Watching Mrs. Yukinoshita's retreating figure, Hozuki Nozomi turned a curious gaze toward Haruno. "Haruno-nee, why did Yukinoshita-sama specifically say she wasn't in a hurry for granddaughters? Couldn't they be grandsons?"
Yukinoshita Haruno offered a knowing smile. "Because the Yukinoshita lineage is special. Statistically, it tends toward daughters. Besides," she added with a playful tilt of her head, "didn't you see? Both Yukino and I inherited Mother's excellent looks and capabilities. Having daughters is a wonderful thing!"
Nozomi immediately broke into a cheerful grin. "Sounds perfect to me."
"You go have them yourself, then," Yukino Yukinoshita huffed, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. She grabbed her sister's hand. "My sister and I are going to take a bath." With that, she began pulling a bemused Haruno toward the bathroom.
Hozuki Nozomi's mouth twitched. Wasn't Yukino setting an impossible task? How exactly am I supposed to have children alone?
In the spacious, steam-filled bathroom.
"Sister, let me help scrub your back."
With a hint of shyness, Yukino Yukinoshita gently placed a towel, rich with white bubbles, against Yukinoshita Haruno's smooth, unblemished skin.
"Mmm… Thank you, Yukino-chan. I'll return the favor in a moment."
Both sisters had their hair wrapped up in towels. Yukino's slender hands moved with careful tenderness as she wiped the soapy cloth over her sister's back. A complex mixture of nostalgia and affection welled up within her.
"I remember when we were little, you used to scrub my back like this."
"I did."
"It's a pity that after starting junior high, Yukino-chan didn't seem to like her big sister anymore. You wouldn't even bathe with me. It really hurt my feelings, you know." Haruno adopted a pitiful, wounded expression, playfully accusing her younger sister.
"Hmph, how can you say that, Sister?" Yukino retorted, though her tone held no real anger. "Who was it that kept playing those mean tricks on me all the time?"
Back then, she had found her sister truly insufferable, capable of reducing her to frustrated tears with a well-placed prank.
Haruno's smile turned slightly awkward, but she rallied with a swift defense. "Yukino-chan, I was actually doing it for your own good. Think about it. Having endured my pranks, was there anything at school left for you to fear? After all," her voice softened, "my little Yukino was so stubborn and socially clumsy, completely unaware of how to leverage people. You were so pitifully isolated by others. If those people had tried to bully you outright, wouldn't you have just hidden away somewhere to cry by yourself?"
Hearing this, Yukino fell silent for a moment. "That… is true. And it's also true that I was able to firmly uproot anyone who thought about bullying me later, precisely because I had undergone your… 'special training.'" She paused. "However, Sister, you went too far. Couldn't you have used… other methods?"
Meeting her sister's mildly resentful gaze, Haruno gently raised a damp hand and stroked Yukino's head. "Because at the time, I thought I couldn't always stay by Yukino-chan's side to protect her. My little sister needed to learn to grow up, to face the world's cruelties and life's setbacks on her own."
Her expression softened into something wistful and warm. "But now, it seems that's no longer necessary. Because there's someone else who spoils Yukino-chan even more than I do. And now, I don't have to be separated from you anymore. Yukino-chan can freely act spoiled with her sister from now on. I promise, no more pranks."
Upon hearing this, Yukino couldn't help but pout, a childish gesture that betrayed her touched feelings. "Don't talk about me like I'm a child! And I won't act spoiled with you, okay? Don't underestimate me."
Haruno's lips curved into a mischievous smile, and she couldn't resist teasing. "Yukino-chan doesn't want to act spoiled with her sister, but wants to act spoiled with Hozuki Nozomi, is that it? Then why did you give him such a look earlier? Pfft… even telling him to 'go have daughters himself.' Was my little sister feeling jealous?"
"I am not jealous at all," the Second Miss declared stubbornly, though her gaze drifted downward, falling upon her sister's flawless skin—the slender waist, the smooth curve of her back, the overall silhouette that so completely overshadowed her own. It prompted a soft, involuntary whisper. "Sister's figure… is truly perfect."
