That night, at the Itsuka household.
"Shido, let help."
After returning ho, Yutsuki saw Shido preparing dinner and stood up from the living room to greet him.
"...!"
Hearing Yutsuki's voice, Itsuka Shido suddenly shivered all over. A trace of fear unconsciously appeared on his face, and he took a flustered step backward.
Well, although a man reacting like that to a woman would seem very rude, Yutsuki showed no displeasure at all. In fact, there was even a faint expression of guilt on her face.
At that ti, it had been just a little bit more—just a tiny bit more—and she really would have devoured Shido in the hallway. If not for the Ratatoskr mbers rushing in to stop her, Shido's chastity would probably really have been lost…
Even now, just rembering it made Yutsuki feel embarrassed.
Seeing Shido's reaction as though he had seen a scary beast, Yutsuki's pretty face showed a trace of awkwardness. Her cheeks slightly red, she coughed softly.
"Uh… um, sorry about at school. It's just that I hadn't seen Shiori in so long, so I got a little too carried away and lost control. Don't worry. You're in male clothes right now. I won't do anything."
Indeed. According to Kotori, when Shido changed into won's clothes, Yutsuki's favorability would instantly break through its previous maximum. To put it bluntly, it was practically to the point where "Shiori is her entire world" which was a level that made one sweat just thinking about it. But once he switched back to n's clothes, it would drop to a relatively calm value.
After hearing Yutsuki's apology and seeing that she really was fine, Shido relaxed and gave a bitter smile. "Mm, then I'll leave it to you!"
Ryougi Yutsuki nodded, rolled up her sleeves, took another apron from the cabinet and tied it on. Then, for convenience while cooking, she tied up her chestnut hair into a long ponytail.
It had to be said that at this mont, Yutsuki gave off a very warm, family-like aura. It made Shido stare blankly for a mont.
"What are we making today?"
Hearing Yutsuki turn around and ask him, Shido snapped out of it and, a little embarrassed by his own distraction, answered.
"Oh, ah, today's dinner is hamburger steak."
"Oh, that takes quite so ti… I'll go beat the eggs first. Shido, you go peel and chop the onions."
"Understood."
Then they divided the work. Shido peeled and chopped the onions, while Yutsuki began beating the eggs in a bowl.
It was easy to tell that Yutsuki was also soone who had cooked often in the past. Shido glanced over at her now and then. Just from beating eggs, one could tell that Yutsuki was truly very skilled in this area too. With her help, the whole process moved much faster.
After preparing the ingredients, the two of them washed their hands briefly, mixed the beef filling, and then began shaping the hamburger patties together.
"Ah… after switching back to n's clothes, cooking really is reassuring…"
Thinking back to all the trouble that had happened after he had dressed as a girl today, and then looking at the present, Shido could not help but sigh in relief.
"Shido… the way you say that is really annoying, you know."
Stopping her work, Yutsuki stared at him with a troubled expression.
"You know, Shido only has to be 'a woman' for a while, while I have to live like this for my whole life!"
"S-Sorry!"
"No need to apologize. I'm not angry or anything. Honestly, just hurry up and awaken the pleasure of being female and beco Shiori for life already!"
—Smack! —Smack!
Even though she said she wasn't angry, she was definitely angry.
Watching Yutsuki's movents grow heavier and heavier as she pounded the at patties, Shido gave a bitter smile.
"The next song—Izayoi Miku, 'rmaid Love Story'."
At that mont, from the television in the living room, the announcer's voice suddenly rang out. It seed Tohka and the others were sitting on the sofa watching TV while waiting for dinner.
Imdiately afterward, with the introduction from the narrator, a very beautiful lody ca from the television. The song sounded light and airy, and once the accompanint joined in, the spiritual quality of the music climbed even higher. Listening to it made the body want to sway unconsciously to the beat.
(Izayoi Miku… co to think of it, the idol everyone's been talking about at school lately seems to mainly be her.)
While preparing the plates, Yutsuki happened to glance at the television. The singer seed to be protecting her privacy, because she was standing against the backlight of the cara, making her face impossible to see clearly.
(This voice… sohow feels familiar…)
Frowning slightly, Yutsuki suddenly seed to think of sothing and widened her eyes. She quickly hurried back to Shido's side.
"Yutsuki, the plates are here. The hamburger steak here is almost finished frying too."
"Mm, Shido, I want to ask—"
Just as Yutsuki was about to speak, Tohka and the others suddenly let out surprised cries from the kitchen.
"What a beautiful voice…"
Yoshino said with deep emotion.
"I want to try it too!"
Tohka said excitedly while eating potato chips.
Shido chuckled softly, wiped his hands clean, and said to Tohka, "Then how about trying karaoke next ti?"
Tohka excitedly stood up from the sofa, the bow on her head seemingly hopping in joy as well, and pointed at the drumr on the TV.
"That thing that goes boom boom!"
"So you ant the instrunt after all!"
Kotori, who was eating a lollipop on the side, could not help but complain.
"Boom~ Boom~ Boom~"
The beautiful girl with long dark hair waved two imaginary drumsticks in her hands while singing a lively tune. Her goofy, adorable behavior filled the living room with a different kind of healing atmosphere from before, making everyone smile unconsciously.
"...By the way, Yutsuki. What were you just going to ask ?"
"No, let's talk about it later."
Shrugging, Yutsuki let out a sigh, saying that she had just been attacked full-on by cuteness.
...
"And?, did you fall in love with the pleasure of cross-dressing?"
After dinner, Kotori ca to Shido's room wearing her black headband and switched into commander mode, sitting on Shido's bed and joking with him.
