Rei Ao naturally took a seat on the empty side of the long sofa.
Yukino, moving with quiet grace, poured him a cup of green tea.
The tea was warm, its fragrance curling up in delicate wisps.
Rei Ao accepted it with a word of thanks.
He began chatting casually with the Yukinoshita family.
The conversation wandered far and wide, and eventually drifted, as it would, to the current state of the Yukinoshita family businesses.
Their mother lifted her teacup and took a light sip.
A look of genuine relief and contentment softened her face.
She glanced at Rei Ao, gratitude in her eyes.
"To be honest, we really have you to thank for making the introductions and setting things up."
"Ever since we began gradually transferring our holdings and letting Miss Kaguya Shinomiya from the Shinomiya family manage them, everything's run like clockwork. Things are actually steadier and more prosperous than when I was handling them myself."
She set down the cup, her tone full of praise for their partner.
"That young Miss Kaguya may be young, but she's decisive and sharp. Her instincts and capability far outstrip her peers—honestly, even many veterans of the business world can't measure up."
"Leaving things to her puts me completely at ease."
Her words carried the lightness of laying down a heavy burden—and a very high regard for Kaguya Shinomiya's ability.
"Exactly," Haruno chimed in at once.
Sitting close beside Rei Ao, she grinned. "That young lady really is something."
"With her taking care of those troublesome businesses, Mom and I can finally free ourselves up to do the things we truly like and want to do."
As she spoke, she gave Rei Ao a playful nudge with her shoulder and shot him a "you know what I mean" look.
Yukino kept to her usual "silence is golden,"
but at the mention of Kaguya, she gave a slight nod to show she agreed.
Her own ambitions lay elsewhere,
yet she still acknowledged Kaguya's remarkable efficiency and skill.
The living room was steeped in the scent of tea, the atmosphere warm and easy.
Outside, the last afterglow of sunset had long since yielded to night.
Pinpricks of starlight and the distant neon of the city filtered through the windows,
casting a hazy, dreamlike shimmer over a scene that blended homely warmth with a hint of otherworldly fantasy.
Rei Ao sipped his tea at leisure.
His gaze swept over their mother gently combing Mabel's hair, Haruno who kept teasing and flirting with him, and Yukino sitting quietly to the side like a snow lotus—
soaking in the peace and warmth far away from turmoil and chaos.
It was a sharp—and frankly amusing—contrast to the storm-tossed, nerve-jangling chaos he'd just experienced in Gabriel's room.
…
The last warmth of sunset slipped completely below the horizon,
and sparse stars began to dot the inky-blue sky.
From the Yukinoshita entryway came the faint rattle of a key,
followed by the soft sound of the door opening.
A tall, graceful figure slipped in, carrying a trace of end-of-day fatigue.
Her smooth brown hair gleamed under the lights.
It was Alicia, who had recently found a job at Emilia Corporation and was working hard to adjust to life in the human workplace.
She slipped off her slightly formal low heels,
moving gently, careful not to disturb the quiet of the house.
There had been faint conversation from the bedroom side earlier, but now it seemed to have settled.
Alicia checked the time—late already—
and guessed that Yukino and Haruno had probably turned in.
Even Aunt Fuyuka and lively Mabel had likely gone to their rooms.
"It's unusually quiet tonight…" she thought, as a wave of fatigue washed over her.
A whole day of sitting, processing documents, dealing with all kinds of people—
it was draining work for her.
What she wanted most now was to wash the day away and crawl under a soft blanket.
On tiptoe like a graceful cat, Alicia glided down the hall straight to the bathroom.
Before long—
shhhh—
Warm water flowed over her,
washing away the weariness and letting her thoughts unwind.
A moment later,
she stepped out wrapped in a bath towel.
Alicia felt refreshed, and even sleepier.
Towel-drying her damp hair, she headed straight for her room.
Her room was right next to Yukino's.
But as she passed Yukino's bedroom at the end of the hall, she noticed the heavy wooden door wasn't fully closed—there was a thin gap.
What really caught her eye was the warm, hazy light seeping through—not the usual overhead lamp, but more like a bedside or wall lamp.
And from inside came the faintest, most indistinct sounds—
not quite voices,
more like the whisper of movement.
A strong curiosity, mixed with a vague, nameless premonition, quietly seized Alicia.
She stopped.
Almost against her better judgment, she leaned her cheek closer to the crack,
her green eyes intent as she carefully peered in—
and with just one glance,
she froze as if struck by invisible thunder.
Her mind buzzed and went blank.
What did she see?!
Inside, the lights had been deliberately dimmed,
leaving only two warm yellow sconces by the bed to create an intimate, private mood.
And on the wide bed with plain sheets was a scene utterly unlike the quiet rest she had imagined for Yukino.
She saw Yukino—
the young woman who was usually as cool as a snow lotus—her pretty face flushed, eyes misted.
Her usually immaculate black hair hung a little tousled over her shoulders.
She seemed to want to keep her distance, yet her body wasn't quite obeying.
~~~
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