~ Support & Read 60 Advanced Chapters on Patreon
~ Bonus Chapter every 200 Powerstones!
<><><><><>
After settling Natsuki in the upstairs break room, when Bokue Keikain arrived at the underground medical area, La Folia and Kanon Kanase—aunt and niece who looked almost identical—were already chatting in the familiar medical room.
But just chatting, nothing more. The moment Bokue entered, Kanon—who'd been laughing with La Folia by the bedside—immediately turned her gaze toward him, her saint-like pure face lighting up with joy.
"Ah, it's Big Brother! Big Brother, you came too!"
"Mm, I'm covering for Natsuki today..."
Bokue approached the bedside while repeating the same explanation he'd given La Folia and Sayaka upstairs.
He wasn't fond of lying, but today's situation hardly counted as a "lie."
After all, he really was covering for Natsuki, and Natsuki really did have to rest in the break room next door because of him. Even the part about "needing coverage because of last night's incident" was still true.
Think about it—if not for last night's events, Natsuki wouldn't have lost her witch powers, wouldn't have needed to pull an all-nighter writing reports with her actual body, and wouldn't have needed Bokue to help "restore her combat effectiveness" as quickly as possible, which led to her currently being limp in the break room next to the office.
Perfectly reasonable, no problems at all.
"Is that so..." Kanon wasn't the suspicious type to begin with, and since it was her trusted Big Brother saying this, she just nodded without further questions.
Meanwhile, La Folia beside her seemed to suddenly remember something, a hint of amusement crossing her beautiful but regally elegant face.
"Oh right, speaking of which, there's another reason for today's visit. Since we can't bring Kanon back to our country anytime soon, the family elders requested I take lots of photos together while in Japan."
"Photos?"
Sayaka didn't catch the silver-haired princess's hint, looking around the pure white medical room in confusion.
"You mean taking them right here?"
"Of course~"
La Folia pulled out her phone, then fished a selfie stick from her bag and mounted the phone on it.
"After all, Kanon can't go out freely right now, so we can only take them here. Come on, come on, Sayaka and Bokue-kun, sit properly—time for photos!"
"Eh? Us too?"
Sayaka was still hesitant.
But La Folia was already urging them on.
"Since everyone's here, we should all be in it! Let's see... Kanon sits next to me, Bokue-kun on Kanon's other side, then Sayaka on Bokue-kun's other side. Hurry, hurry, I'll send everyone a copy afterward."
"Ah, okay!"
Finally catching the silver-haired princess's hint, an exclamation mark appeared above Sayaka's high ponytail as she quickly took her position by the bed.
From left to right: Sayaka Kirasaka, Bokue Keikain, Kanon Kanase, La Folia.
"Don't spread out so much, my phone's camera isn't that wide."
La Folia continued directing.
"Sayaka, tilt your head more toward Bokue-kun. Bokue-kun, scoot closer to Kanon too. Perfect~"
Click!
With the button pressed on the selfie stick, the crisp shutter sound echoed through the medical room, capturing the four of them on the phone screen.
"Wait a moment, sending them now."
Without any editing, La Folia sent the photo to Sayaka and Kanon one by one.
"And what's your social media account, Bokue? I don't have you as a friend yet—need to add you first before I can send it."
"Oh, wait, I'll add you."
Not thinking much of it, Bokue pulled out his phone and added La Folia on social media.
Meanwhile, the two girls who'd already received the photo began editing their copies.
For instance, Sayaka directly cropped the left half of the photo, blushing slightly as she set the part with her and Bokue together as her phone wallpaper.
Kanon was slightly more subtle. She first framed herself and La Folia, then after sneaking glances left and right to confirm no one was watching, she expanded the wallpaper area to include Bokue who'd been sitting on her left during the photo.
There, perfect...
Looking at the three of them on her phone screen like a family portrait, the silver-haired girl's serene face showed a faint smile, her cheeks involuntarily turning pink.
This was her photo with Big Brother.
Though uncertain if she'd formally trained for it, La Folia's photography skills were undoubtedly impeccable.
But just then, the silver-haired princess's voice suddenly came from beside her.
"Hmm~ This photo didn't turn out quite right."
"W-what's wrong?"
Sayaka, who'd been secretly admiring her photo with Bokue, quickly looked up and shifted her gaze, casually opening another app to hide her wallpaper.
"Yeah~"
La Folia pointed at Kanon's face in the photo, who'd been sitting beside her.
"See, it's because Bokue-kun is too tall. He blocked the light on Kanon's face during the photo. Let's have Bokue-kun and Kanon switch places and retake it."
"Eh? The light's blocked?"
Kanon paused, then quickly picked up her phone to look again.
Indeed, though just on her profile, there was definitely a small shadow cast by Bokue.
"Then... should we retake it?"
Kanon tentatively looked at the War Dancer beside her.
Retaking was no big deal for her, but having a flaw in her photo with Big Brother wouldn't be good.
"Let's retake it then."
Sayaka nodded without objection.
She completely understood La Folia's intention now. Earlier had been for her photo with Bokue, and now that it was done, naturally it was La Folia's turn.
The only regret was that she hadn't been the one to bring it up—otherwise she could've smoothly gotten Bokue's social media account like La Folia had.
So with another click of the phone's camera, both photos were finally complete.
But just as everyone had gotten their satisfactory results, Bokue's phone suddenly buzzed.
"Wait, let me take this call..."
The youth reflexively answered and brought the phone to his ear.
The next second, a certain blonde girl's voice came through like a jet engine.
"Where are you, Bokue?! Where the hell did you run off to?! And did you even come home last night?!"
<><><><><>
~ 60 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
<><><><><>
Keep the chapters coming—Support with Power Stones!