Time was still early, and with nothing else pressing during the day, chatting with Ririu wasn't a bad option.
But Bokue hadn't forgotten he'd come here for actual business.
Today he needed to adjust the villa's teleportation array properly.
Get it working today, and they could use it tomorrow for the weekend.
In short—business first.
Scene transition to the downstairs parlor.
Two minutes ago, Ririu had been transforming into a little succubus, suggesting she and big brother "sit down together." Now Bokue had lifted her like a kitten and deposited her in a chair at the dining table, placing a plate of freshly prepared bacon and egg pasta before her.
"Eat breakfast first. After you're done, we'll handle the actual work."
"Hm? Actual work?"
Having just freshened up in the upstairs bedroom, Ririu still had traces of water at the corners of her mouth. She'd just picked up her fork when the young man's words made her look up curiously, blinking.
"What kind of work requires eating breakfast first? Could it be something very physically demanding... Ah, could it be big brother actually wants to do something fun with Ririu..."
"I need to calibrate this villa's teleportation coordinates."
Bokue's words were concise and to the point, giving the nightmare girl no room to run wild.
"We agreed yesterday that we'd bring everyone to this resort island for the weekend. Today I need to get all the preparations done... I mean legitimate preparations, at least not what you're thinking."
The young man corrected her while mentally complaining to himself.
Seriously, is telling dirty jokes and making raunchy comments some kind of racial trait for nightmares? When she's in the Yume personality, she's such a cute, innocent girl. But the moment she switches to Ririu, she transforms into a total bratty gremlin on the spot.
At this rate, she's practically catching up to Maria.
Mm, thinking back to yesterday, didn't Serafall mention something about nightmare talents naturally including abilities to stir up people's desires? Could it really be that emmm...
"Oh my~ so it's not about doing fun things? What a shame~"
Ririu lightly stroked her own cheek. That tender young face—which should have radiated pure innocence—displayed hints of mature seductiveness completely mismatched with her actual age.
"I thought Yume was finally going to achieve her dream. You know, Yume desperately wants to stay by big brother's side forever. She's probably already planning how to confess and marry big brother directly."
"...Is it really okay for you to wildly speculate about your other personality like that?"
A buffering icon practically appeared above Bokue's head.
"Ririu's not wildly speculating~"
The nightmare girl spoke while lowering her head to slurp some pasta, deliberately leaving some white creamy mushroom sauce at the corner of her mouth. She lifted her face with a slightly smug smile.
"Setting Ririu aside, for Yume, big brother's existence is like the only light—her salvation."
"That sounds a bit dramatic."
"Not at all—it's not dramatic in the slightest."
Ririu continued eating while speaking clearly. Under the table, her small bare feet—still unchanged since getting out of bed—dangled in the air, swinging back and forth continuously.
"Actually, what big brother said at the café yesterday morning was absolutely right. At that point, Yui... Yume's mental state really had reached the edge of attacking concrete. If not for big brother's words, both Yume and Ririu probably wouldn't exist anymore."
"Though this might seem unbelievable to big brother who 'has many friends,' unfortunately that's the reality."
"After all, because of her nightmare powers, Yume has always been despised by mom and dad. Her classmates kept their distance too, including the teachers at school. So throughout her entire life, not a single person has truly been kind to Yume."
"To Yume, big brother is the only person in this world who's ever cared about her... Oh, maybe that Serafall-neesan counts too?"
Reaching this point, Ririu suddenly paused her meal, tilting her head curiously to glance across the table at the empty surface before the young man.
Then she raised her slender, pale leg from beneath the table, pointing her soft toes to gently poke his knee.
"Hey, speaking of which, isn't big brother eating breakfast?"
"I already ate."
Bokue opened his eyes from his chin-propped, resting state to explain.
"Before coming here, I ate at home."
"With which big sister?"
"You don't know her."
"Mm-hmm, Ririu obviously knows that."
The nightmare girl smiled quite happily.
"After all, big brother has so many big sisters around him. So far, Ririu hasn't managed to recognize them all yet."
"You'll know everyone given time."
Bokue shook his head while reaching under the table to grab the nightmare girl's restless little foot.
"Also, if you're eating pasta, can you put your foot down? Aren't you tired sitting like that?"
Their dining table remained the original family-style model—designed for household use with horizontal dimensions of roughly eighty centimeters.
So at this close distance, even with Ririu's small frame, she could easily rest her foot on his leg.
If she'd simply propped her foot up, that would be one thing.
But the problem was Ririu's movements were extremely restless. Her round, delicate toes kept hooking and rubbing against his pant leg.
As time passed, Bokue could clearly feel his opponent Ririu's battle line had advanced significantly forward...
Honestly speaking, if Maria or Lady Sheila were sitting across from him right now, Bokue would've already turned them into little fountains.
"Mm~ Ririu thinks it's fine though."
The nightmare girl didn't retreat but advanced instead. Not only did she completely ignore the young man's advice, she even increased the intensity of her provocation.
"Oh? Or could it be big brother can't handle even this much? You can't resist wanting to do this-and-that with Ririu?"
"Big brother really is weak then, hehe. Earlier at the café, you were saying you liked big sisters, but after Ririu teases you just a little, you can't hold on anymore."
"Hehehe~ just admit it honestly—big brother actually likes girls like Ririu, right?"
Bokue: "..."
Honestly speaking, if he could endure this, would he still be Bokue Keikain?
"Sigh, forget it..."
Eh?
As if suddenly deciding something, under the half-surprised, half-confused gaze of the girl across from him, Bokue abruptly rose from the table.
He circled around the dining table to Ririu's side, scooping the small nightmare girl up from her chair in one motion.
"Then you can finish breakfast later. Otherwise... we might not have enough capacity allocation soon."
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