Shiba Kaien was suddenly reminded of something Emiya Shirō had once said, he was going to woo his little sister. Back then, he might've brushed it off as a joke. But now? Seeing Shirō not only recognize Kukaku by name but clearly having looked into her, he panicked. This guy's definitely up to something shady!
"Kukaku, what's wrong?" she asked softly from behind her brother.
"Nothing. These people are dangerous. Go hide inside!" Kaien said firmly.
"Dangerous? Come on, Kukaku, come here, sit next to me!" Yoruichi patted the spot beside her invitingly.
Kukaku peeked around her brother's side, her big eyes studying Yoruichi.
"No way. If you follow her, you'll be corrupted for life!" Kaien pulled Kukaku protectively behind him.
"Kaien, come on, we're all old schoolmates here. Your sister is like my little sister too. Hey there, Kukaku! Big brother brought you candy~" Shirō said, pulling a candy out of nowhere.
Like all kids, Kukaku's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the candy, though technically, it was her eyes, not her heart, that betrayed her.
"No way! That guy's the most dangerous of all!" Kaien snapped. "If you want candy, I'll buy you some later!"
To her credit, Kukaku was a well-behaved child. She didn't whine or throw a tantrum for the candy. She simply looked at Shirō and blinked curiously, as if wondering what exactly made him "dangerous."
"And this guy," Kaien added, pointing to Byakuya, who had been silent the entire time, "if you hang around him too much, you'll forget how to talk! So that's three people you need to stay far away from. Got it?"
Kukaku nodded obediently.
"Stay away from them?" Kaien seemed to have forgotten that one of these "people" had never played by the rules.
Yoruichi vanished and reappeared behind Kukaku in a flash, arms already reaching out to scoop her up.
But Kaien wasn't like young Byakuya, he was a once-in-a-century genius. He instinctively pivoted and delivered a precise kick that launched Yoruichi clean across the courtyard.
"Shirō!" she shouted mid-air.
Shirō popped up beside Kukaku instantly and, before Kaien could react, picked her up in his arms. Kaien hesitated, he couldn't risk hurting his little sister, which left him unable to attack.
Two against one, and both of them Shunpo experts? Even Kaien couldn't protect Kukaku under those circumstances.
"Big Brother!" Kukaku cried. After all, Shirō was a stranger to her, being carried off was scary.
"Put my sister down!" Kaien yelled.
"Haha! Shirō, I'll hold him off, go, get Kukaku out of here!" Yoruichi grinned wickedly.
Without a word, Shirō vanished with a Shunpo.
"Damn it!" Kaien roared. "Yoruichi! Stop playing around! You do know he's got bad intentions, right?! I can't let them be alone together!"
"Oh? What makes you say that?" Yoruichi asked innocently, still blocking Kaien's way.
"He said it himself, he said he was going to hit on my sister! Byakuya was there too!" Kaien accused.
Yoruichi turned to Byakuya, who was still sitting with that aloof expression. The boy nodded.
"He did say that. Though, he also said he wanted to hit on my sister too… and I don't even have one."
"See? It was clearly just a joke," Yoruichi said, shrugging.
"Oh really? Then why does he know her name without being told? Clearly he's been planning this!" Kaien snapped.
"Well… Kukaku's still so young," Yoruichi offered.
"That's exactly why I'm worried!" Kaien shouted.
"Hm… good point," Yoruichi said, rubbing her chin. Then she shrugged again. "But, well… he's already gone. No idea where."
This woman is seriously the worst…
"Damn him! I swear I won't let him get away with this!!!" Kaien roared at the sky.
Meanwhile…
"There, there, don't cry! I'm not a bad guy!" Shirō was doing his best to calm down the tearful Kukaku.
"Waaah! I wanna go home! I want my big brother!" she sobbed.
"Hey, I can be your big brother too! My name's Emiya Shirō. You can call me Brother Shirō!" he said shamelessly.
"Waaah…"
"Okay, okay. I'm a noble, you know! Do you know what that means? It means I'm a gentleman! And gentlemen are always kind to ladies!"
"Really?" Kukaku peeked up at him, her tear-streaked face unbearably pitiful.
"Of course! Here, see? I brought you candy. If that's not gentlemanly, what is?"
Kukaku stared at the candy longingly but didn't reach for it.
"Don't worry, no one else is watching," Shirō coaxed.
Still, she didn't move. Clearly, her upbringing was better than Shirō had given her credit for.
Seeing that, he unwrapped the candy and…
"Open up!"
Before she could resist, he popped the candy into her mouth.
Thankfully, she didn't spit it out.
"Is it good?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Is it sweet?"
"Mm-hmm." Another nod. Finally, she stopped crying.
Shirō gently wiped her cheeks dry.
"There we go. Now let's go have some fun! I'll buy you more candy, okay?"
Ah, kids. So easy to distract. In no time, she'd completely forgotten Kaien's warnings.
Come to think of it, Kukaku wasn't that much younger than Byakuya, yet she was so much easier to fool. Then again… if Byakuya were really that sharp, would he have ended up dragged all the way from the Kuchiki estate to Rukongai?
"Brother Shirō, what's that on your hand? Are you hurt?" Kukaku suddenly asked.
Shirō glanced at the command seal on the back of his hand.
"Oh, this? It's a tattoo. Looks cool, right?"
"Yeah, really pretty," she said sincerely.
"Wow, so Kukaku likes tattoos, huh?" Shirō crouched down beside her.
"Uh-huh. It's beautiful!"
"Well, how about you get one too? Since your name's Kukaku, how about getting the character for 'Kū' tattooed?" Shirō suggested.
If Kaien saw this scene now, he'd lose his mind.
This guy is seriously trying to convince a little girl to get a tattoo?!
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150 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter