arrow landed right

in the spot where his head was before.

The second and the

third arrows followed, aimed at Kazuki who jumped backwards in shock.

"Give it a rest

alre–."

Click.

Kazuki’s hand touched

something behind him.

"Don’t tell me…"

Kazuki remembered a

movie that had a detective that never died.

He got up and swiftly

dived forward like he was performing a header

[5]

. Simultaneously, something

behind him exploded.

"So I was right–

ack."

With a movie-like

explosion as his backdrop, Kazuki flew off and landed, no, fell in front

of

his home's front door.

"Urrrp."

Sabrina squatted down

and looked at the sprawled out Kazuki.

"You shouldn’t worry too much about it,

Onii-chan. There are no holes in the traps, so you don’t need to try them out

for yourself. Well then, I’ll set up the traps again."

Urrrp

Mustering all of his

strength, Kazuki grabbed onto Sabrina’s one piece as she stood up.

4

The clock was already

pointing to 12 when they came back inside. Kazuki had told Sabrina, who had a

surprised look on her face, to remove all the traps. Meanwhile, he cleaned up

the yard and went around the neighborhood apologizing for the ruckus the two

caused.

And today was a

Sunday as well…

Kazuki collapsed out

onto his desk.

I-I’m… tired.

Maybe it was too much

of a stretch to say that I was playing around with some fireworks.

The way that our next

door neighbors, the Inoues, looked at me… the relationships with my neighbors

that I worked so hard on…

Leaving that aside,

that girl.

She shot (death by a

bullet), set up traps (death by explosion, death by piercing) and came inside a

box (death by eroticness?) how many times did she nearly kill me today?

If I don’t do

something about it, I'll die soon.

I should try my best

to not get involved with her!

Knock knock

"Whoa!"

Kazuki who was

thinking to himself jumped in surprise at the sudden knocking.

He looked towards the

door to see if someone knocked, but it didn’t seem like it.

"Huh?"

The knocking sounds

actually turned out to be the rain drops hitting his window.

"Rain? That’s right; the weather

mentioned that today."

The sound of the

raindrops grew louder. And with a sound that was like a beast’s howl, the rainy

sky flashed for a moment.

"So there’s

lighting and thunder as well…"

Since Kazuki wasn’t

scared of bad weather, he wasn’t greatly concerned by it.

But then the sky lit

up again.

A thundering sound

ran out shortly afterwards.

"Wow that was

quite loud. It must’ve hit nearby."

While he was still

dazed by the loud shockwave, he heard a knock on the door.

"Eh!?"

He felt almost as shocked

as if he had been struck by the lightning outside.

Right now, there were

only two people in the house. If it wasn’t him who knocked then it was

obviously Sabrina.

What did she want so

late at night?

Kazuki fell deep into

thought while he reached out for the handle.

He thought of all the

things that happened to him that day and imagined what would happen in the

future.

Gulp.

He didn’t want to

open the door at all.

He wanted to pretend

that he was asleep.

But since the light

leaked out between the door’s hinges, he wouldn’t be able to pull that off.

Kazuki could only

respond.

"Ah, yeah. Come

in."

At his door was

obviously Sabrina. She was in some simple patterned pajamas.

"I’m glad that

you weren’t asleep Onii-chan."

"No, I was just about to go to sleep."

He lightly brushed

her off.

"I see…."

Sabrina looked down.

Kazuki felt a sense of guilt in his heart.

He didn’t want to be

involved with her for any longer. He didn’t want any more trouble.

"Umm… Onii-chan, could you do me a favor…"

She asked him to do

something for her!

While Sabrina was

trailing her words, Kazuki had a bad feeling.

"Well~ I really want to help you out, but

it’s late. So why don’t you ask me tomorrow? I’m a bit tired, so I want to

sleep soon."

Feeling guilty about

it, Kazuki gently turned her down.

But what he said

worsened the situation.

"Si. If you’re

going to sleep now, then it’s great for me. Actually… please let me sleep in

your room as well Onii-chan."

Is that how you’re

going to play!

Kazuki’s mind

ascended to the heavens. He dug his own grave with the excuse that he told her,

thinking he would get away it.

Looking at Sabrina

carefully, she was holding her pillow behind her back.

Do you really want to

sleep with me!?

How much more are you

going to bother me?

While Kazuki was

racking his brain trying to think of a good excuse, Sabrina softly spoke.

"Actually, I’m still scared of thunder…"

The sound of thunder

still rang out outside.

Each time there was a

crack of thunder, Sabrina flinched.

"Sabrina…"

"… And I had a

scary dream just now."

Sabrina who had a

bold face before now looked uneasy.

But that was to be

expected.

Sabrina had just lost

her father.

She didn’t have a mother,

so she had no-one to rely on.

Even under those

circumstances, she left her motherland and came to this foreign country.

She would obviously

be scared.

Before he even

noticed it, Kazuki no longer felt like avoiding Sabrina.

If she could be relaxed

just by being near a guy like me…

Now, all that

remained in Kazuki’s heart was an answer.

"… Ok. Let’s sleep together."

...Or so he said.

But isn't this

dangerous on many different levels…?

They were only

sleeping in the same bed with the lights off, but Kazuki realized how

embarrassing the situation was.

Sabrina seemed like a

neat girl. But that same girl was in her pajamas next to Kazuki.

Trying his hardest to

keep his mind off the situation, he kept his back turned against her.

Squeeze.

However, Sabrina was

tightly hugging Kazuki’s arm, so his movements were limited.

The feeling of the

girl’s soft skin could be felt on his arm.

The sweet scent

tickled his nose.

Because of his

embarrassment and a slight sense of selfishness, Kazuki was regretting letting

her sleep with him.

"Isn't a single

bed too small for two people? I’ve got quilts, so I can sleep on the floor

instead."

Kazuki tried to

persuade Sabrina till the end, however...

"No, I like it.

I feel reassured when we're sleeping together like this."

He was shot down

instantly.

It can’t be helped.

I’ll try to clear my head.

That’s right, there isn't

anyone next to me.

So, I can’t feel

anything.

All I have to do is

to close my eyes and go to sleep, like I always do.

It’s not hard at all…

As Kazuki was

purifying his mind, the sky flashed and the light came through the curtains.

"– Eeep."

"Kyaa."

Sabrina shrank down

and hugged even tighter.

She wasn’t just

hugging his arm, but his back as well- increasing the surface of contact. Her "that

part" was rubbing against Kazuki’s leg.

Emergency!!

Inside Kazuki’s head,

the sirens went off to warn him of the emergency.

"S-Sabrina! This

is dangerous! Stay back a little!"

"N, no…!!"

Whaaaaaa.

Save me father,

mother.

Please give me wisdom

to escape this situation!

「

Well, you don’t need to treat her like a

little sister

. You could always take her as your wife.

Regardless, she’s a girl so it doesn’t really matter.

」

「

No~, really now Kazuki’s dad~. However,

they’re by themselves~. Kazuki, we’ll be expecting a grandchild soon~.

」

In his head, his

parents’ words and their devilish laugher resounded.

I was an idiot for

relying on my parents!

Wait! T-this is no

joke! It’s dangerous, dangerous, dangerous, dangerous!

If I don’t do

something about this situation, I might actually do something really bad!

While he was

partially in a state of panic, the sky lit up once more, as if it was

delivering the final blow.

"– Eeep."

"Waaa."

Spin spin spin spin.

His eyes began to spin,

he wasn’t able to focus his eyesight.

It was pointless to

empty his head.

For a while now, it’s

become almost a bother to resist that voice in his head, whispering "Haven’t

you resisted for long enough?" (The voice sounded like his parents for

some reason).

As Kazuki was about

to let go of his morals,

"Onii-chan…"

Hearing Sabrina’s

voice, Kazuki came back to his senses.

She was curled up in

a ball.

She was probably

really scared of the stormy weather.

Scary, scary, scary,

she repeated to herself.

What was I about to

do to a scared girl like her?

He no longer felt the

same way as before.

Instead, he felt that

he should protect her.

The sky lit up.

"– Eeep."

Kazuki gently hugged

Sabrina who was scared stiff.

"… One, two,

three."

And he started to

count so that he could help Sabrina feel at ease.

"… Onii-chan?"

"It’s something

that I learned from my father. He said that if you count to three after

lightning strikes and hear no thunder, it means that it’s gone somewhere far

away."

He smiled to Sabrina

who was still trembling.

"Just now, there

was a lightning strike but no sounds. So it’s ok, just think that the thunder

has gone somewhere far away. It’s not that scary."

"… Onii-chan."

Sabrina dug into

Kazuki’s chest as if she was rubbing her nose on him.

"Onii-chan is

really like the brother that I imagined you would be."

Great, she looked

better than before.

Now that I've changed

the topic, will she be able to fall asleep?

"That’s that,

but Sabrina, I was wondering when I met you earlier today, did you know about

me before?"

"… Si. I met you

once when we were younger."

"Really!? I-I’m

sorry, umm, I can’t really remember…"

"Si. It’s

understandable if you don’t remember me. We only briefly met after all, and I

only found out afterwards that it was you, Onii-chan."

The thunderstorm passed

and the sound of the falling rain surrounded them.

"… But it was

one of my most valuable memories."

Kazuki silently

looked at Sabrina’s face..

And Sabrina started

to talk about herself.

"I am the

daughter of the godfather of a powerful Italian mafia, the 'Jevini Family'.

However, my mother passed away when I was very young.

"Why?"

"I don’t know.

No-one ever told me before…. So I was moved to a cottage and started living

there. My father visited the cottage a few times a year, but he always wore a

stern face so I didn’t know how he was feeling. So when I heard that my father

had passed away, I didn’t know if I honestly felt saddened or not."

Sabrina looked

unconcerned. Her face was expressionless.

"So that's why I

had been living inside a cottage while being trained to become an assassin."

"… But that’s

too harsh."

"Harsh, is it?"

Sabrina blinked her

eyes to show that she found it strange. For Sabrina who had no-one to compare

her life to, she didn’t think of it as abnormal.

"I don’t know

about it being harsh, but they were the boring days. However, Hideki and Marina

visited me sometimes and talked about you Onii-chan. I liked hearing about you.

So whenever I had the time, I would always imagine you and hope that I would

meet you one day. And after all this time, I was finally able to meet you."

She had no memories

of her mother.

She had no memories

of her father either.

Kazuki was the only

person Sabrina was able to relate to.

Someone that she

thought of from a place far away.

So that must've been

why she was so friendly to Kazuki when she met him properly for the first time.

Sabrina’s cheeks

became slightly pink.

"I-I’m sorry for

only talking about myself. I studied Japanese so that I could meet Onii-chan,

but is my Japanese strange?"

"Ah, I see. So

that’s why you were able to speak so fluently. Its fine, it’s not strange at

all."

After listening to Sabrina,

Kazuki started to think.

I misunderstood...

Sabrina really was

the daughter of a mafia boss and a trained assassin.

However, the Sabrina

before him was just a girl afraid of thunderstorms, a girl who was unable to

sleep alone because of a nightmare. She was slightly unusual, but she was just

a normal girl.

It wouldn’t be bad to

let Sabrina stay in our house for a while.

Kazuki gently stroked

Sabrina’s hair.

"Well, the storm

has already passed and it’s a bit late now, so shall we sleep? You are also

tired from your long trip, right?"

"Si. Then let’s

sleep."

After saying that,

Sabrina slowly took something out from the pillow that she’d brought.

Thunk

.

With a heavy sound, an

L shaped black object was laid under her pillow.

"… What’s that?"

"This? It’s the

Beretta Px4 that I explained befo–"

"I’m not asking for the gun name! Why are

you placing such a dangerous object like that under your pillow!?"

"If I don't, I can’t fall asleep. Isn’t

it normal to put a gun within your reach to sleep peacefully?"

"Not at all!!!!"

I take back what I said

before, she definitely isn’t a normal girl.

Once again, Kazuki

had regained his old views on Sabrina.

And so, Kazuki’s long

day finally came to an end.

Obviously, Kazuki

wasn’t able to sleep a wink that night.

1.

Si

-

Yes in Italian.

↩

2.

Sheltered princesses are called boxed girls.

↩

3.

Good morning in Italian.

↩

4.

No in Italian is 'No.' She said the entire sentence in Japanese, except 'No,' which was in Italian

.

↩

5

.

Header as in the soccer pass/shot method

.

↩

### 003. Chapter 2: A Threatened Everyday life!

A wholesome rival appears!

Translator: Junnynam

Editor: LHI

Please enjoy~

___________________

_

1

The next day was a clear spring morning.

Kazuki opened his eyes to the bright morning sun.

"–Uhh."

His little sister, who abruptly appeared

yesterday, was mounting him.

The mount position: A position highly regarded

in mixed martial arts as a position that was very advantageous and simple to

execute.

"..."

Sabrina looked down on Kazuki wordlessly. Her

expression was as cold as ice.

There wasn't an ounce of sleepiness left in

Kazuki.

Waiiiiiiit!

Wait wait wait!

Why was I in this situation again?

Why does Sabrina look angry?

Did I do something while she was asleep!?

Did I snore? Do I grind my teeth? Do I have any bad

sleeping habits?

Ah, don't tell me I touched Sabrina's breast or

something while she was sleeping!?

Since the bed was small, it's not out of the

question - ack.

"I'm sorry."

It looked like the situation would get worse if

he kept silent, so he apologized just in case. However, Sabrina looked at him

with a blank expression and tilted her head.

"Isn't the morning greeting usually 'Good

morning'?"

"No, I just thought that I did something that

made you angry."

"No."

Looking amused, Sabrina tilted her head the

other way. Thankfully, it looks like he hadn't done anything wrong.

He sighed in relief.

"So... why are we in this situation?"

All males have "that" first thing the

morning, and Sabrina happened to be mounting his waist. He tried to think of a

way to keep her from finding out.

"Si. When I woke up, Onii-chan was still

asleep. While I was looking at your sleeping face, you turned around and I

couldn't see it anymore. So I moved you here. If you're here, then I can see

you clearly."

"Ah... ha ha... is that right."

Although he laughed bitterly, Sabrina looked

quite proud of herself, so he didn't tell her to get off.

While still in that position, Kazuki searched

for the alarm clock with his hands. Since the clock was in its usual position,

it was quite easy to find without looking.

"Hmm? What's this?"

What Kazuki picked up was definitely his alarm

clock. Although, it was now unusable because of a hole in the middle.

Pieces of metal and plastic fell out of the

destroyed alarm clock.

"Si. It was making a ruckus and disturbing

your sleep, so I eliminated it."

Her expression hasn't changed, but she said 'Eh

heh' and somehow looked proud of her achievement.

"Eliminate!? But that's what an alarm clock

does! Wait, then that means that the alarm went off. What time is it?"

Kazuki looked at the clock on the wall. Its

hands were pointing to 7:45.

"Whoa! Not good! I'm going to be late!"

"... Uuu."

Kazuki kicked off his blanket as he got up.

Sabrina, who was on top of him, was now covered by the blanket and rolled

backwards.

"Ah, sorry about that Sabrina."

Like a hamster looking out from its home,

Sabrina peeked out from the blanket.

"Why are you in such a hurry, Onii-chan?"

"I'm going to be late for school at this

rate."

"School?"

"Yep. Don't you know what school is,

Sabrina?"

"Si."

Since Sabrina wasn't allowed to leave her

cottage, it seems like she didn't know much about schools. It was going to be

difficult to explain schools to her, so he rushed his explanation.

"Hmm... school is a place where children in

the same age group study together."

"Why do they have to study together?"

"Mh–mm, because it's compulsory education,

but you wouldn't understand would you...? To put it simply, it's like work for

the children."

"Work...? Is it painful to do?"

"It is~. Since it starts in the morning and

continues until the afternoon."

Although he said that, Kazuki had friends at

school and he fit in with the other students. He was enjoying his likeable

school life. But since there were no students who actually enjoyed studying, he

could only explain it like that.

"Ah! Now that I think about it, I didn't

have a bath yesterday since it was so hectic. The bath should be heated up; I

guess I'll take a bath before I go."

"Bath..."

Sabrina, who looked like she had something to

say, bobbed her twin tails.

"You haven't had a shower yet, have you?

Sorry, do you mind if I take one first? I think I'll be late if I don't take one

now. That is, unless you don't want to go in after me?"

"No, I don't mind. I need to prepare a few

things before I go in the bath, so please go in first."

Kazuki thought she meant that girls had to

prepare things that boys didn't know about and said:

"Thanks, then I'll do what you say and take

a bath first."

"Si. See you later."

Not deeply thinking about what Sabrina said, he

headed to the bathroom.

Kazuki's bathroom was larger than a normal

household's. This was because his parents liked to rest after their travels and

so they choose a bathroom that suited their preference.

Of course, Kazuki really liked it as well.

Whew, it feels good.

Since yesterday was quite tiring, his body was

stiffer than he thought.

Whew, this is heavenly. Didn't a famous person

once say, "Baths are the essence of humanity?"

... I might be wrong, but who cares.

With a viva nonno

[1]

like feeling, he placed a

bath towel on his head and stretched out his legs in the large bathtub. Even

though he didn't have the time, he was submerging himself happily.

Kazuki's face relaxed and anyone would've been

able to see how happy he was.

Knock knock.

Just when Kazuki was getting relaxed, someone

knocked on the frosted glass door.

"Onii-chan, may I?"

"Yes, what is it?"

It was Sabrina. Pondering what she wanted from

him, Kazuki lazily replied.

Subsequently, the door opened with some

unexpected words from her.

"Thanks for waiting."

"-Eeh?"

Surprisingly, Sabrina walked in.

She only had a bath towel around her. It was too

short, so that place was nearly visible.

Realizing

what was going on, Kazuki jumped up from the bathtub purely by reflex.

Kazuki was obviously naked, his towel was on his

head. Getting up like this meant...

"Ah-."

"..."

Sabrina looked at Kazuki with a blank face. She

looked down slightly, but quickly blushed and turned her face away.

"Whoaaaaaa!"

He hurriedly wrapped the bath towel that was on

his head around his waist, and rushed away from her to widen their distance.

"Wwwwwhat is it!? Why did you come in,

Sabrina!?"

Her twin tails were gone and her straight hair

flowed down her back. Her white skin looked like it would be melted away by the

hot air. He was able to tell by looking at her small but puffy breasts, her

slim waist, and her small but firm butt, that her body was clearly superb.

He was amazed by her body as much as when she

was in the box, but this look was just as appealing.

He was unable to tell what she was thinking by

her expression, but she was slightly wobbly and her face was dyed bright red.

"I- I read that Japanese family members

wash each others' back while in the bath. I-I'm really embarrassed, but there

is the saying 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do,' and since we're siblings...

please look after me."

"What?! What are you going to do?"

Step.

Sabrina took her first step towards the

bathtub.

"Whooaa, no, Sabrina! You can't come in!"

"No, we're brother and sister. I will wash

your back."

"Heeeeeeeeek."

For some reason, he yelled out loud.

With an overwhelming spirit, Sabrina shortened

the distance step by step.

She was right in front of hi-.

At that moment, Sabrina slipped on the wet tiles

and lost her balance. The bath towel slipped off her.

"Watch out!"

Kazuki reached out to Sabrina by reflex. He

ended up holding her tight in a hug.

They came into contact, and Sabrina's breasts

were touching Kazuki.

"... Onii-chan."

"Whoaa. I'm sorry Sabrina. It wasn't on

purpose!"

He hurriedly backed off from Sabrina who hung

her head low in embarrassment.

He couldn't look at her, so he covered his eyes

with a hand and stretched out the other one in an apologetic pose.

"W-wait! Wait for a second, just calm down!

And about what you just said, Sabrina, the thing about family members washing

each others' backs! It's not true at all!"

"Not true?"

Sabrina, who had covered herself with the bath

towel, widened her eyes in surprise.

"That's right, it's not true!"

"Then, what about entering baths together?"

"They don't."

"What about washing other people's backs?"

"They don't do that either."

"Washing other people's backs?"

"They don't! Why are you asking twice!?"

After a long silence, Sabrina opened her mouth.

"... Si. So I was mistaken, but it's a bit

disappointing -achoo."

While she was talking, Sabrina cutely sneezed.

Even though it was spring, being in a single bath towel wasn't enough.

"W-why don't you take a bath now Sabrina. Y-y-you

might catch a cold like this."

Still shaken up by the experience, Kazuki stuttered.

"But Onii-chan will..."

"I'm fine. I needed to get out anyway. So

come in, warm yourself up in the bath."

Kazuki who wanted to escape as soon as possible

fled from the bathroom as he said that.

"Why did such a troublesome thing happen so

early in the morning!? A-achoo!"

Kazuki's loud sneeze echoed through his house.

He cooled down his body that got hot in many

different ways. He dried his hair with a hairdryer and changed into his school

uniform. Kazuki then grabbed the bag hanging from his desk, and ran down the

stairs.

"Ah, I should probably tell Sabrina before

I go to school."

He was going to head out the door, but Kazuki

turned around and went to the bathroom.

There was only a door between Sabrina and him.

Knowing that made his heart beat faster, but he tried to keep a straight face

and talked to the frosted glass door.

"Sabrina, have you warmed yourself up?"

"Si."

"Good, then I'm off to school now."

"Umm, what about me...?"

Sabrina's voice clearly had a sense of

perplexity mixed in.

That's right, Kazuki knew nothing about what

Sabrina was supposed to do from now on. He hadn't thought about it either.

"I see, I guess you'll be uncomfortable if

you're in a situation like this. Sorry, Sabrina. Umm, so... why don't you look

after the house today? I'll ask my parents what you should do from now on."

"... Si. Umm, Onii-chan... what time will

you be coming back?"

"Some time in the afternoon, I think. I'll

come back as soon as I can when school finishes."

After telling her that, Kazuki left his house

and started to run.

2

Ding dong dang dong

.

The morning bell at Ouba Middle School, the

school that Kazuki attended, rang.

Kazuki made it just in time, and slumped down

into his seat.

"Hey. That was quite a close one today,

even though you normally arrive pretty early."

Kazuki was still out of breath. When he looked

up, he saw Ryouta Miyamoto - his childhood friend, whom he's known since

primary school, standing there.

"...Oh, it's only you Ryouta. Something

happened at my home this morning... so I barely made it."

"Something happened? It sounds like quite a

scandal, what happened?"

"You see, today-"

When he woke up, his little sister was mounting him

and examining his face.

While he was taking a bath, his little sister

tried to wash his back wearing only a bath towel.

"...Nothing, really."

He couldn't say either of them.

"Tell me. Please? I said tell me!"

"It's really nothing. Ah, don't bother me

like that."

Ryouta clung to him like a leech. While Kazuki

tried to think of something to say, a girl walked towards him.

"Hello, Ootaki-kun."

The girl had brown hair held in place by a

hairpin. She had round, cute eyes and always wore her characteristic smile that

warmed peoples' hearts.

She was Saki Kinoshita, starting this year, she

was Kazuki's classmate.

"H-h-hey!"

"Ouch."

He bit his tongue trying to answer quickly.

Kazuki flung Ryouta off him and sat up straight, pretending that nothing

happened.

Saki only blinked at Ryouta, who fell on the

floor brilliantly.

"H-hey Kinoshita! The weather is nice

today!"

"Y-yeah, it is. But is he alright? I don't

think Miyamoto-kun is moving..."

"It's ok, it's ok! Ryouta is like that

sometimes. He said he's entering the 'Nirvana' state, or something. So you don't

need to worry about him."

"Hu hu, how unique. But Ootaki-kun, you

were late to school today. I thought you were going to be absent since you

usually arrive early.

Her gentle smile was really charming.

He just realized something.

Kazuki and Saki had never talked like this

before. In fact, it's the first time he's had a proper conversation with her. However,

what surprised him the most was that she knew that Kazuki always came to school

early.

Why did she?

Was she always looking at me...? Well, that's

not likely.

Kazuki shook his head to shake off his

delusional thoughts.

It was probably because she was the class

president. She must've known about the individuals in the class. Even though he

knew that there was no special meaning behind it, he felt slightly happy

knowing that someone cared about him.

"Did something happen?"

"A few things got messy yesterday, so it

was problematic."

"Are you having trouble? Are you ok? If you're

ok with me, why don't you tell me about it?"

"N-no, it's alright. It's not a big deal

anyway."

He was happy that Saki offered to listen to him,

but he couldn't just shout out "Somehow, I've got a little sister!"

Furthermore, he couldn't say that his new little sister happened to be "the

hidden child of a mafia's boss who is also an amateur assassin," even if

his life depended on it.

"I see. Well, that's fine then. If there's

anything that I can do, just ask me. Let's try our best this week!"

Being called over by her friend, Saki said "see

you," and went to her group of friends while waving her hand at him.

Kazuki was looking at her in a trance when

Ryouta who has revived put him in a headlock.

"Who's going to Nirvana? Why you!"

"Whoa, Ryouta. I didn't say that!"

"Anyways, I was trying to take a peek at

Kinoshita's panties while she was distracted, but I failed."

"If you try something like that, Kinoshita

really will send you to Nirvana."

"I'm only kidding. But give it up, she's

way out of your league."

Flinch.

Kazuki's body stiffened.

"W-what are you saying?"

"I'm talking about Kinoshita. I've known

you for a long time, so I can read you like a book."

Ryouta poked out his mouth and puffed his chest

out. Kazuki who was completely defeated couldn't even make an excuse.

"Saki Kinoshita... her father works at the

city council and her mother teaches gardening. Her hobby is gardening thanks to

her mother's influence. Her grades are above average and she's a friendly

person who cares deeply about other people. She doesn't discriminate between

males and females, so she is ranked first or second within our grade."

"...Why do you know so much about her?"

"Heh, what a foolish question. I am the

school's information broker. For your information, the number of boys who asked

her out last year is 36, and everyone was shot down. The rumors say that the

former captain of the soccer club Wakabiyashi-senpai was one of them."

"Really!? You mean the same Wakabiyashi-senpai

who's famous for being popular!? The guy who receives enough chocolates on

Valentine's Day to count to three digits? He actually liked someone!? ...What's

with your hand?"

"It's obvious, pay me. Information isn't

free. I can look into it for you."

"You're charging me!? We're friends!"

"So we need to get this over and done with."

"I see... I have helped you countless times

during tests, but we should get that over and done with. Do your best in your

studies while you're gathering your information."

The two of them looked at each other. They were

about to go at each other, but their homegroup teacher walked in.

"Aren't you the lively one?"

"I should be saying that to you, Ryouta."

The two of them glared at each other, but since

homeroom had started, they snorted at each other and Ryouta returned to his

seat.

Kazuki softened his expression as he saw his

friend's back.

Their usual dialogue.

The everyday life that he had lost yesterday

could be found here.

He looked outside the window.

"How peaceful."

The sky was cloudless outside.

◊

Under that cloudless blue sky, a blond girl was

on the streets, holding onto a briefcase which did not suit her.

"...Where is this school place?"

This girl was Sabrina. Although she was on her

way to Kazuki's school, she didn't know where it was and has subsequently

gotten lost.

Grumble.

From her back, she heard a loud noise.

Sabrina looked back and saw a collapsed woman

dressed in nun's robes.

The woman looked to be approximately 20 years

old. While she was still lying on the ground, she looked up and started to talk

while grinding her teeth at the same time.

"My dear lamb's meat... no, my dear lamb...

What's the matter? Why do you seem so lost...?"

Gruummmble.

The grumbling sound was heard again. The nun's

stomach seemed to be the source of the noise.

"Who are you?"

"My lost lamb, you have been wandering

around for a while. Are you looking for something?"

"Si. I am looking for the school my brother

attends."

"School? There are a lot of different ones,

but the closest would be Ouba Middle School over there."

The nun pointed off in the distance. On top of the

hill that she was pointing at, a building was visible.

"So that's the school.... Si. Thank you."

"No no, it was nothing. Eh, what? I don't

need to be compensated, but if you want to pay me back somehow, why don't you

give me some foo- huh, what?"

Finding out where she had to go, Sabrina left

the nun who was still talking and started walking towards the school to see her

dear brother.

◊

Kazuki's class had a PE for the second lesson.

The boys were playing soft ball in the middle of the field, while the girls

were doing long distance running at the nearby tracks.

The refreshing sound of a metal bat hitting the

ball echoed through the field.

Ryouta, who was the pitcher, yelled out:

"Right! Kazuki!"

"Alright!"

It was a strong hit. However, Kazuki leapt up

and caught the ball.

"Nice catch. You're in a good form today."

"Well, of course~."

He threw the ball back to Ryouta.

That's right. This was his usual life.

Kazuki felt a brief sense of peace, being free

of Sabrina.

He glanced at the tracks. Over there, he spotted

Saki amongst the girls who were running at their own pace.

"Ha... Kinoshita is pretty even when she's

running."

"Kazuki, another one!"

Hearing Ryouta's voice, he turned around. This

time, it was a high right flyer. It would be quite easy to catch the ball as it

was falling.

It was alright, he could catch this normally.

He placed his glove beneath the falling ball.

Right at that moment, he spotted someone out of the corner of his eye.

His eyes widened in surprise.

"Sabri- kuh."

As he was about to say her name, the ball landed

on Kazuki's head.

Dong.

With a sound of a giant bell, the impact sent a

shockwave through Kazuki's body.

While he was still uneasy on his feet, he looked

towards the school gates where he spotted Sabrina.

"Why is Sabrina here...?"

He wasn't delusional.

Standing at the school gates was Sabrina, who

should've been looking after the house.

She was holding the briefcase, also known as the

"toolbox," in her hands.

Sabrina must've noticed Kazuki as well, because

she headed straight towards him.

Step step step.

Without any hesitation, she walked through the

school gates and inside the school. A few students noticed her as well.

But the PE teacher Kitajawa stood in her path.

Kitajawa was a very muscular teacher, to the

point where some people thought that his brain was muscular as well. He

practiced judo moves on the male students and touched female students in

inappropriate ways in the name of education.

Wow, it just had to be Mr. Kitajawa!

"Sabrina, please don't do anything stupid-"

However, a man's dream is fragile.

As soon as Mr. Kitajawa tried to stop Sabrina,

the 2 meter tall man was sent flying by a girl almost half his size.

Drop.

A puff of dust rose up from the ground.

She... she's done it now...

Kitajawa didn't even move after being thrown on

the ground.

The blond girl was even more expressionless than

before after taking down a fully grown man.

The students froze after witnessing the

situation.

In an instant, the school yard which was so

peaceful before became a battlefield.

"Sa...brina?"

Kazuki slowly walked towards her. As he did,

Sabrina's Noh

[2]

mask-like face softened. She started running towards Kazuki.

"Onii-chan."

Squeeze.

She hugged him.

"Her brother...?"

"Ootaki-kun knows that girl?"

"How can she be his little sister when she's

clearly not Japanese?"

As if they were seeing a rare sight, everyone's

eyes fell on Kazuki. So this was how it felt to be in the hot seat. Kazuki

found out for the first time in his life how hurtful peoples' stares were.

How did this happen?

Ah, if my life was a game, I would restart it

from this morning.

Should I have said yesterday morning? Then I

wouldn't have opened that box.

No, if he hadn't been born to those parents of

his in the first place–.

"Do you know that girl, Ootaki-kun?"

The one representing the class in finding out

who the girl was was Saki. Kazuki, who was half denying the reality of her

question, came back to his senses.

"Huh? Yeah. It's like this, something

happened to her family, so my parents decided to look after her and let her

stay at our house. Ah ha ha ha..."

"Ehh!? But that means that you guys are

living together? But, weren't your parents away from home all the time Ootaki-kun?"

"No that's... huh? How did you know that my

parents were always out of the house?"

"Ah! T-that's uh, I overheard it somewhere,

and I remembered because I thought that it was really amazing of you. Anyway...

does that mean that you guys are living by yourselves?"

"Si. It is exactly as you've said. In

Japanese, it was... 'sharing beds'?"

"Sharing beds!?"

"Sabrina! You mean sharing houses! No, that's

wrong as well! Kinoshita, we are living under the same roof... but it's

different! Sabrina is just my little sister, so nothing weird will happen!"

"But this girl might not think of it like

that... no, wait... Hold on Saki... it's too early to think of it like th..."

Saki started talking to herself, so what Kazuki

was saying didn't reach her ears.

"Umm, Kinoshita?"

"Huh? Ah, sorry."

Saki came back to her senses.

Sabrina, who was still hugging Kazuki, abruptly

removed a gun from her sleeves. She aimed at Saki, and pulled the trigger.

"Wh–oa"

Kazuki was able to push the gun far enough away

for the bullet to miss Saki by a hairs' breadth.

"W-wha-wha-wha-what are you doing, Sabrina!?"

"My intuition told me to assassinate this

woman. This woman is dangerous."

"You're a lot more dangerous than her!"

Sta–re.

Sabrina looked up at him.

"You've been acting funny towards this

girl, Onii-chan."

"Ugh...."

Flinch.

She was quite sharp.

"Who is this woman to you, Onii-chan?"

"I-I don't know what you mean, Sabrina."

"Don't tell me... even though you have me.

Onii-chan... me or that woman, which one of us do you consider your little

sister?"

"What's with the 2 choices!?"

While Kazuki was being asked the puzzling

question by Sabrina; Saki, who was previously frozen solid, finally talked.

After all, Saki had been shot at by Sabrina just moments before.

"Huh? Huh? Hold on! That thing that she's

holding is-"

"I-it's just a toy! Sabrina likes these

kinds of things, you see!"

"But the noise was..."

"I-it's just blanks! It was made overseas,

so it's quite detailed!"

"But, I think something flew past my

face..."

"You're imagining things! Ah ha... ha ha ha...

ha."

Saki didn't look convinced, but Kazuki forced

himself to laugh it off.

Anyway, that was settled. Well, let's just say

it was.

Kazuki faced Sabrina and started to talk about

the main issue.

"Anyway, why are you at school Sabrina?"

"Si. I didn't know the way and got lost,

but someone told me the way to get here."

