*Wednesday.*
"I'm done," Akira muttered as he placed the tape on the last cardboard box, having finished packing all his and Mashiro's belongings. Today, they would be moving to his grandparents' house.
"You're really moving," Chihiro said, leaning against the door frame as she observed the room, now empty of personal belongings and filled with cardboard boxes. "Where are you going?"
"I already told you, Mashiro and I are moving from Sakurasou to my grandparents' house," Akira replied with a sarcastic smile, as Chihiro hadn't believed him even though he'd told her multiple times.
"Your grandparents' house? Oh, that ridiculously big mansion," Chihiro said, recalling the mansion where Akira's adoptive mother used to live. "But isn't it too big for just two people to live in?"
"Well, that's true, but Mashiro and I won't be living alone. Mashiro's sister will be joining us, and my younger sister will be coming to Tokyo soon, so we won't be alone," Akira smiled lightly as he walked out of the room.
"Your younger sister? Since when did you have a younger sister?" Chihiro asked, puzzled, as she didn't remember any girls in the Nifuji family.
"My biological sister, Hasegawa Kobato," Akira explained, knowing that even though Chihiro was aware he was adopted by the Nifuji family, she often forgot since no one really cared about it.
"That's right, I remember now that you were adopted by Mako," Chihiro smiled nostalgically, remembering her cousin and friend, Akira's adoptive mother.
"But I heard that the Hasegawa family didn't want any ties with you, so why the sudden change?" Chihiro asked, narrowing her eyes, not liking the idea of Akira being exploited by his biological family.
"No need to worry, nothing like what you're thinking is going on," Akira smiled gently, clearly pleased by Chihiro's concern. "After our parents died, the family was taken over by the elders who hated my father. But now, with the help of my connections, the Hasegawa family no longer opposes my meeting Kobato."
It was clear Akira was lying, especially since he had decided to kill all the elders next week and return to Tokyo with Kobato. He no longer cared about the future of the Hasegawa Clan.
"I see… It seems your hard work paid off, and now you can see your little sister," Chihiro smiled happily, interpreting Akira's words as she wanted and convincing herself accordingly.
Even though Akira noticed Chihiro's misunderstanding, he was too lazy to correct her, thinking there was nothing that needed correction anyway.
"See you later, Chihiro-sensei," Akira said, gently hugging Chihiro, grateful for this relative who had always taken care of him and his siblings since their parents' death.
"Take care of yourself, you rascal," Chihiro smiled as she hugged Akira back and ruffled his hair a bit, clearly going to miss this rebellious younger brother.
---
"Are we going to live here?" Mashiro asked, staring curiously at the large, traditional Japanese-style mansion. This was the first time she had seen such a mansion, having lived in England.
"That's right," Akira nodded, as the mansion wasn't far from Suimei University of the Arts and was also close to his previous apartment. There was no need to worry about noise as this was an upscale neighborhood where only important people lived, and no one was allowed entry without identity verification.
This wasn't Akira's only goal; with a house like this, it was easy to create barriers to protect the residents, especially since the mansion was situated on Dragon Veins, which made it much easier for Akira to draw on magical power to maintain the barriers he planned to create.
"Welcome home, Akira-sama," Seraphim appeared out of nowhere at this moment, kneeling before Akira with clear respect.
"Thank you for taking care of the house, Sera," Akira smiled as he helped Sera to her feet, then gestured toward Mashiro and spoke, "Let me introduce you, this is my fiancée, Shiina Mashiro."
"Mashiro, this is my childhood friend and maid, her name is Seraphim," Akira said to Mashiro, pointing to the beauty with shining green eyes.
"Nice to meet you, Shiina-san," Seraphim nodded, showing little reaction to Mashiro being Akira's fiancée, as Akira already had another fiancée who was a princess of the Oda Clan.
"Um, nice to meet you, Sera," Mashiro nodded toward Seraphim, deciding to use the same nickname Akira used. "You can also just call me Mashiro."
Thanks to Akira's diligent efforts, Mashiro was improving in dealing with others. She had developed some common sense, which was a big achievement compared to before. Although she was still as kind and naive as ever, there was significant progress compared to the past.
"Well, this isn't the place to talk, let's go inside first," Akira said as he walked into the mansion with Mashiro and Seraphim, entering the mansion.
The mansion had a large wooden gate, and the entrance was paved with stone tiles. There was a beautiful garden on both sides, with many ornamental and fruit trees planted, as well as a large sakura tree in the backyard, so big that it was visible from the front entrance.
That wasn't all; there was also a small garden made of white sand, with a pond where fish were kept. It seemed that Sera had bought some fish and put them in the previously empty pond, which hadn't had fish in it for a long time as the mansion had been abandoned.
...
To get more chapters please visit my patreon
p@treon.com/Akasaki_Ryujin
or
ko-fi.com/akasaki_ryujin