Vol 3 Chapter 4 (2/2)

Gogyou-san’s fl.u.s.tered voice sounded and in the next moment, the bra.s.siere was s.n.a.t.c.hed away by an incredible fast hand.

When I raised my face, I saw Gogyou-san, whose clothes bared open widely. She wore her yukata-like sleeping kimono, but it was in a complete mess and she hid her b.r.e.a.s.t.s with one arm. Everything else though was in plain view.

Her tight waist and light blue panties pinched in between her brilliant thighs. Moreover Gogyou-san held onto the light blue bra.s.siere, which she took from me earlier, with a bright red face.

Gogyou-san had worn that bra.s.siere?

I was at a loss for words in my surprise, when Kaorun said expressionless.

“By the way, the Miss has an E-cup.”

“K- Kaoru-san!”

Gogyou-san lost her head, when Kaorun sharpened her gaze for some reason.

“Miss, Nanjou-sama…Please do sink it deep into your memory that the bigger is not always the better. It is the enemy to women.”

Kaorun said somewhat resentful and closed her eyelids. Now Gogyou-san lowered her head to me and then turned her back to me, heading for the sliding door.

I watched over this dumbfounded, when Gogyou-san shouted angrily after she opened the sliding door.

“What are you doing so early in the morning, Kaoru-san!”

“A physical exanimation. You sure have grown, Miss. Now please hurry up and change. You have an appointment today, right?”

“Y- Yeah, I have, but….I want you to stop doing these things before Nanjou-kun.”

I listened to the fading voices of Gogyou-san and Kaorun, then sprawled and groaned quietly.

“…I think my fever went up with that….”

I put my own hand on my forehead, when it was hotter than expected…

Gogyou-san frowned lightly when she looked at the thermometer.

“It’s high. 38.6°C.”

Upon Gogyou-san’s words, Kaorun also peeked at the thermometer, then faced me and said.

“What a surprise. Even Nanjou-sama can catch a cold.”

“I’m actually a quite sensitive guy. It’s probably because it was a different pillow.”

“For a sensitive guy, you sure slept well in someone else’s house.”

“I’m nearly dying, so sorry I am.”

I said with a sigh, when Gogyou-san reached out her hand and gently petted my head.

“Nanjou-kun, for now rest well. I’ll call your family for you.”

“No, I can’t be pampered like this. Actually, what time is it now? What about school?”

“Nanjou-sama, the current time is half past twelve. Please take a paid leave for today and rest from school.”

“Paid leave?”

“Yes, the Miss has an appointment. Well, she has work. She’s going out soon.”

Kaorun answered, when Gogyou-san nodded apologetic.

“Yeah, I have to go now.”

“I see. Then it’s about time I also head—”

“Bam.”

When I was trying to straighten up, Kaorun flicked my forehead.

I fell down back on the mattress by this weak attack.

“Do not overexert yourself. You should take advantage of the Miss’ good-will.”

“But she’s going out. Staying here when n.o.body is home is…”

“It poses no problem.”

Cutting into my words, Kaorun said with her chest puffed.

“I will be present, so it is fine. You just have to concentrate on getting better, Nanjou-sama.”

“She’s right, Nanjou-kun. Kaoru-san will nurse you, so rest a.s.sured.”

No, that worried me even more. I stood up, grabbed Gogyou-san’s hand and begged.

“Don’t go, Gogyou-san. Don’t leave me alone!”

“No, I am present, you know?”

Kaorun raised her hand and Gogyou-san nodded.

“It’s okay, Nanjou-kun. Kaoru-san is here.”

“No, well, that’s not it…”

“…Could it be you will be lonely?”

I said reluctant, when Kaorun looked at me and said teasing.

Upon that Gogyou-san got surprised, then smiled gently and patted my head.

“That’s so cute, Nanjou-kun…”

“Wait a minute. It’s a misunderstanding. I just—”

“Yes, yes. Mommy is busy with work, so please be a good boy and sleep.”

Once again cutting into my words with a flick to my forehead, Kaorun then faced Gogyou-san.

“Miss, please leave this to me and ready yourself.”

“Ah, yeah.”

