From their behavior, he recaptured much of the familiarity from childhood, and Hikari immediately smiled and asked, "How have you two been all these years? Doing okay?"
Hoshizuki Kaede unconsciously twirled her hair around her finger and replied with a smile, "Pretty good, just that sometimes I feel... a little bored."
Hoshizuki Suzu suddenly spoke, relaying in a flat tone, "After we moved away, my sister was always going on about wanting Hikari-kun, saying that days without you were no fun, crying and begging to come back and play with you."
"I-I never said that!", Hoshizuki Kaede's pretty face flushed red as she denied it defensively.
Hoshizuki Suzu said nothing, just gave her sister, whose mouth said one thing and heart said another, a glance. Then she opened her phone and began reading aloud in an expressionless voice.
"July 7, clear skies. The strawberry daifuku I just bought tastes a little bitter. The ones Hikari-kun bought before tasted so sweet, how come?"
"September 9, overcast. Raining again. I miss Hikari-kun so much. This kind of weather is the best for curling up under the covers and chatting with him!"
"November now. Lately it's been so cold. If only I could hold Hikari-kun and sleep like when we were kids. His body is always so warm, so comfortable..."
Hoshizuki Suzu recited it like reading from a textbook, her tone as emotionless as a robot's, but the contents were clearly the rich inner feelings of some young girl.
Hearing these personally written words, Hoshizuki Kaede was already blushing furiously red.
Flustered and angry, she clamped her hand over her younger sister Suzu's mouth and scolded, "Suzu! How dare you read my diary again? And you even recorded it!"
Watching the sisters tussle, their soft young bodies tangled together, Hikari felt like he was back in childhood and couldn't help but shake his head with a smile.
Just as he was about to step in and mediate, Miss Mira had already come over with a fruit platter.
Seeing Miss Mira, an elder, appear, Hoshizuki Kaede couldn't continue being rude. Still red-faced, she let go of her hand that had been grabbing for Suzu's phone.
Putting the earlier awkwardness aside for now, Kaede and Suzu both sat properly and tasted the fruit Miss Mira had cut up.
Tsubakihara Yuna and Tsubakihara Nina also came over and sat down nearby.
The six of them sat around chatting, and memories of the past slowly warmed back up amid the laughter.
A moment later, Kaede suddenly gasped softly and patted her forehead, "Oh! I almost forgot, there's still luggage piled up at the door that we haven't finished moving!"
"At this hour, it feels like we won't be able to finish moving it all...", Suzu said calmly and logically.
"I'll help too," Seeing Kaede and Suzu about to rush out of the Tsubakihara house, Hikari got up and followed them.
Seeing Hikari behind her, Hoshizuki Kaede was a little nervous but also a bit happy, "Then... thank you, Hikari-kun!"
Hoshizuki Suzu also cast a grateful look his way.
Hikari followed Kaede and Suzu to the neighboring Hoshizuki house and helped them move luggage and tidy up their new home.
There was no denying it, moving was indeed tedious, and it was physical labor.
Those stacks of cardboard boxes looked harmless enough, but until you lifted them, you didn't know what 'the weight of life' really meant.
Of course, for Hikari's physique, it wasn't much of a problem.
Seeing Hikari lift a box that looked big enough to fit half of her with one hand, Kaede's eyes went wide, "That's full of my manga books. Hikari-kun is so strong!"
Beside her, Suzu nodded in agreement, "Yeah, he looks like he could easily pick up my sister and eat a train station bento..."
"Hey! What are you saying, Suzu?", Kaede's pretty face instantly flushed bright red. She hadn't expected Suzu to be even less restrained after leaving the Tsubakihara house. If anything, her words had gotten even more outrageous without Miss Mira around.
Suzu looked at Kaede with a completely flat expression, "Isn't this your favorite kind of play, sis? I saw your browser history, you've searched for it."
"You...", Kaede pointed at Suzu, her face burning red, momentarily at a loss for where to even start complaining.
She didn't know whether to say Suzu's words were too scandalous or to blame her for secretly looking through her browsing history.
"I'm done talking to you!", Thinking of all the other embarrassing secrets Suzu probably knew about her, Kaede had no choice but to wave her hand and turn away.
