Mortis, that is, death.
["Because I heard the prayer from inside your heart, Little Mutsumi, so I specially came to help you~"]
This green-haired girl who suddenly appeared, clearly had a face similar to Wakaba Mutsumi, but her personality was like the two ends of a magnet.
Little Mutsumi was silent and not talkative, rarely opened her mouth, and in the process of interacting with people, she mostly played the role of a "listener."
Mortis, however, was unreasonably cheerful and sunny, at this moment slightly raising the corners of her lips, watching the other self with a smile, her tone as light as a little deer.
["Whether it is wanting to have a closer relationship with Onii-chan, or to drive away those other sneaky cats and monopolize everything of Onii-chan..."]
["As long as Little Mutsumi, you speak, I will always stand on your side."]
As the second personality of Wakaba Mutsumi, Mortis naturally inherited all the likes and dislikes of this body.
Among these, naturally also includes her feelings towards "Onii-chan".
Unlike the quiet and introverted Little Mutsumi, she was very good at imitating, as if born to be a stage actor, her style of behavior was also more bold and outgoing.
In other words... the words Little Mutsumi could not say, the actions she could not do, Mortis could easily accomplish.
This time, Wakaba Mutsumi stayed silent for a long time.
Because of Soyo's words, her mentality... indeed had undergone a certain change.
The former Little Mutsumi, was unwilling to betray her childhood friend Sakiko, even more unwilling to fight her over anything.
But... this quiet situation was broken by Soyo.
Since someone had already taken the initiative, then... even if she made the first move now, it shouldn't count as betraying Sakiko, right?
Even though this reasoning was very clumsy, and fundamentally untenable.
But many times, people only needed a reason to convince themselves.
Of course, Little Mutsumi after all was still a good child, with a too soft heart, so she still couldn't make up her mind.
On one hand, was guilt from not wanting to betray a friend.
On one hand, was the desire coming from the depths of her soul.
It was exactly because she sensed the girl's inner struggle and hesitation, that Mortis came into being.
She was Little Mutsumi's personality, so naturally, only cared about Little Mutsumi's happiness.
"...Onii-chan, is a very important to me."
Facing the other self, Wakaba Mutsumi's slender white right hand slightly clenched into a fist, held against her chest, because of the excessive force, faint blue veins could be seen under the skin.
After a long while, she said in a low voice, "But, I also don't want to hurt Sakiko."
["A child who cares too much about others' feelings, can easily suffer losses, you know?"]
Mortis held her face in her hands, seriously said, ["Little Mutsumi, you should think a bit for yourself too, right?"]
"Right now... I'm already very satisfied."
["You're lying."]
Mortis unceremoniously poked her cheek, using her finger to press out a small dimple, ["Little Mutsumi, we are one, okay? So, you'll never be able to lie to me."]
Seeing the girl remain silent, she wasn't annoyed either, just as she was about to speak again, her elf-like pointed ears suddenly moved, hearing sounds from the entrance.
["Ah... how unlucky."]
Big Mortis-sensei sighed regretfully, ["Looks like Onii-chan is back... But, Little Mutsumi, one day, you will truly figure it out."]
["And by then..."]
She dragged out her tone, put both hands behind her back, playfully blinked her eye, ["Just boldly call out to me!"]
———
When Kaito was close to home, the sky suddenly started raining.
At first it was just a light rain, but gradually showed signs of becoming heavier.
Luckily he had spiritual power as protection, so no need to worry about getting soaked like a drowned chicken.
After changing shoes at the entrance, Kaito carried the mango juice he bought on the way and walked into the living room.
The first thing he saw, was a light green long-haired girl, still not having changed out of the Tsukinomori uniform, hugging her knees sitting on the sofa, her golden eyes looking toward the TV screen with a bit of loneliness.
Looked more like a left-behind child lacking love.
An inexplicable sense of guilt arose in his heart, though he had been feeding Soyo well these past two days, he had forgotten to water his own little cucumber.
Kaito lightly coughed, passed over the mango juice in his hand, "Sorry, because I had some things to deal with, I didn't return home right away, made you worry."
"Onii-chan?", Wakaba Mutsumi turned her head, blankly looked at him.
Seeing the girl looking like she hadn't come back to her senses, Kaito casually rubbed her little head, "Why do you look so gloomy, something on your mind?"
"Nothing," Little Mutsumi lightly shook her head, showing a faint smile, "Onii-chan, welcome back."
The rain got heavier and heavier.
After dinner, Kaito casually cast a cleaning spell, washed the used dishes clean, and then looked at the continuous curtain of rain outside the window.
This scene felt a bit familiar, once on a similar rainy day, he walked out of the house and picked up the disheartened secretary Sakiko on the overpass.
The only difference was, the rain tonight was heavier, with huge thunderclaps, giving off a doomsday-like gloomy atmosphere.
Kaito didn't care much, thunder and rain were normal things. After reminding Little Mutsumi to rest early, he went alone to his room.
Before sleeping, he glanced at his phone, many messages in the notification bar, all from Soyo.
A girl who had tasted the marrow always acted like this, even if separated for just a few hours, she still felt like every second passed like a year.
Kaito replied one by one, and the two chatted back and forth casually.
Mostly it was Soyo talking, all sorts of topics with no substance, from favorite aroma candles to school gossip, hitting here and there with no clear focus.
But this was just a disguise.
After a simple chat, the girl soon vaguely expressed her true desire.
They scheduled the next make-up lesson time.
Of course, calling it a lesson was just a euphemism, the real meaning behind it needed no elaboration.
As the time approached, after saying good night to Soyo, Kaito was about to sleep when the door was knocked.
"Little Mutsumi?"
The light green long-haired girl stood barefoot at the door, wearing only a thin white nightdress, her eyes slightly lowered, her long eyelashes gently trembling.
"Is there something wrong?"
Little Mutsumi hesitated a moment, then softly said, "The thunder... is very loud."
Kaito paused, but quickly understood her meaning, "So, you're scared?"
The girl didn't reply, only responded with silence.
'Didn't expect this...', Kaito thought carefully, but wasn't too surprised.
After all, she was a young girl, it wasn't strange to be a bit timid, plus tonight's thunder was really loud, nothing unusual.
"Can I, in Onii-chan's room, sleep for one night?", The light green long-haired girl looked very cautious, as if afraid he'd refuse, and added softly, "Sleeping on the floor is fine..."
'I don't want to betray Sakiko.'
'So... as long as we stay within the boundaries of brother-sister relationship, don't cross that forbidden line, even if we get closer, it won't count as betraying Sakiko, right?'
Obviously, a sister afraid of thunder, on a pouring rainy night, wanted to seek her Onii-chan's protection.
Such a request, no matter how you look at it, could never be considered crossing the line.
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