Feeling the warm softness on her cheek, the girl a moment later stepped back, her hands clasped behind her back, her gaze turned to the side, not daring to meet Nakano Yu's eyes.
"Th-This is just to thank you. Yu liked this when he was little, right…"
As if trying to hide her stirred emotions, or perhaps to find an excuse for herself, Nino murmured, her voice growing quieter and quieter, until it could barely be heard.
Watching Nakano Nino trying to save face, Nakano Yu touched his own cheek and smiled helplessly.
When they were little, all five of them were somewhat silly girls with no sense of boundaries between genders; such things didn't interest them at all, but now…
Well, whatever. In any case, he loses nothing. As for what Nino thinks, let it be.
"Come on, let's go home."
"Mmm!"
"By the way, I didn't get to finish cooking today. How about when we get home we just eat sauerkraut?"
"Yuck~ No way! Yu, hurry home and cook!"
"Are you ordering me around?"
…
Joking and teasing, the two of them quickly exited the alley and returned home.
The Nakano residence was located in an extremely prosperous central part of Tokyo, on the top floor of a luxury apartment building. This alone spoke to Nakano Maruo's financial power, as Japan was small, and every inch of land was extremely valuable.
However, although Nakano Maruo was wealthy, he was not among the very top of Tokyo.
After all, Tokyo had four major zaibatsu, and the Shinomiya Financial Group, at the very top, had financial power comparable to a small country.
Of course, in Nakano Yu's eyes, money was just a number. For him, who could kill gods, money held little value. Instead, divine artifacts, sacred relics, and similar things interested him.
After all, relying on the cursed system to complete tasks and gain authorities, Nakano Yu was far more interested in seeing if Heretic Gods existed in this world. If he could really summon those gods using divine artifacts or sacred relics as a medium, then…
He could truly experience a battle where gods are slain.
"Hey, about today's incident, should I keep it a secret from Yu?"
Riding the elevator, just as they were approaching the top floor, Nino suddenly spoke, looking at Nakano Yu with her deep blue eyes and asking.
Nakano Yu, who had been thinking about what to prepare for dinner, hearing Nino's question, returned to himself, turned his head, and met her gaze. Seeing her unexpectedly serious expression, the young man, who had thought it was nothing special, also adopted a serious attitude:
"No, there's nothing in the family that needs to be hidden."
Hearing that, the girl looked into those beautiful purple-jade eyes and after a short hesitation carefully said:
"Then, then shall I tell Ichika and the others?"
"Go ahead, what's there to hide?"
Nakano Yu shrugged indifferently.
Now that Shirai had been destroyed by his hand, even if Ichika and the others learned about Shirai's story and name, nothing would happen. Moreover, even if Nino told them, Ichika and the others would probably only see it as a story.
After all, they were several solid materialists, except for Yotsuba, who might be silly enough to believe it.
Seeing Nakano Yu like that, Nino relaxed. Today's events were far too fantastic to tell anyone, she would surely go crazy. Furthermore, Nino did not want to hide anything from Ichika and the others.
"Ding!"
The elevator reached the top floor with a clear bell sound, and then the doors opened.
Since the entire top floor belonged to the Nakano family, the elevator opened directly into the apartment, and exiting the elevator meant entering the Nakano home.
"Nino, you're back. Hm? Yu, when did you go out?"
As soon as the elevator doors opened, a girl with long, loose hair, bangs covering one eye, wearing a white nightgown, holding a tray of fruit, and looking eighty percent like Nino, spoke with slight surprise.
That girl was none other than the third daughter of the Nakano Five Sisters — Nakano Miku.
"I went out earlier to finish something and happened to run into Nino, so we came back together. Miku, is that the melon you cut?"
Seeing Miku, Nakano Yu explained, then entered the genkan to change shoes.
"Mmm, Yu just went out to exorcise something."
Nino also added at just the right moment, and after saying that, carefully observed Nakano Yu's expression. Seeing that her adopted younger brother really wasn't upset about it, she relaxed.
However, when Nino and Miku's eyes met, Nino noticed Miku's gaze, as if Miku were looking at an idiot.
"…Mi-Miku, what kind of look is that?"
Being looked at that way made Nino feel uncomfortable all over, as if Miku had some big misunderstanding about her. Trembling, Nino directly asked.
"No, nothing. I just didn't expect Nino to have… a chuunibyou side."
Lowering her complicated gaze, Miku said with a strange sigh in her voice. After that, she took a piece of melon with a toothpick and brought it to Nakano Yu's mouth.
"Mmm, thank you, Miku."
Changing his shoes, Nakano Yu naturally ate the melon, the fruity aroma exploding in his mouth, making the young man look satisfied.
"You're welcome."
Looking at Nakano Yu, Miku showed a sweet smile, a smile sweeter than the melon in Nakano Yu's mouth.
"Nino, do you want a piece?"
Pulling the tray of fruit, Miku turned and asked Nino.
"No, no need."
Biting her lip, Nino waved her hand and said no.
Miku, having been refused, said nothing, just nodded and turned to go to the living room.
After Miku left, Nino approached Nakano Yu, her face showing a slightly angry expression, and asked:
"Yu! Did you already know that Miku and the others wouldn't believe me? Did you hide it on purpose to watch me embarrass myself?"
"I swear, I never thought about that. Besides, didn't Nino look at me the same way before?"
Hearing that, Nakano Yu wanted to cry, but without tears. He had already confessed everything to the Five Sisters long ago. Back then, they were still young and thought he watched too much TV, even starting to limit his screen time.
And as for Nino… honestly, Nakano Yu assumed the other four sisters still wouldn't believe it, but the key was that Nino didn't even ask!
Looking at Nakano Yu for a long time, Nino eventually suspiciously stood up and said:
"Ah, forget it, Yu, you're not a sly type like Ichika. Come on, I'm hungry."
"Alright, alright."
With that, they both changed their shoes. Nino carried the dessert box into the living room, while Nakano Yu went straight to the kitchen.
After all, it was already quite late. If he didn't make dinner soon, Itsuki might start nibbling raw cabbage from the fridge.
While Nakano Yu was busy cooking, in the living room Nino sat with a serious expression facing the other four sisters.
The girl with short hair, wearing a beige hoodie, long slender white legs crossed over the sofa, eating melon, looked at Nino and asked:
"Nino, why are you so serious? What happened?"
The name of that girl was Nakano Ichika, the eldest of the Five Sisters. To Ichika's left sat Miku, whom they had just seen at the entrance, and to the right were two girls who resembled Nino.
The one looking at Nino with a serious expression was the fourth sister — Yotsuba.
And the other girl, looking longingly toward the kitchen, was the youngest and hungriest of the Five Sisters, Itsuki.
"What I'm about to say is very serious. You must believe me."
Taking a deep breath, Nino said.
"Mmm hmm, go ahead."
Biting a piece of melon, Ichika nodded.
"Yu, he… is a psychic!"