"300.., 300.000?!"
Because Shouta's words completely exceeded her expectations, Mukuro was dumbfounded for a mont.
"Exactly what kind of ga requires spending so much money?"
"Well, if we're talking about mobile gas, this level can only be considered average."
Yutsuki calmly explained to Mukuro, while handing the chocolate to Shouta. Should she call the kid honest or practical? After taking the sweet from Yutsuki's hand, Shouta quickly stopped crying and buried his head in eating the chocolate like a hamster.
"Have you never played mobile gas before, Mukuro?"
Seeing Mukuro's look of disbelief, Yutsuki asked curiously.
"...No. Although Muku had used a mobile phone back then, Muku only used it for daily communication."
Mukuro silently shook her head. In her era, mobile phone functions weren't that rich. Although there were indeed so small gas to kill ti, the main purpose was still making calls and sending texts. There were no functions for mobile paynts or internet browsing.
Furthermore, Mukuro back then hadn't even gotten her own mobile phone from her parents yet. More often than not, her sister lent her her phone.
Hearing Mukuro's words, Yutsuki nodded in understanding.
"No wonder. Phones nowadays have evolved a lot. Browsing the internet and playing gas is no problem, and you can pay online without carrying a wallet. It's convenient and easy, but it also creates new problems."
Patting Shouta's small head, Yutsuki looked at him with a wicked smile and said.
"If you ask , this brat probably wanted a rare character in a ga to show off to his friends. But after using up all his free gacha tickets, he still didn't get it. So, while his mom wasn't looking, he peeked at the password used for mobile paynts, and then secretly kept charging money to the phone behind her back. But today, his mom found out when she checked the bills. Then, he refused to admit it, got beaten up, and ran away."
"H-How did you know?!"
Hearing Yutsuki's guess, Shouta's face instantly turned completely pale.
"Hmph, the thoughts of a little brat like you, Onee-chan here sees right through them clearly."
Yutsuki crossed her arms and said, looking at Shouta with disdain.
"And not only that. I also know that when you left, you definitely hated your mom to the bone. You thought in your heart that even if you had to wander the streets and beco a beggar, you would cut all ties with her. But after walking for a few hours, you got so hungry you couldn't take it anymore and circled back. However, you were afraid that if you saw your mom you would just get beaten again. So you decided to cry loudly here, hoping so kind-hearted person would take you in. If worst cos to worst, you still needed to find a shield. That's why you kept quiet about the reason for the argunt, shifting all the bla onto your mom, hoping that when your mom found you, soone would be there to protect you, right?"
"I, I, I..."
Having his inner calculations clearly punctured by Yutsuki, Shouta's expression looked as ugly as if he had choked on a fishbone while eating fish. He stamred, unable to say a single word.
Yutsuki sneered with a wicked smile on her face.
"Seriously. You don't have the courage to apologize, but you have plenty of boring, petty cleverness. What a spineless coward. Your mom raised you for nothing."
"Yutsuki onee-chan, your words... are a bit too much...."
Mukuro couldn't help but say. Although after understanding the whole story, she also knew that this little boy brought this entirely upon himself and there was no need to take his side, she was still a bit resistant to Yutsuki's rciless belittling.
"Y-You big bad! I-I'll fight you!!!!"
Even Mukuro, who was just listening on the side, felt a bit averse, so the reaction of the person involved, Shouta, was imaginable. His small self-esteem completely crushed by Yutsuki, his anger instantly spiked. He threw a punch at Yutsuki.
The result was a matter of course. Not to ntion that Yutsuki, as a Spirit, had physical abilities far exceeding those of a normal person, a kid not even ten years old trying to beat a high schooler was a fool's dream to begin with. Yutsuki easily pinned Shouta down with just one hand, leaving his seemingly fierce small fists to only swing wildly at the air.
"Ara ara! To actually throw a punch at a person who kindly gave you candy, and a girl at that. You really are pathetic. Pfft—"
"Shut up! Shut up!"
Shouta was so angry at Yutsuki that his face turned red, constantly flailing his arms and legs trying to hit her.
"Naive child."
Yutsuki shrugged with a bitter smile. Her expression suddenly turned cold, and she said in a deep voice.
"Do you even realize what a stupid thing you're doing? If you had honestly stayed at ho, at most you would have gotten a beating and a scolding, and that would be the end of it. But you ran outside, thinking so kind-hearted person would take you in? Ridiculous. In less than a few days, you would be kidnapped by bad guys, have your limbs chopped off so you couldn't escape, and have your heart, liver, and other organs sold for money. And then your life would be over... Ah, speaking of which, there's a character I want to pull in a mobile ga recently... and I just happen to be short on money—"
Releasing a slight trace of killing intent, Yutsuki glared fiercely at Shouta, showing a malicious smile.
