Chapter 39: Momo: Does the Nectar Taste Good?
....
"Brother-in-law, if you don't know what to say, you really don't have to force it."
"Huh?"
Momo found that Kihara could be shockingly dense at times. Was this really something one should joke about so casually?
Fortunately, Nana was far too flushed with embarrassment at the moment to cause any real trouble. Momo quickly urged him to head back over to run through the script with Kyoko Kirisaki, leaving her to handle things here.
"If anything comes up, just call for me. Miss Kirisaki and I will be right over there."
"Mmhmm. I'm truly grateful to you for saving Nana."
"You two are my sisters-in-law, of course I couldn't just stand by and watch you drown!"
"Sisters-in-law... huh?" Momo chewed softly on the phrase, finding herself not disliking the title at all.
Ever since Kihara pulled Nana from the water, Momo had fully recognized him as her brother-in-law, even feeling a subtle hint of envy toward Lala for finding such a wonderful guy.
'Perhaps it's time to tell Father everything that happened today and how brother-in-law performed, so he understands that big sister didn't choose the wrong person after all.'
Her mind set, Momo walked behind Nana, picking up a comb and a hair tie to gather her twin's dried pink hair back into twin tails.
"Nana, you can't deliberately go looking for trouble with brother-in-law because of what he just said. He saved your life, you know."
"Do you take me for an ungrateful brute who can't tell right from wrong? I know what I can and can't do. Though losing my first kiss is a bit regrettable, if the person is a good guy like brother-in-law... it's... not that bad, I suppose."
Nana's voice grew quieter toward the end, to the point where Momo couldn't make out her final words at all, assuming she was simply grumbling about her own bad luck.
Shortly after finishing the grilled fish, Nana changed back into her dried clothes. The lingering chill in her body had long since been driven out by the thick blanket and hot tea. Raising one hand to her hip, she flashed a peace sign: "Fully restored to 100% health!!"
Seeing her so full of energy brought total relief to Momo's mind.
'Being simple-minded certainly has its perks. If it were me, I'd probably still be agonizing over losing my first kiss...'
"Momo."
"Hmm?" she replied absentmindedly.
"What's up?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose my temper with you earlier."
"Y-You... what's with this all of a sudden? Did you soak your brain in the lake too long or something?" Momo was thoroughly unaccustomed to her sister apologizing so straightforwardly.
Normally, for her maxed-out tsundere sister to apologize, it would require hours of hesitant, awkward fidgeting. Only after multiple failed attempts due to various unexpected interruptions would she finally offer such a direct apology.
Yet here she was, firing off an apology with absolute zero frame delay, giving Momo zero time to process it, which actually made it feel deeply unnatural.
Nana's brow twitched. She instinctively wanted to snap back, but remembering she was in the middle of an apology, she forced herself to swallow the urge, nervously twirling the tip of her twin tail around her index finger. "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry, nothing else."
"Ah... Mmhmm... I get it. Do you want to sit for a bit longer and have another cup of hot tea?"
'This girl... is my honest apology really that bizarre to her? Why does she look like she just saw a ghost!'
Evidently, even Momo didn't quite know how to interact with an suddenly straightforward tsundere sister. Luckily, Kihara waved to them right at that moment, calling out, "It's mealtime! Let me take you guys out for lunch!"
'Nice assist! Brother-in-law, I'll definitely put in a few extra good words for you in front of big sister and Father when we get back!'
After enjoying the lunch provided by the crew, the afternoon marked the official start of shooting for the Tokusatsu drama. The twin sisters sat in seats right beside the director, admiring Kihara's flawless acting.
During a break in shooting, Director Ranko walked over with a mischievous grin, attempting to sell them the "wet Kihara photos" she had secretly taken that morning.
"Hehehe, look at the muscle definition under that shirt! And this one! The second button being popped open to reveal his collarbone is simply magnificent!"
As she drooled over her display, she completely failed to notice the increasingly icy glares from Momo and Nana. The two exchanged a quick glance, then teamed up using the special abilities of their plant and animal friends to temporarily knock Ranko unconscious, seizing the chance to completely wipe every single photo from her camera.
When Ranko returned home that evening, eager to transfer the photos to her computer, she discovered that not only were Kihara's photos completely gone, but even the photos of Magical Girl Meruru's skirt she had painstakingly crouched in the bushes for hours to sneak-take were erased as well. She could only clutch her camera and weep silently in the dark.
...
"Brother-in-law, thanks for your hard work with shooting! Have some water."
"Mmhmm, thanks."
The instant the sweet, chilled liquid touched his tongue, Kihara realized that the water Momo handed him wasn't the standard bottled mineral water provided by the crew. Out of trust for his sister-in-law, he didn't spit it out, swallowing it down quietly before asking.
"This water..."
"Shh—it's a special nectar from my secret garden! You're the very first person to taste it, brother-in-law."
[Kaka, my master, having an unexpected gulp of thy sister-in-law's sweet nectar, how dost it taste?]
[Don't treat me like a three-year-old. What she's talking about and what you're implying are completely different things, okay?]
Nana felt that Momo's phrasing sounded a bit odd, though she couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong with it. Stepping in, she said, "Ki—no, brother-in-law, I haven't properly thanked you for saving me today.
Thank you so much! As for a thank-you gift... I'll give it to you in a couple of days!"
Kihara placed his hand atop her head, gently stroking her hair. "There's no need for a gift. Knowing you're okay is the best gift of all. Still, I'm a bit uneasy. Come with me to the school infirmary next week."
"The infirmary? What for?" Momo instantly grew vigilant. In countless dating sims, this setting was practically a high-risk zone for romantic events.
"There's a teacher named Ryoko Mikado there, a famous alien doctor. Before you arrived, Anna suffered a minor physical mishap due to one of Lala's inventions, and she was the one who cured her."
"So I plan to have Nana get checked out by her, just to ensure the drowning didn't cause any lingering health issues."
"There's really no need to go through all that trouble! I'm completely fine right now!"
To make her case more convincing, Nana bounced up and down on the spot, only to accidentally trip over a raised stone on the pavement, tumbling right into Kihara's arms.
She looked up awkwardly. "Uh... this time it was a genuine accident. Do you believe me?"
"Nana!" Momo pressed her hands onto her sister's shoulders with utter seriousness.
"You're going to the infirmary with brother-in-law next week for a checkup, and I'm coming along too!"
"I really am fine!" Nana deeply loathed the smell of disinfectant in medical rooms and was terrified of needles. Her entire body, right down to her hair strands, oozed resistance. "I am absolutely not going to the infirmary!"
"Better safe than sorry. When we get back, I'm explaining everything to big sister, so give up!"
"Ugh! B-Brother-in-law, help me!"
"Brother-in-law, don't you dare help her!"
Although both sisters' soft, sweet voices were wonderful to hear, Kihara had no intention of getting caught in the middle of a sisterly feud. He pulled out his phone and quietly tapped open his ride-hailing app.
"The taxi will be here in eight minutes. Mmhmm... Momo, this nectar really is delicious."
....
Thank you for reading.