Night had deepened.
After sending Otome home from helping with her studies, Sasaki went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water, glancing sideways at Yuka curled up on the sofa playing with her phone.
He finished the clear water in the cup, then casually asked her:
"Yuka-nee, aren't you going back to your room yet?"
She hadn't really been paying attention to her phone anyway, so, as soon as she heard his words, Yuka immediately lifted her head.
But she didn't say anything right away… she just silently looked at him for a moment before finally speaking, her voice and tone unreadable:
"You really want me to go back to my room?"
To be honest? He did want that.
Because next he planned to go give Kyoka a massage. If Yuka didn't leave, Kyoka would feel awkward…
Sister Yuka did seem a bit off today, though.
Sasaki kept a gentle expression on his face and smiled:
"That's a weird way to put it, Sister Yuka… if someone overheard, they'd think I was forcing you to go to your room or something."
As he spoke, Sasaki set down the glass, stepped over to the sofa, and sat beside her.
Then he lifted her slender, pale hand, using it to guide her body so that she lay down with her head resting on his lap.
Gently brushing aside the hair on her forehead, Sasaki's fingers softly kneaded at her brow, which had creased unconsciously from holding worries:
"Sister Yuka, what's weighing on your mind? It's rare to see you like this. You can talk to me if you want."
Yuka was never good at hiding her feelings and usually, if she was upset, she'd say so directly.
But this time, the issue involved so many people important to her.
So facing the potential outcomes, thinking about everyone's decisions, it was inevitable for Yuka to feel nervous and anxious.
Now that Sasaki had hit straight at the complexity in her heart, she felt like a balloon losing air and couldn't help but spill out her tangled confusion.
She took a deep breath and met the gaze of her airheaded brother looking down at her, her pink lips opening:
"Last night… in the kitchen, right?"
"…"
His pupils contracted slightly as Sasaki met her deep, searching black eyes and slowly stopped kneading her brow. "So you know… about me and Kyoka."
His calm, matter-of-fact acceptance oddly made Yuka feel a tiny bit reassured… there was no panicked denial, meaning he had already prepared himself to face it; no silent refusal, meaning he had no intention of betraying those who loved him.
So… he'd already made his choice?
A complex sense of seeing her younger brother grow up and become a man swelled in her heart.
Looking at the familiar yet suddenly unfamiliar face, Yuka softly replied:
"Mm."
"Last night you hung up on me, right? I wanted to go to your room and wait to scold you when you came back, but then…"
"…"
Heading her words, although composed expression didn't change.
But inside, Sasaki couldn't help feeling a bit awkward.
Blame it on his lower brain flooding with lust, and forgetting about the whole thing for a moment… plus Kyoka's forwardness, which made him ignore the surroundings.
Otherwise…
There was no point thinking about it now… she'd found out anyway, sooner or later he'd have to face it.
Steadying himself, Sasaki's fingertips gently stroked Yuka's fair, smooth cheek and said.
"So that's why you've been down?"
That's all?
She didn't like the tone of those words, as if her feelings were trivial, so, hearing his words, Yuka's brows, just calmed by Sasaki, wrinkled again:
"Isn't that enough? You… you jerk, I've been so good to you, why… ugh~"
However, Sasaki immediately reached out and covered her mouth, stopping her words before she could finish and smiled as he explained.
"I didn't mean it like that."
"I mean, Sister Yuka doesn't seem like the type to just swallow her feelings and sulk when someone she likes gets taken, right?
Even if that person is Kyoka… a whole day has passed, shouldn't you be fired up by now to steal me back?"
Batting away the hand covering her mouth, Yuka shot him a glare, raising her brows in frustration.
"Who do you think you are, acting like you're some rare prize? And what do you mean, I'm not the type to just sulk? Do you even know me?"
However, while she spoke, his palm, that was initially stroking her cheek slid down the curves of her graceful body to her smooth, delicate belly as he lowered his head, until his lips were barely a finger's width from her pink, glistening lips, and said with a smile:
"To other people, I'm probably not all that important… but to you, Sister Yuka… the fact you didn't resist even after all that… doesn't that prove something?"
The place where his palm was pressed held extremely important strategic significance.
No matter if she advanced or retreated, he could perfectly control her from there… this left Yuka, who had no idea what he was really planning, both nervous and flustered, yet with a kind of unexplainable happiness mixed in.
That uneasy anticipation in her heart made her curl up her snow-white long legs like a grasshopper, her five adorable, candy-like toes nervously clenching together.
