After Shichen and Momo finished eating, Lala and the others still hadn't gotten up, so he took Momo for a flight.
Riding on Rayquaza.
"Brother-in-law! What is this thing? It's amazing!"
On Rayquaza's head, Momo leaned back into Shichen's arms, feeling the hard dragon scales under her feet, staring at its majestic head, and asked excitedly.
"You can think of it as my pet," Shichen said with a smile.
"Pet? Brother-in-law, you're so amazing! It's a dragon, right? It feels super powerful! And you actually made a dragon your pet!" Momo turned to look at him, eyes full of admiration.
"Is that so?" Shichen gave a small smile, very pleased inside.
A little sister-in-law's praise really was irresistible.
"Roooar—!" Rayquaza gave a low, displeased growl.
"Alright, alright, you're not a pet, you're my partner, okay?" Shichen, understanding its meaning, soothed it with an amused tone.
"Rooar." Rayquaza rumbled in satisfaction and sped up.
"Waaah~ Rayquaza is so cool!" Momo hugged the arm Shichen was holding her with even tighter and praised it loudly.
"Roooar—"
Rayquaza clearly enjoyed Momo's praise too, and its speed increased again.
Over the ocean, a green streak like an arrow shot forward at impossible speed, its passing stirring the sea and raising waves in its wake.
The sea stretched endlessly; no one was around to see such a bizarre sight, and even satellites couldn't catch it—Shichen had cloaked Rayquaza with a concealment skill.
He didn't really care about being discovered, but it was better if nothing too fantastical suddenly appeared in this world.
Despite Rayquaza's insane speed, Shichen and Momo standing on its head felt no wind pressure at all.
Rayquaza didn't have the same "wind protection" blessing as the land-dragons, but its control over air pressure alone made it trivial.
It was the lord of the skies; the sky naturally obeyed it.
After spending a while on Rayquaza's head, Shichen summoned Kyogre, bringing Momo down into the sea to enjoy the underwater scenery.
Sitting on that big whale's head, with Shichen holding her, they looked through a barrier at the colorful schools of fish drifting around them—gorgeous and dreamlike.
The underwater world was beautiful, like something out of a fairy tale, easy to get lost in.
They even encountered a huge squid, but compared to Kyogre it was still small, and under Kyogre's oppressive aura it didn't dare come close, fleeing immediately.
There were indeed many unknown creatures in the deep sea. Exploring the unknown world below, Shichen and Momo saw plenty of strange things.
But neither of them was that interested in deep-sea life. The deep ocean wasn't very fun, and honestly not that pretty up close, so they quickly returned to the shallower waters.
Their mount changed again—this time to Lugia, silver-white from head to tail.
"Brother-in-law, Lugia is so pretty." At first sight of Lugia, Momo couldn't help but praise it.
"Is it?"
"Mm! Of course, Rayquaza and Kyogre are super cool too," Momo hurriedly added, just in case.
"Hehe~ they don't really mind how you rank them," Shichen chuckled.
"I really mean it~" Momo pouted, leaning into him.
"Alright, alright, I'll tell them for you." Shichen rubbed her head fondly.
"Heehee~" Momo closed her eyes, happily enjoying his head pats.
"Lala and the others should be awake by now. Let's have Lugia bring us back with some food," Shichen said.
"Eh? We're heading back already?" Momo sounded a little reluctant.
"Don't worry, there'll be plenty more chances in the future," he comforted her.
"But… Nana and I have to go back…" Momo bit her lip, her voice full of regret and reluctance.
"Then just come again," Shichen said, cupping her cheeks and smiling at her.
"Come again?" Momo's eyes lit up.
"Tell your father you and Nana both want to live on this planet for a while. Lala's already here—he'll definitely agree," Shichen suggested.
"Really? Will Father actually agree?" Momo asked expectantly.
"He definitely will. And if he doesn't, you can ask me for help."
"Thank you, Brother-in-law!" Momo lunged into his arms, hugging him tightly.
"It's a small thing."
"It's not a small thing!" Momo lifted her head and looked at him seriously.
"I've been wrestling with this for a long time."
"I see. Well, you don't have to worry anymore, right?"
"Mm! Thank you, Brother-in-law!"
Momo's smile bloomed like a flower, then she looped her arms around his neck, leaned in, and gave him a soft kiss.