"Ah, so you got lost. Sorry, I guess I didn't

tell you where the school was. You did well coming here by yourself- is not it!

I didn't ask how you got here, I told you to look after the house didn't I?"

"... Si."

"So why did you come?"

Kazuki changed his voice to a slightly

intimidating tone. Sabrina looked down to the ground. As if mimicking her

heart, her twin tails drooped as well.

"You not talking is troublesome as we-"

"I wanted... to help you with your work,

Onii-chan."

With a voice that felt like that was about to

disappear, Sabrina stuttered her words silently.

"This morning, you said that... there was

painful work for you at school. I know that you told me to stay at home, but I

can't sit around comfortably when you are working so hard at school.... So, I

came to help you even if it was only slightly."

"Sabrina..."

"I'm sorry for going against our promise."

Sabrina's shoulders were slightly trembling. She

must've thought that she was going to be punished since she went against their

promise.

She came here for my sake.

I couldn't get angry at Sabrina.

"...The one who should be apologizing

is me. I didn't explain it well enough and

caused the misunderstanding. I have to go to school, but it's not a painful

place to be. Thanks for worrying about me.

"

He patted her head

instead.

"... Onii-chan?"

Sabrina looked up as if

she wanted to check Kazuki's expression. When he smiled, Sabrina hugged him

with a satisfied look.

"Kinoshita."

"Huh? Ah, yes?"

Saki answered in

surprise because she had been looking at Kazuki and Sabrina with a stern face.

"I'm sorry for

troubling you today, but I can't just leave Sabrina here, so I think I'll need

to take the day off. I'm sorry, but could you let me go for today?"

"Huh? Ehh!? That's

ok, but..."

"Hold it right

there!"

Ryouta suddenly popped

in.

"Your cute little

sister came all the way here for you. So we'll look after her today in our

class. What do you guys think!"

「

Yeah!

」

Everyone in the class

agreed.

Kazuki's class was quite

quick to adapt to good or bad circumstances. Everyone was welcoming.

"Looks like you don't

have to take the day off, boss."

"Who're you calling

boss."

He shook off Ryouta's

hand on his shoulder.

"But it's too

sudden to look after Sabrina in our class, and it's impossible. Right,

Kinoshita?"

"Hmm, you're right.

It's a bit..."

"I guess you can go

ba

–... sharing beds.

"

"Al

right, why don't we ask the teacher!?

"

"Huh!? Kinoshita!?"

For some reason, Saki

decided to go along with Ryouta's idea.

"Is that really ok?"

"Sure. Since

Sabrina is cute, she's very welcome. ... And there are a few things that I want

to hear about."

With a clenched fist,

Saki looked at Sabrina with a serious expression.

At that moment, the

school bells rang.

Everyone in his class

and Sabrina walked off the field.

And Kitajawa who was

still not moving had been left behind.

3

Next break, a crowd of

people stormed Kazuki's class - second year class six. In the middle of this

crowd sat Kazuki, and next to him was Sabrina.

Everyone in his

classroom asked their homeroom teacher for permission, and the teacher allowed

them straight away.

Sabrina was now

surrounded by a bunch of people like she was holding a press conference.

"What are your

hobbies?" "Do you have a boyfriend?" "Is naporitan called

naporitan because it was made in Naples

[3]

?"

It looked like Sabrina

wouldn't speak to anyone but Kazuki.

Sabrina's sleepy face

while leaning on Kazuki's shoulder was quite cute, but Kazuki couldn't answer

all the questions by himself. And for the record, naporitans actually

originated in Japan.

"Sorry, Sabrina

hasn't been in Japan long, so she doesn't know Japanese very well."

His classmates'

excitement wouldn't die out no matter what Kazuki said. The festival like

excitement continued.

"She's like a doll."

"She's so cute." "Moe~." "Sabrina's my wife."

The last comment was

completely random.

"Everyone calm

down. If you make a ruckus like this, then Sabrina will be scared."

Saki stepped in to take

control of the situation. It was difficult for Kazuki to silence the class by

himself, but thanks to Saki, the crowd started to settle down.

"Thanks Kinoshita."

"No, don't mind it.

This is a class president's duty as well. Anyway, just ask me when you need

something."

Saki didn't look grumpy

at all. In fact, she was actually worried about Kazuki.

Kinoshita is really nice...

It was troublesome that

Sabrina came to school, but I'm really glad that I'm able to talk to Kinoshita

like this.

This must be what they

call a "blessing in disguise."

Maybe it wasn't so bad

to live with Sabrina after all.

Saki smiled at Kazuki

and turned her focus to Sabrina.

"Hello, Sabrina, my

name is Saki Kinoshita. Nice to meet you."

She

extended her hand towards Sabrina for a

handshake.

Hmm, what awonderful

sight.

Kinoshita might make a

good older sister for Sabrina.

If the two of them were

on friendlier terms, would I be able to invite Kinoshita to my house?

If I do, I'll be able to

talk to Kinoshita naturally.

That might be nice,

almost like a bonus.

Bite.

Without warning, Sabrina

bit Saki's hand.

"Kyaa? Ouch! That

hurt!"

"Whoo- ah. What are

you doing Sabrina!?"

Kazuki quickly separated

the two of them.

"The only one who

can stand behind me is Onii-chan."

"Why are you

talking like an assassin from somewhere!? Also, what you said was wrong! She

wasn't even behind your back!"

Saki, who had just been

bitten, crouched in a corner of the classroom trembling and holding her hand.

"K-Kinoshita, are

you alright!?"

"As I expected, she

declared war... If she's going to play like that, then I'll..."

Just like before, Saki

seemed to be deep in thought again. Kazuki's voice didn't reach her .

"Uuu... if it's

like this, not only will my school life be affected, but Kinoshita might hate

me..."

Somehow, they made it to

the end of the fourth lesson.

Sabrina has been sitting

fairly quietly next to Kazuki (as long as Saki didn't approach her). Although,

when Kazuki was going to the bathroom during the break, Sabrina followed him to

the boys' toilets. Even so, it was nothing compared to what Sabrina did before.

Since he didn't know

what Sabrina might do, Kazuki has been on the edge of his seat.

"Uuu, somehow, my

head is hurting..."

After the fourth lesson,

it was lunch time. Some students from other classes came into the classroom to

eat with friends, or join tables together to form a larger table for

themselves. The class was starting to get noisy again.

"Onii-chan, is

something starting?"

"Ah, it's just

lunch time. We didn't bring our lunch, so we'll get something from the canteen."

"Si. I understand."

While the two of them

were about to exit the classroom, Saki (who was near the door) called out to

them.

"H-huh? Ootaki-kun,

y-you didn't bring any lunch today, right?"

For some reason, Saki's

voice sounded unnatural, like a robot.

"Yeah, I didn't

bring any since I was busy with this and that yesterday."

"I-I see..."

When Kazuki replied like

that, Saki was squirming, as if she wanted to say something to him.

"Umm, well... then."

Sss.

She hesitantly took out

something from a pouch

[4]

with cute patterns on it.

"T-this is the

lunch that I packed.."

"Hmm, so you can

cook as well Kinoshita. That's amazing."

"...Y-yeah. I'm not

great, but I can."

"I usually bring

frozen food or leftovers from dinn-"

Wait, hold on!

Kazuki gulped.

Huh? What's this

atmosphere?

Why is Kinoshita giving

her lunch to me?

Could this be, could it,

could it...

It's only a possibility,

but am I about to receive a hand made lunch from Kinoshita!?

Kazuki started to

imagine all of the possibilities.

Kinoshita opened her

mouth to talk.

"You know, I don't

have much of an appetite today, so if you're ok with it, you can have min-"

This!?

"Ootaki-kun can—."

I can!?

"Eat it-."

Eat it-!?

Bite.

Bite!? ... Huh?

"Kyaa! S-S-Sabrina!?

It hurts!?"

"Ahh-ah! Wait

Sabrina, what are you doing!?"

"I bit her."

"I can see that!

You don't need to tell me! Sorry Kinoshita, are you alright?"

"... Y-yeah, I'm

fine. You don't need to worry about me. Moreover, you can take th... huh?"

Saki checked her hands

for the pouch she was holding moments before, but it was gone.

"Heh? What's this?"

There was a voice coming

from the corridor. Just outside the door, there was a very fat boy holding Saki's

pouch.

It looks like the pouch

flew outside when Sabrina bit Saki's hand.

"Ah! That guy is

Futomaru Oujeki-kun, who's infamous for his appetite!"

"A flying lunch.

Yes, thanks for the food."

"Kyaa- ah. W-wait!

That's my lunch!"

As her face glistened

with tears, Saki chased after the boy who ran away with a speed that didn't

match his size.

"What was that just

now..."

Kazuki muttered to

himself, as he looked blankly at them.

When the siblings headed

to the canteen, it was overflowing with students who were also there for lunch.

To make it even worse,

all of the students here were in middle school. They all had a large appetite.

When they were hungry, no-one could stop or calm the students down.

The canteen resembled a

battlefield.

"Hmm, we're too

late.... Sorry Sabrina, I wanted to buy lunch here, but it looks like it'll be

a challenge."

Kazuki didn't have a

solution. Next to him, Sabrina looked at the crowd of people expressionlessly.

"Ha, this isn't

good. I think I might die from hunger..."

Hearing Kazuki's

complaint, Sabrina twitched her eyebrow.

"Onii-chan... will

die?"

"Yeah, I haven't

eaten anything since this morning, so I think it's over for me."

"Leave it to me. I'll

take care of the crowd of people."

Sabrina slowly opened

her "toolbox," and tried to remove a small pineapple shaped object,

most likely a grenade.

"Whoa- ah."

Kazuki quickly closed

the case. He looked around him, thankfully it seemed like the other students

were so busy getting food that they didn't notice the contents of the

briefcase.

"What are you

trying to do out of the blue!?"

"It was an

emergency, I will remove all obstacles."

"What do you mean,

remove...? Anyway, weapons are not allowed!"

"Si. Then I will go

unarmed."

After saying that,

Sabrina stood up and silently tried to launch an attack against a male student

who was struggling in the crowd of people.

"Wait—!"

Before she was able to

execute her attack, Kazuki picked up Sabrina from behind her.

That was close...

It was really close.

Since Kazuki picked Sabrina up, the karate chop didn't come into contact with

the male student's head. Instead, it cut through the air, barely missing him.

It still managed to rip the collar of the male student's uniform.

Hieeeeeee.

What monstrous strength.

If someone was hit with a chop like that, then it would have ended in tragedy.

"... Onii-chan."

Sabrina, who was in a

hug, blushed with embarrassment. She then turned around to hug him back.

"..."

Kazuki didn't have the strength

left to say anything in response. Anyway, he was now able to let go of Sabrina

and put some distance between them and the crowd of people. Sabrina was still

dangling from his neck.

"Hey Sabrina, it

doesn't matter if you're attacking with or without a weapon. The point is, you

shouldn't attack anyone in the first place."

"Why is that?"

"You're asking me

why!?"

"Si. I really don't

know."

"Huh?"

"I was taught to

remove anyone who was in my way. So in order to secure your lunch, I tried to

do my job and remove all obstacles."

"When you say

remove-"

"...?"

Sabrina tilted her head

in confusion.

It looked like she

really didn't understand.

It was quite worrying

how little common sense she had.

But Kazuki could

somewhat understand her. When Sabrina was back in Italy, she never set foot

outside her home, and was taught how to become an assassin.

The girl who was even

younger than him only knew how to kill and didn't question it.

Kazuki felt saddened by

the truth and it hit him deep in his heart.

... Also, Sabrina didn't

try to harm others for herself.

She tried to harm other

people to get food for me when I said that I was hungry.

She had a kind heart.

When he stopped thinking

about it:

"Hey Sabrina,"

Kazuki slowly opened his

mouth to talk.

"I hate fighting

and I try my best to live a peaceful life. When people fight, they can get

hurt. The injured person will obviously feel saddened, and the one who caused

the injury will be also saddened in the end."

Kazuki suddenly

remembered what happened at the sports carnival during his second year of

primary school when he had a fight with a senior.

"Well, sometimes a

fight is unavoidable. But even then, you need to do your best to avoid it."

Because he only met her

yesterday, talking to her like this might be presumptuous. But what Kazuki was

saying was from his heart.

"Will you be sad

when I hurt a person, Onii-chan?"

"Yes, I'll be sad."

"Even if f

I use a weapon?"

"Yes."

"Unarmed as well?"

"Yes."

"Si. Then I will

stop. I will also stop trying to become a full fledged assassin."

"It can't be

helped, I knew that it would be hard for you to give it up so easily when all

you have learned in your life was killing. But do you think you can change a

little bit at a time? I'll be cheering for you as we- ehh!?"

Kazuki was actually

responding to what he expected to hear from Sabrina, but when he realized what

she actually said, it was like he was making fun of her.

"Are... you really

going to give it up?"

"Si. I don't want

to make you sad, Onii-chan."

Sabrina nodded her head.

It seemed like Kazuki didn't misunderstand her.

"If you do that,

then I'll be really thankful... but will you be ok? Deciding it so easily."

Thinking that things

will turn out ok somhow, Kazuki happily gave Sabrina's head a pat. As he did,

Sabrina smiled gently and put on a dazzling expression.

"Then, it's a

promise?"

"Promise...? So it's

an 'Omertà'."

"Omertà?"

"Omertà is the

mafia's code of silence. If you break it, then you will be severely punished."

"Severely

punished!? Uuu, it sounds dangerous. But Omertà huh... Well then, this will be

our Omertà Sabrina. But without the punishment."

"An Omertà with

Onii-chan..."

Sabrina repeated the

word Omertà again happily.

It looked like she

really was determined to give up on being an assassin. So now, there shouldn't

be any need for the contents of her "toolbox."

Now he was able to

return to his everyday life. Now things were looking up for Kazuki, or so he

thought:

"Yes, then I will

use non-lethal attacks. I will also use non-lethal ammunition as well."

His hopes were dashed.

"Huh? T-that's not

what I meant at all!"

"The effectiveness

will be significantly reduced, but it'll be ok. I will definitely remove them

all."

"Remove what!?"

"The obstacles, of

course. Now then."

Sabrina escaped Kazuki's

grasp with a jolt. Kazuki quickly set out to stop Sabrina attacking the

students.

"She doesn't'

understand at all!"

4

In the end, they didn't

get any lunch. Afterwards they were able to finish their classes without any

trouble.

It was now after school.

Since Kazuki wasn't involved in any club activities, he decided to go home with

Sabrina.

Ta da da da da.

As he was about to leave

through the main gates, he heard someone's footsteps behind him.

Skid—

And the person stopped

right before the two of them.

"What a

coincidence, Ootaki-kun!"

"It wasn't a

coincidence. You followed us on purpose."

"Ugh."

Sabrina curtly cut Saki

off, as she came waving to them.

"Stop that Sabrina.

So, what's up Kinoshita? What's the rush?"

"I-I wasn't

rushing. I wasn't rushing at all. I saw you by chance and by chance alone. My

mother gave me some chores to do at the cathedral today, so I have to head over

there. I remembered that your house was near the cathedral, Ootaki-kun! S-So,

um, why don't we- why don't we walk together? How about it?"

...

......

A long silence fell.

"What... did...

you."

Kazuki was stuttering as

he tried to ask.

"Huh? S-since it's

on the way, I thought we might be able to walk together..."

Saki anxiously repeated

herself as Kazuki stood there in shock.

Walking home together

with a girl. It was a great privilege for a middle school boy like himself. And

if the girl happened to be a girl that he had a crush on, it was an even

greater privilege.

What happened? Kinoshita

wasn't acting like herself today.

He was so happy, but he

was getting too lucky.

Was he being repaid for

all the trouble he went through with Sabrina and his parents?

Or was he about to use

up all of his luck and die the day after?

While Kazuki was deep in

thought, Saki nervously asked.

"Could it be... a

bother for you?"

"Not at all!"

He objected at the speed

of sound.

"It's not a bother

at all. Alright, since you helped me a lot today with Sabrina, I'll even help

you out with your work at the cathedral."

"Wow, thanks so

much. It might require a lot of strength, will you be ok with that?"

"Sure, I'll be

fine. Right Sabrina?"

"No, it's such a

bother that it can't get any worse."

""Ehh?""

Without a second

thought, Sabrina rejected the idea completely.

Kazuki and Saki voiced

their grumble at the same time.

"I reject helping

you out with the chore, and walking home as well. Let's go, Onii-chan."

She tugged at Kazuki's

arm and tried to go.

"Huh? Huh? Wait,

Sabrina."

"S-Sabrina, wait."

"I don't want to

return home with this woman."

Sabrina tugged at Kazuki's

arm even harder than before. It really looked like Sabrina disliked Saki.

"Why do you keep

saying that? Why don't you get along with her?"

"That's right, that's

right. Let's get along, Sabrina."

Saki smiled brightly at

her. Seeing that, Sabrina tried to drill a hole in Saki with her defiant stare.

"Si."

And she nodded her head.

So she finally accepted

Saki.

"I will take her

down."

"What does that

mean!?"

He couldn't understand

her.

"I-I won't lose

either."

"Kinoshita as well?"

And consequently, the

three of them walked together with troubled hearts.

The three of them were

walking along side by side. Sabrina was walking between Kazuki and Saki while

clinging to Kazuki's arm.

"..."

The atmosphere got even

heavier.

There were

conversations, but they didn't last long enough to brighten up the mood.

...So what was with the

mood?

Kazuki was feeling

nervous for reasons he didn't understand. The inside of his mouth felt dry, he

was sweating endlessly and his stomach started to ache.

Kazuki looked at

Sabrina. Her expression had softened compared to before.

He looked at Saki. Her

striking smile greeted him

There wasn't anything

particularly strange.

Kazuki frowned and

closed his eyes to think.

At that point, Sabrina

and Saki's eyes met and sparks flew between them.

They were like a tiger

and dragon.

Shiver.

"Whoa."

Kazuki, who just felt a

chill down his spine checked his surroundings.

He didn't sense anything

unusual.

Since the two girls were

now facing away from each other, Kazuki didn't realize what was going on.

Hm, hmm.

Did I catch a cold

because I had a bath before coming to school?

I don't think it's a

cold because I don't have a fever.

Ring, ring.

A bicycle approached them from the front.

Saki stepped back to let

the bicycle pass and walked over to the other side of the street (where Sabrina

wasn't standing).

After the bike passed,

Sabrina stepped with perfect timing between Saki and Kazuki.

"..."

Shiver shiver. Kazuki

felt the same chill running through his entire body.

Something wasn't right.

But Kazuki didn't understand what.

"Hu

hu... Sabrina really likes to follow Ootaki-kun around."

"Si. It's obvious,

because I love my brother."

"Wow, it's quite

bold of you to say love. But I guess it doesn't matter, because you guys are

just siblings~. Si-bl-ings."

"..."

A smiling and

inexpressive face. The two of them exchanged glares with each other.

Shiver shiver shiver.

Kazuki has never felt as chilly as he did today.

Before Kazuki's mind got

broken, the three of them arrived at the cathedral.

"Uhh, so we finally

arrived... but huh? If my memory serves me right, isn't this cathedral

empty...?"

"Yeah, but recently

a nun was stationed here. She apparently asked for my mother's help when they

met yesterday."

They walked through the

main doors of the cathedral. Sabrina appeared to be dissatisfied, but she

wordlessly followed Kazuki.

When the trio walked in

the cathedral, they saw something they weren't expecting.

"Kyaa!"

Saki yelled out first.

To their surprise, near

the entrance of the cathedral there was a collapsed woman in nun clothes.

This person must be the

nun that moved in.

"A-are you

alright!?"

Kazuki called out to

her, but there was no response.

"Don't tell me she's

dea-"

Twitch.

At that moment, before

Saki could finish her sentence, the nun grabbed Saki's ankle and slowly raised

her pale face. In some ways, she was more like a ghost under the willow tree

[5]

instead

of a nun.

"K-kyaa! It's a

ghost-!"

Saki started stomping on

the nun's head in a state of panic.

"Not bad, her kicks

are suitable."

"Don't praise her

Sabrina! Kinoshita! Look carefully, she's alive."

"Heh?"

With tears glistening in

her eyes, Saki stopped her foot. With a barely audible voice, the nun spoke.

"I... I'm... so

hungry."

Grooowl.

The sound of the nun's

stomach rumbling echoed loudly.

"Whew— I'm alive!"

The nun instantly

devoured a heap of food that Kazuki bought from a local convenience store. They

didn't know about Sabrina, but Kazuki and Saki were stunned at the speed the

food was eaten.

The nun's face regained

its color and returned to a healthy pink tone. Her previous expression was

nowhere to be found (including the marks from Saki's kicks).

Now she beamed with a

smile and patted her full stomach.

"Ha

-, thank you. Thanks to you, I feel alive again. I moved in just fine, but

afterwards I was broke. I haven't eaten anything for a week.

"

"For a week!?"

"

It's because of the bad economy

. Ah ha ha, even the cathedrals have been affected."

The nun just laughed it off.

"That's right, I haven't introduced myself

yet. My name is Izuna Tachibana and I have moved in to this cathedral. Please

call me Izuna. Why are you visiting the cathedral?"

"That's—. "

"Ah, wait! I know even if you don't tell

me!"

Izuna interrupted Saki who was about to talk and

pointed her finger at Kazuki.

"You brought two girls with you! Hence, you're

here to confess your bigamy!"

"That's not it!"

Kazuki rejected her.

"It's alright. I'm in a good mood since I'm

full, so I'll forgive you in the Lord's name!"

"No, it shouldn't be forgiven, right!?"

A sense of déjà vu hit him.

The nun was very similar to his parents in how

she refused to listen to what he was saying. He realized that the nun wasn't

someone he should get acquainted with.

Saki took out a small envelope from her bag.

"My mother told me to deliver this to you."

"To me? ... Is this from Kinoshita-san?"

"Yes, I'm her daughter Saki."

"Heh, so she had a cute daughter like this.

You see, I met your mother yesterday and she said she would give me some seeds

if I wanted to do some gardening."

Inside the envelope were some seeds. Kazuki

recalled what he heard from Ryouta, about Saki's mother being a gardening

teacher.

"A flower filled cathedral does sound

really ni-"

"With this, I can save on food costs!"

Izuna swallowed her saliva and completely

ignored Kazuki.

Looking at the seeds carefully, he saw that they

were all just vegetable or fruit seeds.

"Umm... Izuna-san, I'm sorry for stomping

on you before."

"It's alright, it's alright! If you're a

girl, you need to be at least that strong. And nice white!"

Izuna gave Saki a thumbs up. As soon as Izuna

said that, Saki blushed frantically and held down her skirt. It seems like

Izuna caught a glimpse of her panties while Saki was stepping on her.

Saki was being conscious of Kazuki behind her,

and when their eyes met, Kazuki ended up blushing as well.

"Onii-chan."

Kazuki turned his head towards Sabrina.

"I'm embarrassed, but if you want to see..."

"It's ok!"

He hastily stopped Sabrina's hand which was

about to lift up her skirt.

"Huh? Aren't you the little girl who was

lost this morning?"

"Do you know Izuna-san, Sabrina?"

"Si. She told me the way to school."

"Ah, so that's what happened. Thank you for

that Izuna-san."

"Heh, so you must be Kazuki-kun. Hmm, ho-ho..."

"Huh? How do you know my na-"

"Eh-it

☆

"

Hug.

Izuna suddenly pulled Kazuki into her chest.

Kazuki's face was buried in her voluptuous

valleys.

"... Uhp."

"Kyaaa!!"

Both Sabrina and Saki were petrified at the

sight before their eyes.

W-wait. What just happened!?

They were soft... and warm...

-But he couldn't breathe.

Phew.

Kazuki escaped from Izuna's breasts while

gasping for air. He was breathing heavily now and his face was dyed bright red

with embarrassment.

"What are you doing, Izuna-san!?"

"No-, I just like you so..."

"What do you mean 'so'!? What are you

saying!?"

"Then it's like this. Hmm, that... thing

that they do in cathedrals... 'Baptism' was it?"

"It's completely different! And why are you

talking in a questioning tone!?"

While Kazuki was complaining to Izuna, he heard

a low muttering voice from behind him.

"I see.... So a new rival has arrived. Is

that what an adults' charm is...? How terrifying.... I can't believe two

different rivals - Sabrina and Izuna-san, appeared on the same day... I can't

let my guard down from now on."

"Wait Kinoshita. What are you saying? Huh?"

Saki didn't even notice Kazuki waving his hand

in front of her face. While he was looking at Saki with a strange expression,

Sabrina pulled Kazuki's head towards her chest.

"No. You can't, Onii-chan. Onii-chan's are

over here."

"What are you saying!?"

Kazuki told Sabrina off. Izuna who had been

looking at them cracked up.

"... Pft, pha ha ha. You guys are quite

funny. I like you guys. We live close to each other, so look after me from now

on."

Izuna took Kazuki's hand and shook it by force.

"... In terms of food."

Izuna's eyes lit up and she poked her tongue out

like a snake. It really seemed like she just wanted to leech off them.

Birds of a feather flock together, was it? It

seemed like another troublesome person has joined Kazuki's side.

And so, Kazuki was sucked into the swamp of

anomalies again.

_____________________________________________________________________

Reference

1.

Viva Nonno - "Viva nonno" means "Long live the grandfather." This phrase was used in a song by a Japanese band called "The Drifters." The song, called <いい湯だな>, translated to "what a good bath." Since then, some people have used "Viva Nonno" as a phrase that they say when entering a bath.

↩

2.

Noh-mask - A Noh mask is a mask used in traditional Japanese plays. They appear to be crying and smiling at the same time.

↩

3.

Naporitan - A Japanese noodle dish, named after Naples, Italy (hence "napoli"). It's called "Naporitan" instead "Napolitan" because phonetically, the Japanese language writes "R" for both R and L sounds.

↩

4.

In Japan, students bring their lunch (bentos) in pouches. They are also called bento-bags and bento-pouches.

↩

5.

Ghost under the willow tree - In Japanese mythology, the willow is associated with ghosts. It's said that a ghost will appear where a willow grows.

↩

### 004. Chapter 3: A Visitor From Italy

A fearsome anego appears!

Note from LHI, the editor:

This is the last chapter you'll see until after May the 7th, as I have finals starting this week. After finals are over, I'm on a semester break, so you can expect to see the rest of volume 1 much quicker.

Also, while I'm waiting on volume 2 to be translated, I will sit down and read volume 1 from start to finish. I hope to go back through and edit out any mistakes I may have made.

Translator: Junnynam

Editor: LHI

Please enjoy~

___________________

_

1

During lesson 1.

「

Second year class 6 Kazuki Outaki-kun. Please come to the student guidance room.

」

During lesson 2

「

Second year class 6 Kazuki Outaki-kun. Please come to the student guidance room

immediately.

」

During lesson 3.

「

Second year class 6 Kazuki Outaki-kun. Please come to the student guidance room

as soon as you can.

」

During lesson 4.

「

Second year class 6 Kazuki Outaki-kun. Please come to the student guidance room

at the speed of ligh– kyaaaa.

」

–––.

–––––––.

And now, it was after school.

"I'm sorry for the trouble."

Kazuki bowed his head and closed the students guidance

room's door,

"Ha..."

He sighed so deeply it felt like ectoplasm would leak

out of his body.

Tug tug.

There was someone tugging at Kazuki's uniform sleeve.

"Onii-chan, what's the matter?"

She had clear white skin with blond twin tails.

"If something is troubling you, then I will help."

The girl who was wearing the same school uniform as

Kazuki was holding a briefcase that didn't suit her.

She was the source of his troubles: Sabrina.

"...?"

It looked like she couldn't understand that she

was

the source. She looked back at

Kazuki's pleading facial expression, puzzled.

He thought it would only be for a day; however, thanks

to his parents, Sabrina had already been enrolled in the school and was now in

attendance.

Sabrina, who just entered first year, attracted a lot

of the boys' attention and hearts with her cute appearance. She was even well

received by the girls for defeating the PE teacher Kitajawa. Obviously, she

didn't care at all about the attention. She acted just like before; not paying

attention to anyone but Kazuki.

Even though Sabrina was warmly received by the

students, due to her severe lack of common sense, she was continuously in

trouble. Sabrina wasn't an easy student for the teachers to deal with.

The school had taken emergency measures and placed

Sabrina in Kazuki's class for self-studies, because she would only listen to

him. She was so behind on her Japanese, English, and mathematics that she was

given worksheets to do.

However, she wasn't completely quiet. She caused all

sorts of trouble, like throwing balls like a cannon in PE class, throwing a

knife at a classmate who approached her from behind during cooking class, and

biting Saki's hand while she was trying to teach her.

Because of her behavior, Kazuki and Sabrina have

become regulars at the Student Guidance Room.

Even today, the two of them were lectured until school

closed (Sabrina was expressionless as usual, so she didn't seem to mind).

"They called us here again. But I didn't want to

trouble you..."

Sabrina looked down as she weakly grabbed Kazuki's

sleeve. She usually didn't care what other people thought of her, but it looked

like she didn't want Kazuki to dislike her.

Prior to living in Kazuki's house, Sabrina was

training to become an assassin, and was forbidden from leaving.

It wasn't surprising to see her struggling to adapt to

her new environment. Sabrina was doing her best, so it was impossible for

Kazuki to be angry at her.

"It's ok, you can adapt bit by bit."

When he patted her head, her expression lit up

slightly. Sabrina was able to understand if Kazuki explained it properly.

Sabrina would be able to fit in and get accustomed to her life here someday.

However;

"Si, today I learned that you are not allowed to

make a dry ice bomb in the school's home economics room."

"Uuu... I see. You'll get used to it."

But that "someday" seemed so far away.

2

On their way back from school, the siblings headed

towards the shopping district.

Since it was nearly dinner time, a lot of people were

on the streets. The street was rowdy with shopkeepers doing cooking

demonstrations and holding various other events to attract customers. The smell

of delicious food was in the air.

"Sabrina."

"Si?"

When Kazuki

said her name, Sabrina who was standing still turned around.

"Are you alright? Did anything happen? You seem

to be really out of it today."

"No."

"Then is there anything that you want to eat? I'm

still undecided on what to have for dinner."

"I don't mind what we have, as long as I'm with

you, Onii-chan."

"I'm really happy to hear that, but.... I wonder

what we should have for dinner."

Saying "hmm," Kazuki thought about what he

should cook.

"He–y, Kazuki."

Someone called out to Kazuki. Across the road at a

different shop, Kazuki's classmate Ryouta poked his head out.

"Oh, it's you Ryouta. Looking after the shop?"

"Something like that. They caught me, on my day

off from my clubs, too."

The shop

「

Miyamoto Butchers

」

was run by Ryouta's parents. They were famous for

their cheap and delicious meat.

"I'm bored, so just buy something from us."

"Wait, that's completely unrelated. But hmm, meat

huh..."

"Take a look, this is a really good cut of meat.

Right now..."

Peek. From behind Kazuki's back, Sabrina peeked out.

Ryouta, who was just about to say the price, had a weak spot for cute girls and

quickly turned his eyes away.

"–It's free! Take it, you thieves!"

"Free!? But this looks pretty expensive, is this

okay?"

"Don't sweat the small stuff, it's alright.

Anyways, these expensive cuts don't get sold unless it's a special occasion.

Moreover, my dad only displayed these for his own satisfaction. Also, the meat

probably wants to be eaten by Sabrina. Think of this as my present to Sabrina.

Please accept it."

Sabrina's eyes lit up with a shine.

Ryouta was beaming at Sabrina when suddenly; a thick

and hairy arm appeared behind him and held him in a headlock.

"Kugh, father! Ahhhhhhh."

And just like a vise, Ryouta's head started to get

crushed.

Ryouta's face changed colors like the traffic lights.

Kazuki quickly realized what was going on.

"Ah, hello Mr. Miyamoto."

He had forgotten to greet the shop owner when he first

came in. Ryouta's father raised his hand in a "hey" gesture.

"That's not what you should be saying! Save– ughh."

Ryouta's father held his son in a headlock and started

to tighten it mercilessly.

"Uh, I'm sorry about that. I wasn't thinking of

taking it for free anyway..."

Kazuki gently tried to refuse, but Ryouta's father

told him "no" with his hands. With a series of elaborate gestures,

Ryouta's father said a man does not go back on his word.

Kazuki refused again and again, but in the end he wasn't

able to win against Ryouta's father.

After being pressured, Kazuki took the high class

meat.

"Then I'll gratefully take this, thank you very

much. Sabrina, you should say thank you as well."

When Kazuki urged her, Sabrina also bowed her head in

thanks.

"Eh heh heh. It's alright. Anyway, come visit us

again. Next time we'll give you even more service than today. But father, why

are you dragging me inside the shop... whoa–aaaaaa."

The desperate cry for help from his friend could be

heard even outside the shop, but Kazuki decided it was just his imagination.

Sabrina walked around Kazuki and stood in front of

him.

"Onii-chan, who was that person? He seems to know

me."

"..."

Ryouta... you're such a pitiful guy.

With that thought, he and Sabrina left the Miyamoto

Butchers.

"Hey Sabrina, what should I cook with this meat?"

"Yakiniku

[1]

of course! We've done it

daddy! It's a homerun for tonight!"

Someone jumped on his back from behind. Something bouncy

and soft wrapped around his head. Kazuki jumped forward to see who it was.

"I-Izuna-san!?"

The thing wrapped around his head were a pair of

breasts. When he realized this, Kazuki blushed furiously.

"Hey Kazuki-kun. Ah, by the way Sabrina, when I

say ‘It's a homerun for tonight'...."

"Who–ah. Don't teach her anything funny please!"

Kazuki spoke loudly enough to cancel out Izuna's

voice.

Izuna was a poor nun who put on an innocent face while

hugging Kazuki or while committing sexual harassment (physically or mentally).

She had moved into a cathedral near Kazuki's house and

visited his house frequently for food.

"Hello."

From behind Izuna's back, a girl wearing the same

school uniform as Kazuki appeared shyly.

