The crescent moon hung like a hook.
The air after the rain was exceptionally fresh.
From Yamada Elf's house to the door of Shiina Mahiru's house, it was only a short distance of a few dozen steps, an arrival in the blink of an eye.
"I'll just leave the ladder at the door."
Sora set down the stepladder in his hands, having no intention of entering the house. He turned to look at the Angel-sama beside him.
"The ladder got dirty from being stepped on earlier, it's best to wipe it down simply before putting it away."
"I know." Mahiru gave a gentle nod, her voice as gentle and approachable as ever. "Thank you, Izumi-kun."
The evening breeze blew past.
The girl's maid skirt fluttered along with her hair, giving off a dreamlike, heart-fluttering feeling. Even while wearing a maid outfit, she was still the gentle, dignified, and perfect Angel-sama.
Unfortunately, Sora knew very well that the angel mask was just a disguise. Only during occasional moments when her guard broke down would the girl in front of him slightly reveal her true nature.
Sora looked away and simply waved goodbye.
"Mahiru-san, see you tomorrow."
Mahiru pursed her beautiful lips, responding softly.
"...See you tomorrow."
Quietly pushing the door open to return home, Sora saw that the living room was completely dark and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Good, Sagiri should be holed up in her room..."
For some reason, the mere thought of potentially being caught by Sagiri made Sora feel inexplicably guilty.
"I'll take a shower first, then toss the clothes into the washing machine..."
Sora set down the half-price bento in his hands, turned on the lights, and prepared to head to the bathroom to wash up.
But the next second, a girl's faint voice suddenly echoed.
"Nii-san... why are you coming back so late?"
Sora's movements paused, and he subconsciously turned to look at the sofa.
"Sagiri?"
A silver-haired loli rubbed her eyes and sat up from behind the sofa, followed immediately by the girl's shy, startled cry.
"Nii-san is a pervert! Not wearing clothes!"
Hey, hey, don't speak nonsense! My shorts are clearly still on, there's absolutely zero indecent exposure, alright!
"How did Nii-san's pants disappear? Did you run into a pervert?"
Sagiri walked over, her hands clutching her flushed small face, her eyes full of worry.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it..."
Sora didn't want to answer, only wanting to gloss over it.
Not being directly involved, Sagiri definitely wouldn't believe that there are people in the world who can turn invisible or stop time, right?
Sagiri quickly furrowed her delicate eyebrows, leaning her body forward.
"Did Nii-san meet a bad woman?"
"No." Sora denied it. "Don't make wild guesses, Sagiri. I just ran into a little accident, everything is fine now."
Whether it's the Angel-sama Shiina Mahiru, or the utterly shameless Yamada Elf, neither can be considered a bad woman.
Sniff, sniff—
Sagiri stood on her tiptoes, leaning close to Sora's jacket and sniffing like a drug-sniffing dog at an airport.
"Aside from Nii-san's scent, there's the scent of other girls on these clothes... Nii-san is impure now!"
Even if there is someone else's scent on me, it doesn't mean I'm impure!
Sora changed the subject.
"Sagiri, you've never smelled my clothes before, what do you mean by 'my Nii-san's scent'?"
"I-I just know..."
Sagiri's gaze immediately wandered, her small face quietly blushing.
It's true that I haven't smelled it yet in this timeline, but in the future, I smelled Nii-san's scent all the time; it's already engraved deep within my soul!
Sagiri puffed her cheeks, her angry appearance resembling a small blowfish.
"Did Nii-san sneak out behind my back to go on a date with other girls?"
"No date." Sora retorted with absolute justification, feeling no guilt at all. "I went out to buy half-price bentos."
Sagiri knew very well that Sora did indeed have the habit of going out at night to buy half-price bentos, which was why she had been waiting on the sofa. She just hadn't expected to see Sora enter the house so disheveled.
Could Nii-san have already met those bad women?
At this thought, Sagiri immediately grew nervous.
In the previous playthrough, Sagiri had been hiding in her room refusing to go out, only finally mustering the courage to go downstairs much later. Therefore, she genuinely didn't know when Sora had met those bad women.
She had originally thought that by starting a second playthrough, she could seize the initiative and properly protect Nii-san's chastity. Now it seemed that even a second playthrough wasn't safe.
"Nii-san can never, ever date bad women for the rest of your life!"
Sagiri tilted her small face up, nervously grabbing Sora's sleeve.
Sora was speechless. "The rest of my life is a bit too exaggerated, right?"
"No, it must be for the rest of your life!"
"Why?"
"Because... because..." Sagiri shyly averted her gaze. The second playthrough just started, I can't rush things, or I'll scare Nii-san. "Because I'm very worried about Nii-san... You constantly see people on the internet being deceived of their bodies and feelings by bad women."
"If Nii-san is deceived by a bad woman, you'll definitely be devastated and drown your sorrows in alcohol, right?"
"And then, at such a young age, you'll fall asleep drunk on the streets on a snowy winter night, ultimately freezing solid in the blizzard."
"..."
Sora was expressionless, unable to hold back his complaints.
"I'm still your brother, at least don't write such a tragic ending for me!"
"In short, the girls outside are all liars, don't trust them." Sagiri clenched her small pink fists, her eyes looking over nervously. "Nii-san has to report to me every time you go out from now on."
"I refuse." Sora flatly shook his head. "I've only heard of reporting to a wife, I've never heard of anyone reporting their itinerary to a little sister."
"W-Wife or whatever..."
Sagiri didn't know what she had just imagined, but her small face quickly flushed crimson, and her entire body grew dizzy and lightheaded.
"Speaking of which, how did Sagiri know I went out?"
Sora decided to switch from defense to offense, seizing the initiative.
"Could it be you were secretly monitoring me?"
"I-I definitely wasn't monitoring Nii-san." Sagiri hurriedly shook her small head, her voice slightly guilty. "I was just resting by the window and happened to see Nii-san go out."
That was a lie.
She actually hadn't seen Sora go out from the window. It was just that in the first playthrough, Sagiri had gotten used to Sora going out at a set time to buy half-price bentos, and he would also bring back all sorts of snacks for her.
Unfortunately, the second playthrough had just begun, and aside from the half-price bento, Sora clearly hadn't bought any snacks.
"I'm going to take a shower first. If you're hungry, you can eat some of the bento. If you aren't eating, go back to your room and rest."
Sora quietly slipped toward the bathroom.
"Nii-san, don't run away!" Sagiri quickly reached out her small hand, grabbing the hem of Sora's shirt. "You still haven't said why your clothes are so disheveled?"
Sora: "It's a long story..."
Sagiri: "Then make it a short story."
It seemed he couldn't get out of explaining. Sora hesitated for two seconds and briefly recounted the situation. Of course, he omitted the parts about 'Time Stop' and 'Invisibility', only saying they were neighbors, which was why he enthusiastically helped out, and that his clothes were covered in mud, so the others offered to help wash them... Anyway, Sagiri didn't dare leave the house, so she definitely wouldn't uncover the lie.
"So it's Elf..." Sagiri listened earnestly, secretly biting her lower lip. So she moved in this early.