Koutetsu made breakfast for everyone once things calmed down, Itsuki stopped chasing after her sister after she tripped against the kotatsu falling to the ground and almost flashing Koutetsu when the hoodie flung upward when she landed. She was at the table feeling embarrassed, while her sister and Rumi were sitting eating pancakes. Koutetsu couldn't sit since the table was small so he ate on the counter instead.
"Onii-Chan these are great! Like Momma's cooking." Rumi said enjoying the food she was eating.
"Think so? I'm not good at Ramen and Takoyaki like she is but I'm trying to get there. When I go grocery shopping I'll make you the paella I've practicing."
Rumi's face sparkled at the idea of eating the delicious meals he promised her. Her cuteness was overloading everyone present.
"Thank you, Onii-Chan." The innocent smile she gave, Itsuki was red from how cute Rumi looked, and Kaede was fawning over her too. Koutetsu himself couldn't help it, he was holding his face being overwhelmed by her.
'Aw, I got so lucky. She's very adorable and kind. She's much nicer than the current woman in my life.'
He pictured everyone from Itsuki to Megumi and how they either were intimidating to him or tried to kill him through the years.
"What are you doing today?" Itsuki asked with a bit of the pancake in her mouth.
"Well since Mana's not here yet I might as well look up other houses in my price range to rent once my lease is up. That and get this one some stuff for the house too. Ugh, money's going to be tight this year."
"If you need help I can always help chip in."
"No chance." He responded rapidly.
Itsuki's mouth gaped at how quick he was to say no.
"You helped enough. Besides, if I keep leaning on you I'll be a bad big brother to Rumi if can't provide for her like I should."
Itsuki felt what he was saying. Koutetsu had to help take care of Rumi now that she was here. It's a new experience for him so he wanted to be a great role model for her and not have to constantly leech off others like he was incompetent.
Koutetsu's and Itsuki's phones were ringing at the same time as they continued their breakfast. Both looked confused as that was some crazy timing, they checked the notifications to see what it was, it was the mass email Hiro sent out for his family's resort home. Kaede peeked over to read the message too, she was excited when the message stated a family package was allowed for the students who wanted to bring a friend, relatives, or partners with them.
"Nee-Chan we should go, your school doesn't start till later. We can celebrate New Year as well there."
"Kaede, we celebrate with family every year. You don't think our moms would feel hurt if we left them behind. Plus it's early in the morning right now, how will we get to Kyoto without tickets this late in the year, it'll cost a fortune for that place for a last-minute trip."
Kaede looked at the Phone again and pointed at one of the lines in the message, Itsuki missed the details of that on the invite.
"Yagami-San's family has made arrangements for us to take a bullet train at twelve-thirty in the afternoon, it's a two-hour ride there. We can be there in time for the party and festivities, it's even got a QR code in it for us to use. Let's do it, it be great for Rumi-Chan too and you can go on a date with Kou Nii-Chan."
Itsuki and Koutetsu both got flustered at the comment. Even Rumi chimed in on the tease as well.
"Hehe Onii-Chan and Itsuki Onee-Chan going out. I want to see it."
Itsuki's whole face was red, and Koutetsu felt hugely embarrassed he was getting set up by two little kids. He couldn't even argue as much as he wanted to cause of Rumi's cuteness attacking him.
"Ugh, well I can't win this one can I ugh? Rumi after you're done eating go ahead and wash up and repack your suitcase and I'll pack my duffel bag too. Itsuki you should hurry and pack up since you guys brought your bags here." Itsuki wanted to say something but Kaede was excited and hugged her before a word could be said. Rumi was giggling happy she was going to spend more time with Koutetsu on a vacation. Getting more time together was enough for her to be happy.
Itsuki and Kaede left the table immediately to Mana's room to pack and change, Koutetsu packed his duffel bag and helped Rumi pick the right clothes for her to wear to the resort. He promised to buy her a swimsuit there once they arrived since she didn't have one packed.
Koutetsu made sure everyone was ready to leave and didn't forget anything, he called a ride for him and everyone to drive then to the train station, Rumi was snuggled up next to him on the way there after the pancakes and took their tool while making her full. He kept looking at her thinking if this was what Mana felt when he was that age. It made him feel better in a way like he earned a tender moment to have even after the mistakes he made in his life.
The ride stopped at the designated area for cabs to park, Itsuki and Kaede headed off first while Koutetsu held the sleeping Rumi in one arm while holding her bag in the other. The email with the QR code to scan was easy and let them through the gate with no problem. The hard part was when everyone from the class who made it along with the normal civila including some of the staff that was there saw him hold Rumi as he walked up.