Gogyou-san nodded and returned her gaze towards me.

“Nanjou-kun, please tell me your home phone number. I’ll contact them for you.”

“O- Okay.”

I no longer had any strength to resist, so I told Gogyou-san the phone number. Then I entrusted my cheek to the pillow. I waved Gogyou-san, who was leaving the guest room, and closed my eyes.

“*Stare!*”

I felt an immense glare.

I opened my eyes. Kaorun was staring at me.

“…Uhm, what?”

“No, just wondering how your condition is.”

“Condition? Mh… I feel a bit cold.”

“Is that a roundabout way to say ‘Warm me up with your body’?”

“…I feel like throwing up.”

“Wh- What a thing to say! That will hurt even me!”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I really feel sick.”

“…You do not have to hate me this much.”

Kaorun felt despondent.

“No, that’s not! I meant I’m feeling a nausea. I don’t hate you!”

“Well, I realized that.”

I hastily made a follow up, when Kaorun said smoothly.

D- d.a.m.n you…I straightened up my body as to give her a chop, but I couldn’t muster any strength and fell back down.

“…What are you doing? Please refrain from doing strange things and sleep obediently. Do you even realize that you are sick?”

“Right back at you, do you realize you’re nursing me?”

“You want me to warm you up with my body after all?”

For some reason Kaorun blushed.

…Yeah, let’s ignore her. I got back into the mattress and closed my eyes.

Soon enough I dozed off, probably because I was tired, and my consciousness faded.

“Your sleeping face is unexpectedly cute.”

Kaorun said something, but I couldn’t hear her. I fell asleep just like that.

My body was suddenly shaken in my sleep and a gentle voice called out to me.

“Brother, wake up. Brother.”

“…Nazuna?”

“No, the maid.”

“—Pft!”

The moment I opened my eyelids, Karoun’s expressionless face entered my vision and I snorted unmeant.

“Nanjou-sama, this is not a time to be surprised. We have an emergency.”

“No, you were the one, who startled me….”

I wearily retorted, scowled on my headache and straightened up my body.

“So, what’s the emergency? Did aliens attack or so?”

“Please save your sleep-talking for when you sleep. A devil attacked.”

“Eh? Devil?”

“Yes, you do know of the Miss’ profession, right?”

“Y- Yeah.”

Overpowered by Kaorun, who had changed her expression into a serious one at some point, I nodded.

“She told me she’s an exorcist.”

“To be more precise, the Gogyou Household has a high status amongst the exorcists. Well, to put it simply, they are an elite.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Along with the Kamo, Tsuchimikado and Tachibana, they are called the four Deva.”

“That’s a cool name.”

“It makes you laugh– Excuse that. Please pretend that you did not hear that.”

While saying that, Kaorun took my arm.

“Well, as you can see, the Gogyou Household has earned themselves the grudges of devils like that. In precaution to that, charms are placed all around the mansion, but…”

There Kaorun made a sigh.

“It appears the charms were ripped off. Disguised as a guest, the devil invaded openly from the entrance hall. I was careless too. I did not realize it it was a demon, so I opened the door and let it into the house, since it claimed to be your acquaintance.”

“…My acquaintance?”

“Yes, a blonde big-breasted devil. There was also a red-haired and silver-haired one. I could not really confirm their presences, but they are not human.”

…Huh? That really rang a bell.

“These three claimed that I let them meet you, but I cannot obediently hand over a guest to a devil. So I threw a smoke bomb at them.”

“How cruel…”

I sighed unmeant, when Kaorun gently clapped onto my shoulder.

“Nanjou-sama, I do not know what is going on, but the Miss entrusted you to me. I will protect you at all costs.”

Kaorun probably felt uneasiness from me and misunderstood.

“It will be fine. Please trust in me. Just consider yourself of board of a sinking s.h.i.+p.”

“…No, it’s not good when it’s sinking, is it?”

“We will swim together when it comes to that.”

Seriously or joking, Kaorun said with her usual expressionless face. Then she pulled me up on my arm. I was surprised how unexpectedly strong she was. Kaorun lent me a shoulder while we started to walk.

