The next day, after Shichen finished making breakfast, he started waking everyone up one by one.
He went to Lala and the others first. Without a trace of tenderness, he smacked each of their butts once.
Smack, smack, smack—
Lala's sounded the crispest, since she wasn't wearing anything.
"Shichen~ that really hurt~" Lala opened her eyes, gaze clear but full of grievance.
"This wakes you up faster, doesn't it?"
"So mean~ there were definitely other ways to do it," Momo pouted unhappily.
"Didn't we try those before? Did they work?" Shichen asked with a laugh.
"Uh..."
"Alright, up you get. Breakfast is already done." Shichen rubbed her head, soothing her.
"Okay!" Lala nodded vigorously, instantly forgetting her complaint.
"Frieren, you still not getting up?" Shichen glanced at her, his tone a little threatening.
"Mm..." Frieren sat up reluctantly.
"Still sleepy? Want another smack?"
"You know exactly whose fault that is," Frieren said pointedly, giving Shichen a flat look.
"Ahem. Alright, alright, I won't hit you again. Take your time getting up." Shichen gently ruffled her hair.
He wasn't the only one who'd been pretending to sleep the night before.
The only one who could really sleep like a rock was Lala.
"Yami, you get up slowly too," Shichen said, rubbing Yami's head as well.
"..." Yami stayed silent, glancing sideways at him.
"Shichen~ why are you so gentle with the other two?" Lala complained.
"Because you're the only one who never wakes up," Shichen said.
"Eh~ but Frieren is just like me."
"How could she be the same? Frieren's still small—it's exactly the age when sleeping in makes you grow. And you? How old are you now?"
"Now that you say it, that's true."
"Shichen, do you have any manners?" Frieren muttered.
"I do, I do." Shichen scooped her up and smacked a kiss on her cheek.
"A good-morning kiss, huh?"
"Who asked for a good-morning kiss! I just got out of bed!"
Living in the modern world had definitely given Frieren modern sensibilities.
"I don't mind."
"..." Frieren could only shake her head helplessly.
"Shichen~ I want one too~" Lala chimed in sweetly.
"Alright, everyone gets one." Still holding Frieren, Shichen leaned toward Lala, who tilted her head back expectantly, and gave her a firm kiss.
"Hehe~" Lala giggled foolishly.
Then Shichen looked toward Yami.
"...I don't need one, do I?"
"I said everyone gets one."
"..." Yami pressed her lips together and awkwardly leaned in.
Shichen also gave her a solid kiss.
Smack—
"Happy now?"
"Okay~ I'm going to wake the others. You three get ready and come down," Shichen said, putting Frieren down and leaving the room.
Everyone staying here was family, so Shichen more or less gave everyone a good-morning kiss.
Except for Murasame Shizu and Mea.
Those two were different; that kind of thing wasn't appropriate. Shichen didn't even go into Shizu's room.
He also didn't kiss Nana—after all, Mea was sharing a room with her, and Nana was too embarrassed.
"Shichen~ where's Momo?"
When everyone had gathered around the table, Lala noticed Momo was missing.
"Oh, she went to bed pretty late last night. She said she wanted to sleep in a bit," Shichen explained.
"Is that okay? She won't be in trouble, right?"
"It's fine. It's the weekend—let her sleep a little more. If she gets hungry, I'll just make her something fresh."
"Thanks for the hard work, Shichen~"
"Making food isn't 'hard work.' Alright, eat up."
"Okay~"
Nana and Mea didn't think much of it and ate with the group. They really did know Momo had gone to bed late.
After breakfast, Shichen took everyone to the island.
The sun was perfect over the island, the sea glittered, and the sand glowed bright.
Everyone started changing into swimsuits.
Some transformed right where they stood; some went into the new villa to change.
Mea, like Yami, switched outfits directly—her bikini was the same color as her hair.
She wasn't exactly small either, almost catching up to Momo.
"Brother-in-law~ do I look good?" Mea bounced over to Shichen, bending forward to show off her figure.
Her skin was fair with a healthy flush, full of youth and energy—a real eye-catcher.
Even though Shichen had long since gotten used to seeing teenage girls in swimsuits, he still couldn't help looking.
A pretty girl in a swimsuit was something you could never get tired of.
