Thump. Thump. Thump!!
Maybe it was because her Snow Woman blood had awakened, but as Yukino prepared tea and pastries in the kitchen, she could hear her own heartbeat with perfect clarity.
Her thoughts were a tangled mess, but she still came back to the living room with a flushed little face.
What was coming was coming. After all, she had already more or less prepared herself for this.
Taking a deep breath, Yukino asked softly, "T-Takumi-kun... have you made any progress on my matter?"
"Whew... that's a long story."
"?"
Hearing him let out that long sigh, Yukino couldn't help feeling puzzled.
Then Takumi started telling her about everything he had been doing lately.
"I spent a ton of effort and wore myself out getting your mother to talk.
Sadly, she didn't know any more of the details, so all it did was make me waste a lot of energy for nothing."
"..."
Yukino listened obediently, nodding in confusion before asking, "How could my mother not know about this? She's the one who gave birth to me, isn't she?"
"She checked. You're her biological daughter. Besides, the two of you look that alike, so what exactly are you thinking?"
As he said the last part, Takumi's gaze drifted toward Yukino's slender figure, and he shook his head helplessly.
That tiny little motion was instantly caught by Yukino.
A wave of sullen irritation immediately welled up inside her.
What was that supposed to mean? Was he looking down on her figure!?
Yukino really wanted to snap at him, but the moment she thought about all the women Takumi knew—every last one of them overflowing with curves—her head lowered on its own.
And as for her mother, Yukino knew very well just how impressive Yukino's... no, Yukinoshita Fogino's proportions were.
"Clearly we're blood-related, so how did I end up like..."
Yukino couldn't help blaming her mother a little in her heart.
Still, she didn't dwell on that issue and quickly steadied herself.
After all, she wasn't the jealous type. At most, she just felt a little stifled and unhappy.
Then she kept listening, and when she heard Takumi talk about going into the snowy mountains to look for the Snow Woman clan, she unconsciously straightened her back.
As if to prove that he really had gone to the trouble for her, Takumi even pulled out a photo and showed it to her.
"Look, here's a picture of me with a Snow Woman."
"Mm... so that's a Snow Woman."
Looking at the exquisitely beautiful and icy woman in the photo, Yukino couldn't help murmuring in amazement.
But the more she listened, the more she realized something.
"After all that, there's still no answer about my background!"
"Ahem. That's the core issue—I couldn't find the answer."
"..."
Hearing the conclusion and realizing Takumi's efforts had effectively been "for nothing," Yukino suddenly felt like she'd been played.
But just as she was about to question him, Takumi abruptly leaned in, his face right in front of hers.
At that distance, she could even feel his breathing clearly.
"Mm..."
Yukino let out a tiny sound on instinct and tried to retreat half a step.
But Takumi's hand immediately slid around her slim waist, pulling her in and holding her right there.
"Yukino, I ran around for ages over this commission of yours. Even if I couldn't trace the root of your Snow Woman bloodline, I still handled plenty of the other details properly."
"You can't deny that, can you~?"
Meeting Takumi's eyes, Yukino's lashes trembled, and her voice softened without her meaning it to.
"Th-then what do you want?"
"You know, Yukino. You haven't forgotten the arrangement from last time, have you?"
Takumi's fingertip traced over her smooth cheek as he threw her that soul-searching question.
How could she possibly have forgotten?
Over the past few days, she had secretly taken it out again and again to try it on, only to shove it back into the closet in embarrassment.
At that thought, even Yukino's snow-white neck flushed a seductive pink.
The truth was, on some level, she had already known she wouldn't be able to refuse him. And so, in a fit of giving up, she muttered:
"All right, I haven't forgotten."
"Your personality really is rotten to the core, Takumi-kun."
"Let's get one thing straight—this is not me deliberately dressing up for you. I'm being forced, forced, understand?"
"A-and also... c-could you let go of me? At least let me go change first."
She started out sounding a little justified, even a little sharp-tongued, but the further she went, the weaker her voice became.
With her cheeks dyed red and her whole face full of shy embarrassment, every word out of her mouth sounded less like a complaint and more like sulky little flirting.
"I see. But before that..."
Takumi said the words, yet made no move at all to step back.
His gaze slid downward, settling on Yukino's perfectly shaped pink lips.
Sure, her figure lacked a little in certain areas, but that exquisitely delicate face of hers and that criminally adorable prettiness more than made up for it.
Not to mention she had both a mother and an older sister. In a certain sense, that was a bonus all on its own.
After all, when overflowing curves became the norm, a leaner body started feeling rare instead.
At that thought, the corner of Takumi's mouth curled upward.
"Before that, I'll collect a little interest first, Yukino."
"Eh? Mmph~~~"
The moment confusion flashed across Yukino's face, Takumi stole her first kiss.
The forceful way he took it made Yukino feel like she couldn't breathe.
She only struggled faintly for half a second before both hands quietly fell back down.
"I should reject him. Fight back. Scold him. He's obviously such a horrible man... that's what I should do... but..."
Yukino was torn apart inside, as if she had fallen into a swamp. The harder she struggled, the deeper she sank.
All the countless thoughts flashing through her mind finally melted into a single instinctive response—yielding to him.
She had no idea how much time passed before she suddenly realized she could breathe again.
Her lingering human instinct made her quickly suck in a few breaths of air.
Her dazed, misty eyes opened a little and met Takumi's gaze.
Only then did Yukino recover a sliver of clarity.
Nibbling lightly on her lip, she shot Takumi a resentful little glare.
"You've already gone this far, and you still have to keep teasing me. You really are a twisted, emotionally warped person."
"Surprises are what make the heart race, aren't they?
And after all this, haven't you learned what happens when you keep acting tough?"
Takumi smiled faintly and pinched her soft pale cheek.
As expected of a Snow Woman-human hybrid—her skin was crystal-clear, and the feel of it was unbelievably good.
The moment Takumi warned her like that, Yukino immediately lowered her head in shy silence.
Seeing her become so obedient, Takumi naturally let her go off to the bedroom.
Once inside, Yukino looked at her own flushed face in the mirror and almost couldn't bear to.
"How did I get this weak? He did something like that to me... and I don't hate it at all. I even... kind of liked it."
"No, these definitely aren't my true feelings. I just want to pay him back, that's all."
"I'm a strong girl. Everyone says so. I'm supposed to be one too."
Yukino murmured to herself in the mirror, and the shy look on her face gradually faded.
But the second she opened her closet and saw that cute hollowed-out lace catgirl outfit, she broke all over again.
Even just putting it on for herself had been enough to make her want to die from embarrassment.
And now she was actually going to wear it for someone else—worse, wear it for Takumi to see.
"Whatever. It was bought for this in the first place."
Gritting her teeth and stomping one foot, Yukino shut her eyes tight and changed into it.
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.
Read 50+ chapters ahead on Patreon! [patreon .c om/METARLN]