“Ehm, where are we going? If possible, I would like to see the devil, who came to visit me.”

Most likely the blonde, big-breasted devil Kaorun spoke of was Luna while the red-haired one was Machina and the silver-haired Elni. They most likely got a call from Gogyou-san and came together to pick me up. And it was probably Elni, who destroyed the charms.

“What you saw was a blonde devil, right? So I can presume.”

“…Presume? So your life is in danger after all.”

“Hey, hey, don’t say such dangerous stuff. She’s my friend. Friend, you hear. I’ll go see her, so you wait here, Kaorun.”

“Nanjou-sama, you will face them alone…?”

“Yeah, you would only complicate things.”

When I said that, Kaorun stopped as she understood.

“…I am well aware of your intentions now.”

“Ohh, you understood.”

“Yes. To think you were thinking about me to that extent…”

“…Huh? What are you suddenly saying?”

I didn’t understand what she meant, so I asked with my head tilted. Kaorun answered while her cheeks turned lightly red for some reason.

“You do not need to play dumb anymore. You want to sacrifice yourself, so that I can get away. As you would expect from the man that the Miss trusts. I am about to fall for you.”

“Uhm, that wasn’t—-”

“Please rest a.s.sured, Nanjou-sama.”

Cutting into my words, Kaorun raised the volume of her voice and said.

“I might not look like it, but I am somewhat different from a normal human.”

“…Well, you are pretty.”

“Eh?”

My unexpected comments made Kaorun widen her eyes in surprise on a rare occasion.

“…*blush*”

“Oh my, you’re embarra.s.sed.”

Kaorun averted her red face from me.

I thought for sure she would reply “Of course”.

I thought how unexpected that was, when Kaorun moved.

“Excuse me, Nanjou-sama!”

As quick as her words, I was pushed down on the spot. In that moment,something swept over our heads.

I was familiar with that attack. It was Machina’s air bullet.

Immediately tried to call out. But when I was pushed down, I had hit the back of my head and grimaced in pain while Kaorun pulled on my arm and dragged me along the hallway.

“Ow! I’m grinding on the floor!”

I unmeant raised a scream, when Kaorun said while dragging me.

“Please endure a bit of pain. It is better than to die.”

“I’m about to die right now!”

“Humans do not die from just that. We are running!”

Kaorun increased the running speed, when I heard an angry voice from behind.

“Hey! What are you doing to s.h.i.+n.o.bu! Let him go!”

“Help me!”

Inadvertently I sought help from Machina. But Kaorun reacted to it.

“Do not worry. I will not let them put a finger onto you, Nanjou-sama.”

“That’s not really something a person that exerts violence in the very moment says!”

“Please do not speak! Or you will bite your tongue!”

“First let go off me!”

At the moment I was exactly treated like a human mop. Maybe because I was sick, but I couldn’t raise up my upper body and was still being dragged around.

I was about to faint for real as my vision turned snow-white. Then Kaorun stopped with a small scream

“…What‘s up?”

I staggeringly got up and followed Kaorun’s gaze. There stood a beauty with her silver hair tied up in twintails.

It was Elni. She had sat down on the table in the living room and nonchalant ate snacks while watching TV.

That alone was shocking, but there were a couple of tags scattered around her.

Apparently it really was Elni, who ripped the charms around the mansion.

That probably was what Kaorun was shocked about. With wide open eyes, she looked at Elni.

“That…are the snacks I was looking forward to!”

“You’re shocked about that?”

I inadvertently retorted, when Elni noticed us. She turned to us, looked at me and smiled happily. Then she approached us while holding the snacks in one hand.

“s.h.i.+n.o.bu, these are really good!”

“…Hey, don’t just go off eating snacks in someone else’s house!”

I wearily reprimanded her while I gave Kaorun a side-glance. She was watching over Elni with a blank expression.

“…Could it be she really is you friends, Nanjou-sama?”

“Yeah, that’s right. She’s—”

“s.h.i.+n.o.bu-san!”

A beautiful voice cut into my words.

I turned to the voice, where my gaze fell onto a blonde beauty with a dynamite body.

“Ohh, a G.o.ddess.”