"Of course not! Do you want your brother to beco your sister that much?"
"Mm… I'll pass on that. Let's talk business."
After a cough, Kotori beca serious.
"From today's situation, Miku's case matches our hypothesis exactly—she's a yuri."
"Mm…"
Thinking back to how, just a few days ago, he had nearly been killed just for speaking to her, and then to the extre contrast after changing into won's clothes today, the corner of Shido's mouth twitched.
"Well, from today's situation, it's true that the route to Miku was correct. And being able to et her again is lucky in its own way. Besides, she also has the habit of having afternoon tea with a woman she likes once a week."
On the table lay a lace-edged handkerchief, already washed and neatly folded.
This was the handkerchief that Shido had accidentally dropped when he t Miku, when he fell over in the ssy crowd at the venue and Miku left it behind while bandaging his injury.
Indeed, using the excuse of returning the handkerchief was a good way to initiate contact. Though there was also the possibility that she would simply take the handkerchief back and leave right away… but in that case, they would have to rely on Fraxinus's instructions and Shido's improvisation.
"But before that, there's one thing we need to be careful about."
Suddenly, Kotori's eyes turned serious.
"What?"
"About Yutsuki, haven't you learned your lesson from before? Maybe it's a side effect left by your previous conquest. Usually when she sees you, it's fine, but the mont you put on the Shiori outfit, Yutsuki's favorability toward you imdiately skyrockets to its maximum. If she finds out that you're going to go on a date with Miku in the Shiori outfit, how do you think she'll react?"
"Uh, that's true…"
"True what?"
Yutsuki asked the two of them with a smiling face as she suddenly appeared.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
The Itsuka siblings let out perfectly synchronized screams.
"Honestly, your reactions are way too rude. I'm not so kind of monster."
Yutsuki puffed her cheeks in displeasure.
"Huh? Yutsuki-nee, when did you get here?!!"
"Just now. I ca to talk to Shido about sothing. The door was open, so I just ca in."
"At least knock first, okay?"
Shido could not help but give a bitter smile.
"It's fine, right? We're all family anyway." Yutsuki casually shrugged, then turned her gaze toward Kotori. "So, Izayoi Miku really is 'Diva,' huh?"
"Mm, yes. I'm impressed that you figured it out!"
Kotori let out a small sigh and admitted defeat.
"Well… I just noticed it by accident."
Yutsuki gave a bitter smile. If she had not felt that the voice of Izayoi Miku appeared in the TV program Tohka was watching, she would not have realized the two were the sa person.
"And then? Since Izayoi Miku is yuri, do we need Shido to dress as a girl again this ti?"
"Should I say as expected of Yutsuki-nee? I haven't told you anything and yet you basically already know everything."
"Mm, you can respect a little more, Kotori-chan~"
With a smile, Yutsuki patted Kotori's head and said to Shido, "That's how it is. Tomorrow I'll go with you to Rindouji All Girls' School to et Miku!"
"...Eeeehhhhh????"x2
After a mont of silence, the two of them finally processed Yutsuki's words and scread.
"What? Since my work for Tenou Festival is already done, I'm free tomorrow anyway. Miku does say she likes to have afternoon tea with a woman she likes, but I figure one more person should be fine, right?"
Yutsuki said with complete confidence.
"Huh? Wait… yes, that's not wrong. But why? You should understand that Shido isn't going just to have tea with her, right?"
After finally calming down, Kotori asked Yutsuki.
"Of course I know. Shido is trying to win over Miku to seal away her spiritual power. Don't worry, my tolerance isn't that small." Yutsuki sighed helplessly. "I have my own reasons for doing this. If Shido's male identity accidentally gets exposed, Miku will definitely just let him go. If I'm there, then if anything dangerous happens, I can protect Shido."
"Mm… true."
Yutsuki's words did make sense to a certain degree. With Shido's badly honed from pressure feminine disguise, there were plenty of flaws that already existed. So far, he had been lucky enough to get by. But they could not say that luck would continue forever. If his identity accidentally got exposed and Izayoi Miku found out that the person in front of her was a crossdressing pervert, Itsuka Shido's end would definitely be extrely miserable.
Although sealed, Yutsuki's spiritual power pathways were actually fairly loose according to Fraxinus's inspection. If Yutsuki wanted to, she could basically summon her partial Astras Dress and Angel without much difficulty. As a bodyguard, she was more than suitable.
"That ti… when Shido almost got pushed off the stage and fell to the ground. I was extrely unhappy. I know you have Kotori's power and could recover, but to watch helplessly and be unable to do anything, I absolutely won't allow that!"
After saying that with a sowhat self-mocking tone, Yutsuki looked straight at Shido with amber eyes. "Shido, you already swore that you would beco my family. So I hope that, just like you rely on Kotori, you can rely on my help too."
"…I understand. Kotori, what do you think?"
After hearing Yutsuki's unwavering declaration, Shido finally gave a helpless smile and turned his gaze to Kotori.
"…Yes, that's true. Considering Shido's lousy acting skills, we really do have to consider the risk of his identity being exposed. If anything dangerous happens, Yutsuki-nee can also rescue him imdiately." After thinking for a mont, Kotori nodded in agreent. "Yutsuki-nee, I'm leaving this idiot brother to you tomorrow!"
"Mm! Leave it to ."
Yutsuki nodded firmly.
"Oh, right, Yutsuki-nee, don't let yourself get carried away and push the cross-dressed Shido down."
"Uh… I probably won't… maybe?"
"Why are you answering with a question mark?!!"
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