"Kiss on the cheek?"
Kaito furrowed his brow, as if considering something.
Aine's
Seeing her brother's hesitant expression, Mortis became a little anxious. She raised one slender finger and pleaded pitifully.
"Just once! Just once, okay? A light one is fine too!"
"Onii-chan~ Onii-chan~ Onii-chan~"
When someone of a certain age faces a cute little girl wholeheartedly begging with affection, no matter how stern and impartial their heart is, it will always soften.
"...I got it."
In the end, Kaito didn't reject her request. He lowered his head and pressed a kiss on the girl's cheek, pink like cherry blossoms.
His movement was quick, with no technique to speak of. But even such a simple physical contact made Mortis reveal a satisfied, even slightly silly smile.
But, this was clearly just the beginning.
He had just gotten up when he felt the hem of his clothing being tugged.
He turned his head and saw the green-haired girl staring at him without blinking.
That cool and calm little face didn't show much expression, yet clearly conveyed one meaning: what about me?
As the ancient saying goes, "Don't worry about scarcity, worry about inequality."
Some things, either you don't do them, or you do them fairly.
Since he kissed Mortis, it wouldn't be right to refuse Mutsumi.
Otherwise, she might overthink, 'Does Onii-chan like Little Mortis more? Should I go lie under a train?'
The little girl was already introverted. If she started spiraling from this, what if she became even more withdrawn?
"...", Kaito rubbed his forehead, but thinking that kissing one is the same as kissing two, he didn't struggle anymore. He simply bent down and kissed Mutsumi on the cheek too.
Same dragonfly-light touch, same barely audible contact.
'There's… this kind of operation too?'
The little secretary on the side was clearly stunned.
Never would she have imagined that their childhood friend would seize the opportunity at this moment, a textbook sneak attack.
However… The girl's small face turned slightly red.
'Since it was Mortis, then Mutsumi… doesn't that mean it's my turn next?'
Although she had secretly rewarded herself quite a few times when the president was asleep, those were sneaky little moves that couldn't see the light of day.
If she could make the president, while fully awake, kiss her, even if just on the cheek, it would be a qualitative breakthrough.
The former is the president passively accepting, the latter is the president taking the initiative, a world of difference in meaning.
Sakiko felt a little shy.
'If the president really wants to kiss me next, should I play along?'
'But won't that seem too unreserved? Being ladylike aside, what if… I gets mistaken for a lewd girl?'
'Then maybe… play hard to get?'
'Pretend to resist a bit, then give in halfway!'
'But what if during the resistance phase, the president takes it seriously, won't I be lifting a rock only to drop it on my own foot?'
'Ugh, so hard to decide…'
The girl was immersed in blissful troubles, but suddenly noticed something was off.
'How long has it been now? Why isn't it my turn yet?'
'Kissing Mutsumi's cheek, how long can it possibly take?'
She snapped out of it, only to realize that at some point, a certain familiar figure had already disappeared.
Mortis was muttering "Ugh, even guards against little sisters" as she unhappily headed back to her room.
In the living room, only Mutsumi was still quietly sitting beside her.
'Where's my president?'
"Onii-chan went to take a bath," Wakaba Mutsumi paused for a moment before swallowing the sentence "Sakiko's smile just now was weird," so as not to cause secondary damage to her childhood friend.
"How could this happen!"
Having been skipped like that, the blue-haired girl slumped in disappointment, as if her whole being turned grey.
———
Meanwhile—
Lying in the bathtub, feeling the warm touch of hot water wrapping around his skin, Kaito let out a long sigh. It felt like being reborn.
Shopping for clothes with girls could be considered a 21st-century modern torture.
It might not be tiring, but it was absolutely exhausting.
The world is so cold, only the bathtub can offer some warmth to the soul.
Earlier, Mortis wanted to come along too, but Kaito had firmly rejected her.
Right now, he just wanted to enjoy some private space. If Mortis joined, Mutsumi would surely follow too.
Crowdedness aside, it would defeat the purpose of relaxation.
As for that certain Miss OB full-of-alphabet… It wasn't like Kaito deliberately skipped her, just that their relationship was different.
Kissing a younger sister on the cheek could still be passed off as sibling affection.
But making a move on his secretary, what else could it be but "corporate harassment"?
Not to mention taking a bath together.
Unless, someday, their relationship takes a new step forward, then there'd be no need to worry about such details.
'As for now…', Kaito shook his head and stopped thinking.
With a flick of his hand, the phone on the rack floated over to him.
He originally planned to scroll some game forums, to see if any new big titles were out, but accidentally noticed a notification.
[The streamer you follow "Alto Otogi Official" is now live! Go check it out!]
This was the only streamer Kaito followed, and also someone he knew in real life.
The sound technician at the STARRY Studio, PA-san.
He rarely watched livestreams. The only reason he followed "Alto Otogi Official" was because of Kumiko.
However, after he had probed her offline, PA-san hadn't streamed in a long time, probably feeling embarrassed to be outed by a junior she knew in real life.
Now suddenly going live, did she think the storm had passed?
Kaito thought for two seconds and still clicked into the stream room.
Though he browsed with his real name online, this was a blank alt account, never donated, totally inconspicuous, no need to worry about being found out.
The stream chat was lively.
Though PA-san had been slacking for a while, her follower count was still there. With this long-awaited stream, the scrolling comments didn't stop.
Most were asking what she'd been doing all this time. Some were pushing her to get on with the stream content.
The black-haired big sister behind the screen wasn't surprised by this at all. She skillfully made up an excuse about "being sick and hospitalized" and responded to the questions before starting the usual stream flow.
She mostly streamed games, occasionally moonlighting as a love advice guru.
Tonight maybe due to bad hands or poor connection, in just ten minutes of gaming she had a 1-17 record, causing the chat to flood with messages like "I'm a talent scout, this is a good horse."
["The mouse just ran out of battery, I'm in a bad mood, didn't wash my hair, got distracted, had poor signal, didn't remap the keys… anyway I'm off tonight, next game I'll wipe the floor with them!"]
PA-san was full of righteous excuses, refusing to admit it was her own problem.
Seeing the chat filled with skepticism, right then someone sent an SC (paid comment), and she quickly coughed to change the subject, ["Alright, alright, wins and losses are normal for a soldier, let's first see what this sponsor has to say."]
[Streamer, streamer, I have a question. He's been living in my heart for a long time, but he's never paid rent. Can I report him to the police?]
'You simp, your message is actually kinda funny.'
As a love advisor, the black-haired big sister was long used to such things and remained emotionally unmoved, ["Sorry, dear sponsor. For cases involving more than 3,000 yen, you can report it. But unfortunately, your heart is worth nothing to him."]
[?]
[Reported!]
The precisely sniped sponsor sent two more SCs and then fell silent, perhaps already coming to terms with it.
Lies won't hurt people, truth is the sharp blade. [T/N: Truth is like poetry. And everyone fuc*ing hates poetry.]
PA-san didn't care. Breaking someone's fantasy was far better than letting them keep sinking into it. She was just about to see if there were any other interesting comments, when her eyes unintentionally caught a system message.
[User "Kaito" has entered the stream room.]
The black-haired big sister sitting cross-legged on her chair tilted her head, feeling that the name looked oddly familiar.
'Where have I seen this ID before?'
She suddenly froze, and shot up from her chair.
'Wait a second! Bo-bo-bo-bo-bo-boyfriend-kun?'
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