Seeing Hikari seriously helping with the luggage, apparently not having noticed Suzu's scandalous remarks, she quickly stepped forward, "Hikari-kun, it must be tiring moving all this by yourself. I just finished mopping the floor, let me help too!"
With that, Hoshizuki Kaede stood on her tiptoes to pick up a relatively small storage bin at the edge of the truck.
But because she'd just been angry with Suzu, she hadn't noticed the heavy label on the box, and only realized when she lifted it that it was much heavier than she'd expected.
The unexpected weight pressed against her chest, throwing her body back.
"Wah?"
The world spun... then stopped.
The anticipated tumble and bruising never happened. She fell into a firm embrace.
Hikari's scent instantly enveloped her. Not sweat, but a clean, refreshing smell of sunlight and laundry detergent, warm and reliable.
Kaede looked up blankly, seeing the line of Hikari's jaw close up, and higher still, his face with a hint of helplessness and concern.
That face, stripped of childhood roundness, with clear, handsome contours, familiar yet unfamiliar, hit her a hundred times harder than from a distance.
Her heart very ungracefully began pounding like crazy, her cheeks heating up, her brain going straight to static.
All that was left was a bold subtitled thought scrolling by, "So close! So handsome! I'm going to melt!"
Kaede truly hadn't expected that Hikari would be even better-looking than she'd imagined in her late-night daydreams.
"What are you two doing hugging instead of working? Are you developing a new labor-saving technique by replacing carrying with cuddling?", An utterly flat voice came from the side.
There stood Hoshizuki Suzu, carrying a stack of books that rivaled a small pyramid, looking at them expressionlessly.
"Once you're done hugging, can one of you come help me? If I carry all this by myself, I'll die," Hoshizuki Suzu requested, her face blank.
"H-Hugging? This was an accident! An accident!", Kaede sprang out of Hikari's arms like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, gesturing frantically, her face red enough to smoke, "I was about to fall! Hikari-kun was being a gentleman! He caught me to save me! Right, Hikari-kun?"
Hikari looked at the flustered Kaede, her eyes darting everywhere, and held back a laugh. He nodded, "Yeah, that's right. A gentlemanly act."
"Oh, I see," Suzu nodded, her indifferent expression seemingly saying, "I'll just watch you two perform," then carried her mountain of books with steady composure and continued shuffling toward the house.
For the rest of the time, Kaede was clearly in a state of "shyness overload."
She kept her head down and worked in silence, but Hikari could always feel a wandering gaze landing on him.
Yet whenever he seemed to sense it and looked over, he'd catch Kaede snapping her head back like a startled little animal, leaving him only the sight of her reddened ear tips and a back busy pretending to work.
Again and again, she never got tired of it.
With Hikari as the main muscle, the battle (moving) was soon over, and the cleaning was completed smoothly.
To express their thanks, Kaede brewed a pot of black tea, while Suzu somehow precisely dug out a pile of snacks from one of the boxes, instantly filling the small coffee table to the brim.
The three sat on the still somewhat empty living room floor, enjoying the quiet after the busy work.
With the long-awaited reunion of childhood friends, the conversation naturally drifted toward their younger days.
Those afternoons spent playing marbles in the yard, the refreshment of sharing a bottle of chilled orange soda in summer, and the childish showdowns over who got to read the manga first...
Fragments of memory pieced together amid the aroma of tea and the rustling of snack bags, carrying a fuzzy warmth.
"Oh, right...", Kaede set down her teacup, pressed her palms together, and looked at Hikari with sparkling eyes full of expectant little stars:
"We've finished our transfer procedures and will start school at Osaka High tomorrow... um, Hikari-kun, can we go to school together tomorrow?"
"Of course," Hikari agreed readily.
"That's great!", Kaede's smile bloomed instantly, brighter than the ceiling light by a few watts.
Although Suzu didn't say anything, the corner of her mouth, silently chewing a potato chip, curled into an almost invisible but definitely present tiny arc.
They chatted a while longer, and seeing it was getting late, Hikari said goodbye and left, closing the door behind him.
And the moment the front door shut...
"Yay!"
