"Hello? Yes, all right, I understand. Be careful."
"What happened? Was that Aunt Nana?" Tatsuki leaned over and saw the name displayed on Tsunayoshi's phone.
"Yeah. Mom and the others are on their way to the airport. I'll go pick them up tomorrow," Tsunayoshi relayed.
"Tomorrow? I already made plans to rehearse the play tomorrow… Ahhh! I really want to go pick up Aunt Nana too!" Tatsuki threw her head back and wailed in frustration.
Tatsuki had a bright and cheerful personality and had plenty of friends at school. This time, she had been dragged into rehearsals for the school festival play. With the festival fast approaching, rehearsals were getting more and more intense, to the point that even her entire weekend day tomorrow had been taken up.
When Tsunayoshi had first returned to the World of the Living, Tatsuki had even grumbled a little. Had she known, she would have turned down the invitation to join the play, and the two of them would have had time to spend a proper weekend together.
But it was far too late to say that now. The performance would be onstage in just a few days, and considering that the play was the result of everyone's shared effort, Tatsuki could not possibly look for someone to replace her at a time like this.
"It's fine. Focus on rehearsing. On the day of the school festival, we'll invite Mom to come watch," Tsunayoshi comforted her. The reason he did not include his cheap old man was because, based on experience, whenever his father came back from a business trip, he was always rather busy. His mother was much more likely to have free time.
"Mm. I'll definitely work hard!"
"Do your best!" Tsunayoshi stroked Tatsuki's hair, then asked curiously, "What play are you performing this time?"
"The Little Mermaid. The class made a lot of changes to it, so it's a completely new story."
"You're playing the mermaid?"
"No way!" Tatsuki poked Tsunayoshi's shoulder and declared, "I'm playing the prince's wicked stepmother! It's a major role!"
"A wicked stepmother? Was there a character like that in The Little Mermaid?"
"That's why I said it was an adaptation, obviously."
…
The next day, Tatsuki went to school early for rehearsal, while Tsunayoshi waited until two hours before the flight's estimated landing time before leaving the house.
Unfortunately, he was still not old enough to get a driver's license. Otherwise, Tsunayoshi would have driven the sedan his old man had left in the garage to pick them up.
When he arrived at the airport, Tsunayoshi gained a very direct understanding of just how popular Ninny's group was. Although the actual performers had already arrived in Japan, the airport was still covered with advertisements welcoming Cecile Die Twice, and they had even thoughtfully prepared route guides directing fans to the concert venue.
It could be said that all of Japan was immersed in the fiery atmosphere of the idol girl group's tour. Tsunayoshi even saw quite a few high school girls deliberately coming to take commemorative photos beneath the large advertisements.
What a killing.
That thought flashed through Tsunayoshi's mind. Although he had no idea why Ninny had appeared on that remote street, exchanging a few cans of drinks and one taxi fare for a pile of concert tickets was undoubtedly a huge profit.
He casually took a few pictures of the airport's lively atmosphere and sent them to Tatsuki. While chatting with her, Tsunayoshi waited for the flight to arrive.
The flight from London landed. Tsunayoshi did not bother preparing some sort of pickup sign. They were his own parents, after all. He simply squeezed his way to the front row and waited there.
Sure enough, when the Sawada couple saw Tsunayoshi from afar, they happily waved their arms. Tsunayoshi cheerfully waved back at them as well. What he found slightly strange was that a black-haired girl walking behind the Sawada couple glanced at him with an indifferent expression.
He did not pay it much mind and simply assumed it was his imagination. There were so many people at the airport; she might not necessarily have been looking at him. Besides, he had to hurry to the exit and help with the luggage.
"Little Tsuna, come give Mommy a hug!"
Before he could even greet them, Tsunayoshi was pulled into his mother's arms. After she affectionately ruffled and rubbed his hair for quite some time, Tsunayoshi finally escaped her control.
"Yo, old man. How long are you planning to stay this time?" Tsunayoshi naturally took Nana's suitcase and asked his cheap father.
"Probably about a month. After this work report, your old man will officially be the president of the London branch!" Iemitsu Sawada laughed proudly.
"What? Weren't you already the president?"
"You brat. The London branch oversees all operations in England. Its authority and responsibilities are far greater than the Karakura Town branch. Naturally, the salary is much greater too!" Iemitsu Sawada very rudely smacked the shoulder of his son, who had given him no face at all.
