"Hikari-kun, are my noodles tastier, or are Suiren-nee's noodles tastier?"
"I remember I cooked noodles for Hikari-kun before too."
"So are my noodles better, or are Suiren-nee's better?"
Aoi slurped her udon while smiling sweetly at Hikari as she asked.
Suiren, sitting beside them, was facing both Hikari and Aoi at the same time and still felt a little nervous, so she kept her head down eating her noodles and didn't catch the hidden meaning.
But seeing the mischievous smile on Aoi's face, Hikari immediately understood what she was getting at.
He said helplessly, "They're both good. Yours and Suiren-nee's are both pretty tasty."
But Aoi refused to let it go and pressed on, "Then whose is a little better?"
"Well… the noodles I make are the best, alright?", Hikari finally gave an answer.
Hearing that, Aoi paused slightly. It was indeed hard to argue with that.
Still, she smiled and said, "Hikari-kun is really brushing it off. So there's still no clear answer, right?"
"How about this, next time Suiren-nee and I will cook noodles together for Hikari-kun. We'll compare properly."
"Between me and Suiren-nee, whose noodles taste better!", Aoi said confidently.
"Alright, alright," Seeing her sudden competitive spirit, Hikari shook his head helplessly and agreed.
Then he casually chatted a few more lines with Aoi, who always talked more when facing him.
After hearing the washing machine beep to signal it was done, Suiren quickly finished her bowl and went to hang up the laundry.
Seeing the three empty bowls, Aoi thoughtfully picked them up and went into the kitchen to wash them.
Although she liked teasing Hikari, Aoi was actually very smart and sensible.
Hikari, meanwhile, walked aside and answered a phone call that had just come in.
"Hello, Aunt Sumire, what's the matter?", he asked after picking up the call from Jinno Sumire.
["Hikari-kun, are you free at noon? Could you come to the Jinno house?"], Jinno Sumire asked.
"Yes. Is it to meet Takashi-san?", Hikari asked directly.
["Mm! I want to invite you to have a meal together and talk a bit. But I definitely won't let Hikari-kun be put in an awkward position. Auntie promises,"] Jinno Sumire said.
"It's fine. I'll head over later," Hikari replied.
["Alright,"] Jinno Sumire agreed.
Hikari then hung up.
He could more or less guess why Jinno Sumire wanted him to go to the Jinno house to see Jinno Takashi today.
The night before last, when he killed Eigen, he had stepped forward for Jinno Sumire and slightly offended Jinno Takashi, making the head of the Jinno family lose face.
Hikari didn't really care, but Jinno Sumire couldn't ignore it. After all, Jinno Takashi was not only the head of the Jinno family, but also her father.
So considering all aspects, she naturally wanted to ease the relationship between the two of them.
Of course, she also knew that Hikari had embarrassed Jinno Takashi for her sake, so she promised to make sure Jinno Takashi wouldn't make things difficult for him.
But Hikari didn't really mind. At worst, he could just walk away. Being the Jinno family's son-in-law was fake to begin with.
Still, since he had promised Jinno Sumire to help her pretend to be her husband, he would just head over later.
After putting down his phone, he glanced at Aoi washing dishes in the kitchen.
Then he turned and looked at Suiren in the yard, hanging quilts by herself with some difficulty.
He immediately walked out to the yard.
"Suiren-nee, hanging so many quilts by yourself isn't easy. Let me help," Hikari said.
"Okay," At the sudden voice, Suiren was startled, but when she saw it was him, she relaxed.
Hikari held the corners of the quilts and helped her drape them over the clothesline, while quietly watching her expression.
Seeing her stare at the faint reddish marks still left on the bedding, looking conflicted, he asked, "Suiren-nee, after what happened, what are you planning to do?"
Even though he didn't say it outright, Suiren naturally understood he meant last night.
Looking at the bloodstains on the white sheet, her pretty face flushed red. She shook her head, "That… that's none of your concern. Sis… sis will handle it!"
Seeing her obvious hesitation, Hikari said directly, "Suiren-nee, why don't you just break off the engagement with that fiance? You haven't even met him anyway. I'll take responsibility."
"Take… take responsibility for what!", Suiren's face turned bright red as she glared at him with watery eyes, "How old are you? Don't talk nonsense."
"What happened last night… was just an accident. Sis… sis will handle it!"
As she spoke, she pushed him back toward the house, clearly not wanting to continue.
Seeing how tangled up she still was, unable to untie the knot in her heart, Hikari could only turn and leave for now.
Back in the living room, he chatted a few more lines with the smiling Aoi.
Then he left the Asakawa house and headed toward Ino Shrine.
Watching his departing figure, then seeing Suiren outside hanging laundry while lost in thought, Aoi showed a thoughtful expression.
She wasn't unaware of what happened last night. On the contrary, she knew it very clearly.
Not only had she watched secretly with great interest, her mouth even watering.
She had even treated it as assistance for releasing her water magic.
As for her sister Suiren taking a step further with Hikari, Aoi had no objection. In fact, she had long wanted this to happen.
