"Shichen~ who is she?"
"We'll talk about it back home."
At noon, as soon as Lala and the others walked into the office, they saw Kurosaki Mea.
Following what Shichen had taught her, Mea smiled gently, waved politely at everyone, and didn't say a word.
Only after Shichen had brought everyone back home did he start introducing her: "Her name is Kurosaki Mea. Just call her 'Mea.' I'd like you all to look after her from now on."
"That's it?" Nana couldn't help blurting out when she heard he was stopping there.
"Oh, and she'll be transferring into your and Momo's class tomorrow. You'll be classmates," Shichen added.
"So brother-in-law wants us to take care of her?" Momo asked, looking Mea over.
"More or less."
"If brother-in-law says so, I get it."
"Hold it! Hold it! That can't be all, right?" Nana cut in quickly.
"Hm? Nana, is there something else you want to ask?" Shichen turned to her.
"What do you mean 'something I want to ask'? Shouldn't you be explaining yourself more clearly?"
"Explain clearly?"
"Don't play dumb! We've never seen her before in our lives! And you already brought her home. Shouldn't you at least tell us what's going on between you two?"
"What else could it be?" Frieren muttered quietly.
"Haha~ with how Shichen is, he wouldn't bring a girl he doesn't know straight home," Kotegawa Yui added.
"Hmph! Hear that? Everyone knows what you're like, so stop pretending," Nana said, arms crossed as she pressed him.
"I believe brother-in-law. He's not the kind of person who needs to hide anything," Momo said with a sweet smile.
She was definitely curious too, but with Nana playing prosecutor, she was happy to just sit there and act like the well-behaved little sister.
"Don't think I don't know what's going on in that brain of yours. We're twins; you can't fool me," Nana shot her a glare.
"Brother-in-law~ Nana's slandering me~" Momo instantly whined and tattled.
"You—"
"Nana, Momo, haven't you noticed?" Before Shichen could answer, Lala spoke up.
"Big sis? Noticed what?" the two of them asked in unison, looking at her.
"Mea's aura feels a lot like Yami's," Lala said with a smile.
"Yami…"
With that reminder, the two finally realised it.
"She's the same kind as Yami?" Mikado Ryouko looked sternly at Mea's ever-present smile.
"The same as Yami… then that means…" Murasame Shizu squeaked and hid behind Ryoko, peeking nervously at Mea.
She knew Yami was a cosmic assassin. Even if she wasn't scared of her anymore, Mea was a stranger. For a girl from four hundred years ago, assassins were still pretty terrifying.
"Haa" Mea didn't mind Shizu's rude reaction at all. She waved playfully, trying to seem friendly.
So these were big sis's current "family," huh?
They all looked really fun~
And all of them were brother-in-law's women ~
Aside from Shizu, who was still wary of Mea, everyone else turned their eyes toward Yami. Shichen did too, giving her an encouraging nod.
Yami didn't like being stared at, but she still took a deep breath, pressed her lips together, and slowly said:
"Mea is my little sister."
"Eh? She's really Yami's little sister?"
"Yami actually has a sister!"
"I never knew…"
"Why would you know?"
"So she's Yami's sister, huh…" Nana felt a bit relieved—only for her anxiety to immediately spike again.
If she was Yami's little sister, maybe that was even more dangerous!
After all, she and Momo were Lala's little sisters… and now they'd both ended up… with him.
There was a whole precedent here!
And what was with her randomly showing up like this? Had she known him from before?
Nana remembered that during lunch break in the office, Mea had been standing very close to Shichen, chatting and laughing.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Kurosaki Mea, Yami-nee's little sister. Please take care of me," Mea finally introduced herself.
"Hehe~ see? Now you know you misunderstood me, right? You guys chat with Mea for a bit. I'll go cook," Shichen said, ruffling Mea's hair before heading downstairs alone.
"Brother-in-law, wait for me."
"Chen-nii, I'll help too."
Momo and Kotegawa Yui quickly followed after him.
"You two… aren't going to keep Mea company?" Nana asked, baffled.