Once again to his annoyance like with Tsurara, everyone surrounded him to gush over Rumi and her cuteness.
"She's so cute!"
"Hayashi-San she looks like a little doll in your arms."
"Where did you get her? Is she your relative?"
Koutetsu felt suffocated by the people around him. He expected this to happen but still, he wasn't surprised, just annoyed horribly by all of it.
"What's the commotion over here? You all should be getting aboard the train right now."
Everyone turned to see where the voice came from. Barnaby and Megumi were there to help chaperone everyone onboard the train. They got the call from Anna that they get paid big bonuses with free food and lodge at the resort for helping out. She figured these two would be enough since there was no need for too much security for a resort place.
"Oye Hayashi, what did you do this time? Trying to add more to your harem by using a little kid, that's lolicon fetish there ain't it ."
'I swear that old man is as bad as Tatsuya when it comes to pushing my damn buttons. And of all the staff they picked, they picked the bearded trigger-happy cowboy and psycho glutton to act as the chaperones, this is gonna be a long vacation.'
Megumi examined Koutetsu and Rumi, even though she felt like this was an odd situation in front of her.
"Uh, Koutetsu, did you have a secret love child you didn't tell me about, she has your eyes but she does have a different hair color than you."
"Urusai! I'm barely sixteen now how would I birthed a five-year-old this early, and by the way thanks for not telling me a happy birthday earlier this week you sadomasochist glutton." He snapped.
Megumi popped a vein on her forehead, she was irritated at the attitude displayed at her by him.
"Huh, you wanna go another round! You got lucky last time but I'll break your head right here and now."
"Yea! Bring it I'll rip out your guts!"
The two butted heads, with them trying to show strength by using their foreheads to shove the other, everyone got nervous near them. The show of strength looked as if static electricity was sparking from head to head. Rumi woke up in confusion from the loud noises of them fighting, the sight of her awake and looking at everyone didn't help Koutetsu out in diffusing the situation.
Rumi looked up at Megumi with her innocent eyes. Megumi couldn't take her eyes off her for a second.
"Hi, pretty lady." She said to Megumi.
Megumi couldn't help it, she snatched Rumi from Koutetsu fast without him being able to respond, she was smothering her acting like a kid running their face against a plushie.
"Oh! She's too precious, we're Have you been hiding this little cutie? Don't worry sweetie, Onee-Sama will take care of you on the trip over that mean little tiger cub for a brother you have."
Everyone was flabbergasted looking at Megumi's actions. Koutetsu was grinding his teeth in higher annoyance at her.
"Enough, you idiot glutton!!!" He slammed his fist on the top of her head giving Megumi a large throbbing welp on it, he grabbed Rumi again heading to the train, stomping his feet along the way. With Megumi holding her head in wimpering pain.
"Onii-Chan, what was that about?"
"Don't bother asking. That was just an idiot glutton, don't ever grow up to be like her."
Koutetsu was on the train finally with Rumi heading to Kiyoto after that fiasco. He was listening to music while she was watching anime on his tablet he let her use. She mentioned she loved magic hero genres so he put on Wistoria: Wand and Sword for her to watch including downloading the manga. The door to their compartment opened, and Ryuji and Tatsuya walked inside.
"Oh, hey, so you made it as well," Tatsuya said waving hi.
"Tch, here I thought I sat with some cute girls. Huh, who's that?"
Tatsuya and Ryuji looked at Rumi, she looked back waving at them with her smile. Tatsuya and Ryuji both blushed at her, they sat down immediately to ask questions.
"Ahem, so who is your little one?" Ryuji asked.
"Konichiwa, Hayashi Rumi desu. Nice to meet you two." She said formally to the two with her adorable smile.
Ryuji caught a small nosebleed from her talking to him. Even he couldn't resist that charm.
"Oho, big bad Ryuji getting worked up over a little kid. Hehe so even you can be sensitive at times." Tatsuya joked about messing with Ryuji.
"URUSAI!!!"
Ryuji put Tatsuya in a headlock, trying to choke him out. Tatsuya tried to tap out but Ryuji wouldn't let go even when his face began to turn blue. Rumi laughed at them both, and the two of them immediately went back to sitting normal embarrassed at their actions.
A trolly cart came to the compartment to deliver food, everyone got their free share, Koutetsu had to pay a little extra to keep up with his metabolism. Rumi was astonished at how much he ate, even seeing him it twelve stacks of pancakes for breakfast for crazy to her.