It was Saki Kinoshita - Kazuki's classmate, who was

popular because of her passion for looking after people and because she didn't

discriminate between males and females.

Kazuki

actually had feelings for her.

"You're coming back from school quite late today.

...Oh, were you grocery shopping?"

"Y-yeah. I was..."

Ah... Kinoshita was really pretty.

While the two of them were talking about dinner,

Kazuki imagined Saki in an apron. It really suited her.

It looked too good... if only he could see it in real

life.

But what if Kinoshita's cooking didn't taste good? No,

there's no way that's possible.

For some reason, he accepted it to some extent.

Whenever Saki was near him, Kazuki always got nervous.

To avoid being found out, he started a conversation.

"W-what are you doing here Kinoshita, Izuna-san?

I-it's a strange pair. Did you have something to do?"

"Yeah. I went to Izuna-san's cathedral and helped

her plant the seeds. I've been visiting a lot these days to nurture them."

Saying "Take a look," Saki showed him the

bucket that she held in her hands.

Inside, there were a pair of work gloves, various

shovels, a plant nutrient package and various other things.

Gardening was Saki's hobby, which she inherited from

her mother (who is a gardening teacher).

"I-I see. It must be hard work."

"Not at all. The cathedral has a large yard, so

it's rewarding to work with it. It's quite fun."

From Saki's face, a smile bloomed.

Kazuki was able to talk to Saki because he stayed after

school thanks to Sabrina. With that, it felt like he had been repaid for his

effort and the trouble he went through today.

"Did the seeds you planted sprout already?"

"They did sprout... but before they grew any

larger, Izuna-san ate them."

"Nya ha ha. I was hungry, you see."

"Are you a wild beast that attacks agriculture?!"

Kazuki yelled at Izuna who was scratching her head in

embarrassment.

"Even if you're hungry, you shouldn't eat

seedlings! You didn't need to eat them anyway! What happened to

that

?"

"That?"

"You won the raffle at the store three days ago."

Actually, while he was passing through the shopping

district a few days ago, Kazuki saw Izuna winning the third prize - 10kg of

rice. Kazuki remembered it clearly because Izuna started squealing and jumped

on Kazuki out of excitement.

"Ah- you mean

that

.

I ate it all bit by bit... in 1 day."

"No, that can't be right, how much do you eat in

one day!? You're a religious leader, right? Have some self-control!"

It seemed like poverty made her stomach grow to suit

her irregular lifestyle.

Shiver.

While he was occupied with Izuna, Kazuki noticed an

unusual atmosphere. It was coming from Sabrina and Saki who were looking... no,

to be precise, who were glaring at each other.

Sparks flew between them, but Kazuki only felt the

chilly atmosphere, not the reason for it.

"Uuu..."

"...

(Stare)

."

"Did something happen between you two?"

"Uuu– oh, it's nothing Outaki-kun."

"Si. No problem."

Squish.

Sabrina's breasts pressed onto him.

"Ah!"

Saki widened her eyes with and let out a small yelp.

"W-what? What did I do?"

"N- no, it's not like that. It's nothing.

Anyways, Outaki-kun and Sabrina are always together, aren't you?"

"Si. Of course."

"Since you're just siblings."

"..."

As if she was trying to cut off Sabrina, Saki smiled

brightly at her. However, Sabrina wasn't intimidated. Although she was

expressionless, her eyes gave off a sense of leisure.

"Si. We're just siblings. Non blood-related

siblings, at that."

"Eeep."

Being countered by Sabrina, Saki was taken aback so

much that her eyes started tearing up.

"We sometimes sleep together."

Sabrina subtly added something that was a huge deal.

"Ehh-!?"

"Wait– Sabrina."

The

Omertà that he formed with

Sabrina had extended into their everyday life. The 7th rule was:

「

Sabrina can sleep with Kazuki when there is a thunderstorm or when she has

a nightmare and can't sleep by herself.

」

"You're... lying!?"

Saki lost the strength in her legs and kneeled.

"K-Kinoshita, i-it's not like that! We did sleep

together, but there was a good reason for it. And like I said before, she's

just my sister, so I wouldn't do anything strange to her!"

"...I can't believe... that the two of you have

developed your relationship like this... at this rate... no, I can't give up....

No, Saki! Your cousin Hiroyuki-kun's manga had that line ‘It's game over the

instant you give up.'"

"So just listen to me–"

Saki was in a monologue with herself, so Kazuki's

words didn't reach her.

Izuna crouched down and gently wrapped her hands

around Saki and Kazuki's shoulders.

"You two, in the bible, there is this saying... ‘be

fruitful and multiply.' I'm sure bigamy is allowed."

"Izuna-san should quit being a nun!"

She held her thumb up, but she held it in a different

way. It was slightly indecent.

After separating from Saki and Izuna, the siblings left

the shopping district and were walking home. It was just over 6 o'clock and

there was no-one on the streets. The evenly spaced out street lamps were

useless, but they lit up the path. Every now and then, the street lamps

flickered, adding to the gloominess of the lonely street.

"Ha... I really need to clear up the

misunderstanding sometime."

Being misunderstood by the girl he liked was so cruel.

Kazuki was still shocked and he was wobbling as he walked, but abruptly Sabrina

stopped walking.

She stood under the street lamp.

"... What's wrong?"

"What do you want from us?"

"Eh? What do y–"

Sabrina was looking at Kazuki... no, she wasn't

looking at him, she was speaking to what looked like an empty space.

Her voice sounded stiff and nervous.

Now that he thought about, Sabrina had been acting

strange; looking behind her once in a while and not paying attention to Kazuki.

Kazuki looked around him, but he couldn't spot anyone.

"Sabrina, what's going on–"

The flickering street lamp turned off.

Push.

Sabrina gently pushed Kazuki. He was pushed back about

the distance of a single footstep.

Then a shadow passed between them, followed by the

sound of something hard breaking.

"Huh?"

Kazuki was puzzled. He looked down at his feet.

The asphalt was cracked, and next to the crack there

was a shadow from a kneeling human.

It was this person who made the crack in the street.

The shadow threw a punch straight away.

It was fast.

Kazuki couldn't respond to the punch at all.

"Ugh!"

He didn't even have a chance to blink.

Slowly, as if he was watching in slow motion, the

punch headed straight towards Kazuki.

However.

Before the punch came into contact with him, Sabrina

swung her briefcase, or her ‘toolbox', at the shadow.

"––!"

The shadow leapt backwards. But as it did, it threw

something at them.

Whatever it was flashed before Kazuki's eyes.

At the same time, his view was covered by something.

It was Sabrina who swung her briefcase in front of his

face.

With the sound of a metal clashing, a slim knife fell

to the ground.

While Sabrina was blocking the knife, the shadow leapt

up and prepared its next attack.

The shadow was only aiming for Kazuki.

Shortening the distance, the shadow launched a spin

kick at him.

Sabrina blocked the kick and countered by swinging her

briefcase.

Clang.

The sound of metal on metal rang out again while

sparks flew. The shadow must have installed metal plates on its shoes.

Sabrina and her opponent's strength were almost equal...

no, the opponent was slightly stronger.

Sabrina was flung and lost her balance slightly.

The shadow didn't miss the opportunity, and swung its

fist once more at Kazuki.

Sabrina let go of her briefcase (which was the reason

for her imbalance) and pushed Kazuki away from the punch.

Whoosh!

The punch nearly scratched Kazuki's cheek.

With her free hand, Sabrina launched a backhand at the

shadow.

"Tsk."

The shadow clicked its tongue and crouched down. At

the same time, it performed a low kick which was like the scythe of a grim

reaper at Sabrina.

Predicting the low kick, Sabrina jumped about 20cms

off the ground.

The kick cut through the empty space.

Both their attack and defense were flawless.

Stepping away from the shadow, Sabrina prepared

herself and launched a chop at the shadow. The shadow arched its back to avoid

it. It grabbed Sabrina's hand that was attacking and threw her away.

As Sabrina was sent flying, she spun in midair and

landed closer to the shadow than she was before.

The shadow responded to that.

"... Uuu."

"Ha!"

Flash.

They passed each other. But neither of them received

any damage.

Turning back, both Sabrina and the shadow removed a

pistol from their sleeves, instantly taking aim at each other.

The guns were aimed at each other simultaneously.

The two of them stopped moving.

"..."

The atmosphere froze with the pair eyeing each other.

Finally, Kazuki had a chance to come back to his

senses.

Huh? Huh? What the hell's going on?

Was it aiming for me!?

I haven't got a clue as to what's going on!

While Kazuki was trying to comprehend the situation,

the street lamp turned back on. The identity of the shadow was revealed by its

light.

She was wearing a tight black suit that blended into

darkness. She had semi-long silver hair that reflected the lamp's light and a

pair of bright grey eyes that looked cool.

She was wearing adult like clothes, but she barely

looked over 20 years old.

"What are you doing Sofia

[2]

?"

"Sofia...? Sabrina, do you know her?"

"Si. She was in charge of my education back in

Italy."

Sabrina's education?

As Sabrina looked at Sofia, Kazuki could see the pain

on her face. It was an expression he had never seen her make before.

"That's what I should be asking you, Sabrina."

Sofia spoke with an elegant voice. She stopped

pointing the gun and glared at Kazuki.

"I was just trying to remove the evil person who's

seducing you."

"Seduce!? I seduced Sabrina!? What are you

saying!?"

"Silence, you dirty person. You don't have the

right to retort. How dare you kidnap my lovely Sabrina?"

"Kidnap!? It's a misunderstanding!"

While Kazuki was getting grilled by Sofia, whose eyes

were threatening enough to kill, Sabrina extended her help.

"No. I wasn't kidnapped."

Sofia, who had been interrogating Kazuki at a

frightening speed, stopped talking upon hearing her words.

"If you didn't get kidnapped... you were

abducted?"

"No."

"Were you taken by force?"

"No."

"Did they lure you with candy?"

"No."

"You're just asking if she was kidnapped!"

"You shut up. Then Sabrina, are you telling the truth?"

"Si."

Sofia crossed her arms and thought for a bit.

"...Why don't you tell me in detail."

3

The group was now in the living room of Kazuki's

house. Kazuki and Sabrina sat on one side of the table, while Sofia sat on the

other. Sabrina was clinging to Kazuki as usual.

Kazuki explained to Sofia how Sabrina came to his

household. Sofia continuously checked with Sabrina for confirmation.

"So, you really didn't get kidnapped?"

"No."

After repeating the question multiple times, Sofia

believed them for now.

"...I heard that Sabrina was abducted, but it

seems like the information was wrong. If Sabrina hadn't been there, I would've

killed you for no reason."

"No, no! I don't want to be killed for no reason!"

"Do you have a complaint?"

Flinch.

"No, I'm glad that the misunderstanding was

cleared up..."

He stood up to complain, but when Sofia glared at him,

he quietly sat back down.

Sofia drank the coffee that Kazuki brought out.

"So, how is it?"

She asked while biting onto the cup.

"Eh?"

Kazuki didn't know what she meant. Sofia quietly asked

the puzzled Kazuki.

"I understand that you didn't kidnap her, but I

want to complain about you stealing my one and only Sabrina, who is only mine, and

doing indecent things to her. "

"What? Indecent acts—!? I-I-I-I don't! Moreover,

it's been bothering me for a while that you've been saying 'my lovely' and 'only

mine' while talking about Sabrina!"

"Oh, so what? My Japanese is perfect. I was speaking

my thoughts honestly."

"But, both of you are females..."

"Gender does not matter when it comes to love. My

love for her is genuine and platonic."

While saying that, with a fluid motion, she ran her

fingers through her hair.

"As an educator, Sofia is slightly obsessed with

her duties."

Kazuki thought that was an understatement, but didn't

say anything to Sabrina. In this world, some things are better left unsaid.

"Anyway, did you really not do anything indecent

to Sabrina?"

"I won't forgive you if you lie," was the

expression Sofia had on her face.

"I-I haven't!"

Sofia narrowed her eyes and glared at Kazuki.

"Like looking at her naked body?"

"... Ha ha, ha."

"Or going in the bath together?"

"... N-no way."

"Or maybe sleeping under the same quilt?"

"..."

"Or stealing Sabrina's underwear?"

"I didn't go that far! ...Ah."

He dug his own grave. Kazuki started sweating like a

waterfall.

"..."

Ka chunk.

"Whoa—! Please don't pull out your gun like it's

nothing!"

"... Underwear. Umm, Onii-chan, if you're

interested... I wouldn't really min— upp."

"Just be quiet and don't make the situation

worse!"

Kazuki hurriedly blocked Sabrina's mouth with his

hand.

"I understand. As expected, you used this

situation to your advantage and did such things to Sabrina... and to release

your lust, you went to Sabrina every night and— pfft."

Sofia started to get a nose bleed. She held a

handkerchief in her hand and tried to stop it.

"... I got too excited thinking about it."

What happened to her pure and platonic love?

"Got any complaints?"

"... No."

Facing Sofia's menacing glare, Kazuki looked away.

"A-anyhow, those things happened, but they couldn't

be helped! What Sofia-san is imagining didn't happen at all, so please don't be

so concerned!"

Sofia looked at Kazuki like a predator looking at

prey, but she then sighed loudly.

"Well, I guess it'll be fine. My introduction is

a little bit late, but my name is Sofia Olivia. I am the capo

[3]

of

the soldiers in the Jevini Family, and I'm in charge of Sabrina's education and

training."

"Soldiers? Capo?"

"Don't you know anything about the mafia?"

She scrunched her eyebrows at Kazuki, who had a

question mark hovering above his head.

"Listen carefully. The mafia has the following

hierarchy in descending order: the boss, underboss, consigliere and the solder.

Mafia is a word to describe this group and other secret organizations that

follow a similar rank pyramid. Mafia groups are referred to as a 'Family'. Each

Family has their own unique 'Code of Submission' and 'Code of Silence'

(Omertà), and that's what keeps the mafia families so closely bonded to each

other."

"Right... I see. So there are a lot of different

types of mafia. Since Sofia-san is a soldier in the hierarchy..."

"Got something to say about that?"

Sofia pointed the gun at him.

"I don't! I told you to put that away!"

"Hmph, I'll move up soon. I can't stay still in

my current ranking for long."

She muttered to herself and placed her gun back.

"Ah, my name is—"

"I know, you're Kazuki Outaki."

"Eh? How did you know?"

"I looked into it. Well, as expected, there wasn't

that much information."

Sofia cleared her throat in dissatisfaction.

She looked into it? As expected? Kazuki wanted to

know.

"Thank you again, for looking after Sabrina. Son

of the 'Happy Crown'."

"Pardon? Happy... what?"

"'The One who Ridicules Death'. I'm talking about

your parents. They're quite famous in the underworld."

"Famous!? My parents are!?"

"There isn't a single person in our world that

doesn't fear the name 'Happy Crown'. They are famous for destroying a gang just

for bumping into them on the street, or for making the boss of a Family kneel

to them while skydiving 2000 meters off the ground, or even for making every

single cat in Italy follow them."

"Wait, what was the last one just now!?"

"Well, I wouldn't want to go against them either."

He was completely ignored.

How saddening... but before that, his parents.

Kazuki has always thought it was very suspicious for

his parents to be treasure hunters, but it seemed like his parents were big

shots in the underworld. The couple spreads trouble, not only for their son,

but across the globe as well.

Kazuki felt like he should apologize for his parents'

actions.

"But aren't you the successor of your parents and

the mafia? How come you don't know anything about them?"

"I'm just a normal civilian!"

At Kazuki's outburst, Sofia hung her mouth wide open.

"You're joking?"

"I'm serious!"

Kazuki yelled out.

"Do you even know how much I prepared when I

heard that Sabrina was kidnapped?!"

"Unfortunately, I'm just a normal person. I don't

intend to succeed them."

Kazuki curtly replied. Sofia could only look at Kazuki

blankly.

"Right, just a civilian..."

Sofia raised her shoulders like she just lost interest

and turned her gaze back to Sabrina.

"Sabrina, pack your bags. We're going back to

Italy."

"Huh, what are you..."

Going back to Italy?

Even though she just said something very important,

Sofia put on a relaxed face. As Kazuki sat there astonished, Sabrina asked:

"What's going on?"

"The boss's will has been found. To summarize, he

wrote that he's giving 'everything' to you."

"Everything...? Does he mean his wealth?"

Not understanding just how much 'everything' was,

Kazuki asked.

"That's not all. As I said, he's giving her 'everything'.

To be precise, Sabrina is now the boss of the Jevini Family."

"Boss!? Sabrina is!?"

"Sabrina is a hidden child that only a few people

know about even in the family, so some of the members won't accept that she's

becoming the boss. Without a boss, other mafia families will attack us, so our

underboss has been working hard to protect Sabrina. Now, he sent me over to

collect Sabrina."

After saying that, she smiled at Sabrina.

As if she was looking at her lovable little sister.

"Sabrina, you've always been treated as an outcast

and hidden child, but now, you're the boss of the Jevini Family. So, you don't

need to stay here any longer."

Sofia looked happy, like it was her own business.

Sabrina looked at her wordlessly.

Kazuki thought about it...

Sabrina will receive 'everything' from the dead boss.

However, Sabrina's life will be in danger because of

the current family members and the other families.

But was there a way for Sabrina not to go back to

Italy...?

— That's' right.

He reflected on the past few days.

This situation couldn't last forever, but for it to

end so abruptly...

But this couldn't... be... helped... right?

I had to let her go.

I had to, but...

Inside Kazuki's mind, there were fog like thoughts deterring

his natural thought process.

"Pack your bags right now. Your stuff is upstai..."

"No."

Sabrina briskly cut Sofia off.

Her answer was negative.

"Sabrina?"

Sabrina pulled Kazuki's sleeve.

"I won't go back."

She curtly replied.

"Wha—"

Sofia covered her mouth in shock.

"Sabrina? Do you even know what you're saying?"

She couldn't hide her shock. It wasn't surprising,

because Kazuki was in the same.

"Si. I don't need something like inheritance. I'm

not interested in becoming the boss, either. Please follow the will for everything

else."

"... Sabrina, it's not something that can be

decided so simply. It doesn't work like that."

"No, I won't go back. I'm staying here."

"Why are you so attached to a place like this

when you could go anywhere you wanted, and hold the entire world in your hands?"

"I don't need anything."

"Are you serious?"

"Si."

She wasn't kidding, she really planned to remain here.

Sofia looked at Sabrina's hand that was holding onto Kazuki's sleeves. She looked

up to glare at Kazuki. Kazuki felt a chill run through his entire body.

Without even trying to hide her rage, Sofia asked

Sabrina.

"What do you plan to do with the family members?

They're all waiting for you."

"I don't really care. It's bothersome for me to

even have them."

The atmosphere became colder as Sofia got angrier.

Sofia lowered her tone.

"Even when this boy will be in danger if you stay

any longer?"

"... Si. I'll protect him then."

"Sabrina!"

Sofia raised her voice. Sabrina didn't even flinch at

her. But she held Kazuki's sleeves even tighter.

"U-umm—."

Sofia fiercely looked at Kazuki as he interrupted

their talk. Kazuki shrank like a frog being glared at by a snake.

"... Let's go back together."

"No."

"I see... you don't want to go back. Then, I've

got my own methods as well."

Sabrina and Sofia took out their guns. The situation

was about to explode.

Ding

dong.

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

"..."

Sofia sighed and the heavy atmosphere in the room

lifted.

Kazuki realized that he forgot to breathe.

"... We were interrupted, so I'll leave for

today. Sabrina, think hard about who and what you are."

Sabrina didn't reply. Without moving, she was on her

guard against Sofia.

Kazuki went to see Sofia off. She appeared to be

slightly lonely.

When he opened the door, there was Saki and Izuna on

the porch. They must have been the ones that rang the door bell just now.

"I've felt this for a while... but now, I'm

certain."

As Sofia put on her shoes, she looked at Kazuki.

"I don't like you."

"Ehh?"

Sofia said something like that as if it were nothing,

again.

"It means that I want to strangle you to death."

"Isn't that even worse than before!?"

"Oh, you heard that earlier? You are really fast

witted."

"Now what are you saying..."

He really couldn't think of anything else to say.

Sofia pointed her finger at Kazuki.

And she declared.

"You're taking advantage of my Sabrina! That's

why you're the enemy!"

"Uuu... why is it like that..."

"Well, watch your back at night."

Sofia smiled evilly. She didn't appear to be joking.

"And one more thing..."

She leaned towards Kazuki's ear.

He felt her breath on his skin. His heart started to

beat faster, thinking that she was about to kiss him.

Whooo.

Her fresh breath that smelled like Eau de Cologne tickled his nose.

"You and Sabrina live in different worlds. It won't

turn out well in the end."

Sofia whispered that in his ear.

In a cold and frightening voice.

She turned away and passed Saki and Izuna while saying

"excuse me."

Sofia didn't do anything to Kazuki; however, he felt

as if Sofia had been gripping his heart. That feeling wouldn't stop as he

clenched his chest with his sweaty hand.

"Oh, there was a guest? Did we disturb you?"

"No.... Not really... did you need something?"

"I thought Kazuki-kun might be troubled. So I

came here to counsel you."

"Huh?"

Izuna said something completely unexpected.

Could she have overheard his conversation with Sofia?

Kazuki thought that discussing his situation with

Izuna might be helpful.

However, his expectations went up in flames.

"'Cause you know, you have so much meat, you two can't

possibly eat it all. So, I came here to help you out."

Izuna took out a pair of chopsticks and a bowl from

the sleeves of her habit

[4]

.

He completely misunderstood.

Saki was in shock, she didn't know what to do as she

stood next to the smiling nun.

"W-wait Izuna-san! You told me that Kazuki-kun

invited you! "

"I said that it would be nice IF he invited me,

but Saki agreed to it immediately. I couldn't bear to tell you after seeing you

get excited like that. Te-hee

☆

"

"Ehh—hh!?"

Saki crouched down with her hands covering her ears

and screamed. Kazuki noticed that Saki wasn't in her school uniform like the

time he met her at the shopping district. She was wearing a casual blouse with

a tiered skirt, which went well with her gentle personality. This was his first

time seeing her in casual clothes and it was spectacular. Without thinking,

Kazuki thanked the gods for this opportunity.

"It's ok Saki. There's this saying in the bible. 'There

is nothing to be afraid of. Just have faith.'"

"This isn't the time for that! We just came here

uninvited! Sorry, Outaki-kun. I'll go back home—."

"No!"

Kazuki hurriedly stopped Saki as she was about to

leave. Although the extra baggage was there, this was a once in a life time

opportunity for him. He couldn't let this go.

"Well, it's a bit messy, but come in— huh, what!"

While he was ushering them in, he saw Sabrina, who

should've been in the living room, standing there.

Sabrina didn't give off the same tense atmosphere she

did when Sofia was here.

... In fact, it was worse.

"Onii-chan, why are we having dinner with those

two?"

"Well, Izuna barged into our house."

"But I just saw you welcoming them in."

"Umm... well we can't eat all that meat by ourselves.

After all, we only got it thanks to Ryouta's sacri... no, his generosity. So,

let's share some with these two as well. Ok?"

"..."

"Food tastes better when eaten with friends,

right?"

"..."

"I like little sisters who have a big and kind

heart."

"...Uuu."

Hug.

Sabrina hugged him.

"Sabrina?"

"Si. I want to be a little sister who lives up to

your expectations. So the four of us can eat together. I received a mental

shock from it just now; so, I want to recover from the shock. Please give me

some time."

"J- just for reference, how long do you need?"

"I need about 3 hours."

"That's too long! Dinner time will be over by

then!"

In the end, the four of them had dinner together. With

the meat, Kazuki granted Izuna's wish and cooked yakiniku. With Sabrina

recovering from her shock while holding on to Kazuki, he brought the hot plate

out from the kitchen.

When he placed the slices of meat on the heated plate,

the appetizing sound and the smell of meat filled the room. This meat really was

worthy of being called the best cut by the butchers.

"Deli—cious. It's gotta be yakiniku! Oh, I found

a nice piece of cooked meat!"

"... Uuu, Izuna, that's a piece that I cooked so

I can give it to my brother. Return it right now."

"Sabrina, I don't mind. Whoa, please don't open

your mouth while you're chewing Izuna-san!"

"Uh- umm, Outaki-kun, if you want, you can have

this pie— ouch."

"Whoa—. What are you doing Sabrina!"

"Si. I just saw some delicious wings."

"There were none! You shouldn't bite other people!"

"Ah, this meat's mine as well!"

"Kyaa, Izuna-san, that was mine!"

The kitchen table was noisy. Sabrina didn't get angry

as much as usual, and Saki and Izuna looked happy.

Kazuki was laughing as well.

— You and Sabrina live in different worlds. It won't

turn out well in the end.

But the words Sofia spoke to him before she left were

circulating in Kazuki's head.

_____________________________________________________________________

Reference

1.

Yakiniku - Literally "grilled meat."

↩

2.

Sofia - The name "Sofia" is the Italian equivalent of Sophia.

↩

3.

Capo - A captain in the Mafia. Usually one of several Caporegime, they lead a group of soldiers.

↩

4.

Habit - The robes nuns wear, including the nifty nun hat.

↩

### 005. Chapter 4: Reality

More little sister goodness/chaos!

Translator: Junnynam

Editor: LHI

Please enjoy~

____________________

1

Sofia firmly stood on a long and silky

carpet.

It was a newly built hotel, one bus stop

away from the Kazuki household. She was in the suite on the highest floor.

In front of her was a man sitting on a

luxurious sofa. He appeared to be in his late 20s, but had all white hair and

was wearing a white suit.

He was the second in command of the Jevini

Family - Juan the underboss.

Sofia had been reporting Sabrina's case to

him; however, it was impossible to tell if Juan was listening to her while he

filed his nails.

After filing his pinkie, he blew at it and

finally opened his mouth to talk.

"So, you couldn't bring Sabrina back?"

"No, to be precise, I didn't bring her

back. There was an error in the information that I received. Sabrina hadn't

been forcefully taken away, she was there under her own will. She even said

with her own mouth that she wanted to remain there."

"So?"

"I've returned to hear your opinion on

the matter, underboss."

Juan glared at Sofia like a predator eyeing

his prey, until he returned his gaze back to his nails.

"I ordered you to bring back Sabrina, but

you couldn't. You've failed your mission."

"That's... true."

When you look at the outcome, Sofia failed.

She didn't have anything to say for herself.

"... But please give me some time. I

will persuade her for sure."

Sofia strongly looked at the sofa. In

response, Juan flexed his shoulders.

"It seems like Sabrina doesn't want to

return. She is staying in the 'Happy Crown' household, isn't she? If it were

me, I wouldn't stay there even if I was asked. Isn't it possible that the boy

is blackmailing Sabrina? They might even be doing drugs."

Sofia was surprised. Noticing that, Juan

stopped filing his nails.

"The boy is the son of 'Happy Crown,'

isn't he? It's quite possible. Drugs, blackmail, brainwashing... the body as

well as the mind, you see."

He smiled slightly.

This person was rotten to the core. He

enjoyed watching other people in distress; watching them with glee and a shady

look.

He saw things... he wasn't supposed to see.

But what Juan said was certainly

convincing.

Sabrina was never a girl who expressed

herself honestly...

But to think she actually spoke her mind.

Sofia was hesitant. What did she need to

do?

Then Juan spoke to her as if to give her

one last push.

"Well, we don't have time to leisurely

talk it over with her. At this rate, not only will the family fall into

trouble, she will as well. It wouldn't be strange if an organization attacks us

now. I will give you one more chance, you must bring back Sabrina this time."

"But..."

"What is it? I think I just gave you

an order, though?"

In the mafia world, refusing an order from

a senior was not permitted.

Sofia could only shut her mouth in

response.

She bowed her head and exited the room.

After leaving the suite, Sofia stiffly walked

along the luxurious hallway. She entered the elevator to get to the floor her

room was on.

There were no other people in the elevator.

The door slowly shut and the number

indicating the current floor descended one by one.

Slam!

Sofia slammed her fist on the wall. Her

eyes were filled with rage.

"That parachute

[1]

bastard. I'll rip out

his precious nails and pour molten steel on them."

Her anger erupted.

Was she angry because of how cocky Juan was

acting now that the boss was gone?

Was she angry at the boy named Kazuki who

was with Sabrina?

Or was she angry at the fact that Sabrina

rejected her for the first time?

Sofia didn't know where her anger came from.

— "The boy is the son of 'Happy Crown,'

isn't he? It's quite possible. Drugs, blackmail, brainwashing... the body as

well as the mind, you see."

Slam!

Remembering what Juan had said to her,

Sofia slammed her fist against the wall again.

There were a few things that Sofia couldn't

accept; however, Sofia understood that she had to bring back Sabrina at all

costs.

She remembered what Sabrina said.

— "I won't go back."

She had never seen Sabrina behave like

that.

Sabrina...

The boss gave you everything.

You're no longer a "hidden child."

You don't have to live like that anymore.

Why won't you come back?

Is it because you want to stay with that

boy?

Sofia didn't know much... but.

"I have to carry out my mission... for

the family, for myself, and for Sabrina as well. I will make you return with me...

even if I have to get violent."

As soon as she finished thinking, the

elevator door opened.

2

Today's lesson had just finished.

"Oh, a text."

As Kazuki headed towards the shoe lockers, the

phone inside his pocket vibrated. Sabrina sent him the text.

"I'll be waiting for you at the front

gate," was the short message from her.

"I'm coming now."

As Kazuki sent his reply, someone tapped on

his shoulder from behind.

"See you later Kazuki."

"Huh? You're going home early today,

Ryouta. You usually stay behind and play after school. Have you finally realized

that your grades are in danger?"

The students in his school were now

preparing for their midterm exams.

During preparation, all extracurricular

activities (like clubs) were on break.

However; just because the clubs were on

break, didn't mean the students actually studied.

"Are you an idiot? The clubs are on

break, so why would we waste our time studying? I'm going out to play with my fellow

baseball club members."

There were students like Ryouta who

preferred to mess around.

"Anyways, most of the teachers are at

a teachers' conference, so the school closes at 5 o'clock."

"Ah, they mentioned that in the

homeroom today."

"There aren't many teachers around, so

now is the time to run amok! Tonight is karaoke! I'll sing my heart out~."

"...That's great and all, but will you

be ok with the tests next week?"

"I'm living in the moment! I won't

regret anything!"

However, Kazuki knew that Ryouta would

regret it on test day. He had seen it happen countless times.

Since the two of them were in the same

class, they walked to the shoe lockers together. Kazuki could only look at his

carefree friend Ryouta's back as he walked away.

Kazuki reached into his shoe rack.

"Huh?"

When he reached into his assigned shoe

locker as usual, something was on top of his shoes.

"... What's this?"

Paper?

It was a pink piece of paper, slightly bigger

than the size of his hand.

An envelope?

Kazuki didn't know who could've sent him a

letter.

"—Hmmm?"

What's this?

When Kazuki flipped it over without thinking

about it too much, he was stunned.

"... C-could this beeee!?"

A cute illustration of a bubbly animal...

Round female-like handwriting...

And the heading "To Kazuki Ootaki-kun..."

"T-this is... don't tell me... no...

it can't be..."

He looked around him in shock. It could've

been a prank.

But the only person capable of pulling this

prank was Ryouta, and he had already left. The possibility was low.

Kazuki looked around once more just to be

sure, but there wasn't anyone looking at him.

It doesn't seem to be a prank.

With trembling hands, Kazuki opened the

envelope and held out the twice folded letter.

"I am sorry for suddenly sending you

this letter. There is something that I really want to say, so please come alone

to second year class six today at half past five. I'll be waiting for you...."

He calmly closed the letter and placed it

back in the envelope. Kazuki looked cold on the outside.

However...

T-t-this is!

In his heart a wave of emotions were

clashing within him. The only reason why he appeared to be calm was because he

was paralyzed with shock.

When Kazuki's brain recovered from the

shock, it quickly sent out an emergency notice to his body.

This was most likely a "love letter!?"

From who!?

For what!?

No no, I shouldn't be asking "for what,"

if it was a love letter.

"Huh? There's no name on it."

Kazuki checked the envelope and letter, but

sender's name was nowhere to be found.

... I'm so happy.

I've never received a love letter in my

life, so I'm very happy.

Ahh, what should I do? I have Kinoshita in

my heart...

No no, we're not dating, and there's no way

Kinoshita likes me!

Ah, I feel like crying just thinking about

it.

Why do I feel so sad when I just received a

love letter?

"A-anyways, let's calm down. Deep

breaths..."

Kazuki took a deep breath and quietly exhaled.

For some reason, he felt slightly better.

Once again.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm dow—.

"Onii-chan."

"Pffttt."

Someone behind him suddenly talked.

What a surprise!

Kazuki thought his heart was going to jump

out of his chest.

Coughing loudly, Kazuki turned around and

saw a girl holding a briefcase that didn't match her small body and twin tails -

Sabrina.

Kazuki quickly hid the love letter.

He knew that Sabrina couldn't find out

about the letter.

"S-Sabrina. W-what's up?"

"I came to find you since you didn't

come after so long. Did something happen?"

"No! No no. Nothing at all! There's no

problem!"

"Why are you denying it so much?"

"Uuu..."

Kazuki denied it repeatedly so that Sabrina

wouldn't be suspicious of him, but it appeared to have backfired.

"...Are you really ok?"

Sabrina asked once more with an

expressionless face.

Although Sabrina didn't have any particular

expression, Kazuki has started noticing subtle differences lately.

Kazuki took control of his expressions

knowing that he couldn't afford to be any more conspicuous.

He tried to talk.

"It's alright. There's noting rong.”

[2]

He sounded painfully obvious.

"..."

Sabrina stared at him coolly.

Kazuki knew what she was going to say.

Her gaze was extremely painful.

Kazuki was able to talk his way out of it

somehow, and since there was some time left until the meeting time he decided

to leave school with Sabrina. They stopped by the shopping district and bought

some groceries.

