Just then, Kayoko returned home—and heard Airi singing upstairs.
She couldn't help looking up. She didn't even have time to change out of her OL uniform before heading straight to the bedroom.
The moment Kayoko saw Marina tied up and wriggling on the floor, her expression completely collapsed.
She understood the whole story instantly, then walked over with a smile.
"Airi, you're getting bolder and bolder," Kayoko said, sounding like she was scolding her. "But tying up your own sister is wrong, you know? I can't just stand by and do nothing~"
That's what she said… but after licking her lips, her gaze slid straight onto Takumi.
Marina's eating alone earlier had already left Kayoko with some grievances. Now was the perfect chance to collect everything back—with interest—and conveniently talk business with Takumi about funding and taking an equity stake.
She had experience now. If she handled it herself, she'd definitely operate things better than last time.
Kayoko's arrival completely shattered the stalemate.
Seeing the situation spin out of her control, Airi's legs trembled—but she made a decision. She grit her teeth and untied Marina.
"Big Sis, Mom's the worst," Airi said, voice shaking with indignation. "She spends all day showing off her investing skills. I'm not mad anymore—so help me take her down!"
As she spoke, Airi grabbed Marina's hand and started acting cute, clinging to her.
Drip. Drip.
Tears fell onto the floor. Marina sighed helplessly.
"Airi… ngh. Fine."
Her face still flushed bright red, Marina ultimately agreed.
Now she truly understood how awful Airi had felt before. Having felt it herself, Marina chose to forgive her.
Outside the window, the rain grew heavier, swallowing up every sound.
…
Meanwhile, Karin, newly moved into the apartment building, sat on the couch and looked around at the lavish décor, unable to stop herself from admiring it.
After hesitating for a while, she messaged her former agency.
If she wanted to make money, she needed to return to the entertainment industry.
But the reply made Karin's heart sink. She had been fully fired.
They had judged she no longer had commercial value, so they abandoned her. They also told her to come by as soon as possible and take the belongings she'd left at the agency.
Reading that message, Karin hugged her knees and curled helplessly into the corner of the couch.
…
Under Takumi's direct intervention, the Akizuki family finally became harmonious again.
All three of them wore delighted smiles, and the gap between them had vanished.
"No matter what, she's still your sister," Takumi said, lifting a hand and lightly tapping Airi's cheek. "You can't keep acting like you did earlier."
Airi, half-dazed as she came to, immediately started cleaning on instinct.
After she cleaned it spotless—so glossy it looked like it could reflect light—she let out a soft whimper.
"Airi~~ got it~~~ As long as Big Sis doesn't steal from Airi~ Airi won't do that again…"
Right now, Airi was so obedient she was like a little kitten.
Takumi turned and pinched Marina's dough-soft cheeks too, warning her, "You heard that, right? Don't be selfish again like before—no more hogging everything for yourself, okay~?"
"Mmm… I understand, Takumi-kun," Marina whimpered, then buried her face deep into the pillow.
Kayoko smiled and pulled both sisters into her arms.
Takumi looked at the peaceful, sweet scene in front of him—and didn't disturb it further.
…
He returned alone to the neighboring house, cooked dinner, and then went to feed the girls still lying on the bed.
After merging with the Divine Envoy chess piece and drinking the divine wine, their level of life had already evolved.
Food wasn't really important to them anymore.
But habits were habits—and more importantly, Takumi was personally feeding them.
Asia and the others looked blissfully happy, taking small bites and finishing all of Takumi's juice.
Asia's expression, though, carried a hint of guilt.
"Takumi-san… Asia's ability is really too weak. I… I didn't do anything like in the game…"
Her cheeks burned red, and her voice became so soft it was nearly inaudible.
Takumi rubbed her head, smiling helplessly, then shot a sharp glare at Yuki Suou and Maria in the corner.
"Asia, you did great. Don't listen to them spouting nonsense!"
"They weren't spouting nonsense," Asia said, fingers intertwined as she tried to steady herself. "Yuki and Maria… they told me a lot, and taught me a lot."
Asia still didn't take Takumi's words in.
She looked up at him—at the way he stood tall—and then spoke softly, earnestly, with that pure, innocent face:
"T-Takumi… can you let Asia help you again? I'll do better this time, I really will~~"
Takumi stared down at Asia's completely earnest expression as she said something that dangerous—and the calm he'd finally regained nearly shattered on the spot.
He silently nodded, granting Asia's kind offering.
It was also thanks to the fact that Asia had been too inexperienced earlier—so Takumi had held back. That was the only reason she could still move.
As for Mio, who'd taken the full maximum output… she was still asleep, with no sign of waking up.
After feeding Asia and the others one by one again, Takumi packed part of the dinner into bento boxes.
He'd cooked a lot, so he filled two boxes in one go.
"I was going to eat a bit myself," Takumi muttered, "but Kurogi is doing a candlelight dinner. I'll bring these to Karin—no point wasting food."
He looked toward the apartment building.
Senjogahara and Karin, both living there now, were completely transparent to him—he could see their movements clearly.
Senjogahara seemed to be planning a surprise, deliberately not telling him.
As for Karin, her mood looked… pretty low.
Takumi decided to go check on her.
…
On the way, he casually searched Karin's related news again.
The new results made his expression hard to keep straight.
The first thing that popped up was news about Karin terminating her contract with her former agency.
That wasn't the main issue.
The issue was the headlines below it—claiming Karin had already died.
Some said she'd been crushed by rebar. Some said a traffic accident. Some said suicide.
And among those "death" reports, one of them even included a photo of twisted, deformed steel at a construction site—steel that was obviously the same stuff Takumi had just punched away earlier.
That reporter even posted photos of Karin heading to the construction site.
Clearly, the reporter had secretly tailed Karin and snapped a few shots.
Combined with the earlier image, it was genuinely hard for outsiders to tell what was real and what wasn't.
If Takumi didn't know Karin was safely in his apartment building, he might've believed she'd actually died.
The situation made him recall how plenty of celebrities in his memory had been falsely rumored dead.
The one that stuck with him most was Hiroshi Nagano—a flood of died in a car crash news back then.
Then years later, people checked again and… the guy was living perfectly fine.