"Eh, Onii-Chan eats a lot." She remarked. Koutetsu stared at her with his fork in his mouth. She was giggling at his display of eating.
"Hehe, that's cause your big brother's a Prime Caliber, he has to eat a lot to be big and strong," Tatsuya said to her.
Rumi's eyes lit up, she wanted to eat like that too since breakfast at the house. She tried to eat more too but her stomach wouldn't allow it. She made herself full too quickly and nearly gave herself a stomach ache as a result.
"Don't push yourself kiddo, Koutetsu here is a special case. You should stay a sweet kid not some hopeless romantic like him."
Koutetsu's eyes darted at Ryuji, he used a small bit of flame to heat Ryuji's fork to burn his tongue in retaliation.
Ryuji howled in pain before growling at Koutetsu in anger, Rumi laughed at the scene, calming Ryuji down enough to finish off his food in peace. The three played cards next during the ride to pass the time, Rumi fell asleep again next to Koutetsu, Ryuji, and Tatsuya admired the sight. Ryuji wished he had that growing up with his sister Naomi, Tatsuya had no siblings just his friends from the orphanage including Erika.
The train stopped earlier than expected by twenty minutes. Everyone got off in their assigned groups, Ryuji and Tatsuya were with Koutetsu and Rumi was with Itsuki, Kaede, and Natsume who also showed. Rina was also supposed to be in the group, she had accepted the invite but didn't show up yet. She was marked as late by the teacher, but not absent since she gave a heads-up call notice she was taking a different train timeline there.
Rina was allowed to come since she was not needed at the moment for any work from Lady Yozora. It was a short break for her, especially after her outburst on Misora, Lady Yozora told her to lay low for the time being before they ended up killing each other.
The ride to the resort was also short, everyone had time to get there to their rooms to unpack and wind down. The students and staff immediately began to have fun alongside the regular tourists staying over, from the beach shores, games, theater, and even the hot springs bath. The Yagami family spared no expense in the years to make the resort special for their guests.
The first day was a success, everyone was enjoying themselves with the scenery and five-star meals that were served after their arrival. Day two was even better, everyone was at the beach shores playing games in the water. Koutetsu, Tatsuya, and Ryuji were the immediate eye candy for the girls admiring their physiques. Itsuki had on an attractive two-piece swimsuit, Natsume had one that barely held her breasts in, and Kaede and Rumi were in kids' suits provided by the staff.
They were flinging water at each other, laughing and smiling as they had fun, while the boys had nosebleeds from watching the girls bounce in the water. They did the watermelon game next to see who would crack it open first. Koutetsu did it on the first try, everyone got their piece of the melon as they loved the sweetness in it.
On the third night, the resort hosted a karaoke contest, Tatsuya was the judge for it wanting someone else to shine in the spotlight and not him. In the end, Itsuki won, she sang a song from her favorite artist LiSA so beautifully it made everyone including Koutetsu look at her with praise. Following the end of the night, the resort played an old movie for everyone to enjoy. Rumi and Koutetsu enjoyed the film together with Rumi sharing the popcorn with him, Itsuki couldn't help but enjoy the sight of them looking like they had been siblings together since day one with how well their compatibility is.
Finally, it was the fourth day, New Year's Eve. Koutetsu was playing Tekken in the arcade area with the other students. Rumi was in the kid's area enjoying time with Kaede, Tsukikage, and Tsurara.
Itsuki walked into the room to talk to Koutetsu, she wanted to do something special with him on the last day.
"Hey Koutetsu do you want to visit the hot springs bath real quick?" Koutetsu froze upon hearing that, costing him a loss against the other guest.
"Eh? You, me, alone in the hot spring bath. Are you sure?" He started to imagine Ituski in a towel calling to him, but the daydream ended before the vision of her took off the towel completely.
"Yes, I do mean me and you alone. There's a mixed bath so we can talk more before the fireworks show tonight what do you say?"
Koutetsu almost dropped the controller from Itsuki's persistence.
"Itsuki, I'm not sure if that's a good idea. I mean, people may get the wrong idea if it's us alone in the mixed bath. Wouldn't separate ones be better?"
"Don't worry about it. I could care less what others think, I just want to spend time with you. It's alright isn't it?" Koutetsu could see she was looking serious about it. She did want to spend time with him and they were on vacation, not many chances for them to get this kind of opportunity. Koutetsu said yes after her asking was increasing, he'd meet her there in an hour after getting his rematch on the game.