Fidget fidget. Doki doki. Heh Heh.

Noticing what he was doing, he quickly

returned to his normal facial expression...

But he couldn't keep a straight face and

went back to fidgeting....

Kazuki repeated this cycle over and over

again.

Flip.

It hasn't even been a minute since he last

checked his phone, but he opened his (flip style) phone to check the time.

Step step. Fidget fidget. Flip.

Step step. Doki doki. Flip.

Step step. Heh heh. Flip

Anyone could tell that he was insane.

Since Sabrina wasn't the type to start a

conversation, she was pretty quiet if Kazuki was.

Not noticing this, Kazuki checked the time

on his phone again.

...It was 15 past 5.

If he didn't head back now, he would be

late.

I better take action now....

Right, let's do this! Yeah, I can do it!

I've been running it over in my head, and

if I stay calm, I can succeed!

Kazuki made up his mind and started taking

action.

"Ah— not good—. I left something behind

at school. I would be in trouble without it—. I need to go back and get it even

though it's troublesome—. Sorry Sabrina, but do you want to go back first—?"

Maintaining his calmness and a straight

face, he said the lines that he practiced in his head.

Great, it was perfect.

Kazuki wore an unnatural smile.

With this, Sabrina should—.

"...... (Sta——re)."

She's suspecting me——!?

But being suspect didn't really matter, she

hasn't noticed it yet.

This is the turning point.

... I can't look away, I'll get killed!

Kazuki felt the chilly air blowing behind

him and kept the smile on his face.

"........ Si. I understand."

After what felt like 10 minutes, Sabrina

answered Kazuki.

Kazuki felt like he just won the greatest battle

in all his life.

"Really?! Alright!"

"Alright?"

"N-no, I meant 'Alright, time to get

the things even though it's troublesome'."

"... It's really suspicious."

"What?"

"No. It's nothing. Then, I'll carry

the groceries home."

"Ah, yeah. Sorry about that. I'll come

back as soon as possible, so bye!"

Kazuki turned around and rushed to the

school.

Thank god it worked out somehow... although,

I do feel sorry for Sabrina.

Kazuki reached the school gates. Since he

ran to school and sweat a lot, he tried to dry himself and checked his phone

for the time.

"I've got 5 minutes. Good."

Since the front gates were shut, he had to head

towards the back entrance. Even though the back entrance was also shut, he was

able to get in through a hole in the fence.

At Kazuki's school, the school building

surrounded the field and was divided into the east and west buildings. The second

and third years used the east building while the first years and the

miscellaneous classrooms were in the west building. He was able to get in the east

building via the emergency exit (the door is broken).

Did she call him out because she knew that

there were no teachers in school today?

Thinking about who the girl might be,

Kazuki made his way up to the sixth class of the second year.

He walked up the dim stairs and passed the

silent corridor.

He reached the rendezvous.

"Ah..."

There was light coming from the classroom.

The person who sent him the letter should

be waiting in that room.

Kazuki swallowed nervously.

With his trembling hand, he slowly opened

the cracked door.

The girl inside was looking out the window.

Her face wasn't visible to Kazuki yet.

Ah, don't tell me...

The girl's back was...

The girl had her brown hair held in place

with hairpins.

Don't tell me, it can't be—.

Kazuki had seen the girl's back before. No,

he had been looking at it all the time.

The girl turned around.

"Ootaki-kun?"

Surprisingly, the girl was Saki Kinoshita.

Hence, the person who sent him the love

letter was Saki as well.

Kazuki has a crush on Kinoshita...

But he always thought that his feelings

were unrequited - he thought it was impossible for him.

If Kinoshita sent a love letter to me...

It's not a dream... right...?

Kazuki couldn't believe the situation.

Step by step, Saki walked closer to him.

"Eh, t-that's..."

Kazuki couldn't speak.

"Ootaki-kun..."

Unconsciously, he stopped moving. Saki drew

even closer to him.

Whoaaa!

Am I finally getting confessed to!? And by

Kinoshita who I have a crush on!? Was this really happening?

"Umm..."

C-could we go to school and eat lunch

together from now on?

And do some gardening together on the

weekends... wow. What is this!? I'm so happy!

"Um..."

Kinoshita was already blushing.

No, I should think about those events later

on.

I need to think about my answer to

Kinoshita's confession.

Step by step, the distance between them

shortened.

As the distance shortened, Kazuki's

heartbeat increased proportionally.

"So, umm..."

Saki, who was standing before him, shyly opened

her mouth to talk.

That's it!

At that moment, Kazuki had a brilliant

idea.

I like Kinoshita as well.

That means that I shouldn't make Kinoshita

confess right now.

Knowing her feelings, Kazuki didn't need to

hesitate any longer.

This is something that the guy should shout

out!

Alright!

Kazuki firmly decided to say it himself.

"Kinoshita! All this time, I've—."

"W-what did you want to say to me?"

"Liked shellfishes as well!"

After hearing Saki's unexpected question,

Kazuki quickly changed what he was about to say.

"Shellfishes? Me?"

"T-that's right! Ah ha ha ha ha ha. I

always thought that you might like roasted shellfishes!"

"Huh? .... F- food that I like? Hmm, I

like fried shrimps, though..."

"I see! Fried shrimps are great! They

taste the best when they're fried! Ah ha ha ha ha ha...."

It was anguishing. However, Kazuki could

only laugh like that.

"S-so, what Ootaki-kun wanted to say...

was that?"

Saki somehow appeared let down.

Huh?

Something didn't sound right to Kazuki.

"Wait, what do you mean what I wanted

to say?"

"Y-yeah, didn't Ootaki-kun call me out

to tell me something?"

In an instant, Kazuki's head went blank.

He couldn't understand what Saki just said.

Hmm, what happened?

I had something to say to Kinoshita?

Then the confession—.

"T-that's right! What about the

confession?"

By mistake, he thought out loud.

"Huh!? C-c-c-confession!? Tha- w-what!?

Ootaki wasn't going to!? Ah!"

Saki closed her mouth with her cheeks

bright red.

He felt a sense of incongruity.

For some reason, their stories didn't match

up. Kazuki removed the love letter he found in his shoe locker from his pocket.

"I found this letter in my shoe

locker, but Kinoshita didn't send it to me?"

She also pulled an envelope out of her

pocket.

"Huh? But I got one in my locker as

well?"

It seemed like someone called both of them

out using the letters.

Then who on earth did it? And why?

Creak.

Suddenly, the cleaning closet door opened.

Roll.

From the closet, Sabrina rolled out.

"... I made a mistake."

""Sabrina!?""

"How strange. Why is there a

broomstick here?"

"No no! It's normal for there to be a

broom stick inside a cleaning closet! What's strange is you being inside the

closet! Why are you here!?"

Sabrina picked the cleaning equipment up and

showed Kazuki a letter she removed from her pocket.

"Your brother is going to flirt with a

girl afterschool. Heh heh heh... what the hell!? Why is Sabrina's letter

written like this?"

"I trusted you Onii-chan, but as you

returned to school, I arrived here first and waited for you in the closet."

Sabrina let out a threatening aura.

"What were you going to talk about

with this woman?"

"N-no, I'm not too sure either..."

Sabrina turned away from the muttering

Kazuki and faced Saki.

"Saki Kinoshita. You've got guts to

toy with my brother."

"Eh? N-no! You're wrong, w-wait,

Sabrina. Kyaa!"

Bite.

Sabrina started to bite Saki's hand

mercilessly.

"If movbess."

"I don't know what you're saying,

Sabrina!"

"Sabrina, talk or bite - not both!"

Sabrina let go of Saki's hand.

"Si. I said 'It's useless.' Now then—!"

She resumed biting.

"Kyaaa—ah. Don't biteee!"

"Ahhh, Sabrina, you shouldn't bite—!"

Kazuki hugged Sabrina from behind and

separated her from Saki. Saki's eyes were teary and she was blowing on the hand

Sabrina had bitten.

Press.

Sabrina turned around and hugged Kazuki.

"Sabrina?"

"... Like this."

It looked like she was trying to suck up his

energy like she did when they had sukiyaki. Sabrina clung to him like a leech

for a while.

Kazuki was surprised, but he still gave

Sabrina's head a pat.

Then Kazuki realized something.

"...Then who called us out?"

He muttered softly.

Ding dong ding dong.

Suddenly the notification sound rang out

from the speaker.

Even though there shouldn't be anyone else

in the school...

「

Looks like everyone is here.

」

A clear voice spoke through the speaker.

Kazuki has heard that voice before.

It was Sofia, a solider of the Jevini

Family and Sabrina's teacher in the art of assassination.

Kazuki tensed up. Sabrina must've tensed up

as well, because she gripped Kazuki's arm tighter.

"Hey - why is Sofia-san here?"

Kazuki almost moaned. Saki didn't seem to

understand and stood there blankly.

「

Hu hu, you must be surprised. Well, it's not a surprise. There are

cameras installed in the classroom, so I can see your movements.

」

Kazuki looked around but couldn't see the

cameras.

"Were you the one who set this up,

Sofia?"

Sabrina cautiously stepped in front of

Kazuki and Saki.

「

I don't like meaningless questions. Didn't I tell you that? ...

Sabrina.

」

"What are you trying to do?"

「

It would be faster to show you instead of explaining it. Look under

the lectern.

」

Being the closest one to the lectern,

Sabrina looked under it reluctantly.

Sabrina's eyes lit up with agitation after

seeing what was there.

"Oh, it's just an alarm clock?"

Saki blinked her eyes as she saw the

object.

"... Both of you, please step back.

This is a bomb."

"Wha—."

A bomb!?

Kazuki didn't believe his ears. However...

Sabrina wasn't the type to joke or pull a prank. He was able to see from her

frozen facial expression that she was serious.

"Kinoshita, take cover at the back of

the class!"

Pushing the tables aside, they all backed

up to the rear of the room.

「

It's futile. I've installed bombs all over the school and can set

them all off with the push of a button.

」

If those bombs explode... Kazuki's legs

started wobbling.

Assuming what she had said was true, running

away from the classroom wouldn't be enough to evade the explosion. They were

completely trapped.

"Ootaki-kun, is that really a bomb?"

Saki asked nervously, being the only one

who didn't understand the situation.

Kazuki heavily nodded his head.

"W-who is this Sofia-san? What's going

on?"

"She's after me."

"... Sabrina?"

"Kinoshita, this might be hard to

believe, but Sabrina has her personal circumstances and became a mafia boss. The

person on the speakers is trying to take Sabrina back to the mafia organization."

"Huh? Why would she do all this just

to bring Sabrina back?"

"That's probably because..."

Kazuki trailed off. However, the reason was

understood without Kazuki needing to explain.

Sofia spoke to Sabrina:

「

Sabrina, stop behaving so spoiled and return. If you come back

obediently, no-one needs to get hurt.

」

"..."

「

You said it before, didn't you? You said you would protect those close

to you when they're in danger.

」

Sofia paused for her previous statement to hit

home with Sabrina.

「

Look at the situation; Instead of protecting them, you're in danger

as well. How can you say that you'll protect others, when you can't even

protect yourself?

」

"... Uuu."

Sabrina was at a loss for words. It seemed

like she was unable to retort.

Maybe it was because of her anger towards

Sofia, or because she was blaming herself, but Sabrina's shoulders were

trembling.

「

Boy.

」

Kazuki was surprised.

「

It must've been hard on you as well. Let's be honest here, it was a

bother right? We're talking about Sabrina after all.

」

After hearing Sofia's words, Sabrina was

visibly upset.

Sabrina's usual expressionless face was

gone and she looked terrified... as if something she's been fearing was happening.

It's a bother to have Sabrina around...?

My usual quiet and average everyday life

did disappear when Sabrina arrived...

And there has been times when Sabrina

caused a lot of trouble...

But Sabrina always tried her best.

She really was a good girl.

So... but...

Did I think of Sabrina as a bother?

He couldn't think of an answer no matter

how hard he thought.

Sabrina, Sofia and even Saki all looked at

Kazuki for his answer.

Kazuki started to feel anxious knowing that

he had to say something.

"I..."

"No. I won't go back."

"Sabrina..."

Nothing could be heard from the speakers.

After a short silence, Sofia asked for

confirmation.

「

Hey, do you even know what you're saying?

」

"I do. But... but I..."

「

So it's ok if I detonate this?

」

"That's—"

「

Then come back.

」

"..."

Sabrina knew that there were no other

choices left.

But.

"... No."

She refused once more.

Saki held Sabrina's hand tightly and nodded

without completely understanding what was going on.

「

I see...

」

Sofia let out a short sigh.

In the next instant the classroom flashed

white with a "paa" sound.

The powerful tremor slammed against their

eardrums. The shockwave pushed the three of them out of the classroom.

The bomb exploded.

3

Meanwhile, in the broadcasting room in the western building.

"Why..."

Sofia's pale face looked at the detonator in the hand

that held it.

She wasn't the one who pressed it.

Desperately suppressing her anger, she questioned the

man behind her.

"Why did you press the detonator, underboss?!"

"Ah ha ha ha— that bomb was surprisingly

powerful."

Juan looked out the window at the school building with

great interest.

In his hand, he held the detonator.

"I thought we had an agreement to use this as a

threat... no, to keep them in check."

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha—ah?"

Juan gazed over at Sofia. His expression changed to a

baffled one.

"But she didn't agree... You said that Sabrina would

come back if we threaten her friends, but it didn't work."

"That's—"

"So plan A failed at that point, so we had to

switch to plan B. Well, I didn't tell you about it though. Ku ku ku. Do you have

any complaints? You, a soldier who always fails."

"...!"

"Well, this is a great opportunity. With this,

Sabrina won't be behaving so spoiled. It'll be a great experience for her."

"What if something happened to Sabrina!? And that

place also had civilians!"

"Sabrina has received special training. So she

shouldn't have died. As for the others... well, they were just unlucky."

"Y- you—!"

For an instant, Sofia's vision went completely white with

rage. She tried to attack Juan; however, due to her anger, Sofia was full of

openings.

"Ughh."

Unfortunately, one of Juan's men punched her stomach

as she charged at Juan. She couldn't resist the pain and kneeled. The rest of

the men pointed guns at her.

"Hey hey, how scary."

Juan held up his hand to stop his men, and started to

filing his nails with a gleeful smile.

Resisting the pain in her stomach, Sofia stood up. She

tried to leave the room.

"... What are you trying to do?"

"I'll go and save her."

"You mean Sabrina?"

Sofia chose not to reply to his question. The sound of

Juan purposefully sighing on could be heard behind her.

"I'm disappointed in you. I was going to be nice

to you, since the boss favored you, but I'll remember your actions."

"... Yes."

Turning her back to Juan, Sofia hurried to the eastern

side of the school.

4

Kazuki shuddered just thinking about the bomb that had

exploded.

Kazuki didn't suffer much damage from being slammed into

the wall by the explosion. He didn't even want to think about what would've

happened if the chairs and the desks had slammed into him.

He crawled out from under the pile of chairs and the

desks, and eventually managed to somehow make it out of the classroom.

"This is—."

Kazuki stopped breathing at the sight of the corridor.

The bombs weren't just a threat. The corridor's roof

had collapsed and parts of the upper floor were visible. This floor had a big

hole and the walls between the classrooms and corridors were all destroyed.

Due to the burning black smoke, the fire alarms were

screeching. Some of the sprinklers were spraying water everywhere, but they weren't

able to battle the flames.

This place wasn't the school that Kazuki once knew.

It was almost like a nightmare.

The only way he was able to tell that this wasn't a

nightmare were his five senses.

The school building has been badly damaged; however,

the classroom that Kazuki and the two others were in had not been as badly

damaged - as if the bombs took it easy on them.

"Are the two of you safe!? I'll secure an escape

path, so stay where you are!"

Sabrina's voice rang out through the commotion.

Thank god, she's safe. Thinking that, something about

the usual cold Sabrina didn't sit right with Kazuki.

He was stunned. His legs were shivering, and he found

it hard to move properly.

However, he didn't cry, because Saki was there.

Kazuki lived with Sabrina so he knew her

circumstances. That was how he was swept up into this mess, but Saki had

nothing to do with it. She was just an innocent bystander.

"Kinoshita! Where are you Kinoshita!?"

"Over here—."

Saki escaped the pile of tables and walked through the

corridor.

"Kinoshita, are you hurt anywhere!?"

"Ah, yeah. I'm fine."

Saki's hand was shaking as she escaped the tables.

I see, so the tables served as a protective barrier.

Kazuki felt relived as he pulled Saki towards him.

All that was on his mind was returning Kinoshita to safety.

Having stood up, Saki dusted off her school uniform.

"... It turned out to be a catastrophe. Cough,

cough."

She wasn't panicking, even in a situation like this.

She was being her usual self - acting brightly.

Her expression dug into Kazuki's heart.

"I'm sorry Kinoshita! I'm really sorry! Sorry for

dragging you into this situation!"

"Why are you apologizing, Ootaki-kun?"

"But..."

"Ootaki-kun isn't at fault."

"Huh?"

Saki's words were warm and it melted him.

"Sabrina either."

Saki's facial expression looked slightly forced, but

she was still trying her best to smile.

"I'm fine. I'm not hurt either. Please go to

Sabrina first, I think she might blame herself for this."

She was caught up in the explosion even though she

wasn't involved with the situation.

Even though she should be complaining, Saki wasn't

crying at all.

Furthermore, she was actually concerned about Sabrina.

She was even smiling to assure Kazuki.

"How can you..."

"Ootaki-kun! Look out!"

Saki pushed Kazuki aside. Falling rubble hit her head

as it fell.

Saki collapsed on the floor.

"Kinoshita, Kinoshita!?"

Drip.

When he picked Saki up, he felt a sticky substance on

his hands.

He looked at his hands while trembling. His hands were

covered in a sticky red substance.

His hair stood up on end.

Blood—.

It was red.

The color of death.

The color of despair.

Something inside Kazuki audibly broke. It felt like he

was paralyzed and unable to move at all.

At that moment. Sabrina returned after securing an

escape path.

"Saki! Onii-chan, what happened?"

"...Kinoshita... she protected me..."

Sabrina removed a knife from her toolbox and tore her

skirt.

Rip.

Her pale thigh was visible. She removed a handkerchief

from her pocket, and using the torn skirt, she wrapped it around Saki's head as

first-aid.

"It's probably just a small cut. She should be ok

with this. I'll take Saki, so please get up Onii-chan."

Seeing Sabrina acting swiftly, Kazuki froze with his

eyes wide open.

"..."

"Onii-chan."

"...It's impossible."

"What are you saying? If we don't hurry—"

"I said it's impossible!"

Kazuki yelled out.

Sabrina shrank back in surprise.

"... Onii... chan?"

"This isn't normal... the school blew up and hurt

an innocent bystander! This isn't normal!"

The situation was urgent.

He knew that Sabrina was doing the right thing in this

situation.

He knew that she was right, but he couldn't accept it.

—

You and Sabrina

live in different worlds. It won't turn out well in the end.

Kazuki finally understood what Sofia meant.

It wasn't just Sabrina... I took it the situation too

lightly.

A lot of things happened while Sabrina was around, but

I've always thought it would work out in the end somehow. But I never have

expected the school to be blown up like this and Kinoshita to get hurt this

badly.

It was impossible from the start.

It was impossible for a civilian and a member of the mafia

to live together.

Rumble.

At that

instant, a giant concrete post started falling towards Kazuki.

"Whoa..."

"Onii-chan! Watch out!"

Kazuki wasn't able to use any strength in his body. He

was unable to move.

Sabrina tried to drag Kazuki (who was still in his immobilized

state) to safety, but she couldn't budge him at all.

Kazuki stared at the falling post in wonder.

At this rate, I'll be crushed.

... But I can't move.

"... Uuu."

Sabrina stood between the falling post and Kazuki.

Anyone could see that it was pointless, but she used her body to cover Kazuki.

"Sabri—."

"Sabrina! Get down!"

There was a voice that overpowered Kazuki's own.

It was Sofia who appeared in a flash.

Bang Bang Bang Bang.

She fired her assault rifle.

The bullets hit the base of another post opposite to

the one that was actually falling.

She missed?

Sofia opened the coat she was wearing. In it was a

variety of hidden weapons.

Among them was a grenade. Sofia quickly threw it at

the post she just shot.

She shot at the grenade, causing it to explode

mid-air.

The post, weakened by previous bullets, broke and hit

the falling post - knocking it away from Kazuki and Sabrina.

Rumble—.

With a dull thud, the post fell - barely missing

Kazuki and Sabrina. They were able to avoid being crushed.

Kazuki looked up at Sofia. She looked like she was

about to cry, and her face was in anguish.

"... Uhh."

Saki regained consciousness in his arms.

"Kinoshita!"

"Huh... I..."

"Don't move! Show me your wound!"

Sofia gently picked Saki up and checked the first aid

that Sabrina had performed. Her expression was now back to normal.

Why did Sofia come to save them if she was the one who

set off the bomb?

Kazuki was confused.

"The injury isn't serious. It looks like she bled

a lot because one of her larger blood vessels was damaged. She should be fine

with this, so let's head outside quickly. It's dangerous to remain inside."

After saying that, Sofia picked Saki up and led Kazuki

and Sabrina outside. Since Sabrina secured a safe escape route, they were able

to escape relatively quickly.

After leaning Saki against the fence, Sofia deeply sighed

and turned towards Sabrina. Kazuki silently watched the two.

"...Sofia."

"Sabrina, you can blame me for all this, but I

just want you to know this: you weren't able to protect those two."

Sofia coldly stated the facts.

"The world that you live in is too different. You're

a mafia boss, whether you like it... or not."

Sabrina didn't say anything in response. She just

silently looked down.

"From now on, a lot of different people will be

after your life - regardless of if they're enemies or allies. If you were by

yourself, you might be able to handle it somehow. But the ones who're after you

won't be playing fair - they'll attack your weak spots mercilessly."

Sofia whispered to Sabrina. Kazuki wasn't able to hear

what they were talking about.

Sabrina shrank.

"Onii-chan..."

She looked back at him.

She extended her hand to him, as if she were calling

for help.

Her small and slender hand.

Although Kazuki could've touched that hand if he

extended his own, Kazuki only looked at her hand.

Sabrina's hand.

But it was also the hand of a member of the mafia.

A hand that clung to me for some reason...

But a hand that brought fights and bloodshed.

— "Onii-chan is really like the brother that I

imagined you to be."

No... that's not it.

You expected too much from me.

I'm not the brother that you imagined me to be.

Kazuki recalled the warmth of Saki's blood that he

felt on his hand.

Her expectations of me are... it's too much.

It was overwhelming.

So.

Kazuki couldn't...

...

......

......... He couldn't grab Sabrina's hand at all.

Suddenly, Sabrina lost the light in her eyes.

Her eyes were now a cold blue.

Her expressionless face didn't change, but now Sabrina

appeared to be a completely different person.

"Arrivederla

[3]

..."

Sabrina turned and walked away from Kazuki.

Sabrina was walking towards a man in a suit.

Sofia, who tried to follow Sabrina, stopped and bowed

her head slightly at Kazuki.

Even though she succeeded in bringing Sabrina back,

Sofia had a bitter expression on her face.

"You guys better leave now before it gets any worse."

She left them with those words and ran after Sabrina.

"Sabrina..."

Kazuki called out her name, but she had already

disappeared.

It probably wasn't too late to follow her now.

However...

Kazuki didn't pursue her.

_____________________________________________________________________

Reference

1. Parachute - Slang meaning that one uses the influence of his/her parents to obtain influence or preferential treatment.

↩

2. The spelling mistakes in this sentence were intentional and in the original text.

↩

3. Arrivederla - polite way of saying "good bye" in Italian.

↩

### 006. Chapter 5: Shower and The Distant Thunder

Off-topic: Although pse

udo-incest will never have that genuine forbidden taste, its the psychological quandary of the 'siblings' that makes it worthwhile. The revelation, or betrayal, may render the incest moot, but their struggle and love for each other remain true. So, at the least, we have a happy ending for the 'couple'.

Translator: Junnynam

Editor: LHI

Please enjoy~

____________________

1

"Sabrina,

I'm coming in."

When Sofia

knocked on the door and went inside, Sabrina was sitting in a chair near the

window. She was still in her school uniform, while the new clothes provided for

her were still sitting on the hangers.

She

probably didn't sleep since the bed was still made.

"I see

that you haven't eaten again."

"..."

"You

haven't eaten anything since yesterday. Just have some yogurt at least."

"...

No."

Sofia

sighed and lifted up the plates to take them away.

Before she

left the room, she looked at Sabrina once more.

All she was

doing was looking out the window.

Sofia

quietly closed the door.

"How

chilling. I can't tell if she's alive or not. She's almost like a doll."

As she left

the room, Sofia saw the one person she didn't want to see, who was wearing a

sinister smile.

Sofia

suppressed her feelings and replied.

"Underboss,

my apologies, but let me tell you something. Sabrina is not a doll."

Whew.

Juan

whistled and flexed his shoulders. Sofia ignored him and placed the dishes on

the cart.

She then

simply walked away from him.

There was

no-one else in the corridor. It wasn't surprising, because the Jevini Family

booked the entire level on the hotel's highest floor.

Sofia

turned the corner.

Bam.

Sofia

weakly punched the wall in the tight hallway.

What is

this feeling?

Why do I

feel like this?

Sabrina...

It was all

for that child.

Unexpected

things had happened, but she should be happier here.

But why...?

Why did

Sabrina look like she was in such pain?

I've done

the right thing.

I should be

able to say that with pride... but looking at Sabrina now, I'm not even sure

anymore.

Sabrina was

like this back in Italy as well.

She was

almost like a doll.

Now that I

think about it...

Sabrina was

generally passive in her studies... except Japanese, which she was particularly

studious in learning.

Was it for

that boy named Kazuki Ootaki?

Because she

might see him one day, even though it's unlikely.

So that she'll

be able to speak with that boy if they were eventually able to meet.

Sabrina

studied extremely hard.

In other

words

—

.

She was

happy... just being... by that boy's side...?

Her true

happiness...

"Am I

fine with this...?"

Sofia

muttered to herself.

She couldn't

give an answer, because the question evaporated under the gloomy lights.

2

He was

dreaming.

It was

quite an old dream.

Kazuki was

walking at a fast pace among a crowd of people.

"Well

done." "Heh heh heh." "It's all on camera~."

Cheerful

dialogue could be overheard and there were a bunch of parents and children sitting

around their colorful lunches.

"Daddy,

do your best in the parents relay." "Leave it to me. We practiced

together for the event, after all!" "But dear, you need to be careful

so that you don't hurt your back."

He was

trembling as he walked.

"Why..."

He spoke in

a discontent manner as he walked.

Why is

everyone so happy?

They're all

laughing and smiling.

I want to...

—

「

Listen up, Kazuki.

You must eat all the bread in the bread eating race! If you do, you won't lose!

Daddy and mommy will be watching you, so do your best!

」

—

「

We'll film you and

send it to Hollywood so that they make an amazing SFX movie.

」

He

remembered what his parents told him.

Kazuki's

parents were so busy with work, they usually didn't return home. So he'd never

seen his parents participate in these events before.

So Kazuki

used to hate these festivals so much.

But today

was different.

Surprisingly,

his parents called him and said that they would actually visit the sports

festival.

He was

really, really excited about it. Thanks to that, he wasn't able to sleep a wink

the night before.

However.

"...

Liars."

Kazuki's

parents didn't show up.

Right now

was lunch time of the sports festival. This time was meant to be special. It

was a time where he could be loved by his parents.

Kazuki

spent this time alone.

What

happened to mom and dad?

Other

parents came, why didn't my parents?

... Do they

hate me?

No, that

can't be it.

They must've

slept in.

They will

come... for sure.

"Kyaa."

"Huh?"

As Kazuki

was trying to get away from the crowded field, he heard a scream from behind the

school. Looking at the source of the scream, there were three male students

surrounding a female student.

Since today

was the school sports festival, all students were wearing a colored tag to

indicate their year. The male students were 3rd years while the female student

was a 2nd year - same as Kazuki.

"Ei!"

"Kyaa."

The biggest

of the three boys pushed the girl down and she landed on her butt.

The three

seniors were bullying a single girl.

The first

thing Kazuki felt when he saw the situation was fear.

He didn't

want to let them off the hook for bullying a girl. He wanted to go and help her;

however, the bullies were older than him. If he joined in, he might get bullied

as well.

"I

need to get a teacher first..."

"You're

just an abandoned child."

"What?"

After

hearing the comment said to the girl, Kazuki stopped looking for a teacher.

An

abandoned child... what do they mean?

"Your

mom and dad just threw you away."

"No,

that's not it."

"Then

why aren't your mom and dad here to see you in the sports festival? They're not

here because they don' t like you. You're just an abandoned child!"

Flinch.

The words said

to the girl actually affected Kazuki as well.

The bullies

aren't even talking about me, why does my heart hurt so much...?

"If

you're not abandoned, then why aren't your parents here to watch you?"

Flinch.

"See,

you really were abandoned by your parents!"

Flinch.

The boys

teased the girl as they giggled.

The girl

wasn't saying anything and kept her head bowed.

That girl,

is she being bullied because her parents aren't here?

To say that

you're hated by your own parents... or that you're an abandoned child...

That's...

Kazuki was

becoming furious.

The older

kids started to say even meaner things.

"It's

decided that you've been abandoned~."

"N- no..."

The brown

haired girl had tears in her eyes.

"You're

a hated child."

She tried

to stop herself, but.

"Needless

child!"

She started

to cry.

"Stop

it!"

Kazuki

couldn't take it any longer.... Moreover, when he realized what he was doing,

he was already standing in front of the seniors.

The bullies

surrounding the crouched girl looked at Kazuki.

Although

they were surprised by the yell, they quickly relaxed after spotting Kazuki's

tag.

"What,

it's just a 2nd year. What do you want?"

"What's

wrong with parents not being here!? It's not like we're hated just because they

didn't come! Apologize!"

"What?

This doesn't involve you!"

"It

does!"

"You

act pretty cocky for a kid. What are you going to do about it? Huh?"

Slap.

The tallest

one of the seniors slapped Kazuki's face. It hurt a lot. Kazuki thought he was

going to cry from the pain.

But he didn't

cry.

If he

cried, then it would be the same as accepting what the seniors were saying as

the truth.

"I'll

make you apologize!"

Kazuki

rebelled against them. Not knowing what to do, he charged in with a head butt.

Luckily, Kazuki head butted the senior who just hit him right in the chin.

"Ughh."

The senior

fell backwards.

"Hey,

are you alright?"

"Uuu...waaa..."

The senior

started to cry.

"Ah

—.

"

When Kazuki

saw that, his heart started to hurt even more than his slapped cheek or his

head.

"I won't

forgive you even if you cry! I told you to apologize!"

"Eh?

Ah, whooaa."

The

remaining two charged at same time. Kazuki couldn't protect himself and was

instantly knocked over.

But Kazuki

didn't give up.

While still

on the ground, Kazuki grabbed one of the senior's leg.

"Hold

it. I said, apologize... for what you've said before. About the abandoned

child. Apologize for everything you said!"

"What

the hell man! Hey, let's go."

The older

students must've been put off by Kazuki's persistence, because they left the

place after shaking Kazuki's hand off.

"Damn...

I guess it's too hard to win against someone older than me in my first fight."

Kazuki was

shaking as he lifted himself off the ground. As he did, the girl who was

getting bullied came up to him.

"T-thanks

for helping me, I..."

"...

You don't need to thank me. I just couldn't forgive those guys... and I think

you were in the wrong as well."

"Huh?"

"They

normally come don't they? Your mom and dad."

"Yes."

"Then

you should've boldly told them."

"But...

but they haven't arrived even though it's lunch time. What if they really hate

me..."

"Family

members wouldn't hate each other!"

"Kyaa..."

Kazuki

yelled at the girl without meaning to, but he quickly regained his senses and

turned his head.

"...

Family members wouldn't hate each other."

He said

that to the girl.

But he also

said it for himself.

At that

moment.

"Sa-chan!"

There was a

voice. The girl turned around by reflex.

"Mom!

Dad!"

She ran

towards her parents' arms.

"You're

late! What were you doing!?"

"Sorry,

sorry. We couldn't find the camera, so we spent a long time searching for it."

"Geez!

I was really, really lonely."

"Sorry

Sa-chan. Are you hungry? We packed some lunches, so let's eat. There are some

of those fried shrimp that Sa-chan loves so much."

"Uuu...

I won't forgive you with just that."

"There

are a lot. You can have them all Sa-chan."

"Huh?

Really? All of them? ...Then I'll forgive you, heh heh heh."

The parents

gently patted the teary eyed girl's head.

"...

See, it all worked out somehow."

Kazuki

muttered to himself while watching the girl with her parents in the distance.

「

Please be aware that the afternoon portion of the sports festival will begin

soon.

」

The

announcement echoed out from the speakers.

"Ah,

not good. I better buy some lunch."

Kazuki

picked up the white and red hat that flew off during the fight, and passed the

girl and her parents.

"Ah

—.

"

The girl

tried to say something, but Kazuki pretended not to notice and ran away.

Kazuki

pulled down on his hat.

And

sprinted towards the convenience shop.

* * *

"...

That dream again."

The light

seeping through the curtains shone upon Kazuki's face. He peeked at the clock

and saw its hand pointing to 9 o'clock.

Yesterday,

before a crowd of people formed, Kazuki and Saki ran away from the school. They

soon parted ways afterwards, but before they did, Saki promised him that she

wouldn't speak of this incident to anyone.

After

separating from Saki, Kazuki waited in his living room hoping that Sabrina

might return. However, she didn't come back no matter how long he waited.

Not knowing

when he fell asleep, Kazuki picked himself up.

He even

forgot about getting changed, so his uniform was crumpled and his joints hurt

because he slept on the floor.

Kazuki

looked around the living room with half open eyes.

It was

quite empty.

Only

silence filled the space.

