At Arthur's place, in the living room.
"Let her go."
After listening to Tohru's explanation, Arthur said it casually.
"Alright."
Tohru nodded, raised her right hand, and a red magic circle flashed in front of her palm. The binding spell wrapped around Shuzen Kokoa vanished at once.
The moment the seal was undone…
Shuzen Kokoa's legs went weak and she almost plopped onto the floor. Luckily her reaction was quick; she spun her yōkai power and steadied herself.
"Uh… (⊙o⊙)…"
Being stared at by eight eyes at the same time, Shuzen Kokoa instantly became very, very well-behaved.
She blinked her aqua-green eyes.
Her expression said: I'm innocent.
A smart person knows when they're outmatched.
She'd just tried to ambush Akashiya Moka and got swatted down by Tohru like it was nothing, then got sealed with one move — she knew the gap now.
Her eyes rolled once.
She swept a look over Tohru, over her two elder sisters Akashiya Moka and Shuzen Ya'ai… then finally looked at Arthur.
Obviously, he was the one in charge here.
When she looked at him, she didn't even know why, but she felt like he had this really nice smell on him — and she suddenly kind of wanted to drink blood.
Meeting her eyes, Arthur smiled.
"Alright, talk. Your father sent you six days ago to look for Moka. Why'd you only show up today?"
Tohru and Akashiya Moka, who didn't know the inside story yet, just blinked and watched.
"You met my father?"
Shuzen Kokoa was surprised. Then she couldn't help guessing:
"Are you… someone my father sent to find me?"
"You really like to guess, huh."
Arthur chuckled.
"So I was right?"
"Nope."
Arthur smiled again. "Your father did ask me to look for you, but I'm not his subordinate."
"Then what are you?"
Shuzen Kokoa frowned slightly.
"I'm your brother-in-law."
"Hah? My brother-in-law?"
She froze.
Then she looked at Akashiya Moka… and then at Shuzen Ya'ai.
"Which sister?"
Arthur raised a brow, smiling. "Why can't it be both?"
"Hah— what did you just say?"
Shuzen Kokoa's eyes widened.
She looked at her two sisters again.
Akashiya Moka's cheeks flushed; she smiled and nodded.
Shuzen Ya'ai also nodded lightly.
"!!!"
Shuzen Kokoa's pupils shook. She was dumbfounded.
She really thought she was dreaming.
Are you kidding me?!
Both of her sisters actually liked the same guy?!
And they were okay with the three of them being together?!
"Wait, and she is… what to you?"
Her gaze slid to Tohru and she asked.
Arthur's mouth curved. "Same as your two sisters."
"∑(っД;)っ"
Shuzen Kokoa was stunned.
No way… this guy's that much of a playboy?
The worst part was… her two sisters were fine with it.
What kind of charm did this guy have?
She couldn't help getting curious.
So she stared at Arthur and looked him over carefully.
Hmm. A little handsome.
Okay — super handsome.
Handsome enough that even she felt a little moved.
Tall, straight, long legs.
Looked like he had a great figure.
And he had that inexplicable scent she really, really liked.
He'd just popped out of nowhere earlier.
So his strength had to be crazy high, too.
Looked at like that, having a few more partners didn't seem impossible.
After all… their dad didn't only have one either.
Shuzen Ya'ai noticed Kokoa staring at Arthur in a thoughtful way and her heart moved. She suddenly thought of something.
…No way, right?
She looked at Arthur.
He didn't look particularly interested in Shuzen Kokoa.
Her eyes flickered.
Whether Kokoa could become "another kind" of sister to her and Moka…
Would depend on Arthur's attitude.
If Arthur agreed…
Then the three sisters staying together forever didn't sound so bad.
"Why are you staring at me?"
Arthur asked when she kept staring at his face, and he smiled at her.
Pulled back to reality, Shuzen Kokoa's cheeks flushed. She coughed lightly.
"No, nothing. I just zoned out."
Then she turned to Akashiya Moka, her expression getting complicated.
"What is it?"
Moka smiled gently at her.
Shuzen Kokoa looked at the cross on her chest.
"Did your Rosario ever get taken off?"
"Mhm." Moka nodded with a smile.
"It was him, right?"
Kokoa looked at Arthur.
Moka nodded again.
Kokoa reached out and grabbed the sealing cross.
She tugged.
…Nothing happened.
She didn't take it off.
Still no good…
Disappointment flashed in her eyes.
She let go of the cross and looked at the four of them.
"My father sent me to look for Moka-sis. If the cross had been removed, I was supposed to bring her back."
"You don't need to worry about that part," Arthur said with a smile.
"Why?"
Shuzen Kokoa tilted her head.
"We just came back from the Shuzen estate," Shuzen Ya'ai said. "It's handled."
On the way to the Shuzen estate earlier, Arthur had already given her a quick rundown of Moka's situation.
Like how Moka would inherit the True Ancestor's power.
And how, once she awakened, she'd be able to release Alucard's seal.
No wonder Fujisaki Miyabi had wanted her brought to the human world.
"It's… handled?"
Kokoa blinked.
After a short pause, she said, "Since that's the case, I'll go back first."
She turned to leave.
...
Even though she really wanted to stay with Akashiya Moka — no, with Inner Moka — it just didn't feel right.
Because her Moka-sis… was already someone else's.
Even Ya'ai-sis was.
In this place, she was the "outsider."
"Kokoa…"
Moka hesitated, then smiled and asked:
"Do you want to stay a few days?"
"Eh, stay?"
Kokoa's heart jumped with joy — but on the surface she pretended to be calm.
She glanced at Arthur, then at Moka. "Here?"
Moka looked at Arthur with expectation. "Xiao-Bai, is that okay?"
"Sure."
Arthur smiled and nodded.
"Great!"
Moka's face bloomed with delight.
Kokoa's eyes lit up too, and she couldn't help smiling.
But the next second, she remembered something, quickly reined it in, and said in a deliberately casual way:
"In that case, I'll stay in the human world a few more days."
"I was actually planning to go back."
Yep. She had a bit of tsundere in her.
"Alright, you guys talk. I'm heading into the Fog Realm to take care of something."
Seeing the scene settle, Arthur said it with a smile.
"Okay…"
Tohru and the others answered.
Arthur summoned the Mist Gate and stepped into the Fog Realm.
Just now, the Compendium of All Things had sent him a prompt.
The collection progress had hit 100%.
He could claim a mystery gift pack.
So of course he was going to check it.
He'd planned to deal with Alucard after coming back anyway.
Perfect — he could do both now.
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