Bonus Chapter! ⭐
"So warm and comfortable..."
Anna leaned back on the sofa, clutching her stomach with both hands. Her pretty face was full of the happiness and lethargy that comes after a full meal.
"Drink some tea to rinse your mouth."
Sora poured a few more cups of barley tea and brought them over, giving one to each of the three girls.
"Thank you, Sora."
Anna sat up, took the teacup, and happily drank half a cup of barley tea. Just as she was about to continue reminiscing about her happiness, Sora's voice rang out again.
"It's already past eight o'clock. When is Anna going home?"
"Eh?" Anna blinked in confusion. Belatedly, she picked up her phone. After seeing the time on it clearly, she suddenly turned pale with fright. "W-Why is it so late?!"
"It was already past six when you came over." Sora took a sip of tea, his voice calm. "It took me an hour to cook, plus the time it took to eat. It's perfectly normal for it to be past eight."
"This won't do, I have to hurry home. If I don't go back, Mom will definitely worry..."
Anna chugged down the rest of her tea with a glug glug glug and quickly stood up. But a distressed expression soon appeared on her pretty face.
"But how am I supposed to go back now?"
Her clothes had mysteriously vanished. Going back wearing only a bathrobe was absolutely out of the question, no matter how she thought about it.
"I'll go back and get some clothes for Anna to wear."
Elf raised her right hand, actively taking responsibility, not dodging or shirking it at all.
"Thank you, Elf, but wearing someone else's clothes feels so weird..." Anna gently shook her head, then immediately changed the subject. "So I'll just wear Sora's clothes."
Yamada Elf: "..."
No, wearing a boy's clothes is even weirder, alright!
"As expected, the gluttonous sea otter was plotting against Nii-san right from the start!"
Sagiri's cheeks puffed up slightly as she whispered:
"Um, Nii-san's clothes are too big, Anna won't be able to fit in them, right?"
Anna could naturally sense Sagiri's subtle hostility, but she wasn't angry. Instead, a bright smile appeared on her pretty face.
"It's okay, I used to wear Sora's clothes when we were kids."
An absolute kill!
In front of the trump card of a childhood friend, a stepsister absolutely cannot win, right?
"Sora~" Anna pressed her hands together and turned her head with a pitiful look. "Please get two pieces of clothing for me."
"..."
Facing the gazes of both Anna and Sagiri, Sora only felt a headache coming on. Fortunately, Elf stayed out of it, leisurely drinking tea on the side.
After hesitating for two seconds, Sora finally made the final decision.
"I'll go get the clothes."
After all, she was a childhood friend he had grown up with; of course, he couldn't just ignore her.
"Ehehe, thank you, Sora."
A bright smile immediately blossomed on Anna's pretty face.
A moment later.
Sora went upstairs and brought two articles of clothing down.
"I'm going to the restroom to change."
Anna took the clothes, waved her hand, and then stepped into the restroom.
Click.
The door closed gently.
After confirming the lock was engaged, Anna quietly let out a breath, and her gaze fell upon the clothes in her hands.
"I'm about to put the clothes on... taking a sniff definitely wouldn't hurt, right?"
Anna's pretty face blushed slightly. She secretly raised the clothes to her face and quietly took a breath.
"Mmm... it just smells like laundry detergent."
A disappointed expression quickly appeared on Anna's face.
"Oh right, there's a towel!"
Anna's gaze shifted, suddenly spotting an ordinary black towel hanging on an adhesive hook.
"Such a simple and plain towel, aside from a boy, a girl definitely wouldn't use it, right?"
While quietly muttering to herself, Anna reached out and took the towel down.
She looked around.
In the bathroom, there was only a single toothbrush and cup, as well as a single pair of men's slippers. Clearly, the downstairs bathroom was used exclusively by Sora.
"Anyway, I'm inside the bathroom, no one will catch me..."
While muttering to herself guiltily, Anna blushing, raised the towel to her face.
Knock knock.
The sound of knocking suddenly echoed.
"Anna."
Sora's voice sounded from outside the door.
"Ah..."
Anna, who was in the middle of doing something guilty, jumped in fright, and the towel smacked directly onto her face.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
While coughing, Anna flusteredly pulled the towel away. Her pretty face was covered in a guilty flush as she stammered:
"W-What's wrong?"
Sora stood outside the door.
"Auntie called. She's probably asking when you're coming back... Shall I pass the phone to you?"
"G-Give it to me..."
Anna subconsciously agreed and reached out to open the door.
But just as the door was halfway open, she suddenly realized the towel was still in her hand. She hurriedly slammed the door shut again.
Bang!
"???"
Sora's head was full of question marks.
"Sora, wait a minute!" Anna's pretty face was burning like fire as she flusteredly hung the towel back up. "Just a second!"
(I wasn't caught, right?)
(Sora definitely didn't see anything just now, right?)
(If I got caught, I'd have no choice but to hold my breath until I die ahhhhh!)
Putting the towel back in its place, Anna pressed her right hand against her chest and took several deep breaths. After calming down slightly, she finally opened the door again.
"Anna, why is your face super red?"
Sora's tone was confused.
"Ahem, it's a bit hot in the bathroom..." Anna hurriedly raised her right hand, shamefully fanning her face, then quickly snatched the phone inside. "I'm talking to my mom, Sora, no eavesdropping!"
"..."
Ten minutes later.
The bathroom door was finally quietly pushed open.
Wearing a white short-sleeved button-up shirt, black casual pants, and a baseball cap, the blue-haired girl emerged from the bathroom, clutching her chest. The originally sweet and cute, sunny girl now had a completely different style, looking valiant and heroic.
"The clothes are a bit big, but they fit well enough." Sora nodded in satisfaction. "It's getting late, Anna should head back now."
"Um..." Anna wrapped her left arm across her chest and looked at him pitifully. "It's already so late. What if I run into a bad guy on the way?"
"And so?"
"So Sora should walk me back, right?"
"..."
Faced with the girl's pitiful pleading, Sora truly couldn't bear to refuse.
Fortunately, their houses weren't far apart; escorting her wouldn't take much time.
"Let's go."
Sora put on his shoes and went out the door with Anna.
The moonlight was like water.
The evening breeze was slightly cool.
The residential area had quietly settled into silence.
"It feels like it's been a long time since we took a walk together at night."
Anna put her hands behind her back, her voice becoming cheerful again.
"It has indeed been a long time." Sora put his hands in his pockets. "So are you still coming over to play tomorrow?"
"Of course I'm coming over!" Anna quickly looked back. The girl's soft blue hair fluttered gently in the evening breeze. "Sora wouldn't go back on your promise, right?"
"I won't." Sora shook his head. "I just wanted to ask what you want to eat tomorrow?"
"Ehhhh?" Anna suddenly leaned her body forward, her eyes sparkling brightly. The girl's unique, slightly sweet scent drifted into Sora's nose along with the evening breeze.
"Can I order?"
Sora held up two fingers. "Limited to two dishes."
"So few..."
"Now it's only one dish."
Smack.
Anna immediately pressed her hands together and bowed decisively.
"Kami-sama, please allow me to take back what I just said!"
"..."