"Ah

ha, ha ha... that's right. This house was this large, wasn't it..."

Kazuki

stood up.

"Ah

—.

"

Yesterday,

he and Sabrina were running late so they had some breakfast and left for school

without cleaning up afterwards. On the table, two sets of mugs and plates

remained the way they were the day before.

"...

Sabrina."

He spoke to

himself.

I've been

lonely by myself.

Ever since

Sabrina arrived here, I'd forgotten that.

Even though

she was a bother and such, the one getting saved was me.

But Sabrina

has already...

—

Arrivederla... (Good

Bye)

Kazuki couldn't get

the image of Sabrina's expression from last night out of his head.

I deeply hurt that

girl.

But I am a civilian

while she is a member of the mafia. This was going to happen sooner or later

anyway.

He didn't think that

it was going to last for a long time.

So now, his life was

back to normal.

His life was back to

normal, just like it was before Sabrina arrived.

Nothing has changed...

As Kazuki stood there

blankly, the doorbell rang.

Sabrina!?

He ran towards the

front door.

"He—."

Kazuki was taken aback

at the sight of the visitor.

"Sofia..."

Kazuki backed away

slowly.

The one who called out

Kazuki, Saki and Sabrina to the school and caused the explosions was standing

before him.

His body started to

shake just by remembering yesterdays event.

"What? Is that

how you should react after seeing a girl? You're really an insensitive boy."

"I- I'm sorry..."

"Hmm."

Sofia turned her head

away, but she was still looking at him from the corners of her eyes.

"... You're not

hurt?"

"Pardon?"

"Nothing."

The silence continued.

"So... what

brings you here today?"

"I just came to

check out what expression you have - now that Sabrina is going back. What a

devastated face."

A cold smile appeared

on her face.

"Sabrina is quite

happy. Now that she's finally returning."

Her words cut deep

into Kazuki's already hurt feelings.

"Is... that so..."

He bowed his head.

When he avoided her gaze, Kazuki saw Sofia's hand reaching out to his chest.

She grabbed him by the

collar.

"What do you mean

'is that so!?'"

She glared at Kazuki.

Her cold smile that

was present before was now deformed painfully and pitifully.

"Sofia-san?"

"..."

"Ughh."

When Sofia let go of

her tight grip, Kazuki fell down in the entrance.

"... I was a fool

for coming to see you."

She looked away from

him.

"Kazuki-ku...

whoa!"

Just in that short

amount of time, Saki and Izuna arrived at his house.

Sofia sneaked away

from the two guests.

"Are you ok!?"

Saki ran towards Kazuki

while still keeping an eye on Sofia.

"That was Sofia-san

just now wasn't it? Did she do something again?"

"No, it's

nothing. I'm fine."

Kazuki tried to smile

so that he didn't worry Saki, but he couldn't smile properly at all.

"So, what's up?"

"Hmm, I - I just

came by to pass a notice on to everyone. Since I'm the class president, I have

to make sure everyone received the message, but I heard no-one passed the

message on to Ootaki-kun... so I came to visit... because I was worried. I just

happened to meet Izuna-san on the way."

"I see..."

Saki's head was

wrapped in bandages that appeared to be very painful. She noticed Kazuki

looking at her head with concern and smiled awkwardly.

"Ah, this isn't

anything threatening. My mom and dad were freaked out though."

She mimicked herself

wrapping the bandages around her head.

Silence set in again.

Saki peeked at Kazuki as if she had something to say.

"Ah that's right.

About the notice, school will be on break from today on for a while. All the

teachers are really worried about what happened yesterday. It was all over the

news this morning, but it seems like they don't know exactly what happened."

"...I see."

So it was on TV as

well.

Well, that's not

unexpected. It was a big deal, after all...

The two of them closed

their mouths again.

When the silence

continued, Saki asked him while mumbling.

"S... so what

happened to Sabrina?"

"... She's not

here. I waited for her all night, but she didn't return."

"Hasn't she

contacted you yet?"

"I think her

phone is turned off, so I don't even know where she is."

Kazuki hunched his

shoulders.

"Umm."

Izuna cut in.

"I don't know

what's going on, but has Sabrina gone missing? That girl dropped this just now

so maybe this is where Sabrina is?"

Izuna handed a page

torn from a memo pad to Kazuki.

Sabrina's name as well

as the address of a hotel and a room number was written on it.

3

Kazuki looked up at the newly built hotel which was placed only a station

away from his house.

If the memo Izuna found was correct, then Sabrina should be on the top

floor of this hotel in a suite.

Saki and Izuna didn't come with him. Although they offered, Kazuki turned

them away because of the possible danger.

When he entered the building via the revolving door, he walked into the

lobby. The fancy decorations in the lobby intimidated Kazuki - he thought this

wasn't a place he should be.

Even though he felt nervous, he asked the front desk attendants to call the

room number on the memo. Surprisingly, Kazuki was allowed to visit the room, so

he got on the elevator and took it to the highest floor.

He stopped in front of the room.

"So Sabrina is here..."

I've arrived...

But what am I going to do when I meet Sabrina?

I don't think she would want to go back together. After all, Sabrina is

mafia.

Sabrina and I live in two different worlds.

So what am I going to do when I meet her?

I don't know... but I don't want to separate from her like this.

I want to talk to her once more before she leaves.

What does Sabrina think about this?

No matter how much Kazuki thought, he couldn't give himself a clear answer.

Kazuki took a deep breath and pressed the bell.

Immediately, the door opened and there stood a slim man dressed in a white

suit.

"Hey, I've been waiting for you."

The man lead Kazuki into the room with fluent Japanese.

It was probably because of the design that the room appeared to be larger

than it actually was. The furniture and various parts of the room were made of matching

wood – producing a simple but elegant atmosphere.

The white suited man came and sat down on the impossibly soft sofa, which

Kazuki was sitting on as well.

"You did well finding this place."

"Pardon? Um, that's..."

"As expected of the child of the 'Happy Crown.'"

"Ah, thank you.... Ah ha ha."

When Kazuki stuttered, it seemed like the man misunderstood Kazuki

completely.

"My name is Juan. And you are? Or maybe you won't tell me, since you're

their son. "

"No, no, that's not it. My name is Kazuki Ootaki."

"Kazuki. That's a good name. So Sabrina was indebted to you, wasn't

she? You have my thanks. Hey, get something to drink for Kazuki."

Juan ordered a lackey standing behind him.

"Umm, you don't need to worry about me."

"Oh, I know what that is. It's that thing where you say something

opposite to what you really want to say. 'Tsundere,' was it? Kazuki must be

really thirsty... hey, bring twice as much."

"N-no!"

The lackey, who was ordered to fetch the drinks, brought back a bucket

sized cup of coke. It was almost like a

swamp of coal tar.

While leaning against the back of the sofa, Juan looked out the window.

"Japan is nice. Animes, mangas and maid-cafes. It's really

interesting."

Although the man was quite biased, it seemed like he had a slight understanding

of Japanese culture. That was probably why he was able to speak Japanese.

"So, why did you come here today?"

"Umm, where is Sabrina? I came here to talk to her."

Juan's expression darkened. He looked over his shoulder at the door behind

him and shook his head.

"Sabrina isn't in a state where she can see anyone. Sorry."

"That's... was it because of what happened yest

—

"

"That's not it. She's just not feeling well."

"It's ok if it's only for a moment. Could you let me see her please?"

"Sorry."

Juan looked away from Kazuki and he started filing his nails to show he

wasn't interested.

The atmosphere had changed.

The lackeys who were near the walls appeared to be nervous and anxious.

Kazuki suddenly thought Juan wasn't lying when he said Sabrina wasn't

feeling well, and that Kazuki was an uninvited guest.

However, he couldn't give up.

He had to talk to Sabrina.

Kazuki didn't have a clue as to what he wanted to hear from Sabrina.

But he just wanted to hear Sabrina's voice.

"Kazuki!?"

He freed himself from Juan's intense atmosphere and reached out for the

door where Sabrina was. But the door was locked.

"Sabrina! You're here aren't you!? Open the door!"

He desperately banged on the door. But there was no response.

"Sabrina!"

Juan twisted Kazuki's arm around to stop him from banging on the door

anymore.

"Ughhh."

"Calm down. I don't like people who don't listen."

"Just for a bit... Please let me talk to her for just a bit!"

Kazuki asked Juan once more.

Juan started twisting his arm even more and his joints started to scream in

pain.

"I want you to scram. Otherwise

—

"

Juan was still smiling, but his words were cold.

The lackeys in the room all took aim at Kazuki with their guns.

The sight of the guns sent chills down his spine.

That's right. This was that kind of a world.

Just when Kazuki's arm felt like it would break if Juan twisted any

further, the door opened from the inside.

"Stop it."

It was Sabrina.

Juan let go of Kazuki's arm while saying "Tsk."

"S-Sabrina..."

Although only a day had passed since the last time he saw Sabrina, it felt

like a long time.

Kazuki walked towards Sabrina.

But when he saw her face, he stopped breathing.

It was the same as yesterday.

Sabrina looked at Kazuki with cold eyes that froze him in his steps.

"Please go away.

Kazuki Ootaki-san.

"

"Ehh

—.

"

Sabrina just called Kazuki "Kazuki Ootaki-san" instead of her

usual "Onii-chan."

"What's going on Sabrina? I- It's me."

"Please don't say my name so easily. You and I no longer have any

relation to each other. Sorry for 'bothering' you to come all the way here."

Sabrina spoke to Kazuki coldly and turned her back to him as she walked

back into her room.

"Sabari

—.

"

He tried to follow, but Juan placed his hand on Kazuki's shoulder.

"Well, there you go."

He started gripping Kazuki's shoulder harder.

"It hurts..."

Juan was smiling at Kazuki, but his eyes weren't smiling at all.

Sabrina closed the door slowly.

While Kazuki could only look at it as it closed.

Click.

The door closed.

Juan smirked at Kazuki and let go of his shoulder.

"Kazuki, thanks for understanding. This is my farewell present, treat

yourself with it."

Saying that, Juan took a stack of notes and shoved it in Kazuki's shirt

pocket.

Since Kazuki wasn't expecting it, he could only take the money and get

kicked out of the hotel.

On his way home, Kazuki walked aimlessly without knowing what he should do.

He felt something on his nose.

"Rain...?"

When he noticed, the rain started pouring.

Since Kazuki didn't bring an umbrella, he was drenched by the shower.

But as for Kazuki, he didn't mind at all.

The sky lit up and shortly after, a loud noise echoed.

It was thunder.

He suddenly thought of Sabrina who was scared of thunderstorms.

The thunder sounded like it was telling Kazuki off.

He couldn't stop his tears.

In his tightly clenched fist, his fingernails dug into his palm and he

started to bleed, but he could put up with it.

What he couldn't put up with was his sadness, anger and embarrassment.

* * *

After Kazuki left, Sabrina looked out her window at the pouring rain.

"... He probably didn't bring an umbrella."

Then suddenly, Juan walked in.

"Kazuki left."

"Si."

"His eyes were bloodshot before he left, so maybe he's crying right

now. Ku ku ku."

Sabrina, who was sitting on the sofa, flinched.

"... But it turned out well."

However, she maintained her cold attitude.

"I'm sorry, I want to be left alone. It looks like I'm really feeling

unwell."

"Oh, are you ok? We can leave tomorrow if you like. Since we rented

the place, we can leave anytime you want."

"No. I want to return as soon as possible."

"Really? Well then, take a rest for now."

Juan left the room as he said "take care of yourself."

Click.

The door closed.

Being left alone, Sabrina muttered to herself.

"Even if I'm here, if I can't be with Onii-chan, it's pointless..."

When Onii-chan came, I was actually happy.

I wanted to run up and hug him.

But I can't do that at all.

I remembered what Sofia told me at the school.

—

If you really care about that boy, you must leave his side. If you don't,

you might lose him.

That's right, I'm a mafia boss now.

If someone like me stays by Onii-chan's side, then it would trouble him.

Not only that, I'll be putting him in danger.

I can't let that happen.

So, I can't live together with Onii-chan.

Sabrina felt a tight sensation in her chest. Without realizing, she had to

use her hand to support herself on the bed.

Droplets of liquid fell onto her hand.

"What are... these?"

They were tear drops.

"Why... am I crying?"

She really didn't know the reason why she was crying.

"Onii-chan

—

."

Outside the window, thunder echoed as if it were trying to cancel her voice

out.

"...Uuu."

Sabrina shrank.

She grabbed the quilts and threw them over herself.

Sabrina had to fight her sadness and fear of storms by herself.

4

The rain just now must've only been a shower, because the weather cleared

up fairly quickly after it poured for a while.

"...Hmm?"

When Kazuki returned home drenched, Saki and Izuna were still by the front

door. It looks like they stayed there the entire time.

Seeing Kazuki walk towards the door, Saki ran towards him. Kazuki quickly

turned his eyes away from her. He didn't want Saki and Izuna to find out he'd

been crying.

"Where's Sabrina?"

It looks like she was quite worried about Sabrina. Saki asked as she ran up

to him.

"Yeah. She's going back to Italy... so they say."

"... That can't be!"

Saki's eyes opened wide.

"Did you really meet her? Did she really say that!? Did Sabrina really

say that?"

Saki asked question after question.

"Yeah, I met her... but I was chased out for being a bother. Ah ha ha

ha..."

Kazuki could only put on a bitter smile.

He felt so frustrated at himself, he couldn't face it.

"But it's alright... I understand now. Sabrina herself said that she'll

go back to Italy. So there's nothing I can do about it."

"Ootaki-kun..."

"And I think Sabrina is starting to hate me as wel

—.

"

"Ootaki-kun!"

Saki swung her right hand at him.

It came in contact with him.

Kazuki closed his eyes and clenched his teeth to prepare himself for the

hit with an accepting heart.

But it didn't hurt at all.

Instead, Saki placed her hands on Kazuki's cheeks warmly.

"Kino

-shita...?

"

"... It's not like you."

"This isn't like you at all, Ootaki-kun!"

"Even if you say that

—.

"

"To speak like that about your own family, it's not like Ootaki-kun at

all!"

Saki cut Kazuki off mid-sentence.

"During the sports festival in our second year in primary school...

Ootaki-kun might not remember, but you told me that '

Family members wouldn't hate each other!'"

"H-how do you... know..."

Kazuki still remembered that day very clearly.

Because that was a very memorable day for Kazuki as well.

But he said that sentence to a girl who was being bullied at lunch time.

How did Saki know what he said?

"Ah

—.

"

Kazuki finally realized... the girl's parents called her "Sa-chan".

"It can't be..."

"That's right. That day, Ootaki-kun saved me from bullies. I didn't

have a chance to properly thank you, but I've have always been looking at you

since then Ootaki-kun. So I believe that Ootaki-kun values his family members

dearly!"

"But, but... I heard it from Sabrina herself."

"Do you really think she was telling the truth? Sabrina really likes

Ootaki-kun! And Sabrina is Ootaki-kun's family right? Isn't she your sister?"

"Even I... even I think of Sabrina as my little sister!"

"Then

—.

"

"But it's impossible! I'm just a civilian and Sabrina is a member of

the mafia. Our worlds are too different!"

"Ootaki-kun..."

A heavy atmosphere settled in between the two.

Then Izuna, who had been leaning against the wall watching the two, spoke.

"I heard about it from Saki. Although she promised you she would stay

quiet, don't get mad at her for telling me. I made her tell me anyway."

Izuna walked towards Kazuki.

"You're a spineless guy aren't you, Kazuki?"

She pointed a finger at him.

However, Kazuki already knew that... it was what he didn't want to hear the

most.

"I- I'm not spineless! I'm just a civilian! Just a normal person! How

can I go against the mafia!?"

"Hmmm... a civilian and a

normal person, huh."

"Then I guess a

normal

brother would just sit back and watch his little sister get taken away by the

mafia."

"Ah

—.

"

"And what do you mean your worlds are different? The world is all

connected, that's why we all breathe the same air and stand on the same ground.

If there's a difference, then it's something you created yourself."

"... Uuu."

Kazuki had nothing to say in response.

Everything Izuna said was true.

Izuna spoke softly this time.

"Even if families are far apart, they've got one heart and one mind no

matter what they're doing, right? Your parents might not be here because they're

doing a special job that's slightly different from your average adult, but you don't

think of them as being in a different world, do you?"

Kazuki shook his head in denial.

"You want to be by their side at all times. Even if you're not by

their side, your heart is always with them. Isn't that what being family is all

about? It's exactly as you said to Saki."

"I..."

Kazuki was trying to avoid a lot of things... and he has been depressed

ever since Saki got hurt in the classroom explosion.

He had fooled himself into believing that he was normal and lived in a

different world from Sabrina.

"I

—."

He has been forgetting the most important thing.

He had forgotten what it means to be normal after trying so hard to make

himself seem normal.

Not wanting to be rejected and being self conscious of other people's view

of him.

The fear of meaningless violence.

The feeling of regret - thinking that it was too late.

Kazuki threw all those feelings away and focused on one thing only.

"I want to live with Sabrina."

This was what Kazuki wanted.

Hearing Kazuki declare that, Izuna put on a bright smile. Saki, who was

watching him nervously, smiled warmly as well.

"... Maybe I'm not too late?"

Kazuki asked hesitantly.

"Of course you're not. There are no 'it's too late' in this world!"

"No, no, Saki. This world is full of things that are impossible to do.

If not, the cathedral would be doing wel—."

"Gee—! This isn't the time for that!"

Saki hit Izuna who just ruined the mood.

"Ah ha... ha."

Seeing the two girls, Kazuki unknowingly laughed.

"Thanks, both of you."

Kazuki raised his head.

His eyes no longer showed any doubt.

"...During that sports festival, your parents were amazing Ootaki-kun."

"Ah ha ha, that was just embarrassing."

When the teacher and parents relay race was about to begin, Kazuki's

parents showed up. The couple suddenly participated in the relay and won with

an overwhelming speed (a speed that normal humans shouldn't be able to pull

off). Afterwards, when their win was contested, they complained to the PE teacher

and performed a brain buster

[1]

on him. Thanks to that, Kazuki got an earful from

the teachers afterwards.

"But, you looked happy, Ootaki-kun."

"... Yeah."

"Please go."

"Yeah!"

Kazuki set off running.

With a determination to bring Sabrina back this time.

* * *

Seeing Kazuki leave, Saki hunched down.

"Ahh... why did I just help out my opponent.... It's ok... I can't

accept it if Sabrina leaves like this anyway. That's right! You've actually

done the right thing Saki! ...Ah - but maybe I'm going to lose against Sabrina...

I guess I sort of regret it."

While Saki was deeply engrossed in her monologue, Izuna patted her head

gently.

"You did the right thing Saki. There aren't many people who are

capable of saying what you said."

"Izuna-san..."

"If you're ok with me, I can council you."

Rrrrumble.

A large rumbling sound came from Izuna's stomach.

"Now then, we should go somewhere else if I'm going to council you.

Should we go to a shop or something? Ah, I have no money, by the way."

"So that's what it's about.... Well that's ok, suit yourself. Should

we go to a family restaurant or a cafe?"

"Hmmm~, I don't want to give up either of them, so why don't we go

somewhere far away? I know a good place."

"Hmmm. Well, it's up to you."

"Before we leave, do you have a first aid kit, Saki?"

"A first aid kit? What for?"

"Just something ☆"

Izuna put on a mysterious smile and winked at Saki.

_____________________________________________________________________

Reference

1.

Brain buster - a pro wrestling move. Also known as a suplex.

↩

### 007. Chapter 6: Legame -The Bond-

*Aussie accent* Boom, headshot.

Translator: Junnynam

Editor: LHI

Please enjoy~

____________________

1

Sabrina was

getting ready to check out from the hotel.

She was

feeling better than before...

But only

because she realized that she wouldn't be in pain if she didn't think about,

care about, or hope for anything - just like before.

"Did

you leave anything behind?"

"..."

"Hey

now, Sabrina. You're the boss of the Jevini family, you know? Get your act

together."

"..."

Sabrina

didn't respond to Juan at all.

Juan

appeared to be bored and flexed his shoulders. As he did, one of his lackeys approached

and whispered something in his ear.

"Is

that so?"

His lips

formed a small smile and he looked at Sabrina.

"What

a bother. Well, it doesn't matter. I'll take care of it myself."

His words

didn't match his expression at all, he wore a crooked smile.

"But,

I want you to do something for me."

At Juan's

orders, the lackeys left the room immediately.

"Now

then."

He smiled

and showed a change of mood.

"Sabrina,

something has come up. Do you mind waiting in the lobby for me?"

"...

Please make it short."

"Of

course. It's something really pointless that won't take long. I'll take care of

it quickly"

Saying that,

Juan left and only Sabrina remained in the room.

Something

that doesn't require much of his time?

Sabrina

thought about what Juan just said, but she quickly stopped thinking and headed

towards the lobby.

She won't

think about, care about, or hope for anything.

She entered

an empty state.

* * *

Sofia, who

was still feeling depressed after talking to Kazuki, returned to the room

provided for her by Juan after she wandered the streets aimlessly. Unlike the

suite room, hers was a small room.

She tried

to gather her thoughts as she sat down on the bed.

Sabrina's

happiness.

A mafia

member's duty...

What was I

expecting when I went to see that boy?

No, I think

I already know... but I might have been afraid of acknowledging the fact.

Boss...

what should I do?

What do you

want Sabrina to do... boss?

Why did you

give everything to Sabrina?

Because you

did that, Sabrina and the boy are...

Sofia threw

herself on the bed.

Rustle.

She felt

something touching her face.

"An

envelope...?"

There wasn't

an envelope here when she left. She opened it and looked inside... it contained

a few documents.

"Charted

flights... making it appear as an accident... assassination of Sabrina? This is

—.

"

As she read

more of the documents, Sofia nearly stopped breathing.

In that same

instant, the door to her room violently flew open.

A few girls

dressed in black suits were standing outside the room. In their hands, they

each held a submachine gun.

All of the

girls aimed at Sofia.

"Kuh."

And Sofia

leapt from the bed.

2

Yet again,

Kazuki was standing in front of the hotel where Sabrina was staying.

When he

inquired at the reception desk, he was told that Sabrina's party was about to

check out from the hotel.

He was also

told to go to the underground parking area if he had something to say.

So, he

caught an elevator and headed to the parking lot as he was told.

"But

why the parking lot? Ah, they must be going to the airport by car. I better

hurry or I'll miss them."

When he

arrived in the underground parking lot, he didn't feel anyone's presence.

The

atmosphere was heavy, the artificial light and concrete supports caused an

unpleasant feeling.

Suddenly he

heard footsteps in the distance.

Those

sounds were getting closer.

"Sabrina."

Kazuki

shouted out, but the one who appeared was none other than Juan.

He was

alone.

"Well

Kazuki, what's the matter? Did you leave something behind?"

"That's

right."

"Strange,

the rooms were checked before checking out, but I suppose I'll get someone to

check again. If what you've left behind is found, I'll make sure to punish the

one who checked the rooms the first time."

Juan was

smiling as he said that, but Kazuki wasn't smiling at all.

"It's

not an object that I forgot."

"It's

not? What kind of a puzzle is this? Hmm, if you lost something, but it's not an

object

—.

"

"It's

Sabrina."

"What?"

For an

instant, a sinister expression was visible behind his smile.

"I can't

say that I like those types of jokes, Kazuki. Also, I'm sure you heard from

Sabrina before that you're a bother to her."

"You're

right, but there's something I must make sure of. Let me meet with Sabrina one

more time."

"Why

are you so obsessed with Sabrina? I'm sure I told you that we'll be taking care

of her from now on. Oh, I understand now!"

Juan

clapped his hands as if he suddenly understood something.

"I see,

so it's the sum. I guess the money wasn't enough for you. You're quite greedy,

Kazuki."

"That's

not it!"

Kazuki

exclaimed to Juan, who was removing bills from his wallet.

"I don't

need it! Or this!"

Kazuki

threw the bundle of bills that he received earlier. The bundle scattered like

falling leaves on the ground.

Juan's eyes

grew cold and were glaring at Kazuki.

"She's

no longer the same Sabrina you once knew. She's the boss of a mafia family now."

"I

know that."

"No,

you don't know at all."

He flexed

his shoulders backwards.

And he removed

a handgun from his sleeve like it was nothing.

Bang.

A dry sound

echoed through the car park.

"Huh?"

Kazuki unconsciously

kneeled.

His thigh

felt like it was on fire.

Red

blotches started becoming visible through his school uniform pants.

"Aaarrrrggghhhh!"

Kazuki's

painful howl rang out. Juan had just shot him.

"Hey,

hey, don't overreact."

Juan

happily watched Kazuki writhing in pain. Kazuki desperately tried to resist the

pain in his leg and glared at Juan.

"Mafia

my ass. I can't leave Sabrina to you people. Return... Sabrina"

Juan

wordlessly pulled the trigger.

Kazuki felt

a huge impact in his shoulder.

This time

he wasn't even able to scream. He started losing consciousness from the pain.

"Huu...

kuh, kuh..."

While Kazuki

suffered, Juan pulled him up by his hair.

"Excellent...

it seems like you're special to Sabrina. If you tell her what you've just told

me, she might actually remain in Japan. It would mess up my plans."

"Your

plans...?"

Juan

covered his mouth instantly, but he leisurely smiled again.

"W-What

are you planning on doing to Sabrina...!?"

"Someone

who's about to die doesn't need to know, does he? Well, I guess it doesn't

really matter. You'll be separated for now, but

she'll see you soon."

"D-Don't

tell me, you're going to

—. Sabrina is

the boss of the Jevini family! Why would you do that!?

"

"I'm

doing this because she is the boss."

"Da...mn."

Then from

the beginning, he was just using Sabrina...!

Unforgivable!

I won't let

him!

"Ouaaaaaa!"

Kazuki head

butted Juan in the nose after struggling free of his grip.

"Kuh."

Juan let

out a surprised yell.

The two of

them fell down. Exploiting the opportunity, Kazuki mounted Juan and swung his

non-injured (right) fist at him.

But before

his fist came into contact, Juan struggled and hit Kazuki in the temple with

the gun.

"Ughh."

His sight

became blurry and Kazuki stumbled.

While

pinning Kazuki to the floor, Juan got in a better position. His once pure white

suit was now covered in a large amount of blood from his nose.

"My

nails...!?"

Juan looked

at his fingernails while shaking. It seems like his precious nails broke in the

struggle.

"This

runt!"

He kicked

Kazuki, who was still on the floor, in the stomach.

"Urrp."

Bile from

Kazuki's stomach filled his throat.

His stomach

was kicked over and over again.

After kicking

Kazuki repeatedly, Juan was gasping for breath and held the gun under Kazuki's

chin.

"Die."

The finger

hovered over the trigger.

I need to

do something... anything....

But his

body wouldn't listen and his head was going blank.

I guess it's

over for me...

I need to at

least tell Sabrina... about Juan's plans.

Need to

tell Sabrina

—.

At that moment, there

was an ear shattering noise.

Clang. Clang.

After the

noise, two bullets flew towards Kazuki.

Kazuki's

eyes traced the sound to the source of the bullets.

At the

source of the bullets stood a young girl.

Kazuki was

barely able to murmur the girl's name.

"Sa...brina."

* * *

"Are

you Sabrina-san?"

While she

was waiting for Juan in the lobby, someone walked up and spoke. Sabrina

wordlessly looked at the speaker, who was a hotel employee with a cap covering

his eyes.

"Your

companion told me to pass along a message. The car to the airport couldn't be

arranged, so he would like you to come to the underground parking lot."

Companion? ...Juan

or Sofia?

"Si."

She curtly

nodded and walked away.

Grruumbble.

Sabrina

heard a noise she was familiar with and looked behind her... but there were only

members of the hotel staff present.

So Sabrina

decided to ignore it and head to the parking lot.

And now

—.

There was an

unbelievable sight before her eyes.

Juan was holding a gun

and pointing it at a battered Kazuki.

Sabrina

dropped her briefcase unknowingly. It hit the ground and the contents spilled.

"...

What are you doing?"

Sabrina was

barely able to say it. Juan let go of Kazuki's hair.

"Kazuki

came all the way here to see you Sabrina. I tried to talk to him about it, but

he suddenly rebelled. Look at my nose and my broken nails. Isn't that too much?"

With Kazuki

laying motionlessly on the ground, Juan opened his arms wide in an innocent

manner.

"..."

Sabrina

didn't respond.

"Don't

worry. I only punished him slightly. It's not like I was going to kill hi..."

"Shut

up."

She coldly

cut him off.

"I

wasn't talking to scum like you, and no matter how much you try to make up

excuses for yourself

—.

"

A cold aura

appeared around Sabrina.

"I

will kill you."

In an

instant, at a speed impossible to follow with the naked eye, Sabrina removed

her gun and shot.

The bullet knocked

Juan's gun out of his hand and sent it flying.

"Kuh."

He reached

towards Kazuki to use him as a hostage, but it was too late.

Sabrina

rapidly shot until her magazine ran out.

"Garrhh!"

Juan fell

backwards as if someone just pushed him over.

Although

Sabrina shot at him until she ran out of ammo, the gun contained rubber

bullets. It obviously wouldn't cause any fatal injuries.

Nevertheless,

it dealt a fair amount of damage. The areas hit should be useless.

"I- I

will... k-kill you. I'll kill you and your precious Kazuki... urpp"

With his

hands and feet immobilized, Juan could only lift his head up and curse at her.

Sabrina

looked down at him and shifted her gaze to the two bullets lying on the ground

near Kazuki.

One was a

real bullet.

The other

was a rubber bullet.

—Understand, Sabrina?

Our number 1 Omertà is

「

Do not hurt

anyone. There are exceptions, but still, killing is not allowed.

」

Got it?

She remembered what

Kazuki told her before.

Omertà...

It... doesn't matter.

Because I'm no longer

related to that person.

Sabrina picked up a

bullet. She loaded it into her gun and took aim at Juan's head.

"Heeek! Stop it...

don't!"

Juan was begging for

his life.

Without hesitation, Sabrina pulled the trigger.

When the bullet hit

Juan in the forehead, it send him flying like someone was dragging him head

first from behind.

He slowly collapsed

onto his side.

Seeing Juan in that

state, Sabrina audibly sighed.

She heard a voice

behind her.

"Sabrina, you...

kept your promise... our Omertà."

It was Kazuki. He was

dragging his feet as he slowly made his way to Sabrina.

"Uuu..."

At that moment, Juan

groaned.

That's right. The bullet

Sabrina shot was the rubber one.

"No, it was just

a coincidence. Why did you come here in the first place?"

"I had something

to say to you, Sabrina. So I came...."

"But I told you

that I didn't have anything else to say to you."

Sabrina turned her

back to Kazuki.

She rejected him.

Silence fell and it

felt like the two of them were isolated from the rest of the world.

"Sabrina... let's

go home."

Kazuki spoke first.

But Sabrina didn't

look back.

"Why must I go

with you? I'm a mafia boss. I told you that I have nothing to do with you."

Sabrina pushed Kazuki

aside with cold words.

Why did you come back?

I tried so hard to

forget about you Onii-chan.

Why won't you let me

go?

Her heart started to

ache again.

"You're lying

when you say you have nothing to do with me!"

Sabrina flinched.

"Why are you

telling me it's a lie? I'm not lying. I'm a dangerous person, an assassin in

training and a mafia bo—."

"No."

Kazuki cut Sabrina

off.

And continued...

"You're my

family. I can tell when my little sister is lying."

Affected by his words,

Sabrina quickly turned around.

Tears were rolling

down her cheeks.

"Onii... chan..."

With his uninjured arm,

Kazuki gently hugged Sabrina.

"Sorry Sabrina.

I'm sorry for hurting you like this."

Kazuki stroked Sabrina's

head softly with his hand.

As he did, Sabrina realized

for the first time that heartache and tears were caused by being hurt.

However, she started

crying in her brother's warm arms because of a different emotion.

Many different

emotions were clashing inside her.

But she didn't need to

hold back any longer.

"Uuuu, waaaa.

Onii-chan... Onii-chan."

Sabrina was bawling

her eyes out on Kazuki's chest.

"I want to be

with you forever, Onii-chan..."

"Yeah, family

should always be together."

"... Si, ... Si."

Kazuki patted her head

softly.

"Welcome back,

Sabrina."

"... Onii-chan."

Sabrina hugged Kazuki...

Including his injured arm.

"... (

Press

)."

"It hurts—."

"... (

Presssss

)."

"... S-Sabrina,

hold on. It hurts. Could you let me go? Look, I'm injured because I was shot."

"No... no."

She just wanted to be

by her brother's side, so she couldn't let him go. She couldn't control her

strength and hugged him even stronger.

"It hurts! It

hurtsss! Sabrina, time out! Time outtt!"

"No."

Kazuki's painful yell

echoed through the underground parking lot once more.

3

"Don't move!"

While Kazuki was being

tightly hugged by Sabrina and screaming, he heard someone yelling at them.

It was Juan. It looked

like he regained his senses. He was pointing the gun that he'd previously dropped

at them.

Still tightly attached

to Kazuki, Sabrina tried to turn her body.

"Oh no, don't

move! Don't do anything suspicious."

Juan was in an

unstable state. They could tell by the look in his eyes that he was about to do

something.

I need to protect

Sabrina...

Kazuki hung onto

Sabrina tighter.

"You runts, how

dare you look down on me..."

With a sinister smile,

Juan placed his finger on the trigger.

"Wait—!"

A voice suddenly

interrupted.

Ta ta ta ta!

Surprisingly, the one

running towards them was Saki.

"Ehh-it!"

While Juan was caught

off guard with the sudden intrusion, she swung a wooden box at his head.

Slam.

With a great noise,

Juan was knocked out again.

"Ootaki-kun, are

you ok!?"

"K-Kinoshita...

how?"

"Si. Why are you

interrupting our precious time together?"

"No, no, shouldn't

you ask how she got here!?"

