Chapter 65: Big Sister Kobeni Brought a Guy Home!
In the original story, Higashiyama Kobeni had voiced her true feelings: she didn't want to be a Public Safety Devil Hunter; she wanted to go to university like her older brother. But that remained a mere thought, never translated into action. Despite earning a substantial salary working for Public Safety for a long time, she obediently handed every yen over to her parents, never even daring to spend money on her favorite ice cream. The only luxury she ever bought—a small car—was intended for the convenience of driving her family around, and even that beloved car ended up scrapped and blown to pieces.
Otonashi Chiya remembered a specific detail vividly: after Kishibe's special operation against Makima failed—the plan to summon the Hell Devil to drag her into Hell—Kishibe took Denji and Kobeni to a safe house where Makima couldn't find them. At the time, Kobeni thought they would have to hide from Makima forever; strangely, she saw this as a good thing. To her, it provided a "legitimate reason" not to go home, and if she didn't go home, she wouldn't be bled dry by her family anymore.
This detail led Chiya to a conclusion: it wasn't that Kobeni didn't want to leave that terrible family; she just needed a justification that could convince her own conscience—and it had to be an airtight one! Because she was so timid, she lacked the courage to cut ties on her own. When forced to hide in the safe house, her first thought was that she finally had an excuse to stay away.
"Since you want to go to university, haven't you planned on changing your current situation?" Chiya pressed further.
"That... I..." Kobeni's expression immediately became plagued by hesitation. Such a move was too bold for her; she didn't have the nerve to make that decision.
Chiya wasn't in a hurry. He guided her slowly. "Think about it carefully. Do you want to be shackled by your family forever, or do you want to be free to pursue your dreams?"
"...I'm scared," Kobeni whispered, revealing the root of her hesitation. It sounded like a plea for help.
"You're still a high school student, after all. It's understandable," Chiya said. Setting aside her adult self from the original timeline, the current Kobeni was just a high school junior. It was normal to fear a confrontation. Given her parents' personalities, if she dared to disobey, they would undoubtedly fly into a rage.
"Just tell me your resolution. If you want to change things, I have a way to help you," Chiya stated plainly.
"I want to." This time, Kobeni didn't hesitate. Bolstered by Chiya's words, she felt a rare surge of courage. She wanted to try. Otherwise, she'd not only miss out on university but be forced into the sex industry or become a devil hunter—both terrible paths for her. After spending time with him, she felt Otonashi-kun was a kind, gentle person, and someone she could truly trust.
"Good. Then starting today, don't give a single yen to your family," Chiya said. "At your age, they have the responsibility to raise you, not use you as a cash cow. If they won't fulfill their duties as parents, you have no obligation to look after them."
"B-but I'm afraid..." Kobeni said, her face pale with cowardice. If she didn't hand over her wages, her parents would definitely explode.
"Don't be afraid. I'll go with you." Chiya then outlined a rough plan. "When the time comes, you just do this..."
When the tutoring session ended that evening, Chiya paid Kobeni her usual 5,000 yen and prepared to accompany her to the Higashiyama residence.
"Denji, I'm heading out for a bit. I'll be back soon," Chiya called out before leaving.
"Got it!"
Denji called out in response, but she quickly sensed something was off and dashed out of her room. She discovered that Brother Chiya was indeed heading out the door with Teacher Higashiyama!
This was not good!
"Brother Chiya... where are you two going?" Denji asked immediately.
"To take care of some business. You could call it resolving a family dispute," Chiya said truthfully. He wasn't lying at all.
"Oh, okay..." Denji saw that Chiya was wearing his civilian clothes—actually, wait, he usually wore his Public Safety uniform for work, but he had swapped it—and she simply believed him. She didn't connect the "family dispute" he mentioned to Teacher Higashiyama.
Relieved, she headed back to her room. "Hey! Pochita, you cheated! You took two of my lives while I was gone!" Denji's mind instantly snapped back to the game.
The Higashiyama residence was a standalone house covering a decent amount of land, though it looked quite aged from the outside. After all, with over a dozen people in the family, a house that wasn't large enough wouldn't be able to accommodate them all.
Standing before the door, Kobeni's heart raced with increasing tension. The possibilities of what was about to happen made her incredibly uneasy. If Otonashi-kun wasn't right beside her, she wouldn't even have the courage to knock.
At the moment, Chiya was in plain clothes; he had tucked his Public Safety uniform into the Kamui dimension, as he would need it later.
Soon, one of the younger sisters came to open the door. The girl was wearing a middle school uniform, and her features bore a resemblance to Kobeni's. She had slightly long, short-cropped hair, and her thin frame was clearly the result of significant malnutrition.
"Sister Kobeni..." The sister started to speak but froze halfway when she saw the stranger—a handsome youth—standing beside Kobeni. "...Who is this?"
"This is my classmate, Otonashi-kun," Kobeni explained quickly. Though she wasn't good at lying, she was naturally prone to panicking when she spoke, so it wasn't easy for most people to tell the difference.
"A classmate..." The sister's jaw nearly dropped in disbelief. Was this really the Sister Kobeni she knew? To actually bring a male classmate home?!
"Hello, I am Otonashi Chiya, a classmate of Higashiyama-san," Chiya said calmly, introducing himself with a smile. It was impossible to find a flaw in his performance.
"Ah, haha..." Kobeni gave a soft laugh to hide her bashfulness, but she couldn't control the blush creeping across her face. Even though this was all part of Chiya's plan and she had prepared herself, saying she wasn't shy about bringing a boy home would be a lie.
The sister still hadn't processed it, staring blankly as Kobeni and the boy entered the house together. A moment later, she suddenly bolted toward the living room and screamed at the top of her lungs:
"Sister Kobeni brought a guy home!"