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The perspective shifts to the interior of the Hanakain home.
In the entryway, Kuroka, looking completely furious, stood with her fists clenched and her arms held vertically and parallel in front of her. Her plump, rounded posterior beneath the wide kimono jutted slightly backward. Her two tails, which were normally so agilely wagging, now stood up rigidly at a sixty-degree angle like two exclamation marks.
"A-A-A-A-Hana-Hana! You have the scent of another woman on you today, and it's so strong! Confess! Which stray cat outside have you hooked up with now?!"
She looked completely like an angry, flustered cat. Oh, no, not like—she was a flustered cat. And unlike the time with Saeko Busujima, this time she had actually guessed correctly.
"Well, yes, something did happen..." Hanakain Reiji changed his shoes by the door and, stepping onto the dust-collecting mat in his slippers, reached out and scooped the cat-eared girl into his arms.
Skin touched skin, and breath mingled. Kuroka, who had been fiercely baring her claws a second ago, let out a soft "Uwoo-meow" and immediately quieted down.
Hanakain Reiji had intended to continue explaining, but her sudden silence caught him off guard. When he looked up at Kuroka, he saw the cat-eared girl looking down at him. Her cheeks were flushed, she was lightly biting her lower lip, and her beautiful golden eyes were filled with a thick, watery glaze.
"...You're hard again?" After experiencing this so many times, even Hanakain Reiji, however oblivious, should have understood.
"Mhm..." Kuroka nodded softly.
Hanakain Reiji was genuinely shocked: "Seriously? We were just at it for two days over the weekend! And you were complaining this morning that your waist hurt too much!"
"W-Well, what can I do, Meow..." Kuroka hummed back, blushing, arguing her case. "My waist still hurt during the day today, but then you suddenly hugged me, Hana-Hana... and you supported my butt. Then, suddenly, I felt it, Meow... Alright, stop talking so much. Big Sister is so uncomfortable, Meow. Hurry up..."
Feeling the girl in his arms becoming increasingly clingy and restless, Hanakain Reiji shrugged internally with resignation. It looked like today, once again, they would have to shower before eating.
Just as Hanakain Reiji had told Rias in the hotel, with his bodily stamina that could virtually sustain infinite endurance, let alone a mere hour, he wouldn't feel the slightest bit of exhaustion even after fighting for a hundred consecutive hours.
And so, two hours of time flew by. As the hour hand on the wall clock in the living room slowly approached eight, the noise inside the bathroom finally subsided.
In the bathtub, Kuroka, physically exhausted from the continuous, high-intensity summit climb, lay softly draped across the young man's chest. Her long legs were curled up beneath the water, and she was practically folded into a ball. Even her two cat tails, which had been bristling straight and stiff with anger earlier, were now quietly curled up beside her.
After resting for a moment and recovering a little stamina, Kuroka suddenly propped herself up and shifted slightly, settling into a more convenient posture for talking before lying back down. Her two eyes lazily opened and closed as she mumbled.
"Say~ So, you still haven't confessed, Hana-Hana. Which stray cat outside did you hook up with, anyway?" Perhaps because she had just been satisfied, her tone had softened considerably.
Hanakain Reiji hesitated, then chose a more subtle explanation: "Well, Akeno suddenly messaged me just before class ended this afternoon, saying Rias was feeling a bit unwell and club activities were temporarily canceled..."
"It was that rich red-haired woman?!" Before he could finish, Kuroka, who had been too lazy to move a second ago, instantly sprang up in surprise.
However, she quickly realized she had overreacted, and then slowly lay back down, settling her inverted mountains back into the dough. "Mhm~ And then?"
"And then..." Without wasting much time, Hanakain Reiji recounted the entire cause and effect in one or two minutes. Kuroka listened blankly, then rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "I knew it. It was because of a reason like that again. After all, you always have a soft spot for this sort of thing, Hana-Hana."
"I wouldn't call it a soft spot. I simply don't want to regret my actions." Hanakain Reiji shook his head. "Like when you were being pursued by those Devils. If I hadn't done anything back then, you would have been captured by them. While I wouldn't have suffered any substantial loss, I might have felt regret later, thinking, 'If only I had saved her, things might have been different.' "
"So, knowing I would definitely regret doing nothing later, I chose another path... And so far, facts have proven I was right, just like how things are between us now." As he spoke, the young man lowered his head, his gaze meeting that of the cat-eared girl, who had just looked up, her delicate mouth slightly ajar, as if about to say something.
Bringing up the beginning of their acquaintance, Kuroka's thoughts seemed to return to that initial moment. Her already watery golden eyes were unconsciously layered with an unconcealed, gentle affection.
"Well, we certainly were back then..." She lay on Hanakain Reiji's chest, drawing circles on him with her index finger. "So, are you going to fight someone else for a girl again this time, Hana-Hana?"
"Probably..." Hanakain Reiji's tone was nonchalant. He had already made up his mind the moment he kissed Rias in front of Grayfia. It was merely a trip to the Underworld. Why should he be afraid?
"Mhm, in that case—" As if an interesting idea had come to her, Kuroka slightly straightened up and smiled slyly. "Then I'll come along too."
"...Huh?" Now Hanakain Reiji was stunned. While the core of this matter was the conflict between the Gremory family and that Phoenix family, the ultimate resolution would likely require a trip to the Underworld. But even if they went to the Underworld, it would only be him and Rias, right? As for taking Kuroka... while it wasn't absolutely forbidden, wouldn't Shirone also be there?
"You don't need to do that. It's just a trip to the Underworld; I'll be back in a few days..."
Kuroka pouted in dissatisfaction: "So, you mean to leave Big Sister, a lonely cat, at home for several days without a second thought?"
"..." Why the sudden shift to that accusing tone? Is this a universal tactic for women in love worldwide? Hanakain Reiji thought silently. It's like I'm trying to discuss things rationally and factually, and then she immediately changes the subject to an emotional attack on my attitude.
Hiss~ He vaguely began to understand the meaning of that frequent phrase, "Never try to reason with a woman." If objective arguments wouldn't work, he could only approach it from a practical angle.
"Then, if Shirone is present, Kuroka, what do you plan to do?"
"Hmm As for that..." Kuroka pretended to think seriously, tapping her index finger on her mouth. Then, she flashed a peace sign in front of her eyes and winked. "As long as I don't get involved in the fighting, Big Sister will have her own way, Meow!"
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