"You see,

Izuna-san said 'I'll take you to a nice place' and she brought me here. But as

soon as we arrived, she said 'Something smells good!' and ran away. So while I

was looking for Izuna-san, I saw you guys. ...So, I guess I rushed in to help

you out. Heh heh heh."

Saki, who was being

shy, had shivering legs.

"But Ootaki-kun,

those wounds..."

"Ah, yeah, it's a

bit... but it's ok. It's nothing... maybe."

"Ah, that's

right. I've brought a first aid kit."

"Wait. W-why did

you bring that?"

The box that she swung

at Juan was a first aid kit.

"It was Izuna-san

who told me to. She said that I needed a first aid kit when going to a nice

place."

The definition of a 'nice'

place was completely off. That aside, it was great that she brought it.

"I think I'm

starting to get dizzy from blood loss."

"Hold on, I'll

treat yo—."

Rustle.

Sabrina stopped Saki's

hand, which was reaching for bandages inside the first aid kit.

"Sabrina?"

"Thank you for

bringing the first aid kit, but I'll be the one to treat Onii-chan."

Tug.

She tugged at the box.

However.

"Hold on! This is

my first aid kit, so I think I have the right!"

Tug.

This time, Saki tugged

it toward herself.

"Both of you..."

Tug, tug.

The box was being

tugged back and forth between the two girls like a fishing net.

"Treat me..."

Tug, tug, tug.

Kazuki was able to

faintly hear the girls' voices as his consciousness faded away.

"As soon as possi...ble."

Gulp.

With those words,

Kazuki died... or more likely, he fell unconscious.

* * *

"Nya ha ha ha,

they're as funny as ever."

"Is this your way

of doing things?"

Izuna spoke to Sofia

while they were watching the other three converse.

"Ah, not good! I

need to go and run my business. Ah— so busy."

" But wait, you're

a nun."

Sofia stopped Izuna

who was trying to hurriedly run away while checking her non-existent watch.

"The one who put

the envelope in my room, told the boy about Sabrina's location, and called

Sabrina here was you, wasn't it? You're not very honest."

"What are you

talking about? I don't know what you're talking about. Look, I'm just a nun."

"It doesn't

really matter if you're a nun."

"... So, you

found me out?"

Izuna laughed while

scratching the back of her head.

"You're not that

honest either. You were hiding in wait for a chance to help Kazuki out~."

"Um, that's... I

don't know."

Since she didn't

expect to be attacked that way, Sofia blushed and pretended not to know what

the nun was talking about.

"Ah! Sabrina

started to treat Kazuki in a loving way!"

"What!? I'm

jealous! I'll kill that boy!"

When Sofia turned

around to look at Sabrina by reflex, all she saw was Sabrina wrapping the

bandages normally. While Sofia was distracted, Izuna ran away and left behind a

ridiculously

large bill of hotel

services she used.

"Should we go

after her?"

A girl wearing an

eye-patch took Izuna's place in the conversation and picked up the bill.

"No, it's

meaningless to do so anyway. I'll leave it to you."

When Sofia said that,

the girl with the eye-patch motioned using her hand.

Many Jevini Family

members gathered and took Juan away.

"I suspected

something when the underboss accepted Sabrina, but I didn't expect him to try

to assassinate her via a plane crash."

"The ones who were part of the plan were

arrested in Italy. They really do hold all the information in the world, as

expected of the 'Happy Crown.' Their fearsomeness is unchanging."

"Fearsome, huh...

that aside, when you guys charged into my room, I thought I was going to die.

To think that the special corps was moving against the underboss himself."

"Juan aimed for

Sabrina's life. He broke the law, it was the obvious thing to do."

Sofia and the

eye-patch girl both looked at Sabrina.

The emotionless girl

that they once knew back in Italy was gone.

All they saw was a

girl who loved her older brother very much.

"Will this really

be ok?"

"Yeah, it doesn't

matter to me. This is what she wanted, anyway."

"... Is that so."

"And..."

Sofia looked away from

Sabrina and began looking at the girl with the eye-patch.

"I think being a

mafia boss will be fulfilling."

### 008. Epilogue: Epilogo

*chomp chomp* Sabrina the rabid Italian girl!

Translator: Junnynam

Editor: LHI

Please enjoy~

____________________

1

A week had passed since the ordeal.

Today was the first day they all went back to school. School had been on break because of the damage Juan caused, but resumed classes in the city's public facilities. The school was being fixed thanks to a large sum of money given to the school by an anonymous donor. It was a secret, but the money probably came from the Jevini family.

After being shot by Juan, Kazuki has been looked after by a doctor of the Jevini family. Although they were bullet wounds, since the injuries inflicted were in areas that healed fairly quickly, Kazuki considered himself lucky in an otherwise unlucky situation.

Kazuki told people who didn't know what happened that he fell down the stairs, but it still became a hot topic of discussion among the students for a while. Well, since Kazuki wasn't able to tell the truth, he didn't really mind.

Although most of his injures already healed, he was still using crutches.

"Oops."

While going to school, Kazuki stumbled... but it wasn't because he wasn't used to the crutches.

The reason why he couldn't walk properly was Sabrina, in a round-about manner.

"Sabrina, isn't this hard for you? I don't want to trouble you, so I'll just use crutches. Could you give them back?"

"No, it's not a problem. I can protect you better than these things."

Sabrina had her hand around one of Kazuki's shoulders helping him walk. Unfortunately, due to their height difference, she wasn't so much helping him walk as she was pulling him down until he found it difficult to walk.

And every time they took a step, Sabrina's "tool box" bumped into him; thus, it was surprisingly painful. But since she was doing it out a good will, Kazuki didn't have the heart to tell her.

After becoming the boss of the Jevini family, Sabrina had to return to Italy.

But she remained in Japan and was living with Kazuki.

To understand how this happened, one would need to look back at what happened three days ago.

* * *

Three days ago, Kazuki and Sabrina were at the airport.

Since Sofia was returning to Italy, the two of them came to see her off.

On a side note, Juan and his men had already been sent off to Italy by the Jevini family. Apparently, a harsh punishment awaited to the traitors.

When Kazuki asked what kind of punishment was in store for them, Sofia thought for a bit and asked "I don't think you'll be able to eat meat for a while, is that ok?". Obviously, Kazuki chose not to inquire any further.

Outside on the runway, a plane soared off into the cloudless sky.

Soon it would also be time for Sofia's plane to depart.

"Thanks for coming here to see me off."

"Don't mind it, it's nothing really."

"I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Sabrina."

Sofia glared at him.

"Ehh..."

"I wouldn't have come if Onii-chan didn't come with me."

"Hah."

After hearing Sabrina's words, Sofia's threatening expression quickly disappeared and tears started appearing in the corners of her eyes. When Sofia tried to complain, Sabrina hugged Kazuki's arm tightly and closed her eyes. A menacing look fell on Kazuki.

So he quickly changed the subject.

"Ah, by the way, is that really ok with Sabrina?"

"Ah, this?"

Sofia tapped the thick brown envelope she held in her hand.

"It's fine as long as I have these documents."

Inside were documents. One was to acknowledge that Sabrina was now the official boss of the Jevini family.

There was another document as well, it stated that 「 As the boss - Sabrina will be staying in Japan as a foreign exchange student and Sofia will take her place as the substitute boss. 」

"With this, Sabrina doesn't have to be in Italy."

"Are you ok with this though, Sofia-san?"

"This will benefit Sabrina for sure, but this is also a great opportunity for me. Our interests just happened to coincide."

"I see... thank you."

"I told you that I didn't do this for gratitude."

"But I still want to say thank you. Thank you."

When Kazuki bowed his head, Sofia snorted in an embarrassed manner.

"I told you this before, but don't let your guard down."

Her expression turned serious as she warned them.

"With this document I'm the boss on paper, but it won't change the fact that Sabrina is the real boss. Enemy mafia families... or like this time, even a Jevini family member could attack."

She paused for a moment.

And asked him;

"Do you still have the resolve to take in Sabrina?"

"I..."

The moments when the school blew up, Saki got hurt and Juan shot him started replaying in Kazuki's head.

He wasn't able to answer Sofia straight away. He didn't even know how to respond. Sabrina looked up at Kazuki while he was still frozen.

"Oh, are you scared?"

"To be honest, I'm... I'm scared when I think that something like this might happen again."

"Are you trying to run away?"

"No."

Kazuki looked straight at Sofia.

And he declared...

"I am scared, but I am also prepared. Sabrina is my little sister, after all."

Sofia's hand flashed for a moment as she looked away.

"... That's some good determination. If you answered me without thinking, I was going to kill you."

"What!?"

She put the switch blade back in her pocket. It seemed like Kazuki could've been killed on the spot.

"Onii-chan..."

Sabrina happily rubbed her nose on Kazuki's arm.

"Looks like it's time. I'll be off now — get away from her!"

"S-sorry. S-so, look after yourself. Hey, Sabrina."

"Si. I leave the paper work to you."

Sofia turned around.

"Ah, that's right."

She turned back around and moved her face near Kazuki's.

— You and Sabrina live in different worlds. It won't turn out well in the end.

He remembered what she said to him before. Kazuki's body stiffened.

"I leave Sabrina to you."

Sofia kissed Kazuki's cheek.

"What?"

Kazuki was unable to process what just happened and proceed to stare blankly at Sofia. Sabrina probably didn't see what just happened because of how she was standing, so she looked up at Kazuki in a puzzled manner.

He stroked his cheek. He was still able to feel the softness of Sofia's lips. Kazuki quickly blushed.

"Eh? Eh? Ehhh—hhh!"

"Why are you getting so worked up over something like this? Surprisingly, you have a cute side. That was to say thanks for what happened this time, and my way of saying that I trust you."

"Sofia-san..."

Trust. That single word made Kazuki feel happy.

However...

"But... if you do something to Sabrina, I won't forgive you!"

Sofia's expression quickly changed... at a shocking speed.

"Ah, ahh..."

"I'll let you taste various tortures used across the world. You'll believe you'd better off dead. Well, you won't die though."

She cracked her fingers and smiled evilly. Her eyes were out of focus and the scariest part was that she might actually do it.

"If you do, I won't forgive you."

Sabrina coldly said. Sofia turned to stone as she was bullying Kazuki.

"Eeep—."

With the large amount of mental damage dealt, Sofia dragged her feat and disappeared through the boarding gates.

Her figure as she walked away didn't give off the atmosphere of a boss, but a melancholic one instead.

* * *

And so, Sabrina remained in Kazuki's house.

"What should I do, I'm going to be late at this rate - eep."

Kazuki tripped over something and fell magnificently. After falling, he rubbed his nose and looked behind him... only to see a zombie, no, Izuna grabbing his leg.

"I—'m—hung—ry!"

Izuna crawled up Kazuki's body.

"Lord, I thank thee for thy mercy and gladly receive this daily bread. I bless this which is set before me and - I can't wait any more."

"Stop! Why are you offering a prayer!? Sabrina! D-do something!"

"Si."

Sabrina removed a cute pouch and opened it. Izuna, who was about to eat Kazuki (in a non-sexual way) stopped her hands.

"Izuna."

"Hmm!? Is that a packed lunch!?"

Sabrina threw the packed lunch away like she was throwing a soccer ball... it flew quite far.

"Woof, woof!"

Izuna chased it like a dog.

"Kyaa—aa!"

Saki stood there with a pale face. In her hands were some gardening tools. She probably had them to do some gardening at the cathedral.

"S-Sabrina, t-that was the lunch I packed for Ootaki-kun..."

"Si. I found the suspicious lunch inside the bag on the floor, so I used it."

"That was mine!"

Sabrina and Saki exchanged glances with one another.

"...You."

"..."

The two of them didn't move an inch and they both refused to back down.

Bite.

While Saki was focused on glaring at Sabrina, Sabrina bit her.

"Kyaa! It hurts, it hurts! I'm sorry~."

"Ah—hh! Sabrina, stop it!"

Kazuki pulled Sabrina off Saki.

"Are you ok, Kinoshita?"

"Yeah, somewhat.... Eh heh heh, I'm glad you were able to make up with Sabrina."

Saki wiped her tears away as she smiled happily.

"Yeah, it's all thanks to you, Kinoshita. Isn't that right, Sabrina?"

"Si. I'm really in your debt this time. Thanks to you, I'm now Onii-chan's 'family' and 'family.'"

[1]

"Ah, so I am part of that family now. I don't want to be involved in a fight for a while, though."

"It's ok. If we're together, we're invincible."

"Umm."

Saki held her hand up.

"Is it ok if I join that family as well? No, I need to join!"

"Ehh!? What are you saying, Kinoshita!?"

"But you two seem to be having lots of fun together. Hey, how do I sign up?"

"No, no. It's not an extra curriculum activity."

"Si. Others are not allowed to join."

"Uuu..."

While Kazuki was persuading Saki, Izuna hopped on his back. Her breasts were pressing against him and he felt a soft, marshmallow-like sensation.

"Izuna-san!?"

"You don't really need all that to become a family. For example, get 'married.'"

""Married!?""

Kazuki and Saki spoke at the same time. Sabrina also widened her eyes in surprise.

"So for that reason, Kazuki-kun will be mar—ried to me☆"

"Whaaat!? What are you saying, Izuna-san!?"

"T-then I will!"

"Kinoshita as well!? Will that be ok!?"

"Si. Then me as well."

"Sabrina is a little sister!"

"It's fine, it's fine. Then, everyone will be competing with the Paradise Lost as our destination!"

"We're not! Everyone calm dow—!"

Like always, Kazuki's yell echoed throughout the blue sky.

______________________________________________________________________

Reference

1.

The first "family" means family as in mother, father, brother, sister, etc. The second "family" means the mafia family. Saki is confused thinking that the second "family" is like a club or something.

↩

## 02. Volume 2

### 001. Prologue: Prologo

My Little Italian Sister Can't Be This Lethal Vol. 2 starts now!

The color illustrations for the volume are

here

.

Translator: Junnynam

Editor: LHI

Please enjoy~

____________________

It was nearly eight o'clock in the morning.

A foreign girl was walking through a housing district.

Her wavy red hair, that was tied back with a hair band, swayed with each

step she took.

"...Yes. Everything is going well.

"

[1]

The red haired girl meekly nodded and ended the phone call.

Slipping the mobile phone into the bag hanging from her shoulder, she removed

a photograph with her petite fingers.

On the photograph was an image of a blue eyed blonde girl with a refined

face.

"...Ku ku ku. Please prepare yourself."

A sinister smile appeared on the red haired girl's face.

But then, a big dog poked its head out from a wired fence facing the town.

""......""

The red haired girl's eyes met the dog's.

However, the red haired girl instantly looked away and said with a shrug of

her shoulders:

"If you value your life, please get away from here. Even I don't want

to put an end to a life meaningle—"

"Woof!"

The big dog barked as if to cut her off mid-sentence.

"Heek!"

Stepping back in surprise, the girl quickly looked around. After confirming

that no one else was in sight, she cleared her throat in embarrassment and

spoke to the big dog once more.

"Even I—."

"Woof woof woof!"

The big dog barked at her with great enthusiasm.

"...Whaa..."

Air started escaping the girl's mouth.

Then...

"Wha—aaaa! I'm scared of big dogsssss—!"

She yelled like she was suddenly unparalysed.

The big dog wasn't able to

chase her as it was stuck inside the fence. Furthermore, if one took a closer

look, it was wagging its tail playfully.

The red haired girl took no

notice of such things and promptly ran away crying with her hands straight up

in the air.

______________________________________________________________________

Reference

1.

This girl talks with a "desu" suffix, so the way she speaks is strange in comparison to the other characters.

↩

### 002. Chapter 1: A Small Lurking Shadow?

In the darkness lurks the shadow of death, its icy hands waiting for its next prey.

But if it's not death, it is usually a cute maiden...with a knife.

Translator: Junnynam

Editor: LHI

Please enjoy~

____________________

1

The weather

has been wet since the rainy season started, but there wasn't a cloud in the clear

blue sky today.

For the 2nd

year middle school student Kazuki Ootaki, whose goal was living the most

peaceful life possible, it was an ideal morning.

Hmm, what

great weather.

Maybe I

should take care of the laundry I've been putting off.

Kazuki left

his room with light footsteps.

"Haa—hhmm..."

While

yawning, he walked down the stairs.

As his left

foot landed on the last step of the staircase...

"—Ahh."

Kazuki

froze on the spot, his mouth hanging wide open.

He stood

frozen and stared at the sight before his eyes.

There stood

a blond girl named Sabrina, who had joined Kazuki's household as his little

sister not too long ago.

Without a

single bit of clothing on her body.

Wet hair

glistening with water droplets.

A straight

face which didn't show expressions very well.

Pure white

skin that looked like freshly fallen snow.

Detailed,

slender shoulders and a slim waist.

And a slightly

lacking, but nevertheless puffed up chest.

She was

like an antique doll sculpted by a first-class craftsman.

Despite

being naked, she was holding a briefcase for some reason. It didn't fit her at

all.

"..."

Sabrina

lifted her briefcase and hid herself behind it... but there wasn't much point

in doing so.

"Why...

are you naked?"

Kazuki

managed to squeeze his words out somehow.

Sabrina was

Kazuki's little sister.

To be

precise, she had just become his little sister not too long ago.

So to

Kazuki, this current situation was no different from suddenly seeing a

beautiful girl naked. Hence, he couldn't really remain indifferent just because

they were family.

He was so

astonished, he thought he would have a heart attack.

"...

Si. I was taking a shower until just a while ago."

She must be

feeling embarrassed as well; her expression did not change, but her words

sounded disheveled. She turned red up to her ears.

"I get

that. But why!? Where are your change of clothes!?"

"I

forgot about them. It's a failure."

"How

did you forget about your change of clothes when you're holding your 'toolbox!?'"

The toolbox

Kazuki mentioned was the briefcase in Sabrina's hands. Inside the case were various

firearms and other weapons.

Sabrina was

actually the estranged child of the boss of the "Jevini Family" - a

mafia gang that possessed considerable power in Italy. As a result, she was not

allowed to leave the house in a secret location and was trained to be an assassin.

However; when

the boss passed away, Sabrina became the new boss in accordance to the boss's will

and entered into the Ootaki household as an adopted daughter.

A certain

person who did not accept Sabrina's new position as boss plotted to kill her,

but Kazuki and his friends somehow thwarted his plan. Sabrina was unanimously

accepted as boss, so it was possible for her to live with Kazuki. Kazuki

suffered injuries during that incident, but he has nearly recovered.

"Couldn't

you have wrapped yourself in a bath towel or something?"

"No,

there weren't any."

"Ah,

that's right. I haven't been able to do the laundry lately because of the rain..."

"Si. I

was going to dry myself with the clothes I was already wearing and return to my

room."

"Well...

h-hurry up and go to your room and change."

"...

Si."

Averting

his gaze from Sabrina's naked body, he moved to let her pass through.

She drew

closer to him.

The sweet

fragrance of shampoo tickled Kazuki's nose. Although they should be using the

same brand, it smelled completely different.

"Ahh!"

"—Ouch.

"

Sabrina

must've been thrown off balance and she tripped over Kazuki's foot.

Smack—!

Kazuki fell

onto the hallway floor along with Sabrina.

"Ouchhhh....

Sabrina, are you all ri—."

As Kazuki

tried to get up, he froze up on the spot with his mouth hanging open (again).

This time,

he couldn't react at all.

His

positioning was the issue.

He was

pinning Sabrina's naked body to the floor with his hands and knees.

""...

... ...""

His and

Sabrina's eyes met.

"...Si."

"Hold

on! Why are you closing your eyes like you're preparing yourself! This was an

accident!"

Kazuki

retorted straight away.

...In her

birthday suit?

"—Hold

on, where did your toolbox go?"

He felt

pieces of wooden splinters hitting his head.

Kazuki

looked up, nothing thinking much about it.

The toolbox

was embedded into the ceiling. Sabrina must've hurled it up there as she

tripped.

That

toolbox...

"Huh?"

...Started

falling due to gravity as soon as Kazuki noticed it was moving.

Yeah, I won't

be able to avoid this.

Kazuki

prepared himself with great calmness for its impact.

Smack.

The toolbox

(or rather, the edge) hit Kazuki's head just a second later.

Kazuki

experienced a drowsiness unlike the sleepiness he felt before and passed out.

2

Shortly

after the unfortunate accident in the morning...

Kazuki, who

was miraculously revived, was heading to school with Sabrina.

"..."

Arghh, this

is really awkward....

Kazuki

glanced at Sabrina (who was walking beside him).

Unlike

before, Sabrina had her hair tied up in twin tails and was wearing the school

uniform.

Her

expressionless face hadn't changed.

A normal

person wouldn't be able to read any emotions in her face, but Kazuki was

starting to notice some subtle differences in her facial expressions over the

time he spent with her.

Sabrina was

somewhat tense as well...

It wasn't

that surprising.

She did

show her naked body to him and they... ended up in that awkward position.

Yeah, she

did seem to be tense....

After giving

himself some time to prepare his heart...

He deeply bowed

his head.

"I'm

sorry Sabrina!"

She must

have been surprised by this sudden action, because Sabrina's shoulders

flinched.

"...What

do you mean?"

"About

what happened at home... you're angry, right? I know it's not something that's

forgivable just because it was an accident, but I'm really sorry. Can you

forgive me?"

Seeing the

apologetic Kazuki, she blinked her eyes.

"...Si.

If it's about that, then I'm not that angry."

Sabrina's

cheeks were lit up and she continued to talk as she brought her hand up and

covered her mouth.

"It

was definitely embarrassing, but there's no problem because it was you,

Onii-chan..."

Her roundabout

way of saying it was somewhat suspicious.

But

unfortunately, Kazuki took her words literally.

"Ah, I

see. I'm glad. You seemed different than usual, so I thought you were concerned

about it. I see. I guess it's obvious right?

You're not that concerned because

we're siblings.

"

"...No."

As Kazuki let

out a sigh of relief, Sabrina denied it.

"I don't

mind

because

it's you, Onii-chan

."

"Yeah?

So, it's because we're

siblings

, right?"

"No."

Sabrina's "Onii-chan"

was Kazuki, hence their relationship was that of "siblings."

But Kazuki

didn't know the crucial difference between those two interpretations.

"...Hmmph."

Squeeze

. Sabrina clung to Kazuki.

"Sabrina?"

"...Like

this."

It seemed

like she was charging herself.

She often

clung to him like this whenever she was feeling bad.

"Huh?

Huh? Whyyy? What did I do? Moreover, we're on our way to school."

Whenever

Sabrina clung to him like this, she wouldn't let go (like a leech).

Kazuki

could only keep walking with Sabrina clinging to him.

Bump.

As Kazuki

continued walking with Sabrina clinging to him, he bumped into a girl who

suddenly jumped out from an intersection.

"Whoa."

Roll, roll... smack.

After being

knocked back from the collision, the girl rolled and hit a pole.

The girl

was a fair skinned foreigner who had wavy red hair tied with a band.

She

appeared to be in her 3rd

or 4th year of primary school.

"Kyaa—aaa,

ouchhhy."

Large

teardrops started forming in the corners of the girl's eyes.

"I'm

sorry, are you all right?"

"Yes.

I'm sorry for running without looking in front of me."

The girl

smiled straight away and stopped her tears.

She had

quite a friendly face and was a cute girl.

"Can

you stand up?"

Kazuki

extended his hand to the girl - but stopped moving.

It wasn't

because he could see her striped panties because her skirt was rolled up.

The problem

lied next to that.

There was a

solid and profound black L shaped silhouette lying next to the girl.

"..."

It was an

object that Kazuki previously would've only seen in mangas and movies.

But

recently, he has been seeing it frequently, thanks to his new little sister.

That's

right, it was a—.

...handgun.

"Um,

what's the matter?"

The red

haired girl looked where Kazuki's gaze was directed.

"Ah!"

...and hid

it in embarrassment. Her striped panties, that is.

No! That's

not what I'm looking at!

"Ah—ahhhh!"

Finally realizing

what Kazuki was looking at, the girl quickly pounced on the gun to hide it.

Smack.

"Heek."

— But she

put too much energy into it and smashed her head on the ground.

The red

haired girl held her head as she trembled in pain. She secretly hid the handgun

in her small shoulder bag.

Then she

stood up and started glaring at Kazuki.

"D-Did...

y-you see something? Did you see a suspicious black object!?"

"No,

not at all...."

The girl

was so desperate that Kazuki sort of mumbled it.

"Of

course, that was dangerous. I must dispose of anyone who finds out my secret."

The red

haired girl sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow.

Her

expression changed again and again, like he was looking through a kaleidoscope.

As Kazuki

was thinking to himself how funny it looked...

"Ahh—ahhhhhh!"

The red

haired girl let out a yell.

This time,

she had a surprised expression.

"To

think that we would meet somewhere like this. I'll be retreating for now!"

She flung

herself forward and disappeared at a speed that can only be appropriately

described by the onomatopoeia "phew!"

"Kyaa!"

But tripped

straight away.

She looked

back at Kazuki and Sabrina with a guarded expression.

"You

just wait and see!"

The red

haired girl spat out words normally said by a fleeing person and headed back in

the direction she came from.

"What's

going on...."

"Did

something happen, Onii-chan?"

Sabrina

asked while she was still clinging to him with closed eyes, as he stood there in

a bewildered state.

It seemed

like Sabrina was too busy charging to notice the girl just now.

"No,

the thing is... I'm not too sure either."

3

Ooba Middle

School was the public school Kazuki and Sabrina attended, but its eastern wing

was destroyed during the assassination attempt on Sabrina.

Because of

this, their school was holding classes in the western wing and some public

buildings in the city.

Although

the building was being rebuilt thanks to anonymous funding from the Jevini family,

there was also a movement in the student body to hold fundraisers contributing

to the new building.

The school

board supported the students' views and as a result, the school decided to hold

a "charity festival" aimed at civilians in order to raise money.

Each class

was using both class and after school time to prepare something for the

upcoming festival.

Right now

was first period and Kazuki's class was busy preparing for the charity

festival.

Their class

was holding a maid cafe. The students were hard at work after being assigned to

groups which either handled making menus, outfits, or decorations.

"..."

Although Kazuki

was making decorations in his seat, his attention was fixed on the sports field

outside.

Sabrina was

with her class, year one class two, which was having PE lessons some distance away

from the makeshift stage built for the charity festival.

Sabrina was

confronting Kitazawa.

Kitazawa

was the infamous PE teacher who performed judo moves on boys and near-sexual

acts on girls, both in the name of education.

Today, he

was making the boys play futsal

[1]

while leading the girls in high

jumps (as usual).

But when a

female student was no longer able to deal with Kitazawa's passionate teaching

methods, she asked Sabrina for help.

"O-Ootaki!

Do you have a problem with my teaching methods!?"

Kitazawa

raised his voice.

"...?"

Kitazawa

was trying to intimidate Sabrina by puffing out his chest. It seemed like

Sabrina still didn't comprehend the situation.

There was

an incident where Sabrina threw Kitazawa before. Ever since then, Kitazawa

considered Sabrina an enemy.

Sabrina,

don't cause any trouble... please.

"Ughhhh....."

Even Kazuki

could tell from all the way up in his classroom that Kitazawa's knees were

shaking.

His intimidation

was only a bluff.

When

Sabrina glanced towards the school building, her eyes met Kazuki's. It seems

like she noticed Kazuki's gaze.

(Onii-chan,

may I dispose of him?)

(Nooooooo!)

He

understood her perfectly.

Eye

contact.

Understanding

eye to eye communication was truly amazing.

"What's

the matter, Ootaki-kun?"

He heard a

voice from behind.

With a warm

expression and her brown hair pinned in place with a hairpin, it was his class

president Saki Kinoshita.

Saki was

popular enough to be ranked first or second by the boys in his year level. Not

only was she pretty, her caring personality earned her trust from boys and

girls alike.

According

to Kazuki's long time (bad) friend and self-proclaimed information broker,

Ryouta Miyamoto, Saki was confessed to by nearly 40 boys. However, he said that

she rejected all of their confessions.

"Ah,

sorry for being so sudden. Were you surprised?"

"N-N-No,

not at all. Ah ha ha...."

Truth be

told, Kazuki was also one of the boys who held unrequited feelings for Saki.

Saki also held feelings for Kazuki, but neither of them realized the other's

feelings yet.

Kinoshita

is pretty again today....

—No, now

wasn't the time to be thinking about that.

Kazuki again

turned his head towards the sports field. When he did, Sabrina looked up at him

again.

They

communicated again with eye contact alone.

(Hmm? What's

wrong, Sabrina?)

(Onii-chan

looks happy right now.)

(Ehh!?)

(Onii-chan's

expression while you talked to Saki was peculiar. What's going on?)

(Um....

I-It's your misunderstanding.)

Kazuki and

Sabrina were sending some pretty complex eye signals.

And what's

more, Kazuki was being told off by eye contact alone.

(...Something's

strange.)

(I'm

telling you, it's not like that, and you shouldn't do anything to your

teacher.)

At that

moment,

"Ootakiiiii!

If only... if only you weren't here!"

Not being

able to stand being ignored any longer, Kitazawa attacked Sabrina.

— However

"I'm

busy right now."

"Uhwaaa."

Sabrina

threw Kitazawa away with great ease.

Booooom.

With a dull

thud, his big body landed in the sports field, forming a dust cloud in the

process.

"Sorry

Kinoshita! Tell the teacher that I'm going to the infirmary because I have a

stomach ache!"

"Huh?

U-Um Ootaki-kun!?"

Ignoring

what Saki was saying, Kazuki ran out of the class at a speed impossible for a

person with a stomach ache.

Now it was

third period and Kazuki's class was still preparing for the charity festival.

Kazuki and

Sabrina have been stuck in the student counseling office since first period.

"..."

They were

finally allowed to leave after second period finished, but Kazuki's fatigue

reached its peak. He buried his head in his desk and fidgeted while making

decorations.

"Hey

Kazuki."

A male

student spoke to Kazuki as he was in that state.

It was

Ryouta Miyamoto.

"What?

I'm not budging, so go back to your own seat."

"No—I don't

feel like getting into what our class is doing. It's meant to be a festival, a

maid cafe these days is too common."

"Really?

But don't you think it's better to do something normal rather than doing

something that's really out there and end up failing?"

"Something

normal huh... you're always so boring. If it was up to me, I wouldn't hold a

normal maid cafe, but one with eccentric costumes instead!"

"Do

you really think we can attract customers like that? ...And give an example of the costumes you

have in mind."

"Something

like sailor uniforms with swimsuits!"

"Ah, I

see."

I was a

fool for asking....

As Kazuki

started regretting wasting what little energy he had left...

"Isn't

it all men's romance? Imagine this! Kinoshita with a sailor uniform and school

swimsuit! I'll throw in cat-ear headbands as a bonus!"

Ryouta

continued talking to him.

Geez,

Ryouta never says the right things when it comes to th—

Wait a

second, Kinoshita wearing a sailor uniform and school swimsuit... and a cat-ear

headband on top of that?

...

......

.........

It might

actually be a great idea.

Kazuki

pictured an image of Saki in his head; wearing the sailor uniform on top and

the school swimsuit on bottom. Of course, she also had the cat-ears on.

Kazuki

ended up blushing as a result of his imagination.

"Heh

heh, what do you think? Don't you think it would be great? Doing something like

this will be a great success. It's not too late, so let's suggest it to the

class!"

"—Me

with cat-ears? What do you mean?"

"Kinoshita!?"

Saki

appeared before them.

"Ah.

You see, why don't we change the costumes to sailor uniforms and school

swimsuits with cat-ea— arghhh!"

Kazuki hit

Ryouta as he started to suggest the costume.

Ryouta's

head collided with a cabinet edge and he dropped to the floor in pain.

"Whew,

that was dangerous."

"Huh?

Umm, will Miyamoto-kun be OK? He seems to be in a lot of pain..."

"Don't

worry about him. Recently, Ryouta has awakened to the pleasure of hitting his

head on things."

"H-Hmm...

I see."

When Saki

stepped slightly away, Ryouta passionately complained to Kazuki.

"Hey

Kazuki! The only pleasure that I awoke to is the pleasure of being abused by

girls. Who would take pleasure in hitting oneself!"

"Ryouta,

that doesn't make anything better."

Kazuki

cleared his throat after hearing an annoying confession and continued talking.

"Anyhow,

I think it's fine to leave the maid cafe as it is."

"...How

dare you betray me...! Well, it doesn't matter. I do have my second and third

backup plans. I'm preparing a project separate from whatever the class is

doing. Don't beg me to let you in, because it's no use!"

With those

words, Ryouta fled from Kazuki's desk.

"I

wonder what happened to Miyamoto-kun?"

"He's

been like that for a long time, so let him be."

"Ootaki-kun,

I think I'm sensing a different meaning behind those words...."

Tug, tug.

At that

moment, there was someone tugging at Kazuki's uniform sleeves.

It was

Sabrina.

Sabrina

came to Kazuki's class during Japanese, English and Math classes to do some

self-study with printouts.

This was

actually a solution the school came up with in order to avoid trouble with

Sabrina. The only one who Sabrina obeyed was Kazuki and this was supposed to

keep Sabrina tame.

"What's

the matter?"

"Onii-chan,

I'm not too sure about this part."

"The

meaning of this

'

ありがたし

'

is slightly

different from modern Japanese, so it's rarely seen. "

[2]

Saki

answered in Kazuki's place.

""......""

The two

girls exchanged glares.

Saki was

wearing a smile. Sabrina was stone faced.

Kinoshita

was both smart and good at taking care of others.

She really is

flawless.

As Kazuki

was thinking that:

"Si.

Then Onii-chan, please teach me this part."

Without writing

down what Saki taught her, Sabrina asked a different question.

"Ah.

You see Sabrina, since this is a perfect auxiliary verb—"

Bite.

As Saki

started explaining in Kazuki's place (again), Sabrina bit her hand.

"A

hihnt ahk uuu (I didn't ask you)."

"Kyaaa.

Sabina, it hurts, it hurts!"

"Whoaa—aa!

