Maybe Ryuichi was right — neither Sakurajima Mai nor Toyohama Kazuka could find the words to refute him.
Ryuichi didn't know what exactly had happened between the two sisters, so he didn't press further. Since Mai's family situation was a bit complicated, it wouldn't be proper for him to hang around too long. After finishing dinner and helping to wash the dishes, he stood up to leave.
Mai rose to see him out.
"Did your sister say when she's going back?" he asked quietly after they'd walked a short distance from the doorway.
"Not yet," Mai replied, sighing. "She had a fight with her mom, so she ran away and came to stay with me."
Mai looked helpless as she said it.
That kid had always admired her — practically saw her as a role model. And thanks to that influence, Kazuka had followed in her footsteps and started down the path of being an idol too.
Ryuichi frowned slightly. Another mother-daughter feud, another young idol… wasn't that just like Mai all over again?
With someone as dazzling as Sakurajima Mai standing before her, Kazuka must have felt enormous pressure. Probably crushing, actually.
Mai's talent and aura spoke for themselves — catching up to someone like her couldn't be easy. If Kazuka was really trying to compete, she was bound to get bruised by that comparison sooner or later.
Ryuichi pressed his lips together, choosing not to say it aloud. Mai was sharp; she had surely realized all this already.
"Well then," he murmured with a grin, "I'll just teleport from here."
He stepped forward, wrapped his arms around Mai, and kissed her.
Mai blushed faintly but soon relaxed into the embrace, kissing him back with gentle warmth. The air between them hummed with affection, overflowing with tenderness until Mai finally had to pull away, out of breath.
"I'll wait until you're inside before I go," Ryuichi said with an easy smile.
"No way. I want to see you leave before I head in," she replied sweetly, her smile so lovely it almost stole his breath again.
"Your sister's still home alone," he said softly. "You should probably go talk to her."
"Yeah, you're right. I'll go now."
Mai turned back toward the house. Near the entrance, she glanced over her shoulder one last time and found him still standing there, smiling quietly at her.
She smiled back — gently, like shared sunlight — and then shut the door. Her mood, it seemed, was much lighter.
Ryuichi stretched lazily, watching her go inside. He could feel the surge of magic coursing through him — his power had grown noticeably again.
That "price" from the contract he'd just collected had paid off handsomely.
If only he had a few more faith contracts like this one… now that would be perfect.
Too bad the only other contracted group he had was the Nakano quintuplets — all five of them classic problem children.
Still, since they'd been spending more time together lately, things had gotten smoother between them. Their relationship had grown surprisingly warm.
But to rise to the level of a faith contract like Mai's? Yeah, that would take a long time.
Well, I've got time tonight, he thought. Might as well drop by and check on them.
In the blink of an eye, he teleported straight into the Nakano house. The moment he arrived, a pleasant whiff of shampoo hit his nose, along with the soft hum of a hairdryer.
In the living room sat a girl on the sofa, her long hair dancing wildly in the dryer's breeze — and wrapped in nothing but a towel.
Her pale thighs gleamed under the light, her bare shoulders exposed; the towel trembled dangerously with every movement, as if ready to fall at any second.
…Who the heck?
Ryuichi's mind flipped rapidly through the sisters' traits — Nino, Miku, Yotsuba, Itsuki — and still came up blank.
Aside from Ichika's easily recognizable short hair, the other four could pass for identical if they changed outfits or tied their hair differently. Right now, it was pitch black in that mental lineup.
"Who's there?" the girl called out without turning around.
That tone—Nino Nakano!
The feisty one.
He recognized her instantly — by her voice alone.
"Yotsuba? Can you grab my contacts? They're on the rack over there."
Apparently, she hadn't noticed it was him standing in her living room. Ryuichi suddenly remembered: Nino was extremely nearsighted.
As the saying went — the sorrow of the near-blind: without glasses, the world turns flat, gender ceases at ten meters, and species blur at twenty.
Right now, Nino embodied that perfectly.
Ryuichi was only ten meters away, but to her, he was just a fuzzy silhouette — evidently mistaken for Yotsuba.
"…Nino, it's me," Ryuichi coughed lightly. "Ryuichi."
"Eh—WHAT!?"
Nino froze for a beat, then clutched her chest in alarm.
"R-Ryuichi!? Wh-what are you doing here!? I'm not dressed!"
"You're wearing a towel," he answered evenly.
Nino nearly choked on air.
A towel didn't count! How could a towel possibly count!?
"Turn around—!" she squeaked and bolted for the stairs, feet slapping hard against the wood.
"Hey, careful—"
He barely got the words out before she slipped. One of her slippers went flying.
Classic. Beautiful girl fresh out of the bath, slips on the stairs — textbook cliché.
In a blur, Ryuichi vanished from where he stood and reappeared in front of her just in time to catch her as she fell.
Her face was inches from the step when he grabbed her, turning her midair and sweeping her legs up effortlessly into his arms.
"I told you to be careful," he said matter-of-factly.
"Eh…?"
Nino blinked up at him, cheeks flaring crimson.
"Wh-what are you doing? Put me down!"
"Relax. I'm only seeing your thighs. Everything else is covered. I'll take you back to your room. Nothing indecent's happening."
His calm tone somehow made her even more flustered.
He carried her upstairs, setting her gently on her bed.
"I put your glasses on the vanity," he said casually before turning to leave.
Inside, Nino hurried to put in her contacts. Staring at her reflection, she felt heat crawl up her cheeks.
Why… did Ryuichi look kinda cool just now?
That calm, commanding way he acted—so self-assured, so annoyingly confident—it had this weird, irresistible charm.
Yeah… frustratingly manly.
Ryuichi was exactly her type to begin with—and now, she was blushing like crazy, realizing it.
Not that Ryuichi had any idea what was going through her head. If he did, he'd probably wonder if this girl secretly had a masochistic streak.