Hina and Rui went home together.
Hina felt quite awkward when she thought Rui might know about her relationship with Shishio. However, Rui didn't mention anything, so she just pretended nothing had happened and talked about other things.
As a sibling, their sister was close to each other, which might be why they had a similar taste in men.
The two talked like usual while talking many things about their previous Tabanabata celebration on Sakurasou, which was so fun!
It wasn't until they returned with many foods they had brought that they wanted to share with their family. However, they were stunned when they saw the person who was standing at the door at that moment.
"Natsuo-kun? What are you doing?" Hina was confused at why Natsuo stood right at the entrance of their house.
Natsuo looked at the car and didn't seem to see Shishio's figure, which made him sigh in relief. However, he was startled when Hina suddenly asked this question since he also wasn't sure what he was doing. It might be because he just couldn't wait for them and stay outside subconsciously.
Frankly, Natsuo wanted to follow them since he was afraid something might happen to the two of them.
Unfortunately, Natsuo didn't know where Sakurasou was, so he just stayed outside, waiting for the two of them to go home. neither of them also invited him, which made it even harder to get there.
Watching Natsuo, who had gone silent, Rui ignored him and just entered the house. After all, even if the summer was right in front of their eyes, it was still chilly at night.
'Wait...!'
Natsuo wanted to shout, but in the end, no words came out of his mouth.
While Hina also felt weird about Natsuo's action, she didn't think too much. After all, in her eyes, Natsuo was still a child. "It's chilly outside. Let's enter the house, Natsuo-kun." It might seem strange for her to treat Natsuo as a child while treating Shishio as a mature man.
However, even if Natsuo was older than Shishio, Hina didn't know why, but she felt Shishio was more mature.
Still, whether a woman thought of the opposite gender as mature or not, it wasn't based on age since many older men were still acting like a kid.
Instead, it was all because of experience.
Having an experience gave a woman a different feeling.
It was like sitting on a bus driven by a new driver and a driver with ten years of experience, the feeling was different, right?
It was that sort of feeling that Hina felt.
Even if Natsuo was older than Shishio, Hina just couldn't see him as an adult or a man that she could entrust to her life and love.
"Ah, yes." Natsuo was stunned but nodded obediently.
"Oh, right, I have brought a lot of food. You can eat them while writing your novel." Hina showed the dim sum she had brought back from the party earlier, and since it tasted so good, she thought to taste it with Natsuo.
The smell of the seafood instantly invaded his nostrils, causing his stomach to rumble.
*Growl!*
Natsuo blushed, feeling embarrassed since he remembered he hadn't eaten anything, especially after he had been waiting for them. Instantly, the hunger that had been hidden by his anxiety exploded, and he just wanted to eat now.
Still, Natsuo felt embarrassed and lame when he saw Hina chuckle.
"Here, eat as much as you want." Hina entered the house and asked, "By the way, where are Akihito-san and mom?" She knew her mother and stepfather should still be awake, considering they didn't go home so late. As for Natsuo's reaction, she didn't think too much and felt it was normal since she knew what kind of magic Shishio's foods could do to someone.
If Hina hadn't eaten so much before and felt afraid of getting fat, she would probably eat more.
Well, even if Hina ate so much, she knew she would be alright since someone would be more than happy to help her with her exercise.
"They're in the living room," Natsuo subconsciously said while eating the dim sum from the food container. When he ate it, he must admit it was the most delicious dim sum he had eaten. Even though it was cold, it was so delicious!
"Ah, don't eat all of them. Leave some for mom and Akihito-san," Hina quickly said since she could see Natsuo's speed at eating was so fast!
"Ah!" Natsuo was startled. He felt reluctant, especially when he looked at the dim sum, which was beautifully arranged in the food container, but he knew he couldn't eat all of them. Still, he knew it was important to share. However, even so, he asked, "Where did you buy these dim sums, Hina-nee?"
"It's delicious, right?" Hina seemed so proud that she even raised her chest high, causing them to tremble.
However, Natsuo didn't care and kept looking at Hina curiously, waiting for his answer.
"It was cooked by Shishio. He is a good cook," Hina said with a sweet smile since she was proud of the man she loved.
However, when Natsuo heard those words, he felt the dim sum in his mouth wasn't delicious anymore. He felt all his happiness swirled and sucked into a spiral before all those emotions turned into depression.
Hina didn't seem to notice Natsuo's reaction since she was about to enter the house. She took off her flat shoes, showing her beautiful white feet, which had a slight odor of her sweat. She wanted to take a bath since she was quite sweaty.
'If I can take a bath with Shishio...'
Hina smiled and felt it would be fun to take a bath with Shishio. However, her daydream quickly ended because of Natsuo's voice.
"Hina-nee..."