Sabrina, what are you doing!?"

Kazuki

hurriedly pulled them away.

"Please

don't interrupt my studies, Saki."

"But

didn't she just teach you!?"

Kazuki

retorted at Sabrina as she spoke of Saki like she was troublesome.

"They're

at it again." "They sure are

close, aren't they?" "I wish she would bite me as well." "Yep.

Being bitten by her would be like a prize for us."

Kazuki's

classmates were already used to these things.

And just

like that, their class ended.

4

As the

school gates were closing, Kazuki and Sabrina decided to go home after working

on the charity festival preparation.

"Ootaki-kun,

I have to visit the cathedral again today. So, could we go back together?"

Saki talked

to him.

There was a

cathedral near Kazuki's house.

Saki often

visited the cathedral to look after the plants in its back yard.

So as of

late, whenever Kazuki was about to go home, Saki often asked to walk with him.

As Kazuki

had feelings for Saki, it was a blessing for him to be able to walk home with

her.

Although his

parents were no-good to him, he was always grateful they built their house

close to a cathedral.

"Of

course. Right Sabrina?"

"Si....

You never get tired of it, do you Saki?"

"Ehh!?

Isn't that rude!? That's not what you should be saying when we're going home,

right!?"

"I-I'm

not going to lose today!"

"Even

you Kinoshita!? What's going on!? And that aside, what aren't you going to lose

at!?"

He was

happy that they were all able to walk home together, but Sabrina and Saki's

relationship wasn't that great. Although Kazuki didn't realize it, he was the

cause of it.

As a

result, every time the two girls glared daggers at each other, Kazuki found

himself surrounded by a suffocating pressure.

"Uuu,

my head itches for some reason....."

—Clang, clang. Clang, clang, clang

When they

finally reached the cathedral, loud noises were coming from inside the hall.

"Huh?

What's going on?"

When Kazuki,

Sabrina and Saki entered through the Cathedral doors and went to the back yard

where the noise was coming from, they saw a nun pulling various objects out

from a shed and throwing them into the yard.

"Izuna-san,

what are you doing?"

The nun's

name was Izuna Tachibana. She was the nun recently assigned to this cathedral.

"Huh?

If it isn't Kazuki-kun, Sabrina and Saki. So school's already done for the day?

Good work

✩

"

She smiled

brightly and her pearly white teeth were visible.

"What

on earth are you doing, pulling out all those things from the shed?"

"Oh,

just looking for some things I need to find—. I'm sure I put them in the shed

when I arrived—."

Izuna went

back inside the shed as she said that.

"This

isn't it. That's not it either."

Things unrelated

to a cathedral, like a set of Russian Matryoshka dolls, a Statue of Liberty

shaped lighter, a mysterious mask (worn by indigenous jungle tribes), and a Blue

Dragon Scimitar covered in a red-black substance were being thrown from the

shed.

"Kyaaa—aa!"

Saki let

out a scream.

On closer inspection

of the cathedral garden, the plants Saki had been growing had disappeared, only

ripped out roots remained.

Hearing the

scream, Izuna came out of the shed.

"Huh?

What's the matter, Saki?"

"Izuna-san...

the garden...."

"Ah~ I

was feeling hungry, so.... I ate it all up

✩

.

"

"Ahh

no way...."

It really

did seem like Izuna ate them all. After all, she did the same thing before.

"Saki,

the Lord once said: 'Never mind.'"

"He

didn't!"

Kazuki

retorted for Saki as she was not in the right state of mind to answer.

"K-Kinoshita,

hey..."

"That

aside, take a look at this. I found my provisions."

Saki

half-heartedly accepted the reality of the garden she worked hard on being

gobbled up.

She was really

pitiful.

"...

Provisions, you say?"

Comforting

Saki, Kazuki looked at what Izuna dug out.

The object

that Izuna dug out of the chaos in the shed wasn't something particularly

amazing.

With a "ta

da" sound, Izuna showed him a rectangular box.

"Mi~lk~"

Izuna

mimicked a cat shaped robot.

It didn't

suit her at all.

"What

kind of provisions are those!?"

"No,

you'll see~. You know how when milk goes bad, it becomes cheese?"

Giggling,

Izuna opened the aged carton of milk.

Rotten odor

leaked out from the (nearly indescribable) rotten contents of the carton.

Sabrina,

who was standing right next to Kazuki, quickly hid behind him.

Urpp....

Even

Izuna-san must admit that this is....

"Wow,

it looks delicious."

"Are

your eyes only for decoration!?"

"Kazuki-kun,

you mustn't judge something by its look and smell alone. Let's take an octopus

or sea cucumber for example - they taste a lot better than they look, right?

Don't you think this cheese could blow your mind?"

At that

moment, a stray cat who was previously walking on a nearby fence started foaming

at the mouth and convulsing.

"..."

Kazuki

looked at Izuna with a dumbfounded look.

"It

might blow your mind, right?"

"Yeah,

in a different sense than before!"

When Izuna

tried to eat it, Kazuki took the bio hazard... no... to be precise, milk, from

her.

Rummmmmble.

Izuna's

stomach let out a loud grumble.

"Woaa—aaah.

I'm hungry~. Kazuki-kun, feed me. It's my life's wish~."

"This

is the fifth time I've heard that from you this month! Wait—don't cling to me,

Izuna-san!"

Squeeze.

Izuna's well

developed breasts pressed against Kazuki's body.

Even though

she had a great figure, Izuna seemed careless about those things. So, she often

made Kazuki's heart beat faster when she hugged him.

"I-I

get it. I get it."

"Really!?

Hurray~."

"Anyhow..."

"I'll

pay you back when I hit it big."

"You'll pay me back when you hit it big?"

"I'll

give you the half of the world

✩

"

"Do

you plan on becoming the Demon King, or something!?"

5

"Kazuki-kun,

what's~ for~ to~day's~ dinner?"

After

parting ways with Saki, who was still unable to walk very well due to the

shock, Kazuki, Izuna, and Sabrina returned to Kazuki's house and were standing

in front of the door.

Izuna happily hummed a rhythmic tune

as she asked.

"I was

thinking of cooking some dumplings that the next door neighbor gave me. So I

guess dinner will be ready in half an hour if I start now."

"No

way! No, don't make me suffer any longer! Hurry, hurry and make something hot!

Dumpling, dumpling, dumpling! Hurry up and make it, make it, make it!"

"Are

you a kid or something? Sabrina, is there anything to eat until I finish

cooking?"

"Si.

We do have some strawberries that we also—"

"O—K,

Sabrina, lead me to them!"

Clinging to

Sabrina's arm, Izuna quickly disappeared into the house like the wind.

"Such

a headache."

Kazuki

sighed loudly.

Then, he

grabbed the door knob to follow behind them.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly

Kazuki noticed something moving out of the corner of his eyes.

Turing around,

he saw a small person's shadow moving sneakily .

Kazuki

remembered seeing that person before.

Small body...

Wavy red

hair tied back with a band...

"...How

strange...."

A friendly

voice and unique style of talking.

"Isn't

she..."

That's

right; it was the red haired girl Kazuki saw earlier that morning.

Specifically,

she was the red haired girl who walked around carrying a handgun in her small

shoulder.

"But

why is that girl here...?"

Gulp.

Kazuki felt worried.

The

red-haired girl was looking in the opposite direction, so Kazuki held his

breath and approached her.

What was

she doing here?

"Sniff...

sniff...."

Huh!? She's

crying?

He

stretched out his neck and peeked at her.

When he

did, he saw her desperately trying to light a matchstick.

"Ah."

She must

not be using enough force, because the matchstick wouldn't light and snapped.

"Hii...

it didn't work again. This is the last one.... Please let there be a miracle.

Please give me strength, mother and father in heaven."

The red

haired girl prayed while holding the last matchstick in her tiny fist. There

were broken matchsticks scattered all around her feet.

After

watching the girl, Kazuki realized what was going on without too much thought.

H-Hold on!

What was this girl doing?

Why is she

lighting matchsticks in my yard?

I gotta

stop her!

"Hey

you!"

"...

Hu yah?"

He spoke to

the girl who was looking at the matchstick with a serious expression.

Shine, shine.

The pair of

innocent eyes looked up at Kazuki.

Uuhhhh...

her eyes are so innocent.

What was

this feeling boiling up deep inside me.....?

I want to

protect her.... I can't leave her alone....

Her trying

to light a matchstick in my yard doesn't matter anymore....

— That's

not it, what the hell am I thinking!?

This

definitely isn't normal! I need to be stern right now!

"Now

then, hand that over."

"Ehh?

Y-Yes."

The red

haired girl handed the matchstick over obediently. Kazuki succeeded in taking

the matchstick.

And...

"This

is how you do it."

He gave it

back to her after lighting it.

"Ah,

thank you."

He wasn't

being stern at all.

Hold

oooonnnnnn! What the hell did I just do!?

The red

haired girl cheered up so quickly after she received the matchstick that there

wasn't a trace of her tears from before.

Her

expressions change really quickly.

"How

amazing. You must be a matchstick lighting genius to do it in a single try."

"I don't

feel too great after being called a genius for something like that.... So, what

are you going to do with that matchstick?"

"Ah, I'm

going to set this house on fire of cou-"

"Onii-chan?"

At that

exact instant, Sabrina opened the front door and came outside. She must've

thought it was strange for Kazuki not to come in after such a long time.

"Ahh—aaaah!"

The girl

pointed her finger at Sabrina's face and started overreacting. Because of that,

the matchstick went out.

"Hii—ng."

She looked

back and forth between the matchstick, that was producing smoke from the tip,

and Sabrina. Tears started welling up in her the corners of her big eyes again.

"I was

caught again. I'll be retreating for now. Just wait until the next time~~~~~!"

The girl

rushed by Kazuki.

"Hiing!"

...and tripped.

"...Riche

is a strong child. I won't cry just because I tripped over! Hii-ng."

She stood

up, looked in Kazuki and Sabrina's direction, and ran away without her words

matching her actions.

"Just

what was that...?"

The gun

(-shaped toy, maybe)? The one in the small shoulder bag....

Lighting

matches in his yard...

That

reaction whenever she saw Sabrina.

Combining

those facts in his head led to a single thought.

—Could she

be related to the Mafia?

"No

way.... No way."

"What's

the matter?"

Sabrina

walked towards the stunned Kazuki.

"Actually...."

Kazuki

stopped himself as he was about to tell Sabrina.

Sabrina

only knew a handful of people inside the Jevini family in the first place.

If the girl

was indeed after Sabrina, Sabrina wouldn't know her anyway.

Also, if

Kazuki did say "someone might be after you," Sabrina would be on edge.

"No,

it's nothing."

"...?"

Kazuki

patted Sabrina's head. As he did so, Sabrina tilted her head in a curious

manner.

"Hmm...

yeah, you really are a good kid."

Izuna

appeared, saying that while holding a plastic container that was previously

full of strawberries.

"Eh?"

"Don't

ever lose that heart."

"Izuna-san..."

Izuna

winked while moving the last strawberry towards her mouth.

Kazuki also

had something to say to Izuna.

"Your

head... is in danger."

"Huh?

–Ughh."

At that moment, the toolbox hits

home, and Izuna's head.

"Izuna,

I thought we promised to leave my brother's share."

"...Sabrina...

even so... don't you think the briefcase is too much...?"

6

"Thanks

for the food

✩

"

Izuna returned

to a blissful expression after eating an incredible amount of dumplings.

Kazuki

returned to his room after washing the dishes with Sabrina.

He offered

Sabrina the first bath and after checking that she obediently went downstairs

to the bathroom, he took out his phone.

He called a

number he added earlier.

After five rings

or so, the recipient answered the call.

The voice

was an elegant, yet cool one.

『

Hello, boy?

』

"Yes.

Long time no speak, Sofia-san."

The owner

of the voice was a female named Sofia, Sabrina's previous instructor.

There was a

time when she tried to take Sabrina back to Italy, but after being moved by

Kazuki and Sabrina's strong relationship, she let them be. She was currently

the stand-in boss of the Jevini family and was it in Sabrina's place.

The reason

why Kazuki called Sofia was because he was concerned about the red haired girl.

Sofia might

know something about it.

Kazuki trusted

Sofia.

『

Well? How are things with Sabrina?

』

"Ah,

yeah. There are troubles every now and then, but we're doing okay."

『

I see, you're doing well. Then hurry up and bite your tongue off and die.

』

"Why!?"

The trust

he had for her was currently under fire.

『

You ask... why?

』

She asked,

with a near-threatening voice.

Kazuki realized

for the first time in his life that threatening auras can also be felt over the

phone.

『

You're doing well with Sabrina, right? With my Sabrina... you're hitting it

off with her. That's more than enough reason for you to die.

』

"Umm,

then would it be better if I wasn't getting along with her?"

『

If you make Sabrina unhappy, then I'll throw you into the pits of hell

myself.

』

"Hold

on, then doesn't that mean that I'm dead either way!?"

Sofia held

feelings for Sabrina that exceeded "normal." So, she often took her

anger out on Kazuki, who was getting along with Sabrina.

『

But anyway, I'm glad you called. I was about to call you anyway.

』

"Huh?

Me?"

『

Boy. Have you seen a suspicious person lately?

』

Sofia

lowered her voice and asked.

He could

feel cold sweat running down his spine.

Kazuki

called Sofia because he did see a suspicious person around.

I should

tell her... shouldn't I?

But the "suspicious

person" that Sofia mentioned and the red haired girl didn't match up well inside

Kazuki's mind.

The girl

was indeed suspicious, but she was only a primary school kid.

Was she

really the suspicious person Sofia mentioned?

Hmm-mm, she

was about to call me first....

It could get

bad if Kazuki told Sofia about the girl while he was still unsure, so he

decided to observe the red haired girl just a little while longer.

"N-Nothing

suspicious really."

『

I see. Then that's good. But boy, listen carefully to what I say and stay

calm.

』

Sofia

continued to talk.

『

It seems like Sabrina's whereabouts in Japan were leaked.

』

"What

did you—?"

He felt

like he was just struck by lightning.

『

If they dispose of Sabrina, my role of boss will be over. I don't know if

the ones who leaked the info want to take control of the Jevini family, or if they

sold the info for money.... But there seems to be a traitor aside from Juan.

』

Juan was

the former number two of the Jevini family, and was the one who planned Sabrina's

assassination before.

『

So with that, we're not sure when an assassin will arrive there.

』

Sofia spoke

like she was in pain. Her anxious voice made Kazuki realize how serious the

situation was.

"No

way..."

Then does

that mean that something similar to before... could happen again?

Kazuki

recalled the last incident Juan caused.

Kazuki

nearly died and Sabrina was nearly assassinated.

His body

started to shake unintentionally.

『

Well, it's only a possibility, so you don't need to be so worried about it...

but we'll be investigating the matter from our side soon. I'll send a team of

bodyguards if needed, so you guys be careful as well. Also, contact me if

anything suspicious comes up, no matter how small it may be. Understood?

』

"...Yes,

I understand."

He ended

the call in a half dazed state.

Does that

mean... the girl is the assassin...?

Should I

have told Sofia about the girl...?

But...

He didn't think

so.

The klutzy

girl and Juan are so different.

It might

just be his imagination.

Not that it

would be better if a skilled assassin were to come...

He was

finally able to spend some normal time with Sabrina.

He wanted it

to remain this way for a long time.

Sofia said

she was looking into it, so he wanted to wait it out for just a little while

longer...

Knock, knock.

While he

was deep in thought, he heard a knock on the door.

"Yes,

come in."

After he

replied, Sabrina came in having just finished her bath. Her light pink negligee

was lovely.

"Onii-chan,

please take a bath."

"Yeah,

thanks."

Maybe he

really should warn Sabrina that an assassin may be after her.

"Si.

Then Onii-chan, good night."

"Ah,

Sabrina."

He stopped

Sabrina as she was about to close the door behind her.

He should

ask her just in case...

"Hypothetically

speaking, and by that I really do mean hypothetically."

"Si?"

"You

know, what would you do if an assassin was to come and try to assa—."

"I

will dispose of him instantly."

It was

quite a frank answer.

"I'll

kill before I get killed. I won't leave a trace behind."

"...

I-I see. Thanks for the insight."

"I'm

glad to be of use to you, Onii-chan."

Having said

that, Sabrina left Kazuki's room.

I hope that

girl isn't the assassin.

Kazuki prayed

that deep inside his heart.

______________________________________________________________________

Reference

1.

Futsal is a variation of Association Football (Soccer).

↩

2.

"有難たし" means "it's hard to stand." In old Japanese, "有難う" means "thank you."

↩

### 003. Chapter 2: Clarice

Warning: The following chapter contains a dangerous level of adorableness. Proceed with caution.

Translator: Junnynam

Editor: LHI

Please enjoy~

____________________

The next day, Kazuki parted ways with Sabrina when they arrived at the

school lobby.

He sat down in his seat and let out a sigh.

In the end, I wasn't able to sleep because I kept thinking about that

red-haired girl....

But there wasn't any point in thinking about her, because there's no

definite proof of her being an assassin.

I might not meet her again anyway.... Hmm, I should just ignore it.

Kazuki firmly made up his mind.

Ding

dong dang dong

.

As the bell for homeroom rang, their teacher walked in.

"Ehh—, I know this is sudden, but I'll introduce your new classmate.

Now, come on in."

"Yes!"

The one who walked into the classroom was none other than the red-haired

girl from yesterday.

Wa—it!

Why is she here when I just made up my mind!?

"Hiing."

The red-haired girl stood on her tippy-toes on the platform. She had a

smiling expression when she first walked into the classroom, but now she looked

like she was about to cry.

Hoping that he was seeing things, Kazuki rubbed his eyes and looked the

girl over once more.

Wavy red hair tied back with a band...

Extremely short...

A small bag on her shoulder...

An expression that reflected her true feelings....

"My name is Clarice Calina. I was born in Italy. Please call me

Clarice."

...and that characteristic manner of speaking.

It was quite unfortunate, but there was no mistake.

Things fell into place face too well to regard it as a coincidence.... Then,

was she really an assassin targeting Sabrina?

But if she was looking for a chance to assassinate Sabrina, she should've

transferred into Sabrina's class....

"Huh!? The target isn't here!?"

The girl named Clarice looked around the classroom on her tiptoes.

Isn't that really suspicious!?

Kazuki's suspicions grew deeper inside him.

Even if she got the class wrong, it would be simple for her to find Sabrina

if she transferred to this school.

The only thing he could do right now was stop the transfer itself.

"Ma'am!"

"What is it, Ootaki?"

"No matter how I look at her... I don't think she's a middle school student...."

Kazuki spoke.

"W-What are you saying!? Riche is a great middle school student no

matter what... right?"

[1]

Why is she questioning it!?

Riche seemed to be taken aback like she was just hit in her weak spot.

Even though cutely calling herself "Riche" was fitting for her, it

made her seem even younger.

"Clarice, maybe saying that is a bit of a stretch..."

"N-Not at all! Riche has crucial evidence of her being in middle

school!"

"Crucial... evidence?"

If she was infiltrating the school, she must have prepared some fake proof

beforehand.

Clarice smiled arrogantly.

Seeing her grin, Kazuki bit his lips.

"Riche is even able to do her times tables!"

"Miss, that girl is a primary schooler without a doubt!"

The crucial evidence that Riche brought forth went up in flames. No, she

bombed.

"Huh!? Why!? Did you find out that I have trouble with the seventh

row!?"

"You would normally finish the times table in year 2."

"Really!? This isn't good! Does Riche have to repeat primary school

again?"

Tears have gathered in Riche's eyes and she was hesitating.

The whole class's atmosphere became cold.

Good.

With that, she shouldn't transfer anytime soon.

As Kazuki let out a sigh of relief, like so...

"But that doesn't matter, does it?"

An unexpected person extended a hand towards Clarice.

"Ryouta!? ...What do you mean, 'that doesn't matter?'"

"I meant exactly what I said. It doesn't matter. She doesn't need to

be the same age as us, if she's as cute as Clarice."

"No, no! Being in the same year usually indicates being the same age!"

"Now you're talking, Miyamoto!" "That's it!" "I'm

aiming for Clarice now!"

"Huh!? Everyone

is cheering for her!?"

Kazuki's opinion was

swept away by the other boys' voices.

It seemed like Kazuki

was in a

bad position

.

"

Since she transferred

to our class, it must mean that she's the same age as us. Are you saying that

you can't accept Clarice just because she looks young? Appearance varies from

person to person!

"

"Yeah, yeah!" "Even you can say some nice things sometimes,

Miyamoto-kun." "Ootaki-kun is an enemy to all women!"

"Even you girls are against me?"

For some reason, even the girls were agreeing with Ryouta.

Rather than saying he was in a bad position, he was surrounded by enemies.

Kuu... something doesn't seem right.

All I said was something obvious....

Then I need to pull out my trump card!

I need to ask the only other person with common sense, like the class

presid—

"...Uuu—."

When he looked towards his savior, Saki, she was glaring at him with a

grumpy facial expression.

...That's right.

She was a compassionate person with a warm heart.

Without understanding the situation, Kazuki was bullying Clarice in Saki's

eyes.

Uuu... there is a deep reason for this.

However, he couldn't explain the situation.

Kazuki could only accept Saki's "Uuu—" willingly.

He lost his last hope.

However, Kazuki wasn't throwing in the towel just yet.

"Miss, something really is wrong here. Something must have gone wrong,

please check again."

"Hm—mm. It's not like I don't understand where Ootaki is coming from,

but—"

"Miss... Can't Riche stay...?"

Sparkle sparkle.

Clarice looked up at the homeroom teacher with innocent eyes.

She was reminiscent of a drenched and abandoned puppy inside a cardbox that

sat in an alleyway in the rain.

"Ootaki, it's not good to judge a book by its cover. Report to the

student guidance room after class."

"That's so unfair!"

There was no hope left for him to hold on to.

Clarice's look compelled one to think "I must protect this girl."

Her aura of converting anyone to an ally was a powerful strength.

"Clarice is one of us now!" "Do your best! Don't lose to

someone like Ootaki!" "Welcome to second year class six!"

"Everyone... thank you so much!"

Being moved to tears, she desperately wiped her eyes with a small

handkerchief and bowed her head.

As she did, the class started to cheer for Clarice.

Right now, their class was truly united as one.

And at the same time, Kazuki ended up being all alone.

"...Too bad."

The loser, Kazuki to be precise, slumped down in his desk.

Clarice opened her mouth to speak while the class was in a celebrative

mood.

"About Riche's seat, she would like to sit next to Ootaki-kun, if

possible!"

""Ehhhh!?""

The class yelled out in surprise.

Even Kazuki didn't know what Clarice's true intentions were.

A normal person wouldn't want to sit next to him, after he was so against

her joining the class....

Don't tell me, she was planning to extract some information about Sabrina

from me!?

Kazuki started piecing together her true intentions.

"But it's dangerous if you sit by Kazuki..."

Ryouta said as he placed his hand on Clarice's shoulder without hesitation.

"Hold on, Ryouta. It sounds like I just became a terrible villain."

"Ryouta-san, she already knew that. But Riche has something she must

do. So she can't run away from Ootaki-san."

"Clarice...."

Ryouta slumped down in his seat soullessly.

"If you're willing to go that far, then I won't stop you eith...

sniff

."

For some reason, the homeroom teacher covered her eyes.

"Hey Clarice. What do you mean by 'something you must do?' What do you

mean!?"

And... Kazuki was brilliantly ignored.

Clarice approached Kazuki step by step.

And as she did, everyone in the class applauded her.

"Do you best, Clarice!" "We'll help you if anything happens!"

"We're forever by your side!"

Everyone sent their support.

"Ootaki, brace yourself if something happens to Clarice." "If

you make her cry, consider yourself an enemy of all women." "Don't

get enamored with yourself just because Sabrina is obedient to you."

Unlike her, Kazuki received all sorts of unreasonable threats.

Clarice stood in front of Kazuki. She looked like she was already about to

cry.

"Umm... Ootaki-san, please... take care... of me."

"Ah, yeah. Same here..."

Kazuki wasn't able stop Clarice's transfer.

On top of that, she ended up sitting next to him.

W-Well, it might be better if she sits close to him, so he can spot

anything suspicious early.

This should be ok... yeah.

There wasn't any other way of accepting this for Kazuki.

2

"Onii-chan, what is going on here?"

Sabrina, who was working on her printouts, asked Kazuki about Clarice, who

was in the seat next to his.

"Ah, this is Clarice, she transferred in today."

Shine.

He thought he saw Clarice's eyes light up for a moment after she looked at

Sabrina.

Uu... something feels strange all of a sudden.

This girl, was she really an assassin aiming for Sabrina?

If she was indeed an assassin, shouldn't he distance her from Sabrina...?

This situation was dangerous for both Sabrina and this girl.

However, if she really was an assassin, she wouldn't reveal her identity so

quickly.

"N-Nice to meet you, Sabrina-san. M-My name is Clarice Calina and I'm

an assassin!"

Ehh──!?

Assassin!?

Then she really is an assassin!

She even admitted it herself!

"Assassin...?"

Sabrina's cold and lethal glare overwhelmed Clarice.

The tension was visible in the air between them.

"How do you know my name? I haven't mentioned it yet... and when you

say 'assassin,' what do you mean?"

"Whoa! Uaaaaa..."

—I will dispose of him instantly.

Kazuki had a flashback of Sabrina's crystal clear response when he asked

her about a hypothetical assassin.

This is dangerous....

If Sabrina realizes this girl is an assassin, she will take action

instantly.

I don't want Sabrina to do that....

I need to stumble through this somehow!

"Ah, I-I may have told her your

name earlier. Also, when she said 'assassin,' she meant she came to a Japanese

school to receive 'qualification.' Right, Clarice!?"

[2]

"Fueh? I-If you s-say so, then that sounds about right."

Sounds about right.....

Was she really going to be okay?

"Is that so? But, I believe I've seen you somewhere before."

"I- I- I- I- I- I-I think you're mistaken! I don't think we met

yesterday in the garden."

"Ah, now that you mention i—"

"They say there are three people in the world who look exactly alike!

Maybe that's it!? You know, a coincidence... coincidence!!"

Kazuki cut Sabrina off.

Sigh....

Why did I have to help this girl?

"Si. If you say so, then it must be so, Onii-chan.

Then Clarice, nice to meet you."

Somehow, Clarice ended up addressing Sabrina with "san," while

Sabrina addressed her normally. What's even stranger, it fit perfectly.

"I'll get a new seat for you Sabrina, so sit here."

"Si."

Thinking that it would be better to separate the two for now, Kazuki placed

himself in the middle and sat Sabrina and Clarice's seats apart from each other.

They barely escaped being caught....

That aside, this girl really is an assassin....

While he did feel it would probably be okay to let her be, although he

thought it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on her, if she was good enough to call

herself an assassin.

During the first period, Kazuki's class had self-study.

While everyone in the class was busy solving mathematics printouts...

Stare.

Staaaaaare.

Staaaaaaaaaaaaare.

While solving the printouts, he noticed Clarice staring intensely.

To be precise, Clarice was staring at Sabrina, who was sitting next to

Kazuki.

It's so obvious!

Why is she staring so intensely, when assassins are supposed to be

secretive and inconspicuous?

Though... she doesn't seem to be able to properly do her job.

At this rate, she's going to be caught by Sabrina—.

"Onii-chan, Clarice has—..."

"Whoa."

Did she find out already?

I have to do something to stop the worst possible outcome!

"...been staring at you."

"No, you see Sabrina, there's something wrong here. There's a reason

that is deep as the ocean... and huh?"

Clarice is looking at me...?

I see!

It seems like Sabrina thinks Clarice was really looking at Kazuki.

That's a relief. After he noticed that, he thought he could fumble his way

through this situation.

"In the first place, what is your relationship with Clarice, Onii-chan?"

...Unfortunately, it wouldn't be that easy.

Sabrina was giving off a menacing atmosphere.

"R-Relationship? It's, it's nothing like that. After all, she just

transferred here today. You're misunderstanding things, Sabrina."

"...Si. I see. I understand."

Click.

"Who—aaah! Then why are you secretly trying to open your toolbox!?"

"I must remove all uncertain obstacles."

"Then that's not 'I understand' at all! I told you, you can't make a

ruckus!"

Kazuki quickly closed the briefcase that was just about to be opened.

If he were just a moment later, his classmates and Clarice may have ended

up seeing the illegal firearms inside the "toolbox."

He looked around... but thankfully, no one seemed to notice as they were

too busy solving problems.

Kazuki let out a sigh of relief.

"...Now, while they're bickering... Riche will grab all the chances

she can!"

Troubles came one after another.

Surprisingly, Clarice (on the opposite side of him) was trying to remove a

handgun from her bag.

"Hold ooooooooooooon!"

"What? —Hiiing!!"

Kazuki dived towards Clarice and fell down.

He pinned her down in a manner not unlike an embrace, knocking over tables

and chairs in the process.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, he pushed the handgun back into the

small shoulder bag.

"... Fhew. That was dangerous."

"W-W-W-W-What are you doing!? It hurts. You're heavy~."

"Ah, sorry."

Kazuki scrambled to get off of Clarice, who was squirming from the sudden

incident.

His classmates must have noticed the loud noise, because they were all looking

at Kazuki with accusing glares.

Damn it, I'm not the one at fault here....

But first and foremost...

"Onii-chan."

There was a bigger problem, Sabrina.

Sabrina's shadow fell on Kazuki as he kneeled on the wooden floor (away

from Clarice).

"...Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

"M-My foot slipped, so...."

"To me, it appeared you were pushing Clarice down on purpose, Onii-chan."

"Uu... t-that's not it. No way.... Ah ha ha."

Kazuki was unable to laugh properly while being overwhelmed by Sabrina.

"What are you planning... looking at my Onii-chan... and enchanting

him?"

"Eh? Do you mean Riche? Riche wasn't looking at Ootaki-san, but

Sabrina—."

"Me?"

"Ah!?"

Riche covered her mouth with both of her hands.

"You were— doing what to me?"

"No... that's...."

"So you can't answer me? You seem to be even more suspicious."

"So... Um...."

Clarice was completely frozen and wasn't able to talk properly.

This was dangerous....

If things continued like this, this girl would spill the beans.

As Kazuki prepared himself to be beaten half to death, he interrupted the

two of them.

A teardrop rolled down Clarice's face.

Then, she started crying like a burst dam.

"Hiing.... Hiiing.... Hick."

"—Eeep."

"H-Hey, Onii-chan...."

"You went too far. Be careful, Sabrina."

After patting Sabrina's head, Kazuki started to help Clarice.

"...Ah."

Sabrina tried to tell something to Kazuki, but she lowered her head.

"Are you OK, Clarice?"

"I'm fine~. Riche won't cry over something like this~. Uuu."

...and yet she was crying a lot as she said that.

Kazuki wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.

"S'ank you~."

"Now, blow your nose as well."

"Yess~"

Sni—ffle.

Even when Kazuki produced a handkerchief for her, Riche blew her nose on

Kazuki's uniform.

Why!?

...Is what he thought, but now wasn't the right time to say it. He wept in

his heart and accepted it.

"...Ootaki-san is so nice. Riche has never met someone as kind as you."

"Don't exaggerate. This is just being normal."

"It's not. If that's considered normal, then Ootaki-san is a great

person."

"Clarice..."

Sparkle, sparkle.

How innocent.

She looked up at him with sparkling eyes.

"Uu..."

"Riche respects Ootaki-san now."

It seems like he ended up taming her.

What was going on with this girl....

She was a clutz, a crybaby, and didn't give off the impression of an

assassin at all.

He should contact Sofia-san as soon as possible... but what will happen...?

Ding dong dang dong.

The end of class bell rang without Kazuki deciding on how to proceed.

*

Sabrina looked at Kazuki soothing Clarice from a distance.

Onii-chan....

You've been behaving strangely for a while.

Why are you only caring about Clarice?

What does Clarice mean to you, Onii-chan?

I feel like you're hiding something from me, Onii-chan.

But why—?

The frustrating feeling of uncertainty spread through Sabrina's heart.

Saki came closer to them.

"Ootaki-kun, did you finish the worksheet? I'm collecting them now—"

"... Ummph."

Bite.

Using the feelings she wasn't able to direct elsewhere, Sabrina bit away at

Saki.

"Kiyaaaa. Ouuuuuch. Sabrina, what's wrong~!?"

3

"Sigh..."

Kazuki sighed deeply.

Although Clarice continued scheming, none of her attempts were discovered

thanks to Kazuki's efforts.

To other people; however, his efforts appeared to be pranks played on

Clarice, so his reputation hit rock bottom.

"Ughh.... I'm taking such a loss from this."

The day was finally over and he was about to go back home with Saki who had

chores to do at the cathedral again.

Today has been a long day, but he could finally go home....

However...

"Please wait. If you're going home, then Riche would like to walk

together."

At that moment, Riche appeared and suggested they all go home together.

So that was how she was going to play....

"So Clarice's home is in this direction as well? Ootaki-kun, Sabrina,

are you two okay with this?"

"O-Of course."

He actually wanted to refuse to avoid trouble, but that would be seen as

strange to Sabrina and Saki who were unaware of the situation.

Kazuki had no choice but to agree.

Clarice hesitated and looked up at Sabrina.

"Umm... is that okay, Sabrina-san?"

"...Si. It doesn't matter.

After a short deliberation, Sabrina agreed.

Sabrina seemed to be at loss as to how she should deal with Clarice after

first period earlier that day.

So after this and that, the four of them ended up walking home together.

".... (Sta-re)."

"Uuu."

"... (Bite)."

"Kiyaa~."

On their way back, Saki and Sabrina were both emitting sparks as usual.

However, there was no way that Kazuki would notice because he had to keep

an eye on Clarice.

"Wait for a chance and attack..."

Whoa.

Was she plotting something bad again—?

Kazuki kept glancing at Clarice while she was deep in thought.

She must have noticed his gaze, because Clarice turned her head slightly towards

him...

