"Sorry for dropping by so suddenly—we're intruding. Raize, you haven't forgotten what you promised Mashiro, have you?"
Sengoku Chihiro, with short red hair and her arms crossed, greeted him with a faint smile. Beside her was Hiratsuka, dressed casually and looking quite youthful, and standing between the two was Mashiro. The girl was holding her sketch drafts in her arms, her eyes bright as she looked at him.
"Chihiro-sensei, Shizuka-nee, and Shiina—welcome. Please, come in."
The moment Raize saw who it was, he knew why they had come. Smiling lightly, he invited the three inside. The main reason was Mashiro—she was coming over to work on manga with him—so the two teachers were likely here to escort her.
"It's not Shiina. It's Mashiro."
A sudden, ethereal voice spoke up. Mashiro stood at the doorway without moving. Hearing the way Raize addressed her, her delicate brows knit slightly, and the sparkle in her beautiful eyes faded.
"All right, all right—Mashiro, come on in."
Hearing Mashiro's protest-like correction, Raize glanced at Chihiro and Hiratsuka, both wearing teasing expressions, then looked back at Mashiro with a gentle smile and repeated himself.
To Chihiro and Hiratsuka, his expression and familiar tone looked as though he were indulging a child.
Both of them understood Mashiro's personality well, and Raize—who spent increasing amounts of time with her—naturally understood it too.
After Mashiro entered Raize's house first, the two single teachers exchanged a glance, silently conveying their thoughts.
"Looks like your cousin and Raize have a rather special relationship," Hiratsuka remarked, not complaining, merely stating an observation.
"But Raize treats Mashiro more like a child," Chihiro replied.
She could tell at a glance how Raize felt about Mashiro—like an adult indulging a child whose mind had not yet fully matured.
As Mashiro's cousin, Chihiro knew better than anyone just how powerful Mashiro's pure charm was.
For men with strong masculine tendencies, Mashiro's existence was practically a lethal poison.
If Chihiro were a man herself, she would undoubtedly do everything possible to win over a girl like Mashiro.
Yet with Raize—who was the same age as Mashiro—she genuinely could not see any development beyond friendship between the two.
At school, she had also observed how Raize treated Mashiro. He had taken on the responsibility of caring for her extremely well, much like how Rita had once done back in England—and he did it flawlessly.
It was strange. Even if Raize had some painful past, someone as pure as Mashiro should have been able to easily enter his heart.
Seeing Mashiro's friendly relationship with Raize, Hiratsuka and Chihiro each harbored different thoughts.
After changing into slippers at the entryway, they accompanied Mashiro into Raize's home. They were only here to escort her and would not stay long.
"Huh!? Raize, you've got other guests at home?"
The moment Hiratsuka stepped into the living room, she saw Eu, who had finished her pudding and was now contentedly drinking juice. Startled by the girl's exquisite appearance, she couldn't help but exclaim.
Eu's presence was far stronger than either Laffey's or Haruna's. Simply sitting there quietly, she naturally became the center of everything.
Anyone seeing Eu for the first time would inevitably feel amazed—and the three newcomers were no exception.
Mashiro stared blankly at the silver-haired, blue-eyed girl on the sofa. Though her attire was strange, it fit her perfectly.
To Mashiro, she looked like an unreal figure who stepped straight out of a painting—her presence in reality carried a stunning sense of dissonance.
Noticing the gaze, Eu slightly turned her head to look at Mashiro and gave her a small nod. In Eu's eyes, Mashiro was completely transparent, inside and out.
A girl who was pure white and immaculate—even her soul was the same. That was Eu's assessment of Mashiro.
Chihiro clicked her tongue as she looked at this doll-like, exquisitely crafted beauty. She appeared very young, yet within her youthful exterior there was a hint of solemnity and nobility.
Her long, straight silver hair shimmered faintly like flowing light, and her crystal-clear sapphire-blue eyes were unforgettable. Though she wore a peculiar outfit—a purple, aristocratic-style dress paired with armor—it suited her perfectly.
No wonder he didn't have unusual feelings for Mashiro—so he was already hiding beauties at home, and not just one!
Besides Eu, the two older single teachers' lips twitched slightly when they noticed the two girls who looked as cute as a kitten and a bunny.
"Hello!" ×2
Laffey and Haruna greeted the visitors politely. Haruna, in particular, knew better than to act recklessly when outsiders were present.
"This is Eucliwood—my cousin from overseas. And over there are friends of my younger sister from before…"
Raize smiled as he introduced the three girls in his living room to the visitors. He introduced Eu as his cousin, while Haruna and Laffey were described as former friends of his younger sister.
As for Laffey's name, they had already coordinated in the mental network to use an alias—after all, "Laffey" didn't really sound like a human name.
"And this young lady is…?"
Hiratsuka cast a subtle glance at Eu, then looked back at Raize, hesitating slightly as she asked.
Raize understood perfectly what Hiratsuka meant. Calmly, he explained on Eu's behalf:
"Eu can speak, but since she only recently came to Japan, she's not very fluent in Japanese yet. She usually communicates by writing in a notebook."
(Hello. My name is Eucliwood Hellscythe. Please take care of me.)
Seizing the moment, Eu took out her small notebook and showed it to the three women. Her neat, elegant handwriting was pleasant to look at, and Raize's explanation was flawless.
Eu looked foreign at first glance, so it was entirely reasonable that she couldn't speak Japanese fluently but could communicate in writing.
"Nice to meet you…"
The two teachers also greeted her politely and briefly introduced themselves.