"Mom! Are you alright?"
Hearing Akira's voice, Yumi Souo felt a little flustered.
Especially since Yuki couldn't see them here.
This space—barely concealed—felt almost like her private sanctuary with Akira.
"No, I'm fine!"
Yumi tried to leave, but Akira didn't let her.
"Akira, what are you doing?"
"You promised me."
Yumi didn't dare speak loudly, afraid Yuki might overhear.
Her slightly panicked, low whisper only seemed to give Akira more courage.
"Mom, I really like this short skirt you changed into.
White lace. And a little see-through."
That wasn't an outer skirt at all. It was clearly…
"Akira, no—Yuki will see us."
"Don't worry. Yuki's binge-watching a show. She won't come up for at least twenty minutes."
"But Akira, we can't."
Yumi tried to calm both him and herself.
But her words had no real conviction.
Akira smiled.
"But, Mom, you put more effort into your appearance today than yesterday. You even put on perfume.
You don't have any plans. So why?"
Under Akira's pressure, Yumi's defenses were already crumbling.
Still, she refused to admit it.
"No. I never thought that way."
She truly hadn't—until Akira pointed it out. Then she almost believed it herself.
"Still not admitting it? Then what's this?"
"That's natural..."
"Hmm. So am I, then."
Akira straightened up. "Isn't this natural, too?"
Yumi Souo was going mad.
In the end, the thing she least wanted to happen still occurred.
But somewhere deep down, she couldn't help feeling a flicker of secret happiness.
No.
That's not it.
This wasn't my choice.
No.
Mmm~!
As a descendant of the Souo family, Yumi's life was comfortable. She never had to worry about money.
So she had plenty of time to maintain her figure.
Every day, she spent half a day on yoga—her level quite high.
She could easily match Akira's training movements.
Akira silently calculated the time, made a plan, and decided on an extreme training session today.
He gripped the mouse tightly.
The world's number one rifleman had successfully come online.
"Ha, how interesting."
Yuki Souo turned off the TV and went to the kitchen for a drink.
As she set down her cup, she noticed how eerily quiet the house had become.
Did her brother go straight to bed after showering?
Not a single sound.
How about this—
A mischievous thought crossed her mind.
But then she reminded herself to learn from her mother's composure and gentleness. She forcefully suppressed the impulse.
"Yuki, from today onward, you are a mature, composed girl.
You can't do such willful things anymore."
Mumbling to herself, she pretended to be elegant and dignified as she went upstairs.
But when she reached Akira's door, all that resolve flew out the window.
She pressed her ear against the door, listening for any sound inside.
If she caught her brother doing something… then—
Wait.
She had never found any comic books in her brother's room.
Not under the bed, not in hidden compartments, not on top of the bookcase.
He probably wasn't the type.
After half a minute of silence, Yuki lost interest and returned to her own room.
Her brother loved her dearly, but being unreasonable would only make her annoying.
After so many years of training, I'm already a mature little sister.
I won't do anything to make my brother dislike me.
By the way… how should I wake him up tomorrow?
The usual ways no longer worked.
More unrestrained methods… hadn't reached that point yet.
Ha! Tomorrow, I'll hide under his bed and scare him when he wakes up.
Heh. That's the plan.
Click. Yuki's door closed tightly.
Yumi Souo, who had been holding her breath, finally exhaled.
"Akira, you're crazy."
She was in Akira's room.
Right behind the door.
"The last time has to be enjoyable."
Akira grinned. "To satisfy you, Mom, I've caught up on a lot of knowledge."
He underestimated the thirty-something-year-old "wolf," thinking he could complete the training quickly.
But even after the training TV turned off, Yumi's session wasn't fully maximized.
So he pulled her into his room.
They reached the so-called "last time" agreement.
With that excuse, Yumi let her guard down.
And that led to the current scene.
Everyone knew, of course—this was definitely not Akira's last time.
"Hmm, compared to a few days ago, your progress is great. But Yuki was just outside. You—"
"Alright, Mom. Yuki's already asleep. Let's go to bed."
Abandoning a quick resolution, the training plan was naturally adjusted.
And with that "last time" rhetoric, Yumi's bottom line lowered again and again.
Finally, Akira achieved another great victory.
"Mom, you're so beautiful."
Yumi lazily brushed stray hair from her ear. "Don't say things like that. This really is the last time."
Compared to the shyness and regret after the previous two sessions, this time Yumi seemed almost naturally accepting—able to converse with Akira as if nothing were wrong.
She had clearly adapted to this special way of communicating.
"It's my fault, really. Thinking I could use this method to make you stop your impulses toward Yuki."
"Yeah. It's all Mom's fault."
"Oh, you're not a child anymore. Why are you still— Hmm… No."
"Last time."
"Sigh… Akira, you really are something."
Finally, Akira carried Yumi back to her room.
Only then did he return to his own to tidy up.
Yumi lay on the bed, staring at the familiar ceiling, already adopting a what's done is done attitude.
But her good upbringing pulled her back from the edge of depravity.
"What a headache."
And he doesn't care about protection at all. If he were out there with other women…
"Sigh. Even more of a headache."
Muttering and thinking about all sorts of things, Yumi Souo drifted into a deep sleep.
Akira dealt with the traces and lay down on the bed.