Smile—.

...and gave a faultless smile.

She must have smiled because their eyes met.

There didn't seem to be any other explanation for it.

Hm—mm.... Was this girl really an assassin?

It didn't seem very likely....

"Must kill... must kill..."

Yet that seemed to be the only possible explanation for it...

It was impossible for Kazuki not to worry.

And then, they finally arrived at the street where he bumped into Clarice the

first time.

"Huh? Clarice is going that way?"

"Ah, yes. ...Ah, is everyone else going in a different direction?

Hii-ng, missed the chance again~."

"Chance?"

Saki tilted her head.

"I-It's nothing, just talking to myself. Ah, that's right! If it's okay

with you, please come visit my house. It's near here."

Clarice suggested something that Kazuki didn't expect.

She seemed to still be waiting for a chance to ambush Sabrina.

There was a good chance of Clarice's house being an enemy hideout. Clarice's

companions might be there.

Going somewhere like that would be walking right into their trap.

He had to turn this down somehow.

Hence, Kazuki tried to speak as naturally as he could.

"But wouldn't it be a hassle for us to come over without any notice?"

"Not at all. There's nothing to be concerned about. Please come over,

please."

Clarice grabbed Saki's hand and shook it up and down.

This was dangerous.

Kinoshita was kind....

"Hm-mm, if you're going that far, then maybe just for a mome—."

"It's decided then! Now, now, let's go, go! I'll lead the way~."

"Ah, wait, wait! Clarice!?"

As I expected....

Clarice headed off first while pushing Saki from behind before Saki even

finished talking.

Hmm-mm....

If Sabrina was the target, then that girl didn't have to bring Kinoshita along....

But if she had her companions hiding in waiting somewhere ready for an ambush,

then they might take Kinoshita as a hostage.

He couldn't let that happen....

"Sabrina, you can go back first if you want."

He had to at least let the target, Sabrina, escape....

"No. That's dangerous."

"Dangerous you say..."

Maybe Sabrina also notic—.

"If I go back first, then Saki and Onii-chan will be left alone on

your way back home."

...Maybe not then.

Things could take a turn for the worse if he wasn't careful, so Kazuki

tried persuading Sabrina over and over again, but she wouldn't budge. So in the

end, everyone decided to visit Clarice's house.

From the outside, the house appeared to be an old two story townhouse.

The walls were slightly dirty and there were a few cracks here and there.

The metal staircase was so rusted, they spent a moment wondering if it was safe

to walk up.

This... is the hideout?

But this was.... No, maybe the appearance was just a red herring.

Even in movies, assassins would lay in ambush in places like these.

Maybe he really should've declined.

It wasn't too late. He should be able to leave now.

"H-Hey, Clarice—."

"Here, come in."

"Please excuse me~."

"Whoa! Hold on Kinoshita!"

It couldn't be helped, but Saki entered without hesitation.

Kazuki scrambled after her.

"Eh?"

And he was dumbfounded.

The room was an old one; just as it appeared to be from the outside.

There wasn't anyone or anything inside.

The only thing there was a small bag

(that appeared to be Riche's) lying on the

edge of the wooden floor.

There weren't even curtains on the windows.

"Welcome. It isn't much, but welcome!"

When they walked into the room, Clarice offered a seat.

"Clarice, umm... do you live here... by yourself?"

"Yes. I live by myself, so there's no need to worry. Ah, but the

downstairs neighbor gets angry if you make too much noise, so please be

careful. Eh heh heh!"

"You live by yourself!? ...Um, what about your parents?"

"Riche's parents? Father and Mother passed away when Riche was young.

Afterwards, Riche lived in an orphanage."

"Oh no...."

Saki wasn't able to continue talking.

"But someone brought me in. So that's why I was able to study here in

Japan. Ah, there isn't anything to drink even though I invited you. Hii—ng,

what should I do."

As Clarice walked around welcoming them, she wrapped her hands around her

head.

"I'm sorry. I'll buy something right awa.... Huh, won't you sit down,

everyone?"

"Huh? Ah, rig......ht"

Saki looked away by instinct when Clarice looked her straight in the eyes.

Ahh....

At that moment, Clarice slumped her shoulders in a lonely manner and

laughed.

"I'm sorry.... It seems like I've troubled you."

People who lived alone for a long time were sensitive to other peoples'

sadness.

So that's why they tried extra hard not to show any sadness.

They would desperately act bright and smile all the time.

Kazuki, whose parents were never around, knew how Clarice was feeling as a

loner himself.

So...

"Thank you for today. Even coming all the way here is—."

"Can I sit here?"

Kazuki cut Clarice off.

Leaving his bag on the floor, he sat cross-legged on the floor in a really

relaxed manner.

He smiled at Clarice who still appeared to be troubled.

"Ootaki-san...?"

"I want to hear about Italy from you, Clarice. Italy is Sabrina's home

country after all. You want to listen as well, don't you, Sabrina?"

"Si. You're right. If Onii-chan says so, then just slightly."

"Sabrina-san...."

Sabrina followed Kazuki and sat.

"Um, Clarice, sorry!"

"I was just a bit surprised. Um, sorry. I hurt you, didn't I!?"

"It's okay. Riche knows how Saki feels. So Riche doesn't mind."

"Clarice~."

Saki hugged Clarice with teary eyes.

Seeing those two, Kazuki sighed.

"Clarice, I'm a bit thirsty, so something to drink would be nice."

"Y.... Yes!"

Clarice removed some paper cups from her bag and headed to the kitchen to get

some water. She wiped her eyes as she did so, but Kazuki pretended not to see

it.

The three of them heard various things from Clarice.

About her life in Italy...

About Italians...

About Italian cuisine...

Clarice happily talked about anything they asked.

She had fun talking, so Kazuki, Sabrina and Saki enjoyed listening.

"Ah, it's already getting dark. I should head home now."

"Hawha, is that the time already!? I ended up missing the chance

because of all the talking~."

Half crying, she looked towards Kazuki... or more specifically, Sabrina,

who was stuck to Kazuki.

"Clarice, did you have something to do?"

"Yes. But... today was fun, so I'll leave it at that."

Clarice appeared to be troubled, but she quickly loosened her expression.

"...I'll walk you downstairs."

Clarice smiled brightly.

However, Kazuki knew that smile was a fake one.

Thinking about it normally, spending the night alone in this room would be

lonely....

...There was no way she wouldn't be lonely.

So...

Kazuki naturally sent Sabrina and Saki downstairs and stayed with Clarice.

And asked...

"Hey Clarice. If you're okay with it, why don't you come over to my

house?"

"Ehh—?"

This girl was an assassin.

Even he thought that purposefully inviting her to his own home was

idiotic...

If Sofia found out, she would certainly kill him...

However, he couldn't leave her.

"But, if there's a 'mission' you must fulfill... I won't force you to

come. Don't you agree that we wouldn't be able to live comfortably if you have

a 'mission?'"

Kazuki looked straight at Clarice.

Then, Clarice looked at Kazuki after realizing something.

"Ootaki-san... are you serious?"

"I'm just saying that you should postpone your 'mission' if you can.

It's up to you, Clarice."

"Up to... Riche."

Clarice fiddled with her fingers and restlessly looked left and right.

"Hmm, I see.... I should do it tomorrow, if I can. It's unfortunate,

but I'll give up on the 'mission' for today. Now that I think about it, I feel

like I can start again tomorrow."

After hesitating like that, Clarice answered shyly.

"Yep. It's decided then."

As he walked down the stairs, Kazuki told Sabrina and Saki that Clarice

would be staying at their house.

"Onii-chan... what's going on here?"

"Sorry for deciding all by myself, Sabrina. But I thought Clarice

would be lonely here all by herself. Plus, don't you want to listen to more of

Clarice's stories?"

"...And you're okay with that, Onii-chan?"

"Yeah, I'm okay with it."

Sabrina bowed her head and clenched her fists.

"...Si. If Onii-chan is okay with it, then I don't have any issues

with it."

"Thanks, Sabrina."

Things seem to be strange, but Sabrina agreed to it.

"Um, maybe I really am being a bother?"

Clarice asked nervously when she saw Sabrina wasn't accepting it so easily.

From that, Kazuki felt that Clarice had never been welcomed anywhere in her

life.

"No way. It's just Sabrina and I in our house, so you don't need to

worry."

"But...."

"We want you to come, Clarice. Right, Sabrina?"

"...Si."

"Really.... Then I'll do as you say."

Clarice smiled happily as she said that.

"Could I see you for ju~st a moment!"

Saki cut in as she inspected the situation.

"Um, y-you see, could I also stay over at Ootaki-kun's house?"

...

......

.........

............

"Whaaat?"

Kazuki couldn't believe his ears.

K-Kinoshita's going to stay over at my house!?

Ehhhhhhhh!?

That's- what's going on!?

"S-Sorry, I didn't hear you properly, could you repeat that!?"

"Eh!? S-So. um... can I stay over at Ootaki-kun's house as well...!?"

He wasn't hearing things.

Kinoshita's staying over at my house!?

W-Why?

Why is she doing that!?

"I want to hear more of Riche's stories... can I?"

"Hm-mm, should I say you're welcomed or welcomed.... Um, that's...

what should I do...?"

[3]

After hearing Saki's sudden question, Kazuki was in a state of panic.

"No."

Then, Sabrina curtly replied in Kazuki's place.

"I accepted Clarice. However, Saki is not allowed."

"Ah, why!?"

"Si. Because Saki is Saki."

"Sabrina, that's not a proper reason!"

"...

(Sta—re)

."

"Uuu."

Sabrina and Saki exchanged glares again.

"Ah, uuu... what's going on!?"

"...That's weird. The shaking won't stop!?"

"Even Ootaki-san!?"

Kazuki suddenly felt a chill and Clarice was wriggling next to him.

"I heard everything!!"

""Izuna-san!?""

Kazuki and Saki yelled at the same time. Surprisingly, the person who

appeared was Izuna.

"Why are you here...?"

"Na ha ha. They say wherever there is an incident, there is a nun."

"They don't! A nun doesn't fit that image at all!"

"Well, whatever. I was actually looking for Saki. She said she would

be coming but never showed up, so I was worried. I followed her scent here."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I should've texted you. Wait!? Do I smell?"

Saki quickly distanced herself from Kazuki and smelled herself with tears

glistening in her eyes.

"Na ha ha. That's enough jokes for now. I'm Izuna Tachibana, nice to

meet you."

Izuna introduced herself to Clarice.

"I'm Clarice and I transferred in to Ootaki-san's class. Nice to meet

you too."

Clarice politely introduced herself to Izuna.

"Yeah, Riche. I overheard all of you."

"You did?"

"That's right Kazuki-kun. I understand that you're worried about

leaving Riche by herself, but you're all in middle school. I can't let middle

school students have a sleepover unsupervised."

Hmmm...

She was certainly right.

Nothing should happen, but it could still be dangerous without a guardian.

A guardian, huh....

Kazuki thought about his useless parents.

Where could they be at right now?

All he knew was that they wouldn't be at home.

Maybe he should give up on the idea for today....

"So! I'll sleep over as well

✩

"

"Ehh?"

Izuna winked.

Things should be fine if Izuna stepped in as their guardian.

"But, will that be okay?"

"Of course it's okay. So, you come as well, Saki."

"Eh? But..."

"It's O—K. It's even more fun with more people, right Kazuki-kun?"

"Well, yeah."

"You're okay with that as well, right Sabrina?"

"... Si. That's okay. But Izuna, you must properly keep your eyes on

Saki."

"Why am I being treated like a stray dog...?"

"Now then, let's all go to Kazuki's house!"

"Riche will go and get ready."

"Then we'll wait here."

"Ah, I'll go home and come back prepared."

"But Saki really is bold~."

Saki blinked her eyes after hearing what Izuna said.

"To be fine with going over to a male classmate's house to sleep, you

know~"

"Ah—."

Finally realizing how bold her action was, Saki was shocked and covered her

mouth.

Kazuki and Saki's eyes met while she was like that.

Saki blushed instantly, her ears going bright red.

"Kiyaa—aaaa!"

Saki ran away fleetingly.

Halt.

But she stopped and turned around from a distance away.

"Um, could I just head over to Ootaki-kun's house after I finish

preparing?"

"Y-Yeah..."

...Yet she still planned on coming.

Going with the flow, they all decided to sleep over at Kazuki's house.

How did things end up this way....

Well, this should be fine... right?

Kazuki quickly became worried.

______________________________________________________________________

References

1.

Clarice is spelt "クラリーチェ" in the book, and is pronounced "Kurariiche," which is why she's calling herself "Riche".

↩

2.

Both "assassin" and "qualification" are pronounced "shikaku."

↩

3.

Kazuki said "welcome" in Japanese first, and in English the second time.

↩

### 004. Chapter 3: Sleepover

Sabrina all the way! The rest can explode!

Translator: Junnynam

Editor: LHI

Please enjoy~

____________________

1

After

Clarice finished preparing, Kazuki and the rest returned home.

Saki

arrived shortly afterwards.

"Please

excuse me. Eh heh heh...."

She wore a

layered tunic-style top and a pair of three quarter jeans. She also had a tote

bag over her shoulder.

That tote

bag should have her "sleepover set."

Kinoshita is

going to sleep over at my house....

Obviously,

Kazuki wasn't going sleep in the same room as the girls just because it was a

sleepover.

Even so...

Sleeping

under the same roof with a girl his age, especially one he has a crush on, was

an exciting event for Kazuki.

Since they

all just gathered together, they had some dinner.

Everyone

sat at the large table in the living room. The dining table was a lot noisier

than usual with six people sitting at it.

For dinner they

had some of the dumplings Kazuki received earlier.

We ate the

same thing yesterday.... Maybe I should have cooked something else to show off

my skills?

He wasn't

really able to prepare anything because the sleepover was so suddenly arranged.

I hope no

one minds the garlicky smell.

"It's

delicious. Ootaki-kun sure is good at cooking."

It looks

like Kazuki worried for nothing, because Saki smiled after tasting a fried

dumpling.

"No, it's

nothing. I just fried them. Sabrina helped me out as well."

"Huh?

Sabrina as well?"

"Si. I've

been cooking with Onii-chan every day. It's time just for the two of us."

"Heh,

I see."

"Just

for the two of us."

"Heh......

I see......."

For some reason, Sabrina repeated herself twice. Saki also wrinkled her brows.

Kazuki felt

the usual chill while watching them.

Why...?

Recently,

that feeling has been getting even chillier.

Am I cursed?

Maybe a ghost?

When Kazuki

looked around for help, he saw Clarice battling dumplings with her unskilled

hands.

Slip. Roll roll.

A dumpling

rolled away from her, and stopped in front of Kazuki.

"Hii—ng."

Clarice

tried to picking the dumpling on the table up with her chopsticks, but it wasn't

going well.

It seemed

like she wasn't accustomed to chopsticks yet.

Slip. Roll roll.

"Hii—ng."

Thinking this

would last forever if he didn't intervene, Kazuki picked the dumpling up with

his chopsticks.

"Here,

eat it."

"Whoa.

Thank you."

Clarice ate

the dumpling off of Kazuki's chopsticks immediately.

He didn't

mean to, but he ended up feeding her.

"Hmm~

delicious. Ootaki-san, one more please."

"Eh, I

have to feed you?"

"Yes!

If it's not a bother."

Sparkle, sparkle.

Riche sent

her unique innocent gaze.

He wasn't

able to say no.

"Umm....

Well, I'm fine with it."

"Ah—hh."

Nom.

Clarice's previously

frustrated expression was now replaced with a happy one.

Flinch.

At that

moment, Kazuki felt a strange glare.

""......""

When Kazuki

looked around, he saw Sabrina and Saki eyeing him like he was their prey.

"W-What's

the matter, you guys? Did I do something wrong?"

"No,

it's nothing."

"Yeah,

yeah. What Sabrina said."

That didn't

seem to be the case at all.

Kazuki

could tell that much, but he didn't know why they were glaring.

"Then,

I'll also eat the dumplings."

After saying

that, Sabrina quickly tried to grab the dumpling.

Slip. Roll roll.

But she

didn't get a proper grip and let it drop.

Glare.

She glanced

at Kazuki.

"I

failed."

Without changing

her facial expression, she made another attempt.

Slip. Roll roll.

But the

result was no different.

"Sabrina?"

"The

food called 'dumpling' is truly hard to hold. I won't be able to eat like this."

Glare.

She looked

at him again.

"Didn't

you eat them just fine yesterday!?"

"No."

"No,

no. You did eat them."

"It

must be someone who looks similar to me. Like you said earlier today, there is

at least a single person who shares the same face as me in the wor—"

"Someone

who looks like you wouldn't eat in our house!"

Kazuki

retorted at Sabrina.

"So.

Then what should I do, Onii-chan?"

"No,

what do you mean 'what should you do...' huh?"

At that

moment, Sabrina fidgeted and...

"...(Ah-hhhn)."

Slowly

opened her mouth.

Ehh!?

Did she

want me to feed her?

Feeding Clarice

didn't matter because she's just a kid, but feeding Sabrina in front of

everyone was a bit embarrassing....

"S-Sabrina,

you can eat by yourself, right? Eat it yourself."

"But—."

"Sabrina,

here, I'll feed you."

As Sabrina

was about to say something, Saki blocked her by holding a dumpling to her

mouth.

Ah, how

lucky, Sabrina. To have Kinoshita feeding you.

"...Uuu

(nom nom)

."

Sabrina was

able to eat the dumpling just as she wanted, but didn't seem satisfied.

"...Sabrina,

you can't cut in line."

Saki

whispered to Sabrina in a way that was inaudible to Kazuki.

Immediately

afterwards...

Bite.

Sabrina bit

Saki's hand.

"Kiyaaaa.

Ouchhhhh."

"Ah—hhh!

What are you doing, Sabrina!?"

"Si. I

mistook her for a dumpling."

"That's

not normal, is it!?"

"Ootaki-san,

one more please."

"Eh?

Ah, yeah."

Kazuki fed

Clarice again.

"Whoaa~

Riche is so happy."

"...Uuu."

"Ah!"

Seeing

that, Sabrina and Saki froze.

Shortly

after that, the noisy dinner came to an end.

And just

for reference...

"Crunch

crunch! Crunch crunch! Nom nom!"

Without

paying any attention to what Kazuki was doing, Izuna kept eating dumpling after

dumpling, just like yesterday.

2

After

dinner, they decided to take a bath.

Due to his

parent's preferences, Kazuki's bathroom was large.

Izuna, who

found out about it, suggested the girls take a bath together.

After

setting up a place for the girls to sleep in the first floor guest room, Kazuki

sat in the living room by himself.

Silence

filled the room and the tick tock of the clock echoed.

Hmm—mm.

So, they're

all bathing....

This might

be a godsend.

I have to

do it now if I'm going to—!

It's

certainly dangerous...

Everything

could go wrong if I slip up...

But....

There are

things men must do even at the risk of death.

I can do

this.

I can do

this!

Kazuki

heaved his ass up and bravely walked to his destination.

The

bathroom.

Slide.

Being

careful not to make any noise, Kazuki entered the basin area.

Just behind

that translucent door was the bathroom.

Inside,

there were girls enjoying the bath without a single piece of clothing on them.

H-Hmmm....

Everyone is bathing inside.

Kazuki

imagined a scene of the girls bathing.

W-Whaaaaaa....

He strongly

shook his head and threw that image away.

His heart

was beating so fast, he wondered if he was having a heart attack.

Trying to

calm himself down, Kazuki deeply breathed in and out while holding his chest

with sweaty hands.

W-W-W-W-W-What

should I do....

Maybe I

should give up.

But it's

not like I'm doing something strange, and if I can get out quickly without

getting caught—

While

Kazuki was hesitating, he heard chatter from behind the door.

「

Uu... you really have a great body, Izuna-san. How I envy you.

」

「

Na ha ha, really? That's alright, Saki. Your time has just begun.

」

Izuna-san's

breasts certainly were great.

Kazuki

thought about the soft texture of her suffocating breasts.

—Ah!?

Get your

act together, thoughts!

No, no! I

can't eavesdrop!

I'm not

even supposed to be here!

I can't

listen to whatever conversation they're having inside!

"..."

While

thinking about it, Kazuki naturally tried to overhear anything said inside.

「

Why is Saki-san concerned about the size of her breasts?

」

「

Because I heard boys like bigger ones. So... Grow~bigg~er!

」

Kinoshita...

what do you mean, "Grow~bigg~er...?"

Kinoshita's

breasts are fine.

Well, in my

opinion, I think they are.

「

No. Having small breasts is fine as well, because Onii-chan prefers them

smaller.

」

—Ehh!?

「

Really, Sabrina!?

」

「

Si.

」

H-Hold on,

Sabrina! What are you saying!?

Kazuki was

barely able to contain his words as they rose up in his throat.

「

Really? ...I see. Ootaki-kun preferred them that way....

」

No! Not at

all!!

「

Also, they can't be as big as Saki's. My size is perfect.

」

Why are you

being so specific!?

「

Eh!? No way...

」

「

Kazuki-kun is such a maniac even though he's so young.

」

「

Riche doesn't really get it.

」

What a

cruel misunderstanding.

He wanted

to jump in right now and clear up all the misunderstandings.

However,

even if the current misunderstandings were resolved, a new misunderstanding

would certainly arise (and one that would

label him as a pervert, at that).

Ku...

Kazuki was

barely able to contain himself.

He was

saddened, but there wasn't any way for Kazuki to clear himself.

So, he

could only wipe away his tears and do what he had to.

Kazuki

reached for the girls' clothing.

"But...

which one is it?"

The clothes

laying in a heap should be Izuna's...

...and the

rest were neatly folded.

There was

underwear lying there as well.

There were

different types, like an ordinary pure white pair, a casual looking orange pair

with white checkers, and a pair of cute striped panties.

Uuu... I

don't know where to look....

But it

should be somewhere... there!

Kazuki slowly

reached towards the clothes.

"So, I

have to undo this... with this, and like that.... Good."

Kazuki hid

what he spotted in his pocket.

"And

now I have to replace it... there."

Anyway, he

was able to achieve his goal.

After he

achieved what he came to, Kazuki relaxed.

—Click.

At that

moment, Kazuki heard the sound that marked the end of his life.

The

bathroom door opened.

"Oh

no, oh no, I forgot to take my veil off.... But, huh? Isn't that Kazuki-kun

over there?

Without so

much as a bath towel wrapped around her, Izuna stretched her body and looked

straight at Kazuki.

Izuna's

breasts appeared before Kazuki as he kneeled on the floor in a pose that made

it look like he was going through the clothes.

W-Watermelons....?

No, that's

no it!

I was found

out!

I need to

make an excuse.

But what

should I say!?

Without a

shadow of a doubt, doesn't it look like I'm peeping...!?

"A-Aaaaaaaa,

um, um, this is, uhh...."

"Na ha

ha. Kazuki-kun is also a boy, huh? How perverted

✩

"

Go-------------------------------------------------n!!

Kazuki felt

like he was just hit with a thunderbolt.

Izuna,

covering her chest with one of her hands, gave Kazuki a light chop to the head.

It seemed

like Izuna really didn't mind that much.

"Ah,

it's Ootaki-san. What's the matter? Will you be joining us, Ootaki-san?"

Clarice was

waving her hand widely in the bath as she was too young to understand why she

should be embarrassed.

"What was

that about Ootaki-kun? Ehhh—hhhh!?"

Realising

that Kazuki was in the bathroom after following Clarice's gaze, Saki quickly

covered herself with a bath towel and hid in the bathtub.

"W-What—a-a-a-a-a-a-are

you doing there!? Ootaki-kun!?"

"N—no!

T-T-T-Th-this isn't what it looks like! It's just not!"

"...Onii-chan."

As Kazuki

struggled to explain, Sabrina wrapped herself in a bath towel and appeared in

sight.

"Sabrinaaa!"

"...What's

going on here?"

Sabrina

asked with a colder tone than usual.

He felt

like he was going to be petrified by Sabrina's gaze.

Whoaa......

Was Sabrina

angry?

It's

obvious she would be angry in a situation like this.

I-I should

apologize!

"S-Sorry...

Sabrina. I can't go into detail, but there's a great reason for..."

"Onii-chan,

did you really want to see my naked body?"

"Ehh!?

No, no, I'm telling you no! That's not what—."

He tried to

deny it, but he wasn't able to continue talking.

If he did,

all would be for naught.

"Si. I

understand."

"—Huh?"

As Kazuki

stood there speechless, Sabrina nodded her head.

"If

Onii-chan really wants to take a look...."

Sabrina

shyly brought her hand towards the bath towel.

"I'm

telling you it's not like that!"

Kazuki

scrambled to stop Sabrina.

"That's

right Sabrina. Kazuki-kun isn't here to perv on us."

At that

moment, he heard words from an unexpected source.

"Kazuki-kun

didn't try to perv on us! I can tell."

Izuna was

vouching for him.

Izuna-san....

She usually

says useless things, but she's really dependable sometimes....

"Judging

by the situation, Kazuki-kun isn't here for our naked bodies, but our used

underwear!"

Izuna

pointed her finger at Kazuki.

She wasn't

vouching for him. She was just another accuser.

"Ootaki-san,

did you wish to take a look at our panties?"

"Riche,

a boy has his own reasons. Remember that. But to think Kazuki-kun was into

small breasts and was a used underwear collector.... He's such a maniac even

though he's still young~."

"H-Hold

on! Please protect me properly!"

"Ootaki-kun!"

Even Saki

chimed in.

"Ah,

Kinoshita, sorry. There's a good reason for—"

"...W-Whose

underwear were you after?"

"Kinoshita!?

That's what you're concerned about!?"

3

"...This

is the worst."

After using

the bathroom (the girls finished their bath), Kazuki collapsed on his bed.

In the end,

the matter of Kazuki being a voyeur (and underwear thief) was brushed aside with

Izuna's statement of "Kazuki-kun's still young."

—"I

don't mind."

Those kind

words from Saki cut him even deeper.

I wasn't even

trying to peep....

I didn't

even go to look through their underwear...

Why do I

have to put up with these accusations...?

But looking

at the current situation, he was even more hurt by the fact that he could only endure

the accusations.

Knock, knock.

As Kazuki

shamelessly complained to his pillow, he heard someone knocking on the door to

his room.

"...Yes?"

"Ootaki-san,

do you have a moment?"

It was

Clarice.

Kazuki

regained his composure. She was an assassin.

"What

is it?"

"Umm...

I've got something to say to Ootaki-san before I go to sleep."

"Something

to say?"

What could

it be?

Kazuki tensed

up.

"Yes.

Um, thank you so much—for today."

She bowed

her head.

"Riche

has never experienced a day as hectic as today. It's all thanks to Ootaki-san's

invitation. I'm really grateful."

"Clarice..."

"Um,

Ootaki-san... I want you to call me Riche from now. Also... may I call

Ootaki-san, 'Kazuki-san?'"

After

asking, Riche fidgeted and looked up at him.

"Sure.

Let's do that then, Riche. I'm fine being called Kazuki as well."

"...Kazuki-san."

Clarice

called out Kazuki with determination.

"Then,

Riche will go to bed now. Good night, Kazuki-san."

"Yeah,

good night. Ah... Riche, it's about your 'mission,' but..."

"Yes....

About that, I'll continue again tomorrow morning. I already gave up on it for

today. You can sleep without worrying, Kazuki-san."

With that,

Clarice smiled and waved her hand as she left Kazuki's room.

Left alone

in his room, Kazuki lay flat on his bed.

He

organised his thoughts while staring at the ceiling.

Riche....

She was a

nice and normal girl, but...

She's... an

assassin.

Why is

Riche working a job like assassin?

Why was

Riche aiming for Sabrina?

There must

be a reason for it....

But... I

can't let her carry out her 'mission' no matter what that reason might be.

For

Sabrina...

...but also

for Riche.

4

Deep into

the night, Kazuki opened his eyes because his blood suddenly ran cold.

"What's

this.... I have a bad feeling about it."

Feeling

thirsty, he walked to the hallway leading to the kitchen.

As he did,

he noticed a bluish light coming from downstairs.

Is someone...

on the first floor?

Don't tell

me it's Riche—!?

Kazuki

silenced his breath and walked down the stairs.

Even though

she said she wouldn't carry out her "mission" today...

The light

was coming from further in, inside the kitchen.... There was a knife in the

kitchen.

With a

knife, it would be possible to commit a murder without making any noise.

Kazuki

opened the living room door slightly and quietly headed to the kitchen.

Rattle. Rattle.

He heard

the sound of someone looking for something.

The worst

situation started playing out inside Kazuki's head.

There was

an outline of a person in front of the fridge.

That person

must've noticed Kazuki, because the shadow turned around.

"You're—."

Kazuki took

a sharp breath.

There

stood— Izuna.

She was

shoving large quantities of food into her mouth like a hamster.

"Hamphh!?"

"Don't

do something that will confuse me!"

"Geez,

that Izuna-san...."

With his

head bowed and his shoulders shivering, Kazuki returned to his room.

As he did,

he noticed someone's shadow in his dim room.

"W-Who

are you?"

"Onii-chan."

The shadow

belonged to Sabrina.

"What's

the matter, Sabrina?"

"Umm...

may I sleep with you tonight?"

"'Omertà'?

Did you have a nightmare?"

An Omertà

is a "Code of Silence" in a Mafia

family.

Kazuki and

Sabrina created their own Omertà.

According

to the seventh one, Sabrina can sleep with Kazuki when there is a thunderstorm,

or she has a nightmare.

"...No."

Sabrina

shook her head.

There

seemed to be another reason, but....

Saki and

Riche were in the house with them.

He wanted

to avoid a misunderstanding, so if it didn't involve the Omertà....

So it's Izuna-san

and now Sabrina.

Why do they

cause so much trouble...?

"Sabrina,

there are other people in the house, if it's not the Omertà, then today we

should—"

Kazuki,

being exhausted, tried to refuse.

—At that

moment.

Tears

started flowing down Sabrina's expressionless face.

"Whoa!"

Kazuki

jumped back at the sudden occurrence. He let out a yelp without even realising.

"What's

the matter!? Sabrina? What's going on?"

"...No...

no..."

Sabrina

only shook her head.

"Why?

Why are you crying? Sabrina, what's wrong?"

"...Do

you hate me, Onii-chan?"

"Eh!?"

"...Do

I fail at being your sister?"

"Ehhh!?"

Kazuki

couldn't tell why Sabrina was asking those questions.

"What

makes you say that?"

He asked

her, but Sabrina only continued crying.

"This

isn't good.... What should I do...?"

As Kazuki

stood in front of Sabrina at a loss, Sabrina spoke with a silent voice.

"Onii-chan...

is only paying attention to Clarice.... Because I'm no good as a sister...

Onii-chan is trying to make Clarice the sister instead."

"Th—"

Kazuki let

out a painful cry.

There was

no way that was possible and no way he would even if it was.

He stopped

himself as he tried to say so.

Sabrina hasn't lived outside and lived alone prior to coming to Kazuki's

house.

So that might be why this was to be expected.

She finally found a place to feel safe.

She finally found someone she can call family.

...and the fear of that disappearing someday.

He couldn't quite fathom how scary the thought was to Sabrina.

Reflecting on that day, Sabrina's attitude was certainly unusual.

He was angry at himself for making Sabrina feel this restless.

However, he pushed that blame somewhere deep inside his heart for now.

With Sabrina shivering before him, Kazuki had something he must do.

Her slender shoulders, that appeared far too thin for an assassin, were

shivering.

When Kazuki placed his hand there, Sabrina flinched and shrank back.

"Look at me Sabrina."

Not knowing what Kazuki was going to say next, Sabrina hesitantly raised

her head.

He looked straight into Sabrina's eyes.

"Sabrina, the bond between siblings isn't something so frail it can be

cancelled."

"...But."

"...and even if something like that was possible..."

Kazuki cut Sabrina off and continued talking.

"Sabrina is my only sister."

Sarina opened her eyes widely. Tears started rolling down her cheeks again.

"...Really?"

"Of course."

Kazuki wiped the teardrops rolling down her cheeks away with his hand.

"...Then, why is Onii-chan looking after Clarice so much?"

"Hmm... I'm definitely looking after Riche in many ways, but there's a

reason for that."

"A... reason?"

"Sorry. I can't tell you just yet. I know I'm not making sense right

now, but I hope you won't ask too much about it. I'll tell you when the time

comes."

"Onii-chan...."

Sabrina bowed her head.

But she quickly looked up at Kazuki again.

"Si. I understand. I won't ask you anymore."

"Sabrina.... Sorry, and thanks."

"Instead, please hug me."

"Ehh!? Hug..."

Drop, drop.

Tears were still rolling down

Sabrina's face.

Sabrina seemed to be overflowing with tears.

"Whoa whoa. I get it, so please don't cry anymore."

Kazuki hugged Sabrina close to his chest.

"Onii-chan... Onii-chan...."

"There, there. Sabrina, Sorry I made you feel lonely.... I'll

definitely tell you someday."

"...Si. This warmth is enough for now. So please stay like this just a

bit longer...."

Afterwards, silence filled the dim room.

Kazuki held Sabrina until she calmed down.

In the end, Kazuki and Sabrina fell asleep together like that.

* * *

"I understand... I know that already...."

Right now, everyone was fast asleep.

Clarice was on the phone with someone.

"I will keep my promise. Please leave it to me."

She continuously bowed to the unseen person.

"I understand. I just infiltrated the brother's side today. Eh? When

will I carry it out? That's... after I inspect the situation for a bit longer...

eh? There's no time? I-I understand. So anyway, I hope you'll leave it to

Riche. There seems to be a fundraising at school! I'm thinking of using the

commotion to carry it out! So...."

Clarice spoke swiftly, firing words off like a machine gun.

"I understand... I understand...."

She sighed loudly after ending the call.

Then she stared blankly up at the sky.

There was a full moon tonight.

"..."

Clarice gripped the small shoulder bag.

The dull metallic feeling she felt inside appealed to her.