Koutetsu later went to bath as promised. He got there earlier to soak in the water for some courage before seeing Itsuki. He got out of his clothes and wrapped the towel around him, keeping it on as he got inside the bath he let the hot water of the bath relax his body more than it had been in years since he was a kid. He felt amazing as the aches and pains all over his were disappearing in the water.
'Aw, this is paradise my body feels incredible, too bad I can't drink legally in this world, a good beer and meat skewer would be perfect for this. But this feels great still, my body has been stiff since the fight with Megumi, maybe I should find a house with a bath close to a place like this Rumi would love to do this with Mana when she comes back.'
He was completely relaxed to the point he almost went to sleep, he was too relaxed to the point that he didn't notice the footsteps walking up behind him. The feet stopped moving, they slid silently behind Koutetsu as the body slowly got behind him enough for the arms to wrap around the top of his body.
Koutetsu thought it was Itsuki, but since he had a washcloth on his face he didn't see who it was behind him.
"Told you, sneaking up on me is a bad idea, guess I'll have to punish you too for that."
He tried being playful since acting rude would most likely cause Ituski to freeze the water. Koutetsu grabbed the legs to tickle her, but the legs weren't Itsuki's, they were smooth but felt stronger, like the legs of someone with training. Koutetsu took off the washcloth from his face to see who it was behind him. It wasn't Itsuki, it was Rina to his commoner's bewilderment.
His face turned red seeing her wrapped in a towel bearing more skin than the clothes she wore at his house, he tried to get up but she held him down to prevent his escape.
"Don't leave, I just want to talk. Please stay."
He could hear it in her voice she was begging for him to stay and listen, and with her here he finally had a chance to talk to her.
"Why haven't you contacted me back? Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you? You left so suddenly, you haven't responded back save for a half-hearted reply. My head's a mess as it is but seeing you look broken that day you left, you have no idea what It did to me." His fists clenched hard under the water.
Because his head was pointed down, he didn't see the look of sadness in Rina's eyes from the guilt she felt. Her grip tightened, and small tears fell on his back, he wasn't angry anymore, he was worried again for her.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish I could stay this way with you all the time. But I can't. We can't choose our families or the crosses to bear from them. This may be the last time I'll see you again. So, can this be a good memory for me, just one good memory to last forever?"
Koutetsu was hurting in his heart. Those emotions of worry and confusion for her turned to empathy. He knew those emotions too well she was sending, they were his when his old self, how could anyone not relate to those feelings they experienced as well? He felt it was the right time, Koutetsu had to try it again, he couldn't be free in his head or soul unless he knew the truth. He couldn't be free to make a final decision on his feelings either unless he tried it while she was here.
He took Rina's arms off him and turned to face her eye to eye, she thought he was still mad at her for ghosting him. She was ready for a lecture from him, he got close to her, and his breathing became small pants, making her do the same. His hands grabbed her face, as hers bragged his arms, she didn't try to fight what was going on, she was going to let him do what he needed to get his closure.
Koutetsu leaned in closer, his eyes closing the closer he got to Rina's face, Rina closed hers back, and for the moment she felt happiness.
Koutetsu kissed her, not just a peck on the cheek as he did with Itsuki forcing a moment to happen, this time he gave an honest, passionate kiss to her. Lips interlocking, he didn't hesitate or feel emptiness, this one felt real, and even his heart fluttered from it.
Rina's eyes teared up, her hands let go of his arms and started wrapping her arms around him instead. Koutetsu let her go of the kiss, and he embraced her next, holding her head as it lay on his shoulder.
"Don't leave me again. Please, I don't care what situation you're in or who is hurting you. But I'm not letting you go, I promise I'll save you from whatever it is hurting you. I promise." Rina could feel the warmth in his words. She couldn't lift her head off his shoulder from how much she wanted the moment to last. Her eyes had opened halfway, reality had kicked in now. It was a good moment, one she would cherish forever, but even dreams had to end soon. Nothing could stop reality from kicking in for her and her family's curse.
"I'm sorry." Rina hit a pressure point in his neck to put him to sleep, he didn't see coming as such he was knocked out from the surprise hit. She carefully sat him back against the edge of the bath so he wouldn't drown, she gave him one last kiss before leaving, her forehead pressed against his sobbing. Rina got up out of the bath, she looked one more time at Koutetsu as she walked away, disappearing into the shadows. Even if she didn't see it, even with him being unconscious, his soul felt it, it made him give one single tear down his face. The pain he may never see again. The pain of losing a loved once more.