The Little Fox and the Sister’s Quarrel

I don’t know her!

Clutching Anna’s clothes as if they were a lifeline, Chloe fixed a wary gaze upon the strange woman.

After a quick glance, Anna recognized the woman as one of the notorious ‘sea kings’—a type who frequented such establishments to pick up girls, often with a different one each night.

This kind of behavior was hardly considered respectable in their circles.

Yet, as a customer, the woman’s lifestyle was not for Anna to judge.

Therefore, Anna could only address her with polite firmness. “This child is my younger sister, far too young for such interactions. Please, find someone else. Our establishment boasts many other charming girls.”

Hearing this, the woman cast a discerning look at Chloe.

She had initially taken her for a ‘legal loli,’ but now wondered if she was truly just a child after all.

Her interest abruptly vanished, and the woman, visibly deflated, rose and walked away.

Just as suddenly, she turned back to Anna, that saccharine smile gracing her lips once more. “Miss Server, what about you? Might you perhaps…”

“I have a girlfriend.”

“Ah, a prized bloom already claimed, I see~”

Rebuffed twice in quick succession, the woman rolled her eyes and idly picked at her nails. “Well, at least she’s gone to bother someone else now.”

“You have a girlfriend, Big Sister Anna~”

With the woman gone, Chloe settled back into her seat, a palpable sense of relief washing over her. She leaned on the table, smiling faintly as she spooned orange juice into her mouth, a slight grimace betraying her efforts to tolerate its somewhat peculiar taste.

How did she end up with another “big sister”? She already had a real one, though that sister might not even recognize her now.

“Must you tease me so? Was it so difficult to call me ‘Big Sister’ when I rescued this little fox from her admirers?” Anna settled into her own seat, propping her chin in her hands as she fixed her gaze on Chloe.

“No, I’d rather not. Everyone who gets involved with me meets with misfortune.”

As if a dark memory had resurfaced, Chloe took an impassive, large gulp of orange juice. Despite its tolerable taste, the sheer quantity made her features scrunch up in a comical grimace.

“What’s with that expression? I didn’t grab the wrong drink, did I? You’re drinking orange juice as if it were hard liquor.”

Anna’s brow furrowed in confusion at Chloe’s peculiar reaction.

“It’s too sour.”

“Want me to add some sugar?”

“No need…”

Chloe wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then, imitating Anna, propped her own cheeks with her hands. Yet, her face was rounder, her small mouth pushed into an adorable pout.

After a brief exchange of glances with Anna, she averted her eyes, her pupils darting sideways.

“By the way, what did you mean about everyone involved with you meeting misfortune? I don’t believe in such superstitions, you know.”

“That has nothing to do with you…”

“Oh~ So what were you doing, running off to such a remote place all by yourself? Was a magical girl on a mission to fight monsters? Hehe~”

“That has nothing to do with you.”

Anna found herself immediately perplexed. This little girl was so utterly closed off; prying anything from her lips proved impossible.

Anna freed a hand to gently stroke the girl’s soft, golden hair, surprised when Chloe offered no resistance. The girl merely shot her a brief glance before turning her gaze elsewhere once more.

“I bet you had a fight with someone.”

“No!”

Chloe’s eyes suddenly flashed with annoyance as she glared at Anna, shaking her head in a clear sign of displeasure, as though trying to dislodge Anna’s hand and unleash her pent-up frustration upon her.

“Hohoho~ Still saying no? Isn’t this practically an admission? Kids are just kids; they can’t hide anything.”

Anna’s lips curved into a teasing smirk as she idly stirred the golden liquid in the orange juice with her straw.

“I’m not a child!”

“You’re just a little sister!”

“You… you’re going to bully me too!”

Chloe, her anger flaring, made to stand and leave, only to be gently pressed back into her seat by the hand resting on her head.

“Who bullied you? Tell me, and I’ll help you bully them back!” Anna soothed Chloe with a tone typically reserved for coaxing small children.

How could this child possibly be bullied, especially with a formidable magical girl like Tia watching over her?

Anna’s curiosity was undeniably piqued.

