“Ah… I’m completely drenched!”
Shido grumbled, trudging heavily toward home.
Incidentally, his trousers were not only soaked but also badly soiled. This was because he had knelt in the muddy water earlier while retrieving a doll for a girl caught in the rain.
“……Hmm?”
A few minutes later, Shido reached his front door and was aligning his key with the lock when he frowned.
He grasped the doorknob and tried pulling it directly.
As expected, the door, which should have been locked when Shido left, swung open without resistance.
“Has Kotori finally come home, that girl?”
Sighing, Shido composed himself grimly.
Even though Shido knew Kotori was the commander of Ratatoskr, the organization dedicated to peacefully resolving Spirit issues, and was often busy for Tohka’s sake—though she still attended school as usual.
However, as her older brother, he absolutely had to chastise his younger sister for daring to stay out all night at such a young age.
“Hey, I’m home!”
Shido called out loudly before stepping inside.
He peeled off his rain-soaked shoes and socks, rolled up his pant legs, and then padded further into the house with squelching steps.
The sound of the television drifted from the living room; Kotori was likely watching it there.
However, Shido, in his current state, looked like a drowned rat and wasn’t exactly suitable to meet Kotori. It would be better to take a bath and change into clean clothes first.
With that thought, Shido changed course and headed toward the bathroom.
Stripping off all his clothes in the changing room, Shido, clutching only a bath towel, pulled open the bathroom door, and then…
“Oh, oh, oh, I knew Tohka’s skin was good, but you really only understand once you’ve touched it yourself!”
“Qianye~ Too hard~ Mmmph…”
“What’s this? We’re sharing our pleasure right now; I can feel your sensations too. If it’s really too much, then you touch mine too… Hmm?”
Just like that, Shido saw Qianye and Tohka, two beautiful girls, pressed intimately together.
“To… Tohka, and… Qianye?”
As Shido beheld their bodies, which could only be described as works of art, his retinas, optic nerves, and brain cells were instantly shocked, ignited, and seemed to explode.
For Shido to avert his gaze even slightly would have been a sacrilege against such divine beauty.
“Oh my? Shido truly is a natural-born harem protagonist; lucky pervert incidents just keep happening, don’t they!”
“……”
Finally, Tohka’s shoulders turned, and she looked at Shido.
“I-I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“E-Enough! G-Get out, quickly!”
“Guh!”
Shido took a straight punch from Tohka, collapsing backward onto the floor outside the changing room. Tohka, wasting no time, slammed the door shut.
“Oh dear, Tohka, why are you so flustered? It’s not like Shido hasn’t seen you before.”
“Qianye, this time is different from last time! Shido barged in without warning.”
“So what?”
“Ugh~ Anyway, if Shido wanted to see, he should have told me first so I could prepare myself mentally.”
The girls’ voices still drifted from behind the door. A moment later, the changing room door opened slightly, and Tohka peeked out, her face flushed crimson.
“Shido, next time, you absolutely must knock before entering. Even if you can’t hold it in, you should give a warning so I can prepare myself mentally.”
“I don’t mind, though. Isn’t being open with Shido a good thing, anyway?”
Qianye emerged alongside Tohka.
Incidentally, both Qianye and Tohka were clothed, but having just bathed, they were still a little damp, and their clothes were quite loose, leaving Shido unsure where to look.
However, that wasn’t the most crucial point. The most crucial point was…
“Shido, how long are you going to stay in this state? You’ll catch a cold.”
At Qianye’s reminder, Shido realized he was still soaking wet and only wrapped in a bath towel.
“While I don’t mind bathing together, you should go shower first!”
“I… I understand! I’m going now!”
****
“……Ahhh, excuse me, Shido-kun.”
Murasame Reine said this, wearing Shido’s mother’s pajamas, a scarf draped around her neck, and adding an excessive amount of sugar to her coffee.
“Re… Reine, what are you doing?”
“Hmm? Did I add too much sugar?”
“That’s not what I meant… though that’s also an issue.”
Shido couldn’t help but shout.
“Anyway, isn’t Tohka supposed to be living on the Fraxinus? And Qianye, why are you here too?”
“Because I’m like a stray cat, without a fixed abode, forced to stay at others’ houses. Now that my wandering is over, I had no choice but to return to my master.”
After speaking, Qianye put on a pitiful expression.
“So, Master, do you still wish for me to wander around again?”
“No, absolutely not!”
Before Shido could speak, Tohka interjected.
“Shido, you wouldn’t abandon Qianye, would you?”
Looking at Tohka’s large, amethyst-like eyes and Qianye’s heterochromatic eyes like rubies and emeralds, Shido could only say:
“Alright, alright, alright, Qianye can stay here.”
In truth, even if Tohka hadn’t said that, Shido wouldn’t have refused Qianye. After all, it would be too cruel to leave her to wander.
“But Tohka still needs to explain, right?”
“Ah, yes, she needs to explain! That’s how it should be!”
Reine rubbed her sleepy eyes as she muttered.
“Isn’t it simple to explain?”
Kotori pressed a finger to her soft cheek.
“Starting today, not just Tohka, but also Qianye, and any Spirits we might have to capture in the future, will all be living in our house.”