Chapter 113: Mystery of the Girl / Smashing Regrets (2/2)

「Unfortunately, no.」

Anna grinned; she had returned to her usual expression.

「I’m actually your niece.」

「Eh?」

「My old man is the person who’d be your cousin, you see, so I’m your niece.」

「Whaaaaat?」

「Best regards, Junior Auntie.」

After defeating the men who had filled the rear without exception, Taiyou carried the wives into the hospital.

Kotone, Suzune, Kazane, and Aoba. They had light injuries. The majority of the hits and grazes were the kind of injuries that once treated, would allow them to return home.

Taiyou was with the girls around a bed. On top of the bed was the sleeping Kohaku.

Her consciousness hadn’t returned since the event. Having hit her head, the doctors had diagnosed her with a concussion, telling them that although she probably wouldn’t suffer any permanent damage, she’d need some surveillance for the time being.

Gazing at her unconscious form, Taiyou grinded his teeth.

「Kohaku-san…I wonder if she’ll be alright.」

「…She’ll be fine; even the doctors are saying that.」

Taiyou gave Aoba a comment to help ease her mind.

「She’ll probably wake up by tomorrow morning; afterwards let’s go through the hospital discharge procedures, then let’s all return home.」

He said, and the females were simultaneously surprised.

「When you say return, do you mean that we’ll be the only ones returning?」

「No; Kohaku-san will come along as well. Driving would probably be out of the question, but we can make do with a train or something.」

「「「That’s not the issue！」」」

The three sisters let out loud voices. Surprised, he looked at them and noticed that their expressions were angry for once.

「We’re talking about Pochi-chan.」

「What are you going to do about Pochi-chan?」

「Taiyou-san…you aren’t going to abandon her, are you?」

「What do you mean abandon her…You guys might not have heard me correctly, but they’re just taking Pochi along with them. From what I’ve heard, that Anna person is probably a relative of Pochi’s, and she’s taking her back to make her the head, so they shouldn’t be harming her.」

That’s what Taiyou said, but the girls made dissatisfied faces. In order to persuade them, he continued further.

「Besides, I won’t allow you all to be exposed to any more danger. I feel bad for Pochi, but if it means exposing you to more danger then I can’t help any further.」

Those were his honest feelings.

Kotone, Suzune, Kazane, Kohaku, Aoba.

Though he couldn’t attach any ranking to them, the preferencial precedence between them and other people was very clear.

If someone right in front of him was seeking help then he would help them; even Taiyou had that much of a sense of justice in him. But if that and the girls’ safety were compared and contrasted, Taiyou would decisively choose the girls’ safety.

He did not ever want to taste that feeling of despair of not being able to protect them again, he thought as he looked at Kohaku’s figure.

They’d surely understand those feelings; accept them.

At least that was what he had in mind when he said that to them.

For some reason, the girls had uniform expressions of anger.

「Why――」

――Smack!

A dry sound rang out, and his eyesight became flickering white.

What in the world――he only realized after several seconds had passed that it was a slap to the face.

Directing his eyes toward the source, he saw Aoba still with an angry expression, right hand outstretched.

「Ao…ba?」

「I misjudged you, Taiyou-kun; that’s just, the kind of thing my parents would do.」

「Eh…?」

「Prioritizing your spouses, and discarding children because it can’t be helped. What you’re trying to do right now is that exact thing, Taiyou-kun.」

「No, but if you’re exposed to danger then I can’t just――」

「Isn’t it!?」

Aoba strengthened her tone――no, she roughened it. Overpowered, Taiyou wasn’t able to say anything back.

That was when the three sisters quietly opened their mouths.

「Taiyou-san, we’re not scared of danger.」

「What we are scared of is becoming hindrances and preventing you from doing what you want to do, Taiyou-san.」

「What we’re even more scared of are things that might make you have regrets in the future, Taiyou-san.」

「You guys…」

「We want to always, always be together with you, Taiyou-san.」

「So…we don’t want you to make any regrets that will hold you back.」

「Returning home like this…Taiyou-san, won’t you have regrets?」

「Regrets…」

Taiyou murmured, as if ruminating the three girls’ words.