Watching the girl’s trembling lips and tear-filled eyes, she found Chloe only more adorable, and an urge to tease her further, to prolong that charming expression, bloomed within her.

“Big Sister.”

“My sister bullies me, and you can’t beat her.”

Chloe pondered for a moment, then decided to confide under this more plausible guise.

Anna froze.

Given her previous observations of the two sisters’ ‘intimate interactions,’ it was difficult to fathom how that icy, aloof girl could possibly bully such a soft, yielding child.

If it were Tia, Anna wouldn’t shy away from a confrontation. However, Tia’s utterly strange and formidable demon-slaying power was indeed a thorny issue. Witches of equal standing found it impossible to gain even a slight advantage against her, forever fearing the incurable wounds her unquenchable flames could inflict.

“You’re a magical girl! What did she bully you about? Did she hit you or something?”

“Hmm… something a bit more extreme, perhaps?”

“Mmm-hmm~” Anna shifted in her seat, drawing closer to Chloe. “So, your sister did something truly awful to you, and you simply ran away by yourself? Late at night, wouldn’t she be worried?”

The conversation had once again veered to ‘that person,’ and Chloe felt an eruption of grievances building within her. She unreservedly used Anna as an emotional receptacle, continuously pouring out her indignation toward her ‘sister.’

She spoke voluminously for what felt like an eternity, so absorbed that she failed to notice the clock had silently advanced to one in the morning. The bar’s vibrant atmosphere persisted, its lively background providing the perfect, anonymous canvas for her emotional catharsis.

Anna, listening in quiet contemplation beside her, remained utterly silent throughout.

Once she discerned that Chloe’s words were merely an aimless torrent of emotion, devoid of any pertinent information, she ceased to earnestly register what was being said. Instead, her attention gravitated to the girl’s animated, small face, utterly astounded that such a petite mouth could articulate so much.

“You understand now, don’t you? She’s utterly shameless!” Chloe declared, exhaling a long breath after her final pronouncement. She took a sip of orange juice, feeling her entire being relax.

This felt fantastic! Knowing that one more person understood just how awful ‘that person’ was made her feel as though she finally had an ally. It was a sensation somewhat different from when Chloe had first met her, yet fundamentally similar.

The presence of a new comrade brought Chloe immense solace.

While others typically revered Tia as a legendary magical girl, an untouchable snow lotus, Chloe harbored a vastly different image of her. This disparity fueled Chloe’s intense desire to expose everything to the world, to make everyone see Tia for who she truly was!

“Hmm, it seems the little fox’s sister is quite important to the little fox.”

“Right… What?! Why would you think that?!” Chloe genuinely couldn’t fathom how, after all her vehement complaints, Anna could draw such an utterly mistaken conclusion. Her large eyes brimmed with bewilderment.

“I don’t know; it’s just my intuition after listening to you.”

“Sigh, so do you have any suggestions? Perhaps you could help me devise the best way to get revenge on her?”

“That’s a matter between the little fox and her sister. As an outsider, I shouldn’t meddle… Hey, how did the little fox’s doll get broken? Wasn’t it perfectly fine before?”

During their conversation, Anna had meticulously scrutinized every inch of Chloe, and naturally, the doll with its single dangling eye had not escaped her sharp gaze.

“I don’t know, maybe it rubbed against something…” Chloe picked up Zhitang, a worried frown creasing her brow as she examined its eye. She poked it with her index finger, attempting to press the button eye back into place, but the moment she released it, it sprang right back out.

“Sigh, I was hoping to find someone to sew it for me.”

“I’ll sew it for you.”

“Eh? You know how to do that, Anna?”

“A little bit. Sewing on a single eye isn’t too difficult.”

“Hmm… then I’ll entrust it to you.”

Having left the sisters’ table in disappointment, the Female Customer retreated to a more densely populated section of the bar.

In a dimly lit corner, her keen eyes immediately caught sight of a shapely young woman drinking alone, a melancholic aura surrounding her.

Her internal radar instantly flared to life.

She approached and settled into the seat beside her.

“Sister~ Drinking alone, are we?”

“Is there something you need?”

The young woman raised her head, a pair of violet eyes meeting the Female Customer’s gaze, seeming to pierce straight through her soul.