“It is a devil, Nanjou-sama. Besides when she is a G.o.ddess, I am an angel.”

“…Aren’t you embarra.s.sed saying that?”

I asked, when Kaorun lightly blushed, but changed into a serious expression. Then she opened her mouth while glimpsing at Elni.

“It appears this person is your friend, but what is your connection with the devil over there?”

“Ehm, she…”

Before I could answer, the blonde beauty called Luna shouted.

“—I’m s.h.i.+n.o.bu-san’s slave!”

After Luna’s exclamation, Elni took advantage of it and said with a loud voice.

“And I’m s.h.i.+n.o.bu’s lover!”

Upon Luna and Elni’s words, Kaorun puffed her chest for some reason and answered.

“Then I am Nanjou-sama’s maid!”

“No, why are you guys competing!”

Inadvertently I dropped a light chop on Kaorun#s head and retorted.

Then Kaorun said somewhat sadly.

“You have a slave and a lover, but you have no need for a maid…”

“Hey, don’t get the wrong idea here. They aren’t my slave and lover. They are my family. Family, you hear.”

“…Family it is?”

Kaorun showed a confused expression, then looked at Luna and Elni alternately.

“Nanjou-sama, these two are not human. The blonde girl is a devil while this silver-haired girl is…”

Kaorun faced Elni and frowned.

“She does not appear to be a devil, but she feels different from a human. You, what are you?”

“Mh? Me? I’m a G.o.ddess.”

“…A certain philosopher claimed that G.o.d is dead.”

“I’m surprisingly tough.”

Elni proudly puffed her chest, whereupon Kaorun made a small sigh.

“Either way, she is not a human either. And she is still your family?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t matter if devil or non-human. They are my family.”

“…Is that so.”

I affirmed sedulous, when Kaorun faintly smiled and Luna smiled whole-heartedly.

—But Elni was different.

Elni showed a perplexed expression and smiled awkwardly when she made eye-contact with me.

“Anything wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

Elni averted her eyes from me and said distracting.

“Anyway, s.h.i.+n.o.bu, who’s this maid? A friend of Hijiri?”

“Mh? …Yeah. She works here as a maid…”

I faced Kaorun while I said that—when

“Get away from s.h.i.+n.o.bu!”

Suddenly I heard Machina’s angry voice along with a sharp wind sound.

I faced to it, when a wind bullet came at Kaorun. I hastily clenched my fist and stood covering in front of Kaorun.

But because I was feeling unwell, I couldn’t move as I wanted to and the wind bullet directly hit my face. I flew spinning through the air and clashed on the floor like that.

“Are you okay, s.h.i.+n.o.bu-san?”

“Nanjou-sama, hang in there!”

“Wh- Why are you getting in-between! Stay with us!”

I heard everyone’s voices, but I lost my consciousness there.

My head hurt. My body was still dull and wouldn’t stop s.h.i.+vering.

…After that, Kaorun had brought me from Gogyou-san’s house over to mine with the car, but my cold took a turn for the worse due to the ruckus and I quietly groaned in my bed.

Then there was a knock on my door and Elni peeked in her head.

“s.h.i.+n.o.bu, are you okay?”

“No, I’m done for. Once that tree loses all it’s leaves, I’ll surely…”

I coughed on purpose, but on a rare occasion Elni didn’t play along with the joke and smiled faintly.

“s.h.i.+n.o.bu, it’s just a cold, so you’ll be fine.”

….Somehow the aura around her was different. I kind of felt something was out of place. Elni approached my bed and reached out her hand to my forehead.

“You still have a fever.”

“I would be dead if I hadn’t.”

I didn’t want her to worry too much, so I cracked a joke, but it didn’t seem to work.

Elni sadly cast down her eyes.

“…Sorry, s.h.i.+n.o.bu. It’s my fault.”

“Mh? What’s up so suddenly?”

Elni didn’t had her usual cheerful smile, but made an expression somewhat close to tears.

“I’m sure you got the cold from me. Yet I only fought with Machina and caused you trouble.”

“I don’t really consider it trouble. Don’t worry about it.”

I smiled at her, but Elni continued with her clouded expression.

