Eight minutes later.
We were on the backyard, having lunch.
The cheerful girl sits next to Akiha while the other one sits next to me. They both serve us lemon tea from a bottle with an excellent level of professionalism.
The two of them introduced themselves to me as Kohaku-san (the cheerful girl) and Hisui-san (the expressionless girl) who, like Akiha, transferred to this school. It turns out that the two of them are servants of the Tohno Family and since they previously studied with Akiha at Asagami Girls' High School, they transferred along with her.
It seems that the influence of my old man is not small...
─So, Shiki-sama, can we call him that?
Kohaku-san asks me after serving the drink for the four of them.
Uh...
─It would be fine if you don't add the "-sama" to my name. I will be referring to you as Kohaku-san. ─. I say scratching my cheek a bit, a sign of my discomfort.
─ Sounds good to me, Shiki-san! Hisui-chan, you should call him this too!
─If Shiki-sama is fine with it, I will be referring to you as Shiki-san as well. ─. Hisui-san adds at her sister's urging.
Eh yes.
Kohaku-san and Hisui-san are twin sisters. Hence the reason why they both attend the same year as Akiha without any problem.
I guess I had a time when someone didn't ask me about how to refer to myself. The last time was when I met old man Zelretch when he asked Ryougi-san and me a favor to fix a simple minor anomaly.
...
Now thinking about it, I have been involved a lot with elements of the world of magic in recent years.
Surely in other conditions right now I would be living happily and contentedly without knowing what is really going on around me.
Oh well. This is no time to get depressed about these things. I have to attend to this matter.
─So, Shiki-san, what is the home where you are staying to live like? ─. Kohaku-san asks me.
She really expected it.
Touko-san warned me of this after hearing the content of the call. I suppose any family would like to know how they treat their son and it is very likely that my father asked them to ask me about it.
I doubt that my father knows Aoko-san or Touko-san, the two of them don't have many relationships beyond the professionals in their respective fields.
Even though I more or less interrupted Aoko-san's dream of traveling the world, it's not like she really hit or scolded me beyond the time she taught me the importance of someone else's life.
In order to become a proper and living worthy user of the [Mystic Eyes of Death Perception], I had to eliminate any thoughts that led to unjustified murder or misuse of my power.
It's okay.
I practiced many times with Aoko-san my answer for when this time came.
I give a small smile and say.
─ They treat me very well, Aoko-san and Touko-san have been taking care of me all this time, the two of them are very good people and I consider that there has not been a single time when they have despised me for living close together.
─Oh, that sounds interesting, would you like to tell us a bit about what Aoko-san is like?
When Kohaku-san asks that question, I see how Akiha and Hisui-san also pay close attention to what I'm going to say.
Well, to be expected.
Akiha and I have not seen each other in eight years, there are many things we missed about each other. Sure she is the one who wants to ask me these things directly but she does not have the right words to do it.
Mm.
If I had to talk about what Aoko-san is like...
─She is... very kind, wise, understanding and calm, she always has the exact words to tell me when I ask her for advice. Thanks to her, I didn't forget what it meant to have a family, Aoko-san took me to many places during the holidays and introduced me to more people from whom I learned things, if it hadn't been for Aoko-san, I think-...
Seeing the suspense in the gazes of the three girls around me, I stop.
Oops, I almost missed something I shouldn't say.
If I had been careless in my speech, I would only have admitted to my little sister that I am in love with the person who has given me inn all this time.
Ugh, kill me.
─I think... she might not have found my reason for being. Shiki Tohno owes all that and more to Aoko Aozaki, that is.
I decided to say something relevant, but not what she was originally going to say.
Seriously, an oversight and could have been in trouble.
Now I think I've been talking a lot about myself.
Changing the subject...
─So Akiha, what about the sudden decision to study here? Is there something in particular?
I decide to direct the talk towards my younger sister who had been quiet for a long time.
Her face lights up with excitement when I ask, abandoning her totally serious countenance from a few moments ago.
Seriously, what with this change of expressions?
─Tooooooooooooo─
Mm? Am I hearing things?
It makes me hear a ringing in my ears.
Let's go back to Akiha.
─ I wanted to see Nii-san again! Ah... excuse my bad manners, but it's just that... after reading all the letters you sent me until last month... I decided that it was best to come here, in order to start reforming my relationship with you.
─-hnooooooooooooooooo!
?
There it is again.
That buzzing is too annoying.
What the hell with that?
Putting that aside...
Akiha's reason for coming to study here makes me hesitate... but not enough to make me blush. Please, Touko-san trained me for this kind of thing, if the other party doesn't know my weaknesses, I can't easily fall for feminine charms.
She did it in order to make me invulnerable to anyone who might try to extract from me the secrets that only I know about [Blue] and [Starred Red] ─they are the nicknames of Aoko-san and Touko-san respectively─.
Touko-san forced me to put myself in highly intimate situations with the opposite sex to the point of sleeping with me repeatedly wearing only her underwear. She still sleeps with me sometimes, but she now does it fully clothed, okay?
─Traitor! ─. A scream echoes from my rear, raising all my alarms immediately.
Sensing the danger, my instincts woke up and my body moved by itself to turn, block and immobilize the aggressor, all with a polished aikido technique that Aoko-san taught me.
Everything went so fast that once again, I was surprised at my reaction time. Admittedly, being close to two [Queens] within the world of magic, I had a great opportunity for growth in my abilities and physical performance.
─Tohno-kun, let go of Inui-kun, he just wanted to play a prank on you without you noticing!
An unknown voice begs me to release my attacker.
─I give up, I give up!
─Ah, it was you, Arihiko.
I'll pretend I didn't find out who the person was trying to hit me off guard.
I look out of the corner of my eye, and what I see is an Akiha and a pair of twins with their mouths open from what I just did. I think I overdid this a bit.
In a sigh, I release Arihiko. Then I see the person who is accompanying Arihiko.
There.
In that little moment.
It's when an "Ah" escapes from my mouth.
I understand why it was too weird...
In the various trips that I took with Aoko-san and Touko-san, I met an incredible amount of people. Of all the ethnic groups and countries that I can think of, also several from different organizations close to the [Association] or the [Church].
When our eyes met, this person understood perfectly what he wanted to convey to her in words.
─A-ah... Tohno-kun, how are you?
The former reincarnation of Michael Roa Valdamjong, who called herself Elesia, a woman who cannot die, and who lives under the pseudonym "Ciel".
I think I must have understood from the moment Noel appeared. Where there is one member of [The Burial Agency], there are more of them. I sigh at my incompetence for having forgotten that important detail.
Noel and Ciel work together. The two are female fighters trained in a specialty known as [Vampire Hunt], a task of great danger and importance in maintaining the balance of the [World].
But how do I know about them?
Well, even more acquaintances of Touko-san. Seriously, does that woman know everyone?
─Nii-san, would you mind introducing me to your friend?
─Shiki-san, Shiki-san, is she your girlfriend?!
─Hm, no more sandwiches.
─Hey, Tohno? You already knew Ciel-senpai and you didn't want to tell me? That is no longer just being a traitor, it is being a bad friend in its entirety and maximum splendor!
Only...
Shit.