Since her body's reactions were undermining her dignity as the eldest sister, of course her mouth had to save a little face.
Doing her best to ignore Sasaki's increasingly inappropriate movements, Yuka let out a cold snort and said.
"I just didn't react in time, what does that prove? That you're a scoundrel who bullies your older sister?"
"Yes yes yes~ I'm a scoundrel~"
Sasaki laughed lightly, lowering his head so far that if he only puckered up a bit, he'd be able to taste those soft, sweet lips:
"Then, can the perverted big sister who likes letting her scoundrel little brother look at her legs and her chest grant me a small request?"
Her delicate face, which had only been faintly blushed before, now turned completely red from Sasaki's never-before-used teasing nickname.
Yuka swallowed hard, her voice dry and burning as she asked:
"W-what request?"
"It's just… let me understand you even more~"
With each word, Sasaki leaned closer to her by another fraction.
When he finished speaking, he didn't wait for her reply and simply sealed her lips with his.
"Mm~"
Sasaki's move wasn't sudden, he had left her plenty of time to react.
So her soft hum was more like the satisfied sound of getting exactly what she wanted… which could be seen clearly from the way she stretched out her arms, proactively wrapping them around Sasaki's neck, then using that to help herself sit up, pressing even closer against him.
Sasaki had always understood what Yuka felt for him, so he did feel a bit guilty about having toyed with her earlier.
That was why, facing her passion now, he did his utmost to respond wholeheartedly.
No one knew how long their kiss lasted, it just felt like even their tongues no longer belonged to themselves befofe Sasaki finally took a breath and met Yuka's wet, dazed eyes:
"Yuka~"
Understanding how he felt about her, Yuka curved her flushed, swollen lips into a slightly silly-looking smile and asked. "You really like me that much?"
Before, he'd had no choice, it wasn't that he didn't like her, it's just that her possessiveness was far more than what he could handle, although he really liked her, as greedy as he was, he never intended to settle for one.
Otome, Kyouka, Koharu, Rinka..Tsukimi, Natsuha, Akane, Momo, Tomoe, Yukiha...there were so many people he liked and he couldn't give up on either of them.
Even the girl he had one night stand with...he would make her his.
Now that the things were already like this, he could only take her white, delicate hand and nod.
"I like Yuka the most."
Hearing his words, Yuuka's curved lips instantly flattened as she lifted her other hand and pinched Sasaki's cheek, not too hard, scolding him with a hint of frustration.
"Like me the most? And yet you're with other people? Doing those things?"
"…"
That question had no answer… the best way out was to change the subject.
But before Sasaki could open his mouth, she withdrew the hand pinching his cheek and tugged at her own shirt collar:
"Even though compared to her… and Koharu… I might be a little smaller, I do have my own good points…"
That was Sasaki's problem, not hers, so, the boy grasped her little hand resting against her chest, and leaned forward, before kissing her still-reddened face.
"I know, it's my problem. It's my fault, I'm sorry."
What was done was done, and no matter how angry or dissatisfied Yuka felt, it couldn't be undone.
Rather than sulk now, she was more interested in hearing what her foolish little brother intended to do in the future.
Shifting her hips clad in hot pants, Yuka pressed up against him and said:
"As long as you know. So, what are you going to do about it?"
"What to do… of course, I'm going to have them all."
No guilt, no hesitation , Sasaki said it with complete confidence.
And the reason for his confidence… was simply because Yuka was the one who came later, so she couldn't really argue against him.
That was true… because of the extraordinary relationship between him and that other person, Yuuka really couldn't bring herself to say, "Give her up and stay with me."
After a moment of silence, she asked again.
"What about Otome? Would she agree?"
There was the engagement Kyouka had arranged for him, plus the engagement from the previous generation in the family… Otome had no choice.
On top of that, Otome had also gotten Rinka on her side… so the odds of Otome accepting Sasaki's "Harem Palace" were quite high.
Not to mention, there was one fact that could never be changed.. she was his first.
No matter how many woman he gets, she would still have a special place in his heart.
Thinking this through, Sasaki answered.
"I'll think of a way. Where there's a will, there's a way."
Seeing him so calm and so completely unflustered, Yuka realized all her earlier worrying had been pointless.
This brat was no longer the clueless fool she'd known.
He was a bad guy now, one who could lie to girls.
But she didn't hate this change… because this bad guy would actually respond to her, unlike before when he'd been as dull as a log.
Tilting her head against the bad boy's shoulder… Yuka suddenly recalled what Reina had told her that morning.