"So the two of you old folks are heartless enough to leave me alone in Japan?" Tsunayoshi covered his face in exaggerated pain.
"Isn't that the lifestyle you young people want? Both parents busy, freedom and independence. We also won't get in the way of your little world with Tatsuki. Just remember one thing: before you graduate from university, don't you dare get anyone pregnant!"
"You really think too highly of me, assuming I can even get into university…" Tsunayoshi retorted. Although they were far away in London, his parents were still very concerned about his grades.
High school life in Japan was indeed leisurely when it was leisurely, but when it came to entering university, the competition was also truly fierce. Aside from normal classes, no small number of students attended cram school.
"Hmph. I don't think your current grades can get you into university, but Tatsuki's grades will have no problem at all. With your personality, when the time comes, you'll probably just barely scrape past the admission score for whatever university Tatsuki gets into!" A father knew his son best, and Iemitsu laughed with great pride.
"Oh, right. Mom, Tatsuki went to rehearse for her play. She'll come over tonight," Tsunayoshi explained on behalf of his little girlfriend.
"I saw. Tatsuki sent me a message, and I saw it as soon as I got off the plane." Nana rested one hand against her cheek and said in relief, "It's a good thing little Tatsuki didn't come. Otherwise, it really would've been hard to get a taxi."
Tsunayoshi slowly imagined a question mark appearing over his head. There were only three of them as a family. Including the driver and Tatsuki, that would make exactly five people. How would that make it hard to get a taxi?
As his mother, Nana Sawada completely saw through Tsunayoshi's thoughts. She covered her mouth with one hand and giggled, while beckoning behind her with the other.
"Noel-chan, come here."
At his mother's call, Tsunayoshi finally noticed that a girl with long, straight black hair was standing behind his parents. Her eyelids drooped slightly, and her face was utterly expressionless. She was precisely the girl who had glanced at Tsunayoshi earlier!
"Little Tsuna, let me introduce you." Nana pushed the girl in front of her and said, "This is Noel Niihashi-chan. She's our neighbor in London. This time, she just so happened to be coming to Japan as an exchange student for one month, so we came back together. For the next month, she'll be boarding at our house. You have to help her out, okay?"
The girl wore a black school uniform that looked like it belonged to some particular school. On the left side of her long hair, there was a small white horn-like ornament. In contrast to her cold expression, she had a stunningly mature figure that was in no way inferior to Orihime Inoue's.
Tsunayoshi was not sure whether it was his imagination, but he felt as though a faint blush had appeared on that cold, deadpan face before him.
"Hello, I'm Tsunayoshi Sawada. My parents must have troubled you during their time in London. It seems you have quite the connection with them, since even your exchange-student program lined up with their return. The Sawada home will be your other home in Japan, so please stay at ease."
Tsunayoshi did not believe even half of the nonsense he had just said. Coincidence? Wasn't this far too coincidental? She just so happened to meet the Sawada couple in London? She just so happened to come to Japan at the exact same time as them? This girl definitely had some unknown objective.
Likewise, Noel did not believe Nana's explanation at all. That was a lie she had spun entirely for the sake of getting close to the Sawada couple. Even her enrollment as an exchange student in Karakura Town had been prepared in advance.
Precisely because Nana had solemnly described this "coincidence" in front of her, Noel felt somewhat embarrassed. The blush on her face came from shyness.
Why would the Sawada couple believe such an obviously flawed story?
It was entirely because of Noel Niihashi's father.
Noel Niihashi was born and raised in London, yet she had a Japanese name and a beautiful Asian face because her father was a Japanese-British man.
As for Noel's father, he just so happened to be the client for one of Iemitsu Sawada's projects in England. When Iemitsu had first arrived in London, the two families rapidly grew closer due to their shared connection to Japan.
Noel had gotten to know the Sawada couple at that time. Then, due to certain unknown circumstances, she became the Sawada couple's monitor. Basically, wherever the Sawada couple went, she would appear as well.
This time, the Sawada couple were returning to Japan for an extended period, so Noel Niihashi had to follow them. On top of that, the target of a certain beginner mission had escaped to Japan. With those two factors added together, Noel ended up becoming an exchange student.