Hoshizuki Kaede let out a joyful cheer, her pretty face filled with excitement and thrill, hopping and bouncing in place like a rabbit.
Hoshizuki Suzu seemed to foresee what was about to happen.
She gave her twin sister a flat glance and said coolly, "Don't make too much noise with your electric toy tonight. And don't shout Hikari-kun's name too loudly either."
Hoshizuki Kaede's face became red, "I-I'm not going to play with any electric toy!"
Hoshizuki Suzu glanced at her, "Really? I have a recording, want to hear it?"
Without waiting for Hoshizuki Kaede's answer, she started playing the recording directly.
["Hikari-kun's body is so warm... I love it..."]
["Hikari-kun, slower... mmm..."]
"..."
Hearing these secretly recorded sounds, Hoshizuki Kaede's face instantly burned crimson, "Stop playing that!"
She lunged over, trying to snatch her sister's phone.
But Suzu twisted aside, and Kaede landed right on empty air.
Hoshizuki Suzu looked at her sister, who had fallen onto the sofa, and stated flatly, "Anyway, we have school tomorrow. Take it easy tonight. Don't stay up too late and bother me, or we'll be late on our first day."
"Otherwise, I'll definitely tattle to Hikari-kun tomorrow."
"Hmph! I'm not doing any of that!", Hoshizuki Kaede put her hands on her hips, speaking with solemn righteousness.
———
[One Hour Later]
Unable to sleep despite tossing and turning in bed, her emotions too high-strung from reuniting with Hikari, Hoshizuki Kaede eventually quietly pulled out her electric microphone.
From the other side of the wall, Hoshizuki Suzu heard that all-too-familiar sound.
She immediately and silently started a voice recording on her phone.
"Mmm... Hikari-kun..."
"It's been so long... you're so passionate..."
"Hikari-kun... I love it..."
———
On the other side...
Hikari had returned to the Tsubakihara house.
He hadn't expected that on the very first day of reuniting with the Kaede and Suzu sisters, he'd already become their pre-bedtime fantasy material, with them chanting his name while casting water-element spells.
At this moment, he had just finished showering and returned to his room, checking the Pure Love System.
After reviewing today's handled NTR incidents and the rewards received, Hikari suddenly thought of something.
"I haven't checked the Future Diary today. Wonder if there's any new intel."
He'd been quite busy all day and realized he'd forgotten to check the daily intel from the Pure Love Future Diary.
He immediately opened the Pure Love Future Diary.
And indeed, a new message appeared.
[Ding! A succubus has infiltrated human society and will cause trouble tomorrow, possibly having an adverse effect on pure love. Please handle as you see fit to maintain pure love order!]
[Summoning incantation for the succubus: Come forth from the bowels of hell...]
"A succubus?", Hikari frowned slightly at this new message from the Pure Love Future Diary.
"Itsumi Shima, that evil god, just got reincarnated, and now there's a succubus descending into this world, this world is getting more chaotic by the day..."
Lately, Hikari had been dealing with the matter of Itsumi Shima, that Queen, and he hadn't even wrapped that up yet, and now a succubus was coming along too.
"I need to hunt NTRs more diligently, earn more Pure Love Points, and strengthen myself."
Hikari had a growing feeling that this underworld was becoming dangerous, with evil gods and succubi popping up one after another.
There was a certain chuunibyou quote that went, "All misfortune in this world is caused by the insufficiency of one's own ability."
Hikari didn't want to debate the truth or limitations of that statement, but he certainly didn't want to find himself helpless against some powerful NTR one day either.
So the best approach was still to become the Homelander above them all, so he could stand on these bastards' heads with peace of mind and say, "I just love eating beef."
"I can't let any opportunity to earn Pure Love Points slip by, I'll need to keep an eye on that succubus..."
Hikari silently memorized the succubus summoning incantation.
Just then, a knock came at the door.
"Come in."
Hikari's door hadn't been fully closed, and upon hearing his voice, the person outside pushed it open a crack.
Hikari turned to look, there stood his older sister Tsubakihara Yuna in her pajamas, clutching a pink bunny pillow, stepping into his room.
"Yuna-nee? What's up?", Hikari looked at her in puzzlement.
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