The Dual Casting ability meant Hayashi Maki would have far more ways to attack from now on.
He might not have run into any particularly tricky enemies yet, but who ever complains about having too many options?
More than Marina's Dual Casting, though, it was Airi's Damage Stacking that really surprised him.
…
At the Akizuki home.
When Marina woke from her sleep, she still felt a little hazy, but she could sense that something was… different.
"Mmm… sis, let me sleep a bit more. Airi's still tired…"
Hearing her younger sister mumble in her arms, Marina's cheeks instantly flushed as last night came back to her.
So it wasn't a dream?
She had really signed a contract with a demon—and now belonged to him?
Flustered, Marina gently set her sister aside, hurried into the bathroom, and stood under the showerhead, washing her hair while her thoughts churned.
It really wasn't a dream?
"Of course it wasn't a dream. What are you overthinking, Marina?"
Warm breath brushed her ear, and she yelped on instinct.
"Ah—y-you! How did you get in here?"
Smiling, Hayashi Maki slipped an arm around her waist and drew her back against his chest.
"I'm a demon. Coming to my contractor's side is just a thought away."
Face red, Marina pushed at him, mortified. "D-Don't… not like this… my head's a mess right now, Demon-san…"
"Call me Maki-kun. We agreed on that last night, remember?"
"Mm… Maki-kun… please… give me a little time—mmph…"
His answer to the panicked young woman's plea was to give her no time to think at all.
Marina's eyes widened, lashes trembling, a little aggrieved—yet her body seemed to remember last night. Blushing, she unconsciously raised her arms and looped them around his neck.
Then came the "coaching" he was so good at.
Like a seasoned tutor, Hayashi Maki helped the shy, well-behaved Marina "review" what she'd learned the day before.
Before long, Marina was slumped bonelessly against him, breathing hard, eyes squeezed shut in embarrassment.
Hayashi Maki stroked her hair, feeling the smooth, damp strands slip through his fingers, and murmured by her ear:
"Remember this, Marina—you're mine now. Don't get too close to other men, or I'll punish you."
"Ugh… you're awful. We barely even know each other…"
Tears welling, she shot him a watery look, then curled into his arms in quiet surrender.
After firming up the contract with Marina and deepening the impression he'd left in her heart, Hayashi Maki carried her back to her room to rest—then returned to Airi's.
The blonde beauty was bundled under the covers. Without a moment's hesitation, he leaned down and kissed her cherry-red lips.
Unlike Marina, Airi blinked awake at his closeness, realized last night hadn't been a dream, and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck with a playful snuggle.
Unlike her conservative sister, she was the type who, once she liked someone, would devote herself wholeheartedly—and she was open and affectionate. Airi clearly didn't dislike this handsome demon onii-chan; in fact, she liked him and was grateful he had saved her the night before.
Just thinking of that perverted stepfather Akizuki Kouzou made her want to retch. Because Hayashi Maki had appeared, that nightmare hadn't happened to her—so she felt very warmly toward him. So what if he was a demon? Some people put on the mask of a gentleman while being worse than a demon inside.
A little while later, Hayashi Maki patted the two sisters on the head, exchanged phone numbers and other contact info, and left—he'd only slipped out for a bit and still had to get to school.
Watching the direction he'd gone, Marina's cheeks stayed pink. She couldn't help calling to her sister.
"Airi… don't you have anything you want to say?"
"Eh? Say what? That onii-chan is super handsome?"
"Airi~! A lady should be reserved… You… I… Sigh. How can you be so calm after everything that happened?"
And she looked like she really liked him, too…
Remembering certain moments from earlier, Marina's face burned even hotter.
Seeing her sister at a loss, Airi hugged Marina's arm and nuzzled her cheek against it before speaking:
"Dummy sis, what's done is done—you can't take it back. Why not try accepting it?"
"Hehe. Besides, one look at Hayashi Maki and you can tell he's no ordinary person. He's so handsome and stylish and… so capable. Airi doesn't dislike him at all."
"And if it weren't for him, that creep Kouzou would've gotten his way, right? Sis, have you thought about what we would've become if that really happened?"
"Mm… that…"
At the thought, Marina shook her head hard. "No. That absolutely must never happen!"
Airi laughed, hugging her sister with a little whine. "See? Deep down you know it too."
"Demon-san is so gentle—being by his side feels super safe. Sis, you'd better think about how to win his heart, or who's going to protect us?"
"Mmm… I'm grateful to him, but… it all happened too fast. We barely know each other and then… that… It's so shameless!"
Marina still couldn't fully accept it. Her reserve and sense of modesty wouldn't let her so quickly accept the idea of belonging to Hayashi Maki together with her sister.
Her vision of her future partner had always been two people with mutual feelings spending time together, helping each other in everyday life, learning each other's gentleness, growing in sync—then naturally confirming a relationship, maybe holding hands a little… and only giving herself completely on their wedding day.
Watching her sister tangle herself up, Airi couldn't help rolling her eyes.
"What's so shameful? You were clearly happy too. Last night it was supposed to be my turn, and you wouldn't let go of onii-chan, leaving Airi miserable."
"Ah—no, that's not… he was the one holding onto me… Airi, how can you say that?"
"Hee-hee, whatever. It is what it is. Worrying about 'how to get along with Maki-kun' isn't as useful as figuring out how we hide Mom from the truth about that scumbag stepdad."
At that, Marina finally remembered that Hayashi Maki had turned the pervert to ash last night. Her face went pale and she fumbled her hands.
"What do we do? If Mom finds out what that man was, she'll be heartbroken."
Airi hugged her sister close and blinked. "Then let's not tell her. After a while we'll put up a missing-person notice and just treat him as having disappeared. We'll mind our own business."
And what should students do?
Go to and from school like normal, celebrate youth, and study hard.
Marina sighed softly. "I guess that's all we can do."
Their mother had already endured one failed marriage. She had finally married a "gentleman" again—if she learned that "gentleman" was a monster, who knows how devastated she'd be?
In the end, the sisters decided to act as if they hadn't seen Akizuki Kouzou at all and wait for their mother to notice he'd gone missing on her own. When she grieved, all they could do was be there as daughters and comfort her.
One way or another, life has to go on.
The world is better off with one less "Oni ChiChi."
At least for Airi and Marina, it's a good thing.
~~~
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