The reason their progress had been so fast also had something to do with her pushing things along.
She had her own little plans.
Aoi was smart and had studied some materials on her own. She clearly knew her physique was quite good, even considered gifted, stronger than many other girls.
So at first she thought she alone could make Hikari, whom she had secretly loved for so long, completely obsessed, to the point that just dealing with her would drain all his energy.
But when their relationship truly reached that step, when they genuinely had deep and intimate exchanges, Aoi realized she was wrong. Completely wrong.
First, she discovered that book knowledge always feels shallow. Theory is just theory. Practice is entirely different.
In terms of techniques and skills, compared to the experienced and handsome Tokyo guy Hikari, the gap was huge.
Secondly, what shocked her even more was that Hikari didn't just beat her in theory and practice.
In terms of physique, he was just like her, gifted beyond ordinary people, even reaching a terrifying level she found hard to understand.
Aoi didn't know how to describe it, "I geared up, full of confidence, and then Hikari one-shot me. What else is there to say?"
At first she didn't believe the gap between people could be so big, that Hikari's overwhelming strength was real.
But after many attempts, she finally confirmed that no matter how gifted she was, she absolutely couldn't defeat this pervert by herself.
Instead of confidently challenging him every time only to be crushed and left in pieces, it was better to find another way.
So Aoi decided to find an ally to deal with Hikari together.
Compared to unfamiliar women, she naturally set her sights on someone she knew well at home.
'It's you, Suiren-nee!'
Although after witnessing everything last night, she found that Suiren-nee, like herself, could hardly withstand Hikari's assault, according to her observation, Suiren was also gifted. In terms of weapons ranking, she would be considered a peerless famous weapon.
If one top-tier divine weapon couldn't defeat Hikari, then bring two!
Aoi refused to believe that with sisters united, they couldn't beat just one Hikari.
So after last night, she had already decided to pull Suiren in today to deal with him together.
As for how to persuade her, she still needed to plan.
Although under her guidance, Suiren had already explored depths with Hikari and understood each other's strengths and lengths, after such a thing, the fiance was definitely out of the picture, and in the future she certainly wouldn't be able to leave Hikari.
But to get her to join forces with her younger sister against a common enemy, with Suiren's shy personality, it wouldn't be easy to accept.
But it didn't matter. There are always more solutions than problems.
'Hikari-kun, just wait until I pull sis in. When sisters unite, we'll beat you until you're crawling all over the ground!'
Imagining the role reversal, with Hikari lying flat on the ground in a "big" shape, eyes rolled back, face full of tear marks, drool at the corner of his mouth, begging nonstop, while she, Aoi, calmly lifted her skirt and lightly said "average," she couldn't help clenching her skirt tightly, her whole body boiling with excitement, wishing she could persuade Suiren right now and launch a joint campaign against this rebel Hikari.
Meanwhile, outside, Suiren, who had been hanging laundry for over half an hour but actually spent most of the time in a daze, was still standing in the yard.
She had no idea her sister inside was secretly watching her, because her thoughts were extremely complicated.
Although yesterday had been extremely joyful, that intense pleasure had made her forget everything, this morning, after regaining clarity, she had to think about more realistic issues.
After some thought, she had roughly found answers to some of them.
For example, regarding the fiance she had never met, she was no longer conflicted. She had decided to break off the engagement.
Given the current situation, she couldn't marry him anymore.
And she had no feelings for him at all. They hadn't even met or spoken once. How could there be any feelings?
She had agreed to the engagement mainly because she followed her mother's arrangement.
So compared to that so-called fiance, her feelings for Hikari were far, far stronger.
And after what happened last night, she would never be able to forget him for the rest of her life.
That feeling she had never experienced before, if she could never have it again, she would probably find it hard to let go every night.
But even though she planned to break off the engagement and had vaguely accepted Hikari in her heart, she still had several worries.
The first was her mother, Touka.
This marriage had been arranged between her mother and a friend.
At the time, she had been asked for her opinion and had agreed.
Now she wanted to go back on her word. If her mother found out the reason was Hikari, she would probably be furious.
Just imagining her cold and stern mother getting angry made Suiren afraid.
The second issue also came from family, her younger sister Aoi.
Aoi had confessed to Hikari before and even said in front of her that she would give herself to him in the future.
And now she, as the older sister, had stepped in first.
She had already eaten Hikari before her.
If Aoi found out, with her personality, she might go crazy.
Would she tell her that she did it for her own good?
Suiren shook her head hard. Obviously, even thinking with her backside, Aoi would never accept that.
With Aoi's personality, it wouldn't be impossible for her to fall out with her completely or even fight.
If she knelt and begged for forgiveness, would Aoi forgive her?
On one side was Hikari, whom she couldn't let go of after recognizing her feelings.
On the other was her sister Aoi, who had been by her side every day.
Suiren truly didn't know which side to choose…
"Sigh… what should I do," Carrying complicated emotions, she silently walked back into the house.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.