“Sorry. I was so happy that you invited me over… that I let myself pampered to much by you.”

“Hey, hey. That’s so not like you. Acting a bit spoiled is fine. I don’t mind it, okay?”

That were my honest feelings. But Elni shook her head powerless.

“…I can’t cause you any more trouble…So I’ll go home.”

“Home?…Your house was blown away by the typhoon. You have no place—”

“It’s okay.”

Elni kindly cut into my words and reached out her hand for my head. She patted my head in a regretful parting and then waved her hand lightly.

“Bye, bye.”

With a sad smile, Elni turned around.

“Hey, wait. You can stay here until you found a place to stay at. There’s no reason for you to leave so suddenly.”

“It’s not sudden. I had considered it for a while now. The house with Luna, Machina, Nazuna and you was so warm that I merely prolonged my stay here. Besides—”

Her small back trembled and Elni said over her shoulder.

“I can’t… become your family.”

Her words sounded just like a rejection and painfully tightened my chest.

“Sorry, s.h.i.+n.o.bu. I like… being alone. Being with everyone is fun too, but in the end I prefer to be alone…”

I immediately knew it was a lie.

When she had a cold, she had told me that she hated the rain, since she would be alone then.

And when she watched the evening sun, she looked incredible lonely.

Good morning, good night. She said she was happy about such trivial words.

“Elni…”

I reached out my hand to stop her. But Elni left the room without saying anything.

Just before she left the room, she turned around once… and smiled.

“s.h.i.+n.o.bu, it’s not like this is farewell forever. When I’m in trouble, I’ll rely on you again. Please take care of me then.”

Now her smiled looked her usual one.

But I felt that it was somewhat forced and I searched for words to stop her.

But I couldn’t find the right words…In the end, I couldn’t say anything.

I just watched over Elni leaving.

“…Nothing to be done.”

Having Elni around was fun. So I had considered to let her stay here forever.

But that were just my own selfish thoughts. Elni had her own circ.u.mstances. I couldn’t keep Elni in the house forever just for my own selfishness.

I tried to convince myself like that, when Elni’s sad smile that she showed me earlier floated in my mind…and wouldn’t disappear.

“Hah…”

I sighed and got off the bed, it started to rain outside.

“Will Elni be fine?”

I mumbled and dragged my dull body out of the room.

I was a bit thirsty. I went to the living room to get something to drink, when there Machina sat on the sofa with a displeased expression.

“What’s the matter?”

I called out to her. Machina looked at me worried, then turned away in her bad mood and answered.

“It’s nothing, really. More like, what’s up with you? You have a cold, you should properly rest.”

“Well, I was kinda thirsty.”

I answered like that, when Machina stood up from the sofa and said.

“Then just sit down. Will tea be fine?”

“Eh? Yeah…”

I nodded confused. Machina went into the dining kitchen and came back with a cup of tea.

“Here, s.h.i.+n.o.bu.”

“Y- Yeah, thanks.”

I was surprised at Machina’s kindness while I moved the cup to my mouth. Then I asked while looking around the living room.

“…So, where’s Luna?”

“Sister went shopping. She was in high spirit to make you something that recovers your energy.”

“I see. Did she take an umbrella with her?”

Outside the rain was falling quietly. I asked while looking through the window. Then Machina said while she looked out of the window like me.

“No problem. She did take an umbrella with her.”

“Good…”

I nodded and blankly stared outside.

…After a moment of silence, I opened my mouth.

“So Elni left for real?”

I asked to confirm, when Machina strongly clenched her fist. For a moment, she showed a sad expression, but soon enough she frowned and said displeased.

“…That idiot left. I feel better now with her gone.”

“Are you seriously saying that?”

“Of course. That idiot never listened to me, was arrogant and only said selfish stuff…Yet, yet she was liked by everyone…”

Machina looked down and her voice trembled.

“She really is an idiot. Why would she leave? I don’t understand it. She said ‘Bye, bye’ with a teary face…She could have just stayed here…”

Machina mumbled while resting her still clenched fist on her knee.

“To h.e.l.l with ‘I’ll be fine alone’. That idiot…”

Suddenly, I remembered Elni forcing herself to smile, even though she was close to tears….She said she liked being alone.