Hearing the envious murmur, Haruno found it both amusing and endearing. "What are you worrying about, Yukino-chan? Genetically speaking, I am like this, Mother is like this, and you will undoubtedly develop this way in the future as well."
Yukino's pout deepened. "I don't care about that sort of thing… But… I've been congenitally weak since childhood. I can't engage in prolonged physical exercise at all."
"Tch, you say you don't care, yet you're clearly concerned. Look carefully, Yukino-chan, haven't there already been changes?" Haruno's tone was gently encouraging. "Alright, now rinse me off. It's my turn to help Yukino-chan scrub her back."
"Okay."
Hozuki Nozomi, waiting in the adjoining room, reflected that having exceptionally good hearing was both a blessing and a curse. Listening to the sisters' intimate conversation through the door, he felt his cheeks grow warm. A distinct heat began to kindle in his chest.
Well… we are officially engaged now, he reasoned with himself. Would it be so wrong to be a little… indulgent tonight?
Thirty minutes later, Yukino Yukinoshita and Yukinoshita Haruno emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in fluffy bath towels, their skin glowing and hair damp. Hozuki Nozomi immediately perked up, a hopeful smile on his face.
He rubbed his hands together slightly, his gaze perhaps a touch too appreciative as it swept over his two fiancées. "My turn!"
"You go take a shower! Hmph, you still smell like other women!" Yukino Yukinoshita glared at him with feigned sternness, pointing imperiously toward the bathroom door.
Defeated by her logic—and the undeniable truth of having danced with half the ballroom—Nozomi had no choice but to obey. He took a quick, efficient shower and returned to the bedroom moments later, wearing only a pair of shorts.
The room, however, was dark. The lights had been switched off. In the dim moonlight filtering through the curtains, he could just make out the shape of the large bed and the distinct, enticing mound of the quilt, proving his fiancées' presence.
His heart rate kicked up a notch. Quietly closing the door behind him, he slipped under the covers.
Night had fallen. But Hozuki Nozomi had no intention of letting sleep claim him just yet. Tonight was destined to be a long, and decidedly unsleepy, affair.
The next day, Hozuki Nozomi did not return to Sakuraso Dormitory until well past noon.
The moment he stepped into the genkan, he called out on instinct, "Tadaima."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a petite figure launched herself from the interior shadows, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.
"Yuki, what's wrong?" Nozomi asked, looking down at the top of Yuki Suou's head as she pressed her cheek firmly against his chest.
"Umm… Onii-chan was taken away by other women," she mumbled, her voice muffled against his shirt. "Yuki was afraid you'd become so enchanted with them that you wouldn't want Yuki anymore."
"Silly girl," he said, his voice softening as he raised a hand to pat her head. "You are my dearest little sister. How could I ever not want you?"
Yuki didn't respond verbally, only tightening her grip around his waist, refusing to let go.
"Alright, you don't believe me? Then I'll just have to show Yuki exactly how obsessed I am with her."
His sister's concerns, he felt, still had room for development—and reassurance. After he had thoroughly settled Yuki's momentarily anxious heart, another figure approached.
Ayano Kimishima, dressed in her impeccable maid uniform, glided over silently to assist him in changing out of his outdoor shoes and jacket. Her movements were precise, her expression as placid as a still lake.
Nozomi simply smiled, reached out, and wrapped an arm around her slender waist, pulling her effortlessly onto his lap as he sat on the genkan step. Yuki and her ever-present shadow, the little maid Ayano, were a package deal. Now that Yuki had been comforted, it was only natural that Ayano Kimishima could not be neglected.
Faced with his bold, familiar action, Ayano did not resist. She merely allowed her slender legs, sheathed in pristine white thigh-highs, to rest across his knees as he held her. Her typically expressionless face was tinged with the faintest hint of a blush. Her bright, intelligent eyes stared directly into his, holding his gaze steadily. In them, there was not a trace of rejection to be found.