"Momo, you…?" Shichen played dumb.
"Heehee~ Don't get the wrong idea, Brother-in-law, that was just a thank-you."
"How is that a normal thank-you? Don't tell me this is some kind of Debiluk custom?" he teased.
"Of course not! It's not a custom—I've never done that to anyone else!" Momo shot back at once.
"I see… then why do that with me?"
"You can guess that for yourself, Brother-in-law~" Momo tilted her head and smiled mischievously.
"I can't guess it at all."
"Ugh, you're awful~" she grumbled, lightly thumping his chest with her fist.
"Alright, alright, I get it. Is it because we already did mouth-to-mouth yesterday, so now you don't mind anymore?"
"It's not that I don't mind! Brother-in-law, you did that on purpose, didn't you?" Momo got even more flustered.
"Did what on purpose?" Shichen asked innocently.
"Brother-in-law!" Momo's little fists pummeled his chest in a mock tantrum, though she had no real strength behind it.
"Okay, okay, I'm just teasing you," Shichen caught her wrists to stop her.
"Hmph! Brother-in-law is such a meanie!"
"Is being bad really so terrible?"
"Being bad is nice, but you're not allowed to be bad to me!"
"How about this, then?"
As he spoke, Shichen tugged her wrist, pulling her down against his chest. While enjoying the softness pressing into him, he lowered his head and kissed her back.
"Brother-in-law…?" Momo blinked in a daze, like she couldn't quite believe it.
"Silly girl, you think I can't tell what's in your heart?" Shichen laughed.
"Then…" Momo was overjoyed.
"That'll have to wait till you come back," he said.
"I understand!" Momo nodded hard.
"So, can we head back for now?"
"Okay… Wait, Brother-in-law, can you kiss me one more time? I wasn't ready just now, I didn't feel anything…"
"No can do."
"Eh? Why not?"
"If I satisfy you too easily, you won't have anything to look forward to. I want you eager to come back."
"I was already going to come back as soon as I could!"
"Still not happening."
"You're so mean~"
On the way back, Shichen kept her hanging like that. He also grabbed some good ingredients before returning to the island.
Lala and the others had already come out of the tent; their outfits were unchanged—still yesterday's swimsuits, pale and gleaming, with that healthy pink glow beneath.
Girls in their teens were always this irresistible.
"Shichen~ you're back~ Oh, isn't that Lugia?" Lala waved, recognizing the legendary Pokémon at a glance.
Back during the school trip, when their plans were nearly ruined by a typhoon, it had been Shichen who called Lugia to blow the storm away in front of her.
"It's so huge… a big bird? It looks scary," Nana said, staring at Lugia and shivering inside.
Every instinct in her screamed that Lugia was powerful and dangerous.
"It's not scary at all! Lugia is super pretty," Momo leapt down from Lugia and retorted.
"You were off with him first thing in the morning… Where did you go? You look really happy," Nana said, frowning at Momo.
"Do I?" Momo touched her own cheeks and giggled foolishly.
"Your mouth is practically stuck in a smile…" Nana's own lips twitched.
"Heehee~" Momo just kept smiling.
"…What did happen?" Nana pressed.
"Mm… not telling you~"
"Ugh! Something definitely happened!" Nana shot a glance at Shichen, who was already over by the fire starting on breakfast, and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Something occurred to her, and she looked back at Momo, letting her gaze drift downward to her lower belly and legs.
It seemed… normal?
She'd just jumped easily down from Lugia, too.
"What are you staring at?" Momo noticed her line of sight.
"Nothing," Nana shook her head.
"You're so weird."
"Hmph! Don't get smug, you're leaving soon. I'll see what you can do then," Nana huffed, like she'd scored a point.
"It's fine," Momo smiled lightly, completely unfazed.
"Shouldn't you be sad?" Nana frowned at her.
"I have my own plan," Momo said, smiling as she hopped toward Shichen.
"Your own plan… what does that mean?" Nana watched her cheerful little back with a furrowed brow.
If you didn't want to leave, there was only one real option: don't leave in the first place. But they weren't like Lala—they couldn't just decide to stay forever.
Unless they also found a local fiancé that their father approved of.
Which was not exactly easy.
They couldn't really just go home and tell Father outright, could they?
Nana honestly didn't think Momo had the nerve to confess to their father that she liked their brother-in-law.
So then… just what was she planning?