The horns on her head and the tail behind her back made it clear: this Gabriel's true identity was a succubus from Hell.
"Playing the good child is really tiring..." Gabriel stretched her waist, her succubus tail unfurling comfortably along with the movement. "However, the effect is quite good. That man doesn't seem to suspect a thing at all."
"Kanzaki Saku..." She recited the name, opening her hand and then clenching it tight, the light of a hunter flickering in her eyes. "This time, I won't let you run away again."
That's right, this actually wasn't Gabriel's first appearance.
That stalker Kanzaki Saku encountered on his way home from shopping before? That was her.
At that time, she had just arrived in the Human World and ran into Kanzaki Saku who was out at night. She originally planned to use him for her coming-of-age ceremony, but Megumi Kato suddenly appeared and stopped her.
Gabriel didn't want to blow the situation up. Besides, her seniors in Hell had said that men were everywhere in the Human World—at worst, she'd just find another one. So, she let Kanzaki Saku go and left.
However, because Hell hadn't sent anyone for so long, their information hadn't been updated. Gabriel didn't know that men in the Human World had long since become rare animals.
Actually, a succubus could live perfectly fine without men. Gabriel could certainly have endured the darkness, had she never seen the light.
Now that she had smelled Kanzaki Saku's masculine scent... that smell, lingering in her nose, was purely a kind of enjoyment.
Ever since that close encounter with Kanzaki Saku, she had been too lovesick to eat or sleep. She didn't even want to do her evil deeds missions for Hell.
Just smelling him was so fragrant; she simply couldn't dare to imagine how exhilarating it would be to taste him.
Realizing she might be a little addicted to Kanzaki Saku, Gabriel found him again. But this time, she didn't just drag him into an alley for some lightning-fast "education" like before.
That way would be a total one-time deal, draining the pond to catch the fish.
Thinking of a steady flow that runs long—sustainable fishing—she needed an identity that would allow her to stay by Kanzaki Saku's side for a long time.
So she investigated in secret and discovered that Kanzaki Saku's adoptive mother was away visiting relatives, which she could use to her advantage.
Thus, she used some Hellish means, disguised her identity well, approached Mrs. Izumi, and became Kanzaki Saku's new sister.
Now that she was inside Kanzaki Saku's home, enjoying the advantage of being close, opportunities were plentiful. If she played her cards right, she could eat every day!
"No rush, there's plenty of time anyway." Gabriel licked her lips, the tail behind her curling up in delight. "The 'Good Brother, Good Sister' game... I'm really looking forward to the developments to come."
She turned and threw herself onto the bed, rolling around while hugging the pillow. Her demon horns and tail vanished, and she reverted to that harmless, obedient appearance.
After Kanzaki Saku sent Gabriel back to her room, he didn't immediately go to comfort Sagiri. Instead, he planned to let her be alone for a bit.
Mrs. Izumi smiled, turned back to the cooking counter, and picked up her spatula again.
"It's fate with that child, Gabriel, too. When I met her in the countryside, she was all alone. It just made my heart ache to see her. Although it's a bit sudden, having one more person in the house makes it livelier. Saku, you won't blame Mom for making a decision on her own, will you?"
"How could I?" Kanzaki Saku shook his head and rolled up his sleeves. "I'll help. My body has been fine for a long time; you don't need to treat me like a sick person all the time."
He was referring to the sickly character setting from before his memory synchronization. Mrs. Izumi had always been exceptionally nervous about his health, always making him eat lots of medicinal meals, which was one of the reasons for his previous lethargy.
"Really?" Mrs. Izumi stopped her hands and looked him over carefully, her gaze full of concern. "You didn't get tired at school? If it's no good, you can take a leave of absence and stay home again! If you can't handle it, you must say so..."
"I'm really fine, I'm doing great now." Kanzaki Saku picked up a potato next to him and skillfully peeled it. "Rather, it's you—working and taking care of the family all alone, and now there's another child..."
In this world where males were scarce, traditional family structures had long since changed. The development of technology made parthenogenesis possible, and many families consisted only of mothers and children.
Mrs. Izumi was a typical example. She acted as both father and mother, and Kanzaki Saku had always seen the hardships involved.
Mrs. Izumi smiled: "It doesn't matter. Have you forgotten? Aside from my job, the Yukinoshita family has always been sponsoring us."
She paused, seeming to think of something. "By the way, it's been a long time since we visited the Yukinoshita household. Let's find time this weekend to go over, and we can introduce Gabriel to them while we're at it."
"Understood." Kanzaki Saku nodded. He was aware of the Yukinoshita family's sponsorship; it was one of the reasons he and Yukino became childhood friends.
But why did the Yukinoshita family sponsor the Izumi family? The original Kanzaki Saku wasn't very clear on it, simply thinking it was out of kindness.
The current Kanzaki Saku, having synchronized his memories, had some guesses. Combining this with the fact that Takanashi Rikka had previously seen numbers on his head that didn't match the actual number of people...
Kanzaki Saku was basically certain that his guess was correct.
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Attention dear readers, it seems this story ended up being removed from Ciweimao (RAW); unfortunately, this is the last chapter I had access to... I don't know what happened, but unfortunately the story ends here :(