"Noel Niihashi. It is a pleasure to meet you." Noel's upbringing by her father's side was still quite proper.
"All right, now that everyone knows each other, the airport isn't a good place to talk. Let's go home first!" Iemitsu Sawada, the head of the household, immediately made the decision.
The front passenger seat in the taxi was given to Noel Niihashi, who was still not very familiar with them. The Sawada family of three squeezed into the back seat. There were no accidents along the way, and they smoothly arrived in Karakura Town.
Throughout the ride, Noel kept her head lowered as she typed on her phone. She seemed to be chatting with someone. Sitting in the middle, Tsunayoshi could not clearly see the contents of the conversation, but by chance, he caught sight of the contact name on her screen.
"Little Ninny."
That immediately made Tsunayoshi connect her to the girl from yesterday. Did these two know each other?
Actually, confirming whether they knew each other would be very simple. Tsunayoshi only needed to ask Ninny on LINE. However, since his parents were sitting right beside him, he simply gave up on the idea.
The group of four returned to Karakura Town. They had just settled Noel into the guest room when Tatsuki arrived carrying several large bags. To welcome the Sawada couple back, she had specially bought quite a few high-grade ingredients. There was no avoiding a gathering and feast at the Sawada household today.
Just as Nana and Tatsuki were chatting, Noel, who had finished briefly putting away her luggage, walked out. Just as she had introduced Noel to Tsunayoshi earlier, Nana introduced her again to Tatsuki.
Nana's voice echoed by her ears, but Tatsuki's gaze remained fixed on Noel Niihashi. A woman's intuition told her that this Noel was definitely not as simple as Nana made her sound.
This woman was dangerous.
Author's Note
P.S. To be fair, Noel Niihashi really does match the author's tastes. If she did not belong to Wing Bind, have limited plot content, and appear too late, I would honestly want to make her the heroine.
Below, I'll briefly explain Noel Niihashi's setting here. In this book, she is set as a high school student who has only recently become a Witch. She has not yet met the other male lead of Burn the Witch, Balgo Parks.
As for why I made this setting, it is because I really cannot bring myself to be interested in Balgo as a character. In the plot of fewer than four chapters, the image Balgo presents is that of a complete pervert. You could say his personality is extremely similar to Kon from Bleach — the Modified Soul teddy bear.
In Burn the Witch, Balgo spends all his time from the moment he appears shouting that he wants to see the heroine's panties. When the heroine carries him while flying through the air, Balgo, who has both hands around her waist, even directly says things like he wants to touch her chest and feel the warmth coming from her breasts.
When I saw that scene, I did not feel any sweetness between the male and female leads at all. I only felt that Balgo was outright sexually harassing her.
Balgo only shows a slightly serious side right at the very end, and then the story ends there. Burn the Witch has too little plot so far, and up to this point, it has not shown what sort of responsibility characters like Balgo might carry. All that can be seen is his perverted side.
Judging purely from the few episodes currently available, Balgo's existence as a character does not have much meaning. It would be better to simply watch the two heroines being close to each other.
In Burn the Witch, Balgo becomes connected to the heroine because he is a Dragonclad, so the heroine has to monitor him long-term.
Therefore, in this story, I changed Noel's monitoring targets to the Sawada couple, and she will not become connected to Balgo. The reason for the monitoring is as follows:
A so-called Dragonclad can be understood as a person capable of attracting Dragons. In Burn the Witch, this can be simplified as: Dragons = Hollows.
That makes things simple. Applying Bleach's earliest setting, Hollows attack humans with high Reiatsu, so a Dragonclad is a human whose Reiatsu is higher than that of ordinary people.
In addition, people who come into contact with extremely high Reiatsu over many years will have their own Reiatsu rise and become targets for Hollow attacks, like Chad and Orihime in the beginning.
Therefore, the Sawada couple, who lived together with Tsunayoshi, are likewise individuals with abnormal Reiatsu. In the eyes of Wing Bind, the two of them are Dragonclad and may be attacked by Dragons/Hollows at any time.
Because of her father's relationship with the Sawada couple, Noel became the person who could most easily come into contact with the couple. Thus, Noel is the one monitoring them, as well as their bodyguard.
And because she already has this monitoring job, Noel Niihashi will not have much involvement with Balgo in this work.
Perfect. I've made it all fit!
That's all.
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