"Ah—!?"
Feeling Yutsuki's malice, Shouta couldn't help but let out a yelp. His body stiffened, and the anger in his eyes instantly turned into fear.
Honestly, even Mukuro, who was standing on the side, couldn't help but feel a chill down her spine.
—Drip.
Right at this mont, Mukuro heard the sound of a water drop hitting the ground.
"Mukuro, let's go to the children's clothing section to buy a set of clothes next."
"Eh?"
Sighing helplessly, Yutsuki explained calmly.
"This brat pissed his pants."
——————————
"Wa... wa... sorry... wa, wawawawa... I won't do it again... hic... Mama—"
After changing into the 30% off clearance sale cheap underwear and shorts Yutsuki bought from the children's clothing section, Shouta was crying again, snot and tears streaming down his face. Only this ti, he clearly couldn't even speak properly.
And this ti, for a different reason, Mukuro felt heartfelt sympathy for this little boy.
"Yutsuki onee-chan, why must you be so serious with a child?"
Taking a handkerchief out of her bag, Mukuro wiped Shouta's tears and snot while complaining dissatisfiedly to Yutsuki.
"Well, compared to being caught by real bad guys, isn't it better to learn a lesson from first?"
Shrugging without a trace of guilt, Yutsuki took out a lollipop and waved it in front of Shouta's eyes.
"Want so candy?"
"...Mhm."
Shouta nodded silently.
"You actually still want it?"
Mukuro complained speechlessly.
"The bad onee-chan is very annoying... But snacks are never wrong."
Shouta retorted in a low voice.
"Well, actually, for many cute kids, as long as they have a piece of candy in their mouth to divert their attention, they will quiet down a lot."
Sure enough, just as Yutsuki said, under the influence of the sweetness, Shouta's crying gradually cald down.
Yutsuki sighed and asked in a calm tone.
"You actually knew you were wrong, didn't you? That's why you didn't dare tell us the truth at first, right?"
"...Mhm."
Shouta nodded silently.
"Even though you wanted to apologize to your mom, you didn't want to get beaten and scolded again, so you didn't dare go back?"
"...Mhm, because... angry Mama... is very scary..."
After hesitating for a mont, Shouta mumbled in a low voice.
"Scarier than ?"
"...No."
"Very good." Hearing Shouta's answer, Yutsuki nodded in satisfaction. "As an apology for scaring you, let give you the courage to face being scolded."
"...Courage?"
"Yutsuki onee-chan?"
Under Shouta and Mukuro's confused gazes, Yutsuki took a key out of her pocket, removed a keychain from it, and handed it to Shouta.
Seeing the keychain with the charm in his hand, Shouta's red, crying eyes instantly lit up.
"This is! The super rare character from the gacha machine in the arcade, the final form of the protagonist from Kan Rider?"
"Kan Rider...?"
Mukuro's face was full of confusion.
"A Tokusatsu show that's very popular among boys."
After briefly explaining to Mukuro, Yutsuki looked at Shouta and asked with a smile.
"Make a promise with , okay? If you can honestly apologize to your mom and make up with her, this keychain will belong to you."
"Really?!"
Shouta looked at Yutsuki in pleasant surprise.
"Mhm, really." Yutsuki nodded and said. "Furthermore, even if you don't make up with your mom, I won't take this keychain back."
"Eh? Why?"
"Because if you can't even keep a promise like this, even if I don't ask for the keychain back, Kan Rider will be disappointed in you and abandon you."
"Eh..."
"Do you think I'm joking to coax you?"
Seeing Yutsuki's smile that hid a murderous intent, Shouta instantly shivered and hurriedly shook his head.
"No, no—I understand. I, I will make that promise with you!"
After that, Yutsuki and Mukuro got his mother's phone number from Shouta and contacted her.
Soon, in less than five minutes, Yutsuki and Mukuro saw a woman running over with a worried face.
Honestly, based on Shouta's description earlier, Mukuro thought his mom was a vicious woman with three heads and six arms who looked like a Rakshasa. But after seeing her in person, she unexpectedly gave off a gentle feeling. Her face was covered in sweat, making it obvious she had also been searching everywhere for her son before this.
"I am so sorry! My son has caused you trouble."
Pulling Shouta's hand, Shouta's mother kept bowing to Yutsuki and Mukuro.
"Um... How much were the clothes? I will pay you back..."
"It's fine, it's fine! They were just cheap clearance items! You don't need to be so polite, Auntie. As long as the child is fine, that's all that matters."