"What's wrong?" Hina asked and didn't seem to notice Natsuo's strange reaction.
Natsuo became even more depressed when he saw how happy Hina was, but even so, he asked, "Was the party held in Sakurasou fun?"
"Um, it was so fun!" Hina nodded without hesitation.
"Who planned the party?" Natsuo asked with a forced smile.
"It's Shishio, of course." Hina didn't think at all and just answered.
"Hina-nee, why are you so close with Oga-san?" Natsuo asked.
This question made Hina realize something weird, so she looked at Natsuo, whose complexion was so bad. "What's wrong, Natsuo-kun?" She didn't understand the reason, so she asked.
"Hina-nee, do you think it is alright?" Natsuo asked.
"What's alright?" Hina was confused.
"Oga-san is famous for being a playboy. Do you think it is alright for Rui to date him? Shouldn't you try to part their relationship? After all—" Before Natsuo finished his words, he was stopped by Hina.
"Stop!" Hina frowned, and she didn't even hide her displeasure.
Natsuo was hot, and he was full of excitement, especially after he told what was inside his mind. However, at this moment, he was frozen, and he felt his entire body was so cold, especially when Hina looked at him with such a gaze. It was his first time to see her have such a gaze, and it made his entire body freeze. It wasn't until a moment later that he awoke and felt entirely confused. "Hina-nee...?"
"Don't talk bad about him." Hina knew Natsuo was still a child, but it didn't give him a right to talk bad to someone she loved. Even if she knew how bad Shishio was, she knew he had many great points, so she was angry when Natsuo tried to mock him.
"Natsuo-kun, I know that Shishio-kun is a scumbag, but you shouldn't talk bad about him. I don't like someone who talks behind someone's back." Hina was a victim of verbal abuse, so she hated someone who talked bad about someone, especially someone she loved.
Even if Natsuo didn't tell her, Hina knew how bastard Shishio was, and she knew in the eyes of normal people, it wouldn't be weird for one to tell her or Rui to break up with Shishio. She somehow showed a bitter smile and realized Natsuo's reaction was the reaction of a normal person.
'What did I expect?'
Hina hoped that her step-brother wouldn't act similar to the other people. However, she couldn't control who Natsuo liked or hated. They had only been together for a short time, but it was now that she realized Natsuo's real personality.
Hina somehow felt tired, and all the happy things she thought before disappeared.
"Hina-nee..." Natsuo was dumbfounded and felt quite weak since he didn't expect such a strong reaction from Hina.
"I am a bit tired. I'll go back to my room to rest, Natsuo-kun," Hina said and left.
"....."
Natsuo wanted to stop Hina, but no words came out of his mouth. He stretched his hand, but when he saw her figure disappear, he clenched his fist tightly. He was confused at why she became angry since he didn't feel it was wrong!
Shishio was a scumbag, and he also had a lot of girlfriends.
Natsuo thought Shishio was playing with Rui, and there was no way Shishio was serious with Rui, especially with so many girlfriends around him. He might not be able to control other girls, nor did he care about it, but it was different for Rui or Hina since they were his step sisters!
Natsuo didn't want his step-sisters to be hurt!
However, Natsuo didn't expect such a reaction from Hina, and the thought of her hating him made him even gloomier. Still, he didn't know what to do, but he knew everything had something to do with Shishio.
Natsuo suddenly thought of Shishio's figure.
"...."
Somehow his figure started to intimidate him, Natsuo frowned slightly, but he wondered whether it was really alright to leave everything like this.
'No, I have to talk with him! I need to get him to leave them!'
Natsuo made up his mind and knew he couldn't leave everything like this!
While Natsuo made up his mind, no one really knew what he was going to do.
On the other hand, even if Shishio knew what Natsuo was going to do, he wasn't going to do anything, and he just ignored him. Still, if Natsuo came, he had many ways to solve this problem.
---
It was right early in the morning.
Shishio prepared to go out for his morning workout, but when he was going to go out, someone called his name.
"Shishio?"
Shishio turned and was surprised. "Ritsu-senpai? Why are you here?"
"What do you mean by that?" Somehow Ritsu felt insulted by Shishio's words.
Shishio chuckled and apologized. "Sorry, it was just rare for you to wake up in the early morning."
Ritsu couldn't deny anything since she often woke up quite late, especially when she had read an exciting book. She would sleep quite later and wake up quite late, so she also understood why Shishio was so surprised.
Anyway, Ritsu didn't wake up so early to argue with him. Instead, she asked, "Are you going to go for a morning workout?"
"Yes." Shishio nodded and asked, "Do you want to join?" He asked for the sake of being polite since he knew Ritsu would reject.
However...
"Okay." Ritsu nodded and agreed to his invitation.
Hearing her reply, Shishio squinted his eyes, and his expression became subtle.