"It's fine. There are plenty of people here. Mea won't get used to all of us at once anyway. We've got lots of time," Momo said.
"Yeah, and we should hurry with lunch," Yui added.
"Okay then. Nana, you should spend some time with Mea. You're the same age, after all," Lala said.
"O-okay…"
Once Shichen and the others had gone downstairs, Nana awkwardly shuffled over to Mea.
"Um…"
"Just call me Mea," Mea said with a sunny smile.
"M-Mea… I'm N-Nana…"
"I know~ I've been wanting to meet you for ages."
"Eh? Really?" Nana couldn't help feeling a little happy.
"Really."
"I see… I'm really sorry about earlier. I'll look out for you at school," Nana said, instantly warming up.
She was easy like that: treat her kindly and she'd give it right back, especially when she'd just been embarrassed by a misunderstanding.
Even if she still wasn't 100% sure it was a misunderstanding.
"Sounds great~" Mea beamed, like she genuinely liked Nana.
"Awesome~ since you two are getting along, let's play some games!" Lala chimed in.
"Games? Do you know how to play, Mea?" Nana asked.
"I can learn. I'm really interested in games."
"Then let's play together."
Yami watched quietly off to the side. She still hadn't spoken to Mea directly; she didn't know what to say. But seeing her fit in with everyone so quickly, Yami felt… genuinely happy.
So this was what it felt like to have a little sister?
Surprisingly nice.
Mea blended into the group with ease and joined them for dinner that night, though she didn't stay over.
Nana and her got close pretty fast—already acting like best friends. Nana had even wanted her to stay the night.
But Mea turned her down.
Her reasoning was that she needed to prep for starting school the next day.
So Nana didn't push it. The two just agreed that Mea would definitely stay over next weekend.
Things had changed fast. Just that afternoon, Nana had been wary of her.
Shichen didn't secretly follow Mea or even see her off. He wasn't worried about whatever tricks she might pull.
He already knew exactly what the people behind her were thinking.
He couldn't wait to see their faces when they realised Yami had completely mastered her darkness form.
That would be fun to watch.
The next day, Shichen brought Mea over to his sisters-in-law's class to enrol her.
Yami wasn't as famous as Lala; people knew she was an alien, but she was too quiet and low-key. Most students didn't know her well.
So Shichen didn't mention Mea's relationship to Yami—he just told them she was an alien.
In this school, aliens were old news anyway.
And everyone knew him: he never went this far out of his way unless someone was an alien or something equally "special."
"Mea, you'll sit next to Nana," he said.
"Okay~"
"You guys, take good care of her, alright? She doesn't know anything about this planet," Shichen reminded the regular students.
"Got it!"
The most excited were the boys, obviously—another cute girl in class.
Shichen gave Momo and the others a nod and left.
He didn't go back to his office right away, though—he went to find Ryoko. He'd been spending so much time playing around with his little sisters-in-law lately that he'd kind of been neglecting her.
Young girls were great, but mature women were just as irresistible.
And there were still plenty of "poses" the two of them hadn't unlocked yet.
…
After Mea started school, things stayed surprisingly calm. She acted like a model student—listened in class, studied hard.
At lunch, she always stuck with Nana and the others, going back to Shichen's place to eat, but she never stayed the night again.
Just like that, Friday rolled around—the day she and Nana had agreed on for a sleepover.
After classes, she joined everyone and followed Shichen home.
There was no need to prepare a room; she and Nana would be sharing. Judging from the past few days, their relationship at school really was that good.
It made sense: most of the class gravitated toward Momo; Nana hadn't had any real friends, and Mea's arrival finally gave her someone to cling to.
Nana treasured that. They were practically glued together at school; it'd be strange if they weren't close.
While Shichen cooked dinner, Nana, too restless to sit around, took Mea to bathe first.
In the changing area, Mea didn't even bother to strip—her clothes just blinked out of existence, replaced by bare skin. Nana hadn't realised she could transform that casually; it made her blush.
But when she saw those measurements…
She suddenly felt even more awkward.