"Yes yes yes, Makoto-nii, you sound just like my mom!!"
Grumbling, Fremea dragged herself up from the beanbag chair, her slow movements like a lazy caterpillar. But complaints were one thing—obedience was another.
Even while pouting, she still sat up straight, just as he'd told her.
"And then… who's this pretty onee-san?"
Now that she'd fixed her posture, Fremea finally noticed the girl standing behind Harumura Makoto—Shokuhou Misaki.
Her eyes instantly lit up, sparkling as if she had just discovered a brand new world.
Children were always brimming with curiosity.
Misaki's sudden appearance was enough to make Fremea forget her earlier sulking completely, her full attention locked onto the beautiful lady by Makoto's side.
"Shokuhou Misaki. I'm Harumura-kun's friend, Fremea-chan."
Misaki gave a small, elegant smile—probably the warmest expression she could manage—as she tried to show friendliness.
"Friend? Is that really all? No way. If you were just friends, Makoto-nii would never let you stand so close to him. You know, in Leo (our group), Youko-neesan and the others have always wanted to do that, but he's never allowed them."
Blinking her big, glittering eyes, her face wore the most innocent of smiles.
Pure, untainted words from a little girl—who could possibly doubt her sincerity?
"…Right, Makoto-nii?"
"…Good. Fremea. From now until you're eighteen, you can forget about video games."
Most people might have been fooled.
But Makoto had lived with her long enough to see through everything. That little brat was absolutely doing it on purpose—deliberately getting back at him.
"Oh? Is that so? Then I'd very much like to hear the full story from you later. And if possible, I'd even love to tour this Leo of yours myself."
The sweetness in Misaki's voice suddenly vanished, replaced by a chilly flatness that made the skin crawl.
"Wait wait wait… You're not seriously believing this little gremlin's nonsense, are you? It's obvious she's just messing with us!"
Makoto shivered slightly, frowning helplessly as he reached back with his right hand to intercept the small hand sneaking toward his waist.
"Of course I know that. But you didn't actually deny any of it either, did you?"
She pushed her hand forward, trying some silly trick she'd read online—but Makoto blocked her, frustrating her a little.
"Nope nope, I'm fine with it."
"Sure, come visit. When the time comes, I'll be your personal tour guide, Misaki-oneesan."
Having been threatened earlier, the little devil Fremea popped right back up, determined to insert herself again.
Her wide eyes darted back and forth between Misaki and Makoto, her grin growing wider by the second.
She was certain she'd found Makoto-nii's weak point.
"See? Even Fremea's agreed already. What about you?"
Without hesitation, Misaki reversed her grip, interlacing her fingers tightly with his.
"You don't have any objections, do you?"
Soft. Smooth. Like holding a piece of flawless jade.
Nothing like his own rough hands, hardened with calluses from weapons. Her palm was utterly without blemish.
"Of course not. Anytime. Whenever you want to come, wherever you want to see—I'll take you."
At this point, there was no way he could refuse.
Besides, he really didn't have anything to feel guilty about. That thought alone made him squeeze her hand and rub his thumb lightly against it.
"…Hmph. Fine, I'll let you off this time."
Even Misaki couldn't help flushing red as he played with her hand like that.
But since she had been the one to offer her hand in the first place, all she could do was halfheartedly try to pull it back.
When he refused to let go, she simply gave up.
"Ohhh, Youko-neesan is going to be so heartbroken."
"Cut it out, you. Keep acting up and I really will smack you."
This time Makoto didn't hold back with his flick, knocking Fremea's forehead hard enough to make her whole body wobble.
"Anyway, enough of that. Let's get to the real issue. I'll start simple: Fremea, do you know what your sister does?"
The room didn't have any spare chairs, but soft rugs covered the floor for children to play on. So Makoto just sat down directly.
"Not really… I've asked her before, but she never tells me. But I figure it's definitely not something easy or fun."
Fremea was a clever child.
She knew how to read the room, how to say the right thing, how to hide her true feelings.
She might pout or play tricks sometimes, but she never truly pushed things to the point of making others uncomfortable.
That was why she never pressed her sister too hard about her work.
"So this kidnapping… it's connected to my sister, isn't it?"
In an instant, she cut right to the heart of the matter.
"That's right. And the reason is actually very simple…"
Makoto explained everything clearly—origins, causes, and the whole sequence of events.
He didn't sugarcoat or leave anything out.
The reason was simple:
He believed in Fremea. She was a reasonable child, one who understood right from wrong.
And sure enough—
The moment she finished listening, Fremea stood up straight, her usual laziness gone. Her expression was solemn, serious.
"I'm sorry, Makoto-nii. You've always taken care of me, yet my sister went and did something like this. And you even went easy on her for my sake…"
"That's nothing you need to apologize for."
Makoto waved his hand dismissively, gently patting her shoulder.
"We've been living together for so long, you're basically family at this point."
That was the weight of his past life: losing family early, growing up with an emptiness inside, and thus treasuring bonds to an extreme.
Once he accepted someone, he treated them as kin—without exception.
"Makoto-nii…"
Fremea bit her lip, her eyes welling faintly with tears.
"That's why you need to do your best to convince your sister too, Fremea. Given the situation, wouldn't it be so much better if you could keep staying together with her?"