So she sat up straight, cupping Sasaki's face with both hands, frowning as she asked.
"Did you know about the engagement? With me and Koharu."
If it had come from Kyoka, she wouldn't have needed to ask, it must have been from Reina.
Having guessed that, Sasaki nodded.
"Kyoka told me. Besides you two… there's one more girl."
He didn't mention the timeline of being with Kyouka versus learning about the engagement, calmly diverting Yuka's attention.
Sure enough, her attention shifted toward Reina… Yuka was just about to warn him not to target Reina, reasoning that Reina wasn't interested in him.
But just before the words left her mouth, Yuka remembered that Reina was actually kind of a boy-crazy girl… and they were bound to meet sooner or later.
If after they met, Reina ended up liking this bad boy… and learned about all this… what would she think of Yuka?
Not wanting to let something so small drive a wedge between sisters, Yuka swallowed her words and instead changed the subject to tonight.
"You still plan on going to give her a massage later?"
She emphasized the word "massage," and her meaning was very clear.
There was no longer any reason to hide. Sasaki, held by the face, blinked and gave a definite nod.
"…"
She didn't want to let him go after all they'd just confessed.
Wanting to keep the momentum, Yuka cupped Sasaki's face again and pressed him down into her embrace:
"Tell her… to take the night off tonight."
Could they really rest tonight?
Buried deep in that warm, soft embrace, Sasaki had his doubts.
Sensing her intention, he showed a faint smile and replied in a muffled voice.
"Or… how about I tell Kyoka we all take a night off together?"
He stressed "all together," making it easy for Yuka to understand what he meant.
This was her first time, how could he mess around like that!
She wanted to refuse, but… thinking about how she'd been cut off before, Yuka felt a belly full of resentment.
Some of it toward "her," some toward herself, and some toward this bad boy.
Toward "her," because she knew Yuka liked him, and still…
The resentment she felt toward herself was because her chest was smaller than hers.
The resentment toward the bad boy was because he couldn't resist temptation.
All these swirling resentments in Yuka's heart made her desperately want to prove herself to Sasaki.
To prove that she was better than her.
She was very confident about herself.
This bad boy was obsessed with her only because he had never experienced Yuka's youth.
As long as she went all out...
That thought of wanting to go head-to-head made Yuka throw away all shame and she nodded, very decisively, to Sasaki:
"Go ahead, I'll wait for you in your room."
She didn't want to fight on her turf, so Yuka left those words behind, then hurried upstairs to get ready.
"…"
Sasaki had expected Yuka to agree, but he hadn't expected her to agree so easily… he froze for a moment, then got up and stepped into Kyoka's bedroom.
The room was dim and suggestive, lit only by the bedside lamp.
A mature beauty dressed in a pure black, sheer nightgown was lying on her stomach, reading a book.
When she heard the door open, she didn't turn around… clearly she had already expected who would come in.
Although her posture looked very calm and composed, showing the mature steadiness expected of an older woman, the hem of her nightgown, covering the flawless moon-like curves, inexplicably developed a deep crease out of nervousness.
Seeing this pretend calm and adorable appearance, Sasaki deliberately lightened his footsteps, and when she was wavering in nervousness, suddenly pounced on the bed.
"Ah~"
Like scaring a little child, he made a playful cry next to her ear, then pressed against her back, wrapping his arms under her armpits to embrace her, resting his chin on her shoulder as he asked.
"Scared you, didn't I?"
Hearing his voice, being held so gently, Kyoka couldn't help but show a smile and said:
"A little bit, yeah. You clearly came in, how come you made no sound when you walked… really… you're too naughty~"
Gently soothing away the last traces of her fright, Sasaki buried his face in her hair at her neck, breathing in that warm, sweet scent that filled his nose, and murmured softly.
"That's because you weren't looking at me, like you weren't welcoming me, weren't expecting me."
"…"
Was she welcoming him?
Of course she was, she was just embarrassed.
To sit on the edge of the bed like a newlywed bride, staring at the door waiting for him to come… that… that was too much.
The more she thought, the more shy she felt… but since it was private, and since her little man seemed disappointed because of this, of course she had to try to meet his expectations.
So, she closed the book and set it aside, then turned over to lie flat on her back, smiling gently:
"So, what does Fuyumi want me to do?"
"Mm… I haven't decided yet, let's go discuss it slowly in my room…"
It didn't feel appropriate, after all…
Words of refusal hovered on her lips, but in the end, they were swallowed by Sasaki's expectant gaze.
Kyoka hesitated, then nodded slightly as the passionate night session started.