Sharing the sa sentint as Otoha, I caught her in my arms, carried her effortlessly and kissed her without a second thought. It has been close to two weeks so… it’s easy to imagine how much we missed each other. Even though we managed to talk to each other recently, nothing beats feeling each other’s warmth. Also, this was acting on my words of wanting to carry and hold her again.
“Hmm? You’re not in your uniform, Otoha. Are you not going to school?”
“Not today. I don’t want to miss today. Don’t worry, I asked Aika to inform the school.” Otoha shook her head. After that, she pulled back to the car where Hitomi was waiting.
After settling down on our seats and closing the car door, my eyes t with Hitomi’s through the rearview mirror. Noticing that, the woman holding the steering wheel thinly smiled. If soone else was looking at her, they probably fail to distinguish it from her normal straight expression but as soone used to her personality, it’s a great improvent.
“I missed you too, Hitomi. Have you been well?”
Hitomi nodded curtly as a response.
Well, with Otoha here with us, she’s restraining herself not to act out of her work mode. On the other hand, the girl next to who saw that simple exchange flashed a aningful yet unsatisfied smile.
A mont later, she bead mischievously.
“Hitomi-nee, you can ask Ruki for a kiss too. You missed him too, don’t deny it.”
“… But Otoha-sama. I c-can’t lose myself to personal whims when I’m with you. I will fail as your chauffeur and bodyguard.”
She really didn’t deny it. Furthermore, she seed a little panicky as her eyes alternated between and Otoha.
And obviously, Otoha caught that. The girl glanced at and stuck her tongue out before continuing. She even leaned over the front seat to effectively encourage Hitomi.
Otoha whispered in her ears. Given that she already started the car, I failed to catch what Otoha said. However, I could put out a guess after seeing how her exposed ears visibly reddened. She cajoled her chauffeur to act out what was in her mind.
Otoha returned to her seat, clasped my hand and raised her thumb.
“What are you waiting for, Hitomi-nee?”
“… If you will excuse , Ruki-sama.” Following Otoha’s words, Hitomi twisted her body a bit to turn towards us. With her eyes fixating on my figure, I moved and t her in the middle.
“Drop the -sama, will you? Between us, there’s no such status divide. Besides, Otoha looked up to you as her older sister.” I said before my hand cupped her cheek and pressed our lips together.
Right. That’s also what Otoha hoped for. Although it should be unthinkable for soone of her status to favor a supposed servant of their family and look up to her as a close sister, it’s not impossible to happen.
Otoha was just a sweet girl. Well, I wouldn’t take credit for it but it’s probably also because of my influence. I didn’t treat Otoha according to her status before. For , she’s just like any other girl I stole. Whether that resulted in a good or a bad thing, that’s now reflected in her relationship with Hitomi.
Moreover, as soone who accompanied her since young, Otoha naturally started seeing her as more than just a chauffeur and bodyguard.
“I… I can’t be that informal quickly. Please forgive .” After our lips separated, Hitomi lowered her head in apology before putting her focus back in front.
“Mhm. You don’t need to ask for forgiveness. It’s fine for . You can take it slow.” I tapped her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze before returning to Otoha’s side.
A while later, the car started moving with a clear destination in mind. During it, I talked to Otoha about the happenings in her house and what I should expect today.
Although it should be a family affair, Otoha didn’t hold back on telling what she knew about the current situation. Because of her grandfather’s sudden collapse and hospitalization, there were those who quietly moved to try and lift up her father ‘Hiroyuki’ up to the position of the Patriarch. According to their plan, if they were successful, her grandfather would be stepping down even if he recovered and returned to full health.
And that failed, obviously.
Her father, despite his ambition to beco the next head of the house, didn't want it to be handed easily by others and by taking advantage of the current situation.
In a sense, her father had the sa mindset as that brother of hers, he wanted to be successful through his own efforts and prove his ttle to his own father. That way, he wouldn’t be a weak leader and lead their family to downfall.
He acted like he was open to those leeches’ suggestions but he was just testing them. Every movent they made was being sent to the hospital, informing Otoha’s grandfather.
Obviously, even Otoha was unaware of the full details of what happened next but the personnel, the people from their branch families as well as other tie-ins through marriage were reshuffled. So were fired from their positions and so disappeared to who knows where.
Furthermore, her mother was chided for keeping Otoha locked up in their estate. If not for her father loving her mother deeply and defending her saying that she’s acting while thinking of Otoha’s future – which is false, obviously – she would probably get a harsher punishnt.
Anyway, that’s all Otoha could tell . The girl hugged my arm tightly for the most part of that ride. But that’s not entirely because of our reunion after more than a week of not feeling each other’s warmth.
She’s actually nervously holding onto , silently praying even. And that’s so I could survive this upcoming eting with her grandfather.
Right. It's happening today and there’s no running away from it.
I already prepared myself to et him but I guess, I was also influenced by Otoha’s nervousness. That’s why just like her, I held onto her and we comforted each other, to ease the nerves getting to us.
Apparently, this eting would only be a few minutes. He just wanted to see and get to know . Or in other words, he’d probably try to judge using a few probing questions or words.
Supposedly, he’s still finishing what he needed to finish about the internal affairs of their house. However, he especially set aside this ti to et the reason why his favorite granddaughter pleaded to him to break off the engagent set by her mother.
Ah. Right. Otoha already ntioned my existence to him. Not just once but twice.
The first instance was when he regained consciousness after the collapse and before she got grounded by her mother. And for the second instance, it’s today. Before sending the ssage to , she already t him and inford him that she was going to et again, now that she regained her freedom to go out.
From Otoha’s words, her grandfather might be scary when serious but he’s amiable enough. Especially towards her.
Well, she’s his favorite grandchild. I should expect that he’d be more unforgiving in case I failed to et his expectations for his granddaughter…
A few minutes later, the car slowed down to a halt before Hitomi’s voice woke us up from our nervous stupor, “We’ve arrived, Otoha-sama, Ruki-sama”
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