I knew it was a lie, but Elni had her own reasoning. It might not be my place to stick in my head. But it didn’t seem like I could her alone like that.

For a while now, Elni’s sad smile on the parting wouldn’t leave my head.

I wanted to talk to her once more.

I stood up from the sofa and headed for the front door. I could hear footsteps from behind me and turned around, when Machina made an expression like she wanted to say something.

But Machina didn’t say anything and just lined up beside me. Together we stepped outside.

Inadvertently I formed a smile, whereupon Machina blushed and said.

“….Let’s hurry and drag that idiot home.”

“Yeah, let’s.”

I nodded and Machina and I spread out umbrellas. Then we started walking through the rain. My body felt heavier than I thought and soon enough I began to stagger and gasp for air.

“s.h.i.+n.o.bu, are you okay? You look pale. Wouldn’t it be better when you go bac—”

“I only go back with Elni.”

I said sharply. Machina showed a troubled expression and sighed.

“You idiot…”

While saying that, Machina took the hand of me, who was staggering.

Being pulled on that hand, I dragged my heavy body along while I continued to walk with Machina towards the riverbed.

Before, Elni’s house had been at the riverbed. By now it had been blown away by the typhoon, but I felt that Elni would be there.

Embracing that hunch, I continued my walk, when I spotted Elni ahead of us.

She stood on the bank of the riverbed and just blankly watched over the river without doing anything. Even now her appearance looked so fragile and close to tears that my chest hurt.

“…What are you doing?”

A voice leaked unmeant from my own mouth. Elni reacted with her shoulders trembling.

“s.h.i.+n.o.bu? And also Machina?”

When she turned to us, Elni momentarily made a happy expression, but it vanished soon enough.

While averting her eyes from Machina and me, Elni opened her mouth.

“What’s the matter, you two? Taking a stroll in this rain? That’s not good. You have a cold, s.h.i.+n.o.bu, so you shouldn’t get out at a time like this.”

Elni spoke talkative.

…Actually she must have realized it. That we came to fetch her up.

Yet, Elni continued to talk distracting while feigning ignorance.

So I wanted to tell her straightforward. I approached Elni.

“Elni, we came to get you. Let’s go home together.”

I offered her my hand.

But Elni didn’t took my hand.

She took a step backwards as scared by something and lightly shook her head.

“Sorry, I can’t go with you. I’ll stay here.”

“…Why? What’s the point of being alone here?”

I once again reached out my hand, when Elni shook if off powerless.

“I told you earlier.”

Forcing herself to smile, Elni said.

“I like being alone. So… let me be alone.”

Then Elni turned her back to us, when Machina suddenly raised her voice.

“Why are you telling such a lie?”

Upon Machina’s words, Elni’s shoulders trembled lightly.

“…I’m not telling a lie.”

“Then you really want to be alone? Even though s.h.i.+n.o.bu said it was okay to stay, you want to stay all alone from now on?”

“Yeah. To begin with, I was living alone. That won’t change now. I’ll be fine, even alone.”

“That’s a lie. I can easily tell that it’s a lie.”

“…It’s not a lie. I—”

“Then! Why were you crying?”

Cutting into Elni’s words, Machina continued.

“You thought I wouldn’t notice? I was in the same room. You were always crying in your sleep. Yet when morning came, you forced yourself to smile…Actually you hate being alone… So why are you leaving by yourself?”

Machina raised her voice further while shaking her fist.

“Unlike me, you’re being liked by everyone. Everyone gives you a smile. Yet…why are you letting go of that! Was it not fun for you? To you, are we just… unimportant existences that you separate yourself from immediately?”

“—No!”

Upon Machina’s words, Elni denied in a loud voice that echoed around.

“That’s not it! It was fun! Everyone was there, it was warm and I always wanted to stay there! But it’s no good…”

When Elni turned around, she was no longer smiling. She was just making a teary expression and biting on her lips like she was enduring something.

“I’m different from everyone. I can’t be with you forever. So when I stay with people I like… the parting will just be painful.”

With her voice trembling, Elni made a face of resign and faked a smile.

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