Yutsuki waved her hand with a bitter smile.
"Alright, we should be going too, Mukuro."
"Um, Yutsuki onee-chan, wait a mont."
Mukuro crouched down, looked at Shouta, and said gently.
"Please be sure to treasure your family, Shouta."
"...Mhm, I understand."
Touching the keychain Yutsuki gave him in his pocket, Shouta nodded silently.
...
"Will they... be able to make up?"
Watching the mother and son slowly walk away, Mukuro spoke with an anxious tone.
"Well, it shouldn't be a problem."
Yutsuki answered with a calm face.
"Actually, most of the 300,000 yen Shouta spent can be recovered. After all, he's only ten years old and clearly lacks the capacity to manage such a large amount of spending. As long as the guardian provides sufficient proof, the money can be refunded. When I called, I conveniently asked Maria to look into it, and basically, all of it can be recovered."
"Is that so?"
Mukuro was a bit surprised.
"Mhm, and to be honest, this matter can't be said to be entirely Shouta's fault. The mother was at fault for carelessly exposing her password. Going deeper, it could also be said to be a negative impact brought about by the convenience of mobile paynts. Compared to spending cash bill by bill, online paynt thods just deduct a string of numbers. It extrely lacks the real feeling of spending money. Sotis even adults find it hard to control themselves, let alone a child. If it were paper money, Shouta would have stopped after spending ten or twenty thousand at most."
Although Yutsuki's words were too complicated for Mukuro to understand, she still figured out that the problem between Shouta and his family wasn't that serious, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
But soon, another doubt arose in Mukuro's mind.
"But if their finances were not damaged, why did Shouta's mother get angry at Shouta?"
"Very simple. If the money couldn't be recovered, Shouta would definitely have been beaten even worse." Yutsuki explained with a bitter smile. "Moreover, regardless of the outco, Shouta made a mistake after all. If she didn't teach him a lesson and kept spoiling him, he would definitely make the sa mistake in the future, and might even turn into an arrogant, unrepentant person."
"However... it was precisely because of that... that Shouta ran away from ho in a fit of anger..."
"Well, kids in their rebellious phase have very strong self-esteem."
Yutsuki sighed and asked Mukuro.
"Mukuro, do you know why Shouta knew perfectly well he was wrong, yet still didn't dare go back and apologize to his mom?"
After thinking for a mont, Mukuro answered with hesitation.
"...Because he was afraid of his mother's anger?"
"...Incorrect." Yutsuki silently shook her head and sighed. "It's because he didn't want to be looked down upon by his mother."
"...?!"
"Kids nowadays mature much earlier than before, but it's only precociousness, not true maturity. Even if they know they are wrong, they don't want their image in their family's hearts to be degraded. Compared to admitting their mistakes, they are more inclined to try and secretly make up for those mistakes themselves, and then act as if nothing happened. But since they don't know the correct way to make up for their mistakes, in most cases, they just make things worse and worse."
"Uh..."
After hearing Yutsuki's words, Mukuro's expression beca a bit complicated.
"So... that is why Yutsuki onee-chan purposely stopped Muku, and played the villain to scare Shouta?"
"Well, it's just the old carrot and stick thod. I just 'seriously' scared him a bit to make his mom seem more amiable by comparison. It's soone else's business after all, getting too involved isn't good."
Yutsuki shrugged, not denying it.
(In the end... Muku is still just a naive child.)
Hearing Yutsuki's words, Mukuro couldn't help but shut her mouth in self-bla.
If Yutsuki hadn't stopped her back then, if she hadn't asked for the reason and just taken Shouta's side, that matter not only wouldn't have ended peacefully, but would have beco even more chaotic.
"I see... As expected of Yutsuki onee-chan. Muku has been greatly enlightened."
Taking a deep breath, Mukuro adjusted her mood, took out her notebook, and recorded Yutsuki's teachings one by one.
Words turned into clear text outlined by ink. Pondering every word Yutsuki said, for so reason, Mukuro recalled her own past.
Afraid of losing connection with her family, afraid her family would leave her—clearly harboring such anxiety, Mukuro didn't open her heart to her family. Instead, she self-righteously cut off all contact between her family and the outside world, thinking that this way, her parents and sister would be able to stay by her side forever. But in the end, she didn't grasp what she longed for; instead, she lost everything because of it.
Perhaps sowhere in her heart, Mukuro was overlapping Shouta with her past self.
(If... the person who found Muku back then was the mature and calm Yutsuki onee-chan, or the straightforward and gentle Nushi-sama... then Muku...)
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