"Very good. That swimsuit suits you," Shichen said with a smile and a nod.
"Hehe~ that's great~" Mea beamed happily.
Before long, everyone had come out one after another. The most striking, of course, was Ryoko Mikado.
Nana was as shy as ever, sneaking envious glances at everyone else's figures.
"Shichen~ come swim with me," Lala said as she hooked her arm through his, squeezing him and dragging him toward the sea.
"You go ahead first, I'll come join you in a bit." Shichen held her back.
"Eh? Why?"
"What, you don't care about your little sister anymore?"
"Ah! I almost forgot!"
"Hehe~ you go play," Shichen said, ruffling her hair.
"Okay." Lala ran toward the shore, then sped up and leapt, diving straight into the water and sending up a giant splash.
"You guys go have fun, I'm going to check on Momo. I'll be back soon." Shichen disappeared on the spot.
"Ah—" Mea opened her mouth and reached a hand into the empty air.
"Mea, what's wrong? Do you need something from him?" Nana came over and asked.
"I haven't even gotten brother-in-law to confirm his feelings yet, and I still wanted him to give me a massage too~" Mea said, distressed.
"...You're still hung up on that?"
"Of course. Getting massaged by brother-in-law must feel amazing~"
"You... don't you like anyone else? Aren't there boys in our class?"
"I'm not interested in any of them."
"Where do you even get these ideas?" Nana sighed.
"Nana, you're not really in a position to lecture me~" Mea laughed.
"I... whatever. Let's just go for a swim first. He'll be back soon anyway."
"Okay..."
...
Back home, Shichen put a pot of porridge on the stove, then went to Momo's room.
He could have healed her in an instant and made her good as new again, but she'd still be mentally exhausted.
Porridge seemed more appropriate.
When he entered her room, Momo was still asleep, her pretty face a mix of innocence and lingering allure, cheeks flushed, brows slightly furrowed.
He'd originally planned to heal her last night, but Momo had said she wanted to fully experience how it felt afterward.
He didn't really understand her taste in experiences, but he chose to respect her.
Gently smoothing her eyebrows with his fingertips, Shichen's heart softened. This little sister-in-law—this one he liked more than anything—was now completely his.
"Brother-in-law...?" Momo slowly opened her eyes, her voice hoarse.
"You're awake? Did I wake you?"
"No..." Momo smiled faintly and shook her head.
"How do you feel?" Shichen asked softly.
"It feels... amazing~" Momo replied.
"You really are something... Let me heal you," Shichen said with a small sigh.
"Mm."
"Heal."
Without even lifting the blanket, Shichen cast the healing spell on her.
Momo wasn't like the others—teasing her too much would probably just make her even more excited.
She really was a wicked little sister-in-law.
"So magical," Momo murmured.
In just a blink, she felt her strength return. Her body was completely back to normal, and even her throat felt fine again.
She sat up, the blanket slipping off her shoulders, her posture instantly becoming... eye-catching.
"Your brother-in-law here is very impressive, you know," Shichen boasted lightly.
"I can tell~" Momo gave him a sultry smile.
"..." For some reason, Shichen felt vaguely like he was the one being teased.
His little sister-in-law was getting bolder, more uninhibited.
He wasn't sure that was a good thing.
"I made some porridge. Want a bowl?" Shichen asked, about to get up.
Momo grabbed his wrist. "Brother-in-law."
"What is it, Momo?" Shichen looked back at her.
"Brother-in-law~" Momo's tongue darted out to wet her lips, the look on her face dangerously tempting.
"I think... I'm all recovered now," she said.
"...What are you planning?" Shichen's brow twitched.
"Brother-in-law, does your healing... restore everything completely?" Momo asked softly, tilting her head up to look at him.
"Of course not," Shichen said, rolling his eyes.
He knew exactly what she meant.
"Really? I kind of want to test it~"
"...Stop it. You just recovered. Did you forget how you were sobbing last night?"
"That's different. Back then I didn't know what to expect. Now I know what it's like—I definitely won't be like that again," Momo protested, embarrassed.
"No," Shichen refused immediately.
"Why?" Momo pouted.
"You still need to recover properly. Have the porridge first."
"I can drink it later~"
~~~
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