The villa's night‑lamps spilled a warm, amber halo along the corridor.
The three Amagami sisters were crammed onto the big guest‑room bed on the second floor. Moonlight slipped through a gap in the curtains, tracing the tense outlines of their faces.
Yae stared up at the ceiling, fingers picking nervously at the sheet.
Yuna hugged a pillow, curled into a ball.
Asahi pressed her face into her sisters' shoulders.
None of them felt the slightest bit sleepy.
"Sis, do you think what happened today was real?"
Yuna's voice sounded in the dark, thick with congestion from crying.
"Did Mom really come back? We're not just dreaming because we miss her too much… are we?"
Yae was silent for a moment.
Again and again she replayed the image of Chiharu removing her mask, tears in her eyes—and that soul‑stirring, familiar aroma of her cooking.
"I don't know…" she whispered. "But the feel of her hand, her voice—everything was far too real."
"But Mom is already—"
The words died away, and the room fell silent.
That their mother had passed away was a fact they had already accepted.
Yet today's experience had been so vivid it blurred the line between dream and reality.
"But that man called Rei Ao…" Asahi lifted her head, confusion all over her small face.
"Who is he, really? How could he make Mom speak—and let us see her?"
The question plunged them into another silence.
Powers beyond reason inspired gratitude…and fear.
"I heard him talking about a 'Trade' with Mom," Yae recalled Rei Ao's words in the living room, her tone turning grave.
"He said there had to be a price for Mom to stay, and it sounded like she agreed."
Yuna jerked upright. "A price? What kind of price? Could it hurt Mom?"
"I don't know…"
Yae sighed. "He seems mysterious—and dangerous."
She remembered the possessiveness that had flashed in those iridescent eyes when Rei Ao looked at Chiharu, and her heart tightened.
"Tomorrow we'll ask Mom," she said. "We have to find out."
The three sisters clasped hands in the dark. Joy at regaining their mother wove together with fear of the unknown, making the night stretch endlessly long.
…
Meanwhile—
In the villa's top‑floor study, Amagami Chiharu stood before the vast picture window, gazing at the slumbering beach outside.
Her spirit body shimmered silver in the moonlight; her face still held the thrill of reunion—and the uncertainty of what lay ahead.
"You wanted to see me."
Rei Ao's voice came from behind, still carrying the damp warmth of a recent bath.
He wore a silk robe, hair slightly wet, rainbow pupils gleaming like jewels in the dark.
Chiharu turned, twisting the sleeve of her shrine‑maiden garb in nervous fingers.
"Rei Ao-sama, I wish to know what price I must pay to remain by my daughters' side."
Ever since he had spoken of "a price," she had braced herself—ready to bear whatever it was.
Rei Ao stepped closer without answering.
He lifted a hand and traced a golden sigil in the air.
[Ding! You have selected a subgroup of the chat group and assigned it to target: Amagami Chiharu!]
With a soft whumm, a faintly glowing interface materialized before her: rows upon rows of avatars and chat logs—the Trade Chat Group.
"Wh‑what is this…?"
Shocked, Chiharu stared at the screen—then a torrent of information flooded her mind: knowledge of countless worlds, the group's rules, and Rei Ao's absolute authority as its master.
Only now did she grasp that the man before her not only pierced all her secrets but also controlled gateways linking many realities.
"Every member of the chat group is bound by trade," Rei Ao said as the interface vanished.
"You wish for the power to stay in the mortal realm—even to regain a flesh‑and‑blood body. To obtain that, you must offer an 'item' I deem acceptable."
Chiharu's heart pounded. What could she give?
Her divine power? The shrine's faith?
Against Rei Ao's overwhelming might, those seemed worthless.
Which left… only one thing.
"I… what can I trade?"
A meaningful smile curved Rei Ao's lips.
He leaned in; his warm breath brushed Chiharu's ear.
"There's only one thing you have left to offer," he murmured, eyes sliding over the graceful lines defined by her spirit light.
"Your body—its right of use."
Chiharu's head snapped up, amber eyes brimming with shock and shame.
Even after death she had never been so close to a man. Watching Rei Ao with Mai that afternoon had already set her heart awhirl; facing this demand outright made her want to flee.
"…I know it's sudden," Rei Ao said, his voice soothing, almost hypnotic.
"But it's the simplest—and fairest—trade. You're free to refuse, if you can find something else that interests me more."
He paused, reading her hesitation, then added gently: "And this would let you truly live again. No more hollow spirit—
Wouldn't you like to hold your daughters with real arms, feel their warmth?"
Hold… my daughters…
Chiharu whispered the words.
She pictured Asahi flinging herself into her embrace, imagined the warmth she had yearned for since death. For that—anything seemed worth the cost.
She closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and when she opened them once more they gleamed with resolve.
"…I accept."
[Ding! Amagami Chiharu has initiated a trade request!]
[Trade objective]: Let her exist in the world as someone alive, able to embrace her daughters.
[Please select the trade terms!]
Rei Ao smiled in satisfaction.
Almost instantly:
[Ding! Trade commencing!]
[Target]: Amagami Chiharu
[Objective]: Grant her a living form so she can hold her daughters.
[Price]: 'One‑time right to use her body.'
~~~
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